Tag: knitting

Happy 2026!
Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Fabric · Knitted Shawl · Knitting

Happy 2026!

My Time Stitching5 Comments

Happy New Year, my blogging friends! I am hoping that 2026 is much kinder and filled with love and peace for all. And with that, my word for 2026 is Peace. I struggled with finding the right word for this year. But when the word Peace finally came to me, I knew it was the right one. I want Peace of mind this year. I want peace for my heart, peace for my country and of course, peace for the world. Yes, Peace.

So what have I been up to the last few days? Well, I spent New Year’s Eve day tying up loose ends all over the house. Lots of boring, but necessary things and some fun things. First, I finally washed and blocked a shawl that I had finished knitting in November.

Mermaids Dance shawl is finally blocking!

The Mermaid Dance shawl was a Mystery Knit A Long from Softyarn Designs that started in October and ran until around mid-November. I loved the yarns that I chose, and I really enjoyed stitching this shawl. So many fun stitches in this one. I used Baah’s La Jolla in color Black Pearl, and the other yarn is Rosewood Yarn Shop Classic Sock in the color Cosmic Cloud Cover. I thought it was a great Mermaid color and would pair nicely with the black. I was not wrong. I love how they look together.

It has been sitting on my couch waiting to be washed and blocked since finishing it in November. Now it is all ready to be worn the next time I venture out.

I also spent some time knitting on a shawl that I started on the way home from a Fiber Expo in October. I saw a cute shawl at a booth that would be a great travel knitting project. So, I bought the yarn for it and had it wound at the show on the way out the door. I had my interchangeable needles set in the car so I was able to start it on the drive home.

Here is where I am on this one. The Knitterly Things Yarns are so soft and squishy. They just might be my new favorite ; I love knitting with them. The gray yarn is Vesper Semi Solid Sock Yarn in color Silver and the striping yarn is Vesper Sock Yarn in color Queen of Hearts.

I also spent some time going through my cross stitch fabrics and matching some with some of my projects for WIPGO.

I had fun going through fabrics and serging them and fully kitting up some of the projects. I’m still waiting on some hand dyed fabric for one of the projects that has 4 pieces. I am really looking forward to doing WIPGO this year and getting some Christmas projects started. For this first week of WIPGO, I am working on Big City Christmas, which has been my project since November 21, 2025. I am almost finished stitching on the Hotel.

The Hotel is the 5th section of this project. Just 2 more buildings after this one. I will definitely finish this project this year. I can’t wait to show you the amazing frame that I have for this one. These patterns are from Country Cottage Needleworks and I am stitching them on 16ct Aida Swamp Monster from Laura’s Fabrics.

So that is what I have been up to the last couple of days. I am looking forward to stitching all of the things in 2026! How about you? What are you stitching on?

I will leave you with another picture of this yummy little cake that hubby bought for us. It is my favorite; White Cake! From our favorite little bakery down the street. I think I will have another piece 😉 Happy New Year, my friends!

Happy Stitching,

ginny

Good Bye 2024, Happy 2025!
Bella Filipina Designs · cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted scarves · Shannon Christine · yarn

Good Bye 2024, Happy 2025!

My Time Stitching5 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! How have you been? I have missed you so much! It’s been a while and 2024 is over! I can’t say that it was all bad, but I am happy to welcome in 2025. My biggest highs of 2024 came near the end. In October my husband and I celebrated our 40th anniversary. We chose to spend it at the zoo with our kids. It was there that our youngest son and his wife told us that they were expecting their first child. We are going to be first time Grandparents in June 2025. We are over the moon. We had a wonderful day, being all together at the zoo. And about a week before Christmas, we found out the baby is a girl! We can’t wait to meet our Granddaughter this summer ❤ And just a fair warning, there will be even more pink things to come 😉

So how were your holidays? What have you been crafting on? Did you finish all of the projects that you wanted to in 2024? I am happy with what I finished in 2024 except for 1 project. I will talk about that in the knitting part of my post. Even though I haven’t been posting, I have been crafting and I plan on sharing the things I have worked on in future posts.

