A small cross stitch...

Thanks to all who gave feedback on my blanket project.  I've decided to put it on hold until I get with my friend for her to weigh in on it again.  Comments helped me see some ideas I didn't think about, and also made me feel a little more confident of the colors I'm working with.  I appreciate it.

While waiting to get back to the blanket, I've given myself permission to start a small cross stitch project I found in an older (February 2015) Just Cross Stitch magazine.  I have found some gems in old craft magazines - which is good and bad.  It's fun, because the ideas are so old, they're new again.  It's bad because it feeds my hoarding tendency of all things crafty...  Do you relate?

While Valentine's Day was the inspiration for picking this pattern to work on, and the variegated thread color, I think the finished project will look fine through the spring and summer months displayed with other colorful small projects.  Do I have those other colorful projects done?  No...  But this may just inspire me to begin that collection.  😉

We're warming up here for the next week to temps in the 50's and 60's.  Anticipating the warm up, I bought some seeds a few days ago - with the thought that I might just get something planted this week.  We are also expecting a fair amount of rain in the upcoming days, but hopefully I can find a dry one to do some potting of seeds outside.  The idea of doing that in February just sounds incredible!

Celtic knots are finished...

 Finally!    

I don't know why, but my feet just drug as I thought about working on these cross stitched knots the last few weeks.  Days and sometimes weeks went by when I didn't even feel like picking them up for some reason.

I'm pleased with the stitching part, but I'm not sure how I feel about the finishing part.

Thinking they were a little too bland as plain pillows, I made a trip to Hobby Lobby to see if I could find a trim that might perk them up.  I didn't have any luck with the trim, but I did come home with some fabric for an upcoming project!  More on that another time.

Back at home, I remembered once upon a time I had bought a cord-making gadget.   Of course!  I had plenty of floss - I could make my own trim!  Fortunately, once I remembered I had it, I remembered exactly where I had put it when I unpacked my craft supplies three and a half years ago.

Following the instructions that came with the Kreinik Custom Corder, I made the first cord in the two green colors I'd stitched the first knot in.

In the picture, the trim is hardly noticeable.  In person, it's more obvious, but it's underwhelming.  Clearly, I didn't use enough strands of floss.   But did I want to make it over?  No I really did not.  At least not until I made thicker cording for the second pillow - to my mind, it made sense to experiment on the second unfinished pillow before ripping out what had been done on the first one. And I figured watching a few tutorials wasn't a bad idea, either.

Ok... that's better, but I wish I had just used one of the colors this time.  The light and dark gold twisted together is a little busy.  But did I want to make it over?  No. I really really did not.

It isn't that the Kreinik is exactly hard to use, but the printed instructions are too brief, and I didn't find it as easy to use as the tutorials made it appear to be.  It didn't help that every tutorial I watched added some slightly different technique.  I also now know I used too-long strands of floss and it became unwieldy.  I needed Hub to come and hold one end while I kept my end taut (thankfully, I have long arms) as I slid the Kreinik to the middle and let it drop - to twist the cord back on itself.  One of these days, when I'm under no pressure to finish a project, I will play around with it and perhaps get the hang of it more easily. 

For now, I'm happy to be finished with this project that took way too long for what it was.  Someday I may remake the cording on the green knot pillow, but for now I'm relieved to call it done.  

Chances are, I'll be perfectly fine with its imperfectness and never change it.

A short stitchy post...

 'Twas a busy week the last seven days - and mostly with good things.  But I'm relieved to see a number of unscheduled days for the week coming up.  With a week full of temps above 90, I have in mind to stay inside for much of it reading, stitching, and generally catching up on homemaking things... We'll see if it actually pans out that way.

Sometime in the past week or so I gave into temptation before I was finished with the first Celtic knot I had started, and began stitching another one.  

You can see (above) the shading I talked about in an earlier post.  I'm undecided at the moment on what floss color I'll use as an outline (or if I'll do any outline).  The instructions suggest using a metallic gold thread - which I have in my stash, but it is lighter than lightest cotton gold floss I'm using above.  I tend to think outlining in the darkest floss I'm using would look best.  

These knots are taking quite a bit longer than I thought they would, but maybe that's just because other things have needed doing.  I'm hoping I'll finish in time to include them in this year's round-up of my Year of Projects - which I think is next week.  

