Goodies From Ohio

My package from Ohio arrived today and here's what was in it!

My latest knitting project: Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf from the book Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. Nancy Bush actually lives in Salt Lake City and owns Wooly West, an online knitting store. She also writes for Piecework magazine, most often on Eastern European knitting. The yarn is Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn (75% wool/25% nylon) in Gunsmoke. I also got size three bamboo needles. I thought afterward that I should have bought Addi Turbo circulars instead, but, hey, I can always use more hairsticks, right?

I got these at a shop in the middle of absolutely nowhere. My sister Shiloh and I drove 20 miles the wrong way, then followed GPS directions to this little store, Fiber Fun Studio. It's actually in the basement of the owner's house, which always makes me leery. I usually avoid these kinds of stores; I always feel like I'm interrupting the owner's day, since they have to come out of the kitchen or wherever, and then they follow me around, through their home, and I feel obligated to buy something whether I want to or not. However, I was reassured but the fact that this shop had a clear basement entrance and a parking lot. The owner was very knowledgeable and helpful. My sister is a far more advanced knitter than I am, and the owner was able to speak with both of us on our level. There was a section for weaving also, but I don't know much about weaving--yet. Here is another fun thing I bought:









It's a fabric box. On the left, you can see it laid out--it's a 12" square. Basically two pieces of fabric sewn together, with Pellon fused in the middle. Five pieces: One large for the bottom, and four smaller for the sides. On the right, it's all assembled. Very fun! I'm thinking I'd like to try to make one of these myself.

We also went to Berlin, Ohio. Amish Country. I have been there several times and didn't anticipate buying anything, but at the quilt shop, GameBoy and I fell for these two pieces of fabric. On the right is a fabric printed with Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar. GameBoy just loved it, and wants to hang it in his room. I think what I will do is cut it into the three panels and tack it onto styrofoam or stretcher bars and make a tryptich wall hanging. And below is half a yard of a toile-like print. I just fell in love with it and decided I had to have some. I don't know yet what I will do with it.

Finally, the main events: The National Quilting Association's 40th Annual Quilt Show and Knitter's Mercantile Knitter's Connection Show were both held at the Columbus Convention Center while I was there. It was incredible fun! First we visited the quilt show, which was quite dizzying. Very much a swirl of color and people. I don't really quilt--yet--so I didn't buy too much there. Just a book on Celtic Tatting (basically tatting Celtic knots):


And these cute patterns for making quilt motifs (out of paper, fabric, ribbon, whatever) for cards or picture frames:



The picture doesn't really show what the craft is, so here is a link for cards and picture frames. I can't wait to try them.

Then, off to the knitting show! First, because Shiloh and I had paid a $10 membership fee, we each received a free gift bag, which contained the following:

On the left is the clear plastic tote bag with some books and a sample of cleaner, and on the left are the skeins of yarn that were in the bag.










The yarns include, silk, wool, and cotton and I am very excited to try them out..

And other purchases:



A silver shawl pin



A needle size pendant--I bought a similar for my sister, because she was very kind to house my family and me for a few days, as well as drive me around.



A felting kit to make a journal cover.



The pattern for the journal cover.

I'm heading back to Ohio in September for Wool Gathering at Young's Jersey Dairy, and I cannot wait!

"Not For Us Alone" and Frames

After taking a week off to recover from my vacation and also coddle a cold, I picked up my stitching again. My box from Ohio containing Dan's Christmas ornaments hasn't arrived yet, so I put some time in on Amy Mitten's "Not For Us Alone," a mystery sampler that I mentioned here: http://lilywork.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-camera.html

Since I last posted, I had received my Handi Clamp scroll frame, and I spent about half an hour attaching the piece to the frame. Now that I've done it, it should take me 30 seconds in the future. The plus to these scroll frames is that you don't have to baste your fabric to the frame, or mess with split dowels. The downside is that the little clamp can make a dent in your linen, so the manufacturer recommends putting quilt batting at each end.

