TUSAL - February

Well folks another month has flown past us!  I'm back for the February TUSAL report.  If you are new here and unsure what that means, go here to see the definition of TUSAL.  I use this as an opportunity to keep track of my progress from month to month.  So let's get on with it, shall we?

This month's contributors were:

"I Sigh Not for Beauty" by C Street Samplers (DONE!!)
"Watermelon" charted by me (Bagged until summer)
"Letters from Mermaids - E" by Nora Corbett to be made into an "L" (Didn't work on it this month)
"Mermaid Scissor Fob freebie" by Cross Stitch Happy (Didn't work on it this month)
"Chocolate Box" by Little House Needleworks (In Progress)
"Flag Maker freebie" by Notforgotten Farm (DONE!)
"Happy Hearts freebie" by Little House Needleworks (DONE!)

I'm really happy about having some finishes this past month.  I'm especially happy to have "Beauty" finally done.  It really is a pretty sampler and it seemed a shame to not finish her up.  I'm hoping to have a couple more finishes soon too.  I worked on "Chocolate Box" all weekend and am seeing some nice progress.  I just love the pink fabric I chose!  I'll have to do a progress post soon.

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On the knitting front, I've had a couple starts and have made some really nice progress on them as well.  Here they are:

"Oats Cowl" by Tin Can Knits (In Progress)
"Adult Basic Sock" by Dierdre Wallace (In Progress)

I started knitting the "Oats Cowl" as my lunchtime knit.  I'm almost halfway done with it maybe more.  You know how Prairie Schooler patterns are comfort stitching, this one feels like a comfort knit.  It's a lot of straight knitting in the round with a bit of garter stitch thrown in for interest.  It's nice and squishy.

Can we just talk about the sock?  THE SOCK!!!  I cannot believe I am actually knitting a sock.  I owe much gratitude to Carol Fun, sock knitting extraordinaire, for her encouragement!  Girlfriend, you rock!  I am so in love with the yarn I picked too.  I'm doing this as a class at the LYS.  I can't wait for our next class session this Saturday.  We are going to work on turning the heel.  Can. Not. Wait!

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I'm finding myself having to choose how I want to split my time now that I've become a knitter too.  It's a good problem to have.  You know why?  It means my creative mojo is in full force and flowing strong.  I haven't felt this creative in a very long time and I'm over the moon about it.

I hope you all are having fun with whatever you choose to do in your creative world.  Thanks for stopping by today.  I appreciate your visits.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

January Knitting Finishes

So as promised for the knitters in the group, I'm back with my January knitting finishes.  I got two projects finished!  Let's have a look.

 Design: "Liberty Cowl"

Designer: Nora, owner of Lambikin's Hideaway

Yarn: Classic Elite Liberty Wool in "Magic Carpet"

Needles: Knitter's Pride#7 (4.5mm)  Nova Platina tips with a 24" cord 

Started:  1/7/17

Finished:  1/18/17

This was a really fun knit.  I especially liked the yarn I picked.  I enjoyed seeing the colors change as I went along.  I found myself wanting to knit "just one more row" to see how they would look together.  This was my first time knitting in the round and I really liked it.  I'm still puzzled how doing the knit stitch on circulars produces a stockinette but using straight needles you have to go every other row with the knit stitch to get stockinette.  Newbie mysteries!

Design: "Garter Stitch Dishcloth" #3

Designer: Interweave Press

Yarn: Lily Sugar and Cream in Hot Green

Needles:  Knitter's Pride#7 (4.5mm)  Nova Platina tips with a 24" cord

Started:  1/18/17

Finished: 1/20/17

After finishing the cowl, I really wanted to start something new but since I don't have a stash, I was at a loss. I know Carol Fun is giggling right now.  Yes, I'll probably end up with a yarn stash too at some point.  It's pretty inevitable.

So anywho, I still had some of the cotton yarn that was gifted to me for my birthday so I cast on another dishcloth.  I decided to try using the same needles as I used for the cowl.  I'd seen folks on YouTube using circulars for straight knitting and I decided to try it for myself.  I liked it!

This dishcloth went pretty fast.  Now that I know what I'm doing with this pattern, it's almost like comfort knitting.  I really like that garter stitch.  I gifted this to the person who gave me the yarn.  She was absolutely thrilled to receive it.

So yeah, I'm now hooked on knitting too.   So much so that I've signed up for a sock knitting class that starts this month.  Yep, I'm going to give it a go!  Can. Not. Wait!

So there you are friends, my knitting update.  It's so fun to learn something new and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.  My funny DH says I'm "cheating" on my stitching peeps.  I hope they don't feel that way.  It's just something I've felt the pull to learn to do and life's short so you gotta roll with it!

Hope you are all well and doing what you love!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

I Sigh Not for Beauty - FINISHED!

People, did you hear it?!  Yep, that was me whooping it up last night about 6:30 when I put the very last stitch in "I Sigh Not for Beauty!"  Yes, a miracle has happened.  It's done!  Let's have a look.

Design: I Sigh Not for Beauty

Designer: C Street Samplers

Fabric: 32 ct. Dirty Linen

Floss: My own conversion of NPI and Hand Dyed Fibers

Started: 3/5/11

Finished:  2/5/17

Completed: To be framed at some point

The linen color isn't showing true to life in this picture since it was dark when I finished.  I also didn't iron it either.  So yes, that's a wrinkle you see there.  It's straight off the q-snaps people!  I was just so dang happy to get this done already that I simply couldn't be bothered.

Ever reach that point with a project where you just want it over already?  Um...yeah, that would be me with this one.  Don't get me wrong...I love the design, love the colors, love the fabric and floss but I was just over it.  It had haunted me for way too long and it needed to be finished.

The bargello grass went really quickly once I got going and the satin stitch border...can we talk about that for a minute?!  I clearly surprised myself with that one.  I guess I haven't done a lot of satin stitch and had no idea how fast it would work up!  I started the green at the guild stitch-in on Saturday and finished it up when I got home.  Yesterday I was bound and determined to bust out the cream side and that's just what I did!

I can't even put into words just how happy I am to have this one done.  Talk about shame stitching, this one has been shaming me for the last couple weeks.  I mean look at those dates, one month shy of six years I've been futzing around with this.  Oh puleeze!  But thanks to the gentle nudging of my peep, Christie and the cheering of several of you...I've finally finished this!

Now I can honestly say that I only have a few WIPs going and some unfinished class pieces.  I guess class pieces don't haunt me as much as WIPs do.  I'm not sure why.  I guess I look at class pieces as a learning experience. If I finish them at some point okay, but my main point was to learn something and I did that in the class.

As for WIPs, I've come to realize that I don't personally feel comfortable having at ton of WIPs going at once.  For my own personal sanity I need to keep it minimal.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a lot going on at once if that's your thing.  It's just not mine.

I've also learned that I don't like having a lot of big projects going at once either.  It just not in my comfort zone.  Right now the WIPs I do have are what I would consider small or medium sized.  That's not to say I won't ever do another big project, but maybe not right away.

So friends, that's a long winded reflection after a really big finish.  I'm happy to have it done and am looking forward to sharing more finishes.  I appreciate all your support and encouragement.  What a nice way to start the week!  I hope yours is off to a good start too.

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher