March, 2016

Gateway Craft

By Kathleen On March 19, 2016 0 cross stitch, organizing, WIP

I think a lot of people are multicraftual-they know and practice more than 2 or 3 crafts. In no particular order I cross stitch, knit, crochet, embroider, tat, and sew (nothing major, easy stuff and repairs).

But every crafter started with that One Craft, the one that got them head first into making things with their hands, doing something relaxing and fun, then enjoying the finished piece, whether it is useful or just hangs on the wall/tree/child/etc.

Cross stitch was my gateway craft. I learned from my brother’s friend way back when I was 13 or 14. I’m 36 now, so that’s 20+ years of cross stitching!! woohoo! I’ve learned so much and messed up a lot and I’m still stitching. I learned to crochet and knit in 2008. I’ve embroidered since Jr High (did anyone else take Home Ec? I loved that class) and taught myself to tat in 2012. I think I need to learn a new craft every year or two gotta stay sharp! If only I had eight arms…I could do all of them at once. ;-)

Anyway, I mention cross stitch because it’s my favorite of the crafts, and as such, I have a lot of WIPs and starts laying around. Last year I dedicated time to finishing up yarny projects and I’m happy to say I got it down from 30+ open projects (oof) to under 12. I finished all but one gift that was promised, and that one is coming along just fine. I had a hard time last year-I got really stressed out and my anxiety went through the roof. Crafting usually helped me before but I was so tense, I started lots of projects in 2015, thinking how fun they would be and how fun it is to start something, but then I’d get busy or run out of steam, and never finish them. That would add to the anxiety and I would hear the old “you can’t even finish what you start” nonsense my panic monster loves to talk about.

Well I showed her! Check out my ravelry page to see how much I finished/frogged if you want. So now I’m back to knitting and crocheting for fun, not as a frantic exercise to relax.

And back to the point: this year I’m working through those cross stiches! I collected so many patterns and kits, and then I had a hint of mortality and realized I might not have time to finish them, even if I live to 100, lol. So I gave a way a lot of patterns, a few kits, to make room for the ones I want to do. I have about 10 unfinished objects/projects (UFOs). One is a gift for my folks, but there’s no rush on that. I try to finish gifts first. This one is definitely getting done this year, hell or high water.

Time for pictures! I organized everything into two places: storage for patterns and kits to be done later and a nice project bag for the UFOs.

Picture dump ahead! Hard hats on!

This bag was originally for scrapbooking and works very well for all my patterns and supplies and stuff. The little box is a fake book I picked up somewhere. I added a magnet to the inside so it stays closed better. It’s easy to put in my bag for trips and can hold more than one project.

Doctor Who sampler SAL with Penny. DMC thread from stash, pattern and fabric from etsy-I'll list links at the end of the post. — Doctor Who sampler SAL with Penny. DMC thread from stash, pattern and fabric from etsy-I’ll list links at the end of the post.

IMG_20160305_120335 — Mighty Samurai kit by Dimensions. This was the first “epic” kit I ever bought, who knows how long ago…

IMG_20160305_120039 — Snooze stamped x stitch kit by Dimensions

Masquerade by Ink Circles. DMC thread-I can't find the original pattern... — Masquerade by Ink Circles. DMC thread-I can’t find the original pattern…

Man's Best Friend kit by Dimensions-this is the gift for my folks. I can't resist labradors! — Man’s Best Friend kit by Dimensions-this is the gift for my folks. I can’t resist labradors!

Artista Halloween kit. I'm using a bright blue from Garibaldi's Needleworks. Life's too short to stitch the entire black background! Blue will look very nice, methinks. — Artista Halloween kit. I’m using a bright blue from Garibaldi’s Needleworks instead of the included white fabric. Life’s too short to stitch that entire black background! Blue will look very nice, methinks.

These are all the projects I'd like to do eventually. — These are all the projects I’d like to do eventually. Not shown are my new Victorian houses patterns I bought on a whim. They should come in the mail soon.

I’ve been posting about Yei, here is my latest progress!

I have Yei in my roll up bag. Once I finish it I’ll put the Jack (pumpkin) kit in there for my next finish. Yei doesn’t have any backstitch and Jack has very little, making them a lot faster to finish!

All those pictures. Those are just the big ones-I didn’t count all the wee little stitches, Satsuma Street, Debbie Patrick’s Winchester House and San Francisco Rowhouse and other patterns I want to do someday!

Hi, my name’s Kat, and I have a cross stitch obsession.

I love it.

P.S. Links:

Chicago and Tokyo

Winchester House

Row Houses

Garibaldi’s Needleworks

Sampler in Time

Masquerade by Ink Circles

P.P.S. I hope you like the blog so far! I’ve had fun writing it. Go forth and craft today!!

WIP Wednesday (barely)

By Kathleen On March 16, 2016 0 cross stitch, life at home, out and about, WIP

It’s still Wednesday! I didn’t miss the post!

We went to Angel Fire for a 1.5 days over the weekend with an old friend. I didn’t get a lot of pictures, we mostly sat around, and it was great to slow down for awhile!

I crocheted a lot in the car! It’s nice not to have to drive sometimes.

The mountains were simply gorgeous. I could have stayed there forever. I took these pics on Sunday morning, quite early, somewhere around 5am. My guys and I just happened to all get up then. I’m secretly glad I did.

IMG_20160313_072433 — It snowed the night before!

Still chugging along. About halfway through this colorway. I hope it fits…

I'm reading Crimson Shore by Preston & Child. Good stuff! — I’m reading Crimson Shore by Preston & Child. Good stuff!

I got a few minutes tonight to stitch on the Yei, too. Pretty chuffed at how fast this one is going, even with everything else going on. :)

But as these things go, now that I have time to sit and stitch, I’m running out of juice. A few more minutes stitching, then off to bed, where I’ll read until I fall asleep. I hope I don’t bonk myself in the face with the book…again…

;)

WIP Wednesday

By Kathleen On March 9, 2016 0 cross stitch, kids, out and about, WIP

It’s a busy week already, haven’t stitched much, but I did get to sit and stitch at a birthday party last Sunday. I got to stitch and watch a gaggle of 8 year olds bowl. It was a lot of fun. We had pizza and cake and he spent most of his quarters on the big bubble gum machine, the one with the spiral slide the gumball comes down.

Good times.

(On the yarn front, the vest still looks like ribbon candy. I only have two more rows until shaping.)

WIP Wednesday

By Kathleen On March 2, 2016 0 kids, Pattern, WIP

So my youngest got sick, then I got strep throat (ugh!!), and now my oldest has strep. Luckily we caught it early and he is doing just fine.

So I haven’t done much besides rest and read and drink lots of water, lol. I finally got into my hoodie vest again! I’m using up stash yarn and hoping this comes out-I love the pattern.

I checked and rechecked and double checked the yardage, the swatch, everything. I originally cast on for the Large size (325 stitches! Whew!) But saw that it was going to be too big. The yarn makes a nice drapey fabric that stretches a little, so I frogged back to the foundation row and cast on again, this time 305 stitches. That saved me 5 extra inches.

Not much to see on progress but I’m 5 rows in. Seven more rows and I can start shaping.

Admittedly, this is one of those projects that’s not super interesting to watch grow but I’m seeing vests everywhere lately (we’ve had some amazing warm breezy days) and I’m excited to make one for me!

Here’s the pic:

Circulo Yarns - Anne, G hook — Circulo Yarns – Anne, G hook

It reminds me of ribbon candy.

Bonus cat tummy in the back ground there. ;)