I fell down a very stitchy Harry Potter rabbit hole a few weeks ago and I haven't been able to look back since. I found a new stitch-a-long via a friend on instagram, and found a whole new type of stitch-a-long.
What I found was a year long stitch-your-own-adventure type stitch-a-long, which frankly is amazing. The lovely person behind Cunning Cross Stitch has created a story in which we follow along at the end of each chapter there is another section of the cross stitch to complete. The amazing thing about this one? You get to make your own decisions in the story, which ultimately determines what elements you end up including in your design - pretty amazing right?!
What is better is that they are offering this amazing cross stitch for free. There is a delightful facebook group for support and I really cannot say quite how excited I am about it. It is taking me a little while to stitch everything up, and I am still working on the introduction charts, and haven't carried on with the story as of yet, but we are now into chapter 3 of the story.
There are also some behind the scenes pages as well on the blog detailing the thoughts and processes behind each chapter. It is all well worth a read if you have time. But for now, here are my progress pictures.
Back at the beginning of the Christmas season I decided to take part in a mystery stitch-a-long (SAL) run by Caterpillar Cross Stitch. When I decided to get involved the first part of the SAL had been published, and it looked cute, so the decision was made. The SAL was organised in such a way that a new section of the cross stitch design was released every two weeks in the lead up to Christmas. It was a totally doable time frame, and I joined the lovely SAL facebook group to see other peoples progress and ideas.
What I failed to take into consideration, was that I was trying to make a lot of my gifts for my immediate family, and didn't really have the time to dedicate to keeping up with the SAL. So here we are, in March and I haven't finished it yet. I have still been working on it, even though it is tempting to leave it now until December so I can carry on with the festive making, whilst feeling legitimately festive. I'll probably have a load of other gifts to make then too... a makers work is never done! ;)
I picked this project up again mainly because I was feeling the need to work on my WIPs after moving house, and I really fancied a cross stitch project. It fit the bill nicely, and I got a little more done. To be perfectly honest it has been put back in the draw now, and hasn't really been much of a priority for me at the moment.
I am having a little bit of a funk in my making as I write this. Most things have taken a little back seat whilst I get used to settling into my new home, but I also seem to have a million and one things to do and people to see. Is it too much to ask just one off shift at home! Although saying that I'll probably just get bored and want to go and do something.
I digress, I am still making progress on my Caterpillar Cross Stitch, Deck the Halls SAL, very late indeed, but I am still enjoying it. Hopefully it will be done and ready to display one Christmas soon. I have currently completed sections 1 and 2 and am now working on section 3. It is an enjoyable cross stitch with an easy to follow pattern, and I believe you can buy the whole SAL as a complete kit from the Caterpillar Cross Stitch website here. So if you feel like being unseasonally festive, go give it a go!
Extended Shownotes you will find on the Blog or in the Ravelry Group.
Finished Objects:
Bronwyn Shawl: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/bronwyn-shawl - A lovely crochet shawl that I am pretty sure I will get a lot of wear out of. It is made with DK yarn in four different colours, Green - Countess Ablaze, Grande Merino, Footloose, Light Blue - Malabrigo, Arroyo, Cian, Yellow - Babbles Yarns, Delicious DK, Solid Gold, Dark Blue - Fyberspates, Vivacious DK, Deep Aqua.
Colin's Triceratops: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/triceratops-head---taxidermy-dinosaur - a commossion from my brother for an excellent piece of livingroom furnature! ;) This is made from Cygnet Seriously Chunky in the Fawn colour way for the pale colour and Meadow Green for the main colour.
Gift Socks: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/c-socks - A pair of gift socks from Christmas, these are 64sts on 2.5mm needle, in a 2x2 rib pattern. They are made from West Yorkshire Spinners, Signature 4-ply in the Pheasant colourway.
Margot the 2nd - Tilly and the Buttons pattern from the book Love at First Stitch, a wonderful book for getting started sewing your own clothes.
Spinning: Shetland and Icelandic blend, spun into a simple two ply that has come out as a light sport to fingering weight yarn.
WIPs:
F1 Socks: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/sams-f1-socks - I have two pairs of F1 socks on the go, with a range of different yarns from CoopKnits in their Socks Yeah! base. The colours I have used I've listed on a previous post, so go back and have a look if you want to find out more.
Deck The Halls Stitch-a-long by Caterpillar Cross Stitch - a lovely stitch-a-long which is not too late to join in if you want to! I'm loving it!
In The Shed:
Handmade Notebook
Kiwico Eurika Crate - Pinball machine
Podcasts Mentioned:
Babbles Travelling Yarns
The Project Bag
Crafty Historian
Real Talk:
These are some links to the people leading the conversations around racism and inclusion in the
knitting community, take a look at their stories and discover some new people - please respect
their spaces:
@su.krita - https://www.instagram.com/su.krita/?hl=en
@thecolormustard - https://www.instagram.com/thecolormustard/?hl=en
@ocean_bythesea - https://www.instagram.com/ocean_bythesea/?hl=en
@booksandcables - https://www.instagram.com/booksandcables/?hl=en
@ggmadeit - https://www.instagram.com/ggmadeit/?hl=en
Music:
"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Extended Shownotes you will find on the Blog or in the Ravelry Group.
