Eyeball Finish!

I am frantically trying to finish writing my new lab manual, so I really haven't had much time for sewing. Luckily I did finish my LYoF goal for the month, the eyeball quilt! Original link-up post is over here.


I have also been knitting some postcards for Postcrossing. I have already sent one to someone in Hong Kong, thanks to Postcrossing. I came up with a basic tutorial if you want to make some yourself.


They DO make it through the mail, though you have to drop it off at the post office and pay a little extra because it can't go through the machines and needs to be sorted by hand ($0.70 for domestic, $1.35 for international). I sent one to my friend and she shared this photo with me after it arrived. Thanks, Toni!

Knitted Postcard Tutorial

I have been knitting some postcards for Postcrossing. I have already sent one to someone in Hong Kong, thanks to Postcrossing. Want to make some yourself? Here you go!

For most of these I used size 1 yarn and US 3 needles, because that is what I had and it seemed to work well. If that is what you will be using, follow this. I have tips and tricks at the end.

Cast on about 29 stitches. There is a lot of wiggle room because you can stretch the rectangle later, or trim your card. I suggest anything between 27 and 31 stitches, but 29 seemed to work with most yarns I used.

Rows 1-5, Knit.
Row 6, Knit 4 for border, knit middle, knit 4 for border. (Borders are "garter" stitch)
Row 7, Knit 4 for border, purl middle, knit 4 for border.
Repeat Row 6 for even rows aka knit the even rows.
Repeat Row 7 for odd rows. (Odds and even combined is "stockinette" stitch)
After finishing an even row, Knit last 5 rows and bind off.
Then stitch the rectangle to a blank 4" x 6" card, like this. And that's it!

If you are like me and you forget to count, here is an easy guide to tell if you need to knit or purl.

If you are ready to start a row and it looks like this, you need to knit.

If you are about to start a row and it looks like this, you need to purl.

This picture shows the difference between garter (border) and stockinette (middle) stitches.

 They DO make it through the mail, though you have to drop it off at the post office and pay a little extra because it can't go through the machines and needs to be sorted by hand ($0.70 for domestic, $1.35 for international). I sent one to my friend and she shared this photo with me after it arrived. Thanks, Toni!

Winter Prep: Part 1

It finally got cold here in South Texas for about a week, so it felt like winter. Of course cold for South Texas is 40-50 degrees. Today we are back into the low 80s, but it should be getting cold again this weekend!

Anyways, the cold weather motivated me to work on Christmasy stuff that needed to get worked on. First of which is the tree skirt for my boyfriend's sister. It all started last December when we were at her house while she was decorating her tree. I noticed she didn't have a skirt and inquired about this. She couldn't find one without color and over-the-top holidayness, so I offered to make one.

That means I have been working on this for almost a year! The last time I had even touched this was back in July when I finished the front. You can read all about that over here. 

But the cold weather was a wonderful motivator and I was able to quilt it up and bind it in time to deliver it to her on Thanksgiving! The quilting includes stipple in the grey between the 3D crinkle grey and the blueish grey flower stuff along with stitch in the ditch everywhere else since the batting was super poofy and not very quilting friendly. The grey strips that make up the stars are actually glittery. So much monochromatic goodness!


I also started working on some matching hot pads for one of my BFFs. She and I are both highly unusual, which probably explains why we get along so well. Anyways, we both love mustaches, so I decided to make us appliqued mustache trees! Does anyone want the mustache applique templates I created? If so, let me know so I can post them.


And what would be a Christmas tree without a star on top?? I could have easily made little bitty wonky stars, but when I visualize tree-topping stars, I see 5-point stars. I decided the easiest way to accomplish this was with foundation paper piecing, so I used this pattern and scaled it down to 25%, which ended resulted in 3" unfinished stars. I am fairly proud of those y-seams! [Hilarious side note, when I just went to get the link for the pattern, an advertised pattern on the side menu was for a mustache tree mug rug that doesn't look much like mine. Apparently I am not TOO original.]


I also made a batch of Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls. Baking these is my one and only holiday tradition. It also happens to be a super tasty tradition!


The cold also made me decide to try my hands at Fair Isle knitting. I can knit, but am incapable of doing anything more complex than squares and rectangles, so this was a big leap. After watching 5 YouTube videos, I managed to make this swatch. FYI: This was my first time knitting in the round, so it got twisted and turned into a mobius strip.


Have no fear! I casted on (or is cast on present and past tense?) a new set of stitches and managed to not get them twisted, so this new set will eventually make it all the way to scarf. Pictures will be posted when it actually looks like something.