Dress Purple Stewart Hose

They are finished!!! Hooray! I am really happy with how they turned out. They seem to fit well too. I deliver them tomorrow and hope to get a shot with the whole outfit on Saturday at the competition. There were some troubles with the gauge on the first pair. I actually ended up cutting (!) them down to size. The seam is a little bigger than usual on the inside, but that is the only evidence. I didn't notice it when I had them on and neither did the dancer. We'll see what she says after dancing in them for a day.

Here it is on the machine:


And finished!

More highland wear

Another accomplishment of Feb/March was completing a new Arisaid or Aboyne outfit for Erin. And a new highland vest for her as well. She had quite a growth spurt and nothing fit her very well. With three competitions in March, I needed to get her outfitted.

Too long

It's not as though I haven't been busy, especially on the knitting end. I bought a knitting machine and have been figuring out how to use it. The sole purpose for which I bought it was to make those highland dancing socks for other people and make a little money at it. These competitions can get a little expensive and it would be nice to have some cash. A friend at the dance school asked me to make some for her daughter and that was the beginning of it all. So far, I've finished a pair for my youngest daughter.

I showed one of these to the great folks at USA Kilts and I have a commission to make two pair for him in exchange for something (to be negotiated) at the kilt shop. And another dancers grandma is also interested in a pair. Too bad I've got the flu right now or I'd be knitting.

The machine is a different animal than needles but the second sock was much faster than the first and I am hopeful that my speed will increase (and mistakes will decrease)!

Sew Busy

I've been sewing up a storm, but don't have any pictures to share yet. Mostly roman shades for the house and potential costumes for Erin for Highland dance. I finally got the right combination of velvet and plaid for her outfit! As soon as the buttons come in I'll post a picture. I'm happy to have sold a couple of rovings on Etsy. That has inspired me to have a go at dyeing some more.

In the meantime, if you haven't seen the mockumentary "Wooly Bullies" go to Whipup and check it out - it is hysterical.

Highland Headbands

I've been busy making tartan headbands to sell for the benefit of the highland dance workshop that we'll be going to in a couple of weeks. Thirty at $5 a piece will bring in a little cash if they all go. They are reversible and made with real tartan that I bought from the scraps of our local kilt shop. Fun stuff and my girls love them too. I've got a couple over at Etsy which I'm selling for bit more than at the Workshop ($5 is a nice round number to collect at the table). If they go I'll be making more. It would be a nice way to pay for all the competitions we'll be going to in the coming year! I basically used this tutorial, although similar ones can be found. Super easy, just looking at one should be enough to figure it out.

Kilted Bear and a' that

My husband returned from a men's conference that was held by our family of churches on Saturday. There were many interesting stories, testimonies of God's grace and meaningful conversations with other men. However, one particular story demanded a response, really. Our pastor provided the comic relief for the retreat and on one evening he donned a kilt and took issue with the small contingent of men from Wales. Lumping the Welsh in with the rest of Great Britain he apparently made fun of tea, the queen, kilts and sporrans. (Please understand that this was all for effect, he doesn't seriously have a beef with the UK or its culture.) The children and I had visited our local kilt shop (yes, we have one) that day to pick up some tartan scraps for making headbands to sell at a upcoming Scottish Dance event. Erin recalled to Ewan that there was a bookmark at the store that said the MacFarlane motto is "This I'll defend!"


We talked for awhile and came up with a plan. A kilted bear, a basket of goodies from the UK including a Wallace and Gromit CD and a book by the Scottish theologian Horatius Bonar. And finally, since I had some sheep liver in my freezer, I'd make a little pot haggis (as best I could) and Ewan would challenge him to eat it!

We presented it to him after the service, where he was shocked to learn that Ewan was married in a kilt. He was such a good sport and tried the haggis - and said it wasn't bad. We hope that rest of the goodies will be enjoyable to the whole family.

The title for this post was a riff from the Burn's song "A Man's A Man for A' That".

Quilt Show

I was a member of a great quilt guild for a number of years. The members of this guild, Loose Threads Quilt Guild were recently invited to select their best quilts to be exhibited in a brand new gallery space at a local community college. I posted some of the pictures on my homeschool blog - it was a learning experience, you know.

If you want to see more photos from the show please click on the mosaic below: