I'm a stashoholic

Hello, my name is Adrienne and I am a stashoholic. Truly, I am. It's a sickness. But oh man, the things are so freaking PRETTY! I totally love all the pretty things.

I had to do a lot of travelling in May/June this year, and so I plotted a course that included multiple yarn shop stops. It was a lot evil, but so much fun!

First stop: Knitting Off Broadway in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This was a gorgeous shop with lots of the kinds of yarn I love ... indie dyed sock yarn. There were dyers I'd never heard of before and dyers I'd been dying to see. My arms were full to overflowing when I managed to make it to the cash register. And it was good! I also picked up some project bags and a set of HiyaHiya circulars (which I have fallen in love with).

Black Trillium Fibres
Pebble Sock
100% SW merino
Sail Away

Dream in Color Yarn
Smooshy
70% sw merino 20% cashmere 10% nylon
026 Aqua Jet

Hedgehog Fibres
Sock Yarn
90% SW merino 10% nylon
Poseidon

Hedgehog Fibres
Sock Yarn
90% SW merino 10% nylon
Medusa

Hedgehog Fibres
Sock Yarn
90% SW merino 10% nylon
Dragonfly

Second stop: Yarns Unlimited in Bloomington, Indiana. This was a bit of an unplanned stop. I'd been driving for a few hours after spending the night in Fort Wayne, and I just felt like stopping would be good for me. It was a little bit further off the highway then I'd wanted to go, but it was a fun side trip. I picked up some shop-specific yarn and some Canadian yarn that I'd never heard of before. (Figures that I need to drive 8 hours into Indidana to find out about a Canadian company.)

Blooming Yarns
 Cashino - Lace SW
80% merino, 20% cashmere
(no colourway)

Blooming Yarns
 Cashino - Lace SW
80% merino, 20% cashmere
(no colourway)

Zen Yarn Garden
Serenity 20
70% SW merino 20% cashmere 10% nylon
Blue Grass

Third stop: Sheepskeins in Newburgh, Indiana. I made two trips to this shop. The first time I went with my friend and her son who I'd been staying with for several days. Her son had seen me knitting and had asked me oh so sweetly to knit him something. We all went together to pick out yarn for a scarf. I came away all with this:

There's a good chance he'll get more than a scarf from me. :)

The second time I went to this shop was on my way out of town, and I picked up a few things more my style.

Spud & Chloe
Stripey Fine Sock
80% SW wool 20% silk
7863
Fine Sock
80% SW wool 20% silk
7809

Spud & Chloe
Stripey Fine Sock
80% SW wool 20% silk
7864
Fine Sock
80% SW wool 20% silk
7820

I have to admit it was a really great yarn trip. I love it all!!

Double the starts

So I did a little something silly for IHSW -- I started two new projects! (I know, I know. I already have a kajillion on the go, what the hell am I thinking starting more? Trust me, I squash that little voice often!)

So my little stitchy group got together on Friday night and most of us started an "A-maze-ing Dessert" from Glendon Place as a sort-of SAL. There's a Pumpkin Swirl, a Tiramisu, a moldy Plum Pudding (aka Plum Pudding done in greens instead of purples), and I started Baked Alaska.

This is my first time using Dinky Dyes silks and so far I am liking them very much! Others in the stitchy group have also found them a joy to stitch with. There's just something about quality silks!

The group hadn't really seen each other since before the summer, so more talking than stitching got done. I'll have an actual progress pic when there are more than 10 stitches to show off.

I also started another project -- can anyone guess what it might be?

Both of these projects are done in silk - I forgot how lovely stitching with silk is! I'm tempted to start a few more things now. LOL

Nothing like a little enhancement

As much as I like to think I have a sense of restraint, I don't. I'm an incredibly impulsive, addictive person. And oooh boy, am I ever addicted to stash.

I picked up my crochet hook again recently, bought a little yarn, and started work on a lapghan. I can't ever be satisfied with just one project on the go -- I always start planning and prepping for the next 3-4 projects too. So now I have decided to make scarves for my Dad and brothers for Christmas, and I have the yarn to do it! I bought several balls of Palette Yarn (fingering weight 100% Peruvian highland wool) from Knitpicks.com.

The intended scarf pattern (from the e-book Scarves for All Seasons by Deja Jetmir):

Colours for Dad:

Colours clockwise from top:
 Hollyberry, Ash, and Black

Colours for Brother 1:

Colours clockwise from top:
Canary, Orange, and Serrano

Colours for Brother 2:

Colours clockwise from top left:
Alphalfa, Bark, Semolina, Macaw, and Almond

I bought some lovely Shimmer Hand Dyed Lace Yarn (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk) for some curlique scarves for my neices and a shawl for my SIL.

