Pretty In Pink

This pretty pink scarf came about from scraps. One of the ladies in my local sewing group was having a de-stash, and I found this lovely piece of pink embroidered cotton voile. It was long and narrow, perfect for making a scarf, so I tucked it away in my stash with a little note as to what was to be done with it. That was way back in the beginning of last year.

Then a while back, I needed a quick project to do one group day, so pulled this pink fabric out, found some matching thread, took it to group day and proceeded to hem it.

The hem is a very fine turned zigzag, to me it is much quicker and easier to do than threading the over locker to do a rolled hem. As I was hemming it, I was thinking of what to decorate the ends with. It did come to mind that I could add some free standing digitized lace flowers, to match the flowers in the embroidery. More work, but hey, I could handle that, and it would be a good challenge.

When I got home, I searched through my stash and found a ball of crocheting cotton, that was the perfect pink. So rather than going to all the time and effort of digitizing some free standing lace, I decided to crochet some flowers instead.

The flowers add another dimension and some weight to the scarf, even if they do get tangled. I crocheted the flowers first, then added a chain length to add them to the ends of the scarf. I had previously added a little edge in crochet all the way around to help give it more strength and weight, and this is what I attached the flowers to.

Pink is not a colour I normally wear, but it may jazz up a navy or white top in spring or even jazz up a hat in summer. Whatever it goes with, it is finished, and I have something off my to-do list.

Fingerless Gloves

Behold, my new, made to measure, fingerless gloves. I would prefer to call them half fingered rather than fingerless, after all they still have fingers, just not to the tips.

I have never really wanted a pair of these until our last cold snap. There was snow on the mountains not too far away, and although the sun was shining, the wind was icy, and I was trying to sew. My sewing space is at the back of the house which loses the sun fairly quickly in winter, and my hands were so cold they could barely guide the fabric under the machine.

 Light bulb moment!I needed a pair of fingerless gloves! I had never needed a pair before, my theory being my fingertips are the first to get cold, so I prefer full fingered gloves. I had seen what they call "smokers gloves", where one hand is full fingered, & the other has the thumb, index and middle finger short, but I needed all the tips clear so I could guide fabric under the machine.

Made in 100% pure wool in 4 ply, I have made them to fit my hands and my fingers, leaving from the first knuckle free to grip whatever. When I finished the first one, I wore it knitting the second one, so all should be good. I should be able to guide the fabric through the machine, thread the machine, and yes, I can even type on a keyboard with them! They might just become my new winter accessory.

Blue Socks

Another pair of hand knitted socks to the collection.

This pair was started because I needed something crafty to do on a recent weekend away. I always have to think about where I will be going, how long for, what's the reason I am going, etc etc to know what to take with me to do. If I know I am going some place where the lighting is good, I can take stitching. But if I am not sure about the lighting, then knitting is always a good choice.  Depending where I am going and for how long, I have been known to take lighting with me.

My original plan was to knit a very plain pair of socks, that way I wouldn't have to think. To begin with it was just a rib, then plain stocking stitch. As it was only a weekend away, the harder thinking of the heel would happen when I came home.

When I did come home, I found this pattern from Knit Picks and it was free.  I am always a bit wary of free patterns, I tend to think they have a problem somewhere, but hey, I am clever & could overcome any problem. So I pulled my started plain sock undone, and started on this pattern.

Mmmmmm.......... my instinct about free patterns is correct. It wasn't that there was mistakes, it was just hard to read and I feel it could have been written clearer. The fact that I left the pattern digital, and worked from my tablet may have something to do with it too, swiping back and forth to read the pattern wasn't fun.

There were a few other issues along the way, some pattern related, some needle related, some yarn related, but in the end I got there. They are made from a 4ply pure wool, and I didn't quite have enough for my socks, so hence the toes are a slight different colour. But who will notice? They will be hidden inside my boots keeping my toes warm.

Baby Accessories

This is some quick knitting I have done for a new little baby girl.

The yarn is Shepherd Baby Wool Merino 4ply. The pattern for the booties and mittens came from an old book in my library called "Payton's Babytime", while the pattern for the hat is one I made up by myself.

In the pattern book the hat was a bonnet, and I am not sure that babies seem to wear bonnets any more, the fashion seems to be little hats or those horrid elastic head bands with flowers. To me, little hats are much more practical and comfortable for tiny newborns.

So what did I do to arrive at this little hat? I had a collection of baby hat patterns that I had found on the net, and I searched through them until I found one in 4 ply. Most of them were in 8 ply believe it or not! Who knits things for little babies in 8 ply? Anyway, once I found a basic pattern, I adjusted the stitches slightly to accommodate the pattern. It was only a change of a few stitches larger which wasn't a big deal, better to be too big than too small. From there I followed the pattern in my book to arrive at the pretty picot edge and rows of patterning. Then I jumped back to the basic hat pattern for the height and shaping at the top. The shaping was off at the beginning by a few stitches, but cannot be noticed in the finished article.

This cute little set is now with it's new owner.

A Baby Mobile

A cute little baby mobile that I made for my new great niece.

The inspiration for this mobile started two years ago when another of my great nieces was born. I had made her this baby shawl, and when visiting, asked her mother if she needed anything else. The answer came back "a mobile". My niece had been trying to make one, but with a new baby she was having difficulty. So the conversation started about colours, and what she wanted on the mobile...... ........owls. I possibly would have done something different, but owls were, and still are,  very poplar.

I needed inspiration, so hunted around on the net for owl pics. Of course there were heaps, I just had to pick one. Once I chose a pic, I had to work out fabrics and how it was actually going to be constructed, etc etc. I had fabrics of course, that was no drama, and working out the pattern for the construction of the owls was no big deal. The eye area and the chest pieces were to be appliquéd, but what about those half moon eyes, the beak, and the feet? They were all so tiny! I thought about using  felt but how to apply? Glue is messy and I thought they would be too fiddly to hand stitch on. Then one day I had a brain wave that I could use my digitizing program and machine embroider them!

