Christmas Sewing...I know It's a Bit Late But...

I've been really having a lot of fun this past month or so.  I have been in creative mode and have gotten quite a few projects crossed off my "To Do" list.  I have so much stuff that it's gonna take three or four posts with lots of pics just to show it all.  :)

I decided that I would start with stuff I specifically made for Christmas this year.  I finally convinced everyone that we really needed new Christmas stockings (seriously, I've been trying for years), so I was hectically sewing and knitting them two days before Christmas.  Gotta love those last minute projects.  :)

 I made two of these.  One for Al and one for Alex's girlfriend.

 

This is Alex's "Nightmare Before Christmas" stocking.

 Scott wanted a knitted blue and white striped stocking.  Because he wanted it knitted, I didn't get this one done until a few days after Christmas.

This is Hannah's Stocking.

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 And this is mine.  This one didn't get done until after Christmas either.

I also finally decided how to decorate the plain Jane Christmas tree skirt that my mom gave me years ago (with the expectation that I would decorate it with pretty things.  Better late than never, huh?)  I hand embroidered fun felt ornaments on the tree skirt.  When I look at it in the photo, I'm still not sure it's completely done, but it's done for this year.  :)

Her are a few close ups of the ornaments.

I have lots more stuff to share--embroidery, sewing, knitting, jewelry, Barbie clothes (yeah, you read it right, it's my latest fun distraction)--so keep checking back.  :)

Ahhh...New Year, New Yarn, New Sweater

Well, the new sweater part might be a stretch since I get bored with knitting very easily and put it down to do other things too often.  But, it is January still, so I'm gonna think positively and set a goal to knit a little each night when I watch tv.  Who knows?  I might get a whole sweater done this year--heck, maybe I can even finish the socks I've had on the needles for a year and knit the hat I promised Hannah and finish spinning the superwash wool on the spinning wheel and fix the global economy and end world hunger and bring about world peace.  Hey, you never know, stranger things have happened.  :)

On to the details.  The sweater is  a Berroco design called "Ditto"  I may do a few mods on the pattern.  First, I like the short sleeves but I will probably make long sleeves since I don't like being cold, and second, after seeing my friend's "Ditto" sweater, I know I want to do something with the neckline because it's too stretchy.  I'm not sure what I'm doing yet--maybe I'll knit an extra inch or so and turn it under for a neckband.  I'll leave that decision for later on in the sweater-making process.

I'm making it out of  a yarn called "Amity" by Ella Rae which is 75% acrylic and 25% wool.  So far, I like knitting with it.  It's not a yarn I'd ever heard of before but WEBS had a great sale on it so I thought I'd try it.  So far, I've knit 2" of ribbing on the body so I have a loooooooooong way to go, and there is a lot of plain stockinette stitch ahead of me (snooze) before I get to the interesting part, which is the yoke.  I hope my magpie brain doesn't get distracted by a different, shiny, glittery project before I get to the fun part.

A Very Melissa Lace Project

Last week, on my birthday, I decided to get my bod out of the house and go do something fun.  So I headed up to Silverdale (which some might consider idiotic instead of fun since it's so close to Christmas time) to dink around doing some shopping.  My first stop was at the local knitting shop where I ran across this book.

I fell in love.  The whole concept behind the book is freeform lace knitting.  The author gives several basic shapes usually used when knitting shawls (i.e. triangle, square, rectangle, circle) and shows the pattern for creating that shape and then gives ideas for knitting the fill-in lace without slavishly following a pattern.  What you do with the lace is entirely up to you.  You can take various lace stitch patterns and place them where you want or you can totally wing it and just put yarn-overs and decreases where you want.  The only "rules" are to pair each yarn-over with a decrease and, if you're doing a shape like a triangle that has symmetrical shaping on each side of the center, to count the stitches on each side of center every few rows to make sure they stay symmetrical.  Sounds like my kind of lace knitting!  So, since I had some lace weight merino and mohair yarn that I'd just finished ripping out from another project, I just had to try my hand at making random lace. 

 

It's hard to really see the lace "design" because it's not blocked but I love the process of knitting it!  No making mistakes and having to rip out rows and rows of knitting.  No having to stop every few minutes to find your place on the pattern chart.  It's definitely not a technique that everyone will love--the gals at my knitting group were all looking at me like I was nuts when I showed them last night--but it's definitely the right fit for my personality.  :)

Fort Worden...or What I Did Last Weekend

Every year in early November, I usually go up with some of the ladies in my knitting group for a knitting retreat at Fort Worden State Park.  It's a time to get away from everyday life for a while and just spend the weekend knitting and relaxing.  Of course I wanted to take my spinning wheel up with me and I was determined to dig out something new to spin, so that meant I had to get off my butt get busy and finish what I had on the wheel and ply it.

I had some wool pencil roving that I'd had on my wheel for...well, let's just say it was on there a lot longer than it should have been and leave it at that.  Anyway, I finished spinning the last bobbin and then took the three bobbins I had and plyed them together to make a worsted weight yarn.  Whoo hoo for finished projects!  Now I just have to figure out what to make with it.  :)


The night before I left, I went totally insane spent a lot of time deciding what to bring with me.  Way too many things I want to do, not enough time to do them and way, way too much mindf***ing overthinking them.  Good thing I only had to choose from the fiber and yarn I left unpacked during the studio remodel.  Otherwise my brain might have spontaneously exploded.   

I finally did make my choices and brought just a few things to work on. It was a pretty productive weekend for me--I didn't have to frog anything, I finished 2 of the 4 projects I brought to work on, started a 3rd, and kept my sanity (well, that's debatable) despite being sick with a cold and suffering from a severe lack of sleep.

I got a full bobbin of lace weight singles spun from some yarn I dyed with Wilton food coloring a few years ago.  The hat is from yarn I bought last year after retreat, and the green is yarn I've had lying around for a looooooonnnnng time that's finally being slowly turned into a lovely warm cowl that I can put on my neck or around my shoulders this winter when I get cold.  Maybe I should say hopefully this winter.  As you've probably figured out, I'm a little slow to get things finished.  :)

Of course, the whole weekend wasn't spent just knitting and spinning.  Friday was spent shopping at fun shops in Sequim and Port Townsend.  I didn't spend that much on knitting and spinning stuff but I did indulge in some french-milled soaps and lotion and a new cookbook.  Can't wait to try some of the recipes out on my besties!

Yum!

I did have to buy this sock yarn.  Earlier this fall, I went to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival and bought the bright, happy spinning fiber at the back of this photo so when I found sock yarn to match, well...how could I resist?