Create Every Day cross stitch

My recent crafty creation is the fully finish of my Create Every Day cross stitch piece.    This is a freebie pattern designed by Teresa Kogut and can be found on her website here or also on the Fat Quarter Shop website here.

 

I stitched this design in 2020, set it aside, and last month finally had an idea on how to finish it.  The finishing piece is a wooden hanging plaque from Michaels that I painted using Folk Art wicker white acrylic paint.  I covered the plaque backing piece with fabric called Spools Allover Blue, from the Sew Little Time collection by Danielle Leone (Wilmington Prints).  I fused a piece of interfacing behind the stitching, backed it with a piece of chipboard and laced it up before gluing to the plaque.  Other details:

Fabric

14 count white Aida

Floss 

words - Sullivans 45226 (similar to DMC 825) (Note: lots of stitches-used almost the whole skein)

needle - Sullivans 45090 (similar to DMC 414)

thread details - Sulky petite 12 wt. blendable color 4030

Happy creating!

 

Sweet Summer cross stitch (Cherry Hill Stitchery)

Well, summer may be winding down but it was time for me to fully finish a cross stitch project I completed last September.  It's the Sweet Summer pattern by Cherry Hill Stitchery. 

The easy part of the process was picking a wall decor sign from my supply collection to use as the display piece, and painting it white.  However, it took me many days to decide on the materials and layout for this finish.  I auditioned several different fabric options for the backdrop and didn't like any at all so I thought well let me look through my collection of scrapbook paper.  Well that was it!  I found two pieces of coordinating paper by My Mind's Eye that complimented the colors in the stitched piece!  I cut the green polka dot paper for the bottom layer and the coral colored polka dot for the top paper layer.  After those were adhered to the sign base, I was then able to complete a final layout with added embellishments to display this project!  Following are the details of the supplies used.

Cross stitch fabric: 14 ct. Beautiful Beige Aida cloth

Floss:

Sullivans 45339 (substitution for CC Ladybug)

Sullivans 45279 (substitution for Steamed Broccoli)

Sullivans 45002 (substitution for DMC B5200)

DMC 729

DMC 310 

Other:

wall decor sign

white acrylic paint

rick rack

My Mind's Eye patterned paper

ribbon

Happy finishing!

 

A little bit of Spring

 

To add a little bit of Spring indoors, I stitched the letters from the design Spring Freebie by Little Stitch Girl.  The size of the finished stitched piece measures 6 1/8" tall by 2 3/4" wide.  I added a strip of batting behind the stitching and adhered the two layers to a piece of chipboard.  I used the crop-a-dile corner chomper tool to round the edges of the chipboard pieces to make it easier to wrap the fabric.  I added white rick rack that I colored using Copic marker Y13, color name Lemon Yellow, behind the stitched panel.  I was happy to find use for some crafty items that have been sitting on my shelf of craft supplies.  I pulled some Prima flowers and floral brads (used for the flower centers) that closely matched the thread colors.  The flowers and finished stitched piece was adhered to a piece of chipboard that I covered with fabric.  To add a bit more embellishment, I adhered a ribbon bow to the top of the stitched panel

Cross Stitch Supplies

Fabric:  14 count white Aida cloth

Floss:

Sullivans 45338 (equivalent to DMC 3326) - used for letter S

Sullivans 45172 (equivalent to DMC 727) - used for letter P

DMC 3348 - used for letter R

Sullivans 45468 (equivalent to DMC 153) - used for letter I

DMC 3825 - used for letter N

DMC 598 - used for letter G

 

 

 

 

Knitting project - Goldenrod towel

Last year some time, Lion Brand was having a sale and I purchased yarn of various fiber content to try out.  One skein that I bought was a Touch of Linen, which is part of the Touch of Luxe yarn collection, in the color stone.  This is a plied yarn and can split but I was careful to make sure the needle was inserted under all plies of the stitch.  It's made of 51% cotton and 49% linen and feels nice and soft.

I read somewhere that linen is absorbent and dries faster than cotton so I thought knitting a small hand towel would be a good project and a way to get familiar with the yarn.  I had the pattern Goldenrod Towel in my craft file for quite a while and although it calls for Chenille yarn, I used the Touch of Linen yarn.

