Aspiration and idealism have been my themes for these first few days of 2006 – I am getting so excited thinking about all of the possibilities of the new year. Especially all of the new crafts I can’t wait to try…
This is the Sublime Stitching Stitch-It Kit, a Christmas gift from Kris that I am “itching” to try. I have seen some lovely embroidery on the Sublime Stitching website and this kit has some real goodies in it – check out the transfer sheets and the pretty thread colors! Stay tuned for some sublime stitching by Lolly 
I have seen a few of these around the blogs – any recommendations or tips to share about embroidery?
Of course, before I can get too excited about all of the 2006 possibilities, I feel the need to close the book on some of the lingering 2005 projects. At one point, I was just as excited about those projects, so I am seeing the need to rekindle the passion I had for those knits just a few months ago…
One day, this will become this:
However, I am not quite sure when this will be…
The camisole / cowl combo from the book Weekend Knitting. This is a very slow knit; firstly, because it is lace, and I am not well-skilled in the art of yo, k2tog tbl, psso, etc. (I know, it just takes practice!) Secondly, it is constructed with Rowan’s Kid Silk Haze, which, in my opinion, is both a blessing and a curse. It is so soft and light, yet warm because of the mohair fiber. However, it is so light that it is like a cobweb – kind of hard to knit with that- and definitely easy to drop a stitch. So, slow and steady wins this race. I am about 10 inches in, and I have been working on this one since August 2005… maybe I can finish it by its year anniversary!
Since I finished Kris’s cardigan on Tuesday, I have been keeping myself busy with another knit from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book: my Hourglass sweater.
Hourglass has also been on the needles since early fall 2005. I am using KnitPicks Andean Silk in colorway Lettuce, and I really do like this yarn. I would recommend it for any light worsted / DK weight project; it is very soft, and knits up in a very smooth and even texture.
In the past three days, I have doubled the length of the body; it sat in my knitting bag for 4 months at about 6 inches long, but I am closing in on the arm holes, thanks to some long Metro rides, and a few traffic accidents on the Beltway. I am extending the body of the sweater by a few inches – it calls for 15 1/2 inches for my particular size, but I am planning to knit 17 inches because I have some extra yarn, and I have heard some reviews that this sweater came out a little short. Anyone had any trouble with this?
Next up: sleeves on double pointed needles! I really enjoy the yoked patterns – many of my recent knits have used this same construction.
My school’s spring semester started up this past week. This semester, I am taking only one course: a Library Science course entitled Libraries in Society, it is a required class that all grad students must take. It is the basic class to educate librarians in intellectual freedom, copyright law, privacy issues, information ethics, and various other contemporary, and often controversial, issues in the field. This semester will be a vast departure from the fall semester, and I wholeheartedly welcome that – it means more time for the other pursuits…. getting crafty!
That class sounds great; intellectual property law is super interesting (and I’m a student, too, so I say that with no irony whatever!).
Aw, heck Lolly. You just had to put the link to Sublime Stitching in your post. Now I am seriously tempted to take up a new craft. I didn’t realize there were such cool embroidery patterns around!
Lolly — I love the KSH cowl thing. There are so many good patterns in Weekend KNitting and LMKG. Keep up the good (and fast!) knitting, I’m really enjoying your blog.
Hey sweet girl…
the blog is looking good. I hadn’t checked it in a couple of days and I feel like I missed so much. I am about finished with a scarf out of that turqoise yarn you brought to me. I think I have enough left for a hat maybe of an ear warmer, I need to figure out circular needles. I have a friend down here who makes bag and knits them and then puts them in the wash and they shrink up….I am going to check that out. Anyway, let me know how you are, dear!
Hi, just thought I’d stop lurking enough to tell you that awhile ago, Lauren from Almost Felted was making a mohair sweater (I think it was a sample), and she mentioned that she had issues with the light weight and that she used paper clips (I think) to weigh it down.
Hope this helps.
Oh, and I’ve been wanting to buy that kit for a while now — at least a year, but I wasn’t sure if embroidery was right for me. Keep us updated on your adventures with it.
Lolly, your current projects are looking great. You always do a good job of choosing pretty and interesting colors. Some of us get stuck in the same section of the color wheel! I still want to make an Hourglass, too, and at the same time have been wanting to make something with the Andean Silk. I smell (another) a new project!
i gifted myself the sublime stitch kit a while back and am hoping to find the time to do a project; i’ll be checking to see if you beat me to it….
OMG, the The camisole / cowl is gorgeous! I really love the colour you’re using. You have great taste.
I used to embroider a lot as a kid- your kit looks fun! Way to go with the light load this semester- more knitting time is always a good thing!
Hi Lolly – I’m just loving my Sublime Stitching kit too! The other day I started thinking about embroidering on little hankies and I came across this website: http://embroiderthis.com/. They seem to have a wide selection of embroidery blanks at good prices. I can’t wait to see your new crafting endeavors!
Hope you have a great weekend!
I’ve been kind of interested in taking up embroidery lately, too..I used to do it when I was a kid and have been wanting to try it out again. God knows when I would find time for it, though
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The stitch-it kit looks like it could be fun. Love how you are using your time to reflect and complete some of last year’s projects while jumping ahead with the new year’s ones as well. good luck with your class!
Can’t wait to see your finished Hourglass!
Lolly — do let us/me know if you have any advice/trouble with the hourglass… my pal Juliet wants to start on it when i return from Asia and, since it’s her 3rd project…I want to make sure there aren’t any directions errors etc! Thanks! Yours is cruising along!!
Lauren, you will enjoy embroidery very much. It is not as repetitive as cross stitch, (which is also an embroidery stitch), so you have to be a bit more attentive. Of course, it depends on which stitches you are doing. There are so many stitches and practice (repetition) only makes the stitches neater. You will be a natural! Nana taught me many embroidery stitches and I also stitched in Girl Scouts. You will love it! Another favorite, needlepoint. I went into a needle shop in St. Michael recently and fell in love all over again.
I saw that stitching kit at a local shop and covet it now. It’s so cute, and I’ve never even had any desire to do embroidery. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.
The KSH cowl is gorgeous!
Great progress on your Hourglass. I am going to finish mine this week-I only have to sew down the collar and the hem around the bottom and I’ll be done. I started it in April, so it’s been in my knitting bag for far too long! I’m using Knit Picks Andean Silk Twist in Dapper, a nice tan/yellow/red/blue combo.
Good luck! And Happy New Year!
mary ( rubyplaid)
what a gorrrrrrgeous cowl that is! and the color you’ve chosen is divine, miss lolly – can’t wait to see finished pics, you have become quite the speedy knitter, i think! (happy 2006 to you and mr. faboo-sipped-cardi, btw!)
I love that cowl. I may have asked you before, but are you using the DMC cotton to carry along with the kidsilk haze? Is the lace pattern difficult? I’ve never knit lace, nor have I used KSH, so I’m a bit leery.