Hello Blogging friends! I always like to have a knitting project ready for traveling. Something that is nice and easy and relaxing. Usually something that doesn’t need a pattern or one that the pattern is easily remembered. A few months ago @clevergirldesignsco posted a picture of a beautiful scarf she had knit. Of course I had to run off to my local Knit shop to see it in person. It was quite beautiful, in red and with a mohair yarn. After finding out all of the details I decided I just had to make one.
The pattern is The Alexander Airplane scarf by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. The yarn that I am using is Aerial Color from Berroco. This is a very fine mohair yarn knitted on size 8 circular needle. It is knit in the round and when finished the tube is laid flat and the edges are pressed or steamed so that the scarf ends up being 2 layers. Because the yarn is so thin, it isn’t bulky but will be warm and cuddly.
As you can see in the photos, this yarn is a striping yarn. The color is 34101, Pisarro. I didn’t want a striping yarn when I decided to do this project and didn’t even know that this yarn would stripe. But I rather like the colors and how they are knitting up. This is straight knitting, so it is the perfect travel project. Whenever I leave the house, I just grab my knitting bag and will be all set to knit if I have to do any waiting or want to knit in the car. It’s easy to pick up and put down, so it makes for the perfect on the go project.
I have only been knitting on this when I travel. Mostly to take my mind off of being in a car on the highway. But sometimes I don’t even pick it up, as I get too involved in what is going on around me on the road. But I have knitted on it when waiting for Mom at her doctor appointments. It is always good to have it with me for when I do decide to pick it up. Maybe I will finish it this winter…or maybe for next winter. Either way, it is the perfect travel project.
It is getting longer, so that makes me happy. Yeah, you can definitely see where my join in the round is. I definitely have to work on that, LOL Do you like to have a travel project? What kinds of things do you work on when traveling?
Hello blogging friends! You know, I blinked and it was November! Well, I didn’t really blink because I did enjoy all of the glorious colored leaves that Mother Nature gave this year. The colors were so bright and vivid this year. As I look out my craft room window, most of the trees are now bare and looking very winter like. The sun is shining and it is a wonderful 63 degrees out, so I am not even thinking about winter being just around the corner.
So, what has been on my needles, you ask? Well, back in September when my Mother-in-law was visiting, we took a trip to a yarn shop and found some beautiful Noro yarns. Now I have never knit with Noro before, and I can honestly say that several years ago when seeing some of the Noro dinosaur eggs, I couldn’t figure out what all the hype was about them. The yarn seemed to look rough
and didn’t feel the softest to the touch. I didn’t want to knit with it. I have since learned that the yarns do soften up as you knit with them and the colors are quite beautiful. So, I decided to take the leap and try my first Noro yarn.
The yarn is Noro’s Tsubame. This is a 200 gram skein, ball, or egg, whatever you want to call it. There are 656 yards, so a lot of yarn here. The pattern I decided to use is the Eyelet Scarf which was featured in a Noro magazine, but is also available on Ravelry.
A very easy pattern that is easily remembered after a few pattern repeats.
The color changes are quite beautiful and really flow nicely into the next. The yarn does soften up as I knit with it. This yarn is 50% silk, 25% wool and 25% nylon. So the silk really does make this knit up really nice.
I knitted this scarf according to the pattern, creating 38 repeats and then adding the seed stitch to the bottom and then bound off the stitches.
The finished length was supposed to be 67″, but when I finished, it was only 42″ and I didn’t think I would get the correct length when blocking, without distorting the eyelets. I undid the bind off and ripped back to the eyelet pattern and continued with the pattern until I was close to finishing the skein, doing 52 repeats and then adding the seed stitch section and then binding off.
I was able to block it out to 73″ which is a much better length. This way I can fold the scarf in half and push the ends through the loop and have a good amount of the ends hang down. If I were to make this scarf again, I would definitely only cast on 37 stitches instead of 57. It is quite wide at 13″. I would prefer a narrow scarf. But it turned out nice and is nice and soft and hangs nicely.
So that is one of the knit projects that I have finished lately. What have you been creating?
