My Weeks In Stitches - A Finish!

Hooray, I finished the Easter sweater!  I'm really happy with it - it fits, it feels so soft, and it got lots of compliments at church LOL. People hugged me and stroked the fabric, then said, "Wow you made that?!?" followed pretty quickly by "You look amazing, by the way!"  It feels nice to have people notice my efforts!

So, sorry for the bathroom mirror selfie (laundry room, no less), but the kids were occupied when I wanted to take the pictures:

This is a little better look at the fabric and the front drape.  It can also be twisted and worn around the neck like a scarf with sleeves.  The sleeves fit perfectly, too.  I didn't have a single moment of tugging the shoulders forward.  This is awesome, because it's my first time doing sleeves this way - I've always done raglan, but these were set in.

I also did a little bit of cross stitching.  I pulled out Dorotheos (My Big Toe Designs).  This is the last progress picture I found in my gallery, so I'm pretty certain it's the last one I shared:

At some point I finished the brown border of this motif, this is what I accomplished Thursday night:

I'm out of the practice of taking pictures when I stop for the day.  But I did finish the blue flowers in this motif, and start the border of the next.  I'll have more to show next week!

My Weeks In Stitches

The past few weeks have been almost all Christmas gifts.  They are finished and (mostly) delivered now, so I can focus on other things!

Great Is Thy Faithfulness is finished!

 I've started on Doro Theos:

The plan when I started this was to stitch Doro Theos twice - once in each of the variegated threads I got to use in Great Is Thy Faithfulness.  These colors go nicely with the color scheme in my bedroom, and I want to hang them in the chair-corner where I do my Bible reading and blogging.  However.  The chocolate variegated thread is very subtle.  And the blue-tan thread blends too well into the fabric (you can see what I mean in the "finish" pic of Great Is Thy Faithfulness).  So I think I've decided to do mixed color schemes instead of mono.  I'm also thinking about stitching each motif and framing separately (maybe in hoops not frames), so there would be 6 circles around Great Is Thy Faithfulness - here's a pic of the intended design as charted:

What would you do?  6 separate motifs, or 2 vertical sets?  I need help deciding before I finish this motif - I need to know where to start the next one!

Finally, a peek at the hibernating sweater.  The designer calls it "$5 In Paris", but I call it Parisian Berries & Cream.  I really like these colors, and I'm glad I did the charcoal stripe in between the main colors:

This seemed like a very short holiday season to me, anyone else?  It seemed like I only really had 2 weekends to get everything done, and that meant everything!  I'm glad to be done with all the busy-ness, although there was a lot of enjoyment in the busyness.  For one thing, K played Mary in the church Christmas program (I think she did an amazing job).  And I had a great time hanging out with my coworkers at our annual holiday party.

Maybe the shortness of time was because I didn't do as many handmade gifts?  Since I didn't start working on secret projects in September, I experienced the season more like "normal" people who buy things pre-made in stores?

Have a great week everyone!

My Week In Stitches

Well this was a distracted week!  First I had a long weekend for the holiday, then I was sick on Thursday.  I started a Bible study on Wednesday, and somewhere in there I even managed to do some stitching!  No work on Fairy Sisters this week - my contacts are at the very END of their lives, so I didn't put myself through the torture of trying to stitch when I couldn't see.  Instead.........

I finished Irish Blessing!  And I forgot my cardinal rule with this fabric, always photograph under harsh electric light.  Hopefully Jo will be able to get a better shot of it when she receives it!  It's on its way to England!  I will restitch this at some point for myself - I would absolutely love to have some of my work hanging in my house.  And I may rechart the pattern I shared so that it incorporates what I did here.  I'm really happy with the changes I made.  The "braid" in the middle is the blue, pink and yellow together, so it makes a rainbow thread.  It looks really pretty.

Oooh!  I found one I took and put on Instagram after I finished - you can see some of the detail better - it was cut off at the top, so I've cropped it even more to show the braid and the Rhodes stitches:

And here's a sneak peak of the new baby gift - just  a look at the yarn.  This is DK yarn from Kraemer Yarns, Tatamy Tweed.  The color name is Oatmeal. and it's so soft!  I love this pattern, I'm making great progress on it.

