Pausing...

Hello Dear Friends.

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my ornaments.

I really appreciate that you take the time to visit me here :)

Just a short and sweet note to let you know that I'm going to be taking a blogging break.

Hugs till next time, Staci

Spring Fling

Even though I have a few miles to go before I sleep, I'm looking forward to some sweet dreams :)

I made two little changes:  I stitched the french knots in the same colors as the flowers (accidentally) and stitched the stems in straight stitch instead of stem stitch (on purpose.)  I used the recommended DMC colors.

Remember seeing these socks before? (here and here)  They knit up really fast using some unknown thrifted yarn, sportweight I believe.  I really lucked out that there wasn't ugly pooling since they were both variegated yarns...and they are oh-so cuddly soft!

48 stitch basic socks:  stockinette and picot-edged w/ a row of eyelets

size:  women's sm/med

yarn:  unknown thrift yarn, sportweight (?)

needles:  size 3 dpn's

I can cross 3 projects off my rather long list of things-in-progress!  Thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods and for all your heart-warming comments.  I'm behind in my blog commenting, even though I've been reading them...just when I seem to get caught up, I get behind again, LOL ;)  Hope you're all having a good week, toodles!

 

Crazy Crafting

Hello dear ones!  Has it really only been a week since I last posted?  There's been so much going on.  In the past week:  we attended the Denver Auto Show, have had 4 football practices and 3 games, a spring music concert, 2 softball practices and 2 games, 4 track practices and 1 meet, sent Oldest on the bus for a band trip to Grand Junction for 3 days, and I've worked twice.  I thank my lucky stars I don't work full-time (or have more kiddos!)

In the midst of all the craziness, I've been bitten by the startitus bug.  I just LOVE a new start :)  I felt it was time for a new set of pillowcases, and thankfully, I love lazy daisies and French knots.  (I detest satin stitch, btw.)

Why start one new project when TWO would be so much better???  And this one'll be a looong-term project since those little granny squares are only 3 1/2 inches.  I'm feeling so smug because all this yarn came from my stash...such foresight, lol!!!  See that humungous, colorful pile of DMC tapestry wool?  Bought at a garage sale ages ago in a big bag with a pile of little woven square samples and fingering weight wool for $10  :)  We'll see how much I'm loving this project when it comes time to weave in the ends and sew the squares together, lol!!! 

Guess that sums up the happenings in my neck of the woods.  Today is going to be a blissfully quiet day so I hope to make some project progress.  Thanks for stopping by my little cyber-patch today, have a good one!

PS.  I've updated my De-Stash Blog.

French Knots and Socks

Happy Friday dear friends! Just squeezing in the last of my February finishes...is Monday really the start of March already???

Starting off is a bunny of a different sort :) I was able to stitch this little guy up in a flash! He's a little freebie pattern from Ginger of Primitives By the Light of the Moon. I used some neutral-striped calico from my stash and DMC 498. I didn't take a pic of the back, but I used an off white wool felt.

I did his tail in French knots. I love the way it turned out!


And then just a simple blanket-stitched edge :)


I've also been knitting socks for Hubby...


to replace these:


He likes plain 'ol socks. No funky, stripey ones. No fun colors. No patterns. Thank goodness he doesn't have huge feet, lol!!!

40 stitch basic stockinette worsted weight socks

size: men's medium

yarn: unmarked worsted weight, superwash wool

approx 100g per pair

needles: size 8 dpn's

WooHoo! Have a Great Weekend Everyone and thanks for stopping by!!!

Winding Down

That's how I feel on Sunday evenings after Middle and Youngest go to bed. Because by then, most of my work for the day is done. And I'm relaxing before the week starts all over.

I finished these pillowcases. I don't know why I put these aside. It only took another evening to stitch the second one. In two evenings I could have had a new set for my bed. But no. I waited months, and let's see...started in summer, went through fall, and it's now winter. Oh well, never mind all that now...sweet dreams await!


A pre-printed set from Michaels...using the recommended DMC colors.

I received a sweet surprise in the mail from Angela (no blog.)

She bought this in Cypress. It holds rolls/buns. Isn't it the cleverest thing? And way too pretty to put buttery rolls in ;) Thank you so much Angela for your thoughtfulness.

And I spent my Secret Santa gift certificate to ehandcrafts in mere minutes :) And because Mary Kathryn was having a sale...my giftie dollars went even further, lol. Thank you again Secret Santa!!!

Well my dear friends, I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. And hoping that your week ahead is a good one :) Thank you for coming by. I'm off to find my stitching...

Is that embroidery?

I did this over the summer and just never got around to blogging about it. So, this summer's day found me with the urge to embroider a new set of pillowcases (because it's been a while since my bed has seen any new ones.) And after a massive search through all my patterns and pre-printed sets, Goldilocks just couldn't find anything. So off to Michael's at 7:30 in the evening, because NOTHING else would do.

I found these. And they were JUST RIGHT. Not too complex. Not too frilly. Sweet colors. And quickly stitched the first one up as soon as I got home. And alas! The need for embroidery was filled and so poor Goldilocks' Hubby must rest his head on a plain pillowcase.


Please don't look at my satin stitches too closely (or judge me too harshly!) They have always been a thorn in my side. But I did read some helpful tips in an embroidery book at the library and so will give them a try the next time around.

It's Friday! Have a Happy One!!!

Prim Pinkeeps

I've never made pinkeeps with my embroidery before, but that's exactly how I pictured these little patterns when I first laid eyes on them. I used muslin fabric and DMC 498, and then they had a dunk in some coffee.


The backing fabric reminds me of old-fashioned ticking :)


I used a red grosgrain ribbon and natural jute twine. And straight pins with some cream-colored beads.

