Fiber Babble: The Hallowe'en That Was

The Hallowe'en That Was

November 01, 2010

And mankind didn't even know it. "Darkfever" by Karen Marie Moning ♦♦♦♦◊

It's so strange, our neighborhood at Hallowe'en. Sometimes there are 20 kids knocking at our door, sometimes there are 70. Weather doesn't seem to be an issue; when you're born & raised in the Pacific Northwest, rain rarely affects your plans one way or the other - it just goes with the territory. Last night the weather was fine, though chilly. We had 46 kids come to the door.

Mr. W., in his infinite wisdom, decided to get candy that he didn't like so much so that 'we' wouldn't eat it before the little urchins came a-knockin'. This is a direct result of finding it too easy to ~~decimate~~ snack on the mini Hershey bars/M&M mix we'd bought earlier for said urchins... ahem. Where was I? Oh, yes: He chose mini candy bars that weren't at the top of his YUM list. The problem, though, is that the two flavors he chose are at the top of my YUM list.

Oh, the sacrifices I make for that man o'mine.

Our shop got this fabric in, I think it's called "Happy Haunting", and it glows in the dark! As soon as I saw it, I had to make a pillowcase for my friend Brenda's little prince, Gene Paul. He is all about Hallowe'en and I hoped that he would appreciate (or even tolerate!) the random appearance of a pillowcase from someone that his mom knows from the internet.

Brenda said she was thrilled and he was pretty matter-of-fact about it all (including the glow-in-the-dark aspect). This reaction was all and more than I ever hoped for - I'm so glad that GP accepted the gift!

Oh, I used the "sausage method" of making the pillowcase. Other than some inconvenient bulkiness at the seam where the flange meets the side seam, it's pretty amazing. Easy and kinda magical. You can see the YouTube video I followed here:

I joined a Ghosts, Goblins & Ghouls Hallowe'en swap on one of my forums. This is what I came up with for Jessie, my swap partner.

I didn't add a hanging sleeve in case she wanted to use it as a table topper. The little quiltlet is about 20" square.

The fun part? It uses more of the fabric that glows in the dark! (okay, fun for me!)

Laura got my name in the swap and she sent me this great little quiltlet. It's about 25" from point to point.

I've seen a similar style in tablerunners, but since the only time my table is cleaned off enough for a runner to show is when Mom is visiting, I've dubbed this a wallhanging. Currently it's on the wall in the den behind Mr. W.'s chair, so when he's talking to me I'm not facing a bare and boring wall. Not that I would be focused on anything but the numerous pearls of wisdom that routinely fall from his lips. Or anything like that.

Here's a close up of the fabric in the quiltlet that Laura sent to me. I love it!

Jessie's favorite color is Purple. And she likes Orange, too. (a girl after my own heart!) I had some Caron Cozi yarn in the closet that is fuzzy AND purple with a touch of gold and ORANGE, so I just had to use it! She lives in Canada, where (in my silly little mind) it's really, really cold in the winter*, so I knitted up this little shawl for her.

Now, little is an intentionally-used word. From what I can tell, Jessie is a small person. Like the size I was when I was TEN. (that really does say more about my largeness than her smallness, probably) I did a little bit of math and took the shawl to work to find a small person as reference so I wasn't knitting a tarp for the poor woman, but a little something to go over her shoulders in the dead of winter.

I used a pattern called Carol's Clever Little Shawl. Using such bulky yarn and large needles (US 13's), this thing nearly knitted itself. And to be honest, it was quite forgiving of mistakes. Not that I'd make any of those...

In addition to the ease of knitting, the shawl is pretty clever (hence the name I would think) - you knit a tube close each end of the shawl so you can just tuck one end into the tube and voilá, it's closed. No pins, no fighting to keep it on your shoulders.

I'd love to do one of these for myself. Of course, I'll make it more complicated and try to put lace in it or cable it up and get it so involved that I won't ever finish it.

*Latitude-wise, my house is farther north than Montreal, Quebec.
Go figure.

Mom, you're farther north than Buffalo, NY. It's amazing what you learn on the internet, isn't it?

Labels: knitting, quilting

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3 Comments:

At 11/01/2010 7:00 PM,

Brenda Babbled Back:

Oh Tracy, GP was very happy with his pillow case and he noticed the glow in the dark feature way before I did, which tells me that he was giving it a closer look when he was on his own.
I'll also have you know that DH was really excited to see the new PC but less excited that I (yes, me, of all people) hadn't made it. As if I was that good, duh.
But who am I to burst his bubble? I
simply stated that you had thought of it first, HAHAHA! Now you know I will be watching the tutorial because that pillow case is just the perfect size. No pulling of tugging or "stuffing" the pillow in. It just slips right in. I love it! And GP must love it too since I am not allowed to use that particular pillow since it's in it's new fancy case. LOL!
Thanks again Tracy, for your generosity. Your thoughtfulness means more than words can ever say. Big hugs, B=)

At 11/02/2010 4:46 AM,

Crispy Babbled Back:

Here I was feeling so sad for you because you haven't had time to do fun stuff like sewing or knitting and look at all the lovely stuff you have created!! VERY lovely use of your free time :0)

Do you have a hard time keeping your eyes from glazing over when your hubby is sharing his wisdom with you.....I know I have that problem LOL.

Crispy

At 11/02/2010 10:35 AM,

Linda Babbled Back:

Cute Halloween quiltlets! I like them both...I really like seeing more Halloween now, especially the fun stuff. My grandson's birthday is Oct 29th and I like to make cutesy stuff at this time. Your shawl is wonderful. Thanks for sharing that link. I used to read Joan Hamer years ago and still have some of her patterns I printed off the internet...Joan's Socks. Anyway, it really took me back to go that link and then read about her. Your pillowcase turned out cute too. I make pillowcases this way. We don't call it a sausage pillowcase we call it the Rolly Polly Pillowcase. This is a great way to make pcs. I'm going to try to find some of the glow in the dark fabric before it's all gone. I haven't seen any around in our area. I might have to order some off the net. You've been busy, thanks for sharing.