Pyramid Bag

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Heather

I don’t sew much, even though I do enjoy it. But the amount of room required to spread out all the supplies, the sewing machine or serger, the ironing board, etc. is just too much for our small-ish space. And with little fingers trying to get into everything, I’m leery of getting out the rotary cutter and the pins. But, lately the urge to sew has been quite high, and so I’ve made a few small projects.

My favourite project is this:

Pyramid Bag

It is a cute little pyramid-shaped bag, about 15cm along the longest side. It is fully lined with no exposed seams (which I am very proud of). I followed instructions from Nicole Mallalieu, which you can find on this page. I learned to make this style of bag for an exchange on Ravelry, since my partner said one of the things she would most like is a small pyramid-shaped bag to hold her tatting supplies. I know I will be making some more of these, and in bigger sizes.

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Black Cats are Seen

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Heather

More Halloween stitching! I can’t help it. I love Halloween, and it seems the little man has a growing appreciation for it too. (I just wish I knew how I am going to handle trick or treating with his peanut & nut allergy thing…) Anyway, my most recent finish:

Night Prowl from Gitta's

This was a little petit point kit from my local-ish needlework shop. The design is Night Prowl, and the designer is Kathrin Ellison of Gitta’s. It is stitched with tent stitch using DMC and what I think is Twilleys Goldfingering metallic crochet thread (the black, sparkly stuff) on a 14 count canvas.  It was a quick stitch, and I think it turned out really well. I think I even managed to not distort the canvas! Not bad for my first really attempt at petit point on canvas, eh?

I wonder if I’m ready to try it on 40 silk now? Hmmmm….

And a little Halloween poem:

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown

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Greta and Some Ice Cream

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Heather

Recently I took part in a toy exchange on Ravelry. Actually being ahead of the game for once, I sent my package out early, and it has already been received, which means I can show what I made.

 

Greta and Scooped

The cat is Greta the Captivating Cat from Rebecca Danger (etsy pattern shop here), and the ice cream cone is Scooped by Em-En of i like lemons (pattern info here).

Greta is knit from Estelle Cloud Cotton, and is super soft. I mainly followed the pattern for her, with a few minor changes (like closing the gap between the legs, stuffing as I went, and grafting her head closed). And, instead of trying my surface embroidery skills, I used 12mm safety eyes and nose for her face. I absolutely want to make another one for myself.

The most interesting change, construction-wise, was that instead of knitting her nine stitch tail in the round (which would have been a fiddly mess dpns falling out of the yarn), I did an eight stitch icord instead. And then, I picked up the 9th stitch from the ladder in the cord (since 8 stitches doesn’t make a clean icord). I ended up with a perfect nine stitch tube, and I was totally delighted.

Picking up stitches for Greta's tail

Scooped was an easy knit that I did as per the pattern, using Bernat Satin. It was meant for the receipt’s little girl, so easy care was very important. And, to make it even more fun, I put in a rattle insert.

Ice Cream!

It turned out so cute that I want to make a few different styles to add to the little man’s play food collection.

I have one more exchange out there in the wilds of the postal system. Hopefully it will arrive soon so I can show another project I’m really proud off.

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Ornament of the Month – May 2011

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Heather

May’s ornament of the month is finished, much to my delight. This ornament also marks the halfway point of this project. I’ve got a growing pile of ornaments I should really start thinking out finishing, otherwise, I’ll be too overwhelmed when Christmas rolls around again.

Home for Christmas by Julia Lucas Designs

The design is Home for Christmas by Julia Lucas Designs, from the 2001 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. It is stitched on Silkweaver’s Blue Dynasty 28 count (from a random pack I picked up just before they moved over to working only with Needleworker’s Delight), and it is stitched with the called for DMC and Kreinik.

I really like how the Kreinik fibres were used in this design. First, there is #4 braid backstitched over the fabric to create the path in the snow. And then there is silver blending filament stitched over the dark blue of the sky to make stars. Believe me, the design really came to life after those stars were added.

So, next month, I think I will tackle one of the more difficult designs I have picked out. Maybe a Victoria Sampler? Otherwise, I’m not going to have any quick stitches left!

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Yellow!! Socks

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Heather

I really enjoy knitting socks, as I’m sure you’ve figured out. And I do enjoy knitting socks for other people. However, it never really occurred to me that I might not enjoy knitting socks for other people in a yarn colour that I don’t like. 🙁

Summer Sox Socks, Cookie A

The pattern is Cookie A.’s Summer Sox Socks, a freebie from Classic Elite. The yarn is hand-dyed by Yarn Hollow, and the base is Panda Cotton. The picture doesn’t even come close to capturing just how bright these socks are. If you think a bright, sunny, almost-neon yellow, you will just about have it.

I am happy with how the socks came out in the end, even if the yarn nearly gave me a headache. 🙂 But, I’ve decided to take a little bit of a break from knitting so I can do some stitching. Hopefully I’ll have a finish to share in a day or two.

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TUSAL – May 2011

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Heather

New Moon time again! And that means it is time to share my jar of orts for the TUSAL (totally useless stitch along).

TUSAL - April 2011

There is a lot yarn ends in this month. Which isn’t surprising given the amount of knitting and crocheting I’ve been doing. There are a few floss bits in there, though, as I did get a bit of time to work on Royalty ABCs and Twelve Days of Christmas. Hopefully next month there will be a lot more floss ends. In fact, I actually have some stitching sitting beside me! Pictures soon.

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Off the Yarnz Wagon

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Heather

I have a confession to make: my yarn of not buying yarn is over… I failed. Not only did I claim some yarn in the swap group I’m in, and not offer up at least the equivanet amount, but I also got some yarn as a RAK and kept it, and (worst of all!) I bought some yarn…

I’m trying to come up with a good excuse, but I can’t. The offending yarn is Panda Cotton in the colourway Blueberry-grapes. I’ve had this colourway before and made a nice pair of socks, which were too small. So, I’ve had my eyes open for more, and when I saw some in destash on Raverly, I had to snap it up.

Lovely blue and purple yarnz

And, you know what makes it even better, after I sent the person a message about it and we agreed on a price, I figured out that I was buying yarn from the author of Sweater Quest. How cool is that? So, if I had to fall off the wagon, that isn’t a bad way to do it.

I am, though, happily, still down from the number of balls of yarn I started the year with. And, once I pick up some beautiful silver lace-weight yarn from a friend, I’m back on the wagon for the foreseeable future… unless I find any more Panda Cotton for a great price. 😉

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