Reverse Hearts

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Heather

My LoveSocks are coming along really well, especially considering I’m new at this whole instarsia thing. I’ve finished down to the heel flap on the second sock, which is a mirror of the first.

Love Socks - Stranding Problem

Now, you might have noticed a little bit of a problem. In the first sock, I stranded a light colour behind a dark colour. But for this sock, I’m stranding a dark colour behind a light, with predictable results. (I’m holding the sock up to the window to make the stranding problem stand out very clearly. And some of the stitches are uneven because I haven’t woven in the ends yet.)

Now, if there socks were for me, I’d just leave them. I mean, it would be on my foot, at the back. If anyone is looking at it that closely, then they need a kick. But, since these socks are for someone else, I’m going to get her okay before I continue on.

There is a fix for this, thankfully. Instead of stranding the colours at the top, I can do more intarsia. Fun.

I’m also going to come clean with you today: I bought yarn yesterday. A lot. Well, about fourteen balls. You see, I got the book [amazon_link id=”0740792601″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Yummi ‘Gurumi[/amazon_link] from the library, and the husband and I fell in love with the sushi and dim sum pieces. Of course, I was lacking a whole bunch of the colours to make them. 🙁 So, yesterday I headed up to the Mary Maxim boutique store here in Toronto and loaded up. I also picked up some yarn for a couple of other projects, because I figured if I’m going to use my Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card, I might as well use it on more than acrylic.

So, I’ve bought stash, but I’m still in the competition on Ravelry. I just need to not buy yarn between now and the end of the year. And, I also have to destash about the same amount of yardage if I get something as a gift. So, we’ve got, what, nine months left? Ack.

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LoveSock Colourwork

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Heather

The day I posted about not having the yarn for my March socks was the day the yarn arrived. Since it is a fairly simple sock, I’ve already made some good progress.

LoveSock in progress

It is a striped sock with a colourwork heart on the heel flap. The heart is worked using two colourwork techniques: stranded and intarsia. (The whole thing could be done in intarsia, but that would mean more ends to weave in at the end.) I’ve done stranded work before (like my Temple Cats hat), but I’ve never tried intarsia.

Here’s what the back of the sock looks like:

LoveSock colourwork

The top section is the stranded colourwork, where the different colours are carried across the piece and occasionally twisted around each other so the strands are kept close to the work and don’t potentially get caught in fingers and toes.

The botton bit of the heart is intarisa. Here, I have pink on the left, the multicolour yarn in the middle, and another ball of pink for the right. Each time I switch colours, I wrap them around each other to prevent a hole from opening up, and then continue on in the new colour.

I also made use of a simple trick in the stripes of this sock. If you aren’t carefully, you can get a jog in your stripes where you change colours. However, by slipping the first stitch of the second row of a colour, you eliminate the jog. You are just lengthening that one since, and helping to shift things around so your eye doesn’t notice the difference. TechKnitter has a great piece about jogless stripes.

Jogless Stripes in LoveSocks

And here you can see how I carry the yarn inside the sock, rather than cutting it every time I change colours.

Carrying Yarn in LoveSocks

You might recognize the yarn I’m using for these socks. I knit a pair of socks in January for a lady in Sarnia with the same colours. For these socks, I’m using the other two balls of yarn she had to make her another pair of socks. After these, I think I’m done knitting with pink for a little while. 🙂

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15-Sided Finished

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Heather

I’ve been known to be a little impatient. So, instead of waiting for the finishing instructions for the 15-sided biscornu to be posted, I forged ahead on my own:

15-Sided Biscornu from Kathrin Ellison

The beads are Mill Hill Magnifica colour 10020 (Royal Amethyst). The DMC colours are 208 and 209, the over-dyed is Needle Necessities 1481 Mystique; and fabric is 28 count linen from Enchanting Lair’s in colour Ametrine.

I understand that Kathrin is planning on using beads as part of the finishing. Unfortunately, I don’t have very many beads left; perhaps only enough to do half of the part where you attach the last five squares. I don’t think Mill Hill gives you as many Magnifica beads as they do regular seed beads. Which is a pity, since they cost so much.

I haven’t attached buttons or beads to the centre yet, since I haven’t found the right ones. But, otherwise, I’m very happy with how it turned out. I’m not in a rush to do another 15-sided biscornu though, since the finishing takes much too long.

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Ornament of the Month – March 2011

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Heather

I finally finished up March’s ornament Friday night just past. He was a pretty big project, given his small size.

Santa Bellpull by Carol Elmer

The design is Santa Bellpull by Carol Elmer, from the 1997 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. I stitched it with the called for DMC threads on 32 count linen of some sort. I think he turned out fabulous well. Carol Elmer did a wonderful job of packing all kinds of shading into a small design. I believe it makes use of about twenty or so different colours, including five different shades of red.

There is supposed to be some gold satin stitching at the tip of his hat (which is folded over on the left), and a tassel made by some loops of red floss. I’ve decided, though, to attach a gold bell to his hat when I finish this into an ornament. And, if I were to stitch this again, I would probably use red beads for the holly berries on his hat.

