September Goals

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Heather

As always, I’m a day late and a dollar short. Yesterday was another stinking hot day, which we braved to head over to our tiny farmers’ market.  It is held at Montgomery’s Inn, a heritage site here in Toronto/Etobicoke. We didn’t buy any veggies this week (there are very few vendors, and they mainly sell fruit and expensive organic veggies), but we did get some fabulous lemonade, meat pies (the flaky pastry kind), and some baked goods. Yum!

With the heat, it is really hard to believe we are already two days into September. It feels just like the first week of August out there, but the cooler breeze and the odd splash of colour in the trees proves that Autumn in on the way. I usually try to make Fall the season were I try to get organized, but it generally doesn’t happen. The last quarter of the year gets very busy for me, with weekend after weekend full of activities, family birthdays and anniversaries. I look forward to it, and to the cooler weather that invites us to cuddle inside.

Anyway, my September goals:

  • Update my cross stitch supply database
  • Set up a personal monthly sock club
  • Set up a personal ornament of the month club (thank you to Erica for this idea)
  • Finish my punch needle kit (the replacement thread arrived about 2 weeks ago)
  • Knit or crochet two pairs of slippers for charity
  • Finish my long languishing Rosebud Socks
  • Start and finish Terrapin Lace Socks for a Ravelry KAL
  • Finish the inner border on Kitchen Blessings
  • Start and make good progress on TW’s Playful Kittens

I guess I’d better get moving if I’m going to accomplish all of that!

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Meet Jack

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Heather

Finally, a finish I can share: Jack O Lantern by Casey Buonaugurio!

Jack O Lantern by Casey Buonaugurio

This time I got the colour a little more true. The fabric is an unknown pumkpin-y coloured linen that is somewhere around 34 count. I do plan on finishing him into an ornament, but that will have wait a little while. Sometime around mid-September I’m taking an ornament finishing class at my LNS, and I’m hoping to learn enough to allow me to make nice looking ornaments. Goodness knows I have a backlog of pieces to finish, and a whole pile more I’d like to stitch.

Normally I would review my monthly goals on the last day of the month, but I forgot to set goals for August. Oops. It was a fairly productive month. I finished my cross stitched exchange piece, a knitted pair of anklet socks, two crocheted alpacas, the sweater for Baby Man, the Inga bag, and a crochet dinosaur. Hopefully next month will go just as well, although September and October are very busy for me this year. (My busy is most other people’s slow time, but we all live at our own pace.) Tomorrow I’ll share my September goals with you.

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A Touch of Halloween

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Heather

My exchange piece is done and in the mail.  Hopefully it will arrive safely and quickly at its destination.  I think it turned out very nicely, but I’m still concerned that it won’t be to the taste of the recipient.  Honestly, every time I do an exchange I get so worried. And yet, in the end, there is never any need for concern.

This morning I started a little Halloween ornament, sort of as a way to cleanse the palette before getting back to work on something big (or maybe starting a new something big…). I’m stitching Jack O Lantern by Casey Buonaugurio Designs, which is in the Sept/Oct 2010 Just Cross Stitch. I’m using DMC threads and some unknown fabric from my stash, which I think is probably a 34 count linen of some sort.

Jack O Lantern by Casey Buonaugurio (WIP)

I wasn’t able to capture the colour very well, but think the inside of a pumpkin rather than the outside.

There are at least three more designs I’d like to do from this issue, include the Brooke’s Books witch.  I’m going to cross my fingers and hope my LNS has some silver perforated paper for her. I may actually do a TW after this though, since Playful Kittens is calling to me.

It looks like my knitting plans for the fall will be changing. Baby Man’s blue sweater turned out great, and it looks really good on him.  But it is made from acrylic, and three others were going to be made from acrylic too. The problem? He has eczema, which we are able to keep fairly well under control with cream, staying out of the heat and humidity (it has been a very indoors sort of a summer), and dressing him in cotton. Even with a cotton long-sleeve shirt underneath, an acrylic sweater will likely cause him to get an eczema rash. At least I figured this out before I started the other sweaters. Thankfully, one bunch of yarn can be returned. Another  bunch will either go to a charity knitter or I will make something for charity myself, and the last bunch may become part of an afghan.

And lastly I just want to say “Yay!” I won Daffycat’s draw for this super cute Halloween pin cushion.  I’m so happy.  Truthfully, I was starting to get all whiny about entering all kinds of draws and never winning anything, so this was so unexpected. 😀 (Okay, she actually drew another name first, and that lady didn’t want to be entered, so I really came in second. But for once being second was just right! Yay!)

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A Little Blue Sweater

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Heather

I’m still working away on my exchange piece, so I have no cross stitch pictures to show.  Usually I have my exchange pieces done long before the mailing date, but this summer I’ve spent a lot of time knitting and crocheting. And, well, this piece was also a little larger and a little more involved than I first thought.  So, I’ve decided to modify it a bit so that it is done on time, and so that it will suit the tastes of the recipient a little better. And, if I don’t like it when it is done, I do have a very pretty Plan B: a design I stitched a while back, but is something the recipient will definitely like. Thank goodness I went through a period of stitching smalls a while back. 🙂

Even with my sore hands (which are getting better), I’ve been able to get a couple of projects done. My favourite is this cute little sweater for Baby Man. It is the Classic Raglan Pullover by Jane Richmond, knit using Caron Simply Soft Baby in colourway Powder Blue.  The yarn was bought on clearance, so the whole sweater, pattern included, cost me about $11 (plus lots of labour too). Yeah, I don’t knit to save money. I knit to save my sanity.

