Tag: cowl

First Finish of 2023
knitted cowl · Knitting · yarn

First Finish of 2023

My Time Stitching19 Comments

Hello my blogging friends. The sun is shining here in Michigan and the temperatures have been above normal this winter. I am not complaining at all. The days have been gray, so it is nice seeing the sun the last couple of days.

I have finished my first project of 2023 and I absolutely love it! If you remember, I started this knitting project in November and hit a bump in the road and couldn’t get past the first couple of rows. I then went to my LNS where the knit expert there figured out my issue in no time. I wasn’t able to spend time really getting it going until December 1.

I finished knitting the length and then I put the stitches onto waste yarn and put it on the blocking mats.

I really love this photo. It shows the wave pattern so beautifully. After it dried, I pulled it off of the blocking mats and put the working stitches onto a straight needle. Then I had to carefully put the stitches from the provisional cast on, back onto another straight needle. If anyone has an easy way to undo the provisional cast on to get those stitches back onto a needle, I would love to hear about it. I have only done a provisional cast on one other time, and it was a bit difficult to get those stitches out then also. I think that is the hardest part of this pattern, LOL.

On to the 3 needle bind off. I have only bound off a project like this one other time. It was for the Market Bag I made. It is not a hard bind off, but a little tricky deciding which needle to use to bind off the stitch. I used the back needle. But it was easy to get into a rhythm and went rather quickly. I then wove in the 2 threads and it was finished.

I LOVE how this turned out. If I were to make it again, I would make it a bit longer as the I-cord edges are not very stretchy so I have to remember to take off my glasses before putting it over my head. I was nearing the end of the skein and didn’t think I had enough yarn to do another 7 rows of the pattern. But all in all, this was a wonderful pattern with so many elements involved. (1) The I-cord edges – makes for a very beautiful finish on the edges. This was knitted sideways, so the I-cord was created at the beginning and the end of the rows. (2) The Provisional Cast On – This was done so that the stitches can be put on a needle for binding off. (3) Putting working stitches on a waste yarn to be able to block the project before finishing. (4) 3 Needle Bind Off – A great way to seam the 2 edges together stitch for stitch.

I totally enjoyed knitting this cowl. The wave pattern is just beautiful and is quite visible even with the variegated yarn I used. I bet it would be gorgeous in a solid yarn, too. The details…The pattern is the Marina Cowl by Juliana Lustenader and is available on Ravelry. The yarn I used is Cozy Worsted by Speckled Finch Studios in color From the Deep.

I have already worn this cowl several times and it is so soft on my neck and keeps me warm. It has been the neck accessory I have been reaching for since finishing it. I may have to have a few more in different colors 😉

So that is my first finish of 2023. Hopefully I will have many more finishes to come this year. My craft room has been taking up a lot of my time this month. I have been replacing, rearranging, purging, and moving things around. That is for another post. What have you been up to this month?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

Getting Things Done
cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted cowl · Knitted Shawl · Mirabilia · scrapbooking · yarn

Getting Things Done

My Time Stitching9 Comments

Hello blogging friends.  It has been a little bit since I last was on WordPress.  Today is day 98 of our stay at home.  The days have all been running together and here it is mid June.  So much has been happening in the world, and we are all in it together so I think that makes it more relatable. There are days that I don’t do much except watch the news and cry.  Some days I wander from this thing to that thing and feel like I haven’t accomplished anything.  And some days I immerse myself into my crafting.  So, what have I been crafting?  Grab your favorite beverage and get comfy.  This may be a long post 😉

I have a couple of finishes.  First up is the Wilma Cowl.  I finished it.  I can’t say I am thrilled about it, but it is finished.

Wilma cowl complete

It is soft and I assume it will be warm.  It may be a gift.  We’ll just have to wait and see 😉

Next up is a knitting project I started back in September 2019. The Birds of a Feather Shawl by Andrea Mowry.

Birds of a feather shawl start

I finished it last week.  I love how it turned out.  So soft and warm and the colors look like candy!

