Stitch Journal, Week 23

More and more satin stitch: that's what I feel impelled to stitch in response to the bright colors and lush growth of June. This month's piece is growing steadily from the center outward.

Will I break with that and stitch something different? I don't know—so far, when I review this piece each morning and ponder the next step, I've decided to add more satin stitch. We'll see what happens as the month progresses.

Day 155

Day 156

Day 157

Day 158

Day 159

Day 160

Day 161

If you are enjoying my Stitch Journal project, I hope you'll consider making a purchase from my Etsy shop to help support it. Funds are needed for stretchers, professional photography, and a website to serve as home for this project and my other artwork.

Through June 30, I'm offering free shipping on purchases of $15 or more, with the coupon code FREESHIP2016.

If you don't wish to make a purchase but just want to support the project, you can do that, too. Thank you!

LINKS

Stitch Journal 2016 Blog Posts
Stitch Journal 2016 on Instagram

Stitch Journal 2016 Flickr Album

Other Embroidery and Artwork
My Etsy Shop

Etsy Shop Update (and Free Shipping!)

New in my Etsy shop.—a pretty eye pillow stitched with overlapping circles in delicate colors. It's embroidered with the same naturally dyed Valdani threads that I use for my Stitch Journal project. I decided that, since the circles I stitched for the May stitch journal piece were so popular on Instagram, I'd use them for a new eye pillow design.

My eye pillows are filled with a half cup each of lavender, flax seed, and rice. They weigh 6–7 ounces—just the right weight for soothing tired eyes—and make a fragrant and thoughtful gift, whether for a friend or for yourself. 

There are now seven different pillows for you to choose from. And through June 30, I'm offering free shipping. Just use the coupon code FREESHIP2016 when you check out.

When I posted the new pillow on Instagram the other day, a customer who purchased a pillow for his mother left a comment that really warmed my heart: he said she raves about her pillow and uses it every day to relieve the symptoms of various eye problems.

Stitching and sewing these eye pillows is a quiet, meditative activity. When I wrap each order and send it off, I hope those same qualities travel with the pillow to its recipient.

Thank you very much for reading!

Triple Happiness: Yarn Over KAL, Lace Sale, and Giveaway

The Yarn Over KAL starts today! Will you join us? We've got some great prizes, including pretty yarns and an eye pillow from my Etsy shop (the winner gets to choose which design they'd like). It continues through May 29, so there's plenty of time to knit something large or small. You can cast on anytime between now and then.

For this KAL, I'm working on two different projects. One is a new design, an asymmetrical lace shawl that I'm knitting in Louet Gems fingering:

It's coming along nicely and, fingers crossed, the pattern should be available before the KAL ends. The other project is a new sample of my Streusel scarf, which I just cast on this morning. The Periwinkle Sheep merino/silk that I first designed Streusel with has been discontinued, so this time around I'm using a brand-new yarn. It's a fingering weight merino/yak/nylon blend from Periwinkle Sheep that's wonderfully soft and seems perfectly suited for lace—it blocks out beautifully and has a lovely drape. This new yarn isn't in her Etsy shop yet, but Karin has announced on Facebook that some of it will be available at her open house next weekend.

I'm excited to be going back to an older pattern and knitting it again. I love that Streusel is completely reversible—there's no right or wrong side to worry about when you're wearing it. And the gentle shaping really appeals to me. The increases and decreases are spaced so that it grows in width (and then narrows again after the center point) very gradually. The end result is a light scarf rather than a bulky shawl—just right for spring and summer.

Streusel and my other lace patterns—not just scarves and shawls but socks, sweaters, hats, and mitts, too—are on sale through midnight tonight in my Ravelry pattern store. Save 20% on individual patterns with the coupon code YARNOVER (you can use the code as many times as you like).

Now . . .  on to the giveaway promised in the title of this post! This is an old-fashioned blog giveaway where all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (no liking or sharing or tagging on other social media required). Just answer the question: When you knit lace (or any kind of stitch pattern), which do you prefer to work from—charts or line-by-line written instructions? What makes you like one option better than the other?

Two winners will each receive a hand-embroidered lavender-chamomile sachet and a couple of cute owl stitch markers from Lavender Hill Knits. Lavender is a natural moth repellant—I keep sachets all over the house, in every closet, drawer, basket, or bin that contains wool. I've added a vintage lace ribbon so you can hang the sachet in a closet or anywhere you'd like a fresh herbal scent.

Leave your comment by Friday, April 29. I'll announce the winners next weekend. Please include your Ravelry username or email in your comment so I can get in touch with you if you are a winner. 

Good luck and happy knitting!

Soothing Lavender Eye Pillows

At the end of a yoga class—or a long day at the computer—it feels so good to rest quietly with a lavender pillow on your eyes. The scent of lavender is just heavenly, so soothing.

I've got several listed in my Etsy shop, with a couple of new ones just added today. Each is hand embroidered with Valdani perle cotton from Romania or Japanese sashiko thread.

They're made with soft, washed linen and filled with dried lavender buds, rice, and flax seed. Each weighs about 6 ounces. They feel amazing—a real treat for tired eyes. They make thoughtful gifts, too (Mother's Day is coming!).

Find them in the Eye Pillows and Sachets section of my Etsy shop.

New Stuff Coming Up

I am finally out from under the secret projects that took up most of my designing time over the past couple months. Whew! I can focus on new things! 