I do have a new word for 2025 and that is PATIENCE. I definitely need to have more patience in my life with what I am crafting on, what I need to get to, with healing, learning new things, and with myself. Something I am definitely going to work on this year.

So let’s get to what you are really here for…My Stitching. What am I stitching on?

I have pulled out the Black Water Sirens SAL from Bella Filipina Designs. This SAL started on October 31, right in the middle of the fabric with a Treasure Chest.

I am stitching this on 16ct Aida Epically Evil Fairy Godmother from Those Missing Stitches. It only took me a few days to get this Treasure Chest stitched up, minus the beads which I will add at the end of the SAL. After finishing this first part, I stitched on other projects and couldn’t wait to get back to this one. On Christmas day I pulled it out again to get stitching on part 2. And this is where it is as of last night.

Part 4 came out on December 30, so I have some catching up to do. But I am so happy to be stitching on this one again. It is going to be amazing. My fabric is actually green and not yellow like in the photo above.

Yesterday I picked up a couple of pieces that I had put in for framing. This one I put in for framing in early December. When I brought it home, it began puckering more and more.

The frame I originally chose was not deep enough for the spacers and the beads and the ribbon on the headband were pressed up against the glass. I took it back and had to pick a different frame. Picking a frame takes me so long. And this time was even more difficult because I thought I had already chosen the perfect frame.

The first frame I chose is a frame that I often go right to. I love this frame and didn’t know if I could find another one that I really loved. But I did find one that I thought would be a good fit and when I picked her up yesterday, I knew it was the right one.

I love how it looks; like a shadow box with the deeper frame space and the extra spacers. I love it! The pattern is The Frog Princess from Brooke’s Books Publishing. The fabric is 16ct Aida Friendship Greene from Fabrics by Steph. Eventually I want to stitch all of the Princess dresses from Brooke’s Books Publishing and maybe this frame will be perfect for all of them.

The second piece I had put in for framing is Winter Snowfall.

I finished stitching this piece back in February of 2022 and was so happy to finally put it in for framing. I did have a difficult choice though. Picking the perfect frame is so hard! But I did make a decision and this is what I chose.

It is really is so beautiful. The frame really picks up the gold beads in person. So immediately after taking this photo, the Christmas picture was pulled down from the wall and this one put up in my dining room. It is the space that I am always changing out my framed pieces. Right now my dining room is decorated in a pink and white winter theme, so this piece is perfect!

Again, the pattern is Winter Snowfall by Shannon Christine Designs. It is stitched on 16ct Aida Valyrian Steel from Fabrics by Steph. There is a companion piece to this that I would love to stitch some day.

The last stitch I have to show you today is a knitted piece.

This is the Lothian Scarf I finished for my husband. I had hoped to get it finished before Christmas, but that didn’t happen. I finished it a few days after. It still needs blocking and I will take a better picture of the pattern in it then. The pattern is a free pattern on Ravelry by Home of Cords. I couldn’t get the edge stitches to be tight so I changed them to garter stitch. The pattern is charted on a graph and was very easy to follow. It was a really relaxing knit. The yarn is from Passions Yarns. It is their Baby Weight Fingering in the color Go Your Own Way. It is 70% Bably Alpaca and 30% Silk so it is really soft and was easy to knit with. Hubby picked this yarn out when we went to a Fiber Fest in October.

So that is all I have to share with you today. I hope that your holidays were wonderful and that your 2025 will be filled with Love, good health, happiness and of course, lots of stitching. Tell me in the comments what you have been crafting on. I want to hear all about it.

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

The Year Is Half Over!
cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted scarves · Knitting · Mirabilia · yarn

The Year Is Half Over!

My Time Stitching11 Comments

Hello Blogging friends! It has been a minute since my last post. The last couple of months have not been the best. In fact, this year has been not so great. Let’s just say that I am hoping that the second half of 2024 is much, much better than the first half. I’m still having trouble balancing everything and trying to fit all I want into a day, and I don’t like that my Blog has suffered. So, I am making time today to get in a post. Enough of that, let’s get on to what I have been up to.

