Needlework Tuesday - A Star is Born

 The weather here has turned cold and snowy, which is good when I want to stay inside and stitch. That's exactly how I spent my weekend.  I really wanted to finish this afghan as son will be visiting tomorrow and I want to give this to him.  A friend of his had a baby a little while ago and this is a gift for him.  This is such and easy pattern, I don't mind making it again and again. This is the third that I've done in the past year.   It is a free pattern available from Bernat.

Earlier I wrote a post on why a star shaped blanket is perfect for wrapping a baby.

 Too bad that this variegated yarn colour, Ginseng, is dis-continued, it is so pretty.

Rather than stash away the left over yarn, I decided to knit some slippers.  Daughter calls these fittens, as in feet mittens. They are small and meant to fit in your pocket so that you have slippers when you are out visiting.   The Seamless Salomas Slippers pattern is by Susan Busbee and Megan Williams is free and quick to knit.  I have cast on another pair since I am on a roll.

I had wanted to make several pairs of these last year as gifts,but didn't get a single pair made.  I didn't want December to roll around again and not have any made, so I am staring early this year.

After I get the next pair of slippers completed, I'll add the left over yarn to the granny square afghan that I am stitching.  A great use for leftovers instead of putting those bits away to get left in storage for years on end.

I have enough bits and pieces and unfinished projects sitting around, I most certainly don't need any more.  I'm not going to say i made a New Years resolution to finish my UFOs.  That too broad of a statement, rather, I said that I am going to work on my machine quilting.  I look in quilting magazine and see such beautiful work. I want to do that.  I  realize that I won't be able to do that on the  first quilt, but if I work on at least one quilt each month, by the end of the year I should see some serious improvement. I have lots of quilt tops finished, so I have no shortage of pieces to practise on.

Do you have a skill that you are working on this year. It doesn't have to be needlework, I'd like to hear about it in the comments.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

Thanks for all your book recommendations last week.  I'll keep them in mind when I'm looking for future reads.

Mister Linky is waiting below for a link to your current needlework post.