The embroidery patterns came from a book I found at my favorite quilt shop: "Timeless Toile" by Roxanne Rentzel.

Julie and I did a patriotic pattern swap; trading patterns that we've stitched and some freebies that we had. This was a lot of fun and now I have some great "new" patterns to stitch up! Thanks Julie!!!

Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments. Wishing all of my American friends a very Happy and Safe 4th of July! And to all of my friends elsewhere in the world, I hope you have a wonderful summer weekend!!!

Giveaway update

Michele has received the little surprise I stitched up for her from my drawing. Since she loves coffee (and red), I thought this tea towel might be right up her alley :) And what goes better with coffee??? Why, chocolate from a Hershey Kiss-shaped tin of course!!!

I think the buttons are a fun touch :)
And let's end the week with a giveaway! So giveaway #3 is for these two charts: "Rainforest Romance" by Paticia Ann Designs and "The AZ Sampler" by La Broderie...

If you'd like to have your name thrown in for the drawing, just leave a comment on this post only! And please include your email address. This drawing is open to everyone...old friends and new visitors alike. And it doesn't matter if you've won something here before. A winner will be randomly drawn on Saturday, Feb 21st......Good Luck!!!

It's Wednesday already?

Today is "Lo How A Rose" SAL with Vonna. And while I love this sweet pattern...I've had a serious infestation of frogs this morning. So I'm packing it in and calling it a day...


While I was dealing with a cold from one of the kiddos last month, I spent a couple of days on the couch~~doing nothing around the house. But I do have 3 finished projects to show for my couch time, lol!
Ta-da! These hadn't been touched since this post! These are pre-stamped pillowcases and DMC 321 (I think.)

And also finished...

This is just a stockinette scarf with a garter ridge thrown in every 12 rows or so. The yarn is Soy by Bernat. I cast on 30 stitches on size 8 needles (?) The fringe is made up of yarn leftovers from my stash.

This next scarf is from the book Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders. I haven't crocheted in a really long time because it's pretty hard on my wrists, but really liked this little pattern.

The yarn is a special blend of fibers, hand-spun and hand-dyed by my dear friend Kathy who raises angora goats. She calls this particular yarn "MoWoPaca"...Mohair, Wool, and Alpaca :)

Now I've got something cuddly to wrap around my neck and something pretty and red for my bed :) Have a terrific day everyone and thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods!

It's beginning

to look a lot like Christmas! The turkey's been cooked and the leftovers divided :) I didn't go shopping on Black Friday~~instead I got the house all decked out. We got a bit of snow last night and woke to see all the trees frosted in white...beautiful!!!

Do you remember when I talked about this bed in this post? See that cute pillowcase Tina has? Well, I saw that and needed one too!

So I made my own. I didn't get it done in time for last Christmas...missed it by just a couple of days. But it's all ready this year!

I love the pom-pom trim. L-O-V-E it :)

I'm heading off for a cup of coffee and a bit of stitching. This pattern is really, really calling my name ;) Oh, and did you see my new header? Thanks Sis, I love it :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

It's a Giveaway!

94,726 visits to my blog. WOW. And to thank all of you for making my numbers creep up to the 100,000 mark...this is what I have to give away!

Isn't she sweet? This is a freebie pattern from Danybrod. And this is what I've been teasing you with the past week :) I admit taking the teaser photos was almost as fun as stitching this up ;)

And here's the back with it's sweetly patterned flannel and a bit of lace...

So who's this package going to? It could be you!

To be entered in the drawing, leave a comment on THIS POST ONLY! Everyone is welcome to enter (please include your email address.) You have till Thursday, Oct 30 at midnight MDT. I'll draw a name Halloween morning, and that's no trick!!!

Embroidery Q and A

I am no expert, by any stretch of the imagination, about vintage linens or embroidery. And I'm sure I probably break every rule when it comes to caring for/using them. But since there have been several questions, I'll share what I do with mine.

I always look vintage linens over carefully before buying to see what kind of shape they're in...if there are any frayed threads or excessive wear and tear. I also keep in mind what I plan to do with them~~will they be getting washed frequently or are they just for display. Sometimes the condition of the item decides what type of use it will get.

All of my embroidered pillowcases get washed on a heavy duty/long cycle in warm water with regular detergent (I swear by Tide because I have 2 boys who are dirt magnets and usually look like they've wrestled pigs by the end of the day.) The first wash of all of my vintage pillowcases includes a splash of bleach, then I only use bleach when they start to look dingy. I'm sure this is a huge no-no but I've never had any fall apart (knock-on-wood!) And I haven't noticed any excessive fading with the threads either. I also just throw them in the dryer with the rest of the sheets (and I only iron them for photos, lol!)

I will add that because I have a number of pairs of vintage pillowcases, I rotate them so each pair probably only gets used every 3-4 months.

The current set of pillowcases that I'm stitching are pre-printed. With plain pillowcases, I've done: iron-on patterns, traced patterns using a light box, and also traced patterns with an iron on transfer pencil (if you're unfamiliar, you trace your pattern onto tracing paper using an iron on transfer pencil and then you iron the pattern onto your fabric~~this will reverse the design.)

I only use DMC thread when embroidering pillowcases (or anything else that will be washed.) And I've never had any trouble with the color bleeding.

I hope this helps you :) I can understand anyone's hesitation about using vintage/embroidered pillowcases, I used to feel the same way. But I've come to realize that even if something fades or wears out~~the bit of joy I get every day from seeing and using them is far greater then knowing that they're tucked away in the closet.

As a post script......this isn't how I treat all of my vintage linens, just the bedding ;)