Time for An Update

WOW!! All you followers rock! I can't believe I am up to over 100 followers! I am truly humbled and so grateful that so many people like to see my stitching! And my giveaway is still open, if you haven't entered my giveaway, go here.

I think my daughter is shocked---in a good way, of course. :)

Here is the latest on the Hands to Work This is the Day sampler. I have really been loving this design. I think Edgar was the inspiration for me to try this one. He was stitching on it last year (I think) His sampler turned out gorgeous!

There is some over 1 stitching in the box on the middle left. I have been leaving it to last, but I think it is time to get started on it. Also, the top box of alphabet and the bottom row of numbers are supposed to be filled in with WDW Conch. But I am still debating if I want to do that??

One more update-this is my newest knitting project. It is a sweater for my grandson. It is a variation of the Baby Surprise sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. My beginning knitting skills are being taxed! It is still a struggle for me to tell front & backs of this garment, to do double increases or double decreases, to repair problems like dropped stitches, & to understand all the knitting lingo! But I am soldiering on. I think I'll go back and try a pair of simple socks after this one :)



Thanks again for all your kind comments and interest in this little part of the Pacific northwest. Yes, it is raining today :)

Story of My Blog Header Photo

I am delighted to see all my new followers! Welcome to all! In order to answer the questions that have been coming in about the photo on my blog header, here is the story. (Even though it gives away my age :)

My oldest daughter was born in 1981 and I was looking for a project to make for her. My sister sold stitchery with a company called Creative Expressions. It was an in-home party type of company, similar to Tupperware. So I bought this kit. It is called Peek-A-Boo Kitten. As you can imagine it is hard to find now. But I actually found one on ebay if anyone is interested-click here. The kit includes canvas, threads and the eyelet lace for finishing. The listing on ebay says this kit was later sold by Sunset, but I don't remember that.

If you haven't signed up for my giveaway, don't forget to go to this post to do it!

My 100th Post Giveaway!

This year has flown by! I can't thank you all enough for the nice comments and suggestions that my followers post. But wait! I will try :) Here is my giveaway to celebrate my 100th post. I tried to put together a nice cross section of things that stitchers would find useful.

You can get a maximum of 3 entries for this giveaway-
1. Be or become a follower-see right-hand column.
2. Post about this giveaway on your blog if you have one.
3. Leave a comment on this post only and let me know how many entries you qualify for.

Be sure to leave an email address on your comment if you don't have one on your blog profile! I will leave this giveaway open until Oct 28th. And the winner will be announced on Oct 29th. Good luck to all!

I Won A Giveaway & My 100th Post!

Thanks so much to Ranae over at Stitch By Stitch! She picked my name to win this wonderful pattern by Raise the Roof called Happy Camper. See below for a close-up photo. I do struggle to get photos you can actually see! It is not one of my gifts :)

I think my 5 yr old grandson will love this one. But it won't be this Christmas--his gift is already here. I already bought that cute button with the lightning bugs inside a jar. And I just now noticed the owl is a button, too! I really appreciate your generosity Ranae!

A big hearty thank you for all the comments/suggestions on my first knitted sock. I am going to move on to a pattern I like better and get some expert advice on better measuring/gauging for my socks.

This is my 99th post--I can't believe I have so much to share and all you wonderful followers who keep me encouraged and stitching! I know there are some lurkers out there too. Hi Cynthia and Lori! I will be putting together a giveaway this weekend to celebrate my 100th post. Not sure what will be in it yet, but check back on Monday!

Have a great stitchy weekend!

My First Sock!

Here it is-all finished-my first knitted sock. Let me tell you what I like about this sock-
1. I like the yarn I picked.
2. I like the length of the sole-I did the proper measuring and it came out just right.
3. The heel is good (but I must confess that my teacher helped me every step of the way).

Now, let me tell you what I don't like about this sock-
1. It is too big everywhere else-around the instep & around the leg.
2. I don't like the little turn-down cuff.
3. I don't like the length of the leg. It is too short to be a knee sock and too long to be an anklet sock.
4. Because it is too big and the length of the leg is awkward, of course, it sags.

Here is another view.

Now I realize that this is my first sock. All you experienced knitters would have fixed the cuff into plain ribbing or just left it off. And made the length of the leg shorter. But, as a beginner, I tend to do what the pattern tells me. I don't try to rethink the writer of the pattern. And this was a knitting class that was specifically for this pattern of sock.

