Parental Visit

My parents, now retired, split their time between my home town in NY and the town in Oklahoma where they moved my senior year of high school.  Since they were driving, they took a little detour to spend a day or two with me before they continued on their way.  It was nice, as it was only the second time since I’ve moved to Indiana 6 years ago that they came to visit me, rather than the other way around. They were really only here for two nights, we hung out, ate out, and did some shopping, but there were two things that really stood out for me.

A few weeks ago, my father called me to tell me that my grandfather was joining my grandmother at the nursing home and that they would be cleaning out their house to put on the market.  He asked me if I wanted anything, and after puzzling for a moment, I asked if there were any of the felt ornaments around that my grandmother had made over the years.  Apparently, in her younger days, she was an ornament making machine, as every year a new felt ornament would be given to her kids’ families.  So, all through my youth, all of the Christmas trees in the family would look very similar, decorated with all of these hand made ornaments.  I had a couple, but knew that there were many more than I didn’t have.

So, the ornaments that she had on her tree were found and split up between me and a couple of the other grandkids who had expressed interest.  My parents brought them to me and I was thrilled to get what I did!

There were also a bunch of other plastic canvas ornaments that she did in her later years. One of them had a magnet on the back so its now on my fridge.

The other fun thing, besides just hanging out and talking with them, was that my mother taught me to crochet a granny square. I can crochet, but whenever I’d tried to make one of these from written instructions, I’d end up with a tangled mess of yarn. I understood what I needed to do, but actually executing it just never quite worked. So.. now I know how to make a granny square! Here’s my practice one that she helped me with:

So all in all, a fun visit!

I have such great friends!

I’ve had a pretty tough week….  those of you who know will understand just how hard it has been for me.

Today my friend Emily met me for lunch and magically, my appetite came back and I didn’t feel sick after eating.

When I got home, I had a package from my friend Susan, who sent me a sweet card and this beautiful project bag that she made with  my favorite color:

It’s about 11″ x 14″, and as you can see it has a matching zipper and is fully lined. It is also made with some fusible interfacing to help it keep its shape. Now I just have to figure out which project will go in it!

Knitting Update and a Little Stitching

I finally finished my scarf. I’m still not sure if I’ll do anything to finish it off, but I did like Missy‘s idea of chainstitching some sort of eyelash type fiber and sewing around the edges.

However, I’ve learned that stockinette stitch likes to curl up, which is a little annoying for a first project:

I might try some other pattern next time I feel like knitting up a scarf.

I finished side one of Sweetheart Tree’s Lavender Blossoms biscornu:

This is very sparkly in real life. I’ve started the back, which is supposed to be the same, but life is too short to repeat the whole thing (I would if it were different), so I’ll do the center motif, the border, the rhodes hearts and the fans in the corners and skip all of those vines.  I’ll probably put those giant pretty beads on too.  If I had to do this again, I’d skip the platinum fabric that comes with the kit and do it on white or antique white fabric.

I’ve discovered the ultimate multi-task!  I really wanted to read the new Dan Brown book, but didn’t want to take precious stitching time away to read, so I got the CDs!  I wasn’t sure if I could concentrate on both at the same time, but I can!  It makes me feel soooo productive and has the added advantage of drowning out the annoying football noises coming from the TV.  I was surprised tho, to find that the abridged version of the book is about 6 hours.  The unabridged (which I got) is over 17 hours.  How can you cut 11 hours out and still have the same book??  I’m baffled.  Anyway, I’m enjoying it and see many trips to the library for audio books in my future.

Knitting Class Update

I took a knitting basics class a couple of weeks ago.  The point of the class was to learn to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off.  I was inspired to take this class by all of the lovely projects I see on people’s blogs – afghans, socks, etc.  I taught myself how to do this several years ago, but thought a class would increase my confidence to move onto some different projects.

The class was taught in continental style, but I had a terrible time with stitches slipping off the needle.  I just switched to doing american/english style between classes and found that I had a lot more control over the needles, tension, and the stitches.

One thing the class didn’t teach was how to fix errors.  You Tube seems to have some good videos on that, but right now my only recourse is to just pull out rows of stitches and pray I rethread the needle the right way.

Anyhow, here’s a pic of where I am so far:

Right now I’m not sure what I’ll do to finish this off. I’m not a huge fan of fringe, so I’ll probably either leave it as it is, or I’ll maybe crochet a scalloped edge on it.

Despite the multiple start-overs and scores of rows that have been pulled out and restitched, I’m happy with it overall… I like the colors and the pattern the color changes created.

Right now, what I really want is to finish this off and get back to stitching. I still have an August ornament to do, but really want to get back to one of my larger projects.  There’s talk of a stitching GTG soon, which would be fantastic!

Went and saw Julie and Julia this weekend. I found that the movie really left me wanting to make Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon (yeah I had to look that up to spell it…). Beef has not passed over my lips for 15 years tho…. somehow I don’t think that Tofu Bourguignon would be the same…

Knots, Knots, Knots…..

So, I took the plunge and started Teresa Layman‘s Snow White Rose Red this weekend…

It started a little rough (see white stitches on the roof), but I’m now getting pretty good at colonial knots… after never having done them before. I could never figure out the stitch diagram and couldn’t figure out why so many people claim that they are so much easier than french knots…. Anyway… I’m pretty happy with this and it’s not really as tedious as I thought it would be. Its kind of nice not to have to count anything. I’m not totally happy with the door, which is filled in completely with french knots. There is lots of detail on there with lines, cross braces, handles and bolts in the door… but it is-what-it-is as these buggers are a PITA to pull out.   There’s also a bench underneath the left window that isn’t showing up too well. 