Birds of a Feather shawl

I love the fan lacework in some of the rows.  So pretty.

close up of feather shawl

My attempt at modeling it, LOL

Birds of a feather shawl 2

The yarn used is AJHC Wools in color Unicorn Magic in both Basic Sock and Nephelai Veil.

birds of a feather shawl pile

I still need to weave in the ends and block it.  I hope to do that this weekend.  And then it will truly be done.

I have done a lot of scrapbooking and completed a coffee table album of my younger Son’s wedding.  It came out really beautiful and I am planning to make another for my new daughter’s parents.

6 x 8 wedding album

inside of wedding album

I have also scrapbooked 16 pages so far this month.  That means that I have eliminated 8 kits from my kit stash.  Yay!  That makes 66 pages for the year so far.  I am working on conquering all of those kits in my stash.   I am making progress!

I have also made a little puppy book for my older son and his girlfriend.  They just bought 2 little Havanese puppies and I can’t wait to meet them when we can travel again.  I won’t show the book, as I haven’t sent it to them yet, but here are my new grandpuppies!

Butter and Pepper

Butter and Pepper.  Are they not just adorable!!  I can’t wait to meet them.

I have also made more masks for family and friends that have requested them.  I have made about 100 of them and I still have not tired of making them.  knowing that they will be making my loved ones feel a little safer about going out.  And remember, I wear a mask for you, you wear a mask for me 🙂

sewing more masks

That brings me to my current project.  A cross stitch project that I started in 2018.  I am still working on conquering all of my WIP’s and have been so proud of myself that I have not started a new project yet.  This is Lady Mirabilia from Mirabilia.  I started her in July of 2018 and had put her away, probably to start a new project.  Here is what she looked like when I picked her up last week.

lady mirabilia start

Here is what she looks like as of last night.

Lady Mirabilia progress

I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Banshee Brown, a one of a kind from Fabrics by Stephanie.  Today I get to move the scrolls!  Woo Hoo.  So, that is what I have been up to.  Hubby and I also worked in the garage for 3 weekends in a row and finally went through the last of the boxes from when we had to redo the basement last year.  We gave away a lot, threw away a lot, and donated even more.  We have so much more room out there now.  We still have 2 corners to go through and clean up, but we have made great progress.  What have you been doing to keep busy these last few months? I’d love to hear about it 🙂

 

 

 

 

What Have I Been Up To?
cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted cowl · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Shannon Christine designs · Uncategorized

What Have I Been Up To?

My Time Stitching30 Comments

Hello my Blogging friends.  It’s been a little while since I last posted.  In my last post in April, I had noted that I tore the meniscus in my knee.  I had surgery on May 23, and have been going to physical therapy since.  It was a more difficult recovery than I was led to believe.  And Monday I found out that my knee cap is not moving, so that is hindering my progress as far as going down the steps normally and going from standing to sitting and sitting to standing.  So yesterday my therapist taped my knee and I am hoping this will help with the pain in trying to  put more weight on it when bending the knee.  The stairs are the worst and I live in a quad level house.  Ugh. But I am getting around better and have ditched the cane.  Woo Hoo!  Tonight I am going to try to walk the zoo at hubby’s company family night.  We’ll see how much I can do.

But I have been crafting and am now able to sit at my desk to make cards and scrapbook for longer lengths of time now.  And I have been stitching.  Let’s see… where to begin…

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This has ben my travel project and go to project when I have a few minutes here and there.  It is a going to be a cowl.  The pattern is from Katia and the yarn is Katia’s Funny Rainbow.  When I purchased this back in April on a weekend trip, I wasn’t sure how it would knit up.  But I am so glad I decided to get it.  The yarn is so, so soft!  I am loving this. It is straight garter stitch, increasing a stitch each row on one end.  I love how the striping colors are coming out, too.

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Next up is the Mermaid SAL designed by Shannon Christine.  The June mermaid is out, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.  Mainly because I have been working on this:

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The Mystery Sampler from Linen and Threads.  I am working on the June/July section and just loving every stitch of it.  I am stitching this on 16ct Aida, OOAK from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  It is more of a peach color than shown here.  I apologize for my photos.  I took them with my Surface and they didn’t come out very well.  Anyway, I am using DMC 53 and DMC 310.

