GG August ~ Sleep

Howdy, everyone! Hope all's been swell with you guys~ This will be a short post as I am about to fall asleep at the keyboard.

click for more info!

I'd say the mojo is pretty much gone, for everything. I'm just too tired to work on anything without falling asleep 5 minutes into it. I know better than to pick up cross stitch when I'm in this state; it just results in mistakes. Speaking of mistakes, the knitting project thought about the error of its ways and came out of time out for a few minutes at a time!

before

after

This part is really simple to knit, but also very boring which does nothing for motivation. It's only got a few (~20) more rows though so at least I can see the end which does make me feel hopeful.

No one wanted the Southwest Spirit pattern so I added it to the donation bin.  I'm gonna skip this month's giveaway because I'm tired haha.  Silly excuse, but it is what it is.

dinner for two?

I did manage to rescue this fluff ball who almost got run over by the lawnmower. Just a little bitty one! Screamed up a storm when I picked it up (as bunnies will do) but soon settled down. I set it free nearby but out of the mower's path.  There must have been a nest near the house; the next day I saw two more on the other side (but they stayed out of the mower's path).

That's all from me, thanks for the look-through!  I've purposely locked comments on this post.  I'm sorry; I've been too tired to keep up with blogging lately.  It might not be the constant physical activity but more the lack of cohesive schedule throwing me off (I really like a structured week).  Maybe when things settle down again, I can get back into a regularly scheduled life.

EDIT:  I thought I posted this back on the 15th.  *facepalm*   Since I don't have comments enabled, I figured nothing was amiss.  I guess that's just how tired I was then!  I'm a bit better now, since it's a whole six days between mowings now (though that might change again as we got a whopping 10" (25 cm) of rain this week sigh).

End of a Month: FotM and a Beautiful Surprise!

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. -- Anne Shirley

But I seriously can't believe it's October and it's less than two months to Christmas and panic eek.

half glad

In a delightful display of ignoring all thought of Christmas, I started the next flower of the month, August's gladiolus. Sorry there is no "before" picture.  I got the pattern printed and immediately started on it without any thought at all of pictures.  This one was so bizarre to stitch! I was doing one color at a time and every bit of it looked so wrong... until the last of the reds started. It was really amazing (and relieving) how it is coming together.

they fit

I also managed to knit up some (plain) mittens!  Mittens are not scary at all, although I did have some practice with the fingerless ones from earlier this year.  These were done entirely on DPNs and I'm not sure how I feel about that haha.  My joins are not good when doing K1 P1 ribbing but much better when doing stockinette.  I like that this pattern was the rounded tip.  I am getting good at M1 stitches.  I should've used a smaller needle for the ribbing but I do not have any size between a #4 and #8 in DPNs.  They are done in the same yarn as the kitty hat and kitty scarf because I like sets.

Technical Details

• "Paw Mittens" pattern by BEL designs, found here on ravelry (free).
• #4 for body, #8 for ribbing.
• Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft Secrets, aqua.
• Started August 31, finished September 13, unknown hours.

This was a well-written pattern.  I was a little confused by the M1 at the beginning of the thumb gusset... I did not know which way to go.  Was it a M1R or M1L?!  But a quick Google taught me a nice way to remember:  If the M1 is after the stitch marker, it is a M1L.  If it is before, it is a M1R.  I suppose the starting one is not all that important (it could be either R or L) but it was after the marker so L it became.

all the goodies

Lastly, I received a lovely surprise in the mail.  Sheryl at Sewing After Seven had a lovely display of pincushions for a pincushion parade (isn't that the most charming thing ever?) and it made me think that I needed to make one of my own whenever my sewing machine is done.  She offered me this lovely little Rosey pincushion for my very own!  She also sent some matching floss and a truly adorable piece of Christmas fabric!  I already thought of a few things I could stitch that would match the cute feeling (FPS anyone?). Thank you so much, Sheryl!  I love everything! ♥

love the button!