Colours clockwise from top left:
Sherry, Shallows, Spice, and Elderberry

I am also on the verge of trying quilting by hand using English paper piecing. Of course I need fabric for that, so I went a bit wild at ConnectingThreads.com. (More on this project next week.)

I do love me some batiks!

The pocketbook has certainly earned a well-deserved (and extended) break. Now I can play with all the pretties!

I know the Rules ...

That is, I know the Rules For Life because I've stitched them all! I finally finished this piece by Kincavel Krosses that I started as part of my Ultimate Crazy January Challenge in 2012.

Stitched on 18 ct Royal Purple aida by Sassy's Fabbys using white HDF silk by Vikki Clayton.

Now I just need to iron it and take it to the framer's tomorrow.

Fabric and a floss toss

I've been a little lot naughty lately and new stash has been accumulating rapidly on my craft table.

I fell in love with Evening in the Park by Chatelaine almost two years ago, and last fall I caved and bought the pattern and floss pack for it. Since then I have been searching and searching for the perfect fabric to stitch it on. I accidentally stumbled upon a new hand-dyed fabric website, Under the Sea Fabrics, and, lo and behold, I found the PERFECT fabric. Of course, one can not simply order a single piece of fabric, so three pieces ended up in my shopping cart.

I waited (impatiently) and finally the package arrived! And I was heartbroken -- the one piece I most wanted wasn't in the bundle. I emailed the company immediately and Leslie responded within hours, apologizing profusely. She promised to ship it priority post the very next morning.

So the pieces I got in the first parcel were Sugar Plum Fairies (32 ct opalescent lugana):

and Cosmos (32 ct opalescent lugana):

I have never bought opalescent fabric before, and I'm not sure what drew me to it this time, but the fabrics are brilliant. Now to figure out what to put on these two!!

The precious fabric for Evening in the Park finally arrived (with a sweet card full of apologies and a bonus piece of fabric).

The extra fabric was Cotton Candy (28 ct jobelan):

And here is Ice Princess (32 ct opalescent lugana) with the silks for Evening in the Park:

I love the soft purply blue with lots of sparkles! I think this piece will be a birthday start in August. I hate to wait so long, but I really must finish a few other things first.

A finish but no happy dance.

I did it. I finally finished Cirque des Carreaux by Ink Circles. This is stitched 1 over 1 on 25 ct Nightfall lugana by Sassy Fabby's using Epiphany silk by Carrie's Creations.

I adore the pattern. I love the fabric. I swoon for silks.

I hate the finish.

One of the skeins must of been from a different dye lot (my fault) and it is glaringly obvious to me. I do not have it in me to rip it out and restitch it. At least not at the moment. So it'll go away into the done pile and I'll look at it again in a few months. Maybe.

I'm glad I'm finished, but I wish I loved it.

Not up for a happy dance.

Stash, beautiful stash!

I've been rather naughty lately. I went on a bit of a stash buying spree online, and it's all finally arrived!

I ordered a couple patterns from 123stitch.com. I generally dislike Joan Elliot designs -- her fairies and goddesses do nothing for me. However, I stumbled across her Geishas, and I was in love! I have no idea when I'll get around to stitching them, but I just had to have them in my hot little hands! My mom and I both spent several years learning to speak Japanese (for fun), so I bought Red Geisha for her (the colours are so my mom) and I bought Blue Geisha for me. They'll make a lovely set one day I think.

I also ordered some squissors from Mabel Figworthy's Fancies. I joined the year-long hardanger SAL that she's hosting, and thought that if I'm going to be doing so much hardanger, I should have better tools. Aren't they pretty?

Even though I sometimes dye my own fabric (and as a result I have oodles of dyed fabric in my stash), I just couldn't resist buying a few pieces from Sparklies in the UK.

These four are all 18x13 pieces of 28 ct lugana - from left to right, Oceans Depth, Aries, Rain, Basically Bonkers. They're nice, but not quite as vibrant as shown on the website. I chose these ones as potential backgrounds for the dragon charts I have from Fire Wing Designs.

For fun, I also ordered a 1/2 yard grab bag of lugana. Basically I get a hodgepodge of fabric colours picked by Sparklies with a few big pieces and some ornament sized pieces.

The bigger pieces (from left to right) are Dark Goddess (25 ct, 18x13), Misty Morn (28 ct, 18x13), and Pisces (32 ct, 18x27).

