what a week!

Work sort of took over my life this week.
Hope you didn't feel too neglected.

I sewed a little on Henry. You'll have to take my word for that, because he's at home, and I'm not, and I don't have any pictures.

I knitted a little on the Lemon Drop socks.

And got a good start on Mission Impossible, the (not so very) plain black socks for Twin1.

I did a folded cuff on these, just because.



They're really not plain. Here's a closeup:

I think you can sorta see the cables there.

These are the sort of socks that require one to work in a well-lit area. As in, sit out in the bright sunshine, or near a window, because CFL lighting just isn't going to cut it.
But that's okay, because I love my boy. And these socks are going to look fabulous. In fact, I think Twin1 is going to love them.

All My Chickens, Week 35, Henry

This is a little printed panel I picked up somewhere along the way when my Twins were little, and I just never got beyond cutting it out.

I want to finish it up, so I can enjoy it's cuteness.

(next week, we'll have his companion, Henrietta)

Sort of a Barnyard Bird

I decided to try one in fabric first, and now I don't know if I need to try the knitted variety right away.

This Barnyard Bird was a simple as can be, and pretty much follows the same instruction as the knitted variety. Take a 5" square of fabric, fold it on the bias, into a triangle, and sew up the sides, leaving an opening to turn. Turn and stuff, then sew up the opening. Take a needle with a length of doubled thread, knot it into the point at the bottom of the chicken, and sew up through the middle of the back, pulling it up to desired shape, then back down to the point. Tie a knot to anchor it. The point will now be up inside the body, making a sort of base for the chick to sit on. Play with the "head" and/or "tail" and sew into place as desired with your needle and thread.

We've already missed the Spring...

This simple and cute little Spring Chick Tea Towel came together quickly.

I used my favorite machine applique that looks hand-stitched, the blind hem stitch. This time using ecru thread, since so many of the elements are pastel.

I hand-stitched the eyes and the small bird's legs using 3 strands of orange floss - I just picked something that looked like it coordinated with the fabrics.

I have so many of these tea-towel applique kits in my stash, including at least half a dozen that are already fused onto towels.
I really need to get tough with myself and find a way to get these finished up and out of the sewing room.

Changes for Chickens

I've taken a quick inventory of my UFOs and come up with quite a number of chicken-related projects. I'll have to be putting more of those into rotation, even if they're years out of print or unavailable, because I've got to get them finished up.

I'm thinking now that I could have run this a little better. Maybe offering up an online freebie, something similar to whatever I'm doing, as an alternative for you when I had a (purchased) something at home that needed finishing? Or at the very least, a link to some general directions that relate to whatever craft genre I'm working in that week.

Or maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe I just need to provide the inspiration, do whatever it is I want to do, document my craft experience (hopefully in some way that isn't totally boring), and just leave it at that?

Anyway, you'll be seeing a lot more Chickens that I just need to finish up, as opposed to exciting new patterns I've found online. But I'll try to put in a few freebies whenever I can, too.

All My Chickens, Week 34, Spring Chick

I know, I know, we're just about to enter the Fall season (my favorite!), and here I am bringing up Spring.
I just didn't realize this was in my UFO pile back then. Now that I've found it, I have to get it done, even if it isn't the right timing.

Another of the kits I picked up at some craft fair or other. It's been fused onto the tea towel since who-knows-when, and I should get it stitched on, and then tuck it away to await the Spring.

Slice of Life

I've been posting a lot of crafty stuff lately. So much so, that some of you may be thinking, "gee, all this stuff is cute and all, but, what about you? Is your whole life about crafts?"

It's not.

For instance, last night, when I went over to Barnes & Noble for Fab Fibers (darn!crafts again!), I stopped to look at the New Fiction table. I mean, I may have a house full of books and not enough book shelves, but I'm always looking for something new.

I picked up The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise and flipped to a random page. (Because that's how I choose my books - I open them up, somewhere in the middle, and if the first few sentences I read make me want to read more, I take it home.) It was a passage about someone claiming a prosthetic from the London Underground Lost & Found, and...and I was totally hooked. How could I help it? Funny? You bet.

Work is work. That's probably enough about that. Except, we are getting some new software that will make my job easier, and that's exciting. But probably only exciting if you're me.

