Theme-a-licious No-Xs November Check-in

The first project I worked on this month was actually a holdover from Opulent October....

 

This is Victoria Sampler's Heirloom Christmas Sampler, and the gold garland is stem-stitched. I had to get over myself so that I didn't try to "count" it out, since it's on linen.

Next, I did a little on Toccata....

 

I'm not thrilled with my satin stitch on the bottom right there, but at least another block is done!

Finally, I figured it was time to finish off my hardanger ornament. I did some Algerian eyelets, then I cut out the threads for the center.

 

And I was all like, HARDANGER! I know how to do this stuff! And then I looked at the diagram for connected wrapped bars, and my brain turned inside out, and here's how it still stands. I'm going to dig out my copy of Fundamentals Made Fancy and find a real diagram.

By the way, I do have a vague plan for Theme-a-licious for next year...I'm thinking, since participation has waned a bit, that we all might need a little break. What would you think about a theme every other month?

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Have you happily gone off the grid? Or are you going cross-eyed trying to work without Xs? Please add your link below (to your check in post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Our next post will be on the 30th of November, when we'll wrap up No-Xs November and talk about Detritus December!

Theme-a-licious Opulent October Check-in

Sorry posts have been slim on the ground...work is ridiculous right now. In fact, I just stopped working...but hey, I have two hours to get this post up before midnight!

Fall always takes me by surprise; I'm aware on some level that the amount of light is going to go down, but I always forget how quickly it happens and am slow to re-strategize my picture taking schedule. So Dancer here doesn't look too bad...

 

...though you might be hard-pressed to figure out where I added sparkly stuff (Hint: It's the snow under her feet.)

Whereas Sapphire Star looks pretty rough.

 

But I promise in real life, those colored sections are very sparkly and getting sparklier!

I have to tell you, when I started going through my WIPs, I was pretty shocked at the low number that included sparkly fibers or beads...so of course I had to start one. But I'll leave that as a surprise for the wrap-up post at the end of the month. =)

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Are all your sparkly projects making you feel like royalty? Or is the bling blinding you? Please add your link below (to your check in post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Our next post will be on the 31st of October, when we'll wrap up Opulent October and talk about No-XS November (don't panic)!

I'll Give the Hour Back

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Today was the day we all set our clocks back and go off of Daylight Saving Time (nope, it's not "savings"...we are--were--saving daylight, we have no savings account for daylight). And while most people rejoice in the extra hour of sleep, I mourn because it gets dark so early now. Yes, yes, the sun has been rising at a ridiculously late hour in the morning, but since I also get up at a ridiculously late hour, what do I care? I'd rather have the sun up later in the day when I'm actually conscious of what's going on around me.

Anyway! I got up this morning and got ready for church and then promptly collapsed on the bed for two hours. It's so frustrating; usually if I give myself two days of rest to recover, I'm able to stumble through from that point on. But this thing seems a little more persistent. It's annoying; I'm not coughing or sneezing...I'm just EXHAUSTED.

I used the extra hour last night to finish withdrawing the threads on Random Thoughts...IN THE RIGHT PLACE THIS TIME.

 

Earlier I worked on my stumpwork bird...you can thank the failing light for the less-than-great pictures. I made a spiderweb, which was surprisingly difficult, and a wee moth. (At least that's what he's supposed to be. Could be a bit of leaf blowing by.) The next step was padding in preparation for stitching the bird...

 

One layer...

 

two...

 

and three! Today I've been blanket stitching around the felt padding, but then I stopped because the next step is silk shading and it terrifies me! I'll have to get over myself and just do it at some point....

JiffNotes
Why would we NOT want to save daylight? I don't get it.

The Geekend That Was, 1/1

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This report is going to be kind of light...except for one thing! (FORESHADOWING: Your KEY to QUALITY blog posts.) Friday was a day off, and it was the first day we really had to relax the whole holiday season! There was a whole lotta relaxing, and that was good.

Saturday we went to Michael's parents' house for his mom's birthday. We went to see TinTin, which was EXCELLENT. You must go see it. Good, clean fun, and even if you've never read the famous comic, I promise you'll enjoy it. I'm a huge Snowy fan, so I found much to be happy about. The rest of the day we spent playing with our new Settlers of Catan expansion pack that Michael's parents gave us for Christmas, Traders and Barbarians! It was a ton of fun...we played two games and didn't even get to the traders or the barbarians. There are five new scenarios, and those are the last two.

