OhSewCrafty

2012 WIPocalypse: May Update

My first update since the last WIPocalypse update... life has been crazy.  Let's just say shopping/ buying/ moving house is practically a part time job.  

I like to work on one stitching and one knitting project each month, but I didn't get around to much knitting.  At least I made significant progress on the Rose Fairy.  She is stitched on 36 ct Edinburgh linen dyed by Silkweaver in "Mountain Mist".  With hand dyed fabric, I opted to skip the chart background.  I had about 15% when I started after the last full moon and now she's about 60% finished, I estimate.  The top half of the chart has less stitching since there is empty space at the top.  Previous progress:

The chart is by DMC's "Ultimate Cross Stitch Collection", printed around 1996 and long out of print.  There are many of these flower fairy designs adapted from Cecily Mary Barker's artwork; chart numbers beginning "PC".  I have been on a little quest to collect as many as strike my fancy.  The detail is fantastic; Rose Fairy at least works up so pretty and delicate on 36 count fabric over 2 (18 count).  I also like that the charts are fairly small, and fit on a fat eighth using 18 count.  The old photographs on the chartpacks are rather faded but the colors work up so vibrantly.  What's left is the upper stem, top rose bloom, her head/arms, wings, and simple border.  The close up scale of this design makes for an immersive stitching experience and a welcome escape from stressful times.

If I want to continue rotating through my WIPocalypse projects, next up will be something for Christmas, either Royal Holiday or Twas the Night.  I'll probably see how far I can get on Twas the Night... it's an easy stitch on 14 count aida.  As for knitting, I need to work on the Nespelem cardi and get it into my wardrobe!  

2012 WIPocalypse: April Update

Another full moon!  I have made good progress.  I finished proj no. 10, the Carnaby Skirt.  I'm quite proud of my finishing on this... not that you can see it from the outside, but I used my sewing machine; added a lining, a waistband, and functional snaps as closure.  I don't have to worry about it stretching out of shape and the skirt is just as good as anything R-T-W in my opinion. 

I also spent quite a bit of time with the Dimensions Gold knit, Woodland Enchantress.  I started with about 50% stitched.  Progress as of March 9, 2012:

I hoped to get to the 75% mark, but I reached that at least 10 days before the full moon.  Though I could have moved on to another project, I opted to keep going.  As you can see below, the skirt is mostly done.  Most of what is left is background, which is mainly tent stitch.  It shouldn't take too long and I'm definitely hoping for a finish this year.  This is kind of a challenging stitch, it's rather dense with high thread counts on 16 ct aida and I've broken a few needles.  The chart is in color, which is not my preference.  I love how it's working up though!  It's based on the artwork of Ruth Sanderson, "Christmas Fairy", but she seems more like a spring fairy to me. 

Next up, I will work on proj no. 7, the Nespelem cardi.  I fussed with the finishing, then ultimately decided I don't like my mods.  So I basically need to rip and redo per pattern.    I will also work on proj. no. 5, the Rose Fairy Cross stitch.  It's only 15% complete but it's a relatively small project, stitched on a fat eighth.  That will be nice after working on some rather large projects....

 

2012 WIPocalypse: March Update

Well, the full moon was a few days ago, but here goes...

Project No. 3 - Athena - received many hours of work.  She is stitched on 32 count belfast linen dyed in the "Blue Dynasty" colorway by Silkweaver.  Stitching on this fabric is pure joy.  It's a really fun piece with many different colors, including some Waterlilies silks, and not too much confetti stitching.   I worked up to the top right corner of the chart and across to the horizontal midpoint.  I'd say the cross stitching is about 66% complete, but there will be lots of beading to complete later.  The "before" shot (February 2012):

As of March 10, 2012 (the whole piece, and detail of my latest work):

Project No. 10 - Carnaby - also saw a long evening of attention.  This is a cute skirt knitted in Valley Northampton (100% wool).  After much deliberation, I cut some brown silk habotai into a lining, and installed it along with a grosgrain ribbon as waistband.  Some hand sewing remains, but I"m hoping to finish this by the end of March so I can count it for the first quarter stashdown.   Here's the inside of waistband and lining; also the exterior waist.

For next time, I think I'll work on Woodland Enchantress - a Dimensions Gold cross stitch kit- and my Nespelem cardi, which will be perfect for spring.

