wolfloversk, is the cross-stitch kit just one of those little ones, probably a couple of inches square? I have one of those half-finished somewhere, but a cursory glance at my desk drawer hasn't revealed it, so I have no idea where it is now...

In retrospect, it would've been good to know about only doing half the x's as you go along when I first tried cross-stitch, Twig's. It would've made my work a lot neater.

Bella, the pattern called for ridges along the fingers and then, yes, I sewed them closed. And the scarf is warm, especially if you triple-wrap it.
I have avoided goodreads, but I understand what you mean. Hurrah for self-control in not queuing everything. The hard part for me will then be actually using some of the patterns...

Speaking of, my dad liked the fingerless gloves I made and would like me to make him a pair for fishing (which means I need to find some specific type of wool now...). So, I have two options: a) adapt the pattern I used so that it's a larger size and will fit him, or b) find a men's fingerless glove pattern. Does anyone know of a simple pattern that I could use, or does anyone have any tips on how to increase the size of a pattern (...maybe without knitting a test glove for size?)?

So here are some pictures of that quilt I was working on:

That looks very cosy (it's winter here).

I've spent a couple of hours looking online for patterns for gloves/mittens with a Hobbit theme. Among them I found a crochet pattern for Bofur's hat.

http://www.smree.com/2013/03/bofur-inspired-hat-pattern.html

I also found 'travel mitts':
http://www.fiddleknits.com/travel_mitts.html

and 'Ori-esque mitts':
http://theknittinggenie.com/2013/01/03/ori-esque-mitts/

Now, back to my fingerless gloves - am doing the second one now (left hand) - these have short fingers, not just a combined space.

Oh, that quilt is very pretty, Lady Haleth! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Ooh, fun patterns, Auntie! Are you knitting or crocheting the fingerless gloves?

So I finished my first knitting project on double-pointed needles a couple months back: a baby hat for a friend's baby. And it actually turned out very nicely despite me modifying the pattern a bit as I went, though it was pretty simple.
I also finished off a washcloth that my sister had started probably about...seven or eight years ago and gave to me a couple of years ago to work on. And I'm almost done with another Weeping Angel washcloth, hurrah!

I'm now trying to figure out what project I should start next: another washcloth (simple and quick), a dishtowel (though I'd have to find/modify a pattern, but it'd probably use up the rest of the cotton yarn I have, which'd be nice), a beret (which I'd really like to do, but it might require a bit more concentration), or something else altogether.

I like that pattern, Lady Haleth. Is it a scrap quilt?

How are your fingerless gloves coming, Auntie?

This is my current project:

It's actually my second pair of socks, but I haven't tucked in all the ends and done a proper photoshoot with the first.

So creative! And all I do these days is mending...

Actually, that can be fun too. The other day I opened a box of mending that hadn't been opened for a few years--I won't tell you how many--and had a grand old time with it. The best of it all was that when the stuff was fixed up, half of it went to the thrift shop. Hurray for more space!

One of my mending projects is an antique piece of eyeletted linen that must be hand-sewn with much care. I like hand-sewing in moderation, so it should be good for those moments when the brain is engaged and the fingers are not.

Aaah, that backpack is very pretty! How sturdy is it? I'm guessing it's sturdy enough for general purposes, but not the sort of backpack I'd carry on campus (I have a pretty large, heavy-duty one, so...).

Thank you so much, it's not sturdy enough to carry a bunch of books , but it's made with a thick, rough linen base, so I can dump my art stuff and notebooks in it and it's okay.

Lady Haleth, I love your quilt, it's beautiful.

Mel, those socks looks really nice. I love the yarn.

We recently got a new sewing machine which is really cool cause both our other ones broke. This one is able to take very thick cloth, which is great for costume sewing, since we tend to use a lot of thick wool. I have a couple of projects in mind, but they will have to wait till the middle of August.

My latest achievemt is I bought a loom for tabletweaving. Now I won't have to go tying the end of my weaving to the doorknob or bed post, I can put it all on the loom and it will remain neat and tight all the time and thus make it easier for me

here's a picture of what it looks like. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, and I probably won't get one until the end of August which is very annoying as my hands are itching to try it out...but oh well.

One of my mending projects is an antique piece of eyeletted linen that must be hand-sewn with much care.

That sounds pretty and rather more interesting than the mending projects I've got waiting. When people mention 'mending' I think of sewing up tears and replacing lost buttons and such stuff that takes five minutes but doesn't have the same excitement that creating something new has even if the new stuff takes way longer.

I've seen looms like that before, wrose. They look so complicated when they have yarn wound on them, but I imagine they must be really nice when you're working on a project.

Yeah, that's my usual type of mending, too. Mind you, I have a really nice stitch on my machine for those ghastly tears. There's not much worse in my books than patching a hole, and having it wear through just a little bit higher up within a few days.

