April, Come She Will

...from the Sounds of Silence album by Simon and Garfunkel.  A lot of my projects seem to remind me of songs.  Does that ever happen to you?

Anyway, I have a finish to show you today!

This is one of two designs from Prairie Schooler Book 152

entitled (are you ready?) April.

It was finished into a beautiful flatfold by

Averyclaire NeedleArts.

Here is a better view of the lovely material

that she used for the back of the piece.

And now for something completely different...

I do knit from time to time.

This project is called Slopes Scarf

and the pattern is available on Ravelry.

It's not quite finished--

I made sure that the needle didn't 

make it into the photo.

Unfortunately, I don't remember

the brand/color of the yarn.

It's a Merino wool and it's

self-striping.

And here's something I'm really excited about...

Wha-a-at?

I ordered some antique white, 32-count,

Monika evenweave from Tanja Berlin,

and it came this week.

Its measurements are 18 x 70.

I don't think I'll need all of the 70,

so I might have some left over for smaller projects.

For those that are interested in this fabric,

Tanja sells it in either a half-yard or a yard,

and the width is always 70 inches,

which was perfect for me

because I intend to use this on the

Prairie Schooler alphabet.

I plan on stitching it all

on this one piece of fabric,

3 letters across and 9 down.

There is an extra pattern in the Y-Z booklet

which comes to an even 27.

Friends that know me personally

are well aware that I'm very eager to start

this piece.  However, I'm going to

try to show some restraint

and wait until Dawn Chorus is finished

before I start.

We'll see if that happens.

That's it from here.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The weather is supposed to 

be gorgeous in the Chicago area--finally.

Thanks for visiting!

IHSW: May 2013

Hey Blog Buddies,
I signed up for the IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend) this month even though I knew I would be able to stitch only on Sunday.  BUT... I was able to put the finishing touches on two projects!  The first was my knitted cowl, which I started at the end of February.  And now I'm all ready for...  November?

Molly looks a little glum here.

She's thinking, "It's 80+ degrees and dinner time.

Why do I have to pose in this woolen cowl?"

Yes, that is a black T-shirt that she's wearing

to protect the knitted cowl from her black hairs.

Needless to say, I was rather disheartened

when she plopped herself down on the carpet

which attracts dog hairs like a magnet.

 

You can see in this photo that the wool is

variegated--it's kettle-dyed--Malabrigo Merino Worsted,

and the color is Red Java.

The cowl is long enough to wear as a sling for your arm,

although I'm hoping I won't need it for that.

Molly was disrobed and fed immediately after

this photo was taken, and all is now forgiven.

 

My second finish is my Prairie Schooler Heads Up Witch:

 

Her face was originally charted as orange,

but I thought that any self-respecting witch

would have a green face.

Stitched 1 over 2 on 40-count Heritage linen, as usual.

I was going to use my Gloriana silk for the black,

but I've somehow misplaced it.

Don't know how that happened,

I have so few stitching supplies!   hehehe

So I thought I'd try No. 12 pearl cotton.

I used it on her mouth and eyes,

but it was way too chunky to continue using it

for the rest of the black,

so I switched to Crescent Colors Blackbird

for her hair, hat and clothing.

She is the April ornament for

the Halloween Ornament SAL 2013.

You can see everyone's ornaments

by clicking here.

I may be a month behind, but at least

the ornie is finish-finished

 

I should be starting the May ornament now,

but instead I decided to give some love to

Crabby All Year, which has been neglected recently.

I didn't stitch enough on it to show here,

but I hope to have February finished soon.

 

To see what my fellow hermitters did this weekend,

click here.

 

That's it for now.

Hope your weekend was fun!

Thanks for visiting!

To Stitch or To Knit?

Hey Blog Buddies,
Both stitching and knitting were vying for my attention this past week (which is weird because "I don't knit")!  But 2013 is turning out to be kinda weird all the way around for me so far.  How I solved the problem was--I did a little of both.  I'll show you the knitting first:

This is a pretty big project (for me).

It's going to be a cowl, and the circular needles

are 32 inches long.

I believe I cast on enough for a 40" cowl (159 stitches),

so I can double it up when I wear it,

which will probably not happen until next winter.

I have two skeins of yarn,

and I'm just going to knit until they are both used up!

It's a nice, mindless piece.

The yarn is Malabrigo Merino Worsted again,

 a bit darker than what I used for my mittens,

but certainly in the same color family.

And yes, the piece is all seed stitch.

Stitchers, don't you fret--

I have something for you, too.

Most of you will recognize this as

Little House Needlework's ever-popular

Home of a Needleworker (Too).

I've had this kitted up for a while now,

and it was on my 2013 to-stitch list.

