I DID IT.....

This is the last you'll see of the Downton Abbey coat. I have worn it twice and it's cozy warm. It will be a long time before I take on such a huge project. I started it in November of 2013. It didn't actually take that long to knit....just had to stop and give myself lots of breaks due to boredom.

click on the images...

scrollwork on the collar.....tab with 2 buttons

close up of the scroll work done with a crochet hook through the knitting

2 buttons on the front....black marks are in the wool

I've been playing with mosaic tiles this week...It all started with this video. You can see the tiles about 40 seconds into the video. I was able to get a couple of samples of mother of pearl tiles and I'm doing some sampling with embroidery.

mother of pearl tiles on a mesh grid. each tile is 3/4" square

I took the hammer to some of them and did some embroidery

added some grass through the cracks

and did a bit of weaving

Time will tell where all this will lead....I have some ideas. Sometimes, too many ideas.

We've been having Spring like weather but more cold days are predicted. My double narcissus bulbs are blooming so I know that Spring is not far away. Wish I could send those of you inundated with snow some of our weather. Stay safe and warm.

I really am trying....

to finish my Downton Abbey coat. I have spent the last couple of days stitching the side seams and the sleeve seams using the mattress stitch which gives such a nice clean finish. You can hardly find the seam on the right hand side....but it's slow going. It takes time but it's worth it. I still need to set in the sleeves, and do a few rows of knitting around the neck edge before I can attach the collar. My plan is to have it finished by my next blog post. I did try it on and it actually fits well.

click on the images....

so close to finishing...not the true color here....too much light

Hope to get someone to take a picture of me wearing the coat when it's finished. It's a much deeper color as you know from previous posts. Just couldn't get the right lighting today.

I've done a bit more collage and doodle work inspired by Lisa Congdon's class on Creativebug.com.

cut up business cards and flyers, micron pen, black stitched french knots

The doll is finished and both dolls are now on their way to two sweet little girls. Hope they will enjoy them. They were such fun to make.

A while back I purchased several bags of Bucilla Needlepoint & Crewel Wool packets from the thrift store. I couldn't imagine why anyone would give such beautiful yarn away.....well when I started unraveling it, i understood. The moths had gotten to it but not all the packets were damaged so I've been unraveling and separating the 3 ply to one ply balls. I plan on crocheting small star shaped motifs and joining them together for a shawl or maybe a blanket. It will be a good 'take along' project to have in my purse.....so many pretty colors. I did make one motif but I need to try it with a larger crochet hook so the pattern will show up better.

100% wool in beautiful colors

Lots of other things going on but I will save them for next time.
Have a great weekend and stay safe if you are in the midst of snow and bad weather.

making paper stencils....

I never did finish the scrollwork on that collar for the Downton Abbey coat in one day. It took several. Just printing the pattern and making it into stencils took hours....and then i basted through the stencil onto the knitting. Working on the cuffs this weekend.

click on the images...

paper stencils...don't know if i'll ever use them again but after all that work, i'm not throwing them away.

scrollwork on the collar is completed

basted the design on the cuff....ready for the scrollwork.

The scrollwork is done with a crochet hook and a slip stitch. you pull the yarn up from the backside while doing the slip stitch on the right side so it's a bit tricky.

I decided to make a triangular shawl to match with the leftover yarn. I had ordered one extra skein....just in case something went terribly wrong.

triangular shawl pattern....easy

started the shawl

I found the shawl pattern HERE just in case you are inspired to make one.

....and since this has all been about knitting, I thought I'd share a fun block to make if you are a quilter or a stitcher or just want to try something different..... A quilting friend shared the instructions for making a bow tie block from one piece of fabric just by folding and a bit of stitching. It was fun to do and I found a you-tube video that takes you through it step by step. The video is HERE.

you can do some embroidery or applique in the spaces to accentuate the bow tie if you don't like the solid color. i like the texture it creates.

Have a fun week whatever it is you are doing.

I've gone over the deep end.....

don't really know how this happened but once I got started, I just had to continue until it was 'finished'... I started out with a print of an optical illusion and it took off from there... the finished piece measures 9"x12".

click on the images...

