Sewing, Knitting and stitching update

I realise I haven't stated anything about the Covid 19 pandemic in my last post.  NZ is now at level 1, meaning there is no community transmission.  Apart from our borders being closed, returning Kiwis required to isolate in hotels that are overseen by the military, life is back to normal.  This happened a few weeks ago.  It has made me so much more appreciative of things we used to take for granted.

We are still seeing cases, but only in those that are returning and are in isolation. Given the pandemic is escalating world wide that is to be expected.

Very little in the way of sewing to report for this month.  Just a few small items.


I made a couple of bags.  The first was a drawstring bag for knitting projects.

The top part is quilting cotton. The bottom is corduroy.  It has ribbons for the drawstrings and also a handle in the corduroy fabric.

There are corduroy pockets on the outside which are embroidered using stitches on my sewing machine.  There are also a couple of pockets inside.

I made a cable holder to go inside the bag for spare cables that I'll need for the project.  There are a couple of snaps that hold it closed.

In the same fabric I made a case to hold my 9" circular needles for sock knitting.

A friend is now working mainly from home.  She uses a plug in keyboard with her laptop and told me she had looked for a bag to carry it in but couldn't find one.  I offered to make her one.

I loved how this turned out.  The bees are super cute and I found fabric to match.  The outside is cotton drill fabric and it has a zipped top and carry handles. I stitched these inside the 2 different fabrics and then sewed them partly up the plain fabric so they don't flop around.

I found some cotton on special that went perfectly to line the bag with.  My friend was very happy with this bag.

I have another kntting finish.  My second Reyna shawl.

I did a few extra rows than the first one.  I had intended to make it a lot bigger, however I really want to start my next project and told myself I couldn't start until I'd finished Reyna.  So Reyna got finished  a bit earlier and a bit smaller.

My next project is this Potowatomi poncho.

Other knitting that is on the go is the Flax Light jumper.

I am down to where I need to put the sleeves onto waste yarn, then knit the body.  I've read a tip that its a good idea to start the body, then do the sleeves.  Apparently it is easier to knit the sleeves without having to twist the body out of the way, but also once the sleeves are done you know how much yarn is left so can lengthen or shorten the body as desired/needed.

The other project on my needles is a sock pattern in this self striping yarn.

I'm making up my own pattern after reading a lot and watching a lot of sock videos.  The plain vanilla sock seems to be pretty standard.  So I'm casting on 64 stitches on 2.25mm needles.  Knitting 2 rows of K2,_P2 rib, knit 60 to heel, then probably 60 to toe.  I will then put in an afterthought heel.

I have already made one sock, but this was on 2.75mm needles and I was very disappointed that the multicoloured yarn just gave me a brown sock, very little of the pink appeared.  On 2.75mm it was too big. 

A bit of experimentation may be needed to find my perfect sock recipe.

I also bought a little bit more haul for knitting.

 A few more yarns for another pair of socks.  I bought the green to do contrasting toes and heels.

Onto cross stitching.  I've worked on my 3 HAED designs this month.

Naida

Healing Rose Ornament

Cosmos

that seems to have been a long post.

Cross stitch Finish: Sans Souci

I have a finish.  Sans Souci by Long Dog Samplers

The details:

Design 162x266 and according to PatternKeeper is 24252 stitches.

Time to stitch:  124 hours, total number of days worked on: 43 days

Started 31 Oct 19. finished 29 May 20

Stitched on 32 ct Weeks DyeWorks purchased from The Embroiderer and with Silks4U  PR147.

While shops are now open, I will probably wait a few more weeks until we are down to level 1 before I get this framed.  The framer I go to has quite a small shop area, so not sure they will be able to do physical distancing.

Pandemic level 2, a knitted hat, sewn capelet and a shirt and haul

We've now been on level 2 for 2 weeks.  Restrictions have eased further, with gyms reopening, shops open again but practicing physical distancing.  Our confirmed and probable cases have only risen slightly since my last post and are now 1503, deaths have risen by 1 to 21.  Over the last 2 weeks we have only recorded another 2 or 3 confirmed cases.   We find out on 22 June if we can move to level 1.

I went out on the weekend for a friends 60th birthday and inadvertently attended a wedding.  A wedding was being held at the restaurant.  It was a lovely and simple wedding.  It was a Maori wedding and a lot of traditional aspects were followed which was lovely.

I'm now back at the gym, but needing to get back into it gradually as my fitness has really dropped off over the last few weeks.

On to what I've been making.

I made the Itch to Stitch Cape Cod capelet.

It was an easy sew.  It took me around  1 1/2 hours, done entirely on the overlocker and coverstitch. However I think I picked the wrong fabric for it.  The fabric works but it is a very lightweight wool, only suitable for wearing in summer and not sure I'd want to wear a capelet in summer.  A heavier fabric would have been more suitable for a winter and autumn/spring capelet.

I also made the Grainline Archer shirt

This is a very popular pattern amongst sewists.  So when Grainline had a sale I bought the pattern.  I can see why it is so popular.  It comes together beautifully, instructions are easy to follow.  It is a classic shirt, with yoke, and back pleat, stand up collar and plackets and cuffs at sleeves.  I made this in a stretch poplin that I've had in my stash.  This took me around 8 hours which I think is pretty good for a shirt.  The only alteration I made was to leave off the pockets on the front.  I think next time I should shorten the sleeves by 1 inch as they are a bit too long, very unusual problem for me!

