North Pole Post Office

Pattern: North Pole Post Office, CCN

Fabric: Wichelt 32 count amber linen (2 over 2)

Floss: as charted

   I finished this up on February 28th.  Just barely in time to finish by my personal deadline.  The fourth chart is in the mail and I also placed an order for the floss I'll need to finish up the next couple charts.  Except I couldn't find one of the Crescent Colors floss colors, so I ordered a substitute.  We'll see how it looks when I get everything together.  I think I'll be starting on the fourth chart as soon as I get it.  Maybe I'll even finish early this month!  

quiet

  Lately my morning writing sessions have been dedicated to prepping a manuscript, not keeping up with the blog.  So, its been quiet around here lately, but that doesn't mean that nothing crafty is getting done.  

   Over the weekend, I got started on this:

   I might have been marathoning Downton Abbey seasons 1 and 2 while stitching this.  In fact, I think I might do some more of both tonight.

Pattern: North Pole Post Office, CCN Santa's Village #3

Fabric: 32 count (2 over 2) Wichelt amber linen

Floss: DMC and Weeks as charted

Poinsettia Place

is finished!

Pattern: Poinsettia Place, Santa's Village CCN

Fabric: 32 count amber linen, Wichelt (2 over 2)

Floss: DMC and GAST as charted

   I spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks stitching on this, but it didn't seem like it at all.  It makes me glad that I'm really enjoying stitching this piece instead of just rushing to get it done.  

   I haven't gotten my invoice for the next chart of Santa's Village yet, but I might get started on the striped and holly branch borders while I wait.  So far, so good.  I'm still on track and finishing one chart a month. 

weekly WIP report

   This week settled down a bit for me so I was able to spend a bit more time with the needles.  I finally got a decent start on Poinsettia Place.

Pattern: Poinsettia Place, CCN

Fabric: 32 count amber linen, Wichelt (2 over 2)

Floss: DMC and GAST as charted

I love stitching CCN designs.  They are fun, easy pieces that stay interesting.   I'm clearly a sucker for chart series as well.  Since, the cottage is nearing completion, I should easily be done with this before the end of the month; more likely the end of this coming week.  Which means I'm still on track to finish one a month, so this project will be done in time for Christmas!  Thinking ahead to how I'll finish Santa's Village, it would make a great mini quilt/wall hanging.  Problem is I don't have a sewing machine, nor any experience in making a hanging like I'm picturing.  I did some machine sewing as a teenager, but it's been a long time...  Maybe this is a good time to start saving up to get a machine and spend some time practicing, which I'm sure would be another slip down the rabbit hole a new hobby creates.

   As far a knitting goes, the first section of my hue shift afghan grew a bit more.  I'm now up to 16 of 25 mitered squares for the first section.  

Still a long way to go, but picking this WIP up every once in a while is still fun.  I have no doubts that I will finish this.  Hopefully this year.

   I also CO a new project which is just beginning to grow.  Here's a peek.

  

weekly WIP report

   One of these weeks I'll actually get to posting my weekly WIP report on time... but for now, I have a couple of things to show you.

   After finishing up Santa's House, I managed to put a few stitches into my April Cottage.  There is still a lot left to do, but any progress is progress.

Pattern: April Cottage, Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: 35 count Lambswool Linen, Wichelt (2 over 2)

Floss: DMC as charted

The color palette for this cottage is amazing!  So spring-like.  I can't wait to get a few more cottages stitched on this piece.


   At the Knit Picks Cyber Monday sale, in addition to all the yarn, I ordered a 40" inch US 1 nickel plated fixed circ which happened to fall into my cart on an earlier window shopping excursion sometime in the couple of months before the sale.  I tried to resist casting on something new before finishing another WIP or two, but I needed something portable to take with me on the plane.  After digging through my stash I pulled out some Knit Picks comfy fingering weight and cast on a quick anklet sock with my new needles.

