Happy Blogaversary!

March 25, 2022March 24, 2022 My Time Stitching19 Comments

Hello blogging friends! Today my blog is 10 years old! Yep! 10 years ago today I started this little blog to document my cross stitch, knittng, crocheting and whatever else I have been up to. I have really enjoyed it and have met so many wonderful people from all over the world. Yesterday I spent a lot of time looking at my older blog posts and reading the most wonderful, loving, supportive, encouraging and sweet comments. I thank each and every one of you who has visited my blog. I also thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment. I read each and everyone and love hearing about what you have been up to, also. I look forward to many more years of blog posts and sharing my love of crafting with you ❤

So, what have I been up to? The past couple of months have been a rollercoaster of emotions and I have immersed myself into crafting and cleaning and more crafting. I won’t bore you with the details, but in the coming days I will share with you what I have been crafting. Today I will start with what I am knitting.

First up, the Liva cardigan. Yes, I am still working on it and I can happily say that I am into the final stretch with this garment!

This chaos is the reason I have been slowed down on this project. Double Pointed Needles! They are not my friends. This is sleeve one, and I did get through it. With many starts. FYI: When the pattern says to end the yarn after stitching up the side, but not to cut the yarn…cut the yarn. I tried several times to get the sleeve going on the DPN’s and every time I ended back at the beginning of the round, I had a long length of yarn between the stitches. Now I have knitted with DPN’s many times and I just couldn’t figure out what in the heck was going on. After about the 7th try, I cut the yarn and started with a new length and what a miracle! I had no problems. So I won’t be doing that again. But I made it through and then knitted the right side. And then it was time for sleeve 2.

Sleeve 2 went much easier and much quicker, but I am still not a fan of Double Pointed needles. I will be learning magic loop before I have to deal with them again.

I have added the hem and am now knitting the collar and front bands. I have about 1 1/2″ done. About another 4 1/2″ of mindless, soothing knitting in between the sections of the Fairy Correspondence Mystery Knit Along from Softyarn Designs that I have started.

I have chosen these yarns for my mystery shawl. The purples are Bonjour and Tour de France from Jilly & Kiddles and the pink is Ishtar from AJHC Wools. I am loving these colors! The Knitalong started this past Monday, but you can still join if you want to get in on the fun. You can find it on Ravelry and if decide to knit this, don’t forget to join the group on Ravelry and get in on the chat. With this knitalong, we could sign up to write an actual letter to someone else that has signed up. Lena matched people up and our first correspondence is due in the mail today. Mine went out yesterday and I can’t wait to hear back from my “knitting pen pal”. So here is my start on the mystery shawl.

I am loving my color choices with this first section of the shawl. My little pink flowers look a little wonky, so I am calling them Fairy Dust. Maybe they will look better once it is washed and blocked. Section 2 comes out later today and I can’t wait to get back to knitting on this.

So that is what I have been knitting on. What are you working on today?

cross stitch · Shannon Christine designs

Winter Snowfall Finish

February 19, 2022February 19, 2022 My Time Stitching18 Comments

It is still winter where I am and the snow is still here. In fact we had another 5-6 inches yesterday. Today the sun is shining and I am happy for that. I am also happy that I have another finish for 2022! On February 7 I had finished all of the stitching on my Winter Snowfall project.

Yesterday I finished putting in the over 1600 beads!

I am so happy to be finished with all of that white and all of those beads. It was so worth it. Another WIP out of the pile! The stats on this one: Winter Snowfall by Shannon Chirstine Designs. I stitched on 16ct Aida Valyrian Steel from Fabrics by Stephanie. DMC colors are 818, 3354 and B5200. Mill Hill beads are 00479 and 40557. I have a new project in mind that I want to start. But it depends on how long it will take to get to me.

That is what I have been up to. What are you working on?

Knitting · yarn

My Olympic Project

February 18, 2022 My Time Stitching13 Comments

Hi friends. I can’t believe that the Olympics are almost over. What a wild ride so far. After hearing about an “Olympic project” during the last Olympics, I decided to go for it this time. So after hearing about the Olympic challenge again on The Yarn Garden’s Feature Friday Facebook video, I decided I would start the Liva Cardigan by Amy Christoffers. I purchased the yarn and pattern back in September. And since it was quite a bit of yarn and a cardigan that I wanted to knit for myself, I felt it was the perfect time to get it out of my stash.