Next, I have this idea to start a sampler of embroidery stitches. Not a sampler to frame, necessarily, but a piece of cloth where I sample new-to-me embroidery stitches.  Sarah Homfray is an advocate of doing this.  I've been bingeing on this gal's videos lately.  If you have any interest in embroidery, I recommend her channel.

Celtic cross stitch...

I don't know how many posts this spring I've mentioned rain in, but another week has come and gone and we've gotten several more dousings.  A week or so ago, I finally did complete my garden planting (or, at least, I've decided I'm finished for now), so all the rain is very welcome from this point on.

With so much rain and resulting mosquitos, I've come inside earlier most evenings than I might otherwise, and I've found more opportunity to do some handcrafts. Wanting to stitch up a quick project to replace the May pillow that was in my mini-pillow display from last week, I went looking through some books for something that might fit the bill.

I was torn between some floral patterns in another book, and the Celtic knots in the book below that eldest son gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago:

Probably because I thought they'd be quicker makes, the knots won out and I've picked out two to stitch up on this very open-weaved linen fabric:  

I'm here to report that stitching an outline first does not make for quick stitching.  Perhaps especially on an image like this, one can't fudge when filling in later if a mistake has been made in the outline.  The need to do this perfectly meant almost as much time counting, recounting, and often recounting stitches again, as it took to actually stitch the outline.  It was exhausting, and like a kid with a new coloring book, I was so glad to be able to start filling in the design.

For the first knot design, I decided to stitch a dark-ish olive-colored outline, and fill in the two solid pieces with different shades and tints of the same olive color.

Only about half-way finished with this one, I'm really itching to stitch the second knot pattern I've picked out, as it has shading markings and will look more dimensional.  When I started the above knot (which did not have shaded markings in the pattern), I thought to self, "You can add the shading as you go. It's pretty obvious, afterall."  Well, shading with needle and floss turned out to be a huge headache without having plotted out ahead of time where to place the shading stitches.  I know... even looking at the picture above, it's pretty obvious where shading would go, but trying to place those stitches as I stitched (without a reference) was just too challenging for my brain.  So I gave up on that and started over.  At this point, I realize I should have stitched up the shaded pattern first, and I might have been more motivated to plot out the shading on this one before I started it.

But it's okay...  I've been watching Sarah Homfrey on YouTube and she mentions often, to keep stitching instead of ripping out and starting over.  One only learns and improves their stitches by making more stitches and moving forward.  (That's probably a paraphrase of what Sarah says exactly, but it's close.)  Of course, the over-thinker in me wants to argue that point.  I prefer to rip out and do over most mistakes I make no matter the craft, and I know I learn things in that process.  But I've decided to listen to Sarah and just keep stitching away with this.  We'll soon see how it turns out.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to resist other embroidery projects that Sarah's videos inspire me to want to jump into.  The urge to start another new thing is sooo strong.  

Just a week and a half 'till Christmas...

I debated with myself about not posting anything YOP-related for another week, or simply posting nothing much at all.  I finally decided to do the later - peeking in and just saying "Hi!" is a better choice over being absent.   

Like everyone else, I suppose, I'm finding the time leading up to Christmas is too short this year.  I've been making gift lists, shopping for said gifts - online and in person. I'm even still considering making a few simple gifts this upcoming week.  Why do I always wait until the last minute for such things?  I've done this since I was a kid, so I have a tough time believing I'm going to actually change now.  Even though I have thoughts in July of making some Christmas gifts, I never quite seem to get started until sometime in December.  I don't know...  'Tis a new year coming up - maybe I can turn over a new leaf.  Hope springs eternal.

There is no urgency to finish the projects I've been working on recently, so while they are coming along, they get back-burnered very easily.