2012 WIPocalypse: Update

The full moon is here and it's time for another update on my WIP goals.  Since last time, I worked on goal no. 8, the Bruyere henley, my Phildar boucle sweater UFO.  My sewing machine was set with purple thread; I decided to sew it up.  That fabric did not sew easily; it really had to be pulled through the machine.  Machine sewing was still the best treatment for this, I believe.  There is zero stitch definition so mattress stitch would have been impossible.  Back stitch would have been difficult to do neatly, and the idea of backstitching an entire sweater sounds like torture.  I put a ball point needle into my machine and used a zig zag stitch meant for stretch fabric.  The seams did not look great, but pressing with a warm iron improved them.  I have no idea how to block this thing, but it definitely needs blocking.  I still have to weave in the gazillion ends and sew on the buttons, so don't expect an FO anytime soon.   I'm not even sure if I like the design anymore... boucle is not something I normally wear.  Whether this is welcome wardrobe variety or a fashion mistake is TBD.

I also spent some time with the no. 1 project, the tree skirt.  I completed the greenery and berries along the top edge from wreath to the hearts, the hearts, the teddy bear, candy canes, stocking, purple star, and greenery/berries/border from the stocking to the teacup.  It doesn't look like much, but it is progress.  Baby steps.

I think for my next WIPocalypse activity, I'll pick up one one of my other cross stitch projects.  And maybe finally sew up the Carnaby skirt.

 

2012 WIPocalypse

I found this great SAL organized by Measi via Christine's blog.  The SAL plays on the idea that the world will end in 2012 (honestly isn't there one of those apocaplytic rumors every year?) and before that sad event, our WIPs must see some attention.  Why I'm certainly not expecting the world to end in 2012, a little attention to WIPs is never a bad thing.  The focus of the WIPocalypse is stitching so I'm going to list most of my cross stitch projects.  

1.  Dimensions Tree Skirt- begun in 2003, all done except for the backstitching (which is extensive).  Enough said.

2.  Woodland Enchantress- started in 2007.  50% complete.  This a Dimensions Gold kit with significant portions of half cross stitch- I should be able to knock some of it out at least!

3.  Athena-started in 2009.  33% complete.  I love stitching Mirabilia designs, and I love stitching on hand dyed belfast linen.

4.  Royal Holiday- started in 2007.  20% complete.  I'd really love to have something "Christmas" to hang on on the walls that time of year- so I might as well work on the one already begun.

5.  Rose Fairy- started in 2009.  15% complete.  This is the least complete of all my cross stitch projects, also one of the smallest, even if it is stitched on 36 count fabric.  It deserves some attention.

6.  Twas the Night- started in 2002.  50% complete.  My oldest cross stitch WIP and an easy stitch.

And now for the knitting:

7.  Nespelem cardi- needs the zipper removed, collar unsewn, collar frogged, redone, and resewn.  I'm don't know why I wanted to modify this design... I should finish it for Spring.

8.  Bruyere henley- needs seaming.  This crazy boucle fabric would be cute for fall...

9.  Acorn lace cami- needs seaming and crochet finishing.  This was frogged, reknit a a few times and really deserves to see the light of day, hopefully by Spring/Summer.

10.  Carnaby skirt-needs lining, seaming, etc.  This will be warm and cute!  I should finish it now so I can wear it during winter.

Ten is a nice round number.  We'll leave it there!  I will share a current pic of project #1.  Prior to 2012, I had completed most of the back stitch/detail for the center and left sections.  Some dedicated stitching time allowed me to complete the left and center sections, and begin work on the right.  I finished the bottom garland extending to the stocking, "Sweets", the candy and hearts, most of the stocking, the blue gift, and "Friends".

The random loose threads are there because I "park" my threads.  Ideally I would like to finish this by Thanksgiving, so I can shop for fabric to finish it when Joann brings out their holiday collection.  I plan to sew the Aida to a nicer fabric, perhaps a velveteen, line or back it with something smooth, and trim the edge with gold cording maybe.

