FINISHED KNITTING and CROCHET - March and April 2021

 Back dated when I realized I hadn't logged these two. (Links to Ravelry).

Leftover from Christmas gift crafting:  My sister's YipYip

And from the remanants: Fraggle Rock Hood (Quarry Hood) - also claimed by Kimi

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 14, 2021

 Wow, after a tough few weeks, my crafting mojo has roared back with a vengeance!  Work is a bit better, too.  Though still very very busy. 

So in the order finished this week.

I got the rest of the applique block done, the basting removed, the block washed.   Here it is, still damp.  I'll give it a nice press before I put it away in the 'orphan' block box.  I enjoyed doing this enough that I do believe it's residency there may be short lived.  But I am NOT starting another long term project at this time, so it will be safe there until I set up an applique paper cut quilt project in the (hopefully not too distant) future.

ETA: After a good press

 

Next up, I finished the stitching on the Just Nan design, "I Can Drive a Stick" that I started during the last #24HoursOfCrossStitch.  This I got it to FFO (Fully Finished Object) status as a stand up flat fold.  I do think I'll add some black chenille trim to finish off the edges.  Or maybe some mini pompoms.

And remember my sister's Muppet?  All done but the lining, which is my job for today.

First, though, I'm going to check out the rest of the SSS crew (link to current round up).

Slow Sunday Stitching - January 3, 2021

 Here's to a new year and a hopefully it will be a better one. 

Big news this week on the crafting front is that I finished off the Sampler Sweetbag set in time for it to count as the last finish of 2020 (details here).  This was an older WiP, and the assembly took a lot longer than it should have!  But it's off the work table now.

front

back

Replacing the Sweetbag as the active needlework project and kicking off the 2021 Needlework Rotation (#1) is the last of the cutwork napkins.  I put the padding stitches into the all of the outer border except around the main lily motif and got started on the first side this weekend. I figured out last time that I need to support the edge of the work in the hoop and the off-cuts from the sweetbag hadn't been put away yet, so I just basted a length  along the edge of the napkin, avoiding the stitched area.  Much better tension.

Both of the socks are a bit more than halfway down the gusset area of the foot. 

And all the crochet is done on my sister's Muppet.  There's still a lot of assembly and embellishment - tentacles, antennae and eyes plus a black felt lining.  So right now it looks more like a wonky helmet than  cute fuzzy beast.

And last but not least, a few more inches on the sock yarn blanket.  Ten inches  (25 cm) to the next corner.

On the organization front, all the DMC not assigned to a project is on bobbins and put away neatly in boxes.  That's a major milestone.  I use a combination of bobbins (for full six strands) and Floss Away bags (for cut lengths and lengths that have plies pulled out).  I have a lot of DMC since I inherited parents' and grandmas' (both sides) and Aunt Lottie's crafting things and purchased or was gifted three estates needlework materials and yarns over the years.  Plus all my own leftovers from over 40 years of serious stitching.  Before that, I raided the adult's stash LOL.  I do go to my bobbin boxes first, especially when I only need a partial skein for a project.  Despite my efforts before Christmas, the yarn stash is still in progress.  I am trying to not only pack, but also double check the amounts in Ravelry and annotate which bin it is in.  So I'll get back to that after I scope out what the SSS crew is up to this New Years weekend.  (link to this week's roundup)

Slow Sunday Stitching - December 26, 2020

 Hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Christmas holiday.  If you don't, hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

I did not get my sister's gift done, but it wasn't for lack of trying!  It's at the halfway point, though.  She thought it was a hat at first LOL. 

When it's done, it will be a Muppet.  (Pattern is Yip Yips on Ravelry).  Pattern (and photo below) by Carissa Browning.

Copyright Carissa Browning

I am right at the start of the 'mouth' area.  So funky and cute.  Kimi is a total Muppet fan girl and "Kermit green" is a favorite color of hers.  

And both of my socks now have heel flaps, heel turns and the gussets picked up. Even when I'm working socks with the magic loop technique on a long circular needle, I prefer to pick up the gussets using double points.  I think it's just easier to get the right count and not twist anything you don't want twisted if you do this step in two parts instead of "pick up and knit".  (The two legs and the two heel flaps are exactly the same length, but the right one happened to roll under in both places when I took this picture,)

There's also been quite a bit of this going on in the push to get the Sampler Sweetbag done before the end of the year.  Sixteen of these little buggers...  

Getting more of these done today will be my SSS project (after I check out all the rest of the crew).  Link to this week's roundup.

Slow Sunday Stitching - December 20, 2020

The last minute Christmas crafting rush.  Did I say I wouldn't have one this year?  I lied.  My sister reminded me that I'd promised her something.  Oops.  Yarn has been acquired.  She may be getting a 'promissory note'.  This won't be the first time I've wrapped up a work in progress and took it back to finish between Christmas and Epiphany.  I figure as long as it gets to the giftee by the last of the twelve days of Christmas, I'm still in technical compliance LOL.

 And Alexis (who is a gymnast) is changing gyms and I was tasked with removing all the logos from her gear bag - an approximate 2 linear feet of very tight quarter inch wide machine satin stitch.....  Can we say tedious?

But before all that broke, I did make good progress on my 'real' projects.  The second sock leg is done and the heel flaps on both socks are set up with the first sock's heel flap at the half way point. 

The Sweetbag is done other than the eyelets, running the cording and adding the already completed tassels. The lining turned out pretty well, though I didn't get the pattern matched at the seams.   It's a lining, I'm fine with that.

Side note, the fabric behind those last few photos is a handwoven lace table runner.  It was being ironed to put on the Christmas table and I thought it would make a pretty background.  I wove it in the late 1970s on my Leclerc 4 harness floor loom.

Off to find my crochet hooks and get started on my sister's gift.  We'll see how well it goes.  

Linked up with the SSS crew (current roundup).

Mending Monday: Alexis' ripple afghan

 Back in 2015 I made each of the grandkids a ripple afghan.  Alexis' recently fell afoul of their puppy.

 

If it had been a tear on the final edge, it would have just been a matter of pulling it back to the first intact row and securing the ends.  But Riley (puppy) ate the foundation chain.   So I had to pick out the first four rows stitch by stitch; I went back to the grey that was between the pink and peach.

That left the base 'post' of each intact stitch waving in the wind.  Can't leave it like that, of course; they are more stable than knit stitches, but they WILL pull out eventually.  I am only a casual crocheter, so I fudged a fix.  On each stitch, I hooked one leg of the post through the other, then did a single stitch with the working end and the post.  I put one chain stitch between each single at the top of the ripples and worked two together twice at the valley of the ripples.   

I think it looks pretty good.   My grandson once told his teacher, "Mimi can fix anything."  My reputation is intact LOL!