Stitchers are the bestest kind of friends

It's so true ... stitchers (and knitters) are truly the very best kind of friends to have.

I've been sitting on this post for 2 weeks because I haven't wanted to share the loveliness and warm fuzzies. I wanted to keep them all to myself! But after a little bit of hogging the love, I just have to share the awesomeness.

Back story:

Over the past 3 years as my grad school friends finished up and graduated, I would stitch them something to mark the momentous occasion of finishing a PhD. A few people got designs that were specific to them (my friend Jordana, who loves all things white, got a big hardanger piece), but the majority got a personalized version of Metamorphosis by Ink Circles.

I carefully chose fabric and thread that would appeal to each recipient. And the design itself, well, it symbolized the journey and the change that occurs when you work on an all-consuming project for years. I stitched this 4 times! While I was sick of stitching the same pattern, there was love in every stitch. I was very proud of my friends.

Today's story:

I finally finished my PhD in August and good wishes were sent by all. A few weeks later and I was back in the thick of things at work and when friends suggested a stitch night ... I was ecstatic. It would be just what I needed. I arrived at stitchy night and saw all sorts of cars in the driveway. I'm usually the first one to arrive, but I guess I was late that day.

I walked into my friend's house, into the dining room and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" Aww shucks ... my very first surprise party ever! Hugs and congratulations all around, and then they presented me with a card and gift. I opened the card and it was one of those musical ones, but this one just had cheers and applause! I had to laugh; it was perfect.

Then the gift -- the moment I saw it I had an idea of what it was, but I couldn't believe they'd done it. Metamorphosis in a gorgeous purple gradient (one of my most favourite colours). Each element was stitched by a different person and they'd had it beautifully framed for me. I cried. I was so touched and overwhelmed that my friends, knowing what that design meant to me, went to so much trouble (and secrecy) to make me something so beautiful and special. I felt so loved.

It is, without a doubt, one of my most treasured possessions, and it will one day grace the wall of my office when I become a university professor. For now, it'll hang on my wall at home and remind me how much I am loved.


I feel like today is the perfect time to share this because today I walk across the stage and receive my degree. I will be, finally and officially, a doctor. I can't thank my friends enough for being my cheering squad and support system. Love you all.

A Yarn A Long

Thanks to my friend Caroline over at Off The Grid Needlearts inspiring me with her fabulous knitting and photos, I've decided to join in the Yarn A Long hosted by Ginny at Small Things.

While I was in school full-time for the past 7 years, I rarely did any fun reading because I had so much school-related (often dry and boring) reading to do. I'm one of those readers who tends to devour books in single marathon sessions and that is not conducive to getting essays written.

Now that I'm done school, I (kind of) have the time to slow down and read. I know I'm a little behind the times in my choice of books at the moment (Game of Thrones), but seeing them wrapped in plastic on my shelf waiting for me to be done school was a pretty good motivator. Over the summer I had a lot of free time while waiting for my PhD defense, so I read a lot (though I managed to avoid too many marathon sessions ... I'm getting too old for that!) and got through the first 4 books in less than 2 months.

I started working again at the end of August, and my reading time has dwindled considerably, but I'm still plugging along with Dance with Dragons!

I've just recently picked up this project again. It's the Vortex shawl knit in Knitpicks Stroll Tonal in Summer Blooms. This was my first in-the-round project and I'm not even halfway done, but loving every stitch. It's a wonderfully relaxing knit.

Unicorn Poop

Last May, while visiting friends in Indiana, my friend's 6-yr old son saw me knitting and asked me to knit him a scarf. It started off being a red scarf, but when we got to the the knitting store and he saw all the yarn and all the colours, he just couldn't decide. He wanted all the colours.

About 2 weeks ago I finally started on the scarf that I'd promised he'd have for Christmas:

 Addition of ball 2 (I'm only using one colour repeat from each ball):

There were four gigantic balls of yarn purchased for this project. The cacophany of colours emerging on the scarf made me comment that this is what unicorn poop would look like -- rainbows.

Still have purple and pink to finish from ball 2. Then just 2 more balls to go.

It's actually a great knit (despite being acrylic). The pattern is No-Purl Ribbed Scarf by Purl Soho. It's super simple, easy to memorize, very ribby and stretchy, and it's almost impossible to screw up! Whenever I mess up, I know within two stitches, so correcting my slip ups is a breeze! I love things that make it easy for me to not screw up. I like this pattern enough that I might knit it again someday.

