Update

I'm sitting in a place with free wi-fi and an hour between meetings and my netbook in my bag, so what better opportunity to update my blog. Let's face it, it's probably the only opportunity I'm going to get ...

Work is busier than ever - the general manager of the company I do most of my work for has moved onto pastures new, and I've stepped up to cover some of his role until a new person is appointed. The trustees did ask if I would be applying, and I gently made my excuses - I'm not looking for a full time role until after 2012 (when I graduate) and - to be honest - possibly not even then, as the lure of academia may prove just too strong!  I've also started some paid work with the University in improving student representation, which will be interesting, and hopefully will only take up a couple of hours a week ... famous last words?

I got to make my professional performance debut a couple of Saturdays ago... I do most of my work for a circus theatre company and we are developing a new show, and we piloted some ideas at a community event, improvising on the theme of fairy tales. I think it's fair to say my creative leanings are better expressed through the medium of needles, thread, yarn and fabric but the finished result was well received. I even got some of the locals passing by - all tattoos and 'bling' - to stand up and recite their favourite nursery rhymes ... 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' as declaimed by a 'hard case' is something to behold...

(I'm not showing you pictures of the performance. The point of fairy tales is to use your imagination!)

I'd been coming down with something before the performance but 'the show must go on' and a combination of Coca Cola and Sudafed got me through - which of course meant a massive crash in the days following and an absolutely streaming feverish cold - I'm fairly certain that, nasty though it was, it wasn't the dreaded swine flu! The Hermit was his usual considerate self, providing hot drinks and hot water bottles when demanded required! I wasn't really up to anything more demanding than listening to the radio when feeling so washed out - it did seem like a waste of good crafting time though!

(No pictures either, runny eyes and noses are not attractive!)

So, crafting wise, what have I been up to? Well, I've finished another knitted wrap for myself, which is very timely as there has been a distinct autumnal feel in the air lately. And I made a couple of 'blanket buddies' for friends' new babies. They were rewardingly quick to knit and look very effective. There was a stitched piece for an exchange (and there's one to finish-finish) but I'm really not doing much cross stitch at all - I'm just so tired at the end of the day that my eyes can't focus on such close work and knitting is just easier ... Perhaps it's time to treat myself to a powerful daylight lamp? I also managed to miss Anna's (Stitch Bitch's) Swirlygig competition, even though I had two stitched versions to make up, and I've decided to pass on a couple of exchanges offered because of this stitching slump. The good news is that Neat Country Stuff has come back from the framer and is on my wall ...


(There might be pictures of this stuff. Sometime. You never know...)

Righty ho, must get cracking and on to my next meeting - hopefully, there will  be a more stitchy based post soon!

By The Sea Exchange

Michelle pulled out a blinder for the By The Sea Exchange I received recently. She'd obviously been looking at my blog and spotted some of my likes and dislikes and I think she judged them very well indeed!

 

The design is a pretty new one by Country Cottage Needleworks and I think Michelle has done a super job, making it vibrant but not spoiling the balance of the design - the evenness of the stitching is amazing, too!

The mini pillow is backed in a jewel bright turquoise fabric, and Michelle was kind enough to include more of the same in the package:

She also included a fabulous star pendant. I've had to hide it from my mother, she was coveting it ...

It was a fabulous parcel to receive, thank you so much Michelle! The pillow is now gracefully decorating my bathroom and I can admire it multiple times a day!

Oh - and did you know the 'she' in this rhyme is based on a real person, called Mary Anning? She was an amazing fossil hunter, but because of her humble background and gender didn't get the recognition she deserved for a long time although she was honoured in her time. Apparently, the new Tracy Chevalier novel features her..
 

It's quite an appropriate gift in another way too - I've been out of circulation because I've been working on a new show based on Nursery Rhymes and Fairytales. We had a 'work in progress' showing at a local festival at the weekend, and now we're into revising and refining the concept for an even bigger Arts Festival in October. I was performing at the weekend, which is a *very* rare occurrence and I'm hoping just to be Stage Managing next month - keep the public wanting more, daaaaahlings ... Photos do exist but I think I'll stick to showing you my needlework...