The only things I have left to do are

the house and all the flowering vines.

Oh yes, and the bird's legs!

I used 32-count Belfast Antique Ivory linen

instead of the called-for 28-count,

and it's still working up a bit larger than I thought it would.

The 9" of snow we got last Tuesday is all but gone now.

We've had rain much of this past weekend

in addition to the warmer weather,

so flooding is an issue, but no water in the house yet.

Molly has demanded a rubber raft

because she sleeps downstairs!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Blackwork Exhibition

Hey Blog Buddies,
I got the latest copy of NeedleArts magazine in the mail today, and, being the blackwork fan that I am, when I saw the cover, all I could say was "oooooooooo!"

The Embroiderers' Guild of America (EGA)

is having a contemporary blackwork exhibition at their

headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky from now

through the end of June.

The cover features one of the prettier pieces on exhibit--

and there were a bunch of very "interesting" pieces

illustrating the story inside the magazine.

Now that I've seen selected photos of these beauties,

there may be a road trip to Louisville in my future!

In other news, I was the winner of Sharon's giveaway!

I got this cute Purple Heart chart

by Ewe and Eye and Friends,

and a bunch of limited edition GAST overdyed floss,

in an array of happy spring colors.

Can't wait to stitch the heart!

Thanks again, Sharon!

I've made some progress on

Variations on a Theme of Rhodes:

The sheaf stitches are new, as are the small squares.

I'm actually a little farther along than this photo shows,

but I stopped at a point where the elements were not symmetrical,

and didn't want to photograph the piece that way.

(I'm a little nutty in that regard.)

I went to a scissor holder class on Saturday.

It's my first painted canvas in almost forever.

Hey, I mounted it on the stretcher bars!

Does that count as a start?

This project should be a lot of fun.

Last but not least,

my right mitten and left hand are very happy

that I completed mitten #2.

I will be wearing these when I go out this evening.

They have already seen action at

the local home improvement warehouse store

earlier today.

Well, that's it for now.

Hope you had a fun, stitchy weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

February IHSW

Hey Blog Buddies,
I got a bit of stitch time (and a bit of knit time) in this weekend, and I have one finish, and half of a finish to show you.  First my stitchy finish:

This is Lizzie*Kate's

A Bit of March, stitched on 40-count Heritage linen.

I attached only 2 of the 3 buttons provided.

As I was reaching for the third button,

I dropped it, and it just disappeared.

I don't think it fell into my chair,

but that's the only explanation that makes sense.

The buttons look a lot larger in my piece

than in the photo of the stitched piece.

That's the chance you take when you switch to

40-count from the recommended 28-count!

Next, a mitten update:

You can see that I've finished(!) one mitten,

except for the blocking.

I think this wants to be the right one,

although with this pattern,

you can wear either mitten on either hand.

Our final class will be embellishment ideas,

which should be fun.

I've started on the second mitten, too,

and hope to finish knitting (if not embellishing) it

by the end of this week.

I don't believe I'll ever be a fan of

knitting with 4 double-pointed needles!

I've even signed up for a class on continental knitting

(because I'm a thrower).

We'll see if you can teach an old dog new tricks.

That's it for this weekend.

Click here to find out what the other hermitters

have accomplished.

Hope you had a fun, stitchy weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

This is Cra-Zee!

Hey Blog Buddies,
I went to a knitting class today, although I have known how to knit... let's just say for many decades.  I learned to knit when I was about 18, knitted a lot for about 15 years, then moved on to crochet.  I know many very nice people who knit, and when they have asked me if I knit, I usually sniff "I know how to knit, but I crochet now."  Why they still speak to me is anyone's guess.  Recently, I received an email from Loopy Yarns (maybe they're called that because they're located in the Loop?--I haven't asked).  They're featuring mitten classes in February--both knitted and crocheted.  I've done crocheted mittens (I threw them out because they weren't very warm), but knitting a mitten on four needles is something I tried long ago and failed at.  I thought that maybe if I could learn "the right way" I'd be more successful.  This is what I got done in class:

Yes, like the title of the post says:  crazy!

The yarn is Malabrigo Merino Worsted--very nice.

The shop wound it into a ball for me.

I have to admit that my usual yarn purchase is a pull skein

 from Joann's--this is quite upscale for me.

I kept muttering to myself in class,

"This is insane!  Crochet is so simple--

one hook and one loop..."

But I kept at it.

Our teacher Denise is very nice

and I've learned a lot already,

including a better way to cast on.

So, am I going back to the Dark Side?

Nah.  But I hope to finish at least one mitten

by the time the class is over.

Maybe I can just put my other hand in my pocket!

We have two more class sessions.

Wish me luck!

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Thanks for visiting!