A Wee Bit of Dragon, Christmas and Crochet

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Heather

For all the designs I’ve stitched on in the last week or so, I don’t have much to show. I’ve been to flighty, as I mentioned lately, so I haven’t spent much time with any one design in particular.

The good news is that those blue Bamboo Sockies are nearly done. They are in the baby’s room and he is asleep right now, so I don’t have a picture to share. Hopefully I will have a picture of them done, and maybe even on my feet (wow!) in the next couple of days. (I’m still totally jazzed by making my own clothes! From sting! With sticks!! Wow!!)

I’ve also been stitching on a piece for an exchange. It is nearly done. I’ve slowed down a bit on it though because I really hate stitching with DMC white. This probably comes from stitching Lavender & Lace’s The Wedding twice. (I also won’t use Permin linen anymore because of this.) Does anyone one have any suggestions for a white they like better, like Anchor? I’m going to be doing Mirabilia’ Winter White Santa, and I’m dreading all that white.

I started my crochet class this past Saturday, and it isn’t going well. Admittedly, neither did my first knitting class, and that is already almost like second nature. Hopefully next week will go better. My goal is to make this shawl: Pentacle/Pentagram Shawl. It is probably a bit much for a beginner to tackle, but I’m nothing if not ambitious.

On to the pictures! First is Christmas Treasures by Victoria Sampler. It is stitched with the thread pack, which includes NPI, Gloriana, Kreinik and other silks. I’m using 28ct. Cashel in Taupe. I’ve made a small change already (dotting the “i” in Christmas), and will make a few other changes, like making the cardinals the same colour.

Next is Dragon’s Lullaby by Dragon Dreams. This is a class piece from the fall CreativFestival, but it is now available on PatternsOnline. I don’t have much done on it yet, but I think it is super cute and hope to hang it in the baby’s room when he is a little older.

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A Little of This, and a Little of All of That

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Heather

I’ve had a pretty flighty week. I haven’t been able to settle down and work on any one piece in particular. Since I last posted, I have stitched on the following:

  • Celtic Thunder bourse by Enchanting Lair
  • A Dragon’s Lullaby by Dragon Dreams
  • Camelot Miniature by Teresa Wentzler
  • a piece for a gift
  • a piece for an exchange
  • Christmas Treasures by Victoria Sampler
  • the second Bamboo Sockie

I’m also in the process of kitting up Baby Man’s stocking, Growth Rings from the latest JCS, and Jeanette Douglas’ tree design in JCS. I just can’t decide on what I want to work on.

The funny thing is, most of what I’m working on isn’t really my style, per say. The TW piece definitely is, and the DD piece is more or less. The VS piece isn’t really, but I do enjoy the silks and all the speciality stitches. The gift piece isn’t, but it works well for the recipient. I’m not sure about the exchange piece, but hopefully the recipient likes it. (It is making me smile. 🙂 )

If I’m going to get anything done, I really need to concentrate on one or two pieces. I wish I knew why I felt the need to be all over the place this week.

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Miss Manners is Always Right, Right?

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Heather

Apparently, Miss Manners thinks that doing needlework in public is fine: Miss Manners: Old-school ways to be distracting

Now, as both a knitter and a cross stitcher, I agree and disagree with Miss Manners. I think that knitting in public, preferably without a pattern or constant use of a tape measure (is it 10cm yet!?!) is fine. Maybe not in the first row, but quietly in the back with non-metal needles that don’t tck-tck-tck.

Cross stitch, on the other hand, is best done in one’s own home or with a group of like-minded folks. There is too much checking of patterns, switching of colours, and snipping with scissors. Don’t get me wrong, I would cross stitch everywhere if I could. But I don’t want to soil my work or offend anyone with all the sharp tools I’m carting around.

I will admit, though, that I used to cross stitch in class in university. I finished a whole lot of little Christmas ornament and clothes peg angels in class. I wasn’t the best student, and at least if I cross stitched I was awake for the class. (Oddly, I was a great student in high school and I still consider myself pretty smart. University just wasn’t the right place for me.)

On to the finishes! The Celtic Thunder biscornu is now sewing up. It looks lovely. I may go back and add some Delica beads around the edge if I have enough left over after finishing the bourse.

Celtic Thunder biscornu by Enchanting Lair

Fabric: 28 ct. Bonney Heather from Enchanting Lair
Threads: Dinky Dyes and Gloriana silks
Beads: Delicas and Swarovski

Next is a Valentine’s gift I stitch for my husband, Love Letters by The Chocolate Cat.


