Rotation Changeover - 2024 Rotation #3, Slot #4 (Not Counted Thread)

 After much frustration and an actual stab wound (crewel work is done with a sharp needle and it takes some doing to get an outline stitch through the layers of a dense long and short stitch), the feathers on my Vintage Crewel Eagle are completed!  Including all the highlighting and the outline stitches down the center dividing line of most of the long flight and tail feathers.  

I did not have nearly enough wool yarn to do the outline stitches of the quill shafts in the palest brown, so I color matched to DMC 612 and used three strands of the cotton.   I think the smoother, shinier floss actually does a better job of emphasizing the quill shaft than the wool would have done.      

There were three areas where the bright orange wool was used to put some highlights on the feathers - all in outline and straight stitches.   Understated, but effective.

The tail was just barely started at the beginning of the rotation.  Here's where I was near the start of this round.  (I think I was just one or two of the little fan shaped feathers into the tail at this point.  I forgot to take an official 'start' picture.)

When I get back to this project in the next rotation, I will finally be working on the foliage.   I have six greens - a couple of olives, a pine green, a dark, medium and light green.   As far as I can tell from the stich diagram and the cover photo, the top spray of needles is the farthest back, so I will be starting there when this project comes around again in Rotation #4 

Slow Sunday Stitching - October 13, 2024 AND a finished knitting project: LOSY Hat in a Hurry

I'm still on the knitting, book and gardening kick.   Finished the LOSY hat for charity earlier this week.   I think it turned out pretty good.   I'm glad I went with the bigger stripes; the narrow ones were just a muddled mess when paired with the marled yarn that was the second strand.   Also, I'm glad I fudged the marl to marry up the lightest section of that yarn with the white stripe.   What's a couple more Russian Joins in a hat with this many? LOL😉.

So once that first hat was finished, I cast on the Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague (link to Rav page for the pattern).  This hat is a double layer plus a folded brim, so very toasty over the ears.    Starts with a center out cast on like the center of shawl with four quadrants, then once the crown is done, it's worked in a tube for double the hat length, the ends are all woven in other than the final one, then the second crown is decreased, the final end woven in, and the double ended tube collapsed to form the hat.  Very clever.

Here's my odd little center start, and the first crown increases.   This yarn is not photographing very true in color.  In real life, it's less yellow and more green.

Now that the first crown increases are done, it's straightforward.   Round and round like the leg of a vanilla sock, which makes it perfect reading or watching TV knitting. 

Off to see what the other SSC folks are up to.  (Link to this week's round up.)

Slow Sunday Stitching - October 6, 2024

 It's been a knitting and reading sort of week again this week; I have the LOSY Hat that I cast on last week done up to the start of the crown decreases.  That means there's only 14 rounds to go.  Interesting side note.  All the darker brown yarn is the same solid color.   The apparent difference in colors is due to the changes in the marled yarn that is carried as the second strand.   That one changes from pale grey to charcoal and really has more of an effect than I thought it would.

And here's where it was at the start of the library knitting while it was still on the circular needle.   Bonus shot of the carpet in the upstairs meeting and computer area (and my knee LOL).

And I purchased the pattern for the popular "musselburgh hat" (link to Ravelry) and will be caking up the pretty rainbow yarn that I got for my retirement for it.

Hopefully I'll be inspired to get back to my needlework this week!  I did get to my goal on the full coverage dragon by the first (link to that report), but that's all the stitches I put into any needlework this week. 

Off to see what the rest of the SSS crew is up to (link to this week's round up).

Full Coverage - September 2024 Month End Report

Another adequate, but not impressive month on my full coverage piece.  "Mead Dragon" - art by Stanley Morrison, charting by Paine Free Crafts.  

2600 stitches exactly in September.   That brings my total stitches to 28,872 of 94,500.   30.55%   I'm just starting on Row 91 of the background.    Got a little more of the dragon's neck put in; you can start to make out where she's wrapping around the top of the drinking horn.  And the bottom of the back wing has appeared, and there are more of the opal colors in the front wing (plus a hint of the webbing in the membrane on that wing, too).  

And where I was at the start of the month for comparison

Slow Sunday Stitching - September 29, 2024

 

Look at that, the eagle has his tail feathers.  I actually reached this point at just over five hours on the rotation.   That didn't take as long as I would have thought.  I know I'm always super self critical, but this is not my best work.  The long and short stitches are a bit wonky because they are right up against satin stitches in the same color.  You use the long and short (or the similar stitch named in the instructions as the Pueblo stitch) when the space to be filled is over an inch /2.5cm wide.   These feathers were just around that, but I think they might have looked better with all satin stitch.   At any rate, they are done and I'm not taking them out.   I wouldn't have enough white to redo them; wool yarns aren't really reusable if you frog, especially these fragile vintage wools.