Last weekend I picked up this beauty from the cross stitch shop:

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She is Mirabilia’s Ella, the Frog Princess.  I finished her in 2017, but recently put her in for framing.  And she turned out lovely.  I even picked her up on Mirabilia’s  25th anniversary, so I thought that was so perfect.  Happy 25th Miss Nora!! I can’t believe that I have been stitching Nora’s designs for nearly 25 years!!    I stitched her on 16ct Aida Pandora from Fabrics by Stephanie.

As if I don’t have enough to do… this happened:

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Yep, I started a new project.  I am stitching Enchanted Mermaid again.  I gave my other one to a dear friend, so I am stitching her again.  This time I am using a hand dyed fabric, 16ct Aida OOAK from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  I can’t wait to get back to her.  She is so blingy!

And yesterday I received this beautiful piece of fabric in the mail.

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It is a OOAK 16ct Aida from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  It is so gorgeous in person.  Now to find the perfect pattern for it.

Well, that is about all I have to update you on for now.  I have signed up for a knitted shawl MAL at a new local yarn shop I found in May.  The first session meets next week, so I will fill you in on that soon.  So what are you crafting on today?

A Little Fairy
cross stitch · knitted cowl · Knitting · Passione Ricamo · Passione Ricamo SAL · Sampler

A Little Fairy

My Time Stitching31 Comments

Hello blogging friends!  It is mid February already and I feel like my ambition in January is stuck in January.  But I am making progress on things 🙂  First up, I have a little Fairy!

PR 20th anniversary progress

Boy did she drive me crazy!  Not sure if it was because the designer made the large fairy a lot smaller to fit into this space or what.  But the backstitching was so crazy, that I ended up doing it my own way.  Too many zig zags within a stitch or 2 that were just not possible on the Aida, so I did my own thing and I think it came out pretty good.  I am not that happy with her face.  Her green eyes are not that visible, but I will leave it for now.  I am just happy to have her finished.  Not sure if I will continue with this piece or put it away for now.  We’ll see how I feel tonight.  This is the 20th Anniversary SAL from Passione Ricamo that was put out in 2014.  Yeah, I slacked on this one, but I am hoping for a finish this year…maybe…Anyway, I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Nantucket Sky from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.

I also have a framed finish!  Yep, I picked up from the cross stitch store on Feb. 3.  I still don’t have a place to hang it, but it’s home and I love it!

Mystery Sampler finish

Sorry about the crooked photo.  I was trying not to get the glare from the window and maybe my head was tilted, too.   What a truly remarkable piece!  I loved every stitch of this one and am so proud of myself for keeping up with it and finishing it in the month of December when the last section was released.  I love my color choices and where I placed the colors.  I would not change a thing about my choices on this one.  So, for all the info on this one:  2017 Mystery Sampler from Linen and Threads.  Stitched on 16ct Aida Castleview from Silkweaver.  Threads are Sullivan’s variegated London Fog and DMC 3888.  I am hoping that my color choices for the 2018 Sampler make me as happy as this one.  I haven’t started it yet, as I am waiting on a bigger piece of fabric and some threads.  I will be sure to share once I get it started.  If you are interested in the 2017 or the 2018 Mystery Samplers, you can find the info about them on the Linen and Threads website.  They are both FREE patterns, so that is even more amazing!

When hubby took me Birthday shopping in January, one of the things he bought me was this:

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A cute Cowl pattern and a very soft, squishy skein of yarn. So I started it 🙂

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Oh my gosh!  Those colors are so gorgeous!!  Very nice pattern, too.  I do have to pay attention, at least until I get the hang of the pattern.  I am in love!  And I can’t wait to see more of the color variations.  The pattern is Aspen Cowl by Javori Designs.  The yarn is Ella Rae Seasons Yarn color #52.  One ball will make the cowl using drop and eyelet stitches.  the yarn is 76% acrylic, 14% Wool, 10% Nylon and has 219 yards.  The yarn almost looks like a crocheted chain.  Gives it that nice squishy texture. According to the pattern there are 280 rows and I have 32 completed rows.  Long way to go to a finish, but it is going to be gorgeous when finished.

