First Feb Finish!

Since my emergency surgery, I have been sleeping a lot which is an unfortunate side effect of the blood loss I had. I say unfortunate in that it has severely limited my stitching time this month. That being said, I am coming along like gang busters now as things are getting slowly back to normal.

I have my first 2 finishes for February:
1.) Celtic Twizzle by Liz Almond from Just Cross Stitch's Marcc/April 2012 Issue. I used the called for DMC and a scrap piece of evenweave from my stash in 32ct.

2.) I also finished one of the Freebies from my retreat in January: The Theme of the Retreat was April in Paris leaning heavily on Red as the accent color. I decided to change it to Blue as I LOVE blue and that is the color of the Eifel Tower in the finish below. It is 2 over 1 on 25ct. scrap even weave.

From my stitch from my stash - These will help my budget.

Otherwise, I am working on a gender neutral baby blanket for a friend who is pregnant. She wants to be surprised so I am knitting another one in a beige and cream color variety.

More to come in the next few days.

Happy Stitching!

7 Hours...

So I learned that if I put my mind to it and chose the right yarn I can knit a hat (my first) in under 7 hours.  I chose the Barley Hat by Tin Can Knits. It was a super simple pattern to follow and I knit it up in the Void colorway in MadTosh DK by Madelintosh using the called for needle sizes.

As you can see below my dad loved the Hat and wore it most of the night.

Happy stitching everyone!

Finally a Finished Pair!

Earlier this year I posted that I finished 1 sock of a pair. One of my goals for 2016 was to learn how to knit socks. Last week I finished the second sock of the pair. Below you can see the two of them together.

First Socks - finished 11/25/2016 - Deborah Norville Sock yarn (I think)

I have a reason...I Promise

When I realized that I have been posting once per month vs. the once per week that was my goal I wondered if I had a viable reason for the lack of communication? I figured capturing all of what I realized here with a plan on how to explain it would be a great exercise for me. 

My posting initially dropped off in March, so here is what I realized:

March 6-10th: I was traveling to GA for work
March 23-25: testing at work with no time to craft
March 29-April 1: Testing at work
April 4-7: travel to GA for work
April 14-22: travel to Ireland for Vacation
April 28th: Mother had surgery
May 3-4: GA for Work
May 9-20: GA for Work

In the Past 11 weeks, All but one of them have been busy with Work Commitments. That does not make up for the fact that I did not communicate that but what it dis make realize is that I need to make sure I am taking time for myself during these events.

As a result, I have been making time to craft (and stash build) when I can. I have also been purposefully looking into the local stores where ever I am :)

For Example, in Ireland I found 2 places for Yarn:

I was interested in Irish Wool and Irish Dyers and I found them: O'Maillie's in Galway City and This is Knit in Dublin had a great selection. The picture above shows the finds from This is Knit.

This is Knit in located in the Beautiful Powerscourt Townhouse just off Grafton Street. They carry many Irish Dyers and also have their own line of specially dyes Yarn called Townhouse. They are the Purple skien and the variegated Purple, blue and Green above. I also found a beautiful Yellow Yarn from Hedgehog Fibers and the teal from Dublin Dye. The light Green skien is Irish Wool from a local Irish Dyer. Irish wool is usually rough but this felt good to me.

O'Maille's House of Style was a beautiful store on High Street in Galway City. They are rather famous for having styled the costumes for "The Quiet Man" which was filmed near the store. I was able to purchase some more of the Irish Wool yarn (like the green Skien Above) and some soft Donegal Wool Spinning Co. Yarn. I didn't take a picture of if but it is amazing. My husband found a great hat too. The owner was a veritable encyclopedia on Irish Wool.

I was also able to visit a weaver while in Ireland.

McKernan Handweavers was beautiful. This wall is amazing. The best part what that it had 2 doors that opened to their weaving room. My mom had visited here about 4 years earlier and they had expanded a lot which gives me hope for the knitting arts. I found some great scarves there too :)

So While this doesn't explain the whole time I was not communicating it does cover a 10 days. :) I had to start somewhere.

I will be sharing further updates as I travel to get back in the swing of things.

Happy stitching everyone!

Finally a Finish! or Two!

I finally had some solid stitching time recently and had a finish...or two...or three! First, I finished a small Christmas ornament from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.

"Let it Snow" ornament - scrap Linen & Floss

I also finished an infinity scarf using some Knit Picks Galileo yarn I got for my birthday over a year ago. I made the pattern up as I went but really love how it turned out.

Infinity Scarf - Knit Picks Galileo yarn - Size 7 needles

Finally, the BIG finish. I completed the Christmas Stocking I had been working on for a friend. It was the partner for the one I finished earlier this year.