Digitizing is a whole different world, and these little eyes and beaks needed to be an exact size and spacing. It took me two attempts, the first one being slightly too big and slightly too far apart, but I eventually got there. Scanning my pattern and placing it as a backdrop in  my digitizing program  certainly helped. Thank goodness for testing first! I also digitized the eyes and beak in two different colours. This would stop the machine so I could put whatever colour I wanted in the needle.

So once I had the eyes and beak sorted, I could make a start. The owls were going to be double sided and slightly padded, six hanging, so that made 12 owls total. I wanted them all the same, but all different, if that makes sense. So they were all the same shape , size and design, I just changed the colours around and put different designs on their chests.

The designs on the chest were just fancy machine stitches, stitches I very rarely use. I started playing to see what effects I could get if I mirrored or flipped the patterns. Yes, my sewing machine has this wonderful feature available. At first I had picked out sewing threads and machine embroidery threads in plain colours to match the fabrics, but then I dug out a variegated machine embroidery thread that I had dismissed previously and tried it on a sample. Why didn't I use this before? It looked so good!

One of the fabrics had a small pattern of circles on it. I had to be careful which machine stitch to use on it so that it enhanced the circles, not conflict with them. So I chose an eyelet that I found in amongst all the buttonholes. I think it worked well on the printed fabric.

Once the chest pieces were decorated, I could appliqué them to the background, appliqué the eye sections, then stitch out the eyes and beaks. At this stage they were still on squares of fabrics and they were screaming to be made into a quilt, but this was not the end purpose, so I soldiered on.

The owls were then carefully placed back to back with padding in between, so everything matched, then carefully stitched around the owl outline, and cut to shape.  It was at this stage that I placed the feet . I had agonized over these feet the same as the eyes and beak. Once again  I had thought of felt, but as the feet were hanging, I thought the felt may pull out, it was very tiny. So another brain wave said digitize! This time it was the feet outline, in a small stitch length, stitched onto two layers of fabric vlysafixed together. I felt that this would be stronger than felt. Once digitized, stitched and cut out, they were stitched onto the base of the owl, then satin stitched in place as I satin stitched the edges of the owls. Finito!

Well not quite. Once again I had agonized over how to hang them. My initial thought was dowel, painted to match, with tiny holes drilled to tie the owls to the dowel with fishing line. I wanted them to turn and swing, another problem to solve. DH to the rescue with his  fishing and hardware knowledge. 

I had found an old lampshade ring in my stash, so ended up padding it and covering it with matching fabric, This saved drilling holes in tiny pieces of dowel and messy painting. My part done, the rest was up to DH who supplied fishing swivels to let the owls spin, fishing line to hang, and the knowledge of how to tie knots so they didn't come undone.

This is a one of a kind mobile which is now entertaining is new owner. Would I make another one? Maybe, but it would have to be different. At least I now know about the uses of fishing swivels.

A Filet Dragonfly

Behold my filet dragonfly! I am very proud of him as he is my own. Drawn on paper, transferred to a graph, then worked onto my own hand made mesh.

The mesh is made by drawing two threads, leaving two threads, in a pattern, both vertical and horrizontal. The remaining threads are then whipped together for strength. Making  this mesh takes time.

Using my dragonfly graph, I then worked out a weaving plan for linen stitch. This weaving plan has to be precise, as one incorrect turn of the needle, or one skipped over or under, will throw the rhythm of the linen stitch out.

Watch this space as there will be more filet to come.

A Wessex Band

Lately I have been moving on in my counted thread band sampler. This is the same one that has travelled more than me.

For this band I have chosen a Wessex band from the book "Wessex Stitchery" by Gay Eaton. I chose this band because it looked like little flowers, and was not quite as heavy as some of the others in the book. Using the pink as also helped to make it appear lighter, and it fits well with the other colours already in the sampler. Another reason I chose a Wessex band is to help cover up the "fix" I had to do. With lots of reweaving of broken threads. the tension of the weave has changed slightly. All these little flowers will help to hide them.

I have yet to finish the band, but is well on the way. I have one more row of flowers to finish, then I can outline them all and add in the green "trellis".

I love counted work, but this one had me stumped for a while. I found the counting a little difficult and hard to follow as a pattern, but I have now worked out my own  system of working so there are less mistakes. Hopefully this band will be finished soon and i can move on to the next one.

A Sampler Continues

This sampler began way back in late 2006 when I joined in on a round robin with an on-line stitching  group that I belong to. I have blogged about the beginnings, the trials, the fixes, & the additions before if you would all like to read the back story.

I have decided that 2015, (8 years since the beginning!) will be the year to finish this sampler and turn it into the carry bag that it was designed for. So I have pulled it out and am very slowly working on it.

Last year I added another very narrow band of needle-weaving. I had been working another sampler featuring needle-weaving borders, and thought I could work one on here. The ones that I had been working on the other sampler were a little wide to work in the space I had, so I just narrowed it down. I have worked it here in the same  hand dyed green that I used in my hardanger band.

Further up the sampler is my hardanger band, sitting alongside the gorgeous seahorses that were stitched by Margaret. I feel the two bands sitting side by side are a little heavy, and there is still quite a bit of white fabric between, so my aim is to fill the white space. I have always felt that the triangular spaces left by my hardanger needed to be filled, but with what? A spur of the moment decision led me to eyelets, so I added them in pink. Still a little heavy so I have started outlining them in green to help soften them. I will wait until I work them on the other side before I make a decision to add anything else. My mind is playing with ideas, including a very narrow straight band of some kind between my eyelets and Margaret's seahorses, and maybe something else light between the eyelets. Ideas from outside in the blogging world are welcome. Watch this space!

