I have to keep reminding myself that it is only February, even though the weather outside makes it feel more like late March. And, because it is only February, I need to remind myself that it is okay that I haven’t accomplished all that much so far this year. I mean, it’s what, only 39 days into the year, right? So far I’ve finished a shawl, knit a sock and a half, did a bit of sewing, and put in some work on my cross stitch pieces. Not bad at all.

For WIPocalypse this month, I’m still working away on TW’s Gingerbread House. Truthfully, all the quarter stitches are killing me, so it is slow going. I think I might take a little bit of time away from it, so I don’t get mad at it. (Thank you again, Christine, for being so patient.)

Gingerbread House by Teresa Wentzler (WIP)

I will probably pick up Joan Elliott’s 12 Days of Christmas again this month, since I really want to finish it this year. But, I have to admit, I do have a new start. I bought Lynn B’s lovely Alphabet Peacock Sampler. I’m stitching mine using Waterlilies silk in colourway Peacock, and the fabric a hand-dyed from Enchanting Lair.

Alphabet Peacock Sampler by Lynn B (WIP)

WIPocalypse Check-In – February 2012 is a post from Reflections in the Pond

My son’s interests currently run to Hot Wheels and Lego. He doesn’t like to colour, and crafting in general just leaves him cold. I guess he figures that his Momma does enough of it, so there is no need to bother. But, once in a blue moon I can convince him to give me a hand with a project.

Recently we worked on Valentine’s Day crafts together. The little man made silly faces using a kit I picked up at the dollar store, while I put together a few cards to an exchange.

Makin' Faces

A short time later, this is what we ended up with. (Note that my dining room table is  glass, which is why things might look like they are floating. lol!)

Cards and Happy Faces

Inside my (rather simple) cards are a couple of pretty heart stamps and a lovely message. Less is more, right?

Happy Hearts is a post from Reflections in the Pond

One month down; eleven more to go.

January wasn’t as productive as I would have liked it to be. I did make a little bit of progress on Egypt Garden, but it still doesn’t look like much.

Egypt Garden by Chatelaine (WIP)

And, unfortunately, I didn’t finish my TW of the month, Gingerbread House. I really want to get it, and Bargello Basics, done so I can return the charts to the lovely lady who lent them to me. (Sorry I’m taking so long, Christine!)

Gingerbread House by TW (WIP)

The February’s Theme-a-licious them is fangirl. That is, work on something from your favourite designer(s). So, I’ll be carrying on with Gingerbread House, and hopefully also be finishing up Bargello Basics. (Both of those also fit in nicely with WIPocalypse.) I’ve also got TW’s Think Snow written down on my list for this month, but I’m not sure if I will get to it.

Beyond that, I plan to work on the Craftsy Quilt Block of the Month. I have the two from January to do, as well as the two new ones for February. I haven’t done January’s yet partly because it took a while for the fabric to arrive, and also because I hurt my finger with the iron a little while ago.

I’ve also got a crochet project planned for February. PlanetJune is holding a plant themed CAL, featuring all of her plant patterns. I’m planning on making some succulents, from her newest pattern.

And, to round things out, besides a pair of socks, I’m also working on a toy for the little man; Sheldon (available for free from Knitty and Knit Picks).

Hmmmm… isn’t February the shortest month, not the longest? Oh dear.

Theme-a-licious – Fangirl February is a post from Reflections in the Pond

A couple of weeks ago, Erica and I got together for a bit of weekday escape. We headed over to the Bata Shoe Museum, and then went off for a fabulous teppanyaki lunch. The shoe museum is much more fascinating than you would expect. It is really amazing the things we have put on our feet. We saw shoes ranging from the grass clogs that Ötzi the iceman wore, to the lotus shoes worn by Chinese women with bound feet, all the way up to gaudy pumps Madonna wore during one of her tours.

After our day out, we finally exchanged Christmas gifts. What can I say, we were a bit late this year.

Erica spoiled me, of course, with a lovely bag and a needle roll (pictures soon!), as well as a knitting stitch-a-day calendar (which I adore). And, she also gave me a Stitch-a-Pen kit from Kreinik.

