Theme-a-licious December/January

It's a new year of themeing! A special welcome to those of you who are joining us for the first time. I have a bunch of emails I need to respond to with some great theme suggestions...I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to all of you, but as you may have seen, things were a little crazy around here.

This is going to be the most bizarre Theme-a-licious wrap up I've ever done...because there is NO STITCHING! There is knitting...and SEWING!

First off, this is the little drawstring bag I wanted to give my niece for Christmas along with the portable iPod speaker we gave her. But getting things in the mail is always exciting, right??

 

This is the first time I've tried out the decorative stitches/monograms on my sewing machine. I think it turned out not too shabby. Especially since I made the bag with no directions, and also decided to try French seams, because WHY NOT?? It would have been too easy otherwise, and we can't have that, now can we??!?

While I had the sewing machine out, I finally FINALLY made the second pillow from the sewing class I took...uh...last year sometime? (And by "last year", I mean 2012...I'm not even taking advantage of New Year date flip irony.)

 

They look roughly the same, so I'm satisfied.

Next, I picked up Juneberry Triangle on a whim and realized I was close to finishing "Chart B", so I did. It went so quickly that I decided to also do "Chart C", which was only three rows, and that went so well I decided to do the first row of "Chart D" so I could get in a new lifeline. Aaaaand...that row probably took longer than all the other ones put together! It's why I don't have a nice scissors fob finish to show you...you know, actual stitching!

 

Also why I had to take a crappy flash photo.

And speaking of crappy photos, I completely forgot to take a picture of my sister's mitt (errr...might have had something to do with the fact that I finished it at 10:30pm the night before I was going to give it to her). I had her take a couple with her phone.

 

Actually, they aren't so bad. But they don't show the gorgeousness of this yarn (Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label Cashmere Sock). It's a beautiful subtly variegated minty green and is THE softest yarn I've ever felt.

 

I might need to make myself a pair of these rather than socks (this is Cookie A Sock Club yarn). The "real" gift was antique buttons, but I thought it would be nice to have them attached to something.

Now it's time to share our plans for THIS month, which is...

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Jardin January

The holidays were a little stressful...let's relax in a nice garden. Work on any piece with flowers or gardens.

Now, it just so happens that my EGA chapter's stitch-along theme for the year is "Gardens" (I may have helped finagle innocently suggested that. ;) I had intended to post a whole list of garden-related WIPs that I intend to work on, but things have been a little more hectic than I'd planned. I will be starting two pieces, though...Spring Garden Gate by Moss Creek Designs, and Spring Quakers by Rosewood Manor. I'll also be working on Shakespeare's Garden and my stumpwork piece. Oh, and Juneberry Triangle, because that totally fits with the Garden theme since it has the word "berry" in the title. See, for those of you that are new, that's how we work things around here. ;)

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So how was Detritus December? Did you wrap anything up besides presents? What are your plans for Jardin January? Please add your link below (to your latest Theme-a-licious post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Unlike last year, there will be no check-in post on the 15th, so our next post will be on February 1st. I'll post mid-January to announce the theme for February (and the prize winner)! It's never too late to join in or send suggestions for future themes!