Slow Sunday Stitching - October 16, 2022

Things are getting busy around here.  The calendar is filling up with events supporting the grandkids.  Alexis has a music program in two weeks and Carl has a play the same week.  I will try to get to both, but it's going to be a bit crazy.   They both also have sports competition season going;  I'm sure Angie and JC feel like they are meeting themselves coming and going!  

I will be doing a BUNCH of LOSY hats as good portable projects while waiting for things to start, etc.   This one is well underway from the batch of random 'Halloween' colored yarns that I showed last week. 

The other project this week has been the embroidery on Bob's Stocking.  Got the first deer finished.

And the second one underway:

I still need to chart the space on the instep of the stocking, doing some math to see which motifs will fit best.  Maybe I will tackle that after I check out the SSS crew (link to this week's roundup).

Slow Sunday Stitching - October 9, 2022

 Well, this week was pretty busy at work, as the first week of every month is.   But there was some crafting time.    I got to the 10 hour mark on the Plaza Sewing Bag (link to changeover post).

The next slot in the rotation is the 'other than counted thread' slot.   The Vintage Unicorn is to the background fill-in in basketweave stitch, so it's eligible for the challenges on the Full Coverage Fanatics group, and that project has been moved to the "Full Coverage Friday" slot where I work on it for 1-2 hours every Friday.   I was planning to start on the crewel piece "Eagle in the Pines", but Bob's Stocking (Redux) happened.

So I have started on the Swiss Darning on Bob's Christmas Stocking.  The back half of deer #1.   More on this today after I check out the SSS crew (link to current round up).

Lots on the actual knitting front as well.   I finished off the last couple of lace repeats on the Green Crescent Shawl and got it blocked.

And off the blocking board.

Now we can't be without a knitting project, so I cast on a LOSY (LeftOver Sock Yarn) Hat in Halloween colors to be an easy charity knit.

Bob's Christmas Stocking Redux

 When last we saw the Christmas Stocking for my sister's Significant Other, Bob, it looked like this:

In time for Christmas last year, it was gifted with all the knitting done, including all the stranded colorwork bands.  The stocking is completely functional, with the ends woven in and even the hanger loop added.  But there is a ton of  'blank canvas' in the center and the top of the foot.  Bob has been introduced to the 'promissory note for Christmas' that is pretty common in my family LOL.

Kimi handed both stockings back to me when she was in town recently with the request that I finish the embroidery on Bob's stocking in time for Christmas this year.

I'm sticking this into the "not counted thread' slot on my needlework rotation.  The embroidery will be in the "Swiss Darning" technique, which is basically working from a chart like counted cross stitch, but using yarn instead of embroidery thread and duplicate stitching over a knitted ground.  

It's often used in conjunction with intarsia since it allows for single stitches which are difficult with the intarsia technique of colorwork. 

The plan for the leg area is a "leaping deer" chart from Mary Corbet's excellent needlework blog "NeedlenThread.com.  My area to fill is narrower than the chart, so I'll drop out the tree and just do the two facing deer.

With Kim's stocking underneath to show that my gauge hasn't changed much since the 1970s!