2 things

Thing Number One:

I believe they call this a 'proof of life' photo in the crime shows on TV. The only thing I don't have is a copy of a current newspaper to give the date. Trust me. This picture was taken today. It shows the 2nd sleeve of the Cowichan sweater. I have begun to knit again ....slowly and carefully... on it, so as not to re-injure my arm. I can't tell you how much I admire those west coast ladies who knit these all the time. They must have biceps of iron!! The zipper arrived this morning in the mail, so the only thing that now stands between me and a finished sweater is this sleeve and the collar. Oh, and that little thing called 'finishing'.

Thing Number Two:

Anyone know a good mail order source for this perle cotton? Preferably, a Canadian source, but any info will be welcome. Valdani Perle Cotton Size 12. I bought 2 balls of it at a fibre festival in Kingston this past fall, and I love it. Must have more!! :) Any leads would be gratefully received. Thank you.

Cats at the window

Inspired by a photo taken by my friend Stephanie Etherington.  See the original here: http://villagecats.com/

She gave me permission to interpret her photo in wool embroidery. Needless to say, I love the photo. I think the mittens turned out well, too.

Monkey Mitts

I like to think that even monkeys like to keep warm. And I'm sure they think about fashion, too.

These mittens fit me snugly, but my hands are small. My hand is 6 1/4 inches from tip of longest finger to the base where my wrist starts, and about 7 inches around. The ribbed cuff is 3 1/4 inches to keep the snow and cold out. They are 100% wool.

Since these mittens currently have no home, if anyone would like to adopt a pair of monkey mitts, they can be had for a minimum donation of, say, $25. (postage included) to The Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. Cheque or Paypal, just leave a comment, or email me directly at covillewood (at) gmail (dot) com , and we'll work out the details.

Edited Sunday, December 14, 2014...... The monkey mitts are SOLD. Glad to know they've found a new home, and the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project benefits, too.

Monkey business

Fun with felt

Wool felt appliqué with wool embroidery. 

So. Much. Fun.

Gingerbread People for Arviat

Every day's a new adventure. Today, I'm embroidering a pair of gingerbread people on wool mittens. This is wool that my friend Karen sent to me. And I, in turn, will send these mittens on to have their own adventure. They're going up, up to Arviat, Nunavut, with the Warm Hands Network.

Grey Sweater, Blue Bunnies

It's done. I'm in love. Here it is.

Kate was right. The hair conditioner worked its magic, and the sock yarn that was a little bit scratchy is now lovely and soft. Baby soft.

And thanks to Monique (my polymer clay guru), there are now buttons. Monique is very patient and generously answers my newbie questions. She says next time, I can buff my buttons with an electric toothbrush. I can hardly wait to try that!

Size 6 to 9 months. Buttons are 5/8 inch in diameter.

Blue bunnies begun

Baby Grey

Baby Grey, all blocked, waiting for embroidery. Bunnies, anyone?


While we're waiting, I'm going to share what I learned. If you remember, the first top-down baby sweater (Little Birdies) had an edging added. The button bands and the neckline edge and the waist edging were all added last in one continuous circular process. This time, I wanted a more close-fitting neckline, and more of a ribbed looked at the waist. Therefore, I started with the neck ribbing, worked down to the waist ribbing, added the sleeves, and finished them with ribbing. The very last thing to add were the button bands. Only then, did I realize I'd started out the neckline ribbing with the exactly wrong stitch. I had a 50/50 chance of being right. And I was still wrong. I began the ribbing (right side row) with the knit stitch and ended that row with the knit stitch. When I went to add the button bands, those knit stitches got eaten, and I'm left with this weird-looking business. See for yourself:

Another lesson learned. (Why are there are so many of them??!) I will make one more sweater (in pink! of course!) and get this ribbing business figured out for good.

And, for those with extra keen eyesight ..... Yes. I did put buttonholes on both button bands. I intend to sew the buttons over the buttonholes on one side, and then the recipient still has the option to move the buttons to the other band if desired. I'm pretty sure that was originally the great knitter,  Elizabeth Zimmerman's idea. I'm really not that clever.

A little embroidery goes a long way



Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011


We made the trek to our favourite local quilt shop yesterday and found the perfect background fabric for the Need New Socks? motif. To be honest, we don't really believe there's ever one perfect fabric. There are just many, many....too many!....choices. And each one will spin us off into a different direction. And for the record....ALL those directions are pretty cool. We got 2 more colours of that rayon embroidery thread, too. A fuschia and a coral. We are truly addicted to the stuff.

So, once we had the appliqué stitched to the background, we were able to trim away all the excess fabric (to keep it supple) and remove the freezer paper. Then, Grandma Coco embroidered the eyes by hand. The eyes are the windows to the soul and we haven't figured out how to automate this part of the process. However, we do think this guy's got soul.

Doodles and Darwin

Or.....the evolution of an idea.

Grandma Coco must apologize for the lack of fibery goodness lately. It's not like she isn't busy quilting and knitting. It's just that everything is Top Secret. All will be revealed in good time.

Until then, I thought I'd show you how her design process works. Almost everything begins with the sketchbook. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes, seemingly by accident. When things are slow, she just likes to sift through the events of her life as seen through her pencil. Sometimes little sketches and doodles that she did on a whim just catch her fancy, evolve and become something unexpectedly wonderful. At least to her. And if you're reading this blog, you have to know this is the Kingdom of Coco and Grandma Coco is pretty much the most important person in this kingdom.

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011

 Here's a drawing that came from who knows where. The kitty has wings. I have no idea why. She just showed up with wings. It may be the Kingdom of Coco but there are still some things beyond Grandma Coco's control.

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011

From this pencil drawing, came a simple line drawing.

And from the line drawing came the appliqué. The flowers were fun. They are just circles of printed fabrics with embroidered spirals. Don't they look like real roses? As usual the circles are simplified by drawing up the raw edge with a running stitch around a cardboard circle. Press with steam and then release the stitching to remove the cardboard. Simple. The circles are very easy to appliqué in place. Embroidering leaves here and there in a very organic and unplanned way is extremely relaxing.

 

Grandma Coco used this motif on a small bag. You're welcome to the appliqué motif. You can find it HERE. 

There was a time when Grandma Coco worried that there could only be so many ideas. What would happen when they dried up? And then, she realized that the supply is endless. Every night she dreams and although there may be repeating themes in her dreams, there are no repeated images. Every single night ....and she knows this because she is one of the fortunate who remembers her dreams....it's a new scenario. What about you? Do you remember your dreams? Are they vivid? In colour? Do you get new ideas in your dreams? Do you solve problems? Now THAT would be cool!