When someone who has built a hedgehog house in the garden has a birthday, the only appropriate gift is hedgehog embroidery, right? At least, that was what I thought back in February. So I set out to find a cute hedgehog and managed to do so in the patterns of OwlAndThread. There is a lot of backstitch in this thing, but it ends up being so cute!
After completing the stitching, it needed to be ‘kept’ somehow. First, I found some dark green paper in the hoard and made a little frame. Realistically, it was too much fabric in too small a frame. So in the end, I went out to get some different paper and made a bigger frame. I used my embossing machine to cut out some balloons and wrote a message on the back. I really enjoyed working on this, even if it was not able to be uploaded into Pattern Keeper. Old-School counting all the way.
A colleague of mine is leaving to pursue another job and I wanted to make her a little gift. So I figured that I would embroider the saying that we use in the office a lot: ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys’, which in essence means ‘not my problem’. However, it needed some adaptation since it will be her circus. So I found a pattern of a set of monkeys with tails in a heart shape, and found a 5-stitch high font here that I adapted a little. The final result is a ‘This is my circus and these are my monkeys’ embroidery with the name of her new company in the middle.
I personally think this is hilarious. I hope she likes it.
Cute embroidery of a chicken carrying some lovely plants.
On of the first kits I purchased when I restarted my cross stitch craze was one called Kip met de planten or ‘Flower Bustle’ from Andriana. It depicts a white chicken with an apron, running around with two plant pots with the leaves trailing behind. I thought it was very cute and since Monsteras are one of my favourite plants, I didn’t think I could go wrong with it.
I started it a while ago, in February, and have been working on it intermittently. There are a lot of different colours and it also requires stitches made with one strand each of two different colours. Which means that the colour gradients are even prettier and more subtle. The size of it did mean that I had to reposition my rectangular embroidery frame a few times, since it was not big enough for the whole picture in one go.
This was a really fun one to since you could see the leaves grow bit by bit. I did make an adjustment in the apron because didn’t like the red detailing at the bottom. So I replaced it with green and left out the triangles. All of those details were made with backstitch and this means that the reverse of this is an absolute disaster. Luckily you don’t have too see the backside to enjoy the front!
January 29 was the start of my next Mystery Knit Along (MKAL), this one was Funfetti MKAL by : : : Katie Degroff Knits : : :. It called for 200 grams ish of fingering weight yarn, and then 200 grams ish of two or six or twelve contrast colours. I opted to split two skeins of Alpaca 4 ply into three, so I wound up with six colours. Since I just purchased new yarn dye in almost a rainbow, I figured that would be a great way to test those too.
YarnsMore accurate coloursLeftovers
The main colour was then a combination of violet and periwinkle. The contrasts were A: Neon Red, B: Neon Orange, C: Neon Yellow, D: Blacklight Blue, E: Aqua Tropic and F: Crocodile Green. Most of the colours work well together although the Crocodile Green does feel like the odd one out. Out of my new dyes, Croc Green, Aqua and Neon Yellow are my favourites.
Clue 1Clue 2Clue 3
When it came to knitting, it was a lot per installment. The construction was interesting. We started with a diamond shape with rounds in the different colours. Then we put that one aside and started working on a section where you increase in the middle but eventually start decreasing on the ends, so you end up with a ‘house’ shape. We did that for a few of the clues before going back to clue one and starting to add to that one too.
Clue 4Clue 4Clue 4
The final clue was to fill in two rectangles to connect the two sections we had been working on. This was quite satisfying because it was the last clue and a much smaller number of stitches. I was debating whether to do the colour changes at the end because it would leave so many ends, and while I decided to go for it, I opted out of the last colour and only did five colours. I think this worked fine.
Clue 5Clue 5Blocking
The end result is a long rectangular scarf, with one of the short ends straight and the other side pointed. Since there are so many colour changes, weaving in the ends was a project in and of itself. It really is quite big. I don’t think I should opt for 400 gram scarves in the future. This one will end up being gifted away since I’m not enjoying the purple colour for anything I would wear.
Still, the MKAL was well organized. The forums were fun and the designer was very helpful. I just chose colours that I didn’t like even though the yarn I used was great.
I bought a super cute cross stitch pattern of a pumpkin under a leaf that I wanted to stitch up. Due to the light colours of some of the outside stitches, it didn’t feel right to stitch on white. So I decided to dye some embroidery fabric blue with a cotton dye.
The intention was to have an uneven fabric, with some lighter sections. After the first bit of fabric went into the bath, I decided to add a second. This is why the left bit of fabric above isn’t as dark. It wasn’t in the dye bath for nearly as long.