Love Letters by The Chocolate Cat
Fabric: Unknown 32ct. linen
Thread: Dinky Dyes #25 Ruby
Finishing: pin keep

And, lastly, another knitting (almost) finish. The first in a pair of socks using a Mary Maxim pattern (Bamboo Sockies) and Mary Maxim Bamboo Soft Stripes yarn. The yarn is a bit splitty, but I like it.

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Some More Thunder, and a Small Tree

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Heather

The pedicure socks were finished and given to my mom as a gift this past weekend. She loved them. A second pair of pedicure socks, for me, has been put on indefinite hold. I made so many mistakes, that I figured they weren’t meant to be. Now I am working on a pair of socks using Mary Maxim’s Bamboo Soft Stripes. (Sorry, no picture yet.)

Cross stitch-wise, I’ve finished stitching the biscornu from Celtic Thunder. It still needs to be sewing up, but that shouldn’t take long.

And, another small Christmas design finish: Tree by Bucilla. Again, like Snowflakes, I will probably make this into a package tie.

So, that is finish 7 and 8 for my 50+3 Project Challenge. I do have one other design done, but it is a Valentine’s gift and is in the process of being turning into something. I will share it in a couple of days.

My current WIP, besides the socks, is the bourse from Celtic Thunder. I’m stitching the inside section right now.

And here is a closeup of the stitching. It is done in Gloriana’s Victorian Garden, which is perhaps one of my favourite colours of their silk.

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Alone and Never Apart

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Heather

Growing up as an only child, I really learned to value quiet time to myself.  To this day, there are few things I enjoy more than sitting by myself and indulging in one of my hobbies, be it reading, knitting, cross stitch or occasionally writing.  But now that I am a mommy, quiet time doesn’t seem to exist any more.  Some days I don’t even get a break when I’m in the shower.  More then once, Baby Man has escape from his papa and poked his head around the shower curtain.

Once in a while, quanta lets me escape for a few hours of shopping and lunch by myself.  And I will be totally honest, I look forward to this time more then I probably should.  I plan for it all week, trying to take care of other errands so that I can do just the few things I want to do, alone, without rushing.  But, somehow, when I’m out I feel a little lonely.  I’m a wee bit sad when I see other people with their little ones, and my thoughts turn to home.  I think that being a parent changes something deep inside.

I have no foreseeable break from the little man until a week Tuesday, when I will be escaping to my favourite spa in Stoney Creek, ON.  In the meantime, I will be dealing with a teething little man, and although I may get frustrated, I can’t imaging being apart from him.  That is, until my crochet lessons start the following Saturday.

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Socks, Snowflakes, and a Bit of Thunder

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Heather

Despite dealing with a little man who is teething (tooth #8 has poked through, and tooth #9 appears to be on the way), I have found some time to finish up a few projects.

Yesterday, while watching the service man repair my broken fridge freeze, I finished up my very first pair of knitted socks! I made something I can wear!! (Yes, I am excited.) The socks are just a basic pattern taught in a class I took at my LYS (Village Yarns in Etobicoke, ON). I used Dale of Norway Stork (colour #14). It isn’t really sock yarn, but a requirement of the class is to purchase supplies at the shop, and they don’t carry any non-animal fibre sock yarns, so I made due. The socks turned out well, but far from perfect.

I’ve already learning from my mistakes, and am doing much better on my second pair: Pink Camo Pedi Socks using Bernat Sox.


And now the cross stitching finishes. The first is the scissor fob for Enchanting Lair’s Celtic Thunder. It still needs to be made into a fob, but the stitching is done, so I declare it finished!

And yesterday afternoon I stitched up this little design, Snowflakes by Bucilla. It is a wee kit that includes a frame. I have three more of these, in different designs, and I will probably use them as package ties this Christmas.


So, that is 3 more finishes for my challenge, plus one almost done. I think I’m doing well. Good thing, since I have my eye on a new Jeanette Douglas design (Take Time to Read) and there are two Châtelaine groups I would love to join. I will try to harden my resolve, but I really want that Jeanette Douglas chart.

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A Scarf and Some Birds

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Heather

It has been a productive week for me. Not only do I have two lovely knitted socks just waiting to have their toes added, but I also finally finished up my Column of Leaves scarf and Victoria Sampler’s Birds of a Feather. That means I now have 2 projects done for my 50+3 Project Challenge!


Brooke’s Column of Leaves Scarf
Designer: Brooke Nelson
Yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton, shade 305

Birds of a Feather
Designer: Victoria Sampler
Fabric: unsure, possible 28 ct. evenweave
Threads: thread pack

This afternoon I will probably cast on some pedicure socks, and in cross stitch I’m back working on Enchanting Lair’s Celtic Thunder. I should have the scissor fob finished up in a couple of days. It may be a while before things get sewing together though, as my mom has my sewing machine foot.
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