A Drop Stitch Scarf

Behold, another scarf to add to my growing box full. Just finished this morning, this scarf was started as a holiday project for a recent trip away. I needed something to take for the down time that we would have. I had agonised over what to take. It needed to be small, easy, with not too much thinking, no taking of reference books or patterns, but something creative enough that I would not get bored with it. It also need to be something that I could see easily without magnifiers and extra lighting. Some places the lighting can be so poor.

I decided on a simple drop stitch knitting pattern. It is only plain knitting in garter stitch, with the yarn winds varying between the stitches, thus giving the end result a wavy look. I had used this pattern twice before, once in a variegated cashmere yarn, and once combing a textured variegated yarn with a plain.  It was a pattern that I could  commit to memory.

For this one I gathered together three yarns of different colours that went together. The white and the light blue are  Paytons Embrace, a 2 ply of  90% Merino , 10%  Silk. The darker blue/mauve is a Shepherd Baby Wool Merino, a 100% wool in 4 ply, left over from knitting socks. I wasn't sure how the different plies would react together, but they have worked brilliantly.

I had decided for this one that I would knit it sideways. I have never knitted sideways before, but it is just the same as knitting upwards. All I had to do was cast on more stitches. I had needles and cables long enough from when I knitted this baby shawl, so now was the time to put them to use.

My original intention was to do a normal flat scarf, but halfway through I decided to join the sides together to make it tubular. I had lots of ends hanging from where I changed colour, so these just became the tassel at the ends. As I only changed colour every second row, the hanging threads were only at one end, so to make a tassel at the other end I just cut lengths of yarn and added them in with a crochet hook.

All in all I am very happy with my new scarf. It fitted the initial criteria perfectly, and will help to keep me warm when the colder weather arrives in a few months time.

'Holiday House" - A Challenge

At last I can finally reveal another finish. This one was a challenge for Stitchers Plus, a creative stitching group that I belong to. Our challenge was to stitch a house, any type of house, it was our interpretation. They must all be on the same angle as well. Please note the angle at the base, it is not 90 deg. The idea was that all the houses could be placed in a line to form " Thread Needle Street", and the angle would make the street curve and make an interesting display.

At the time the challenge was handed out, my mind was in a whirl, but went straight to our holiday house on the beautiful Mid North Coast. That afternoon when I came home and Googled 'Houses', I found soooooooooo much inspiration! There were tree houses, beach houses, colonial houses, Australian houses, Victorian houses, gee........... I could go on forever! In the end I went with my original thought.

The finished piece is in reality nothing like our holiday house. There are certain similarities, but not a lot. I played with a photograph of the front of the building, cut it down, eliminated lines, changed angles etc etc. It was meant to be a creative piece, and I was only after inspiration.

I have played with pulled thread stitches in this piece. I have wanted to play with pulled work for quite some time, and this was the first time in colour. It is interesting how the eye sees colour first, so the texture of the stitches used can be a little lost. I think I have managed to keep the texture, using certain stitches in certain directions to give certain effects. The colour changes also adds some light and shade. giving some dimension. I still think the piece needs some more dimension though. I wanted to put some plants in the garden and some window pots, but time got the better of me. I might still add them now, but we will see. It means pulling the piece apart to add them in I think,  and I am not sure I want to do that just yet.

Our group now has another challenge going on for next year,2015, but more about that further down the track. In the meantime I have plenty of other stitching to keep me busy.

Colourful Socks

Another pair of socks finished. This is pair number four, and will have to wait for next winter to be worn. At least I will be ready for when those cold days hit in about six months time.

This pair is using the same pattern leaflet from Paytons that I used before, in a Lincraft 4ply Lullaby 100% wool. It is a variegated yarn, and I found it interesting how the colours changed when the decrease to the ankle stared.

What more can I say? They are socks, they will be good to keep my feet & ankles warm next winter, & yes, I made them.

A Lace Bookmark

Behold, my latest finish! A Bedfordshire Lace bookmark.

This little book mark started as a filler. I really wanted to continue my lessons from Pamella Nottingham's " Bedforshire Lacemaking" book. I am up to lesson 5, and rather than just doing a sample like I had done with the other four, I wanted to make a finished piece. So I decided to continue the edge around in a square, and when finished, I would mount it on some handkerchief linen. So I made my pricking, and  tried in on for size on my lace pillow. Immediately I could foresee problems. Yes, the pricking did fit, but it was flat, and my pillow is dome shaped. I could cut the center out to make it fit better, and as the edge has a scalloped footside as well as a scalloped head side, the finished  lace could be moulded flat when I mounted it to linen. Mmmmm...........  But the edge of the pricking came very close to the edge of my pillow, and I knew this would drive me crazy when working it. So I invested in another pillow, a bigger  square one with 9 blocks that I can swap around as needed. This would take time to arrive, and I wanted to do some more lace now!

So while waiting for my new pillow to arrive, I looked through and found this book mark pattern. Could I do it? I thought I could, it was plaits and tallies, and I knew how to do those, so I went about making my pricking.

Step 1. Make pricking - note to self - to consider the colour of thread to be used up against the colour of the pricking when choosing the colour of the contact. Remember to use a contrasting colour !

Step 2. Wind bobbins - how many do I wind? Oooops - not mentioned on the pattern, I would have to work it out!

Step 3. Work out the working order and how to start so I can calculate how many bobbins to wind Mmmmm........... next question - this wasn't on the pattern either and I had no idea how to start!

Luckily I am a member of a few on-line lace groups, so I put the question out there. One of the ladies on this group very kindly sent me a diagram and some notes to help get me started. My thanks go out the her ( she knows who she is). As a result, I could work my book mark above.

It is far from perfect, but I am proud of it. My tallies are different sizes, but they did get better as I progressed. My picots are all wrong, but hey, they are there. I was having problems with them and could not get the tension right. Then when I showed it to some real lace-makers, some comments I received had me going back to refresh how to do them. It was only then that  I realized that I had done them wrong. No winder they didn't tension right!