I cut out a triangle...added a zipper, some bullion knots, french knots and some snippet cloth in the background.

cut out sections and backed with cloth and embroidery

more french knots all around to enhance the circular motion. bordered with a silver shiny fabric and some gimp.

a fun experiment with paper and stitch

This was the final piece created in Karen Ruane's class....Doodle, gather, create....so much fun.

....and now I must finish my Downton Abbey coat. All the pieces are complete and I steam blocked the collar so I could do the scrollwork but it will need to be wet blocked when that's completed.

collar steam blocked....it's huge as the front of the coat is a deep v-neck.

scroll work completed on one side. determined to finish the collar today.

....and there's a new 'toy' to play with. I've been thinking of buying one of these kick spindles and one of my lace friends was selling hers. I tried it out and I love it. It's much easier to use than my drop spindle so hopefully I'll be spinning a bit more in the days to come.

Little Meggie kick spindle

Here's a link to the Woolery website where there's a video showing how it works for those of you interested...click HERE

Stay warm and have a good week.

the first cold morning....

It was 48 degrees (F) this morning and i couldn't resist....i turned up the heat just to take the chill out of the air....and to make sure it is in working order. The cold front came in right after Halloween which was celebrated here in the US last night. I'm not much of a holiday person but I heard this one thing that I'd thought I'd share with you....
....a little girl was asked what she was going to dress up as for Halloween. she said, "I'm going to dress up as a lion that looks like a giraffe."  isn't that wonderful. what an imagination.

I finished up that Noro scarf I showed you last week and am now trying to finish up the Downton Abbey coat since it will soon be cold enough to wear it. I'm working on the last piece which is the collar and then I can start putting it all together. I can't wait to finish so I can start on some other knitting projects that are waiting in the wings...

click on the images....

the collar for the Downton Abbey coat

I did a bit more stitching on the crazy hanky patchwork piece that will become a pillow. I cut out some circles from a  linen embroidered doily but didn't want to waste the scrap left so I did some free motion stitching in the spaces and will add some stitching embellishment so it can be used on the back of the pillow.

the left over of a linen doily

added scrim and hanky scraps with free motion embroidery

a flower garden created on one corner of the crazy hanky patch

....and finally, I've decided to create a dress out of this top I've had for years but hardly ever wear. I removed the bottom ruffle of a black and white skirt that I do not wear and will add it to the top and it will be the perfect length for an easy slip on dress. The symbol on the dress is for the word OM which is used in meditation to create a vibrational frequency of harmony in the body. You can read about that here.

the top with the OM symbol

ruffle taken off of the bottom of a skirt.

Hope you all have a great week.

A Science Experiment is finished....

not really. That's just the name of the piece. It started out with pattern paper and bits of eco-dyed fabric and some scraps from a cut up quilt. Not much to tell about it. It just developed and I guess there are lots of stories that can be told after looking at it for a while, but I'll leave the story telling to you. I know you will all see something different within.

click on the images for close-ups.

the center section was framed with a blanket stitch and then a single crochet

hand stitching done on the pattern paper and the fabric within

the hexagon cloth at the base was dyed with a rusty grid and then over stitched and some steampunk elements were added

a spiral of french knots leading down to the bottom

the piece was stretched and hand stitched over mounting board and an old curtain that was dyed with onion skins was hem stitched on for the backing.

the back of  ' A Science Experiment'

The Downton Abbey coat is moving along. I'm working on both sleeves at once and then it will just be the collar and the tab for the back. I was reading the instructions today and the finishing doesn't sound too easy. It's going to be difficult to block such a big piece. I've never done that before. I am anxious to get it finished.

We had a good amount of rain early this week and the garden just loves it. Radishes and Lettuce were picked from the garden this evening for my salad. We are back into a dry spell but hoping the rain decides to visit again soon.

You might not see me online as much. I'm trying to scale back sitting at the computer. I'll still be visiting blogs but it might not be as often. I do love seeing what you all are doing and I have to keep up with all of my online classes.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

managed to fit it all in this week....

