Well . . . it's been a long time since I looked at my blog. I kind of forgot I had one. Thanks "Memories" on Facebook. I mean, yeah, I remember blogging. But it's been since 2015. Stuff's changed.
One thing is the GoT lady gerbils have all passed away. In November 2016, I got the Tiny Men. Mom wasn't too happy with more gerbils in the house. Oh well. I named the black-and-white chunky boy "Pathfinder" and the carroty-colored one "Peter Dragon". Pathfinder (also sometimes called "Pathman") was named after my favorite gaming system. Peter was named partially because of my (at the time) favorite YouTuber and partially because an NPC I created as pert of Tannith's backstory was named Peter Drake (litterally Peter Dragon). Pathfinder passed away in May 2020. He adored McKenna of Stitching in Sequins and would stare avidly at the screen when we would watch. Like I've only ever seen gerbils be this fascinated by things on tv/internet when it was Lemmiwinks or for the GoT ladies, space battles or when I would sing. Peter isn't doing too well, but that's not unexpected, being as he's aproximately about 4 years old (being as they came from the pet store, there's no way to tell exactly). The gerbil age charts stopped telling the equivallent people age at 3 years old. 3 = 90 people years. So . . . I put their birthday around the first part of September as they weren't entirely fully grown, but also weren't just weaned when I got them. Typically, it's about 2 months old. Peter-bee's gone completely deaf in his old age. I'm letting him live out his life. He's adjusted to being a single boy and gets loads of attention. Mom doesn't pick him up or pet him, but she does interact with him, giving him small boxes (his favorite) and talking to him. She also occasionally will give him random veggies and things like that. He quite enjoyed the mini crackers she found the other day. And yeah, loads of people food isn't good, but at the equivallent of 120 years and getting pretty skinny (he's just not that interested in food anymore, which is pretty normal for gerbils), any food and caloric intake is fine.
I have changed jobs. Things happened at the old one where workflow changed and half the department was no longer there. I was one of them. Yay severence package, boo on difficulty finding work. Eventually, I did. And started where I currently am as a temp, switching to permanant at the beginning of 2019. Working from home (2020 sucks) has actually been wonderful. Though I keep running out of jammies and have to keep doing laundry. But the commute time is great. And not needing to worry extra about being exposed when both mom and I are more medically fragile is definitely a blessing. We go out as little as possible and always wear a mask.
I lost my stitchy bug in 2015 for various reasons and only by joining a FB stitching group (very big, Stitch Maynia) got it to come back in October 2017. They had loads of SALs going on and it was neat to figure out if I had something that applied to it. Like "stitch something related to fall colors or pumpkins or leaves" and then figuring out "hey, this project has lots of oranges, that will work" or things like that was actually pretty neat. I have since stopped with that as I just don't have the energy to do so. Like I get all these great ideas, like "I'll start that HAED Mini Jolly Roger for 'talk like a pirate day'" and then never actually doing so. Maybe it's just I forget about it. Oh well. It still was fun. And I made a spreadsheet for all my stitchy things to keep track of. I update it with all the things I start, finish, when I work on them, my patterns/kits, my The Very Long Term Project, etc.
Some of my numbers on this spreadsheet tell me that I need to stitch faster (I don't actually do the goals thing like Jessie Marie does as I know me, I will completely rebel against these plans).
My HAED tab tells me I have finished 13 (SK, QS, part of one full size that became a quilt) and a sample. I am now up to 21 HAEDs in various stages of completion. I'm actually ok with this. I took and left one, SK Oak King, at the bf's (met him in 2017 online) to work on there at least for a little while. (It was sweet, he asked if I knew I'd left some stitching there and I explained. He also (on his own) looked into what he could do to improve my frame he saw me using for the first time in like 15+ years, though he would only modify it if I asked him to.)
I am less than 4 pages away from finally finishing QS Lotus Wood, aka Tannith. It's really probably like 2 1/2 pages of actual stitching, though still loads of 310. I stopped because my fingers were starting to hurt from the needle. It's a thinner needle, which isn't a bad thing. The eye end is a little pointier, but again, not a bad thing. Trying to get it to go through the now bulkier fabric takes more effort and it was starting to poke not exactly a hole, but sort of, in my finger that I usually use to push the needle through.
The Very Long Term Project.
I came up with the idea in 2013. Not all the Faces of Faery (JBG) that HAED had charted had been stitched. I thought that wasn't right/fair. They all should be stitched. Someone should do that. And then, I guess I nominated myself? To be fair, there were fewer ones charted back in 2013 when I thought of this. I started with 99 (they all have numbers) in October 2013, because she was a vampire, so when else should I start her. There's a second vamp and now that I have replaced the fabric, she's getting started this October. When that will happen, I will have 4 FoF going in various stages. 99 was finished in 2017, almost at the end of the year. I then started 161 (the poppy one) in 2018 with the aim to finish her by Nov 11, 2018, as that would be the 100th anniversary of WWI. Yeah, that didn't happen. I cannot do goals with my stitchy stuff. I just can't. I did pick her back up Aug 31, 2020, and have made some big progress on her. I started 168 (the one with a flute) for Labor Day 2018 and have not worked on her since. I started 9 (since she was the only poc not represented in the finished gallery) on Junteenth 2020 as part of the representationmatters and diversityandinclusion SALs. Those are ongoing. And then 235 will join them for Dark Thirteen stitching in October. My spreadsheet tells me that once I stitch them all (barring any more being released, which will happen, I cannot seem to stitch fast enough to keep up) it will be 2,412,759 stitches. That is a lot.
I currently have 98 projects in my WIP or UFO tab on the spreadsheet. (I still can't find my gay pride heart, which I was stitching for a late friend. I can't remember stitching on it or seeing it since Hanging of the Greens but I can't remember what year.) I need to reorganize my room so the bear yarn (worsted weight acrylic) is in my closet and the now overflowing basket of projects is in front of the file cabinet in front of my closet so I can get to them easier. I will be starting more, but hopefully, I can get some of my larger and longer term ones out the door soon, so to speak.
I guess that's about it. No idea when/if I will come back. Oh well. Maybe when I finish Tannith? Idk. I'm definitely going to get her framed.
ETA: I added paragraph breaks because Wall-of-Text is not fun to read. I ramble enough, let's not make it harder to get through my rambles.
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Friday, January 30, 2015
The Minions have spoken!
Yes, Daenerys, Brienne, and Myrcella have decided the giveaway winners. I listed everyone and numbered them. Then I wrote all the numbers on torn up paper napkins. Then I hovered each gerbil over the batch and they grabbed a number. I was originally just going to do one each of SK Fragile and SK Malifiqueen but then Myrcella seemed a bit put out. Poor little thing, her sisters are much more extroverted and she gets ignored. So . . . I decided with this 50% off sale, I could do 2 SK Malefiqueens. Yes, I know the name is actually SK Evil Queen . . . but she used to be SK Maleficent and her name was changed. I like calling her Malefiqueen.
So . . . Myrcella picked the first QS Malefiqueen . . . and picked #46. Jan Doran
Brienne picked the SK Fragile . . . and picked 34. Becky Stitchy-Sheehan
Daenerys picked the other SK Malefiqueen . . . and picked #24. Lee-ann Bender
Congratulations!
Friday, January 23, 2015
"Evil Queen", yarn, giveaway
My favorite Disney villain is Maleficent. I didn't realize this until after the 2014 Angelina Jolie movie came out. But the more I think about it, she is. And I'm quite chuffed that somehow they've found a way to bring the character back to Once Upon A Time. I have Lady Purl yarn called Once Upon a Dream that I'm so going to knit me some socks during this second half of this season. I hope they can explain the huge plot hole of "she died in her dragon form in Storybrooke and she was some sort of undead" but either way, Maleficent! Her name has been changed to "Evil Queen" but she's still the same magically villanous lady.
So . . . on December 18, 2014, I see this beauty in my newsfeed.
I lasted a whole two days (I think) before I broke down and bought the chart. And then I realized, oh wow wouldn't she be great as a storykeep (SK) or a quick stitch (QS) or a mini? I decided I didn't want to wait about for someone else to request it . . . so I did. Someone else also got her without the background, but I'm not as sure on that point. The example was on some hand dyed fabric, but part of the beauty is the background. (Might still get it to go with the others.
So . . . yesterday, the SK, the QS, and the mini (along with the "no background") were listed on the site. Squeeeeeee!
And they look like:
Well the SK and QS at least. The mini is a smaller version of all of the big one.
And while I was looking on the "new charts" page I noticed a new SK. I love SKs, there's something about the shape, I think. So . . . SK Ice Princess, which I adore the colors of her, had to come along with SK Maleficent. Since, you know 50% off sale.