Happy October! The last 2 months have almost been a blur. I had company here until yesterday and spent time prepping for that visit. It was a wonderful visit with my Mother-in-law, but as always, way too short. I still spent a good amount of time knitting, crocheting and cross stitching. My MIL loves those things, too, so we made sure to have our crafty time together.
So where did I last leave off…Oh yeah. I was trying to finish up unfinished projects. After I finished my Windsor Mitts I pulled out my Nature’s Walk Blanket crochet blocks.
crocheting blocks together
I started this blanket about 3 years ago. It is the Nature’s Walk Blanket by Sandra Paul. I had never crocheted blocks before and I remember how thrilled I was when I completed my first block. So I continued on and crocheted 48 blocks in 6 different designs. The instructions are very well written with very helpful images. After finishing the blocks, I think I was a bit intimidated by not knowing if I could actually stitch the blocks together or crochet the border. So I set it aside. I am sure some other projects were calling my name, too. After reading through the directions, I jumped right in.
I was actually crocheting the blocks together and it was quite easy. Again, the instructions were well written and very helpful.
The border
After all of the blocks were crocheted together, I began the border. I was so nervous, but I pressed on. The first couple of rows went well. Then the pattern switched to creating a pattern in the border.
Hearts in the border
The pattern was creating open holes in the shape of hearts. And I was doing well. My holes were lining up the way they were supposed to, and I was elated!
Border corner
My corners were looking pretty good. All the holes were lining up and I was nearing a finish!
Not quite right
I thought I had finished until I laid it out and noticed that I missed a peak near the top in the photo. I couldn’t have that, so I ripped out the last row and a half.
Frogged part of the borderA finish!
So I have a finish! I am so proud of myself for what I have done on this blanket and for finishing it. It really turned out so beautifully and I think Barb, the woman who taught me to crochet when I was 11 years old, would also be proud of me. I am even thinking about making another one of these blankets in the near future.
Now for my cross stitch update on the Fox & Rabbit 2022 MSAL. When I last posted about this one, it looked like this:
Since then, I have added the August section, September section and I finished both borders on September 30, the day before the October section was to come out.
2022 MSAL
And here is the October section completed, so now I am completely caught up with this one.
October section
I will share what is on my knitting needles next time. What have you been working on? I’d love to hear about it.
Hello my blogging friends! We are expecting severe storms where I am, so I am hoping to get this post in before the storms come. Though it is getting pretty dark out right now.
So, when I finished knitting the last baby blanket, I decided that I wanted to finish the last 2 projects that have been in my WIP pile for the last couple of years. First up is Windsor Mitts. I started the first mitt in November of 2020 and I don’t think that I posted about them. So here is my start from almost 2 years ago.
Windsor Mitts start
A friend gave me this set of teeny tiny circular needles to try and I happened upon the Windsor Mitt’s pattern and it just happened to need this size 2 needle. I was not sure about knitting with this tiny circular, but it turned out that I loved it! So much better than Double Pointed Needles, which you know I hate.
Mitt progress
I was knitting right along with the tiny needles and loved how the pattern was turning out. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca and it is so soft.
Looks like it fits!
I just couldn’t wait to try it on. So far so good! so that brings us to where the mitt was when I picked it up a couple of weeks ago. I still had the thumb to do. Ugh! Double pointed needles…
Double Pointed needles for the thumb
I only had to do about 9 rows, so it actually wasn’t so bad. I finished it and then cast on the 2nd mitt with the tiny circular needle.
Knitting in miniatureFinished Mitts
And I finished them! Another project out of my WIP pile and just one more crochet project to go 🙂
For cross stitching, well there are still quite a few projects in that pile. But I will share what I was stitching on in July. First here is the progress I made on Esmerelda.
Esmerelda
This is as far as I got on her before putting her away. She is from Bella Filipina Designs and I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Oberon from Fabrics by Stephanie.
And the last project I worked on is the 2022 MSAL from Fox and Rabbit.
And this is how it looked when I put it away to do some crocheting. I really love the colors I chose. I am usually not a fan of red, but this is regal! The fabric is 16ct Aida Winter Wishes from Fabrics by Stephanie and threads are DMC 115 with DMC 902 for outlining the letters.
