Finally Finished!

Oh, I can't believe how long it took me to get these things finished!  I'm afraid Marie Rose will have outgrown them, and then they'll only be useful to her as doll clothes.

 The little sweater, or sacque, as it is called, is called the Peek-a-Boo Sacque.  I found the pattern on Ravelry, which linked me to a website generously offering vintage baby garment knitting and crochet patterns.  (Win!)  Many of the patterns are available in matching sets of garments, but this one was a stand-alone.

 I had to devise a coordinating pattern for the booties.  I adapted and modified another vintage bootie pattern.

 I'm mostly happy with the result.  I'm working on a matching bonnet now, but dared not wait to get these out the door.  Details on my Ravelry page.

More UFOs...or are they WIPs?

Here's a little embroidery project that is stalled out in the planning stages. I could never be a designer, because none of it comes naturally to me. It takes me a great deal of time and thinking to conceive a project, survey my available materials, assemble them in different combinations and make decisions! This was supposed to be so simple! All I wanted to do was stitch a little motif of lavender for a lavender-scented sachet. Remember this post, where I took such lovely lavender pictures as a little teaser?Since then, I tried finding embroidery motifs for stitching lavender plants or blossoms. I had no luck! I even found by looking at pictures of lavender blossoms and reading about the plant, that different species have different flowering patterns. By that I mean that the little purple flowering parts will be arranged in different ways on the stems. There really isn't a readily recognizable way to depict lavender, except with color, of course. The shape of the flowering parts is a little non-distinct and variable, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of lavender embroidery with a stitch associated with stitching lavender. I am not an experienced embroiderer, so I still don't know exactly how I'll stitch the little floral parts. I thought I was doing well to decide to stitch the stems with stem stitch. Too bad there isn't a lavender stitch. I had selected some colors to use from what I already had, and then on my Columbus Day gad-about, I made things more complicated by buying more violet shades!

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This cross-stitch project is something I started a few years ago, I can't remember why, and so I don't know why I put it away, either. I took it out again a few weeks ago, and have been working on it. When I took it out, all it had stitched on it was the beginning of the prayer, up through the word "hallowed". And so, I've been trying to stitch 15-30' each night. That is, up until one sunny day, I discovered that in the too-dim light I was using, I had stitched quite a lot in the wrong shade of green. I haven't made the decision yet whether to leave it, as it won't be too noticeable or pick it out (what a mess!) and re-do it, even though I don't love doing cross-stitch so much. It has gotten a bit more difficult as my eyes have gotten older. I've joined the ranks of forgetful older ladies who keep several pairs of readers all over, so I don't have to keep track of a single pair. It's kind of like discovering a subtle, but noticeable mistake in your knitting and not wanting to rip out several rows to correct it. So you keep working, trying to ignore it, and eventually you do rip it out and correct it, now having to rip out even more than if you'd just done it when you first discovered it. So, it's taking a little rest...until I have the patience to (and lighting....and glasses) to scrutinize my work against the pattern, and work out a rehab plan. Once I get through that phase, I'll be about 3/4 of the way to being finished, and then I can frame and hang it!But I don't think it'll be anytime soon, considering how exhausted and frustrated it makes me just to think about it! Obviously, I need to restore myself with a hot cuppa tea and some good eye candy!I just loooove the combination of light blue and bright red together with some dark shade of brown or taupe to ground it. And accented with the evergreen color, beeeaauutiful! See the Victorian Trading Co. catalog? It only encourages my desire to get a red or cranberry-colored winter coat.....Have you seen Jodie's red coat over at Can-Do Mom? A red coat also looks so crisp with a white or even ivory scarf, or hat (a beret!) and mittens.