Since it has been a while since my last post and the post before that, it’s hard to remember everything I have been working on. So, let’s start with what I have been currently working on and a couple of finishes.

This is where I am with the 2024 Fox & Rabbit MSAL as of last night. I am working on the June section and should have it finished tonight and then I will have the July section to catch up on before the August section comes out August 1. The fabric is 18ct White that I picked up at Michaels.

Another project I am working on is The Deadly Aquarium from Lola Crow Cross Stitch.

The Frame portion of this SAL came out in April, and we were given 6 weeks to complete it before the first exhibit.

I loved stitching the frame. The Sea Gulls are so cute. The fabric is 16ct Beanstalk (the called for fabric) from Fabric On A Whim and is actually more blue than the photo is showing.

The first exhibit arrived in my email box on May 24 and then weekly. I was working on another project when the exhibits started.

This is exhibit 1 and part of exhibit 2. Just look at that scary eel peeking out of that treasure chest!

Here I am all caught up with exhibits up to 5. That Killer Coral on the left was very tedious but looks so cool.

Last Friday exhibit 6 came out and I finished it in a couple of days.

I am enjoying this SAL and can’t wait to see what will be added to the Aquarium tomorrow.

I also have had a few finishes. I will show my latest cross stitch finish.

I finished Blossom by Mirabilia. She is so beautiful! I love everything about this piece. The fabric is 16ct Aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics By Stephanie. I used all of the called for floss and beads. Frame was picked out by my husband. I tend to gravitate to silver or gold or white frames and didn’t even see this frame until he picked it out. I decided to go with his choice and I am very happy I did. It’s perfect. Another WIP off of my list 🙂

I also have a knitting finish.

My Lace & Fade Boxy pullover from Joji Locatelli is finished. I still need to block it, but it is finished, and all of the ends are woven in. I love how it turned out. I made it one size smaller so it wouldn’t be so boxy, and I added 4 stripes to the bottom to make it longer. The sleeves are a little snug, but I think I can stretch them a little when blocking. I can’t wait to wear it this fall/winter. The yarns used are from Adelaide Fiber Co., The Wicked Knittah, Fiberspates, and Life in The Long Grass (LITLG).

The only project left on my knitting needles is the Alexander Airplane Scarf.

This is my travel project, but since I haven’t been doing much traveling and it has been on the needles for a long time, I have decided that I want to finish it by the end of August. The yarn is Aerial Color from Berroco Yarns. It is a lace weight yarn and I love knitting with it. Fingers crossed I can get it finished this summer. There are so many knitting projects I want to start but I am holding out for now.

Well, that is just a little of what I have been up to since we last chatted. I will share more in my next post. What have you been up to lately? Tell me your favorite project you are working on in the comments. I would love to hear about it.

Happy Stitching!

ginny

Hello December
Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · Mirabilia · Pillows · yarn

Hello December

My Time Stitching14 Comments

Hello my blogging friends and Happy December. The days keep moving faster than I can keep up and here we are ; December 1. If I blink, it will probably be Christmas! As you may have noticed in my feature photo, I have finished my December pillow. As per most of the months, I pulled it out just a few days before the start of the month.

I can’t believe this is the final pillow!

This pillow went as fast as the others. I worked on it a little at a time over 2 days.

For some reason I decided to be a messy stitcher for this one. I didn’t bother taking the time to separate the threads ahead of time or put them on floss drops or anything. It was ok. Sometimes you just have to be a messy stitcher. And in a flash it was finished!

I am a little disappointed that the green fabric is upside down. But I think the bows kind of hide that imperfection. And there was a rip on the side where the fabric was supposed to be joined to the cross stitch fabric. I had to stitch that up before getting started. But it is finished and I am so happy !

My monthly pillows are now all finished and I can pull them out each month knowing that I won’t have to stitch any of them up before displaying them. They have been in my stash for a lot of years and it feels great to get this project out of my WIP pile. The patterns are from Pine Mountain Designs and are no longer available. Though you may be able to find them on a secondary market.

So what else have I been up to? Well, I had put my Ocean Pearl piece in for framing to see how the framer would do with framing needlework. You know I have been on the hunt for a new framer or framing service.