That is all from me this time. I will strive to get up the next GG post in a timely manner. We're entering the lovely busy time of year and there are some possible changes on the horizon that are doing their very best to freak me out! But let's not count chickens before they're hatched, right~? runs away

Gifted Gorgeousness: MH3U, Baby Blanket, Speaker Cozies!

Aloha! Here we are with another installment for Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness.  I feel like I have a lot of giftedness to show today so I will just dive on in!

click me!

before

after

Brachydios Mio!  Another square for the husband cube!  I so very much enjoyed working on this guy.  The pattern was great (tooting my own horn there), the colors were great, and he's just all around great.  I'm already thinking I want to make a little case for either my DS or games or something, just to have an excuse to stitch him again!

RGB

Three down, three to go! I have yet to decide on the next square. I am going to guess either Nargacuga or Zinogre. Or maybe Lagiacrus.  Or the pickle.  I'll let the giftee decide and absolve myself of difficult things.

Edit: He decided Zinogre!  I've tweaked up the image into a chart but I am not happy with the colors (again).  We shall go floss diving!

¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸

image courtesy of finishing madam!

Next up, here is the finished baby blanket for the lady who set up our knitting group at the library! Sorry these colors aren't quite optimal; they were taken under the library florescent lighting and at a rather weird angle. I like the way it was finished up but I do not envy the lady who finished it! All of our squares were different stitch counts and tensions haha. But she did a great job with what she had and the blanket is so soft and snuggly. :)  My squares are the top middle white (tiles) and the bottom right yellow (triangles).

¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸

gears?

 
Next-next, also for Mr. Husband, I worked on a few more motifs for the speaker cozies... finally!  It really seems to fly when I work on the individual little bits before putting them together. Plus it creates a nice sense of accomplishment having little parts done.  This particular cozy will be for one of the towers and will be 4x5 motifs.  I will need 10 of each color of these little inner parts... and this little inner part is only 1/3 of a full motif... and I will need four 4x5 motifs......  I'll kindly let you do the math as I'd rather not think about how many more I will be making LOL.  (They really are enjoyable though; especially the delft blue.)

Whew!  Gifts are fun.  I have another gift to show but it has yet to reach its giftee so maybe the next GG~

I do have a question for you all before I scurry away.  Assuming a miracle happens and you manage to not lose your needle for many projects, what do you do with the needle when it gets tarnished and "squeaks" through fabric?   These are just basic non-gold needles.  I assume pitching them but it seems a waste?  And a bit dangerous to put needles, even blunt tapestries, in the garbage!

Gifted Gorgeousness: More MH3U Goodness

Hello again! It is time again for another Gifted Gorgeousness, hosted by Queen Serendipity herself. Jo "warned" me to not have any more disasters regarding GG posts! It does seem that this year is conspiring against me. However, this post was safely typed up ahead of time so while we are indeed surrounded currently by flooding (we're safe, just very soggy), the show will go on~

click me!

I have continued to work on the MH3U piece that is destined to become my husband's gift.

before

after

Finished his other pounder!  I love the colors in this guy... and I'm loving stitching him. Apart from having a fabulous palette, his attacks are neat and his armor is fairly awesome (except the alien helmet) and his weapon is hands down my favorite.  We're getting close to his battle in the new version.  wiggling intensifies

This is not part of GG but I completed my hat for the Ravellenic Games! :D

nyaa~!

I found the pattern free on Ravelry and I thought it'd make a good newbie hat. And it is! Knitting in the round isn't that hard but I still need a bit of practice with the initial join.  I know with the hat flat like that it doesn't look like much but when one puts it on, the corners perk up into ears.  It's very cute.  They yarn is the same as the ever-growing Kitty Prints scarf and, yes, I made it to match. Turns out this lovely soft yarn is not quite sturdy enough to hold up the ears so I put a cottonball in them before tacking them down. Perhaps the floppiness was also because I used a larger needle than was called for; I have no smaller circulars.  I added the embellishment as an afterthought.  What do you think?  Should I keep it or leave it plain?  Maybe make the nose pink?