The finest mending job I ever had to do involved the lace on a wedding dress. The bride must have stepped on the edge, and it began to unravel. When I got to it there were a bunch of loose threads that had pulled out. Each thread had to be woven back in and used to tie off the hole, and of course, the threads were quite short. Painstaking work, but I was able to repair it well enough that even I had trouble finding the spot; there was no fresh material introduced.

I must confess that I feel like a stranger in a strange land coming into this thread. I am not a sewer... not AT ALL. I think I took a home ec class in middle school and I made a pillow and a pair of boxer shorts, and that may be the extent of my sewing. My mom and especially my grandma were/are fantastic sewers (my mom made all of my high school dance dresses and my wedding dress) and for whatever reason it's a trait I never picked up, just due to lack of interest.

Well I'm on bed rest until my daughter is born which could be anywhere from tonight to the end of October so I'm looking for things to do in the meantime, and I think I could probably get away with sitting at a sewing machine and putting an outfit or two together.

I ran across this one today...
http://butterick.mccall.com/b5625-produ ... age_id=378
... and I was wondering what you all thought? (Specifically pattern D and the shorts, MAYBE the hat as well.) Do you think it's something a novice could tackle and finish quickly? Knowing myself, if she arrives before I finish, I doubt I'll get it done at all, so I don't want too big of a time commitment.

Cute pattern, fantasia!

I'd guess you're probably looking at six hours (based on my sewing and cutting speed but I do have a bad habit of sitting and staring at things before committing to the next step) to make the pinafore and shorts... Cutting should be the biggest single time commitment, everything else could be done a seam here and a seam there.

The hat shouldn't be hard, but my guess is it would probably take the most time.

EDIT: Oh, and of course, I'll be very interested in the results (and finding out how accurate of an estimate I made. )

Thank you Mel. I will probably go ahead and double your estimated time to 12 hours because I anticipate moving at a snail's pace and I'd rather be safe than sorry. Ironically the bits I remember is cutting out the pattern and then cutting out the fabric. I remember very little about the actual sewing so I'm hoping that part comes back quickly. I also have to relearn how to thread a sewing machine. Yeah.... novice.

ETA: Plan B! Nobody around here has that pattern in stores that I can find and I was too impatient to wait for it online. So, I found another one that i thought was pretty cute.
http://www.simplicity.com/p-11835-babie ... dband.aspx
Gonna start with the Romper and headband, and if that goes well, make a dress and shorts out of the same pattern. I got some fabric today that i love, it has bugs on it. And I will have to take a picture and post it when I get the chance.

I can total relate fantasia_kitty. My mom is a good sewer (but not my grandma. My grandma always needed help from my mom for things). My mom has started to teach me numerous times and that usually results in one item and then a long time before we start up again. I would think a baby outfit wouldn't be too hard to start with. I know that was one of the many things I made. It is smaller so it won't take as much time as a larger project would. If I were you, I would start with view B - it looks the easiest. My mom is currently teaching me to sew once again. I'm making a robe. I couldn't find the pattern online; it is one we have had a while. I think it took me a couple of hours to put one pocket in and start on the other pocket. My seams aren't very straight and the top stitching on the pocket didn't curve very smoothly. If I had been able to cut straight, my seams would have been straighter. I am very bad at cutting. I even have trouble with paper cutting.

Time for an update!

What I have done:
The bodice is pretty much done. I posted a few pics of it on FB, so if you're FB friends with me you can go check it out there.
The four parts of the pants are sewn together and I have to figure out how to bunch them. Never done that before, my mom tells me it's easy, I just need to try to do it.
The shoulder straps are about 50% of the way there, but I need to sew some button holes into them (never done that before but found the instructions for the sewing machine), sew them onto the elastic, and then run the elastic through the neckline of the bodice.
I'm coming along nicely, but I got stuck on this one instruction in particular that I had to have my mom clarify for me. Well, she clarified it, even brought a dress over with an example for me to see, so I at least understand what they want me to do. But she admitted that the instructions didn't seem to match up between the picture they provided, so I'm still kind of stalled on that one particular spot. What do you all think?

Turn front facing to INSIDE, turning back along fold line, forming facing; press. Press under 5/8" on lower edge of facing; trim to 1/4".

Picture from the instructions
So my question is, do I fold and trim the piece that will eventually be on the inside of the bodice (which is what my mom thinks it is) or the outside of the bodice, which is what the picture looks like?

I would think a baby outfit wouldn't be too hard to start with.

I bet for most people it wouldn't be too hard, but there's definitely a lot of stuff I've never done before so I keep stopping and reading and rereading to figure out what's going on.

So my question is, do I fold and trim the piece that will eventually be on the inside of the bodice (which is what my mom thinks it is) or the outside of the bodice, which is what the picture looks like?

I can't make sense out of the direction or the picture but I know I'd bet on my mom over a picture. So I'd be inclined to trust your mom.

I bet for most people it wouldn't be too hard, but there's definitely a lot of stuff I've never done before so I keep stopping and reading and rereading to figure out what's going on.

Well, it easier than say something with darts and/or a zipper. If I were attempting myself, I'd be doing the same as you.