Spring Fever?

I think I have Spring Fever. Does anyone know what the symptoms are? I'm busy, but I just feel so...hmmm....unfocused. I'm not doing anything I SHOULD be doing...I just feel like wandering around, doing a little bit of everything.

For instance, I have this incredibly lovely stack of fabric that I got for Christmas last year:

And this perfectly wonderful pattern to make it into:

But I don't feel like tackling a big project right now! My attention span is too short. So I do silly things like this:

I made a thrifted pillowcase into an apron. I think it came out pretty...but still...

I have an entire stack of perfectly wonderful new crisp fabric waiting for me...and I'm sewing together old sheets again. What is wrong with me??

I did finish a useful pair of socks:

These are my "Jury Duty" socks. I started them as a mindless, chartless project when I was called for jury duty...but my case got cancelled (yay!) and I was stuck with finishing the world's most boring sock pattern. I like the yarn--it's Misti Alpaca. Very warm and soft, which are my two favorite qualities in a sock.

But then I went back to sewing old dishtowels:

Can you guess what this is? Here it is, unrolled:

And unflapped:

My dpn's now have a cozy little bed to sleep in. I used two Martha Stewart dishtowels, some batting, and a bit of fabric to make the flap. Don't they look cute all tucked in?

Spring fever, I tell you.

As long as my mind is wandering, I'll tell you about my new favorite cereal:

I'm on a gluten-free diet now, just to see what happens. It's been two weeks and so far, I don't feel much different. Maybe gluten was responsible for my former longer attention span...you think? Nah. Anyway, this stuff is yummy! I think the box is happy, too. Can't you just see a quilt in all those colors?

Speaking of yummy, it's lychee time of year again:

These are so sweet and tasty. Have you ever had lychee? You peel back the red skin and eat the flesh, which tastes a bit like a grape, but more floral-tasting. These are not quite ready; they'll get redder and sweeter.

My orchids are showing off right now:

Hello, my pretties. Do you have Spring Fever, too?

While I'm wandering around the yard, this new little family crosses my path:

The yard is so lovely, I just may stay out here and wander a bit.

Is there any cure for this?

Hawaiian Rainbow Basket Giveaway

Hawaiian Rainbow Baskets, 55" X 65", copyright Lisa Boyer 2004

It's Monday! Happy Monday, everybody. Gosh...I've had the strangest feeling all day that I was supposed to post something special today, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was! Do you remember? Hmmm...could it have something to do with my Hawaiian Rainbow Basket quilt? And some colorful half-yards of fabric of some sort...hmmmm????

Oh yeah! A giveaway! Here's a picture (below) of what could be coming to your mailbox soon! Just leave a comment on this post and I'll use a random number generator to select a winner this Saturday evening, 9pm Hawaiian time. Sorry, I don't know what time/day that is in your area. I know Kauai is one of the last places on earth to say goodbye to the day, but you'll have to wait for my Saturday evening at 9pm. Only one comment per person, please.

You could win one of my Hawaiian Rainbow Basket patterns, plus these four half-yards of red and aqua fabric to get you started. While you're composing your clever comment in your head, I'll show you my Hawaiian Rainbow basket quilts. The picture at the top is the dreaded flat splayed "museum" shot--ugh. I know it's necessary to be able to see the entire quilt, but I find those flat shots so cold and lifeless. Sort of like a living animal that's been killed and flayed and the skin spread out on the wall. Quilts need to be found roaming in the wild in their natural habitats, like this one:

Shhhh...we probably should't disturb this one...I think it's sleeping. Aww...aren't they cute when they're sleeping?? If we're very quiet, we can get close enough to see a couple of my favorite baskets:


This bright orange floral above was once a thrifted skirt.

And look at this black exotic beauty with the flaming orange hibiscus! I love it when the flowers come out perfect like that.



Wow!! Look! It's rolling over on its back!

This is one craaaaaazy quilt back, isn't it? I used up all the scraps and extra baskets from the front. The little wall quilty thing in the center was made from all the squares I cut to make a border, but ended up using a plain border instead. I know you'll find it hard to believe, but I actually rejected something for being too busy. I know...doesn't sound like me, does it? The turquoise gecko fabric makes up the hanging sleeves, top and bottom.