Classic Raglan Pullover

Unfortunately, Baby Man is not willing to model it for a picture. It has gotten cooler here, but I still can’t convince him to put on a sweater in 20°C+ weather. (Thats about 69°F for your old school people.) The slubs in the yarn make it look a bit lumpy, and it could also do with a good wash. However, I am very pleased with how it turned out, and it looks really cute on Baby Man (for the whole 5 seconds he agreed to wear it.)

In the next couple of days I will share my Inga bag with you. She is all done, and is soaking as I type this.

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Completionist

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Heather

I’m on a bit of a completionist kick right now. Not only have a managed to get my hands on very nearly ever TW design I’d like to have, but I’ve also managed to complete my DMC collection. Thanks to a full Mary Maxim frequent buyer card, the last few (75…) skeins were very nearly free.

The last of the DMC (and a toddler hand)

Baby Man was being very helpful and naming all the colours for me. I’m not sure he realized that there are so very many shades of green and orange and purple.

This weekend I worked on my exchange piece. There is still quite a bit left to do, but it is looking great. Next time, though, I think I will chose a piece with a little less back stitching. I may do some stitching on my Lizzie*Kate ABC Lessons later this week for a bit of a break. And then I will have a picture of my stitching that I can actually share.

I did take a break from crochet this weekend, and my hands are feeling much better.  I did  fair amount of knitting, and I’m confident that isn’t what is causing the problem since I am essentially pain-free today. In fact, I have about half of a sweater for Baby Man done. It is knit using Caron Simply Soft Baby in colourway Powder Blue. The pattern is Classic Raglan Pullover by Jane Richmond.

Classic Raglan Pullover - WIP

This is the first of four sweaters I’m planning to knit for Baby Man this year. He is still so small, so they go very quickly. I’m planning on trying at least one new technique, intarsia, on one of his sweaters. If I don’t like it or it doesn’t work out, at least it isn’t as big an investment in time and money as it would be for an adult sweater.

I am planning on finishing the Inga bag this week, even if it does make my hands hurt. I don’t want it to be a UFO when it is so very close to being done. There is only  one problem… I don’t know where I put it. Seriously, it has just disappeared. How does a bright orange/pink/red bag just disappear?

One last thing: Châtelaine has just announced another new pattern. It is a very pretty water lily. Although it is done from a photo and I don’t generally like those type of patterns, I am so very tempted by this one. Someone talk me out of it!

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Time to Put Down the Hook?

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Heather

My hands are hurting. Quite a lot, actually.  I’m not sure the exact cause, but I’m pretty sure I’ve narrowed it down to my latest crochet project, the Inga Bag.  She is nearly done. I just have to make the second handle, attach them both, and do a single crochet row around the edge. Unfortunately, I really don’t want to. I don’t like my hands hurting. It worries me.

Inga Bag minus handles - WIP

My goodness, isn’t she bright!

My hands actually started to hurt about a week or so before I started the Inga Bag, when I was spending a lot of time crocheting one of PlanetJune’s dinosaurs.  So, I’m pretty sure there is some sort of correlation here, unfortunately.  I’m going to take a break from crochet for the weekend, and then finish up Inga on Monday (I don’t want her to become a UFO so close to the finish). Then, sadly, I’m going to take a bit of a break from crochet. I still have a pile of things I’d like to make: more PlanetJune patterns like her dinosaurs and Halloween PocketAmi, and a fabulous little monk and lotus pattern I bought from etsy, and a Hello Kitty.  But, if my hands need a rest, I’d better give it to them.

Thankfully, knitting and cross stitch don’t seem to be causing any pain.  That means I’m diligently working away on my exchange piece.  It is a little more involved then I expected.  And it is one of those pieces where the backstitching looks a little crap close up, but makes the piece look fabulous when you step back a little. I can’t wait until it is all done. I’m afraid I may need to stitch it again for myself, or at least tackle another piece by the same designer.

Of course, working on an exchange piece means no pictures. Maybe I should work on something else a little bit so I have pictures to share. 🙂

I’m planning on joining in on Wendy D. Johnson’s (aka Wendy Knits) Shetland Pi Shawl KAL. I’m currently swatching using some very pretty purple laceweight yarn. I don’t like the needles I’m using, so I’m going to try a different set. The first chart is going to be posted on Sunday, so if you’d like to join there is still piles of time. Wendy is using fingering weight yarn, and says the pattern is suitable for different weights and both solids and lightly variegated yarns.

BTW, if you like PlanetJune’s crochet patterns, she is having a one day sale today. Enter the code FRIDAY13TH to get 10% of your order. Christmas Tree is calling my name…

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Endless Squares

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Heather

I honestly don’t know how people crochet those giant granny square afghans.  I’m currently on square 14 of 16 for my Inga bag, and I’m about to call it quits.  Yes, granny squares are quick and fairly mindless, but they are so boring.  But, I know they bag will look fabulous when it is done, so I am soldiering on.  And to help me maintain my sanity, I’ve been hiding the ends and sewing together my strips as I go.

Gah, why is it that crochet hardly ever looks attractive in pictures? In truth, those are actually quite pretty granny squares.

That Just Cross Stitch issue in the picture is my latest addition to my Teresa Wentzler collection.  It has the design Faithful Friends. I think there is still about ten more magazines I’d like to get my hands on. One day, hopefully, they will all end up in my hot little hands. 🙂

My stitching is going well. The floss was straightened and the labels returned to the proper skeins (thank goodness for my colour card). I’d love to share a picture of the design because it is absolutely stunning, but since it is an exchange piece, that will have to wait.

In the meantime, take a look at what Lynn over at Happiness is Cross Stitching is offering for her latest giveaway in celebration of the 2nd anniversary of her blog. Head on over to this post and follow the directions to enter, but you have to do it before August 31st.

I’m going to be very inelegant and say that I am so in love with this. I know it wants to come to live with me. 🙂

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