Tree of Stitches

This is the Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden that is a stitch along on the Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group that I co-moderate.  I've now done through Part 7 and I need to catch up and do Parts 8-10.  This is a very fun stitch and I'm doing each one in a different thread.  I've used silk, silk perle #12 (Subtlety from Rainbow Gallery), Kreinik metallic, and cotton overdyes.  I went to my LNS the other day and picked up some more threads and hopefully now have enough variety to finish the project.

Day & Night by Long Dog

This is a WISP (Work in Slow Progress) but I did put in a few stitches since my last update.  As you can see, not too far to go!

Socks!

I got it into my head that I really must learn to knit socks.  I've been knitting all my life it seems but had never knit a pair of socks.  I'd no idea how to do a heel flap or turn a heel but I was determined to learn.  I bought some self striping yarn (no, I didn't do all those color changes!), I watched a very good video on Knit PIcks and went from there.  I didn't use a pattern, just the video and it's all straight knit and purl.  Here's the result.

Not too bad for a first try.  However, these socks have set off a whole new addiction....sock yarn!  It is so pretty and wonderful to knit, I've now got quite a stash :-)

Celtic Cardigan

It's been a while since I updated my blog and it's also been a while since I did any knitting on this project but I've made progress since my last post.  This is the back of the cardigan and the lower part was very easy and quick to stitch.  The yoke is taking a little longer because each row is different and you can't make mistakes or the stitches won't cross properly.  However, I like the way this is turning out.

This is a picture of the yoke section a bit closer up.

Knitting

The other thing that is occupying my time is knitting!  I love to knit, especially in the winter.  I purchased the yarn for this cardigan last winter but didn't get to start it before the hot weather set in again. 

Celtic Cardigan by Oat Couture

 The yarn is by KnitPicks, Swish DK, color Clematis Heather, 100% Superwash Merino Wool.  It is a dream to knit with.

Progress as of February 9, 2011

February update

Today is my second snow day off work inside of a week, very unusual for this neck of the woods. So, I'm taking the opportunity to update my blog which has been sorely neglected over the past few weeks.
First is my progress on Day & Night, the end is in sight!  Most of what is left are small motifs and shouldn't take long.

Tree of Stitches -- Parts 1 and 2

The other stitching I'm doing is a design called Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden.  This is a tree that is done in different specialty stitches, the threads and fabric are of the stitcher's choice.  It's an SAL on The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group and we'll be doing one stitch every couple of weeks.  So far we've done the trunk in cross stitch, then some of the foliage in Symrna stitches with French knots. The fabric is some blue cloud hand dyed, although it doesn't really show up on the photo.  Can't remember the names/colors of the threads, I'm just pulling them out of my stash as they strike my fancy!

Tree of Stitches -- Part 3

Returned from England

We've just returned from a very lovely Christmas in England, first one on that side of the pond in 36 years!  We were joined at my mother's by my brother and our son and daughter-in-law and had a very nice Christmas Day with a few fresh snow sprinkles to make it officially a white Christmas!

We had a nervous journey out because the snow was forecast but we got lucky and the slight bit of snow and ice we encountered in Amsterdam only delayed us by about 40 mins.  We don't fly into London airports and Humberside airport is only 20 mins. from Mum's house.  The roads had been cleared since the "big" snow (15" for Grimsby is a BIG snow!).  We even managed to make a trip down south to Luton and the Ipswich area without too much trouble, so overall we were lucky.  Our journey back was uneventful, thankfully and we arrived home late on New Year's Day.

While in England I managed to knit myself a scarf but that is the only needlework I took with me, I'll post a picture when I dig it out! 

I'm also happy to report that the framed wedding sampler for Michael and Julie made it to England safely!  It fit (just) into the one very large suitcase I have, that I haven't taken over there for a few years.  It had to go in diagonally, on it's end and I wrapped it in multiple layers of bubble wrap. They went back to London on the train and carried it, that journey was also successful!  The wooden box for my mother (see previous post) also made it intact and she liked it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Progress on Day & Night by Long Dog

I've been working quite a bit on Day & Night and coming to the end of the most time consuming section.  There is only one large motif to do now (on the left next to the house) and then it's just the border and smaller motifs.  I'm on a mission to finish it!
Further down this blog there is a picture of what this will look like when finished, you can see not much farther to go!

Framed in a box

The box was custom made at my LNS and I love the way it turned out!  The design is Sweet Violets by Heirloom Embroideries which I finished in 2009.  This is to be a Christmas present for my mother.

Wedding Sampler finished

On October 23 I finally finished Michael and Julie's wedding sampler.  They were married on September 4, 2009, and it had been a while in the making!  The heart at the top was a challenge with bullion stitches and ribbon embroidery that I'd not done before.  The poem is a custom, I didn't include the words as charted.  It is now framed but it was difficult to get a good picture and also because it is so long!  This is the best I could do to try and not get a reflection.

I now have the problem of getting this framed piece to England!  I've just tried fitting it in our suitcases and it's going to be a challenge to say the least! I don't think carrying it is an option (too big), and so if we can't get it in the case then may have to go with a special box but don't really want to do that.  So, fingers crossed that it makes it across the Atlantic in one piece!