I just remembered that I signed up for a knitting class that starts tomorrow! The class is at Erica’s Craft and Sewing Center in South Bend.  The class project is a scarf.  I bought the yarn required a couple of weeks ago and got something that I thought would match my winter coat, which is kind of a chocolate brown color:

I’m kind of surprised that it only calls for two skeins…  Anyway I can kind of knit, but can’t cast on.  I can do entire rows of knit stitches and purl stitches, but can’t alternate between the two without a knotted mess.  So, I figure some instructions and hands-on guidance will help. 

Went and saw Funny People last night… pretty good and kind of interesting to see Adam Sandler in a more serious role, even though it was still a funny movie.  Man…. he’s starting to look older tho!

Midwest Stitchers Get Together (GTG)

My friend Susan hosted a midwest GTG on Saturday at her Chicago apartment and I had a great time! Ten wonderful stitchers from 5 states attended – most of which were people that I’ve known for years from the TWBB and The Wagon, but have never met!

Jenn (JenJen3574) from Wisconsin
Kelly (marissasmom2) from Wisconsin
Melissa (Missycor) from Wisconsin
Eva (Frauevi) from Illinois
Anita (Anita in Iowa) from Iowa
Chris (NCRichards) from Iowa
Jenn (U9Corn Amgel) from Chicago
Annie (annieadams) from Ohio
and me (indystitch) from Indiana

We had a small gift exchange, where I received a cute little Whitman’s tin filled with thread and a box of Whitman’s Chocolate from Anita.

 

We also had a swapmeet session where everyone brought their excess stash to give away to anyone who wanted it.

Everyone brought WIPS and finished projects to show off and we spent most of the afternoon stitching, chatting, and laughing. I don’t have many female friends, and I work with all men, so the afternoon with stitching women was a welcome break from the norm. I hope I can do another GTG with these fun ladies in the future.

Susan did a wonderful job as hostess and provided everyone with little treat bags filled with nice things like lotion, chocolate, snacks, and lovely silk.

Jenn (JenJen3574) and Susan have posted some pictures on their blogs.

Alyssum Scissor Pocket Finish!

I finally finished up this project this afternoon.  It is my second project meant to improve my finishing skills and I’m pretty happy with it.  I changed the closure by adding a loop and button.  I stitched this on platinum belfast using waterlilies “peacock” silk floss.

Front: 

 

Opened Front:

 

Back:

 

Side Stitching Detail:

 

I used #12 perle cotton in a color that matched the fabric for the finishing work instead of the overdye. I wasn’t totally confident in my ability to do the finishing well, and I figured the matching perle would hide any mistakes better than using the silk.

Unfortunately, I don’t really have any 4″ scissors… which this project was designed for.  Sounds like a good reason for me to do some scissor shopping…..

A while back, DBF and I were talking about making those little potholders that we all did as kids.  He told me that he used to make them and sell them door to door “15 cents a piece, or two for a quarter.”   The image that formed in my mind of this was so cute that I found one of those little looms and bags of multicolored loops and surprised him with it.  Some nights when I’m stitching, he’ll pull out his loom and go to work!  I know its considered to be a kid’s craft, but he really enjoys it and makes some really cool patterns!

 

I don’t really have a need for this many potholders, so if you’d like a beautifully crafted potholder, post with a description of your favorte and location in the picture.  I’ll randomly draw a name later in the week and the winner will receive the potholder of their choice in the mail!

Update:  Kim (Cymberleah) won the potholder give away!

Tea and Candles

Well, we did go on a really fun bike ride last night. I forgot how much I really enjoy it! It was nice and a lot of it followed a river where there were swans and otters. I’ll have to bring my camera next time! Most of my previous adult riding was in the Northwest (Washington and Idaho), where you are dealing with a lot of hills. Biking is the one of the only things that Indiana’s flatness is good for! There are some hilly areas around that we might travel to. Anyway, we are both definitely suffering with the bottom-soreness that comes with the first couple of rides of the season. That will get better though.

I’ve taken a mini-hiatus from stitching, but got back into it again last night after dinner. The next band on my Victoria Sampler Heirloom Family Sampler was a hemstitching one, and I wasn’t feeling motivated to do any reweaving. However, I persevered and got that done last night. I’m actually really looking forward to doing the hardanger on this one.

I have a couple of other hobby/craft like things that I like to do, and one of them is making candles! Below are some pictures of my early candle-making efforts. I like all of them, but these are molded candles.

I’ve found that I like candles mostly for the scents available and the flame, so I’ve moved to making primarily container candles. They are much easier to do well and definitely take less time. My favorite jars are the half-pint wide mouth canning jars. The size and ease make them great for gift giving – mostly during the holidays.

My initial interest in candle making came when L’Occitaine stopped making my absolute favorite mint bergamot scented candles. I love Earl Grey tea, and bergamot oil is what gives it that nice fragrance. Shortly after they were discontinued, a friend asked me if I wanted to do a candle class with her. They had wonderful bergamot scented oil, which I bought after the class. The next time I went in for more… I was told that the company had discontinued that fragrance! I’ve been searching for a comparable substitute, and most of what I tried had an artificial smell or didn’t smell like bergamot at all! I did find a good supplier eventually though and once again my home is happily scented with bergamot.

Speaking of tea, I’ve found a brand that I really like. Numi’s Aged Earl Grey has little pieces of the actual bergamot fruit in their teabags, in addition to the oil. Stash makes a nice Double Bergamot Earl Grey too. Of course, there are always my old standbys – Celestial Seasonings Peppermint, Chamomile, and Sleepytime.