Technical Details

• "KitKat hat" pattern by Andre Sue, found here on ravelry (free).
• #9 29" circular, one #8 DPN for bind off.
• Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft Secrets, aqua.
• Cast on 92, did 2" of ribbing - 9.5" wide, 7.5" tall.
• Started August 5, finished August 10, approximately 8 hours.

Lessons Learned
(hopefully)

• How to knit in the round (not magic loop)!
• 3-needle bind off - LOVED this. 

I definitely see more hats in my future!  They're surprisingly simple to make.  I thought about making another one of these kitty hats in black and white.  I don't know how to change colors while knitting and I feel this is a big gap in my education!

Okay, that's enough babble from me. Thank you for reading~ :D

Update: Just One July

I'mma just dive right in here before August teleports away.  This is the next side for the Monster Hunter cube, filled with toxic green goodness!  This pattern cleaned up rather quickly once my computer parts stopped catching on fire and worked like they should(?).

endure the punches

I wound up not using a single one of the preliminary floss toss colors. Super Husband to the rescue picking colors! I love turning him loose in the store with the instructions to pick good colors haha. Maybe it's a bit silly to have him pick stuff for his own gift... oh well, he does a wonderful job of it.

hey there

Rather short on the update.  Of course we have over 60 hours in the new Monster Hunter game so progress ground to a halt.  Imagine the things I could accomplish if I didn't spend that time gaming!  But, gaming comes first, especially co-op gaming.  Then, the last part of July was spent on vacation down in Alabama and Georgia.  The Georgia Aquarium was really neat, even the gift shop with the silly fish faces.  Driving in Atlanta was horrendous.  Exit only lanes pop out of nowhere and speed limits are mild suggestions.  Nope, nope, nooope.  But all the stitchy progress was vacation stitching, that's a win for me!  I made sure to prep my fabric in advance; that helped a lot.

Oh!  And I decided to participate in the Ravellenic Games this year.  I will be knitting a hat for the first time and maybe making something else if the hat finishes faster than expected!  Having never done one before, I have no clue about time frames.  It's not a huge goal but it will teach me to knit in the round (normally; I was taught magic loop first) and do a 3-needle bind off, woo!

Just One (4th of) July!

Hooray, the 4th of July! Go America, escape from those silly Over-Puddlers who sought to tax our tea! Shame!

via Google Images

Yes, I like the 4th. It's probably my favorite holiday. The town puts on a lovely fireworks display... and so do our neighbors. The neighbors might even do better than the town. We will attempt to grill fancy burgers and hot dogs and otherwise stuff ourselves silly. Hopefully we will not be rained out; this has been a very soggy, stormy weekend!  Of course I had to make some cookies, but I was good and sent most of them into work with my husband on Friday.

need all the sugar

Just One July
So, being the sucker I am for one-focus projects, of course I had to join in when Justine suggested Just One July! So, what have I decided to work on? I bet you're thinking FFIII since it's so close to being finished! Welp, you are... wrong! Buu, buu! I have to admit to myself that I really need a good amount of mojo to work on that piece and I am currently lacking the required mojo. So I am not going to force myself into it and wind up hating it.

before

So, Rathian will get some love this time!  She hasn't been touched since early February, which totally shocked me, even more than the idea of this being July and the year half over soon it will be Christmas again o my goodness.  ahem.  There's not much left on her so I will content myself with a possible finish.  I will count working on the next pattern as part of Just One July as well since it's all one project.  I'll leave it to my husband to pick who the lucky monster will be.

Knitting

swimming on the kitchen table

I needed something new to knit and decided that since all of our bathroom washcloths are completely functional and boring, I would make a new one that would be functional and less boring!  It was my first time knitting moss stitch (the border).  I love how it looks but I could happily live my life without ever knitting it again!  It requires more focus than I want to give but it does help me with "reading" my stitches.  I also added the little loop because I didn't want to totally forget how to do an i-cord.  It was good practice.  Small steps. :)

Technical Details

• "Dolphin Dishcloth" freebie pattern by Kelly Daniels, found here (ravelry)
• Yarn: Unknown cotton, best guess would be Peaches n Creme in bright blue
• Size 3 (3.25mm) needles, size 2 (2.75mm) DPNs for i-cord
• Approximately 8.5" (21,5cm) square, 3" i-cord
• Started June 22, finished June 27, about 7 hours.