2022 MSAL
I still have the inner border to finish and the outer border to do. And the August section just came out, so I will need to get busy on it soon. This design is FREE from Fox & Rabbit Designs. New sections come out on the 1st of the month through December.
It is storming now. Thankfully I took these photos this afternoon while the sun was still shining. I will end this post with a sweet photo I took this week of a beautiful little visitor. Until next time, happy stitching!
Hello my blogging friends. Can you believe it is August already? I have been so busy and going in many different directions. I have a new hobby; Memory Planning. It’s like scrapbooking in miniature, in a daily planner. I signed up for Heidi Swapp’s Stop The Blur classes and have been following several Planner artists on Insta Gram and learning whatever I can. I only have a few pages under my belt, but I am loving the entire process. I have actually tried memory planning for the last 7 years, but didn’t get far at all. So yes, I have 7 planners that have been abandoned with only a few photos and entries. I just couldn’t find my way. In June I purchased a planner that started with July 2022 and I thought I am going to do it this time. So I took Heidi’s classes, gathered some supplies, purchased a few more things and finally sat down to start. It took me about a week to do my first page. Laying things out, changing my mind, adding some new techniques until I ended up with my first page.
My first Memory Planner page
I had to incorporate a couple of Heidi Swap’s tag techniques which allowed me to add more photos about getting my mermaid hair done.
In addition to the photos I wanted to add from the last week of June, I added some stamping, some stickers, scrapbook paper and my journaling. I also added some photos that flip up revealing more photos underneath.
Photo flipsPhoto flips
I have really enjoyed creating this page in my new planner and do plan on keeping up with this planner. While Memory Planning has taken up a lot of my time the last month, it’s not the only thing I have been working on. I actually started and finished another baby blanket for another special little someone arriving in late August.
Aran Baby Blanket in color Sea Horse
I decided on the Aran Baby Blanket because I love making this pattern. The designer is Sassafrass2 on Etsy. The yarn I used is Sweater Worsted by Blue Sky fibers.
Baby Aran Blanket
I love knitting this blanket. All of the different stitches keeps me from getting bored and I can get it finished pretty quickly. I love how it turned out. The color, Sea Horse, was really hard to capture. In the photos it looks blue, but it really isn’t. It is more of a gray/very pale green. It is perfect for wrapping around a new little someone.
I have more to share next time, so come back and see what I have been up to this last month. What have you been up to?
Hello my blogging friends. It is now past mid-June and creating a blog post has been longer than I had planned. So many things get in the way and yet I can’t remember most of them. I had a big cross stitch post planned, but plans change and I have decided to go in a different direction.
So, what have I been stitching? Well, my cross stitch projects have seemed to have expanded in the last few months. I was stitching on 2 Mirabilia’s and the Fox & Rabbit Mystery Sampler. But after the events that unfolded on Social Media over the weekend, I couldn’t even stitch on Saturday night…at all…on anything! That almost never happens with me. And on Sunday night I started yet another cross stitch project. So much for trying to get through my WIP’s. Anyway, a lot of my recent nights have been spent stitching on Rosamund by Mirabilia. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and immediately started stitching on her as soon as I received her and the fabric.
Rosamund by Mirabilia
I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Salem from Fiberlicious Yummy Fibers. I worked with the dyer to get the fabric painted so that I wouldn’t lose the edges into a frame. There are only 2″ on the sides for framing, and I am wondering if any of the black will show. But for now I stitch on.
Sweet Rosamund
I rarely ever do a face first when I am cross stitching. I usually work from the middle down and then the middle up. I feel that if I do her face first, I may get bored and my progress to get her done will really slow down. But since this is a vertical design, my needle automatically went to the right and wow! She is beautiful and I do love stitching on her.
Beautiful Rosamund
And this is where I left off before the weekend.
Sweet Rosamund
I am really enjoying stitching on this Mirabilia. But after the Mirabilia designer posted on social media that she thought the Bella Filipina Designer was copying her designs, I couldn’t stitch on her Saturday night. There were so many negative comments going around and I just felt awful about the whole thing. I thought it was very distasteful what the Mirabilia designer posted. I love both designers. I think they each have their own style, that is different from each other. I am sure I will get back to Rosamund and Blossom, but last night I decided to do this:
Esmeralda
This was a recent limited design by Bella Filipina Designs for the Casa Cenina shop in Italy. I am so lucky to have gotten her and very quickly I might add. I am not using the 32ct fabric that was included in the kit. I am going to stitch her on 16ct Aida Oberon from Fabrics by Stephanie. I thought it would be perfect for Esmeralda. After all the time it took me to find the perfect fabric and a scroll frame that wouldn’t drive me crazy, I don’t have much stitching to show. I will next time.
