Magic and a Knitted Owl Cup Cozy

I can't resist a cute fairy design so I had to stitch up the Magic ornament from Charlotte's Web Needlework in the JCS 2010 Ornament issue. The suggested DMC colors came out a little lighter than the model photo in the magazine so I modified them for a little more contrast. For 963, 3716, 3731, and 3733, I substituted 3716,3733,3831, and 3731 respectively. I'm not a fan of metallic threads, but the silver wings and smyrna x-stitches on the dress called for it, so I suffered through it. And I just used some embellishments I had in my stash.


I've stayed away from knitting patterns that use double-pointed needles after my one attempt on a dishcloth some time ago. But it made me mad that so many people seemed to do it so routinely, so I decided to tackle it again. The incentive was this super-cute owl coffee sleeve pattern. This was a test run for practice. I had read on Ravelry that a lot of people thought it turned out too large, so I knit one fewer owl than the pattern called for. The yarn is just some left-over Red Heart that I had hanging around. After a few false attempts, I kind of got the hang of it and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I added French knot eyes and duplicate stitch beaks. Now I can get some nicer yarn (maybe that Knit Picks Swish super-wash wool!) and make another. I finished it easily in one evening including all the frogging and re-starting. A nice quick gift. Here's a photo on a porcelain cup I bought as a gift that looks like the Starbucks take-out version.



The final bit of sweetness for today are two thank you notes I received on Friday. These came from the daughters of a co-worker to whom I sent the Day of the Dead ornament I made this year. These drawings are just too adorable. I like the way Cecilia turned me into a 60's hippie! This was quite the unexpected treat!

Snow Love

I believe I was the last subscriber to receive the JCS ornament issue. Finally I had to call them when it didn't show up and they re-sent it. That took an extra ten days. But I do like the issue and the Nov/Dec issue has already arrived too so I'm caught up.

I decided to stitch the Sam Sarah snowman 'Love' ornament first. So many pretty colors and such a fun design. I used all DMC so it looks a bit different from the magazine model. I didn't have those L-O-V-E buttons to attach to the gifts so I just used some little buttons from my stash instead. I like the way she used couching for the heart border. Very effective and original. The ribbon hanger is a deep purple. Not sure if the color is showing up well in the photos. I took one inside and one outside and, of course, I'm not really happy with either one.

Little Lulu

I have a friend who loves Little Lulu. You have to be of a certain age to remember the comic book character, but she was beloved by many little girls at one time. My friend believes she even looks like Lulu. She has long, dark, naturally curly hair that tends to hang in corkscrew curls, but I think that's really where the resemblance ends. For quite a while, I've wanted to stitch her something Lulu-related, but apparently that character has not been licensed by the x-stitch pros. So I bit the bullet and adapted a drawing myself. My method is just to trace the design onto tracing paper and then tape it to graph paper printed with the same number of squares per inch as my fabric. Instant chart! Here's the result with plenty of back-stitching to help get the shapes right. She's stitched on 25-ct Vikki linen. I used some DMC color variations for the dress so the color wouldn't be so 'flat'. And that ice cream cone is from the skein of pink Princess floss that I won a while back. I think I'll make it into a little bag of some kind with some cute backing fabric I found today.



I received a lovely surprise gift from Kirsten. It's a luminary made out of card stock with a cross-stitch design. You just put a tea light (battery-powered for safety!) inside. This is so cool, but so difficult to photograph. This photo is showing the light from the lamp behind it. There is no light inside yet. Kirsten used an opalescent fabric so it's really sparkly. And it folds flat so it can be mailed like a greeting card. You can see better photos on Kirsten's blog, the 10-16 entry.

I never saw a purple penguin Altoids tin

This must be the year of the penguin for me. My latest finish is the Workbasket "Mr Quaker Penguin" stitched on 28-count white Monaco over one. This will be a gift for a purple-lover (who may or may not be a penguin lover). I used Sassy's Strings hand-dyed floss in "Royalty", a rich color with lots of variation. This floss is a very reasonably priced alternative to some of the other hand-dyed threads on the market. But I just read that she is discontinuing this product. Apparently it just doesn't make economic sense for her to offer it. Sigh.....



I added lots of purple trim to the Altoid tin both inside and out.



Plus I made another crocheted penguin motif in purple thread to live on the inside.



The project took a bit more time than I thought it would due to the arrival of my seasonal headaches. But doing just a little bit each day adds up to a finish before your know it!

Crochet Ric-Rac for Ornament Trim

After a long-need rainy day yesterday, the sun finally peeked out long enough to let me take some photos of two ornaments I just completed. My crochet guru Kirsten pointed me to this tutorial to make ric-rac by crocheting. It's easy and fun to do and the ric-rac made this way is very flexible. I'll definitely be using this more in the future.

The first try combined the ric-rac into the trim and hanger for the "Cool Christmas" design by Fresh Threads Studio from the JCS ornament preview magazine. This style seems similar to Monster Bubbles designs and I was expecting it to be one of theirs. I liked it because the color scheme is so unusual. I think it will make a perfect gift for someone in Florida.




