ishkabibble: September 2018

September Smalls ~ The Return of the Microkit

Howdy, y'all~ A timely and actually stitched Smalls piece from me this month! Whatever is the world coming to? Better weather, that's for sure. Right now it's a beautiful 54°F (12°C) and some fog rolling in the valleys and on the rivers. It finally feels like fall!

I've ended the giveaway a little bit early due to picking such a popular design that several people have already haha~ So, Leonore, you are the winner and I already have your address. It has been sent on its merry way across the puddle~ :D

click for info!

Halloween stitching is quite fun and I decided to stitch another of the little microkits I found on carand88's blog (search by tag: cat) years ago. Today's featurette is the spooky(?) ghost microkit with bonus glow-in-the-dark thread. A year is apparently long enough to forget how "fuzzy" glow-in-the-dark floss is! Such a weird one to work with. Ghostie joins Witchy Kitty and Mr and Mrs Frankenstein in the completion pile, woo!

to you

Technical Details

"Ghost Microkit" freebie pattern by Carolyn at carand88.
2-over-1 on 14 count black perforated plastic..
Started: September 21, 2018; Finished: September 25, 2018; unknown hours.

So what's up with that bit of floss still attached if it's finished? Well, I'm not sure if I like the "boo" placement/existence. It felt like there was a large amount of empty space in the upper right. Maybe I need to shift it up a little more? I don't want it extending out past the stitching though. Any opinions on the matter?

witchy kitty is with the Halloween stuff!

This was also the first experience I can recall where I've broken a (brand new!) needle while stitching (#22... I think). Perhaps the perforated plastic was just too thick for it and I switched to a fatter #18.

Kind of sparse post! There's still time before Halloween to stitch another of these little guys but I dunno if I will or not. I'm feeling kind of whimsical about stitching since it got cooler. I keep having the urge to bury myself in yarn! This is becoming a regular autumn feeling.....

September GG ~ Stash Enhancements, Hats, and a Just Jo SAL!

Hello, world~ It's time for our monthly installment of Gifted Gorgeousness! Are you curious about the Just Jo SAL? I'll get there eventually~ There hasn't been any progress on the last side of the MH3U husband cube as I've been a bit busy with other things that can't yet be shown to the public eye.

click for more info

I got an awesome package in the mail last week -- a nice pile of new-to-me knitting and crochet magazines! A friend was clearing out some of her stash and asked if I ~~needed~~ wanted any. Of course! I took all she offered and anything that doesn't entirely tickle my fancy, I'll take with me to our local "yarn and yak" group. Thank you, Awesome Friend! :D

yay!

I adore the Jane Austen Knits magazine! I'll eventually update my ravelry patterns page with the ones I'll be keeping. I'm getting quite the collection on there but it makes it so much easier to not wind up with duplicates~

In the spirit of giving instead of ~~hoarding~~ receiving, I made another "flowering hat", this time for my husband's grandmother's birthday. She's in the Red Hat Society and I thought this might work for some of her gatherings. The flower is again removable and she's already mentioned using it as a pin on a dress! How nice to hear a gift is already being used. :D

best hat pattern

I actually had a rather difficult time trying to get this color to show properly! It's actually a deep wine red. There's also a small button at the center of the white flower holding everything together but that got washed out trying to bring out the red. I went up a hook size for this hat and am much happier with the result. It's so soft! The flower might be a bit too big with that hook though...

Technical Details

"Ridge Hat with Brim" freebie pattern by Kool Stitch on ravelry.
Hook: 4.5mm.
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft; Colorway: autumn red, purple, and white.
My ravelry project page here.
Started: ?? Finished: August 24, 2018, unknown hours.

With this finish, I have finally surpassed last year's crafting finishes (this is #16) and am on my way to surpass my most productive year (2016: 18 finishes). I'm not a very fast or prolific crafter so this is really exciting for me.

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winner, winner, chicken dinner (?)

Here are the results to the poll from the last post regarding y'all's preferences over comment settings. Embedded seems to be the most preferred setting! I would guess this is because it allows people to easily reference the post they're commenting on.