This series of cute small (and free) monthly cross stitch patterns are fun to work - once I get going on one again:  

Once I started on this I began questioning my choice of using this linen-type aida cloth with sparkles in it for making a December themed pillow, but now I'm kind of loving it.  It sort of evokes snow - which is probably why I considered it to begin with.  I'm going to keep going with it and hope for the best.

~~~~~

And my colorful Dahlia blanket is still a pleasure to crochet.  I'm just about finished with the rows, then there will be a couple dozen ends to weave in, and finally, I'll make a border.    

There are quite a few more hours of crocheting before this is completed, but maybe I'll finish it by the end of the year.

And does it sound silly that I'm already entertaining starting another blanket as soon as I finish this one?  Winter is just such a perfect season for crocheting a big blanket. It keeps me warm and cozy while I work on it, and will make someone else (or maybe just me - who knows!) warm and cozy when I'm done.

The sermon I heard this morning was about Hope.  I hope your holiday season is filled with blessings to give and receive.  I am thankful to continually be reminded that the reason we celebrate is because God gave us the best gift of all - salvation through His son, to all who believe.  The hustle and bustle and last-minute gifts start to fade in importance when I focus on that.  

I hope you all enjoy this last week leading up to Christmas!  And if anyone reading this has anything difficult going on, I pray God will break right through the hard things, and show you His love and grace.

Little Sheep Virtues...

I hope everyone in the U.S. had a terrific Thanksgiving.  Good times were had here, with family gathering and me experimenting a bit with lasagna and making persimmon pudding for the first time ever.  Recipes for those will come soon, hopefully.

In the last week, a Little Sheep Virtues (by Little House Needleworks) cross stitch project was completed, and I finished it and a companion piece into small pillows.

...and came up with a small display:

Holiday (any holiday) decorating around here is fairly simple, but it makes me happy to find easy ways to display some of my handwork.

Except for the Little Sheep Virtues pillows, I believe all the above patterns came from old Cross Stitch Magazines that came into my possession a few years ago.  Those turned out to be a treasure trove of cross stitching goodness.  Wait a minute... now that I think about it, I believe those "quilt" pattern ornaments may have come from a homemaking magazine - Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Gardens, perhaps.  I don't know if those magazines exist today, but it's been decades since either (or both?) of those publications printed things like cross stitch patterns and other crafts.  Do any of you in your 60's and older remember making craft projects from those magazines?

I can't believe today begins the countdown to Christmas!  It's only just in the last few days it's finally turned cold here, and that we've finally gotten hard frosts - several days in a row since Thanksgiving.  About a month late for these parts. Or, at least, that's the way I remember it.  But the tree is up and decorated, and I'm committed to being in the Christmas spirit!

  

Cross stitch...

My colorful Dahlia blanket continues to grow and one of these days (or weeks) I look forward to showing it in its finished state. Until then, even though it's growing, a picture of it today would look pretty much like a picture of it a couple of weeks ago, so I'll not bother with progress pictures.

Thinking a little crafting variety might be nice, I went through some embroidery supplies and cross stitch projects recently, and I decided it was time to put some effort into finishing a small stitch I began before moving in 2021 - honestly, I think I started this during the early covid days of 2020:

There is another (finished) companion stitch on the other half of this fabric, so I look forward to soon sewing them both into small pillows. 

While I had my flosses out, it occurred to me that some might be interested in how I store these threads.  My system is nothing novel, but I like it because it's easy to keep neat.

I like to wind DMC floss skeins that I'm using onto cardboard bobbins.  Once finished with a project, the bobbins go into a divided plastic storage box:

I have another (empty) box like this waiting in the wings.  By the looks of the picture above, it appears I'm soon going to need to employ it.

I file the colors by number so they are simple to find.  I know some stitchers don't like using bobbins like this because they create folds in the floss (especially floss wound closer to the bobbin), but I've never found that to be problematic. I find that the floss tends to straighten out while stitching, and it doesn't affect how the floss looks in a stitched project.  And being able to find any color I want at a glance makes this an ideal storage solution for me.

That said, until I actually begin to use a skein of floss, I store it with other unused skeins with their bands on them, in zip lock bags, like this:

Again, I store them according to their numbers.  The flosses stay neat in these bags, and the numbers are always visible.  I don't have to handle the floss until I locate the right color.  Then I just reach my fingers in and retrieve the single skein I need.  All the other skeins stay in place.

And these bags are stored in a small-ish plastic tote:

You can't see the hand-dyed flosses, but I have a few on rings underneath the bagged flosses in this same box.  It's more floss than I need to own, but keeping it all in this one tote makes it feel like a manageable and respectable amount.   

While I had everything out, I also decided to pull flosses for another project that I'll try to work on this winter:

I doubt I'll finish it in time to display it this December, but I'll enjoy stitching on it in the upcoming weeks.

The flosses above are hand-dyed yarns like I mentioned above.  I don't have a large collection of these embroidery flosses, but they are interesting for their subtle variegation.  And fun to use on hand-dyed cross stitching cloth.

And that is a glimpse into my embroidery storage and prep. Hopefully, something will show up finished here soon!

Stitching...

It's been a good week.  I brought order once again to the room where I store craft materials.  And I have settled on yarn in my stash for a new Dahlia blanket to begin when the mood strikes.

Feeling a desire to bring a little discipline to my crafting, and wanting to finish some languishing cross stich and embroidery projects, I decided it was time to do just that.

Being the perfect temperatures lately to spend time in the sunroom, I set up a little corner to work in.

I may end up moving to the other end of the room as it cools off because the three large windows at the far end of the room are south-facing and that spot warms up some on sunny cool days.

But for at least another week or so, this spot I've set up overlooking the backyard, and pretty changing colors is where I'll park myself to work on this on-going cross stitch sampler.

If you've been a reader here for more than a couple of years, this project is the infamous mystery sal that I decided to jump into in 2020.  It was a free offering by Linen and Threads, and it was to be my "covid piece".   As we're approaching the end of 2024, I'm happy to say I'm about half-way finished with it.  I might just finish this before the decade is over!

Last week, I set myself a goal of working on this project for at least 30 minutes every day that I could.  I managed to stitch three - maybe four - days, and, of course, once I started, I kept stitching beyond 30 minutes.  

Progress

