Well, I have a couple of finishes/milestones to report this week on Slow Sunday Stitching.
First done was the finished finishing on the Plum Street Sampler Skating Santa. I finished the stitching on this at Silver Needle Camp, but didn't get the assembly done there. All the finishing materials and directions are provided in the camp kits. We got three this year, each with a different finishing technique. I now know how to make faux boxes and cubes! This is a cute way to make a display project for seasonal décor. I am still a bit in love with the jingle bell feet. I can also see using wooden spheres/cubes, dice or chunky beads on non-Christmas type pieces.
Next is the last of the EPP for the "Aunt Lottie's Garden" quilt. Now, I say 'last EPP' with the caveat that I have not yet fully designed the borders and I may drop a few single round Flower Garden sets into the proposed 'vine and leaves' design. We'll see when we get there.
And finally, knitting. No, not the socks, though I DID finish the foot on sock #1. (No picture of that, it's just a slightly longer version of last week!) There was EMERGENCY knitting this week! There was an online presentation at work on Tuesday. These are one-way Skype sessions, you can comment, type in questions and view the presenter/slides, etc. But nobody can see you; you are in your cube, alone. Keeping my hands busy lets me focus. I'm sure most of the participants were playing on their phones. I was MUCH more productive with my knitting and more attentive to boot.
But the yarn management issues that I have alluded to before made the socks not a prime project. So I cast on a simple ribbed hat. I make this pattern for charity all the time. It's called a "LOSY Hat" (Left Over Sock Yarn is what the acronym stands for.) It uses two strands and as long as you more or less coordinate the palette, I haven't had a single one of them come out as a 'fugly' finished object.
I chose 'beachy' colors for this one, lots of blue and white with a bit of brown and green. Most of the sock yarns were Regia Surf Stripes (cotton wool blends) or my much beloved and deeply mourned discontinued Regia Cotton (the solid version of the Surf). There's a bit of the nasty Regia Cotton Stretch (which is NOT a substitute for the Cotton, despite how it's marketed) and some Vinca (which doesn't have the cotton in it, but is machine washable). I got the entire body of the hat done during the presentation. Came home and whacked out the 16 rounds of crown decreases. Voila! Finished project. Summer Shores Hat on Ravelry (if you aren't a member, you'll have to sign up. It's free, no spam, and the ads are modest - I promise.)
This next week will be all about getting the binding on the Scrappy Sister's Choice. I have the binding all made and ready to install. That's the task for after church. Then lots and lots of hemming. I sew my binding on the front and then flip it over and hand stitch it to the back. Even though this is just a double bed quilt, it's still about 320 inches around at 7 or 8 stitches to the inch! Good thing I love to hand sew!
Speaking of hand work, run over to Kathy's blog and see what the other Slow Sunday Stitchers are making. (Link to this week's round up.)
First done was the finished finishing on the Plum Street Sampler Skating Santa. I finished the stitching on this at Silver Needle Camp, but didn't get the assembly done there. All the finishing materials and directions are provided in the camp kits. We got three this year, each with a different finishing technique. I now know how to make faux boxes and cubes! This is a cute way to make a display project for seasonal décor. I am still a bit in love with the jingle bell feet. I can also see using wooden spheres/cubes, dice or chunky beads on non-Christmas type pieces.
Next is the last of the EPP for the "Aunt Lottie's Garden" quilt. Now, I say 'last EPP' with the caveat that I have not yet fully designed the borders and I may drop a few single round Flower Garden sets into the proposed 'vine and leaves' design. We'll see when we get there.
And finally, knitting. No, not the socks, though I DID finish the foot on sock #1. (No picture of that, it's just a slightly longer version of last week!) There was EMERGENCY knitting this week! There was an online presentation at work on Tuesday. These are one-way Skype sessions, you can comment, type in questions and view the presenter/slides, etc. But nobody can see you; you are in your cube, alone. Keeping my hands busy lets me focus. I'm sure most of the participants were playing on their phones. I was MUCH more productive with my knitting and more attentive to boot.