As I’m sure you can guess, I got to work on the Stitch-a-Pen right away. I thought about designing my own little picture for it, but I knew if I did that I would never get around to stitching the darn thing. (I have a small tissue holder that is still waiting for something, and I’ve had it for about five years!)

Stitch-a-Pen from Kreinik (Silver Snowflakes kit)

The kit comes with a pen, perforated paper, a pattern, and a card of Kreinik metallic threads.

Stitch-a-Pen kit contents (after I stitched the pen)

The pen comes apart smoothly, and it is easy to insert the finished cross stitched piece. You just need to be sure to carefully bend the perforated paper before trying to put it all together.

My only issue with the kit is that the provided chart creates a design that is actually about two stitches too large for the space inside the pen. I ended up leaving off the small bottom snowflakes. (Although, when I trimmed the paper, I trimmed one row too much. So, my paper could be bigger, but I still wouldn’t have had room for the design as charted.) It seems to me that the pen will comfortable fit a design of 33 high by 24 wide stitches on 14 count perforated paper.

If you are curious about the pen, it is the ShowOff Pen by Cottage Mills. It uses standard Parker Pen refills, and writes quite nicely.

Snowy Pen is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Earlier this week I happily cast off my Narnia Shawl. I’ve enjoyed knitting it a great deal, but I’m always excited to finish a project.

Narnia Shawl

The yarn is Classic Elite Yarns Classic Silk in colourway Old Lilac. Unfortunately, it is one of those colours that is difficult to capture in a picture. (Check out the colour card on this site if you’d like to see a better representation.

I didn’t do the bind off included in the pattern because I was worried that my more rustic looking yarn would make all the loops look funny. But, honestly, the bind off is part of what gives this shawl its beauty.

Narnia Shawl Close Up

So, I’m going to be ripping out the bind off and giving it another go. And, I’m not at all upset about that. It turns out, after working through about two and a half balls of this yarn and having no problem, I came across two knots while doing the bind off. That makes me very concerned about the integrity of the bind off, and I would have probably ripped it out again anyway.

Unfortunately, that means I have to put off starting a shawl with this lovely yarn.

Wolle's Yarn Creations Color Changing Cotton

Nearly Done Narnia is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Friends of mine on Facebook will know that I finally dragged my sewing machine out of it’s timeout. (You may remember that back in December we had a bit of a falling out.) I was delighted to discover that it is running more or less perfectly (I still have a burr I need to sand off of the needle plate.) Here’s what I made:

Halloween Tote

This is the Charm Pack Tote from Sadie Fox, a Craftsy Workshop. The charm pack I picked is Trick or Treat by Doodlebug Designs for Riley Blake Designs. (A charm pack, for you new sewists, is a set of 5″ square pieces of fabric, all of which belong to a particular series. It sure saves a lot of work cutting things out, believe me.)

Halloween Tote

Some of my corners match up really well, and some are awful. But, I think it is pretty good for my first attempt at something like this.

Halloween Tote (bottom)

It is lined in black, with a little pocket (using two additional charm squares) inside. Now I’m just waiting for the sew-on handles to arrive in the mail.

I’m also in the process of making another charm square tote, this time using black, white and gray fabric. But, I put it on hold for a little while since I managed to steam my finger with the iron while working on this tote. Ouch!

Halloween Charm Tote is a post from Reflections in the Pond

The world seems absolutely stuffed full of Doctor Who fans. And, Who related knitting patterns abound. You can knit a scarf from just about every season of Doctor Who. (Did you know there are 26 original seasons, six series, a seventh series in the works, and countless specials and movies? Wow!) You can knit a Tardis ornament for your tree, or a Tardis teapot cover. There are dalek toy patterns, and dalek washcloths. Heck, you can even knit Tardises (Tardii?) for your feet.