Poetry Society Letter

Design: Poetry Society Letter

Yarn: Emu Superwash Wool

Needles: 3mm

I finished my Poetry Society letter for their gigantic knitted poem - we still don't know what it will be but all will be revealed next month, and I'm sure we'll all have fun trying to spot our letters!

You can probably see from the books behind me that I'm into words, lots of words, so it's no surprise that I chose to participate in this, along with some other of my local SnB group ...

We were asked to attach a label to the back with our name, location and favourite poem - my favourite is Ithaca by C P Cavafy. It's seen me through bad times, good times, tough decisions and life choices ... so I've added it here, because sometimes, we need to think that it's about the doing, not the result - whether that is life, cross stitch, knitting ...

ITHACA

C.P. Cavafy

translated from modern Greek by Rae Dalven

When you start on your journey to Ithaca,
then pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
Do not fear the Lestrygonians
and the Cyclopes and the angry Poseidon.
You will never meet such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your body and your spirit.
You will never meet the Lestrygonians,
the Cyclopes and the fierce Poseidon,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not raise them up before you.

Then pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many,
that you will enter ports seen for the first time
with such pleasure, with such joy!
Stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and corals, amber and ebony,
and pleasurable perfumes of all kinds,
buy as many pleasurable perfumes as you can;
visit hosts of Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from those who have knowledge.

Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for long years;
and even to anchor at the isle when you are old,
rich with all that you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have taken the road.
But she has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not defrauded you.
With the great wisdom you have gained, with so much experience,
you must surely have understood by then what Ithacas mean.

Needlebook Arrived!

I got home yesterday after an exhausting day at work - not only am I doing my 'normal' work, I've been roped in to perform at a festival this weekend so we're rehearsing for that, and I'm not a natural performer - to find a lovely package from Jill!

 

 

Jill tells me this is a Lizzie*Kate design which she adapted. The sunflowers are so cheerful and one of my favourites - and of course there's a bee :o)

 

  

 

The leaf of needles is attached by the little cute star, and the lining fabric matches the border on the front perfectly - and is another one of my favourite colours! 

 

And talking of bees:

 

 

Jill included this really sweet Shepherd's Bush kit from my wishlist! Wow! My needles are itching to start it already!

 

Thank you so much for a lovely exchange!

The Sister is Ready to Travel...

Amongst stitching bloggers, there's a great feeling of sisterhood - like all sisters, we have the odd times when hurtful comments are made (fortunately, none have been left on this blog) but overall, we're a great community.

Something that typifies this spirit is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern, a pattern which is being passed from stitcher to stitcher. It has just been completed by Jill, and is ready to move on again. You can be added to the draw if you pop on over to her blog.

August Review and September Goals

here are my goals for August:

• Clapotis - Kate Gilbert - I finished this and felt less than enthusiastic about it. Until I actually started wearing it. The fabric drapes wonderfully, and it's just right in terms of warmth. A friend even spotted me the other day because she was drawn to the Clapotis first ...
  
• Mini Cable Socks - I'm on the foot of the first one, but I've just realised - just as I'm supposed to be shaping the toe - that I've made the foot narrower than it should be. I need to check whether they will still fit, as 4 stitches off could be too many.
  
• Neat Country Stuff - Homespun Elegance - Happy Happy Dance! It's done! It's even at the framer's. I found a nice frame at a charity shop, again, and the framer is going to stretch it and cut a mount .
  
• Striped Baby Sweater - Sirdar - Finally sewn up. My estimate of an hour was rather optimistic - it took six goes to fit in one sleeve!
  
• The Big Knit - Smoothie Bottle Hats - I'm working on these in odd moments, as a little hat takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, including sewing up.
  
• Poetry Society Letter - completed, blocked and ready to mail
  
• By The Sea Exchange - mailed and received
  
• Prairie Schooler Exchange - mailed and received
  
• Birthday something for The Hermit. This did turn out to be an MP3 sleeve, as the player itself could not be attached to a lanyard although to be fair, I used a piece I'd already stitched.
  