A Mighty Scare

This happened in mid-August:

In the days leading up to my PhD defense, there was much knitting being done. Partly I was trying to make a deadline so I could give the shawl to my advisor as a thank you gift, but mostly it was to give me something to focus on to manage my nerves. Apparently I didn't focus enough, because I ended up with a stray eyelet.

I was 4-5 rows past the mistake when I noticed it, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to fix it without ripping back that far. I took it in to my LYS and they tried to fix it, but once I was back home and looking at it, I wasn't satisfied with the fix.

So I did this:

I have never been so scared. I pulled my needles out and ripped back 4 rows. I had more than 250 live stitches just a hair's breadth away unravelling into the last eyelet section ... something I was sure I couldn't recover from if it happened. Without a care for direction, I carefully slipped every stitch back on my needle, holding my breath the entire time (which also helped me not throw up). It was nerve wracking.

I managed to pick them up without missing any, and the next row I knit was slow going as I had to reorient every stitch properly. But I did it!!! (I'm a pretty novice knitter, and this is probably the biggest fix I've ever had to do.)

I successfully defended my PhD, but did not get the shawl done in time. I'm working on the last 4-5 rows now and hope to have it done and blocked by the end of September.

Ardent by Janina Kallio
Hazel Knits Entice in Indigo

This has been a project of firsts ... first major lace project, first major error, first major fix, and first of my big projects almost done!

Gift of Thanks

I am almost finished my PhD in Education. I defend in August and I wanted to knit something special for my supervisor as a thank you gift. I started the Ardent shawl using Hazel Knits Entice (MCN) in Indigo on June 16th, figuring 2 months was enough time to get it done.

It grew like crazy at first, as most asymmetrical shawls do, but then it started to get slower and slower. I did the math, and if I knit 3 rows a day I'd be done in plenty of time to block it before the defense.

Of course, I reached the end of pattern before I reached the end of my yarn. I also used smaller needles than called for (US 3) so the shawl was way smaller than I'd hoped (more like a hankerchief at this point).

So another repeat was added:

I know it'll grow a lot by blocking it, but I still am afraid it's too small. I have another skein of yarn, so I think I'll do a 2nd extra pattern repeat. Fingers crossed I finish it in time.

Pink Progress

Picked up the pink vortex shawl again. It's gotten boring to knit, mostly because it's so simple and straightforward. (And it's 384 stitches per round right now.)

The shawl is almost 20" across. Not even close to being done the first skein of yarn, so this project will be around for a while yet.

Across the Oceans

My dad is 82 years old, a little bit nuts, and a lot stubborn. Last November he left for a 5-month backpacking trip through Australia and New Zealand (with a week in Hong Kong on the way home). Like I said, a little bit nuts.

He finally arrived home safe and sound in late April and I got to see him the first weekend in May when my brother and sister-in-law threw him a big welcome home party. Lots of people came to visit and dad made a big show of giving gifts to all the kids (aka me and my brothers) and the grandkids too. My dad isn't the best gift giver, though he has the best intentions. I got a coaster and an envelope with a little bit of New Zealand wool.

After the party, my dad sat with me on the couch and said "I have something else for you." Then he told me a story ...

He had been on a train heading towards Adelaide, Australia and saw a woman sitting across from him crafting. After a few minutes, he had to find out what she was doing, so he struck up a conversation with her. She explained what she was doing and what the end result would look like. My dad told her he had a daughter who liked to craft, and asked if she'd make a small piece for him to take home to me ... in red, his favourite colour.

It's a teeny, tiny, English paper piecing hexagon, maybe a 1/4" in size. He carried it in his wallet for months, just so he could bring it home to me.

Funny thing is, my dad had no idea that I had already learned about EPP and have a few quilts in progress (stasis is more like it to be honest). He was just really interested in the tiny piecing project this woman was working on and wanted to share it with me.

Maybe he's not such a terrible gift giver after all. :)

I know I wasn't supposed to ...

At the beginning of the year, I had decided not to start anything new until I finished a few things. Well, that lasted about 30 seconds. There's just something fun and awesome, something energizing, about starting a new project.

