The Handwork Begins

"Posh Poppies" has become a Portable Project!  This afternoon I made the bias stems and began to lay them down on the background...to which they will be hand-stitched.

First I made the stems using my "Celtic Bias Bars" rather than my Clover Bias Tape maker.  No reason, except that (perhaps) it "felt" less "fiddly".  :-)

Then, per the instructions in the PP pattern, I drew the design out on a larger (wider) piece of recycled laminate using a Sharpie (R) permanent marker.  Using the clear plastic as a guide, I pinned two of the stems to the background with wee applique pins.  I played around for a while with the leaves, laying them into the design, but decided it was best to stitch down these first two stems before trying to add anything else to the lay out.

Maybe by Friday I'll have something finished to show you on this front.   Meanwhile, it means my sewing machine has been freed up for other projects!

Stems for poppies 1 and 2 layed down

On the Finished Front, there is one thing: the second of the two hats commissioned by a customer from the shop was finished last week, and picked up earlier this week by said customer.  Here's what it looked like on a shop mannequin:

Swirly Slouch Hat by Lori Patterns
(C) 2013

The pattern is available on Ravelry.  Alas, the yarn selected by my client did not create a 'swirly' effect, which is best shown using self-striping yarn, such as something by Noro.  The yarn for the above had is Berroco's 'Remix' in the denim colour-way.  It works, but it's not exactly 'swirly'.  :-)

I like the pattern, even though the grafting of the back seam is a bit fiddly -- not nearly as easy as grafting sock toes!  I'm thinking there's one like it -- perhaps a bit more 'swirly' -- on my 'knit for Christmas' list.

This evening, though, both stitching and knitting are being set aside in favour of a cuppa dark roast and a cozy mystery.  See ya!