The Broken Needle

Dreaming of Fall

The weather is cooler and that must mean autumn is almost here!  I'm not trying to rush it but I have to admit it is my favorite season and I look forward to it.  I'm so much more energized when it's cooler, I become the busy Vee :-)  Take a peek at what I've been up to...

 

This is a busy little table at the edge of my kitchen.  I haven't decided exactly what I want to keep there so for now it'll be a tad crowded.  It smells so good when you walk past...There's sweet annie, an essential oil burner (nothing burning at the moment), and a large cup full of autumn potpourri.  I guess you can say it's my autumn welcome display.

 

Here's another little table which sits at the edge of my keeping room. Yes, those are needle felted pumpkins you see sitting there with my wool pear.  I have so much wool around here I'm always looking for ways to create with it. The house scene on the pear is needle felted flat, the pear is stitched together, then stuffed.  I found the perfect twig complete with two tiny leaves to finish it off. The design is from With Thy Needle and Thread, the pumpkins are my own design.

  

Here's my latest cross stitch finish.  A Stacy Nash design that I ahm, changed just a tiny bit :-)  Instead of school I stitched house. This is the first pocket finish that I've done and it was not as difficult as I'd thought it would be.  I used to sew a lot for my daughter and most of her dresses were smocked dresses that had a placket in the back.  I just had to remember how I used to make that placket and all went well.  Here's the back..

 

Socks anyone?  I told you I've been busy...Hand knit from my hand spun Romeldale and Cormo fleece.

 

This photo was taken at the point where I've picked up the gusset stitches on the second sock.  I am happy to report that these socks are now finished and awaiting some chilly weather.

I have another finish, the hooked tea cozy from the last post, it turned out great and it it keeps my tea so nice and warm.  I forgot to take a picture but I'll remember to put up a photo of it next time. I'm currently hooking a chair pad....

  

I hope that I can get this completed within the next couple of weeks.  I have a small Christmas design that I'd like to hook and I refuse to start it until this one is finished.

That's all the stitchy stuff for now.  I am planning to spend some time this week working in my garden.  I am so anxious to get my mums planted while we have comfortable weather.  I know there will be more warmer days coming and I might not be as motivated to play in the dirt.

Until next time. I hope that you're finding time to enjoy your projects and that you'll stop by and visit me again.

Happy stitching!

 

I'm still here...

It's turning out to be quite a busy summer.  I find that I don't get many projects completed during this time of year because my attention is being focused on so many things--fun things and some not so fun.  Hubby has had a couple of illnesses, nothing major, just little nagging issues that can get in the way of plans. He's feeling much better and we're all healthy (knock on wood).  I do have a finish to share and one that's very close to being finished, maybe even today...

 

This is the ornament that I stitched for Sally for the HoE Christmas in July exchange.  The chart is from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue, the design is by Little by Little.  This was such a fun stitch.  I always make plans  to work on a few Christmas projects in July so this was a great project to get me in the mood.

I received this ornament from Carol Sutcliffe...

 

and these extras...

 

I absolutely love the ornament and the extras are much appreciated.  I think the letter "V" would make a cute needlecase.

For updates on past projects, I'm two repeats away from finishing my Lilly of the valley scarf; I'm loving how it's turning out, the nupps were not has difficult as I thought they'd be.  Unfortunately, I have not stitched on my biscornu at all but it is back at the top of the list now that my exchange piece is done.  I must confess, I did add a project :-)

I am adding to my tea cozy collection...

  

I wanted something different so I freehanded this design onto a piece of linen, cut strips of wool from my hand dyed wool stash, and started hooking.  I'm calling it my primitive lavender cozy, it's very close to being finished, just a little more hooking at the top.  The backing will be wool but the lining will be a cotton fabric.  Now this should keep my tea nice and warm, don't you think?

Until next time, have a great week.  Thanks for visiting me.

Handwoven Towels and some Stitching

I guess it's time to update my blog to show some of what has been keeping me busy.  I'll start where I left off.  Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival began with a cloudy, rainy morning. Nature was kind and it stopped raining in the afternoon which made it easier to walk around and see all of the goodies without navigating around umbrellas. I had a great time, only purchased what I "needed" :-), and enjoyed the company of friends and good food.

