Two Jackets, One Mirror

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Heather

I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I was taking a class on finishing knitting pieces.  (If I didn’t mention it here, I’m sure I mentioned it on my Twitter feed.)  So, having learned how to correctly do the dreaded mattress stitch, I decided it was high time for me to finish up the two jackets I’ve been working on.

The first is the Ribbed Lace Bolero, which I knit up from Cotton-Ease to wear for a wedding we are attending next weekend.  I think it turned out fabulous, if a touch big.  I’ve lost quite a bit of weight over the past little while, and I’m still not used to my new size.  Warning, this is an unflattering picture.

Ribbed Lace Bolero, July 2009

The bolero is seamed under my arms, so you can’t see it at all in this picture.  But trust me, it looks pretty darn good, even if I do say so myself.

The second jacket I seamed up was the Baby Surprise Jacket that I have shared a couple of times.  Here it is all done:

Baby Surprise Jacket, July 2009

And here is a close-up of some of the shoulder seam.  Note that I was seaming a row to a stitch, which is a bit difficult.  It isn’t perfect, but I still think it looks good.

bsjseaming

I have been cross stitching too!  I finished up the Crescent Moon Mirror from Joan Elliot’s newish book Bewitching Cross Stitch. What I would like to know is why it is that even though I am sure I have all the materials I require before I start, I find out halfway through that I am missing something.  It never fails!  In this case I didn’t have any #4 Braid 25 grey, so I used DMC 158 instead (it was just backstitch), and I didn’t have the one bead so I substituted another one that I thought looked nice.  But I am sure when I planned this project I had everything.

Crescent Moon Mirror, Joan Elliot, July 2009

Thank you to SoftwareGoddess for agreeing to set up a trade for the pocket mirror!

And yes, I am working on Baby Man’s stocking too.  Here is my progress so far:

stocking-july15,2009

Not bad, eh?  I’m trying to bribe myself by saying I will finish Santa and then I can work on Take Time to Read.  Hopefully my will power holds out.

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Happiness Through The Mail

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Heather

Back in February, I won the draw that Erica of Erica’s Places had to celebrate her 100th post.  Now, Erica is a busy lady with her two sons, volunteer work, and model stitching.  So, my prize was delayed a little while.  But boy was I surprised when I got a big package in the mail this morning!

First, she stitched me a lovely tape measure cover (something I have been meaning to do for ages, but have never gotten around too, so it is extra great!) and a heart ornament.

ericaprize2

And then there is all of this, along with a whole pile of finger puppets for Baby Man which have already been scattered to the four corners of the house.  He is completely enchanted with them, as I am with all of this!

ericaprize1

Someone was clearly paying attention to my wish list!  I can’t wait to get started on Jeanette Douglas’ Take Time to Read or on knitting some socks with the Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes.  And I think that skein of Threadworx in colour Bleeding Hearts would be perfect for that Hoffman chart I mentioned the other day.  Thank you so much Erica for everything!

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Our Very Own Celebrity

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Heather

Okay, I will admit that the other day I said we needed a celebrity to help promote cross stitch.  But, I wasn’t exactly thinking of Frank Bielec (Trading Spaces and Mosey ‘n Me)  when I said that.  I was thinking, you know, if it was a man, someone like Brad Pitt or whoever is hot this week.

Anyway, Hoffman Distributing and Frank Bielec have a new promotion that involves a free chart, supplies and cross stitch lessons.  Just take a look:

For more information, you can go to the Hoffman site.  The chart is also avaliable for download there.

I think I will stitch this up myself, just to see what it looks like finished.  And maybe it will encourage all my knitting-only readers to give it a go too!  Let me know if you give it a try.

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White Roses and Snow Lace

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Heather

I’m sorry about the lack of posts this week.  No, I haven’t been buried in a pile of garbage, although the husband and I are thinking about heading downtown tonight for dinner and goodness knows what the situation is like there now. And to quickly answer some of the questions about the strike all we know is that the union says the strike will go on all summer because they won’t back down.  And yes, they did strike a few years ago but they were legislated back to work partly because the Pope was coming.  All we have this year is Beyonce and Lil’ Wayne.  Yeah…

So, what have I been up to then?  Well, taking Baby Man to the park (where he has some trouble holding his own against the older kids), reading (I highly recommend The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson), knitting, and cross stitching.