If this quilt looks slightly familiar, it's because you saw its sister on Valentine's Day:

Hawaiian Rainbow Baskets, Red and White Version, 55" X 65", copyright Lisa Boyer 2005

This is my red and white version of my Hawaiian Rainbow Basket pattern. I've always loved basket patterns, but I could never find one exactly the shape I wanted. Traditional basket patterns were either too willowy or chunky--so I designed my own. I really like the proportions of my baskets! I think these are 8" blocks, but I'm too lazy to get up and go measure. If you really want to know, just leave me a question in the comments and I'll go dig out my tape measure. Anything for a friend, no matter how sick I'm still feeling...really...cough cough...it's no problem at all.

Leave me a comment and good luck to you! Update 3/3/08: The giveaway is for the Hawaiian Rainbow Basket quilt pattern and two yards of fabric shown, not the quilt itself. Sorry if that was confusing!

A Very Happy Hula Hut Day to You!

Above is a three-block version of my Happy Hula Hut quilt pattern. It's one of the patterns in my Hawaiian-themed pattern line.

These are all the patterns I make. I print, fold, stuff and tie the little bows myself. When I made my very first pattern, I thought the bows would be a good idea. They looked so pretty and I could put a different color on each pattern! My local fabric shop owner loved the bows and made me PROMISE, that if she ordered some, that the packaging would always be the same. I remember nodding my head vigorously yes as she politely ordered six patterns from me. I was on cloud nine--I had sold my first pattern! Six of them! And she loved the packaging.

Five years, eight pattern designs, and fifty thousand bows later, I'm not so sure the bows were a great idea. As a matter of fact, I've come to despise these freakin' little bows. When I have a pattern order of fifteen dozen patterns for three days in a row, you can't imagine how sore my fingers get tying those grrrrrrr little bows. My husband made me this little punchy ribbon device to poke them all uniformly, but I still have to tie the *%$#*@ things.

Once, I got too overwhelmed and decided to leave the bows off to see if anyone would notice. They did. "Ooohhh...what happened to the cute little boowwwwwssss?" they said. "That's how we know what we have in the drawer at a glance," they said. "They just aren't as 'jaunty' without the bows," they said.

Sigh. The moral of this story is to be careful with bows. They may look all innocent, but in a few years, they'll cause your fingers to gnarl and cramp up until you have to stumble downstairs for the aspirin in the middle of the night. My fingertips are so sore during my peak pattern season in May and April that I can barely stand to touch anything. So remember my cautionary tale, my children: Bows. Beware of bows.

Here I am delivering a large pattern order to Kapaia Stitchery. Oh! Look! I just happened to be wearing my new knitted mitts. In eighty degree weather. I'm holding my hands so funny because my fingertips are throbbing with pain...not because I want to show off my cute mitts. Ahem.

Note: after this picture was taken, I couldn't get those things off fast enough. My hands were sweating buckets. I stopped by the post office on the way into town and sent them to my son in Pullman, Washington. I hope the sweat dries before he gets them. I also hope he's not reading this post about the sweat part. Shhhhh...our secret.

I arrived at Kapaia Stitchery sans sweaty hands and handed my patterns over to Peaches at the shop. She's standing under my Keiki Hula pattern and she's hard to find in all that fabric, isn't she? It's like "Where's Waldo" in the Hawaiian fabric shop. Luckily, I found her and headed home.

When I got back from delivering the patterns, guess what was in my mailbox?!!! My beautiful strawberry needlecase! And it's just as pretty as its picture. Thank you, Happy Zombie. You are so talented. And you took the time to sew on 25 french knots just for me! That's a real friend. Thank you. I love it. It's already a treasured object.

Inspired by Monica's generosity, I have a little give-a-way of my own. Leave a comment at the bottom of this post (only one comment per person, please) and next week on Tuesday at midnight, I will pick a name via random number generator. I will send the winner one of my Happy Hula Hut patterns (tied with a cute little *&^% bow), and four fat halves of Hawaiian fabric to start your own Happy Hula Hut quilt.

