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!

A Week of Mice and Madness

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If you're participating in Theme-Tas-Stitch (or you've been around here for over a year), you know that March means March Madness. And that means that I try to stitch on something different every day of the month! I don't always succeed, because I don't always get to stitch every day, but on the days I do get to stitch, I draw a slip of paper out of the SCOD (Sparkly Compote of Decree), and it tells me what I stitch that day. March first brought me this beauty to work on...

This is Toccata by The Drawn Thread. I only got one little square done, but, hey, that's pretty good for a work night.

March 2nd we went to see Phantom of the Opera at the fabulous Fox after work, so I got no stitching done that night. (My one-sentence review of the show is that if you saw it in the 90s, don't bother, because this production is much scaled down and misses a lot of the iconic staging moments.)

The next day, I told the SCOD to go take a flying leap, I was working on my first Loopy Academy project, Spliced (qualification: must be a two-color-per-row project):

I did not get all of that done, but I did get a lot of it done. The next two days I did not stitch at all, because I had better things to do...

We went to Disney World for my birthday! It's the first time in a while that I haven't been there on my actual birthday. That's OK; I still got the button, and the Dapper Dans sang "Happy Birthday" to me. =)

The Flower and Garden Festival was going on at Epcot, so that park was just beautiful.

Sometimes the Festival starts just after my birthday, so although some of the topiary displays are up, we don't get to enjoy other aspects of the Festival, like the fabulous food booths!

I tried to convince Michael that the cheese strudel with berry compote was terrible and I should just eat it all so he didn't have to suffer through it, but he didn't buy it. =)

Our second day, we got up early and hustled over to the back entrance of the park (we stayed at the Swan, so we were able to walk...and a big shout out to my Falcons for being in the Super Bowl and getting us a three-for-two deal there!) We wanted to be there at "rope drop" so we could speed-walk over to Norway and be in line for Frozen Ever After!

I didn't try to take any photos during the ride because I just wanted to enjoy it. The wait time can balloon up to several hours, so getting there early is your only hope if you can't get FastPasses (and we made the decision to go down too late to get them). We only waited about 10 minutes! We really enjoyed the ride and talked about how cool it is to go on a brand new Disney attraction...it's a treat that doesn't come along every day!

I'll end my pictorial review with a pair of dragons, because: DRAGONS!

China pavilion topiary at Epcot...

Maleficent "float" at Magic Kingdom.

On the way home, I knit on my second Loopy Academy project, Sinnesfrid.

I'm still not 100% sure about this color...I wanted a bright Spring green. Sometimes I think this is it, and sometimes it looks weird to me. It really changes color with the light.

That doesn't quite bring us up to today, but here's the last picture that was in the camera, from Tuesday:

The SCOD coughed up a blank slip of paper, which means I get to choose! So I picked a project out of the Drawer of Shame...it's a drawer in our coffee table where I keep stitching supplies like scissors, needle minders, stitch markers, etc. But it also contains various random small projects that get stuffed in there for one reason or another. I decided to stitch something from there to help clean it out...I wasn't sure what all was in there! I found a few ornament kits that were not started, an ornament with one side stitched, one side unstitched, and one side completely missing (along with the fibers!), a bead kit, a stumpwork ornament whose directions I'm sure I packed in a box somewhere, various other things, and this. This was pretty much the only started thing in there that had all its bits together! It's going to be a PEACE tree by M Designs. If I have enough fibers left to complete it. I have my doubts...

The madness will continue! Stay tuned...

JiffNotes
Disney World got in the way of March Madness, in the best way possible, but I still got a lot of stitching done!

Finished Object Friday: Mikkey

It's time for another trip in the Wayback Machine to an old finished knitting project!

The final Loopy Academy project for Freshman Year, Semester Two was to create something using slipped stitches.


Mikkey Cowl Ravelry project link

I knit this GIANT, SUPER WARM cowl using three strands of worsted weight yarn held together! Last Winter I used it a few times, but it hasn't been cold enough this Winter to use it! It is REALLY warm, since the slipped stitches mean it's essentially six strands thick, AND it can be worn as two layers.

Since it's a slipped stitch pattern, the "wrong side" is completely different and just as interesting!



I cannot say enough good things about this pattern. The directions were so clear, and there are a TON of pictures throughout (closeups and overall views). You can knit it in whatever weight you want. She even teaches you how to triple-strand yarn as you go, which is brilliant. I've bought two more patterns from this designer since I got this one. The second one I have finished (ah...yeah...still need to take pictures of that) was just as brilliant as this one! Now, that is not to say these patterns aren't complicated...they are. But her directions are so great!