I really love this design and it was a rather large finish for me (150W x 224H). I am now working on more Christmas ornaments. Hopefully I can finish 5 or 6 more this month.

Happy Stitching!

So More Progress!

Just wanted to drop a quick note to show progress on the other stocking and cowl I have been working on.

Cowl - Galileo yarn by Knitpicks- pattern is my design

Stocking

The goal is to have both completed soon but I am really getting the hankering to start something new too. :(

Happy stitching everyone!

Stitch from Stash-B Check-in

I have decided to take part in Stitch from my Stash Part B for 2015. July is the first month posted for the 2nd half of the year.

Month: July
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $10.00 (completed 1 stocking and christmas ornament)

Stash Used this month:

• Whole kit for the stocking
• scrap piece of linen
• scrap DMC
• 400 yds of yarn - trillian shawlette
• 1 whole layer cake - Batik Bricks top

I just realized that I have not kept as great of track of that as I should have for the first half of the year but I am going to give it a go now:

Stash Used during SFS 2015A
Yarn:

• 400 yds - trillian shawlette
• 4344 yds - 3 baby blankets (sand, Fruit Salad, Purple)
• 2100 yds - 21 dishrags
• 350 yds - Hitchhiker shawletter

Fabric

• Batik Bricks - 1 layer cake
• Bee's Purple Quilt - 6 yds - all stash
• Trivets - 1 charm pack and 1 fat quarter
• Christmas Table Runner - 1 Charm pack and 0.5 yds backing
• Zig Zag table runner - 1.5 yds
• Barcelona Quilt - 1 layer cake and 4 yds

Cross Stitch:

• Stocking - 1 full kit (14x 16 Aida, floss)
• Santa's Office - 15x18 AIDA and DMC floss
• 4 ornaments - 4 scrap pieces of fabric and scrap floss

Not bad for half a year!!! Now to get back to it. Happy stitching Everyone!

Trillian Shawlette complete!

I have a finish to share of the knitting kind! I completed the Trillian Shawlette, pattern by Martina Behm, on July 4th. I still need to weave in the ends and block the whole thing but its still a finish. I have been using this as my car knitting project. I finished it in about 40 hours as that is how long I spent on it in the car.

The shawl is about 4.5 feet long and about 18 inches wide on its widest. I made it on size 6 needles and used a colorway of yarn by Interlacements. I can't remember the colorway as I misplaced the card after I wound the skien into a yarn cake.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Monthly Goals Check-in: June 2015

Here were my monthly goals for June 2015 and where I netted out:

June 2015 Goals:
1.) Post at least 4 times this month - FAIL
2.) Get caught up on posts of finishes- COMPLETE
3.) Complete Cross- stitch of Stocking for a friend - FAIL
4.) Get Batik Bricks quilt to Long armer prior to vacation (That means finishing piecing the top too) - FAIL
5.) Complete 4 Christmas ornaments (These are great car trip tasks) - FAIL
6.) Finish gender neutral baby blanket and post about it- COMPLETE
7.) Tuck in all the ends on knitting projects (It is my least favorite thing to do so I need to make it a goal to get it done.- COMPLETE

With the impromptu out of state Funeral, I am considering the ~43% completion rate a success. I am about an hour or 2 away from completing the Christmas Stocking for my friend and will complete the Batik bricks quilt this weekend. So where do I go from here...

July 2015 Goals:
1.) Stitch from My Stash: really craft from my stash period
2.) Blog at least 5 times
3.) Complete Batik Brick quilt top and get it to the longarmer
4.) Get fabric picked for A&P wedding quilt and ET baby Quilt
5.) Complete in progress shawl and Cowl
6.) Complete 4 ornaments
7.) Complete Stocking and give to Friend
8.) Work on 2 other stitching WIP

Happy Stitching Everyone! 

SFS A Check-in June 2015

Here is my Check in for June for SFS 2015-A:

Month: June
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $0.00
Complete Budget saved for part A: $170.00 (May Carryover 145 + 25 from this months budget)

I am actually extremely proud of myself from a budget perspective this year. 

Concerns: I am not necessarily stitching at the rate that I have in the past. Possible causes could be stress from the daily Job, More travel than was expected due to that Job, a death in DH family and a vacation but I have high hopes for the tail end of this year.

There was a glimmer of hope this past month: While I was not planning on having a week long road trip for an out of state funeral in the middle of it, I made progress on a new shawl and am about an hour of backstitching away from completing the Christmas Stocking for a friend. I hope to have pics by the beginning of next week.

I also signed up for SFS 2015-B. The budget has really kept me in check with goals and helped me explore the beauty of my stash in general.

Happy stitching everyone!

Knitting Finishes!

