A few more projects

I have been busy on a few projects lately. Here is a quick run down of them.

An embroidery piece. Two of these made. The pink is crochet, and there will eventually be a bead or two stitched to the middle of it.

The following pic is the beginnings of what I hope will be a dandelion. It's a bit of an experiment.

Celebrating the number 5 for an anniversary in one of the groups on Ravelry. 

Just for fun.

1. 5 colours x 5 stitches wide x 5 rows.

2. 5 colours x 5 different stitches x 5 sides (pentagon).

3. 5 threads x 5 foundation ch. x 5 sc.

4. 5 colours x 5 puffs x 5 bead stitches.

5. Multiple of 5 foundation x increase every 5th st.

Sorting out my mothers bobbins. Three piles like this. This stack is now untangled and sorted into order. I'll show the sorted photo when I have done all of them.

My mini HEX quilt has progressed a little bit with the blue, black, green and purple rounds added.

The ANZAC day dawn service.

We walked to the town hall and followed the pipes and drums band to the cenotaph and monument.

What an emotional event that was.

When the bugle played and then the silence, apart from the crashing waves on the beach below us.

It really brought it all home.

That 'just-after-dawn' moment.

And a stroll along our Opunake beach yesterday.

Quite an eventful and productive couple of weeks.

Happy Stitching 

from

Cyra

Wooohoooo - lots of stitching

 Lots of projects got to spend some quality time with me during the week.

The 'Long on Colour' freeform challenge made an appearance. I think this is going to be a cowl.

Earthy and autumnal colours with a pop of black and white. 

And we had such a lovely day yesterday that I was stitching in the back garden in the shade with my kitty companion.

_________________________________________________________________

My BAMCAL 2017 Blues Blanket has two more 12" blocks made.

Block Four is Kaleidoscope Blossom Square by Chris Simon

Block Five is Marigold Mandala Square by Dorianna Rivelli with slight adjustments in the outer rounds as, once again, I 'do-my-own-thing'.

__________________________________________________________________

The Summer Brights Blanket has four more 6" blocks.

This is Window Box Granny by Lisa Mauser

___________________________________________________________________

The ¾" Hexagon Quilt

The darker blue has been added to the rosettes, and lots of yellows prepared ready for attaching.

____________________________________________________

Weaving Project- My Garden, panel 2.

This panel starts with a band of regular weaving at the bottom which is the same yarn as Panel 1, and then gradually incorporates freeform weaving as it progresses. 
Multiple weaving styles and texture will be added to this.

So that was my week. Very productive, and I even got to empty and clean out the fish pond (as the two last fish in there disappeared last weekend, probably to a kingfisher or new stray cat that I've seen hanging around).

BAMCAL - YOP - FO's - AYIS - MYIS

Oh boy....... I've done it again..... started lots of projects.

And just in case the title of this blog is reading like a foreign language to you, let me translate it for you here.

BAMCAL = Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long

YOP = Year Of Projects

FO's = Finished Objects

AYIS - A Year In Stitch

MYIS - My Year In Stitches

2017 BAMCAL is a Ravelry group in which we are given a choice of 3 blocks each month to crochet as we wish for our chosen project. I am going to see if I find enough time to do all 3 blocks, as I would like to make at least two afghans and a tunic/poncho.

My first 12" block is finished - Floral Kaleidoscope Afghan Square by Julie King.

I am using yarn from my stash for this project.

_________________________________________________________________

While I'm showing you FO's, here is a Free Form Ball that I finished for a CAL in another Ravelry group. 

________________________________________________________

A Year In Stitches is all about making stitches every day for a year and in a random, freeform style.

I have chosen a colourful printed fabric to randomly embellish with stitches.

And here is the start - Day 1 stitches.

Just a little bit more each day.

________________________________________________________________

My Year In Stitches is a different project. It still incorporates a little bit of stitching each day, but this one is slightly more organized. It started off life as a patchwork wall hanging that I made a few years ago.... but.... I never really liked it the way it was, so I have decided to spruce it up with a whole heap of stitching to make it more appealing to me, and hopefully, I'll enjoy it enough when it's finished to actually hang it up instead of hiding it in a box.

The green stems are what I have stitched today, and there are quite a lot more of them to stitch too, so I might not share photos again until I get onto something more interesting to see.

________________________________________________

This has been another YOP blog post.

Happy New Year to you all, and Happy Stitching.

Cyra

YOP - Doilies - Decoupage Tree - Stash

Two completed projects to show this week.

They will both benefit from a blocking soon, to help them keep their shape better.

_______________________________________________________

Stash Enhancement Xercise

100% pure NZ Merino top. 

Colour : Deep Rainbow.

For a needle-felting project starting sometime early(ish) 2017.

