Life Update

Things have been quiet here on the blog, but they haven't been in my day-to-day life. On October 10th, I started work... at a yarn store... part-time. So far, I have resisted buying anything but the wishlist of what I'd like to buy is very long in my head. Needless to say, the blog is going to suffer (something had to give, right?) but I'll still do a couple posts a month with what I'm working on or when I have something finished to share. I have several items on the needles (5, I think) but I've been focusing on two. Now that I have somewhere nice to wear all my knits to, a place where they're really appreciated, I want to get all the projects done so I can wear them to work. Here's a little update of what I've been working on.

I have one more increase row to do on my Lifesavers cardigan. Then I have to knit several inches to get to the ribbing at the bottom. Then sleeves. Think I might leave out the buttonholes when I do the edging at the end. Maybe. We'll see.

This is new to the blog. It's the Bampton cowl. I made the shawl this summer but I bought a new dress for work and I didn't really have any knits done that went with it, so... I cast on this cowl. I had a full skein of the creamy beige colour leftover from my Branches and Buds pullover, almost like it was meant to be. 

And I finished the test-knit cowl I was knitting. Still can't show pictures here yet, but thought I'd show you what was left of the yarn. And yes, I already have plans for it, too. 

First day of work. Wore my Fogliame cardigan. Have worn a different knit every work day. Trying to wear everything I have once before I repeat myself. So far I have worn my Fogliame cardigan, Branches and Buds pullover, Sun Rose sweater, Low-Tide cardigan, Prairie Hills shawl and test-knit cowl. Counted this morning and I have at least enough knits for 15 more work days before I will repeat myself. Fun times.

I finished this embroidery this week. For the third time. Yes, I have stitched this twice, didn't like it and ripped it out. First time I stitched each square a different colour. Second time I used white and some pink. This was part of the Super Stitcher's Club by Studio MME

This time I used green, yellow and white. Like this combination. Now I need to iron it. Think it will become a hot pad for under a teapot.

And I did some little cross-stitches in September. Still waiting to be ironed and framed. The small one will become a necklace (part of a kit from Jo-Ann's). The poop was a gift from one of son's last month for my birthday. Got to love him.

And now that I've blogged, I can think about which shawl I'm going to wear to work tomorrow. Going to be wearing black clothes. Any thoughts which one I should wear? They are Zuzu, Hogmanay and Lokum.

WIP Wednesday

A few WIP's to share this Wednesday, a couple almost done and one little finish.

I've spent the past few days quilting and quilting and was able to finish quilting the two Scrappy Bento Box quilts. Above they are trimmed and awaiting binding, which I hope to attach this afternoon.

Finished 4 spools of thread doing all that quilting. Time to go buy some more.

I started a sock almost 2 weeks ago. Getting ready to do the heel in a couple rows. 

And I hope you can tell this has grown. It's the Hello, Hello shawl and I'm halfway done the eyelet section (it's doubled in size since the last time I showed it). Hope to make more progress on it this week.

And I've slowly been plugging away at my Sarah Fielke, 2017 BOM, Down the Rabbit Hole. Since the last time it was on the blog, I have sewn down the green bias around the centre and sewed down the brown circle in the middle. I have also cut out and glued down all the leaves and have started to stitch them down. I think I slowed down on this project when the April clue came out - paper-piecing! My plan is to face my fear next month and get the paper-pieced houses done. 

Yarn ready for July Camp Loopy project. It will become an Old Growth cardigan. 

And my one little finish is this Sashiko embroidery that was part of the Studio MME's Super Stitcher's Club. I don't remember which month this was from. It came with white floss but I changed it up a bit and added some pink. I had it done in four different colours but decided I didn't like it and ripped it all out. Think I like this better.

What have you been working on this week?

Weekends are for...

... Finishing WIP's! My goal this weekend was to finish up a bunch of WIP's and I'm happy to say I succeeded. Here's what I was able to complete.

Last Monday, my daughter and I went to a workshop on Sashiko embroidery at our local library. I was hoping to learn a little more of the history of it. Instead, we were given materials and a quick tutorial on how to do it (and how not to do it) and given the rest of the time to stitch. Neither of us finished that night, but I did finish mine this weekend. 

And here is my daughter's. Now we're trying to decide what to do with them. I admit I added a bunch of Sashiko patterns to my embroidery board on pinterest. A little addictive? Yes.

Sunday morning I finished crocheting button flowers for my mom. I think I've made over a hundred for her. These are the last 14 and I'll be giving them to her later this week.

And I used a lot of embroidery floss to make them. I kept the wrappers in case I wanted to get more of the same colours. Each one did 3 buttons.

And I finished my first Rin block. I had half of the outside circle left to sew on. Then I basted the centre circle and stitched down both sides. Yes, my fingers were very busy stitching this weekend.