It took me a while to decide on a frame for this one. I ended up picking a black frame with some swirls on it. And here it is all framed up.

She turned out beautifully. I am happy with it and have since put another piece in for framing.

Knitting. What is on my knitting needles?

I started the Impulse Buy shawl. The yarn is La Jolla from Baah yarns in color Sleigh Ride. When my Mother in Law was here in October, we visited a yarn shop and both picked up a skein of this beautiful yarn. The colors are so gorgeous and will go with so many tops in my wardrobe.

This pattern is super easy and very relaxing to knit. After the initial cast on and a few rows, it is just a 4 row repeat. I love stitching on this. The yarn is soft and squishy and the pattern is so lovely even though you can see it so well with all of the busy colors. The lace is just on the edges, so I am hoping it will show much more after I finish it and block it.

Now for what I have been stitching on. I added the 5th shop on my Beach Boardwalk series.

The Souvenir shop is the latest shop and it is so cute with the sand castle on top of the shop. I am really loving this series and will be sad when it ends. Just 2 more shops left. I received a shipping notice yesterday that my next shop is on the way. Can’t wait to get it and add it to my Boardwalk. Patterns are from Country Cottage Needleworks and I am stitching on 16ct Aida Friendship Greene from Fabrics by Steph.

I also pulled Rosamund out and gave her some love.

Oh how I have missed stitching on her. She is so beautiful!

I am loving every stitch on her.

And here is where I stopped with her. I put her away to stitch on the Boardwalk. I’m not sure if she will get worked on again this year, but I am definitely planning on finishing her next year. The pattern is Rosamund from Mirabilia. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Salem from Fiberlicious Yummy Fibers.

So that is some of what I have been up to. I had started making my Christmas Cards about a month ago and I need to get back to that and get them finished. I also want to decorate for Christmas this weekend. Busy, busy time of year. Trying to balance it all and keep up with everything has been an issue for me the last few months, but I am doing what I can, when I can. How about you? What have you been up to? I hope you are getting some stitching in and taking some time for you. Take care and Happy Stitching.

Stitchy Hugs,

ginny

Bella Filipina Designs · Country Cottage Needleworks · cross stitch · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitting · Mermaids · yarn

Lots of Stitching Going On

My Time Stitching5 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! Another post before the end of July! I am on a roll, LOL

Where to start with my stitching…I stitched a little on Rainbow Dice.

Not much added. Blocks of color really bore me. I wonder if I will ever get through this one. Then I pulled out Esmerelda from Bella Filipina. This is where she was when I pulled her out.

And here is where I am now. Fabric is 16ct Aida Oberon from Fabrics by Steph.

A little bit of progress, but still progress, right? And then the Beach Boardwalk series came out from Country Cottage Needleworks and I finally received my Ice Cream Shop. When I first saw this one would be coming out, I knew I was going to stitch it. So I ordered everything and was all set when my pattern arrived.

The fabric is 16ct Aida Friendship Greene from Fabrics by Steph and I will be stitching all 7 shops in a row on this one piece of fabric. I will be using all of the called for Fancy Flosss.

And since I loved stitching with the Nirge Hoop, I decided to go that route rather than putting the fabric on a scroll frame and stitching it sideways.

I am totally in love with all of the colors in this one. My fabric looks blue on the screen but it is a very pale green. And then I realized that I needed a grime guard for this size hoop. Not only to keep my fabric clean, but to help hold all of the extra fabric. So I pulled out my sewing machine and all of the things.

I also made one for my largest hoop for whenever I decide to use that one. Back to stitching 🙂

I couldn’t put this one down!

And I finished it in about a week. Now to wait for the next shop to come out, which should be pretty soon.

In June I also found a project to put on my knitting needles. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I had been wanting to make a summer top and for whatever reasons things were not coming together with a couple of different patterns. I finally found a pattern that was going to work out.

I chose the Minka Top from Berroco. I really would like sleeves added to this one, but not sure if I will or not. I also plan to make it just a little bit longer.