So . . . onto the next topic, yarn. I finished spinning and plying the Feather colorway of the Spun Right Round merino I'd bought to do during last year's Spinzilla. I didn't have the oompf to get a 3rd braid done, so that one was still sitting about. (I added another 3 to it - in the colors of Human Fly, Phosphorous Pixie, and Mint Me.) And I also was busy with both drop spindles. I did more on my top whorl "eclectic" yarn and realized when I wound it off, that I'd left it too long. Oooops. I'd gotten 9 1 ounce bags of superwash merino on eBay and it's going to be quite eclectic once it is all spun/wound/etc. And the other spindle (the bottom whorl) has been hosting some more of that "sweet tarts" yarn - 1/2 of the 4 ounce braid of Malabrigo Nube in baya electica. And again, I'd left it too long on the spindle. sigh But I have finished that one and wound it onto a cardboard wrapping paper tube. And I've started the 2nd half of the braid. It's soooo pretty. And a lot thinner than the previous spinning. (I have a pair of red braids, called Cereza, that is always out of stock on Paradise Fibers it seems like.) The only thing I don't particularly care for about the Malabrigo Nube is it seems a bit felted. If I had a drum carder, I'd probably run it through before spinning.
Ok . . . onto the giveaway. I've done a couple of giveaways before. One was in honor of my friend's birthday and the other was in memory of my Uncle on the birthday after he passed away. Usually I like to do a guessing contest. And there's clues and all that. But this time, I'm doing it a bit differently. Partly because I've left it too late to really have a proper guessing contest thingymy and partly because it's for my birthday. (plus some people already know what the "prize" is.)
So how does it work? Very simple. I'll be posting here and on my fb and in a few of the groups I'm in. And if someone wants to have a chance, just comment either there or here (or both) or message me. Then next Friday, January 30, 2015, I will pick a name for each chart. (And then RAK the chart) Actually, I'm not picking, my furry minions, Daenerys, Myrcella, and Brienne, will be doing the picking.
So . . . it's my birthday, but you're getting the gift! lol
So . . . what are the lovlies I've picked out to giveaway?
They're both storykeeps. The first I picked is one I've stitched. He's still my favorite SK - I was able to stitch him in 17 days. Plus, dragon. Yes, if you're thinking SK Fragile, you're right!
The other one I picked was of course, SK Maleficent. Since she's the my favorite Disney villain. I was hoping she'd get released in time for my birthday so I could include her.
So . . . here are the pictures of SK Fragile and SK Maleficent:
So . . . good luck!
So . . . on December 18, 2014, I see this beauty in my newsfeed.
I lasted a whole two days (I think) before I broke down and bought the chart. And then I realized, oh wow wouldn't she be great as a storykeep (SK) or a quick stitch (QS) or a mini? I decided I didn't want to wait about for someone else to request it . . . so I did. Someone else also got her without the background, but I'm not as sure on that point. The example was on some hand dyed fabric, but part of the beauty is the background. (Might still get it to go with the others.
So . . . yesterday, the SK, the QS, and the mini (along with the "no background") were listed on the site. Squeeeeeee!
And they look like:
Well the SK and QS at least. The mini is a smaller version of all of the big one.
And while I was looking on the "new charts" page I noticed a new SK. I love SKs, there's something about the shape, I think. So . . . SK Ice Princess, which I adore the colors of her, had to come along with SK Maleficent. Since, you know 50% off sale.
So . . . onto the next topic, yarn. I finished spinning and plying the Feather colorway of the Spun Right Round merino I'd bought to do during last year's Spinzilla. I didn't have the oompf to get a 3rd braid done, so that one was still sitting about. (I added another 3 to it - in the colors of Human Fly, Phosphorous Pixie, and Mint Me.) And I also was busy with both drop spindles. I did more on my top whorl "eclectic" yarn and realized when I wound it off, that I'd left it too long. Oooops. I'd gotten 9 1 ounce bags of superwash merino on eBay and it's going to be quite eclectic once it is all spun/wound/etc. And the other spindle (the bottom whorl) has been hosting some more of that "sweet tarts" yarn - 1/2 of the 4 ounce braid of Malabrigo Nube in baya electica. And again, I'd left it too long on the spindle. sigh But I have finished that one and wound it onto a cardboard wrapping paper tube. And I've started the 2nd half of the braid. It's soooo pretty. And a lot thinner than the previous spinning. (I have a pair of red braids, called Cereza, that is always out of stock on Paradise Fibers it seems like.) The only thing I don't particularly care for about the Malabrigo Nube is it seems a bit felted. If I had a drum carder, I'd probably run it through before spinning.
Ok . . . onto the giveaway. I've done a couple of giveaways before. One was in honor of my friend's birthday and the other was in memory of my Uncle on the birthday after he passed away. Usually I like to do a guessing contest. And there's clues and all that. But this time, I'm doing it a bit differently. Partly because I've left it too late to really have a proper guessing contest thingymy and partly because it's for my birthday. (plus some people already know what the "prize" is.)
So how does it work? Very simple. I'll be posting here and on my fb and in a few of the groups I'm in. And if someone wants to have a chance, just comment either there or here (or both) or message me. Then next Friday, January 30, 2015, I will pick a name for each chart. (And then RAK the chart) Actually, I'm not picking, my furry minions, Daenerys, Myrcella, and Brienne, will be doing the picking.
So . . . it's my birthday, but you're getting the gift! lol
So . . . what are the lovlies I've picked out to giveaway?
They're both storykeeps. The first I picked is one I've stitched. He's still my favorite SK - I was able to stitch him in 17 days. Plus, dragon. Yes, if you're thinking SK Fragile, you're right!
The other one I picked was of course, SK Maleficent. Since she's the my favorite Disney villain. I was hoping she'd get released in time for my birthday so I could include her.
So . . . here are the pictures of SK Fragile and SK Maleficent:
So . . . good luck!
Update
Well . . . it has been a while since I blogged . . . I've been busy with things like work and knitting and gerbils and spinning and forgetting to blog. What can I say? Oops. Plus, you know, working 2nd shift seems to suck up all the time. And I have discovered the cuteness of gerbils taking sand baths . . . they roll in it. Soooo cute! Plus all three of my girls bark. Yup, my gerbils bark.
Let's see . . . the alpaca shawl is done, but not yet blocked.
Expecting has like 4 more colors to go to be done with that row of pages. The date on the last pic I've taken is 7/27/14.
I requested a QS (quick stitch) of Ice Wind I - lol I seem to have problems remembering if it's 1 or 2 - I've liked this one since I picked it to be the picture of what Corsira, who is the daughter of Tannith & Corsaire, will look like when she's all grown up. Now I've got the QS of both Ice Winds (the other one is Tannith's little sister, Piper).
I also discovered etsy. And in particular, two specific sellers. Neeley's Knits has 4 different Babylon 5 colorways - I do love me some Babylon 5. I had her do a custom order of her Marcus yarn, which I had my mom put away so I could open it on Christmas morning. Hmmm . . . I've still yet to "receive" my yarn . . . mom put it in a "safe place". The other seller is Lady Purl Designs - her blog is ladypurl.blogspot.com. She has some fun, nerdy colorways and I love her descriptions. The first yarns I got from her were a lace weight color called Mermaid Tails (for The Little Mermaid) that I "made up" a shawl pattern I'm calling Mermadia. I've yet to get far on it. And I got a fun sock yarn colorway made of 80% wool and 20% angora, called "Twixt My Nethers" - created for the Firefly/Serenity character named Kaylee. I knit some socks out of that to dress like Kaylee and I had enough to make fingerless mitts as well (and still have more of that yarn).
Speaking of socks, I got several pairs done . . . well more than several pairs. Let's see . . . Christmas socks for my sister, me, my mom, my sister's boyfriend (as he was there on Christmas morning, so therefore, he must have new socks) . . . and Girl on Fire socks (yes more Lady Purl yarn!) for my sister and I to take to watch Mockingjay part 1 . . . and I had to have some Hobbity socks too. I used another Lady Purl yarn called The Shire (or There and Back Again). I started the Smaug socks while watching the movie . . . but I messed up on the ribbing, so I'll have to start them over. Which is good since I have to watch the movie again as the movie seemed to be on fast forward or something. Oh and the blue Cascade Heritage yarn I "got" for Christmas 2013, I knit that up into socks and some wristlets. And socks for my sister too for Christmas.
I've also made some fingerless gloves. I found a free pattern on Ravelry (oh that place is soooo bad for finding neat things to do!) - it's called Te Ara and it's got a neat cable portion. Fairly simple/straightforward, but look complicated. I used the Multipass yarn (LP) for mine and another LP yarn called The Capitol for my sister's. I just finished a pair using the Kaylee yarn that I adapted to be shorter/no cables. And still have a lot of yarn left lol. Edit I forgot the name of the pattern is Te Ara Fingerless Mitts not "Te Avanna" . . . lol I guess I was remembering that tea company, Teavanna, or something.
I also got a lot of spinning done. I went to a spinning workshop at the Vinton Public Library. I got to learn corespinning as well as beehives and lace. I want to make some more of the b&l yarn in "Drazi colors" - green for the beehives part and then purple for the inner core bit. The one on the left is the corespun, I got to use pom fur for it. And the other is the beehives & lace.
And then in October, I got to participate in Spinzilla. What is that? It's a week where the idea is spin as much as you can. There are prizes and things like that and people compete to see how much yarn they can spin. Last year (the 2nd year) it was October 6 - 12, this year it will be the 5th - 11th. I have that week as "vacation". My goal was to spin a mile. I juuuuust made that. It was funny, I would tell the gerbils "it's spinning time" and they would start digging about. I decided to spin as a Rogue Spinner (mostly because I waited until the last minute, but also because I don't know enough about which team to pick.) 
