Long Overdue Post

Apparently, I'm not back into the swing of blogging on a regular basis again yet.  Hope to get that fixed soon :-)

Saturday I finished almost all of the Shaker Sewing Box.  This weekend will see it completed.  All that's left is the satin stitch grass across the bottom.  The following weekend I will get the supplies to do the finishing work on the needle book and scissor fob.  Then, even though I won't have the pincushion or sewing box put together yet, I'm going to call this project done and start thinking about my February needlework project.

On Sunday I got the top of Paul's quilt sewn together.  This weekend, I'll get the borders (all three of them!) and fishing rod applique put on.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get the blanket stitching on the applique finished too.  Of course, that means I'm that much closer to having to decide on paying to have it machine quilted, or hand quilting it myself.  I'm leaning towards hand quilting, even though it will take longer for Paul to have his finished quilt.

Update on the blankies ..... I finished my seven hexipuffs for this week, but I haven't done a single one of my sock yarn blanket squares.  Oops, I'll need to get caught up on those this upcoming week.  It will be easier to get caught up now that I'm done with swap gifts.

I restarted my Torirot Mystery Mittens.  I just really didn't like the green I was using.  Kept telling myself that it was fine since it was only on the cuffs, but then I got clue 3 and there is a band of that green and the color for the flowers across the middle of the mitten.  Back to the stash I went to find a more subdued green to use.  Once I had chosen a new green, the fuchsia color I was using for the flowers seemed to stand out too much, so I chose a variegated pink/purple yarn for those.  And lastly, once I started on that, I didn't like the pink as a background color for the main body of the mitten, so grabbed some light blue instead.  Now I'm quite pleased with them.  I'll need to spend tomorrow catching up on the last two clues, and hopefully getting the second cuff done so I'm ready for the next clue to be released.

About a week ago, I blogged about buying more jewelry making supplies and how I needed to spend a day putting things together.  Well, I finally got around to working on that this afternoon.  Only finished one necklace, but I'm inspired to get the beads out and work on more this week.  If I get caught up on the mittens and blankets, I'll do that this weekend.

Pinterest has been my bestest buddy during this swap.  I used it tons to get inspiration for gifts to add to my package .... and took a couple of detours and got inspired to make things for myself too.  I love needle books!  This little felt number just caught my eye and I couldn't resist making it.

Now, I mentioned earlier about being done with swap gifts.  There has been a difference of opinion on how much should be included in my swap package (why that's anybody else's business but mine as long as I'm meeting the minimum requirements is beyond me, but apparently it is), and therefore, I have a couple of new items for myself.

I have had my eye on this scarf for some time, and finally broke down and purchased the pattern.  It worked up really quickly and I love it!  It's a very long 112" long so I can wrap it several times around my neck.  I used some lovely Silky Wool that has been in my stash for quite awhile.  I was looking forward to making another one for myself, but now that it's not getting mailed, I don't have to.

Another finished item that is staying with me and not making a home with someone else is a pair of scissors with beaded fob.  I really need to make fobs for all my little scissors.  I always toss a pair in my bag when I go to knit groups, then stab myself with them while there.

There are also two unfinished items, but I'll set those aside to work on if/when I get caught up on my other projects.  I started a biscornu pincushion, and it's almost done.  Maybe I'll add that to my Saturday stitching after I get the satin stitch done on the Shaker Sewing Set.

The last item is a pair of owl mitts.  I've wanted to make these for the longest time too, and now I'll have a pair for myself :-)