This Little Piggy Went a-Stitchin!

I've been moving along on the Red Thread, but I forgot to show you.

So here's August. I really like the little crab. He's got personality. I think he should have a name. How 'bout Shmooie? Shmooie the crab!


And September's County Fair. How cute is that little piggy? I think he should be called porcellus balloonicus. I got the idea from some doctor who was looking for names for the middle toes. You know, there's the big toe and the pinky toe, but the others were anonymous. So he wiped the slate clean and came up with new names for all five. I think they are lovely offerings:

• porcellus fori (the little piggy who went to market)
• porcellus domi (the little piggy who stayed home)
• porcellus carnivorus (the little piggy who ate roast beef)
• porcellus non voratus (the little piggy who had none)
• and porcellus plorans domum (the little piggy who cried wee! wee! wee! all the way home.)

Got a Squishie!

Squishie (n. SKWI-shee): a soft package sent or received through any of various federal or commercial agencies, usually known to cause a squeal of delight on the part of the crafter involved. May contain fabric, yarn, quilt squares, beads, or fiber of plant, animal, mineral, or chemical origin. On rare occasions, squishies have also been known to contain completed items, promised up to twelve years ago.

Progress on knitted objects: The Red Herring Purse

Sleeves Without a Sweater

And a completion: Home Sweet Home scrap quilt

"There is no wrong way to knit. The debate between throwing the yarn and picking it, using circulars or straight, choosing Fair Isle or intarsia... it's all a moot point. If you get something knitted at the end of it, you are doing it right. We should all agree to stop correcting each other and deal with the more important issue. How wrong crochet is."

--Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End

Disclaimer: I have actually been known to crochet. Not much and not often. And not well. But for those of you out of the yarn loop: there is a fundamental difference of opinions between those who use two sticks and those who use one. Go figure.

Please Sing Along to the Tune From Bonanza

We've got the right to knit a little knit, Bonanza!
We've got the right to knit a little knit, knit a little knit with you! Finished up the mitts, Christie took the pics, Bonanza!

Finished up the mitts, Christie took the pics, finished up the mitts with you!

Yarn of green

Yarn of blue

Think I will buy two! (Whoo!)

One of our kin has a baby needs socks, Bonanza!
One of our kin has a baby needs socks, gotta make socks with you!

Gotta get yarn, gotta get pink yarn, Bonanza!

Gotta get yarn, gotta get pink yarn, get pink yarn with you!

Lauren gave--

me more yarn,

and sock patterns, too!

(Yee-haw!)

Got to work on an old cross-stitch, Bonanza!

Shouldn't have more than an hour's work, sewing on dark blue!

Dark blue, ooh-ooh! (cue orchestral close)

We are Our Experiences

... and here's a few of mine. Things I started. Things I haven't finished. Intentions. Let's start with the oldest first.

This is one of the first patterns I pulled from a magazine. I have no idea where I found it, because I copied the pattern by hand, as you can see here. The threads aren't even marked. I'm guessing it's probably about twenty years old, maybe twenty-five. That's odd. I'm only twenty-two...
Next we have an attempt to fix a problem. I had started on a sampler for a friend's wedding. Then it vanished. Just vanished. Perhaps a new black hole appeared when Starbucks came to San Diego. Anyway, this was a second attempt to made a wedding sampler. However charming the replacement pattern is, though, it just didn't seem appropriate to this couple. I think I wound up giving them a CrockPot. Three years later, they're still going strong, so if the started project ever reappears...
And lastly, a truly beautiful one. The last of the bunch and certainly the one I will enjoy stitching on the most. It looks like a garden in Siena and a I'd like to just slip right into the picture.

A Few Thoughts on Family

Here's the Red Herring Purse in progress. I got together with my knitting group--my first outing with friends for TWO LONELY WEEKS! I had a cold and I try not to spread these things. Anyway--no more grousing--I had a lovely time. We had a long talk about family and I still feel like I'm the lucky one.