Tardis Socks

The pattern is Tardis Socks Tribute by Ellen Botilda, and it is available for free from Ravelry. I knit them from Berocco Comfort sock in colourways 1763 Navy Blue, 1734 Liquorice, and 1702 Pearl. To make sure that the colourwork would actually fit over someone’s heel, I knit the upper part of the leg with the sock inside-out. The little white sign was added at the end, using duplicate stitch.

Unfortunately, I am not a Doctor Who fan. As a child I was traumatized. Anyone about my age who lived in Ontario as a child can tell you all about how TVO put Doctor Who on right after Polka Dot Door, and how frightening the music was. Terrible!

Anyway, these socks will be on their way to their new home later today, and I already have another pair of socks on the needles:

Plain 'ole socks

A pair of plain, top-down socks knit from Crystal Palace Maizy in colourway Earth. And, believe it or not, these aren’t for me either. I swear, this is my last commissioned project for this year!

Tardis Socks is a post from Reflections in the Pond

It’s that time again: the new moon and time for a picture of my bits and pieces as part of the Totally Useless Stitch Along (TUSAL). If you are interested in joining, check out this post on DaffyCat’s blog for more information.

This month, I took a picture of my(very few) orts sitting in my Lateran Moon ort catcher. There is hardly enough to bother moving the over to my glass jar (which I emptied at the start of the year).

TUSAL - January 2012

This new moon also marks Chinese New Year. Gung hay fat choy!

Don’t worry. I always check with my husband before I post pictures with Chinese characters. I’m pretty sure I’m not saying anything rude to you.

So, best wishes for your health and continued prosperity. And, hopefully someone surprises you with a little red envelope!

TUSAL – January 2012 is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Phew, midway through January and we’ve only just started to get snow (and rain). It isn’t exactly the kind of weather to make one think of gardens, but this month’s Theme-a-licious theme is bringing flowers and gardens into my life just the same.

One of my focus pieces for January is Egypt Garden by Chatelaine. (I really want to call it Egyptian Garden as that sounds so much nicer to my ears, but Egypt Garden is the name on the chart and on Martina’s website.)

Egypt Garden bu Chatelaine

As you can see, I have finally  made some progress. The lotuses are starting to come together. Hopefully they will be complete by the end of the month.

And, as much as I would love to finish the centre, I’ve decided to leave all of that beading to the end. I will probably do some of the other beading as I go along, but I’m worried about beads become loose if I do all that beading in the centre.

Next month’s theme is Fan Girl, which of course means I will be working on a TW piece. In the meantime, it’s back to work on Egypt Garden and Gingerbread House.

Theme-a-licious – Mid-January 2012 is a post from Reflections in the Pond

The first month of WIPocalypse! I’m excited, because if I keep on track, I should have one big design done by the end of the year, and another with a fair bit more progress.

As I mentioned earlier, this month’s focus project is Egypt Garden by Chatelaine. As of today, it looks like this:

Egypt Garden by Chatelaine (WIP)

Yep, exactly the same as it looked on January 1st. :/ I haven’t had much stitching time so far this year.

My other WIP for this month is Gingerbread House by Teresa Wentzler. I’m stitching it on fabric from Enchanting Lair. (I think it is Tourmaline, but I don’t remember.) As Geeky Heather pointed out in a comment on my last post, the colours are brighter than the model picture on TW’s website. And, I think it pops nicely against the green fabric. (Surprisingly, the picture is pretty close to true colours.)

Gingerbread House by Teresa Wentzler (WIP)

I’m going to also admit that I’ve already had a bit of a breakdown. I bought a kit. I know, no one is surprised. But, it’s worse then that. It is a lovely kit; a pansey needle keeper from Riolis. Unfortunately, I didn’t read the package before buying it, and so I assumed it came with cotton floss. Well, it comes with acrylic/wool blend thread. It is probably a 75%/25% blend, but it is enough to make my hands itch and my eyes burn. Once I started reacting, I read the package, and I was so disappointed. One should never assume, right? Especially when buying from a company for the first time.

It wasn’t a total loss since I also got a Mill Hill kit and the new Jim Shore Monograms book. Someone please stop me!!

WIPocalypse Check-In – January 2012 is a post from Reflections in the Pond