Month: October 2018

So I Visited The Crochet Expert
Afghans · Craft Room · Crochet · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Nora Corbett · Passione Ricamo · Pixie · Shannon Christine · Shannon Christine designs

So I Visited The Crochet Expert

My Time Stitching19 Comments

Wow!  Another post so soon from me?  I’m on a roll, LOL.

So on Wednesday, I went to my Local Yarn Shop for a session with the Crochet Expert, Jen.  She was amazing.  I feel like I learned so much.  Not just for my blanket, but for crochet in general.  So here is my blanket how I left it Wednesday night:

Spicier Life blanket 2

Not a whole lot added since my last post, because I now have tendonitis in both of my elbows.  Ugh.  Too much knitting and crocheting the last few weeks.  So I am wearing a brace on my right arm, which is the worst.  I could barely dry my hair yesterday 😦  But, I do have the correct number of stitches and I am using  stitch markers to mark the first stitch of every row.  It appears that I have left some stitches unstitched on my ends.  And Jen is going to help me with my border when I am ready so that it looks evened out since I opted to just continue on rather than rip it all out.  So I am more confident going forward from here…when my elbows stop hurting.

This week I stitched the October mermaid on the SAL and even started beading 🙂

Mermaid SAL Oct

This piece is going to have so many beads!!  I was so excited to start beading, being that I am on the bottom row, that I forgot that I still have January to do since this SAL started in February.  So I didn’t put the rest of the bigger beads on October since I am using a scroll frame.  The biggest bead, at the top of October, gave me such a tough time.  I just couldn’t get it to lay properly.  It took me about 40 minutes to finally get it the way I wanted after putting the other white bead on, so I am not taking them out.  I will put some felt or batting on top of the beads before I roll it up when I do January.  So for now, I will skip the beading.  It was fun putting all those gold beads in.  I love beading.

So last night I pulled out my Pink Princess.

Pink Princess progress 1

It is really called Dawn, the Fairy Spirit of Grace, by Passione Ricamo.  But I am going to stitch her without the wings, so I call her my Pink Princess.  I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Tintagel from Fabrics by Stephanie.  And when I pulled this out, I saw in my notes that I started her in March of 2015!!!  What?  It just could not have been that long!  Where does the time go.  There is no way I should have these things as WIP’s for this long.  I will stitch on her until the next section of the Mystery Sampler comes out on Oct. 31.  Hopefully she won’t be put away for too long.

A couple of weeks ago, I hung some stitchings in my craft room.  I was reminded by a blogging friend that I hadn’t shared photos.

Ella framed and hung

Ella, the Frog Princess.  I love seeing her when I am crafting in my room.  Which obviously isn’t enough as my plant is dying.  No worries.  I did water it after taking my photos.  It should be all perked up tonight.

pixies on the wall 2

I added the White Angel Trumpet pixie to the other pixies I have stitched.  They all look so cute hanging together.  I don’t have much wall left though.  I can fit one more to the left of Iris.  I’ll have to figure out which one that will be.

And lastly, I hung the Mystery Sampler 2017 right beside my desk.

Mystery Sampler 2017 hung

While I am working at my desk, I can look up and see this one.  This was my very first Sampler and I am happy that it is hanging when I can see it when I am at my desk.  Oh,  I was in my craft room this week.  I put together an 8 x 8 travel scrapbook which is where I am planning on putting my pictures from my trip up north last weekend. So I guess I can say that I am in there at about once a week.   I love seeing my stitchings on the wall when I craft 🙂

So what are you up to this week?  Any stitchy plans for the weekend?

 

Getting Caught Up and Yarn Organizing
Crochet · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitted Shawl · vacation · yarn

Getting Caught Up and Yarn Organizing

My Time Stitching31 Comments

Hello Blogging Friends.  I am still trying to get caught up on my blogging; posting as well as reading your blogs.  I have a cross stitch project that I finished over the summer but couldn’t post, as it was a wedding gift.

love cross stitch

It is called My Love by Madame Chantilly.  I stitched it on 16ct Aida Jamie’s Kilt from Fabrics by Stephanie.  I stitched it as charted, except for adding beads in some of the flowers and in the heart. I also added the names and date. The frames was supposed to be a white washed frame, but it came back looking like cream.  This was a gift for my son and his now wife.  They were married last month.

IMG_3314 (2)

It was a nice outside wedding and I think they are happy with how it all turned out after a year of planning.

My Seagrass Shawl that I was blocking during my last post, turned out lovely.

blocked shawl

I wasn’t quite sure how to show it.  I hope you can see all of its awesomeness!  It blocked really well and I am so pleased with it.  It is the Seagrass shawl from Woolenberry.  The yarns are listed on my previous post if you are interested.  I can’t wait to stitch up another shawl from Woolenberry.