Hello Blogging Friends and Happy June! So sorry I have been absent for a couple of months. I have been doing a lot of stitching, but also a lot of thinking, reflecting and soul searching. I have come to the conclusion that you just can’t please some people, no matter what. I have accepted it and am now moving on.
So let’s talk about what I have finished. First up is the Liva Cardigan.
Liva Cardigan finished
I am pretty happy with the way this cardigan turned out. This photo is before blocking. The sleeves are a tiny bit short, but since they are knitted in garter stitch, I think I can stretch them a bit when blocking.
Beautiful Mitered squares
I do love how the back of this cardigan looks. The Mitered squares look so awesome. This was a new technique for me and I enjoyed knitting the squares. This sweater has been on the blocking boards since yesterday, so I am assuming it will be a few days before it dries.
The blocking
Hopefully I have stretched the sleeves enough and not too much. I can’t wait to wear this in the fall or on a cool night to the lake. The Liva pattern I used was in a book put out by Berroco and the yarn is Topaz by Berroco. The pattern is also available on Ravelry.
Next up is the Fairy Correspondence Shawl. This one turned out so pretty and I loved all the different stitches. So fun.
Fun stitchesFairy Correspondence
This one turned out beautifully! The designer, SoftYarn Designs, never disappoints with her mystery knit a long’s. I used 3different yarns for this shawl. The 2 purple yarns are From Jilly & Kiddles in colors Tour de France and Bonjour. The pink is Ishtar from AJHC Wools.
Fairy Correspondence Shawl
The drape on this shawl is just gorgeous and I am so pleased with it.
Next up is a Baby Blanket for a special little someone arriving this summer.
Sweet baby blanket start
I have been wanting to use this yarn for quite some time. The very large skein is actually 4 different yarns tied together and they are so soft. The pattern is Making Waves Baby Blanket and was on the inside of one of the ball bands. I believe that it is also available on Bernat’s website.
Making Waves Baby Blanket
The pattern was easy to remember, so it made for easy knitting. Except that 3 of the 4 yarns are quite bulky and using a size 11 needle did cause my hands to cramp at times. But I pushed through, and knitted in short chunks at a time.
Beautiful wavesMaking Waves Baby Blanket
This blanket is so soft and warm and cuddly. And it really is a quick knit.
Sweet, soft and cuddly
I am going to miss knitting on this beautiful blanket. It did keep me warm while knitting and it is so soft. It will keep a sweet little baby warm and snuggled in. The pattern called for 3 of the very large skeins, but I only used a small amount from the 3rd skein. So I will have to find something to use up the rest of the yarn.
So that is what I have finished stitching. In the month of May I also created or finished 32 scrapbook pages. Woo Hoo! Next time I will share what I have been cross stitching.
So that is what I have been up to the last couple of months. What have you been up to?
It is April 9 and it does not feel like Spring yet. I woke up to a dusting of snow this morning 😦 I had planned on going to a Spring Fiber Fest today, but too many other things came up this morning and then it just seemed to be too late for the drive. Hopefully tomorrow I can get there. Even though I really do not need to add any more yarn to my stash. I did find out that there will be a booth carrying not only yarn, but cross stitch products too. Oh yeah, gotta go 😉
So as my title indicates, I have been juggling 4 projects lately. I have juggled 2 in the past, but not 4 that I can remember. Usually I knit in the morning and cross stitch at night. But I am all over the place with 4 projects. So, first up is the Liva Cardigan.
Liva Cardigan
Yep, this one is still on my needles. This is a pattern in one of the Berroco books and can be found on Ravelry. I am using the called for yarn, Topaz by Berroco. I have picked up stitches along the left and right front and for the collar. I have to knit 6″ on about 300 stitches. I think I have 4 1/2″ stitches in right now. So, it is going slow, but I am getting there. Once that is finished all I will have to do is to sew on pockets (of course pockets) and weave in ends. It has been a few days since I put any stitches in. The Fairy Correspondence Shawl is the reason why.