After attaching the fabric to the frame, I got busy and stitched. I did rice stitch for about two hours. If you compare the two posts, you will see that I didn't get a lot done. I'm not a particularly fast stitcher. Not only that, but I kept counting and recounting to make sure I wasn't off at all. See, I often tell people that once you count your way to a starting spot, you really don't have to count all that much for the rest of the project. You just work your way out from your beginning, keeping all your stitches touching, and no problem. And that's true most of the time. This, however, is a mystery sampler, to be worked in a certain order. And it's also a kit, with a limited amount of thread, so I can't just rip it out and re-do it--I'll run out of thread. That's why I rarely buy kits. Well, one reason. (The other reason is that the fabric in kits is often Aida, which I hate, and the supplies are of poor quality.) But I really love Amy Mitten. This kit is worth it.

By the way, the thread I used today was a hand-dyed silk named "Gravestone." I just love Amy Mittens thread color names!

After my stitching session, I decided to attach my project to my Gazelle floor stand, which my mother-in-law gave me (while stitching, I was reclined, watching TV, which is my favored stitching position).



And then I got to thinking about the various frames I use for holding my stitching. I can and often do stitch in-hand. I've never had any problems maintaining tension doing this, but it causes the linen to wrinkle and it's very hard to get wrinkles out of linen. Especially after you've finished stitching and you can't use the steam option on your iron because you used overdyed silks and they'll run. No, much better to use a frame and clean hands.

It's a toss-up as to whether I use stretcher bars or q-snaps more. Stretcher bars are light and cheap, and you can mix and match sizes to get the best fit for your fabric. It can be a little time-consuming to attach the fabric with rustproof brass tacks, spaced just so. To the left is a project attached with those tacks, as well as empty stretcher bars. And to the right you can see how the bars come apart for the mixing and matching.









Q-snaps are pretty light, as well, and very quick to set up, but they are not cheap. My recollection is that they are about $10 a set. Another concern is that the clamps can supposedly "run" your linen--like running nylons. I've never had this happen. only heard of others' experiences. To the left is an assembled q-snap, and below you can see how the clamps come off.










I also use scroll frames frequently. They are especially good for larger projects: you can just roll up your extra fabric. In fact, for me they are the best for larger projects. They are neither inexpensive nor superexpensive. The downside is that they only provide tension top and bottom--not side to side. This can be overcome by taking quilting thread and sort of attaching the fabric to the sides, but then every time you need to scroll to a different section, you have to cut the thread and re-do it. Since "Not For Us Alone" will require much rescrolling, I'm not bothering.

One thing I never ever use on my counted stitching is a hoop:

Hoops, while being very cheap and providing excellent tension, leave marks on the linen. Some stitchers use them anyway and wrap them with muslin. I suppose you can use them if the hoop is large enough that any marks would be under the frame (assuming you frame the piece), but I only ever use them for things like stumpwork, where tension is absolutely required and the marks will be covered in the finishing.

Finally, my favorite option for holding my work: The Slate Frame. This has very taut tension, provided by the pegs on the four corners. However, it is the most expensive option: Mine cost about $60 and the first one the saleslady showed me was over $80. That one was beautifully finished wood with inlay--a piece of art in itself. But as I have not been able to collect these, as I have all of the others, I can only put one project at a time on it. This project is one of my 30+ UFOs: The Mermaid's Sea Chest by Lauren Sauer. The link takes you to a photo of the incredible finished project. Now that I've pulled this one out, I feel really motivated to work on it again. So many projects, so little time!

Angels Finished, Finally!

I finally--finally!--finished the 2008 Christmas Angels (not counting my own) and got them sent out to their recipients. Sadly, I lost the photos that show the finishing steps, and I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. I'm hoping Lynda will help me out here. But I have photos of the finished stitchng and partially finished product.

(Above) the Angel, finished, still on stretcher bars.

A close-up of the face, which is over-one.

During finishing, while stitching front and back together.

A different background, front and back sewn together.

The three angels, together.

Each angel took between 34 and 38 hours to complete, stitching only. They are cross-stitched on linen, over-two, except the skin tones which are over-one, with beads and metallics for accents. I sewed the ribbon loop on while putting the front and back together, so when I discovered that the matching edging ribbon was too wide for the project, rather than change it (so I could sew the edging on), I used a clear Fabri-Tak sort of glue. I do not recommend this and will likely not do it again.

