Stitched Sunday-Bullion Stitch

I'd never done bullion stitch before my white work piece, and was so surprised at how easy they were.  It was one of those stitches I'd always avoided, so when I'd seen one of the pages was devoted to this stitch, I was a bit wary.  After the white work piece, I was looking forward to giving it a go, I'd always liked the look of bullion stitch roses.

 Some of the techniques were still new. and the more I did, the easier it got.  The roses were getting better, and the circles were just amazing to see appear.

I have to say, this is, by far, my most favourite page.  It was fun to do, and the final piece is a joy to look at.  I may have to adapt this design for something else.

One more page to go in the Stitched Sunday series, then I'll have to start thinking about putting it altogether.

Stitched Sunday-Herringbone and Chevron

Well. I'm still in catch up mode for some of the projects started this year.  The stitched Sunday pages got put to one side when I did my white work piece, but now, I am going to try and get them all completed.

This is Herringbone and Chevron, although it is mixed with fly stitch, detached chain, french knots and straight stitches.  Next is bullion stitch.

E is for the End

 The last letter to be stitched was the E, and finally, after months of being in progress, it is finished.

The elephants in all their splendour

This will now go to one side until I get the fabric to make a quilt/wall hanging.  This is going to be the central panel.  In the meantime, all the threads are sorted and put away.  A design has been found, threads pulled and a list made for threads to buy.  Before that though, I think I am due for some sewing machine time, some knitting and some embroidery, although not necessarily in that order.

Oh, "C", "D"

 The stitching has continued, and two more letters are complete.  That leaves just the "E" to finish.  All being well, that means, by the end of today, I should have a complete alphabet.

"B"

B is for busy stitching.  Three more letters to go

Hope you all have a lovely day

The Final Straight

This is the beginning of the last line of elephants, and they are now being stitched in alphabetical order.  "A" marks the top left corner, and I need to get to "E".

The elephants are back

Daniel very kindly picked up some more thread for me while he was out, so I can now get back to the elephants.  I wanted to do the outlining on the last two elephants at the bottom before having to roll the canvas to finish the top.  "U" and the little elephant with the balloons complete the parade at the bottom.

Now they've been done, I've now moved on to the final four elephants at the beginning of the alphabet.  All being well, they won't take long to stitch.

And we have gloves

I thought gloves were more practical, so after the mitts, I started on some gloves.

This is the first time I've ever made gloves, and although, it's a bit more fiddly, it wasn't that hard at all.  Having survived one pair, I think I might look out the ones my mum started, but never finished.  I know they're in a bag somewhere upstairs, I just have to find where.

Black Mitts

A request came in for some mitts to help keep the hands warm on a Saturday morning whilst pulling the trolley on the paper round.  Of course, there was only one colour allowed, and that was black!

I don't mind using black, but it does make it difficult to see where the shaping stitches are.  Even so, these didn't take long at all to knit.  Now it's onto some gloves, as I think they'll be more practical.

Needles of a Different Kind

As I'm waiting for the outlining thread to continue with the sampler, I've exchanged the tapestry needle for knitting needles.  Jonathan put in  a request for some gloves and mittens for the cold mornings on his paper round.  Before I started, I finally got buttons put onto a cardigan I finished a couple of weeks ago.

 It's knitted in 100% organic cotton, which was very reasonably priced.  It has a shaped body, three quarter length sleeves and uses different stitches to create texture.

 This made for a very interesting time whilst knitting, there was never any time to get bored with one stitch before moving onto another.

Now, back to the boys favourite colour, black!

When Z isn't the end of the alphabet

Z is done, but not all my alphabet elephants are finished.  I have five more letter elephants and one corner elephant to do.  Sad thing is, I've run out of the thread for the the outlining, so will have to wait until at least Wednesday to get some more.  I shall carry on stitching on the final corner at the bottom, but will wait until I've outlined them to move up to do the ones at the top.  Hopefully, there will not be too much of a delay.

Bottom Right Completed

This was one of the little fellows I had forgotten to count when I was working out how many more elephants there were to stitch.  He's quite a sweet elephant, so didn't deserve to be forgotten and he has a friend at the opposite corner.  When that one is done, I know the bottom of the sampler is finished.  However, there is a little way to go before that happens.  Altogether, there are seven more little friends to stitch, six with letters and one other.

'X' and 'Y'

I'm almost done with the bottom right corner.  There is one of the unlettered elephants to do, and this corner will be complete.  That means I have eight more elephants to do.

'W'

All stitched and ready to walk away

They Just Keep on Coming

R is the next letter to be done, and I quite like this one, even though it is walking away.  Reminds me of Nellie the Elephant who packed her trunk.

I thought this would leave me with ten more elephants to do, as I had completed sixteen letters.  However, there must have been a something going on, as I've discovered there are two extra elephants that have no letters.  That means, there are still twelve to go.  Nothing like feeling you're going backwards on a project!

Eleven More to Go

First task was to finish the L, the outline makes all the difference.

 Next, Q and V were finished.

That means I am now over half way through the alphabet, in fact, there are eleven more letters to go.

And they just keep coming

The elephants just keep rolling along.  Now it's time for the 'p' to be on parade.

One good thing about taking progress photos, you see the bits you've forgotten, like the outlining on the 'l'.

                 This will have to be rectified later, fortunately, it's right next door to the next elephant closest to a finish.

K

Still stitching away, and yes, I do know my alphabet.  K doesn't normally come after F, but these are not being stitched in order

I have an unexpected day home, so I shall be forging on ahead with more letters

F is for...

Fun!