And this lovely? That is my finished Salita shrug, blocked and sleeve seams sewn. Hope to take it out for a proper photo shoot this week to share here on Friday. 

Trying to end June on a high note by finishing up more WIP's. We'll see what more I can complete this week. Did you have a crafty weekend? 

WIP Wednesday - A little bit of everything

I think it's been a few weeks since I've done a WIP Wednesday post. I've been working on a few things but haven't made enough progress on any one project to justify a blog post. This week I started several projects so here we go.

The Duvessa KAL started last Friday. Despite my best intentions I didn't get a chance to cast on until Sunday morning. I try to knit a few rows everyday. Hoping I finish by the time the KAL ends on May 5th.

And Shannon's Tops, Tanks and Tees KAL started on Monday. I decided to cast on a Seaboard tank at  almost midnight Monday. Only have 5 rows done. And it's lace weight yarn. Don't see myself finishing this up either but Shannon's ravelry group is so active it's fun to read along. Even if I rarely comment. This KAL goes until May 8th, but her KAL's often have extensions.

My first Super Stitchers Club kit arrived last week and immediately distracted me from everything else I needed/wanted to do. Megan had been showing sneak peeks of the design and had wrote a tutorial for turning it into 4 coasters on her blog. The white floss was sent along with the kit so it looked like traditional Sashiko, but I wanted something more colorful and picked the floss above from my stash.

I had the yellow and most of the green done the day it arrived. I finished the green and started the pink while watching tv, very late one night. 

Colours aren't as bright as I had hoped. Might take out the yellow for a brighter yellow. We'll see.

Been working on more crocheted button flowers for my mom. She has asked for 42 more of each (grey buttons with yellow flower, yellow buttons with grey flowers). I'm almost out of floss, so I need to go get some more. Had to order grey buttons on etsy as they are surprisingly hard to find. They should arrive next week. I'd like to have this project done by Mother's Day.

And I've made some progress on the BOM that Sarah Fielke is doing this year. All the flowers are now stitched to the background and the second border is sewn on. The green ring is only glued down so I still need to stitch it down and add some leaves this month. And then put the center circle on. I'm not really happy with how my flowers ended up. My pieced circle is bigger than most since I had to add 4 wedges to make it lie flat, which took up precious flower space. Tempted to redo it but think I will wait. Once the other borders are added, I'm sure I'll grow to like it. Or at least I hope so.

What have you been up to?

WIP's Interrupted

The usual Wednesday WIP post got bumped today after I was inspired this morning to do a little stitching. It now hangs beside my desk, reminding me to keep going on both good and bad days.

I felt the "P" needed to be capitalized.

WIP Wednesday

Wow, I really fell off the blogging train at the end of last year, didn't I? Well, I'm not making any promises to be a better blogger this year. In fact, I'll probably be blogging less. I hope to continue with WIP Wednesday's as I like looking back at my own progress and I'll do the occasional Friday Finish post when I have something to share but that's it. I have a couple other posts planned for this month too, to wrap things up, but then I'll be posting only once or twice a week by February. This year will be a year of change for our family. My husband's contract at his current job ends this summer, which means he's on the hunt for a new one (anyone looking for an Evolutionary Biologist?), which will lead to us moving somewhere else this summer. 

And I'm really committing to my career as a writer this year. I continued my research over the holidays about creating a website and think I have it decided. Now I need to buy a domain and a website hosting plan. And I plan on doing it this week, which means my computer time will become making a website time for the next couple months while I figure it out. I'm in no rush to get a site up and running so I'll be taking my time making sure the website really reflects me and what I want to share. I'm thinking I might add a writing blog to my life as well (because 2 blogs aren't enough for me? - I also have a family only blog besides this crafty one). 

Even my What I've Been Reading posts kind of disappeared at the end of 2016. Mainly because I hardly read anything the past few months. I think I have 3 books I haven't shared here but I've already finished my first book of 2017 so perhaps I need to do a post soon. However, I spent hours yesterday moving my What I've Read archives into Goodreads. I really enjoy stats and I like comparing the number of books and pages I've read over the past 5 years. You can find me here on Goodreads and here's my stats page (which I adore). Are you on Goodreads? Even though I joined a couple years ago, I haven't really used it, so advice welcome. And I joined the 2017 challenge - I'd like to read 30 books this year, which is low for me, but I think doable since I know we're moving.

And now for what you're really here for, crafty WIP's. I have lots to share today. And several finishes that I still need to share from the holidays. I forgot to take pictures of some - mom, I need a picture of the socks I made you! Anyway, here's what I'm working on.