Next up, I also finished Dan's 2008 ornament while in Ohio, and when that arrives (I had some stuff shipped back, to avoid checking it), I'll blog that. Plus, knitting and quilting shows!

A New Camera

So I got a new camera, for several reasons. I am hoping it will produce better pictures. We'll see.

Today I made some cards: a birthday card and a couple of thank-you cards. These are not my very first cards--I forgot to take pictures of those. They are my second batch. I think I did OK on the layout, could use some improvement on technical points. Like, what is the best way to glue down ribbon? (Hint: it apparently isn't glue dots.) And I was thinking I should maybe have colored in the stamp on the birthday card. It's a fairy princess, in case you can't see it. I do have a full set of prismacolors that could have done the job.



And this is what I have been working on. It's "Not For Us Alone" by Amy Mitten. The name comes from the motto of the Sieberling family of Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio. It's a mystery sampler. Amy Mitten writes a mystery to go along with the stitching, using fictional descendants of the family as characters. I have wanted it for years! I first saw it at a Shepherd's Retreat but could not afford it. "I'll save up and get it next time around," I thought. But then I could not find it. Anywhere. Finally, I found a store selling it as a stitch-along and I snapped it up. Here you can see it in its q-snaps. That was not my first choice for a frame because I was trying to avoid wrinkling the fabric--the thread is hand-dyed silk and not colorfast, so I cannot steam iron it when I am finished. My first choice for frame was a scroll frame, but I was surprised to find that I didn't have an unused one in the right size.

Here you can see the work I've done--that is about 8 hours worth of work.

I am a slow stitcher, and that is all rice stitch. And here is a close-up.

I think if you click on the picture you can get an enlargement and see the stitches.

Because it is a stitch-along, I have felt a little obligated to work on it, at the expense of finishing up the angels. But I think I'm going to try to focus a little more on the angels. I really want to get those done. It does seem I am a process stitcher (meaning I focus more on stitching than finishing), but I need to get some of these projects done!

An Excellent Christmas Present

Among the many great Christmas presents I received, these were some of my favorite:



My SIL, Rachel, makes these wonderful cards. I had recently become interested in scrapbooking, making cards and general paper arts myself, and knowing this, Rachel made me a set of 20 incredible cards, so that I could see a variety of techniques:



Lynda wanted to see these too, so here they are. I suggest clicking on the picture so you can see close up. They really are amazing.



I think my favorites are the two on the bottom of this photo, with a slight edge to the purple one on the right:


And I included a picture of the inside--apparently Rachel has a tool that makes slits in the paper so you can include a notecard:



Thanks Rachel!

Tools and Tins

Because I know that I can go a long time between posts, sometimes I make drafts of posts to put up sort of in-between. Of course, then I don't put those up either. But here is one from August.

Here are some of the tools I've been using on the Marquoir, and they are generally the tools I use with any project. First, I collect magnets. Here are a few of them, to the right. They're generally inexpensive, and I get most of them from Shepherd's Bush. Some I bought, and some I got at their Retreat (which I went to in September--yay!!). The swan at the top was a gift from the Swan Sampler Stitchers guild that they gave their members. Because I usually use metal boxes to hold my tools, these fit nicely in the lid to hold my needles, needle threader and laying tool.

Below are some more tools. At the top of the picture is a highlighter. These are very useful for marking what I've done on a complex pattern. Or I should say, a copy of a pattern. Never fear, designers--I only make a copy so I can mark it while keeping my original in good shape, and then I destroy the pattern. Actually, by the time I finish with a pattern, it's already destroyed.


Just below the highlighter in the plastic box with a green lid, is a needle. My Favorite Needle (tm) by Mardina. And it is my favorite needle. It's tiny, with a tiny eye, and so I can't use a needle threader with it, but I love the grip and the smoothness. Just below that is a needle threader. When I'm not using the MFN, I use John James Petites, which are also small, but have the traditional long eye. Obviously, I can thread a needle unaided, but it's just quicker to use the threader.

