Roll Ups!

Um, no. Not fruit roll ups. That would just be weird. I kind of meant needle roll ups.

Anyway, I have been looking to see if I could find a better way to make my needle roll, and I think I'll do something like this. I probably won't use my original fabric:

because I don't have enough to make the pockets work. Tonight, my goal is to get all the fabric and such sorted out, so I can get started on this tomorrow or this weekend.

Does anyone else think this colonial Miracle Whip ad is really creepy?

Attic Hunts

I love hearing stories about people that went into their grandmother's attic, so I was really excited when I found two such bins in my basement. (I know, I know, it's not an attic, but we don't have one!) Anyway, one of them was actually my mom's. She used to be huge on cross stitch, and she has this big bin full of kits, projects she never finished, and the like. The other bin actually did have old stuff (but I'm pretty sure it was from my great-grand-aunts, not my grandma), and it was mostly fabric. Lots of fabric. And some doilies....

I think it's cool that I was the niece that looked through that bin, because a lot of my cousins would have said, "Why would anyone need that much fabric?" and I say, "Wow. Someone had a big plan. Why don't I finish it for them?" In that category, there are things like a whole pile of pinked hearts. I have no idea what they're for, though! I am totally entranced by the idea of making something from this really old fabric and passing it down, through the generations. First, I need a really good project, so I have been doing a lot of research to see what I could make. I'm really excited!

Now, I know what you're all thinking. None of this is on my list, right? Well, I don't care. I won't start any of it, but I am going to keep looking! Besides, I only found this stuff because I thought there might be some of the thread I need in my mom's bin. There wasn't, so I'm going to need to go to Jo-Ann or something. (Am I the only one that thinks that looks wrong? I googled it to check, and that is how it looks on their website.) While I was on their site, I did check that they have DMC thread, so hopefully that will all work out. I also need to pick up another zipper. Hopefully, I will make it there soonish.

To Do To Start:

• the center square of my HP cross stitch (house emblems)
• sew the pockets for needle sizes 000-3
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• make the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

Slow and Steady

Slow and steady wins the race, right? (I should know. When I was in second grade, the musical we put on was Bebop With Aesop, which was a collection of Aesop's fables, and I played the hare. Let me tell you, lesson learned.) Anyway, I have been making slow progress on the sequin skirt. I am making progress, it's just really slow.

The baseball game was a lot of fun, but it was very hot, so I didn't knit a stitch. I did get a funny look from the person who looked in my purse, as I had three mini balls of yarn in there. I like freaking people out with yarn! :)

I did some research for the Harry Potter cross stitch, and I figured out which thread colors I need to do the center square/rectangle. Here is a list, for those of you making all four of the Mountain Harmony Creations coasters (linked together here):

221-Shell Pink (Very Dark)

304-Red (Medium)

310-Black

351-Coral

415-Pearl Grey

561-Jade (Very Dark)

727-Topaz (Very Light)

728-Golden Yellow

729-Old Gold (Medium)

762-Pearl Grey (Very Light)

782-Topaz (Dark)

803-Blue (Deep)

815-Garnet (Medium)

842-Beige Brown (Very Light)

921-Copper

975-Golden Brown (Dark)

3371-Black Brown

3731-Dusty Rose (Very Dark)

3752-Antique Blue (Very Light)

3828-Hazelnut Brown

I'm going to have to take a look at the thread I have, and see what colors I need. Then, I'll be able to start work on this!

Fingerless Glove Roundup

Since all I've really done since yesterday is work on the sequin skirt (I fixed the system), I decided to do a little fingerless glove pattern roundup. Yes, I think that's perfectly normal, no, I'm not worried. :)

-Lithuanian Wristers, from the Deep Fall 2011 issue of Knitty.
-Knucks, from the Summer 2006 issue of Knitty.
-The Political Process, from the First Fall 2012 (that's right now!) issue of Knittyspin.
-Voodoo Wrist Warmers, from the Winter 2002 issue of Knitty.
-Portlander Mitts, from the First Fall 2012 issue of Knitty.
-The LLP Fingerless Mittens I posted yesterday
-The music gloves I posted a few months ago

Wow. I had all these patterns bookmarked. That's just weird! Anyway, I have the stuff I need for the Lithuanian Wristers, so I think they might be my first project. Speaking of which, I just found out that I'm going to a baseball game on Saturday (yeah, I'm thrilled too) and I decided that I want to have a Stitch n' Pitch of one. There's no way I'm taking any of the projects on the To Do To Start list, so I think I'm going to have to start something new. The LW won't work (I don't think a baseball stadium is the best place to learn how to use beads), so I need something simple and awesome. I'm going to be doing some looking this week, to find the perfect project!