Now, the question is, do I want to spend my time making the matching sock? Even if I knit the second one to fit better, I probably won't want to wear the set because this one is just not comfortable.

One more thing to throw in the mix-I am starting another knitting class on Saturday. It runs 3 weeks. So if I start the second sock it would probably be after that class is over. What would you do?

New Old Stash and an Update

I was putting away my new stash (see last post) and ran across some recent stash that I didn't blog about. I finally broke down and got more of two designers I really like: La-D-Da and Praiseworthy Stitches. These are all quick stitches and I hope won't languish in my basket. :)

Here is the latest on This is the Day by Hands to Work. I love this design! It does have some over one stitching inside the box on the middle left-so I will have to pull out the Dazor light for that. But it is moving right along even with my knitting fighting for my time. Speaking of knitting, I will update you tomorrow with that.

Have a great day and thanks for all your kind comments about my and DD#1's stitching!

New Stash

I just received my first order ever from Elegant Stitch in Modesto, CA. I am in love with the bright pink tissue paper and the way they wrap all the items like they are little mini-gifts. Well, they are gifts, I suppose, to myself :) I read on a fellow stitcher's blog about Lois and her generous heart and all the special things she has put together to raise money to fight breast cancer. Check out the front page of her website if you are interested.

When I called to place my order they were so kind and helpful. I asked about some items I had seen at St Charles market and they literally pulled them out of their shipping boxes as we talked! Those scissors from Sullivan are so pretty! There are several different styles to choose from and the price ($20) is so right!

This is one of Lois' kits for breast cancer awareness. I wanted you to see what came inside the Brightneedle Pretty in Pink pinkeep and fob kit--a beautiful pair of Elizabeth I scissors from Kelmscott, a custom flower beeswaxer, 32 ct linen, threads, Gloriana ribbons, pre-finished pink bag from Moda fabric, all finishing materials and instructions!

Last, but certainly not least, is a new item from market. It is a lunchbox-type tin from Olde Colonial Designs called A Merry Little Christmas. It comes with everything needed to stitch AND finish a Christmas pocket. A very cute marketing idea and the tin can be an ornament itself (or re-gifted :)

Thanks, Elegant Stitch!

A Stitching Day Finish!

DD#1 finished her project from our last stitching day-see previous post. Didn't it turn out great? Unfortunately I don't have any details other than she used the called-for DMC floss and Aida cloth. She has now moved on to stitching a Christmas stocking. Something tells me it is for next Christmas, right, Les?

Two Finishes and an Update

Here is the latest-Blackbird Designs Buttons & Pins. This is the last of the little pincushions in my stitching pile. I used the called for threads, but did change the flower pot just a little. The instructions called for a chain stitched upper half. I decided to just cross stitch it and leave the chain stitch for the handles. I liked using a few different stitches in this project. There was also buttonhole stitch and satin stitch. The instructions said to "whimsically stitch" I just love that!

Here is Kelly Clark's angel ornament finished. This is the one I (and my grandson) were working on at the stitching day at my DD's home. I used metallic threads (gold DMC and silver Snow) in an open style stitch for the wings and white Snow for the open weave stitch of the background. Then red Snow for the outer border. I know--it was a Snow-kind of project. :) Plus I used many colors of Vineyard Silk. This was the last of this year's ornaments that I needed to finish. I couldn't share all of them here though. :) So I moved on to stitching --

I started with the house and moved horizontally to the border, then finished the border. I was afraid that I might have made the same mistake that I did on another project earlier this year. Do you remember that I cut the fabric too small for Goode Huswife's With My Needle? I had to leave off the bottom border. But it looks like that won't be a problem on this one. Whew! AND the border matched up perfectly :) Does anybody recognize this project ???

To be honest, I was looking for a project that I thought could be completed before the end of 2010. Snowflake Girl is still in my floorstand and I still don't have the prework done on her. And my Prairie Schooler ABC will be next year before that is done.

New Finish and An Update

This is another finish for 2010. Blackbird Designs Bird in Hand. I substituted the fabric and used 32 ct natural linen. Then I substituted the thread and used GAST Buckeye Scarlet. I really liked the border design.

Here is the October addition to Sylvia's 2010 SAL-click here. The owl is so cute and the whole project is turning out just great!

Have a great weekend everyone!