Sweet Sunday

And I'm not talkin' chocolate!  ;-)

We have sunshine here (when snow was the original forecast), and there's lots of melting and muddiness and grass showing through the snirt (that's snow+dirt).  After church, friends took two of us 'widder ladies' out to a buffet lunch...so a walk is definitely in order before the end of this afternoon!

And I have been stitching.

The Atlantic Seaboard Sampler has two more light-houses (5 of 6 finished now), and my turtleneck is almost...well, a turtleneck!  I managed to get it over my head, and it's going to fit nicely -- and look smashing with black pants or white capris this summer.  After the disaster of the camisole, I'm both relieved and  happy!

Since last Wednesday's post, my 12" square contribution to the 2013 SAQA Online Benefit Auction has progressed by leaps and bounds...but not without a couple of heart-stopping moments along the way.

My quilted sample with metallic threads worked out, so I sandwiched the piece, using on the back the same white-on-white cotton print (snowflakes) that I'd used for the background of the top.  The quilting went well and I was pleased.  

I've titled the piece "Wonder", and decided I wanted to embroider the word along one side of the centre motif, using YLI Candlelight metallic thread in "Rainbow" (it's really white; why they named it 'Rainbow' is beyond me).   I have a Husqvarna Lily 555, which I adore, but I don't have the special bobbin case for bobbin work with this sort of thread, so I knew I'd have to do it by hand.  Thanks to the advice I found online at the Indus Ladies embroidery forum, I decided to use a simple back-stitch rather than try to stem-stitch this fragile, slippery, tends-to-shred thread.

First I dug out the package of Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy I bought a couple of months ago -- and had yet to try.   It has paper on one side, and if I wanted to, I could run it through my printer.  I can also trace on it, which is what I did, using a font from my MS Word program, set at its largest size.  I used water soluble marking pen to make the tracing on the non-sticky fabric size of the stabilizer:

I removed the paper to reveal the sticky side, and stuck it in place on the border of my piece.  Then I embroidered it down...and followed the instructions to dissolve the fabric and wash away the water-soluble marker.

That's when the colour of the central motif went from this pale blue:

To this not-quite-so-pale blue:

I decided to live with it.

Then I bound it...and discovered that in the quilting something from my sewing table (which I thought was clean) had rubbed on the printed snowflakes on the back and they were showing up as grubby grey spots!!

So...after the binding was hemmed in place (the label was on by this time too), I washed it a second time -- this is the photo you see above.  In stead of clear water, this time I used a gentle soak with Synthrapol added, and a gentle rinse.  It didn't alter the blue any further (phew!) and mercifully, the back is now white as...yep: snow.  Double phew!

All that's left to do is add some of these tiny seed beads -- and a sleeve -- and it'll be ready to take with me to Santa Fe to deliver to the Benefit Auction curator.

All the silence, the sunshine, the sampling and the stitching have brought a special sweetness to this year's Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.

I hope you were equally blessed!

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!

On and Off the Wall

Things have perked up around here since my last post.  I've managed to catch up on some much-needed sleep, and to get out and exercise in the fresh air, both of which bode well for creativity.  At least part of that exercise has involved wielding a snow shovel, but we won't talk about that.  ;-)  If it doesn't snow too much more between now and tomorrow noon, I've done enough shovelling to get me out of the driveway and down the alley to the street, where I can limp along in someone else's tire tracks to the highway and on up to Edmonton for the GRIT "Hope and Harmony" Gala Fund-raiser.

I realized while I was shovelling this a.m. that this snow was wonderfully clean and powdery, perfect for one last (hopefully last!) snow-dyeing adventure (until December, anyway).  I quickly prepped some fabric in soda ash, and it's now buried in two tubs of the white stuff.  Instead of concocting dye in liquid form, this time I decided to try sprinkling the dye powders directly on the snow.  I have one tub with sky-blue, turquoise and a hint of fuchsia (on one side only) and the other with lemon yellow, golden yellow and some scarlet as well as fuchsia.  We shall see...

The rest of yesterday and today have been spent in the sewdio, where I managed to do this:

1. Finish 2 more rows on that sampler -- and had the "two steps forward, one step back" on only a bit of the second-last one (the wee fishing boats):

Atlantic Seaboard Sampler
Jeannette Douglas Designs, Calgary, AB, Canada

2. Begin another larger piece, currently on the design wall:

This one is called "Waiting for the Train" -- based on a photo taken last year as I did just that at the Mirror tracks heading west out of town on Highway 50.  You can see the photo to the right, printed out at a full 8" x 10".

To make it a bit more colourful, I'm going to add the rear end of a truck:

Above's my sample truck...but it's a bit too small, so I've got to make a slightly larger one.  I also have to order some silk ribbon to do the grasses, as I have nothing in the colour I need and no white SR for dyeing.  As I can't use the CN rail logo on the train cars (no time to ask them for permission, either -- that could take months -- or longer!), I've decided to try to 'decorate' them with the other standard rail car embellishment: graffiti!  Now to do some research to get just the right look.  :-)

If this piece is finished for the show next month -- great; if not, so be it!

