feather & lace

A finish and a new start to share with you today!

First . . . a large diamond painting project, begun in April, and finished only the other day.

No idea how many hours I spent on this but it was very enjoyable to do. I now have to decide where I’m going to hang it. It’s quite big: canvas measures 80cm x 30cm with the diamond painted part measuring approx 75cm x 25cm.

That’s the feather, now for the lace . . .

After the success of learning the “lace” stitching in knitting, I rummaged through my yarn stash and went on-line to look for suitable patterns.  I had 10 x 50g balls of Rico Design Fashion Fantasy DK cotton, bought more than 6 years ago, and never used because I always felt my knitting skills weren’t good enough.   Anyway, I shopped online at Wool Warehouse and decided on a Sirdar pattern:  Beachcomber DK # ref 7283 which is for a summer cardie, in cotton.  Options are for short or long sleeves, and sizes from 61/68cm (child) chest through to 112/117cm.

I’m knitting this for myself, so am following the 102/107cm size, which (if my yarn knits up like the Beachcomber) will need 6 of my 50g ballls.  If all goes well, I should have enough left to knit the smallest child version too.  I always begin with a swatch, especially when not using the recommended yarn for a pattern. Rico Designs says to use a 3.5mm needle for 22 x 28 tension, so I cast on 22 and knitted 14 rows on a 3.5mm needle.  That came out spot on, 10cm x 5cm so I didn’t waste any more time before casting on for the real thing.

This is how far I’ve got so far after using the first 50g ball.  I am knitting the back, which has 2 bands of the lace pattern (18 rows repeat).  To make things easier for myself, I’m using 4 stitch markers, one either side of the 13 stitch bands which means I can knit mindlessly until I come to a stitch marker, slow down to follow pattern, then speed up again.

And another to give you a closer look at the band ((which would have looked better if I’d blocked but I’ll worry about that when all parts are knitted).

 

SAL “Together we are magic” # 5

Hello folks!  Time to share progress and encouragement with other SAL members on this our 3-weekly posting.  Here’s where I was last time.

And this is what things look like today.

I’ve given up trying to work in 10×10 sections, as that isn’t how I like to work. Instead, I’m just working on page 1 (of 4) of the chart, which means anywhere with a 90 x 110 stitch grid.  This method seems to be working better for me, allowing me to follow symbols around, and occasionally fill in on confetti stitching whenever I have a small length of thread on my needle that needs using up.  That first butterfly, for example, is just missing 3 stitches & backstitch.

Still a long long way to go but I’m enjoying it a lot more.

Here’s a list of fellow SAL members. Everyone is working on different projects, and it’s lovely to see the variety.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

We’ll be back on 15th August.

SAL “Together we are magic” #4

Oh dear!  I’ve really slowed down with cross stitching lately.  So many other crafting projects calling to me, that I can’t get up the motivation in the evening.  Three weeks ago, I’d already begun to fall behind my self-imposed target

and I’ve fallen behind some more.

Oh well, it’s still progress, even if nowhere near as much as I had hoped.  There’s a second butterfly taking shape, but no real hint of a unicorn yet.

and still lots of fabric to cover.

I wonder if other SAL members were more industrious?  Here is the full list of links if you want to hop along and visit.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

And we’ll be back on 25th July with a fresh update!

zodiac QAYG part 1

It’s been too hot here to do much crafting but I have finally started work on finishing my zodiac blocks, in very short sessions.

I did actually get blocks all quilted back in April but then they were left in a pile as I couldn’t decide what fabric to use for my QAYG strips.  After 2 months of walking past the pile of blocks and fabric, I decided I just had to stop second guessing myself, and to get on with it!  I’ve kept things very plain, which is quite unusual for me!  I didn’t want the front to be too busy, because I spent an awful lot of hours cross stitching those zodiac designs, on 20 count aida, so I’d like them to really stand out.

I’ve used a milky chocolate brown on the front . . . it’s what I used for backing fabric, and I’m even using it for my 1″ strips on the back too!

So, when I say plain – it really is going to be plain on the back!  Anyway . . . with 12 blocks to this quilt, I assembled first into pairs.  And then I assembled pairs into panels of 6.

All I need is a couple more sewing sessions to join both panels, and then to add binding.  Stay tuned!

 

ScrapHappy # June

Hello everyone! it’s the monthly link up with

Kate , Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Noreen,
Bear, Carol, Preeti and Edith

to talk about things scrappy!  I’ve been carrying on assembling 2.5″ squares.  I do love cutting small squares when tidying up my scraps, and at the moment, I’m assembling into placemat tops.  Haven’t used a table cloth in decades, but the husband and I like to have our dinner plates on a mat – it just makes the table look more “set”.

