May Ornament – Finally!

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Heather

Ack. I sure dropped the ball, didn’t I? But, my May ornament is finished. I did the last of the back stitching yesterday afternoon while enjoying a mini Torchwood marathon. (I’m halfway through the first season now.)

Peace on Earth Dragon, designed by Dragon Dreams

Peace on Earth Dragon, designed by Dragon Dreams

May’s ornament is (was?) Peace on Earth Dragon by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams (who else?), from the 2002 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. It is stitched more or less as charted, rayon thread included. My only adjustment was to change the words from white to red. The fabric is Toasted Almond evenweave of some type, I think. (I really should keep better notes on fabric.)

I’ve started June’s ornament, so there will be no chance of it not being finished on time. I’m already halfway done, so I just need to keep up the momentum. Of course, I am planning to haul out the sewing machine tomorrow…

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

Ornament SAL – May Check-In

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Heather

It’s time for the fifth Ornament SAL check-in! I hope your stitching fingers have been working hard. I’m going to tell you a secret: my ornament isn’t quite finished yet. All that remains is the back stitching, which I should be able to finish up this evening. Want to know why it isn’t finished?

Rayon Floss

Never again. Never, never again. Ugh!

Thankfully, Angela M. sent me a picture to share this month. Her stocking is sort of finished, she says. I don’t feel quite so bad now. 😉 It is a Lizzie*Kate design that she is stitching for her son, who will finally have his own hand-stitched stocking at the ripe old age of 19. She just needs a bit more fuzzy thread for the snowflakes and to add his name at the top, and then it will be off to the finishers.

Angela M's stocking

Angela M’s stocking

How did your stitching go this month? Are you like Angela and I, and still working away on May’s ornament? Or did you manage to get your’s finished? Fill in the form below to leave a link to your ornament post. And be sure to check out some of the other participants blogs too. The list will close in a week’s time.

The June check-in day is the 26th. So, don’t rest too long. June, and our sixth check-in, will be here before you know it.

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

Floss Toss Mystery

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Heather

Uh oh, what’s this?

Floss, beads and PTB. I can't wait to start!

Floss, beads and PTB. I can’t wait to start!

Yep, a floss toss of another new design. Clearly my restraint has completely disappeared. I signed up for the new Passione Ricamo mystery SAL that begins in June. Come on, it’s a mermaid. I lost my sense for a moment.

I’ve replaced the Mill Hill beads with Delicas and Tohos (that I got an amazing deal on them at the Toronto Bead Society show this past weekend). I do still need to obtain the star treasures and some of the PTB. The fabric I’ve picked is Enchanting Lair’s Meadow.

And I know I’ve said this before, but I really need to stop doing mystery SALs. The last couple I’ve done haven’t been great. But, fingers crossed that this one will be fabulous.

Ornament SAL – Don’t forget! Tomorrow is check in day!

3 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged , ,

Test Flower

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Heather

My quest to create my own thread kit for Victoria Sampler’s Where Stitchers Gather has been pretty successful.

Where Stitchers Gather flosses and fibres

Where Stitchers Gather flosses and fibres

I scavenged through the threads I had left over from some other Victoria Sampler designs I have finished, and I was able to get enough (I hope!) black and white Kreinik Mori to stitch the design. (It actually calls for the black and white to be Au ver a Soie, but who really cares?) I also found enough #4 braid in Vatican gold, Flesh NPI, Olive Green lt. Mori, and an entire spool of Soie Perlee. And, I was very pleased to discover that I had some GAST Highland Heather in my stash already. (I bet I just bought it because of the name. lol!)  For the blue-green-grey NPI, I managed to find an odd dye lot NPI that I got as a sample years ago that I think looks fabulous with all the other colours. And, as for the rest, I’ll be using DMC (yay for conversion charts) and a couple of colours of GAST.

I do need to buy a spool of #4 braid in 713 since I don’t have anything that will make a good substitute.