I did do a bit of everything this week. I even got my car washed and arranged for the tree trimmers to prepare the yard for Spring. The trees grow so fast and some are so huge. Need to get some branches cut that are too close to the house.

I pulled out my little weave-it loom to help out one of the residents at the Assisted Living Facility where my bobbin lace and knitting classes are held. The residents sometimes come in to visit and to see what we are up to. One of the newest residents brought in a blanket her aunt had made for her with an old pin loom. She was trying to make some new woven patches but the was using a yarn that was too fine. I brought her some tapestry wool that has been sitting on my shelf for years and now it will get used. I enjoyed making the sample woven patch. I wanted to make sure that the tapestry yarn would work...and it did. She was thrilled to receive the wool and I can't wait to see what she does with it.

click on the images for close-ups.

had to re-read the article in Piecework magazine (2010) to remember how to set up the loom.

the finished patch

I did get some more knitting done on the Downton Abbey coat. The right front is almost finished and there are 2 buttonholes and I've made the 2 buttons to fit perfectly.

The scarf with the leaf edge was causing problems because the graph had an error and the stitch count was not turning out right. It took me a long time to figure out that it was the graph that was wrong and not my knitting....should be easier going now.

2 leaves done...lots more to go

I've been trying to organize all my knitting needles. There are straight ones, circular ones, double points and lots of little accessories. I took some of those clear sheet protectors and divided them by stitching sections on the machine. I think this will work. They will fit perfectly in a 3 ring binder.

stitched sheet protectors  will hold all my knitting needles

Karen Ruane talked about ink transfers in class this week so I sketched a design and played a bit with that.  I transferred my design to fabric and did some stitching but will show you more of this project in a couple of weeks.

...and I did do some more line drawings that I told you about last week. The class has been very inspiring. Check it out here.

That's it for this week. Hope your weekend will be grand and the coming week productive.
See you next time.

a full week...

I did lots of playing with the filters in Photoshop Elements this week. I used the images of the beautiful Amaryllis bulbs that have been blooming for the past few weeks right on my kitchen table.
Here's one image that I used for some ledger work.

click on the images for close-ups...

Photoshopped image of the Amaryllis seen in my last post

I printed it on watercolor paper, did some painting with watercolors and with this Colorpoint paint I found in my closet from years ago. I cut out some areas from one of the paintings and put it down on another...just had a great time playing.

watercolors, dimensional paint over printed image

I've done some free motion quilting and hand stitching on this but it's not quite finished. Will show you the finished page next time. It has evolved slowly.

I spent a good amount of time this week straightening out my crafts room. I haven't seen the tops of my work table in a long time. Nice to have that surface back. I built this work table about 20 years ago from a steel frame and plywood. I even added a padded section for ironing that is right next to my sewing machine.  I'll take you around the room with pictures. The room still needs some cleaning out and organizing but, at least, I've made a good start.

a small cutting board here. a much bigger one in another room...paints, brushes, glue, needle book, journal, etc., etc.

more paints and beads under the table, spun yarn in baskets, ironing surface and....

sewing machine, threads. window behind that hanging quilt

old books, machine quilting books, lots of threads for hand stitching

haven't gotten to this mess yet. baskets with ufos, all of dad's photography up top. the drawers are filled with things from fabric to computer equipment. i bought this hutch when i got my first full time job when i was 18.

I wont show you the closet in this room that is chock full of stuff that needs sorting out. Hopefully this motivation that hit me will last a while longer so I can get it all done. The closet is full of yarn and different collage papers, lots of raw wool for felting and spinning and every other craft project I've tried in the past 25 or so years. Very little fabric in this room...that stash is in my bedroom since I ran out of room here.

The Downton Abbey coat is moving along. Just need a couple more rows to finish the back.

the back...ready to start one of the front panels

It was 29 degrees here this morning but I've already received some of the seeds I will plant this Spring. Will have to wait till the end of March, at least, but I'm ready.

Hope you're all having a great weekend.