And thank you all SO much for yesterday's comments. I want to give you all a big virtual hug and let you know that your support and kindness mean the world to me. Mahalo Nui Loa.

Swimmies!

Swimmies! Fish Quilt by Lisa Boyer, originally uploaded by dorkyquilts.

This is my original paper-pieced "Swimmies" pattern. I made this as a shop sample, so it's a smaller nine-block version of the my pattern.

Keiki Hula Mini Quilt

Keiki Hula Mini Quilt by Lisa Boyer, originally uploaded by dorkyquilts.

I made this mini Keiki Hula for a store sample. Bright, isn't it? It took me several years after I moved to Kauai to start using these bright fabrics, but if you've ever visited a fabric store in Hawaii, you'll understand why quilt samples have to be so bright. The stores are a riot of color! Rows and rows of Hawaiian prints and batiks and brights--if you don't compete color-wise, your quilt is destined to be a wallflower. I've made "tasteful" quilts with subdued colors for class samples and when displayed at Kapaia Stitchery--they look like sun baked mud next to all the retina-burning samples.

It's a tough quilt world here in Hawaii, baby. Gotta compete. Ouch.

He Likes It!

Since I took up knitting less than a year ago, I've been asking my son if I could please, please knit him something. Wouldn't he like a nice, warm knitted alpaca hat for those frosty cold days at Washington State U? How about some toasty wool mittens? Socks? Slippers?

Nope. My son just wasn't interested in hand-knitted items. So imagine my surprise, when, a couple of weeks before he came home for Christmas, he asked me to knit him a scarf. My heart went pitty-pat with joy! He specified that he wanted something black with a little bit of green to go with his LLBean jacket. I knew it had to be long, as he is a very tall guy (6'3" at last measure), machine washable, reversible, and unlike all the other scarves I've knitted, I wanted it to lay perfectly flat instead of curling up. I wanted it to be stretchy width-wise so he could stretch it up to cover his nose and ears. A 1X1 ribbing was the perfect choice. So here's the color recipe I came up with:

Tall Guy Non-Rolling Scarf with Subtle Striping
MC: 2 skeins Caron Simply Soft in Black, CC: 1 skein Caron Simply Soft in Sage
Size: my scarf measures around 75" when all stretched out (but it shrinks up a little when actually worn). When wrapped around a 6'3" man, it gives them plenty of wrapping length. See step 12 to make an approx. 60" scarf.
Needles: Size 8
Stitch pattern: entire scarf is done in K1p1 ribbing with a slip stitch edge. Slip the first and last stitch purlwise of every odd row so that the colors don't go wonky on the color change row ends.
1. CO 49 stitches loosely; or however wide you want.
2. 30 rows MC
3. 2 rows CC
4. 2 rows MC
5. 2 rows CC
6. 2 rows MC
7. 2 rows CC
8. 15 rows MC
9. Repeat rows 3-8
10. Repeat rows 3-7
11. Knit 60 rows MC
12. Repeat rows 3-11 once or twice. (If you repeat once, your scarf will be shorter than mine--more like 60 inches instead of 80.)
13. Repeat rows 3-7
13. Knit 30 rows MC
13. Bind off
This is my first written pattern; please let me know if I made a mistake.

So how did I get my knitting injury (see post below)? On this project, I was determined to learn how to knit continental style. I was already comfortable knitting in continental, but purling was awkward and I tended to switch back to English style to purl. I figured that this scarf--six plus feet of ribs--was a good way to practice switching back and forth between knitting and purling, all in continental style. I only had two pre-Christmas weeks to finish it, so ignoring my hand cramps and slowly numbing thumb, I soldiered on.

Knitters everywhere, this is not the thing to do. Don't ignore your screaming thumb tendon. Having been without a functioning thumb for a couple of weeks now, I can now appreciate the usefulness of my miraculously magnificent opposable thumb in a whole new light. I am sorry, my thumb. I am sorry I abused you. Please come back. Don't make me sew another clown blouse because I can't finish my other Cable Rib Sock.