Counted Cross Stitch: Nancy's Posies

Finished stitching this lovely design: Nancy's Posies by Needlemade Designs. Love the serene, watercolour feel. Classic Colorworks Pea Pod gave lovely variation to the leaves. One mod was that the DMC  372 for the darker part of the ground gave too much contrast to the beige, so blended it with 613.

I tried a variety of buttons, then chose these rose buttons on Etsy. Six seemed to overpower/look top heavy, so tried just four (not yet decided). The fabric is fab (greeny-grey); need to locate the name.

Wash Day

This past weekend I started the cross-stitch design Wash Day by Kathy Barrick of Carriage House Samplings. Such a sweet design and I get such joy at watching the birds at my own birdbath.

I'm stitching it on 32-count Zweigart Belfast, 2 over 2, colorway Ray of Light. I modified the colors: instead of DMC black 310 for the birds, I went with Gentle Arts Ginger Cake. We mostly get brown-colored birds at our bird bath: robins, wrens, and sparrows. I also softened the oranges; instead of DMC dark coral 626 and DMC dark pumpkin 355, I went with DMC 3778 and 3830. I stayed with the green DMCs in the pattern and the DMC 640 for the birdbath, though I'm not sure I like the green undertone in the 640, and wondering if enough difference between it and the darker green; may substitute, we'll see. The pattern didn't specify french knots for the birds' eyes, but I added them.

Valentine's Day Cross-Stitching

I love romantic decorations, and Valentine's Day is a lovely opportunity to enjoy them. I spent the past weeks stitching some lovely Valentine designs. The first design is Love by Hands On Design. I stitched it on 32-count Belfast linen in a pink shade. I used Victorian Motto threads: Claret, Rose Plum, and Olde White. I hand-finished it into a small pillow/pin keep. 

The second cross-stitch design is called ABC I Love Thee by C Street Samplerworks. I stitched it with over-dyed threads, Gentle Arts Poinsettia and Week's Dye Works Sophie's Pink. The even-weave fabric was hand-dyed by a lovely Instagram friend, diaryofacrossstitcher, which she so kindly gifted me. I hand-sewed it into a small pillow:

The third set of Valentine decorations was inspired by a Pinterest post and my love of candy hearts. I stitched the designs on lavender and pink linens (28- and 32-count) and used a heart-shaped template I found on the Internet. I backed the stitching with fusible interfacing, filled them with Polyfil, and sewed them to a felt heart (wool felt from sweetemmajean on Etsy). The lace trims are from the mid-1990's, the tiny roses from Michael's. 

The last design is Always from SubRosa Design which I found on Pinterest. I coffee- and tea-dyed a 32-count cream linen to age it. I stitched it with my first silk threads, Dinky Dyes, in the Dusty Pink colorway, purchased at my local needlework shop, Traditional Stitches. I used only one strand as, again, I liked the antiqued look. The lace trim is from my stash from the late 80's. I hand-sewed it into a small pillow with the pink fabric it is shown on (purchased at My Sewing Room in Calgary). The second fabric in the photo is a piece of Liberty fabric which I absolutely adore and am now collecting, thanks to finding another lovely local fabric shop, Out of Hand. I also collected floral teacups in the early 2000's, and you'll likely see them pop up in my photos. 

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day, being with or thinking about those you love. xoxo

Pebble Beach shawl

I was drawn to Helen Stewart's Pebble Beach Shawlette and can see how it won in the Unwind Brighton competition 2014 last July. 

I wanted it in the same colour, and just happened to have some gold Jaeger extra-fine merino I'd bought from my LYS in 2010. The yarn is lovely and soft and a a beautiful gold, not too bright. I love this colour with denim. The shawlette is done in fingering, but I like the idea of it in dk to get a more substantial shawl. It's a beautiful sunny spring day--I have the deck door open and listening to the birds and sounds of my neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon. 

This is my first Helen Stewart design. Other favorites include Red Robin Shawl, Fresh Powder Cowl, and Fireflies Rising Shawlette

Here's my progress so far --

Yarns I Knit with in 2014

As part of my review of my 2014 knitting, I was curious how many and which yarns I used this past year. I discovered that I had the pleasure to knit with over 52 different yarns. (I currently have about 158 different yarn brands and bases in my stash).

Bases I used in 2014 included
lace   fingering   sport   dk  worsted  aran   bulky
Fibers included
wool   merino   silk   alpaca   mohair   cashmere   cotton   nylon   stellina

I knit with both commercial and indie-dyed yarns, purchased at my local yarn shops and online. Many yarns were knit with for the first time. I purchased 16 of the yarns in 2014 (marked with a *), so about 70% was knit from my stash.

