Thursday once again

There was some stitching at A&S last night and I spent some significant time today planning my "timeline" for the next 7 months or so...

So, here's this week's status of projects in progress and "on deck":

Current project list/status (SCA/Historic):

• Motifs for coronation cloaks (different coronation) -- The two that are done were blogged about here.  I've started the outlining for the next one.  There was some more stitching on this, but I really need to knuckle under and get these onto the DONE page.
• Marshall Hanging -- the very large Bayeux inspired piece that I've been working on (on and  off) for just about forever.  Deadline, June some time summer 2016. Nothing since the beach weekend, but I'm expecting it to see some needle time in the next week or so. 

• Hem stitched square -- Now 3 sides are done and the fourth one started.  Currently my travel piece.  With no deadline, and just for me just for fun, I'm ok with slow progress on this one.

• Additional couching & laid work pieces. The June 2016 deadline is for a very special presentation to the East Kingdom embroidery guild, Keepers of Athena's Thimble.  In addition to the master work of the Marshall Hanging, I need supporting pieces in other forms of laid and couched work.  This is what the timeline work has been about.  More later. 
• Garb.  I have this lovely black silk for a tunic for my husband -- one which will have plenty of stitching on it.  Also in planning are a couple more coifs -- and shifts and shirts. Hope to have something ready for us both for an event in December. 

Current project list/status (Modern):

• Knitted vest for Joe.  This is done and was worn at Rhinebeck and was blogged on Tuesday. Moved to the DONE (Modern) page.

• Skirts for work.  One skirt that had been languishing in my studio has had some work done, and now just needs a hem.  I also have some lovely blue and white fabric waiting to be the next skirt. Yes, you're right, no change here. 

• Bay of Fundy Scarf.  Proceeding well.  This is excellent travel work -- it fits nicely in a project bag and is easy to pull out during lunch. 
• Gift knitting.  I don't take on a lot of knitting for gifts, especially with my usual policy of only having one knitting project in progress at a time, but I found some lovely yarn at Rhinebeck for a scarf for a friend for an EOYHOYC* gift so that will enter rotation.  I've spent some time on Ravelry and I think I know which pattern I'm going to use -- so this weekend I'll wind the hank and do some swatching. 
• Knitted Salto fingerless gloves from Craftsy kit using Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend.  This was also finished and worn at Rhinebeck.The rest of the extra skein will go to a preemie hat for donation 
• Studio project. Yes, the studio is in good shape, but I do still have that wall of desk and closets to finish organizing.  I want to sort/organize and inventory embroidery threads, clean out the other crafts materials, get the knitting tools organized and my new computer set up on the desk.  

Blog notes:

• Still working on a three day a week pattern -- Monday for SCA/Medieval/Renaissance related; Tuesday for post 1600 to modern related and Thursdays for status updates.
• I've begun building the "DONE" pages, and moved links around a bit.  The "main categories" are to the right now -- that's the main labels.  Click on one and see all the posts with that label.  Down below are *all* the labels I've used.  
• I'm also considering a couple other pages -- one for links to museums and other excellent web resources, and one for a bibliography (with appropriate links).  

So, that's it for my plans for the coming weeks.  Now back to my lovely yellow alpaca.

*EOYHOYC - End of Year Holiday of Your Choice -- a designation that started out kind of tongue in cheek but has come, for me, to express that I don't care what you call it, the end of the modern calendar year is an excellent time to spend time with family -- both blood and chosen -- and that's what the end of the year holidays are all about. 

A couple of "done" knitting pieces

Quite a while ago (about 2 years ago), My husband and I were walking through one of the big box stores and saw that they had some Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool on a very good sale -- the big 4 oz skeins for $5.00.  The dark brown and the natural drew him over to the display, and I agreed to buy some and make him something.

After several enjoyable sessions browsing patterns on Ravelry, we agreed on this vest.  I finished up the project I was working on at the time (I try to have only one knitting project going at a time), and cast on in May 2014.

Now, knitting keeps getting put down.  It is my "between" project, my "clear my mind when embroidery has filled it up too much" work.  So, it took quite a while to finish.  I bought buttons for it at Rhinebeck 2014 and continued to work on it sporadically.

I finally finished the knitting while we were on vacation in May, and quickly made up a pair of these fingerless gloves to go with the vest.  Then both projects sat in my project bag most of the summer (while I worked on something else, but that's another post).  The week before Rhinebeck, I finally pulled out the vest, did all the weaving in, blocked it and added the buttons.  He proudly wore both the vest and the fingerless gloves to Rhinebeck this year.

 This was my first truly sized piece.  I've done socks, but didn't really follow different directions for size on those.  I'm pretty happy with the final result.  Don't know that I'll be doing a lot of constructed garments -- I like doing shawls and scarves and fingerless gloves -- but I'm glad to know I was able to suss out the instructions for shaping and making it up.

C&L - Couched Cord on Applique

One of the simplest uses of Laid and Couched work is to place a cord or decorative braid around the edges of appliqued work.  Sometimes the cord contrasts with the motifs, as in this late 15th to early 16th century fragment from Egypt and this earlier one, and sometimes the cord blends in with the ground fabric, making the applied motif stand out, as in this Spanish banner from the very end of SCA period.  Sometimes the couched cord is metal thread and in a few examples it is leather strips with gilt, such as in The Tristan hanging (Hanging) | V&A Search the Collections

This Cushion cover includes both metal couched metal thread and couched non-metal cord, as well as some couched cord used within the applied motifs, as can be seen in this close up.

One of the pieces I will be making for my Expert panel in Couching & Laid* work will be such a piece.  It doesn't need to be a large piece, it's one of the "backup" pieces which will, together, show my ability in all aspects of C&L.

I plan to do a cushion cover, though not a long one.  I will make a cushion to fit one of the chairs my husband and I typically take to SCA events which will make it more comfortable (yes, I will be sitting on it, presumably my stitches will be good enough that it will handle it).  I am considering either straight up my arms, or a design of an oak tree with one or more squirrels under it, possibly holding needles as in my arms. I'm kind of leaning towards a nice stylized oak tree with a squirrel.

Since this project is for me and not a surprise, it is one I can discuss the process of on this blog, so there will be updates as I work.

And that's it for this week's Monday post.  Have a great week everyone. Tomorrow I get to show off some of my modern knitting that has been recently completed.


*Couching & Laid work is the category title in Athena's Thimble.