It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

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Daylight Saving Time began this morning, and just to prove that that lost hour of sleep hasn't totally destroyed the weekend (and that it's sooo worth the extra sunlight in the evening), I'm going to do something I haven't managed to do for months...WRITE A BLOG POST!!

You don't want to hear the knitty-gritty of why I've been missing for months...a (not) thrilling pastiche of being out of town, home demolition/reconstruction, video games, and work woes (so what's new?). No, you are here for pictures of needlework! And possibly fun things I've been doing! Well, today you're ONLY going to get needlework pictures, but buckle up, because I promise that will be enough.

One of the trips was to take a class with my EGA chapter. I joined the duClay chapter in Florida a few years ago, but I've only been down once to a retreat. There was finally a class that fit with my schedule, so I booked a plane ticket! Since my birthday was the day after I would have flown back, I managed to finagle a birthday trip to Disney World out of it (my argument to Michael was that I would be more than halfway to Disney anyway, so he drove down to Jacksonville and picked me up after class!)

So, my first finish of 2018 was my chapter nametag, which should have been finished eons ago.

I finished it as a mini-flatfold, a technique I made up after reading the (most excellent) tutorial written by Vonna on how to make a proper flatfold. However, I thought a proper flatfold would be too bulky for something so small that I also wanted to wear around my neck, so I figured out how to do it with just two pieces of mat board. If anyone is interested, I can share what I did.

I stayed with my DF Teresa, who is an amazing hostess. The class was great! Here I'll show you our prestitching (the thread keep) partially assembled (as we learned to do in class):

It was very interesting to finish; the eyelets were made by first enlarging the hole in the linen with an awl so that it would be big enough to put some thread strands though and tie in a half-hitch.

I'd share more pictures, but the ones on duClay's blog are much better, so please visit there! The blog is maintained by Jackie, who does lovely stitching and knitting. And she is the one to thank for the rest of this post! A couple people asked if I had stopped blogging, and I was saying that I needed to get back to it, but I had just missed the Olympics when Jackie said, "Well, you HAVE to do March Madness!" Holy Shamoley, I had completely forgotten about March Madness*!!!

At first I thought I was going to have to miss it this year, since I wasn't going to get home until March 4th. But then I realized...with the class piece, the "emergency" stitching project I brought just in case there was a free moment somewhere, and the two knitting projects I had started for Loopy Academy Senior Year and had along...this just might work!

So, on March 1st, after stumbling home from a great day at Hollywood Studios, I pulled out my class piece and did a little more work joining the two sides of the thread keep together.

The next day, following a day at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival and a night waiting in line for Flight of Passage in Pandora at Animal Kingdom, I pulled out the "emergency stitching project", which is a hardanger piece. Please enjoy this very blurry picture of it.

March 3rd saw us on a special safari at Animal Kingdom, followed by a night viewing the new fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. Every color in this brioche cowl was in that fireworks show, plus some!

March 4th we had to head home, so I got some good knitting time in the car on a cotton vest.

Unfortunately, I have since had to unravel the whole thing and start over, since I gave up on my knitterly denial and realized it was going to come out big enough for Michael instead of me. I'm thinking he wouldn't really want to wear a hot pink mesh vest....

We got home at about 10:30 pm and had to go to work the next day, so I was too exhausted on March 5th to do anything at all. Well, that, and the Sparkly Compote of Decree was being difficult. You see, I knew in advance that due to the upheaval of construction, I wouldn't be able to get to (i.e., "find") all of my WIPs. So, I was just going to draw until I got a project I could actually find. Here's how many draws that took:

*sigh*
After many trips up and down (and up and down) a few sets of stairs, I found one! Castles by the Sea, by Teresa Wentzler (a class piece from a long ago retreat!) The picture on the right is what it will look like when it's finished, although I am making up my own verse.

March 7th found me stitching on Convents Herbal Garden by Chatelaine (or, as it was known when I started it, "Mystery 2"!):

When I found the piece for March 8th, which was Shakespeare's Garden...

...lo and behold, in the same box was the very first piece I drew out of the SCOD and couldn't find! So instead of drawing for the 9th, I stitched that one. This is another Teresa Wentzler piece from a retreat, called "Sewing Seeds of Love". You can see a small picture of the finished piece on her site (I gave away the charts for the other two designers' pieces at some point).