The Twins are doing fine. Both have their GED (flying colors, natch - they're both super-smart), and are looking for work. It's a tough world out there for the inexperienced, though, so nothing yet. Twin1 is also making serious progress towards a certain goal, and I'm very proud of him. I've always loved watching my kids grow and discover and learn. I suppose I just didn't expect that to continue into adulthood. (Not their growth - of course that should continue - just my fascination and awe.)

I've just started on my 3rd reading (in a row, not in my whole lifetime) of the Book of Mormon. I started reading my chapter a day when the Twins were in their Senior year, and when I finished it the first time, it just seemed right to start over. It takes about 9 months to read the whole thing, one chapter at a time. I'm trying to pay more attention and think it over more for this round.

I suppose I could say more. But I've got some serious crafting to do. Always another project waiting in the wings.

Eggy looks a little different

I don't know what, exactly, I did different, but my version of Eggy looks a little more mature.

Or something.

Still cute, though, so there's that.
Stitched the eyes using black pearl cotton. Didn't have any black felt with me when I finished with the rest.
Wish I knew what she did to attach the wings - mine do not look anything like the pictures.

Yarns: Vanna in White, Mustard, and Scarlet

I collect cookie cutters

I don't know why, but when I first feel that crisp hint of fall in the air, I start to think about baking. And cookies. And all the fancy cookies I could make.* Which always has me thinking about what new cookie cutter shapes there might be out there that I don't have yet.
I have a fairly extensive collection, if you want to know. But I don't have everything. Not yet.
While tidying my office earlier in the week, I ran across some magazine pages advertising a set of Halloween cutters you could order. I used to order these sets whenever possible, but I missed this one. It's from '97, so no chance of it still being available, but looking at the page, I want, no, NEED these cutters.
Such a cool Haunted House! And I love the wavy ghost!
In the margins of this page, I'd written myself notes on other sources for similar cutters, including what shapes I'd found there. American Traditions Cookie Cutters was one of them, and there was a long list, full of exclamation points. Clearly, I'd been enticed by this site.
For some reason, I'd not ordered at that time, whenever it was. If I had, I'm sure I'd already have the Grim Reaper, Wavy Ghost, and a Torch that is very similar to the LDS YW torch symbol (all found on the Fall/Halloween page), not to mention the Jelly Fish!
So many cookie cutters!

I think it's high time I ordered. If you have a hankering for some cut-out cookies, but you're bored with whatever shapes you've got at home, you might just want to check them out.

*In truth, I generally make bar or drop cookies, which are fancy only if you consider super-yummy ingredients to be fancy; but I enjoy, mostly in theory, occasionally in practice, making cut-out cookies and decorating them. For proof, see my chili-pepper cookies.

Simple Chicken

I actually had this one completely stitched up not long after the original post.

It had to wait this long, because apparently, I'm dimensionally challenged, and I didn't figure out that if I did a design that was 33 x 36 stitches, on 14 count, (go ahead, do the math, I'll wait) it would not fit well in a frame measuring 2" x 3", which was the size I had handy.

Duh.

So, this had to wait until I found a larger frame. Which I kept forgetting about.

On a Roll

I just keep finishing up stuff. Like these two tea towels.

Fall themed, so a little ahead of schedule, but they were handy when I was hunting up something quick to complete. Both are from kits I picked up at local craft fairs.

I know they're just small things, but I figure anything that leaves (ha!) the sewing room for good still counts as progress.

Did you know...

Sock Monkey socks come in pink?!?

Neither did I, until I saw them in a shop in Seattle.

How cute is that?

All My Chickens, Week 33, Grandma Chicken

In honor of Grandparents Day (which was yesterday), I selected this sweet little embroidery pattern depicting a (grand)motherly hen and a little chick.

I'm thinking pastels, for some reason. Perhaps on a dresser scarf.

Hip to be Square

M-kay, this little square chick started out grey (not entirely sure where I was going with that anyway), and somewhat larger. Then I ran out of yarn, and, as it was an ancient leftover from the stash, there was no getting more to match. So I switched yarns, switched sizes, and made this cheerful cutie, just for you!

Pattern is great, easy to make up. Only thing is, I wondered why you'd want the top to be the part where you have to sew it together. If I make another, that's going on the bottom.

Except...

Except, if I did one in green, and over-stitched it in black, and somehow created a Franken-chicken.
Because then it would make sense. Totally.

Yarns: Red Heart Soft in Tangerine, Caron Simply Soft in Sunshine & Raspberry

It's the Momma

Hey, so, I finally managed to get the rest of this little one finished and put together.