~~~~~

Another project I pulled out is a slow stitching scrappy thing I started last autumn.  

After a few hours of stitching, I concluded that I really don't like it.  At all.  I'm not even going to sew on the buttons.  Before you tell me it's not that bad, let me assure you, it looks better in the picture than it does in real life.

That said, I'm deciding it wasn't a waste of time.  It may be the first time I've embroidered something based on an idea and a sketch I've made.  

So that was kind of satisfying - even if my embroidered rendition looks more like house centipedes than wheat stalks.  If you're unfamiliar with house centipedes, look it up.  

And I think I've concluded I'm not all that into frayed edges on stitched pieces - even if they look cute when others do them.  I loved stitching up a small kawandi a few months ago, and I enjoyed the scrappy nature of that, so maybe I'm just happier with finished edges.  And prettier colors.  

I'll try my hand at scrappy slow stitching some other time, but I think the next stalled WIP I'll turn to is something more predictable - like cross stitch, or embroidering a printed design.  It sounds a little boring perhaps, but my brain will appreciate the break from second guessing the multitude of choices that are involved in a scrappy project.

Until next time...

Handwork...

I am now three quarters of the way through my chemotherapy, am climbing out of some rough days after my last treatment, and I am starting to feel some new motivation.  

I'm at a place I couldn't even imagine being just a couple of weeks ago.  On my good days I do fairly normal things, am sometimes out around people (though I do have to be smart about that with a compromised immune system), looking perfectly fine...   Halfway through a chemo cycle, if you didn't know I'd had chemo 10 days prior, you wouldn't know!   That said, I have lacked any real motivation for getting back to a lot that is normal for me.  In this post, I'm referring to hobbies I used to enjoy.  I see them sitting there and I want to want to do them, but I have lacked the motivation to actually do them.  Things like crafting, embroidery, cross stitch, slow drawing (if you don't know what that is, think of it as purposeful doodling)...  

But something seems to be changing inside me, and I am so thankful for it.  I've even begun to consider taking up sewing again - like maybe clothing.  I haven't sewn clothing since...   Wow - how long has it been?   I made some maternity clothes 29 years ago.  And I made some flannel pajamas for our boys when they were little.  Okay, I've sewn here and there over the years.   Craft projects, even home projects have seen me sitting at the sewing machine.  While it was over a decade ago, youngest son would benefit each semester from my sewing skills when he needed a costume (usually something adapted from the thrift store) for a high school drama he was in.  My sewing machine has always been fairly handy, but I don't think I've sewn an article of clothing in 20 - 25 years.  