I actually purchased 9 balls of this yarn as I wasn’t sure I would need 8 or 9. This is the same yarn that I used for the Marit shawl that I made for my Mother in Law.

And this is the cardigan. You can find it on Ravelry here. I fell in love with this cardigan when I saw it at a trunk show at my local yarn shop. So a few days before the Olympics Opening, I started “training” for the big event. And when I say training, I mean swatching, LOL

The recommended needles are US size 8, but I had too many stitches for gauge. So I went up to a US size 9 and was still 1 stitch off. So after talking with the Head Gardener at The Yarn Garden and getting some helpful hints on whether to swatch again and needle size, I decided to go with the size 9. So I was all set to go the day of Opening Ceremonies.

To start I had to make 5 mitered square blocks. 3 of these squares will form the back of the cardigan and the remaining 2 will be for pockets. This is my first time making mitered squares and I enjoyed making them. The pattern was well written and I didn’t have any problems. Well, a little with the center diagonal where the decreases are. I just had to remember to give a little extra tug. I love the way the squares look. The Topaz yarn makes them look a bit wonky. The yarn goes thick and thin throughout, so to me it makes them look lumpy. But like with the Marit shawl, they will look better with blocking.

So I stitched 3 of the blocks together for the back and picked up stitches for the left side.

So this is as far as I have gotten. Last night I separated the stitches for the sleeves and to do a 3 needle bind off, but I had one too many stitches and I didn’t have a set of size 9 DPN’s for the sleeves. That called for a quick online purchase and then I put all of the stitches back onto the main cable. So, I will not be standing on the podium on Sunday, but I really didn’t think I would get this cardigan finished in 16 days. But the Olympic challenge was a good reason to get it started. I would like to finish it before winter is over, so fingers crossed.

So that is what I am up to. Do you have an Olympic project going?

Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Shannon Christine designs

So Much Snow, Inside and Out

January 24, 2022 My Time Stitching6 Comments

Hello blogging friends! How is your January going? Mine has not gone well, but that is a story for another day. And the last few days we have been getting snow. So much snow outside.

This photo was taken this morning. It has been snowing all day. There is also so much snow inside, with my Winter Snowfall project.

I have finished all of the pink on this project, so all that is left is all that white snow. I have been trying to push through to get this done, but I am so bored with the white. So since it is my Birthday today, I decided I needed a new Birthday start!

So I started the February Sampler of the Month by Country Cottage Needleworks. I have so many CCN patterns that I want to do. I wanted to do this series last year, but didn’t get to it. I am skipping January for now since it is almost over. I will be mounting all of the months myself in order to pop them in and out of 2 different frames I purchased for them. We shall see how that goes. But this project will be a nice break from all that snow 😉 I am stitching on 16ct Aida Beautiful Beige from Wichelt. So for the rest of the day I am going to enjoy my birthday by stitching on a new project and eating cake.

What new project are you itching to get started on?

Knitted Wrap · Knitting

Margot Wrap is Finished

January 23, 2022 My Time Stitching14 Comments

Hello blogging friends. I hope it is much warmer where you are than where I am. It has been so cold this week. So, since cold and snow has kept me inside, I thought I would get my Margot Wrap fully finished. I added some wool wash to a sink full of cold water and put my wrap in to soak for about 15 minutes. I pulled out the blocking boards, pins and blocking wires.

There is just something about a knit (or crochet) project soaking in a bubble bath. The colors become brighter and the patterns seem to be more prominent. I love it! After soaking for about 15 minutes, I pressed out as much water as I could and then rolled the wrap in a towel and pressed to get the rest of the water out.

Since this was a long wrap with mostly straight sides, I decided to use the blocking wires. If you haven’t used them before, they are long, skinny rods that come in various lengths. Mine are about 36″ long and I don’t know why, but they remind me of a car radio antenna. Well, sort of. Anyway, you just weave them through your garment and add some blocking pins to hold in place. When I use them, I seem to take a longer time to weave them through than if I had just used the blocking pins. But I was able to get it all blocked and let it sit overnight. It blocked out beautifully!

The colors are so beautiful and the criss crosses blocked out nicely.

It really turned out lovely and I can’t wait to wear it the next time I go out. The details on this wrap: It is the 2021 Advent from Speckled Finch Studios. The pattern is The Margot Wrap by Yvonne Poon and is available on Ravelry.