Unfortunately, I started to feel sick on Saturday (didn't keep me from winning the second game, though ;) I barely made it to midnight. Sunday I spent half the day in bed and the other half on the couch (my typical sinus infection type thing). However, that did let me spend a good deal of time beading Dasher...yeah, yeah, I know, it's Jardin January, but as Michael said, "Dasher's got a garland! That's greenery!" Part of Theme-a-licious is the creative designation of favorite projects so fit them into the theme. ;) Anyway, I was too out of it to even consider foraging for a project that wasn't lying right by me. But the good news is that by doing that, I have my first happy dance of 2012!

"PLEASE! No more!!!"

After putting on all the Treasures, I'm pretty sure that Dasher is "dashing" so that no one tries to put any more sparklies on him! =) Now I just need to figure out how I want to finish him. I was thinking a cube, but maybe he deserves to be framed? Or maybe a flat fold? What do you think?

I did make some changes in Dasher's colors if anyone is interested. I thought the original deer colors were too "yellow". I can also tell you the Delica numbers for the Mill Hill beads. Several are used across the eight reindeer, and even if you're just doing one or two, it's a lot cheaper to buy a tube of Delicas.

Today has been another hibernation day, but tomorrow it's back to work. =(

JiffNotes
Being sick is not a great way to start the year, but a finish is.

Reports of Dasher's Demise...

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...have been greatly exaggerated.

 

He just didn't get all his bling on before Christmas. I'm going to try really hard to finish him before the new year, but there are a lotttttttttt of beeeeeeeads.... I bet I only have 1/4 of them on in this shot. I'm probably up to 1/3 now!

Pre-Christmas was very busy, then we spent Christmas Day with my parents and Boxing Day with Michael's parents--not that they celebrate Boxing Day in any way, shape, or form...it just sounds fancier than "the day after Christmas". It was fun; pictures and such are coming. I kinda threw an impromptu Christmas Eve buffet, too.

Then, Tuesday the 27th...I had to go back to work. I say "had to"...it was more like "chose to". I took off the whole week before so I'd have time to bake cookies, deliver them, wrap, take our niece to the Aquarium, and generally make the festivity happen. But I must admit that I thought I'd have at least a day or two to totally hermit...play video games, stitch, knit, maybe even finish some ornaments! (I actually have a "pile" now. I always scoffed at people who had a "pile".) Anyway, I ended the year with 2.5 days of vacation and 3 days of work. It's always so quiet and I get so much done (with so little to do), and I thought I'd get to do a long lunch at the Mall shopping crazy sales. Not so much...I actually have a lot to do, and I didn't even see the Mall. I did have lunch with my parents, which was nice, since in all the hubbub at Christmas it's hard to find time to really talk.

But boy oh boy do I just want to stay in my pajamas all day!

Taking a whole week off before meant that I actually did get to make scarves for my sister and mom for Christmas. It was a super-crazy plan, trying to make them the week before, but once I saw how EASY and QUICK the crochet version of the Berroco Lacey scarf was...I thought, why not???

 

They are a bit "bright" in this picture. They're kinda like the "potato chip" scarves but WAY fluffier. =) Why are there three? Well, I had to make myself one, didn't I? You know, to make sure it was good? Like when you have to sample at least three cookies from a batch to make sure they're fit for public consumption. (Just me? OK.) Really, though, when my sister's pink came, it was a lot darker than I thought it would be and I wasn't sure she would like it. So I made mine as well (middle) and would have given her mine and taken hers (left). Lo and behold, she showed up on Christmas morning wearing a top that was THE EXACT COLOR of her scarf! A Christmas miracle! Mom was wearing her red one at lunch on Tuesday and said she'd already had lots of compliments on it. My mom and sister are very knitworthy. =)

Here's an in-progress picture of Mom's scarf so you can see how the yarn comes. And I don't really crochet, but the knitting directions are like, "lift the next four stitches, one by one, over the first stitch on the right needle," whereas the crochet are "pull the loop through the next four loops". Yeah, I'll do that!

 

The first one took me a while because I was trying to figure out what was going on and how to pull through those loops. But the 2nd and 3rd took less than two TV shows (1.5 hours?), and that was while paying attention to Nikita. =)

I hope to do a pre-Theme-a-licious post with graphics for you all, but if I don't get around to it, or the hubby is late with the shiny graphics ("shiny," get it? I'm still hoping for Nathan!) the first post will be on the 31st. Many of you have already blogged about what's on your list (some for the whole year!), so you can just link in that post. Otherwise, share what you're working on for Jardin January! Here's a small graphic that I made that you can put on your sidebar or use in forum signatures. Sorry it's not a "blinkie" but those make my eyes cross. ;) It's also on the Theme-a-licious page.

