Lucy Boston Update 5

Christmas gifts are a little late this year so I have to postpone a couple of posts I've prepared about secret projects. In the meantime, I can give you an update on the Lucy Boston projects I stitched in the last quarter of the year.

One that I had designed previously is this batik X design:

The pattern isn't clearly defined, but I like how the colour moves across the block.

Next is a block I put together from some pieces I had cut previously and some new fabric I cut for it:

I don't have enough really dark blocks, so this will help.

The next block was also put together from previous prepared and new pieces:

It's a little Christmasy, but that's ok.

Then there was an extended break when I had to design some new blocks and couldn't find the energy and chunk of time to do it. Getting a few new fabrics when I visited Missouri in December provided an impetus to get started again.

Continuing with the Christmasy theme is this red and green block:

I love the soft reds in this one.

And finally, this happy blue and yellow number:

That's five more blocks, making 47 total. Nine more to go. I have 3-1/2 designed so I think in one more design session, I should be able to take care of the rest. I did feel like I was running out of ideas and inspiration last time though; I was exhausted when I was done!

It's not a hard deadline, but I'd love to finish sewing the blocks in January just because I started sewing them last January.

Here are all the blocks sewn so far:

(Clicking on the picture should give you a larger view.)

Lucy Boston Update

Since the end of June, I have finished 13 more Patchwork of the Crosses blocks. Here's a quick tour:

Black and white roosters:

It took me a while to find fabrics to go with these rooster heads. The red square pattern almost makes the heads secondary, but I still like them.

Purple dragonflies with bright orange:

I love this dragonfly batik fabric. It was surprising to find two fabrics that combined orange with purple(/pink) so I put them together. The designs don't really blend as one is circles and the other is all lines and edges, but the colours make them work, I think. The inner purple square or ring was a happy accident.

More purple and orange:

I found the orange dots on purple batik and knew I had to have it. I cut the various sized dots very carefully and was able to get this 3D effect. I thought the orange rings on purple batik would match it nicely.

Oh, the sleeping sun bathers:

I love this print! I pattern matched the sunbathers on the outside ring even though the background colours on these pieces don't add up to an overall pattern. They were too cute not to use. The strong red square design helps to control the look of the block.

All these bright greens:

I knew the peacock feathers worked great in any position and I was glad to find a way to use these other fabrics with complimentary colours.

The centre and middle of this block was one of the first I designed:

It took me a while to find fabric to use on the outside. I had the red and white stripe the whole time, but I guess I needed to try a bunch of other options before accepting that it was the best choice. The outgoing stripes make me think of ribbons on badges or old fashioned political buttons.

"Elephant Feathers":

I've had these feathers on the outside corners cut since my first session, just waiting for fabric to go with them. The gold on the centre pieces isn't perfect but I like the burgundy with the colour of the feathers.

I was amused to see not only this same fabric, but the feathers cut and arranged the exact same way on another person's PotC block on IG.

Another green and orange-y block:

Who would have thought I'd have this colour combination on one block, let alone more! I love these cutey owls and the flowers that match so well. I also enjoy the illusion of a square in the middle.

More peacock feathers!

I love this block - so many things going on. Besides the white cross in the centre, the rest of the block is so blendy from one piece to the next. I used the two outside fabrics together on another block with different cuts. (I really like that block too.)

I had the centre of this block together for a long time before I found fabrics to go with it:

I saw the other three fabrics in separate fabric stores and knew they would work. Quarter yard cuts for the win.

Oh, this blue block makes me so happy:

This is another case where the colours in the fabrics seemed to go so well, I knew I could make a pattern that would work. The four pieces with the gold quarter circles were the last piece of the puzzle. (That is a very useful fabric for these blocks; I've seen it used a lot in other peoples' blocks on IG.)

One of the few X blocks:

It's not my most favourite, but I love the little bunnies (they are so cute) and how the moon phase pieces worked in this design.

I wanted one more spiral design for balance:

I need to have a few more soft blocks I think, and I love these gentle looking leaves.

Here are all the blocks I've finished so far (clicking on the picture should give you a larger view):

This is the layout I'm thinking about - arranged from most traditional Patchwork of the Cross layout to least (from top to bottom). I tried some variations based on colour, but it wasn't working.

The blank squares represent five blocks I have designed but not sewn, plus I need to design nine more blocks. That will give me 56 blocks for a 7 by 8 layout. I'm still planning to sash with grey, but I haven't made any decision about the focus fabric in the sashing.

I haven't been doing as much sewing on this project. I can't do it while travelling (which I've done some of in the last month) and I can't watch TV while I'm sewing them. That is a definite drawback during football season. But don't worry - I haven't lost my enthusiasm for the project.

Lucy Boston Progress

I have completed 11 more Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses blocks. Here they are ensemble:

And here's a closer look, starting with the most tradition constructions -- four different fabrics arranged in sets of four on the inside and sets of eight on the outside ring.

I fell in love with these gnomes, especially the fishers! They were the perfect scale for these honeycomb pieces and were spread out on the fabric so I could cut just one. How handy!

Peter Rabbit characters -- how am I supposed to resist these little fabrics? You can see these rabbits weren't spread as far apart as the gnomes so the pieces aren't quite so "clean", but it works.

Blue and orange and pink - oh my! I really love the pink/purple circles fabric. It has a lot of very useful colour combinations in it.

I pulled out these three fabrics because I saw a similar funny orange colour in them.

I can't imagine using them all together in a quilt that would use larger pieces, but I think this block works:

The block above and below are less traditional in that they use the same fabric for all the pieces in the outer ring. They weren't cut from the same part of the fabric though, so they still look like different pieces.