Okay!  Off to the post office and the eye doctor!  Have a great weekend!

Wordless Weekend - She's 10 Now

(and after much parental wrestling wearing the sweater and beret lovingly handmade for her by her mother - parenthetical statements don't count as words, right?)

My Week In Stitches - a Finish!

*twirling, spinning happy dance*

I finished Hallie's sweater - before her birthday.  Ecstatic really does not describe how I feel.  I sure hope it fits her, lol.

This was made using the instructions for the Custom Fit Raglan.  Yarn is Caron Simply Soft, in Pagoda (the jade color) and White - I used the white striping to ensure I'd have enough of the jade for the entire sweater.  It was very close - I was nervous enough to go out last week and pick up another skein, which I ended up not needing at all.  Of course.  This is the color Hallie fell in love with when she was going through my yarn looking for a color for her friend's legwarmers.  This mama pays attention to things like that.  So, 2 skeins of jade and some of white.  The neck is unfinished because when I tried adding ribbing it got very small all of a sudden.  As it is right now, the neck will almost go over my head, so hers should fit through it just fine.  In the future I will modify the instructions using some of the v-neck technique to create a larger drop in the front.

So because I had a brand-new shiny skein of the Pagoda and so much White left over, I decided to make her a bonus piece - a beret I found on Ravelry.  See how cute it is?  It's crochet - I was hoping to work in a new stitch on the band instead of the seed stitch, but I couldn't figure out how to make it small enough to stay on her head and still do the specialty stitch (which you'll just have to wait until National Crochet Month to see).  The instructions were written for an adult head, and she's turning ten, so I did have to do some resizing.  I started by using smaller hooks than called for, then on the first round of the band I did sc-ch1-sk1-sc-sk1-sc (the instructions call for skipping every other stitch of the previous round and leaving a ch1 space, I decreased by removing every other ch1, if that makes sense).  I'll keep working on this idea because I think the band of a beret would be the perfect place to show off this stitch, and I'm determined to have projects to show the new crochet stitches for 2013.

And here they are together as an ensemble.  She's going to look so cute.  I hope she lets me get a picture of her wearing them, she's kind of weird about that right now.  Because she's almost ten.

The only other bit of work I accomplished this week was I-cord for the legwarmers.  I didn't even pull out Fairy Sisters, because I was really needing to get this sweater done.  I was going to start aprons today, but the almost-10-year-old is home sick, so it's back to my "decoy" project - since both girls requested legwarmers and even chose the colors, this is what I work on in front of them.  But with 3 weeks left until Christmas I'm starting to feel the pressure to get these done, too.

Finish Friday Is Back!

Yes!  Not only have I revived this blog, but I'm starting Finish Friday back up again.  I had some submissions from around the time I disappeared, and some of these gracious stitchers are still willing to participate!

Remember, if you have a finish you want to share with the world, you can submit your finish, too!  I am looking for some Holiday-inspired finishes for December - these can either be for holiday decor (Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.) or items finished as gifts.

15-Sided Biscornu - Finished!

Hooray!  A cross stitch finish-finish!

I made this my project for a Facebook weekend stitch-a-long, and finished the whole thing this afternoon.  Yay.

If you haven't seen Lesley's instructions yet, you can go here.  She has added a variation since I first started gushing over this idea, which makes points instead of a cushion.  You have to see it to understand.

I chose to do a "traditional" 15-sided biscornu - that is one that looks more like the familiar biscornus made with 2 squares.  As a reminder, here are my 15 panels:

Confession - I have a bad habit of cutting my biscornu squares too close to the backstitching.  In this case it was because I was working on scrap fabric (why did I do that?) so the panels were really close together.  Always leave at least 1/4 inch on each edge so you don't end up pulling out your backstitches as you attach.

Following Lesley's directions, and your input, I arranged the panels in a way that made sense to me, with 5 positives and 5 negatives, and the remaining 5 panels for the sides.  Y'all know me, I'm terrible about taking pictures as I go (I tried, really I did), so I don't have pictures of both the top and the bottom after I stitched them together.  Here's what I have:

This ultimately became the top.  I tried to pick the patterns that "went together" the best. It makes a 5-pointed star, just like Lesley promised.  This happens because with a 15-sided you match corner-to-corner (unlike a normal biscornu where you match corner-to-center) - except you force 5 panels to fit in this arrangement, which gives you the floppy, bendy look of a biscornu.