The yarn is Medina, also from Berroco. It is mostly a cotton yarn and it is a striping yarn. And it is Green. I am usually not a big fan of green, but my eyes are green, so occasionally I do wear it. But it seems that the universe has been pulling me to green. My travel knitting project is also green, I have recently purchased a couple of green tops, and fabric I have chosen for a future project also has a lot of green in it.

I thought that the Stockinette Stitch would be too boring, but I am actually liking it. I am still dealing with some health issues, and knitting on this sweater has been comforting and relaxing. And I love how it is looking.

Almost to the armhole shaping! Yay!

I finished the back and started the front. I also switched to a bigger bag to hold all of the yarn, just in case I want to take it somewhere and stitch on it.

And here is my progress on the front. I may actually finish this top in time to wear it this summer! I am still wanting to figure out how I can add a small sleeve or sleeve cap. But I still have time to think about that.

During June, I also put my Dragon Princess Diamond Dotz in for framing. Finally.

Hubby and I chose a black frame with a goldish filler frame for inside of the black frame.

And here is my hubby with his newly framed Dragon Princess. I am so pleased with the frame choices we made. She looks amazing. And so sparkly.

And here she is hanging over my husband’s desk in his office. She is perfect 🙂

That is all I have for now. Next time I will show you a new cross stitch SAL that I finally bit the bullet and purchased and started and now I am addicted. So, what have you been up to?

Happy Stitching,

ginny

I Stitched May Away
cross stitch · Cross Stitch Patterns · Fabric · Floss · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted cowl · Knitting · Mermaids · Mystery Stitch A Long · Pillows · Stitch A Long · Tiny Modernist

I Stitched May Away

My Time Stitching8 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! Happy June! Let’s hope it doesn’t go by as quickly as May did. Sadly, I only had one post in May. I was sick for about 2 weeks shortly after my last post. And then getting back to normal took a bit. Nothing serious, but it was my first time getting sick in 5 years and I guess my immune system was sluggish. Hubby was sick first with a sinus infection, and maybe shared with me? We had also made the decision to go without masks, so maybe we picked up something while out and about one day. Anyway, I am feeling much better now and thought I would hop on to the blog and share what I have stitched on during the month of May.

First, I did finish the Anchored Waves Cowl by Stephanie Shiman using a beautiful Wonderland Yarn Blossom cake.

Just look at that fade!!! Wonderland Yarns really do have the most awesome yarns that fade so perfect. It really turned out beautifully.

I look forward to wearing this one in the fall and winter. I don’t have anything else on my needles except for my Airplane scarf, which is my travel project. I didn’t get a picture of it for this post. I have been wanting to make some summer tops for myself. I picked a crochet top from Berroco. So cute. But you know how my crocheting goes. If I don’t have pictures and specific instructions, it’s pretty much not going to happen. I couldn’t get gauge and my sides were not straight on my swatch. So, I decided to purchase a book with some summer tops from Berroco, using the yarn I had bought called Isola. The one I wanted to make does not have written instructions. Maybe they all only have charts, so I nixed that one, too. So for now, no knitting. On to cross stitch.

I stitched on the Ocean Pearl SAL from Tiny Modernist Cross Stitching.

The reason I decided to do this SAL is the Mermaid, of course. She is so cute. And on the right side of the treasure chest, the pattern has a pirate there. I wasn’t sure if he would be an important part of the rest of the design, but I decided not to stitch him. Instead, I added another mermaid 🙂

So cute!! I really enjoyed stitching on this one while I was not feeling well. I am using all of the called for Fancy Flosses and stitching her on 16ct Aida Cascade from Fabrics by Stephanie. I received part 3 and started stitching on it last night. This is how far I have gotten.

The snow globe is full of ocean life and I know I will love stitching on it over the next few weeks.

I also stitched on Blossom and I am still loving all of her beautiful colors.

Even with all of the color changes, it has been a wonderful piece to stitch.

I just started stitching the next page, from the middle towards the top. So I guess I am about half way finished. I had to take her outside to see if I could capture her brilliant colors. For the details on this one: She is Blossom from Mirabilia. Fabric is 16ct Aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics by Stephanie. I have put her aside to stitch on the Ocean Pearl piece and a few smaller pieces. I look forward to getting back to her later this month.

