Moving Right Along

Well, since the last time I posted, I have not only finished my sweater and the baby christening set, I have also started a second little white blanket and I've made several new bracelets.  Pics of those will follow later.  I haven't posted in a while 'cause I was having a problem uploading pics from my camera.  Turns out it needed to be erased and plugged into the charger for a much needed recharge.  Today I was actually able to take the pictures that I wanted and I'm going to post them now.

Let's start with my sweater.  If you remember, I made the sweater using some of the yarn that I got from my niece and her family for Christmas.  I called it Somerset, after the multi-color thread of that name.  It was crocheted in one piece from the neck down and the sleeves were crocheted directly onto the sweater body.  First, a photo of the whole sweater:

As you can see, this is a loose jacket type of sweater.  The lapel border acts as a floppy collar around the neck and the sleeves are nice and roomy.

Here's a close-up of the Somerset yarn.  It has all of the colors in it, which is why I was drawn to using it.

This photo actually shows the true colors of the sweater.  The others are a little washed out (my camera is nice, but not the greatest).  Anyway, the sweater is done and I have worn it several times already.  It's nice to have something to pop on when it's a little too chilly in the house so that I don't have to up the thermostat.

I also finished the baby christening set by adding a little hat.  It now has a blanket, sweater and hat.  I'm still looking for a bootie pattern that I like.  Once I add the booties, it will be complete.  First pic is of the sweater and hat.

And, a close-up of the blanket.  It's done with a V-stitch pattern.

All of the pieces are trimmed with a picot edge.  I'll add the same edging to the booties once I make them, too.

The last thing that I finished up were my biscornu pincushions.  Last time I posted, I had them all sewn together and they were stuffed.  Since then, I have added embellishments to the nine that I'm mailing out this week for the pincushion swap.  Here's a pic of the whole group.

And a close-up of a couple of them; one has a fish button on top (with air bubbles) and the other is trimmed with little dice on the corners.  (Sorry about the focus, or lack thereof, but when I go in close to shoot, it's the best I can get.)

The others have beads and trims around the seams, with some having buttons in the middle and others not.  All of these will be mailed off to my friend Lindsay in Missouri this week and in a few weeks, I'll get back a box with nine pincushions made by other cyber-friends.  Can't wait to see what I get.  I promise that I'll post pics once they get here.  For now, I've started making some new jewelry and I'll put together a new post in a few weeks.  Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day, all!

Biscornu - Double Corners

In keeping with my resolve to post more often and to show some of my work, today I am going to show you the pincushion that I am making for the HGTV Pincushion Swap being hosted by Lindsay (SavedSinnr).  Actually, I'm making 10 of these for the swap, but since I'm using up one of my charm packs, I will actually be making 22 of these cute little pincushions.  I had been searching for an idea for a couple of weeks when I got the latest issue of the Keepsake Needlework catalog.  As I was browsing through it, I saw a book about these little pincushions called "biscornus".  While I was interested in them, I didn't really want to spend $14.95 for a book I might not need.  Instead, I looked closely at the photo, then I Googled biscornu and found other examples.

This little pattern was originally created to be used with small pieces of needlework, and most that were shown were about 1" to 2" squares.  But I wanted something bigger, so I went through my stash and found a charm pack of batiks.  Aha!  Perfect!  There were 44 5-inch charms in all the colors of the rainbow, so I went to work matching up pairs.

When I had finished, I had 22 pairs of fabrics.  I matched them corner to corner, which gives me 4 corners.

But these are called "biscornu", from the French meaning "double corners".  So, we need to make 8 corners instead of 4.  Hmmm, how to do that.  I know!  If we start the end of the top fabric at the middle of the other, we will end up with 8 sides, instead of 4 - I hope.

So that's what I did.  I sewed the first half of fabric 1 to the second half of fabric 2, then turned the corner, pulling fabric 1 around to meet the first half of the next side of fabric 2.  (It is very important that you remember the 1/4" seam allowance in order to keep all of your seams equal.)  I kept going around the bottom square and pulling the top fabric around the corners as needed, until I had sewn 7 sections together.  Heres what it looked like.

Then I turned it right sides out and stuffed it pretty firmly, being sure to fill all of the corners.

When I finished, I had a little 8-sided pillow with one short seam still to be stitched close.

Right now, I am working on getting all 22 stitched together and stuffed.  Next will come the embellishments, and do these ever call for those.  I'll be adding little tassels, a center button, some beads, etc.  I'll post about these again when they are closer to being fnished.  So, I am keeping my resolution to post more often and to show my work.  I am still working on my sweater, by the way, and should have it finished soon.  I post a picture of it once I'm done.  In the meantime, I hope you all have a great week, and keep warm!

Another New Year

Wow, we're already through the first month of 2013!  And I haven't posted anything in a while.  I'm going to try to be more diligent in posting more often.  I may take a lesson from Future Girl's blog and start posting my crochet projects as I'm making them.  I'm currently working on a sweater for myself.  I'm using the yarn that I got from my niece and her family for Christmas.  She's done this for the past couple of years and I love it.  I made a brown/cream sweater for myself from last year's yarn (wore it on a couple of really cold days and it's great!), so I chose a couple of the colors (actually 3) from this year's box and went looking for a pattern.

Of course, I went to my old standby, Lion Brand, and searched their free patterns section.  Since I did a pullover last year, I wanted to do a cardigan this year.  I found one that I liked and started crocheting, using the instructions for size 1X, the size I normally wear.  I was 90% done, when I realized that it was way too big.  It looked more like a large 2X or small 3X, so, after agonizing about it for a week, I finally decided to FROG it and start over.  For those of you who don't know what Frogging is, it's simple - rip it, rip it, rip it.  I ended up with a couple of balls of each yarn.  And then I started over, using the instructions for the Large instead.

I love this color combination.  It's rust, sage green and a multi called Somerset, which is why I'm calling this sweater "Somerset".  The pattern is worked in one piece from the neckline down with the sleeves crocheted directly onto the stitches left open for them.  It has a 13 row lower band and a 13 row lapel band that I'm working in the Somerset, with a section of the sage, banded by the Somerset, set between blocks of the rust color.  It looks really cool and I can't wait to get it finished.  I'm about to start the rows below the sleeve holes, so it's moving pretty quickly (since I've already done this pattern once, I know what's supposed to happen).  I promise to post a couple of pics once it's done.

In the meantime, I got invited to a craft show in April and I signed up.  Haven't done many spring shows before, so we'll see how this one goes.  I will also be working on stock for the Fairy Fest, which I'm assuming will be the first weekend in May, as usual.  I sold out all of my Fairy Bling last year, so I have to get busy and make some more.  I still have a bunch of wands.  Of course, I will have to replace the purple ones (they always sell out!) and add a few more pink ones, and I need to make some more of the headbands, too.  Luckily, I was able to get a lot of the ribbon that I use on sale last fall, so at least I won't have to be buying any more of that this year.

So, now 2013 is started.  And I promise to be a better blogger and to post a lot more often.  Maybe I'll just schedule myself an appointment to update my blog every couple of weeks.  Hopefully, that will get me here more often.  Have a great day!