“Those sweaters suddenly like a bright neon sign to me, a mark on those girls  telling everyone who will ever see it ‘This child is loved, this child is loved, this child is loved.’”

Stitch stitch stitch stitch stitch.

Damn, folks. Christmas is close. I have a lot of stitches to stitch in the next few days.

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Have I mentioned lately how much I love to cross-stitch? I’m really glad I worked some cross-stitching into this holidays’s gifts, because it really calms me down and makes me feel more of a sense of accomplishment than other crafts do. Also: Damn, I will probably never gain a sense of color. I’m so so horrible at picking out color combinations, that at the end of each project I usually abandon my hopes of beauty and pretend that I intended it to be polite things like “playful” or “murky” or “outlandish.” Sigh.

I’m really excited to finish making Christmas presents. And there’s a real possibility I might be able to finish everything I’ve planned before Christmas. Just some stitching and some cutting and I’m done. Here’s what selfish crafting I’m planning for after the holiday:

• A bit of vintage crewel, because I recently found an adorable crewel kit at the thrift store.
• Another sweater for myself; this time I’m making an Oblique in a dusty rose color. I remember when this came out more than four years ago; I was a novice knitter right out of high school, and I desperately hoped that someday I’d be skilled enough to make it. Now, it should be a piece of cake! Just looking over the pattern makes me really proud of how well my knitting skills have developed.
• Traditional needlepoint! I’m searching my books for a good 70s pattern and useful tutorials, as I’ve never done needlepoint but always admired it. Only problem: It’s not a popular craft right now, so the supplies are more expensive than I’d like.
• New items for the shop! I’m planning on adding really kitschy mittens (inspired by this commission) soon, and adding a lot more embroidery. I have a lot of ideas I’m really excited about.
• Some lace and other pretty things for myself.
• Experimental embroidery using hand-dyed vintage linens and/or my now sizable collection of hand-dyed embroidery floss.

I sure do miss this guy tonight.

The love of a hologram

I can’t stop giggling! This episode is ridiculous! It’s like the Next Generation writers wrote a filler episode for Voyager.

Lately, I’ve been …

Snuggling with the boyfriend’s very snuggly dog.

Wearing this sweater, which is now long-finished and quite lovely.

Knitting some mindless brioche stitch while Grady bathes and organizes her play-doh tubs.

Embroidering things to make men uncomfortable.

Crocheting snowflakes for Christmas presents.

Loving the two-sided effect of 2-color brioche. This is the same piece as the one three photos above.

Buying every thrift-store children’s book about cats there is.

Knitting mittens (a whole lot of mittens!) while Grady bathes. (There are lots of baths in this house.)

Watching Grady fall asleep in the cutest possible positions during road trips.

Missing the backyard of our place on the Virgin river in Arizona.

Visiting the site where Grady first let me know that she can read letters – the “Thank you” trash can in the Subway in Scipio, Utah.

And now, back to the mittens!

If every finger had ten fingers of its own.

Surprise! December is a busy time for crafters. Right now just the thought of blogging kind of stresses me out – that’s time that could be spent playing with string! I’m not doing very many presents this year – maybe 3 or 4 total – but I’m  up to my ears in commissions. So, I’m spending my days crocheting snowflakes, knitting mittens (oh, so many mittens), crocheting garlands, embroidering everything, knitting a blanket, and retreating into some simple brioche stitch when I need a break from projects with a deadline.

Anyway, a few days ago I committed an entire day to dyeing with a friend, and this is the embroidery thread I dyed. Quite lovely, no? Eliza taught me a great trick for getting a lovely variegation – just tie your skein in a knot and toss it in the pot for a couple minutes. But don’t tie it too tight! The plate of blues was in the dyebath for a bit too long, I think – the variegation is much too subtle. Also, a couple more discoveries:

• Tulip dye powder (usually found in the crafts section) isn’t so great for clothes or anything with even slightly non-cotton fabric composition, but it’s great for dip-dyeing plain white cotton and for dyeing embroidery floss. And often comes in more interesting colors than Rit.
• Don’t try dyeing evenweave. It gets weird.
• But DO try dyeing aida cloth. I was afraid the acidity of the dye would ruin the structure of the fabric and render it pretty useless – but actually it took to the dye beautifully. I’m still not sure how to work ombre aida cloth into a project design, but it’s going to happen.
• Be so careful when dyeing on the stove – I burnt a hole in my evenweave (good riddance! That nasty stuff!) and burnt the straps off of one of my favorite vintage slips just while putting it in the pot.
• Dyeing goes better when you have a friend to supervise. After Eliza left a whole slew of bad things happened.
• Salt and vinegar. Salt and vinegar. Seriously.

My favorite time of day

Little Bit has finally remembered that taking a bath isn’t so bad, so now we can finally relax in the tub without tantrums. It’s become an amalgamation of all my favorite things: sitting in a rare warm room in the winter, watching my favorite person play, and knitting. One of the best parts of my day, it always makes me feel peaceful & happy & maternal.

(Note: This picture is in black & white to save your innocent eyes from the insane neon pinkness of the hat I’m knitting. It’s an in-between project while my other more substantial pieces are waiting to dry or for necessary materials to arrive, and like most of my in-between projects it’s turning out to be hideous.)