That almost brings me up to today! Yesterday (Saturday), we went to the Botanical Garden to see the thousands of tulips and orchids that are in bloom right now, and I couldn't face downloading all of those pictures.... So, you'll have to wait to see what I stitched on yesterday. Who knows, my instagram feed might get some madness showing up, too. Stay tuned for more March Madness! And let me know if you join in with me!

JiffNotes

Hooray for Daylight Saving Time and not coming home from work when it's dark! Please excuse the sizing of the pictures in this post...one of the "upheaval" things was getting a new computer, which is awesome, but my old image software no longer works on it and I'm definitely in the "making do" stage right now! *For those of you not familiar with March Madness...in the United States, college basketball playoffs begin in March, and there are so many crazy games, they coined the term "March Madness". Back when I used to run Theme-a-licious...and actually every March since...I would do my own "mad" stitching March by picking a different project every day! Nowadays the project I stitch on each day is "chosen" by the Sparkly Compote of Decree.

Theme-Tas-Stitch Monochrome May

What is Theme-Tas-Stitch, you ask? Kerry hosts a theme every month that you can build your stitching plans around. Click on the picture above for more details!

This month's theme was..."Monochrome May - Choose a colour and stitch on your projects that contain that one colour."

If you have been around me for any length of time, you know that my favorite color is BLUE! I could have pulled out a million pieces to stitch with blue in them, but since May is the last month to get Loopy Academy pieces done, I didn't get to stitch on any of them! Fortunately, I did get my blue beaded scarf done!

I was running out of time to get a photograph, so all you get is a terrible headless selfie. :) It really was a monochromatic month for me, since I had to work on this pretty much non-stop to get it done by the deadline.

Next month's theme is "Jardin June - Venture outdoors and put some stitches in a piece that has a garden or floral theme."

I have a bunch of garden-related pieces, so I'll have a ball with this one!

Tiny Progress is Tiny (or, Gifted Gorgeousness June 2016)

For more information on this stunning and serendipitous SAL, please click on the graphic!

You were all so sweet and supportive about my crazy-looking pre-stitching for the finishing class I was taking at A Stitcher's Gathering. Just to recap, I had made eight of these little parasol pieces:

Crazy machine-stitched edge optional

I was hopeful that I would have this project finished by the end of class (where I was getting the GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE...ahh, theeeeeeere's the shoehorn into the SAL). These eight panels were to turn into Lady Violet's Parasol Needlebook. Wellll...after the first day of class, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be done by the end of the second day, and I was right. In fact, no one finished the whole thing. The first step was to cut a piece of Skirtex (a very stiff felt-like interfacing) to fit inside the chain stitch outline for each little panel, then cut out the panel and sew the Skirtex inside. The next step was to sew a piece of batting to the back of each panel, and, finally, to sew a beautiful sage green silk lining to each one. Working around that curve was...less than fun! But I managed to get all of them to the batting stage, and six out of eight lined.

This is the full kit for the entire class, which also includes the Crawley House Sampler and Anna's Apron Scissors Pocket. You can see what the parasol will look like in the kit picture. The scissors pocket is so darling; lots of whitework stitching. The second day of class, we got a surprise package with a kit for Cora's Spoon Pincushion, including an antique silver spoon from the teacher's collection. So cute! Now I just have to figure out when I can work on this project again...there is a lot going on in the next month.

In other gifted news...my friend Jean is very gifted in many respects, but one of her most dangerous gifts is the gift of enablement. What that means is that she can pretty much find something that one of us "needs" to buy at any given moment. I blame her for these needleminders that I ordered:

That pink behind them is the padded envelope they were mailed in! What fun!

Hmmm, was I supposed to have actual stitching progress in this post? For a stitch-a-long? Maybe next month...

Drunken Monkeys

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In a few days, I leave for Phoenix to attend Moss Creek's A Stitcher's Gathering. And just in time, I have finished all the prestitching (and finished watching the last season of Downton Abbey, which was crucial because the project is Downton Abbey themed!) The project is Lady Violet's parasol (in needlebook/pincushion form), so the prestitching was eight tiny panels with violets, outlined with chain stitch, then outlined in machine stitching to secure the linen.