So, that is one more ornament done. I’m proud of myself for keeping up with this goal (even if some other, more important goals [like my weight] are falling horribly). I think next month I will probably stitch Julia Lucas’ Home for Christmas from the 2001 ornament issue or maybe Victoria Sampler’s Sugar and Lace ornament from 2007.

In other news, my favourite etsy shop is having a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to the shop. I believe I have mentioned Annabelle’s Art a few times. Ninon, the proprietress, is the adoptive mom to a lovely special needs girl.  Ninon has a big heart, and a great talent for making beautiful cards.

To enter the giveaway, head over to Ninon’s blog for all the details. And if you would to buy one of Ninon’s fabulous cards, click this link to get a 20% discount. Be sure to make a note in the “Notes to Seller” section of your order that you got the link for the discount from me.

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March Socks – Part 1

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Heather

My March self-imposed sock club isn’t going isn’t going quite as planned. The yarn hasn’t arrived in the mail, so I doubt I will be able to get the pair of socks I designated as my “March socks” done in March.

Since I don’t want to fail in my third month, I’ve decided to make a bit of change for March: it will be two pairs of socks!

The first is a pair of anklets which I actually started last December. They kept getting put on hold while I worked on various other projects.

Saturday Socks from Knit Picks

These are the Saturday Socks from Knit Picks, knit in their Comfy Fingering yarn in colour 5090 Lilac. The yarn and pattern was part of their Fancy Feet Anklets Kit from last summer or there about.

Saturday Socks - Cables

Although the pattern was written to have the cables on both socks the same, I decided to switch them to make the socks look more balanced. (I apologize for the poor pictures. We haven’t had much sun here for the last little while.) The colour of the socks is more true in this picture.

The second pair of socks for March is a simple pair of anklets made using Berroco Comfort Baby (which is the same composition as their Comfort Sock yarn, just a different range of colours). The colourway is 4811 Multi Baby, and as you can see, I got some weird pooling at at the gusset.

Simple Short Sock

I used the Channel Island cast on that I learned at the Lucy Neatby workshop, and I am very please with how it turned out. It is very stretchy, and looks really nice too.

Channel Island cast on and eye of partridge heel flap

Unfortunately, these socks are turning out to be a little too big for me, but it looks like they will fit my mom just fine. Funny how, with the number of socks I’ve made this year, I haven’t ended up with very many new pairs for myself. I think I need to do something about that.

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March 2011 Stitching Blogger Question

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Heather

Lee of Lakeside Stitcher has posted this month’s Stitching Blogger question. It is:

Do you have a favourite Irish or Celtic stitched piece?  If you don’t, what about a piece that represents your heritage?  Or maybe a family tree style sampler?  Think about it, then tell us the story of your piece and show us your photos, if you have them.

Given that my background is partly Irish ( and partly Scottish, with more than a dash of Swiss, German and American) , I was a bit surprised to discover that I haven’t really stitched anything Celtic. There was Teresa Wentzler’s Celtic Cross ornament in 2008 (which I did an awful job of finishing).

Celtic Cross by Teresa Wentzler

I also stitched (and poorly finished) TW’s Celtic Inspiration ornament.

Celtic Inspiration ornament by Teresa Wentzler

There are quite a few Celtic-inspired designs I would like to do. TW’s series comes to mind, as does Lavender and Lace’s Celtic Christmas, and Oak Tree Biscornu from Cross Eyed Kat.

I’m also planning on stitching Lavender and Lace’s Mother’s Tree one day. I’ve traced my maternal line back to the eighth generation preceding me. But I’m loath to start it in case I eventually turn up more information. (My dead end is Sarah Mae Brunner (b. 1747 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 1770 Washington, Maryland, USA.)

My husband is Chinese, and I have stitched a few Chinese-inspired pieces for him. You saw Kitchen Blessings the other day. I also did Pinn Stitch’s Chang Er Moon Goddess.

Chang Er Moon Goddess by Pinn Stitch

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An Oddly Patchy Santa and a Wee Sweater

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Heather

March is quickly speeding away. And beyond two functionally useless swatches, I don’t feel like I have accomplished much. March’s socks haven’t been started (I’m still waiting for the yarn to arrive), and my mom’s cardigan is waiting for it’s final fitting before I can progress further.

March’s ornament, for all my grousing, is coming along, but I feel a bit uninterested in it right now because of all the white I need to stitch. It is Santa Bellpull by Carol Elmer, from the 1997 edition of the Just Cross Stitch ornament issue, stitched with DMC on a 32 count white linen. (I really need to label my fabric. Can any of you more fabric savvy ladies tell me what it is from the picture?)

Santa Bellpull by Carol Elmer

I did manage to finish one wee thing so far this month: Cotton Kisses Baby Cardigan from Plymouth Yarns in their yarn appropriately named Cotton Kisses. The colourway is the imaginatively named 9490 Pink, Purple, Aqua.

Cotton Kisses Cardigan

Because I am not sure who the ultimately recipient will be (no, it isn’t for any future offspring of mine; the little man is our first and last), I put button holes on both sides of the button band. I can then later securely sew on the buttons over the unnecessary button hole, thereby making sure I have the buttons and the holes properly lined up. Neat trick, eh?

So, how are your March goals coming along?

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