I liked how it turned out and chose the darker one for my pumpkin. I cut all the threads and put them through a cardboard thread holder. I always estimate that a length of 6 strand embroidery floss will make around 180 stitches (60 per double strand section). So I measured accordingly.
Then I got to work. I wanted to start near the middle, to make sure everything would work out, so I stated with the darkest green first. Then came the purple and the black before the first orange was added. That first one brought him firmly into temporary spooky territory.
The third and fourth orange were added before the highlights of light yellow and light green were completed. I do think it looks a little magical with the nice stars all around. I really enjoyed this project. It went quick, the amount of stitches was doable and the outcome is really lovely.
Sometimes you just want to make little things with leftover yarn. Right?
Meet the Alien Mob! A collection of 7 knit aliens in different colours, all made from the same pattern: Mini Alien by Barbara Prime.
There’s Blue (from this sweater), White (from this sweater), Yellow (from this cowl), Turquoise (from this sweater), Mottled (from this shawl), Grey (from this sweater) and Green (from this project).
Knit in the round, very few stitches, quick and easy. They have antennae from different offcuts of the Cowlopus leftovers. There are 7 mm safety eyes and a tiny mouth from the Highland Tea Cowsy. It was fun to just make some tiny bobbly creatures and not worry too much about them.
Making two cute gifts for a wedding where the participants are just supposed to have fun!
One of my colleagues went to Portugal to get married, and to celebrate the occasion, gifts were in order! The only thing I really knew was that I wanted to make something. I just initially didn’t have a clue what the something would be. So I stared considering the options. Since I really like words, I thought about recreating some sort of pun.
I first thought making a set of stuffed peas for ‘two peas in a pod’ but apparently that saying means something different than I thought. It’s about people being alike and not about people liking each other, so even though there is a similar saying in Portuguese, it was out. Since my brain was letting me down, I went the google route to look for sayings that meant to ‘have fun’. I settled on two: ‘Let the good times roll’ and ‘Have a whale of a time’.
The first one was easy, just make a ball and embroider the saying on it. Google translate indicated that it is ‘deixe os bons tempos rolarem’ in Portuguese (no guarantees whether that’s valid though..), which is also five words. Happy coincidences! I settled on a 6 panel ball and to celebrate the union added the word ‘together’ (juntos) to the end of the saying. I chose some of my 10×10 pre-cut quilting squares and added some interfacing to the back. All but one seam were completely sewn and then made extra neat at the joins. For fun, I added a bell in with the stuffing before closing it up. I think it’s very cute!
The second one made me trawl through what felt like the entirety of Pinterest to find a cute whale pouch. The full idea was to make an object that could hold suggestions to have a whale of a time. Basically ideas for dates within the local area. In the end, I settled on using the pattern from this pin, but enlarging it slightly. I chose three coordinating quilting fabrics and fluffy interfacing for the outside and some whale patterned fabric for the lining.
I found a coordinating zipper and sewed it all together. The lining was mostly attached on a train journey because I had a hard time manouvering under the sewing machine. I left a hole in the lining so I could stitch one some cute felt eyes. I also added a felt heart to the tail. I really like how this one turned out. I asked some of my other colleagues for date suggestions, printed those on paper, added some of the discount cards from tourist destinations and put it all in the whale.
In any case, I’ve heard that the wedding was a great time!
Making a four piece suit from 1906 that only took 3.5 years to complete.
Back in October of 2022, I talked about finishing the blouse of a 1906 Beach Suit pattern I’d bought on Etsy in July of 2021. The pattern has four elements; a blouse, a belt, a skirt and a jacket. I have now managed to complete one of each element!
The original plan was to make the fun leafy blouse and make the rest of the suit in a dark fabric. However, after cutting out all the pieces from the black fabric, it turned out to be a wrong fabric choice. It was too stiff and there were sun marks all over is, so it looked faded in places. In the end, those pieces ended up in the bin because there was no point in continuing. I’d never be happy with the end result. So I pivoted, and found a red fabric in my stash.
It’s a strange, probably quite synthetic material that’s soft on the outside but almost crunchy (?) on the inside. I can’t really explain it. It’s not very thick, but there was enough of it to cut the other pieces of the suit. Based on a picture from April 2023, I had already cut the skirt, jacket and probably most of the belt some time after finishing the blouse.
