Pyramid of Red

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Heather

Trying to rhyme pyramid and red is about as bad as trying to rhyme again and men (which I’ve come across in a few of the little man’s books). Thankfully, my sewing skills are better than my attempts at poetry.

Pyramid Bag

I made another pyramid bag, this time as a gift for Erica of Erica’s Places. The inside is lined with plain red fabric, and that is a handle drooping down there on the right. This one is much larger than the wee one I made before. Of course, I didn’t measure the finished bag, but the fabric I started with was 11″ x 22″. I used the same tutorial as before, which can be found here.

I think it is time I made one of these for myself…

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Ornament of the Month – June 2011

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Heather

I have a confession: I didn’t stitch one of my pre-picked ornaments this month. When I went through my pile of designs, I decided I really didn’t want to do the one I picked out of the 2007 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. It no longer appealed to me. So, I dug out that issue and took another good look through it. I had forgotten that I had already stitched several ornaments from that particular issue, so the pickings were a wee bit slim. I ultimately settled on this lovely little design:

Fill With Love by Cathy Jean (Victoria Sampler)

This is Fill With Love from Designs by Cathy Jean/Victoria Sampler. I used the DMC conversion, rather than the silks. It is stitched on 36 count linen I got from Annette of Annette’s Acre in exchange for providing her with some yummy Canada chocolate bars.

Next month I’ll be back on track with my pre-chosen ornaments. Maybe… 😉

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A Flurry of Shawls

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Heather

I really do do more than stitch smalls and knit socks. Right now I’m on a bit of a shawl kick.

Moor Shawl (WIP)

First, I’m knitting the Moor Shawl by Jen Hansen (Raverly link) using some lovely silver silk yarn from Shall We Knit. It is actually made from silk that is sourced from the leftovers of a luxury goods manufacturing process. Ravelry lists it as light fingering, but I’m thinking it is a bit heavier weight then that. And I have to say that I love it, and I love the colour. It is so me!

Crocheted Lace Triangular Shawl - wip (two flowers complete)

The second shawl, which isn’t very me, is the Crocheted Lace Triangular Shawl by Sirdar Spinning (another Raverly link). I actually ordered the pattern from the UK because I felt this huge urge to make this shawl. I have no idea why, since I tend to look terrible in green, but I’m on my way and I hope it will look great on me (or someone I know) when it is finally done. The yarn I’m using is Sirdar Duet, in the same colour as the model. How unusual for me!

Felicity Shawl - wip (nearly three blocks complete)

And the last shawl is Felicity by Christie Pruitt (a Knit Picks link this time, although it is also available on Ravelry). This is a really neat shawl, using a knitting technique called entrelac (which I’ve done before), but in crochet. I’m using Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes yarn in colourway Deep Blue Sea, and it is turning out so drappy and soft. I love it!

And I’m sure you all are wondering what happened to my obsession with knitting socks. (Yeah, right!) Well, never fear, there are more socks on the horizon.

Portland Gussets Socks - wip

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Effervescent Butterscotch

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Heather

Socks, socks, socks. Sometimes it seems all I ever knit is socks.

Blueberry Bubbles by Thayer Preece

These are from the pattern Blueberry Bubbles by Thayer Preece. The yarn is a hand-dyed from a company called Yarn Hollow (link to etsy shop). She calls this yarn Summer Love, but the base is Panda Cotton, one of my favourite non-wooly sock yarns. The colour is, not surprisingly, called butterscotch.

Blueberry Bubbles (both cables)

These socks were a fairly quick knit. The pattern was a bit vague is some places, but overall I was able to follow it without any problems. I just wish that it had had separate charts for the left and right leg. The chart worked perfectly for the left leg, but I had to mentally add a stitch at the end of the right leg (less confusing than it sounds, especially once the pattern was established). It also would have been nice if the four row bubble cable and the travelling stitches were more mathematically compatible (by that I mean, I would have liked to know I was on row 4 of the cable every time I hit, say, row 16 of the travelling stitches chart).

Blueberry Bubbles - cables close-up

Would I knit this pattern again? Absolutely, especially since these socks aren’t for me. Next time they will be for me, and I’ll probably be using this lovely yarn:

Dye-Version Bamboo Stretch Sock (sky colourway)

 

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Needin’ Some Beadin’

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Heather

My little guy loves to lure me over to the computer so he can sit on my lap while he plays games or messes around with the webcam. Of course, that means Momma is has a lot of time to sit and work on something small. And, for the past few days I’ve being stitching Mill Hill kits.

Pumpkin Man from Mill Hill (wip)

As you can see, something is missing. Beading at the computer with a pre-schooler on my lap wasn’t something I was willing to try, so Mr. Pumpkin Man is just going to have to wait a little while for his beads.

Holiday Stamp from Mill Hill (wip)

I haven’t made as much progress on this piece. I’ve started dividing my time between knitting a pair of socks and stitching this. But, I really love this design. In fact, I love nearly all of the holiday bead kits that Mill Hill has released this year. My wish list for them would probably be shorter if I listed the ones I don’t want. 😉 Unfortunately, my LNS doesn’t usually get in the larger button designs, and fortunately, the Canada Post strike prevents me from ordering the ones I want.

Hopefully I will be able to get these designs finished and beaded by the end of next week. But, now that I’ve finally got the computer up and running correctly, I really need to finish up my last work assignment (half of which I lost in the crash).

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Royalty Progress

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Heather

I’m making very good progress on Royalty ABC from Jeanette Douglas. I’ve taken out two rows (one was over-one crosses, and the other was a row of queen stitches, which I don’t care for). And I’ve moved one row up to help keep things balanced.

Royalty ABC (WIP)

Since I’m not planing on doing the box (which is included in the bellpull pattern), I decided to use the beads from the thread kit on the bellpull. I added two to one of the crowns:

Royalty ABC - beads on crown

I also added some to another row. You can also see the start of the lovely Tudor rose in the picture below.

Royalty ABC - beads and rose

I’m really loving this design, and I think the changes I’m making look great.

 

In other news, Gracie of Needles, Pins and Dragonflies is having a giveaway. Check it out here.

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B is For Boy

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Heather

Well, I was gone a little longer than I meant to be. Unfortunately, this has been a bit of an exciting week for me, computer-wise. Not only did we lose Internet connectivity for two days, but my hard drive suffered a catastrophic failure and I lost a lot of data. Thankfully, I only lost two months worth of documents (sadly, one of the lost documents is my last assignment for work, and now I have to spend a lot of time to rebuild it). But, sadly, I lost ten months of pictures. I was so lucky to be able to recover pictures of the little man from my iPad, but so much as been lost.

On to better news! I finished up B is for Boy by Country Cottage Needleworks, from the May/June 2011 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

B is for Boy by Country Cottage Needleworks

As you can see, it isn’t ironed. I really do iron my pieces… eventually. The design is mostly stitched as per the chart, with a few minor changes. First, I used antique white fabric (28 count, I believe) instead of the lambswool colour called for. To make the clouds stand out on the white, I used Crescent Colours Toasted Marshmallow. I also did them, and the sun, in half stitches to make them a little less substantial. And, perhaps most obviously, I left off the top and bottom boarder. Now, the design might fit nicely into an 8×10 frame, and the style is just a little bit more me.

Back to stitching! I’m making great progress on Royalty ABC, and I’m also knitting a lovely lace shawl too.

Oh, and don’t forget to back up your important data. Hard drives, even ones that are fairly new, can die without warning.

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