Sure, there are bad times, especially when the teenage years are involved, but all in all... Well, I have fun going to the cemetary with my mom. Even when I'm grouchy. Or climbing the unbelievably steep hill to get pears with my dad. Or making jello with my aunt. Or helping my sister-in-law with her final preparations.

Perhaps it comes down to laughter. If you can laugh, how bad can things be? If there is laughter, joyful, real laughter, perhaps there has to be love. In my family, anyway.

close-up of the Herringbone Stitch (for some reason, it came out orange in this photo!)

"You can pick your friends, but your family, well, you're stuck with your family!" --Mike Warnacky (I think)

Darn Socks!

These are the first socks I ever knitted. I made 'em for myself and enjoyed 'em. In fact, I walked right through 'em. Now and then I'd see 'em and say, "Oh, I have to fix those," and then put 'em away. At other times, I'd find the leftover yarn and say, "Oh, I could use this to fix those socks. Now, where did I put 'em?" and put the yarn away. But in a synchronicity that must have had something to do with this debillitating cold, the yarn and the socks appeared at the same time! So I googled "how to darn a sock" and found a very helpful video on You-Tube. Did I darn sock no. 1? Yes, indeedy, I did! It went along quite quickly. But, as I had plenty of leftover yarn, I decided to try my original idea and unknit sock no. 2 past the hole and reknit it. That way I could see and feel the difference. I did so, taking about four times as long.

Then came the test. I walked in 'em. And what did I say? "Darn!" Sock no. 1, aka "the darned sock" bothered me: pushed right up against my foot and told me it had been worked on. So I gave it the same treatment as sock no. 2. Now they match.
Here's what I'm hoping: that the darning wouldn't be as much as a problem with actual sock weight yarns rather that this thick worsted weight that these socks are made from. I'm not giving up yet.

Next: check out these darling fingerless mitts! The pattern's not hard and they are flying off my needles! Not only that, they're one skein wonders! (And boy, do I have a lot of orphan skeins!)
Stashbuster Alert: I'm using yarn I already have! This is Classic Elite Fame: a combination of rayon and silk. Somebody on Ravelry used it to make these sweethearts already, so I just kinda followed her lead.

It's Dead, Jim

Dateline: August 9th Desiree plops a small duffel on the table at SDCentral Knitting Group. "I want your honest opinion, girls," she says as she unzips the bag, "don't spare my feelings. I really need to know what you think." With that, she reaches in and begins to remove an amorphous blob of red and purple yarns. The expectation is that she is finished. Ah, if only. She reaches in again, pulling out more and more and more of it. Six feet, eight feet, where will it end? The unwieldy mass threatens to take over the room as knitters and non-knitters alike stare in fascination. Finally the last of it is laid upon the altar of knitting. Silky yarns, slubby yarns, eyelash, ribbon, fuzzy, shiny gold thread sticking out all over.

Silence. Dead silence. Finally someone ventures, "What is it?"

Ahh, yes. That's the question, isn't it? Started years ago, it was supposed to be a simple stole, but somehow refused to lengthen, staying at a stubborn sixteen inches no matter how much yarn it was fed.

The pattern for the Isis Stole was printed in here

And is supposed to look like this

But wound up like this

Much of yesterday was dedicated to taking it into its component parts. I was afraid I'd have to trash some of it, but patience and gentleness (traits which I tend only to show to fibers) won out. This morning I decided to have a little fun photographing the many many balls of yarns.

I just had to share this with you. If you seriously respect the dignity of the olympic dream, though, you might want to skip it.

Finishing Season

Today marks "Go to Your Studio and Make Stuff's" 13-month anniversary! Woo-hoo! Nope, I just can't do thing the way normal folks do. Not a year, but 13 months...

It seems that I'm spending a lot of time finishing objects but, what with Christmas on it's merry way, finishing stuff is a good idea! And I always love the idea of handmade gifts. At least for the women-folk. Men just don't seem to enjoy anything handmade unless it's edible.