The skirt was the piece I believe I finished next. I added pockets, because without pockets a skirt is not useful. They are quite large and can hold some stuff. I also wanted to make it somewhat adjustable. The aim was to make it wearable with or without a corset, so I added some extra thread loops to the back for closure. Since it was supposed to be worn with a belt, I figured that could be hidden effectively enough. I think this skirt was finished sometime in April 2023.
The belt however, took another half a year. I wanted it to be stable enough so there is something that I believe might be horsehair in it for stiffening. It’s also got a few bones and it’s almost entirely handsewn, because I kept messing up. As with the skirt, I wanted this to also be adjustable, so I added lacing. And then I decided to make my life a lot harder and added hooks and eyes to allow it to open without having to undo all the laces. My brain took so long to figure out how to get this to work, and it think it mostly does now. A message to a friend indicates that I finished it in September 2023.
That jacket has been hanging, mostly finished over one or the other mannequin in my living room since at least April 2023, if not longer. I had tried sewing the facing in but it puckered like no tomorrow, so I gave up. Earlier this week, I finally got the courage to try again. In two fell swoops with some help from an iron and simple perseverance, I finally finished all the seams and it’s now done!
So that means that all four parts of the beach suit have been completed! It only took 3.5 years… And with the change in fabric, the blouse and the suit don’t really go together anymore. It’s very Christmassy in colours, not in amount of winter warmth. That’s a problem for another day though. The skirt does need a petticoat for wear, because it’s too thin otherwise and doesn’t fall correctly. I think the belt solution works, even if it’s possibly not the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen. I like the big sleeves of the jacket and how it hits. Now it’s just waiting for decent weather and taking it out to the beach!
Finally a place to store my double pointed knitting needles.
So, at some point in the distant past, I got hold of some DPNs, double pointed knitting needles. DPNs are needles that are used for knitting small things, or things in the round, or i-cord. I used them for the dragon, for example. As I am wont to do, this meant the start of a DPN collection. I never set about to find storage for them though, and that was a problem. They’ve been left in plastic bags, pen-things, stabbed into a cardboard box and I’ve found them in all kinds of places. But no more!
I set out to create a storage for them that was similar to my interchangeable knitting needle storage. Found some fabric in the hoard that had cute dogs on it, some semi-coordinating fabric for the needle pockets and got to work. I first had to sort all the DPNs into size and length to figure out how many and how big the pockets would be. I ended up with 19 different needle size/shape/length combinations from <2.0 mm to 9.0 mm in diameter.
Since the doggy fabric was a specific width, the case would be a maximum of that wide. The height was determined by the longest DPNs I had, so it turned out around 37 cm. I cut out the front and back from the doggies and some batting for the middle. Then cut a long strip of coordinating dotty fabric to into the pockets. Sewed down one end and just started putting the DPNs in and sewed the pocket down so they fit somewhat snuggly.
The interchangeable needle storage has a plastic flap over the top to stop the needles falling out. This works really well, so I decided to implement it in the Doggy case too. Since there is such variation in length, and I didn’t think to split first by length then by width, there are actually two plastic covers, one for the shortish needles and one for the longer ones. To combat the ones on the end falling out, so I made a tiny flap on the side too. I sewed down all the flaps, and bound the edges of the whole thing. Made some spaghetti straps from a coordinating fabric, wrote the sizes with a textile marker and called it a day.
I love this thing and it has already brought so much joy!
When trawling Ravelry for more patterns to diminish my stash of yarn, I found this interesting shaped shawl: Portia Shawl by Corrie Purdum. It’s basically three triangles together to form three quarters of square. The claim is that because of those points at the front, it stays over the shoulders well. With the summer happening, I haven’t been able to fully test this, but I expect it to be true.
For the yarn, I chose Krypton sock yarn (100% merino), dyed unsaturated black with dark green in March of 2023. I actually have another ball of this, and this shawl didn’t finish a full ball, so if anyone has suggestions for a project that uses 100 g + a little bit extra, let me know!
The pattern is straight forward and once you get the hang of it, it’s fairly easy to memorize. For fun, I added one extra repeat in the big central diamond shape. The pattern indicates that this scarf needs to be blocked to within an inch of its life. I didn’t manage to stretch it as far as I should’ve. I’m unsure how anyone would manage. I did enjoy playing with my new blocking wires, it does make it easier when you have a meter wire instead of 30-40 cm.
I made a choice with the blocking that the back edge would be blocked to little points, while the ‘sides’ would be blocked straight. This results in different kinds of edges which I think is interesting. I also like that the green randomly appears every now and again. I’m now just waiting for fall for some better shawl wearing times!
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