It helps when there's a two-hour knitting meetup, twice! After the first meetup though, I did wind up ripping it back several inches. I wanted to try knitting on the purl side to see if I could make it reversible but it made for a rather wonky looking dolphin.  At least it boosted my confidence in ripping back and putting stitches back on the needle correctly!

Okay, that's enough Iskabibble Babble! Hope you have a great 4th of July (holiday or not) and if you're in America, give your pets a safe place to hide from the fireworks!

Gifted Gorgeousness, Maybe

Well! Hello! This silence went on for much longer than intended. It was time for a new computer build and of course it decided to be the Build from Hell. Long story short: Skylake and Windows 7 do not like each other.  Windows 10 is currently installed and I'm still trying to figure out how to get my soul back from it because boy-o-boy does it have a lot of invasive privacy defaults.  There are still some hardware issues to work out but at least I'm up and (sorta) running again.  Of course all my blog follows are still on the old computer which I am going to rebuild for my mother.

click me!

I figured I'd try to get a GG post up though I haven't much to show for it.  I'm sad that I didn't get to post last month; it really bugs me to skip out on things I sign up for which is why I don't sign up for much!

before - with bonus parked string

after - with different bonus parked string

I'm not going to beat myself up too much. The stand this project is on, while appreciated, is very uncomfortable to sit at for any length of time. Add the heat of summer arriving and I practically want nothing to do with it.  I am trying to be particular with the second leg of the cross stitch as there are only four colors going from green to blue.  I want the transition to be as unnoticeable as possible.  I hope I've succeeded so far!

Oh!  Remember those baby afghan squares that I gave away before taking a picture?  A lot of you cheeky people admired my invisible projects.  Well they are invisible no more!

such soft much wow

At our next get-together, I asked for my squares and took a lovely(?) shot of them in the library under perfectly ideal(?) lighting. :D They hadn't been blocked yet so they look a little squirrely around the edges.



Our teacher has started piecing them together which she says has been an adventure! I suppose that's what happens when you have many people with their many tensions.  Mine were fun because, you know, tight. :D

I received a wonderful RAK in the mail during the Computer Crisis which made grey skies blue again!

huck towel and bonus!

After hearing about my plight with Hancock Fabrics shutting down and the ecru huck towels vanishing into the world of darkness, Tiffany at Tiffstitches a Blog offered to send me one she got in a "job lot" (new term for me!) on eBay!  Yay!  Thank you so much!!  I'm determined to have the Flower of the Month series completed before I'm 80 haha.

bonus goodness

And look, a bonus! I'm tempted to display the skein on the wall, it's so lovely.  It's a Jodyri Designs hand-dyed thread in Alaskan Beauty.  I have not heard of this dyer before Tiff's blog so I went exploring their site; so many beautiful colors.  I am still a bit afraid of hand-dyed threads because they are not colorfast.  I think this particular skein would look wonderful on some sparkly Silkweaver fabric I picked up last year.

Welp, that's all on this edition of Ishkabibble Babble.  I think.  The heat has fried my brain.

FotM! FFIII! Babbles!

Oh dear, oh dear!  It seems April is trying to slip past me.  Thanks for all the fun comments on the Easter Blog Hop post. :D  I even got some new followers (spastic waving), hi!  I kinda feel like I'm going every which way right now.  I can't believe I had to start mowing the grass in March.  The garden is worked up with onions, spinach, lettuce, potatoes, sweet peas, garlic, and one (of only four) cabbages planted.  The tomatoes are started in their little pods to be put outside when it warms up more, as well as the assortment of peppers, cucumbers, and squash.  I had to dig up some of my blackberry as it's trying to take over the world!  It felt good to work outside in the sunshine but boy-o-boy was I pooped after.  On to the stitching!

before

after

First up, I have a small bit of progress to show on the lovely Flower of the Month series, July's Larkspur/Delphinium.  I am very much enjoying working on this piece though I don't often sit down to work on it. The blues are magical and I finally found the remaining four after a trip to the Big City.  It's a bit like violets was but it must be the enjoyability (new word copyright Rosey175) of blue that doesn't make it so bothersome.  That or I am still in my "I'mma do what I want, when I want" mindset and not worrying about silly little things like Time.