FO/HD: Words to Live By

• Pattern: Lizzie Kate Double Flips "Living with Charm", 6 charts in all
• Fabric: 32 count belfast cream linen
• Date begun: January 2008

I saw this design at the beginning of last year, and liked the idea of stitching something inspirational.  I bought a long piece of linen from Lucia's (I love that place, fabric in any size priced by the square inch!), and the first few charts.  The charts were released throughout the year, and I had this idea I'd finish the piece within 2008.   It was an easy, relatively quick stitch but for some reason I stuffed it away in my crafting cabinet at the 2/3 mark around summertime and forgot about  it.  Ah well, 3 months into 2009 isn't bad, eh?

The stitching was fun, each segment or word only took a few evenings, and was like it's own little happy dance.  I'd like to stitch something else like this; the Lizzie Kate Halloween double flips caught my eye.  I also like "Woman" by Ruby Slippers Designs (and I have this one kitted up....hmm) and Alphabet Inspirations by A.Fox Originals.

The fabric color is off in these pics... it's warm, creamy white, not pinkish or brownish or grayish.  The light was not optimal for photography but I was impatient.  

Here's a closeup of the bottom... I adore the little scissor charm!  I enjoyed working with the overdyed threads, and the charms definitely added a little something.  I plan to frame with with a pale green mat and a white wood frame, perhaps distressed, and hang it by the door where I'll see it frequently.

  

 

New WIP: Athena

Here's another January 09 new start, Athena by Mirabilia.  I'm stitching her on a fat quarter of belfast linen (32 ct, 2 over 2), by Zweigart in the blue dynasty colorway.  For some reason this seems much easier than the Rose Fairy, which has many fractional stitches and those are so tiny on 36 ct fabric.  Athena will be about 16" wide by 13" tall when finished.  I finished the bottom right quadrant of the design, reaching the 25% mark, and decided to keep going, to finish her skirt.  I'm now about 33% done, I suppose.  I love all the colors in this design and it really pops against the pale blue fabric (which is perhaps a bit more blue than it appears in the photo below).  I've now got "Words to Live By" on the scroll bars, which is close to finished and hopefully I'll do a happy dance and get some a pic of that soon

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New WIP: Rose Fairy

Here's one of my January new starts, Cecily Mary Barker's Rose Fairy as charted by DMC.  The chart was published in England and does not seem to be widely available in the US; I bought mine on Ebay.  I'm stitching her on a fat eighth of Mountain Mist Edinburgh linen, by Silkweaver (36 count, 2 over 2).  The finished project will be about 8"x11".  I am really enjoying her so far, even though mostly all I've done is stitch leaves with about 15 shades of green.  The fabric is lovely, a mottled gray, so I'm skipping the gray background on the chart.  Here's a pic of what it should look like when finished.  Now, I'm setting this project aside for a bit- I started Athena and will blog that when I have some progress to show! 

FO/HD: Mermaids of the Deep Blue

• Pattern: Mermaids of the Deep Blue by Mirabilia
• Fabric: Silkweaver Oceantide Belfast linen (32 ct)
• Time to stitch: 18 months, mostly in UFO status 

I'm happy dancing- my first Mirabilia is finally finished!  This took forever, not because of the stitching, but there are a gazillion beads on this piece.  Must find a way to make beading go faster, or simply make myself stick with it.  The fabric was wonderful, with a nice hand and perfect variegation.  I didn't make any real changes to the chart, except changing the colors in a few places where it seemed the chart had errors.  My closeups below attempt to catch the sparkle of the many beads, without much success... but trust me, this thing is twice as heavy as you might expect, due to the beads, and is seriously sparkly.  

 

I'll probably wait a bit before framing this, as I just framed 3 pieces... all of which are now in the gallery, so check it out if you wish!

FO/HD: Waiting for the Mists to Clear

• Pattern: Waiting for the Mists to Clear, by Character Creations, art by Ian Brooks
• Fabric: Belfast linen (32ct), hand dyed (very subtle grayish bluish white)
• Threads: DMC (as charted) 
• Time to stitch: 1.5 years

This has been done a while; perhaps you can see my signature dated 2007.  But as last night I spent a few hours matting and framing it, I figured I'd blog it!  This was my first computer generated chart and it is huge, the frame is 17.5"x24"!  The detail is amazing, and though the design did not call for backstitch, I added some and it greatly enhanced the piece IMHO.  There was a lot of confetti stitching and while tedious, I think it was worth it in the end.  I just love the face on the dragon, I think he has a lot of personality and I imagine him to be a guardian, keeping watch.