A few days ago I pulled out my June pillow kit.

The threads in these kits just come rolled up as shown in the picture above. Since there is only a few colors, I decided to make my own Floss Drops to put the flosses on.

I die cut the tags. Pulled out some stamps and stamped a few summer images. I used some different sized circle punches to hang the flosses on and to add them to a floss ring. It gave me a chance to use my beautiful floss ring I purchased from @themermaidsdaughter6 on Instagram. I love the look of Floss Drops. I love seeing all of the flosses hanging all together. But I will admit, I am not a fan. Seems like a lot of work to me. It’s not to say that I will never use them again for a small project. But I am happy being a bobbin girl. Anyway, I finished the pillow yesterday, in perfect time for displaying in June. Kit is from Pine Mountain Designs. These pillows are from 2007, so I don’t think they are available anymore.

I am so happy to have another monthly pillow off of my project to do list. Only 4 more to go!

So that is all of my stitching for May. I am hoping for a couple of finishes in June, but we shall see how it goes. I have been spending my stitching time watching Flosstubes. I have a few favorites that I love to watch and one of them is Nichol Sophr LLC. She is a quilter, cross stitcher and card maker and I don’t know what else she does, but everything she creates is beautiful. I don’t necessarily stitch what she does, but I love watching her and seeing her projects. I am not a quilter, but I want to buy all the fabrics and make project bags (I probably won’t, but I really want to, LOL) She has wonderful tutorials on her channel and her card making videos are wonderful. Yesterday she started a Patriotic SAL and I decided I need some Patriotic pieces to decorate my house. You can find all of the details on her Facebook page group. If you want to participate and be in her drawings each week, you have to stitch on a Cherry Hill Stitchery Patriotic piece. Or you can stitch on whatever you want and hang out each Wednesday on her Flosstube Live. I haven’t had time to gather things for it in time for the start yesterday, but I did purchase a PDF from Cherry Hill Stitchery last night and pulled some fabric and floss from my stash this morning.

I will be stitching Stars and Stripes. The fabric I chose is 16ct Aida Everything Else from Mystic Fabrics and all of the flosses are DMC. So, yeah, another new start, LOL It’s ok. It’s a small 😉

So that is what I have been up to. How did your May go?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

When It Rains, I Stitch
cross stitch · knitted cowl · Knitting · Mirabilia · Pillows · Tiny Modernist · yarn

When It Rains, I Stitch

My Time Stitching6 Comments

Hello my Blogging friends! We’ve had a lot of rain where I am, so what to do when it rains? Stay in and stitch! On Saturday I pulled out my May Pillow kit from Pine Mountain Designs. These pillows are no longer available, but there are other cute pillow designs from Pine Mountain Designs that are so cute.

It didn’t look like it would take me too long to stitch. Could I get it done before May 1st?

So I pulled out all of my supplies and got busy. I stitched on it for quite a bit on Saturday. And then on Sunday I stitched on it some more. And then I ran into some trouble. I was one stitch off-after stitching the flowers and swirls on top and the letters M A and then the Y was going to run into a flower. I could have left it….but I didn’t. I ripped out all that I had put in on Sunday. Now I was doubting if I would get it finished before midnight. But I did! With about 40 minutes to spare.

So cute! I couldn’t wait to pull the pillow out of the April case and put the May inside.

So Happy May!! These pillows look like they would be pretty quick to stitch up, but they do take a bit of time. Both the April and May took me 2 days to stitch up. I have no idea what the fabric count is, but I used 3 strands of the included floss over one. Another pillow off the to do list and 5 more to go!

I also started a knitting project after not having a project on my needles since finishing my 22 Little Clouds shawlette.

This is the March Garden Society Ocean kit. I love everything about this kit. The colors are gorgeous and I really like the Cowl pattern so that is what I will knit with this Blossoms skein of Mary Ann fingering yarn in color Actiniae.

The yarn is so soft. I already can’t wait to get to the next color! And look at that cute but dangerous fish progress marker. So cool.

