June Goals and More

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Heather

Somehow I missed the beginning of the month and I didn’t post my June goals.  There is no recap for May because I didn’t set any goals.  I figured that since it was my birthday month I was entitled to give myself some slack.  And it worked out quite well, since I had that awful cold that knocked me for a loop for about two weeks.  Anyway…

June Goals

  • Finish and frame Happily Ever After before June 24th
  • Finish Montavilla Market Tote
  • Start Liesl for my mom
  • Find a pattern, and possibly start, the socks I’m doing on commission
  • Iron and frame Sunflower Fairy (yes, I still haven’t gotten around to ironing her)
  • Start Rajasthan Lotus Temple

I’m off to a good start on my goals.  I finished up Montavilla Market Tote just a couple of hours ago.  The ends are woven in and it is just waiting for a bath.  I’m hoping to ship off my package to the recipient in a week or two, but first I plan to make a couple of other small things, if I can find the time.

Montavilla Market Tote (stuffed with 25 50g balls of yarn)

Liesl, unfortunately, is not off to a good start.  I have a fairly large collection of knitting needles for someone who has only been knitting for about a year and a half. But, I don’t have a lot of the larger sizes.  Liesl calls for a 7mm needle, I have a 6.5mm and an 8mm circular, but no 7 or 7.5mm.  (I did a guage swatch with my 8mm, and I’m sure I will actually need a 7.5mm since I am a tight knitter.)  So, I’m going to have to head up to Mary Maxim sometime in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, I’ll put in some more work on my Rosebud Socks or my Empire Lace Cardi, both of which have been languishing while I tried to get the market bag done.

Happily Ever After is moving slowly.  I have one side of the border done and part of the “Happily Ever After” row.  I’m going to start the other side of the border today and pray that everything meets up. If it does, it is pretty much smooth sailing.  Honestly, I get so paranoid when I don’t start a design in the middle.

Happily Ever After by Marie Barber (WIP)

I also had a bunch of baby knitting planned for this summer, but it looks like I don’t need to do it now.  My friend has decided to have her baby in Singapore rather than Canada, since they will be living in Cambodia for a few years for work. I’m pretty sure a baby that will be living in Cambodia has no need for two or three nice heavy baby sweaters.  Although, such a baby just might look adorable in a Katja.

1 Comment | Posted in Crochet, Knitting | Tagged , , , , ,

Market Bags and Swans

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Heather

Oh my goodness, another week (and more!) gone without a post.  I have no excuses this time, other than the days just keep getting away from me.  And what do I have to do? Well, there is Baby Man and the regular round of errands, some work, sleep, household chores, and of course knitting and cross stitch!

I’m speeding right along with Happily Ever After, even though I had a wee bit of a set back when it came to centring the date. But a little ripping and everything is back on track.  I did make a few adjustments with motif positioning to account for the fact that I used letters in the date and not just  numbers.  (Canada has one way of writing the date with numbers only and the U.S. has another and since the couple is one Canadian and one American/Russian, I thought it was best to spell out the date to avoid confusion.) So, to make sure I haven’t made a horrible mistake, I’m working on the boring bit of the border now, and then I will work down to the date.  There is some wiggle room between the date and the names, and any mistake can be fixed there.

Happily Ever After by Marie Barber - WIP

I’ve still got some backstitching to do in the swan panel and beads and backstitching on the diamond panel, but this is turning out just beautifully.

In the world of knitting, I am stalled on my socks that I shared last time. I’ve been working on a string market bag instead for an exchange I’m taking part in through Ravelry.

Montavilla Market Tote - WIP

The pattern I’m using is Knit Picks’ Montavilla Market Tote, and the yarn is Fiddlesticks Knitting Ecoknit Organic Cotton in three different colours (Cream, Cinnamon, and Coffee).  (I have a fourth colour but it didn’t blend nicely.)  If I can find some sort of a drawstring toggle, I’m going to make this into a bag that holds its self, like the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty. I’ll let you in on a secret: the yarn for this bag cost me $3CAN.  Amazing, eh? This is fabulous, soft, organic yarn, but I bought it at my LYS’s closing sale for a song.