I know what has piqued my interest.   Greg has recently posted some old pictures to a family Facebook group, and in two pictures I recognized I'm wearing things I made when I was young.  In fact...  just for fun, here is a scan of a newspaper clipping of young me sewing a 4-H project.  I remember the reporter coming over to interview me and take my picture for the 4-H Fair supplement for the local paper.  Recognizing the Mickey Mouse t-shirt, I'm getting jr. high vibes, so I suspect I was around 12 or 13:

So...  I provide this as proof that I used to be a sewer.  Or maybe the better word is sewist.  A maker of garments.  Seeing pictures of things I had made (and me wearing them) made me think of other pieces of clothing I've made in years' past.  These pictures and memories sparked something inside of me.

Okay...  I'm not sure about getting back to sewing clothing for sure.  I'm just dreaming at the moment.  But dreaming feels good.  And a little doing recently has done me good.

It's funny what can come along and push us out of our inertia when we are struggling with motivation.  With cooler weather right around the corner I've started looking at my clothes to see what still fits me at this point, what can take me through fall and winter, and what might benefit from some simple altering.  I found a few tops that, by altering the neckline, should be very comfortable and decent looking for me to wear.  And I'm so surprised at what has happened.  Simply putting thread to needle, and doing the easiest of clothing alterations has inspired me to want to do more handwork.  

It led me to pick up another needle and thread and start working on my Quaker Sampler again.  

I don't know how many times I can show a picture of this sampler in progress before losing all credibility that I'll ever finish it.  But I don't care.  I'm back at it for now.

And I've even gotten some ideas for hand-stitched Christmas ornaments - some "scrappy" slow-stitching kind of projects. 

This is actually a fairly ambitious project (for me), and if I'm being completely honest, I'm a tiny bit scared I'll not follow through.  Wish me well that I have enough gumption to get it started, let alone finished.   

I am so relieved to be feeling motivated again to play with fabric and thread.  To just be dreaming of things I want to make is quite the improvement.

There is nothing wrong with setting aside activities, even abandoning them completely as life changes, but that's not what I wanted.  I have wanted for so long to get back to making things - really, since our move nearly two years ago I haven't been overly motivated to do handcrafts.  And this year, with all the cancer business, my zeal for "making" has just been completely zapped.   I'm feeling relieved that something seems to have changed in me.   

I'm curious...  What do you do when you find your motivation for favorite activities waning?  

 

Waiting in the wings...

I've started a gentle getting back to cross stitching, but I also go long stretches forgetting about it. 

The stitching is upside down and what is shown is the back - because that's how I try to store this so dust doesn't fall on the front side.  I had set this aside in our "office" room for I don't know... a couple weeks?  Forgotten and neglected.  When I saw the morning light falling across it through the semi-closed blinds I thought the effect was kind of "atmospheric", as Linda (a fellow needle worker) mentioned one time regarding another photo I posted, so I decided to snap a picture.

The tabletop stitching stand that I bought a few years ago when my hands started hurting is very helpful as my left hand continues to heal from CMC surgery I had five months ago.

Good news & some spring stitching...

Good news this week!  I received and accepted an offer on my brother's house last Monday!  It's a few more weeks until closing (possibly a month), but I'm feeling relieved to (hopefully) have finished most of the work involved in getting the house ready to sell.  We still need to move a few things off the property, but that doesn't feel like too monumental of a task at this point.  Mustn't grow weary now!

On the crafting front...  after seeing Sandy's cross stitched bunny last week (at Home Ec Major) I had an irresistible urge to cross stitch a bunny, too.   So I found one, and now about half-way done, I think I might get it finished before Easter:

Also, I finished Part 4 on the Linen & Thread 2020 SAL, and added some smaller pictures:

Trying to decide if that is too busy there (in the center of the above picture), and if I should go lighter in filling in blank  spaces.  I've seen a couple that are really full and they are fun to look at.  On the other hand, I wonder if it's too much.  The wonderful thing about a sampler is that it doesn't have to look the same throughout.  So maybe I'll experiment.  

And that's really all I've got.  I think the upcoming week will be busy - hopefully, that translates into feeling productive.  It just now occurred to me (for some reason)...   Heading into tax season, we need to not only get our own taxes done, but gather and take necessary stuff to the accountant for both my MIL's and my brother's estates.  

