Knit slippers - a Phentex pattern

I've had a skein of Red Heart super saver acrylic yarn, in the color soft navy, for quite some time and I only recall making one project out of it and I recently decided it's time to use it up!  I first attempted to make a wall hanging but didn't like how it was looking so I ripped it out.  I then pulled out my file of knit and crochet patterns, that I've collected over the years, and found the knit slipper pattern from Phentex.  I don't know how old this pattern is but I'm sure I've had it for more than 5 years; it was a freebie flyer on display at the craft store.  And here are the slippers.

 

 

The pattern sheet has two designs, a cuff and short version and I chose the latter.  It was an easy and quick project and I used size 8 knitting needles to knit them up last month.  I do question if there was an error in the beginning of the pattern but I just did what made sense which didn't matter in the design.  While it was an easy knit, the only part I didn't like was that for each slipper, you had to knit two pieces and sew together.  (It says make 2 pieces alike and me thinking, yes, two slippers so you're making two alike.  Uh no, each slipper has two pieces.)   I didn't want a seam on the bottom of the foot but oh well, it was a free pattern and a good practice project!   I will remember to read through a pattern first before starting!  

This is what remains of the skein and I will be looking for more ideas to use it up!

 Happy knitting!

 

    

Crochet amigurumi - Six and Nome of Little Nightmares

Even though I have basic crochet skills, I was up for the challenge when asked if I could make a character using a crochet amigurumi pattern.  I had seen crocheted toys before but never thought I could accomplish such a craft.  I purchased the pattern, Little Nightmares, from ElizettaCrafts, a shop on Etsy.  Oh my, the pattern includes two characters and has lots of pages which was a bit daunting, but I read through it and printed only a few to start and not get overwhelmed. 

Wow, I had to check back to see when I began this project and it was shortly after my purchase last February!  I started with the character Six who was crocheted in numerous parts including her hood, jacket and jacket accessories.  I paced myself and worked on her occasionally, and I did have to look up a few techniques (glad to have found some videos to use as a reference) but the instructions in the pattern are very good, it's just that this level of crocheting was new to me.  Well, I finally got her completed a few months ago and pleased to have this as an accomplishment; the recipient was happy to receive!  This is Six:

Also, I decided to crochet the second character, Nome, that was part of the pattern.  Yes, I was that confident, LOL!  It was a smaller character and less parts to crochet!  I worked on him occasionally for approximately a month or two and finally finished him last week.  The recipient was surprised (didn't know he was included in the pattern) and happy to add this character to his collection!  This is Nome:

 

  Six and Nome together:

 

Supplies for Six

Hook sizes - 4.00mm and 4.25mm

Yarn - Lily Sugar n' Cream in the colors yellow, soft ecru and black

 

Supplies for Nome

Hook size - 4.25mm

Yarn - Lily Sugar n' Cream in the color warm brown

 

Other supplies for both as included in instructions

Fiberfill

Plastic coated wire

 

There are some imperfections but I think they turned out cute!  Happy crocheting!

Birthday Wishes roses card

It's been a while since I've done any paper crafting but I made this card a few weeks ago.  Earlier in the summer, I decided to practice watercoloring and the perfect solution for me was to use an image out of the Simon Says Stamp Suzy's Flower Sentiments watercolor prints.  The images are printed on watercolor paper, come in a variety of themes and are about 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", great for card making.  This makes it a nice alternative to stamping an image onto watercolor paper which can be challenging due to the rough texture of it although, not impossible.  I colored this beautiful image using Fantasia watercolor pencils.  

I used two colors, a light and dark shade, both for the roses and the leaves.  After I used a wet paint brush to water down the pencil color, I did go back in to add more of the darker color for shading.  It may be hard to tell but that's why I'm practicing 😊!  

To turn the print into a card, I adhered a piece of light purple card stock to the back for a mat and applied that panel to a card based covered in a piece of printed art collage card stock by Die Cuts With a View.  I was going to leave it at that but it needed a little embellishment so I added the yellow ribbon and bow and some sparkle with a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen.  It's hard to capture the sparkle but I think it can be seen in this next picture.

