Christmas scarf, 2014

You may remember that I knit a scarf each year for one of my relatives. In 2012, my brother got a striped scarf in his school colors. While he says he likes it and wears it often, he also requested a second scarf. Since I haven’t finished the scarf I planned to gift this year, I figured I could indulge him. After this one he has to wait at least a few years before asking for another. Brothers. *rolls eyes*

He does have a few redeeming features, including that he’s a pretty skilled embroiderer himself. He’s stitched designs on shoes and, in return for the scarf, gave me an awesome embroidered taco ornament. I guess I’ll keep him.

Starry night sneakers

Feliz Navidad! taco ornament

Medieval doodles

This series of medieval embroideries is based on a set of doodles from my sketchbook. I’m a nerd of all things British, but especially the Tudor and Stuart monarchies. Hence Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Shakespeare.

Henry VIII

Shakespeare

Edward VI

Royal crown

Along the way I’ve made several more medieval-inspired pieces, including the ones you see below. You may be able to spot Jane Seymour in the WIP with the other medieval doodles. I can’t honestly say why I didn’t make her into her own piece. Maybe I’ll do a series of Henry’s wives next.

 

Of course, the piece that started this whole theme is my medieval lolcat!

 

 

Christmas scarf, 2013

Each year, I make a scarf for one of my family members. You might remember the photos I shared of the 2012 scarf I made for my brother. This year, I finally finished a scarf for my uncle. I say finally, because it took me about two years of intermittent work to complete. It’s my first cable pattern, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Hopefully he’ll like it too!

A good neighbor ignores the screams

When my mom gave me this cross stitch to complete, I imagine she thought I’d stick to the original pattern. I dutifully stitched the yards and roses . . . and blood spatter. Good neighbors are truly hard to come by these days.

These are my awards, Mother. From Army.

Arrested Development is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. I love all the seasons equally. (…Earlier today…) I don’t care for season 4.

Anyways, the more AD in my life the better, which is why I decided to stitch up this quote from an episode called Afternoon Delight (season 2, episode 6). Lucille Bluth (my spirit animal) signs her youngest son Buster up for the army. Buster doesn’t want to be in the army – in fact he’s terrified by the idea at first – so in this episode he decides to go the arcade and play games instead. When he gets home, well, I’ll let you see how the scene plays out:

I set out to make a simple, backstitch version of the meme. Here are some progress shots:

And here’s the finished piece:

Okay, I’m off to the frozen banana stand.

S is for stitching

My work was recently featured in the new &Stitches blog header. For the piece, I decided to combine a number of different stitches in vibrant colors, and completely cover the fabric in embroidery. I was inspired, in part, by the sweater letters made by MaricorMaricar. This piece reverses their trend of stitching a letter made of patterns by surrounding a simple, satin-stitch letter with patterns. Here are some progress shots:

And here is the finished piece:

Embroidery floss (is one of my favorite things)

I love embroidery floss. Like a whole lot. Getting new embroidery floss is equivalent to getting new office supplies, or – for those of you who don’t get excited about new sticky notes – like Christmas + Easter + Halloween + my birthday. I also love spending time organizing (and re-organizing) my floss. Is all of this weird? I don’t think so. Maybe a bit OCD. Anyways . . .

Me + embroidery floss = this.

For Christmas this year, I convinced my brother to go halfsies with me on a huge pile of embroidery floss. Probably double what I had at that point. So we tortured our poor Michaels cashier with a ridiculous number of tiny bar codes to scan (sorry . . . but not sorry) and I went home with my best Christmas present of the year.

Just for comparison, here is my floss box* before Christmas:

With the new skeins added, organized by color:

And finally, organized by DMC number:

Not sure which way I like best. By color is obviously more visually satisfying, but I also like the color groupings that number order produces. Hmm, something to think about while I’m planning my next floss expansion.

*Lots of people have asked me where I got my floss box. It’s actually my brother’s old toy car box, which has lots of storage space plus a handle – perfect!

New projects

I thought I’d share photos of a few smaller pieces I’m working on. The first is a collection of quotes stitched on Aida scraps. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with them yet, but they remind me a bit of fortune cookie slips. Maybe I’ll stick them between subway seat cushions or in library books for other people to find.

At the top is a quote my aunt stitched on a sampler she made for our family: “With fingers so nimble, she plied her needle and thimble.” Second is a piece of medieval poetry featured in A Discovery of Witches: “I saw her coming from the forest. Huntress of myself, beloved Diana.” And finally, the beginnings of an Anthony Trollope quote: “There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel.”

Another piece based on a Kate Beaton comic:

And another based on a Ryan Pequin comic:

Proficient

Back in November, my favorite person in the world was having a hard time at work. Her new boss gave her a (undeserved) “proficient” rating, which was one step above “needs improvement.” She was understandably upset about this, and I was mad that such an amazing person should feel so badly about herself and her job. So I made her a tiny cross stitch token she could keep at work and take out during tough moments to remind herself that she was proficient, as in “totally exceeds expectations, so deal with it.” Because who doesn’t need a little boost at work every once in awhile?

Ermahgerd, Chrerstmahs!

Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday. Forget birthdays, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween, I can’t wait for the Christmas season to begin. I love spending a chilly afternoon baking cookies with my family, listening to Christmas music, and picking out gifts. The weather, the food, the whole atmosphere of cozy contentment and family – it’s truly the most wonderful time of the year.

Each year I give out several handmade gifts in addition to store-bought presents. I always make a Christmas scarf for one of my extended family members and packages of homemade cookies and sweets for friends and neighbors. In addition to the scarf I made this year (for my brother), I decided to stitch some of Steotch’s fantastic meme ornaments.

Here’s the scarf on the man himself! Excuse the quality, this photo was taken with a camera phone in a guys dorm room (self-explanatory!).

Besides stitched things, I also gifted some homemade treats for Christmas. Last year I made sugared pecans, but this year I decided to go the chocolate route. I made a variety of chocolate barks, including milk chocolate peppermint, dark chocolate peppermint, milk chocolate mixed nut, dark chocolate mixed nut, and the fan favorite: dark chocolate with pistachios and cranberries. Also in the goodie bags were a variety of chocolate-covered pretzels.

Lots of goodies for Christmas.

Chocolate-and-peppermint-covered pretzels

Chocolate-and-sprinkle-covered pretzels

Peanut, pistachio, and cashew chocolate

Pistachio and cranberry chocolate (voted #1 by my relatives!).

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season – no matter what you celebrate!