The current series now looks like this.

Six tops, all 9 x 6 squares, which will give a finished size of 18″ x 12″.  Quite a few fabrics make an appearance several times, but no two tops are the same.  They’re all completely random which I think makes for bright & cheerful.  Now to sandwich, quilt & bind!

SAL “together we are magic” #3

Above is the photo I posted 3 weeks ago of my current SAL project:  “Together we are magic”, a Letitstitch kit with artwork by Jody Bergsma).  I had started out hoping to complete segments of 40 x 40 stitches each time, but I’ve already fallen behind.  Gridding does help, but there’s so much thread changing to deal with, and I noticed there’s also some half stitches appearing now, so I need to concentrate.

Anyway, here is progress for this time.

Here is the list of links to other SAL members. I wonder if there have been any happy dances this time?

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

And we’ll be back on 4th July!

SAL “Together we are magic” #2

Today is the 3-weekly link up with other SAL members, to encourage each other with stitching projects.  Last time, I had just begun a new project:  “Together we are magic” (artwork by Jody Bergsma) a kit by Letitstitch.

Here is the photo I posted 3 weeks ago.

And here is progress for this time.

I’m finding my gridding method to be very helpful so far, although I do sometimes stray outside of the area I’ve set myself.  As you can see, I already have a butterfly taking shape which made things a lot more interesting this time.  Here is a photo of what the piece will look like when finished, in case you missed it last time.

Please feel free to visit other stitchers’ blogs, to see what they’re up to.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, AJ, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

And we’ll be back again on 13th June.

a bit of diamond painting, a bit of cross stitching

Variety is the spice of life, or so they say, so I’ve been varying my evening activities depending on my mood.  Sometimes, sitting out in the kitchen (because I need to work at a table) having fun sticking down drills on my current diamond painting project. And other times, working with needle & thread on cross stitch.

Aside from the unicorn design I’m stitching for the SAL, I decided to pick up something more relaxing to work on from time to time. And chose to make a start on one of my recently-bought bargain kits.

This is the one I picked up.  Not too many colours. Stitched on 14 count aida, so very easy on the eyes. And no backstitch – yay!  There will be French knots for dolphins’ eyes, but I can live with that.  Threads in this kit came in a bundle, not pre-sorted on a card, so it took me a little while to sort as some colours are very similar.  But it’s very relaxing to work on, and easy to concentrate on certain areas.  I began in the top left corner.  Here’s progress so far.

As for diamond painting . . . things are progressing well, and my canvas has evolved from this

to this

Have completed approximately 22cm so far . . . only another 53cm to go, since finished size will be 75cm x 25cm (the 80 – 30 specified on canvas is total canvas size, not finished picture size).

I have also been crocheting, and doing a few sessions of sewing, but that’s all doll-related, so it you want to know more about that, you’ll have to hop over to:  Claire’s Collections.

ScrapHappy #May

It’s that time of the month again! Time to link up with

Kate , Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Noreen,
Bear, Carol, Preeti and Edith

To talk about scrap happiness.  For this month, I’ve been doing more of the same from last month – having fun going through my scrap bag and cutting 2.5″ squares where possible from all sorts of colours & prints, left over from past projects.  And, because the husband rather likes the place mats I made last month, I’m assembling squares to make some more.

Making them slightly smaller this time. Last month I made 10 x 7 squares, so they turned out a very generous size at 20″ x 14″.  This time, I decided 9 x 6 squares would be plenty big enough.

Have got 2 tops assembled, and enough squares prepped to make another four (2 here in progress).

 

 

feathers and a thank you Flo

A couple of feather related photos today . . . first up, I finally got around to stitching a cross stitch kit, gifted to me for my birthday in 2020 by Yvonne!

Lovely bright colours, nice and dinky to stitch, and one very pretty bookmark!  Thank you, Yvonne !

Next up . . . I haven’t got bored yet of the newly discovered hobby, diamond painting, although I’ll admit to having slowed down a little because I’ve been busy with my crochet hook in the evenings.  Anyway . . . I’m currently working on a very large project. Not many colours appearing yet,

but that’s because I’ve still got a very long way to go.  So long . . . it doesn’t all fit into the photo!

Not to worry!  There’s no hurry to get this finished and it’s keeping me quiet!

And last photos for today, to say a public thank you to Flo, who sent me an unbirthday gift recently.

A seamstress project notebook – to keep note of clothes making project and body measurements. I don’t honestly do any proper clothes making for myself. Nothing “fitted” anyway, so I’m thinking this book will come in handy for my dolls clothes making!  I have dolls with varying body sizes in my collection and always seem to be trying to adapt one pattern to fit another, so this could be a good way of keeping track!