High Fiber—Sampling Cross-stitch.

We had a rare treat at Vintage Stitchers this week:

Carol picked up this great cross-stitch sampler in a silent auction. It's worked on evenweave. What a lot of work must have gone into it! Here's a closeup:

Lucky Carol! We were all drooling over it. Coincidentally, Barbara was working on a cross-stitch of her own. It's a Christmas stocking, but she's going to frame it instead of making it into a stocking.

The two cross-stitch projects reminded me of some I have. This one was made by my mother when I was 1 1/2 years old:

My brother was four and had just entered his wild stage. I don't know how she managed to do this with two of us! That may explain why there's a mistake in it, though. Can you find it?

When she gave it to me it had a big stain in the lower right-hand corner. You can just see a little of the stain left. I tried washing it, but it didn't take out the stain. Then I tried soaking it in water with a little bleach, checking it every five minutes. The stain came out (mostly) and the floss didn't fade. I don't recommend this with today's floss, however. They use more environmentally friendly dyes now, and they aren't as stable under this kind of treatment. At least test it first.

I enjoy an occasional cross-stitch project, too. This one went with me to Ireland on our hiking trip in 2005.

It was a great project to work on because each row was challenging at the beginning, then got easier, was fun to do for a while. Just as the row started to get boring, it was over. It sort of reminds me of my current knitting project, my version of the Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan. Here's a photo of my progress, showing a little bit of the design that goes around the chest.

To the upper right you can see the armscye steek area. I bound off 18 sts, then cast on an equal number on the next round. You can do fewer, but that pulls it in, and I wanted it to look better while I was working on it. You can also just put the sts on waste yarn instead of binding them off. I'm also starting the V-neck decreases at the front steek. I hope to have more progress to show you next week. I'm feeling the urge to finish it, now that the weather is turning colder.

If you're making this pattern yourself, I should point out that besides making the cardigan version, I'm making drop-shoulders rather than the cap sleeves and rounded armscyes. Drop-shoulder sweaters look better on my shape, so it was a design decision. You can see more of this project in previous blog posts.

The bathroom remodel is coming along. They start the tile work today. We have spent the last few days painting. We were amazed how much paint it took.

Bathrooms and closets have a lot of surfaces! (Looks like someone needs a new sweater!)

In the meantime, six-month-old Zachary is crawling! And he's starting to enjoy vegetables. Here's a photo of him, as promised last week:

And look who's wearing his Jasper Hoodie:

How much longer will my Dogwood Blossoms take? The bathroom remodel? Stay tuned!

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, of course.
What's on my wheel: Still the Full Circle Roving in "Pigeon."
What's on my iPad: Still Dean Koontz's Odd Apocalypse.

What's in my wine glass: Nathanson Creek Merlot--perfect for knitters; it has a froggy on the label!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. Photos were prepared on the iPad. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

Tags: baby, colorwork, cross-stitch, knitting, remodel, sampler

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Comment by Peggy Stuart on November 11, 2012 at 8:43am: Thanks, Tracy! We're here to inspire and help each other, after all.

Comment by Tracy L. Shook on November 10, 2012 at 11:44pm: Wow! Being a cross-stitcher myself, in addition to other types of needlework, I can fully appreciate the beauty in each picture you have shown. That first sampler took my breath away! I love the work on all the samplers, and yes, I did catch the little mistake, but is hardly noticeable. As for the stain, I have had some similarly hard stains to remove with projects that were years old, and and I have had some success using baking soda and vinegar. I have also resorted to using Dawn dish washing detergent, for extremely stubborn stains, ones that I thought were hopelessly set for life, and has sometimes worked completely, but in every case has lightened it quite a bit. Making a paste of the Dawn and baking soda seems to super charge it, too. Hope these suggestions work for you, with these or other stain problems in the future. It's never a guarantee that these things will always work, but it's at least a couple of more weapons to add to your arsenal, anyway. I absolutely love the knitting project you have shown! I am just a newbie knitter, though I have been doing needlework and crotchet work since I was just out of kindergarten; about 38 years. I can't wait to become advanced enough to works a pattern like that, and the pictures you shared are SO inspiring, and have really stirred the artist in me! I would just like to add, that it was especially good to see that line in the older sampler talking about the home, that bottom line which is the most precious one of all, "The Crown of the House is Godliness." Of course, the Crown, the Glory, the Blessing, and the Beauty are all things that describe who God is; so when Jesus is ruling over our lives, His Glory,Beauty, and Blessing are constantly crowning our lives, our houses, and everything we own, do and say! I'm so glad to have seen your work! Now I"m inspired to create my own alphabet cross-stitch sampler similar to that one at the silent auction, by arranging my own designs. Funny, most people learned to cross stitch on an alphabet sampler, but I have NEVER done one like that in all those years! So much talent you have put on display in just those few pictures! Thank you!

Comment by wendy on October 20, 2012 at 10:51pm: Lol, I'll bet he has! :o)

Comment by Peggy Stuart on October 20, 2012 at 7:00pm: The man in the sweater has caught my attention a number of times!

Comment by wendy on October 20, 2012 at 6:58am: I can see why it is a favorite! It caught my attention immediately, the sweater that is, not the hole. Lol

Comment by Peggy Stuart on October 20, 2012 at 6:20am: I have to make Soren one last BSJ, and then DH. The sweater he's wearing in the photo has holes in the elbows. Believe it or not, the kids and I got that for him in the '80s! It has been his favorite!

Comment by wendy on October 19, 2012 at 5:05pm: What cute pics of the babies! They are growing so quickly, it makes my head spin. It doesn't seem possible Zachary is 6 months old already.

Carol indeed got quite a nice piece of work. Cross stitch is not something I've done much of before, needle point and petite point, crewel work and embroidery, but not cross stitch. I like these samples you have. And to have one your mom did, is extra special.

I must say, when I saw your DH painting in a sweater, I was shocked! I love sweaters such as these, don't you? So is he next on your list for an interesting sweater pattern?

Comment by Peggy Stuart on October 17, 2012 at 11:12am: Nutty, my quilts usually get grabbed, they don't grab me, ROFL!

Beverly, cross-stitch is fun! It travels well, too. Yes, DH deserves a new sweater!

Comment by Beverly Roberts on October 17, 2012 at 10:11am: Gorgeous photos Peggy! I love the cross-stitch samplers, especially the one you did during your hiking trip. Zach and Soren seem to have grown so fast...Zach looks like a happy little imp in his photo; Soren and his Mom...just beautiful. Dogwood Blossoms <3. Your DH deserves a new sweater!

Comment by Nutty4Knitting on October 17, 2012 at 9:20am: Your assessment confirms what I already suspected. I wasn't really planning a trip there, since I wasn't impressed by what I saw on their on their site. I'm just happy the trail led me to a sorce for the Chubby Chicks pattern. That quilt really grabbed me.