   WHY did no one tell me how amazing the KP nickel plated circs are?  Clearly I live under a rock.  I have a few sets of Addis around and the KP circs are awesome.  The slippery finish is similar, except the KPs don't tarnish like my Addis do and the cable is of course amazing... all for about 1/3 the price.  Anyway, the point is that these anklets are a combination of perfect yarn, perfect needles, and an easy to remember and fun stitch pattern.  I took this photo yesterday morning, but after my flights yesterday the first sock and the toe of the second is already done.  Good thing I brought a second ball of comfy just in case.

Pattern: Wednesday Sock, Knit Picks Fancy Feet Anklets Kit

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Fingering

Colorway: Planetarium

   I'm going to try to use the last days of December to get myself organized and ready to go for the projects I want to tackle in the new year.  This includes documenting my stash down knitting plans and hopefully avoiding yarn purchases.  I also have a couple of new cross stitching projects on my mind that I need to get supplies for.   

   

stitching finish

I put the final stitches in this piece last night.  I guess all I needed to get Santa's House finished was a blizzard.

Pattern: Santa's House, Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: Wichelt Amber Linen, 32 count over 2

Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors as called for in the pattern

I'm so happy I got this finished.  What a bummer it would have been if this guy didn't make it in time for Christmas:

This was a really fun piece to stitch.   The houses always take the most time to finish because they are large blocks stitched solid and the color changes always take up a lot of time, but all of the other little details on the piece go really fast once you knock out the house.  At first I kind of dreaded stitching this little holly branch border at the bottom (especially as I'll have to do it 11 more times), but it turned out really cute and works up quickly.

It's a little sad that because I'm stitching these all together, I don't really have a finished piece to display yet.  But, since I finished Santa's House during December, I am on schedule to get the rest of the pieces finished before next Christmas!  Now I just need to stay on track and finish each piece on time.

While I'm waiting for Poinsettia Place to show up in my mailbox, I'm picking the knitting needles back up and will hopefully get a finish or two out before the end of 2012.

weekly WIP report

   After all of the knitting FOs I completed this last week, I've been neglecting my cross stitching projects.  In fact, it seems like last week I just wasn't in the mood for stitching or that I just never got into a rhythm when working on Santa's House.  After finishing Peterborough, I rededicated myself to stitching on this piece so it would be done in time for Christmas (which really means done and photographed by December 22nd, the last day before I leave to visit family for Christmas).  Beginning on Friday, however, I held my own little stitch-in and stitched all weekend.  Here's what I have to show for it:

Pattern: Santa's House, CCN

Fabric: 32 count amber linen, Wichelt, over 2

Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors as specified in pattern

 Clearly, I am not a fast stitcher if it took me three days of monogamous stitching to get this far, but then I keep telling myself that Santa has a bigger house than any monthly cottage.  All that's left to stitch on this is Santa (of course), a Christmas tree, snowflakes, snow, and the holly branch border at the bottom.  Listing these of course makes it seem like I have a lot left to do, but that house is HUGE!  It really shouldn't take more than a couple of evenings for me to finish stitching the rest of this piece.

   There's been a lot of concern on the SAL blog about the lambswool linen being too light and visually losing the snowflakes and chimney smoke stitched in white DMC floss.  I purposely chose a darker colored fabric so the white snowflakes would pop.  I think the amber linen is working out great, I'm happy with my choice.

   As for knitting WIPs, I've been thinking about what I should take on my trip home for Christmas to work on.  I already know that I get next to nothing done when I travel, but hopefully after finishing Santa's House, I can get a start on the second sock of a pair to take with me.

weekly WIP report

   So many things have been happening around here and elsewhere while traveling lately!  I've made some progress on a few things and even a FO to tell you about, but I'll save that for another time (it's still drying).  Several things have been on the needles (or needle in some cases) over the last week.  Keep in mind that I was gone for 5 days and only brought one WIP with me.

   While I was gone, I did some more knitting on my On Hold socks.  But don't get too excited; by "some knitting" I mean I finished two pattern repeats.

Pattern: On-Hold Socks, by Wendy D. Johnson

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock

Colorway: Persia

Unfortunately, my luggage was left in Denver on my return trip, so I didn't get this WIP back in my possession until late Friday night otherwise this sock would have been finished! (just kidding)

   When I returned home I was ecstatic to finally get Santa's House in the mail!  So I immediately had to put a few stitches in my fabric.

