AMKG Altoid's Tin

I was in another Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild Swap on Ravelry. It was just a small swap of some stitch markers, but I did have fun making a cute container to put them in.



I've been wanting to do something with my altoids tin's for a while, and this got me off my butt to do it. The design is the group's coat of arms.

Circular Knitting Needle Holder

For the Discworld Swap on Ravelry my partner wanted a circular needle holder. I got inspired by this one on craftster. I wanted it to look like a Watch (Discworld police) notebook, and so I embroidered the coat of arms on the front and had the needle pockets in an aged paper colour of felt.


(Photo courtesy of Miriknits)

Aussie Tour Embroidery Swap

I've got my apron back from the Aussie Tour embroidery swap. It was a round robin and I sent around pieces of an apron which will be sewn together at some point. First though I have to embroider a couple of gaps. That may have to wait for a little while because my to do list looks a bit like this:

URGENT
Christmas Ornament Swap (I signed up at the last minute)
Christmas Cards
Christmas Presents
Secret Santa Gift

Then there is my WIP List
Mesmerize Sweater
Cocoon Bag (which is probably more like a UFO)
September CAL Square

Plus lots of non-urgent things too.

Plus I'm working lots of hours at the moment and I'm going away in a few weeks (Yay, a holiday in Bali).

So it might take me a little while to complete the apron, but until then everyone else's embroidery deserves to be shown off, so enjoy the loveliness.


This one is from jane feebles, such a clever idea (I had a craft theme for my apron)


This one is from sharre. You probably can't see the little needle embroidered with metallic thread, but I love little details like that!


This is from librarylass and it's three dimensional! Doesn't the stick figure have so much character too?


This is from cmc_aust. I wish my French knots were as good as this.


This is from Miss_Vicki, how gorgeous is the sewing superhero fairy, and the stitches are teeny!

Briar Rose Quilt Square

Ceilidh has received one of the squares I embroidered for our personal swap (and liked it, yay!). The other two I sent on in the Aussie Tour (because our personal swap was for a couple of extra squares), but I didn't manage to finish this one in time.

I had lots of fun on the border with this one, and it turned out just how I wanted. I'm so glad the ribbon roses turned out too as it was my first time with them (I did woven wheels with the ribbon). Ceilidh is a spinner too so I wanted a spinning wheel on one of the squares I was embroidering, although I got half way through embroidering the wheel before I realised it was the wrong way for the old woman, but that means it's the right way for Briar Rose!

TAST Week 16: Palistrina Stitch

Week 16 in the TAST challenge was Palistrina Stitch and I'm really happy with how this has worked out although the colours are a little washed out.


I probably won't be posting very often for the next couple of weeks because I'm working way too many hours and it's putting me in a foul mood. Stupid twelve hour days...and that's if I can leave on time. Grumble Grumble Grumble

TAST Week 15: Oyster Stitch

Not a terribly exciting contribution for Oyster Stitch but it didn't quite end up looking as I planned. I was going for a bit of a rain drop effect and I guess I got that but it's not one of my favourite bookmarks. Nevermind, not everything turns out beautifully!



I found this to be a bit of a tricky stitch intitially, but once I got the hang of it, it was quite fun.

TAST Week 13: Knotted Cretan

TAST Week 13 was Knotted Cretan Stitch and I did end up using a similar idea to the ordinary Cretan Stitch.

So this one is called 'Pressed Sample 2'

TAST Week 12: Couching

Week 12 in the TAST challenge was couching.



This bookmark is probably the one that's taken me the longest so far, but I'm really happy with it. It's so tactile and yummy.

Hmmmm...couching handspun yarn would be fun too wouldn't it?

TAST Week 11: Up and Down Buttonhole

Week 11 in the TAST is Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch which I had quite a bit of fun with.



I'd had a similar idea with a couple of other TAST stitches, but it hadn't quite worked out until now.

TAST Week 10: Barred Chain

Week 10 in the TAST challenge was Barred Chain and once I eventually came up with a design I then had to sew my two bits of fabric together...which was a little more complex than I anticipated - those curves are tricky! Once it was done (a little dodgily if you look closely) the embroidery was pretty quick.

TAST Week 9: Cross Stitch

Week 9 in the TAST challenge was Cross Stitch which I've used a bit of in the past.

I started off with some plans for maybe some Assisi Work but I wasn't really happy with the design I came up with, so I went with a simple tree, which I think is quite cute!

TAST Week 8: Fly Stitch

I'm certainly starting to amass some bookmarks! Week 8 is Fly Stitch.