And that is about it.  The heat here in Southern Ontario has been nearly unbearable for late May.  Quite honestly, I just don’t want to do anything other than sit around and read. The weather is suppose to break later in the week, and hopefully that will help me feel more motivated.

6 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , , ,

Swans and Rosebuds and the Black Lung

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Heather

Wow, that was a heck of cold I caught.  It is still hanging on, but about all that is left is a nasty cough that is keeping me up at night.  My husband is currently suffering a milder version of my cold, and my strong, wee little man had the sniffles yesterday and that’s it.  I swear, his immune system is made of steel or something.

So, what have I been up to besides languishing in bed convinced I was dying of consumption, Black Lung, and goodness knows what else? I’ve been stitching, of course!  I’ve made great progress on Happily Ever After, a Marie Barber design published by Just Cross Stitch.

Happily Ever After by Marie Barber (WIP)

As beautiful as this design is, I’m a bit frustrated with it.  There are no less than three symbols in the chart that are not in the colour key.  I did call Just Cross Stitch about two weeks ago about the problem, but I didn’t hear back from them until yesterday.  Thankfully, with a bit of detective work, I was able to find three unused symbols in the colour key and figure it out from there.  I’m glad it was that easy, otherwise my progress would have been seriously delayed. As it is, I’m hoping to have this swan scene finished by the end of the long weekend, and then I’ll move on to the rest of the design.

Oh, right, not all of you celebrate this long weekend.  This is the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada; also known as May 2-4 (two-four) weekend, because the holiday Monday is on or as close to May 24th as possible.  Which, I suppose, is because that is/was Queen Victoria’s birthday.  I’m not sure why we still celebrate it.  I mean, why don’t we celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday instead?  I suppose because it is in April, and having a holiday in May is nicer. 🙂  This weekend also marks the safe planting date up here.  It is generally accepted that most of Canada won’t see frost again until October. *fingers crossed*

Enough about Canadian holidays. I have been knitting.  No surprise there, I’m sure.  I’ve started Empire Lace Cardi, but it is all black and there isn’t much to see yet, so I haven’t bothered to post a picture.  I’ve taken what I learned in knitting Hey Teach earlier this year and have hopefully adjusted the texture division properly for my bust.  I think it is odd how, while there are changes in width for different bust sizes, patterns generally don’t take into account that a larger bust will likely start much lower than a smaller bust, if you know that I mean.  And a line of a texture change going across my boobs is not my idea of a nice pattern feature.

Friday was my monthly visit to the office, which meant I needed to get a small knitting project on the needles for my commute.  So, Thursday evening I cast on Rosebud Socks from Wendy Johnson’s book Toe-up Socks for Every Body.  They are knit from the toe up, obviously.  This isn’t my favourite way to knit socks, but sometimes it is nice to do something different.  The yarn is my current favourite: Panda Cotton from Crystal Palace in colourway Rosewater.

Rosebud Socks by Wendy Johnson

And that’s it. I’d really hoping to make a good deal of progress on Happily Ever After since I would like to have it finished in a month. (hahahaha!) I’ve got a few projects I’m eager to get too, so they are my additional motivation. Wish me luck!

7 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , , ,

Birthday Giveaway Winner

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Heather

Thank you very much to everyone who entered my birthday giveaway.  It was quite interesting to learn that so many of us do lots of different crafts.  In my case, I cross stitch, knit, crochet, sew (a little bit), and I have been known to scrapbook, but not for a long time.  I’ve also made some stitch markers, which I suppose is a form of jewellery making, and I plan to try punchneedle some day very soon.

Now, on to the winner.

Jolene of Dip Diddly Designs!

Congratulations.  And thank you again to everyone for all the entries and the birthday wishes.

1 Comment | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged

A Pile of Finishes

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Heather

It has been quite a while since I’ve shared what I am working on.  With everything that  has been going on (the retreat, work, etc.), I have actually managed to finish a few things.