Oh well, it is finished and very usable. It has served me well in being a filler while waiting for my new pillow, as well as giving me some good practice and revision lessons. Now this one is finished, and my new pillow has arrived. So my handkerchief edging is happening as I write. Watch this space!

Cabled Socks

Yet another pair of socks finished. This makes the third pair this year & I have now started pair number four. This pair, and the pair I am making now, will have to wait until next winter before they can be worn. The weather has warmed up too much for woollen socks.

This pair feature cables, and have been knitted in Lincraft Lullaby, a four ply 100% wool. The cables should make them thicker around the shins so they should be warm when the snow next decided to fall. Hopefully that will be about eight months away. At least I will be ready with a supply  nice warm socks to wear.

I have actually enjoyed knitting socks, they really are not that hard. The next pair are another plain pair with a variegated yarn, but I would really like to make some lace ones, so watch this space!

Pretty Socks

Behold, my latest finish. Another pair of socks to add to my winter warmers drawer .

These are my first pretty pair, and  have been knitted with  'Araucania', a 4 ply sock yarn from the UK, though I did buy it in Australia. It is 75% wool and 25% polyamide, and supposed to wear better than 100% wool. I may still  get to wear them this winter, we have had some cold days just earlier this week.

On the note about 100% wool socks not wearing well, my last pair have been worn twice and  as yet no holes, not even an inkling of a hole. So much for the young sales assistants theory, just a sales pitch in my honest opinion. They are very warm and  soft to wear, and  great for those days when the temperature fails to reach 14 deg.

 My next pair will be another pretty pair, this time with cables. Watch this space!

Socks! - Still More Winter Warmers

Behold, some more  warming winter woolies! This time it is socks.

I have knitted socks before, just one pair, and a sample back when I was studying full time . The one pair were made over 30 years ago for my DH, and the sample was part of a Fine Needlework subject of the Fashion Certificate course that I did nearly 40 years ago. The purpose was to learn how to turn a heel & graft the toe.

These socks are for me, made in  Shepherd Baby Wool Merino, a 100% wool 4 ply. I have been told by various sources that socks should be made from a yarn that has a percentage of a man-made fibre to make them stronger & last longer. One very young sales assistant told me that pure wool socks will go into holes after two wears. Interesting. So I asked an acquaintance of mine form one of my stitching groups who is a member of the Knitters Guild, D____ found out that yes socks can be made from 100% wool. Even more interesting.

My theory now is that it must depend upon the yarn quality. After all, I am sure all the socks knitted a century ago would have been in pure wool. Yes, I am sure they went into holes, that's why there are lots of stories about darning of socks. Maybe the sales assistants of today don't know how to darn, or couldn't be bothered. Obviously the yarn manufactures have worked out a better way to make them last longer, and make them prettier. Some of the sock yarns out today are very clever & stunning when knitted up.

I am now knitting another pair, this time in a pretty coloured speciality sock yarn. It will be interesting to note the difference between the two.

I am also hoping to get to wear them at least once this year. We are still in mid winter, but the forecast for this coming week will be more like spring. 

Lace Fish Finally Finished!

Yeh! He's finally finished! My bobbin lace fish that has been on my lace pillow for such a loooooooong time! I won't say how long, but all my lace friends know exactly how long he has been on there.

He was supposed to go on a lovely trip overseas quite some time ago, but was not finished in time. There was even supposed to be a second one,  mirrored, so that I could join them together to make a 3D fish with padding in the middle. Mmmmm............. yeah right.................

He is made with Guttermann 100% cotton sewing thread, a  Guttermann metallic thread, and a DMC variegated Special Dentelles 80 thread. Consequently lots of joining in, leaving out, sewings, & ends to finish off. His eye is a tally, which is cringe worthy in the lace world, but I am happy with mine. The orange half stitch 'scales' leave a bit to be desired though. I personally think half stitch is cringe worthy, but then again this is the first time I have done half stitch in 15 years. Maybe I just need more practice.

It was such a learning experience, and there are mistakes everywhere, but he is finished & I am proud to say I have made him.

So now that my lace pillow is free, what's next? Hopefully a  beautiful Bedfordshire handkerchief edging. I have thread & fabric ready to go, my pricking is nearly ready, then I have to wind some bobbins & I will be in business!Watch this space.

Some More Winter Warmers

Behold, another pair of gloves.

After knitting the last pair, and finding them so comfortable & warm, I wanted some more, in a different colour & style of course. I had been checking our local Lincraft store for some more of the same yarn, but it took a while to come in. When it did, I grabbed some more colours.

With this pair I didn't want the fancy lace pattern of before, I wanted to de-construct the pattern into a plain stocking stitch one, so then I could change it again to whatever I want. This is the plain stocking stitch version, with a little moss stitch cuff. I wanted to try out different cuff versions as I am not fussed with ribs. Although ribs are functional, I want something different.

My next pair will be different again. I will use this de-constructed pattern, but add in a little more style. So watch this space to see what's next!

Winter Warmers

My new gloves are finally finished! This pair were born after finishing this  scarf . I had originally bought three balls of yarn,  Paytons Embrace, a 2 ply of  90% Merino , 10%  Silk. Beautiful yarn! So soft and warm. The original purchase was for a scarf, which is what I did, but I only used half of the yarn and I still had a ball and a half left. What do do with it? I could make another scarf, but how many green scarves do I need, even if they are different patterns? So then my mind went to matching gloves.

 I had made gloves before, but they were in 4 ply and this was a 2 ply. So the hunt began for a pattern. I found a few old ones on the net, but they were fingerless, and I wanted my fingers warm too. I figured if the crunch came, I could have a go of adding some fingers in. It would mean some experimentation and I thought I could do it if I set my mind. Before I tackled this task though I asked some of the ladies at one of my stitching groups, one of which produced this pattern, which came from a book " A Gathering of Lace" by Meg Swansen.