Now I'm actually able to spend some time on this project, I am getting back into the enjoyment of it.  The good thing is, I don't have to leave all the outlining until the end, each letter is like an individual finish.  There is still some way to go, but I shall be looking forward to getting them done.

Finally

It's been a hectic few weeks, and last week, busier than most.  Finally, I have a quieter week and don't have to go out until Friday.  That means time to get things sorted at home, and to sit and do something crafty.

Doing the afghan squares fulfilled two things.  I did something crafty, and I could tidy up.  The four magazines could go away, although it won't be too long before the next ones arrive.

I know this week is going to fly by, but hopefully, it can be a productive one as well.

Revisiting older projects

It was lovely to come in from the cold and sit and do some relaxing stitching.  I haven't worked on this cross stitch for months and it was feeling neglected by the side of the settee.  I only spent a couple of hours on it, but managed to get the S and T finished.

There is still a little way to go, but it's been put aside again, as the yarn arrived to finish a cardigan.  Hopefully, that will be done today, and buttons can be purchased tomorrow.

Small is quicker

The intention was to do the last paper pieced block.  However, my printer has decided it doesn't want to play anymore until I buy some more ink.  How inconsiderate is that!  As I couldn't print off the templates for the quilt block, I went back to the knitting and managed to get the child's socks finished.

These are definitely quicker and more delicate than the huge monstrosities I was doing earlier.  I'm not planning on doing anymore socks at the moment, so there will be some new projects under way, and some older ones resurrected.

More Paper Piecing

A little delayed in the making, but the next paper pieced block has been done.

This is call Starry Night.  The paper piecing was a little easier after the practise the other day, but for me, the other block went together better.  There is still one more paper pieced block for me to do.

Forgotten These?

The extra balls arrived in the week, so I was able to get the next two pairs of socks finished.

 These are shorter socks, but still big to fit size 11 feet

And these are the longer ribbed socks, still to fit big feet.  Where have my little boys gone?  Jonathan will be 15 this week and I sincerely hope that his feet won't be getting any bigger!

Minnesota Block

I had been wondering if I was going to continue with the blocks in the "We can do it" sampler quilt, I'd lost a bit of enthusiasm along the way, getting distracted with other things.  However, I thought I had done so many of them, and they had been good for using up fabric left over in my stash, it might be as well to continue.  Maybe the paper piecing will grow on me.

I had three blocks to catch up on, this is the first, Minnesota.

It took a little while to get the hang of the placement of the fabric for the diamonds, but by the third one, I had got it into my brain.  The hourglass blocks were just normal piecing, so not a problem. 

If I get the time, it's another paper pieced block today.

At Last

A day when I could finish what I started!

I'd been keeping all my buttons protected in a bag since the end of the Buttons and More Classes, but I wanted them to be somewhere I could see them and be inspired by them.  They can remind me of what can be done and to incorporated other buttons in future projects.

The background is silk, to go with the main fabric in the buttons and the buttons are tied on.  I've now to find a suitable spot on my wall to hang it, and then I need to think of a project for the remaining silk.

One of those weeks

It's definitely one of those weeks this week.  Lots of good intentions to get things done, thwarted at the last minute by running out of supplies.

 There's the child's sock missing a toe,

 A great size 11 missing a top of a foot, so while waiting for new yarn to arrive, it was back to the quilting.  There were a couple of tops that needed backs piecing and putting together.

 First, it was this one, but I didn't have enough black.  I need to order some more, but in the meantime, fabric I had ordered was back in stock and arrived this week.

 So out came this quilt and I pieced the back.  I ironed the back and top ready for sandwiching, only to find, I didn't have enough batting!  Do you ever feel things are conspiring against you?

The one good thing to come from the day, I think I have a layout for my button wallhanging.  All I need now is a day at home to put it altogether.

Black and White

The next purse was slightly more of a challenge as I had to draw the pattern myself.  In the end it didn't turn out too badly, although personally, I prefer the shape of the first one.

 I used some fabric from my stash and coupled it with some white for the inside.

The end result isn't too bad.  Now I need to stock up on some more clasps and try some more, maybe a little one with a curved clasp.

Something Very Different

The purple wool has all gone now, I am sure you'll be pleased to know, so now it's time for something different.  The knitting is still going, but in a different colour, but I did have time to do something different.  After the small purse I did a little while ago, I thought I'd like to try them again, but on a bigger scale.

 I bought a kit from U-Handbag, and I must say, their instructions are fantastic.  They are very clear and concise, with plenty of photos.  It is a fiddly process getting the fabric body and clasp together, but once it's done, the results make it worthwhile.

I also bought a purse clasp, so the next stage is to draw up a pattern to fit the clasp.  If I can work that one out successfully, there may be a few more purses in the making.

Last of the Purple

After what seems to be an age, the purple wool has come to an end.  I now have a pair of mitts, to fit age 4-6, to match the hat and socks.

It was surprising to see how far these ten balls went, but I am now glad to be knitting with a different colour.  I'm even hoping I might get some sewing time in too.

Little Socks

Little socks are definitely more fun to knit than for size 11 big boys feet!  Now I have little socks to go with the little hat, now to work on the mitts.

In Miniature

Try as I might, I just can't get to the end of the purple wool.  After knitting a complete adult set, I've now started on a little child's set.  This is for approx age four and up

Here is the hat, and yes, there is still more.  This was definitely a good sale buy!

Mitts to match

I now have the complete set in a woman's size=hat, wristwarmers, socks and mitts.  There is still a few balls of the wool left, so now, I'm starting on a toddler set. 

Purple Socks

 I'm enjoying this pattern, it is so easy and quick to knit.   These socks didn't take long to knit up at all.

As there is still plenty of this wool left over, there will be a few more purple items appearing.