So that is what I have been up to. What are you up to?

Ginny

cross stitch · Shannon Christine · Shannon Christine designs

Snowflakes and Pink Trees

January 11, 2022 My Time Stitching10 Comments

The temperatures started out in the negative today. Brrr. I had a few errands to run but only did one and then came back home. It is supposed to get into the 30’s tomorrow, so I will try again tomorrow before the snow comes. I would much rather deal with the snowflakes on my cross stitch. So what am I stitching on?

I started Winter Snowfall in December 2020. The pattern is from Shannon Christine Designs. The entire pattern has 3 thread colors and 2 colors of beads. The snowflakes are done in B5200 and then you can choose any 2 colors you want to add. I chose to use 2 shades of pink. She does suggest a couple of colors on the pattern if you are undecided.

I think this is where I was when I picked this up on New Year’s Eve. This one is the next WIP in my “work on it until finished” project. There are only 2 more Scroll frames with projects on them after this one, but I think I have 2 additional projects that are started. But I am getting them down. This one is going to be so pretty when done. I just love all the pink trees and snowflakes that form a big tree. And that sweet little pink reindeer will look even cuter when I bead his antlers.

That is a lot of white snowflakes at the top! I didn’t think I would ever get through it. And then I noticed that not all of my skeins of B5200 match. What?? How can that be? They were all in the project bag together. Ugh. But you know what? I am leaving it. It is what it is. I am not tearing it out nor am I starting over.

This is what I have completed so far. I am moving the scrolls so I can start on the lower section. You see all of those snowflakes across the top? I have to do the same at the bottom. Hopefully I can get through it without getting too bored. I want this to be a finished project this year.

I am stitching on 16ct Aida Valyrian Steel from Fabrics By Stephanie. Threads are DMC B5200, DMC 818 and DMC 3354. Beads will be white and gold, but I haven’t decided on exact ones yet.

So that is where I am with this piece. Shannon Christine has a new companion piece to this one called Falling Snow. I would love to do that one in Red and white. But I have to get through this one first.

So that is what I am up to. What are you stitching on?

Bella Filipina Designs · cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mermaids

Last Finish of 2021

January 9, 2022January 7, 2022 My Time Stitching8 Comments

My last finish for 2021 is a beauty! I started stitching on her back in August of 2019. I had put her down to stitch on something else, most likely. I didn’t have much stitched on her when I put her down, so here is what she looked like when I picked her up in October.

I was enjoying stitching on her.

Let the Beading begin.

I swear it took me 2 weeks to bead this beauty. Some sections I beaded, ripped out, re-beaded, ripped out, changed beads, ripped out, left beads off, ripped out. I didn’t use a lot of the large pony beads. Instead I went to a smaller pony type bead and in some instances, left beads off all together. The pattern calls for 28ct fabric, so working on 16 ct aida gives me a smaller space to work with putting the beads on. So leaving off beads, was not a problem. Changing to smaller beads worked well in some places. The long bugle beads needed extra space in order for them to lay flat, so I kind changed those areas in order to accommodate the bugle beads.

Here she is finished. She has so many beads! I think she is the most heavily beaded piece I have done. She is Pearl of the Orient Seas by Bella Filipina Designs. She is stitched on 16ct Aida, a One of a Kind fabric from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.

What was your final finish for 2021?

Christmas · Craft projects

My DIY Centerpiece

January 8, 2022January 7, 2022 My Time Stitching6 Comments

Hello blogging friends. Do you make your own Christmas decorations? I have made little things and of course my cross stitch ornaments. I have made quilted tree skirts and glitter ornaments. But this last Christmas I decided to try to make a centerpiece for my coffee table.

Have you seen the video’s from Olivia’s Romantic Home? Specifically her Dollar Tree DIY _____. Well, I stumbled across her Dollar Tree DIY centerpiece and absolutely fell in love! I think this was near the beginning of November. So I headed off to a Dollar Tree to pick up those little Dollar Tree Christmas trees and whatever else I needed. Of course, I procrastinated and didn’t start crafting it until about a week before Christmas.

I had never made anything like this before. It was a little overwhelming at first. I was afraid of really making a mess. I really need to get over that. So I told myself “if I make a mess, I can start over”. The bows were quite the challenge, but I guess they turned out ok. The video says to use decorative mesh for the little roll up pieces that are stuck in the branches, but my mesh was too wide. I tried cutting it in half, but that just made a mess. So hubby went out to Walmart and purchased some rolls of tulle. I think they worked ok. They were full of glitter, so glitter was everywhere.