The blue box contains Thread Heaven. It's basically some silicone, used to tame threads. I generally only use it on metallics, which are the most difficult threads for me to handle. Some people also use beeswax. Both of these substances just generally get the kinks out of the thread, but they do leave a residue, so people interested in conservation tend to shy away from them.

OK, another pair of scissors. No, Shiloh, I didn't make this fob either, unfortunately. I don't remember what brand of scissors these are, but they have curved tips, which helps prevent cutting your stitching. You just sort of pull your thread to be cut taut, lay the scissors against the fabric, and snip. Lift n Snip is the most well-known brand of this type of scissors.

Next, the long brown item is a stitch fixer. Sometimes you get loose stitches, or you have too short of an end to finish off easily--this tool helps with that.

More on the box with the acorn below.

And more tools:
Yes, that long metallic object is a telescoping pointer. It has a magnet on the end and is useful for finding and picking up flung needles. That plastic box with the yellow lid is another My Favorite Needle--a petite one. It's really small and I use it for beading--the eye slips through small bead holes easily. The round item is just a piece of rubber that I use for gripping the needle--sometimes (but not too often) the back of my stitching is so tight I can't get the needle through it easily when I'm finishing off a thread. It gets stuck. Once I broke a needle trying to pull it through! The rubber just gives me a stronger grip so I can get the needle through. I also have a hemostat somewhere for the same purpose. To the right of that is My Favorite Dololly, again by Mardina. This is used to finish too-short threads, and I use it far more than the Stitch Fixer. I mostly just use that for loose stitches. With the MFD, you put the long, wiry part under your threads (in the back), then grasp your too-short thread with the hook, pull that through the wires, and pull the wires out. Voila! Your thread is secured.

Yet another pair of scissors. These are Ginghers Stork Scissors--my first pair. I did make that fob; it's an exclusive Swan Sampler Stitchers guild project--it was part of the original Swan Box project. Here is a link to a picture of that:

http://carolynstandingwebb.com/photo.htm

It's just below the butterfly, and I also did the project just below that, Threads Through Time.

OK, back to the tools. There is a small bobbin of thread. It's just a bobbin that my sewing machine messed up and I use that thread for basting lines and grids on complex projects. I don't do that too often; I prefer to just dive in. But sometimes it's a lifesaver. And the last object is an Altoid's breath strips tin. I hold extra needles in it.

Here is the tin I hold all of that stuff in:


It was given to my by my friend Tricia over 20 years ago--it originally held toffees. I don't know if you can see, but the top is a medieval falconing party. Although I have many tins and boxes for my many (over 35) works-in-progress, this is my most-used one.

And since I'm showing tins, here is the tin I'm using for my tatting tools:
It's a Whitman Salmagundi Sampler tin, and there are a lot of projects out there to make tops and liners for Whitman tins.

Previous Years' Christmas Ornaments

I finally took down my Christmas decorations and thought I'd do a quick post to show you the ornaments I have completed for my family. At left are mine. The one with trees and the one with the cat are from JCS Ornament Issues. The other one was designed by a member of the Swan Sampler Guild and was a guild "Christmas in July" project.


Next, below, are GameBoy's, also from the JCS Ornament issues:

These are mostly earlier ones, and he hadn't had time to develop a theme. Actually, I don't think he has a theme now, either.

And Jazzboy's, at right. He likes snowman ornaments.












DH likes sleds, but lately there have been no sled ornaments in JCS, so for the past two years he has picked ones showing wreaths on doors.










And finally, ones that have been given to me, either by my mother-in-law, or in guild ornament exchanges:

Why It Sucks to be a Slob

Because one day you might find yourself running out the door to pick up the boys from school, and you might think you'd like to read Martha Stewart Living while you're waiting. And you can't find it! You know you had it yesterday, and you start thinking that you also had a bunch of junk mail that you threw in the trash. You look and look and come to the inevitable conclusion that you must have thrown the magazine in the trash with the junk. It's been known to happen. So you gird up your loins, and go through the trash which is full of eggshells and potato salad remnants and some unidentified liquid. When you don't find it, you go through it again. Still no dice. So you wash your hands and look around the front room once more. Only to find that you actually threw it on the couch the day before, and your husband, desperately in search of a clear place to sit, set it aside neatly where it wouldn't get damaged.

