It's All Okay

Lots of pictures today!  I'm glad to report A Treasured Time made it through it's ordeal relatively unscathed.  Unfortunately, I never took a picture of the piece after the first wash.  99.9% of the bleeding washed out. Yay!  Basically, I just soaked it overnight in clear, cold water with a dye catcher.

A Treasured Time
Dimensions
completed 2008

I only have a tiny bit of progress on the 15 sided biscornu.

My new piece is Autumn Romance by The Victoria Sampler.  I've had this one in the stash for about 5 years.

This is the first two bands.  I still have to obtain the pearls that go on the first band.  The next band is a cut work band and I thought I would try to show the steps.  This is not meant as a tutorial, but just to show how easy it really is with the hope of enticing some of you over to the dark side if you haven't tried it.  :D 

Step 1:  cut the 8 horizontal threads at the center.  (Take a deep breath, it's all okay!)  I cut every thread individually so I make sure I don't accidentally snip a vertical thread.  You need sharp, pointy scissors for this!

Step 2:  withdraw every second thread past the margin of the sampler.

Step 3:  Unweave the threads that are left to the margins of the sampler.

Step 4:  thread the needle with the remaining fabric threads and reweave into the fabic at the sides, replacing the withdrawn threads.  Here, the top two threads have been done.

Here, all threads have been rewoven and it's ready for the hemstitching.

And here it is complete.

It's really more tedious than hard.  You do have to be gentle unweaving and weaving.  This particular fabric did not like the process much and ended up a bit fuzzy at the edges.  This will be mostly hidden by a mat, so no problem there.  It would be more troublesome if the fabric theads break, though.  So, give it a try!  I dare you!

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season! 

May you have Peace and Goodwill along with your stitching!
Tamara

A Finish and a Potential Disaster

Heart Collector is finished as of this morning.

Heart Collector
Jeannette Douglas

Back in 2008 I completed Dimension's A Treasured Time.  Having done a few Dimensions kits before, I knew there is always a danger of the red threads running when washed, so I had been very hesitant to wash the piece to get it framed.  So, I finally bit the bullet, held my breath and threw it in the sink.  All seemed well.  I blocked it out to dry and the next day ran the iron over it and didn't notice any problems.  Then the sun finally came out and I went to admire it and noticed several areas where the red and brown threads had run!  Grrrrrrr....  It wasn't horrible and considered throwing it back in the sink to soak to see if it would improve the situation, but was too chicken because I was worried it would go from bad to worse.  I've just decided I can't live with it after all and it's now soaking in the sink with a dye catcher.  I'll keep you updated on the result.  I guess if I make it worse, I'll be stitching it again one day...in DMC.

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

What's in the Box

So, if you were thinking I finally got around to buying a needlework stand, you'd be right.  I was comtemplating stands last year and couldn't decide so put it on the back burner.  My stitching mojo waned and the issue seemed moot.  But when my stitching itch came back recently, I craved band samplers and Chatelaines and the only good way to tackle some of them is with a stand and scroll frame.  Now, I am a die hard hoop girl and my fleeting experience with scroll frames turned me off them completely, so I have not been excited to revisit the experience. 

I received the Needlework System 4 with the frame clamp and medium scroll frame last week. 

Set up was quick and easy.  Basting the fabric on the rods was not too terribly bad.

It fits well between the coffee table and sofa with a little maneuvering.

Since last Wednesday after setting it up, I have already finished the first quarter of Jeannette Douglas' Heart Collector.  (I've converted the threads to DMC and one Caron).

I purchased the stand from Threadneedle Street in Washington State and received excellent service.  I like that I can easily get to the back of my work by rotating the scroll or hoop (in the frame clamp) without having to loosen knobs or such.  I am curious as to how much rotating (and I do a lot!) the frames will take before the bolts loosen, but it looks like if it is ever a problem, a little tighten with a wrench on the bolts will probably do the trick to fix it.  I am dealing with the scroll frame much better than I anticipated and am actually enjoying stitching on it!  I guess I'm not quite as set in my ways as I thought.  Two handed stitching, however, is agonizingly slow and my tension not as good, so I still tend to use just my right hand with my left in the back to feel for knots in the thread. 

