cooler mornings....

and a promise of cooler days to come. It seems the Plumbago does best this time of year. Such a pretty blue.

click on the images for close-ups.

Plumbago

Working on a couple of more hankies in SS5 with Karen Ruane....some of the hand dyed cloth is mine, some purchased from Deb Lacativa and the beautiful indigo blue shibori cloth was a gift from Jeannie Evans Van-Hoff quite awhile ago.

embellishing men's hankies

I am still working on my Downton Abbey knitted coat that I hope to finish by winter but we started a knit-a-long in knitting class so I'm also working on a Stitch Sampler Shawl. It can be found on Ravelry if you are inspired.

Stitch Sampler Shawl using Lion Brand's Amazing yarn

That's about it for this week. Have a great weekend.

it was a gully washer...

Wednesday night brought more than 8.5" of rain at my house and unbelievable thunder and lightning. It was sorely needed but getting it all at once always causes problems. Things have settled down now and just a light rain shower every now and then.

I did some experimenting with paint pens inspired by Karen's ledger work in SS5. I just made some simple lines on watercolor paper and then gave it a spray with alcohol to blend the colors. After it dried, I cut it up and just did a bit of embroidery.

click on the images for close-ups.

paint pens, alcohol and stitch

love these Crayola paint pens

We are working on hanky embellishment in SS5 and I finally decided on some men's hankies I have that are 15" x 15". I brought out some of my vintage cloth that I've dyed in past years and did a simple 16 patch. It will eventually get more stitch embellishment.....and there are 4 more similar hankies to play with.

man's hanky embellished with dyed cloth and lace and a smidgeon of velvet.

For those of you in the USA, Ken Burns has had a series on PBS on The Roosevelts. It is so interesting to watch what life and politics was like through those years.....different but no less chaotic than life these days. I've heard people say they wish they could go back to 'simpler times'. Times were not as simple as we tend to believe. The videos are available online HERE, if you are interested in watching. Not sure if they will work outside of the US.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

mostly experimenting....

That's what this week turned out to be....mostly experimenting. I did finish the snippet lace collar but up against the very white blouse, it looks dirty and just not right....so the collar will be bundled and thrown in the dye pot and used on another project.

click on the images for close-ups...

snippet lace collar

I did a bit of experimenting with free form intarsia knitting...

free form intarsia knitting...colors inspired from fabric

Trying to knit the top of a sock on a ready made cotton short sock. would like a couple of pair for cold winter evenings. I don't find a regular knitted sock comfortable. I've taken this one apart and have started again. It needs a bit more tapering.

I know it looks strange but it's purely for comfort.

....and moving hankies, fabric and older sample embroideries around to use in Karen's latest class, Simply Stitch 5.

playing with vintage hankies

We are having a cool day....finally....with a steady rain.
Have a great week.

A New Carrier...

for my bobbin lace pillow. I've been using a carrier that I quilted many years ago and it is coming apart in places. Several years ago I purchased three small machine made quilts from a local discount store. I think I paid $10 for each of them. I planned on using them to make a cover for my sofa. Well, that never happened. One of them hangs over my sofa for cold winter evenings. I pulled out the second one and cut some panels to make a pouch big enough to hold my lace pillow. I stitched the lining fabric (from my stash) to the quilted cloth, turned it inside out and did the rest of the stitching by hand.

click on the images for close-ups...

the selvedge of the lining fabric  decorates the strap with a blanket stitched edge and the entire pouch has a crocheted edge.

the ties on the side hold the pillow in place

a gusset on one side to make inserting the pillow easier

it measures about 18" x 18"

I showed you a knitted doll jacket last week and this week, I finished the dress and the hat.

dolls dress and hat

I'm still working on the collar and cuffs made with the lace bits of fabric. Still have a bit more to stitch on the cuffs and then I'll start with the hand embroidery which is my favorite part.

collar and cuffs to be stitched onto a white vintage blouse

I just started reading an interesting book by Pam Grout....E2....more convincing evidence that your thoughts are what create your reality. Thought some of you might find it interesting as well. You can read the description and part of the book on Amazon....HERE.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.