I would class myself as an experienced knitter, but these gloves would have to be  the hardest thing I have done. Worked on 2mm double pointed needles, with a patterned rib thrown in for good measure, and the beginning half rib, half pattern. The pattern certainly took me for a ride, but they do fit well, look pretty, and best of all keep my hands warm.

They are finally finished, and ready for winter. I also still have just over a ball of yarn left, so what to do with that. I could knit another scarf as a gift for someone, or I could adapt the glove  pattern to make a pair that would match my scarf. Mmmmmm........................... food for thought, which way to turn? Watch this space!

Digitizing Fun

My first dragonfly I have digitized! It's also the first thing I have fully digitized in my new digitizing program, about three weeks worth of playing and learning.

It all started a few weeks back, when unbeknown to me, DH and DS2 decided to upgrade my PC to Windows 8. There was talk in the background about buying stuff, but it was computer stuff, and I wasn't really interested or taking much notice. Then one day just before Easter, DS2 started asking about my digitizing program, what it was and what version it was. Why the sudden interest? Mmmmmm........ it was not going to work on the new Windows 8 that they had ready to install on my PC! I had spent $$$$$ on this program, so it had to work! So I asked in at my local dealer, and of course the girls in there did not know, but they gave me the phone number for Bernina head office. I rang when I got home and got told that I had to talk to a particular person who was currently interstate at a quilt fair. They would pass on my details, and I was assured this person would ring me back. Come the next day, still no answer, so I rang again. I got to talk to another person who also told me that the person currently interstate was the best person to talk to. While I was on the phone to her, there was another call coming through. Guess who!

I had a great chat to this girl, who told me that an upgrade for my program to the latest version had just been released, and yes, she assured me it would work on Windows 8. There was still better news, it was on special for Mothers Day! The price was certainly good, about half the price quoted to me over 12 months previously for an upgrade to the previous version. I certainly was a happy little  vegemite! How did I get this? Ring my local dealer of course.

After many phone calls, and to cut a long story short, this upgrade was purchased, paid for, in my house and  installed on my PC by late that afternoon, without me having to leave the house! I give thanks to the girls at my local dealership (especially Anna), Bernina Australia, and  DS2 who made it all happen.

Now for the program itself. When it opened for the first time, I thought "what is this?". It looked all new. But once I sat down, read the manual, and spent some time playing, everything that I knew from my old program was still there, just in a slightly different format. There is heaps of other stuff that is new as well, stuff that I have yet to play with and learn. After playing for a little while, I thought that the only way to learn where everything was, was to actually digitize something. That's when my dragon fly was born.

Anyone who digitizes knows that the process takes some time. I wanted to get the stitch order right to eliminate too many colour changes, and avoid jump stitches that were too long. As I worked on all of this, I found all my stitch  fills, my "Cut Holes" tool, I created my own pattern fills, found the colour film, and the slow re-draw. All these things were what I was used to using, and  there is so much more!  There are contour fills now,  ( which I used on my dragonfly tail)   ripple fills, wave effects and star effects. I did use the wave effect on my dragon fly to get the ridges in his wings just where I wanted them. There is a stamping tool where I can stamp single patterns into a design just where I want them. I can also create my own stamps. There is a carving stamp ( which is different from a stamp) which I think will create sculptured fills, and yes, I can create my own. There is monogramming, stump work, morphing, and punch work, all things that are new to me. Last but not least there is a hooping canvas, where I can split a large design into numerous hoopings, allowing me to stitch it out so the sections meet back together to make one large design. This to me sounds scary, but something I have to try.

So my dragon fly is finally finished being digitized. The stitching order and colour order is correct to how I want them, and any jump stitches hopefully will be hidden under the body of the dragon fly and caught down. The next test will be to stitch him out, and that will hopefully happen in the next few days.

So what now? Playing with all the new features of course. My first play was with the monogramming tool. This is awesome! Would I put monograms on anything? Maybe, maybe not. My mind is racing to other applications, such as creating blocks for quilts minus the initials of course. Watch this space!

A Teneriffe Doiley

Behold! My latest finish! A Teneriffe lace doiley just for me!

This little doily was started because I wanted something to take to a lace meeting one day. I had already done one similar a few years back, but it had been made especially for a friend and had been given away. At the time it was the first time I had joined the circular motifs into a bigger piece, and I promised myself I would do another one for me.

So here it is, finished and complete! Made using DMC Cordonnet Special thread No 80, I have used the same sized wheel & base pattern as the previous one, just changing the weaving pattern within the wheels themselves. I have also worked scallops in detached buttonhole stitch around the edge to finish it off, where the last one I used a crocheted edge.

It has taken me some time, each little wheel takes about a week if I do nothing else. We all know I have been knitting.......... and stitching...........and knitting...........and stitching, so this little doily has taken over 12 months to complete.

Now I want to go bigger, something oval I think, just to be different. Watch this space!

Knitting Up Some Extra Warmth

The knitting bug has had me caught over the last few months, in between the crazy patchwork embellishment, a new piece of tenneriffe lace, my pulled and drawn sampler, and  a project for Stitchers Plus.

First up is my new wrap. This began in October last year when I walked into a little habby shop while on holidays. The buisiness was for sale, and  everything was marked down. I walked out with a lovely hank of "Centolavaggi", a 100%, merino wool,  lace weight yarn from Italy. I had no idea what I would do with it, just a scarf of some kind. Also on the same day, I visited a tiny little, church run, second - hand shop, & walked out with a baby knitting book ( minus the cover) for all of 20c. Inside was a pattern for a circular baby shawl in feather & fan. My theory was that if I used larger needles, I could do 1/2 of the baby shawl, and it would come out large enough to wrap around me. Mmmm......... famous last words. it wasn't working up as I'd hoped, so I un-pulled it and found another pattern.