I had quite a productive month, as I also completed:

• Several Beaded Scissor Fobs, to give away with future exchanges
• Striped Baby Hat 
• Striped Baby Mitts
• Striped Baby Bootees - can you see a theme? My friend for whose baby I've made these for is known for being a fan of stripey things!
• Derbyshire - Heritage Stitchcraft. Happy Happy HAPPY Dance! This was one of my oldest UFOs. I know I bought it on  visit to my parents when I was living at the other end of the country. I've babaeen back here for 11 years, I bought it at least 2 or 3 before then! I can't say it was the most enjoyable thing I've ever stitched - Heritage kits have a lot of unusual fractionals in them - and it's not really my style. I think I bought it because I was homesick...

I also had a Finishing Weekend, where I completed the following, which can all be seen earlier in my blog:

• French Country IV Pumpkin - JBW Designs - framed by me so it's now ready to display
  
• Easter Cracker Sampler - Bent Creek - also framed
• Bird in Tree - Historic Needlework Guild - made into a pinkeep
  
• Alphabet Ribbon Sampler - Historic Needlework Guild - another pinkeep, which I then sent to  stitching friend
  
• Winter - Trail Creek Farm - Scissor Fob, just for a change
  
• Miniature Sampler - Cathy Bussi - Pinkeep - this dates back to 1996, so it deserved to be finished into something!
  
• Hardanger Square - Mary Hickmott - what a surprise, I made this into a pinkeep, with fabric underneath the design to show off the voids
  
• A Merry Tree for Thee - Full Circle Designs - I made this into another pinkeep!
  
•  Merry Stitching - Elizabeth's Designs - why break the habit, yes, you've guessed it, I finished this as a pinkeep too!

Actually, I'm astonished at what I achieved last month, although I admit I did take a week's break from working. This month is not going to be anywhere near as productive, as work is going to be very hectic, I have taken on another freelance role and there will be some training for that, plus the new semester at University starts. I will need to do some crafting, just to keep my sanity, but apart from exchange and charity deadlines, I'm going to concentrate on the process, not the results ...

Goals for September:

• Friends Through Threads Exchange - I know what I'm going to stitch, just need to get cracking!
• Hooked on Exchanges Fall Needleroll Exchange - still planning this one. I have a couple of Shepherd's Bush charts that would do, but they aren't quite right ...
• Stitch on one kitted chart - this will be She Gathers, by 4 My Boys
  
• Stitch on one UFO
  
• Stitch on one kit
• soKnit more smoothie hats for The Big Knit
• Work on the New England Stole
  
• Keep to a stash diet - buying only threads and trims needed for the pieces I'm working on

Hopefully, this will see me through some potentially stressful moments ahead!

Start Them Young...

I had a lovely day on Wednesday, spending time with my niece, The Tot.

She already loves crafts and creating, so we spent a little time making puppets from a couple of kits I'd bought cheaply at Wilkinson's and then putting on a puppet show. I know I'm probably biased, but Tot has a fabulous imagination, and needs very little encouragement to tell stories!

Despite her short fingernails, Tot was ace at peeling off the backing on the sticky felt...

Tot called the bodkin a "magic pen" - I thought that was very apt!

I did have to guide the needle through the holes, but Tot pulled the yarn through - she liked that bit!

The finished tiger!

(for some reason, despite being rotated in photobucket, these pictures have come out sideways...)

The Squirrel (part) - Full Circle Designs

Design: The Squirrel (out of print)
Designer: Full Circle Designs
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave
Finish: Bourse

I stitched this for the Woodland Exchange over on Hooked on Exchanges. I took the centre portion of The Squirrel chart and used it for my project. I think I had hopes of stitching the squirrel as a matching scissor fob but making this took a lot of time!

I backed the piece with this fabric from my stash and folded the corners back. I secured them with stitching - the buttons are purely decorative!

I added ribbons in two colours, and the design hides itself away cleverly when they are gathered.

But it can be opened up and sits like a bowl when needed for storing bits and bobs.

This was my first bourse, and I enjoyed making it, although I don't think I got the proportions quite right.

Update

I'm feeling a bit blah about my stitching at the moment. Then again, I'm feeling a bit blah in general, probably because I'm tired and work is a bit stressy at the moment. There's some changes going on, and I'll need to step up and take on some more responsibility (for a while) and I'm just a bit anxious about it all...