There were also a few smaller pieces, but they weren't labelled with names, counts, or sizes. They are quite nice though!

I've also been kind of naughty on the HAED front - a few have landed in my shopping cart during the February sales.

Little Red Riding Hood:

Peacock in Full Bloom:

Rapunzel:

Sharla:

Stitchy Stash From Across the Ocean

Have you ever heard me talk about Stashmas? It's a "holiday" made up by members of a forum I visit frequently. It's celebrated on Dec 1 and members of the forum send stitchy gifts to each other, cause getting stitchy surprises in the mail is AWESOME.

Anywho ... this year my Stashmas present never arrived. I was pretty down about it - mostly because I had taken so much pride and joy in picking out and assembling a great gift for my recipient (which is half the fun!) and then not to experience the other side of the fun took the wind out of my sails. 

My gift recipient loved her gift and was quite upset that I hadn't gotten anything. I refused to let her buy me a Stashmas present - she'd already sent one out to someone else and done her part in the exchange. A few months passed and she just wouldn't let up!! She insisted she needed to send me a thank you gift, not a Stashmas present. Let's just say she's a difficult person to say no to. 

Today -- a package via Royal Mail turned up at my door! I literally *squealed* with glee. I tore off the outer wrapping and saw this:

Shiny purple prettiness with a hand-stitched card!!! LOVE. IT. 

It hurt me a little to rip the paper, but what was inside made me squeal again!

Cirque des Coeurs by Ink Circles and 2 pieces of hand-dyed fabric! So pretty!! I love blues and purples. They are gorgeous. I've been eyeing that pattern for months - it's the perfect complement to Cirque des Carreaux that I'm stitching now.

And then ... 8 spools of scrumptious HDF silk. Not only did she send me my favourite silk in my favourite colours, but she somehow managed to send me colours I don't already have!! (And I stockpiled a lot of silk when I first heard that Vikki Clayton was planning to discontinue her silk thread line.) I'm in heaven!

 

From left to right, top to bottom: Dragon Hoard, Acts of Violets, Isle Green 3209, Isle Green3213, Aquamarine 2431, Alpine, Carribean Evening, and Blackberry.

I'm so happy and spoiled and speechless. Thank you Vanessa!! You made my day, my week, and my month!! Thank you!!

Last Minute Finish

A few weeks ago, I decided on the spur of the moment to stitch a last minute present for my mom for Christmas. She loved my Tree of Stitches that I finished earlier this year, but she wanted a green tree.

So I did a green tree. I used several silks - Carrie's Creations Foxfire and HDF Primitive Barn, BeLeaved, White Chocolate, and Old Maid of the Soil - stitched on 32 ct lugana hand-dyed by me.

I had planned on stitching half a section per day (there are 14 sections/types of specialty stitches), and this meant I should be able to finish it by Christmas Eve.

Well, I got a little carried away and finished it, beads and all, last night. A week ahead of schedule!!

My mom is a fan of sparkles and bling, so I used 4 different Mill Hill petite seed beads - Emerald Green, Bay Leaf, Ice, and Purple.

I'm going to swing by Michael's today and see if I can find some matboard. I might even get it framed in time!

Crafting Trifecta

Three things to share today ...

First up, the last TUSAL post of 2012. It's incredible not only how much stitching I actually managed to get done, how many projects I put stitches into, but how full my ort jar is! Holy cow, I never thought I'd actually fill the jar. It's very cool that I can look at the different layers and recall which projects I was working on at that time.

Second item on the sharing list ... Christmas cards!  These two were specially made for two very dear friends of mine.

The white and silver card is for my friend Jordana of White Cabana. I challenge myself to make an almost all-white card for her every year. She loved this year's effort. :) Best compliment - she mentioned how much I've improved from when I first started papercrafting. That makes me feel good. Could you imagine if I had the time to papercraft more often?!?

Finally, some progress on the spur-of-the-moment Christmas present for my mom (aka her Tree of Stitches). Stitched on 32 ct hand-dyed (by me) lugana using HDF and Carrie's Creations silks.

She wanted a green tree, well, she's getting it!!

November WIPocalypse

I didn't work on any of my WIPocalypse goals lately.

I spent the last week or so stitching on Catch a Falling Star (HAED), but since I already reached my 1 page goal on it. These are just bonus stitches...

Then, because I don't have enough things on the go, I started something new. Can you guess what it might be?

Fingers crossed I can get it done (but not framed) by Christmas. It's for my mom.