Finally! Some lighter green is starting to emerge. So exciting! Makes me want to knit more and faster.

I really love how these Blossoms very gradually change colors. It may take a bit to get to the next color, but it is so worth it.

So pretty!!

This is where I left it this morning. Just getting into the peachy/orangy color. So beautiful! I usually knit in the morning with my coffee. You can see my new coffee cup in the last picture. I purchased it from the Heidi Swap Shop. Stop the Blur is the name of her memory planning process. Days, Events, and vacations go by so quickly. Like a blur. Getting those moments documented is important to me. I am so far behind in my memory planning. Almost 8 months. I am hoping to get back to it soon.

Anyway, I also stitched on Blossom. When I posted about her last, I was here:

I stitched and stitched.

She is such an enjoyable stitch. Her colors are so bright and cheerful. Here is where I left her on Friday night.

I just love her! She is from Mirabilia and I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Busy Izzy from Fabrics by Steph. I will have to put her aside for a bit. Last night part 2 of the Ocean Pearl SAL from Tiny Modernist came out, so I will probably stitch on that one for the next couple of weeks. So that is what I have been stitching on. I did get a little bit of haul this week.

I watched a flosstube on Youtube (I do believe it was Sanctum Stitching) where someone was stitching on those cute Halloween pieces from Hands On Designs. I thought they were so cute and I just had to order them. Probably won’t get to them this year, but now they are in my stash. The little heart hoops are so cute. I also ordered some Hexagons and I do have some small round one’s from Stampin’ Up! in my stash. These will be so cute to put a tiny stitch into. I saw them made up on Nichol Sophr’s flosstube. I am not sure what I will be stitching for them, but I will find something. The book I ordered on Amazon. It is full of cross stitch patterns from the Tiny Modernist. Lots of cute things in there. And the thread is for a Halloween project that I was thinking of stitching later this year. It was the only thread I was missing.

So, that is what I have been up to the last few weeks. What are you up to?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

Sunday Stitching
Bella Filipina Designs · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · Pixie · yarn

Sunday Stitching

My Time Stitching13 Comments

Happy Sunday, my blogging friends. We had a snowstorm on Friday with a dumping of 10″ of the heavy white stuff. There was Thundersnow and lightning and white out conditions. The sun came out on Saturday and quite a bit of it has melted. Today was just an easy Sunday inside, doing a little laundry and some stitching.

I spent quite a bit of time stitching on Holly Berry Pixie. The designer is Bella Filipina Designs and I am stitching her on a one of a kind 16ct Aida from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics (she is no longer dying fabric). When I last posted about her, I had her skirt done and the berries at the bottom.

Since then I have added many stitches.

Look at that beautiful face! I have added some back stitching and more of the ribbons along the sides.

I have so enjoyed seeing this sweet pixie come to life. The colors are so bright and vibrant. And this is where I left her today.

Just a few more berries and then filling in of all the sparkles and draping strands of blue Kreinik, which I may need another spool of. I am not sure I started with a partial spool or not, but I don’t think I will have enough left for the amount of strands I need to stitch. And then I can get onto the beading. Lots of beautiful, sparkly beads. I will pick this up again tonight and maybe get my berries finished. I like to do most of my cross stitch at night. A habit I fell into after I had my children and while they were growing up. I like to spend my morning knitting with my coffee and I do have a new knitting project.

I recently purchased this yarn cake from The Yarn Garden. The Head Gardner there, Lindsay, talked about this yarn on her Feature Friday video a little over a week ago. If you are looking for something to do on Friday mornings, her facebook videos are great and I always learn something from her. You can find her videos on her facebook page The Yarn Garden. Her live videos are on Friday from 11:00 am to noon ET. Anyway, she talked about Wonderland Yarns doing a year long series with their Garden Club Blossoms called Ocean. Each month will include a Blossom Cake, a pattern and a stitch marker. This cake is the February cake and the color is called Great Barrier Reef Anemones. It came with a hat pattern that is cute, but I didn’t feel like making a hat. So I spent a lot of time on Ravelry looking for a shawl or cowl pattern that would work with this yarn. I wasn’t coming up with anything and sought the help of a friend. She came up with a couple of great ideas and I decided on the 22 Little Clouds pattern by Martina Behm. It is a free pattern on Ravelry and I think it is more of a shawlette, a smaller shawl.