In the end I used the free "Meandering Vines Shawl" to be found on Ravelry, though I tweaked  it a bit to suit my purpose. It is knitted in two halves, which are then grafted together, something I have only done once before and that was nearly 35 years ago. So consequently there are no close-up pics of my grafting! Still, my wrap is finished for when the cooler weather finally arrives.

My second project is this lovely scarf. It was born purely for the need of something to do while on a flying trip up north. My wrap was finished, all except the grafting, so I needed something else, something that I could see easily without dragging magnifiers around or needing excellent light. I found three balls of Payton's "Embrace", a 2 ply yarn of 90% merino wool - 10% silk, in my stash. So I quickly searched my patterns and found this, the "Flit 'n' Float" scarf, by Birdy Evans, also available for  free on Ravelry. I had used one of the charts of this patten to make this scarf a few years back, now I wanted to do the whole thing.

The pattern began with  a provisional cast on, something I had not done before. This method creates 'live' stitches which are placed on another yarn, then picked up later to knit the remainder of the scarf. The flounce is knitted first, from the base of the scarf to outside edge of the flounce. The stitches are cast off, then picked up again from the provisional casting on and then the  remainder of the scarf is worked. It was interesting doing this and really not that hard.

I am very happy with this scarf, it is warm and light, & long enough to wrap around my neck twice. I also love the beautiful feel of the yarn. Now all I have to do is think about what to do with the remainder, I still have a ball and a half left. I am thinking gloves to match, so watch this space! Think I will be warn enough this winter?

Just a Little More Crazy

I am still going crazy.

There have been more of these crazy patchwork blocks to stitch & it has been an interesting exercise.

Not only is it brushing up on my surface stitching skills, (I prefer counted work)

 

my brain has had a little wok-out as well.

 

I know there are no rules to crazy patchwork, but when I  do it I like to work in some kind of order. Usually I put in some plain fabrics combined with the prints, I find it helps give the eye a rest.

 

Some of these blocks have got no plain fabrics, or in the case of the one above, only one tiny piece.

 

Then there were the seams, of which in some cases there were lots.

 

That meant there was lots of stitching needed to blur the seam lines. So instead I chose to use my stitching to cover large spaces quickly, add some focal points, accentuate colour, accentuate prints, create contrast, and somehow blur all those prints together. I think I did OK, and I am sure once they are all joined together the finished quilt will look fabulous.

It has been fun, but now I want to get back to my knitting and my beloved counted thread work.

Going a Little Crazy

I have been going a little crazy lately, crazy patch-working that is.

My local sewing group are having fun with some donated fabric scraps, and one lady has been busy pieceing all the small pieces together into some crazy pieced blocks. There are lots of them, so that means lots of hand stitching to decorate. Many of us are lending a hand, including myself.

Last week I got handed a pile, not sure how many, maybe about ten, so I have been busy stitching.

It's been a bit of fun really, letting the piece talk to me to tell me colour choice & stitch pattern.

It is amazing how some pieces talk to you & some don't, then all of a sudden they shout at me to use a certain colour. Some even get put away until they are ready to talk to me.

I have done four so far, with a little help from M------- in my sewing group( who pieced them all together & started stitching one some), and also my friend Robyn J who did some of the gorgeous stitching in the second piece above.

It has given me a break from my knitting & my huge sampler that I am working on, but they are both starting to call to me too, as is my sewing machine. Ahhhh..................so many choices, so little time!

A New Year - A new Book Cover

Happy New Year! Yes I know, I'm a bit late, but I hope it is a good one for everyone, and a very creative one for all my textile friends.

I also know it has been a while since I have been here. I have still been creating though, lots of things in the "Slow Cloth Category". But more about those later.

For today, I want to show you all my quick little creation of a book cover. It is to cover yet another inspiration book. The book is to inspire my local sewing group friends that inspiration for projects can come from anywhere. Inside the book is just clippings from magazines and mainly shop catelogues, the type that get dropped in the letterbox just about on a daily basis.

The first clipping is one of a doona cover. It has bands of colour across the bottom, tucks placed in one of the bands of colour, then a print all over the remainder of the cover. I have used to the print as my inspiration.

To begin with I searched through some bags of fabric that I just sorted through and pulled out three that would go together. The green was from my stash, but the pink and the check were from scraps. Interfacing on the back, pieced together, then appliqued and machine embroidered.

The machine embroidery was the fun bit, trying to find a stitch on my machine to look like what I wanted. Then playing with the colours to get something that looked good. After experimenting, & remembering that contrast embroidery to the base fabric took time to get it to look good. I settled on two shades darker than the fabric so that the mistakes were not quite as notaceable.

Then I wanted some embroidery on the outside of one flower. Silly me did not test it, and it looked like ****. I tried to unpick and got part-way there, but it was looking messier by the minute. At the back of my mind was this little voice reminding me 'never unpick- just cover it up'. So that's what I did, just covered up the mess with a larger flower. Who can tell?

My little bud needed something, so this is where I had fun playing with one of the features of my machine. I can set a stitch pattern to stitch from 1 - 10 pattern repeats, or to contujnue forever until I stop. I programmed it to stitch just one, hence my little staymens erer born.

All in all I am happy with the end result. I am hoping it will inspire the ladies of my group to try something new.

A Little Blue Lunch Bag

Behold! My new little lunch bag.

At our last meeting of GHS&S, our project for the day was to make this bag. We had been given a requirement list some weeks prior, but typical me left everything until the last minute. So much so, that I had nothing ready to take to the meeting. I had promised another lady that I would help her sort through some fabrics, so that would take up some time. I also quickly packed some tracing paper, pens, pencils, rulers, my sewing box, and a photo for inspiration. If all else failed, I could do some pattern-making ready for another project I wanted to do.

As it turned out, our meeting took much longer than normal, with lots of things being discussed, leaving less time to work on our projects. There was also a visit by a lady with not one, but numerous large bags of donated fabric. Well, there went the remainder of the morning. There were tables and tables full of fabric, ready to be sorted & gone through, with ideas flowing as to what we could do with it all. We were told we could take what we wanted. I came home with a small pile that would not have made a dent in what we had to choose from, most of it furnishing fabric.