Actually, you had to do three sides of the chain stitch, then iron on some interfacing, then complete the curved part of the chain stitch through the interfacing, like so:

I should have put something in the shot for scale; these panels are less than 2 inches tall (5 cm). Here's what they look like from the front:

This was one of the last ones I stitched around (first a tiny straight stitch, with a tiny zig zag stitch on top). The thread I had on the bobbin is shown here; you can see in the first shot that the other thread was pretty much exactly the color of the linen. This turned out to NOT be a good thing, since I couldn't really see my straight stitch to zig zag over it.

Now, the sewing machine and I are on fairly good terms, but it's a tenuous relationship at best. In reality, I pretty much stink at anything other than straight lines. So in the interest of Truth in Blogging, here are some of the other ones...

And this beauty...

My comment to my friends was that I was finally finished, but it looked like it was done by a bunch of drunken monkeys, because one drunken monkey alone could not have achieved the variation in crazy shapes that I did.

JiffNotes
I am ready for A Stitcher's Gathering!

Starting Somewhere and Ending Elsewhere

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I originally started this post as a Gifted Gorgeousness post, but somewhere along the way I lost steam (and my shoehorn), so this is going to be more like a pre-IHSW post. I have fallen sadly behind in stitching Curios (a Kathy Rees mystery "class")...part 2 was released at the beginning of the month, but I am still only on section 4 of 6 in part 1!

That blank square is supposed to be blank, or I'd be even further behind!

The reason I have stalled so much is because I have two upcoming deadlines. The first is the end of Loopy Academy Sophomore Semester Two, so I am desperately trying to finish the last project (twisted stitches, with self-imposed Fair Isle):

I have made it past the "Fair Isle" (that's in quotes because I was knitting with three colors at once on some rounds...and I think Fair Isle is only technically two colors at once). I'm now on to the more relaxing twisted stitches. I know what you're thinking...that doesn't look very relaxing! Well, I've done plenty of cables in the past (I loved the way they looked and learned to do them almost immediately after learning to knit), and I cable without a cable needle, so I'm in much more comfortable territory now.

The other deadline I have coming up is for A Stitchers' Gathering (hosted by Moss Creek Designs). The project is inspired by Downton Abbey; we are doing the pre-stitching for Lady Violet's Parasol, which will be a needlebook. We're assembling it in class; for now I am stitching bitty fiddly violets, pulled thread and endless chain stitch. This is one panel (there are eight!!! =O )

I did finish the nameplate (omigosh, I dated it, so I have to finish it now!!) and the finial top.

But my violets on the finial top look funky because I was looking at the wrong diagram for the buttonhole bar violets like a chucklehead and made way more trouble for myself than I needed to! If I get everything else done, I may redo them. The main hurdle with this project is that my extreme closeup vision means I can only comfortably stitch on this without my contacts in...so no stitching in front of the TV at night. It's kind of relegated to my day off!

I think I can get all this done!!

JiffNotes
Stitching deadlines always make it seem like I am stitching much slower....

Of Gifts and Gorgeousness

For more information on this stunning and serendipitous SAL, please click on the graphic!

Well, I kind of disappeared there again, didn't I? I think what happens is that a "deadline" comes up...for instance, I was taken completely by surprise that the Alphabet Club's "first Saturday of the month" was the SECOND of this month...I am unprepared, and so I delay while I try to think of what to post, and many other posts go into some mystical queue behind the post I "need" to write, where they languish! So I am going to try to not beat myself up if I miss a SAL post and just soldier on!

So anyway...the lovely and talented Jo at Serendipitous Stitching has invited us to share our projects we are working on that have been gifted to us, that we are gifting to others, or that we can in any way possible shoehorn into the category of gifting!!

What's great about having a birthday at the end of a month (mine was at the end of February) is that you can usually claim the next month as a birthday month as well (and if you're really doing well, the month after that as well). In March, my DF Jean gave me a lovely birthday package:

Look at the little squirrel paper clips!! My journal is now covered with them. I immediately went to Ravelry to find the perfect thing to knit with that extraordinarily gorgeous yarn, and I think Pamuya will fit the bill! You might think I would have picked a plainer pattern, but I get bored if something is too plain (too much stockinette or garter stitch). And how about that blinged-out squirrel magnet!! He is already in action on my Curios, a mystery class with Kathy Rees (we don't know what the project will look like once it's finished):

This is just the first part of the first lesson. I am woefully behind! This is the project that is using all those gorgeous threads I showed you in my last GG post.