Anyway, I thought that seeing some of my pieces come back from the framer would help - and it did, for a while. Until I thought about all the other pieces I have still to frame - and the lack of room to display them when they're done ... the perils of living in a small apartment! No, seriously, I'm really impressed by the work the framers have done, and best of all, they are a five minute walk away. I'll show some pictures when I've taken them!

I decided to dive into my stash and see if that would perk me up a bit. It usually works, because I do have some lovely stuff in my stash. Last year, I went through my fabrics and matched them up to charts where I could. With the benefit of a spreadsheet - because I've inventoried all my charts - I worked out how long it would take me to stitch everything if I stitched one project per month. Would anyone like to guess?

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October 2023. And that's not including kits, or UFOs, or the charts I have which I don't have fabric for. Or the projects from books. Or freebie charts.

I'll be 54 by October 2023 (gulp!) so I'm not at SABLE, but ...

Hey ho, at least it means I will be set if suddenly all the designers stop producing new charts!

In the light of this news, I'm going to set myself some new goals for each month:

• stitch on one kitted chart
• stitch on one UFO
• stitch on one kit
• make up or frame one finished object
• knit one pair of socks (because my yarn stash isn't getting much smaller either!)
• keep to a stash diet - buying only threads and trims needed for the pieces I'm working on
• take part in one exchange per month (ideally)
  

I'm not saying that each of the pieces I work on will be finished in that month, but I need to focus and use what I have rather than lusting over what I don't.

I've also decided I need to be more ruthless and only work on pieces I *love* so I will be having a stash clearout, and if I want new stash,I'll browse the trade blogs first...

I'm looking forward to a happy dance later today - Neat Country Stuff is sooooooooo close - and I'm also working on an exchange piece which may be completed. I will be sitting with my feet up, listening to Test Match Special - what could be better?

Frustration... and some progress

I've been sewing up the Striped Baby Jumper for a baby that is due on Friday. Jill at the Wool Baa taught me the wonderful mattress stitch technique for knitteds, but I've come to realise why my knitted items are either plain shapes, or knitted in the round. I had to set one sleeve SIX times before I was happy with it (perfectionist? moi?). I know being striped should have made it easier but ... Anyway, it is done, and will be mailed to Switzerland when I know baby has arrived safe and well and I'll share pictures then.

I still need to darn in the ends of my Clapotis, but you can see the yarn here. Yes, using autumn shades - again! I'm going to wear it for a month or so and then decide if I want to continue using it or if I will rip it back. It's hanging on a couple of pegs here, so you can see the lovely drape, but I'm still wishing I'd done it in a less plain yarn.

Although possibly nothing as bright and mottled as this - this is the current state of play of my Big Knit Hats for the Innocent charity campaign. I've been experimenting with stitch patterns from my knitting encyclopaedias, not that you can really tell from this picture, and it's been very interesting and has triggered some ideas for larger projects.

Two Bookcrossing friends of mine were having babies this month. The stripey sweater wearer-to-be is not yet born, but the other has arrived. And is a baby boy. I'd rather hoped it would be a girl, as I had cast on this cardigan:

If Swiss baby is a Swiss miss, all will be well... If not, I will have to think of something, or just rip it back, as I haven't got very far.

(Honestly, I don't really mind that my friend's had a boy. She had a tough journey to conceive, I'm just so thrilled there's been a happy result!)

I'm on the last square of Neat Country Stuff! And if you are thinking it's not looking like the chart, you'd be right. I really don't like the 'sheep' as charted on the original design. However, I also have in my stash the same designer's Sheep Button Sampler. The sheep as charted on this however was a little big, so out came the graph paper and pencils and after a session with those (and an eraser) I think it's going to work - fingers crossed! I'm hoping for a happy dance by the weekend, and then I can get cracking on my By The Sea exchange piece. The squashed stitches you can see will fluff out as I'm going to wash and press the piece - it's all DMC so will be safe. It's been hanging around so long it needs refreshing!

Finally, this is my Poetry Society letter. It's curling like nobody's business because it's plain stocking stitch. I hope the PS people are planning on putting a border on it, or displaying it stretched in some way. We still don't know what the actual poem is going to be yet ... Can you guess which letter I'm knitting? I'm hoping this will be finished in the next day or so too. It will be great to have some WIPs finished!

Edited to add - forgot to list my socks here, but I think I've left them at the office!