Stitching Saturday: It's just my face

Pretty much the second after I saw this pattern by Plastic Little Covers, I had it purchased and ready to stitch up. I whipped out the text in about 2 hours of stitching while getting my car serviced (hilarious for onlookers, I know) and the borders took me another few hours.

If I was in a hurry, I'd stitch it as it is above - just a few bits of the border look just as delightful. :)



But the full borders do add a nice vintage touch. This piece is PERFECT for me - I am a lifelong sufferer of CBF. I used to call it my "street face", aka the face I wear so no one will mess with me, but if the truth be told, it isn't exactly something I can turn on and off, and it is on more often than it is off. :)

Well, I'm gearing up to work on a new crewel class review for FS - more on that as soon as I stitch something! Thanks to everyone who commented on my huge cross stitch piece - I'm working on her steadily while watching 1980's Battlestar Galactica. :)

New Knit Stitch a Week: Stocking heel stitch

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I cast on 13 stitches on size 9 needles - left: Wool-Ease in Oxford Gray; right: a random chunky acrylic yarn in my stash.

Row 1: *K1 sl 1* , K 1
Row 2: purl

What I like about this stitch is its chunkiness - it looks like a K1,P1 rib, but is SO much faster to stitch. It's kind of raised and textur-y, and very easy to work.

The back is really pretty too, a kind of woven look:


I am wondering how much it would curl on the edges on a larger piece, like a scarf. The chunky acrylic piece was already curling a bit on each side...

Still, I'd love to try this on a scarf!

New Knit Stitch a Week: Striped fagoting

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I cast on 20 stitches on Size 9 needles in Wool of the Andes, Firecracker Heather.

Row 1: *P4, K 2 tog, yo, K2*, P4
Row 2: *K4, P 2 tog, yo, P2*, K4

I really like this stitch - it's simple, but very pretty - the examples in the book are knit up so tightly, it makes me want to try this on much smaller needles as well. I love the fishnet-like texture on those little open bits in the middle.



I really like the wrong side, too - all in all, quite nice.

New Knit Stitch a Week: Lace Insert

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I kind of hit a busy spell - one week with a lot of parties and other projects, so I had to skip, but here we go with this week's. I like how this breaks up the fluffy routine of garter stitch with some nice, open pauses.

I cast on 12 stitches on size 9 needles (I forgot my trusty size 8's) - left is a thick, acrylic yarn I lost the tag to, right is Caron Simply Soft

Rows 1 to 6: knit
Rows 7 and 9: *yo, K 2 tog*
Rows 8 and 10: *yo, P 2 tog*