Little Bunny

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Heather

I love to knit toys. Sadly, Baby Man does not like soft toys. He likes Hot Wheels. So, while I don’t knit toys very often, but I jump at any chance I have to make one for someone who might like them.

White Bunny!

The pattern is The Bunny Bunch from the book [amazon_link id=”0715331728″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Knitted Toy Tales[/amazon_link] by Laura Long. I knit it using Wendy Peter Pan Cupcake yarn in the fabulously named colour 800 Coconut Bunny. The fabric was from my stash, and I sewed it on using a variegated pink sewing thread, which is why it might look a bit strange.

Bunny waiting in bag

The bunny was a gift for a six-month old little girl, the daughter of our friends who recently moved to Cambodia to start a rather ambitious business. Mommy and baby are back for a visit to tie up loose ends, and to visit family and friends. And, as you can imagine, we were very happy to see them.

Bunny with Baby

I think the little bunny will be happy in her new home on the other side of the world. Maybe one day we will be able to visit her there.

5 Comments | Posted in Knitting | Tagged ,

Royalty ABC to I

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Heather

One of my purchases at the Needleworkers’ Marketplace was Royalty ABC by Jeanette Douglas. I also bought the thread and embellishment kit, just to make my life much easier. I have an ever increasing collection of odd colours of NPI and Splendour, thanks to all the Jeanette Douglas and Victoria Sampler kits I have stitched, but it seems I’m always short a handful of colours for whatever design I decide to tackle.

What little stitching time I’ve had this week as been given over to Royalty ABC. And, as you can see, it hasn’t been all that much.

Royalty ABC from Jeanette Douglas (WIP)

It is a beautiful design in person. The silk threads seem to glow on the fabric (Heritage from Enchanting Lair). I can’t wait to finish it up and hang on my wall.

1 Comment | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged ,

April 2011 Stitching Bloggers’ Question

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Heather

Lee at Lakeside Stitcher posted this month’s Stitching Bloggers’ question a couple of days ago. It is:

Do you keep records of your finishes? We are so lucky to have so many record-keeping tools at our disposal to record our accomplishments. So if you do, what recording methods do you use?Ā  What do you think is important to record when you’ve finished a design?

I sort of keep track of my stitching finishes, but not in a really detailed way. I keep a picture of each one (well, most of them) on my hard drive. The files are named to include the design name, designer, and the month and year it was completed. And, since I started posting my finishes on my blog, I’ve been recording in blog entries any significant changes.

I don’t have pictures of everything I’ve done. Things that I gave away way back when I started stitching were never recorded. And, even in recent years, a few things made it out the door without pictures being taken.

I do have a gallery of my finishes, if you’d like to look.

Now, knitting and crochet are completely different. Thanks to Ravelry (and the fact that I started using it just as I started to knit and crochet), nearly every details of those projects are recorded. I wish there was a needlework version of Ravelry!

Comments Off on April 2011 Stitching Bloggers’ Question | Posted in Crafts, Cross Stitch, Memes & Collabs |

Making Choices

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Heather

Recently I posted about some decisions I needed to make with regards to a couple of projects I’m working on. Perhaps the most… distressing was the error in the button band of the Liesl cardigan for my mom, all the way back at the beginning.

I’ll share a secret: sometimes it pays to sleep on something. I got a good night’s sleep (a rarity around here), and took a look at the button band with fresh eyes. Unfortunately, I noticed another missing ridge about four rows below the one I showed you the other day, near the bottom mistake. Fortunately, however, I realized the missing ridge at the top would be mostly covered by a button. Yay!

So, with crochet hook in hand, and the little man more or less distracted by his cars, I dropped down all three columns that needed to be fixed (one at a time of course), a total of about six inches, and carefully worked them back up. And the result is a lovely Liesl with it’s only mistake under a button. It will be washed and blocked this week (when I’m feeling better), and I will share a picture then.

The other thing I’ve been thinking about is the metallic thread for The Twelve Days of Christmas. It seems that the general consensus is to not buy PTB. It was suggested that I use two strands of the Anchor metallic thread, which is a good idea. However, I like one strand because I don’t have to struggle with it; and, if I used two strands, I’d need to buy more, because I’m beating the kit only has just about enough of it to stitch the design as directed.

Anyway, I sat down finally and stitched more of the border. To tell you the truth, I’ve been avoiding working on this design because I didn’t want to find out that I need to make changes to it. But, my avoidance was in vain:

Twelve Days with triple border

I think the border will be just fine. From a distance the coverage looks pretty good. Again, yay!

So, onward, onward with The Twelve Days of Christmas. And now that Liesel is completely done, it is time to continue work on Annis and another pair of socks.

Starting on the swans

2 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting |

Needleworker’s Marketplace

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Heather

This past weekend was Gitta’s Getaway (a stitching getaway hosted by my LNS) and the complementary Needleworker’s Marketplace. Also running at the same hotel were several classes held in conjunction with the other events.

Sometimes, choices have to be made. And, this year I decided I wanted a serger more than I wanted a stitching getaway. šŸ˜‰ I did, however, take a class this weekend, Treasure Trove from Laura Dickson of Enchanting Lair.

