27 January 2015

WIPs No. 25 - The Scarf

At the end of last year I listed all my WIPs here on my blog; Number 25 on my list was a scarf I started it at the beginning of September. I finished it at the weekend.
I am really happy with how it turned out, it is beautifully soft and long, and looks really nice with my new winter coat.
I especially like the cables

Pattern Notes:
Parkway scarf by Amy Miller
Pashmina yarn by Madelinetosh 75% merino wool, 15% silk, 10% cashmere
Colour Hand dyed 'Sugar Plum'
Needles: 5mm

I really like having a knitting project on the go, I like to sit and knit in the winter evenings and find it really helps the arthritis in my hands. I cast on a small scarf as soon as I hd finished this one.

This is a lovely hand dyed aran wool/alpaca mix by Great Wooly Owl, the colour is "Miss Pettigrew; the pattern is the Nina Cowl by Javeri Designs.

I know I haven't really reduced my number of wips! Pondering this eternal problem,  I think a better solution for me is to limit myself to one project in each hobby that I enjoy.

13 January 2015

Stonefields Month 3 & 4

Month 4 of Stonefields arrived just after Christmas, and I managed to find a free afternoon to prepare all the appliqué blocks; they have been sitting in my handwork basket along with the remainder of the month 3 blocks. I find that if I have everything prepared it is easy to pick one up when I have a few minutes. These were all stitched in the evenings while 'watching' TV with the family.

I still really love this quilt! I especially enjoyed stitching the rabbit block this month using my favourite stash fabrics, and the special pink flower fabric very generously sent to me by Hanne. It is always nice to be able to use fabrics from friends in special quilts.





07 January 2015

Mary Hurst SAL Week One

On the 1st of January myself and 60 other (and counting!) stitchers organised by Nicola from the Our Scarlett Letter Years Blog, started the incredible Mary Hurst Band Sampler as a group learning project. Nicola has very generously provided lots of photo tutorials on the various stitches on the FB page and group blog.
I didn't start until yesterday, when everyone was back at work and the house was finally clean and tidy after Christmas.
I am stitching with AVAS silks on 36ct Edinburgh linen colour 'Sand' which is a lovely warm orange/gold colour. I was really happy with my floss toss, I love the colours of the silk on this linen.
I started with great enthusiasm, but have had lots of problems with this sampler already, I had to unpick the first letter twice until I finally got the hang of the counted satin stitch. I am padding mine and going over each stitch twice with one strand of silk to get a nice coverage on the fabric. I started using the pale blue 111 as charted, but I began to have doubts, the whole of the top section is stitched in this colour, and I don't think I want a large section of this icy blue at the top of my sampler. I think it jars a little with the warm linen. Perhaps it's because I am not really a blue person!
I started again this morning with the 2912 pale pink, which I think I prefer, it is a nice warm colour
Here they are side by side, this photo shows the colour of the linen better. I have stopped for now, I need to think about what I want to do and make my mind up or I'll never get this stitched!
I have committed to working on this once a week, it will probably take all year and beyond but there is no hurry. I am looking forward to learning some of the more complicated counted stitches and sharing in this group project.

Project Details:
Mary Hurst 1661 Sampler by The Scarlet Letter
(original held in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, England)
Stitch Count approx. 112 x 598
36 count Zweigart Edinburgh Linen colour 'Sand'
Au ver a soie, soie d'alger silks as charted
Started 6th January 2015