And finally, a quest.

And now here is a blog post I've been writing in my head for 14 months. 

The Yarn Harlot wrote, wisely, several years ago about how you can tell a hand knitter by their utterly mismatched accessories, and until now I have embodied that exactly.  How does a person make 20 projects spanning mittens, neckwear, and hats and have NONE of them match?  Like, at all?  Okay, I have a shawl that looks okay with a pair of mittens, if you don't look too closely. 

Well.  No more.  Because I'm going to make projects that will complete a set with already-existing objects.  It's genius.  (I just misspelled genius on the first try.  Okay, two tries.) 

Contestants:

These mittens.  They are nice and bright without showing all the grime that immediately gets on one's hands as one navigates winter in the snowy North.  They also kind of go with a handspun shawl I made a couple years ago that is screaming pink and orange.  They are also not yet worn through at the thumb, which is more than I could say about SOME mittens (they know who they are).  And I have half a skein of each of these colors left that could make a very nice colorwork hat. 

This hat.  Have I not introduced you to Spooks yet?  Spooks is my head model, so named because the children find her spooky.  That may have had something to do with the fact that their father immediately, upon meeting Spooks, stuck her on a broomstick, turned off all the lights, and lit her from below for the children to come upon after their bath*. 

Anyway, this hat is from my handspun Nest merino something or other, and there's half a ball left that could make some lovely fingerless mitts or part of a cowl, paired with a solid.  That pattern is Norby, which I don't find makes a super-warm hat for the depths of winter, but does make a very nice fall hat.  

Hat not pictured, but if you've spent time on Rav, you'd know it.  It's that Easy Ombre Slouch Hat that fades nicely from one color to the next, and it's in Loden and Neutral Slightly Darker than Off-White, and it is possible to order more.  That was a gift from Mom, and it may be my favorite hat and it's nice and warm and soft.  

And Surprise Mystery Contestant, All New Things!

For Christmas, this happened, this being Ankara Green Malabrigo Rios.  (Thanks, Mom!)  My stars, it is so pretty.  The photo is not exactly correct, it's more of a greeny turquoise, and I love it and my choice is probably going to be something two-color-brioche (is that redundant?) and something necky and maybe some colorwork hand things.  

If I excel in 2020, there will be more than one matching set of things in which I can leave the house not looking like a proficient yet colorblind knitter.  There will also hopefully be more than just two finished quilts, and a bunch of other stuff, too.  

Wishing you the best for 2020.  Happy crafting!




*

Aieeeeee!

More Cross-Stitch

Oh man, I've only finished two quilts this year.  That's way under my normal average.  I've finished other stuff, though, like skeins of handspun:

Corriedale X, I want to say Brown Dog fibers?  Fingering weight 2-ply

Oh, and I accidentally took up needle-felting.  Pictures of that when I make the one series of fourteen posts in a row next December, because maybe it will be finished by then.  

So here are the finished cross-stitches:

All patterns were found on Etsy, and all are Harry Potter-themed.  My surprise favorite ended up being the Luna Lovegood one (which says "Don't worry, you're just as sane as I am").  It was the quickest and simplest, but with the mat of the shiny, different color-reflecting scrapbook paper, it really came together well.  (There's a word for that kind of paper, but I can't retrieve it, the internets were unhelpful, and we shall have to forge ahead.)  

My cross-stitching queue is full of pretty, mostly butterfly-themed projects but I haven't committed to one yet.  I scored some sweet, sweet black Aida cloth over my visit home, and have some ideas for that as well. 

Okay, what else...

Finished baby quilt!  

Orange zig-zags on the back!  Given to the receiving baby in July or so.  Bunny label included. 

Cross-stitch, swearing

Quick little cross-stitch projects are a delight.  This is one that I whipped up and sent off to my friend from college, a fellow linguistics major:

A very interesting conversation about the link between unicorns and rainbows followed. 

FO: The Lion

For a Christmas present, I made my youngest brother The Lion. It was my first English Paper Piecing project.  I replaced the pink with shades of bright blue and stuck with the basic color scheme for the yellows, though I don't think I hit each Kona shade exactly.  

I got a fabric glue stick especially for the purpose and it worked well. I only thread baste under extreme duress. 

The pattern was a birthday present, and I probably got started with the cutting and gluing in August.  By mid-September, the top was complete, though I let it sit for a long time before taking the papers out. 

I did echoing lines over the face and ears and mane-ish loops and spirals in the mane section.  I used yellow thread on the face and it took me awhile to decide to use clear thread in the mane - couldn't find any color that I liked over the very wide range of shades.  

With more (wonky, asymmetrical, please don't look too closely) echo quilting in the gray, it was on its way, and the binding was a snap to hand-finish.  The back is a simple print in a dark teal.  

I like Violet Craft's patterns a lot.  If she ever does a raccoon, I will be all over it.  I also love EPP just as much as I feared I would, and am planning 17 EPP quilts, each of which will take hundreds of hours to complete.