Treasures SK SAL as of 11.07.11 - Page 1 Complete!

Firstly I want to thank people for voting in my poll and commenting on my previous post.  I have decided that I won't be selling my patterns before I stitch them but will keep them.

Now onto the fun stuff.  I've finished page 1 of Treasures SK SAL and I'm really happy with the result.

I decided I wanted to keep on stitching until I'd finished the page rather than rotating a piece each week and it feels really good to have a finish (even if it is only a page finish!).

I'm also really pleased as well as I have been gridding with Sulky metallic thread in dark blue.  Up to now I haven't completed enough of a project to be able to take the gridlines out but on Treasures I have now taken the gridlines out and I'm pleased to say the thread came out very easily and didn't leave any marks behind.  So if I can get away with it on a project with so much white I am sure it will be fine on all my other projects.

So the stats for this project are 7,350 stitches completed which is 26.49% complete.

So this one can go on the back burner now until I get the next page which I don't think is until September so I'll have plenty of time to get some stitching done on my other WIPs.

I've also started knitting a blanket for my best friend who is expecting her third baby.  It is a design called Sampler Blanket by Debbie Bliss and I have treated myself to the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino wool to knit with.  It is absolutely gorgeous to knit so soft and lovely.  I may have to keep the blanket for myself in the end!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I had signed up for half yearly goals on the HAED BB.  I set myself small goals this time which were to complete 1 page of Treasures SK and 1 page of Believe QS and obviously with this post I have completed one of those goals.

I'm not sure what I am rotating onto now or whether I'll just concentrate on some knitting for a while.  Once the blanket begins to take shape I'll take some photos.

Masquerade as of 28.04.11

So I've been working on Masquerade again this week and finally feel like I am making progress.  I did 863 stitches this week which means she is now 83.01% complete.  I can finally see the end in sight.

On the knitting front I've not made any further progress with Little Boy Blue this week but I have managed to do quite a bit on the blanket for my cousins baby.

                                

 I also had a little more success with my baking this week.  I made triple chocolate cookies and Devon simnel loaf.  Everyone who had some said they were both delicious.  Might try making the carrot cake again next week (following the recipe properly this time!!)

A New Start & Finish & Carrot Cake Catastrophe

I'll start with the thing that went wrong this week.  I decided to make the Carrot Cake from Issue 2 of Baked & Delicious Magazine.  The recipe said to cook the mixture in two tins and then sandwich together with the frosting.  Well I could only find one cake tin so decided to just make one cake and then cut it in half after baking.  I didn't take into account that it would take a lot longer to cook one big cake than two small ones!  So I cooked the mixture for the required length of time, got it out to test and it was still liquid.  So I cooked it for a further 45 minutes and the top was quite burnt.  This is what it looked like.

So I left it on the side to cool thinking it was cooked.  But when I turned it out of the cake tin the entire centre of the cake was still liquid, this is how much cake mixture I scooped out of the middle.

And this is what the bottom of the cake looked like after having the mixture scooped out.

 It wasn't cooked properly all around the inner edge, I ate a bit of the outside and after picking the burnt bits off the top it was very tasty.  However I ended up throwing it away because I just wasn't sure if it was cooked properly and didn't want to risk poisioning anyone!  I was even more cross with myself the next day when I discovered two tins the same size at the back of a cupboard!!  Anyway it didn't put me off and I made some more Chelsea Buns the next day, I didn't put the glaze on top this time and they were a lot drier than the first time but still nice, I'll definitely use the glaze next time though. 

I discovered Stitching the Night Away recently and they are having a give away for anyone that sends photos in of a completed Brushstroke Butterfly.  This is a free design which you can download from their website.  A colleague of mine is retiring early in May and I decided that this would make a lovely card for her.  It is stitched on 25 count hand dyed Lugana called Apricot Blush from Crafty Kitten.  I used a variegated Anchor thread (1315) rather than the recommended colours and did tent stitch 2 over 1.  Rather than doing the rows in straight lines I stitched on the diagonal so the stripes wouldn't be quite so obvious.  I'm pleased with how it turned out and will probably stitch this design again as I think it is a very effective design.  I started this on 16th April 2011 and finished on 21st April 2011.  I'll add another picture when it's been made up into a card.

