In my last  post I mentioned that I had spent the afternoon sewing.  My sewing skills are pretty minimal.  I can make drawstring bags (like this one), or paper-piecing quilts (I’ve made four of these), and I can finish bellpulls.  They just are a little, you know, cockeyed.

Here’s How Does Your Garden Grow finally finished into a bellpull.   The bellpull hardware is a little big, but I got it for 75% off when my NSLNS closed, so I’m not complaining much.

How Does Your Garden Grow by Papillion Designs

I also turned Once Upon a Tree into a bellpull, and had hardware that fit it much better.

Once Upon a Tree by Jeanette Douglas Designs

It is a lovely design, and I am really looking forward to stitching A Needle Pulling Thread, which uses exactly the same tree motif.

I turned Victoria Sampler’s Birds of a Feather into a bellpull too, but I don’t have any hardware small enough for it.  Hopefully sometime in the nearish future I can make a VS order and pick up some 8cm hardware, and I would love her new Gingerbread Stitching House too.  (Santa, are you listening?)

I also turned Brittercup Designs’ I Love My Cat into a pillow top.  I ran out of material for the back, but have since bought more of the red stripes to finish it off.  (I wanted the blue flowers, which is an April Cornell fabric, but they had none left.)

I Love My Cat by Brittercup Designs

I also finished up my Swirlygig, which I sent off to Stitch Bitch for her competition.  I can’t wait to see how everyone interpreted the design.  I do know that mine will be far from the best, since a couple of my seams are off and, well, I’m no where near as creative as a lot of you ladies are.  My goodness, every time I had out to look at your blogs, I’m totally blown away by how you all are so brave in changing and finishing designs.  It is wonderful, though, and a nice change from when we all seemed so focused on following the directions to the letter.

And I finished the stitching on Enchanting Lair’s Realm of Wishes.  I left off the border so that it would better fit in a standard frame.  And, again, I’m struck by how totally different mine looks from either the cover model or the one on the website.

Realm of Wishes by Enchanting Lair

I’ve also finished all the knitting for my Central Park Hoodie.  I now need to attach both sleeves, attach the buttons, and make the button loops.  And that’s it!  I am hoping to work on this today, but it all depends how things go with the little man.  (I’m beginning to understand why parents look forward to school starting.  Baby Man doesn’t start until 2012, when he will be 4 1/2.  But, the rumour is that even junior kindergarten will be all day by then.  I’m not sure if I will be ready for that, but it will be nice to have some uninterrupted time again… in three years.)

And to be truthful, I haven’t started something new, even though I really want to.  Yesterday I finished the gusset decreases on those annoying two-at-a-time socks.  I can’t wait until they are done.  Then, maybe, I will start something new.

And, a last little bit of good news: I won the Manga Cross-Stitch book from Mr. X-Stitch’s contest!  See.  Woot!  That’s twice I’ve won something this year. (Thank you again, Erica!)  It almost makes up for my exchange partner not coming through.  (Almost, but not. I’m so mad about that.)

Finshes and More Finishes (Time for Something New!) is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Progress continues on the Central Park Hoodie.  I’m working on both the endless, long, never-ending button band and the second sleeve.  Sadly, no pictures today because the husband has taken the camera.  You’ll just have to believe me that it is coming along well, and I just may have enough yarn left over to make myself a pair of Fetching too!  (Ah, those viral knitting patterns.  I am not immune.)

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours sewing, and was able to put the finishing touches on three bellpulls, one pillow top (ran out of fabric for the back), and one pillow.  I will share pictures of those tomorrow too.  I also finished up Enchanting Lair’s Realm of Wishes.  It was a very productive day.

So, you  might be wondering why I’m doing a blog post when I don’t have much to share.  Well, through Stitch Bitch, I came across the 10 Book Reading Challenge hosted by Reading and Stitching.  The idea is to read ten books before the end of the year.  Vicki will enter all of the participants into a draw for a $10 B&N gift certificate, which is lovely incentive.