It is another cold day outside today, but the last 2 days were warmer so our snow is melting.  I will leave you with a picture of a sparkly icicle with the sun shining through.  So pretty, but glad they are all melted now 🙂

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What are you up to?

First Finishes of the Month
Books I am reading · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitting · Nora Corbett · Passione Ricamo · Pixie · Poison Pixie · scrapbooking

First Finishes of the Month

My Time Stitching22 Comments

Hello blogging friends!  We are a few weeks into January and already I have a few finishes.  Earlier in the month I finished the 1 ball cowl I had started over the summer and I just love how it turned out.

One ball shawl

The yarn is “Shawl in a Ball” from Lion Brand.  The color is Community Coral. It was pretty mindless knitting in stockinette stitch and so it became my take along project for knitting on car rides that were 1/2 an hour or more.  After the new year, I decided to bite the bullet and knit on it until I finished the skein.  I have already worn it once and it is nice and warm.

Next up I have my first 2 scrapbook pages for the year.  They were part of a kit from my Local Scrapbook store.  January pages of the Calendar Club.

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I have done the calendar club at this shop for the past 4 or 5 years, but this year is going to be my favorite as she will be using products from Blue Fern.  I Love their products and I enjoyed creating these pages.  Hopefully I can get more pictures on them and keep up with it all year.  Photos will hide those finger prints on the 2nd page from me putting lotion on my hands.  Ugh.

Next up is my first book finish.

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I finished this book on Wednesday.  It is the 2nd in The Guardian Trilogy from Nora Roberts.  With all of my hobbies, reading takes a back seat, reading usually only at lunch time or when I am at a hair appointment or take my car in for an oil change.  One of my goals this year is to read more.  I am happy to have my first book finished in January.  This series is pretty good.  I am anxious to start the 3rd book and see how it finishes up.

I finished this sweet little thing last night:

White Angel Trumpet finish

She was a pretty quick stitch.  Binge watching the old X-Files has certainly helped me move right along with her.  She is White Angel Trumpet, a Poison Pixie from Nora Corbet.  I stitched her on a OOAK 16ct Aida from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  The fabric looks like it has poisonous gasses in greens and grays.  I think it is perfect for her.

So I dug this WIP out to work on for now.

PR 20th anniversary SAL

This one is Passione Ricamo’s 20th Anniversary SAL.  It is quite a large piece and I would love to finish this one this year.  There are many blocks on this one each containing a portion of different PR  patterns from over the years.  I am stitching on 16ct Aida Nantucket Sky from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.  It is truly going to be an amazing piece.  Not sure how long I will stitch on it, but every stitch will put me closer to a finish, right?

So that is it for my finishes so far this month.  I have a long list of goals for 2018 and I am still trying to put them into a “18 in 2018” order.  I hope to have that list nailed down for my next post.  So what are your goals for 2018?  What are you currently working on? I’d love to hear all about it 🙂

Stitchy Updates
cross stitch · knitted scarves · Sampler · vacation · yarn

Stitchy Updates

My Time Stitching22 Comments

Wow! It’s September 5 and I don’t even know where Summer went.  It’s been exactly 2 months since I last posted and I am sorry about that.  Obviously life took over, LOL.  But I have been stitching and doing I don’t even know what else.  I took a little vacation, but other than that, I can’t remember everything else I did the last couple of months.  Good thing I have a planner 😉  So, what have I been up to? Well, grab your favorite beverage and pull up a chair.  I have a feeling this will be a long post.

I have been stitching mostly on the Mystery Sampler by Linen and Threads.  I have been trying my best to get caught up and last night I started the second row of the August section.  I am quite pleased with myself for actually having started the August section in the month of August.  I am still loving this piece so much.  Here is a picture of my entire piece so far:

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For those of you seeing this for the first time, it is a FREE SAL from Linen and Threads.  They release a section the first of each month.  It started in January 2017 and runs through December 2017.  If you are interested in doing this sampler, you can go to their website and print off the sections, pick your own fabric and threads and get started.  They also have a facebook page you can join and see all the different ways people are stitching this one.  I am stitching mine on 16ct Aida Castleview from Silkweaver. I am using Sullivan thread London Fog and DMC 3888.  I am hoping to be caught up with this piece sometime this month.

