Tag Archives: cross stitch

Live Simply

Live Simply – Cross Stitch Progress

I have continued to work may way through my Craftsy class – I now know how to do the pin stitch on linen (brilliant – why didn’t I know that?)

Once I get going, I find this quite easy. I am thinking 32 count Belfast Linen might be my thing. I tried to buy more at Spotlight today, but I had to buy the whole 10m role – that’s $880 – so I said ‘no thanks’ to that and I will buy more from the Crewel Gobelin.

Second Christmas Sock

I am still knitting the second sock – I have reached the toe decreases.

I did a much better job on the gusset this time. I found this article on avoiding holes and it was fabulous (no holes!).

The yarn and the needles have both been great – yarn from passionedflower (on Etsy) and the needles are the new Addi ones.

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A New Year

Christmas Sock and Live Simply Cross Stitch Progress

It’s a new year! Happy New Year everyone. I don’t have any resolutions for this year (I never stick to them anyway), nor do I have any crafting goals (they don’t happen either), but I do have a word/theme – Simplify. I hope to finish a few things and not buy anything more (because I am finding my collection of yarn, fabric, embroidery supplies and books over-whelming and anxiety inducing).

I wanted to make a Christmas sock – I didn’t get the idea until a week before Christmas, so it was quite hard to find yarn (or yarn that had some chance of getting to me in time). I bought peppermint pie from passioned flower on Etsy. Great service and the yarn is beautiful – I will definitely be purchasing more for next Christmas (maybe in October?). I am just knitting a plain-vanilla sock – I contemplated attempting an after thought heel, but I wanted something easy that I could knit while sitting by the pool, watching TV etc.

You might notice in the above image that I am using Addi Crasy Trio needles – they’re fabulous. I don’t really like magic loop and when I use dpns I get ladders at the jump between needles, but these are brilliant.

I have also been working on my Live Simply cross stitch. This is the project from the Craftsy class. This is the first time I have used linen (32 count Belfast) and I love it. I prefer the way this looks to Aida. One thing I am struggling with is stitching path – I want to have as few jumps as possible (and I am not even that keen on weaving through the back of other threads to get to the next spot). It is a bit like the network Travelling Salesman Problem. Is there any technique or method I could use?

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Cross Stitch Adventures

The start of my Live Simply cross stitch

My supplies arrived from the Crewel Gobelin – great service, I will definitely use them again – so I have started working on the chart from my Craftsy course.

This is the first time I have worked on linen (32 count Belfast) and although I haven’t done much, I really like it. I am using a Gloriana silk (Bellagio) – so nice. So two firsts – linen and silk!

I am rail-roading and stitching in the hand. I am quite slow, but I am sure that with practice I will get faster and besides, for me, cross stitch is all about the journey and not the end point.

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A New Project – Little Houses

Little Houses

Little Houses

I know another new project – does anything ever get finished around here?

I found this project in the Christmas edition of the Family Circle magazine. I thought it might be something that the girls would like to do. You can find the project sheet here.

I have purchased supplies (I have no idea if my plastic canvas is the right size, but it was all I could find), wound the DMC thread onto the cards and now I am ready to go.

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Cross Stitch the Old Fashioned Way

I’ve dug out a birth sampler I started 7 years ago and not finished. I’m about halfway through and I find the very slowness of it quite relaxing and meditative.

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