Looks excellent, @lu_valient! Have you made any Narnia-themed costumes or other needlecrafts?

Talking of which, in the last couple of months, my occasional forays onto Etsy have yielded two new cross stitch charts for Narnian scenes! I've bought them both as downloads. One of them is the wardrobe with a view through the open door into the wood with the lamp-post (not exactly how it happens in the book — Lucy doesn't discover the wood until she's walked right into the wardrobe past the rows of coats — but it's a nice dramatic picture anyway), and the other is a view of Lucy in the wood approaching the lamp-post, with the quote from Lewis's dedication to Lucy Barfield: "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."

Not sure when I'll get around to stitching either of those — I'm just finishing a cross stitch picture of Jane Austen's house in Chawton and I still have a couple of Beatrix Potter-themed ones in the pipeline — but they're something to look forward to! After all, out of all the fictional stories I've ever read, the Chronicles of Narnia have ended up meaning the most to me — and I've never forgotten my own wonder and excitement as a 4 1/2 year-old when Mum first read me that story that begins with a little girl looking into a wardrobe, and what she found there...  

@courtenay at one point, I started a dark green medieval dress inspired by Susan's adult dress (in like 2011?) from LWW. I might have a picture somewhere of the makeup I did on myself as a nymph in a production of Narnia. 

found a picture of me in Narnia!

(photo not taken by me)

@courtenay, I realized I never complimented you on your bookmark on the previous page. It's so pretty.  

I'm laughing at myself with the blanket I started that I mentioned in a previous post. It's going alright, but I had a goal of finishing it by Christmas. . Yeah... there are 12 skeins of yarn, which would have required me to use up one per month. I'm still on the first skein here at the beginning of March. BUT, I am almost done with that first skein. I underestimated the amount of time it would take me to do a full row of really tiny stitches. But I do think it will look very nice when it's done.  

Just wondering if anyone else besides me has been lazy and not rolled their skein into a ball before they started? I was looking for shortcuts, and it's working out so far, but I realized if I continue to do this, I can't travel with it. 

@fantasia, I never roll my skeins into balls. I think the balls are supposed to help with the tension, maybe? But it usually seems to work out fine for me. Why can't you travel with the yarn in a skein instead of a ball, though?

Posted by: @fantasia

@courtenay, I realized I never complimented you on your bookmark on the previous page. It's so pretty.  

 

Thank you, Fantasia! It was for a very special friend, so I put a lot of love into it.

I don't think I have the patience to knit anything as big as a blanket, so I admire you for doing it, even if it's not progressing as fast as you would have liked! These projects do take time, especially when you've got other things keeping you busy, as most of us have.

Posted by: @valiantarcher

Why can't you travel with the yarn in a skein instead of a ball, though?

When I knit at home, I have the skein in a big circle around my laptop monitor to keep it from getting tangled. Then I hang it up over a shelf when I'm not using it. If I were to take that with me somewhere it would turn into a giant knot. 

Oooh! I have another question for all knitters. How do you change from one skein to the next (same yarn)? Do you line them up on an edge and just have a little leftover yarn? Or do you use up the whole thing and have a small knot in the middle of the project? Or some other method?

I try to add in at an edge, but sometimes resort to a knot.

I was also taught how to splice the two ends, I think by splitting the wool for a couple of inches, then putting them together crossed over, and rubbing it between fingers (perhaps with a bit of water).

This looks useful:

https://thefibreco.com/spit-splice-tutorial/

@fantasia, OHHH. I was thinking of a different type of skein. So, when you're working with multiple balls of yarn, I've seen a recommendation to put the balls of yarn in ziploc bags and just feed the yarn out as you go. It might work with your skein too?
I often try to work the new ball at the end/beginning of a row, but I've also joined in the middle of the row before. I think I used something like method 1 here, though this might be helpful too.

Posted by: @valiantarcher

I think I used something like method 1 here,

I ended up using method two in this link and it did the trick. Thanks Valia!
Well, it may have taken two months, but I finished up my first skein of yarn yesterday evening. Only 11 more skeins to go.  

Anyone up for a bit of advice? I'm trying to figure out to do this, in order to repair it:

HELP! I'm trying to figure out how to do this embroidery stitch so I can do some repairs to antique napkins.
Does anyone know what this is called/know where I can find a tutorial?
#sewing #sewingtips #embroidery

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Additionally, I'm trying to decide on an embroidery color for Susan's green dress. 

Which embroidery floss shall I choose...
#cosplay #costume #susanpevensie #narnia

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@lu_valient, the handkerchief edging almost looks more like crochet; my guess is single crochet straight around the hem with a bobble stitch between the single crochet. Alternatively, if I were to try to recreate it with embroidery, my first sample would be a row of buttonhole stitch, and then I'd go around again and do multiple-twist french knots for the bobble effect. (And if I were to mix the two, I'd do buttonhole stitch with a crocheted bobble. )

I'd vote for a spring green for the embroidery on Su's archery dress. Good luck with your projects!

A few days back I finished up the skein of yarn and started in on the third. 1/6 of the way done. I'm really happy with the way it's turned out so far though. It looks very nice and it's super soft. It just takes FOREVER. LOL If I finish before the end of 2022 it will be a miracle. 

Well interestingly enough, I figured I'd slow down on knitting once summer hit because, lets face it, the idea of being buried in a bunch of toasty woven fabric just doesn't appeal. However, I've found that at the end of the day when I'm tired, I flop on the bed, listen to either my favorite murder mystery podcasts or watch reruns of Chosen episodes ( opposites attract much?), and knit, my pace has picked up tremendously. I finished my third skein of yarn on Sunday, which was also the end of the bright pink. I have now moved onto a pale lavender which is appropriately called Chive Blossom. 

I'm happy my pace has picked up because it's also taking me maybe 35-40 minutes to do a row instead of 50-55 minutes. Yay! I still can't do too many rows at a time though because my hands start to hurt after a while. 

I've just completed two major cross stitch projects in time to give them as Christmas presents! The first is for my new workplace as a whole (I've never worked in such a love-filled atmosphere before)... 

(The plastic wrapping is from the framers — I left it on to protect the frame until it goes on display.)

And this one is for my manager, who's a wonderful friend as well as the best boss ever and this Bible quote is just how she works:

(Just edited this post, as when I originally posted it I couldn't get the images to work. I've now uploaded them to an image hosting site, so that's sorted.)

I wrapped both of them and left them in the manager's office yesterday evening — haven't heard any further so far, as it seems everyone is being good and not opening any presents until Christmas Day. But I loved making these and I'm confident they'll be well received.

If anyone's wondering, I got the charts of both of them from Etsy — you can get some marvellous cross stitch patterns there cheaply for instant digital download. There are a few Narnia ones there as well, two of which I bought a while ago but haven't sewn yet! (I've gone back to finish the one I was on before I started these Christmas ones — a scene from Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Jemima Puddle-duck.)