Tuesday, March 23, 2010

What's Up?

Spring is popping up all around me, a little late for North West Florida, usually we're getting this nice weather mid-February but I'm not going to complain. My basil and cilantro are a sprouting a sure sign of spring.

I've been managing a bit of stitching:


Black'd Skie
Primitive Needle
40ct Vintage Pear
Pure Palette Silks
Above you can see my little bit of progress on PN's Black'd Skie. I'm using the Pure Palette Silks and I love them. I'm being completely, totally honest and I am not one that automatically uses silk. I've used some that have left me, oh let's say, underwhelmed, but these Pure Palette Silks are nice to work with, don't shred or fuzz up like some, and have a great shimmer to them. I've only used Cauldron and Envy so far but the experience has been very satisfying and I am not a paid endorser for Pure Palette. This is just my opinion. (I think I read somewhere that bloggers are supposed to let people know if they are a company mouth piece so I'm letting you know, I'm not, I am just a user of the aforementioned product.) My Silk N Colours and Pure Palette Swamp Thing were backordered so I'm just taking my time and enjoying the stitching.
Notice the readers? Purchased at the Dollar Tree and they are 1.5 magnification and have rocked my world. I should have bought a pair when I was stitching with the PTP Swamp linen but who knew something this simple could change my whole stitching perception?
A Haunting Mermaid
Carriage House Samplings
32ct linen(not sure what color)
DMC
Above you see my progress on Carriage House Samplings A Haunting Mermaid. I can't believe I waited so long to start this piece. I've had her kitted since the chart was released in 2005 but I got all hung up on whether or not I should do the beaded swag border or just stitch the keys along the top. As you can see, I finally decided the beaded swag was not in my future so I went in search of pictures on the world wide web to see what I could find and strangely enough I only found one completed Haunting Mermaid and one in progress. Since this is such a cool design I couldn't believe more people haven't stitched it and maybe they have and just aren't on the internet. But I did like the look of the stitched top band so I was very happy to finally put in some first stitches.


Single Crochet Background
Orange cross stitches
Sugar & Cream Cotton
Kenny chart created here(// knitPro web app)
I became a bit obsessed with Tunisian crochet a few weeks ago after seeing this:
and since I have no afghan hook and no Tunisian crochet skill and I'm trying not to buy anything at the moment I thought I might just try crocheting a foundation fabric using single crochet and then cross stitching over it. I'm not impressed. So I'm going to order a Tunisian Crochet book and couple of hooks and see what magic I can create.
The Frogging of Rachael Holmes:

Rachael Holmes
Heartstring Samplery
32ct linen(dyed by moi)
A potpourri of threads
I decided that my error on Rachael needed to be frogged so I took an hour or two the other day and frogged the vine in this band and started over. I'm hoping that I don't have to frog the flowers but I do believe that's being a little too optimistic.


Busting the Stash Afghan:
Pokey Dots Throw
Red Heart Website
Stash Yarn
I saw this pattern on the back of the new issue of Crochet Today and decided since I have a ton, a lot, a major big time stash of Red Heart acrylic that I should use it up and this afghan seemed like a good project. I'm using a soft white for the outside round of my squares and I'm happy with the look for now.




Am I the only that thinks if the cross stitch magazines could modern up their covers a bit like Crochet Today they might expand their readership to a younger group of stitchers? Comparing the covers of various knitting/crochet magazines to current issues of cross stitch magazines, the cross stitch magazines seem hopelessly stuck in the 1980s? Is there no way to rock the cover the of a cross stitch magazine?
Opinions? Ideas? Leave it alone and let me stitch already?




10 comments:

Sharon said...

Great post, Melissa. I love your Haunted Mermaid,looks wondeful, and a great start on your PN piece. I didn't realize it called for a different type of threads. Now I am curious about them. I love those polky dotted squares what a neat afghan that would make. I am heading over there to check them out right now. Thanks so much. Oh and good for you with the readers. What a difference huh? xoxoxoxo

Anna van Schurman said...

Your afghan is going to be cute! If you can make crochet seem hip it seems to me that cross-stitch doesn't have to be so hopeless. Except it is. Sigh.

And girlfriend, I have been singing the praises of cheaters for years. But no one ever listens to me. I'm like Cassandra. Now you have to start looking for them in Steinmart to make them seem a little more hip. ;)

Karen said...

Love your Haunting Mermaid! Looks like you have been very busy...great works!

staci said...

Congrats on all your lovely stitching!

I know exactly what you mean about the crochet mag covers. I think the Interweave Crochet mag is the only one that looks up-to-date :)

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Love Rachel Holmes - I hope you're done with the frogging and can leave the flowers alone! Haunting Mermaid is a great piece and I love your pokey dot afghan.

Rachel S-H said...

Your WIPs look great! Where do you get the Pure Palette silks.

I don't know if there's a way to modernize stitching magazines. That's a hard question.

Siobhán said...

Your stitching is coming along nicely, Melissa, frogging & all. I like the afghan, too.

I got addicted to readers last summer, and try to get them as funky as possible. It's particularly stylish to wear cheetah print readers on the bridge of my nose while my regular glasses are sliding half way down my nose, too. Freaks out the family, which is always a good thing. I don't wear them most of the time when stitching, but do when I'm stitching over one. It's amazing what a difference they make!

Missy Ann said...

Look at you go!

I'm thinking I may invest in a pair of cheaters when I bust out the 40ct linen for CaHRH.

Michelle said...

Great start on Black'd Skie. I can't wait to gather my stuff for this one...it's too awesome to not stitch soon. I'm so glad you like the Pure Palette - they are so pretty, it would be a shame to not like them. Love your polka dot afghan squares!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Wow!! You have been busy, haven't you?? Eager to see your progress on Black'd Skie! I got the chart after Market, but don't have it kitted yet - it's a great one! Love the CHS WIP as well. You are going full steam ahead like a crfty freight train! YGG!!