Before I get back to work, I'm going to link this up with Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and wish you all a great weekend!

Molasses

Slower than, flowing uphill in January.  That could be said of several things chez Margaret these days: spring's arrival; making up for sleep deprivation from my latest trip before my next one; my 5-year-old computer; my work.

Each day is a new day and I wake up with fresh resolve, fresh blessings, fresh mercies for unfinished business from the day before, and by 4 p.m..... Ah, well!

There's always tomorrow,

For dreams to come true,

Believe in your dreams

Come what may.

There's always tomorrow,

With so much to do,

And so little time in a day.

We all pretend

The rainbow has an end

And you'll be there my friend someday.

There's always tomorrow,

For dreams to come true,

Tomorrow is not far away.

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/burl-ives-lyrics-theres-always-tomorrow-b3hfnnh#ixzz2NWJSc2YE
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community 

So what's been taking up my time this week?

I finished the gift for my friend's birthday -- alas, no photo till after I've given it to her; coffee together is tentatively set for tomorrow afternoon.  :-)

On Saturday evening I finished the tartan (Row 20) on the Atlantic Seaboard Sampler -- and I didn't go blind!

That row took so long that I'm 'way behind schedule to finish the piece for early May, so I'm now hustling to do the last dozen rows.  

Yesterday morning I completed Row 21 -- but not after a major false start.  While I learned to count over 55 years ago, I still have trouble doing it when working on 28- or 32-count linen.  This piece is on 28-count, and the 'even weave' is not really that even.  Then there are the charts.  Row 20 is charted at the bottom of page 2; Row 21, at the top of page 3 in the instructions.  Well!  You'd think they were miles part, in different provinces, even!  I lined the two pages up, ensured I had the start of Row 20 in the right place -- and worked seven of ten motifs before discovering that I'd started 4 threads in from the edge, instead of right on the edge...

Let's just say that frogging is not the exclusive purview of knitting and piecing!

When I re-did it, I was pleased with the effect:

Today: Row 22 -- or at least, a start!

"Cinnamon" - Block #2

"Cinnamon" - Block #1

Yesterday afternoon I decided I had to get back to the sewing machine.  A few months ago, in a clean-up and sort-out of my sewdio, I re-discovered a draw containing three different kits for blocks-of-the-month (BOMs) that I'd collected over three years in Calgary from the now-gone Freckle's Quilt Shoppe (Janet, the blessed owner, retired last year in ill health -- or so I'm told).  I resolved to make them up over the course of the next year or two -- they're throw-sized so I can quilt them myself -- and give them away.  The first BOM is called "Cinnamon", and it's full of mustard yellows, maroons and wines, deep greens and navies and browns and olives.

The first two were fairly straightforward, but Block #3?!  The instructions call for working with so many bias edges that I'm doubtful that it will come out the same size as the first two -- and I'm loathe to try making it a second time!

Block #3 under construction

As  you can see, right now it's still a Work In Progress, so I'm going to squeak in under the wire and link up with WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  Then I'm going to finish this baby while the day is fresh, and get on to my next art piece!

P.S.: Thank goodness for my knitting.  At least progress there is somewhat steadier.  No photo at present, but I'm 2 pattern sets from the arm-hole shaping on the Gedifra Korfu Sleeveless Turtleneck, which means I'm that much closer to finishing it, which means that after that I have only one fingerless glove to knit and then I can reward myself with a new project!

St. Monica's Under the Sky

Awoke to snow and blowing snow this morning (as forecast, believe it or not!), and sighed with pleasure.  Sometimes, on a Sunday, I just want to have a quiet day at home, not trekking 43 km. in to church and back...just writing Morning Pages, reading Morning Prayer, and making a leisurely start to my day.  Today, I was blessed to be able to do just that!

After breakfast and some 'net travel, I moved into my 'sewdio' and finished this, complete with branches and shadows.

For those of you interested in the nitty-gritty of the process, the additional branches (compared to this) were done with simple black 50-wt cotton thread, along with the last of the quilting of the tree trunk.  The shadows on the roof (bottom right) were created with MistyFuse to attach 2 layers of fine tulle -- a bit of grey and a bit of brown -- and a touch of InkTense pencil (black) over-laid with a hint of dilute white acrylic craft paint (this last in the white area between the two roof sections).

And because one of you asked: yes, the building was assembled from little pieces of fabric and fused with Wonder Under.  The tree is also fused onto the background (a piece of my own hand-dyed muslin), but it's all-of-a-piece except for the thread-painted branches.  The roof of the bell tower and the cross were the toughest because of the angle at which the original photo put them, and because they were so **!!@@ tiny.