But the yarn management issues that I have alluded to before made the socks not a prime project. So I cast on a simple ribbed hat. I make this pattern for charity all the time. It's called a "LOSY Hat" (Left Over Sock Yarn is what the acronym stands for.) It uses two strands and as long as you more or less coordinate the palette, I haven't had a single one of them come out as a 'fugly' finished object.
I chose 'beachy' colors for this one, lots of blue and white with a bit of brown and green. Most of the sock yarns were Regia Surf Stripes (cotton wool blends) or my much beloved and deeply mourned discontinued Regia Cotton (the solid version of the Surf). There's a bit of the nasty Regia Cotton Stretch (which is NOT a substitute for the Cotton, despite how it's marketed) and some Vinca (which doesn't have the cotton in it, but is machine washable). I got the entire body of the hat done during the presentation. Came home and whacked out the 16 rounds of crown decreases. Voila! Finished project. Summer Shores Hat on Ravelry (if you aren't a member, you'll have to sign up. It's free, no spam, and the ads are modest - I promise.)
This next week will be all about getting the binding on the Scrappy Sister's Choice. I have the binding all made and ready to install. That's the task for after church. Then lots and lots of hemming. I sew my binding on the front and then flip it over and hand stitch it to the back. Even though this is just a double bed quilt, it's still about 320 inches around at 7 or 8 stitches to the inch! Good thing I love to hand sew!
Speaking of hand work, run over to Kathy's blog and see what the other Slow Sunday Stitchers are making. (Link to this week's round up.)
Your hands have been kept busy this week! The yarn you used for the hat look well coordinated.
ReplyDeleteI bought several skeins (around a half dozen) of the Regia Cottons when they were being discontinued. All of the stripes were out of the same line, so they all coordinated, which made it easy to do first a pair of 'monster' socks (so called because they are a 'Frankenstein' of several different yarns) and then this hat. All my leftovers of this yarn are now history.
DeleteGreat projects. I just love the skating Santa!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the most fun part of the original chart!
DeleteYou have been busy and using your time productively!
ReplyDeleteI think so - better than playing on the phone, for sure.
DeleteLovely projects going on! I've some sock yarn left overs, I'll check out that pattern thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great pattern. I do change up two rounds in the crown (see my notes in Rav) to better keep the line of the ribbing through the decreases. I call these 'potato chip hats' because as soon as I finish one, I'm ready to cast on another one.
DeleteLove the Santa display, congratulations for the last EPP flower for your quilt. You chose a beautiful yarn for the hat. Great projects!
ReplyDeletethank you! I admire the crochet you shared, and such a nice thing to donate the blankets to senior citizens. I've made several 'Prayer Shawls' for similar charity donations locally.
DeleteSuch a great variety of crafts you do! You have accomplished alot!
ReplyDeleteHeya, Carla with a "C", it's Karla with a "K"! I will admit to having a bit of crafting distraction. I started out as a knitter because my mom was a knitter. But then my grandmother got ahold of me and started me on the quilting journey. I picked up the counted thread embroidery on my own somewhere along the way. Learned to spin and weave in college just because I wanted to know the origins of my needlework craft and discovered how expert our foremothers were when all fabric was made from the raw fiber. I can crochet, tat and do free embroidery, twilling, crewel and needlepoint. I've stayed away from lacemaking and tapestry quite deliberately.
ReplyDeleteBasically if it starts with fiber, I'm into it. But I really prefer the traditional, historic take on all of the crafts that I do.
I'm hoping that being accountable here will help me actually FINISH things instead of randomly starting one thing after another!
You have done lots of slow stitching. How cute - a whimsy skating santa. Thanks for the yarn tips.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteYour Santa is so very pretty. I really like your EPP. Based on your description of the borders I doubt this is the last EPP for this quilt. Your hat is great. I love when you can use scraps and the final result doesn't look like it.
ReplyDeleteThanks! The borders are sort of halfway designed with just vines and leaves, but you never really know until you see them in place.
ReplyDeleteLove the skating Santa.
ReplyDelete