Yarn Along

I have been quite happily crocheting my Jaunty Jacket. I have finished the back and the right front and I have started the left front. 

This is such an easy project that it is working up quite quickly. I really hope this jacket turns out better than Mom's vest. If it does, I might just try to crochet Mom a vest. I think I could figure out a pattern on my own. I am really comfortable with my crochet skills.

I finally got the Kindle download of Shadow of Night: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy, Book 2) by Deborah Harkness. I am reading this book just as quickly as the first in the trilogy and I am enjoying it just as much. I just started it on Friday and I am more than halfway finished with it. It is an historical novel concerning witches, vampires and daemons. I know the subject matter might not appeal to some, but I have always loved reading novels about that kind of mysterious world. 

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. 

Thanks for stopping by!

February Break Crafting

Although the vagaries of life got in the way for a few days, I managed to get a fair amount of crafting done during this past week.

I have been mostly working on Large Cross-stitch #1. This is how it looked at the end of last week. 

Now I have filled in a wide variety of colors below the bridge.

 There is still almost half of a page to finish towards the bottom, but some of it is big swaths of one color. I am looking forward to getting to those parts.

I also started machine quilting my table runner. I was wavering between using beige or green thread for the quilting. Obviously I decided on the green. 

This is very easy stitching.....just following the diagonals of the blocks. For some reason I am bored by the stitching so I have left it behind right now. Silly really as it could be completed by now. Maybe I will go back to it on Sunday so that I can get to the binding. 

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are hand-stitching. I will probably work some more on my cross-stitch as well on Sunday seeing that is snowing here again today and is supposed to change to rain tomorrow. I might even pick up my crocheting also. Another good day to hibernate before going back to work on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Old and New Yarn Projects

Old yarn project:

Mom's vest is done. Unfortunately, despite all my hard work, it is pretty, but way too large. I will not be reworking it though. Mom can wear it around the house to keep warm. I really is a good color for her.

This yarn doesn't have enough substance to it, so it is not really holding its shape. Oh well. I think it will be a while before I tackle another knit garment. I did get a great deal on the buttons at JoAnn's....50% off plus a 20% off  coupon. 

Mom likes them because they are large enough for her to use. Her complaint with most store bought vests and sweaters are the tiny buttons.

New yarn project: 

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was crocheting a jacket. I am almost done with the back....just a few more rows.

The bright sunlight on the newest layer of snow outside has washed out the color of the yarn. All the cold weather and snow has allowed me to get a whole lot of crafting done so far this week. I am enjoying the hibernating.

What I haven't been doing is reading. Usually I will speed through a book during a school break, but I really wanted to make some crafting progress so I haven't chosen another book to start reading. I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow Saturday Stitching Progress

On the first day of my winter break, I made some progress on Large Cross-stitch #1. Here is my last update.

I can't believe that my last update was in November, but I got busy working on Christmas gifts and left this behind. Well I definitely can see a difference in just one day of stitching. 

I hope to get some Slow Sunday Stitching completed on this today. Given that it is bitterly cold and windy here on Long Island there should be plenty of time to stitch. We didn't get the predicted snow last night....thank goodness. All we have to do today is stay inside, keep warm and pray the electricity stays on.

I might decide to retreat to my basement and sit at the sewing machine to quilt my table runner. Then again, I bought the buttons to finish my mom's vest yesterday so maybe I will sew them on and finally have that finished. 

I am joining Kathy's Quilts for that Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Blocking and Buttons Needed

Monday's ice storm and resulting day off from school allowed me to finally finish knitting my mom's vest. Yay! All I need to do is weave in some ends, block it and sew on the buttons as soon as I buy them. I should be able to get to JoAnn's to buy the buttons next week during our winter vacation. 

Here is how the vest finally looks.

I was also able to work on my table runner. I cut out the backing and batting. I laid everything out and pinned it all together in preparation of machine quilting.

The picture above is true to the colors.

Hopefully I will be able to spend some time on next week's school vacation on my sewing machine. It would be so nice to have this finished.

I finished reading A Discovery of Witches: An All Souls Novel by Deborah Harkness over the weekend. I really liked this vampire/witch novel. I am impatiently waiting for the second novel of this trilogy to be available for loan on my Kindle. I have a hold on it. Once again my fellow bloggers have steered me in the right direction for new books to read. 

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Working with yarn on a snow day.

Monday was a snow day here on Long Island and in many other places. I decided to make some Chicken Soup to keep us warm.

I also sat down with a yummy cup of hot chocolate.....

and finally got back to my knitting.

I picked up the stitches for the collar on my mom's vest and knit a few rows.

 I am not very far yet as I needed to get some shoveling done too, but at least the hard part (picking up stitches and getting the first row knit) is done.

On our way to visit our daughter on Saturday I started Lion Brand's Jaunty Jacket. It is a free pattern on their website that uses Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I actually have to go buy a couple more skeins of this yarn, but I had made a scarf from it that was just to heavy and bulky to wear. I took it apart and looked for a pattern. The yarn is so variegated that I am not too worried about matching the dye-lot. I can always use the new skeins on the sleeves and collar. I am enjoying getting back to crochet.

I am joining Ginny's Yarn Along this week. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? As for reading, I am in the midst of A Discovery of Witches: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy, Book 1) by Deborah Harkness. I saw this book on another blogger's site and decided to try it when it was available for loan on my Kindle. I am having a hard time putting it down. It is quite an interesting read with witches, vampires and daemons. Yes, it is somewhat reminiscent of the Harry Potter and Twilight series, but I enjoyed them also.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Gifts

Friday was my daughter's 24th birthday. Much of the crafting I have been completing recently were gifts for her, thus I haven't been able to share them. Hubby and I visited her yesterday so today I can show you what I made.

I cross-stitched another apron. 

 This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but I ran out of time and I knew her birthday was close by. My daughter likes to have cupcakes instead of cake for her birthday. I think the middle one would appeal to her because she is a vanilla cake with vanilla icing kind of girl. 

This was a printed cross-stitch apron kit, but you had to supply your own floss. 

I really like the way it came out.

I also used that reflective yarn that I mentioned a few posts ago. I made her an ear-warmer with it.

It is black with a silvery reflective yarn. It is considered a bulky yarn. I hope she gets good use of it. I found the pattern here. It was super easy to crochet. I could have finished it in one night had I been really awake. As it is it took just two evenings to totally finish. I made the flower in the same bulky yarn instead of the worsted weight recommended.

I am joining Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching today. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I hope to get back to working on my mom's vest  my table runner and Large Cross-stitch #1 asap.
Thanks for stopping by!