Still and all, looking at it properly matted, I'm rather pleased with it.  Nine down, three more to go before the show in mid-April.  :-)

On the knitting front, there was no rescuing that poor camisole.  Taking in the full amount of excess fabric through the back might have worked...but in the end, the entire piece was made at least two sizes too large for me.  Part of it was a gauge problem -- the punishment I get for not swatching (I intensely dislike swatching, but as in over 50 years of knitting this is only my second "disaster", I'm not about to start now) -- and part of it was that I simply selected too large a size for my body.  Twenty pounds have left my frame since I began that piece, so I guess it was inevitable!    No worries, though!  I have attached a yarn label to it (it's silk and cashmere), and will give it away.  I have enough of the yarn left over -- almost 4 full balls --  to make it again (swatching this time) or to make something completely different, which is likely what I'll do.

I've resolved not to let it bother me and to move on to my next UFO, which is coming along nicely.  It's a sleeveless turtleneck that I began ??? ago using "Piazza" from Schachenmayr Nomotta -- a yarn that is now discontinued, but of which I bought plenty from elann.com back in the day.  It's a cotton blend, and the colourway is a deep coral cotton twisted with white synthetic for a bit of shine.  The back was long finished, and I am making my way up the front.  The pattern I'm using was free from elann.com but I can no longer find it on their website: the Gedifra Korfu Sleeveless Turtleneck.  It's a very pretty open-work pattern with simple construction and this time I'm sure it'll fit, because the size is based on my current measurements, which I must have had before I gained those 20 pounds!

Araucania 'Atacama" - Colour #501

Resolve leads to reward, right?  My reward for finishing the turtleneck and a third UFO (a pair of cabled fingerless gloves, of which the first is done) will be to start a new project.  I have just enough Araucania Atacama to make the "Windward" shawlette/scarf with I purchased last month from designer  Heidi Kirrmaier's Ravelry shop.  I got this yarn on sale at Knit & Caboodle in Canmore some years ago (2007?) while on a retreat with the Gillihook Heritage Knitters' Guild to which I belonged at the time.  It's in a wonderful raspberries-and-cream colour-way, perfect for the coming spring.

Now while the light is good I want to work a couple more lines of that Nova Scotia tartan I've been working on in my Atlantic Seaboard Sampler (designed by Jeannette Douglas of Calgary).   Here's a photo of my progress up to bedtime last night:

Thirteen lines done and 10 to go till this pattern row is finished!

The snow has stopped but it's still breezy.  After the sampler, I know I need to go out and do some shovelling if I'm going to get into Lacombe tomorrow -- and from there to Red Deer to give my sweet little car its regular maintenance service and oil change!

Have a lovely rest of your Sunday!

Tuesday Treats

It's been cold, windy, cloudy and grey around here for the past several days.  I decided to lighten my mood by giving away a couple of knitterly treats, in this the Week for Fibre in my 10th Blog-aversary celebrations. :-)

I set before you these two lovelies:

1. TOP: Cadenza "Fire" from Colinette yarns - 100% DK Merino Wool, 120 metres in the skein, 22 stitches and 28 rows to 4" on 4 mm needles (that's a 6 for you 'mericans!) -- perfect for a kidlet's hat or mittens, eh?
2. BOTTOM: Hacho shade 304 from Mirasol yarns -- 100% Hand-dyed Merino Wool, 125 metres in the skein, 22 stitches and 30 rows to 4" on those same 4 mm (US 6) needles.

And it's my delight to send one to Pat and one to Suburban Prep!  I'll be in touch by e-mail for your snail mail addresses.  Now...what colour to whom?  It seems to me from looking at Pat's blog that the 'Hacho' in greens, purples and blues would suit, so that's how it'll be; the "Fire" will be sent to Suburban.  :-)  Enjoy!

Lest you think I've been slacking since my last post, here's the Lacombe Art Show Preparation Report:

• "Tree Line" - finished, bound, labelled and sleeve made and pinned to back;
• "Sentinels" - finished, faced, labelled and sleeve made and pinned to back;
• "Trio" - finished, faced, labelled and sleeve sewn on;
• "The Watcher" - finished and mounted on linen-covered stretched canvas;
• "House I" - finished, faced and mounted on linen-covered stretched canvas;
• "'Shrooms on the Sand" - finished, bound, labelled and sleeve sewn on'
• Miniatures - five (of 12) finished and matted.

For the latter, here are a few examples.  What a difference a matt makes, eh?

"On Forever"

"Autumn at the Slough"

"Prairie Twilight II"

Each matt brings the finished size to 8" x 10".  I've matted two more, but no photos at this point.  You'll just have to stay tuned!

And yes, the knitting continues...I've done the decreases on the left side of my camisole, and am making the I-cord strap.

And last but not least, in the way of the Atlantic Seaboard Sampler, I've done one line of Row 20's tent stitch, one thread over one thread.  Here it is...seen through the magnifying glass:

And without the glass...(that tiny row of stitching underneath the purple squares).  No, I'm not blind yet...but oh my!

Whatever your work of choice, have a happy stitching Tuesday!