So this is how my centerpiece turned out. Not too bad for a first attempt.

I decided to go with a Red, White and silver color theme for my Christmas decorating this last Christmas. I ended up not decorating much and only put up our small tree. So next year I really want to go all out Red, White and Silver. Now to figure out how I am going to pack this centerpiece away without messing it up. I am pretty happy with it how it turned out. I may just try my hand at more Olivia’s decorations.

cross stitch · Cross Stitch Patterns · Stitched Ornaments

Cookie Exchange

January 7, 2022 My Time Stitching6 Comments

Hello blogging friends. Well, we are one week into the new year and I hope that it is going well for you. My days have been a little bit of this, a little bit of that, more time wasting and less cleaning. My Christmas decorations are still up. Very unusual for me, as I prefer to have it all down before the new year. So it seems I am procrastinating. Oh well.

In December I participated in a cross stitch SAL (stitch a long) with a designer I had not stitched before. I had seen a post of a beautiful blue fabric that Fabrics by Stephanie was dying for the Hands On Design SAL. So I had to check it out. It was for a Cookie Exchange. It was only going to be 3 sections from December 1 – December 5. I was sure I could squeeze it in. So I ordered the SAL from Hands On Design. I ordered the fabric from Fabrics By Stephanie. I ordered the red cookie board from Homestead Needleworke and the trims from Lady Dot Creates. Everything arrived in time to start on Dec 1.

I loved how the designer referred to the fabric, trims, board and floss as the “ingredients” for the Cookie Exchange. And the businesses as “the Bakers”. It really is a cute concept. So I was all ready to go. On December 1st I downloaded section 1 and went straight to stitching.

Section one was completed rather quickly. I love what looks to be strands of Baker’s Twine between the cookie cutters. At this point I was really curious as to what the rest of the piece would look like.

In section 2 I added the table and some holly. One more section to go to complete the scene.

How cute does that table of goodies look? I love the cookies under the cloche. And that jar of candy canes is adorable! So now that all of the stitching was done, it was time to do the finishing. And like with the snowman ornaments, it sat, waiting for me to cut it and finish it. I finally did just decide to gather the things I needed and sit down and do the finishes. I finished this one along with the snowman ornaments.

I think it turned out rather cute! I even had the perfect little cookie cutter in my kitchen cupboard that I just had to add. The gorgeous fabric is 16ct aida Vintage Tiffany and is so perfect for this piece.

I will enjoy adding this to my Christmas decorating every year. And I tried a new designer that I was quite happy with. Her designs appear to be quick and sweet and I think there may be a few more in my future.

Have you recently tried something from a designer that you haven’t used before?

cross stitch · Stitched Ornaments

A Finish Other Than A Framing

January 4, 2022 My Time Stitching6 Comments

Hello Bloggers! So before the holidays, I decided I wanted to make a few cross stitch ornaments. I had only made one ornament back in 2014. You can read about that post here. I had done 2 other flat fold finishes back in 2015 and you can read about those here. I can tell you it can be very nerve racking for me to cut my finished cross stitch, but I decided I wanted to make more ornaments or finishes other than getting pieces framed. I had already purchased extra fabric back in 2014 to make several snowman ornaments, so that is where I started. I had 2 special friends I wanted to make an ornament for so I started there. I did the stitching on both and then they sat. I was so afraid to do the finishing because I was afraid I would mess them up. So I kept putting it off. But then one day I just decided to do it.

I actually made 2 of these snowmen ornaments. The pattern is Snow Love from Country Cottage Needleworks. I stitched them on 16ct Aida Dirty. I used white acrylic paint and a toothpick to add the snow after I finished the stitching. The other ornament had a different ribbon and trim. I was so excited to finally get them finished that I quickly packaged the one up for mailing before I realized I didn’t get a photo. So I snapped this one right before wrapping it up and packaging it up. The recipients received them and loved them and I was so happy to get them made. They are the only 2 ornaments I did in 2021. But I have plans for several others for 2022. I should probably get started on them now, LOL. I did make one more flat fold finish item that I will share in my next post.

So what kind of finishes have you done with your cross stitch, other than a framing?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

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