Julia Turns 17

Julia turned 17 last weekend! We had a nice birthday celebration with a few friends, and Kate made her a Nutella chocolate cake. I love this photo that her friend Melika had taken and had given me permission to post. The past few months have been good for Julia, with a lot of changes: a new school and with it, a new routine and new friends (not to mention a few changes in hair colour). She still has a year-and-a-half to go in high-school but is starting to think about options for university, which is very exciting and a bit scary, for all of us!

Sunday Craft Update -- February 5

I recently finished these fingerless mittens, from the Jody McKinley's Merletto Mittens pattern, available for free on Ravelry. I used fingering weight yarn from one of my favourite yarn companies, Montreal-based Tanis Fiber Arts.

I also received a few weeks ago my 2011 cross-stitch exchange ornament from my sister-in-law Jill, who is turning 40 tomorrow (actually today, if you're going by Singapore time). It's lovely and I'm looking forward to putting it on my Christmas tree in December. You can see it here.

Sunday Craft Update -- December 18

Every year, my sister-in-law Jill and I exchange Christmas ornaments. Finally, I finished the one started in 2010 and will send it on its way to Singapore shortly, only a full year late! I did start the 2011 ornament and, though it will not be ready for this Christmas, I hope it will be done well before next Christmas.

This design is from Teresa Wentzler's 12 Days of Christmas pattern. I don't know what made me crazy enough to tackle this challenge. Teresa Wentzler projects are tough enough without the added difficulty of working over 1 thread on 32-count linen. I haven't sworn off doing another over-one project, but next time, I'll go for 28-count linen and invest in a good magnifying glass.

Sunday Craft Update -- December 4

I finished another two pairs of socks from Cookie A.'s wonderful Sock Innovation book. The first, from the pattern Bex, was made from Cascade Heritage sock yarn, and the second, from the pattern Glynis, was made from Elann Sock It To Me Shades. I loved the complexity of Bex and enjoyed the challenge of knitting it. Glynis took about a third of the time to complete, and it's also a great pattern -- interesting enough not to be tedious, but also very fast to knit up, as all the twists are made with K2tog and SSK stitches (no cable needle required)!

Sunday Craft Update -- October 9

I'm still knitting socks from my Sock Innovation book by Cookie A. This pattern is called Wanida, and the yarn is Elann's Sock It To Me Panoply.

Sunday Craft Update -- September 26

I'm on a quest to knit all the socks in Cookie A.'s fabulous book, Sock Innovation. The pair above is from the Sunshine pattern in Elann Sock It To Me Shades. They're modelled by Kate, who's not afraid to wear socks with her Birkenstocks.

This pair is from the Vilai pattern and is made from Cascade Heritage yarn. As you can guess, this one involved hours of tedious chart-reading.

Cookie A. has a huge fan club on Ravelry. They claim that knitting her socks is addictive and I'm beginning to understand why.

Sunday Craft Update -- September 4

The last couple of weeks have been devoted to cross-stitch. First, I finished (only 9 months late) the stitching for the 2010 Christmas cross-stitch ornament for my sister-in-law, Jill. I'll post photos after I do the finishing work. I'm looking forward to starting the 2011 ornament but am impatiently awaiting the arrival of some specialty threads in the mail. I also made progress on my Chatelaine Japanese Garden last week.

I finished Mirabilia's Deco Spirits a couple of years ago, but it languished in my needlework basket for a good long time. Now, finally, it is framed and on the wall. I added a close-up of Water, my favourite panel, above. Unfortunately, my photos don't do the piece justice. It is much more sparkly in real life. I guess the torture of working with those Kreinik threads was worth it. Having since discovered Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid through the Chatelaine designs, I much prefer using that to add the sparkle, though Kreinik has many more colours.