Hey, I Finished More Stuff!

Wow, I'm really on a tear here! Two more projects were finished, and I mean completely finished last week.

This first one is a cross-stitch piece I had started several years ago. I didn't have a lot to finish on it, but it's 40-count linen, so not the easiest thing to work on. I had to have the Ott-Lite close by and concentrate to see those teeny threads. I decided that, since I already have about a bazillion cross-stitch projects waiting to be framed, I would make this into a pincushion. I didn't have a pattern, so I just winged it and stitched it together by hand. You can't see the side seams, where there are a couple of tucks (getting around the corners was tricky), but it's cute and it was easier to put together by hand than wrestling with it under my sewing machine foot. It's about 4 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches. It will sit next to my stitching chair. I've needed a big pincushion for a while, so this was a satisfying finish.



I'm a little embarrassed to discuss this next piece. This is a scarf I started who-knows-when for an older lady who I consider one of the cooler friends I have. I don't get to see her that often, but she's such a joy to be around. This soft rose is the perfect color for her, and I'm so happy it's done. The really embarrassing thing is that I haven't touched it in ages, and when I got it out last week, determined to finish it, I found that I only needed to knit 7 rows and bind off. That's right, SEVEN ROWS! What possessed me to stop working on it when I was so close to the end? I'll never figure it out. Well, it's done and ready to be presented to her at last. The yarn is Kidsilk Haze and the pattern comes from the Vogue On-The-Go book, Scarves Two.



Another reason I'm feeling so virtuous is that I not only finished stitching and knitting these two projects, I actually finished them. I made the pincushion the same afternoon I put the last cross-stitch in the piece, and as soon as I bound off the scarf, I blocked it the same day. Can it be? Am I learning self-discipline? My normal finishing method is to finish the stitching or knitting and leap joyfully into a shiny new project. Not this time. Whaddya know. Things may be changing a bit at Chez Spingirl!

Wanna see something really cute? The picture on the left is my daughter holding my son the day after he was born. The picture on the right is her daughter holding his son. It's so cute I can't stand it, I really can't.

Still Knitting!

So, with all the cruddy weather we've had the past couple of weeks, I've been happy to stay in and keep working on my billions millions hundreds dozens of projects. I have been working on a couple of quilts lately, along with the knitting, but I won't have a finished project to show off for a few more weeks. I have finished two knitting projects, though!

The first is a lace cowl that I got from this blog. Thanks, Wen! It's a nice pattern, and the cowl turned out great.


This is the Coloring Book Shawl that I made from five shades of Plain & Fancy yarn I bought at SAFF. That was one of the most gorgeous booths there, and it took a while to narrow down the choices. Unfortunately, P&F doesn't have a website yet but if you go here and scroll down to "Henderson" you'll find their information. You could probably email them to find out what shows they'll be going to this year. Their yarn is kettle-dyed on the most gorgeous smooshy singles yarn. I want one skein of every color!








The shawl pattern shows seven different lace panels, instead of the five I used, and I put my own lace pattern in the top (pink) panel instead of doing plain stockinette that the pattern specified. It turned out pretty large (which is why I could only fit half of it in the picture) but I think the yarn was a little heavier than what the pattern called for. At any rate, it turned out beautifully.

So I've added those two projects to the "52 Projects" list at the bottom of the page. Yeah, I'm still waaaay behind on that schedule. I'll have to tell you about the new group I joined for 2010 in the next post. I'm a little embarrassed, but what the heck.

Oops, how'd this picture get in here?


Isn't he just too cute? I haven't seen him in two weeks! He'll have changed so much by now. BTW, his official name is no longer Baby X, it's Little Dude (his daddy's name for him.) It's perfect.