Since I am a voracious reader, I’ve decided to take part.  Vickie asks participants to post their list of books, but says the list can be updated at any time.  So, here is what I’m planning to read as of today:

1. History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt
2. Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
3. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
4. Empire by Orson Scott Card
5. Way of the Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock (Hi, Autumn!)
6. Dark Mirror by Juliette Marillier
7. Blade of Fortriu by Juliette Marillier
8. Mircosurfs by Douglas Coupland
9. Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman (it really is way more than just knitting patterns, honest!)
10. Dairy of Lady Mursaki by Murasaki Shikibu

I have a wide taste is literature, eh?

I’d love to know if you are planning on taking part, and if so, what will you read?  Head over to Reading and Stitching right away to sign up, as the deadline is September 15th.

Endless Button Band, and Some Books is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Yesterday I talked about  my cross stitch, so today is about knitting.  I’m working diligently away on my lovely Central Park Hoodie.  I now have the back and two fronts done and seamed together, as well as one sleeve.

I decided to knit the sleeve in the round to save myself some steps when it came to finishing, and so I could try it on as I went.  I had read that the sleeves are a bit tight, so I wanted to be able to check out the fit.  I’m glad I did, because, while it isn’t tight, it is definitely a fitted sleeve.  And, I was also able to start the shoulder cap a little early so I didn’t end up with a sleeve that completely covered my had.

Instead of casting on the second sleeve, or even attaching this sleeve to the rest of the garment, I decided to work on the hood next.  I’m so glad I did, because having to move around just the front and back of the hoodie is hard enough.  It would be too heavy and cumbersome if I had attached both sleeves before starting the hood.

As you can see, I’ve decided to continue the back cable up the hood.  I’ll be using a three needle bind-off to seam the hood.  Then, instead of knitting the second sleeve, I’ll pick up the stitches for the button band all at once using a really long needle and work it for a bit more than the pattern calls for.  (I’m worried that I’m not going to get enough ease, so I’m going to make the hood a touch shorter at 11″ and make the button band wider at maybe 2 1/2″ instead of 1 1/2″.  We shall see how it comes together.)

I didn’t do the best job in the work picking up some of the stitches for the hood.  But I figure the hood will be down most of the time, and washing and wearing the hoodie will help even them out a bit too.

You might also notice that the double cable on the sleeve isn’t the same as the one on the back of the hoodie.  That’s totally my fault.  I got my cables mixed up for the back, but decided to do them correctly for the sleeves.  Hopefully it will all come together nicely.

I’ve also been planning what I’m going to knit and crochet for Christmas gifts.  Since there is a good chance we are going to be without Internet service for up to two weeks at the end of this month, I’ve been printing out patterns and making notes on what I can make.  But, because a certain cross stitched gift has yet to be acknowledged, homemade gifts will only be going to immediate family this year.  (Actually, gifts in general will likely be limited to immediate family for various reasons.  We shall see, though.)  This means, sadly, that soon I won’t be showing too  many pictures of what I am working on.  I will, happily, still have lots of cross stitch pictures to share though!

Lastly, I’m still looking for a source for The Great American Aran Afghan that isn’t charging an arm and a leg for shipping or double the cover price because they think it is out of print.  (It isn’t out of print, eBay and Amazon price gougers!!)  If you know of somewhere I can get it, please let me know.

On and On Goes the Hood is a post from Reflections in the Pond

It is already the end of August, although with the way the weather has been here in Southern Ontario you’d think it was the end of September.  Since it is the end of the month, I should be reviewing my goals and setting new goals for September.  But, honestly, I’m dead tired tonight so I’m going to put it off for a day or two.  (Baby Man has a cold and is waking up in the middle of the night.  And that means I’m also up in the middle of the night.  It is getting a bit much.)

I have managed to get a few things done.  First is The Sweetheart Tree’s Dizzy Busy Bees.  The charm is one I bought from Artbeads.com, and is a little big for the design.  But, overall I’m happy with it.  I’ll be doing a cube finish with this, when I get a chance.

I’ve also put the finishing touches on the crocheted ninja I shared the other day.

And Cthulhu is finished!  I finally managed to figure out how to do the tentacles.  The problem was I thought the working yarn needed to come through the hole where the tentacle was going, but it didn’t.  It was just one of those Duh! moments, and once I got my head around that it was just a matter of working in a small space with yarn that is a bit splity.

The eyes are handmade by me using Sculpty III polymer clay.  They were easier to make than I expected, but they do look a little wonky.  I think, though, they make Cthulhu look extra cute, and I am no longer afraid of the Old Ones.  (If you are wondering who or what the heck Cthulhu is, here is a Wikipedia article.)

