WIP Wednesday #31

I'm happy to say I've actually gotten quite a bit done in the two weeks since my last WIP update! Unfortunately none of it has been the Christmas gifts I hoped to start working on, but hey, progress is progress. Right?

New Projects: Kat was still looking for blocks for her Cheeky Quilt, so I made a couple for her. I didn't sign up the first time I saw her mention it (I just happened to notice that her first request was the same day Coop was born!) because her original October deadline just wasn't going to work out for me, so I was really happy to be able to help after all. I really enjoyed making these scrappy log cabins, and was so happy with how quickly they came together.

Kat mentioned that she likes bird & vintage floral prints, so I combined the two for this first block. Yes, it sounds like an odd pairing, and when I originally pulled the fabrics for it I worried it wouldn't be bright enough, but I love how it turned out.

The second block is truly from my scrap bins, with lots of fun memories. There are the elephants from my last round in the Pretty Little Pouch Swap; dots & monkeys from Coop's quilt; the green fabric from my nursing cover & carseat handle; Denise Schmidt prints from all those origami bags; a couple of my favorite Riley Blake Rainy Days & Mondays prints; and both prints from one of my favorite Keyka Lou City Totes.

Baby Charlie's outfit & football was probably one of my favorite things to work on over the past week.

I started another knit scarf, which I need like a hole in the head, but I absolutely love scarves in the winter. Unfortunately the ones I find in the stores are never long enough, so I have to make my own. Ah shucks.... ;) This is just a bit of a test piece to make sure the checkered pattern I've been wanting to try out for a while would look okay. I absolutely love this bright peacock blue & hopefully I can get some progress made on it this weekend. I'd like to do an ear warmer & possibly hand warmers to match.

I did work on one other secret project, but I'll have to wait to share that one. It's pretty darn cute though, so hopefully I can share it soon!

Ongoing projects: I've changed my mind about the quilting on Coop's quilt. Nothing drastic, I'm still doing the circles, but I've added some straightline quilting as well on the diagonals. The straight lines obviously go a bit quicker than the circles, which is part of the reason I decided to go this route. I also like the idea of mixing things up even more, so now there will be circles, straight lines, and Xs. I do like how it's looking so far, so I think it's a good decision.

I'm finally past the thumbhole on the green ribbed handwarmers. I've got to be honest though, I'm not really feeling these now. I'm really excited about having hand warmers since I'm not overly crazy about gloves, and I absolutely love the color & feel of this yarn, so I guess it's just the design that's not doing it for me. Also, I realized while working on Coop's hat, that for the past two years I've been doing my knit stitch incorrectly, going on the back of the needle instead of the front. This has made my stitches much tighter as well as slower & harder to work. Unfortunately, to finish this project, I really need to continue to do it the incorrect way so it will still look the same. So I have a dilemma, and a few options. Do I finish this one the incorrect way, and make the second the same? Do I finish this one the incorrect way & make the second the correct way, hoping they match close enough? Do I rip this one out now & completely start over the correct way? Or do I just scratch the entire project? I can't decide, but in the meantime, I'm plugging away to at least finish this first one. I can't even think about starting on the second until I either finish & completely tear out this one, and at this point I guess I'd rather finish it & then go from there.

No progress on the crochet blanket, I'm kind of at a stand still on that again. I love both knit & crochet, but I go through phases where I prefer one over the other, and it's definitely knitting lately.

Completed projects: I did finish up Coop's hat, which I'm just over the moon excited about. It is a bit big on him, and I originally planned on making another that fit better, but decided against it. You'll have to excuse the picture quality, I took it on my cell phone, but if you don't laugh, you're dead inside. ;) Seriously, I absolutely crack up every time I see this picture.

The expression on his face & way he's holding his hands get me every time.

And because this kid is just so darn cute, I can't help but share this picture as well. Just look at those eyes, hide your daughters! :)

I hope you all have a very wonderful Thanksgiving!

Make sure you head over to Freshly Pieced to see what everybody else has been up to this week.

Until next time...