I think the beak is dumb. Too big.
And it totally doesn't stand up on it's own.
I slip stitched the wings together directly after finishing the crochet on each. Same with the beak. The body was sewn up after, and stuffed when it was almost all sewed up. On the legs/feet, after the foot portion, I slip-stitched the rest of the way back up the leg so I wouldn't have any weird yarn ends. I elected to stitch the eyes on using yarn instead of adding a bead or whatever. Three stitches with worsted weight, over the same area.

Yarns: Vanna in White, Mustard, and Scarlet. And a little scrap of Black.

Chicken Wristlet

The humbug bag was so quick and easy, I'm sure it shouldn't be legal.

I used a pre-quilted fabric (Hancocks?) from my stash, and made the smallest size (finished size = 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" - kinda small for a make-up bag, and a little big for spare change, but it would hold your keys, phone, credit cards and the like).

I dunno why it tells you to have a 9" zipper for this size. You stitch it onto the short sides of a 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" rectangle, and I see no need for the extra length. It shows you how to shorten it to fit, but I did all of it just fine with only a 7" zipper.

Done and done. What's next?

What do Roosters have for Tea?

I don't actually know. And probably don't want to know.
But I'm pretty sure they would use this cute tea-towel to help keep things tidy.

No clue where I got the kit, but the fabric pieces have been fused to the towel for years now, and it was high time I stitched them down and finished it off.

Stitched by machine, using the blind hem stitch on my Bernina, set to a super-short stitch length and a moderate width (around 2, usually) with ordinary black thread.

Legs stitched by hand, 3 strands black DMC (310) in a stem stitch. Eye bead stitched on by hand as well.

While I had the machine all loaded up and set for my favorite applique stitch, I finished off a couple more tea towels from the fused-but-not-stitched pile.

Frankie pattern from Acorn Hollow by Art to Heart

Halloween Trio from a kit purchased at local craft fair

Sure, I know it's only September, but if I'd waited until October, I'd probably have forgotten them again.

(I may have finally broken through my crafting funk!)

Chicken Scratch

I was finally able to complete this project, after I'd finished the Time Socks, while riding in the car and later, listening to stories.

It was a trifle boring, to tell the truth.

Also, the instructions? Not so good.

It occurred to me, about halfway through the second heart, that I'd seen it done some other way than row-by-row. I wasn't at home, so I couldn't reference my imagined source, but I was fairly certain that it could be done as a more whole-area sort of thing.

I meant to take pictures of this in progress, but the camera didn't seem to be to hand when I needed it, so I'll just have to try to describe what I did.

First, you'll work the border of the design in the second color. Work the Smyrna stitches either one-at-a-time or in rows, depending on your outline/area.

Switch to the main color. Now, instead of working the cross-stitch portions of the Smyrna stitch in a row, like you would in cross-stitch, work on the diagonal, and do the first half of the stitch throughout the entire piece, working it more like a running stitch, going from corner to corner of the gingham.

Then, complete the other half of the cross-stitch in a similar manner, working in the opposite diagonal.

Work side to side in running stitch on every row to complete the horizontal stitches, then top to bottom (or the other way 'round) to complete the vertical stitches.

The last step, where you run the threads under the horizontal and vertical stitches to make a circle, is done one circle at a time.

The back looks much neater when done this way, I think.

on the left, continuous stitching
on the right, done row-by-row

The Chairs of Destiny

Remember those chairs I spotted on my last trip to Seattle? The ones that I didn't buy, because how would I get them home?

They're home.

We took a bigger vehicle this time.

In case you're wondering, NO, the bungee net did not hold. We didn't even make it out of Yakima. More bungees were purchased and applied after an exciting episode on the side of the highway involving snapped bungee cords, dragged chairs, and a helpful stranger.
The second set of bungees held. Lesson learned. 



Once I've had a chance to spruce them up, you might just want to come over and have a seat. They're life-changing comfortable. Seriously.

All My Chickens, Week 32, Appliqued Tea Towel

Among my many kits for various items is an applique kit for a tea towel.

Can't find it online at the moment, but it's pretty simple. In fact, you can take just about any drawing and trace it off for applique.

Coloring books often have just the right sort of picture - not too much detail, but basically correct in form. That's all you need to create your own applique template.

I'll be doing fusible web, with some machine stitching to secure it. I use my tea towels, and sometimes, they can get a little beat up.