I got started right away and couldn’t help but notice that my nails matched my knitting again. I like when that happens 😉 And here is where I left off this morning.

I am enjoying this knit and am really looking forward to seeing the color changes. I like knitting with this Mad Hatter Sport yarn. It is soft and knits up nicely. I did find a shop online that had 1 skein left of the January cake and I will show that one in a future post. Oh, I did forget to mention that each month comes with a post card with some beautiful artwork on one side and project tracking information on the other. Here is the February card.

So that is how I spent my Sunday. Doing what I love; Stitching. What did you work on today?

Happy Stitching,

Ginny

The Carolyn Wrap
Knitted Wrap · Knitting · Uncategorized · yarn

The Carolyn Wrap

My Time Stitching12 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! How are you on this last day of February? There were 2 ice storms here within a week.. The second started yesterday and this morning everything was encased in ice. The sun is out and the temperatures rose quickly so it has all melted now. More rain, freezing rain, snow weather to come this week and next. It appears that Mother Nature is going to cram a lot of winter into March. So I am wishing for Spring to hurry up and get here.

Back in December, I saw posts on Instagram from @GamerBabeKnits showing a black and white photo of her advent wrap that she designed for Speckled Finc Studios. The black and white photo was so awesome, that I was so disappointed that I was not able to get in on the advent this last year. And then she put a color photo on her Etsy and I just swooned!

Wow! I instantly fell in love with this. The yarns were made special for the advent, so I knew I would not be able to get this colorway. So I contacted a local dyer, Janice, of Adelaide Fiber Company, and asked if she would dye me a fade for this gorgeous pattern. She said she would and I let her do her thing. She sent me pictures now and then of what she was making and I loved the skeins she showed me and let her build it from there. In January she told me she was finished and would be putting them in the mail. I received them on my Birthday!!

I was so excited when I opened the package! Such beautiful colors! I couldn’t wait to get started. So I got started winding some of the minis and getting all of my supplies ready to go.

I wound the first 12 colors. Mostly because I only have 12 mini yarn snugglers and because 12 mini skeins fit perfectly into my Karolyn bag.

Time to get knitting! I want to see what all of these beautiful skeins look like knitted up!

I have one repeat in and I can say that I am loving this pattern! The first 2 colors are so sweet!

Well, 3 repeats in and this is looking so awesome! The pattern repeat is 24 rows and is pretty easy to do. I can even watch TV and knit this.

I can tell you that this pattern is pretty addicting. I also want to see the next color knitted up. My elbow is aching from constant knitting so I am going to had to cut back a little. My plan was to do at least 1 repeat a day or at least 24 rows. 1 New color a day 🙂

This wrap is growing so fast! I am knitting on it as much as I can do in a sitting. And I still love every stitch and seeing every beautiful skein of yarn come to life.

So many beautiful colors! I am loving how the colors change with each pattern repeat.

Down to the last few skeins! I am knitting more than I should be, wanting to get this finished.

It is finished! I LOVE it!! This wrap took me a little over 3 weeks to knit. This photo is before blocking. For those of you who wonder why block? Well, see all the puckers in the pattern from the decreases? And see how it doesn’t lay flat and the lace is sort of hidden in the puckers?

Here it is on the blocking boards. I used blocking wires down the long sides as well as the blocking pins. Now it will lay flat and that lace is opened up and so pretty.

I am absolutely in love with this wrap! I can wear it as a scarf on the colder days and wear it as a wrap on those chilly nights at the beach. The pattern is very well written and also includes a chart as well as a check off list for each repeat. This pattern, The Carolyn Wrap by Yvonne Poon aka Gamer Babe Knitter, is available on Ravelry and Etsy from GamerBabeDesigns. Yarns by Adelaide Fiber Company are available on Etsy.

I can see myself knitting this pattern again in the future. I think it will be a favorite. Do you have a favorite pattern that you have or would create again and again?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

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