Here's what I've been working on recently.

( Photos )

I keep forgetting to post!

Since I finally bought some fiberfill I have been knitting stuffed toys with reckless abandon.

( crafts a plenty! knit mice, knit socktopus, Discworld quote embroidery (this one is SO perfect), and massive cross-stitch commission for an old, and now obscure, comic character... )

I've been crocheting an afghan, but I'm almost out of yarn so I picked up my sampler I was working on before I had to put it aside to work on Christmas presents. I got the pattern at a little needle craft store near here. Its a fake epitaph on a tombstone by Plum Street Samplers. They've got a few more sampler patterns I want to eventually do, not all of them in the same collection as the one I'm doing now.

what it will look like when finished

Finally finished this needlepoint I've been working on. I used a deconstructed frame from the dollar store, and painted some wood accents and little ladybugs from a big bag of wood cuttings I got from the thrift store. The whole thing cost lest than a couple of bucks hah. So go cheap and crafty.

I got a yarnballer so I've been winding up some of my yarn - I think I'm going to work on a crochet project next.

Here's a couple of drawings I did recently too-- been practicing my drawing.

( Click for pictures )

My Mock the Week piece is all done (or basically, I'll be adding one line of black backstitch along the bottom in lieu of the thick black border I'd planned).

Warning - it's a bit rude.

( Mock the Week - Unlikely Small Ads )

This pattern was such a pain to create, but it's coming out well. In the show Mock the Week they have a section where they're given a prompt, and this one, Unlikely Small Ads (classified ads), is really the only one you could stitch as a cohesive piece. It's also one of my favorites ever.

The piece is a bit rude (though the really rude parts aren't stitched yet), so be forewarned, I guess.

( Unlikely Small Ads )

. Easter is this sunday. We're going to my husband's family party. There are going to be seven children there including my stepson. The ages range from about eight months, to I think 11 or 12 years. I decided to make easter baskets by cross stitching with yarn and plastic canvas. I have one basket left to make. They are small. Three by three inch base and two inches tall. I made magnets for each basket. The baby is not getting one. I'll try for something else for him. The problem is on monday we just found out my stepson's mother shelled out 3500 dollars for her new lawyer to file for placement. To contest (which my husband wants to do) it's gonna cost 3000 for our lawyer. So we're going to be short on money, I may not even be able to afford plastic eggs for a small egg hunt (kinda started that last year). I now need to figure out what to put in the baskets I can make besides cookies. I can very basics crochet, I'm good with a hot glue gun, I can make jewelry and stuff out of beads. I know there are things I can use around the house. I'm just blanking.

I've got some pillows done in the past few weeks.

( Here are some pillows )

I've got a few things to share!

( Finished Celtic letter G for my niece )

( Humorous quote about logic by Terry Pratchett, comes with swirly border )

I posted this in a comment to my last entry, but thought I'd put it out more generally as well. My Photo Stitch is a free photo/artwork conversion website, which gives you lovely professional cross-stitch patterns. It has a basic and a more advanced pattern pattern, and I've gotten some lovely stuff out of it, both from photos and classic paintings.

( Here's the best one I've gotten, I think, from a photo I took of a bee on some wisteria. )

I've finished up all the color work for this Celtic-style letter G, which will eventually go to my niece Geneva. I made one for her brother last year (it's a B, if that makes a difference). In that post there's an image of it before and after the black outlining is added, so you can see how different the G will look when it's properly done!



I had a really good book going (The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander), so I worked on that piece pretty much non-stop until it was done.

Oh! The letters are from the book Celtic Cross-Stitch by Mike Vickery, which I recommend fairly highly. It has all the letters, numerous smaller motifs and borders, and a number of quite large patterns. It has little explanations of the mythology all through it as well. The letters are really my favorite part. If you want to know what a specific letter looks like, just shoot me a message and I'll take a picture for you.