Lace
Garnstudio Drops Kid-Silk
Lang Yarns Mohair Luxe

Fingering
Artyarns Ultramerino 4
Estelle Sockitome Heathers *
Fireweed Dyeworks Self-striping *
Madelinetosh Feather *
Madelinetosh Sock
Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock
Oink Pigment Sock *
Patons Kroy Ragg Shades *
Phildar Phil Folk 100 *
Phydeaux Yarn Chaussette *
Pinguoin Pingorex Baby
Quince and Co. Finch
Regia Desgn Line Kaffe Fassett
Regia Mosaik 4-ply
Rowan Fine Tweed
Shibui Knit Socks
Stimpylab Strong Sock *
String Theory Colorworks Continuum Self-striping *
Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock
The Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering
The Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet
Voolenvine Yarns Blitz *
Western Sky Knits Aspen Sock *

Sport
Madelinetosh 80/10/10 sport
Madelinetosh Sport
Manos del Uruguay Serena
ONline supersocke 6-ply *
Ornaghi Filati Malaga

DK
Blissful Knits Adore *
Duck Duck Wool *
Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
Green Mountain Spinnery Sylvan Spirit
Knitting Fever Cashmereno
Madelinetosh DK *
Madelinetosh DK Twist
Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Suri & Silk
Zitron Zeitlos

Worsted
Cascade 220
Custom Woolen Mills 2-ply *
Madelinetosh Vintage
Malabrigo Yarn Merino
Noro Silk Garden
Stonehedge Fiber Mills Shepherd's Wool

Aran
Cascade Yarns Casablanca *

Fleece Artist BFL Aran

Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica

Mission Falls 1824 Cotton

Noro Taiyo

Bulky
Cascade 128 *
Lionness Arts Roar
Luxury Collection Baby Alpaca Sport
Malabrigo Yarn Mecha *

Socks in 2014

I don't often make goals or create lists, as they seem to put undue pressure on me. I like fly-by-the-cuff, follow-my-whimsy kind of knitting. 

But lots of knitters on Ravelry were announcing goals for 2014, so I began to consider what mine might be. Buying less yarn and knitting from stash were definite goals. A considerable part of this stash was fingering, sockweight yarn as I wanted to make socks, lots of socks, but hadn't gotten around to it. So, I set myself a goal to knit 12 pair, which seemed a lofty goal, and joined a couple of the sock forums to motivate me.

I did it! I actually more than doubled my goal. 26 pairs in 2014. Some were works in progress and one is a baby pair, but still. Here they are:

Broken Seed Stitch Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/broken-seed-stitch-socks

Phildar Phil Folk 100 and Estelle Sockitome Heathers

Crusoe

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crusoe

Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock, 'Manu'

Estonian Button-Stitch Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/estonian-button-stitch-socks

Phydeaux Chaussette 'Vignoble'

Java Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/java-socks

The Plucky Knitter primo fingering 'Flying Monkeys'

Thuja
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thuja
Blissful Knits Ambrosia DK 'Secret Garden'

Jaywalker

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jaywalker

Ornaghi Filati Malaga

No-Purl Monkeys

 http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/no-purl-monkeys

Artyarns Merino 4

Thuja

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thuja

Regia Design Line Kaffe Fasset

Thuja

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thuja

Madelinetosh Feather 'Mala'

Oak-Ribbed Sock

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/oak-ribbed-sock

Fiberphile Squooshy Sock, 'Continuum'

Charade

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/charade

Shibui Sock 'Pebble'

Sunday Swing Socks 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sunday-swing-socks

Western Sky Knits Aspen Sock 'Kettle Rainbow'

Pin-striped Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pin-striped-socks

Stimpylab Strong Sock 'Pangea'

Vanilla Bean Striped Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vanilla-bean-striped-socks

Quince and Co Finch, 'Leek', 'Snap Pea'

Basic Ribbed Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-ribbed-socks

Regia Mosaik

Orchideen-Socken

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/orchideen-socken

Sunshine Yarns 'Cedric'

Perfect Fit Newborn Socks

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/perfect-fit-newborn-socks

Pinguoin Pingorex Baby

125-15 Short Socks with Cables
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/125-15-short-socks-with-cables-in-alaska
Fleece Artist BFL Aran 'Sea Storm'

plain vanilla with omg heel
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/omg-heel-socks
String Theory Continnum 'Ares'

plain vanilla with Fish Lips Kiss heel

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel

Fireweed Dyeworks 'Russian Rainbow'

plain vanilla

Oink Pigments 'Blackberry Brambles'

plain vanilla

Patons Kroy Ragg Shades

plain vanilla

plain vanilla, stranded

Custom Woolen Mills 2-ply worsted

plain vanilla, stranded

Custom Woolen Mills 2-ply worsted

plain vanilla, stranded 

Custom Woolen Mills 2-ply worsted

And yes, lots more socks in 2015. 

The Colours Got Me

A podcaster was knitting with Sophie's Toe yarn (Emily Parson @emilyquilts.com), and I went to check out her hand-dyed yarns. I fell for this one, Sophie's Toe Sock yarn, 100% merino superwash, 350 yards, in the Iris colorway :

When it arrived, I went to put it with my sockweight yarn and found a skein of Koigu in a very similar colorway:

I also found a solid purple Koigu kppm skein:

I love having yarn in my stash, waiting for something to happen. Now I get to dream about what I could create with these three skeins, 700 yards of sockweight yarn:

 I'm thinking maybe socks or a shawl, perhaps Antarktis....❀❀❀