And now for something cute…
I recently picked up a copy of Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine and it had this adorable chart in it for a very sweet Hello Kitty. The magazine reckoned a stitching time of 2-3 hours, so (as I was looking for something quick and easy) I decided to stitch it.
As it happened, this little girl took me around 5hrs 30mins - 6hrs to stitch! Now, whether it was because I was using 28ct linen rather than the 14ct aida recommended, or that the magazine had timed it incorrectly, I don’t know… But this chart sure did take longer than I anticipated (and I’m not a slow stitcher)!
Despite that, though, I do find her rather sweet. :)
Now all I need to do is decide what to do with her … ROFL!
F**k Cancer!
This is another finish of mine, which I framed and presented to a dear friend recently. Originally from Subversive Cross Stitch, I did some colour substitution on it so that it matched my friend’s favourite colours … Be warned though — as it’s a Subversive piece, it’s gonna have some language… ;)
Another of those gorgeous brushed silver framed suited this one well — maybe I should just buy a load of them in different sizes next time I’m in the store, as I always seem to gravitate back to them! — and it was a delight to stitch. All told, it took 4.5hrs — not bad at all, and as it’s my first Subversive piece I can well and truly say that it has me hooked! LOL :)
I’m glad to say, too, that my friend loved it — turns out she’s had her eye on this chart for a while, so it was a lovely surprise when I gifted her with it. She’s one of the most inspiring, strong and loving people I know so it really meant something to me to be able to craft this for her.
Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake DK
I am so not impressed with Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake DK. I cast on this morning (87 stitches, thumb-method) for a new project — a baby blanket for a friend who’s expecting — and promptly ran into problems.
For one thing, the yarn is so damned fluffy it’s impossible to see your stitches on the needles. For another, it tangles and knots whenever you drop stitches or have too long a yarn tail. But the most annoying thing I’ve encountered this morning is the inability to count using this yarn.
I cast on, and had 87 stitches. I knit the first row, and I got 88 stitches. I ripped it back — 87 stitches. I double-checked my stitch count, then knitted the first row again, taking care to count each stitch as I knit it. 86 stitches. W… T… F…?!
I ripped it all back, cast on again. 87 stitches. Knit the first row (again, counting as I went) - 87 stitches. Knit the second row, again counting — 86 stitches. Counted back, just to double-check. 87 stitches. Knit the third row. 88 stitches. Counted back — 91 stitches. Counted again. 87 stitches. Counted again — and promptly dropped it all off my needles.
When I came to sort the yarn so that I could start again (!), it all knotted and tangled and now I have a mass clump of the stuff, and no knitting to show for just over an hour’s worth of “relaxing” time with my crafts.
Hmmmph! :(
I can’t be the only one this happens to. Please tell me there’s more knitters out there that have this kind of problem with specific yarns?!
Another Finish: Helen’s Scarf
Another recent finish is this gorgeous short scarf I knitted for Andrew’s sister (and thus, my future sister-in-law), Helen. There is a story behind this, actually — back in early March, Helen and I went girlie shopping for the day, over in Buxton. Whilst shopping, I visited a yarn shop to pick up a few things and Helen liked a scarf that was knitted up and on display. Now, usually display models are usually just that — display models. They are rarely offered for sale.
Me being me, I made a mental note of the yarn and colour used, and after the shopping trip was over I hunted out some balls of Sirdar Reflection in shade number 8 (”Amber”). In the end, I found out that it had been discontinued so I could only locate three balls but that proved to be enough to knit up a short scarf for her as a surprise. :)
I presented this as a little gift to Helen and I’m happy to say that my instincts were correct — she loved it. What’s more, it looks great with her colouring and I’m pleased to have knitted this for her. Often the recipient’s reaction is enough to make it all worth it! :)
Two framed finishes…
Along with the knitting projects that have kept me busy of late, I’ve also finished and self-framed a couple of cross stitch pieces. For a change, these are both for me and are now on display in the small lounge.
I love the framing job on this one. I couldn’t find a frame to exactly match the dimensions of the mount, so instead I found a frame I liked (and I adore the brushed silver effect here!) and added some black card as a background to lift the piece a little. I believe it’s worked out really prettily, and the whole piece is just adorable. :)
The second piece is Cross Stitcher in Residence, which was still a WIP when I last blogged about it. Well, I finally finished it in mid-May, and despite not being totally sure about the colour substitutions I’d chosen I really like it now. You can see the original Lizzie*Kate chart here, but I wasn’t that enthused by the pale blue and pink so I reworked it with two different shades of red (DMC colours 498 and 815, to be precise) and utilised the dark blue for the large crosses at the top and bottom. I do think it came out better than I anticipated! All in all, it took around 10 hours.
Andrew helped me choose the frame, as I didn’t quite know what I was looking for at the time. He was right, though — aiming for something more rustic worked wonderfully.