Last of 2013 Stitching

Last minute gifts and cloudy days didn't make for great photos.  But I think the gifts were appreciated by the recipients.  Using my new found mounted felt ornament skills, I stitched up Snowy Pines by Little House Needleworks.  I like that this can still be displayed during the winter months since its theme is not holiday specifically. I've wanted to stitch this for a long time, mostly because of that cute bear and his French knot nose!  The fabric is 36 ct Summer Khaki Edinburgh linen.

 

The UK Cross Stitcher magazine had a set of designs for cute robins that just stole my heart.  I thought I was tired of that sketchy back stitch style of design, but this was just too adorable to pass up.  This one made a great last minute card and I'm sure I'll stitch the others at some point as well.  This is stitched on a scrap of Vikki HDF linen.

 

And finally, this is a New Year's thank you gift for a friend.  The design is Day 8 of The Little Stitcher's 12 Days of Christmas for 2013.  That little girl, all dressed up, holding a muff in one hand and the final arm of the snowman in the other, is just the sweetest thing.  And these primitive designs are so quick to stitch up.  Again, this is stitched on Summer Khaki Edinburgh linen. 

I used this to make a 'winter survival kit' with hand salve, lip butter, a nail clipper, and the all-important Starbucks gift card.

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and a wonderful 2014 ahead!

Winter Ornament

Haven't done a lot of stitching lately.  I guess there hasn't been enough of interest for me on TV and my stitching is always done while watching.  Or maybe I just need one of those periodic breaks from crafting and have preferred reading in my free time.  Anyway, I did stitch this pretty winter tree, "Arbre d'Hiver", from Jardin Privé, one the four seasonal tree freebies you can get here.  It's stitched on 32 count bone evenweave with DMC threads.  I don't think I even changed one color.  Just back-stitched the snowman since he seemed to be lost in the background without it.  

Vonna has been showing so many mounted felt ornaments lately that I thought I'd give that method a try.  I took her tutorial as a starting point.  She does everything so precisely, and I never do that, but  I more or less followed her lead.  I discussed some details with her about gluing and materials.  I thought the craft glue might bleed through the felt, but it didn't, so that part worked well.  I just used synthetic felt, but it was thicker than most of what I see these days.  I think it might have come from a fabric store rather than a big box craft store.  I now wish I had a zig-zag rotary blade for the edges.  The pinking shears work ok, but much more difficult to get a nice edge.  The stitching is stretched over comic book cardboard with a layer of batting to give a little depth.  I'm reasonably happy with this and I think it will make a nice little gift.  And it's suitable for display all winter since there is no particular holiday flavor to it.

 

I also make a couple of self-closing gift enclosure cards.  And they stand up for display as well.  The first is one of Daffy Cat's freebies from 2008, Jingle Bell Reindeer.  No beads, just French knots for the 'necklace'.

The second is from the 2013 JCS ornament issue, "Peace Bird", by Rosewood Manor.

 

Here's a photo of how it works to stand it up.  The bottom folds up and I'll use a sticky seal to close.

Wrist warmers & fingerless gloves

Finally the frogs took a holiday and I managed to finish the wrist warmers I had been knitting, knitting and re-knitting.  They certainly are not without errors, but at least they are finished.  I think they are good enough to give as a gift.   I'm hoping the recipient will appreciate the effort anyway.  These are the Phytolith Fingerless Mitts, a free ravelry pattern.  The yarn is Knit Picks Swish worsted in Indigo.   No thumb or thumbhole.  Easy to slide back up your wrist if you want to get them out of the way.  Easy to knit if you don't go all Walter Mitty and make tons of mistakes!

Fearing that I wouldn't want to give them as a gift, I knitted a pair of old, reliable Fetching Fingerless Gloves as a backup.  I think I can knit those in my sleep now.  I've made this pair in the same Paton's Classic Wool as I did a couple of years ago.  Now I can give these to someone else and I've knocked out another hand made gift.

 

I also finished up a card from one of the motifs in the Prairie Schooler Button-up Snow series.  I think this little guy making a snow angel is my favorite one of those.

 

 And I leave you with the latest appointment reminder card I received from my dentist.  Apparently they no longer use the term 'recall cards' for the negative connotation that word has acquired over the years.