And The Search Continues....

Woe is me! The whole house search has not revealed the location of those Peter Rabbit buttons.  But lo, the treasures that search has uncovered!  Several sweaters in various stages of completion; cross-stitch samplers with threads pulled, fabric selected, and patterns all assembled into tidy packages waiting for the hand to put needle to thread; fabrics purchased for garments desired long-ago; craft books of intriguing media yet to be tried.  Ah me, so much to do and so little time.  Twenty-four hours is not very long, indeed, considering one must sleep as well. 

In the meantime, work continues on a variety of projects of which there might be at least three to four in the works at all times.  These  projects currently include one knitting, two needlepoint and two counted cross-stitch. 

The first of two socks in a linen yarn on size 2 bamboo double pointed needles has been completed with the dreaded second sock yet to be started.  There are books depicting the method of using two 29" circular needles that allow the knitting of both socks simultaneously but mastering this technique has alluded me.  So I move on...

...To a needlepoint zippered case that is a styled after one of the many persian rugs that grace my sister's home.  A detail of the rug is at the right.  Loved the colors of the original and hopefully they translated well to the finished piece which is shown to the left and was done in three strands of Vineyard Silk Classic for the background and Impressions silk and wool for the remaining colors on #18 canvas.


Also in the works is an Etui, or a collection of keeps for sewing tools.  Included are a tape measure cover, a scissor holder and fob, a pinkeep, an ort box and a zippered bag that will hold these tools and future works in progress.  A series of Celtic motifs in rust and gold have been chosen to follow the shapes of the objects they will cover, hold or contain.   The motifs are moderately intricate and the fun is watching the blank canvas evolve into a colorful rendition of the black and white printed diagram.  All the components of the Etui are done on #28 canvas, with #355 and #738 DMC floss using three strands while the zippered bag is done on #14 canvas, using  #355 and #738 DMC #5 pearl cotton.

The two counted cross-stitch pieces are small pin keep and a needle book.  Mostly for practice to improve execution of cross-stitch and finishing techniques.  The finishing will be the area the most practice will be needed.  It has been some time since I have done finishing on a piece of needlework, be it a pillow, picture, etc.  As these two pieces are nearer completion than the others listed above, we should see how well my skill sets have improved.

So What's On Your To Do List....

Another week has come and gone.  I find that I have done the preliminary work on a surprising number of projects but one item in particular is proving difficult to finish - a knitted "amoeba" that requires some buttons.  As luck would have it, they've gone missing within the stash pile.  All the various "logical" locations have been scoured and it looks like I'll have to mount that full-house search.  Not my favorite thing to do when I would rather be working on one of these many existing projects.

There is one benefit to the search at hand...I'll uncover some of the dozens of projects that have been started and yet, lie languishing in some forgotten location having moved on to tend some emergency that distracted my focus.  Gives me another chance at consolidating, cataloging and relocating these projects into a more accessible venue. 

By the way, can anyone identify what the "amoeba" pictured above is supposed to be?  Recently, I fielded several "What are you knitting?" inquiries.  I asked for guesses as to what it might be after laying the piece out on the table.  One bright young thing came right out and gave the correct name of the pattern!  Needless to say, this was a jaw dropping experience since this is a very old pattern from 1968.   I came across it during a trip to Florida with my sister, the real needlewoman, and just had to have it.  Apparently,  one can get confused during its progress; I know I did and needed to do the "frog stitch" [rip-p-p-it, rip-p-p-it - but you knew that already, didn't you?] on several occasions before binding off the final row.  Just need to find those darling Peter Rabbit buttons and it'll be ready for gifting. I've included a photo of the finished  garment.

Baby Surprise Jacket

So the search continues, along with the collecting, cataloging and completing of projects great and small.  Next time I'll include some details of works that have actually made it to completion.

Until then, be fascinating and fascinated.