My Year in Temperatures Scarf

Kari guessed what the yarn is for!  It's a scarf depicting the daily temperatures in Colorado Springs!  

I selected a different color for each five degrees of temperature difference. Colorado temps vary from well below zero to triple digit highs over the course of a year -- so it will take a lot of different yarn colors. 

So far this year the temperature has swung from -10F to 61F!  And the New Year is only one week old!

See that yellow row? The high was 61 on Friday. The fuchsia represents "below zero." I based my color choices on the NOAA weather map. 

Because our daily air temperatures often boast a 30 degree difference between low and high, I decided to knit three rows each day. Each row represents the low, mean (average) and high temperature for that day. 

It will be fun to see the colors swing from purples and blues to yellows, orange and red as summer approaches. I'll post more photos of "My Year in Temperatures" as the year progresses. 

Tearing Out My Hair

Srzly, I spent most of yesterday trying to write code for a "grab my button" icon for 12 Finishes in 2014.  The image part works fine, but the code box so 52 Quilts followers can paste the button on their own blogs did NOT! I tried three or four tutorials, but it was only when I started reading the comments on the tutes that I saw many people are having the same problem of an "empty" box on their "grab my button" widget! I promised "something nice" to anyone who would test it for me, and Irene did so. Of course, it didn't work.  I think I'll send her a nice handful of my hair!

All this to say, my good intentions of finishing off the last few BOM blocks and blogging about my ideas for 12 in 2014 UFOs -- didn't happen.

Knitting

I did, however, finish the first "Hats for Sailors" hat of 2014.

I finished it last night while watching the first episode of Downton Abbey Season 4. The yarn is Millamia, 100% Merino washable wool.  The Ravelry group Hats for Sailors is doing a knitalong of Graham  this month  It's a free pattern, so if you're a knitter, please consider joining us and knitting a hat for a US Sailor.

12 in 2014 UFO Challenge

52 Quilts "Finish 12 in 2014" challengers are busily working away on their #7 UFO.  For myself, rather than working on a random UFO, I set myself a different challenge. Remember all those Blocks of the Month I worked on last year? The first Monday of each month was "BOMs-Away" day. And I kept up pretty well (except for that wicked 3D BOM by Jackie Robinson. What a killer!)

This photo is from September. It's too dark to photograph in my sewing room right now, but I swear all except the 3D Sampler are up to date!

I have all those BOM blocks completed, but not sewn together into quilt tops. let alone quilted and bound! SO I've decided my personal challenge this year will be to complete one BOM quilt each month! First up is my favorite, the 2012 Designer Mystery Challenge quilt:

I added some blocks to make the quilt larger. The quilt is blogged here. I love Bonnie and Camille's fabric!

Something Completely Different

Just for fun, let's play a little guessing game. There may be prizes (you know how I love to send things to 52 Quilts followers!)

What project do you think I have in mind for this collection of Cascade 220 yarn?

First correct guess gets the prize -- no, I don't know what it will be. Maybe a handful of my going-to-grey hair?

From the desk of your

About Those UFOs

Before I moan about updating the blog design, let me share two more 13 in 2013 UFO finishes.

Both of these lovelies are from Kerry of Kerry's Quilting. Somehow they got lost in the ether-net when she emailed them to me. And that's a shame, because they are something to see! (Not to mention, it brings the total number of UFO finishes by 52 Quilts followers in 2013 up to 159!)

The first is one of those I-can't-believe-you-finished-the-whole-thing designs from Temecula Quilt Company, "Jamestown Landing." I love this quilt! Go here to see Kerry's kick-off of this project.

Kerry's second submission for the UFO Parade is one I really want to add to my quilting bucket list!  It's "Seven Sisters" by Marti Michell. Kerry reports that she started this one at the Road to California in January 2013 and brought it out of hibernation on Veteran's Day 2013. The perfect Veteran's Day project!

Kerry, I can't wait to see what you do for 12 Finishes in 2014!

I'm trying to add the code so all of you who blog can add the "12 in 2014" button to your own blog. And it's not working! I'm going to publish this post and go back to tearing out my hair -- I hope to publish the new button tomorrow, please come back to see if it works!


From the desk of your