My new little lunch bag has been made from some of that donated fabric. The pattern called for 100% cotton fabric, and the finished sample looked like quilting fabrics. It also called for firm batting or fuseable interfacing. I chose the light blue as my base for my bag as it was a furnishing fabric that had weight to it.  I figured it needed no interfacing or batting to help hold the shape, especially with all the folding and double layering that goes on in the making. The dark blue that I used for the straps and the lining is much lighter in weight. I chose not to interface this as I thought the light blue would be enough to hold it firm.

In hindsight, now I have made this bag once, quilting cotton would be ideal. The light blue furnishing fabric that I used was a little thick with all the double layering. It's great for the support, but in stitching across those base corners there were 8 layers of it. The machine could handle it without a problem, it was probably more the fact that I had turned it through to see how it looked before stitching the corners, and did  not want to turn it back. The outer fabric being stiffish made it hard to turn through the little opening.

The dark blue fabric is a dress weight polyester, good for making skirts and pants. In hindsight, it could have used a light weight fuseable interfacing to give it a little support. The furnishing fabric on the outside only provides support part way up the sides, and the handles only partially help the top section.

The bag is a cute little one. I think it has been designed as a handbag. There are pockets all around the outside supposedly suitable for keys, mobile phones, sunglasses etc. I personally like my possessions behind closures so they don't accidentally get lost. I also like closures at the top of my handbags for the same reason.

This is the first time I have made this pattern, and now I know how it goes together I may make a few little quirky changes. In the meantime, this cute little blue one can become a lunch bag for my Guild days. It can easily fit a sandwich box or salad bowl, a water bottle, coffee mug, and piece of fruit.

Now for those of you that have read this far, I know it has been a long time between drinks, but rest assured I have been stitching every day. My current project is certainly of the slow cloth variety

Lefkara Lace Table Mat

Back in September last year I had the absolute pleasure of participating in a workshop by Christine P. Bishop. The workshop was on Lefkara lace, something that really got my toes curling and made me weak at the knees. The workshop notes stipulated fabric, fabric size, thread, and even colour. Being the good little student that I am, I complied with the tutors wishes.

Behold my finished piece! It may be similar to the tutor's, but I have changed and added a few things to make it my own.

The piece we were supposed to do only included the end border, on one end only. On the day of the workshop I had already decided that I would do it at both ends. Then as I worked the design, I thought I would put the design all the way around the edge.
So I started counting and thread lining, only to find the design wouldn't fit along the length of the piece of fabric. I was only about 20 threads short. Bugger! So disappointing! If only I hadn't cut the piece of linen to the specified size! Oh well, I just had to re-think.

So re-think I did, and I took only part of the original design and repeated it all along the longer side. Personally I think it worked out OK.

The next thing I did was to change the hem. The instructions said to buttonhole over 3 threads. Everything else in the design was over three threads, so of course the hem was too. From a counting and design point of view I could understand it, but I was thinking of strength and changed it to stitch over four threads. I did little samples on the edges of my fabric to test it out. It looked OK, and I couldn't see how it would effect the needle lace on the edge. So my hem is stitched over four threads.

Then I changed the needle lace at the edge. The original design only had the needle lace along one end, and I wanted it all the way around. I also wanted it different, and I had made up my mind to make it different on the day of the workshop. I had plans of doing something more elaborate than what I actually did, but the best laid plans can always be changed! I settled for simple loops with an added picot. It's still different than the tutor's.

The final change came as all the borders were being finished. I felt that the space in the center of the piece was too big and open, and it needed  'something' to balance it all out. I had placed a row of four sided stitch just inside the borders to 'hold' them together, so I just repeated another row of four sided stitch a little further in, which I think has worked beautifully.

So my Lefkara table mat is finished. Would I do another piece? Maybe one day. I still have the other end of the piece of linen left from this piece. Watch this space!

A Knitted Family Heirloom

Behold, my greatest knitting achievement! Made as a gift, now given, and can now be shown off!

Back in October 2012, I received a phone call from a family member telling me that a new little person was arriving in May of this year. Wow! Excellent news! Of course, being the textile person that I am, my mind instantly started ticking over as to what I could make. But I needed inspiration, and  asked the new Mum-To-Be what she would like. "Mmmmm..........anything."  What colour? "Mmmmm...........whatever you feel." Well, that left me an open book, but I still needed inspiration. At the time I was packing to go on holidays, leaving the next day, and I had no time to think.

Thinking time came the next day in the car, I was passenger so I could let my mind wander. I could make a daisy wheel shawl, the ones that my Mum made for all the little babies of my generation. Maybe not, little fingers used to get caught easily. A patchwork quilt? I had made one of those for another family member some years ago, and then I remembered that another prominent family member on the other side also did those. I could look through some books, but they were all at home and I was in the car, not returning back for another two weeks! Decisions, decisions!

Then I remembered that the little town we were going to had a fabulous patchwork shop, and a lovely haberdashery shop with stunning embroidery threads and knitting yarns. Mmm....... I would just have to pay them both a visit to get some inspiration. Just inspiration mind you! Ha ha....... we all know what it is like when we get into shops like that! I have been in both these shops on many occasions and have never walked out empty handed!

We traveled on a Saturday, arriving too late in the afternoon to go looking, the lovely shops were closed by the time we arrived. Bugger, I just had to wait until Monday.

So on Monday morning my first port of call was the patchwork shop. I wasn't thinking patchwork quilt, I was thinking patterns, you never knew what they had. But there wasn't anything that said "baby", so then I just had to look at fabrics, how could I not? Remember I still had no idea what I was going to do! Still nothing that jumped out and said "baby", so then I stated looking at colours and picked up a few FQ's that together said "baby". I think I walked out of that shop with enough fabric to make a cot quilt, and that together would make something nice for a new little person. At this time though I still didn't know what that something was.