And now my gift of knowledge to you for this month...you might remember the two-colored hat that was in progress last month. (I have finished it, but it hasn't had its glamour shot yet!) I want to make a pair of mittens in the same colors. Now, the hat was a mosaic pattern, where you only need to hold/knit with one color of yarn at a time. The mittens I want to make, though, are done in a Fair Isle pattern, where you must hold two colors at once. I watched the most brilliant and clear video of how to do this! There's your gift of knowledge. ;) I picked a(nother) hat pattern for my final Loopy Academy project this semester that has a small band of Fair Isle on it so I could practice but not be in over my head. So, this is happening...

I will not describe the fits and starts I went through with this, from trying to wrestle my clumsy hands into holding yarn in a way I could live with, to discovering I had made a mistake close to the beginning of the first round and needing to rip back, not once...not twice...but THREE TIMES!! And then when I finally had knit it correctly, realizing that I had skipped the increase row before that completely. *cries a little* I am on my way now, though. My tension is terrible, and it looks pretty bad (I picked the best part to photograph, of course ;), but it's getting done. The very observant of you may have noticed, though, that this is NOT actually Fair Isle...some of those bands have THREE colors in them. So, I quickly moved from learning to hold two yarns to three...good thing I had bought a yarn guide ages ago, or I never could have managed it.

My final "gift" of the month is a preview of what is coming to the Atlanta Botanical Garden next week!

A very "gifted" artist, Dale Chihuly, who makes large glass art pieces, will be setting up art around the Garden! (Or, to be more accurate, his team will be setting them up.) I can't wait to see the whole show; as members of the Garden, we get to get a first glimpse of the sculptures all lit up at night as well!

That's it for me for the month! If you'd like to see more Gifted Gorgeousness, go back to the top of the post and click the graphic!

March Gifted Gorgeousness

A day (or five) late and a dollar short as usual...

For more information on this stunning and serendipitous SAL, please click on the graphic!

Thank you all for the kind comments on my snuggly socks and skipping fairy. =) jocondine asked how many pairs of socks I have knit...I was shocked when I went to Ravelry and counted 16 finished pairs!!! =O There is another pair on the needles right now that just needs the toe done. Two of the pairs are no more (the first ones I ever knit were the ones that fell apart recently, and another pair felted when I washed them and the cuff was just too tight...they were toe-up and that is when I learned about Jeny's Suprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. So click on that link and there's your first Gorgeous Gift of the post...the gift of knowledge. ;) How's that for a shoehorn, Jo??)

Speaking of the gift of knowledge, I have signed up with the Shining Needle Society for a new class from Kathy Rees of Needle Delights. My kit arrived this week, and I kind of want to roll around in the colors, they are so pretty!!

I do actually have something stitched to show...a freebie pattern (gift from the designer!) that you are probably all already familiar with...

I've loved all the Snowflower Diaries Joyful World series so far, but I was avoiding starting them because I have so many WIPs. Then she finally roped me in by having a squirrel in the April design! I thought if I could stitch just five 10x10 chart blocks a day, I would have it done by April. But as you can see, a week later, I am very far behind! Oh, well, perhaps if I just finish it sometime *in* April....

The Alphabet Club - H!

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It seems I'm even late for detention!

"They only met online, but it changed their lives forever"

No idea what's going on? Click the poster above for an explanation!

This is my first time participating in the fabulous brainchild of Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and chiara at the grey tail. I have really been enjoying reading everyone else's posts, though...I love hearing about local language and customs!!

The first "H" word I have for you is a typical Southern greeting...no, it's not "Howdy"...it's "Hey." It's also the thing that Stormtroopers yell when they see someone doing something, rather than trying to stop them!

Get it? Get it???

When I was a teenager, I'm pretty sure I had this conversation more times than I'd like to admit:
Me: "Hey, y'all."
Friend 1: "Hey."
Friend 2: "Hey."
Me: "Hey."

Yep, those were some articulate times.

And now for some H-related stitching!

During my hiatus, I went to Hardanger University. This is my in-progress Hardanger class piece from Meg Shinall:

The center is done; I am working on the lacy edge. You can see on the left where I started to cut it away from the supporting fabric threads. This is my favorite kind of edge; much quicker than blanket stitching!