JiffNotes
I want to be in school again so I get the long Christmas vacation!!

WIP Wednesday (not Chocolat)

I was able to knit almost a full skein of Lydia's cardigan while I was in Arizona...I'm over halfway done with the lace section!

 

Since I had switched project bags for the trip, I gave a little love to the project whose bag I borrowed.

 

Urban Necessity Gloves in a very yummy Malabrigo Rios I got at Stitches South.

And I did a little on Lapland Santa, since I had taken him to Arizona.

 

Don't forget my Fall knitting giveaway! There's a needlework one, too!

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, perhaps with more engaging commentary, head over to Tami's Amis!

WIP Wednesday (lacing along)

Helena is coming along nicely! Still no morning light (I think I have to wait 'til next year for that), so another flashy picture.

I've finished the bodice, put the sleeve stitches on holding yarn, and started the lace pattern. The lace pattern is easy, and it flies, but I've had to fix a few things due to my inattention (I blame Grimm and Once Upon a Time). Last night I ripped back a six stitch wide by five row deep section and reknit it...yarn-overs, k2togs, ssks and all!

I did a little work on Random Thoughts, and it was truly thrilling to be working on something that was NOT Chocolat!

Speaking of Chocolat, I finally got it ironed and took a photo. I suppose this is technically a Finished Object, but since it will turn right back into a WIP on Friday, when it should be parading as a FO, it's here:

I'm super-excited about this class! I can't believe I leave TOMORROW!!! And of course, I am not packed. But like I told my boss yesterday, I can always throw some underwear and a toothbrush in my suitcase and buy clothes there! Hmmm...sounds like a good excuse to go shopping. ;)

Don't forget my Fall knitting giveaway! There's a needlework one, too!

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, head over to Tami's Amis!

All The Buzz (but no yarn)

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I FINISHED THE BUMBLEBEE!!!

 

I finally had an hour of daylight to fuss with attaching the wings. I ran into a few problems. First, I had a wing with only one trailing end on one side of the wire. It was impossible to pull the ends of the wings together that way, so I had to anchor another thread on the opposite wire.

Second, I had this idea that I was going to thread the wires to the back and tack them down back there...yeah...not so much. The bulk going through the linen would have been too much. So I clipped the wires shorter (with my giant kitchen shears, of course), and in the process clipped an end off...see "First". The ends are just kind of hiding under that fringe of the turkey work (TECHNICAL TERM: i.e., "fuzzy stuff").

 

After that, it was just a matter of fiddling around with pulling the two ends together/through, and tightening the veins.

 

Sorry these pictures are kind of blurry; I just have a basic point-and-shoot camera (um, maybe I should read the manual? It probably has some fancy settings) and no swanky macro lens.

If I had the wings to do again (OH PLEASE NO), I would reshape them a bit. See how this guy's wings are straight across the top, rather than curved? You know, WING-SHAPED??

Hunh. My camera can take SOME good close-ups.

Also, I'd make the two ends of the wires meet on the organza before cutting out, rather than having an 1/8"-1/4" gap between them that had to be pulled together. Doing that made the wings kind of pucker or ruffle, rather than lying flat.

 

See what I mean? And real bees' wings don't do that. Makes my bee look kind of like a "bee fairy" or something. =)

Still, I'm pretty happy with him!! And very happy he's done! If anyone is interested in the pattern and instructions, drop me a line at heather at lottloft dot com. You'll need more linen, wire, organza and beads, but there is plenty of the Madeira floss left over, and there is a sample of the beads, wire and organza so you know what you need. If I get more than one request, I'll do a drawing at the end of the weekend.

If you're looking for actual yarn-related "Finished Objects", head over and visit Tami's Ami's:

&nbps;

JiffNotes
The Bumblebee is done! That makes a whopping two projects finished from my Crazy Challenge. That's...sad. But YAY FINISHED BEE!!!

WIP Wednesday (Closer to Bee-ing)

I finally cast on for the front of my Origami Turtle:

 

I'm doing the left and right fronts at the same time, on the same needle, so they look a little crowded. I'm actually a little farther now than this picture, which was taken on a very dark and grey day, so the color is not the best. The directions have you do the same pattern sequence on the left side as the back, but then they SWITCH IT UP FOR THE RIGHT SIDE. Like, the left is 4" of moss stitch, then 3.5" of eyelet pattern, etc., and the right is 2" of moss stitch, then the eyelet pattern. Schwunh??? I don't play that kind of crazy, so I'm making them the same. Otherwise I'd be walking around with one shoulder slumped down by 2" all the time.