 Happy crafting!

 

One Stitch at a Time

My latest fully finished cross stitch project is the One Stitch at a Time pattern by Tiny Modernist.  I completed the stitching in July and periodically I would think of finishing ideas and recently I finally came up with this clean and simple finish.

Here are the stitching supplies and  details:

Fabric - 16 ct. white Aida cloth

Finished stitched size - approx. 4" x 4"

Floss

Blues - Sullivans 45444 and 45442 (the DMC equivalents are 3846 and 3844)

Yellow - Sullivans 45171 (the DMC equivalent is 726)

Grays - Sullivans 45483 and 45089 (the DMC equivalents are 168 and 413)

Greens - DMC 906 and 907

Corals - Sullivans 45075 and 45076 (the DMC equivalents are 351 and 352)

Brown - Sullivans 45097 (the DMC equivalent is 436)

 

Finishing details:

 

I purchased an ArtMinds wood plaque from Michaels and painted the sides and part of the interior with Folk Art's Wicker White acrylic paint.  I measured, cut and adhered some blue fabric to the plaque interior for the backdrop to showcase the design.  I adhered the stitched design to a piece of chipboard and pondered on how to make it pop off the background.  I like the look of rick rack and also wanted to use cording so I looked through my supplies to see what would work.  I decided on some nice 100% cotton jumbo rick rack (purchased from Sew Vintagely on Etsy) and figured out the placement, glued it down to the background fabric and then adhered the stitched design on top.  Next, I considered either purchasing a tool to make cording or trying a DIY method.  Well, I referred back to this video by Lolly Palooza that I watched several months ago and using some yarn to practice, I was successful in producing some cording!  I wasn't sure what color to use for the cording and was thinking of using the 45442 floss but as I was looking through some of my supplies, I discovered I had some DMC Perle cotton size 5 in a complimentary color.  Well, I never realized there was a color number on the Perle floss and guess what? As I peeled off the label, I saw number 352.  Wow, no wonder it was a great match to a color I used, LOL!  Sullivans 45076 is equivalent to DMC 352!  So, with 4 strands of the Perle cotton, I made some cording and adhered it to the perimeter of the design; a nice addition to finish the look!

 

Happy stitching!

Halloween cross stitch - Hazel and Mitzi

Well a few more days and it will be Halloween!  I haven't crafted as much as I would have liked lately but, I did manage to fully finish two cross stitch patterns, Hazel and Mitzi, designed by Christi, Javagirl Stitches.  These designs are fun and quick and perfect if you like Halloween and need a break from a large project!

 

Hazel is dressed up in candy corn colors and Mitzi dressed up as a witch; nothing spooky but cute!  All DMC floss used and I did change a few colors on Hazel but kept Mitzi's colors as called for on the pattern.  They are both stitched on 14 ct Aida called Fronk by Seraphim Fabrics.

The pillows are approximately a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square.  I did iron on some interfacing behind the images as a layer of protection before assembling and stuffing the pillow.  The fabric I used to make the pillows is from the Holiday Essentials Halloween collection by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda Fabrics which I also used as the pillow backing.  A bit of rick rack and ribbon bow for embellishment makes it a nice and simple finish!  These will be some cute home decor pieces to put on display!

Happy Halloween Stitching!

 

 

 

Cross Stitch Camp August Challenge

August was the final month of Cross Stitch Camp hosted by Sheri of ColoradoCrossStitcher.  I finished my project just in time, on the last day of the month, and got it posted on time to Instagram!  The challenge for August was to use something new to you and I chose to try 28 count Monaco that I purchased some months ago.  Also, while I was perusing Michaels a few days prior to starting the challenge, I discovered they were now selling Anchor floss and I thought it would be fun to try it out.  But did I really want to add more floss to my collection?  Not only that, there was no requirement to try more than one new to you item for the challenge.  Once I decided on the pattern, a freebie by Tiny Modernist called Witches Brew, I saw it only required 4 colors of floss and the recommended brand listed was Anchor!  So yes, I returned to Michaels and purchased the colors needed. 

