Knitting, Spinning & Flying Birds Quilt Update 3

Blogging is a bit sporadic at the moment as I am doing admin for our Wedding celebration event, I am in countdown mode for our trip to the UK and I am coming to the end of two of courses: Intermediate Photography and Introduction to Photoshop. I have assignments and projects due very shortly and no, I am not ready to hand them all in!

That said, I am trying to make a little time, now and then, for other things. For example, on my needles is some of my Autumn in Spring handspun twinned with some Cascade Superwash:

This is destined to become a little tank top for a little boy who will be in the 9 - 12 months bracket this autumn. Mind you, at the rate that I am knitting (albeit that this yarn is aran weight) it might take me that long to knit this up as I am still only on the swatch!

Also, on my wheel is some merino fibre from the Yarn Sprout:

The merino is much more tricksy to spin than the fibre I was working with before. It is very soft, it has a much shorter staple, seems to need quite a bit of twist and it doesn't seem to 'grab' as much. So when it breaks, it is not all that easy to join new fibre back in. I have made more progress since this shot was taken and I think that I am about halfway through now?

Being fed through my sewing machine is my Flying Birds quilt:

I think that it is going to be there for some time yet! We started to put borders onto our quilts last Thursday but we did not get any further. (Actually, it took me another whole afternoon to finish putting my borders on!) As a result, our class homework is to create all of the appliqué shapes that we need in time for our next class. Here is a close up of the fabrics:

Okay - onwards, upwards and all that. No time to rest. As...

...just because it seems that the last thing I need right now is any other sort of task, project, WIP or UFO, I have found myself signed up for a two day quilt workshop.

Apparently, I will cut, piece, baste, quilt and finish an entire quilt in two days (Friday and Saturday). If I were to point out to you that it took me an entire day to iron all of the fabrics for this project (some 32 or so fat quarters worth of fabric), how likely do you think it is that I will actually manage this feat?!

Nope, me either.

Wha'? A Gooseberry?

If I were feeling generous, I would stretch my imagination. I would suggest that gooseberry stitch really resembles something a lot closer to a regimented rows of raspberries or popcorn.

If I were not, I would suggest that it looks a lot more like a serious outbreak of common warts - I will spare you the images.

Either way, I cannot see, not in the slightest, how it might resemble gooseberries, can you?!

Unless, gooseberry in this instance, actually refers to this stitch being perfect for that special garment one should knit and reserve for dinner outings with smug, gooey couples?

After all, if you have to sit there and politely endure their PDAs in the middle of a restaurant, you may as well feel frumpy, as well as a spare, unnecessary part, in a gooseberry stitch garment?

Hmm, judging by this very brief experience, I have decided that I am not cut out for a true appreciation of very, densely bobbled stitch patterns. Oh well, I'll live!