Pattern: Santa's House, Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: 32 count Amber Linen by Wichelt worked over 2

Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors as called for in the pattern

   But by far the biggest project of the week was logging my Cyber Monday order from Knit Picks into my Ravelry stash.  Opening the box was a bit magical...

But then I quickly realized that I just added 8.5 lbs of yarn to my stash!  After pulling it all out, cataloging, and photographing it all there's a good argument that I'll need to cold sheep (no yarn purchases) through 2013.

There's enough for four sweaters/tops and at least three pairs of socks up there.  After attempting to pack it all away, I'm left with over stuffed storage containers and full bags of yarn that are escaping their allocated space on my limited shelf space.  I definitely need to work on stashing down or whittling down the amount of yarn I have on hand.  In any case, I'll have lots of knitting to keep me busy in the coming year.

   The reality check I received after taking a good look at my overstuffed yarn storage bins led me to start working on some WIPs that will quickly open up some room in those bins.  I worked a quick stash busting project that I'll show you later (once it's finished drying) and pulled out another WIP using super bulky yarn.

This is another Cat Mat that I reverse engineered from photos of a pattern in a book that I don't have access to.  Last night I finished up the first ball of yarn and will keep knitting until I run out of yarn.

   I'm hoping I'll make a lot more progress on some of these projects before the holidays.

weekly WIP report + a new start

   I spent a couple evenings this week ripping out my January Cottage so I could start over.  That limited my stitching time this week.  After spending one night stitching my cottage is starting to take shape again.

  A New Start

  This week I indulged a bit in the yarn department and received two yarn orders in the mail yesterday and I had to cast on immediately.  I got caught up in the hype surrounding Knit Picks Hue Shift Afghan and decided I needed one of my own.  Luckily I ordered my kit on Monday night before they sold out.  I've never knit with 100% acrylic yarn because I was afraid of all the negatives everyone cites (rough, squeaky on the needles, etc.) but I am impressed with Knit Picks Brava yarn.  It is really soft and I get no squeak using bamboo needles.  This pattern is a combination of many things I dread knitting (acrylic, a blanket, garter stitch, and others) but this is a really fun knit!  I'm glad I indulged.  

   I really shouldn't drop my other knitting WIPs for this, but this afghan is addicting.  Can't wait to see it grow. 

back to January

  Remember my January Cottage?

Well, this is what it looks like now.

   It's gone.  

   My stitching has improved since I began stitching my cottages.  So much so that I would never quite be happy with my January cottage especially when its been stitched alongside all the other cottages.  Here are a few of my problem areas:

   The most noticeable mistake is that I miscounted and began stitching my cottage one stitch higher that it should have been.  Of course I didn't notice until the cottage was nearly complete and my snowman was halfway done.  I had hoped that I could make a quick fix by adding in another row of snow below my cottage that would line up with the rest of my cottages, and not be too noticeable.  From a distance it isn't, but it's (in my view) a glaring mistake that I just can't ignore.  

   The stitching on my snowman and especially on the roof of my cottage is pretty ugly as well.  So that plus my counting error made my decision to rip out relatively easy.  It took me a few evenings to rip it all out in between working on other things.  Ripping out is definitely not as satisfying as stitching.  So, I guess the moral of the story is to trust your gut when you find a mistake that you know you can't live with and rip out sooner rather than later so you can spend more time stitching.  

   After all the time spent undoing my stitching, I'm eager to get back to watching this project grow.  

March Cottage

is finished!

Pattern: March Cottage, Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: 35 count Lambswool Linen, Wichelt. Worked over 2.

Floss: All DMC colors suggested by pattern

   This cottage stitched up fast, mostly because of the detailed windows I think.  I wasn't stitching large areas of green for the cottage so it seemed to fly by.  Plus those sheep are adorable!

   I'm sort of on a roll with stitching cottages, so I'm not sure I want to put this piece down yet.  But I need to get going on some knitting projects.  So, we'll see what I focus my attention on next while I'm awaiting the start on Santa's Village.  