And here is a barely-started Heirloom Sampler in a Year by Linda Driskell, sold by Nordic Needle. I did one of her other samplers-in-a-year and really enjoyed it...I even finished it! Is anyone else doing this one?

I found an actual finish that starts with "H"...this is my hedgehog, Tilly!

She was a class from Rae Iverson (Moss Creek Designs). We pre-stitched her back, and in class we learned how to assemble her. There is also a cute bag and other accessories that go with her, but of course she is the only thing I have finished! Here's a view of her "bow"-hind. :)

Of course, the last H is me...geeky Heather! =D

Well, that's all I have time for...check back next month for ramblings about the letter "I"!

JiffNotes
If you'd like to see more Alphabet Club posts, check out chiara's link-up post!

Theme-a-licious November/December

Well, I sure didn't do any Xs in No-Xs November!

November started off for me with an Alison Cole class in Tampa, Florida, which had MUCH better temperatures than Atlanta had been having! Here was my dessert one day at lunch:

Cannoli for now, cannoli for later. ;)

We got a two-hour lunch break! Excellent.

The project was a stumpwork/goldwork piece.

I've done some stumpwork before, but I've never done any goldwork. It was a lot of fun working with some of the more exotic threads, like the super pearl purl. Plus, it's fun to say "super pearl purl". =)

This was a shot of my workspace.

Actually, this shot makes my workspace look a lot less chaotic than it was. I was spread out all over the place (I got lucky to be at a table of 3 rather than 4) and it took me forever to find anything. But the class was simply amazing. Alison is a fantastic (and fantastically fun) teacher, and if you ever get the chance to take a class with her, DO IT! She is one of those great teachers who never tells you anything is difficult; she just explains what to do and what to watch out for in a very straightforward manner and then comes around to straighten you out if you go wrong.

Here's a shot of the model she brought. It's not the best since it was under glass (and fluorescent lights!), but you can get more an idea of the dimensionality the stumpwork has.

She brought some other models, but it was hard to get a great shot with everyone crowded around ooooo-ing and aaaaah-ing! I will show you a couple shots of one of her 3D butterflies:

The little bell jar is only about 5 inches high! Amazing stuff. She had some other great goldwork pieces with her, including a dragon she taught at EGA convention.

Oh, what's that? You want to see what *I* did? =)

Here's where I was at the end of class. The crazy gold fringes will be the stamens in the clematis flowers, and that paper at the side will be basted over the dragonfly while I work on the rest of the piece, because his wings are SHARP!

They are actually brass mesh. Here's a closeup:

And here's a closer shot of the bud and leaf, where you can kind of see the super pearl purl:

Can you tell that the leaf is sticking up from the fabric? I should have done a side view, too.

The other pieces we did in class were a tendril (I have one Alison did, too, since she demonstrated with my wire =) and a flower petal. Only 23 more to go!!!!

Sadly, the only other stitching I did was to finish the branches on this squirrel.

I did the Xs sometime earlier in the year. ;)

I have been knitting a little, and I finished this lace cowl.

It's knit in Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn, which is 50% silk, 50% Sea Cell (think rayon), so it's really soft.

So, I know that I said I'd announce the theme for December around the middle of this month. I won't bore you with the details, but there have been all manner of work- and health-related crises here (everyone is OK!) and something had to give. That something was the blogging. And a lot of the stitching. And all my mojo is still suffering, so I'm calling December...

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Do What You Will December

Do you have gifts you need to finish? Projects you're sick of looking at that you want done? Or maybe you just want some nice, relaxing stitching for a hectic month? Anything goes this month!

So, it's not technically a theme, but we'll have one last post together on December 31st to share what we managed to work on during the holidays (or do a year-in-review). I have decided not to run Theme-a-licious next year. I have really, really enjoyed stitching themes with all of you and seeing all the creative things you have been doing with the themes! However, there are a ton of great SALs to participate in out there, and participation here has been waning. Perhaps I'll start back up in 2016; who can say?? Or maybe I'll get bored halfway through 2015 and need themes to push me along again. ;) I'll more than likely do March Madness again, anyway!

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So how did your No-Xs November go? Was it a challenge going "off the grid"? =) What will you do with your freedom in December? 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!) Our last post will be on December 31st.