I also had another knitting finish.  The antler toque pattern by Tincan knits, a free pattern on Ravelry.

To be honest, I have never worn a hat in Auckland in the 39 years I've lived here.  It just isn't cold enough in winter.  But I might be encouraged to wear a me-made hat.  I enjoyed knitting this and it only took about 6 days to knit, doing other things as well as the hat.  I even bought a fur pom pom to finish it off.

Cross stitch is still progressing and I finished a rotation on His Eye is on the Sparrow.

As soon as we went into level 2 and were able to go into shops I had to visit Ribbon Rose.  It was the busiest I've ever seen it.  I made a good haul

Lots of yarn, new circular needles, interchangeable needles and stitch markers.

4 ply Ashford MacKenzie 100% Merino, colour Sangria, to knit Flax Lite by Tincan knits.  free pattern on Ravelry

Opal Butterfly sock yarn, self patterning. 75%wool, 25% nylon. For Vanilla Latte socks, free pattern on Ravelry

Rowan 100%wool, colour Gold. Used for the Antler Toque hat

 Zauberball colour Tonspur, for Vanilla Latte socks.

Pandemic level 3. Reyna shawl, drawstring bag and cross stitch update.

Last week we moved from level 4 to level 3.  It doesn't make much difference to me, but other people were able to return to work and businesses were able to do takeaway or pick up orders. At this stage we have 1487 confirmed cases and sadly 20 deaths. The numbers of confirmed cases over the last week have been less than 10 each day.  We find out next week if we can move to level 2.  For me this means I may be able to resume going to the gym and go the hairdresser, optometrist and dentist.


Meanwhile on to what I have been doing in lockdown. I had my birthday.  Very strange not being able to go out with anyone to celebrate.  Probably the loneliest I've been during lockdown.  It doesn't help that both my fathers and mothers birthdays would have fallen during lockdown so wasn't able to do anything to commemorate them.

Anyway, on to more productive stuff.

I finished my first knitting project in about 30 years.  The Reyna shawl, a free pattern from Ravelry.

I loved it so much I decided I wanted to make another one but bigger, more like a true shawl and with alternating colours.  I already had some of this Malabrigo sock yarn in

It is variegated with dark red and hints of purple.  I thought this grape Ashford Tekapo would work nicely.   On my screen it appeared to be a plum colour.  However when it arrived it was pure purple.

It clashes somewhat with the red, but its all I had on hand so  I went ahead and started it.

As it grows the red lace rows will be deeper.

When I ordered the wool I also went ahead and ordered a set of Knit Pro interchangeable circular needles.

Washing instructions for future reference.

While in lockdown a friend turned 60.  For the big birthdays a group of us club together to buy a nice gift.  I feel a bit guilty these days for using wrapping paper  - wasteful as it just ends up being used once then thrown away.  So I decided to make a drawstring bag for the gift.  She can then use the bag for storing whatever she wants. 

I found some velvet in my stash and made the base from denim.  I used a specialty stitch (stitch 40) on my sewing machine and a gold embroidery thread to add a bit of decoration to the denim.

The drawstring is some black twill tape I had in my stash. 

A pretty bag all made from scrap fabric.

For future reference the dimensions of fabric that I cut for this bag were:

Base:  11 x 6.5"   x2

Main:  11x7.5"    x2

Lining  11x 13"  x 2

Drawstring casing 11x2.5" x 2

Sewn with a 1/2" seam allowance.  I boxed the corners with 1 1/2" square cut out.

I've been busy with cross stitch as always.   I have another rotation in on Ornament Healing Rose by HAED

I've now stitched 17556 stitches which is 35.68%.

Pandemic birthday new start and a dress fail.

We are halfway into our 4 week lockdown here in New Zealand.  So far we have 1289 confirmed cases, and sadly 2 we have 2 deaths.  The number of confirmed cases are dropping, so hopefully we can eradicate it which is the aim of our government.

Easter Sunday is my birthday.  As it will be spent by myself, I decided to treat myself to another chart from Heaven and Earth designs.  My new start will be Cosmos:

This will be the largest chart I have ever done.  She is 550x825, or 453750 stitches.
I will be stitching her on 25ct easy count Lugana, 2 over 1 tent stitch.  The finished size will be 22 inches by 33 inches.
She will be  a companion piece for my Mystic stitch, Empress

Other cross stitch progress

Sans Souci

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Healing Rose

Naida

Before lockdown I had planned on making a new dress for my birthday.  Even though my birthday celebrations will not be happening for who knows how long, I went ahead and made the dress.

I really liked the contrast panels and the large front pockets on Colette Patterns Sonya dress:

I found some lovely antique pink linen in both plain and spotted in Spotlight.  The pattern comes with cuff sleeves, so I decided to do those.

However those pockets are so huge, right across my broadest area they make me look huge.  I thought of removing them, however the fit across the neck and shoulders is too wide and it is tight across the back, so not very comfortable.  So even if I removed the pockets I still probably wouldnt wear it.  I also had to lengthen it by 4 inches.   A huge disappointment.   I'm smiling in the photos but I'm not really happy!