Treasure Trove Kit

Not only did Laura give us full skeins of DMC and silk, but she gave us full thread kits for both colourways. And, an extra piece of hand-dyed fabric to try stitches on, and some thread (a nearly full skein of Dinky Dyes in my case) to do the practice. She is nothing if not generous. I’m actually very glad that she gave us the thread for both colourways, because I think I might play around with the colours a little bit, doing most of the purple colourway, but maybe doing the dragon in green.

I did a bit of shopping at the marketplace too. There were eight vendors this year, including Gitta’s, Enchanting Lair, Jeanette Douglas, X’s and Oh’s, Brenda Franklin, and a few more.

The marketplace was held in a style similar to the US vendor shows, where each designer was set up in their hotel room. While this was novel, it also made for some pretty crowded rooms. I did hear a few ladies saying they would have preferred booths set up in one of the meeting/ballrooms, but personally, I’m indifferent. It was interesting to go to a different style of show, but I did find the crowds a bit much at times.

Of course, I did make a few small purchases. I bought a tiny bee charm and some purple beads from one of the bead vendors, and some fabric from Laura:

Fabric from Enchanting Lair

The one of the kind piece on the right is actually more purple (all the colours are off, actually). I had to buy a piece of Parchment since that was a colour I requested. I think it turned out fabulous, and is much nicer than Silkweaver’s Days Gone By.

I also bought one of Jeanette Douglas’ newest design Royalty ABC, which is just stunning in person. I think it will look great on the Heritage fabric from Enchanting Lair.

Royalty ABC chart and embellishment kit

Each vendor at the marketplace gave away a small free design that is meant to be put together to make a 15-sided biscornu. Of course, I collected all of those, and I do plan to do it eventually. (That’s why I said I would be doing another 15-sided biscornu.)

So, overall, I would say the marketplace was a success (but I hope there are more vendors next year), and my class was great. I’ll definitely attend the marketplace next year.

I’ve hit 50 followers! That means I’ll be hosting a giveaway of a few of my favourite things. Look for the post with all the details no later than next Monday. Hopefully you will agree that it is worth the wait.

3 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch |

TUSAL – April 2011

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Heather

Yes, I’m a day late this month. I know, I know. But, I have a good excuse: I’m sick with yet another cold. It seems I catch just about everything going around, unfortunately. Thankfully, the little man has nothing more than a runny nose (which has almost totally cleared up), and the husband is just fine.

Anyway, on to the TUSAL picture!

April 2011 TUSAl, with a preschooler

As you can see, the little man is helping himself to some yarn. Since I took the picture, he was taken all the white yarn out of the jar, and has just started picking out the yellow. He’s using the pieces to set up a race track for his Hot Wheels.

Anyway, the white and yellow yarn come from some daffodils I’ve crocheting for the PlanetJune Easter CAL (pictures soon-ish), and there is yarn from the socks I’ve worked on this month, and lots of little floss bits from March’s Santa ornament and The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Next month’s new moon is on May 3rd, the day after our latest federal election. (Why, yes we do spend a lot of time voting up here, thanks for noticing.) I’ll try to be on time, but if the results of the election are awful, I just might be late.

2 Comments | Posted in Crafts | Tagged

Good-bye, Quilter’s Palette

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Heather

On Friday afternoon a sad email arrived in my inbox: my LQS, Quilter’s Palette is closing. When it’s doors close for good, I will have gone from living in a neighbourhood with a fabulous and active yarn shop and quilting shop, to living in a neighbourhood that only plays hosts to restaurants, dentists and spas. (Seriously. Oh, and a really big Goodwill store.)

Like everyone else who has ever shopped at Quilter’s Palette, I decided to head over there yesterday morning, the first day of the sale, to snag a few good deals. I’m not a quilter, but I do enjoy sewing when I get the chance. I’m glad I did go today, since the store was packed. In fact, it was so busy I didn’t really get a chance to look at any of the fabric on bolts. I just grabbed some patterns I knew I wanted, some fat quarters, and a new rotary cutter, along with some other odds and ends.

Fabric, batting, thread, patterns and more

The patterns I bought are: Amy Butler Sweet Harmony Handbag & Tote, ArtFabric Studio Catnip Kitty Pink Cushion (I wanted this guy too, but I didn’t see him yesterday), Atkinson Designs Pockets to Go, Silk Road Creations Spidey, and Favorite Things The Lunch Bag. I’m excited about making every one of them, although, I will need to purchase a bit of fabric to do so… (I think my husband just hid my credit card.)

I’m going to miss Adele, Leslie and the other ladies. They were always kind and helpful, even though I wasn’t a quilter. And, even better, they were always very sweet to the little man. They even had a set of Duplo blocks for kids to play with. I can’t ask for more than that. šŸ˜‰

I have two other things to quickly mention. First, I’m at 46 followers over on my little Google Connect widget. If I hit 50, I will host a giveaway of some of my favourite things. Please, take some time and hit the Follow button. (I’dĀ  love it if you checked out my non-crafting blog too.)

Second, on Tuesday the little man and I went to the allergist, where he was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. Today we will pick up our Epipens and start learning how to live with this allergy. If anyone with experience with peanut allergies has any advice, I’d love to hear it.

4 Comments | Posted in Crafts, The Outside World |