I started this project in January and worked on it as time allowed and finished it last week.  I used size 7 (4.5 mm) needles [made of bamboo] which is the suggested needle size listed on the yarn label.  I followed most of the pattern as written except I knit a shorter length of the body pattern stitches.  I knit approximately 13" of the body pattern before adding the ending border stitches.  The finished size of this project was approximately 19" long x 8 1/4"-8 1/2" wide.  I could tell the width was off a little in some areas of the length so my tension must have been off.  However, it still turned out nice and not too noticeable.

The knit fabric produced by this yarn feels nice to the skin and I now want to try knitting my first garment with it.  So with that idea, I decided to experiment and try the blocking technique to see how the yarn would react.  I soaked the towel for about 20 minutes, squeezed out the water and set it out as evenly as I could and pinned to the blocking boards to dry overnight.  The dried size was approximately 18" long x 9 1/2"-9 3/4" wide.  After that, I took it a step further and machine washed and dried the towel.  Always double check the yarn label for directions.  The Touch of Linen yarn is machine washable and indicates to lay items flat to dry.  Since I'm experimenting and this project is a hand towel (a machine wash and dry kind of item), I wanted to see the effects of machine drying the yarn.  Well, the towel may have shrunk a little more but is still soft and looks fine after its first machine wash and dry cycle!  The final finished size is about 16" long x 9"-9 1/2" wide.      

Mittens - easy/flat knitting

With it being the winter season and although it has been mild, I wanted to make something warm and cozy.  When I saw this video, How to Knit Mittens on the channel americanknitter, I decided knitting my first pair of mittens would be the project!

I started the project on Dec 26, 2022 and I finished it on Jan 22, 2023.  I'm stash busting and used more of the Red Heart super saver yarn in the color soft navy.  The pattern calls for two needle sizes and I used US 8 (5.0 mm) and US 10 (6.0 mm).  The mittens are knit flat and seamed together so it's quite a quick and easy project to create!

Happy knitting!

 

 

 

 

Yarn pumpkins and acorns

Over the last several months I had been admiring pictures of various Autumn decor items and recently made these knit and crochet pumpkins and acorns.  In the picture, the knit items are on the left and crochet on the right.

 

Pumpkins:  I watched multiple crochet pumpkin videos and winged it using a few techniques from those videos to make my own version (I chained 21 and used a half double crochet stitch).  After I finished it, I was very motivated and I searched for a knit pumpkin pattern.  I found this pumpkin pattern by Studio Knit and followed the instructions for the medium size.  The circumference of the pumpkins are approximately 16" for the crochet and 15" for the knit and a height of about 5-5 1/2".  For the stem of the knit pumpkin, I knit two 5 stitch I-cords and sewed together for a bit more thickness.  I used Lily Sugar'n Cream yarn in the colors hot orange and warm brown.  I added a bow made from a piece of the Lily Sugar'n Cream ecru yarn to bring in the color from the acorns. 

Acorns: Even more motivated I thought a few acorns would be fun to add to the collection.  I followed the Little Acorn Crochet Pattern video by Jayda in Stitches and the How to Knit Acorns video by Studio Knit. Also, instead of adding a hanging string on the crochet acorn, I finished the top just like the knit acorn.  The finished acorn sizes are 2" (crochet) and 3" (knit).  I used Lily Sugar'n Cream yarn in the colors ecru and warm brown.

Happy crafting!

Autumn cross stitch

My latest fully finished cross stitch project is the freebie Autumn cross stitch pattern by Tiny Modernist.  I stitched this up last year and put it away until I could figure out what to do with it.  I initially wanted to finish it on a wooden pumpkin piece but it was just a tad too large.  So, the next best finish was to make it into a pillow.  

 

Here are the details:

Cross stitch fabric:  14 ct. off-white Aida cloth

Pillow size:  approx. 6 1/2" x 7"

Cotton trim: orange rick rack (from Sew Vintagely)

Pillow fabric:  Adel in Autumn collection by Sandy Gervais for Riley Blake Designs

    front fabric panel:  SKU #C10824 (chocolate)

    backing fabric:  SKU# C10822 (chocolate) 

Floss:  DMC 729 & 720; Sullivans 45170, 45242 & 45268

 Happy stitching!