Belated WIP Wednesday

I've finally decided to properly join in Sharon B's Work In Progress Wednesday, although my first post is a bit late as it's Thursday here, but, if you live on the very westernmost tip of Alaska or somewhere else on the eastern side of the International Date Line, I'm home and dry!!  Anyway, the idea is to post on a large WIP or WISP (work in slow progress) on Wednesdays so that there is a sort of weekly 'report back' support and motivation.  I suppose it's rather like a Weightwatchers weekly weigh-in for stitchers!!!

OK, less of the nonsense talk and more WIPs, (the current state of which is always on my 'Current Work In Progress' page.).  I've nothing to report on two of them, but here's the current status of the Cross'N'Patch 'Sunshine and Flowers' sampler after I pulled out a part I'd mis-counted (not concentrating properly) and then re-housed the whole piece in a 14"x11" frame as opposed to the former 17"x11" one, which I was finding just too long to manage comfortably.  I think that awkwardness also slowed down progress as it's hard to get yourself going on an unwieldy piece.

And the Brazilian 'Rolled Roses' piece.  As you can see, I've done two more roses.  There were three, but I had to pull one out, it looked so bad!  This photo has been edited to show the outline of the whole piece as well, so you can get an idea of what's coming from it and how much is left to do too.

What else have I been doing?  Plenty of reading, of course, some lesson preparation as I now have two private students coming to me for Mandarin Chinese lessons and I've begun work on an exercise book to help people get a firm grip on Mandarin sentence patterns and so on, which I'm trialling on these two ladies!  So, that takes up a fair bit of research time etc. as well.  And would you just look at my desk!  I was sorting out my embroidery ribbons  ready for two small card projects as well!

On top of that, I've taken up knitting for the first time in almost 30 years!  A Chinese friend is having a little girl in November, so I thought I'd have a go at some baby knits for her.  This is how far I've got with my first one - the back, both sleeves and the left front.  This is, I think, the first time I've done a patterned knit like this (the bit with the decorative holes) and certainly the largest piece I've ever done.  Only one more piece to do, then it's on to the challenge of picking up stitches around the edgings etc.  I've borrowed a good beginners' book from the library to help.

I remember when I was a little girl, my mum, who was quite a prolific and accomplished knitter, gave me scrap ends of yarn and some basic needles and I used to knit very simple woollies for Sindy/Barbie dolls which had contrast trims and often had lurex knitted in with them (so, like Kreinik Blending Filament), and then sell them from the back of our car at the classic car rallies we used to go to.  They were quite good family occasions and little girls would sometimes buy them from me.  I was quite an astute businesswoman at age 11, wasn't I??=)

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2012