Where Stitchers Gather Fob - WIP

Where Stitchers Gather Fob – WIP

I decided to stitch the smallest component first, to get an idea of how well the colours work together. It isn’t quite done, as I need the pink #4 braid and I also need to pick a different pale pink (I couldn’t find a conversion for that particular silk, so I’m doing it by eye). Overall, though, I’m very pleased! I can’t wait to stitch more.

2 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged , ,

Pigtail Girl

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Heather

I love, love, love to make toys. Unfortunately, the little man doesn’t like soft toys. But I will totally jump at the chance to make one for someone else.

Little Pigtail Girl

Little Pigtail Girl

This cutie is Little Pigtail Girl, designed by pjcraftsinaustin. (Link to free Ravelry pattern.) I made her for a lovely lady in North Dakota  in exchange for some fabulous corn fibre yarn (yep, there is such a thing). She is crocheted from Bernat Satin and Bernat Baby Jacquards, and her hair is Lion Brand Homespun.

The angle of this picture is a bit bad, so she is much cuter in person. I absolutely want to make another one for myself. I’ll add it to my To Do list. lol!!

Don’t forget – the Ornament SAL check in is next Wednesday! I hope your ornament is going better than mine. I’ll just say two words: rayon floss. Ugh.

3 Comments | Posted in Crochet | Tagged ,

Stitching a Pocket

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Heather

Oh dear, it looks like I broke my promise to myself of not buying a new project. But, I was just so smitten when I saw Victoria Sampler’s Where Stitchers Gather that I couldn’t help myself.

Where Stitchers Gather leaflet and some silk fibres

Where Stitchers Gather leaflet and some silk fibres

Rather than buy the fibre pack, I decided to only purchase the three main colours of silk. For the remainder of the fibres, I’ll be raiding my leftovers from other Victoria Sampler projects and also my big pile of oops and mis-dyed silk that I’ve purchased from Dinky Dyes and HDF. I’m fairly certain I should be able to put together my own “kit”, even if I end up having to add some DMC too.

Natural fabric and bright blue thread!!!

Natural fabric and bright blue thread!!!

To keep myself excited, I cut and serged the fabric this morning. Sorting through fibres to stitch the piece is going to be a big job, but I think that by having the fabric ready to go I’ll keep it in the forefront of my mind.

9 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged ,

Taking a Rest

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Heather

I don’t have too much progress to share this week because I’ve been forced to take another break from stitching and knitting. My tennis elbow is acting up again. I think, perhaps, I’d really better go to physiotherapy this time. :/

Before my arm starting complaining again, I did manage to finish up a couple of pairs of socks.

Top-Down Fleegle Heel Socks

Top-Down Fleegle Heel Socks

These is my top-down socks with a modified Fleegle heel. I wrote the pattern, but I didn’t invent the heel. I’m hoping to release the pattern for free once my test knitter finishes with the smaller size and I get the pattern cleaned up a little.

The yarn is Schoeller+Stahl Sockina Cotton, a very nice cotton and acrylic blend, in colourway 002. You’ve got to love those inventive colour names. 😉

Next up is my Pussy Willow Stockings, designed by Cat Bordhi and available in the book  [amazon_link id=”1596683120″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sock Knitting Master Class[/amazon_link].

Pussy Willow Stockings

Pussy Willow Stockings

The yarn is On Your Toes Bamboo in colourway Cafe Mocha. To be totally honest, I don’t like these socks. The toe, Cat Bordhi’s moccasin toe, fits very strangely. I imagine that if you have pointy toes it would work while, but I have nicely rounded feet, and so I end up with a weird point somewhere around my big toe. I’ve only worn them once, and I imagine I probably never will again. What a shame.

In other sock knitting news, I’ve had to drop out of Sock Madness. My hand was hurting far too much for me to attempt to knit a pair of socks in just a few days. I”m disappointed that I wasn’t able to make it any further in the competition, but I’m also glad that I did make it to round 4. (I’ve also been watching to see how many people on my team have completed the socks so far, and I’m pretty sure I might have even made it to round 5.)

Tomorrow I’ll share some stitching. My hand is doing better, and I’ve been itching to pick up my needle again.

3 Comments | Posted in Knitting | Tagged ,