My next port of call was to the haberdashery shop. It's one of these shops that may not look all that inviting from the outside, but once you step inside and start really looking, there are some amazing treasures to be found. Right by the front door was the wooden stand with all the knitting and crochet patterns which  took me a long while to get past . I found two books with knitted baby shawl patterns, mmm......................... which one. They both had some beautiful patterns inside. After much deliberation, thinking of my ability, and the tastes of the Mother-To-Be, I made a decision, then moved on to yarn and needles. I had needles at home of course, but they were at home and I was elsewhere, and I wanted to start knitting NOW.

So here I was on holidays with enough fabric to make a quilt, and enough yarn to make a shawl. I might add here that I also had other stitching to do, but the shawl took over. The pattern is from the Shepherd Baby Shawls Collection 1, knitted in Shepherd Baby Wool Merino 3 ply. It begins on a set of four needles, then graduates to circular needles. I might add here that in the book the patterns are given a "sheep" rating which I didn't notice until a few days after I bought it. This pattern is given a "4 sheep" rating, in other words the hardest in the book! Well, that didn't surprise me, I usually go for the difficult and most challenging!

The pattern certainly was challenging! I think I un-pulled the start about 10 times before I got it right. I was nearly to the point of giving up and making one of the more easier patterns in the book. But I like a challenge, and never like something getting the better of me. After the rocky start, it was plain sailing for quite a while, until I needed a longer circular needle. I had checked in the haberdashery shop before we came home, they only had an 80cm one, I wanted 100cm. Then I checked my usual haunts at home, still nothing larger than 80cm! This shawl was pictured as a finished item in the book so there must be longer circular needles somewhere! I just had to find them.So then I started hunting on-line. I could find kits & packages that had them included, but they were $$$$$ and I wouldn't use the other items included. I finally rang Morris and Sons, where the girls were extremely helpful, and I had my 100cm circular needle within days. The shawl could grow a bit further, that is until I had to do another row of increases, and the 100cm needle needed to be longer! So another call to Morris and Sons who helped me out of a jam once again.

The needles were Knit Pro brand, which I would highly recommend. They are beautiful to knit with, and come in separate tips and cables which screw together. There are all sizes in the tips, and varying lengths in the cables, and there are also little connectors that connect two or more cables together to make one really long one. With this shawl I ended up with a 120cm, 100cm, and an 80cm cable, and at some point had the 100cm and 120cm cable joined together to take the over 2,000 stitches that were required!

So behold, my greatest knitted creation! A challenge and a half! Would I do another one? Maybe. I am thinking some alterations to this one to make something more adult-ish.

And what of the fabric I bought? Well some of that went into this quilt, and some I still have, with plans of making something else. So watch this space for more baby related goodies, and adult versions of the shawl above.

Pooh Bear & Friends

There is nothing like a new baby arriving in the family to spur on some sewing. This little quilt was made for a little one born yesterday, & congratulations must go out to S.... & H....... on the birth of their son.

I have only met the mother of this child a few times, & don't really know too much of her background. But every new child born into this world deserves something special, so I decided to make a quick & simple quilt, something that could be loved & cuddled into for many years to come.

To make it quick, I was on the lookout for a printed panel that I could just quilt, rather than taking lots of time in cutting & piecing, let alone applique or digitizing. After many visits to the local fabric stores, I found this piece of Disney print featuring Pooh Bear & his friends. Perfect! I could just layer it with some batting & backing, quilt it, then bind it & wallah! Done! Well, so I thought.

When I bought the fabric, my first thought about the quilting was to do it in straight lines, between the rows of patterned squares & circles. But when I had it layered on the table ready to pin, it started to talk to me. It must have been the angle I was looking at it, all layered on the table,  that made me notice the diagonal lines. The little patterns are all printed in either a circle or a square, and if we look at them straight, they alternate, one circle, one square. It is only when we look closer that we notice that the alternating patterns produce diagonal lines of all square or all circles. Mmmmmm......... maybe I could quilt it with diagonal lines. No, that would go through the printed patterns & spoil them. So my mind when one step further, making a line going around the outline of half a square, then a short diagonal line to the next square, then around the outline  of half of the next square. Much better!

After making this decision, I thought I would be able to continue each row with only going around half the square. It would certainly be enough machining to hold the layers together for washing. But something wasn't right, it looked incomplete. So then I decided to make a second row, still linking the squares together in a diagonal line, but this time going around the other half of each square.

 It took me a long time, longer than I thought, with each diagonal row of pattern requiring two rows of quilting. I am so glad I quilted it like this. It not only made an interesting pattern of stitching on the back, it made all the little designs pop out of their background on the front.

Lesson learned, take note of the design and explore all options for quilting to achieve the best results.

My New Book

Yesterday I had a fabulous day. A group of five of us from our local sewing group went on a day out to Crowle Home in Meadowbank. It was my first time and I was in Heaven! The Emporium and the Fabric Cave are treasure troves for any type of needleworker. Everything from beads, buttons, embroidery threads, needlework kits, bias binding, batting, crochet threads, fabric, books and all kinds of goodies. Everything is donated and at reduced rates, with some fabulous bargains to be had.

I spent a grand total of $25 and brought home lots of goodies. There is enough thread to make my Tenneriffe lace until I die, numerous rolls of cotton tape for name tags for 20c each, a piece of lovely wool fabric to make a jacket, numerous spools of  beautiful variagated machine embroidery thread, brand new, still wrapped in plastic.

Then there is the treasure of all treasures, my book on fabric flower making shown above. As you can see it is very old with the price of  7/6. Australia changed to decimal currency in 1966 so the book is older than that, but there is no date on the book anywhere. Cost of book .......... $2. Bargain! This little gem is staying in my book case forever.

Great day yesterday, thanks ladies!