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Maybe you remember this dresser scarf? I started it way back in January. At least this UFO was started in 2010. I was such a smarty-pants, I wanted to have it done by Valentine's Day, of 2010 that is. I committed my usual error in judgment, confidently assuming that I had enough cotton thread to finish my project. Never mind what the instructions say, since of course I'm not using the thread they recommend nor the same size crochet hook, and I certainly didn't check guage, since it's just a runner -- an inch or two or even more hardly matters at all. And besides the thread I need is easily obtained, right? Wrong! It was Southern Maid brand and no longer carried by the usual nearby stores. I have been to another store twice since then, which does still carry it - in at least three colors, and both times the bin for this ivory color has been empty! I could have ordered it online and paid twice what it cost just for the shipping. So on that Columbus Day shopping trip I bought two other brands hoping one would match. I can honestly tell you that I can't tell! The two balls of thread seem actually be made by the same company, and sold under two different brand labels. I just need to pick one and try it and see if the difference is really that noticeable.... It really is close to being done, I just need to do it.But what I'm really working on now is the sage green filet lace. I hadn't lost the hook after all. It was in the bottom of my purse, concealed by a fold in the lining. Oh my......

Archaeology

Here's one I have unearthed after-what, 8, 9 years? My son, Ian, was probably in 4th or 5th grade, when there was no school because of the 1st snow day of the year. I stayed home from work, and of course, the children frolicked in the snow several times that day. We had a fire in the fire place and set up the clothes-drying rack to dry sodden hats and mittens. There was hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows, and probably tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, I taught Ian and his little friend Caroline a little embroidery. I hooped up some simple ironed-on transfers with their initials. To this day, they remain UFOs, but they are perfect souvenirs of the lovely day, just as they are.

Later that week, I bought the little cross-stitch project above, intending for Ian and I to work on it together for a teacher Christmas present. It didn't happen and suffered the fate of many of my well-intended, but abandoned projects. It wound up with The Others. (You know what I am talking about.)

I un-earthed it, recently. Such an activity is really like an archaelogical dig. Each layer has a story to tell, each new UFO reaching further back in my history of unrealized dreams. Some projects are more pathetic than others. The ones that were way too ambitious for the time before they were needed as a gift or a commemoration. The ones that were just too uninteresting to inspire any loyalty. But others aren't worthy of pity, but instead, stir our interest anew. These are the projects whose relevance was suddenly eclipsed by the pull of some other life event. After all, they are all leisure time activities, and when we are earning a living and raising a family, they occupy a back seat to...well, everything!

Well, so now I've finished the little cross-stitch above, in an evening. (It had to wait years for an hour and a half of attention?)Is it an FO now? Not really, it needs to be incorporated into something now - a pencil case? an eyeglass case? a sachet, a pincushion, an ornament? I don't know where the little frame is, but, not interesting anyway....

So, it is and it isn't yet a FO. The Mary Engelbreit fat quarters lend themselves to a little patchwork project. I'm leaning toward a pencil case (for which I have no real use) or an eyeglass case. So I guess, it is now an element for an as-yet-undefined new project, and not yet even part of a WIP!

How about you? Can you conduct a little archaeology and convert a UFO into a WIP into a FO? Pencil it in for January, when the cold, dark winter lends itself to stitching time, and you itch to start a project, but your budget is still bloodied and bruised from the Christmas ransacking. Or if you have the time and creativity, perhaps your archives will yield some Christmas gifts and save you the hassle and expense of shopping.

Updates on previous posts:

I have pulled 6 more inchworms off the sage (and parsley, turns out they will eat parsley when the sage is almost gone). Where were they hiding?

I take the crochet edging with me wherever I go. The plus: You can take advantage of otherwise wasted moments to progress on the project. The minus: You risk losing the crochet hook. Result: I made some progress, but I lost the crochet hook. It is a size 9. Note: Michael's carries steel crochet hooks in sizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Sigh.

A novice tries to transfer an embroidery pattern

Well, last Saturday, I found the embroidery kit that I had so cleverly hidden from myself in plain sight. And, excitedly, I got started! The first thing was to trace the pattern with my new iron-on transfer pencil and iron the image onto all the pieces of felt for cutting out and stitching.

I have a light box, but I thought the window would be more fun.

I used to chuckle when Lucy at Attic24 would make fun of how her hands looked in her crafty posts. She's several years younger than I, and thinks her hands look old and wrinkly. She should see mine!

Here's the ironing part. You can see the steam condensed in the water tank, but I was using a dry iron, really. Here's what I learned. You have to cover the printed pattern piece before you iron. The ink melts and smudges. It would have been better for me to trace the pattern on tracing paper (which I don't have, but will get before I do this again).Here is the paper I put over the pattern before I ironed. See all the ink that transferred to the paper!
I believe that this pencil was intended for and works best with woven cotton and linen. It transferred just enough to be seen on the cream-colored felt.