Next I made this Day of the Dead design that really is by Monster Bubbles from the JCS Halloween issue. This time I used the ric-rac for the edging only. Then I added a couple of crochet motifs on the back. The crocheted skull pattern can be found here.

Thanks to Lazy Girl

I feared that the sampler I stitched was going to become one of those 'stitch and stow' items, the kind you put in the closet and never really turn into something useful. For inspiration, I ordered the Lazy Girl Runaround Bag pattern even though I've made a couple of different variations on this type of bag and really didn't need it. I was curious to see if there might be some helpful hints in a real pattern. Pink Chalk Fabrics turns out to be a good online store that I never knew about before. Fast service and decent pricing. Sure enough, the zipper insertion technique is so clever and easy. Didn't even need a zipper foot. It's one of those, "why didn't I think of that" ideas. I didn't follow the rest of the pattern exactly, but the pattern directions did provide a few other construction tips. I used fusible craft fleece to give it a bit of padding and cut it small enough so it isn't in the seam to reduce bulk. I could really have used a walking foot to make sewing through multiple layers a bit easier, but I hate to buy one for my machine since it's so old and the only one available was made my a third-party, not the original manufacturer. But they aren't very expensive, so I may decide to try one anyway for next time.

I finally decided to go with the darker fabby on the outside and the lighter one as the lining for the stitching side. And then since it looked a little bare, I added two little butterfly beads from my stash that had been quietly waiting for the right moment to make an appearance. The photo of the back makes the print look blurry, but it's fine IRL.

Marquoir Annie

I had hoped to have a completed project to show by this time, but only the stitching is complete on this. Dany designed this lovely sampler for someone named 'Annie' (see the Aug. 25, 2010 entry). She stitched in the name and the birth date. The date was not all that much before my birth date. So I considered it my destiny to stitch this piece. I used 32 count "Mottled Magpie" linen from Vikki Clayton. It's not quite as bright a blue as in this photo. And I didn't stitch in my own birth date! I'm still trying to figure out how I want to construct a zippered bag from this. You can see the two complementary fabrics I bought last weekend that will be used in some way. Hopefully I'll get inspired to do the finishing soon.

Halloween Greetings

This design by Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers from the Halloween issue of JCS just reminds me of the place where one of the 'Real Witches of Salem' would hang her hat. This is not a color palette that I am generally attracted to, but it was so perfect for this piece that I really enjoyed working with it. I love the look on the 36-ct linen from Vikki Clayton. It was from a grab bag of assorted colors and sadly, no longer available. I stitched it all in DMC and the main change was to replace the date on the lower left with a flower that is more or less in the same style as the other motifs. The little leaf buttons came in handy to dress it up after a quick finish.

The colors are more true to life on the indoor photo, but the flash insisted on making an appearance, so I took and an outdoor shot too.







My crocheted elephant and giraffe motifs found new homes. I appliqued each of them onto a batik fabric and sewed each one up as an envelope style needlecase. If you call your blog "Giraffe X-ing", as Theresa does, you clearly are meant to own the giraffe needle case.








And if your son is fascinated by elephants and is also learning to x-stitch like Dawn you are perfect for the elephant case.

Trick or Treat Tree & Jack O'Lantern Crochet

The JCS Halloween ornament issue has so many cute designs for Halloween that I would love to just stitch them all. I wish I had more little kids in my life to stitch for. I picked the "Trick or Treat Tree" by Pat Thode for my first finish from the magazine. A bit of a wonky finish, but that's par for the course when I do these things. I added a few cute buttons from a Dress It Up pack. The rick-rack worked out ok after hand basting first. And one more use for the crocheted treble chain as a hanger.


I was searching for Halloween motifs to crochet, and it occurred to me that I could use potholder patterns but crochet them in bedspread weight thread instead of using worsted weight yarn. So I tried it with this Jack O'Lantern pattern from Leisure Arts and turned it into a needle case. It has a clear plastic snap for a closure. I'd never tried the plastic ones, but I think I like them. I added it to few things I sent to Cathey (Ms Pumpkin Patch herself). I'm sure I'll use this idea again.

Penguins everywhere & the Crochet Lagoon

I stitched up this cute freebie penguin ornament, "Chilly's Gift", from Stitchy Kitty mostly because I was looking for a way to use the little crocheted penguin motif I had made. I had everything I needed in my stash: Cape Cod Sky fabric from Sassy, blue piping for the trim, a cute heart button for the 'gift', blue crochet thread for the hanger (yes, it's the treble crochet chain again!) and the blue backing fabric. The cutie pie penguin appliqued onto the back is another of the motifs from "Crochet a Little".




And for a quick visit to the crochet lagoon courtesy of Crochet A Little once again, take a look at these creatures. Now I have to think up uses for them! I think I'll try one more mermaid. That was the first one I made using those diagrams with much help from Kirsten. Maybe I can do her a little more neatly the second time round.