   Looking at my finished cottages, I've decided that my January Cottage needs to re-stitched.  It will break my heart to rip out the entire cottage plus the snowman and tree, but I'm just not happy with my mistake and the easy fix I made.  Also, my stitching is pretty subpar especially on the roof of my cottage and on my snowman.   I should rip out and start over right away, so I can get it over with but (and there's always a BUT) it would be a lot easier to stitch a few more cottages before going back to January.  Decisions.... decisions.

Christmas everyday

   I've committed to another monthly series and my first stitch-a-long.  This time, it will be Christmas all year long!  Country Cottage Needleworks is releasing a series of 12 charts entitled "Santa's Village" and I couldn't resist the tiny Santa in the sneak peek.

Country Cottage Needleworks, Santa's Village image found here.

   Each of the 12 pieces flow into the next, so I'll be stitching them all together on one piece of fabric like my monthly cottages.

    I filled out my floss collection with the colors I didn't already have and I ordered a piece of 32 count Amber linen by Wichelt.  I knew I wanted to go with a darker fabric than what the pattern calls for because I really want the white (snowflakes!) to pop.  Not sure I'm sold yet on this color, but I'll wait until I see the first chart ("Santa's House") before I decide but its growing on me.

   I'm super excited already and the first chart won't be released until the middle of the month! I guess I'll have to keep working on my cottages to pass the time.

weekly WIP report...

and a tragedy.

   This week I spent most of my evenings working on my March Cottage.  I've got to say that I wasn't really sold on the colors before I started, but the combination makes for a really cute cottage.  I think this is my favorite cottage so far.  Here's a preview.

Pattern: March Cottage, Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: stitched over 2 on 35 count linen from Wichelt - lambswool
Floss: all DMC colors provided by chart

   I've also spent a couple hours working on Miss BB.

Pattern: Miss BB, Chic Knits

Yarn: Mirasol Yarn Sawya

Colorway: 1800, Black

   I've gotten to the point where my cable pattern for the upper back is set up.  I can knit up nearly an entire ball of Sawya in just a few hours if I can manage to focus on this project.  So I know that this pattern knits up quickly, but life gets busy and I'm trying to stop feeling guilt over neglecting certain projects sometimes.  I suppose its a bit of perfectionism, but isn't a hobby all about de-stressing?  My projects are really just for me and this isn't a competition after all.  Anyway, I'm still working on 'getting over it' and letting some of my high expectations go.  

   In other news...

Somehow I've corrupted my photo library and can't access any photos from before the ones included in this post.  And of course, my external hard drive is at work.  So hopefully on Monday I can restore it and get 6 years of pictures back!  In the meantime, thank goodness for flickr. 

a february finish

Pattern: February Cottage, Country Cottage Needleworks
Fabric: stitched over 2 on 35 count linen from Wichelt - lambswool
Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors

   The February Cottage is finished!  I put the last stitches in this yesterday and am pretty happy with the results.  I made a few changes and all of them were intended this time!  First of all, I used Crescent Colors Pink Posy and Pink Champagne as called for, but subbed the DMC color recommended by the pattern for Poblano.  I left off the floating hearts surrounding 'February' as it seemed too busy to me.  These hearts also had a border of a different color surrounding them that made it a bit over the top for me.  I love the simple hearts of the border and plants and didn't feel the need to overcomplicate things and throw more hearts at it.  I also added a pop of blue on the birds (which were originally white) using DMC 3766.  

 

   I had some issues with the bright, Pink Champagne floss running when I pre-soaked my skeins.  I think I lost a lot of color when the stuff would. not. stop. bleeding. so my bright pink is not as bright as I'd hoped.    

   Overall, I'm happy with this cottage, and for the moment I'm not too disappointed in my January mishap.  

In the meantime, the March Cottage is ready to go. 

weekly WIP progress report

  Here's a look at what I've been doing this week.