Due to an unexpected death in the DH's family, I was out of town for most of last week and couldn't post. Luckily enough, I was able to craft while I was in the car and I wanted to post about them before I left on vacation tomorrow in the early morning. I completed 2 baby blankets: one "Fruit salad" that I referenced in an earlier post and one Neutrals "sand" for a baby of unknown gender. The colors of "sand" match the baby's room perfectly.

 

 

 

Completed "Fruit Salad"

Completed "Sand"

Fruit Salad was completed in late May 2015 and Sand was completed yesterday 6/10/2015. I also finally tucked in all the ends of my dishrags. Here they are all folded up:

There were 21 total but we took 3 of them when we traveled for the funeral. My DH's family loves them. Well I am off to pack, decide what crafty items I am taking for the road trip.

Happy stitching everyone!

May SFS 2015-A Check-in

Here is my Check in for May for SFS 2015-A:

Month: May
Spent: $12.00 (3 yds of Clearance fabric for binding of future quilts)
Earned: $16.00 (Santa's Office)
Carryover to April: $145.00 (April Carryover 116 + 4 (from Above) + 25 from this months budget)

All in all, this month has been a good one from a budget perspective.

I have decided that I need to get back to setting monthly goals for myself as I have been slacking in the posting department.

So here are my monthly goals for June: (keeping in mind I have a 12 day vacation in Here)

June 2015 Goals:
1.) Post at least 4 times this month
2.) Get caught up on posts of finishes
3.) Complete Cross- stitch of Stocking for a friend
4.) Get Batik Bricks quilt to Long armer prior to vacation (That means finishing piecing the top too)
5.) Complete 4 Christmas ornaments (These are great car trip tasks)
6.) Finish gender neutral baby blanket and post about it
7.) Tuck in all the ends on knitting projects (It is my least favorite thing to do so I need to make it a goal to get it done.

Happy stitching everyone!

Knitting Progress!

Well...I have been hard at work on knitting baby Blanket's these days when I am not traveling. I remembered to take a progress picture of the first one which I am calling "Fruit Salad":

"Fruit Salad" Baby Blanket - Bernat Babysoft Yarn, size 11 needles

 I have since finished this one and moved onto a gender neutral blanket. I will have pictures in the next week on that one.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Feb SFS 2015-A Check-in

Stitch from stash 2015-A: - Check-in

I am again taking part in the Stitch from my Stash SAL. This year it is split into 2 sessions and we are getting credit for finishes. Here is my February Check in:

Month: February
Spent: $0.00
Earned:$0.00
Carryover to March: $66.00

I worked on a large variety of crafts this month including a few finishes in the quilting and knitting department but no stitching finishes yet. I am hoping to get an ornament finished this week.

I also used the following in all crafts:
1000g of cotton yarn on dishrags
4 yds of fabric for quilting.

Here is my progress on 99 - the first 3 shelves are complete.

I spent the bulk of this month on my craft room. Pictures will come in another post.

Happy Stitching everyone!

January Finishes!

I figured it would be nice for me to summarize the finishes I completed in January!

Baby Blanket

Hitchiker Shawlette

I also finished 11 dishrags! Since they are all pictured separately, you will need to look at older posts for that. I also completed 2 new ornaments and finished the NOEL ornament.

Finally, I finished 1 Christmas Table Runner:

All in all, a great month!
February will be all about finishing my craft room! posts will be forthcoming!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

30 days of "Starts" - Final Check in

I have come to the end of my 30 Days of "Starts" in honor of Debbie Faris Bryant (SoCal Debbie). Many members of Blog Land are taking part in the Crazy January Challenge where they start some new cross stitch every day for 30 days starting January 1. I knew that I had a work trip planned for later this week so I wanted to start my 30 days on Christmas this year. I was also was allowing myself to work on WIPs in any crafting genre that I take part in whether it be Knitting, Crochet, Cross Stitch, and/or quilting.

1/13: Snowman w/sleigh - again from the Herrschners kit.

Snowman w/sleigh
Herrschners Ornament Kit

1/14: Snowman w/Dog - again from the Herrschners kit.

Snowman w/dog
Herrschners Ornament Kit

1/15: Dish Rag - Block #6 - Pointed Arrow

Pointed Arrow Block - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

1/16: "99" by Ink Circles - I realized late in the game the pictures I took of this one disappeared from the first day so I only have a progress pic from last night. That means this is progress from about 7 days...not just one. This one is for my DH's man cave so I am trying to get it dome sometime this year.

99 - Ink Circles
Called for DMC on Cream Linen

1/17: Bear Ornament - This is great traveling stitching. I got 5 of these small kits a few years ago and am finally taking the time to stitch them. The Bear is first and he is going to be Cute. The finishing on this one will be interesting as I need to make it into a 3D tube. (insert face palm here) I will make sure to take pictures as I finish them.