Now on to what's been keeping me busy...

  

 

Imagine the sound of a shuttle being thrown and the rhythm of the beater and shafts -- yes, I've been weaving!  My looms have been silent for far too long.  This year was supposed to be the year that I focus on improving my weaving skills but somehow cross stitch took over and alas, this is the first weaving project of 2009.  The warp and weft is 10/2 organic cotton (I used 20/2 for the hems) destined to become face cloths.  Here's what it looks like now...

 

They feel soooooo good.  I ended up with five towels, it was supposed to be six but a broken warp thread happened right after weaving the hem of one of the towels. I knotted the thread and wove in an extra seperator past the knot which meant I ended up with more loom waste than I'd allowed for. I'm very pleased with how they turned out and If time permits, I'll wind the warp for the bath towels over the holiday weekend.

My wool project is the Lily of the Valley scarf from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. A couple of years ago I purchased a CVM/Ramboullet fleece, the ewe was named LOCO (that's a whole 'nother story) I always said that I would use the wool for a lace shawl and a scarf.  I'm finally making good on that.  Here's the bag of carded wool

 

Here's the spun yarn

 

I started knitting last night and I already know that I'm going to enjoy this project.  I spun up a total of 475 yards at 16 wpi, that will make for a scarf that has a little bit more weight to it than if I'd spun it finer.

in my last post I said that cross stitch would resume...It has.

 

This is a corner of a biscornu.  I really thought I would have been finished by now, I suppose I would have if I hadn't inserted the weaving and the spinning projects :-)  I also underestimated the time it would take to work the many spider web roses that's required in this piece (and the french knots).  This is my current cross stitch project and I'm enjoying stitching it so the next time you see it, it will be completed.

Have a great holiday weekend, stay safe, and remember our service men and women.

Alert - Wool Ahead

I have no cross-stitch updates for this post --"OH No"!  Why? Because Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival starts tomorrow and I've been bitten by the spinning bug.  So far I've spun up about 4 ounces of this hand-dyed merino--

  

 

I call this Denim because it reminds me of  denim jeans.

I've also started spinning a really lovely Cormo that I've had in my stash for a while.  It's super fine and so next to the skin soft it could be knit into a baby's blanket.  I have lots of it so I'll get quite a few projects from it.  It also should take dye well don't you think?  I have quite a few white fleeces but Kai (that's the Ram's name) is a nice clear white so dye colours will be bright and true.

 

The fiber on the cormo batt is a hand-dyed silk that I'm spindle spinning.  I love the colour, it reminds me of autumn leaves.  I'll have to find a little lacey project for this one.

That's it for now.  Cross stitch will resume next post :-)

I appreciate your visit.  Have a great stitchy weekend.

Lettre D'Amour V

I stitched Couleur d'Etoile's Letter V a couple of weeks ago but never posted a pic.  I'm still trying to decide how I want to finish it.  I'm leaning toward framing it in an ornate, white, distressed frame to give it an aged and antiqued look.

 

I enjoyed stitching this, it was very quick.  If I don't frame it, I think it would be nice as a boudoir pillow but I'd have to add a linen border all around because I didn't leave enough excess fabric to make a flange.  I was so anxious to get started I didn't think the finishing through.

This weekend, I will be stitching a little and to the surprise of some, spinning a little.  Yes, I will be spending time with my Ashley spinning wheel.  Lizzy B will be visiting on Saturday and she always brings one of her wheels and current spinning project.  I have some hand-dyed Clun Forest that I'd been planning to spin in a fingering weight for socks so I'll be working on that.  Liz also cross stitches and has been asking about biscornus so she may just leave with a new cross stitch project in her bag. Enabler? You bet!

Have a fun weekend, please stop by again.  Next time I will have my April Biscornu posted and the results of my spinning weekend.

Here are a few pics of my yard in April (things are leafing out!)