In March, I caved and started a baby blanket for a hypothetical baby. No one is pregnant yet, but there is ... hope. (It's not me, so there will not be a bunch of baby pics on here; my brother and sister-in-law are trying.) Since I likely won't know about the pregnancy until they are at least 3 months along, and I figure a baby shower would happen around the 7-8 month mark, well, then that means I'd only have 3-5 months to get the blanket done. We all know I am not efficient at getting projects done, so I figured I should start now and work on it as I can.

So, my sister-in-law's favourite colour is orange. My least favourite colour is orange. This might be a bit of a struggle for me. However, I wound up some gorgeous Hazel Knits Lively DK in Carnelian.

I found a really pretty (and simple) lace baby blanket pattern called the Pine Forest Baby Blanket. and started on the border. Love me some garter stitch!

I struggled on the first lace repeat or two, but finally got the hang of it and it's starting to look good!

I still think it's going to take months to complete, but I'm aiming to knit two rows a day. It is growing!

A Foot

That's right … a foot of knitting! Twelve whole inches!

This is my tweed stitch scarf right before I joined my second skein of yarn. I recently started attending an afternoon knitting group at my LYS and that has helped move this thing along. A solid two hours of knitting means pretty decent progress! Usually I'm lucky if I manage a row or two before bed. I will admit that I'm pretty tired after two hours of knitting. I have to concentrate a lot! :)

It's funny -- looking at it in the picture I can see a distinct pattern emerging, which will likely change when I join the new skein. I probably should have knit from two balls to help avoid this, but that kind of feels like a waste of yarn. Oh well … it'll be fine I'm sure.

Halfway!

I've been focused mostly on my knitting over the past few weeks and have finally made it to the halfway point on Toka's doggie blanket.

I really enjoyed knitting it thus far, however, I'm not as much of a fan of decreases, so the second half might be a teeny bit less fun. At least it'll go faster near the end. :)

Turtle Trot - March

I'm a day late and don't have a whole lot to show. :( When I started thinking about this post the other day I realized how little stitching I've done in the past month. Almost nothing. I need to do something about that.

I did manage a tiny bit of progress on two pieces.

Damask Square:

Ciara Blue:

I wouldn't mind working on some other pieces, but my Millenium frames are full and I have projects on them that I don't really want to switch on and off (like Ciara Blue - she's on my extra long side bars). I ordered 2 more frames in January and am waiting impatiently for them to arrive. One frame will be dedicated to the Chatelaine I want to start and the other will be intended for switching between projects.

IHSW - I almost forgot!

I almost forgot that this past weekend was IHSW (International Hermit & Stitch Weekend). To be honest I didn't hermit and stitch very much. Well, that's not quite true … I did hermit and I did stitch, it just wasn't cross stitch (mostly).

I did do a tiny bit of work on one project that I haven't really introduced on here yet. It's made appearances in both Turtle Trot posts this year though.

So, in January I started on Damask Square by Ink Circles. It's stitched over one on 28 ct black lugana using HDF silk in white.

It's pretty and delicate … and linty and hard to see and photograph! Thank goodness it isn't that big of a design.

First Finish of 2014

Sleep won … I was trying to have my first finish of the year be in January, but I decided sleep was more important. So I finished Wise Wisdom by Stoney Creek this morning.

This was a wonderfully simple, easy, and quick stitch. I enjoyed it, even though it is not typically something I would stitch.

It feels good to have one less WIP in the pile. No plans to replace it quite yet. :)

Block 2 Done

I was feeling antsy today, so I picked up a small, easy project to work on -- Wise Wisdom by Stoney Creek. I forgot how satisfying a small simple stitch is and how quick! A few hours of tv & stitching and the second block is done (except for some backstitching -- not sure what I want to write in the blank space).

Seriously, I need to remember this and choose more quick, fun designs as gifts. :)

A wise start?

I've been thinking about my stitching plans for next year (that'll be another post) and I decided to look through all my patterns and see if anything jumped out and yelled "Start Me!" To be honest, I want to start it all, but that's not realistic. Surprisingly, nothing that wasn't already a planned start landed in the to-do pile (we'll see how long that lasts).

That being said, there are a few new starts waiting … along with a rather large pile of WIPs and UFOs.  I didn't mean to start anything new till January, but that did not go as planned. I started Wise Wisdom by Stoney Creek.

This is one of those patterns that normally wouldn't appeal to me, but the moment I saw it, I knew who I had to stitch it for and why. So it was bought and has been sitting in the to-start pile for a few months. It is a wonderfully simple pattern and I am whizzing through the first part faster that I expected.