And because of this Spinzilla, I was introduced to Mirkwood Arts and the Mirkwood supported spindles. And I waaaant one. Actually a couple. That's something I want to get to expand my skill set. I also want to try other sorts of fiber (banana, rose, angora, silk, etc).
Ok . . . onto the cross stitch. I got lot of that done too.
I did get some done on Tannith (poor thing, looks like another year before she'll get done or something like that). At least I'm on the second row now.
I finally got SK Logan framed for my mom (she goes "I trust your judgement when it comes to framing") and SK Forbidden Doorway for me. SK Logan is hanging in the dining room right above the little triangle/corner desk and Doorway is over top of the gerbils in my room. She's really easy to forget it's stitched and not a print or something.
And . . . in October . . . finally, after a lot of work from a group of us, I can finally reveal the "secret project". It is a quilt of The History of HAED that a group of us made for the owner/designer, Michele. We divided the chart into 12 parts and each part got a stitcher to work on it. Mine was what I called "Left Facing Dragon". And we each used the 25 ct Magic Guide lugana fabric and 1 strand over 1 for full crosses. And then we all sent it to one of the ladies (I included some purple fabric as it just seemed appropriate for this project) for her to quilt it all up. She also included a patch with our names on it. We also sent in pics and hand-written notes to be turned into a scrapbook of the journey. We had a simply marvelous time being sneaky. And Michele was so touched and moved by it, it made it all worth the effort. (Plus, it was just fun planning/making it happen!)
So . . . here's Left Facing Dragon and the finished project:
So . . . I'm a sucker for a HAED SAL. I mention this because I got "suckered" into doing a Halloween SAL. And it was a good reason to finally start the first of The Very Long Term Project (which I started a facebook page to under that name). What is TVLTP? I want to stitch all the Faces of Faery that have been charted. Hmmm might be a bit longer to do than I thought. So I started with Faces of Faery 99 (or as I call her 99.)
And speaking of SALs, this year (2015) there is a HAED BB SAL. I picked the QS Frogs Kissing. It was the most fantasy like one and I don't fancy Santa. Here's what I picked and how far I got on the 16th (mom's foot surgery).
And in the big cross stitch group I admin, they decided to do a HAED SAL. So I was like ok I'll participate. And rather than being cheesy and having it do for both SALs, I decided to pick something other than QS Froggies. I went with QS Nostlagy, which was from the 2013 BB SAL and was my second choice for that one. I haven't gotten far, but still. She's one of those character pictures. I picture her as a Human necromancer. She is more of a science/see if it can be done (almost innocent) rather than evil "I play with dead people" sort of way. 
And I decided yes, I will participate in the once a month (1st weekend) SAL for the Mystic Stitch group. I'm doing Night Shade II.
And then, for some reason, I decided Melena ought to have some attention too. I just don't have an updated pic yet of her. I got distracted by spinning yarn on my spindles.
Almost done . . . next time, I am going to announce a new giveaway. But we'll save that for later.
Let's see . . . the alpaca shawl is done, but not yet blocked.
Expecting has like 4 more colors to go to be done with that row of pages. The date on the last pic I've taken is 7/27/14.
I requested a QS (quick stitch) of Ice Wind I - lol I seem to have problems remembering if it's 1 or 2 - I've liked this one since I picked it to be the picture of what Corsira, who is the daughter of Tannith & Corsaire, will look like when she's all grown up. Now I've got the QS of both Ice Winds (the other one is Tannith's little sister, Piper).
I also discovered etsy. And in particular, two specific sellers. Neeley's Knits has 4 different Babylon 5 colorways - I do love me some Babylon 5. I had her do a custom order of her Marcus yarn, which I had my mom put away so I could open it on Christmas morning. Hmmm . . . I've still yet to "receive" my yarn . . . mom put it in a "safe place". The other seller is Lady Purl Designs - her blog is ladypurl.blogspot.com. She has some fun, nerdy colorways and I love her descriptions. The first yarns I got from her were a lace weight color called Mermaid Tails (for The Little Mermaid) that I "made up" a shawl pattern I'm calling Mermadia. I've yet to get far on it. And I got a fun sock yarn colorway made of 80% wool and 20% angora, called "Twixt My Nethers" - created for the Firefly/Serenity character named Kaylee. I knit some socks out of that to dress like Kaylee and I had enough to make fingerless mitts as well (and still have more of that yarn).
Speaking of socks, I got several pairs done . . . well more than several pairs. Let's see . . . Christmas socks for my sister, me, my mom, my sister's boyfriend (as he was there on Christmas morning, so therefore, he must have new socks) . . . and Girl on Fire socks (yes more Lady Purl yarn!) for my sister and I to take to watch Mockingjay part 1 . . . and I had to have some Hobbity socks too. I used another Lady Purl yarn called The Shire (or There and Back Again). I started the Smaug socks while watching the movie . . . but I messed up on the ribbing, so I'll have to start them over. Which is good since I have to watch the movie again as the movie seemed to be on fast forward or something. Oh and the blue Cascade Heritage yarn I "got" for Christmas 2013, I knit that up into socks and some wristlets. And socks for my sister too for Christmas.
I've also made some fingerless gloves. I found a free pattern on Ravelry (oh that place is soooo bad for finding neat things to do!) - it's called Te Ara and it's got a neat cable portion. Fairly simple/straightforward, but look complicated. I used the Multipass yarn (LP) for mine and another LP yarn called The Capitol for my sister's. I just finished a pair using the Kaylee yarn that I adapted to be shorter/no cables. And still have a lot of yarn left lol. Edit I forgot the name of the pattern is Te Ara Fingerless Mitts not "Te Avanna" . . . lol I guess I was remembering that tea company, Teavanna, or something.
I also got a lot of spinning done. I went to a spinning workshop at the Vinton Public Library. I got to learn corespinning as well as beehives and lace. I want to make some more of the b&l yarn in "Drazi colors" - green for the beehives part and then purple for the inner core bit. The one on the left is the corespun, I got to use pom fur for it. And the other is the beehives & lace.
And then in October, I got to participate in Spinzilla. What is that? It's a week where the idea is spin as much as you can. There are prizes and things like that and people compete to see how much yarn they can spin. Last year (the 2nd year) it was October 6 - 12, this year it will be the 5th - 11th. I have that week as "vacation". My goal was to spin a mile. I juuuuust made that. It was funny, I would tell the gerbils "it's spinning time" and they would start digging about. I decided to spin as a Rogue Spinner (mostly because I waited until the last minute, but also because I don't know enough about which team to pick.) 
And because of this Spinzilla, I was introduced to Mirkwood Arts and the Mirkwood supported spindles. And I waaaant one. Actually a couple. That's something I want to get to expand my skill set. I also want to try other sorts of fiber (banana, rose, angora, silk, etc).
Ok . . . onto the cross stitch. I got lot of that done too.
I did get some done on Tannith (poor thing, looks like another year before she'll get done or something like that). At least I'm on the second row now.
I finally got SK Logan framed for my mom (she goes "I trust your judgement when it comes to framing") and SK Forbidden Doorway for me. SK Logan is hanging in the dining room right above the little triangle/corner desk and Doorway is over top of the gerbils in my room. She's really easy to forget it's stitched and not a print or something.
And . . . in October . . . finally, after a lot of work from a group of us, I can finally reveal the "secret project". It is a quilt of The History of HAED that a group of us made for the owner/designer, Michele. We divided the chart into 12 parts and each part got a stitcher to work on it. Mine was what I called "Left Facing Dragon". And we each used the 25 ct Magic Guide lugana fabric and 1 strand over 1 for full crosses. And then we all sent it to one of the ladies (I included some purple fabric as it just seemed appropriate for this project) for her to quilt it all up. She also included a patch with our names on it. We also sent in pics and hand-written notes to be turned into a scrapbook of the journey. We had a simply marvelous time being sneaky. And Michele was so touched and moved by it, it made it all worth the effort. (Plus, it was just fun planning/making it happen!)
So . . . here's Left Facing Dragon and the finished project:
So . . . I'm a sucker for a HAED SAL. I mention this because I got "suckered" into doing a Halloween SAL. And it was a good reason to finally start the first of The Very Long Term Project (which I started a facebook page to under that name). What is TVLTP? I want to stitch all the Faces of Faery that have been charted. Hmmm might be a bit longer to do than I thought. So I started with Faces of Faery 99 (or as I call her 99.)
And speaking of SALs, this year (2015) there is a HAED BB SAL. I picked the QS Frogs Kissing. It was the most fantasy like one and I don't fancy Santa. Here's what I picked and how far I got on the 16th (mom's foot surgery).
And in the big cross stitch group I admin, they decided to do a HAED SAL. So I was like ok I'll participate. And rather than being cheesy and having it do for both SALs, I decided to pick something other than QS Froggies. I went with QS Nostlagy, which was from the 2013 BB SAL and was my second choice for that one. I haven't gotten far, but still. She's one of those character pictures. I picture her as a Human necromancer. She is more of a science/see if it can be done (almost innocent) rather than evil "I play with dead people" sort of way. 