So I went ahead and cut the cream parts out.

However, I couldn't see the transferred pencil adequately on the other colors I tried. So, I've done a little research.
And I think my next craft purchase will be a Sulky iron-on transfer pen in yellow or white. Has anyone had any experience with this product? Particularly onto wool felt?

The other issue I had with using the pencil was that it was hard to get a good heavy line. I would push down good and hard, and all I managed to do was break the lead three times. I think it didn't help that I was using a cold window. I wonder if it would transfer better onto a warmer surface. And be a little less brittle. My hands got a little crampy pushing down so hard and going over and over the lines.

I must admit that the whole experience took a long time and wasn't a whole lot of fun, and clearly did not leave me prepped to stitch. It's been a bit of a learning curve.

But I'm determined to keep trying and figure out how to make this work. I looked on Alicia's website. She has a link to a flickr photostream of these ornaments that folks have completed. Sooo inspiring. Some have bought the pattern only and used their own materials, and it's great to see the variety of color combinations that others have put together. So, if they can do it, so can I! Back to the craft store, fire up the iron, I'll try another transfer method.

I'm baaaaaaaack!

Did you miss me?

I have had a cold and so in the evenings on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd, I went straight to bed without posting, miserable and sneezing and sniffling. Last night, however, I started a post, only to have lost my internet connection for some reason that only the techies in the house understood. It takes a long time to upload my photos on Blogger ( a complaint that I've heard from others), and so I only do them 2 at a time, and it takes near on a half hour to load them this way!

So now I'm posting on my lunch hour without access to the pictures I wanted to post.....

But anyway, here goes!

I got the above 2 images from The Graphics Fairy. I chose them because I love ice skating, even though I am barely able to stay up on my skates, and because I love Scottish tartans, kilts, tams, and the national flower, the Thistle.

Now, I had wanted to post next about my crochet projects. Hmmmm....well, I have been working on my Filet Heart Runner, even though I need to sign up for a class in Remedial Counting. As I can't show you a picture of my progress, I will simply report to you that the whole runner is 88 rows, and I have completed 17 rows. (Well really I've done about 25 rows, but all the ripping out I've had to do for mis-counting has held me back a bit!) For the advanced mathematicians among you, you will notice that there are 9 more days til Valentine's day and ideally one displays one's Valentine's pretties at least a week before the actual holiday. If we split the difference and give me a generous 5 days to finish, that means, let's see 71 rows in 5 days....a little over 14 rows a day. Sounds like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to me. I am reminding myself however that very shortly, I'll be approaching rows that are much shorter and therefore quicker to complete. (If I don't have to rip out and re-do, as my counting skills should improve with practice.) And as for the DMC website heart runner, I am clearly going to have to break down and buy a new crochet hook, which means a trip to Michael's or JoAnn's or somewheres....not nearby. Walmart re-modeled the store in my town last year and decimated the fabric and crafts section. Waaaah. I can't believe they didn't check with me first.

Speaking of a trip to a store for additional goods. This post was originally going to ignore crochet and delve into the minutiae of my trying to do a simple task on my embroidery project. As you may recall, my first obstacle was that I hid the kit from myself. Well, as it turns out I did a great job of hiding it by putting it in plain sight exactly where I thought I had put it. Apparently, Friday night-weary is not the right frame-of-mind to get a new craft project underway. So, last Saturday, I got started, and was fairly quickly stymied by another obstacle. But that will be my next post, when I can illustrate with pictures!

Now, speaking of embroidery and Valentine's Day, (we were, weren't we?), get on over to Mary Corbet's website and see the lovely "Heart O'Flowers" design she is offering free of charge, and let me know if you are going to do something with it.

Finally, re: knitting: I am just about to decrease at the toe of the second sock of Sovann's Winter Warmers, and I have added the blue and then finally the brown on Ian's Dapper Chap Vest. I'm looking forward to getting the zig-zaggy stripe done and back to chugging along with the main color. Pictures of all this stitchy productivity coming soon.