This is how it looks when you start adding side panels (note: I actually started stitching the bottom together, add added the side panels to that piece).  The side pieces fold down like table legs.

And this is what it looked like as I was attaching the top to the sides that were already attached to the bottom.  I'm really sorry that I didn't think to do the photos from the same angle!  The cross and zig-zag panels are on the side, the mostly gold are the bottom, and the mostly black are the top.  And see, I did manage to make it so the positive and negatives are exactly opposite each other.

Stuffing!  I followed Lesley's suggestion and half-stuffed, then stitched down the middle with beads, then stuffed some more.  Here's the reason that the mostly black became the top: because I did not leave enough of a margin around the backstitching, the panels on the other side did not join together properly, and there was a giant (okay, not giant, but E-bead-sized) hole at the corner where all 5 panels met.  None of the backstitches pulled out, but I couldn't get them to meet correctly.  Result: somewhat ugliness in the center.  Also, it's really hard to stitch the last set of backstitches together.

Bottom ugliness. You can see the stitch straight across the hole to try to stabilize it.

Top

Side

Do You Have A Finish To Share?

As I was putting together yesterday's finish post, I started wondering if there is a Finish Friday blog.  You know, a place to collect and celebrate finishes.  I looked in blogger - and there wasn't - until now!

I started a blog called finishfriday.blogspot.com. My goal for this blog is to share finishes from all kinds of stitchers every Friday. I also want to share finishing techniques.

Would you all do me a favor?  Would you help spread the word?  I think this would be a great way for all stitching bloggers to gain exposure and celebrate their work.  You can get to Finish Friday by clicking on this button:

When you're there, you'll see a Get Featured! tab - clicking there will take you to a form to submit a request to have your finish featured on a Friday post.

I'm really excited about it, and I hope you are, too!  Obviously I don't have enough finishes every week to make this "go" - it's going to take our whole community!

Thanks!

Friday Finish!

I know, it's been a really long time since I've had a finish.  I think the last time I posted a finish-finish was last July!!!

So last week when I posted the Crocodile stitch tutorial, I mentioned that I had an "idea" for this stitch and here it is!

It's another sleep sack like I made last spring for baby Lily (who is now 8 months old, I can't even believe it).  Except this one is a fishy for sweet baby Elijah!

Fishy-fins

Inside the fishy mouth

You all know how I love to show the back of my work...

Obviously this is Crocodile stitch worked in a round.  I'll be working on a tutorial for this, because to me it's the only way this stitch truly makes sense.  I kind of like the 2 color effect on this.  What would you all prefer to learn first - a one-color or two-color tutorial?  Because you know I'll probably do both.  Let me know your preference in the comments!

Close-up of the 2-color colorway - it makes the "scales" stand out.

Finish Photos - 3 of 3

Finally, here are the photos of K's Easter dress. Also a circle skirt, with crocheted straps.  I measured her shoulders very carefully, and forgot that crocheted cotton stretches!  So I do need to shorten the straps some what.

Here's the back - I made it into a racer-back style.

And her artistic "in the tree" shot.  Because it's fun.

Friday Finishes

Just stopping in quickly to post some pictures of finishes from a couple of weeks ago. (Sorry!!!!!!!)  I've picked up another GhostStitchers assignment, so it's been occupying my time.  So has a baby shower gift.  The baby shower is tomorrow, so I will post pictures of that later.

I'm also working on something else on the Work From Home front, and I will update all of you on that as it develops.  It's a good and very exciting thing.

Okay!  So I mentioned before that we had our Secret Sister reveal at church on Mothers' Day weekend.  My Secret Sister loves the color green, and is a busy mom.  So I decided to make her a spring-y tote bag.  I used the same pattern as I did for the straps on Katie's dress (I know, I know, you still haven't seen the finished product - I still blame the husband for that) - you can find the pattern here.  (It's a free download, but you do need to register with your e-mail address.  There are a lot of beautiful, simple crochet projects on this site.)

I used a dark sage green as my main color, and made the centers of the flowers out of different colors in my stash (almost entirely Caron Simply Soft).  I used brown as an accent color for the base, the edging at the top, and the handle.