To that idea: "Serenity" is completed. I really like the soft colors in this one.

Also completed (but in need of "finishing"): Guardian Angels Birth Sampler. The alphabet that came with it was too large for a long-ish name so I had to unsew what I had started, re-chart, and re-sew. But at least I remembered to sign it! (Yes, the last name is covered. It seems only fair.)
And I've started a little something for myself... which means I'll have to back-burner it soon. Presenting the Red Herring Purse!
I really like this sumptuous cotton yarn: it almost feels like velvet!

I Finished My Socks!

That's right, they're done, wearable. What a relief to be finished with something started at least a year ago... and I'm already looking for a new sock pattern. Is this some kind of sickness?

Butterflies on Nine-Patches

(Just another cross-stitch UFO) I seem to recall starting this one on vacation in Hawaii... but I don't really know. I'd like to say I've been in a coma since and that's why I don't remember stuff, but I've always been that way. Note to daughter: don't put me in the home for that!

And these are Scrap Trick blocks. I'm putting 'em together for a prayer quilt. Nope, don't know who it's for yet.

How to Look Busy, Part 2

This darling sampler was begun three years ago, but the woman whose child it was to be for had the audacity to give birth to a boy. (A boy, can you believe it?) So, it went into the drawer. Now, little Celia Rose is gracing the planet so I have a happy reason to complete it!

So I spent most of yesterday organizing my cross-stitch stuff. I have a large storage bin where I keep my patterns, kits, and fabric. My needles and floss go into a smaller bin that sits atop it. I keep an inventory sheet inside and a duplicate in a file in my desk. When things change, I change the paper. You can see a portion of it in the picture below that features a stack of patterns. I put most of the patterns in page protectors and into two binders: one for used patterns, one for unused.

As I was going through stuff, making notes on my inventory sheet, I found 10 more cross-stitch pieces in progress. Whoa! Some have been barely started, some are near completion, but haven't been worked on during sixteen years of wedded bliss!

Oh, that reminds me of our wedding sampler (unfinished) I have stashed away in an entirely different place. (sigh.) 11.So that's how I organize my projects. I'm curious. How do YOU do it? Are you like Jan, that only ever has one piece in progress? Are you like Cathy, who can't even buy supplies for a new project until the old one is done? Or are you like me: way too many ideas for one person?

And here you will see "Dream Dancer." I started this in 2003 and I got a pretty good start but now Tiny prefers Asian characters. Huh. Well, I like it. Maybe I'll pick it back up.

UFO Population Control:

New rule when I've got 13 (ack!) cross-stitch UFOs (Unfinished Fabric Objects): finish two, then it's okay to start a fresh one. In this way, I'll whittle down the stack without feeling deprived.

Unfortunate development: The updated Inventory sheet did NOT get saved. Fortunately, I printed out two copies so I can go back and put it all in again. (sigh)

Making Stitching into a Quilt!

I finally finished Liberty Bears and when I say finished, I mean FINISHED. I decided not to frame it, but to make it into a mini-wall quilt. Since the fabric is a muted tone, I think it can handle not being protected by glass. Also, there's the cost of framing that I have saved. Yay, me. AND, everything I used was from stuff I already had. Stashbuster Alert!

So, I'll take you through the process.
I found a backing large enough and laid it out. (It had to have these additional features: not clashing with the binding fabric I'd already chosen and not being so dark it could stain the wall.)
Then I added some batting. (Leftovers from Cielo). Then I laid out Liberty Bears on top.I used a square ruler to shift the fabric over. As it was a loose weave, it complied without blocking: yay!
I cut the whole thing--top, batting, and back 1.5" from the edge of the stitching. No question that this was the scariest part!
I pinned around the whole thing every inch, as Theres recommends.
I machine-sewed down the binding, like these instructions at About.com.
I flipped it over and sewed down the binding by hand, using the invisible stitch.
I sewed down two large and otherwise useless stitch markers on the back for hanging it up.