Have a good w/e everyone. Super Bowl? Or "Emma" on PBS?

Hide and Seek

Do you ever "hide" things from yourself? I do it all the time. Not intentionally. And I don't enjoy the seeking. Yesterday, I hid at least 2 things from myself. I didn't lose them. To me, that implies that they are irretrievable, like dropping your berth key into the Caribbean when on a cruise, or washing a receipt in your jeans pocket, or say, whatever happens to pens and pencils around here. No, I know that I merely misplace items. You see, I'm always tucking things somewhere for safe-keeping. I could give you a list of things that are very safe, some of them have been for years. This is enabled and exacerbated by being a pack-rat and clutter-bunny. I am agonizingly aware that if everything had a place and was in it, then one thing out of place (mis-placed) would be glaringly obvious. Sigh. So, yesterday, I hurry-scurried to get my camera out of its case to get a picture of the cardinal at the feeder, and I haven't seen the case since. I was at work and my desk is relatively neat and un-cluttered, and there is only a limited area that I move about in, so go figure. I bet I spent 10 minutes, retracing my steps and searching, searching, to no avail. But I'm sure it'll turn up.............won't it?
The more exasperating loss.....er.....misplacement (I know, not a word, really) happened last night as I wanted to get started on my craft embroidery project and photo my progress and make a glorious and impressive post. I can't find the kit! Now mind you, I photographed the kit Tuesday night, so I have had it at hand recently. Last night, I looked everywhere. Well, obviously not everywhere. Just everywhere except the "mis"place. I'm feeling quite incompetent and frustrated. It is early Saturday morning as I write this, and I am hoping that the new daylight will bring a fresh perspective, and I'll find my kit. (Yes I know this post will say Friday. That's because I uploaded the pictures last night, but was too peeved and exhausted to write, so I saved as a draft.)
In the meantime, I'll show you what I have photographed already, though it's not much, certainly no doing.
So here is the cardinal whose picture I captured. Look, bare ground! We lost most of our snow cover to rain early in the week. You can still see a bit of a snow bank where the plow cleared the parking lot. Here is the gorgeous kit from Posie (Alicia Paulson). My heroine. I couldn't get started until I'd been to Michael's where I got some polyester batting. (Sorry, Alicia. She calls for wool or cotton, being no doubt a natural fiber purist. I'm not so much, but aspire to it, I suppose....) Oh, and also, an iron-on transfer pencil, which I've never used before, and was rather looking forward to. (If I could only find the darn kit!)
And so, in the absence of a beautiful crafting/stitching post, I will use birds, birdfeeder, and filling feeder as filler. These pictures were taken January 8, and saved for such a time as this.

Not a great pic of a cardinal, because of the tree behind it and the gathering darkness of a winter afternoon. Now you know why I was trying to get a better pic yesterday.

I've been calling these little birds sparrows, but a visitor to the office yesterday told me they are finches.
Here is where I keep the birdseed, just inside the front door at the office. That's my green pea coat. (Not a London Fog). I crack myself up.

Et voila!Happy finches!

Me? Not so much. Really want to find my camera case and embroidery kit.

Next: 'Nittin' notes update.......

Now it gets ugly............

I pulled out my embroidering and cross-stitching things. I never did a lot of it, but I'd like to take on a project. If you've been over to see Mary Corbet's work, you'll see why my appetite has been whetted for a real worthwhile project. Here's something I made years ago. It's called Enchanted Alphabet. I think it was a pattern line called Lavender and Lace, but I'm not exactly sure. I really ought to mat and frame it.........
I thought I had an unworked pattern from the same designer somewhere, but I haven't run across it yet in the archaeology project that is my crafting stuff. You can tell by the wrinkles in the cloth what a jumble I've let things be in.

I had to buy so many colors of DMC floss to work the Enchanted Alphabet, but I didn't use any of them up, so there they sit, wound on the cards and stored in the box for years and years.

So, you see that I have some supplies that could get me started on a project.

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Now you see the ugly truth about my disorganization of my supplies. No wonder I don't have an ordered thought in my head about what kind of project to start on. I am publicly vowing to turn over a new leaf and treat my things with more respect, organize them and put together a plan for stitching up a project.