And I decided yes, I will participate in the once a month (1st weekend) SAL for the Mystic Stitch group. I'm doing Night Shade II.
And then, for some reason, I decided Melena ought to have some attention too. I just don't have an updated pic yet of her. I got distracted by spinning yarn on my spindles.
Almost done . . . next time, I am going to announce a new giveaway. But we'll save that for later.
Monday, July 14, 2014
progress
I've made some great progress on my lacy 100% alpaca shawl. I think I"m starting to remember the pattern now with a lot less help from my notes. Which is nice. I had to wind the rest of the yarn into a ball as the football shaped skein sort of started falling apart. I think I've knit like a good foot or so. It's so pretty and warm, I know it's going to be lovely once it's done. I've also been working on the counted cross stitch piece Expecting (HAED) and think I might be able to finish the top row of pages soon. Yay! I started a new project, but I'll wait to go into detail later on, other than to say it's one of the two projects I'm making for friends - same pattern, different fabric, this is the one that I dyed. Oh and I got some more lace yarn. I found a lace malabrigo yarn on the Woolery that is tardis colored . . . so I'm thinking perfect for the lace shawl with the tardis-es on it. (Or is that "tardisi"? Oh well don't care.) But unlike the alpaca I'm using, which is 2-ply, this is single ply. So . . . they had some at Mosaic, so I decided to get some to test out. I was thinking "hey, why don't I make another shawl like this . . . but make it wider!" and now I'm not sure if I want to do that or not. I think it might be fun to try another lacy pattern. Heh . . . I do have a lot of the varigated blue color I picked out, called "Oceanos". Each skein is 470 yds. But I've got time. I still want to go by Yarn Explosion before work one day to see what sort of lace (and possibly sock) yarn they have. And I still want to try out a couple of sock-weight patterns I found on Ravelry. One is a cowl they called something like Irish cable and the other is a baby shrug jackety sort of pattern called "vertebrae" which is designed to hug the baby's back snugly. Not that I know of anyone who is having kids ath this moment, I just like the idea of it. Plus, I do have another lace shawl to try out. Tho I'm not sure if I want to try the Oceanos on it or not. Plus . . . I still haven't gotten far on my sister's second sock for Christmas. (Or mine or my mom's.) Should be interesting!
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Blackwork
I was in a cross stitch group on Facebook and one of my little pet peeves happened.
One of the ladies in there said that blackwork is where you fill in a pattern using backstitching.
No. No it is not.
Blackwork is a specific technique. It most definitely is not backstitching. It is a specific technique where the back looks almost exactly like the front. You use a double running stitch. They're two different techniques.
I did a piece years ago (that my dad still has) of an iris done in counted cross stitch in front of a field of various blackwork patterns in geometric areas. Those areas were partitioned off by lines of satin stitch/couching. Each one of the patterns had specific stitch diagrams. They were really fun to stitch. And the way you could easily tell which was the right/front side was to look at the iris. I also added blending filament to the iris - 1 strand each blue and purple for the flower area. And I think I might have used iridescent for the yellow bits. (I thought I used green on the leaves, but I don't see it in the pictures.) I want to stitch it again in the original mushroom lugana/taupe/gold color combination, but also using black/grey/silver. So I'd have a day vs night. (one day . . . )
Here's a bit closer up:
And the other thing that sort of irritated me is the person (same one who answered the question of "what's blackwork" with "designs and fills done in backstitching") was also saying "I have heard alot of people say it is using black floss but I use any color i feel like." Um. Ok. Use whatever color you want, but the term "blackwork" comes from where the only color used was black. Just like "redwork" is the same as blackwork, just with red instead of black.
And is not backstitching.
One of the ladies in there said that blackwork is where you fill in a pattern using backstitching.
No. No it is not.
Blackwork is a specific technique. It most definitely is not backstitching. It is a specific technique where the back looks almost exactly like the front. You use a double running stitch. They're two different techniques.
I did a piece years ago (that my dad still has) of an iris done in counted cross stitch in front of a field of various blackwork patterns in geometric areas. Those areas were partitioned off by lines of satin stitch/couching. Each one of the patterns had specific stitch diagrams. They were really fun to stitch. And the way you could easily tell which was the right/front side was to look at the iris. I also added blending filament to the iris - 1 strand each blue and purple for the flower area. And I think I might have used iridescent for the yellow bits. (I thought I used green on the leaves, but I don't see it in the pictures.) I want to stitch it again in the original mushroom lugana/taupe/gold color combination, but also using black/grey/silver. So I'd have a day vs night. (one day . . . )
Here's a bit closer up:
And the other thing that sort of irritated me is the person (same one who answered the question of "what's blackwork" with "designs and fills done in backstitching") was also saying "I have heard alot of people say it is using black floss but I use any color i feel like." Um. Ok. Use whatever color you want, but the term "blackwork" comes from where the only color used was black. Just like "redwork" is the same as blackwork, just with red instead of black.
And is not backstitching.
Lace shawl knitting is badass
No really, it is. And I dare you to do it if you think it isn't.
I think I figured something out about my lace shawl. I feel kind of like a badass, not just because of the teeny tiny yarn and the holes that are supposed to be there and not dropping stitches, but also because it's just harder if you make a mistake.
I was knitting along nicely during last Saturday's game. I decided I'll not work on Melena during Book 2 of our campaign, as I'm playing a different character. I'm playing Sayyadina, who is my aasimar Bard/Cleric of Sheylin. And she's a fiber artist too . . . she spins and knits, both socks for the poor and lace shawls. Since she's a badass. (ok that remains to be seen) But Clerics of Sheylin are expected to create something beautiful every day. Hence, the knitting.
So, what happened?
The lace shawl alternates pattern rows with plain purling on the backside. I was on the wrong side . . . and started knitting the 5th row of the pattern. Crap.
It took me 30 minutes (well from the "I'll fix it" to the actual "I did fix it") a few days later to frog aka un-knit . . . one . . . little stitch . . . at a time that wrong side #5. And then re-knit it. Ok, so I thought. Now I'll do the purling . . . and onto row #5 on the correct right side. We're good, right? Right?
Nope. I'm missing 2 stitches.
Really?
Really?
Craaaaaaaaaaaaap!
So then I have to un-knit the row 5 I just did. And then . . . the hard part.
Time to figure out where is the oops?
Turns out I dropped a stitch near the left side when I frogged. And then didn't actually keep a yarn over, which is basically another dropped stitch. Bother.
So . . . after all that, I finally got to re-knit that and go on with it.
I was actually kind of exhausted after all that. It was rather mentally taxing.
Hence, this is why lace knitting is badass.
And I'm only on the 3rd repeat . . . I think it's like maybe at the most 4" long so far . . . this is gonna take a while.
But I do want to get some more lace yarn . . . I keep going "oh my gosh this is sooooooo pretty!"
I think I figured out a way to avoid the "do I have the correct number of stitches left for my repeat?!" mess . . . my pattern is 17 stitches wide. I could do more repeats than 4 across if I want a wider shawl or even a blanket. There's a garter stitch border on all sides, so if I want a wider one, I do a multiple of 17 (ie 2 repeats or 10 etc) plus the border.
So . . . my solution?
I added stitch markers at the end of my pattern! Woooo!
Ok so they're a bit annoying, but not nearly as annoying as not being sure I have all my stitches. So far, I can deal with the stitch markers and I love not worrying as much about dropping stitches. I like using colorful paperclips as my stitch markers. They're a lot easier to replace in case something happens.
I think I figured something out about my lace shawl. I feel kind of like a badass, not just because of the teeny tiny yarn and the holes that are supposed to be there and not dropping stitches, but also because it's just harder if you make a mistake.
I was knitting along nicely during last Saturday's game. I decided I'll not work on Melena during Book 2 of our campaign, as I'm playing a different character. I'm playing Sayyadina, who is my aasimar Bard/Cleric of Sheylin. And she's a fiber artist too . . . she spins and knits, both socks for the poor and lace shawls. Since she's a badass. (ok that remains to be seen) But Clerics of Sheylin are expected to create something beautiful every day. Hence, the knitting.
So, what happened?
The lace shawl alternates pattern rows with plain purling on the backside. I was on the wrong side . . . and started knitting the 5th row of the pattern. Crap.
It took me 30 minutes (well from the "I'll fix it" to the actual "I did fix it") a few days later to frog aka un-knit . . . one . . . little stitch . . . at a time that wrong side #5. And then re-knit it. Ok, so I thought. Now I'll do the purling . . . and onto row #5 on the correct right side. We're good, right? Right?
Nope. I'm missing 2 stitches.
Really?
Really?
Craaaaaaaaaaaaap!
So then I have to un-knit the row 5 I just did. And then . . . the hard part.
Time to figure out where is the oops?
Turns out I dropped a stitch near the left side when I frogged. And then didn't actually keep a yarn over, which is basically another dropped stitch. Bother.
So . . . after all that, I finally got to re-knit that and go on with it.
I was actually kind of exhausted after all that. It was rather mentally taxing.
Hence, this is why lace knitting is badass.
And I'm only on the 3rd repeat . . . I think it's like maybe at the most 4" long so far . . . this is gonna take a while.
But I do want to get some more lace yarn . . . I keep going "oh my gosh this is sooooooo pretty!"