Peterborough

Pattern: Peterborough, Berroco: Norah Gaughan Vol. 8

Yarn: Mirasol Yarn, Wach'i

Colorway: 1512 Natural

   Peterborough is well on its way to completion.  The body and one sleeve are finished and I'm nearly done with the ribbing on the second sleeve.  Knitting 4" of ribbing with a (primarily) cotton yarn is no fun, but I managed to CO my second sleeve right after finishing the first.  Trade secret: always CO immediately following the BO on the first piece of things knit in pairs (i.e. socks, sleeves, mittens, etc.) to avoid the nearly unavoidable SSS (Second Sock Syndrome), or in this case SSleeveS.

   I've been panicking about not having enough yarn to finish this cardigan, but I got another 2 skeins of yarn (from the same dye lot!) from another Raveller in the mail this week.  I'll have plenty of yarn to finish this up.  No more excuses for this WIP.

  

Miss BB

Pattern: Miss BB, Chic Knits

Yarn: Mirasol Yarn, Sawya

Colorway: 1800, Black

   This week I also spent a bit of time with Miss BB.  I've got nearly 6" of the back done.  The yarn is gorgeous and wonderful to work with.  No regrets about adding 17 skeins of it to the stash, except maybe not snagging another sweaters worth when I had the chance.  Once I get Peterborough squared away I can devote 100% of my time to Miss BB, and I'm sure that time will fly by.

  Here's a preview of another WIP I've been working on.

Pattern: February Cottage, Country Cottage Needleworks
Fabric: stitched over 2 on 35 count linen from Wichelt - lambswool
Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors

This morning I spent an hour or so putting a few stitches into my February Cottage and its nearly finished.  Look for an update soon!

weekly WIP progress report

   It's Sunday morning and I'm enjoying a cup or two of coffee.  Here's what I've been working on this week:

February Cottage

Pattern: Country Cottage Needleworks, February Cottage
Fabric: stitched over 2 on 35 count linen from Wichelt - lambswool
Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors - Pink Champagne and Pink Posey

   I've started on my February Cottage and it's nearly done.  I never thought I'd say it, but there really is A LOT of pink on this cottage.  I've seen other mods of this chart and think I will also make my birds into bluebirds and might also leave off some or all of the floating hearts surrounding 'February'.   

   I'm still worried about my issues with the January Cottage, but I figure that I can finish stitching February and March, which make up the top row of my 12 cottage piece, before I do any major ripping out on January.  At this point, I'm feeling that I do need to rip out the January cottage and start over.  The problem is that if I rip out the cottage, there goes my snowman and tree also.  

Peterborough

   The body has been washed and blocked, so I've moved on to sleeves.  I'm pretty sure that my 4 remaining skeins of Mirasol Yarn Wach'i will not be enough to knit both long sleeves, but thankfully a kind Raveller has offered to send me a couple of skeins so I can finish up.  
   Once I do get the sleeves knit up, seaming will be a long and tedious process.  I actually enjoy knitting garments in pieces (many mini FOs FTW!) and like the structure seamed garments have, but sewing the pieces together by hand is a bit tedious.  Hopefully I don't stall out on the finishing for Peterborough, because it's lovely and has had WIP/Hibernating status for way too long.  

A New Start

Yarn: Mirasol Yarn Sawya

Colorway: Black

     
      This yarn turned up at my mailbox this week.  In the near future it will become a jacket/cardigan for me.

january in september

   I am definitely late to the party, but last night I finished up January Cottage from Country Cottage Needleworks.  I clearly can't count, so I had to make some adjustments.  Since I'm going to stitch all 12 cottages on the same piece of fabric, I hope it won't be too obvious that January is a bit off.

Pattern: Country Cottage Needleworks, January Cottage
Fabric: stitched over 2 on 35 count linen from Wichelt - lambswool
Floss: DMC and Crescent Colors - Pebble Beach 

   My cottage is one row too high, but of course I didn't notice this until I had stitched the entire cottage and half of my snowman.  Instead of frogging the entire thing, I only stitched one of the chimneys, so the second one wouldn't be too close to the J and I added an extra row of white below the cottage.  Hopefully once I start stitching the February Cottage, the borders should line up.  However, looking at the rest of the months, my January Cottage will still be a bit too high up on the designs.  I'm hoping it won't be too noticeable.   

  Meanwhile, February's Cottage is kit-ed up and ready to go after I make more progress on the Mystery Sampler.