What Hummingbird?

As per my Epic and Awesome Plan (which happens to be its official title), yesterday I looked at the hummingbird coaster. However, I had a hard time figuring out exactly where my mistake was.... (note to self: never ever use sharpie on patterns) so I started over. I just grabbed one of the squares I cut for the big Christmas set, and went to town. Except I was stupid, and I went to town with white where I should have been using lavender. Plus it was in the wrong spot. So I fixed that. But the square wasn't big enough. So I ripped that out too. We shall not be speaking of this incident again. (Hummingbird? What hummingbird?)

I still had to pick my first project, so I dedicated myself to the Harry Potter cross stitch. That's major stuff, right there. Except I didn't really remember where I wanted stuff to go, and I got to recount everything. Then I was smart (wow!!) and took a picture of it, which I am putting right here:

so I have a record. Now I have to gather up thread, but a lot of the charts don't have suggested thread colors listed. I'm probably going to just go off the pictures.

The sequin skirt is... sequiny. I still need to do my ten sequins for today, but I might have done them yesterday. I had this brilliant plan, where I was going to pull out ten sequins from the bag, sew them on, and once the pile was gone, I was done. Good, right? Except for the fact that after two or three, I was just reattaching the ones that were on the skirt, and therefore using none from the pile. I know. I'm practically a genius over here. :)

One more thing before I go. I have noticed that a lot of the patterns I want to knit (after I'm done, after I'm done, just keep repeating it) are for fingerless gloves. My hands are not that cold! But anyway, while I was doing some googling tonight, I found these. I even printed the pattern, so if my link breaks, I can still make them. Is it wrong to be so happy about something so silly?

I really wanted a cool picture for this post. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow?

To Do To Start:

• the center square of my HP cross stitch (house emblems)
• sew the pockets for needle sizes 000-3
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• make the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

A Parade of Two

Here is my parade of two for today:

That's two WIPs out of the way, which isn't bad for one weekend, right? Here is the detailed, descriptive list of my other WIPs I want to finish:

1. I have a cross stitch kit for a hummingbird coaster, which I started a few months ago. (Well, I say kit, but it didn't come with thread.) Anyway... I kind of messed up the pattern, and I'm not sure if it's something I can just live with. I might need to rip out the offending stitches and redo them. My goal: finish
2. I would like to get a good start on my HP cross stitch project. There are a lot of bits and pieces to it, and I do need to do some research to figure out what thread I need, but I will be starting this soon. My goal: buy/find all thread and do the four house emblems (center rectangle)
3. In my latest WIP count, I mentioned that I wasn't going to finish the needle holder until I had accumulated all the sizes of DPNs, but that I wasn't going to just buy them all. For my work on this, I will just be sewing the first six sizes, all of which I have. My goal: sew the "pockets" for sizes 000-3 
4. For my brown skirt, I honestly would just like an idea of what I'm doing with it. If I can, I would like to implement this, and right now, I'm thinking about getting another zipper and sewing it in by hand. My goal: figure out and (hopefully) finish the closure
5. You know, I just realized I should probably put the etching projects on here. Just saying. They need an Exacto knife and a free afternoon. My goal: finish
6. Oh boy. The sequin skirt. Here's my plan. While I work on all of these other things, I will sew on ten sequins every day. Then I'll see where I'm at, finished-wise. There are a lot of sequins, though! My goal: sew on ten sequins everyday while I work on everything else

Here is the simplified list I will be putting at the bottom of posts, just because they make me happy:

To Do To Start:

• cross stitch hummingbird coaster
• the center square of my HP cross stitch (house emblems)
• sew the pockets for needle sizes 000-3
• figure out and implement the closure for the brown skirt
• make the etching projects
• sew on ten sequins every day I work on these other things

I like having a nice little list of everything I need to do!

Backwards

See? I did work on it! :) I always love how much of a difference the backstitch makes. That's all I really have left; the backstitch (and two french knots) and the assembly. I might be able to finish it this weekend, but I'm going to be pretty busy. We'll see!