I think I figured out a way to avoid the "do I have the correct number of stitches left for my repeat?!" mess . . . my pattern is 17 stitches wide. I could do more repeats than 4 across if I want a wider shawl or even a blanket. There's a garter stitch border on all sides, so if I want a wider one, I do a multiple of 17 (ie 2 repeats or 10 etc) plus the border.
So . . . my solution?
I added stitch markers at the end of my pattern! Woooo!
Ok so they're a bit annoying, but not nearly as annoying as not being sure I have all my stitches. So far, I can deal with the stitch markers and I love not worrying as much about dropping stitches. I like using colorful paperclips as my stitch markers. They're a lot easier to replace in case something happens.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Short update
There was a contest (ending today) where if we post a WIP pic with a sign (name/date) to the official HAED fb group, we'd be eligible to win a free chart off our wishlist. It ends tonight, so I need to scoot over to fb to post my pic. My intention was to work on Daddledore and post a nice WIP pic of that. Evidently, my projects had other ideas. Since My pregnant fairy piece - "Expecting" - decided I would stitch on her a while. I was hoping I'd get all of the top row of pages done . . . um . . . not quite. But I did get another color done and into the next one. There are a total of 10 colors, including the sparkly #4 braid in 032. Few colors, but so effective in where they're placed. But the trade off is confetti. Lots of confetti. But for some reason, and maybe it's because each one is used so much, it doesn't feel like confetti. Yeah, I'm going with that.
So . . . here's my fancy, new, updated pic:
I really like how I can really see her face and all the outlines I'm going to be filling in. I decided with this chart, I would only print off a row at a time (heh I had 3 out of the 5 (I think) pages done on this row without even trying!) . . . so I'm rather looking forward to being able to print off some more of this chart. I think I get to baby next row of pages.
So . . . here's my fancy, new, updated pic:
I really like how I can really see her face and all the outlines I'm going to be filling in. I decided with this chart, I would only print off a row at a time (heh I had 3 out of the 5 (I think) pages done on this row without even trying!) . . . so I'm rather looking forward to being able to print off some more of this chart. I think I get to baby next row of pages.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Lace shawl part 1
So I decided to start working on the lace shawl pattern I found to use with the lace weight 100% alpaca I got for myself back for Christmas. They said it was sock/fingering weight, but when I got it . . . nope, definitely NOT sock weight. Definitely lace weight. I was a bit irritated over that, I mean it is beautiful yarn and oh so soft, but I wasn't intending to get lace weight. Which is why I didn't get the garnet colored lace weight 100% alpaca. So I found a pattern on Ravelry and they used that specific yarn in the example (which I mentioned in a previous blog post).
So . . . on Monday, I started winding the yarn from a skein into a ball. Well . . . it's more of a football shape rather than ball. But the main thing is that it pulls nicely from the center, which is the point. Though I did look up ball winder prices. And found one to bid on on eBay (they were much more expensive on either the woolery or paradise fibers). Now I'm just waiting for it to be shipped.
I've not actually ever used lace weight yarn. It's definitely way thinner than I was expecting. And winding it into a ball . . . just seemed to take foreeeever!
So, then I started actually knitting the shawl. There's a 2 inch border on all sides (and I really probably ought to be using a size bigger as I think it's a smidge small, but I'm going with what I have). I was knitting on it at the music show I went to on Tuesday (the Chuck Johnson Experience - lead singer of TK-421 singing/playing some really good songs at Buffalo Wild Wings, he played All Along the Watchtower, like I requested :) ) . . . after doing 3 repeats and counting only 12 stitches left instead of 17. Hmmm maybe stitching a lace shawl isn't the best idea while attending a music show at Buffalo Wild Wings. So I switched over to the rest of the sock I had started.
So yesterday, I wrote out the pattern rows so I could check them off methodically. And this time, I had 17 stitches left when I was supposed to have 17 stitches left yay!
So far, I've done 2 repeats of the pattern . . . so far so good. It doesn't look like much, but that's because lace shawls need to be pinned and blocked and such. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to do that . . . but cross that bridge when I get to it.
So here's the pic I took! It's kind of hard taking a pic of a lace shawl on knitting needles . . . you hafta stretch it out and still need to take the pic.
When I was working on it tonight, I thought, oh gosh, I can't wait to go home and knit some more on this! And I gotta say, in the words of my friend Gilee, lace weight shawl knitting is hardcore. I kind of felt a bit badass knitting on this shawl.
So . . . on Monday, I started winding the yarn from a skein into a ball. Well . . . it's more of a football shape rather than ball. But the main thing is that it pulls nicely from the center, which is the point. Though I did look up ball winder prices. And found one to bid on on eBay (they were much more expensive on either the woolery or paradise fibers). Now I'm just waiting for it to be shipped.
I've not actually ever used lace weight yarn. It's definitely way thinner than I was expecting. And winding it into a ball . . . just seemed to take foreeeever!
So, then I started actually knitting the shawl. There's a 2 inch border on all sides (and I really probably ought to be using a size bigger as I think it's a smidge small, but I'm going with what I have). I was knitting on it at the music show I went to on Tuesday (the Chuck Johnson Experience - lead singer of TK-421 singing/playing some really good songs at Buffalo Wild Wings, he played All Along the Watchtower, like I requested :) ) . . . after doing 3 repeats and counting only 12 stitches left instead of 17. Hmmm maybe stitching a lace shawl isn't the best idea while attending a music show at Buffalo Wild Wings. So I switched over to the rest of the sock I had started.
So yesterday, I wrote out the pattern rows so I could check them off methodically. And this time, I had 17 stitches left when I was supposed to have 17 stitches left yay!
So far, I've done 2 repeats of the pattern . . . so far so good. It doesn't look like much, but that's because lace shawls need to be pinned and blocked and such. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to do that . . . but cross that bridge when I get to it.
So here's the pic I took! It's kind of hard taking a pic of a lace shawl on knitting needles . . . you hafta stretch it out and still need to take the pic.
When I was working on it tonight, I thought, oh gosh, I can't wait to go home and knit some more on this! And I gotta say, in the words of my friend Gilee, lace weight shawl knitting is hardcore. I kind of felt a bit badass knitting on this shawl.
Monday, June 23, 2014
April, May, and some of June
Ok . . . so this is the post where I catch up with the counted cross stitch stuff. And then I'll be better about updating stuff, I swear this time!
So I decided tonight to take a pic of Melena. I really ought to work on her more. (I'm putting her first as I mentioned her in the previous cross stitch post):
That peachy bit is part of her cheeks.
Ok . . . so most of the time, I was working on the secret-can't-talk-about-it-until-July-or-so-project (so looking forward to being able to post that pic). But I did bounce back and forth between that and other cross stitch projects as well as spinning.
One of the ones I worked on a little bit (like a day or two) was the Shinysun's Cross Stitch Single Flower Iris (Lachri). I think I basically have like a page or a page and a half left to that. I did a lot of filling in of confetti. Yet another thing I want to attempt to do/get done by the end of the year, if possible. Here's the loveliness:
I know somewhere in there, I did work for a day or two on Rendezvous, but I forgot to take an update pic before this post. Ooops. Next time.
And I was supposed to start Daddledore on May 30th. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Partly because I hadn't actually unearthed the fabric and had yet to start the gridding. Plus, after the "secret project", I just needed a break. So . . . I decided to pick up a project I had put down the year before. The pot-bellied Dragon!
White Willow Stitching
Pot-Bellied Dragon
Dee Dreslough
Full crosses 3 strands over 2 on 28 ct hand dyed fabric (I dyed it)
Started December 6, 2012
Finished June 15, 2014
I also started the second part of a four-part project. I had gotten Joan Elliott's Bewitching Cross Stitch book years ago. There is a pattern in there of a wizard looking into a crystal ball. And there are 4 possible patterns to put in the ball for him to look at. The one that was stitched in the model was the castle. The choices were an unicorn, a castle, a dragon, and an owl. I, of course, started with the dragon one. I did finish that one and put the other 3 aside for a while. Well I decided to start on the owl. Too bad I misread the symbol for 762 as 341. I frogged that and did restitch that. I don't have a pic yet, but that's because there's not much to see. However, here's the dragon:
And last night, while watching Camelot and Salem (so I say that's why I didn't get further along lol), I started Daddledore finally!
Here's the gridded fabric:
And here's after about 2 hours:
And as a bonus, I finally picked a shawl pattern to use the lace weight alpaca. I didn't feel like I could use it for socks as it is lace weight instead of sock/fingering weight. So I picked up a size 5 circular needle on my way home at Michael's. Hopefully, I'll be able to use it, even if it is 16" instead of 19". And I found a new sock weight yarn I want to try out. I bet I can get two whole pairs of socks out of it! So I picked the silvery grey one called "cool grey" to test it out. I'll start with a pair for my sister. She usually gets the test stuff. lol But it's nice and soft, so I can't be too unhappy that Michael's did away with the super nice yarn that had cashmere in it. Plus this stuff (ok it's mostly acrylic, but also has nylon) is only 2.99 so even better. But here's the alpaca lace weight yarn I had gotten, thinking that it was size 1/sock weight. Well, that's what the description said, at any rate. It is so pretty, it's got a subtle shading between pink and slate pink and a lavenderish and is super soft.