Some progress has been made on the jumper "Little Boy Blue" for Samuel.  I have now stitched one shoulder together and picked up all the stitches for the neck band and knitted the neck band.  I now face the daunting task of stitching in the sleeves which I will hopefully be able to do sometime soon but not without the help of my mum!  I've also been knitting a blanket for my cousin who is currently pregnant and will hopefully post a picture next time.

A New Start and my Third Finish for 2011

I really thought I had lost my stitching mojo as I'd not done any stitching for nearly a week.  I've been wanting to experiment with a different count and a different type of fabric for a while.  I decided that rather than start a big project on a new fabric and find out I didn't like it I would just do a small project.  So I have had a pattern for some Assisi Christmas cards for a while and decided to try one of them.  I started it last night and finished tonight.  It is stitched on 27 count hand dyed Linda from Crafty Kitten.  I did it 2 over 1 in tent stitch and I really enjoyed stitching it and am happy with the outcome.  The only thing I am not completely happy with is the back stitching but I don't think it looks too bad.

So here's the picture from the magazine of what it should look like.

And here's my attempt.

I've also finally managed to break the cycle of bad luck with Little Boy Blue and have made it over half way up the back.

And progress is being made on my first blanket for SANDS.  It currently measures 8 inches and needs to measure 22 inches so I've got quite a way to go yet.

I'm so happy as I feel like I am making progress now.  I have also conquered my fear of fabric that is not Aida and I'm hoping this means that I will be able to try different designs (like a Chatelaine!) but that might be a bit ambitious yet.  I think I'll try a few more smaller projects before attempting a BAP.

Masquerade SK as of 24.03.11

I am very disappointed with my lack of progress all round this week.  I've had Masquerade on rotation for two weeks and only managed to do 887 stitches.  I don't know if I've lost my stitching mojo or if I'm not enjoying Masquerade as much as I was or if it's just because I've been so damned tired the past few days.  I honestly haven't been out of bed later than 7.30pm for the last few nights.  Anyway I've now completed 78.44% of Masquerade and here is my update picture.

Also I've made no progress on the Little Boy Blue jumper.  I'd done about 30 rows and showed it to my mum and she asked if I had measured it or done a tension square, the answer was no.  So I measured what I had done and it was 10 inches wide and it should have been 10 3/4 inches.  So my mum suggested I try knitting it on a bigger size needle because this should make the difference in size.  So I have had to unpick it and start again, hopefully it will be third time lucky.  I'm really glad though that my mum told me know before I spent a lot more time knitting it and stitching it up.

On a positive note I have started knitting my first blanket for SANDS it is a very basic pattern where you start with one stitch and increase on the second stitch at the beginning of every row.  I currently have 50 stitches on the needle so some progress has been made here.  I find I am able to knit in the car while commuting to and from work.

Hopefully I'll get more stitching done over the next week and get some of the jumper done too.

Little Boy Blue

No cross stitching update this week I'm afraid.  I have been working on Masquerade and decided to keep on it for another week before I rotate and update. 

I have however started another project.  I am knitting a jumper for my little boy.  Samuel has become a lot more mobile over the past few weeks and I can no longer have all my stitching stuff out to just add a few stitches whenever I get a minute as of course he thinks mummy and daddy's toys (i.e. cross stitching, TV remotes, PS3 controllers etc) are much more exciting toys than his own.  So I thought at least with the knitting I can pull it out and put it away again a lot more easily then my stitching.

So this is the jumper I am knitting for him.

The pattern calls for Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4 ply but as this was £4.70 for a 50g ball and I could get a 100g ball of ordinary 4 ply for £4.20 I decided my budget could only stretch to the ordinary 4 ply.  I decided to go for a beige colour as he has so many blue tops already and I wanted something different for a change.  I had done about 12 rows of the back and then discovered I had done half of the rows using one size of pattern and half of the rows using a bigger size so my pattern wasn't lined up at all so I've had to unpick it and will be starting it again.

I have done some knitting over the years and have made a cardigan for myself in the past but my mum has always had to sew it up into a finished article for me.  With this jumper I want to do it all myself and then maybe move onto making myself another cardigan at some point in the future.  I also hope to make some baby blankets for the charity SANDS they are very simple blankets and I hope to be able to do some knitting in the car to and from work every morning and evening as I feel this is a wasted part of my day.

Anyway I hope all my cross stitching friends don't mind me adding a bit of knitting to my blog.

My sister has recently started a blog about her cross stitching and knitting and I'd love it if you could visit her blog and follow her too - if you add a comment as well she would be very excited :-)