Other People's Creativity

I am always amazed by other people's creativity. Even though I haven't posted in a month or so, I've been keeping up on the various blogs that I like to read. I really admire all of you who are artisanally and artistically talented--and prolific! You really keep me inspired, especially when I'm feeling unmotivated. Thank you!

For my quilting sisters, I really do recommend Mel's Own Place. Not only is she super-talented, she has bunches of links to other quilting sites and blogs. As well as bookmaking and basketry sites. And for my knitting sisters, I recommend Zeneedle. I met Margene, whose blog that is, at Swan Sampler Guild, which she helped found, and I love to read her daily entries on adventures in knitting and spinning. My sister maintains the (mostly) knitting blog Big Booty Knits, and I wish she'd post more (but she could say the same about me, lol). She knits beautiful lace--I have The Long Paisley Shawl that she knit for me--and she has links to even more lace sites and blogs.

Besides the Christmas ornaments, and the tatting which is ongoing (I work on it while the boys have their swimming lessons), I have started a new doily:

It's "Victorian Lace" by Jo Ann Maxwell from The Ultimate Doily Book. I started this in the midst of all my other stuff because we were fortunate enough to get a new and beautiful dining room table from my in-laws. It's large and white and round, where our previous table was small and brown and oval. So my off-white doily doesn't really show up on it. I'm doing this in Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet Thread in Frosty Green and Ecru and it should be 23 inches in diameter. I had been having trouble because I was doing my foundation chains (not sure that's a term; I mean chains that are going to be stitched into) too tight. I may rip out the last row and a half (the outer green part) and redo it with less tension in the chain. I work on this in the car when I'm waiting for the boys after school, or any other time I have free time in public.

Angel #2 Finished

Wow, I finally finished Angel #2. This time it only took me 34 1/2 hours.

Of course, this does not mean I Finished, which I hope to do this weekend.

At left is Jazzboy's ornament, also not Finished. As predicted, I did it it less than 36 hours--just under nine, to be exact.

Now I'm working on Gameboy's ornament, "Let It Snow" by Country Cottage Needleworks, also in the JCS Ornament Issue. It calls for DMC 469 (avocado), 869 (very dark hazelnut brown) and 3031 (very dark mocha brown); DMC E168 (silver); and Crescent Colors Deep Fennel and Snow. Surprisingly I had the fabric it calls for in my stash: 32-ct Belfast linen in Flax. Usually I have to substitute (or have a Stash-Enhancing experience!). That lump in the middle is a pearl earring. My super-scientific way to find the center of a fabric is to fold it in half both ways, pinch it to make temporary creases and stick a stud earring in at the intersection of the creases. I always start in the middle and work my way out.

I was able to work on it for about 2 hours last night and this is what I got done:
That's a scarf, two birds and the beginning of the border in CC Deep Fennel. When I'm done, I'll be on to Angel #3, which only has to be done by Christmas Eve. Angel #4 is for me, and I have a pile of unfinished Angels #4 from previous years. I'm hoping this year, for once and for all, to finish them and Finish them--they'll make quite a nice display.

Angel #1 Finished

Wow, the first of four angels is done and it only took 2200 minutes. Or 36.6666... hours. It did feel like infinity hours sometimes. No pix yet.

In between angels, I'm making ornaments for my family. So I started the first one today, for Jazzboy. It's "Frosty Friends" by Mosey 'N Me from this year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue, and I expect it will take somewhat fewer than 36 hours to finish. I was so excited to start it that I forgot to take a picture of the supplies, so you can see some of my stitching in the picture:

Right there in the center is an orange snowman's nose and a bit of blue scarf, which might be hard to see against the blue background.

Here's a funny thing: I was googling to find a picture of Frosty Friends for those of you who don't want to wait to see it--I didn't find one (not that I looked that hard) but I did find a previous post on this blog. Cool!