I had the pieces for the outer ring of the block below for quite a while before I found fabrics to go with them.

The next block uses the same fabric (and fussy cuts) for the blocks in the middle, and the same fabric, but different cuts for the outer ring. I made pairs of sheep, hens, cows and pigs, but even the pairs aren't identical to each other.

In the following block, there is a middle ring formed by using the same fabric for those pieces. I had this fenced village put together for quite a while before I found the right creatures to live in the "village square" in the middle. :)

My most recent block put together some Eiffel Towers. The towers are formed by fussy cutting and pattern matching three different honeycomb pieces.

While cutting out the fabric and basting them to the papers, I made sure to mark them in sets (A-D) because there was no guarantee the top of one tower would match with the bottom pieces of another set.

It was some very customized fussy cutting. I gave myself a break by making the rest of the pieces non-pattern matching!

I really liked some Tula Pink fabric with snails on it and did a similar pattern matching over three honeycomb pieces. But you can see I arranged the rest of the block quite differently:

Finding the purple and greens to go with it was a happy accident of having a ridiculous amount of fabric out at the same time.

Finally, I can show you a new spiral block design. The first uses some Cotton and Steel fabric with squirrel tails and a grey text fabric. (I call this "squirrel swirls". :) )

For the next one, I had the idea to do a primary colour gradient. First thing I did was go through all of my fabrics (scraps, fat quarters, and full yardage) and cut a honeycomb from any fabric in the right colour that read mostly as a solid or tonal.  FYI, that took a really long time.

Then I arranged them from light to dark. (I can't imagin why there are so many more reds than any other colour!) Then I pulled out six fabrics that made a nice gradient from light to dark.

Here is the final block:

I really like the softer look of the solids/tonals. The spirals are not quite as obvious, but it's still an interesting block.

And here are all the sewn blocks so far:

That's 29 out of 56. I have five more ready to sew and a couple more that are partially designed.

I can't sew quite as much as I would like because my left wrist is acting up. (It doesn't like gripping the pieces together for such long periods.) If you have any ergonomic suggestions for me, please let me know!

Ravellenics Wrap Up

The Olympics finished quite some time ago and so did the concurrent Ravellenic Games. Although I made a list of several projects I could do during the games, I concentrated all my knitting time on one -- the Celestarium shawl by Audry Nicklin.

It was an ambitious project but you can get a lot done in 15 days of focused knitting.

Since my last update, I did more knitting while watching curling:

Row 89 finished (16,659 stitches, 28%)

It wasn't a great year to watch the Canadian teams, but I enjoyed the round robin play.

We took a road trip to Missouri. I found a way to do charted, beaded knitting while riding in a car.

Row 101 finished (20,115 stitches, 34%)

As with almost anything, the key is to be a vigilante of organization. (I'm proud to say I only ever lost one bead.)

I can continue to show progress pictures, but the pictures pretty much all look alike -- big blue blobs.

Row 111 finished (25,875 stitches, 44%)

Alas, I did not get enough done to finish the shawl before the closing ceremonies. I got as far as 132-3/8 rows (38,187 stitches, 65%). That means the only additional recognition I got (besides my one medal in Aerial Unwind) was:

After a brief break, I continued to make progress even without the promise of a Ravellenics medal. And then I received this treat from my sister:

A gold medal cookie! So sweet of her!

This past Monday I completed all 156 rows of the charts (51,795 stitches, 88%):

How can I be done the charts, but only 88% done the shawl? About 10% of the knitting is in the edging! The shawl is written with a plain garter border that circles the outside and finishes off the live stitches.

The designer linked to a different edging that another knitter had adapted to the shawl and I decided to try that instead. It has a pretty wave pattern and is wider than the original edging. My row gauge is smaller than the patterns and I decided I could use the extra width.

I started the edging and have finished a few inches. Although it was hard to break the rhythm and stop, I made myself do it so I could block or steam what I have so far and see how it behaves. (This is why I should do a swatch, but I just foolheartedly experiment with my actual project.)

I have some concerns about how the silk is going to behave. Wool will take to blocking wonderfully and I can be confident the lace pattern will open up and show, but I'm not sure about the silk.

I'm still deciding whether to steam or wet block and how to do it, so for now the shawl is on hold.

Project Roundup

I'm not really up to pulling together a narrative today, so I'm going to give you an overview of the projects I have on the go, showing progress since the last time you've seen them.

1. I'm on the second sock of this pair that I started during a trip in July. This might be the first time you're seeing these.

I think this is the prettiest stitch pattern I've ever made:

It reminds me of stain glass somehow.

2. I'm making steady progress on my "Jeans socks" with the yarn I dyed. It's lovely to work with. The rayon in it gives it a very silky feel to my hand.

3. It took a few tries, but I got the sleeves done on this sweater for Wool-Aid. It's partially assembled, as you can see.

4. I like to sit and sew sets of these squares in the evening. I'm keeping them organized in sets for each star.

5. This bit of kntting will turn into a cowl. I've made the pattern before as a gift and wanted one for myself.

It's actually just a start to the set. I really started on it because I want to use a big fur pompom I bought myself a while ago on a chunky hat that will match.

6. This red and yellow quilt is on my list of projects to work on with the UFO* club on Ravelry.

We make a list each quarter and cheer each other on. And hopefully congratulate each other when we finish projects.

The quilting is finished except for the yellow squares so I've been making my way through them. This morning I got the second of three sections of the quilt done.

And there finishes this virtual tour of projects I have on the go.
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*UnFinished Object