Updated Mary, LLL and Crochet news

So I've been busy reading and stitching. Here's my Mary:

My other current WIP La di Da's Live Love Laugh. Love this piece although I'm getting a bit wishy washy on my color selections.. thinkin a bit of red might have been a good idea... I subbed the white for the red and it's looking to be a bit much to me. The green and blue were original to the pattern, but i modified the shades to go with the tones of the hand dyed linen I'm using.




Now I've always wanted to knit, particularly to knit socks. I'm not sure why, but it really appeals to me on a deep level. I've crocheted since I was a little kid, but knitting always eluded me. I've had people try to teach me, and I can do it, slowly, but I feel awkward and clumsy at it while I can crochet fast and barely paying attention. So my super stitching buddy (who knows how to knit) and I decided to try it together. She took to it like crazy and whipped out her first pair of socks ever:


Aren't they cute? I unfortunately, am a doomed knitter. How do people do it when they have little kids? My toddlers took turns destroying any progress I made, pulling my needles out, unraveling, even bending my double ended needles to look like parenthesis! So I've bought all this sock yarn, I've longed for the comfy warmth of knitted socks, I've ached to make them myself but I'm coming to terms with the fact that it just might not be in the cards for me. I did pick up a book at the knitting and yarn show on crocheted socks and I'm attempting that now... I will update you if it works out! Another thing I picked up at the yarn show is a pattern for a crocheted stuffed bear.. I've already made two of them! They are super easy and quick to make.. probably only about 4 hours of crochet. I got the pattern from this organization called The Mother Bear Project. It's a charity organization that sends hand knitted or crocheted bears to Africa for children orphaned by Aids. What a sweet idea! Next time I will post more and a pic. Happy stitches!

Quick little Finish

Ohh the moment I saw this pattern I had to do it! This is called Sherbet Flake by one of my favorite designers; Ink Circles. It was in the latest issue of Gift of Stitching ornament issue. (get it here: http://www.thegiftofstitching.com) I didn't have the recommended orange fabric so I subbed a soft green instead, but I think it turned out beautiful anyway!

Some Goodies, Mary Wigham, and a FINISH!

So Much to update you on! First a few goodies - My super talented best stitching buddy made me a beautiful housewarming gift and gave it to me Months ago. So long ago and I neglected to post anything about it! So here it is, a beautiful house:

Not sure who it's by, but I will update when I ask her. She also recently made this GORGEOUS Quilt for my baby girl's first birthday! I'm so amazed by her and her talents! I have tried quilting and while I love applique and building the blocks, the rest of it overwhelms me. Here is a pic of Gracie on her b-day quilt. She loves it as you can tell by the grin!


In my own stitching news I FINALLY have a finish! Yay! This is an old UFO from a few Octobers past; Vinnie VonFang by Lizzie Kate. I stitched him (appropriately enough) on a lovely Lugana by Blended Needle called Moonlight! It's a bit greener than it's showing up in the pic.

Since I've been working on Vinnie I haven't gotten far on Mary Wigham. I did manage to do her name in over one - but in hind sight I wouldn't do that again. I don't want to be a whiner, but I am really struggling with this piece. First I chose a horrid fabric. It's a 36 count linen which is really uneven in it's threads and makes it hard to count. I've already had to frog quite a bit because I got one stitch over three instead of over two. Not helping that is the fact that the pattern is based on a sampler that Mary Wigham started when she was 9 years old. As you can imagine, there are errors which are built into the pattern, but I didn't realize that would be so difficult for me, mentally. I guess my brain wants the hexagons to be even, and so far, most of them aren't. I count each side over and over, thinking that it will even out or I made an error in counting, but still the sides will be one or two stitches off. My brain has a problem with that I guess! LOL!

Anyway, This combination of unbalanced patterns and bad fabric choice led to a small disaster - the frame of latest motif ended up one thread off somewhere, but I can't for the life of me see where! I just left it and started on the bird in the middle. Hopefully my mistake will become clear at some point because I cannot imagine leaving it like that. I am NOT a perfectionist and I have occasionally left errors in my stitching, but I think this error will bug me and make this piece less of an enjoyment for me. Silly maybe, but true. My stitching buddy is doing Mary Wigham as well and is screaming right along with hers. I will post a pic next time she comes over and you will see how much further along she is! I love looking at hers and it keeps me motivated to work on mine despite the frustration. At least I've got Vinnie done and can finish him for Halloween! Happy Stitches!

