Fetching Fingerless Gloves

We were very lucky in the DC area to escape the monster snowstorm that wreaked havoc along the East Coast. But it has been very cold with extremely high winds. So I am delighted that I finished knitting a pair of fingerless gloves to cope with this weather. I love wearing them at the keyboard, when I'm reading and when I do needlework. They make me feel warm all over.

I used the free Fetching pattern from Knitty.com. This is a very popular pattern among knitters and I can see why. It's fun to knit and fits pretty well. The name is based on the fact that the cables on each glove twist 'fetchingly' toward each other. I love the picot bind off edging at the top too. This is my first foray into gloves knitted in the round on DPN's. The thumb was the trickiest part and I still need to work on that. These are done in Knit Picks worsted weight Swish yarn, Amethyst Heather.




I signed up to grant a mini-wish on the San-Man board. One of the members wanted a heart-shaped coaster. I planned to crochet one, but I didn't like the results. So I stitched this little freebie heart from Mausimom and added a crocheted rick-rack border. The fabric is a piece of hand painted 18 ct Khaki Aida from Sassy's Fabbys. I'll back it with felt or maybe fun foam.

Teddy Bear Valentine

After a long, long trip, so long I had given it up for lost, the Valentine I made for the EMS Valentine Card exchange finally arrived at its destination in Canada for Bea. I picked a cute teddy bear monochrome heart design from Aurelle, stitched over-one on off-white Monaco. I was so happy that it exactly fit the opening of my heart cookie cutter. Then I found a number of little crocheted teddy bear patterns on the web and ended up using a touch of each to make the funky little bear. I guess he's a polar bear. White was the only color of crochet thread I had that made any sense to use on this card. I couldn't find any kind of brown or tan in the stores.

Hearts don't grow on trees!

As a wise person once said, "Hearts don't grow on trees. You only get one, so be careful what you do with it". But it would be nice if they were replaceable. This heart tree Valentine's card represents that sentiment. The design is a freebie from Passione Ricamo, one of her beautiful heart designs. I used a cookie cutter to draw the heart shape on card stock and just a plain old scissors to cut the opening. Added a couple of little crocheted hearts and voila! The fabric was a piece of 36 count hand-dyed linen from Sassy's fabbies that I got in a grab bag of ornament cuts a number of years ago. The top of the card is not really skewed.. that's just my camera playing it's usual jokes on me.



I received one final holiday exchange gift, a card from Gina. Beautiful design and I love the sparkly fabric.

It's a yin-yang thing

Presenting the final heart in the series. Another design by Kirsten



The hearts have all been sent to Michigan to be given to the sweet little girls that sent me the thank you notes for the Halloween tags.

And now for something completely different. I was lucky enough to win a contest on Ranae's blog for the classic Voodoo Boy chart by Haberdashery designs. I've always wanted to stitch this little guy. I really didn't want to use Aida, but I didn't have the right color fabric on hand in any other weave and I also wanted to start stitching him the minute the chart showed up. He's going to be living in Miami so I thought I'd crochet him a jaunty hat to wear on his trip (and this may be the first time I've ever used the word 'jaunty'). It's done in a multi-colored sock yarn. The hat design came from a book of instructions for crocheted home accessories. The hat is meant to be an egg cozy! And of course I added a couple of pins since a self-respecting Voodoo boy should never be without them.



The backing is pretty purple mottled hand-dyed fabric. I sewed him up by machine and I hate doing the final slip stitching by hand, so instead, I sewed a buttonhole in the center back just to use for turning. Then I sewed the 'Little Helper' label over the buttonhole to close him after stuffing. And a few sequins added for fun.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

I've just about finished my heart project. One more left to go and I will have 10 heart favor pockets. They each have charms inside from Oriental Trading Co.

Here are the latest. These are all lined and backed with pink and red fabrics. I used a cookie cutter as a template on most of them. The linen ones are done with Vikki Clayton's 35 count linen. I bought a grab bag of light neutrals to try this out. This linen is fabulous if you like the 35 count. I may become an addict!

Clockwise from the top:

Stitching cherub by Casa Mia
Monochrome heart by JBW
Love Bug by Erynne
Bluebird by San-Man Originals from a newsletter for members only
White dove by Kirsten
Candle and jam jar from Cross Country stitching magazine

Valentine and more....

On this historic inauguration day in the U.S., I'm displaying the Valentine's card I finished last night in the spirit of love and hope.

The design is another cute freebie from Claire. The fabric is lilac flair from Enchanted Fabrics. I went crazy with eyelets! Much easier to set on a card than on fabric actually.



Here's the little card I made to go with the baby sampler from the previous post. I met the new little prince on Sunday. He's just the absolute cutest! The design is from Prairie Schooler, a piece of Winter Wind.



Still experimenting with heart favor pockets. The designs on these are from Cross Country Stitching magazine. I like the designs, but I'm not at all happy with the finishing on the tops. That's what happens with experiments. Some work out and some don't!

Heart favor

I'm experimenting with heart favor pockets in anticipation of Valentine's Day. Here's my first, a free design from PCB. The ribbon at the top is hand sewn. I used DMC 107, the old-style variegated thread.



For the new year, I received an ornament from Kerry for the Stitchin' Fingers exchange. This little guy took his time traveling from Canada, but he has arrived just in time since we are anticipating our first 'winter mix' weather event this week.

Funny Valentine

I stitched up this little Halloween Valentine Freebie this past week. Just a little modification to replace what looked like crosses to me (I didn't want any religious icons) with teeny little black cats. The finishing job produced a kind of distorted heart-shape, but I consider that the 'rustic' look. I added an edging of black beads to see how that would work out as a border. Not too bad.



And this little Waxing Moon freebie was left from last year's Halloween to-do list. Just has the right feel for fall even though it's summer weather here today.



Both designs are stitched on 18 ct Aida in Cafe Mocha by Enchanted Fabrics.