Second Verse, Same as the First

I am so predictable. Last Friday? I posted this. Today? I give you:

This is what I had yesterday.....

And this is what I have right now.

Don't give me that look! I swear, I'll work on it! I might even work on it tomorrow! (Try not to pass out from shock!) :)

Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with... something.

An Interpretation

In accordance with my WIPs only rule, here is what I have been working on:

Don't freak out. I didn't do all of that in two days. I didn't even do all of that! My friend started this (a long time ago, I think) and ended up giving it to me. That was a few years ago, and I just now picked it back up. It's not too bad, but there is one problem. My friend had a bit of a loose relationship with counting. (Actually, I'm not sure she was counting at all, but that's not the point.) Also, she didn't do the quarter cross stitches right, but there is no way in this universe that I'm going to pick out all of the stitching to fix those things. Therefore, I have decided that I am doing an interpretation of the pattern.

Don't the eyes look weird? I showed it to my family, and we all agreed that they looked a bit odd, so I pulled out the picture, and it turns out that it's completely okay. Once I backstitch in the muzzle (snout?), it will be all good.

I'm pretty sure all I have left is embroidery and assembly, and I quite honestly can't wait to get this done. Next up? Hummingbirds.

FO: Gingerbread Ornament

Ha!!

Ha ha ha ha ha!

I am ludicrously happy right now!!!!! I have finished all the long-term crafting needed for Christmas!!!! (More about that in a second.) Here it is at 12:00 on Saturday:

1:00:

And around 2:30:

All done, and I am thrilled.

OK, so for Christmas I am totally and completely done with everything on my list-except the etching. I am not counting those projects, because they will only take an afternoon. I just need to get an Exacto knife (I knew it would be bad luck to say I had everything without checking first!) and I can finish these, too!

The only thing I will have to do after that is wrap everything. I have thought about making little bags for each present, but I haven't decided if that is creativity or pure lunacy. Either way, that will be my final step, and I couldn't be happier. (How many times have I said some variation of that in this post? Is anyone else getting the notion that I'm happy right now?)

So now, the big question is, what will I make next? I talked about making the Lithuanian Wristers, and I have a long list of other things I would like to make. I do have the materials for many of them, but I was looking through my stash yesterday, and I decided that I will not be starting anything new until I finish all of my WIPs. I no longer have any reason to put them off, and some of them would make good Christmas presents to keep for next year. (We'll see how long this lasts. One project? Two? I'm hoping for two cross stitches, plus all the sewing things from my latest WIP Count.)

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• wrapping!

Wait a Second....

This is what I had yesterday:

And this is what I have today:

I know. It's pathetic.

Nom nom nom

I want to go nom nom nom (yes, that is great grammar!) on this little guy:

Aww, that's cute. You thought it was going to be done! Well, the white is, and the body, and the green stuff. All that's left is the trim/hearts stuff, and the embroidery. Not bad, methinks. Me-also-thinks that I can have this done by Monday. (Without going crazy? Um....)

I have noticed something. (Hey, it was bound to happen someday!) Even with all my counting, and folding, and more counting, he is not centered! Horizontally, it's not too bad, but vertically? Way. Too. High. How does this happen, you ask? I blame the little arrows. Here I was, thinking they pointed to the centers, but they apparently don't. (We are going with the assumption that I can count to thirteen successfully.)

I dream of knitting. Lovely knitting that I am giving to no one. I'm thinking of starting with Lithuanian Wristers.  I'm not sure if it is a good idea to go from one fiddly thing to another (and then a third, because this is my second straight ornaments) but I am going to anyway.

Back to the land of the Ginger Bread Fairy. See you tomorrow! :)

Just One Color!

The gingerbread's body may have more than one color, but it is still a nice change from the three bajillion colors of the kitty!

I have the whole body done. I just need to do the collar, the decorative stuff around him, and the embroidery. Then I'm done!

A Sudden Urge

I am feeling a sudden urge to knit this. It is completely illogical. I don't really care. It may have something to do with this:

That's right. Finished! I have this strange desire to just stare at it. All day. So after I finished the cross stitching, the backstitching, and the backing, you know what I did? Well, what any logical person would do:

 I started another. My last long-term Christmas project. If you could see me right now, that would be really creepy you would know how thrilled I am.

Have a great day! I'm going to spend the day with my little cat. And the gingerbread man, of course....