Monthly Archives: August 2016

August 31, 2016 · 11:22 am

Birds …again

Resting Birds Progress

Resting Birds Progress

BirdsBack_01

It is easier to see my progress when you look at the back.

So in the evenings (or during the day) when I am tired and very unlikely to do anything productive I sit down with my needlepoint and work a few more stitches.

I’m just working tent stitch (which is a fancy way of saying half cross stitch). Being an orderly type of person (some might say a bit of a control freak), I like to have an order to my stitching. Currently that order is rotating through the colours; white, light-green, medium-green, dark-green, navy blue, white, … even just listing all of the colours is mesmorising.

I have now finished all of the light-green (yay! although this is all about the process and not so much about the end product).

This particular project has proven to be easy to do and very relaxing – more people should take it up.

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August 29, 2016 · 1:49 pm

Mason Dixon Knitting – Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne

Mason Dixon Knitting

Mason Dixon Knitting – Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne

I found this while in Singapore (at Kinokuniya – well worth a visit if you’re ever in Singapore). I have been reading their blog for ages, but never came across the book in Australia.

I loved this book it was witty and light-hearted and had several projects I would like to try. It is a great mix of projects and knitting observation/lifestyle.

I am super keen on a log cabin blanket …

Log Cabin Blanket

Log Cabin Blanket

I am also quite keen to try the wash clothes – although I find it quite hard to find cotton yarn.

Mason_Dixon_02

Here are some of the things that made me laugh out loud

As it turns out, however, a sweater doesn’t look exactly the same on a fortysomething mother of two as it does on the leggy twenty-year-old model who is wearing the sweater (and, often, only the sweater) while cavorting on the moody, misty moors of Yorkshire.My beloved Rowenta [an iron] is right up there with my engagement ring and photo albums on the list of things I would try to grab and take with me if the house was burning down.

The television natters on,politely, as British detectives solve another of the violent murders that are such a plague upon the quaint rural towns of England

And now just a nice quote about knitting

[…] you begin to think that knitting for another human being is the best way to express love, concern and solidarity.

 

 

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August 25, 2016 · 8:24 pm

Progress on the Sampler Quilt

Just keep quilting, quilting, quilting ...

Just keep quilting, quilting, quilting …

I got my sewing machine out to zig-zag around some canvas (for my embroidery class) and thought I should make the most of the easy access and work on the sampler quilt.

I started to think about work flow and the best way of tackling things – at the moment I am cutting each piece of batting as I need it (same with the backing fabric). Should I cut everything at once? What is the best plan?

In a bit of a win I found the note I wrote myself about the sewing machine settings!

I must say this quilting as you go thing is working well – so far at least. I guess the joining together of the blocks might prove to be the stumbling block.

 

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August 22, 2016 · 12:48 pm

Comparisons

Birds_04

It’s like watching grass grow – not that that is a bad thing. There is definitely a place for slow stitching. It is quite mesmerising – pulling the needle through the canvas.

Comparison is the thief of joy

I have been doing a lot of this lately  – stealing joy.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

And this as well – although I think (or hope) that I have had the fall. Sometimes I think I should not leave the house and socialise with people as I do it very badly.

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August 16, 2016 · 4:19 pm

Birds …

Birds - look they match my flowers

Birds – look they match my flowers

Miss A has been unwell – headache, sore throat, cough (usual winter ailment), but it means we have been sticking close to home. So there has been a bit of canvas work done (and a lot of television viewing – 800 Words, Pitch Perfect 2). I am enjoying the process – very calming, although I suspect the back ground will be extremely annoying (do I do a different stitch to make it more interesting?)

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August 9, 2016 · 1:33 pm

Unravelling

I am going backwards

I am going backwards

It all went horribly wrong! I just could not get the neck and armhole shaping to work (and the lace went pear-shaped).

As you can see, I am unravelling! (I can only face one ball at a time).

I have decided I need to get head my head around the shaping without any pattern issues. I’ve downloaded Blank Canvas, which I believe was designed for this very purpose (get on top of shaping before trying a more complicated pattern).

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August 8, 2016 · 6:36 am

Bedazzle!

I’ve always liked a bit of sparkle, so I was super-excited to discover a bedazzler at my local craft fair (more on that later) – it’s not actually called a bedazzler I think it is some chinese rip-off, but it’s pink and it attaches crystals to things! What more could you want.

Miss P practising her bedazzling skills

Miss P practising her bedazzling skills

And in one of those cases of synchronicity I had just read The Bedazzling of the American Gymnast

American Gymnasts at the 2015 World Cup - BEN STANSALL / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

American Gymnasts at the 2015 World Cup – BEN STANSALL / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

“It’s difficult for me to imagine how we could get more crystals on,” said Kelly McKeown, executive vice president for design and corporate relations at GK Elite, the official outfitter of the American national gymnastics team. This Olympics, “we may have hit peak crystal.”

The girls and I went to the WA Craft Show (there is wood as well!). This is a nice craft show because it is a bit more local and less corporate than the Craft and Quilt Fair at the Convention Centre. A lot of the guilds attend this one and everyone is keen to have a chat and show you their latest projects.

We bought some patterns and a snail making kit (I know snails? And I am sure they will be bedalzzled as well – I am aiming to reach ‘peak crystal’).

 

 

 

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August 5, 2016 · 4:02 pm

It’s all about the birds

Resting Bird Progress

Resting Bird Progress

So every Friday I go to an embroidery class here – it is run by the amazing Ann-Marie. I love going to this class – although I am not the best student – I enjoy the chance to just sit and chat and occasionally pull a needle through my canvas.

The class is full of women of different ages, backgrounds and interests and it is a joy to spend time with them.

My project is the least ambitious (painted canvas and tent stitch), but there is something comforting in the process. There is so much action, busyness and stress in the rest of my life I like the chance to sit and do something simple.

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