Random Thoughts

Let's see....how many different things do I have swirling around in my brain as I try to drain every precious moment out of my Saturday?
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I have started doing the laundry.......which is enough to keep me busy all the day long, especially if I can get everyone in the house to strip his bed and bring me the bedding. And then there's the added work if I can get them to rake the carpet of dirty clothes off their floors. It'll make for interesting mornings next week if they don't have their favorite clothes clean to wear to school. Still waiting for that connection to sink in..............
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This morning I scrubbed surfaces in the kitchen with bleach and detergent. Great feeling of accomplishment. In theory, I do this every Saturday morn. In theory. Got the floor mopped too. Haven't yet cleaned out the fridge. Got to, though. Will be doing my grocery shopping tomorrow afternoon. I'm getting back to using this book: Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. I used her menus and recipes last week, and what a relief to know each day coming home that I know what to make, and that I have the necessary ingredients.
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We need a cow.







Or even a goat.



With 3 teen-aged boys in the house, we never have enough milk. When I was growing up, we raised a few dairy goats, and had fresh goat's milk for a few months every year. Didn't think I'd like it, but I did. Every spring when the does freshened, it took a few days to get used to the goats' milk, but when they dried up in the fall, it took a week or two to get used to cows' milk again. My brother and I shared the milking, twice a day.
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Evan turned 16 on Monday. He had hockey practice at 5:30 in the morning, and sprained his left ankle badly. Has been on crutches all this week. Happy 16th birthday, Evan. (Evan is the cutie in this pic.)

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I started a new spiritual discipline today. I found a program online called "Prayers for Your Husband" with 31 things to pray about for your husband, one for each day of the month. I am adding this to the reading of 1 chapter of Proverbs daily. There are 31 chapters, if you aren't familiar with it. I never cease to be amazed at the wisdom in those verses. It has also given me great insight into literary references and quaint old idioms. Makes me realize how much "common wisdom" is rooted in the Bible. (Found on a link from 50's Housewife 's blog; I'll try to re-locate it....) ETA I found the link, here.
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Still pondering knitting, crocheting, and stitching projects.
1. Knitting: Jeff could use another pair of socks, or a few, even. For that matter, all the boys have an endless need for good, sturdy, warm socks. As you may recall, I have a pair of Jaywalker socks started and hibernating, pending a solution for not enough yarn. Last Saturday, I alluded to making the pink, ruffly sweater in Vogue Knitting. But I am also trying to knit solely out of my stash, mostly single skeins, bought out of admiration for the color or the feel or the bargain-clearance price. Most are old enough to have been discontinued, so they are destined to be small accessories, or used together in some sort of stripe-y or block-afghan way. I really need to channel some inspiration on this if I ever hope to earn the right to buy new yarn for a project like the sweater in the mag. (And not only that, you should see the new book I just got. I'll save it for another post, but I just drool at the beautiful sweaters that I really must knit.)


2. Crochet: stash-busting principles apply here as well, but additionally, I have way too much cotton for kitchen towels, potholders, etc. I don't love working with it, as cotton doesn't have much elasticity, but it suits for practical items. I like the idea of making items that can be re-used, in favor of buying disposable things. I will soon start making some "facial pads" to use and wash instead of cotton balls for eye-makeup remover and witch hazel. It won't take long to whip up a dozen or so, and also not very interesting. I did see a clever hot pad on Mary Grace McNamara's site "Hooked on Needles", which she in turn got from another blog. It's a good pattern for using little bits of 3 different colors. Need to give that a try. And then there's always a project which I like the idea of , but don't much enjoy doing. I make "plarn" which is plastic yarn, out of those ubiquitous grocery shopping bags, and crochet up re-usable market bags. I kind of like making plarn in the summer when it's hot and a lapful of afghan is too warm. The kids and I work on it together when watching Red Sox games. (Doesn't everybody?) But crocheting it is hard work, and the hands and forearms will only tolerate so much at a stretch.