I have no idea how long this poll will last, or even if it's still open to vote! The site says they eventually clear out inactive polls but didn't specify a time.

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Now it's time to contribute in a different way to GG! Surely by now y'all know I love thrift shopping and can often spot fun things I ~~don't~~ desperately need. I also watch for potential giveaways for pretty charts I know I'll never stitch but think will make someone else happy.

Just Nan - Morning Meadow band sampler

This time the giveaway is for a Just Nan chart: Morning Meadow. I had originally offered it to our GG hostess as she sure seems to stitch a lot of Just Nans, to the point where I started calling them Just Jos! Jo already has this particular chart but hasn't stitched it yet. So, win this chart and have a SAL with Jo and get to count it for all sorts of Gifted Gorgeousness! :D

what's a meadow without grasshoppers?

This giveaway is just the chart; unfortunately no fancy beads that sometimes came with them. It's a nice, clean chart with no markings though there is a thrift store price sticker (it's a bonus? :D). Since shipping is open worldwide, this will just be the chart, no little extras tossed in.

Gifted Gorgeousness Giveaway Guidelines

Be a ~~minion~~ follower (upper right corner of my blog)! Feedly, bloglovin', etc. do not count as there is no way to show it! I am sorry; blame blogger for this one.
Comment and tell me you would like to win!
Open worldwide!
Closing date: ~~September 30, 2018, 23:59 CST~~. Closed a little early on September 27 and will ship to the one entrant! A popular name means a lot of people have it already haha :)

Thanks for reading this edition of Iskabibble Babble and good luck to anyone entering! \:D/

August Smalls ~ A Mystery Solved

Howdy to you all~ I'm a little late this post due to me not paying attention this week whatsoever! The weather was all weird and threw me off my regularly scheduled life. Looking forward to this nice, long weekend though. I've not done much actual stitching lately but it's times for the Smalls SAL update where a mystery(?) has been solved!

click for info!

I had a number of amusing guesses as to what the mysterious little brown things were. Everything from finger/toe warmers to kitten mittens (kitten mittens were tried by my husband ahaha). Only one person guessed correctly -- chair boots! The reason why the opening is so small is because I crocheted over elastic.

suddenly the correct amount

I can never get the little felt sticky things to actually stick to our dining room chairs as they come down at a strange angle and aren't flat on the bottom. After going through my collection of older craft magazines, this pattern looked easy and functional! And they certainly are easy; each one takes around 20-30 minutes to hook up, including making the elastic loop.

weird legs

Unfortunately, they wound up being a tad too small for the chairs (you'd think I'd test this after making one)! But, we have wood floors everywhere in our house and ample other things to put them on. Plus, they were hugely attractive to a certain small-item-stealing kitty so it's safe knowing that even if they fail as chair boots, they make a fantastic cat toy.

Technical Details

"Chair Boots" pattern Crochet World Omnibook, Fall 1981
Hook: 5.5mm
Yarn: Peaches & Creme Solids; Colorway: dark taupe.
My ravelry project page here.
Unknown start/end as I didn't make a note in my crafty calendar!

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unknown variety -- 'peace' or 'garden party' maybe?

I've been working on this rose bush a bit more this year. I gave it a very drastic haircut in February and have been giving it some fish fertilizer once a month. Basically just trying to love on it after its obvious neglect. I think it appreciates the attention because it rewarded me with a few more very stellar blooms this year. It's like it was glowing! I hope that next year I can achieve even more from it. It's planted in a spot that receives wonderful morning sun but after about 10-11am it's shaded for the rest of the day. I'm thinking of trying to get a cutting started so I can move it to somewhere with a lot more sunshine.

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Lastly, I have a poll for you all regarding your preference for leaving comments on blogs. I am not asking what setting you use on your own blog! Just wondering which you like best when you visit another blog.

Thanks for taking the time to answer! There's no real point other than curiosity on my part. You can ramble about your choice in the comment section if you want to expound or possibly rant. :D

Happy September! Let the Autumn festivities begin~