A Multi-Project Update

The Dreaded Project is done. Well, honestly, it could use a little more love but I'm afraid I have none to give it. 

 It has progressed to "good enough" and made its way into the donate box.

I have some leftover yarn, so I started a crochet water bottle carrier. This one has alternating popcorn and v-stitch rows and a chain stitched drawstring. It does not have a strap, so I'll have to figure that one out on my own. I'm trying something new with this one - color changes with carrying the yarn instead of cutting and weaving in.

I have also made quite a bit of progress on the Magnificent Wizard.

Before

After

The colors are much closer to the first picture. I seem to have a lot of trouble getting a good photo of this, so I'll have to play around with it a little more as I have time (haha!). I've had a few people ask about my lighting solution for dark fabrics, so I will share that in a future post.

Library Kittens was gifted to my niece, who oooh'd and ahh'ed over it and told me it was beautiful. She handmade my birthday present. I will also be sharing that soon, as well as the many many projects I need to do this week for the Dagorhir Event we are running on Saturday.

I'm off to my newest hobby, Modern Arnis. I have class two nights a week and I'm really enjoying it. Happy Stitching All!

Repurposing Quilt Blocks

Anyone remember this quilt? Designed probably four or so years ago?

I actually did start it, finishing two blocks out of thirty and cutting out pieces for quite a few more.

And then it languished in my closet for a few years and I never did feel like getting back to it.

I decided that it was an abandoned project and cut my losses. The two completed blocks became a lined zipper pouch and I am now storing a cross stitch project in it.

 

I have a stack of squares that were cut out that I will now need to find something to do with them. I'm sure I can manage :)

The Next Generation

I remember learning to cross stitch from my grandmother and needlepoint from my grandfather. I remember my mom encouraging me to sew and giving me her old machine for my very own. Little did they probably imagine that twenty years later I'd still be obsessively stitching away on anything I can get my hands on. They taught me the basics and things blew up from there.

I suppose I'm feeling a little introspective because I find myself recently taking on the mantle of sharing hand crafted art skills with the next generation. The youngest two in the family have been experimenting with crochet, latch hook, knitting, sewing, and most recently painting.  I'm not really used to the idea of being a mentor and I don't consider myself to operate on a teaching level, but I am fortunately not the only person sharpening these young minds. They are surrounded by adults who are happy to pass on new skills and are encouraging them to learn everything they can.

I hope you will take a few moments today, slow down, and hand stitch something. I will be working on the Wizard and Dragon Cross Stitch later this afternoon. I have recently come up with a lighting solution that suddenly makes stitching on this black fabric enjoyable.

And in the meantime, if there happens to be a miniature human somewhere around you today, take the time to show them some new awesome skills. 

Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

The Project that Won't Go Away

Ever have one of those projects that you can't wait to complete, but not because you're enjoying it anymore?

This shawl is one of those.

It started out innocently enough and then, disaster. Look at how uneven it is! I lost those extra stitches at the end of the rows that make everything all nice and shawl-like. I attempted to block it, but the material just wasn't there.

I had abandoned this for a few months out of frustration but now I'm back at it in an attempt to clean it up and get'r'done.

Now here it is, with one side filled in, completed while I watched the Olympics.

We're on the verge of something mostly shawl-shaped, so I plan on filling in the other side and then using whatever yarn I have left to crochet a border type thingy. After that, its off to the donate box for this shawl and I sincerely hope someone loves it like I can't.

In other, more exciting news, I've finished Library Kittens and set it up for the bell pull hanging.

I sent a picture to my niece for final approval and I received an enthusiastic "i LUV IT!!!!" in response. I will bequeath it to her next time I see her.

I also redid Jack's green hood from Ragnarok this year. He picked it up after the heat was bad and it was one of the few remaining. This thing had a bright white trim on it that looked well... I thought it looked awful. He didn't mind it so much but it made me wince every time I looked at it. Arguing successfully that a ranger in the woods would never wear bright white, he let me take off the trim and add some embroidery.

I was really glad I did, because even though it had only been worn a few times, the white was very dingy and dirty - definitely not combat friendly. I like the new improved version better!

Quiltspiration

Wouldn't this make an amazing quilt?

Last week while in downtown Detroit with some coworkers for a work lunch, we wandered through the Compuware Building and this is the sculpture that takes up the large open area in the center of the building. There is also water fall behind it. I did the touristy thing and took photos while my coworkers captured Pokemon.

I've started playing around with this in EQ7 and have a pattern.

The pattern initially had a Y seam but I was able to modify it so that it didn't.

It loses the stacked 3D effect but still came out pretty neat. An idea to save for later.