I also took a little vacation with my husband, to Wisconsin.  He took me there so I could visit the Paine Art Center and Gardens.  A couple of years ago, I fell in love with photos from a wonderful photographer, Kirsty Mitchell.  She is from the UK and created a wonderful series of photos for her Wonderland series that are just amazing.  When I found out that she was having a showing in Wisconsin, I knew that I had to go.  So I mentioned it to my husband and he set the plan in motion.  But first, he surprised me with a wonderful gift in July.  Her beautiful Wonderland book.

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He bought me flowers and gave me the invoice showing he ordered the book for me.  I balled my eyes out!  I couldn’t believe he ordered the book for me.  A week later, it arrived in the mail and it is as amazing as I knew it would be.

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One of my favorite photos.  And seeing the photos, life-sized, at the Paine Art Center, did not disappoint either.

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I was so, so happy to be there, at the Paine, standing in front of this amazing banner that I had only seen on facebook up to this point.  We arrived before the Center opened, so we were able to walk around the mansion a little before the doors opened.  The Art Center is actually a Mansion that was built by Mr. & Mrs. Paine in 1927.  The history about the mansion is interesting and the mansion itself is gorgeous.   The different gardens are so lovely, too.  I am so glad we visited in the summer while most of the flowers were still in bloom.  When we walked into the first room where Kirsty’s exhibit is, it literally took my breath away.  It was so emotional.  The photos, the video, the music, the lighting, everything was so perfect!  Yes, I cried.  Her photos do that to me.  If you love photography, and Kirsty’s work, you have to see her show.  It will be at the Paine until October 15, 2017.  I am Not sure where it will go next, but I could not risk it being too far away to drive, and Wisconsin was a day drive for us and one that I would do again in a heartbeat.  So we visited the 2 rooms where Kirsty’s photos were on display. We sat and watched the video’s and  then we walked around and looked at the entire mansion.  I  then went back to see Kirsty’s photos.  I couldn’t resist a second look.  And then we visited the gardens.  It was a wonderful day.  One that I will remember always.  I can’t wait to scrapbook my photos. Here is a layout I did when I received my beautiful book.

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We also visited some lighthouses on this trip.  Here is the St. Joseph Lighthouse.

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And, we visited the Hackley and Hume houses in Muskegon.

IMG_0917 (2)I first heard about these houses when I saw cross stitch patterns of them.  When I found out that they were real houses in Muskegon, Michigan, I decided if I ever got near Muskegon, I would have to stop and visit them.  And so we did and they were amazing.  And now of course I want to cross stitch them 😉

Since the drive was a long one, I decided to do some knitting while in the car.  On the trip to Wisconsin, I knitted this scarf:

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One more ball of scarf yarn out of my stash 🙂  Love the beautiful fall colors.  For the trip home, I visited a craft store and purchased a ball of Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball and started this pretty:

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At 1/2 off, I couldn’t resist.  I even used the hotel computer center to print off a pattern from Lion Brand.  I thought it was a shawl pattern, but when it actually came up and I printed it, it is a cowl.  It is straight stockinette stitch, so it was perfect for the car ride.  I didn’t have much done when we arrived back home.  I have been adding a few rows here and there.  My needles are 10″ long so I maybe have about 20″ done now.  I am looking forward to seeing all the color changes in this yarn. I have a couple of skeins of this yarn in my stash that I hope to knit a shawl with someday.  So far I like knitting with it.  The yarn is an uneven yarn and has some white fibers throughout.  I like the look of it and hopefully I can get it done so that I can wear it this winter.

So, that is what I have been up to.  I told you it was going to be a long post. If you are still here, I thank you for reading all about my vacation and what I have been up to.   I have also collected more things to cross stitch in the last couple of months and I have to admit that I am anxious to start something new, but I have been a good girl…so far, sticking mainly with the sampler 😉   So, what are you stitching at the moment and because it is September, do you feel like starting a new project?