Before vacation, I picked up this crochet project:

spicier-life-blanket-progress.jpg

When I picked it up, it was only about half the size that it is now.  And while I do enjoy crocheting, my crochet skills are still not very good.  I can just about figure out how to do all the different stitches,.  But when it comes to my ends and beginnings, I really need more lessons.  So my sides are going in and out and it is not from crocheting too loose or too tight.  It is because I don’t have the correct number of stitches.  So, on Wednesday I will be going to my local yarn shop to see the crochet expert and hope that she can set me straight.  I would like to finish this blanket without the frustrations.  I don’t know that I will rip any of this out.  Maybe continue on the right track and hope that the border will hide my imperfections.  I will have to wait to see what the expert suggests.

This last weekend, hubby and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary.  We drove up north and stayed in a hotel on the beach.  It was cold, windy and rainy the first day that we arrived.  But we went out and walked around town and to the beach anyway.  We saw the Mackinac Bridge and had to go back later when it was dark so we could see it all lit up.  Beautiful.  But I am still not ready to cross it.  The next morning, we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise on the lake.  I am so glad we were able to catch it as it was cloudy the next day.  I already want to go back to my hotel room on the beach.

Sunrise in northern Michigan

Next year we will go back in the summer and I will see if I can get my courage up to take the ferry over to the island.  But we had a fun weekend of sightseeing. I even started a new travel shawl.

travel shawl

I am knitting the Funny Rainbow shawl again, but with a different yarn.  I am using Knit One Crochet Too’s Kettle Tweed in Winter Blossom.  I couldn’t find a project in my stash that didn’t have an intricate pattern.  So I opted to do the Funny Rainbow pattern again because it is pretty much all garter stitch with adding stitches to one side.  So we will see how it comes out.  While looking for this project, I found out that I have so many yarn projects waiting to be done. So many beautiful yarns and projects I had forgotten about, too.   I am sure it is over 30!!  I have written them all down and organized them in the little cubbies on my shelf  and have put myself on the no more buying yarn list until I get quite a few of the projects done.  I should probably do that for cross stitch, too, as I have way more cross stitch kits than yarn kits, but let’s not go too far, ok?

So how much yarn do you have in your stash?

I Have Been Stitching Away
cross stitch · Knitted Shawl · Knitting

I Have Been Stitching Away

My Time Stitching27 Comments

Hello blogging friends.  It’s been a bit since I last posted.  A little over 2 months.  It was summer, and now it’s fall. The last 2 days here have felt a bit like the start of winter though.  We were at 80 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday and today it’s 46.  Wow!  I do hope that we get a Fall season though.  I love Fall.  The beautiful colored leaves, just a nip of cold in the air, great stitchy weather and a time for change and new beginnings.  This year has been a difficult year for me.  Filled with many changes.  Some good and some not so good.  This week was a hard week for me.  Today, I have decided to forget about the negative things, and move on for me.  Wish me luck.  So on to stitching.  What would I do without my stitching.  It is my friend, my therapy, my salvation.

Last night I finished the Funny Rainbow shawl I have been working on since May.  It was mostly my car traveling stitch, but this week I decided to work on it more and give it a finish.

Katia Funny Rainbow Shawl

I really enjoyed stitching this and it is so soft and bouncy and the pattern was garter stitch, so easy to take in the car.  It needs no blocking, so I am hoping to wear it soon.  The yarn is Funny Rainbow by Katia and the pattern is Funny Rainbow Shawl by Katia. I have it on my list of things to purchase more of this yarn.

Two nights ago, I finished the Sea Grass Shawl by Janina Kallio.  It also turned out beautifully, but needs blocking.  So this morning I soaked it in cold water, squeezed out the water after about 20 minutes and started putting it on my set of 9 blocking blocks which I had purchased recently.  You see, this is my first time ever blocking anything!  But my shawl was too big, so I had to run to the local yarn shop and get another package of blocks.  So here it is all blocked out.

Seagrass shawl being blockedNot much to look at right now, but in a day or two, when it is all dry, it will be beautiful!  I hope I have blocked it right.  The Blue sparkly yarn is Tardis by Mint Rain Hand Dyed Yarns and the variegated yarn is Surf’s Up from AJHC Wools.  Both were nice yarns to work with.

This week I also finished the October section of the Mystery Sampler from Linen and Threads.  First let me apologize in advance if I offend anyone with this one.

October section of Mystery SALEver since the beginning of this one, I was hoping for mermaids.  And the designer did not disappoint.  I absolutely LOVE this section and it is my favorite.  I know the mermaids are naked, but they are old world mermaids and so perfect on this SAL.  I am stitching this on a 16ct Aida One of a kind fabric from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  It is more of a peach color with gray throughout.  The threads are DMC 53 and DMC 310. I am looking forward to seeing what the November section brings.

Since I last posted, I also finished the August and September mermaids on the Treasures of the Deep SAL.

Mermaid SAL Aug and SeptThese mermaids are so adorable.  In a couple of days the October mermaid will be released and I can’t wait to see her.  I may even start adding some of the millions of beads this piece has.

So that is all I have for now.  I did finish the Heirloom baby blanket I was working on, but it also needs to be blocked.  So hopefully I can get that done soon and have a picture posted here next time.  For now I am back to cross stitching on a piece that I am not too happy with.  But I will keep going with it, at least until the new mermaid comes out 😉  So I hope things are well with you.  I am doing my best to get caught up on all of my blogging.  What are you stitching on these days?