On my knitting needles right now is Ribbed Lace Bolero from Kelly at 10 feet high.  I’m knitting it using Lion Brand’s Cotton-Ease in colour Snow, which is a really nice cotton/acrylic blend.  I would most likely use it again if I came across a project it would work for.  Here’s where I am on the project so far, just three more rows of lace left and then the finally 3″ of ribbing.  I’m planning on wearing this to a wedding in two weeks, so I am ahead of schedule.

ribbedlace-july11,2009

I also finally finished up my latest crochet project, Market Tote from the Spring/Summer 2009 issue of Knit 1.  I used Universal Yarn’s Summer Linen in colour Sky Blue, a cotton/linen blend.  Again, this is a nice yarn. I think I would use it again for a light summer tank.  As for the bag… well, it is much smaller than I expected and looks a little home-made, and not really in a good way.  Maybe it will look better with use.

Market Bag, folded, July 2009Market Bag folded into bottom

Market Bag, July 2009Market Bag unfolded

As for cross stitch, I haven’t been working on Baby Man’s stocking.  But, I have still been working on one of my July goals: his birth sampler.  I’ve made some good progress on Victoria Sampler’s Heirloom Birth Sampler over the past couple of days.  I’m using the ribbon thread kit, DMC perle cotton and floss and 32ct Platinum Belfast. (The fabric was originally intended for Ink Circle’s Growth Rings, but this was more important.  And I’ve just reassigned Growth Rings to the fabric that was for Quaker Seasons from TGOS and that has been reassigned to some random unlabelled fabric.  So, it all works out.  Am I the only one who does this?)

birthsampler-july11,2009

In the original version of the piece, those three sided stitches at the bottom are pulled very tightly.  I decided that I didn’t want to do that.  I was also a little free in the placement of my leaves and beads, but I was very careful about where the roses when since I knew they would provide me with a base to work from.

I hope to finish up the bolero this weekend and maybe get a couple more rows done on the birth sampler.  One thing I am upset about, though, is that the strike caused the HazMat pick-up scheduled at our building for today to be cancelled.  And they were going to be giving out Air Miles points!  Now the strike really has hit home!

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The Garbage, She Overflows

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Heather

As you may (or probably not) know, Toronto city workers are on strike.  That means public pools and daycares are closed.  As are the city archives, city golf courses, and city-run museums and art galleries (not the ROM and AGO though), and a whole lot more.  Worst of all, there is no garbage collection.  (Except out here in Etobicoke, where residential garbage pickup is contracted out.  And yes, I live in another city, but it is still part of Toronto.  Don’t ask me to explain amalgamation.  I don’t understand it myself.)  So, we have a situation where we have a lovely scene like this:

mimicocreek

a block and a half away from a scene like this:

lotsogarbage

Disgusting, isn’t it?  Thankfully the weather has been unseasonably cool, so it only smells bad rather then stinks.  But, with the temperature set to jump this weekend, I can only imagine how awful it is going to be.

Now, the city was trying to be smart about the garbage sitution at the start of the strike.  Below is a picture taken by Danielle Scott from the Toronto Strike Flickr stream.

3655175967_1b3feeaf17

The sign reads “Temporarily out of service.  Please do not litter.”  Guess how long they lasted?

I’m not going to vent about the strike or share my feelings about union/management negotiations.  All I will say is that everyone who has a job right now should be thankful.  And I’m thankful that the smelly garbage situation gives me an excuse to stay inside and stitch.

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Green Blob

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Heather

The green blob Baby Surprise Jacket is done!  Take a look:

Baby Surprise Jacket - unfolded

And with a bit of a folding it turns into this:

Baby Surprise Jacket - folded

Crazy and amazing, isn’t it?  Even if you don’t care for knitting, you have to appreciate the genius of the design.

For those who know this pattern, I did make a couple of changes.  I added two rows of eyelets (yo, k2tog) and made bobble buttons.  I knit it using Mary Maxim’s Baby’s Best yarn in colour Mint, and it took me just under 2 skeins.  My gauge is 6 stitches per inch, and this looks like it will fit a baby up to about 6 months, assuming they aren’t too pudgy!  I just need to seam up the sleeves, which I will do after I ask a couple questions at my knitting finishing class tomorrow evening.