Bear ornament - Dimensions Kit

1/18 : NOEL ornament Finish - This one needed a few cross stitches and all of the back stitch. I think it came out Amazing!

NOEL ornament
Scrap Piece of fabric
My choice in DMC floss

1/19: Purple Zig Zag Quilt Blocks - It started with the table runner and now I want nothing but to make more quilts in this pattern. I started making a quilt with white strips paired with a purple/blue Batik jelly roll from my stash. The pattern is sitting on top of some of the block below.

Purple Zig Zag Quilt blocks

I also have all the strips sewn together. Some are waiting to be ironed before they can be cut.

Rest of the Strips

1/20: Binding for Barcelona Quilt - This should have been completed so long ago but at least I am making some progress on it. I used white thread to sew the binding together because I didn't even pay attention when I started and I didn't feel like tearing it out as it won't be seen.

Barcelona Quilt Binding

1/21: Apron - Fabric Cut for an apron for myself.  The muslin on top is what I used as a template.

Apron Fabric cut

1/22: Dishrag - Block #7 - King's Crown

King's Crown - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

1/23: Dish Rag - Block # 8 - Bachelor's Puzzle

Bachelor's Puzzle - Lily's Sugar and Cream Yarn

1/24 (and Final): Batik Squares Cut and Ironed: I gave my male cousin who just graduated from college a choice of a quilt or cash as a present and he chose a QUILT!!! I couldn't believe it but I am really happy. I cut some of the below fabric from scraps and some came from layer cake pieces I had left over from a project a while back.

Batik Squares - AB's Quilt.

Well here are my Thirty Days complete. I am going to post a later this week for some finishes etc.

Happy stitching everyone!

30 Days of New Starts - Check-in #3

If I have realized anything in the plan to start/work on different things every day for 30 days...I need to plan...plan...PLAN. I am living by a spreadsheet that I have set-up for myself and I made sure not to inset too many large projects as I always want to work on them more that a few hours each night. As for what I have been working on, here we go:

1/8: Cocoa Mug Cross Stitch: This kit is so much fun. Each of the 6 is relatively small and gives a great sense of accomplishment.

Cocoa Mug - Dimensions Kit?
From my stash

1/9: Red and White Ornament: This ornie is one of my go to designs for each year. There are just so many color ways that can be played with that I am always trying something new.

St. Charles - Ink Circles Designs
Scrap of Linen and Floss from my stash

1/10: Purple baby Blanket: The first baby blanket of the year needs to be completed by 2/9 for a work friend who is having her third child. She is so excited because (in her words), "when you are on #3, no one thinks of really doing anything for you." I am glad I can make her happy.

Purple Blanket
Caron - Simply soft
Basket weave pattern on size 10 needles

1/11: Dish Rag - Block #5 Pinwheel

Pinwheel - Lily's Sugar and Cream Cotton

1/12: Snow Man Ornaments - Ski's - This little guy is from a Herrschners Kit and has a snowman riding on Skis. I made some great progress for only working on it 1 day.

Snowman on Skis
Herrschners ornament Kit

Well, it looks like I am all caught up on my 30 days of projects. I am slightly amazed at what I have been able to accomplish once I put my mind to this endeavor.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

30 Days of New Starts - Check-in #2

So for my next round of new starts, I started some smaller projects, worked on a a few old and tried my hand at some hand embroidery.

1/3 - HitchHiker Scarflette - Was able to add 3 more points on this one.

1/4 - Table runner - Gray zig-a-zag flowers - sewed the blocks and some of the blocks into strips. This one is made from all scraps in my stash so I am pretty excited about that. This pattern is an Eleanor Burns pattern that I saw on a Fons and Porters episode on PBS.

Zig-a-Zag Table Runner
Eleanor Burns
All Scraps

1/5 - Christmas Ornament - I started and finished this christmas ornament. The pattern was a free design from my LNS by Tracy Horner of Ink Circles. I finished it on a scrap of linen with left over floss from an old kit and some variegated floss I wanted to try. I also added a border around this pattern. I have noticed that this pattern seems to be my go to for quick ornies. I could see myself making many of this pattern with different over dyed floss to see the effect.

Christmas Ornament #1
Ink Circles

1/6 - Martini Hand Embroidery - I decided to try some hand embroidery. I had these patterns in my stash and some towels as well and this is how far I got on the first day. All Floss was also left overs from old kits from my stash. I was very happy to find some uses for it all.

Martini Hand Embroidery

1/7 - Beer Hand Embroidery - Since I had so much fun with the Martini, I decided to work on the Beer Design as well. I didn't get as much done and I am not sure I like it as much but this is a fun craft to change thins up for me.

Beer Hand Embroidery

All in all a productive few days!

Happy stitching everyone!