Friday Finishes!

Lot of finishes to share today! Get comfy and let's get started!

First up is the test-knit I made last month. The pattern, Little Bit Nostalgia, is up on ravelry. Used a gradient yarn that I've shown pictures of on here before. 

Lovely lace pattern. You change needle sizes about half way through which makes the cowl come in a bit at the top.

Sits nice around the neck.

And is quite long.

During the holidays, my job is going to require me to work a couple late nights. With my husband now in England for work, I wanted to give our youngest, Floyd, a little something special to cuddle with at night when I'm not here. I suggested a stuffed animal of some kind. He asked for a rainbow heart. I bought an acrylic yarn and used this pattern. Crocheted up pretty quick.

I think he likes it.

Finished another cowl. Yarn bought from work and is Malabrigo, Caracol in the Diana colourway. Pattern is Waltz Through the Forest. A quick knit that I was able to make during down time at work over the course of a couple days. 

It was quite long after washing. I laid it flat to dry for a bit, then put it in the dryer which helped a lot.

Got to love the colours in this yarn. It reminded me of a stained glass window. Resistance was futile.

And I finally finished a pair of socks! And they're for me! Realized I have been using the Fish Lips Kiss heel for socks for a year now and this is the first pair I've kept for myself.  And they are the same length. Must not have pulled the one up all the way for the picture. 

Very colorful. And very comfy. Yarn was from JoAnn's and I can't remember exactly what it is. Need to find the ball band.

A Barley hat, pattern by Tin Can Knits and my first sample for my job. Used two yarns held together, one of them being mohair - Sugar Bush Bliss and Drizzle. Hat is super soft. I might need to make one of these for me to keep.

Fits great. But taking selfies on a rainy day is hard.

And I got my sewing machine out! Made a quick Halloween table runner.

But since I didn't have Halloween fabric for the back, I decided to make the back a second Fall themed table runner making it reversible.

I used orange for the top thread and the bobbin for the quilting. Orange goes through the black squares on the Halloween side. And through the orange squares on the Fall side. Think the Fall side needs some appliqué but it's good enough to use now.

And one last little finish. This is actually one of seven Poppies that I made. Above is one of two I made using this pattern. I made five more using this pattern, version 5. They're smaller and have the four classic petals.

One of the things I missed while living in the States (which I didn't expect to miss), was wearing Poppies in November and Remembrance Day. The Veterans Day sales kind of piss me off. Here, it is a solemn day, time to remember the dead, not get a great deal at a store. Okay, stepping off soap box now.

What did you finish this week? I'll have more to share next week as I finished another cowl last night and blocked it. Still need to take pictures. Maybe I'll get some more WIP's finished to share. Fingers crossed.

Happy Halloween - A Spider Canvas

I've been trying to get more into Halloween the past few years as this is my husband's favourite holiday. I've made Halloween themed quilts but the house needed more than that. I've been looking for something else to add when I came across this. Not sure if I found it on Pinterest or somewhere else, but I've pinned the idea twice and thought about it often so I decided to go for it. Sorry for the bad lighting in the process photos. Pictures were taken in the kitchen while I made supper.

I used a large canvas that had been used in a few failed projects. The background had already been painted blue and there were holes from a yarned twig project that just didn't sit right after being attached and was then taken off. I made some grey paint and quickly went over the blue but made sure some blue still peeked through. Looking at this template, I freehanded the spiderweb slightly off centre. If I were to do this again I would use a thinner brush and take more time making my lines. I had a toddler pulling at my legs so I had to be quick. I think adding just a little bit of glitter to the paint would also add to the spiderweb. 

This is the same spider from the website that inspired the project. You can find it and others, here. I printed it to fill the page but I still thought it was too small for the spiderweb.

The printer happens to be in the kitchen so I quickly enlarged it to 150% and had the size I liked.

I went over the spider pattern making holes with a metal needle. The tool used in the original tutorial would have been nice to have. This was the hardest part and my hand was cramping by the end.

Here are all the holes punched. I kept the spider to refer to as I stitched. I used worsted weight acrylic yarn that was in my stash. I cut long pieces of yarn, and tied the ends together after threading the needle so that the yarn was doubled. I tried with just a single and it wasn't enough. When I finished with each strand, I cut the yarn to get it off the needle, tied some knots, trimmed the ends and taped them down.

It took me a few hours that evening but the next morning there was something creepy in our living room.

His new home on the wall facing the side door. I used red for his eyes to make him look evil. I also outlined him (with yarn held double) to help define him.

I thought of adding red paint for blood dripping from his fangs but didn't. 

The messy back. I taped down my ends since I didn't weave them in. I don't think the knots will come through the canvas but I wanted to make sure they were secure.

This was a fun, quick project and if you don't have a toddler begging for attention you could finish it quicker than me. It took me most of the day. I'm already thinking of doing some wintry ones - perhaps a snowflake or snowman?