The next step is to put in the veins / quill shaft along each of the long feathers using an outline stitch.  And a few of the breast feathers get an outline to create a highlight.

But I decided to set the eagle aside for a few days, since once again I'm coming up to the end of the month with a few hundred stitches still to go on the Mead Dragon.  So, I'm working on that again today and tomorrow to see how far I can get.   Look for the month end round up for that project on Monday or Tuesday.  

While scrolling Facebook, I found out that there's a "knit for charity" group that meets at the library (on Saturday afternoon per the 'About' tab).   So, I cast on another LOSY (left over sock yarn) hat and headed over yesterday afternoon.   Only to find out that the meeting day has moved to Thursday morning!   I will try again later this week.  The internet is helpful only if it is up to date 😉

At least the SSS crew is always available.  Link to this week's round up.

Save The Stitches - a "Vintage Hex" Quilt (like I need another quilt!)

 If you want to WiP down, do not, under any circumstances, let your friend talk you into going to a garage sale with her.   $2 US for a quart zip lock bag of hexigons in 1930s and 1940s fabrics.  The cut sides are approximately 1 inch/ 2.5 cm; there's a lot of variation in size, so I'm sure the fabrics are hand cut.  They should mostly go over 3/4 inch or 2 cm papers.   Some will have less than ideal margins, but I should be able to make do.

And a few uncut strips (about 8 in various lengths).   A couple are marked and ready to cut out. The strips, by the way, are SERIOUSLY starched.  I'm just glad silverfish didn't get into them as far as I can see.   Those buggers love to munch on starch and the fibers it is stiffening. 

You can tell the original owner intended to get back to this project.  Some of the hexis are grouped and tied with a knotted thread with a single solid yellow on top.  Probably already set up do some Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks.   But by far the most pieces are just loose.  I'm thinking a random set with a few blocks scattered in with white or cream 'paths' here and there.   I'm not yet setting this up as a quilt project.  I'm going to stash them in with the other 1930s Grandmother's Flower Garden project (Aunt Lottie's Garden) just in case I decide to expand that one or maybe do a double sided project.

I haven't counted them, though, or tried to figure out how much area they will cover.   English Paper Piecing makes an excellent travel project, so I think what I'm going to do is to mark the rest of the strips and make a bunch of papers.   Luckily, I have a Fiskers Hex punch of the right size and political flyers and mailers tend to be printed on nice card stock.   All the bull pucky can take a turn at being EPP papers before it goes into the recycling instead of heading there directly!

All of this begs the question of the OTHER EPP project that I have on the go LOL.  Lucy Boston needs finished!  I need to turn my attention to the quilts ASAP.

I did look for other crafting and quilting/sewing gear, but the person putting the sale on said several people had come through earlier and cleared out a lot of things, including a Featherweight Singer !!!

I keep hoping for a Singer card table (which is what I was actually looking for), but I'm glad I could Save the Stitches on what I'll be calling the "Vintage Hex" quilt.

Slow Sunday Stitching - September 22, 2024

It wasn't a great crafting time this week.   Every now and then I get sucked into a book, or a fanfiction or some non-needlework project to the detriment of my stitching, and all of the above happened this week.  I bought two more of the tall garden beds and two planters to replace some wood beds and plastic feed tubs that have reached the end of their useful life.  The new beds come in a flat pack, so getting everything assembled has been ... interesting.   Once I get them all set up and filled, I'll have to take a picture.  My grandson told me that I will have a "Pinterest garden".  😄 It's not going to be THAT neat and tidy.   I'm only going with these beds because they are tall enough that I will not need to bend over much. (A nice side effect is that the local wild rabbits can't get into them).   

When I have surfaced from reading and gardening, I've been working on the vintage crewel kit, "Majestic Eagle" and have a decent start on his tail feathers.   There are three large feathers and a half dozen small feathers.  I had a couple of the fan-shaped grey feathers along the underneath of the tail started when I got back to this project last week.   Finished those off and the one small feather that is just above, then I started on the first of the larger feathers.  All the white on white in this section is rather boring.   I need to find an audiobook or podcast to put on.

And a full on shot for a good thumbnail for the SSS link.