Thursday, January 26, 2012

Wrap update

How am I doing on the wrap?

Monday: 20 rows
Tuesday: 22 rows
Wednesday: 19 rows
Thursday: 21 rows

38 rows to go!

I spent the day on Wednesday at DD2's house, after bringing DH to the airport at the crack of dawn, and picking him up again in the evening. His day went well, and mine went great. DD2 and I ran a couple of errands, looked for a knitting shop (that turned out to be out of business), went to the container store, and spent a couple of hours at the Barnes and Noble bookstore. I also filled up on grandkid hugs and kisses: I was running woefully short.

When we arrived home and turned into our alley at home, we spotted an animal. We were a little shocked to see it was a fox! It was a very pretty animal, and looked very healthy. I didn't get a chance to take a picture because I was driving, and since it was so dark outside I don't know if a picture would have turned out. There are forest preserves in the area, but not right next door so I am thinking it is living around here? We had an opossum in the yard when the girls were little... However, I have noticed that the baby bunny population in the neighborhood is way down.

Monday, January 23, 2012

My Beading Heart

In January we had such a pretty project for the Homewood Guild. It is just red and white, but I think DMC 321 is my favorite red. There are three different kinds of beads, plus a couple of treasures. I really like how this is turning out.

I worked on this so long the other day that my hand got sore. I don't work on canvas very often, and I have been knitting more than stitching, so I think my hand is out of shape. I worked on it today for quite a while, and my hand is fine, but I was doing the beads. All the beads are stitched down, and then held tightly with another stitch lassoing the bead down.

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I got quite a bit done today... I am getting toward the end of knitting the wrap for my daughter's Christmas present (about time, right?). I figured out that if I knit 20 rows every day I will be done with the knitting in less than a week! I had 16 rows knit by 10:30 this morning, so it is very doable. I did finish my assignment tonight, and I had time to knit several more rows, however, even though I brought 5 colors, I did not bring the one I needed. I was all upset that I would be wasting time, but I decided to start weaving in the ends, so the time was not wasted at all! I am glad to see too, that the weaving will not take 3 days, as I was fearing.

The edging may take 3 days, however. I will let you know.

TAST week 3

The stitch this past week was feather stitch. There is so much you can do with that one!

I must admit I cheated a little bit, and copied the fish from another participant... I may still add another row. You can see where there are fish started "tessellating" with the other row. I wanted to work the next row with purple pearl, but I didn't have purple #8, only #12, and it wouldn't match. I will look for some purple and add a row if I can find some.

On the right side, you can see a little "picket fence" buttonhole stitch by the flower/eyelet. I do like how that turned out... it is just a couple of stitches of sparkly thread.

The other feather stitch motif is very delicate. It is a combination of feather stitch and french knots that looks like a vine with roses on it.

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There is a little more room in the middle for another variation... I would love to do a simple back and forth stitch with a wider fiber... like a silk ribbon. I'm afraid I am going to have to go on an expedition into my stash room. If I don't come back by tomorrow, send help!