playing with photoshop....

not much stitching or knitting the past couple of days due to bursitis in my shoulder. feels much better today so maybe i'm back on track.
i stitched these two pieces a few days ago, trying to replicate a vintage sleeve effect with cording and ruching. not for any particular reason. just because i liked the effect. the image of the vintage sleeve is in the upper left hand corner of the first image. i was pleased with the way it turned out. have no idea what i'll do with these samples but i did use them to play a bit in Photoshop Elements. might use those images for some collage work.

click on the images for close-ups.

silk cloth with a thick cording

manipulated in PE

manipulated in PE...kind of looks like a skeleton

i did get some knitting done on my coat before my shoulder started acting up. it's slow going...

been knitting in front of the tv at night

and some play in PE

i was going through some bits and pieces of old work and pulled out a few small pieces to play with. some ideas are brewing...

bits and pieces...the ribbon with the British flag was a gift and i love it

hope all of you in the US survived Black Friday. i didn't go anywhere near the stores. it was a cold week but it's warming up in the afternoons so the weather has been pleasant. stay warm and cozy wherever you are.
see you next time.

a slower week...

not much stitching done this week. the days seemed to fly by with other things that needed to get done. I did experiment a bit with a layered kind of lace work. the base is fleece with a couple of silk hankies (spun silk) over that and then some scrim. I scattered bits and pieces of lace and embroidered cotton over that and went to the machine to do some free motion quilting. i left lots of little open spaces to do hand stitching and x-stitch. this is a work in progress.

the x-stitched letters are a bit of a challenge over the scrim

the long bars were created on the machine and then some were wrapped by hand and the circle up top has some web stitching done in the center.

I added a triangular pocket to a section of my Fun Times cloth with a button covered with a bit of toile cloth.

a pocket with a toile cloth button

I did finally get started on my knitted coat. it took a couple of gauge swatches to get the gauge right. i had to go down 2 needle sizes from what the pattern suggested. need to make sure this coat will fit.

pattern called for a size 8 circular needle but I had to go down to a size 6.

I've been wanting to get started on learning Tambour work and was able to get the library to find this book for me that is just too expensive to purchase. I have all the equipment. just need to find the time. Mary Corbet of NeedlenThread has been posting info on Tambour work that is quite helpful. and if your interested in seeing some gorgeous tambour work, check out Susan Elliott's post here.

I'll save the story about the Ballet 101 video for another time.

It is bitter cold here today and will be for the next few days. the leaves are finally falling from the trees and my front yard is a blanket of yellow as the Chinese Tallow tree is freeing itself to become unburdened. it's a constant shower of leaves so there's no keeping up with it. i'll just let them be for now.
have a great week and stay warm.

looks like my house is the only one inundated with falling leaves.

as always...click on the images for close-ups.

I almost forgot....

I am so excited about trying a new embroidery technique on the machine that I almost forgot about my Saturday blog post....but here I am, even though the day is almost over.

I did finish the needle book case with the bobbin lace embellishment.

I used the same thread to crochet the edge as in the bobbin lace leaves.

a close up of the leaves as requested by a couple of you.

I've started working on my Fun Times cloth again...just some simple stitching to embellish another piece to be added to the completed center.

embellished blanket stitch, french knots and x-stitch

Still crocheting these little flowers that will dangle along the edge of the habotai silk cloth finished weeks ago. I don't really like crocheting with such a fine crochet hook so i do at least two each night...just a few more to go.

crochet flowers to dangle along the edges

I have been carrying this very old project to quilt bee each week hoping to finally finish it sometime soon. I can't even remember how many years ago I started it. I was really into making the cathedral windows pattern. I used a fabric with a trees pattern and interspersed those squares with family pictures....so it's kind of a memory piece...just a small wall hanging.

that's a wedding picture of my mom & dad and a picture of me.

Click on the images for close-ups.

It was winter this week for about 2 days when we had temperatures just at the freezing point, but we're back to Spring and Summer weather this weekend. I do like the variety.
Have a great week and I hope you'll come back again next time.

knitting and bobbin lace...

i was in a hurry to finish this knitted scarf i started last month so i could start on my next big knitting project. i didn't think i'd tackle another knitted lace project after the shawl i did last year, but this one was quite easy and has given me more confidence with lace knitting where you have to really focus on following a chart as each line is different to achieve the pattern.

click on the images for close-ups.

a linen, mohair yarn with a bit of nylon for strength.

my next knitting project will be a coat that i found in the new Downton Abbey knitting magazine. i have purchased all the yarn and am ready to begin. i just hope i'm able to see this project through to the end. i'm thinking i'd better set myself a weekly goal on this one.

the yarn color is 'berries' and is 100% wool.

i've been working on bobbin lace leaves in my weekly lace class and decided to use some of them to make a little needle case. the thread is very slick and silky. it was left to me by my grandmother so it is quite old but in very good condition. i have lots of it and hope to do some crocheted pieces with it as well as more bobbin lace.

working on a needle lace book. the leaves are bobbin lace, stitched down to the cotton cloth. the edging, not yet complete is done in crochet work.

we have been blessed with quite a bit of rain these past 2 weeks...too much in some areas, but still not in the right place to raise the lake levels which are still quite low. the trees are still loaded with leaves and some of the plants think it's Spring instead of Autumn. hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

and the winners are.....

Peggy of  Woman With Wings.... won the Brown Kangaroo bag, and

Emmy of Cramzy .... won the Purple Bird bag.

Congratulations ladies. they both have been contacted.

a pillow and a pouch...

i had a little pillow that i was ready to put into the Goodwill bag but then thought i could cover it with another part of my magic diaries cloth. i chose the part i stitched when i learned about the Chauvet cave. it all started back here and there's a link there going back a bit to the original post about the movie 'The Cave of Forgotten Dreams'. really worth watching if you haven't already seen it.

click on the images for close-ups.

animals on the walls within the Chauvet cave. the pillow measures 14" x 9". that's purple velvet up at the top and a hexagon walkway at the bottom with animal paw prints stamped on.

i used left over fabric pieces for the back...some of it hand dyed. the animal face is scrim manipulated with hand stitching. the pillow is edged with a green piping.

and then for a completely different type of stitching that started out here with a watercolor design  (scroll down the link). it developed into a small pouch that i guess could be used for a wedding bag. it measures 10" x 6½" and is made of dupioni silk with a cotton lining.

that's some vintage lace on the flap with some bullion knots stitched on it to hold it in place.

the reverse side has the bumpy bits with all the bullion knots, french knots and some web stitches. i added a thin, spaghetti type strap.

the lining is a Patchwork (x-stitched down the center) of cotton and embroidered pieces. there is a thin cotton flannel between the outside and the lining which gives the bag some body.

there's still time to enter my giveaway. if you're interested, the post is here. the winner will be picked tomorrow.