This cowl is also ingenious because most cowls require you to twist them if you want to double them, sometimes resulting in a very uncomfortable bulge behind your neck. Mikkey has a slot-and-strap system that means it is always a two-layer cowl. I made the "medium" option, so you can have it longer, but this picture shows the inner layer as small (i.e., as cozy around your neck!) as it can go, and the outer layer as long as it can go.


And finally, for really windy days....

Finished Object Friday: Litchfield Hat

Ravelry project link

Wow, I actually found a finished object photo that is so old, it's from Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, SEMESTER ONE!! It didn't get posted because I finished it about an hour and a half before the deadline! That's why the picture is so terrible, too. The hat pattern calls for a brim. And though I usually look better in hats with a brim, I did not like the way this brim turned out when I finally knit it, so I'm going to frog it at some point.... The problem is that I love my rose hat so much that I just always wear that....

Finished Object Friday: Butterfly Wing

Ravelry project link

My Butterfly Wing shawl was a project for Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, Semester Two. The assignment was to create something with two (or more) color stripes. Of course, simple stripes weren't enough for me, I had to have lace, too. ;)

This was really fun to knit, and the pattern is easy to memorize. I made it longer than the pattern by using her supplementary suggestions on how to extend the shawl. Or, I tried to. I lost count and did a strange combination of the suggested segments, but it all came out fine!

This is one of my favorite things I've knit. I took it with me on our cruise through Norway, and it functioned as a warm expedition scarf, elegant dinner wrap, and casual scarf depending on the day!

Finished Object Friday: Felted Moebius Bowl

Three posts in one week! Don't get used to it. =)

Ravelry project link

This was a project I did for Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, Semester Two. The "assignment" was to create something felted (using 225 yards of yarn). Don't let anyone tell you that front-loading washers don't felt...as I already knew due to an unfortunate scarf incident. It only took me two tries to get the moebius cast-on correct. ;) From there it was a quick and fun knit. The middle of the bowl is a different color because I didn't want to buy extra yarn!!

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!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME!!! Hooray!

*ahem*

I love Daylight Saving Time; I really feel like we should be on this time all year 'round. I am NOT a morning person, so having light later in the day is awesome for me!

We went to see Cirque du Soleil in "Kurios" today, with gorgeous warm weather...by the time intermission rolled around, the sky was mostly sunny with just enough clouds to make for a beautiful sunset!

The show is "steampunk" style, and it was amazing! We were sitting in the second row and got to see all the performers' incredible costumes and makeup up close! I took a few pictures during the "pre-show", but just on my phone, so they're not the best...

You can't see it in the picture, but the two "tanks" on either side have sea creatures "floating" inside.

This "automaton" is person-sized!

Now for some random pictures of random stitchy progress...

I started Mirabilia's Bluebell Fairy on some beloved stashed Sugar Maple Fabrics hand-dyed lugana. I placed her so it would look like she was hopping over a swirly puddle. =)

My second Loopy Academy project is coming along well. The assignment was "two colors, one of which is variegated and one of which is solid or tonal".

I was too scared to try Fair Isle, so this is a mosaic pattern instead. You only knit with one color at a time, and the pattern is formed by slipping stitches. It's ridiculously easy to memorize the pattern for the round, so it's zipping along. I love that the blue/green/purple yarn is called "Spectrum". Since it doesn't actually have all the colors of the rainbow, I like to think it's a secret homage to Nathan Fillion. =)

JiffNotes
Hooray for Daylight Saving Time! I want it to stay this time all year...politicians, if you want my vote, make it happen!

Loopy Academy Sophomore Year, Semester 2, First Project!

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I have already finished my first project for Loopy Academy this semester! The assignment was to knit socks whichever way you have the least experience with--toe-up or top-down. Well, since participating in the Cookie A Sock Club for two years, I definitely had more experience knitting top-down! I also knew I wanted a pair in worsted (or maybe sport) for two reasons:

• I am a slow knitter, so I needed the yardage to be as close as possible to the required 225 yards! Socks knit in "sock yarn" (or fingering) run about 400 yards.
• The first pair of socks I ever knit, a super-snuggly pair in worsted weight, were very close to giving up the ghost, and my feet get very cold on cold nights!

I cast these socks on in the middle of February and had the heel turned before we went to Disney for my birthday. I finished them on the way down!

Mistake Braid Socks - Ravelry project page

Good thing I brought a "back up" project with me. =) They were mindless to knit, which is a good thing, because we were listening to the novelization of "The Force Awakens" on the way down (MELODRAMATIC NARRATOR IS MELODRAMATIC). I actually cast them off at home, since casting off socks knit two-at-a-time is not that fun in the car. The night I cast them off, my old socks literally fell apart!! Of course, the next day it was almost 70 degrees F. =P

JiffNotes
I have socks! Socks that are way too warm to wear now! Socks that I will probably forget all about until I'm moaning about how cold my feet are this Fall, but won't I be happy to have them then??