I am so lucky to have discovered a treasure, a very local hand-dyer of beautiful fibers and yarns, he lives about two streets away from me. Ian recently won a 1st prize award for a crocheted afghan made with his hand-dyed fibers.

This is my first purchase from him (the first of very many I'm beginning to think).

________________________________________________________________

And just to add to the season of Jollility, here is my decoupage tree, making another appearance this year as I love it's simplicity.

_________________________________________________________________

This has been another Year Of Projects post.

If you would like to see what the YOP is all about, 

you can click on this icon in the side-bar, and

be taken to the Ravelry group.

A YOP finish & 'My Week'

Another YOP finished object to add to my list on the YOP-FO tab

I have finished the Christmassy Cat decoration- what a little cutie. 

My 'someone special' is going to love it.

It's about 6" high and embroidered with DMC floss.

An enjoyable and quick project to stitch. I might do a whole load for next Christmas, lol.

___________________________________________________

My Summers End crochet mandala has not progressed any this week, but

I have started another 2 crochet projects, but can't show pics yet because they are for Christmas presents.

____________________________________________________

I enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner with the Embroiderers Guild group that I belong to.

Lovely company and great food.

 (or should that read)

Lovely food and great company.

Either way works for me.

_____________________________________________________

I went to my local church fair this week. Plenty of nick-nacks for sale, and lovely music provided by a couple of teenagers from the high school, singing and playing guitar and keyboards. They were very good, and certainly in the Christmas spirit. Isn't it good to see the youth of today enjoying making people smile.

One of our junior schools in our little town also had a Country Fair, which was very fun entertainment for all the children. I do so enjoy listening to the happy little voices of children playing and having fun. It was another day of smiles for me.

There is a Market Day at the High School tomorrow, and an evening Crafty Christmas Fair event later in the week. I shall happily be attending those events too. I try to buy locally if I can, and I do my best to support local events and fundraisers. 

_______________________________________________________

The garden has taken up some time this week, so with a lack of stitching related photos to show this week, here are some of my lovely blossoms and blooms purely for your enjoyment too.

Well, that's it for this week folks.

I hope you have a great time if you are attending any functions.

This has been another Year Of Projects post

A Few More Stitches

Here are a few more stitches that have happened this week.

This Christmassy Cat will, in the next week or so, be made into a hanging decoration and posted off to someone special for a very special greeting.

________________________________________________________

My Summers End Mandala Madness Part 14 is done (the fawn bit). Hope to get part 15 started this week too.

________________________________________________________

And I enjoyed making my last garden inspired weaving, so I've started another fiberart weaving to match it using the same warp, and it has begun with an even plain weave at the bottom for a reason, which will be revealed at a later date when a bit more has been completed, and some more of my freeform style has been added.

________________________________________________________________

And, after a joint effort (hubby & I), we got all the lounge furniture out of the lounge so that we could get that carpet cleaned before putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. It looks so much better now, and we can put the furniture back in tomorrow.

We also went shopping for two days to select a houseful of furniture for the new house we bought for our son to live in while at Uni in another town a few hours away from us.

Phew!!! It has been a very busy week.

This has been another YOP post.

Happy Stitching

Oh My Goodness, Did You Miss Me

I can't believe so many weeks have passed and I didn't get to blog about anything.

I am truly sorry to my regular readers who like to see what I am up to.

It has been a long month (nearly two months to be precise).

I'll not bore you with details of the non-stitching stuff (because, frankly, it WAS mostly really boring stuff).

A big FO for me was this Freeform Weaving project.

Inspiration from my garden.

Size is about 22" x 15".

Includes freeform crochet scrumbles.

_________________________________________________________________

I also finished the baby blanket and have sent that off.

This was the blanket that someone else started but passed away before finishing it.

The 'trouble' was that all the circles were different sizes, and it's nearly impossible to put circles together with a straight edge.

Anyway, I think I managed to make a reasonable blanket for the grandchild of the deceased lady, even if it does have uneven edges and quite a few 'hills & valleys'.

It has plenty of character, definitely not perfect, and holds many of life's little hiccups within it's essence.

It will be treasured for all the right reasons though.

________________________________________________________

I have actually finally got my Ocean Freeform Challenge piece bordered, backed, quilted and hanging properly.

I wanted to finish it ready to hang in an exhibition.
I can now add that to my FO list.

________________________________________________________

I attended a craft workshop at one of my local groups.

We made these mixed media canvas pieces.

This blue one is my piece.

_____________________________________________________________________

Yesterday I finished a circle weaving project using a home-made recycled plastic bowl for a loom.

______________________________________________________

So, that's me..... finally caught up with blogging about my makes and creations.

Phew!!!

This has been another YOP post for your enjoyment.