Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Craft On: 1, 2, 3!?!?!

Linking up with Nicole from Frontier Dreams

3 projects on my needles?!?!?
Why, yes there are!! ~Actually if I am being honest, there are a lot more than 3 projects on needles, but these are the ones I'm actively working on:)

I've made quite a bit of progress on my Cloud Wrap...
I am right at the point where I'm done with the increases on both sides, it will now increase on one side and decrease on the other.

Also got a bit done on my Hermione sock...
I have the leg done and have started the heel flap.

And then I started another hat for my daughter..
This will be a Sockhead Slouch hat like the last one I made for her. She really likes the style and it fits her really well. This yarn was to be a pair of socks for her, but she said she'd rather have a hat. This is a really easy hat to make, a super portable project.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Craft On - Making Progress

Linking with Nicole from Frontier Dreams 

This week has been much more productive with the knitting!! First off I did finish the first of the Hermione socks and got a start on the second one:-)
I really love the texture on these:) However my kitchener stitch on the toe didn't turn out real well. I've done this stitch before without a problem, so I'm not sure what happened. I'm going to finish the second sock and see how the toe turns out on it, and then I'll decide if I want to take it out and try again or not.

I got a little further on the Cloud wrap as well and I really like how it's turning out as well.
The lighting washed out the color a bit, it's really a much deeper teal blue, but it does show the start stitches pretty well. Going to a bit of a heavier weight yarn really did help with stitch definition and it's easier to knit with as well. I am really starting to enjoy this project now:)

Hoping to get the other sock done by next week and get a lot more done on the wrap!!

Happy crafting!!

Monday, February 19, 2018

IHSW - Feb 2018

Linking up with Joysze from Random Ramblings and her International Hermit and Stitching Weekend:)

It's been quite some time since I participated in the IHSW and I'm super excited that it is back up and running:) Thank you Joysze for putting the work into this stitch along and the Facebook page as well!!

Like normal - for me anyway, I made headway on one and lost ground on the other. The first project I worked on was O Tannenbaum from With thy Needle and Thread. I started off here...
And ended up here. This finished this section of the design. There are 5 sections that are intended to be cut out and placed in different cubbies of a shadow box. I'm not doing the box, but will quilt the pieces together to make a small wall hanging. 
 I also worked on the first design in the Farmhouse Christmas series from Little House Needle Works. I started here...
And ended up here. I guess I did make a little progress on the the right side of the barn, but as I was stitching it I realized that I miscounted on the left side and needed to frog most of it. All-in-all, I lost progress on this one.  I intend to quilt these designs together as well.
Not bad for a couple of days though and I'm loving both of these projects so much!!

Off to see how others got along this weekend!!

Saturday, February 17, 2018

FNSI - A Late Valentine



Didn't get as much done as I had wanted this time, but did get a late little Valentine project finished off. This was a fun little stitching project by Heartstrings Samplery called 'Handprint on my Heart'. I did it over one on 32 ct linen with the called-for CC Cherry Cobbler.                               
I finished it into a little pillow hanger for a china hutch in our living room.
I had this stitched in time to get it all finished up before Valentine's day, but didn't get to it until last night. I had hoped to also make a grime (or crud) guard for another q-snap frame I just bought, but hubby wanted to go out for dinner when he got home last night, and who am I to say that I'd really rather cook dinner myself? :) So we went out and then rented a movie, so that took the rest of the evening. 

The rest of this weekend will be spent doing as much stitching as possible! Well, I may need to do a little cleaning and cooking too as my mother-in-law is coming over tomorrow:) But this weekend is IHSW - International Hermit and Stitching Weekend!! This is a stitch-a-long I participated in some a little over a year ago, and it kind of fell apart for a while, but it is back!! And I'm pretty happy about it. You are welcome to join in as well, if you'd like:) 

So now I'm off to look a bit at what others worked on last night, and then do some stitching:) 

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Craft On - Un-Knitting

Linking up with Nicole of Frontier Dreams and her 'Craft-On' blog hop.

This week has proven to be super un-productive knitting wise. Last Thursday I showed off  my 'Cloud Wrap' that I thought I had finally figured out how to make the star stitch look decent. I ripped out what I had and got to knitting it (again)...
I knitted until I got to the star stitches and even though they were still not turning out how I wanted them to, I kept on going until I knitted 2 too many rows and knew I needed to tink back. That's when I took a real hard look my knitting and decided that it's not so much the star stitches turning out badly, it's just that with how fine and airy this yarn it, they just don't show up - and this is even after ripping it back initially to knit on a smaller needle. To the point that I have a hard time finding them even when I know where they should be. So I ripped it out...
And started it (AGAIN!!!), but this time with a little heavier yarn. I was using Cloud from Knit Picks which is a lace weight yarn in an Alpaca base. It is so light and soft and I LOVE the color, but do not love knitting with it. This yarn is from Loops and Thread and is an acrylic yarn, but is super soft. It shows as a fingering weight but has 650 yards per 100 grams, so a really light fingering yarn. I like the color, though not as much as the other, but I really love how the fabric is turning out. It won't be as light as the original, but I think it will drape just fine and since I'm still using the smaller needles, it should come out about the right size.
So, all-in-all, it's not a total loss, just frustrating. I will eventually look for another project to use the lace with, but not any time soon :)

