Quick Stitches

With a new grid mammal expected any time in the next month, thoughts turn to making the living arrangements ready.  With an overabundance of craft supplies in a small space, much of this falls into the "use it or loose it" category.  Which means that I'm using a lot of supplies that I forgot that I owned.

Out of this pile of forgotten craft supplies came a set of cheap three inch embroidery hoops.These weren't the type of hoops I would want to sew with, but they do make nice simple frames.  Along with some 14 gauge Aida cloth and thread I decided to make some baby animal faces to help decorate the rearranged space.  Because the hoops were so small and the cloth gauge was so big, I also decided to make the resolution of each animal face pretty low and simple.  This also meant that each face would be faster to make and I could move on to finding uses for more unused craft supplies.

Feel free to change the thread, the gauge, or the size.  Just please don't try to sell the patterns as your own.  

If you would like a pdf of these cross stitch patterns, they can be found at Etsy, here.

If you have any questions about the pattern, please email me at GridMammalCrafts@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Making each individual sampler required:
    1) Three Inch Wood Embroidery Hoop
    1) Five Inch Square Piece of 14 Count Aida Cloth
    1) Embroidery Needle
    1) Pair Embroidery Scissors
    1) Piece of Felt (large enough to cover the back of the hoop with sampler)
    Desired Embroidery Thread
    Craft Glue

To begin with each animal sampler was stitched onto its own cloth.  (Please scroll down to see patterns.)  After the stitching was complete, the cloth was lightly ironed using a pressing cloth and then placed and centered into its own embroidery hoop.

When the sampler is framed as desired and the hoop is tightened, I put a running stitch around the remains of the Aida cloth about a quarter to a half of an inch away from the frame, being careful not to get to close to the edge of the cloth, and cut off the extra cloth points.  After the running stitch is run completely around the rim of the hoop, I pull the thread tight, pulling in the remains of the cloth towards the center of the hoop, and tie the tread off.

Then, using the hoop as a stencil, a piece of felt is cut for each hoop.  Glue is applied to the back of the hoop close to the cloth and the felt is pressed onto the back of the framed sampler.  Any glue that leaks out is quickly wiped away and the entire sampler is pressed between two weighed objects overnight.  (Phone books work well.)  After the glue is dried and set, and extra felt around the edges can be trimmed away and each sampler can be hung as desired.

Now for the sampler patterns.

Rabbit Kit’s Face

Cross Stitch Pattern

Finished Size on 14 Count Aida Cloth:

          

Duckling’s Face

Cross Stitch Pattern

Finished Size on 14 Count Aida Cloth:

     

Otter Pup’s Face

Cross Stitch Pattern

Finished Size on 14 Count Aida Cloth:

       

Meditations with Fillet Crochet

It's good to see you all again.  I apologize for the long departure.  Our household found out some months ago that we are expecting a mini grid mammal this summer, and things got a bit busy after that.

As things have gotten busier, what with the preparations and planning, it is important to me to keep my crafts near.  The repetitiveness of building one stitch on top of another has helped to calm those anxious times and provide a sort of meditation.

A technique that fits perfectly into this rhythm is a form called fillet crochet.  It basically it consists of crocheting squares, one after the other, on top of each other.  As you create them, you leave some open and you fill some in with extra stitches, thereby creating a two-dimensional picture.  I originally learned from a book, but there are a multitude of videos on the internet to show you the basics.  One can be found here.

Following is a pattern for a piece that I made some years ago for a friend that had gotten their doctorate in advanced mathematics.  While I can't hope to understand what she processes everyday, I could help her celebrate by sending her something that I could make.  My gift was a small runner done in fillet crochet of a chaos butterfly.  You know, that little insect somewhere out there that flaps its wings and starts a chain reaction that starts a hurricane on the other side of the world.  It incorporates, yes you guessed it, a butterfly with the Greek symbol for chaos.  A bit cheesy, I know, but sometimes it's important to remember that little things can lead to big changes.

Feel free to change the thread, the gauge, or the size.  Just please don't try to sell the patterns as your own.  

If you have any questions about the pattern, please email me at GridMammalCrafts@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Also, if you would like a pdf version of this pattern, and have a Ravelry account, it can be found here.

If you would like a copy from Etsy, it can be found here.

Chaos Butterfly Runner

(In Filet Crochet)

            Materials:

                        2) Aunt Lydia’s Crochet Thread, Extra Fine Size 30, 500 yards, White

                        1) Steel Crochet Hook, Size 11, 1.10mm

            Key:

            Start:

                        Chain 436 (loosely) + chain 3 

                         (This the will create a base chain of 436 and the chain 3 will be the first double 

                                         stitch of the wall of the first square)

                        Double stitch in the fourth chain from the hook  

                        (This will place the first two double stitches of the first square.)

             Finished Size:

                        10.75” High x 24.5” Long

            Pattern: (In Four Parts)

·         Unfortunately, for ease of reading, the pattern had to be broken up over several pages.  The edges of each row and column are numbered and the section of the pattern is labelled with a letter.  The letters are oriented as shown in the following table.  I would suggest, depending on your tastes, working along an entire row or column as you go along.  This will take you across three pattern pieces as you finish each line.  On the final page you will find the pattern in its entirety.