Sunday, November 17, 2013

Chanukah Pinkeep and French Cellphone Case

Most of my crafting time since my last post has been spent in frogging everything I attempt.  Very frustrating.   So I have some knitting in the works that should have been finished long ago, but not when I can't make any valid forward progress!

I really never stitch for the Jewish Holidays.  Frankly, what small ornament patterns exist for this are so uninteresting that I'm never tempted and I don't do larger pieces much anyway.  But when I saw this Shepherd's Bush Chanukah piece, I was intrigued and thought I'd stitch it up.  Who would have expected a Chanukah design on that site!  I was still mad at myself for not being able to crochet my favorite trim in black for the Mary Gary Halloween ornament. So I gave it one more try for this one.  This thread seemed to have a little more heft so it went much more smoothly this time.

The design is a bit busy, but I thought the idea of doing a Chanukah-related word for each letter of December was pretty clever.  The 'B'  for bulbs was a bit of a stretch, but I couldn't think of anything better so I went with it.  I know Chanukah starts unusually early in November this year, but with eight days, it will slide into December as usual.  I substituted little buttons for the dreidel button they had at the top.


Taking a break from that knitting, I decided to stitch a little French design that caught my eye.  This is a free sample from a magazine and I believe the designer is Perrette Samouïloff.  You can get the freebie here.  She's such a perfect little French girl with her kitty.  It's stitched on what I thought was 32 count lambswool Jobelan, but it came out larger than expected so maybe it was 28 count.  Whatever.. goes with all the other mistakes I've been making.  I turned it into a cell phone case for WOCS.  These are photos before I added a button on the back.
 

 




26 comments:

Margaret said...

That Chanukah design is very pretty! I love the border treatment you put on it as well. Love the French Girl as well! So cute! Sorry about all the frogging you've been doing. Must be so frustrating. :(

Anne said...

Oh dear. I hope the frogging is now a thing of the past. Sometimes it comes in waves. Love the Chanukah design and your finish. So sweet! The little French girl and her dog are adorable!! Wonderfully creative Annie yet again!

geeky Heather said...

That is a nice Chanukah design! R...is for roses? I couldn't quite tell. I love the crochet trim you made, too. Great cell phone case. =)

Jackie's Stitches said...

So sorry to hear you've spent so much time frogging. Never a good thing!

Your Chanukah ornament came out quite lovely. Your crochet trip frames it well!

Rachel said...

I am obsessed with that cell phone case--adorable! I just love that little kitty!

ArchangelDecker said...

Love your finishes. They always turn out so cute! :)


I've been having the same luck you have with the frog. Hopefully, he's gone for good this time! :)

Brigitte said...

These are two great finishes. I love that French designer and have a couple of her designs but I have stitched only one so far. Sucha lovely cell phone case!

Jane said...

Think we all get times like that. I had to put the needles down last night, nothing was going right. Love that phone case closure

Theresa said...

Two awesome finishes!!!!! Love the crochet trim idea!!!! So cool~~~~
And the little French girl is so cute!!!!! Perfect little phone pouch~

Angela K said...

Oh my I didn't even noticed the word December on the Chanukah pinkeep:) I love the multicolor chrocet edging. Your French lady is so cute! Love her.

Mii Stitch said...

Two more lovely finishes!!! Sorry about Mr Frog, I hope he hoped along somewhere else :)

Vickie said...

Oh Annie! I share your misery. The frogs just won't go away here lately. So much wasted time!!
I really like both of the pieces you have shared here.

Carol said...

That Chanukah design is so cute, Annie, and looks like it must have been fun to stitch. I am trying to figure out the last letter "R" in December--is it for roses? Your finish is so pretty with the crocheted border, too. And that little French design is so sweet--I may have to stitch that myself (only I would make the cat black :). Thanks for the link.

I hope the frog is done visiting you for a while--please send him south, not north!! Have a great week!

Dani - tkdchick said...

That is a nice Chanukah design!

ricketyjo said...

Lovely stitching and let's hope the frog is done with you now! :)

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Oh, I love your sweet little ornament! And that crochet edging is just the pop that gives it some UMPH! :)
Darling!
But that little phone case...oh Annie that is darling!

Mylene said...

What a lovely Chanukah design and you finished it off perfectly.
And that is such a cute design too for the phone case.

Michelle said...

A great ornament and the crochet finishes it off perfectly! I love the cellphone case - so cute! Hope your frogging days are over :)

Annette said...

I hate frogging so much.. I can imagine that yoru where frustrated!!
But your pieces are wonderfull..
your sweing is always so perfectly!!
Happy stitching, no frogging

♥ Nia said...

Great to hear you found a design to stitch! And such a pretty one, looks great :D
So does your 'lady in red' :) congrats on your finishes sweetie!
Hugs&smiles

Kissy said...

I like the pouch a lot!

Melanie said...

Love the border treatment! It came out great. I never thought about the lack of Jewish related patterns before but you are right - you just never see them, do you? Well, that's a little sad. There's just as much history and tradition there to be mined, design wise, as the Christian religion. Come on, designers! Pick up the slack. (Of course, I just broke the Golden Rule #1 in internet commenting: no discussion of politics or religion. Whoops. Where are those internet cops to slap a fine on me? lol)

Anonymous said...

Your finishes are both gorgeous - sorry to hear about all the errors you're facing ... I think we all have those periods! Hopefully you get back to normal soon and kick those frogs to the curb!

Gina E. said...

Guess we're all sympathetic with those 'nothing goes right' times in our life! I do like your Jewish holiday stitching. I've got a few Chanukah designs in various books, but never had occasion to stitch them for anyone. (Maybe I'll do one for you one day!)
Love the little French lady and her kitty. You do find the cutest designs:-)

Shebafudge said...

Gorgeous stitching and finishing.

lena-lou said...

Thanks for the lovely comment on my Snowman :-) I popped by to visit you and couldn't leave without saying how much I like your mobile case, it really is nice !