In other news, I have a Christmas finish.

Ho Ho Ho in a Row
Lizzie Kate

And I finally tackled the last monster row on my Morticia shawl and started the monster bind off.  Maybe before the end of the year I will have that finished. 

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

On A Roll

So, I did find the gumption to sew the buttons on Dressed to Kill last night.  Looks pretty much the same as the previous picture except now the buttons don't fall off when you pick it up.

Some progress on Ho Ho Ho in a Row:

I started on a 15-sided Christmas biscornu.  This is the free pattern from Kathrin's blog.

And I wonder what this might be?

Stay tuned!

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

A Finish, Practically Speaking

Dressed to Kill is finished, just have to attach the buttons when it's good and dry and I get the gumption.

Becky Boo's Dressed to Kill
A Stitcher's Hands
(OOP)

Up next is Lizzie Kate's Ho Ho Ho in a Row WIP. 

The stitching bug has bitten bad here!  I've been going through my stash and rearranging my to do pile.  I will have lots to talk about in the next week or two!  I'm also drooling over all the old and new charts I don't yet have, so I see a stash surge in the coming year.  I love my HAED's, but I really am liking this getting stuff finished phase, too. 

The weather here is nasty today, we're now getting hit by the big storm that has moved it way across the country this week.  Lots of rain and a bit windy.  The temps are dropping rapidly this afternoon and I plan on snuggling up on the couch with my stitching.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Tamara

What I've Been Doing

Although I have been lax about blogging these last few months, I have been somewhat productive.  I just don't turn on the computer much anymore if I don't absolutely have to.  And, like today, it gets very frustrating working with blogger sometimes.  Here's a big update for you.

My Vulcan Socks are done:

String Theory Colorworks
Entanglement in the Vulcan Colorway

I've started the next pair, a gift pair for my Dad; intended for Christmas, but I don't think I'm going to get them done in time.

I've been stash diving in my cross stitch stash and finished a little ornament.

Jeannette Douglas
2010 Stamp Ornament
2010 Just CrossStitch ornament issue

I'm not happy with my finishing on this one, so I will probably do it again and see if I can get it to look a little less wonky.  My sewing machine and I are not good friends, lol.

My current WIP, almost finished now, is Becky Boo's Dressed to Kill.  (I think this might be OOP).

And last, but not least, my Boo Knit's MKAL Morticia.  Only one monster row left and an endless bind off and it will be done.  Still trying to gird my loins for the finish.

I haven't been working much on my HAED's.  I feel I need a break from them for awhile again.  I have started stashing again this last week or two and I'm hoping to get some smaller (relative to HAED anyway) pieces completed in the coming year.  I'm feeling the urge for speciality stitches and band samplers again, so expect to see some Victoria Sampler, Just Nan, The Sweetheart Tree and The Drawn Thread.  I think I will try to get back to that knot garden I started ages ago, too. 

I'm off to hopefully enjoy an afternoon of stitching!  Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving next week (eek!  it's the holidays already!).

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

While I Pondered, Weak and Weary...

Could someone out there slow down the clock a little so I could maybe, just maybe, make some headway on all the things I want to accomplish?  Pretty please? 

Sorry for the delay from the last post.  Over a month?  Really?  Seems like just last week.  So here is the full picture of the Sweet Dreams Shawl.

Sweet Dreams
Boo Knits
Madeline Tosh Prairie

As of today, I have a little cross stitch finish. 

Happy Haunting
By the Bay Needlearts

With any luck, I will have another shawl and a pair of socks off the needles in a couple/few more weeks.  I'm trying to do a few small cross stitch things to stash-bust a little and just to feel like I have accomplished something.  I am also hoping on having a page finish on one of my HAED's by the end of November the year. 

Happy Halloween!
Tamara