First, my Lily Cardigan, knit in Rowan PureLife Organic Cotton, is done.  You may notice some stripping in the centre.  That is because I bought eight balls of yarn, and then figured I needed nine and had to buy one of a different dye lot.  To make it blend better, I used it along with one of the first dye lot, alternating every other row.  But, it turns out I only needed eight balls of yarn, and didn’t need to use the odd dye lot. I wasn’t going to rip it all out though, and just returned the unused ball (from the original dye lot).  (The colour in the picture is pinker than it is in actuality.)

Lily Cardigan by Marie Grace Designs

In interest of full disclosure, the cardigan doesn’t actually fit me.  It is about one size too small.  I’ve gained a lot of weight since I started felling ill, and this lovely sweater is my incentive to lose it.  I want to be able to wear it comfortably by the fall.

I also finished up my Broadripple Socks. They are a bit different than the model, since I didn’t do the ripple stitch on the foot.  I’d like to say that it was planned, but it is actually because I missed a line in the pattern and didn’t realize until I was about halfway down the foot.  The yarn is Cascade Fixation in colour Stonewash.

Broadripple Socks from Knitty, Summer 2003

I’ve finished up lesson 2 of the Hardanger course in The Gift of Stitching.

Sunflower Fairy is just waiting for her beads and backstitching (and an iron).

Sunflower Fairy by Nora Corbett

I’ve also tried my hand at “jewelry making”, and whipped up a set of stitch markers I recently gave away as part of a birthday gift.

I’m also working on Happily Ever After by Marie Barber, but I’ve hit a snag because one of the symbols is not on the symbol key. I’ve contacted both Marie Barber and Just Cross Stitch, so hopefully I will have an answer soon.

Don’t forget to enter my birthday giveaway.  Check out yesterday’s post for details.

3 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , ,

Birthday Giveaway!

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Heather

Today is my birthday, and to celebrate I thought I would offer you a chance to win a small stitching prize.  It includes:

  • 3 Tapestry Tweens size 21 needles
  • DMC Latte chart
  • Brenda Franklin Cheetah chart
  • DMC Precious Family chart
  • DMC Metallic Floss Holiday Crafts booklet
  • Sue Hillis Put on your big girl panties and deal with it chart
  • Jeanette Douglas Stitching Ties chart

and, the best piece, one of PlanetJune‘s detail stuffing tools.  This is something I think every stitcher of smalls should have.  It makes stuffing biscornus, fobs and ornaments so much easier.

To enter, just leave a comment below.  If you’d like two entries, let me know if you do another craft besides cross stitching.

I’ll draw for the winner at about noon on Friday, May 14th.  Good luck!

8 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged ,

May Stitching Bloggers’ Question

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Heather

I thought I would jump on the meme bandwagon and answer the first of Lake Stitcher‘s new Stitching Bloggers’ Questions, a monthly meme.

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching.  They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal.   Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers.  They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be?  I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one.  And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

This is a debate that surfaces amongst the knitters and crocheters of Ravelry occasionally, and has been touched on by several knitting authors.  Since I first came across this idea in the knitting world, I thought I would answer this question looking at that craft first.  Since I am a new knitter, my knitting is partly about the process: learning new stitches, working with new yarns, that sort of thing.  But also because I am a new knitter, it is mainly about the products or projects.  I love having a finished pair of socks that I can wear, or a lovely cardigan that gets complements. So, while I do enjoy the process, it is mainly about the finished project.

Stitching is a little bit different.  I do love my finished projects, but I have so  many now that projects sit unframed or unfinished (as in turned into an ornament or what have you) for a long time.  It is more about the act of putting needle to fabric, of trying new speciality stitches, or taking a class for a new design or with a favourite teacher.  Maybe that is why I have so many half-done stitching projects, were as when it comes to my knitting I only have one large and one small project on the needles. (Oh, and the lace shawl, but that is hibernating because lace and toddlers don’t mix.)

2 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Memes & Collabs | Tagged