I also had a bit of a snag (literally) with this pair of socks. These were the first I knit and I love wearing them, but old floors - hardwood and uneven carpeted- doesn't make for the best friends with hand knit socks. The snag was bad enough that it would eventually unravel, so I decided to pull it out from the toe and work back up. I thought that would be easy enough, but even though these are made from washable wool they have felted just a little around the foot/toe area. Made pulling out the stitches not so easy, but I got them and just need to tink back another row or two and then it should be right at where I will start the toe decreases. Thankfully I still had some of the yarn from making these:)
I did get a bit more done on my Hermione socks as well, but not enough to take a picture of. Hopefully by next week I'll have the one I'm working on done and the second one cast on. Hoping for a more productive week!! :) 

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Yarn Along

Linking with Ginny at Small Things with her Yarn Along and Nicole at Frontier Dreams with her Craft-On.

I am not getting super far on my knitting/crocheting lately and I totally blame my stitching projects!! :) I've been having a hard time deciding on where I want to go with the knitting this year. I learned to make socks last year and even started a cardigan and those where two things I really wanted to learn. I still need to learn the cardigan and it's been so long since I've worked on it that I think I'm going to need to rip it out and start again because I can't remember what changes I made to the pattern that will need to be repeated for the front of it.

I think the problem with the cardigan is that I'm not sold on the pattern. I'm afraid it's going to be too tight fitting when what I really want is loose and snuggly. I need to make a decision on that:)

But I did work on my Hermione sock which I'm loving!!!
Love the texture with this sock!! And I did get a crocheted pot holder done...
This is Peaches and Cream cotton yarn and this ball had more yardage than the last I used so I was able to make it bigger which I really like. This one is about 9in x 9in and is a perfect size for me.

I also read The Practice House by Laura McNeal. I usually listen to books as I have a hard time reading and knitting at the same time :) but I did read this one. I think I liked it, I got through it so I guess I liked it. It was partially set in Kansas during the dust bowl, and as I live in rural Kansas, and know of the places that was mentioned, I could connect. But I just kept rooting for everyone to do what they should have done instead of what they did do and I found that I just didn't like most of the characters, even though I really wanted to like them. Anyway, it was okay, well written and interesting characters even if I wanted them to make different decisions:)

Okay, back to knitting... As I've been trying to find what I will knit next I ended up buying a MKAL pattern for a wrap/scarf and then had to decide on yarn - this is what trips me up more times than not. I had a color scheme in mind - because of some yarn that I have but that is totally the wrong weight. I can't find what I want in the right weight so then I started looking for patterns that would work for the yarn I have... but I'm having hard time finding something I think will work for the colors that I have!! HAHA. Anyway I decided to go back to a WIP that I put away a while back...
I put this away because I wasn't happy with the way my 'Star' stitches were turning out. So today I played with it, did the stitch a couple different ways and got to a point that I'm happy with the stitch. I did decide to rip the whole thing back so I can make them all they same, but I think I'll be able to move forward on this now. And while looking through my WIPs to find this one, I ended up finding about 3 other things that I want to work on!! I guess I just needed to get excited about one of them to get my knitting mojo back:)

I'm off to see what others have been working on!! Happy knitting/crafting!!

Monday, February 5, 2018

Shopping Trip

I mentioned last week that I was really excited to be going to my local needlework shop with my sister-in-law and a friend. I don't get to the LNS very often because even though it is the most 'local' needlework shop to me, it is still over an hour away. I usually only go during Christmas break, around my birthday and maybe one or two more time during the year. I was also excited because a design I had be waiting on was finally in!! I knew we would be tight on time as our friend needed to get back to pick up kids, so I spent part of Thursday going through my stash to see what I had and what I might be able to substitute if need be.

I pulled threads that I already had...

And I even made notes from what others had substituted and what I thought would match up well...
I'm really glad I made these notes because the LNS was out of many of the floss colors that we needed - they were waiting on a shipment. So this helped not only me but my sister-in-law and our friend too.

In the end I was able to kit up and get a small start on LHN's Farmhouse Christmas...


And With Thy Needle and Thread's 'O Tannenbaum. 

 I have actually gotten a bit more done on this one today, I just can't put it down!!

It was a really fun shopping trip and after our friend picked up her son, we got back together and had lunch - I even got to play with her baby for a bit!! :) Hoping we can do this again at some point, it's nice to have a girls day out.

Well, I'm off to do a little housework before hubby gets home and sees that all I really got done today was stitching:) Oops!!