Embroidery | Love Is All You Knit

Sep 23 2013

A Crafty Saturday

The Autumnal Equinox arrived this weekend, and here in Texas we finally felt the first break from our 90+ degree heat. Saturday was such a lovely day with temps in the 60s in the morning and peaking in the mid 80s in the afternoon. I met up with some lady friends for a nice brunch and all around crafty day.

We stopped by The DIME Store, a brick and mortar store born out of the Etsy Denton collective. DIME (Denton Independent Maker Exchange) opened up shop this spring and I have been really wanting to visit and take a peek at their handmade wares.

These burlap pillows by Home Again were really cute, and even though the “I heart US” is surely referring to the United States, I really loved the idea of a pillow that says “I love Us” referring to the identity of a couple.

There were some really adorable bags and clutches made by Rachel Elise that I was too busy drooling over to get a picture of and these cute little knitted baby hats by Cassie Arnold Art.

Afterwards, we went back to my friend Felicia’s house for a little bit of knitting ourselves. Felicia cast on for a Hill Country Hat, and Bri started up a slightly modded version of my Infinity Cowl pattern, having given the one she previously knit away to a good friend.

We had such a good time talking knitting all day and I look forward to seeing their finished knits.

Tagged cowls, denton, DIME, diy, etsy, etsy denton, hats, knitted baby hats, knitting, wool, yarn

Nov 18 2012

1 Comment

Antics, Books, Cooking, crochet, Embroidery, knitting, Music, Other Crafty Things, Yarn

Pom Pom Quarterly

Have you heard of the new knitting/craft/food/drink/music/art magazine Pom Pom Quarterly yet?

I came across Pom Pom on Ravelry and was instantly smitten with what these lovely London ladies are doing; this is a beautifully designed/laid out/photographed and printed magazine that is so different than your typical knitting mag.

The patterns are interesting and ones that you’d actually want to knit AND wear and they are photographed and styled so beautifully. Plus, there are food and cocktail recipes, a bit of music love and some great articles that you want to read while snuggled under your favorite knitted throw. (That’s what I did!)

There is a lot more to this great new publication, but I don’t want to show you everything here, because I think you should hop on over and buy an issue or subscribe and support what these fabulous ladies are making. Something this great doesn’t come along too often, but I’m very glad to see that it has.

Tagged art, cocktails, cooking, crochet, embroidery, fashion, graphic design, indie, knitting, magazines, music, photography, pom pom, pom pom quarterly

Dec 04 2011

The Crafts of Others

Being back in Texas, I am around lots of crafty ladies that I haven’t seen in a while. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the craftiness of others around me.

First up is my mother in law. She recently started making wreaths and centerpieces that are just stunning. I was the lucky recipient of this wreath. She let me pick out the baubles and then she whipped this up in an afternoon:

Next up is my sister in law, who started knitting not too long after I did and has also found her place in the crochet world. One of her specialties is customized amigurumi, and I once challenged her to make a basset hound (Henry, specifically) and she knocked my socks off with this:

And then there’s my Nana, who inspired the beginning all of my crafty endeavors. After reading my blog post where I talked about her teaching me to embroider when I was young, she was inspired to pick up her embroidery needle again. She very sweetly gifted me a set of pillowcases that I will treasure always:

My mom was also inspired by that same blog post– she found the piece of embroidery that was my first foray into all things crafty. The piece of embroidery that I wasn’t sure still existed. I’m sure glad she saved this for me.

I love having inspiration everywhere, and inspiring others in turn.

Sep 10 2011

3 Comments

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery

Daisychain ABC Sampler

The Daisychain ABC Sampler is finished. I had so much making this, that when I was midway through working on it I kept envisioning all the other things in the apartment I could be putting tiny little crewel-work flowers on. Poor Joey is going to wake up one day with little daisies all over his pillowcase and not know what happened.

I was so excited when I finished framing it that I hung it up on the nearest nail in the wall. Its definitely not a permanent home, but that will take a little more planning and moving things around. For now, I just wanted to be able to share it with you.

Aug 28 2011

1 Comment

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery, Family, Music

Sneak Peek

Every last stitch has been stitched, and the frame has been purchased. All that’s left is to acquire some additional framing supplies and my Daisychain ABC’s sampler will be complete!

Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait to see the finished product for just a little while. You see, I just don’t have time to pick up those additional supplies and frame this puppy because later this week I am flying to Dublin and then traveling by TOUR BUS (!!) with Joey as he plays guitar with Midlake at festivals in both Ireland and England. I am so excited to finally get to join him during some of his travels. I guarantee there will be lots of pictures when I get back and a fully-framed ABC sampler. Until then, please enjoy a little sneak peek:

Jul 17 2011

3 Comments

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery, Family

Charmed

I continue to be charmed by my latest project, a crewel-work sampler. After I complete every line, color or petal, I hold it out and admire how sweet it looks. I’m also enjoying the forgotten memories that this project is bringing forth as I stitch each letter.

When I was a kid in daycare during summer months, they would step up the activities since we were there all day long. I remember that on Wednesdays we would go to the city pool and swim and eat cherry sours and hot fries. (That was probably my favorite day of the week back then.) On other days we would do craft projects. We had this one teacher, Miss Patti that was really into cross stitch. I still remember learning how to cross-stitch on a square of orange gingham fabric. I wonder if I ever finished stitching that sailboat, and what has happened to it over the years.

I also remember my Nana showing me how to embroider a sparrow on a pillowcase a few years after that. She always had pretty embroidered pillowcases and I think I asked her to show me how on a whim one day, and she did. Just like the time I asked her on a whim to show me how to knit. My Nana, she’s a wonderful lady. I’m starting to realize as I get older how much she and I are alike, and I’m so happy when I come across something new about myself and then look back and see that it was inspired by her. I wonder whatever happened to that sparrow pillowcase. I bet my mom has it somewhere in her linen closet. I’ll have to ask her about it next time I’m there because it’s something I would love to have again.

Jul 10 2011

1 Comment

Antics, Crewel, Embroidery

Crewel World

When I saw Alicia’s Daisychain ABCs sampler, I fell in love with it. Never mind that I’ve never done crewel-work of any sort and my most recent attempt at embroidery was elementary at best; I instantly decided I had to make one myself. It just seems like it would be the perfect project to work on while sitting in a hammock under a shady tree, sipping iced tea. (Note to self: must find a private shade tree in Brooklyn for hammock-lounging and iced tea-sipping.)

My handmade kit arrived last Friday and I’ve been admiring its sweet contents all week, just waiting for a bit of free time to jump in and get started. Alicia included the cutest hand-drawn instruction sheet of each stitch used, but I’m also finding youtube videos an invaluable source for exactly how to execute each stitch.

Now I’m just wondering if I should continue alphabetically, or just jump around and do whichever letter catches my fancy next?

Category Archives: Embroidery