Instructions for attaching the flowers to each other are included in the downloadable pattern.

I lined it with a khaki cotton, and sewed it together on the machine, catching the straps as I did so.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.

The other finish is the gift I made for my mom.  She has to park a long way from her office, so she likes to carry a tote bag with all her things in it.  She also has a lot of tote bags, and changes them often.  So I made her a little purse that has a snap-handle - it can be fastened around the tote bag handle for easy access, and it's easy to remove!  I'm proud of myself for that little innovation.  There may be a tutorial coming on it soon.  When I do that, I will definitely credit the sites where I got my inspiration, even though I modified the designs a bit.

In this bottom picture, I'm showing you the lining, and also the roomy pocket I made inside.  Yes, I made pockets.  And yes, that's an orange hair elastic with a blue button for the closure.  Go Broncos! ;)

Some recent finishes!

I promised you finishes!  I'll start with the socks.  If you were following me in November, you know about my saga-like search for blue and orange yarn.  Blue and orange are the team colors of our local university, Boise State, and my hubby has gone Bronco crazy since moving home.  He saw my brown socks and asked for some wool-blend slipper socks for himself.  I was told by the LYS owner that whoever comes up with a blue-orange variegated yarn in this area will be very, very popular.  In other words, I had to order a blue and an orange, and she did an amazing job of matching the colors just from her computer screen.

Please ignore the Christmas morning mess.  You can see, I chose to alternate the colors.  And one foot is the exact opposite of the other.  So one has an orange heel, and the other has a blue one.  They're a little "trippy" to look at in person, LOL.  Yarn - Patons Aran weight - Shetland Chunky in Royal and Tangerine.  1 ball of each did 1 pair of men's socks.

Before I worked on DH's blue and orange socks, I made a pair of black and gray for our neighbor.  He and DH are fans of Jack Daniel's, so DH thought he'd enjoy some slipper socks in the appropriate colors.  DH will get his own pair of these as soon as he fishes my E hook out of my chair. Yarn - Lion Brand WoolEase in black and the lighter gray (I don't remember the color name).

And now for Book of Ink Circles - first, proof that I finished it in 2010.

The whole thing, completed.  Not yet pressed.  I'm still deciding how to finish it.  I'd like to make it into a bulletin board cover.  I realized I don't have any of my work displayed in the house!

Just a quick drop-in

Hello!  I hope the holidays were fantastic for all of you.  They were busy and fun here.  I just stopped in to move some things around, update finishes (yes!) and change up the side bar.  I've added a link to my Etsy shop again.  I have some things expiring soon, so be sure to go take a peek (or buy) before they come out of the shop.  Some of these things will not be relisted, but will be put aside for craft fairs next fall.  I will be back tomorrow with pictures and updates.  Did I mention I have finishes???

A finish!

I know I didn't do MWIS this weekend.  I wanted to wait until after dh's birthday to post this pic, just in case he actually reads what I write.

Lion Brand Wool-Ease in "Denim Twist"

Click here for pattern

I finished his fingerless gloves!  I went with the half-finger style, and as you can see, they're way too big for me, so they fit his hands just fine.  He loves the color, he loves the fit, now he's just waiting for it to actually be cold enough for him to wear them.  So I'm really proud of these because a) I finished them before his birthday; b) he likes them a lot; c) they fit him well; and d) they are exactly the same size.  Okay, I'm probably most excited about that last one.

If you check my October goals, you'll see that I did finish the bottom-right motif on Book of Ink Circles.  However, I forgot to take a picture of it.  So this weekend you'll get 2 shots of BoInk in one post.  I know, you're excited.  I may actually be able to date this project 2010.

The rest of this week will be spent making a garden in the back of a vehicle.  Every year our church hosts a Trunker Treat event during the Harvest Party, and people decorate their car trunks.  Last year we were a shark, this year we're going to be a flower garden.  My agenda for today is cutting cardboard pickets out of fabric bolt cores and making yo-yo flowers.  I may spend more time on the yo-yos than the pickets.  Just sayin'.