Ok so it's hard to see the lovely change in color. But the color name of "mother of pearl" is perfect for this. Hopefully, this will knit up nicely. I found a free pattern on Ravelry, called, "Tuscarora Beach Shawl" by Rachel Howard. The description says it features the "passionflower" motif. (The Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns) And I liked this one best for this yarn due to the fact that the material used for the the sample was 1 skein of Cascade Alpaca Lace in the color Amethyst Lace. And I like that is the same as my not-sock-weight yarn. So . . . now to wind it into a ball (I think I need a ball winder, btw) and then start knitting. I'm also going to need to figure out how to block this . . .
So I decided tonight to take a pic of Melena. I really ought to work on her more. (I'm putting her first as I mentioned her in the previous cross stitch post):
That peachy bit is part of her cheeks.
Ok . . . so most of the time, I was working on the secret-can't-talk-about-it-until-July-or-so-project (so looking forward to being able to post that pic). But I did bounce back and forth between that and other cross stitch projects as well as spinning.
One of the ones I worked on a little bit (like a day or two) was the Shinysun's Cross Stitch Single Flower Iris (Lachri). I think I basically have like a page or a page and a half left to that. I did a lot of filling in of confetti. Yet another thing I want to attempt to do/get done by the end of the year, if possible. Here's the loveliness:
I know somewhere in there, I did work for a day or two on Rendezvous, but I forgot to take an update pic before this post. Ooops. Next time.
And I was supposed to start Daddledore on May 30th. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Partly because I hadn't actually unearthed the fabric and had yet to start the gridding. Plus, after the "secret project", I just needed a break. So . . . I decided to pick up a project I had put down the year before. The pot-bellied Dragon!
White Willow Stitching
Pot-Bellied Dragon
Dee Dreslough
Full crosses 3 strands over 2 on 28 ct hand dyed fabric (I dyed it)
Started December 6, 2012
Finished June 15, 2014
I also started the second part of a four-part project. I had gotten Joan Elliott's Bewitching Cross Stitch book years ago. There is a pattern in there of a wizard looking into a crystal ball. And there are 4 possible patterns to put in the ball for him to look at. The one that was stitched in the model was the castle. The choices were an unicorn, a castle, a dragon, and an owl. I, of course, started with the dragon one. I did finish that one and put the other 3 aside for a while. Well I decided to start on the owl. Too bad I misread the symbol for 762 as 341. I frogged that and did restitch that. I don't have a pic yet, but that's because there's not much to see. However, here's the dragon:
And last night, while watching Camelot and Salem (so I say that's why I didn't get further along lol), I started Daddledore finally!
Here's the gridded fabric:
And here's after about 2 hours:
And as a bonus, I finally picked a shawl pattern to use the lace weight alpaca. I didn't feel like I could use it for socks as it is lace weight instead of sock/fingering weight. So I picked up a size 5 circular needle on my way home at Michael's. Hopefully, I'll be able to use it, even if it is 16" instead of 19". And I found a new sock weight yarn I want to try out. I bet I can get two whole pairs of socks out of it! So I picked the silvery grey one called "cool grey" to test it out. I'll start with a pair for my sister. She usually gets the test stuff. lol But it's nice and soft, so I can't be too unhappy that Michael's did away with the super nice yarn that had cashmere in it. Plus this stuff (ok it's mostly acrylic, but also has nylon) is only 2.99 so even better. But here's the alpaca lace weight yarn I had gotten, thinking that it was size 1/sock weight. Well, that's what the description said, at any rate. It is so pretty, it's got a subtle shading between pink and slate pink and a lavenderish and is super soft.
Ok so it's hard to see the lovely change in color. But the color name of "mother of pearl" is perfect for this. Hopefully, this will knit up nicely. I found a free pattern on Ravelry, called, "Tuscarora Beach Shawl" by Rachel Howard. The description says it features the "passionflower" motif. (The Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns) And I liked this one best for this yarn due to the fact that the material used for the the sample was 1 skein of Cascade Alpaca Lace in the color Amethyst Lace. And I like that is the same as my not-sock-weight yarn. So . . . now to wind it into a ball (I think I need a ball winder, btw) and then start knitting. I'm also going to need to figure out how to block this . . .
Tatting isn't dead! (and Yarn part 2)
What? I hear you say. Tatting, like doing tattoos? Nope. I mean tatting, like the old-fashioned making of lace using itty bitty threads and a funny looking shuttle.
I learned lots of crafts from my granny, who passed away back in 2011. Unfortunately, tatting was not one of them. So I missed out on her teaching me how to tat. :(
But . . . thanks to the Tubes of You, all is not lost. The Tubes of You has this one lady who has some really easy to understand how-to-videos. I've watched them but I've yet to actually attempt this. I was able to find not only the tatting thread, but also the little packets of shuttles! Not just one but several. I picked the pink/blue one instead of the more readily available yellow/green ones. Yay, thanks AC Moore.
So . . . wanna see my pretties? Well . . . they're right here:
And no, I haven't yet attempted to try this yet, but I'm going to try to get this accomplished by the end of the year, possibly.
And now for Yarn part 2:
I took a pic of the first yarn (the multi-colored), the tardis yarn (the blue), and the tweedy stuff (the grey and white Norweigan).
And this little gem is my yarn keeper that my dad made me - yes, he used bamboo for the uprights. And I've got, in order from the bottom, the rainbowy one (candy shop plied with white polwarth and also the little bit of n-plied candy shop), the Blueberry bash I n-plied, the alpaca (2 oz each of fawn and brown and plied together), the Firefly (the Serenity merino plied with grey/brown Romney), and the Serenity (the Serenity n-plied on itself).
And a closer look for a better view of the colors:
I'm slowly spinning up the Igloo polwarth, which is soooo pretty, it has purple and grey/white, and turquoise. So I'm looking forward to finish spinning this up. I've still got 4 oz of white Polwarth to be plied with this.
I learned lots of crafts from my granny, who passed away back in 2011. Unfortunately, tatting was not one of them. So I missed out on her teaching me how to tat. :(
But . . . thanks to the Tubes of You, all is not lost. The Tubes of You has this one lady who has some really easy to understand how-to-videos. I've watched them but I've yet to actually attempt this. I was able to find not only the tatting thread, but also the little packets of shuttles! Not just one but several. I picked the pink/blue one instead of the more readily available yellow/green ones. Yay, thanks AC Moore.
So . . . wanna see my pretties? Well . . . they're right here:
And no, I haven't yet attempted to try this yet, but I'm going to try to get this accomplished by the end of the year, possibly.
And now for Yarn part 2:
I took a pic of the first yarn (the multi-colored), the tardis yarn (the blue), and the tweedy stuff (the grey and white Norweigan).
And this little gem is my yarn keeper that my dad made me - yes, he used bamboo for the uprights. And I've got, in order from the bottom, the rainbowy one (candy shop plied with white polwarth and also the little bit of n-plied candy shop), the Blueberry bash I n-plied, the alpaca (2 oz each of fawn and brown and plied together), the Firefly (the Serenity merino plied with grey/brown Romney), and the Serenity (the Serenity n-plied on itself).
And a closer look for a better view of the colors:
I'm slowly spinning up the Igloo polwarth, which is soooo pretty, it has purple and grey/white, and turquoise. So I'm looking forward to finish spinning this up. I've still got 4 oz of white Polwarth to be plied with this.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Yarns Spun part 1
Ok I'm not sure I've gotten pics of all the lovely yarn I've spun up, so I decided to title this as part 1 of Yarns Spun. In fact, I know I haven't as there are 4 on my yarn holder waiting for their dunking to set the twist.
That being said, here are the ones I have got pics of. Now the pics may not be the greatest, but that is because my phone's camera suuuuucks. Because it has big cracks in the little plastic thing that covers the lens. And yes, I am too cheap to buy a new phone - I've had it since the end of 2009 I think. I want the phone I had back before that - it was a silver flip phone that reminded me of the original Star Trek communicators, I could just flip it open.
This is the first bobbin of yarn I ever spun. The lady who runs Yack & Yarn showed me how to start it, but the rest is all me. And yes, I have definitely improved since this. All beginner yarn is "thick & thin" and people actually try to make it later and call it art yarn. I think I got like 135 yards . . . ok I totally don't remember now.
This is actually the first yarn I spun. Mostly about 20 years ago on the drop spindle. It's a rather harsh yarn so I'm not fond of how it feels. But I loooove the changeover in colors. How say I put yellow next to turquoise and you can see it spiral up and switch places. So pretty. Now I can't remember how long it was, I want to say 75 yards.
And the "sweet tarts" yarn - Malabrigo Nube (which means "cloud") in the color Baya Electrica. A 4 oz braid of Merino wool, all dyed up in pretty raspberry and purple. I spun this all on my original drop spindle and got like 167ish yards. It's so soft and I liked it so much I got another braid of it at Mosaic and am (very slowly) in the process of spinning that up. This first one took me a week and was a bit felted. That can be a problem with fiber. You just kind of have to pull it apart and then draft it. I wonder if it would help if I had a comb or something. (Hmmm slicker dog brushes are pretty cheap, might look into that) I watched Forever Knight while spinning most of this yarn. I had a great time with it.