Upddate Pics!

Sorry about the long absence! Unpacked from the move, things are settled and I'm back on track now. My best friend and I have been motivating and encouraging each other and I have been stitching! Honestly, with 4 kids, I need a little serenity in my life and I've found that if I have time to work on my stitching amidst all the chaos, I am calmer and happier! She and I are meeting nearly every Tuesday to stitch together and gab. I love having a regular stitch time and of course it doesn't hurt that it's with someone I love spending time with! Yay!
Here are some pics!


Here is an update on Growth Rings. I'm afraid I haven't really done much on this one...I still love it and will probably go back to it next month.


I've pulled out an old UFO for halloween. Vinnie Von Fang from Lizzie Kate. This is an old kit that I started 4 or 5 halloweens ago. I never remember about it until this time of year and so I hardly work on it. But here it is and I'm determined to get at least his pants and cape done before this halloween!




I've done a bit more on my La Di Da piece. I'm really loving this one and the colors make it pop for me. I can't wait to see this hanging on the wall!



Last but certainly not least is Mary Wigham. My BFF and I are stitching this together! She's a much faster stitcher than I am, but here are our respective pics!
She started in the upper left corner, but I started in the middle so they look different! She is a super talented stitcher and she even made us these chic q-snap covers! Wahoo!

updates and 2 new starts

I haven't posted for a long time because of the move. The family has settled in and I have set up my special little stitchy spot. It's comfy, has great light during the day and my ott light during the night. A perfect table nearby for my cuppa and my stitching frame. I love it!

So despite the move I have been stitching and had a bit of stash enhancement. One thing I got was the new pattern by La De Da designs; live laugh love, which is one of my new starts. Of course, I changed it up, this time pretty dramatically. I'm stitching it on a bit of hand dyed linen from silkweavers and the deep blue just called for a bit of color change in the pattern. I'm using different shades of dark blue and green and subbed white for the dark red


I've also been working on Growth rings, adding in the second color - I really like how it's blending and complimenting the first color.


My BSB (Best Stitchy Buddy) and I have had several late night stitchy sessions and now that schools back in we'll have a bunch of time during the day and I am so excited! We are working like mad to prepare ourselves for our first ever SAL. We are going to be starting the Mary Wigham sampler together. This is a BIG project for both of us, but we thought we'd tackle it together and should be ready to start on the 1st of Sept. We are using the same fabric, but not the exact same threads, so it should be fun to see how they turn out. No updates on Alla Turka or my little sampler at this time, not because I haven't worked on them, but I have no pics right now, so I will update again next time. Happy stitches!

Alla Turka color update

I had a wonderful time on Saturday - I met with my stitching group and was able to stitch UNINTERUPTED from about 10 am to about 3:30 in the afternoon. BLiss! I worked a bit on Alla Turka and some on Growth rings. The little sampler has fallen by the way side for now, but when I'm done with June's portion of Alla Turka, I'll pick it back up. Here's an updated pic of Alla Turka with the new color accent added in. It really pops! I was so anxious that this color choice might melt into the background because the pinks are so similar, but it doesn't at all. The picture doesn't really do it justice, the brown is a rich chocolaty brown and the rosey pink is perfect with the fabric. What do you think?

updates

I have been stitching on my two current pieces: Here's updated pics.
This simple little sampler has been frog infested and I'm getting frustrated with it. I love the theme of it, but for some reason I keep having brain farts when I stitch it. LOL!
I have to say that I am LOVING growth rings so much! I can't wait to finish it
and start another Ink circles design! Its my piece of choice 90 percent of the time. My toddler boy is potty training so I have to drop whatever I'm doing about 50 times a day to rush him to the bathroom LOL, so this piece is easy to pick back up, get a few stitches into and then drop again if I need to.

In this pic I've put the threads I'm working with for the main circles and then the yellowish combo that I'm going to use as the accent color. What do you think of that combination? Thank you to everyone who gave me the advice on Alla Turka! I'm going with the pink - I've got the part 6 on it and I'm going to stitch that part and then go back and add all the pink touches to the first 6 parts. I'll post a pic when I do. My stitching group meets on June sixth and I'm clear to go. Even though that's soccer tournament weekend for the kiddos I lucked out and all our games are on SUNDAY! Yea!