I am in a bit of a panic though.  Hancock Fabrics has declared bankruptcy and is liquidating all of its stock.  While this means (the sad kind of) sales, it also means the end of being able to find these impossible ecru huck towels!  They're available online (for double the price) but I'd really rather avoid that route if at all possible.  I will need five more to finish this set.  I'm hoping to get to our local store and snag some before it shuts its doors forever.  Bah! :(

before

after

Next, delicious progress on FFIII (sorry for the derp after picture; it is not curved).  There's a full word over there, YAY.  Even a start on the III -- that's the black blip at the end.  And even MORE YAY is that the green point above the letter Y is exactly where it is supposed to be which almost made me cry with relief.  Something going right on this piece for a change weeeeee~

And lastly, Crafty Sasha is having a giveaway!  Do check out her blog; she does a neat assortment of projects.  ----  This is what one gets for spending days typing up a post!   Her giveaway is over now but go check out her blog anyway. :D

I think that's all for now.  No crocheting this time!  I do have a bit of knitting but it's Gift Knitting and will be next post.  I didn't work on the Singer 201-2 more since I (still) need to order the rewiring kits.  Maybe I'm hoping it'll fix itself, hmm...  I did clean up all the little bits and bobs that came with it though.  Some of the parts got fresh oil, but most just got a dunk in rubbing alcohol.

Okay, done! Have a productive time! :D

ETA: I'll be joining in Justine's Faithful April after an email encouragement haha!  I will stick to one project at a time, first the knit squares as they need done this month, preferably before Wednesday after next!  Then I will devote the rest of the time to FFIII and see how far that takes me. :D

FotM - April Edition

Hello again, world! It's May, one of the Best Months Ever (more a bit later, kekekeke) and I hope you're hanging onto your britches 'cause this year is flying by.

I wish I could wow you all with my stunning progress but alas! Possibly you will be amazed anyway.

before

after

Are you impressed? I hope you're impressed. :b Can you even see the addition?

more leaf!

One evening, I simply could not stand Muppets anymore. I was just so fed up with "having to" work on it. So I put in two little strands on violets and all was right with the world again. It's amazing what little things can pacify a body!

Still present is the little owl needleminder I thought I inadvertently stole from my friend. Here it was meant to be a gift! I now have TWO needleminders which really makes me feel like I'm moving up in the world of stitching. Thank you so much again, Blog Stalker~ :D

Small Muppet update: From last post, I did make more progress. I didn't achieve my goal of four letters but I did get three-and-a-half which is still pretty great for pokey old me. I underestimated how "busy" one of the four letters was going to be. The last few letters are a relatively simple design so they will (hopefully) stitch up quickly. And since it's so close to completion and the veggie garden is planted (for now), my mojo is through the roof! I almost feel hopeful for a victorious GG post in two weeks. GO GO GOOOOO.

Gifted Gorgeousness - April Edition

Here we are for the April installment of Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness.

click to join the fun!

I'm still plucking diligently away on Muppet letters which will be a gift for a good friend ('s first baby). These letters were tweaked from this and this alphabet image which I ran through KG-Chart.

Can you guess them?  K worked up quickly (comparatively) though his one eye looks a little weird.  Will probably go back and fix that.  I am hoping next GG this piece will be done.  Probably won't be though.

Sorry for the slight blur. And cat hair. And short post.  Until next time.

