2017 Needlecrafts Review

Welcome to 2017!!

This is the year the Big Blog Break began in, so those of you who are kind enough to have taken an interest in my creations over the years will have seen some of these pieces in progress.  I don't expect you to remember any of them though, as I had a couple of surprises when I went back through my Instagram feed to see what had been finished during the year!

It was more of a knitting than a stitching year, but I'll present the 4 embroidery finishes first as that's what most visitors are most interested in, I think.  There were only four finishes, all of which ended up in cards, but at least they were all different styles.

First above is the violets thread painting from Trish Burr's 'Needlepainting Embroidery - Fresh Ideas for Beginners'.  I had some trouble with the bud on this one and put it on hold for a while (from 2016, if I remember correctly), but I cracked it in the end and it served well as a baptism card for a Chinese friend.

The green based hardanger piece I believe was a sympathy card, but I can't quite remember for whom....  Anyway, it was nice to work with this colour scheme instead of always on white.

This beaded, coloured blackwork style piece I confess to having copied from a picture I saw somewhere.  Pinterest, probably.  It was quite hard going, but it made a nice anniversary card for Sir.

This last one, a cross stitch 'Forever Friends' bear, was for friends' 10th wedding anniversary.

Onto knitting, which was much more prolific.  If you're not interested in yarn crafts, feel free to exit here. 

In 2017, I knitted no less than seven baby jackets from two in premature sizes for charity, to two 6-12 months sizes.  One had a matching hat and several of them had embroidered trims on them.

There were also three adult garments, but I don't seem able to find any decent photographs of them.  

The first completed one was for a cold friend and was a simple chunky, purple jumper with a basic double cable up the front.  Started before that one, but finished afterwards was a black chunky jacket/cardy for me.  Both were done with budget yarns, but seemed to come out OK,

The third was worked with James C  Brett's marble chunky, which hasn't photographed well so far.  I'll have to try again some time.

Last up is the bamboo cotton scarf that I made for myself, but which really isn't warm enough for winter use.  It's really only useful as a trim,  but it's a glorious colour. 

That's it for 2017.  

Catching up slowly!  Look out for 2018's review this time next week.

Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2021