Update - finishes

Okay, so I've slacked on the blogging, especially about my projects.  Thanks so much to everyone for reading/listening about my little banking scare.  It's all been sorted out.  One piece of good news - I found out that the bank had discovered it 2 days before I did, and THEY deactivated my PIN.  Not the bad guys.  I just hadn't updated my phone number with them, so they were unable to reach me by phone.  I got the letter the day after the whole fiasco.  Okay, on to the reason you stopped by:

FINISHES!!!

This is the finished biscornu I made for my secret sister at church - I finished it into a pin-cushion-let (does it have an official name?  Besides "a pincusion you can wear on your wrist"?)  I wanted to show the super cute little corner detail I made for the bottom.  Which had actually started out as the top, until I realized the thread I'd chosen for the heart outline didn't show up.  It's adjustable with Velcro, and I managed to stuff it very firmly.  So it's a nice plump little biscornu.  There's no button or bead embellishment - I kept breaking the thread so I gave up on that part.  And I'm very happy with my bias-cut strip for the bracelet.  I included some cutie-pie heart-topped pins - really long, so she can actually use them on the quilts she makes for charity.

This little purse was so much fun to make.  I used 2 different colors of Vanna's Choice (Charcoal and Linen, if you care).  The free pattern can be found here.  The upper part can be tucked down inside, and it's just a cute little handbag, or if you need it taller (like I did today), you can pull it up.  The handle loop goes through a space in either part of the bag.  It's so clever, I wish I'd thought it up!  It ended up being exactly checkbook width (perfect timing, too), and has enough room for my checkbook, phone, keys, a powder compact and a lip gloss.  I took the girls to a goat farm today, and stuck my camera in, and extended it so it wouldn't be so crowded. :)

Someday in the near future I'll have to update you on my WIPs - I've been so terrible about taking pictures lately!  Grrrrr!  Have a good week, everyone!

Happy dancing into the New Year!

I still haven't added beads. But both Emmas have had a good press, and I photographed them side-by-side so you can get the full effect (names are at the top, I cropped them out of these pictures since these are gifts for actual people I know. :) I'm very happy with the way they turned out, although I still wish I'd been able to flip the chart and stitch them so their mother could have them facing each other.

Here's the full-size of Emma #2. So glad I changed to ecru. The "box stitches" of the lace were actually done in a flesh tone, because I couldn't see the ecru on the mint green fabric. If you're curious, this piece has taken me over 2 years - I posted a finish of Emma #1 on November 20, 2007. I started Emma #2 pretty soon after that. In that time, we've moved 3 times.

The winner is.........

There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. amanda
2. robin_titan
3. Rebekah
4. SueFitz
5. Cole
6. FIONA
7. Nita
8. smilen1004
9. Theresa

Congratulations, amanda!!! I'll be e-mailing you for your snail mail.

Now for my recap of my year. I didn't do this last year. Blogging was hit or miss for me. But I've really found a lot of joy in it this year! And I've had a lot to show!

Finish-finishes!!!! - 3 dresses, 1 shirt, 1 little kid purse, 1 crocheted baby doll, 3 scarves, 13 tote bags with stitched pockets, 3 embroidered evening bags, 1 PIF flat-fold, 1 doggie picture, 2 scissor fobs, 2 biscornu, 1 floss tag, 1 Lizzie*Kate picture frame, 3 ornaments and one Family Tree Book. That's 39 finishes - I averaged 3 a month! I can't believe it (not all finishes are pictured)! (The Picasa mosaic idea was blatantly stolen from Theresa)

SAL, RR and WIPs - I started BoInk, I got back into doing lessons for the Hardanger tutorial and posted SAL patterns (I don't feel it's complete, and it's not finish-finished, so it's still a WIP), and participated in the 3 Ladies RR (okay, so I still have Pixie's round 6). Emma's Garden #2 is on it's way to completion - lace and beads remain. I dyed my own fabric in a mix of coffee and tea.

In blogging, I created 178 posts - that averages a little over 3 each week! Most coments were on the Blogoversary Give-Away sign-ups and my birthday. :) I learned how to create a 3-column blog page and change the background at will. My friend Laura made me a beautiful header, and I made my own for the Etsy shop and my gallery blog.

I also moved twice, sent a child off to school, and got a dog. Here's to a more sedate year #3!!