It was a quick and easy knit, just knitting every row with decreases and increases where necessary.  I used the new line by line pattern that Schoolhouse Press released a little while back, rather than Elizabeth Zimmermann’s original “pithy” directions.  I’m still too much of a novice to try to decipher what she is trying to say.

I haven’t been cross stitching much.  Well, that isn’t true.  Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours out on the balcony stitching on Baby Man’s stocking.  I was making good progress until I was chased inside by a couple of bees.  I’m terrified of them.  So much so that I will abandon my stitching to get away.  I wonder, does anyone know a pretty and free bee cross stitch pattern?  Maybe if I stitch one I won’t be so afraid.  But don’t get me started on wasps! 😛  I think I will never get over my fear of them.

You stitchers out there might be interested in this: Volarium is having a contest for Cross Stitch Letters Bible by Valerie Lejeune. It is a 712 page book with patterns for over 800 alphabets!  Isn’t that fabulous?  I’ve been looking for a great alphabet book for ages, something that isn’t all children’s theme stuff, and it looks like this book is it!  If you are interested, head over to their blog for more information–Volarium: Contest and summer vacation

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Constructing Santa

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Heather

If you follow my Twitter feed (@silverlotus152 or posted in my sidebar), you’ll know that I’ve been working on Baby Man’s Christmas stocking.  I’ve made fair progress on it so far, aided by the fact that Dimensions likes to use a lot of half stitches in their designs.  Yes, I’m doing a Dimensions kit.  They do tend to drive me crazy with their use of all full stitches, but I’m soldiering on this time and not worrying about trying to adjust them like I usually do.  I want to make sure I get it done in time for Christmas this year.

stocking-july5,2009

It is Dimensions’  Naughty or Nice Stocking, but I have changed the fabric to a 28ct lugana.  I’m not sure what I will do with the Aida the kit came with.  I so rarely use it any more–mainly when I want sturdy fabric, like for Lynne Nicoletti’s fortune tellers or for simple kits that are mainly done to pass the time.  I might, though, use Aida to do the Wheel of the Year pillow that is in the new Joan Elliot book since I want that to be sturdy too.  But I digress.

I’ve also mentioned on my Twitter feed that I’ve been knitting Elizabeth Zimmermann’s iconic Baby Surprise Jacket.  Here’s my progress so far, done in Mary Maxim’s Baby’s Best in colour Mint.

bsj-july5,2009

Yes, it really that will be a baby jacket.  Amazing, eh?  Elizabeth Zimmermann was a genius.  (To those who know the pattern, I added an eyelet row just to jazz it up.  I might add another one on the back 90 stitching.)

I did finally get that first pink sock bound off.  I went up two needle sizes to a 3.25mm to do it, and truthfully, it is still a bit of a squeeze to get it over my heel.  Maybe toe-up socks aren’t for me.  I’ve never run into this sort of problem with top-down.  I’ve cast on the second sock and made a bit of headway with it.  I really want to get these done so I can get started on these Lily of the Valley Socks.

toeup-july5,2009

For those who don’t remember, the pattern is Toe-up Socks with a Difference by Wendy Knits in Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes in colourway Hibiscus.  The colour is just a little bit off, but they are very pink.

And, to go back to stitching, I have made a little bit of progress on Part 3 of Castles in the Air.  I might work on it more this week, since I feel that I have good progress with the stocking.  Ultimately, it depends how the spirit moves me.

cita-july5,2009

And a couple pieces of news.  First, it looks like Lynne Nicoletti is feeling better and designing again!  Her new Baby Booties design is adorable!  I can’t wait to see her next paper doll.

Also, check out this post by Stitch Bitch: Crafta-tista-liscious-ness.  While I would love to see more young people stitching, I have to agree with what she is saying.  Those “hipsters” who have turned to stitching aren’t really all that hip and are just a little annoying.  Yeah, I can be a bit hypocritical sometimes.  I don’t only want people to stitch the things I like, but I do want people to take the time to learn the craft and have respect for it.  And it would be nice if they released that nekkid people have been done to death.  They aren’t shocking and cool. 😛

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