It was quite fun exploring this stitch and after doodling a little I came up with doing a dandelion (which is interesting because librarylass said my Week 3 bookmark looked like a dandelion). I ended up stitching this one at the craftster meet in the city (so it was a little while ago), but it seems the sewing together is taking a little longer than the actual embroidery.

TAST Week 7: Feather Stitch

I'm really enjoying the way the TAST challenge is not only making me use more stitches, but I'm also looking at using different threads and looking more at designs.



While this week's design is fairly simple and admittedly I haven't branched out that much on the stitch, I have started using some Perle cotton, previously I've only really used the six stranded embroidery thread so it's nice to go in a bit of a different direction.

I ended up giving this to my mum as part of her birthday present and she really liked it.

TAST Week 6: Algerian Eye (plus a bit of a rant)

Just a warning, I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent and have a little rant before I get onto the crafty goodness. If you're not in the mood for me being annoyed just skip ahead.

Anyway, on Monday nights I work until 8pm when work closes, and then I'm on call for the rest of the night. Several times I've had people come in late with their pets for the last consult or just keep talking, so that I'm there until 8.30 - 9pm. Normally that's not too much of a problem because I know that people love their animals (but turning up on time is always helpful, and vets don't generally keep you waiting as long as doctors), but on Monday we got a call at 7.50 about a dog that apparently was having difficulty breathing and it's face had swelled up. The owners of the dog had to collect the dog from where it was and then come to us, so it was going to take them about an hour to get there. It sounded like this could be a pretty serious problem, especially as the dog was a week away from giving birth, so I advised them to go to an emergency center (which was about ten minutes from them) but after speaking to one of my bosses on the phone, he said that if they wanted to come in that would be alright. So I had to wait at work for an hour (on my mum's birthday as well), to see a dog, that ultimately was panting a little because it had a belly full of puppies and had no facial swelling. And unless, I leave work and come back, I don't get paid overtime. Then I started work at 8am Tuesday. And while I'm complaining, we've also got a vet away today, so I have to work extra hours...on my usual day off, for a month. At one point I'll be working 11 days in a row.

Alright, rant finished!

This is the first of February's stitches for the TAST challenge, and it's Algerian Eye.



Unlike some of my favourite craftsters I'm not a huge fan of pink (I think I overdosed on it at about age 5), and while I was making this it seemed very pink, but once I washed out the transfer pen it magically looked better and now it's a completed bookmark I'm really happy with it. Although I think it is still a bookmark to use on chic-lit!

TAST Week 5: Chevron Stitch

I've finished January with Chevron Stitch.


I didn't have a great deal of inspiration for this one and ended up going with a bit of a 'Frankenstein's monster' idea. This time I did tea and coffee dying of the pillowcase, and it's given some subtle colour changes. If anyone reads Discworld books, it's an Igor creation!

TAST Week 4: Cretan Stitch

Week 4 in the TAST challenge is Cretan Stitch. I've been going well so far with catching up! I've been using recycled pillowcases for all my bookmarks, and tried some tea dyeing on this one, and I'm happy with the aged effect it's given me.


I'm calling this one 'Pressed Sample' and I was going for the effect of a dried fern or leaf in an old book.

TAST Week 3: Detached Chain Stitch

Here's week 3's TAST bookmark (yes, I'm going with bookmarks at the moment) and it's Detached Chain Stitch.

I did have a bit of an image going on here but it may have turned out a bit abstract. If you can guess what I'm going for then well done! If you can't then you can probably also congratulate yourself on being clean minded.

TAST Week 2: Buttonhole

Here's my week two TAST offering, with Buttonhole stitch


I'm calling it 'Buttonhole ciliates' as I was going for a microscopic organism look. I really need to make myself a light box so I can start taking some better photos.

TAST Week 1: Herringbone Stitch

After being inspired by some of the lovely embroidery around (such as here, and here and other places, but I'm too lazy to post any more links), I decided to start the TAST challenge. I figure starting so late I have no pressure to keep up because I'm already behind!



Here's the first week's stitch, Herringbone stitch made into a sampler bookmark.

Take-Away Pouch

We don't eat take-away that much (look at me defending myself already) but it's nice to be able to find the menus when you want to.

This is just made from a recycled pillow case and embroidered. The clip-art and font came from Tack-O-Rama and I reversed it, printed it on our laser printer and ironed it on. I did have to use a reference image (printed the right way) for some sections but it was a handy guide. I was feeling like some retro goodness!