If I was following the pattern exactly, this shawl would be finished. However, looking at other people's projects on ravelry, I came across one that continued the edging up the side that should be bound off. I looked at her notes and asked for her to expand on how she did it but this morning I decided to find my own way. Can you see the slight curve beginning at the point? I've only done two pattern repeats so far that decreases one stitch every two rows. This might take a while but I've got plenty of yarn. Hope I love it when I'm done.

And I picked up a lot of this colorful yarn during the after Christmas sale at Michael's to crochet an afghan. I've been itching to make one. And as of right now, this is suppose to be a gift for next Christmas. I have over 2,000 yards. That should be enough, right? Pattern is from this book and can be found here.

On the ride home I finally cast on Hogmanay. I've been waiting to start this shawl for months. I got this yarn as part of the giftables club from The Loopy Ewe, fall of 2015, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was meant to be a Hogmanay shawl. Maybe because the yarn is similar to the one on the ravelry page? I don't know. I haven't done much yet but I'm looking forward to working on it more this month.

My mother asked me to help her with a crazy project. She has a store-bought comforter whose batting is starting to bunch. She wants to tie the quilt with buttons to help the batting stay in place, but she wants some of the buttons to become crocheted flowers like this Pin she saw on Pinterest. However, she doesn't crochet. But I do. She bought 2 packages of yellow buttons and some grey buttons and we picked up some floss and I gave her some floss from my stash and I crocheted a bunch of flowers with that really tiny hook while I was home for Christmas. I made her 34 (sorry no pictures, maybe you can take a picture of them, too, mom?). Then she placed them on the comforter and I realized she needs about 80 more. Yikes. So a package of buttons and the floss and the hook came home with me and now I have another WIP. I need to find some more grey buttons (I found 8 in my stash when I got home, mom!) and buy more floss but this should be a fun little project to work on over the next couple months.

Oh, and these are the buttons I took from my mother's button stash as payment. And yeah, I'll give you that yellow one back, mom.

I also started the December embroidery pattern by Sarah K. Benning once all the gift making was done. Still have lots to stitch but I'm really enjoying it.

And my awesome sister-in-law gifted me this project bag for Christmas. The teeny, tiny needles blew my mind. I love it, Michelle. And it's so big, I can fit 4 different projects in it. Great for car trips since the zipper at the top stops things from falling out and going everywhere.

What have you been working on? 

Making Felt Ornaments

Yesterday, my daughter and I hunkered down and made some ornaments using felt while we got our first snow.

Here are our four little ornaments waiting for us to put up the tree.

My daughter made the bell and stocking. The bell will be given to a cousin but the stocking will go on our tree. She says she made the lines on the stocking "jaunty" on purpose.

I made the tree and owl. The owl eyes are a little off centre but overall it was fun. 

I still have a ton of felt leftover (and I mean a ton), so I see more felt creations in my future. 

The tree and stocking templates can be found here. And the owl template was from a book, but there is a online tutorial here that is similar.

WIP Wednesday and Crafting with my kids

     I'm still working away at my Filament scarf. I've knit over 20 inches since last week and I'm about 15 inches away from finishing. So if I knit 5 inches each day for the next three days, I could be done by Friday! I don't know if that will happen but I am now confident that I will get it done by Sunday (reminder that the scarf is my Camp Loopy project for July and needs to be finished by the end of the month).

Hope it looks longer than it did last week.

Little easier to see the pattern close-up.

     This week, the kids and I have had a Christmas in July craft week. On Monday I crocheted this bell garland for our tree. We've had a little tree (between 3 and 4 feet tall) for several years. We finally bought a big tree on clearance this January and we'll need some decorations to go on it. 

     Yesterday was also no TV Tuesday so the kids spent time painting some wooden decorations in the morning. Some of these will go on our tree, others will be gifted. I found the ornaments at Target last December, but you might be able to find them elsewhere. 

     Almost finished ornaments. My daughter's 3 are at the top and are done. She did all the stitching. The two in the second row are by my 10 year old son. He did all the stitching on them as well. Floyd did the bottom 7. He used glitter paint and they look great in real life. I'll add a little embroidery to his soon. I also have some bells leftover that might get added to a few.

     And winding yarn for Christmas projects is a Christmas craft, right? My daughter picked the yarn for her Christmas cardigan and then helped wind them. Her cardigan will be my Camp Loopy project for August.

We also caked some yarn for socks to be knit for Christmas presents. Floyd helped, too.

Do you see a problem with this yarn? I thought there should only be 2 ends?

     This hank had 24! Um, this was a 215 yard hank. I had bought a pair to make socks for my sister but now I'm thinking that's not going to happen. Personally, I hate having a ton of woven ends in my socks. Maybe I'll make her shorter socks or I was thinking mittens. I'll have to ask her opinion.

     Yarn ready to be made into Christmas presents. Thanks Calliope and Floyd for all your help winding.

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?