Done in Time

I spent the last week working on the crocheted scarf for my dad whenever I got a spare moment (which were few and far between). I managed to finish it and block the fringe yesterday!

This morning I trimmed up the fringe and got the rest of it all blocked. I'm really quite pleased with it.

And I was especially pleased that I finished it before heading to my Dad's place for a pre-Christmas visit. However, the weather (an impending ice storm) has squashed my travel plans. Now it looks like I won't be able to visit until early January. Guess I didn't need to rush after all. Although it does feel good to be done. No more crocheting for a while though ... I need a break!

Still crocheting - slowly but surely

I've been working on this since the end of August I think. I promised my dad 2 years ago that I'd crochet him a red and black scarf. Here's my progress so far:

I'm crocheting it in an unusual way … lengthwise instead of widthwise. I don't think I need much more before it's wide enough. :) This is a ridiculously easy (though time consuming) project -- nothing but single crochets and slip stitches.

Thankful to be done

I did it! I gave up a little bit of sleep and ignored a few chores and I finished Metamorphosis 4.0. I think it looks smashing!

As a refresher -- this is stitched over 2 on 28 ct cornflower Jobelan using Carrie's Creations silk in Periwinkle. I think the tone-on-tone with just a hint of varigation looks fantastic. I do love blue!

It's already at the framers … I can't wait to see it all done up.

I am very thankful to be done this piece though. Four times is too much for one design, especially when you stitch the last two versions back-to-back. Ugh - won't do that again.

I'm trying very hard to resist a new start (goodness knows I have enough stash to have a dozen new starts at least). I did however pull out Elizabeth by Mirabilia and put her back on a Millenium frame. She got a few stitches Thursday night and I enjoyed them all! Pics of her next week. :)

Life gets in the way

Seriously, I had such high hopes for blogging this month. I even took my camera and cords with me when I went travelling for two weeks. But nothing happened ... I stitched, that almost always happens, but the blogging thing got pushed to the side. Sorry about that.

I also missed posting for IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend), even though I did hermit quite a bit last weekend. I'm hoping the structure and schedules of September will help me keep on top of things. Again -- sorry!

There will be lots of update photos coming in the next week, but today I have a framed finished for you!

After much bitching, whining, and grumbling, I finished stitching the all-white hardanger piece Frozen Flower by Mabel Figworthy's Fancies.

This piece was stitched as a gift for a dear friend who defended her PhD dissertation earlier this week. I am happy to say she was successful and is now a doctor!! I chose this design for her because she writes a blog called White Cabana -- unsurprisingly it's about all things white, including interior design, decor, art, and architecture. Over the years I have sent her links to stitching and cardmaking sites featuring all-white projects. Every year I make her birthday and/or Christmas cards in all-white. (Not as easy as it sounds!) So I could do nothing less than an all-white piece of stitching to mark this great occasion.

I knew I had to choose a design with style, elegance, and texture. This piece had it all. (Though it was a much more challenging stitch then I had expected. Not that the stitching was particularly difficult, but the tedium of all those woven bars (approximately 280 of them) made my mind melt. It was a challenge to stick with this piece. However, the look on my friend's face when she unwrapped it made all of those hours so worthwhile.) I can't wait to visit her in her new house and see it in all its glory!

A bit of a bender

Some insomnia plus a little extra "me" time means a good amount of progress!

Elizabeth got most of her bodice and more of her bow added:

I love this one more and more now that it actually almost looks like something. She is going to be huge though!

Metamorphosis had two motifs completed and a third started:

This is such a quick, easy stitch. I forgot how fast it can go. The fire colourway looks better than I had hoped - I like it!

A new start was made on my next crochet project - a stripey scarf:

I must admit that I struggled to get this one started (had to chain 432 ... twice!), mostly because I have fairly tight tension in my stitches and the first chain was just too tight to use. On the second try, I moved up two hook sizes to make the foundation chain, then went back to the called-for E hook and it is now going swimmingly! I really, really enjoy working on this. It's super simple as well, using either slip stitches or single crochets. I do appreciate the mindlessness. :P

And the quilting store received another visit from little ol' me (oops):

I just love the Robert Kaufman Fusions Mist fabrics -- great colours, awesome mottling, and subtle print. I keep thinking of things I want to make!