Section 2
This is section 2 and my least favorite of this one. The bobble row took me over 3 hours to get across :O Wow! They are not perfect either, but they are staying as is. There is a little v at the top of them that I don’t think is supposed to be there, but I’m ok with it. The Weeds and Thickets section before and after the bobbles were not fun either. None of these sections were hard, just very time consuming. I love the look of the Weeds and Thickets, but I am really hoping that there are no more of these or bobbles in this shawl. I am loving my color choices. That pop of pink is perfect with the purples. Purple yarns are Jilly & Kiddles Tour de France and Bonjour and the pink is Ishtar from AJHC Wools. Yesterday I finished section 3 and love it!
Section 3
This section was called Conifers and it was so rhythmic and relaxing to knit. I was even able to watch tv while knitting this lace pattern. Though I guess I did get a little too into the “Bridgerton’s” as I forgot a yarn over a couple of times and had to unknit several rows. But I didn’t mind as this pattern was wonderful to knit. Section 4 doesn’t come out for a few days, so hopefully I can get the Liva cardigan finished.
The other 2 projects that have captured my attention are cross stitch. You know I can’t not have a cross stitch project going on in my life 😉 So now I have 2 going, LOL First up is Blossom by Mirabilia.
Blossom
This one is a joy to stitch. The colors are so vivid. There are more than a few stitches in each color, so it isn’t like confetti stitching. I am stitching her on 16ct Busy Izzy from Fabrics by Stephanie. It is such a pretty fabric and I am loving watching Blossom come alive on it.
A special piece of fabric finally arrived for a project that I have been wanting to stitch since February. It is not the normal Aida that the dyer usually dyes so I wasn’t sure it was going to work. It is a rather flimsy Aida and the sizing looked to be off. One of the reasons that I use Aida is that I am a tight stitcher and having a flimsy fabric like Lugana or linen does not work for me. This Aida feels like a Lugana, so I am trying to be conscience of my stitches not being too tight.
Fox & Rabbit MSAL
Yes! I finally started the Fox and Rabbit 2022 Mystery SAL. The fabric is Winter Wishes by Fabrics by Stephanie. Like I said, this Aida is different and the Winter Wishes is a bit lighter than normal. But it is working. The floss I chose is DMC 115. I went with a color way out of my color comfort zone and I feel like I made the right choice. The way the colors change in this floss is awesome! I really like the continuous stitching with one floss. This is where I left this piece last night.
Fox & Rabbit 2022 MSAL
This project is quite large, using a 29″ x 29″ piece of fabric. I am not sure when I will be caught up with this one. The section that is stitched above is the February section. So I have all of the borders of the January section, the March and the April sections to do. I think after this section that I am stitching on now is finished, I will stitch the April section and hopefully have some time to do some catching up before the next section comes out May 1. This pattern is the 2022 Mystery Sampler and is a free design from Fox and Rabbit.
So that is what I have been up to. Juggling these 4 projects has been fun. I am enjoying each of them when I work on them. How many projects have you juggled all at once? I’d love to know.
And now I leave you with a most glorious sunset that I just saw out of my craft room window ❤
Hello friends! Can you believe it is the last day of March? I feel like I have accomplished a lot of the last couple of months and I am hoping that April is another month filled with getting things done. I have a lot of hobbies and not enough hours in the day to do all that I want to do. So, I work on what I can when I can. Today I want to share some of the scrapbooking I have done.
Memory Album
First up is a little memory album that I have tried to finish for several years. The pages have been almost finished but adding photos and journaling has been very hard for me. It is an album of someone that I miss dearly and long to talk to often. The last few months I have been wanting to talk to this person every day. So, I decided to sit down and see if I could finish the album. And I did. It took a lot of tears, a lot of remembering and a lot of emotions, but it is finished. I added photos, journaling and some embellishments and I am happy that I was able to get this finished. It was very therapeutic, too.
Next up is a Recipe book. I made one for each of my boys and have been wanting to make one for myself for the last 2 years.