And, lastly, I have finished the back and two fronts of my Central Park Hoodie.  Yay!  I’ve seamed the shoulders and the sides and was able to try it on.  I think it is going to look great.  I haven’t started on the sleeves yet because I want to knit them in the round rather than flat, but I don’t have the right size dpns.  So, they will have to wait a little while until I can get out and buy some.

Here’s a close-up of one of the side seams.  I’m so glad I took that finishing class earlier in the summer.  Note that the colour is way off in both of these pictures.  For some reason I just can’t seem to capture it correctly.  If you’d like to see the actual colour, you can do so here. It is colour Aubergine.

That’s it for today!  I’m off to bed with a good book and hopes that everyone will sleep through the night.  Tomorrow I’ll tackle my goals for September.  I understand that there is a Châtelaine in the September issue of The Gift of Stitching.  That just might cause me to rethink the priority of some other projects.

Cthulhu and a Ninja, Now with Eyes! is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Last week I started working on Interweave’s Central Park Hoodie.  It is my first attempt at knitting an adult sized garment.  Erring on the side of caution, I have cast on a bust size that should provide me with plenty of ease, allowing me to wear heavy clothing under it.  But I’m making the length that corresponds to the smallest size since I am quite short.  (I think I am the right height, the rest of the world just disagrees.)  Today, I finished the back!

The colour in the picture is way off.  I’m using Elann’s Super Cable Aran in Aubergine, which is more brown-purple than the blue-purple above.  I think it is turning out wonderfully.  I’m being brave by making changes to the length and by shaping the shoulders with short rows rather than the bind off method called for in the pattern.  I hope it turns out well in the end.  If not, I guess I just chalk it up to a learning experience and cast on something else.

I’m also happy to report that I have already cast on for the left front, rather than casting on these lovely RPM socks from Knitty.  I’m trying to stay fairly monogamous to this project.  Well, by that I mean it is  my only knitting project, not my only project.  My goodness, I’d go crazy if that were the case.

And speaking of which, here is how Baby Man’s stocking is coming along.

I’m hoping to make progress on the bag tonight after doing my ironing. (Yes Mom, I never did get to it last night.  Oh well!)

Lastly, for those of you interested, Part 5 of Papillon Creations’ SAL Castles in the Air is avaliable.  I didn’t get the email, but I saw on one of the boards I frequent that it is out and I’ve downloaded it.  It is a lovely line of vases for above the peacocks.

One Back, Five More Pieces to Go is a post from Reflections in the Pond

Late again with my Totally Useless Stitch Along post.  No surprise, I guess.  Here is what it looks like this  month:

It has actually shrunk a little because I removed the half finished crocheted Cthulhu.  I’ve decided I’m going to give him another try.  Although, oddly, the jar seems to have eaten one of his arms.  So, I need to do his tentacles and another arm now.  New things in the jar include a package for Mill Hill treasures from the Christmas ornament I finished recently, a yarn label from my newest knitting project, and a whole bunch of floss and yarn from all the projects I worked on this month and already shared with you.

If you would  like to learn more about the TUSAL, you can do so at the blog Dragon My Needle in this post.

What is my new project, you might be wondering.  Well, it is Interweave’s Central Park Hoodie, knit using Elann’s Super Cable Aran, a 100% cotton yarn.  (If you are wondering what it is like, think Super 10/Butterfly/Papillion but slightly thicker.)  I chose a very dark purple called Aubergine, which I hope will be a nice change from the blacks and greys I usually turn to in the colder months.  So far I have the ribbing for the back done.  My goal is to keep up with the KAL that Interweave is currently hosting, which means that the hoodie should be done by Halloween.

I’m also working away on Baby Man’s stocking.  Santa now has feet!  I worked on it a bit more after I took this picture yesterday, so his staff is now done, and I’ve started on the drum that will rest on this hip.  This man actually be done before Christmas Eve.

That’s it for today!  Tomorrow I’ll share with a list of all the projects I’ve worked on for the past seven days.  Sure proof that I have an attention span shorter than even Baby Man’s, and he’s only a year and a half old!

August TUSAL, Santa and Something New is a post from Reflections in the Pond