Real Talk:
These are some links to the people leading the conversations around racism and inclusion in the
knitting community, take a look at their stories and discover some new people:
@su.krita - https://www.instagram.com/su.krita/?hl=en
@thecolormustard - https://www.instagram.com/thecolormustard/?hl=en
@ocean_bythesea - https://www.instagram.com/ocean_bythesea/?hl=en
@booksandcables - https://www.instagram.com/booksandcables/?hl=en
@ggmadeit - https://www.instagram.com/ggmadeit/?hl=en
Finished Objects:
Hermione's Everyday Socks: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/hermiones-everyday-socks - Knitted on 2mm DPNs and in Malibrigo Sock yarn in the Ivy colourway. I love these socks and will now become Lottie's everyday socks! ;)
Baby Barley: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/barley-2 This is knit in Gamer Crafting 100% Merino DK in the Kind colourway. I definitely did make my new nephew a matching hat with myself... Who wouldn't.
Baby Flax: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/flax This is another baby knit for my new nephew. This is done in King Cole Riot DK, in two colours, caribbean and neon, to create an awesome rainbow stripe thing going on!
Margot Pyjamas Tilly and the Buttons: https://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/products/love-at-first-stitch - These pyjamas are comfy but bodged, I'll recommend measuring yourself properly before cutting into your precious fabric! The pattern is included in the book Love at First Stitch, after a quick search I'm not sure if you can get it separately, but the book is well worth it! I thought I new a little bit about sewing, but this book has taught me so much.
WIPs:
Cancun Boxy Erin Kate Archer: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/cancun-boxy-lace-top - yes it is STILL a WIP, but we are getting there. And yes I haven't done anything on it since you last saw it... But I am still enjoying it, I'll knit a little on it today!
Socks for Mam: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/mams-afterthought-socks - I am making another pair of socks for my mother, this time out of West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4 ply in the Kingfisher colourway, on 2.5mm DPNs. These will have contrast heels and toes and an afterthought heel. The first time I've done either.
In The Shed:
Heddle: Trying to make a heddle for my loom.
Music:
"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
I have a very close friend, and I have made countless things for her. Maybe even more than I've made for Mr M... (Oops!) Anyway, she is obsessed with rabbits at the moment, and when we were out, she saw this cross stitch kit and she pretty much swooned... And she asked me very nicely if I would make it for her. So of course I said yes!
The kit is from Hobbycraft, and comes with everything you need to make it. Although the hoop they gave you was a horrible plastic one, so I used my own wooden one, which allowed me to tension the fabric properly and squarely in the hoop. Which is important, as some people will know, you always start a cross stitch pattern in the middle, and if you line it up with the middle of your fabric you have a perfectly central piece of work.
I was doing the project in my spare time, so it did take me a little while. But luckily Emma is quite patient when it comes to me making her things. Which was good, because I have a "too many WIPs" problem... I can't help it, casting on makes me happy!
Anyway, I raced through the bunnies to start off with, I only had one minor mistake, where I added one too many stitches to part of one of the bunnies, but I carried the pattern on up and only had to add a couple more stitches to keep the shape of the rabbit... It's just slightly portly...
Once the bunnies were done it was then onto the writing and the back stitching. I don't like back stitching. It is the dreaded bit at the end of the project for me. Although when I get to it, usually its done rather quick and I always seem to think it's worse than it really is...
But in the end I was very pleased with the outcome. The bunnies were even, and I'd managed to keep the white fabric clean... mostly... Being an engineer, I do mostly come home a little bit grubby, and although I scrub my hands at the end of the day and then have a shower when I get home, I still somehow still manage to be grubby! But the main part of the piece was clean, but there were a few grubby marks outside the hoop area. I told Emma that she needs to frame with a round piece of card. She's also an engineer, she understands.
All in all it turned out well, and I'm very happy with it. I can't wait to see it framed and hung up somewhere!
It was my Mams birthday recently, and I have to admit I was not very prepared at all... Bad daughter and all... I was trying to make her a card for her birthday, but it all went a little bit wrong, and she only got a bunch of flowers on the actual day.
The card I was trying to make, was going to be a small cross stitch inside the card. The cross stitch was actually finished the day after her birthday, and instead of putting it into a card I asked her if she would like it in a frame, she said yes. This is the result.
The cross stitch itself was a little kit from Hobbycraft, and I believe it was actually on of their Easter special kits, but why it was around in January boggles the mind! The frame itself was one from a local shop, and I decided that I would jazz it up to make it that little more special. I found two heart buttons, and some wooden letter beads, which I simply glued on with a bit of PVA. I did also have to create the card surround for the cross stitch, I cut a 6x4 piece of purple card (mam's favourite colour) to fit the frame and a 3x3 inch square in the middle. I probably should have used a ruler when cutting though, as it is ever so slightly wonky. But she loves it, and the daughter points are made up!