The Bumblebee is getting dangerously close to being finished.

 

I trimmed the thorax and cut out a wing. I may have done more than that since I took this picture, and you may want to drop back by on Friday. ;)

Side view of the bee. The thorax is supposed to be a "dome". Well, it's something like a dome, anyway.

 

Again, I didn't want to trim too much lest I create a bee with a crew cut!

Finally, I did make a start on Chocolat, a class I'm taking with Jackie du Plessis at The Attic in November.

 

I have to have 12 more of these motifs done by November 2...I GOTTA GET CRACKING!

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, head over to Tami's Amis!

WIP Wednesday (Pretty Fuzzy Bee)

So this is my "big" progress on Pretty Thing:

 

Well...at least it's more than last week. I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast-on, because I tend to cast on and off very tightly, this piece has a sewn cast-off, and I wanted it to be consistent. However! The cast-on was a HUGE pain in the neck to knit the first row into. Despite the fact that it's really stretchy NOW, it was SO TIGHT on the needles it was ridiculous. Even the stitches on the cable, before they are knit, stretch by creating gaps between them rather than the individual stitches getting bigger. I'm sure it will pay off in the long run, but it wasn't fun. And I also decided to switch my cable length to 24" AFTER I had knit two rounds (I added two extra repeats...that was some math there...figuring out if, as others had done, an extra repeat in the length equaled to an extra repeat in the width). For some reason, switching the cable was mind-bending for me...probably because I was going from Magic Loop to...not.

I also made some progress on Random Thoughts...

 

SQUIRREL!!!

And I finally screwed up my courage and cut the loops on the Bumblebee! Here's a closeup after I cut half the loops on his abdomen.

 

All of the abdomen and half of the thorax cut. Mmmm...thorax...have I used that word since eighth grade biology? Shame on me if I haven't.

 

Then I trimmed. And trimmed. And trimmed and trimmed and trimmed. And finally I stopped, because I was afraid I'd keep "evening up" until there was no fuzz left. You know, kind of like my mom used to do with the brownie pan..."I'm just evening up this row!"...and then suddenly there were no brownies left. So here's the result...the thorax still needs trimming, but I was mentally exhausted from trying not to FREAK OUT the whole time I was cutting, so that will have to wait.

 

The wings are FINALLY done (I had to redo some veins I had stitched when the written directions didn't jive with what I remembered from class). Well...I still have to cut them out, too...SCARIER EVEN. But the end is in sight!

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, with 50% less drama, head over to Tami's Amis!

WIP Wednesday (Buzz)

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The only "progress" I made on the Origami Turtle was to get yarn wound so that I can start the right and left front sides simultaneously.

 

See what I mean about it not being stretchy AT ALL?

Since I finished my lace learning project last week, I did cast on Pretty Thing:

 

Er. Started to cast it on, anyway. I'm using Jeny's Stretchy Cast-On. I've only done it once before, so it's not like I can just sit there whipping it on like long-tail.

And I did finish my redo of Bumblebee's wings!

 

Whew. I'm glad those are over. But now...there is only...

Dun dun DUN!!!

Cutting. That's right; I have to not only cut all the loops on the bee and trim them to a bee-shaped fuzz, but I ALSO have to completely cut out those wings from the organza. Yikes. This is way scarier than hardanger! With these, I have no confidence they won't just fall apart.

I'll leave you with a picture from our trip to the Botanical Gardens this weekend of an orchid which only blooms for a day:

 

Lucky us to be there!

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, head over to Tami's Amis!

JiffNotes
Next week: Actual stitches with yarn rather than just yarn!!

WIP Wednesday (Cheesy)

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Michael took a business trip to Wisconsin.

 

He brought back Wisconsin, made from cheese. This was a much better gift than the cheese top hat. An actual top hat. That you're supposed to wear on your head. Yeah.

Hey! Knitting!

 

I finished the back of the unfortunately-named Origami Turtle! I think I'm going to cast on for both sides of the front at once. But I need to wind some more yarn, so that's going to have to wait for a few days.

I did make a little progress on Dasher.

 

And I used some precious daylight hours to finally restart the large wings for the Bumblebee.

 

I briefly tried to rip out the old ones, but that was going to be WAYYYY too much trouble. Fortunately, I had just enough thread-covered wire to make a new pair.

Unfortunately, I am an idiot and started them on the backside. It doesn't really matter, once they are cut out you totally won't be able to tell. Just for grins, here's a closeup of the small ones (with the one I started on the backside).

 

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, head over to Tami's Amis!

JiffNotes
State-shaped cheese is definitely tastier than regular cheese.