Not a great picture, but this is when it was hanging up in my bathroom, drying over the tub. This shows the nice twist I have in it.
And here's a better pic:
I had gotten some fiber from Paradise Fibers to practice on. I found some Norwiegan wool in both grey and white - 4 ounces of each - that I decided would be a great tweeded effect. I got 225 yards out of that. (No pic tho) It spun up nicer than I thought but definitely good for outerwear.
I also found a bright blue Corridale that looks like it's the color of the tardis, so I got 8 ounces. I split it in half and spun them up. I got like 250 yards. No idea what I will do with it.
And then I got some alpaca/wool blend that I had wanted. I kept drooling over the lime sherbet that the seller had and also liked the 5 colored one called "froggy". So, I bought a total of 16 oz of it from them (3 lots of 4 oz each of the lime sherbet they had left and 1 4-oz lot of the froggy). I had good March productivity, so I felt I deserved it. I got it and decided to spin up the froggy stuff and Navajo ply, aka n-ply, it. That means it has 3 strands instead of 2, it's like making a really big crochet chain and twisting it up. It's good for when you want to keep the colors together or have 1 strand or things like that. I was a bit disappointed in this as it was rather greasier than I was used to. I couldn't seem to get the greasy/waxy feeling off of my fingers after I spun, so I couldn't spin a bit and then cross stitch, like I could with the previous ones. Also, there was a lot of "vm" in there. VM = vegetative matter = little pieces of grass and sticks and things like that. Buffy & Molly bring vm in on their fur all the time, silly goggies. So . . . I'm thinking I will wait and see how the lime sherbet (which I still have yet to spin up) behaves. Maybe it was just the froggy stuff.
I don't remember how much I spun . . . . I really ought to label stuff . . .
I went to Mosaic and got 2 4-oz braids dyed by Spun Right Round Fibers. One is a rainbow colored one in very bright colors called Candy Shop. It's a Polwarth. I love bright, rainbow colors, so I decided yes, please. I found some white Polwarth at the Olde Liberty Fibre Faire I went to in March and decided to ply it with that.
I got 363 yards when the two were plied up and I even had some of the candy shop left over, so I n-plied that.
The other 4-oz braid I got there was a Merino called Serenity. And yes, it is indeed named after the ship in the show Firefly. It has brown for the brownshirts and blue for the "hands of blue" as well as some white, black (I guess for space), and purple. I decided to ply it with a lovely brownish-grey Romney I found at the same fiber fair. I'll take a pic of it (I've finished spinning/plying it) - I got 417.5 yds of the Firefly and not quite 128 of the Serenity (n-plied). I found that the Serenity only is really pretty - I want to go back and get the other braid! And the Firefly is a lovely, subtle color. I think it'd be a great yarn for something for a guy, it's actually rather neutral, but has sort of a masculine feel to me.
And I also got a braid my Y&Y lady dyed. I probably could have happily bought all her yarn, but restrained myself to just the one 4-oz braid. It's Falkland wool dyed in blues/purples, named Blueberry Bash and is rather smashing. I was able to get 160 yds n-plied of this:
And a bit brighter with the flash on:
I also spun up 2 ounces each of a brown and a fawn colored alpaca that my dad got me - 245 yards, whew!
Pics to come of the actual spun up yarns! And my Yarn Keeper my dad made me.
That being said, here are the ones I have got pics of. Now the pics may not be the greatest, but that is because my phone's camera suuuuucks. Because it has big cracks in the little plastic thing that covers the lens. And yes, I am too cheap to buy a new phone - I've had it since the end of 2009 I think. I want the phone I had back before that - it was a silver flip phone that reminded me of the original Star Trek communicators, I could just flip it open.
This is the first bobbin of yarn I ever spun. The lady who runs Yack & Yarn showed me how to start it, but the rest is all me. And yes, I have definitely improved since this. All beginner yarn is "thick & thin" and people actually try to make it later and call it art yarn. I think I got like 135 yards . . . ok I totally don't remember now.
This is actually the first yarn I spun. Mostly about 20 years ago on the drop spindle. It's a rather harsh yarn so I'm not fond of how it feels. But I loooove the changeover in colors. How say I put yellow next to turquoise and you can see it spiral up and switch places. So pretty. Now I can't remember how long it was, I want to say 75 yards.
And the "sweet tarts" yarn - Malabrigo Nube (which means "cloud") in the color Baya Electrica. A 4 oz braid of Merino wool, all dyed up in pretty raspberry and purple. I spun this all on my original drop spindle and got like 167ish yards. It's so soft and I liked it so much I got another braid of it at Mosaic and am (very slowly) in the process of spinning that up. This first one took me a week and was a bit felted. That can be a problem with fiber. You just kind of have to pull it apart and then draft it. I wonder if it would help if I had a comb or something. (Hmmm slicker dog brushes are pretty cheap, might look into that) I watched Forever Knight while spinning most of this yarn. I had a great time with it.
Not a great picture, but this is when it was hanging up in my bathroom, drying over the tub. This shows the nice twist I have in it.
And here's a better pic:
I had gotten some fiber from Paradise Fibers to practice on. I found some Norwiegan wool in both grey and white - 4 ounces of each - that I decided would be a great tweeded effect. I got 225 yards out of that. (No pic tho) It spun up nicer than I thought but definitely good for outerwear.
I also found a bright blue Corridale that looks like it's the color of the tardis, so I got 8 ounces. I split it in half and spun them up. I got like 250 yards. No idea what I will do with it.
And then I got some alpaca/wool blend that I had wanted. I kept drooling over the lime sherbet that the seller had and also liked the 5 colored one called "froggy". So, I bought a total of 16 oz of it from them (3 lots of 4 oz each of the lime sherbet they had left and 1 4-oz lot of the froggy). I had good March productivity, so I felt I deserved it. I got it and decided to spin up the froggy stuff and Navajo ply, aka n-ply, it. That means it has 3 strands instead of 2, it's like making a really big crochet chain and twisting it up. It's good for when you want to keep the colors together or have 1 strand or things like that. I was a bit disappointed in this as it was rather greasier than I was used to. I couldn't seem to get the greasy/waxy feeling off of my fingers after I spun, so I couldn't spin a bit and then cross stitch, like I could with the previous ones. Also, there was a lot of "vm" in there. VM = vegetative matter = little pieces of grass and sticks and things like that. Buffy & Molly bring vm in on their fur all the time, silly goggies. So . . . I'm thinking I will wait and see how the lime sherbet (which I still have yet to spin up) behaves. Maybe it was just the froggy stuff.
I don't remember how much I spun . . . . I really ought to label stuff . . .
I went to Mosaic and got 2 4-oz braids dyed by Spun Right Round Fibers. One is a rainbow colored one in very bright colors called Candy Shop. It's a Polwarth. I love bright, rainbow colors, so I decided yes, please. I found some white Polwarth at the Olde Liberty Fibre Faire I went to in March and decided to ply it with that.
I got 363 yards when the two were plied up and I even had some of the candy shop left over, so I n-plied that.
The other 4-oz braid I got there was a Merino called Serenity. And yes, it is indeed named after the ship in the show Firefly. It has brown for the brownshirts and blue for the "hands of blue" as well as some white, black (I guess for space), and purple. I decided to ply it with a lovely brownish-grey Romney I found at the same fiber fair. I'll take a pic of it (I've finished spinning/plying it) - I got 417.5 yds of the Firefly and not quite 128 of the Serenity (n-plied). I found that the Serenity only is really pretty - I want to go back and get the other braid! And the Firefly is a lovely, subtle color. I think it'd be a great yarn for something for a guy, it's actually rather neutral, but has sort of a masculine feel to me.
And I also got a braid my Y&Y lady dyed. I probably could have happily bought all her yarn, but restrained myself to just the one 4-oz braid. It's Falkland wool dyed in blues/purples, named Blueberry Bash and is rather smashing. I was able to get 160 yds n-plied of this:
And a bit brighter with the flash on:
I also spun up 2 ounces each of a brown and a fawn colored alpaca that my dad got me - 245 yards, whew!
Pics to come of the actual spun up yarns! And my Yarn Keeper my dad made me.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
2014: off to a good start
Ok so I decided I will do the update blog of 2014 in several pieces. And I know they'll be more overview, but still, at least I'll make the effort.
Ok . . . so 2014 started off rather wintery and with an imminent finish, that being QS Salvatore. And oh my goodness, I got sooooo sick of pink! And on January 7, 2014, I finally finished the shoe. Yay!
QS Salvatore Tcherekov HAED 20 ct lugana I hand dyed myself 2 strands stitched over 1 for full crosses Started: 7/7/13 Finished: 1/7/14
And then I got it all framed:
My sister adores it. She picked it up in March (I think) and took it back to her home and it's in a place where she sees it every day. She loves the pieces I pick to make her.
In February, we had the 2014 Winter Olympics, which marked the 22nd anniversary of when I learned (ok taught myself) how to cross stitch. And that reminded me, I hadn't done much on my Olympic piece. Which, if you don't remember, was my HAED Rendezvous, which is basically Tannith & Corsaire.
