Darning Mushroom

Never used one of these before, but a hole in the bottom my my husbands sock meant I had to try. I think it went pretty well - I opted for the woven technique since the edges were pretty frayed. The repair has been holding up nicely and doesn't seem to bother him too much - success!

Socks for Daughter #1

I started these back in the fall and finished one sock. I had just completed the first cable sock for my husband and needed a quick break. But that meant that the second sock waited until I finished the second cabled sock.

But not matter - I finished it up today while waiting at the orthodontist for the twins to have their braces tightened.

I love these socks. They are simple, colorful, and the distribution of the blues is perfect, IMO.

My three oldest girls (all whose feet have likely stopped growing) now have teenage-appropriate socks.

Flannel Quilt

I surprised myself with some extra time this holiday break and cut and sewed another quilt top! This one is made of mostly blue flannels and was a joy to cut and assemble.

This is another quilt kit - my preferred way to sew quilt tops these days - this time from Bluprint (Craftsy). It is the Marcus Fabrics Blue Boxes Flannel Quilt Kit.

I was a bit nervous after reading some of the reviews. Lots of folks talked about crooked prints and running out of fabric. I had just enough and not much to spare (I didn't run out) and I also wasn't too bothered by prints not lining up exactly. I can see how this might annoy some quilters, but I am not a perfectionist. I am more of the 'let's see if we can even pull this off' kind of sewer - so I was thrilled with the final result.

The finished top, batting, backing, and binding is already with Heather at Blue Turtle Quilting. She thinks this one might be done by mid-February!

Mittens

This sweet pair of mittens is off to a fourth grade friend. I have made a couple pairs for her mom over the years and she always takes them during our cold winter months to warm her hands. So her mom asked if I would make a pair just for her.

These are slightly different - they don't have the rolled cuff - but they are buttery soft with purple lambswool on the palms and polar fleece linings. I used the ribbed edges of the sweaters for all the pieces so they were already nicely finished at the lower edges.

I used upcycled silver buttons from the original thrifted vest to keep the two layers together. They add a nice surprise and fancy touch I think.