 

Stumpwork Scissor Case

Happy Friday!  I hope the weekend weather in your area will be as nice as what is forecast for those of us in the Maryland area, we're expecting sun and 70 degrees.  I'm so ready for that.  We've had cool rainy days and it was beginning to affect my mood, so, I decided to stitch this cheerful little gem--

 

I enjoyed stitching this soooo much!  It's been quite a while since I've done any stumpwork which is why I chose a small piece to get my stumpwork groove back :-) The inspiration to revisit this type of stitching came from Ronel's blog.  She has some beautiful stumpwork pieces and looking at them and admiring her work reminded me of how much I enjoy this technique.  Thank you Ronel for the inspiration.

The scissor case has a companion piece, a needlebook.  I hope to start on it after I finish my April biscornu, my current project. In the meantime, I was looking for a place to keep this until I could complete the entire set and I came across the perfect box that can hold these goodies--

  

I made this box a couple of years ago.  The stitched top, I'm sure you recognize it, it's a Marjolein Bastin design.  It's a winter design but the colours I chose allow me to get away with having it out now,  I just love the bird theme. The box is large enough to hold the sewing set and a small project so I can use it as a current wip box. 

That's it for now.  I hope you stop by again, I appreciate your visits and your comments.

Happy stitching!

Farm Fresh!

I'm stopping in to make a quick post to wish you Easter blessings to share with you my latest "quick stitch"...

 

 

Prairie Schooler's Farm Fresh - Book No. 108

I was determined to stitch something from this chart this year and amazingly I finished it on Easter weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for your visits and kind words, I look forward to them, you make me smile.

Another PIF Arrived!

Edgar received my PIF so now I can show what I stitched for him...

 

  

 I've had Blackbird Design's 'Their Song' on my project list for a good while now but it keeps getting pushed further and further down the list. So, I decided that since I've ignored it for so long, I could at least stitch bits and pieces of it for a pinkeep for Edgar.  I like the way it turned out and I'm glad Edgar is pleased with it. 

This was the first time that I participated in a Pay It Forward and I really enjoyed it.  I'd like to do another before the year is over, but in the meantime, I have more than enough projects to keep my needles busy.

Until next post, have a great day today and an even better tomorrow.

  

A PIF Arrived!

Yesterday Faye let me know that she received my PIF so now I can show what I stitched for her.

 

This pinkeep design is a freebie from Danybrod , a lovely site, lots of inspiration there.  I took liberty with the colours to give the pinkeep more of a Spring feel.  I am so happy that Faye is pleased with her pinkeep and yes, she loved her pretty package. 

I have so many errands to run today and it's cutting into my computer time but before I close, I must acknowledge the award (in my sidebar) that LynnB gave to me.  Lynn, thank you so much, I appreciate your visits to my blog and your thoughtfulness.  Since my blogging time is so short today, I'll share this award at my next post.

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for taking the time to visit.

(edited:  The link to Danybrod website has been fixed, an extra 'N' was the culprit)

PIFs are on the way!

My PIFs to Edgar and Faye are on the way, I'll show what's inside after they've received them.  Fingers crossed that they will be pleased.

Like so many others, I am so ready for Spring.  I'm gradually putting out the Spring deco items around my home and it makes it hard for me to work on my Winter projects (I must confess that I still have not finished the stitching on LHN's Winter Whites) but I did manage to finish my March ornament for the Christmas Ornie SAL but not without a little distraction.

 

The chart is Prairie Schooler's Book No. 24, "Prairie Birds".  There are 10 ornaments featuring various species of birds.  All the while stitching this I was thinking how nice it would be to stitch the ornament showing the robins feeding the baby birds or the blue birds sitting near the bird house.  I resisted the urge to kit up for those because if I gave in, the lovely little cardinals might not have seen their finish until the season changed.  Now that it's finished, I'll bet you can guess what's on my list to stitch next.  So  much for following my list of planned projects to finish this year, I have so many that I'm anxious to stitch that are not on that list.  I guess I'm just a "what pleases me at the moment" kind of stitcher.

Until next time, have a good week, keep a good thought, and thanks for stopping by.