Knit Bits

I knit up a couple of bits last night for M's book. This first book will be texture collages, a different color on each page. The orange is a piece of furry fabric. The knit bits are fun to do when I want something to work on without pulling out bins of supplies.

Works in Progress - knit and dye

Thought I'd share a couple of small things I did last week. The fibers I dyed for the sampler I'm making. I was going for salmon. It's actually pretty close.




This is an i-cord knitted with Lion Brand chenille yarn. It will get used in M's book of textures and colors. I've already got her stroking fibers and exploring texture. I just love it.

Butterflies

The hand embroidery group had a swap in May that I participated in. It was a design challenge swap. We were all given the same pattern to stitch and paired up with a swap partner. This first photo is the butterfly that I stitched. The stitches used include chain, detached chain, stem, satin, and French knots. The purple outline on the outer edge of the wings is a line of single detached chains stitched perpendicular to the wings. The feathery effect is just what I was going for.



The second photo is the butterfly I received from DeAnn. I love the texture and the colors she used.

More butterflies can be found on the group blog here.

The pattern can be found by searching for "butterfly & lazy daisies" in the pattern library at needlecrafter.com.

I also received a piece of turquoise suede from Lin Moon a few weeks ago. Thank you, Lin Moon. It is so soft and yummy to touch. I had several ideas for it, but I haven't settled on one yet. It may end up in the little one's book. I've started sketching and listing ideas for the book in a visual journal and collecting fun bits to use. The hubby actually invited me to tag along with him to Joann's recently. I have the best hubby you could imagine. I restrained myself rather well so as not to discourage him. However, I couldn't pass up a bargain on a bit of bright orange furry fabric that will go nicely in a color themed book. I have a couple book ideas so far, basic kid stuff that will be in variously textured fibers, colors, numbers, family photos, and an alphabet book with all things cow related. I'm doing pretty well with that last one, but haven't thought of anything cow related for the letters A, I, O, V, and X. If nothing else comes to mind, I could do a cow playing the Xylophone, but I'd like to keep it a little more realistic than that. If you have any ideas, please send an email or leave a comment. Thank you to everyone who has left comments lately. I've really enjoyed them.

An idea from a failure to follow through.

No pictures today, just an idea. One of the forums I read had a challenge recently. It involved making a padfolio from this tutorial and changing the flap to use it as a design element. I gathered the supplies, but never chose the main fabric and finished the challenge. I was really wanted to do it because it was the first challenge for this forum and these could make cute little gifts. I still want to make a padfolio, but looking at the two yards of double sided fusible peltex (I had a coupon so I had to get extra), a new idea struck. I could adapt this technique to make book for my little angel. I've been thinking about making her a book with fabric and textures and flaps and velcro and cords and such. She enjoys these things and loves books. I wasn't sure how to put it together, but I think this method could work. It would also add structure to the pages like a board book. I'm getting excited about this project so watch for updates.