TAST 2012 - CRETAN STITCH

See the exciting work of other participants in the Take a Stitch Tuesday Flickr Group
 We are in Week 4 of the challenge, not too late to join in!

WIP sweater

This is an interesting sweater I'm working on.  The design is Jill Vosburg's "Sea Glass" which you can see on her Just One More Row website.  I ordered it kitted in the "tidepool" colorway, and I'm finding the silk nice to work with.  This is the second or third project I've knitted from Jill's patterns, which are easy to follow and size customize.  If you follow the link you'll see details of  the Sea Glass sweater, which is a vertical rib.  The sweater is knit sideways and the pink edging you see is the provisional cast-on for adding a gusset to give a swing shape.

TAST 2012: Feather Stitch

I truly love feather stitch.  It meanders, spirals and can be linear.  And it's so graceful!  My favorite work with this stitch is the sampler I did for the original TAST.

TAST 2012 - Fly and Buttonhole Stitches

I've been excited ever since Sharon B announced she would host another Take a Stitch Tuesday.  I did plan ahead so I'd be ready wherever I might be come January.  I started at my LCS with a DMC variegated perle that appealed to me.  I selected it in #10 and #20, the gathered floss and #5 perle in gradations from the variegated colorway, along with some Kreinik braid for sparkle.  At home  I found 16 ct Aida cloth and dyed it with some yellow, seagreen and turquoise I had on hand.  It turned out similar to some cotton I experimented with last year.  I decided not to burden my to-go stash with beads, figuring it would be an excuse (as if I needed one) to shop for embellishment goodies.

You'll notice some small skeins of yarn I threw in.  These are samples I get monthly from www.elann.com.  I've been subscribing for several years now and use the yarn for lots of different things including CQ and Scrumbling.

Waiting for internet mobility I started the sampler with the lettering.  The words stitch and 2012  worked with a scrap of yarn I'd brought along for  another project.  I untwisted it into single plies. 

For fun I'll be adding some pastel buttons to the big buttonhole.

The upper element is one of my favorite uses of fly stitch.  I make exaggerated flies, joining where I can, making odd shaped patches that are fun to fill with tiny stitches or beads; I worked such before using feather stitch. 

GETTING SETTLED

Our bed is situated between a wall of glass looking out to the beach and a wall of mirrors, so either way we awaken to a radiant sunrise:

On the days it's been warm I've enjoyed mornings on the balcony with a table where I can journal, read or knit.

That's my DH taking some sun while I play with my art stuff.  I came prepared with various art journals, mixed media materials for the first session, Doodles Unleashed of the Strathmore Workshop with Traci Bautista and stitching supplies in anticipation of Take a Stitch Tuesdays 2012.  I was a week late before I got internet connection, and then realized I had invitations for an online class with Lynda Monk re her fantastic new book Fabulous Surfaces and another mixed media event, a Webinar: My Journey with Maps Hosted by Jill K. Berry.  When I realized we'd be spending three months away, I had to cancel a class with Michael deMeng called Crusty, Crumpled and Cracked.  I'd missed it once before and was really looking forward to this opportunity.   Well you can't just take the whole studio and kitchen sink along!  I don't have Lynda's book with me, so I'm hoping her lessons will be available for when I get back.  I can't wait to try more of her techniques.  I have caught up with TAST and will show results in my next post.



WHERE TO BEGIN...

I'll give the quickest account I can.  Great visit with daughter in NJ, wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with much to be thankful for since the day before we received news that an arrest had been made in our granddaughter's murder.  Lots of sightseeing and culinary goodies.  Our daughter is a culinary diva and works out of an adorable kitchen she's decorated with fiesta colors and chili peppers.  As soon as I got home I bought fabric with which to make her some fun aprons and other kitchen accessories.
Then we went on to Myrtle Beach.   

This was our view from the guest BR in my brother-in-law's condo. We enjoyed balmy weather, uncrowded venues and learned rentals for the winter are about a third to half what we used to pay in Florida.  The long and short of it is, we rented a condo from a friend of ours, and we are currently snowbirding in Myrtle Beach.  Our living room and bedroom look out to the beach, and from the balconies we can view the nature preserve adjacent to the property and North and South Myrtle Beach skylines from the respective directions.  Here I am celebrating our first day.



I'm wearing a hat and scarf I made last month.

While I'm showing and telling, here's a sweater I knit this summer and finished up to bring to Myrtle Beach.  Well, maybe March.