The nuttiness of that just struck me.  

😧

Breathing deep... 

We will get to the other side of this.

If you have posted a comment to me under the name of Glenda, please e-mail me via the address found on my profile.  I will be happy to answer your question privately.  Thanks!

Hello, September...

Hello, first Sunday of September!  Last week, for some reason, I thought we were well into the third week of the month (making the month half over), so imagine how happy it made me today to find I've gained over a week!  That's a bonus in this year that just feels like time is slipping away.

First up, I want to show you what came home this week.  Let me introduce you to the Singer sewing machine (purchased in the mid 1950's) that I inherited from my mother-in-law who passed earlier this year:  

I haven't stitched anything on it yet, but I'm feeling the love for this vintage-y machine.  I'm going on faith that all will work well and one of these days I'll be showing something I've actually sewn on it.  Now, if I could just find the owner's manual I put somewhere for safe keeping...  

It will show up, I'm sure.

For now, here are just a few shots of some of the attachments that my MIL used:

A bad-boy buttonholer that looks mighty complicated.

A "Automatic" Zigzagger. 

Looks like about 5 extra steps than the zigzag stitch takes to make
on my "modern" 25 year-old machine.

And I'm curious how many of these pressure feet (below) any of you recognize?  

I'm calling the zipper foot (bottom left hand corner), 

but I have no clue what any of the others are used for.  

And lastly, while this isn't an accessory, it's a might fine feature...  

No wait.  I really need to build up to this...  

When we were getting ready to pack this in the car, I wanted to separate the machine from the cabinet. A friend and I fiddled with screws that held the machine to two hinges that lower it down into the cabinet.  When I say fiddled, I mean we had to find the right size screw driver to unscrew two small set screws, and then one of us held the machine while the other nearly stood on their head to unscrew the thing (we took turns doing that as we could only manage one screw each, upside down).  And then once it was home the process had to be repeated (in reverse) to get the machine back in the cabinet.  Though, I found a way to do it that didn't require standing on my head.  

Yep.  I was determined to be smarter this time.  

At home, I decided to unscrew the hinges from the cabinet, attach the machine's set screws back onto the hinges, then while Hub held the machine upright, I screwed the hinges back onto the cabinet.  Remember, I am the mechanic of the family.  And I was so proud of myself that I had figured out how to get this back into the cabinet without turning myself upside down again.

Now, look at the picture above.  Look at that black curved thing (looks like a lever of some sort) in the top left hand of the picture.  Today, as I was taking this picture above (thinking I'd show the side bobbin - which is new to me), I was curious what that little lever was and I pressed on it. At which point, several parts "came away" and out of curiosity I lifted the machine a bit. I pressed a bit harder (though not hard at all) on the lever and out the whole thing came!!!  LOL!  

I'm not even sure I want to tell Hubs about this.  It's so embarrassing.  On the other hand, I think seeing the look on his face will be worth all the egg on mine.  😄

Anyway... what a lovely feature.    Much easier to get out of the cabinet than my more "modern" 25 year-old machine, that's for sure.

There's another story to someday tell on myself, but I think I need to save it for another day.  I'm already entertained to no end by this little vintage machine.  

Now... to find that manual!

~~~~~

And for my crafty bit today...   A few weeks ago I came across the blog, Snowflower Diaries, and while the blog doesn't appear to have been updated in a while, this cross stitch designer has some sweet designs (both for purchase and many for free).  If one of my fellow blogging buddies linked to her designs and I've forgotten who, I apologize, but I was completely taken with the designs in her Joyful World series.  This link is to the last design of the series.  There doesn't appear to be a link to the whole set, nor are all of the designs tagged (or labeled) so that they can all be pulled up easily.  But anyone interested can scroll through the blog and find each free monthly installment in this collection of cross stitch pictures.

Anyway, my threads and fabric arrived and here's what I accomplished this week:  

I'm thinking of making this a flat-fold to sit on my desk or a shelf.  I've never made a flat fold before, so here's hoping I can be motivated to finish the stitching and the project as a whole by the end of the month so I can enjoy it yet this year. 

We shall see...