Updates Galore

Wow, I lost a whole week somewhere!  I've been around, I've even been stitching!  I guess I just haven't had a lot to say blog-wise.  But my grandparents have received their anniversary gift, so I can talk about the finish of Dove Love!

First of all, here's Dove Love, a freebie from Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks, all finished.  It was stitched 2-over-1 on 28-count linen.  Colors are DMC - 2 are as called for, and the other 2 are "close enoughs" I had in my stash.  Stitching time on this was about 3 months.  I fray-checked the edges and machine-stitched this piece to a piece of muslin.  Katie chose the red and gold ribbon that I used to cover the linens edges - note: I cut the stitching fabric before I knew how I would finish this piece.  I used this as the cover of the the Family Tree Book.  You'll see the colors repeated on another "page".  There are 8 small hearts on Dove Love, which to me stand for the 8 grandchildren.

Her'e a scan of the cover page.  Thanks to Debbie from Tangled Stitch for her input on bringing this concept from my head to fabric.  You should be able to see on the tree, there are 8 red hears (grandchildren again) and 4 yellow hearts for my dad and his sisters.  The great-grandchildren are there, too, they are just leaves branching off from red-heart-branches.

The subsequent pages have a lot of my family's personal information on them, so I won't post them.  They've all received scans via e-mail.  But I'll describe them.  I made four additional pages, for my dad and his 3 sisters.  I continued the colorway, so my dad's name is in the mustard-yellow, and each of his children are in the blue-red.  The dates are like the branches on the trees - the numbers are done in green, to look like leaves and the slash marks are satin-stitched in brown.  However, instead of birthdates, I incorporated baptism dates.  On each page is a portion of the scripture found in III John verse 4 - "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living according to the truth. " (NIV).  I know this verse means so much to my grandparents, who have dedicated their lives to ministry.  But the ministry always started at home.  This book is not just about births in the family, it's about legacy.

Here's what it looks like all put together.  It folded flat for shipping (yay!),  but it can also stand on the back page to be a display piece.  I included this picture in the package, and it was a good thing I did!  My grandparents love puzzle things, and they like watching people try to figure things out.  Not only does it stand like a pyramid, it also doesn't read straight front to back, so people have to flip it around - LOL, it will give them hours of entertainment.

Here's BoInk through week 11 - I didn't stitch this last Sunday.  I took a few days off after finishing the book, and the kids had a choir concert, so I felt it was as good a time as any to take a break on this one.  I still have a bit of color on the cat (did we decide it's a cat?) in the top right corner - the purple is a color I have to steal from Emma's baggie, but I can do that because.......

I've finished all the cross stitches on Emma #2!  Mini happy dance - still have a heck of a lot of backstitching, "lace" and a few beads to sew in place.  But you all know how I like that light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dim it may be.

Also, I did hear back from my friend, and she's received the little purse I sent her, and she loves it, so I feel very happy about that.

House updates - we've passed the appraisal, and have entered the underwriting phase of loan approval.  Closing is still set for the 29th - is that really next week?  Could it really happen?  We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond today to just look for curtains - we'll need something for the living room slider, and we want a cafe curtain for the dining room and a valance for the kitchen.  I'm not big into matchy-matchy things, but I do like things to go together.  We found a panel we liked, and the person looked it up and said "Good news - it's on clearance, only $9.99/panel.  Bad news - our store is completely out." So he ordered all the panels we needed from other stores in the area, which will ship directly to us.  I remember a time when you actually had to drive to other towns and hope and pray that the clearance item was still waiting for you.  We plan to cut down one of the drapery panels and make our own cafe curtains and valance out of that.

In the meantime, I really should start cleaning, decluttering and packing.  My husband is so much better at the packing part, but he's still in Seattle, so I have to do it myself.  I've put the girls to work this evening, separating all the plastic grocery bags in the kitchen by store type (Walmart, WinCo, Albertsons, etc.).  Now that Katie's potty-trained, I don't have the need for as many plastic bags.  I need a craft idea for these!

I hope everyone has a safe weekend - it's a holiday in the US, Memorial Day, on Monday.  The unofficial start of summer.  We'll bbq hamburgers on Sunday and steak on Monday, with sweet corn, baked potatoes and orange soda.  Until next time...