Blocking For Christmas

The granddaughters' portraits are done and they turned out beautifully. In celebration I am finally getting around to blocking some snowflake portrait ornaments I made for our Christmas tree. They're the three with the empty centre of course. When they are dry I will copy and shrink one of the pictures so that it fits the frames.

The two larger things blocking there are just motifs from a table cloth I once started. That was years ago and there are still only two so I have decided that they will live on as miniature doilies instead. The smallest little piece on the lower left will be a simple snowflake for our Christmas tree.

While I had the pins out I decided to block a garland I had embellished. No room on the blocking board for this one. It's 18 feet long! I'm blocking it on the carpet in the hallway.

Sherwood Merino

100g of merino top from Aurelia Wool & Weaving spun into a 2 ply of about fingering weight. The colour is "Sherwood".


My plan is to eventually use the yarn as trim for a vest knit from this yarn.

Essential Dissapointment

Outrageous sock yarn failure!

My daughter knit these socks from "Knitpicks Essential" yarn (now renamed "Stroll Sock Yarn"). She has only worn them a few times. Each time she has worn them they have formed huge pilling masses like this within a few hours. By the end of the day she can pull an entire wad of loose fibre from the bottom of her sock.

What a heartbreaking failure! They were nice socks.

Garter Raglan Yoke

Progress on the "Juliet" cardigan. I've completed the yoke shaping and cast off for the underarms. It's fitting perfectly so far.

I plan to knit another 4.5" of garter stitch before beginning the lace section.

Spindle Spun Laceweight

Not sure what this will become, likely something from one of my lace books, but until I get a few other projects finished up around here it will have to mellow in my "stash".


50/50 Silk/merino, 2 ply, fine laceweight. 2 singles from different but related Fleece Artist colourways spun separately on my spindle and then plied together using my wheel.

With Time To Spare

It's finished! It took most of the year, off and on, but I managed to get my granddaughter Kenzie's stocking done with two weeks to spare. That sewing project I mentioned yesterday? Well, that was the liner.

The Mary Maxim felt stocking kits do not include a liner, nor do they suggest making one, but anything that takes this much work needs a lining! A removable liner keeps the fuzz off the candy and the elaborate outer stocking safely tucked away while the toddler is free to drag around their haul in the washable, drawstring, inner liner.


Sorry about the sideways orientation of this next picture. Blogger just will not leave it upright no matter how many times I correct it in my camera program. Anyway, from top. . . . . .


. . . . . . to bottom, inside and out, it's all done now. *Whew*


Edited to add: Just noticed that there was still a small sewing pin stuck in the upper end of Frosty's scarf. That's now been safely removed! The new fringe was a last minute addition. The original fringe was rather fragile and wore away bit by bit while I was working on the rest of the stocking. It's nicely repaired now but I think it will always be a weak spot prone to wear and may disintegrate as the years go by.

Ready For Baking

I went on a sewing spree today and finished up two small projects. I've been planning this first one for a while. In fact, the pieces have all been cut out since the day after I purchased the fabric. . . . . .which was at least a month ago.

It's a toddler sized apron for a little Chef that I hope will assist me with my Christmas baking. Sometime around the first of December you might just see a picture of the apron modelled and "in action".

The second item I sewed today will be the subject of tomorrow's post. I'll give you a hint: It's the final step of a project I've been working on sporadically throughout the year.

Romney

1 pound of Romney 3ply, approximately worsted weight, spun from top won as a door prize at a local spinning day.

I know many spinners prefer spinning coloured wool, especially some of the pretty and varied hand-painted ones, but I dunno, there is something about a nice plain, squishy, soft wool that I just love.

And besides, just think of the potential. It's like a blank canvas just waiting for further creativity! I can leave it plain like this, dye it a solid colour, have fun doing the hand-painting myself, or perhaps even dye the finished knitting or weaving when I am through. Such potential!

Cardi-fession

I have a confession to make; work on the ultra fine gauge Perseverance Cardigan has come to a grinding halt while I get in some quick gratification.

This will also be a cardigan, also for me, but this time done top down with worsted weight yarn on much larger needles. It will be the longer version of "Juliet".

From the Same Batch

A week ago I showed you the fingerless mitts I made from handspun. I still had a lot of that particular batch of spinning left so I also made this:

It's a cowl based on the Spiral Cowl pattern by Keri McKiernan. I made some important changes but the basic idea is the same. I cast on more stitches (150) so that it would be a bit longer. The pattern seemed a bit snug on some of the Ravelry members, more like a turtleneck, and I wanted it long enough to fold over.


I used the eyelet pattern and picot edge from Suzie's Reading Mitts, a pattern by Janell Masters, and left the centre area plain so that all the design features would match the mitts.

I still have a bit of this handspun left over......another Panta perhaps?