While I did finish the stitching on time, I started fully finishing it yesterday and managed to complete it today!  Here's the FFO:

I had a few finishing bases that would have worked but I stopped in at Michaels yesterday, just in case, and found a wooden tag sign (pictured below with the fabric and rack rick from my supply collection) that I was excited to use.  Along with the tag, I pulled other finishing items from my collection of supplies.  I removed the mini word tag and hanger from the sign.  I traced the sign onto a piece of scrap box packing material and adhered the fabric to it and then adhered that to the top of the sign.  I then glued the stitched piece to a piece of chipboard.  I placed and glued the rick rack on the background fabric before adhering the stitched piece.  For the finishing touches, I added two layers of ribbon and a brad. 

My thoughts on the process of using the new to me items?  Well, I had to use a magnifier to stitch on the Monaco (2 floss threads over 2 fabric threads) which did slow down the stitching.  I would stitch on it again (not that often) but it would need to be another small design close to, or smaller than the Witches Brew.  As far as the Anchor floss, I found it to be comparable to DMC and Sullivans.  The only downside is considering how to store the spools if I decided to invest in adding more to my floss collection.  Overall, it was a fun challenge and I'm happy I was able to participate!

Happy Stitching! 

Patriotic Pinkeep and Cross Stitch Camp

Several weeks ago I joined in on the Cross Stitch Camp challenge for July.  It's a virtual event created and hosted by Sheri of Colorado Cross Stitcher.  Cross Stitch Camp is being held for 3 months (June, July & August) in which stitchers can participate in various monthly challenges set by Sheri.  Luckily there is no requirement to participate in all 3 monthly challenges (I was behind on watching Flosstube and didn't learn about it until in June) but I was motivated and decided to join in for July.  The challenge was to stitch something by a designer whose pattern you've never stitched before and being that it was for July, I thought a patriotic item would be a good idea.

I looked through my collection of patterns and chose the Patriotic Pinkeep by Bendy Stitchy Designs.  Another factor of choosing this pattern was because I had to take into consideration the stitch count/size of the design.  I was joining in on the challenge on July 17 which meant I only had a few weeks to get the design stitched by the end of the month.  Well, it was a fun stitch, the perfect size and, with my plan of stitching a minimum of 30 minutes per day, I completed the challenge!  Not only did I get the design stitched (finishing the stitching is required and fully finishing is optional), I also fully finished it!  Being that it was the end of July, I stopped in at Michaels a few days ago to search for any patriotic type item to use in finishing my project.  I was in luck because there was a good hand full of items on clearance!  I chose a Red, White & Blue shadow box frame which only required minimal alteration.  This is the original box design.

 

Here are the details about my finished project.

Fabric:  14 count light blue Aida (brand - Loops & Thread [100% cotton])

Floss:  DMC 3865 and Sullivans (the DMC conversion) 45006, 45106, 45235, 45275, 45217, 45375 & 45238

Design Changes:  I left off the year and added a stitched star from the pattern.

 

Finishing:

I measured the inside of the shadow box and cut a paper template and traced it onto chipboard.  I cut a piece of the stars fabric (a fat quarter from Michaels) and adhered to the chipboard.  I placed the fabric covered chipboard square into the box for the backdrop.  Using a 5" Fiskars circle template, I cut a piece of chipboard.  I then traced the circle to the back of the stitched piece ensuring the design was not cut off and then cut out a circle approximately 1/2" away from the traced line.  This is to ensure there was enough fabric to wrap around the chipboard.  I then laced the design to the chipboard and adhered red 100% cotton rick rack for embellishment.  (Was I the only one that didn't know rick rack came in cotton?  I had never even thought about the material it's made of and the few packs I bought from the fabric store, they are made of polyester.  Not that anything is wrong with polyester but I thought it was good information to share!  So, I don't remember what got me looking but I found some cotton rick rack in a variety of colors and sizes on Etsy and made a purchase from the shop Sew Vintagely.  Anywho, back to the project!)

 

Finally, I adhered the stitching to the backing panel.  A quite quick and simple finish! 

 

Happy Stitching!