And in case you don't remember:
Now if you don't remember (and I cannot remember now if I actually blogged about it or not), the Olympic Project doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics. Rather, it has to do with someone's post on the bulletin board where she stated she starts a big project during the Olympics and then the idea is to get it done by the following Olympics. So I picked Rendezvous for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Now, I silly thing that I am, thought "I could get that done by the 2014 Winter Olympics" hahahaha that only works if you actually work on the thing! I will blame the 2012 and 2013 HAED BB SAL pieces . . . yeah I'll go with that . . . So . . . that means I've got until Rio to get this piece done. There are 4 rows of pages, so I figured, if I get the bottom row done this year, the next 2 in 2015, and the last/top row in 2016, that'll work, right? I mean I really do want to be able to start the piece I'm planning on for Rio for 2016. I'm stitching Rendezvous on 18 ct with full crosses - 3 strands for 310 and 2 for everything else.
So . . . here's the starting point, well what little I got done in 2012:
Not nearly as much as I hoped for. I decided to attempt to work on it each day during the Olympics (ok didn't stitch each day, but a majority of the days). I even took it with me when we got snowed in at work and I and a couple of co-workers were put up at the hotel across the room. I had my own room, which was nice, I got to spread out on the big bed. So . . . here's what it looked like at the end of the Olympics:
I have gotten further along than this, but I don't have a pic of it yet. I do intend to work on it more this year.
And here is the one I am planning on doing for Rio in 2016:
It is called Mayan Aztec Montage and is decidedly a MCBAP ("massively complicated big-ass piece") - lol I am so not thinking I'll get it done by the 2020 games, I just really liked the idea of starting it for Rio.
Speaking of things I want to start, I saw one of the new releases, Make Merry, and went "omg!" He looks like my dad, there's something about the mouth/beard that looks very much like him. And the glasses he wears are half-moon shaped. Not half-circle glasses, half-moon. Like Dumbledore. So . . . I shall call him Daddledore. (Dad likes this.) My original intent was to start him on May 30th, as it was not only a 5th weekend, it was also his birthday. Unfortunately, I've yet to start him - I have all the materials tho. I blame it on the "secret stitch" project I'm not allowed to post the name or pics of yet (tho that will be coming soon to a blog near you in the not toooo distant future). It was kind of complicated and confettilicious, so the idea of starting another BAP, kind of intimidating. But here's Daddledore:
See how awesome he is? He'll be epic.
Let's see . . . what else in the first quarter of the year? Um . . . oh St, Distaff's Day. There's an event at our local library, run by the lady who runs Yack & Yarn, who taught me to spin, which is basically a yarn swap and crafty time. It was a lot of fun, even if I didn't bring anything to swap. I think next year, I'll probably help her run it as there were a lot of people there.
I also started stitching another character picture. I play Pathfinder (like Dungeons & Dragons, but better). And I started playing a character I've tried playing twice before. Melena Belden, my half-orc-who-doesn't-look-like-a-half-orc ranger who eventually gets magic. We get to dual level/gestalt, so I get to do both ranger and sorceress stuff at the same time, plus fighter. (Actually I'm not sure if she kept her maiden name or changed to Cartwright.) She loves her great axe and is very good at using it. And like Tannith, I picked a HAED as what she looks like. I decided I will only work on her during games (or a little bit for the weeks we don't game).
So . . . I started her on January 11, 2014, on 22 ct Hardanger with 2 strands for full crosses:
What Melena looks like:
I don't have an updated pic and I'm not going to post the last one I took as it doesn't look like anything.
Dad got me some alpaca yarn and I made a scoodie for myself. It's very warm.
I also decided to start the outline only of QS Tagalong aka QS Penguin Lady. I think I'll wait to post a pic until I have finished her.
I started and finished this little treasure for my sister - perfect for her bathroom:
Both Tannith and Legend got a bit of love, as did Expecting:
And I did a little desert scene:
And a baby rattle to welcome my friend's friend's baby boy - I realized afterwards the colors are the colors of Mardi Gras, which is appropriate, as they live in Louisiana:
And in March, my friend Stefy came to visit me! Woooo! And left with a pair of crystal pink socks. :)
Ok I think that's everything I can remember for January - March 2014 . . . not including the spinny stuff. Stay tuned, more blogs to come.
Ok . . . so 2014 started off rather wintery and with an imminent finish, that being QS Salvatore. And oh my goodness, I got sooooo sick of pink! And on January 7, 2014, I finally finished the shoe. Yay!
QS Salvatore Tcherekov HAED 20 ct lugana I hand dyed myself 2 strands stitched over 1 for full crosses Started: 7/7/13 Finished: 1/7/14
And then I got it all framed:
My sister adores it. She picked it up in March (I think) and took it back to her home and it's in a place where she sees it every day. She loves the pieces I pick to make her.
In February, we had the 2014 Winter Olympics, which marked the 22nd anniversary of when I learned (ok taught myself) how to cross stitch. And that reminded me, I hadn't done much on my Olympic piece. Which, if you don't remember, was my HAED Rendezvous, which is basically Tannith & Corsaire.
And in case you don't remember:
Now if you don't remember (and I cannot remember now if I actually blogged about it or not), the Olympic Project doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics. Rather, it has to do with someone's post on the bulletin board where she stated she starts a big project during the Olympics and then the idea is to get it done by the following Olympics. So I picked Rendezvous for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Now, I silly thing that I am, thought "I could get that done by the 2014 Winter Olympics" hahahaha that only works if you actually work on the thing! I will blame the 2012 and 2013 HAED BB SAL pieces . . . yeah I'll go with that . . . So . . . that means I've got until Rio to get this piece done. There are 4 rows of pages, so I figured, if I get the bottom row done this year, the next 2 in 2015, and the last/top row in 2016, that'll work, right? I mean I really do want to be able to start the piece I'm planning on for Rio for 2016. I'm stitching Rendezvous on 18 ct with full crosses - 3 strands for 310 and 2 for everything else.
So . . . here's the starting point, well what little I got done in 2012:
Not nearly as much as I hoped for. I decided to attempt to work on it each day during the Olympics (ok didn't stitch each day, but a majority of the days). I even took it with me when we got snowed in at work and I and a couple of co-workers were put up at the hotel across the room. I had my own room, which was nice, I got to spread out on the big bed. So . . . here's what it looked like at the end of the Olympics:
I have gotten further along than this, but I don't have a pic of it yet. I do intend to work on it more this year.
And here is the one I am planning on doing for Rio in 2016:
It is called Mayan Aztec Montage and is decidedly a MCBAP ("massively complicated big-ass piece") - lol I am so not thinking I'll get it done by the 2020 games, I just really liked the idea of starting it for Rio.
Speaking of things I want to start, I saw one of the new releases, Make Merry, and went "omg!" He looks like my dad, there's something about the mouth/beard that looks very much like him. And the glasses he wears are half-moon shaped. Not half-circle glasses, half-moon. Like Dumbledore. So . . . I shall call him Daddledore. (Dad likes this.) My original intent was to start him on May 30th, as it was not only a 5th weekend, it was also his birthday. Unfortunately, I've yet to start him - I have all the materials tho. I blame it on the "secret stitch" project I'm not allowed to post the name or pics of yet (tho that will be coming soon to a blog near you in the not toooo distant future). It was kind of complicated and confettilicious, so the idea of starting another BAP, kind of intimidating. But here's Daddledore:
See how awesome he is? He'll be epic.
Let's see . . . what else in the first quarter of the year? Um . . . oh St, Distaff's Day. There's an event at our local library, run by the lady who runs Yack & Yarn, who taught me to spin, which is basically a yarn swap and crafty time. It was a lot of fun, even if I didn't bring anything to swap. I think next year, I'll probably help her run it as there were a lot of people there.
I also started stitching another character picture. I play Pathfinder (like Dungeons & Dragons, but better). And I started playing a character I've tried playing twice before. Melena Belden, my half-orc-who-doesn't-look-like-a-half-orc ranger who eventually gets magic. We get to dual level/gestalt, so I get to do both ranger and sorceress stuff at the same time, plus fighter. (Actually I'm not sure if she kept her maiden name or changed to Cartwright.) She loves her great axe and is very good at using it. And like Tannith, I picked a HAED as what she looks like. I decided I will only work on her during games (or a little bit for the weeks we don't game).
So . . . I started her on January 11, 2014, on 22 ct Hardanger with 2 strands for full crosses:
What Melena looks like:
I don't have an updated pic and I'm not going to post the last one I took as it doesn't look like anything.
Dad got me some alpaca yarn and I made a scoodie for myself. It's very warm.
I also decided to start the outline only of QS Tagalong aka QS Penguin Lady. I think I'll wait to post a pic until I have finished her.
I started and finished this little treasure for my sister - perfect for her bathroom:
Both Tannith and Legend got a bit of love, as did Expecting:
And I did a little desert scene:
And a baby rattle to welcome my friend's friend's baby boy - I realized afterwards the colors are the colors of Mardi Gras, which is appropriate, as they live in Louisiana:
And in March, my friend Stefy came to visit me! Woooo! And left with a pair of crystal pink socks. :)
Ok I think that's everything I can remember for January - March 2014 . . . not including the spinny stuff. Stay tuned, more blogs to come.
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