3. Stitching: No idea, really, where I'll begin. I read Mary Corbet's blog regularly, and I just want to stitch and stitch on something beautiful...but no idea where to begin. I have a kit I bought last year from Alicia Paulson, and still haven't opened. There's no good reason not to work on Christmas ornaments in January, right? After all, unless the good Lord comes again before next December, I expect 2010 will have a Christmas and we at our household will have a tree to decorate. I didn't buy the kit this year (being on a spending Austerity Plan!), but I think if I am successful with the 1st kit, I can buy the pattern and make it with my own materials. I'll be interested to see if she does another kit next fall.

What projects are you getting started on?

Enchanted Cottage

Well, the pattern is actually called "Honeymoon Cottage" and I have finished the one and only one I will do! I immediately took a picture as it is going into this evening's mail. The object lesson for this pattern is "Read the directions all the way through". A couple of days ago, I complained that it would have too many holes and you could burn fingers trying to use it. I had made 2 of the rooves and 2 of the front walls thinking I would make only 2, for Mother's Day, with a felt liner and calico backing. Well, that didn't happen - on the way to finishing one of them, I discovered a small paragraph at the end, which began "Repeat Roof and Wall. Sew to Front, inserting Chimney between 2 Roof pieces on left side." And so, here's the finished project, and I won't be doing it again. With all the crochet pieces and parts made, it took me almost 5 hours straight to do all the hand sewing and embroidering the little flowers. I know that seems impossible, but really it did.

And for contrast, here's our Enchanted Cottage. I got a few passing raindrops on me when I was out taking these pictures. The Spring rains that promise the blooms. I have been watching these tulips and hoping for the best. I put the bulbs in 3 and 1/2 years ago. The first year - not a single bloom! There had been a ridiculous warm-up in February which woke everything up, only to kill everything when we went back to the usual cruelly prolonged Winter. Snow and ice everywhere. The crocuses I had put around the tulips were completely destroyed for good, never blossomed, never recovered. I had learned that a lot of bulb flowers really never bloom as well in successive years, but these tulips are proving to be an exception. Last year, they looked okay, but this year they look the best yet so far. We are going to have a warm (for us) and sunny weekend, so I'm guessing they will peak on Mother's Day. I'll watch them and try to get pictures.

You may not be able to tell, but the blooms should be purple & gold. I chose them to celebrate two things: my bright purple front door and Cheverus school colors! (Remember Ian's scarf?)

In stitches...................

Have you ever considered stitching projects for wall art in your home dec projects? I have been greatly inspired by two of my favorite bloggers: Alicia Paulson from Posie Gets Cozy and Mary Corbet from Needle & Thread. Mary Corbet just posted about one of her favorite purveyors, The French Needle, and I found the above chart available on that website (seePaul et Virginie). Ironically, it is just the chart that is up for sale, and it was the colors that caught my eye! Don't the colors remind you of this pretty fabric? But with a little imagination, I could apply the same color palette to many of the charts available, but it is this one that caught my eye. I assume that there is an alphabet for the stitcher to consult, and so I could stitch "Jeff and Wendie, (Ooops! I mean 'Wendy')", and "1989" to personalize it......if you decide to shop, read all of Mary Corbet's 4/2/09 post to get the code for 10% off (any purchase for the whole month of April!)
I'm not shopping for projects now, as I am on a moratorium for the time-being. I am stitching (knitting, crocheting, sewing and embroidery) out of my stash until further notice.
But, lucky me, look what I have in my stash:
I bought this kit from Alicia Paulson's website. (Warning: these kits were offered on a limited basis, and I'm sure you can imagine why there are none left! But the website is worth watching for Alicia's next inspiration!) I haven't started it yet, and I have a very realistic goal of having the ornaments ready for next Christmas season. At first, I thought they'd hang on my tree, but now I think they'd be adorable hanging from evergreen roping across my dining room hutch. If you are interested in lovely and slightly sentimental projects, indulge in Alicia's book, Stitched in Time. I ordered mine through my local bookstore, and it is quite a treat.
I especially like the little 8-point star on the stocking cuff ---it reminds me of my newly-finished Nordic Lights Socks, (see below), don't you think? Hmmm...maybe I should make a pair of the Nordic Lights in that colorway (aqua & red), with hat and mittens to match? Hmm, maybe a project for next fall, so I have them in time to go ice skating....Oh, if you could see the lovely outdoor rink near here!