Simple Stories Recipe Album
This was a kit put out by Simple Stories that I picked up at a local scrapbook store.
Cute Recipe pages
This book is filled with pages of recipe cards and pages to add lots of photos, too.
Recipe pages
There are lots of pages with pockets, too. So, adding handwritten recipes from friends and family can be slid right into a pocket. The perfect way to save a sample of a loved one’s handwriting ❤
Recipe book
This is just a sample of the pages in this book. I can’t wait to start adding my recipes and getting them all in one place.
Another project I worked on was a Christmas album.
Christmas Album
This album kit was also put out by Simple Stories. But with Shannon’s (from the Scrapbook Tree) spin on it, she takes is from plain and simple to fun and sparkly.
Christmas album pages
It is amazing how a little doodling with a black marker and adding some gems and glitter can change the look of a plain page.
A place for sweet memories
This album took a lot of time to do with all of the cutting, distressing, doodling and adding glitter and glue to one side of the pages. Then allowing them to dry so that I could add glitter, glue and gems to the opposite sides of the pages. But I am so happy with the results.
Christmas pages
This album has room for at least 94 photos! There may be places to add a few more photos that I didn’t count. It will be so fun adding Christmas memories to this album. Not sure if I will save this for the next Christmas that my family is all together or add photos from a Christmas past. Either way, it will be an awesome keepsake.
I have also scrapbooked some 12 x 12 pages, but I didn’t take any photos of them. I think I made some pretty good progress with my scrapbook hobby. So how many hobbies do you have, and do you have trouble juggling them all?
Hello Blogging friends! When I finished stitching the Winter Snowfall project in February, I pulled out an older WIP.
Gossamer Princess start
I don’t remember when I started this project. It has to be 5-8 years ago. The pattern is Gossamer Princess Storykeep from Heaven and Earth Designs. This was a project I started for my husband. He mentions it every now and then, reminding me that I haven’t finished it, LOL So I thought I would pull it out and work on it. This is as far as I had gotten on it before having to put it in time out again.
Gossamer Princess
This one is being stitched on 25ct Lugana in White over 1. I had made a mistake and found out how much of a pain it is to rip out on Lugana over 1. Ugh It is also hard to see the holes, so back into her bag and away she went. I hope to get it finished someday, but that time is not now. So I pulled out another WIP.
Moon Sweet Moon
This is what the finished piece will look like. This design, by Passione Ricamo, was a Mystery Stitch-A-Long back in 2017. I think a couple of sections had come out when someone stole her design from her computer. She then halted the SAL and released the entire design to each person that had paid for it. Before sending out the PDF’s, she watermarked each person’s copy with their name and address. This is how it looked when I started the SAL.
Moon Sweet Moon start
And here is how she looked when I picked her up in early March.
Moon Sweet Moon Progress
I didn’t get to stitch much on her this time, but this is where I left off on her.
This is a beautiful piece and I am hoping to finish her this year. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida, a one of a kind piece dyed for me by Fantasy Dyed Fabrics, specifically for this project. It looks all gray in the photo, but there are hints of purple throughout. So the reason I put her away is because I just had to make a new start. Mirabilia comes out with a new design every month on the 15th. On February 15, Blossom was released and as soon as I saw her, I fell in love. She represents Spring, new beginnings and hope. With all that I was going through in the last few months, she was so appropriate and I knew I had to have her. Here is the quote about her;
To blossom is to burst forth with beauty and energy. It is a flurry of new life and electric beginnings. It is also a small flower that appears in the spring. This design is inspired by the hope and joy blossoms bring.
Nora Corbett
Blossom by Mirabilia
As soon as I saw her, I went through my stash to find the perfect fabric. It was a little difficult, but I found 2 that I thought might work. A friend ordered her for me and when she informed me that she was on the way, I pulled all of the threads and did a floss toss.
floss toss for Blossom
The fabric I chose is 16ct Aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics By Stephanie.
All set to go. And she arrived and I was so excited to start her!
Blossom start
I haven’t made much progress on her, with 2 knitting projects going. Hopefully the next time I post about her I will have more progress.
So that is what I have been cross stitching on. What are you up to today?
My Time Stitching 