So far half good

Progress on the felt ornaments.  Here are the felt pieces with the freezer paper ironed on one side.

Felt and freezer paper

This was really easy to do.  The iron was on a medium setting (permanent press without steam on my iron).  Just keep the iron moving and made sure the steam is turned off.  I drew right on the paper and cut the shapes out with regular scissors.

Paper side up

 These are the two ornaments that I finished and I realize my embroidery skills aren’t the greatest.  I’m not very happy with the tree.  I was going for snow-covered branch tips and I think they look like cow udders or something else.  It’s a bit too busy.  You can also see the other shapes I have cut out so far.

Two down, many more to go

Here’s a close-up.  The colors are deeper but I took what light I could get.  There’s a little bit of fiber-fill between the pieces to give them some depth.  I remembered to insert the ribbon to hang it before I did the blanket stitch all the way around.

Two done, many more to go

Another close-up of reverse side tis time.  Those are tiny star sequins on the tree.

Reverse

I’m not sure how much I will get done tonight.  I still have the Musica mitts to finish.  I did make another Spud and Chloe hat last evening.  I must say that pattern is so quick and easy.  I knit it in less than two hours using stash yarn.  I still have the crochet edge and I-cords to do but those are relatively quick and easy, too.

What I want for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I hope I’m not too late with my Christmas wish list:

  1. Double point needle organization/storage roll.
  2. 14 inch needle storage roll.  The one I made years ago just doesn’t hold enough needles and I didn’t make the slots big enough.
  3. Circular needle storage case.  I don’t have many circular needles but they need to be someplace other than a clear zip bag.
  4. Professional organizer to organize my various craft, sewing, knitting, yarn, needlework, beading, polymer clay, and painting supplies and patterns.  (And if there’s time, my closet.)
  5. Cleaning person.  I have more important things to do than scrub the bathroom, iron, vacuum, dust, blah, blah, blah.
  6. Craft room designer and contractor to design and construct a craft room in my basement so #3 can do their job.  I have the money set aside.  I just need the plans and the person to make it all happen.

I have been good (enough) this year.

Thank you.

Winging it

I started making a soaker on my business trip to Philadelphia at the end of September.  I knit on the train and in my hotel room and used elements from two different patterns: Curly Purly Soakers and Das Monster Pants.

It had been two and a half months since I looked at the patterns and knitting and I had no idea where I was.  My notes were almost worthless.  So I’m winging it.

Pictures later…

Another sucessful day

I woke up early this morning and decided to get some knitting done before things got too hectic.

Dr. Professor’s seamless slippers were packaged up ready to go to the  post office.

I decided to try knitting the strap for the Spud and Chloe hats using a smaller needle to make the stitching tighter.  That worked out much better.  I found some buttons in my stash but they were brass and didn’t look right with the silvery taupe yarn in the hats.  So I sprayed them with some silver spray paint.  Did I take before pictures?  No.  But you can see the back of the button and the original color.

Brass to silver buttons

Here’s a comparison on the two straps.  The original on is on the left and the tighter knit one on the right.  I think it looks better and has more substance.

original strap

Tighter knit

I also wove in the ends on the mittens.  Next on the list: Soakers.  these don’t HAVE to be finished by December 10 but I’d like them to be.  Stay tuned for more updates…