Like these spring mitts:

They're knit in the round with sportweight yarn (about 165 yards/150 m). I used Quince & Co.'s Chickadee Bare, which I dyed with last fall's walnuts and an alum mordant. I was thrilled with how the color came out. It's just the delicate beige I was hoping for.

I've also got some new stuff in my Etsy shop, including a sashiko eye pillow: 

It's a soothing treat for the eyes after a long day at the computer, and perfect for resting in Savasana at the end of a yoga session. And it smells heavenly thanks to lots of lavender.

I'll have more eye pillows in the shop soon. For updates, follow me on Instagram. That's the best place to see what's new.

As for the mitts pattern—look for it early next week, right in time for spring!

Shop Update: New Bag and Free Shipping

New in my Etsy shop: a sweet drawstring bag for all the little things you need for your crafting projects—tape measures, scissors, cable needles, and so on.

At 5.5 inches wide and 7 inches tall, it's just the right size for keys and phone and what-not, perfect for keeping small stuff from getting lost in a tote bag or purse.

Sewn from 100% linen, the bag is embellished with a bit of embroidery, a delicate circle motif that I crocheted with two colors of Habu Cotton Gima, and a tiny vintage button.

From now through May 31, get free shipping on this and all bags and sachets in my Etsy shop with the coupon code FREESHIP.

Have a great weekend!

Yarn Over KAL

I am working quietly and steadily in preparation for next week . . .  and I'm not talking about taxes—let's not think about them right now, OK? A new shawl pattern is almost ready (more on that in a moment) and, on Friday the 17th, we're starting a new knitalong in the Ravelry Blue Peninsula group.

The Yarn Over KAL starts Friday, April 17 and ends Sunday, May 17. This KAL is all about lace: you can make any of my designs that has a yarn over in it. Scarves, cowls, mitts, socks, shawls, sweaters—it's all good as long as it's got lace. A discussion thread is already up and running on Ravelry—come join the fun!

Of course, there will be prizes. Twice during the KAL, I'll use a Random Number Generator to award free Blue Peninsula patterns to posts in the discussion thread. And at the end of the KAL, physical prizes will be awarded randomly to finished projects in the FO thread.

One winner will get one of my hand-embroidered lavender sachets, either the merino sheep or the spring lamb—their choice. 

Another will get a lovely skein of Valley Yarns Charlemont in one of the kettle-dyed colorways, Wild Pink. I think it's perfect for Streusel, but it could also work nicely for On the Other Hand, Skipperling, Biscuit, or Couplet.

And a third prize will be three skeins of Cascade 220 Fingering—one each in Olive Oil, Ginseng, and Buff—which are the colors I used for my new shawl design. The winner will also get a free copy of the shawl pattern (or any other individual Blue Peninsula pattern they prefer).

I hope you'll come join us and have fun knitting up something special for your spring wardrobe. Or, maybe get started on a Mother's Day gift or teacher gifts?

Fingers crossed, I'll be sharing the new shawl pattern with you early next week. Until then, here are a couple of sneak peeks, just before binding off and after blocking:

Hope to see you in the KAL!

Stitched Sheep Update: Spring Lamb

It's spring! In honor of the season, I decided the second sheep in my line of embroidered project bags and sachets would be a fresh little spring lamb. First, I began with a sketch:

After that, I experimented with colors and which kinds of stitches to use for the features. This little sweetie is the end result:

The bags and sachets are sewn with 100% linen. Each one is stitched by hand with perle cotton embroidery threads, and no two are ever exactly alike. The sachets are filled with dried lavender buds and chamomile blossoms—a lovely scent that not only makes your closet or woolens drawer smell great, but also wards off pesky moths. A small cotton loop allows you to hang it on a clothes hanger or a hook, if you like.

The drawstring bags are about 10.5 inches wide and 11.5 inches tall—just the right size for medium and small projects, like socks, hats, baby things, scarves and shawls, or mitts. They also make great reusable gift bags for your hand-knit gifts.

Today's "wrapping and packing day"—I'll be heading to the post office later with this week's shipment.

You can find the new spring lamb—as well as my first stitched sheep, a merino—in my Etsy shop. 

Thank you very much for reading!

Stitched Sheep

Yesterday was an exciting day—the first of my Stitched Sheep project bags and lavender sachets headed off via U.S. mail to their new owners.



For the first breed in the series, I chose merino—not only because knitters love merino wool for its softness, but because they are exceedingly fun to stitch. After making a few, I've settled on embroidering the faces first, so that I can enjoy the sheep "smile" while stitching the rest.





These hand-embroidered linen project bags and lavender sachets (a natural moth repellant!) are available in my Etsy shop. Each one is individually stitched—no two are exactly alike. The bags measure about 10.5 inches wide and 11.5 inches tall—perfect for small- and medium-size projects like hats, scarves, cowls, mitts, socks, or baby items.

In the months ahead, I'll be adding more breeds—and maybe even a llama or alpaca, or a plant fiber for those with allergies. The best way to stay abreast of shop updates is to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Have you got a favorite breed you'd like to see stitched? Leave a comment and let me know!



P.S. If you're anywhere near Easthampton in western Massachusetts and you'd like to try your hand at embroidery, join me this Saturday for my Embroidery I class at Knack, a very cool creative reuse center located in the Eastworks building. You'll learn basic embroidery stitches and techniques, and you'll also get instructions for sewing a sachet, plus some lavender/chamomile filling to take home with you! All supplies are provided; sign-ups end today.