FotM - March Edition

Here it is, APRIL. Jeez. Here is my update for Alyssa's Flower of the Month SAL... updating February in  March  April. :b Wish I could say I have a finish but alas, it was not meant to be. I did make some progress though.

before

after

This piece came with me on our anniversary vacation. I parked myself under an Ott lamp my friend set up and whiled away the morning hours before our day really started. Also present is the cute little owl needleminder that my friend loaned me and I accidentally came home with! I realized this after I fished it out of its travel bag to take the picture. Eek!

Also, the more I look at it, the more I feel I'm no where near halfway like I had previously thought. Wishful thinking on my part. :b  New goal will be to catch up after May as I am pushing hard on (and getting a little tired of) Muppet letters.

January! February! March!

But here is proof that I do indeed have March done!  I was way, waaay ahead of the game on the daffodils as I finished stitching it in September of 2010!  I don't believe I used any of the recommended floss colors because I had just started cross-stitching at the time and did not have a lot!  I think the flowers turned out great but the leaves may be a bit off. :)

finally

Daffodils are my favorite flower, hands down. I'm pleased to say the ones in front of the house have finally started blooming! These were here when we moved in, as well as the hyacinths. I have since continued down the sidewalk as I can't seem to live someplace without planting more daffodils. ;)  These particular ones are still in somewhat of a "recovery mode."  I think the previous renters were mowing down the leaves much too soon so there are not a whole lot of flowers.  Since we've been here, they've more than tripled the blossoms though!  Next will be thinning them out.

I love spring.

Gifted Gorgeousness - March Edition

Hello again! Here is my March installment of Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness. Still plugging away on the Muppet letters; I've reached the great milestone of having one part of the child's name finished! I apologize in advance for the somewhat sparse post, privacy being what it is and all. But here's one new letter for your viewing pleasure!

meep meep meep meep meep meep!

Beaker and Bunsen! :D They're some of my favorite Muppets and I'm quite pleased with how this one charted up. I may go back and play with Bunsen's glasses some, though. They seem small and too round! Or I might just be being picky.

Until next time! :D

Gifted Gorgeousness - February Edition

Hello one and all! I hope everyone is bundled up nicely because it is freakin' cold! Or maybe y'all on the warmer side of the Earth are in short-shorts and the envy of us all! I am woefully behind in blog reading.  Our new little kitty, Klondike, has fooled us all into thinking he is a perfect little angel but alas! So I am keeping certain rooms closed off, including the office, until I'm 100% sure he isn't being a little stinker. This post is brought to you by typing a teeny bit each day and scheduling during cat naps! I will catch up eventually.  :)

click to join the fun!

Anyway, on to the gorgeousness! Or at least the gifted-ness.

Ta-da! The Muppets have been started! My mom, The Awesomest Mom Ever, managed to find a piece of evenweave on an excursion to the Big City so I washed, ironed, cut, and marked the center WITH FABRIC PEN. Permanent markers were banished from the room entirely. I apologize in advance that I will not be able to show this piece in its entirety. As you can see (hopefully, lol), the letters are individual Muppets, tweaked from this and this alphabet. As such, they will spell out the child's full name and I don't like that info online.  Instead, I will show snippets.  Feel free to guess the characters~ :D

There is not a ton of progress on this piece because 1) I made this pattern -- some colors were off (pattern maker is an older version) and some things, once stitched, looked odd and needed redesigned. So even the pattern is still a WIP! This letter in particular is giving me a lot of grief. 2) I find I absolutely cannot stitch with my glasses on the 28-count. I must, must, must be wearing my contacts and that is not an everyday thing in winter.

Anyway! PROGRESS WEEEEEEEEE. My goal is the end of April. I CAN DO THIS. /frantic.

lemony goodness

And here, help yourself to some bread. I was quite upset at FedEx delivery on Friday and what better thing to do when upset than to beat the living daylights out of eggs and sugar? I wound up making two regular loaves and four mini loaves of lemon-zucchini bread. I followed the recipe as written except I used 2 teaspoons of lemon extract instead of 2 tablespoons lemon juice.  I find it makes for a stronger lemony flavor and we're lemon-lovers in this house!

Anywhoodle, I'm sure your productive fingers have made a substantial dent in all of your gifts! :D