New Free Embroidery Pattern - Mitten Wonderland!

I have a new free embroidery pattern today on Red Letter Day Stitches! 

DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE NOW!

Mitten Wonderland: It’s no secret that I’m not just an avid sewist – I’m a knitter, too! And for me, that means hand-knit gifts every Christmas, including mittens. Luckily, these little mittens are quicker to stitch up as a last minute gift or decoration than a knit pair! 

Each mitten is decorated with a special stitch – just enough to practice each a few times before moving on to the next wintery mitten.

Finished Size: Intended for 6” embroidery hoop. DMC Floss #322: Blue; #775: Light Blue; #3756: Ice Blue; #762: Bluish Grey; #321: Red; #562: Teal.

Materials Required: 2 12” squares of muslin or other woven cotton fabric, fabric marking pen or pencil, safety pins or masking tape, 6” or smaller embroidery hoop to use while stitching, embroidery needle, scissors.

Notes: Use 2 strands of DMC Floss throughout, unless otherwise noted.

Stitches Used: Straight Stitch, Back Stitch, Chain Stitch, French Knot, Lazy Daisy Stitch, Satin Stitch.

DOWNLOAD MITTEN WONDERLAND FOR FREE! 

Riga Bonnet FO - Really, it's finished.

Hey, lookit this! I finished a knit thing! According to Ravelry, the last knit thing I finished was in July, and the last crochet thing was in August, so I've been taking a yarn break, apparently...

This bonnet, the Riga Bonnet, is one of Allyson's patterns from a recent Knitscene Accessories. It's super cute - but as Allyson wrote in her recent post - the pattern as written in the magazine is a bit hard to follow. That's probably why, even though I cast on in August, it took me awhile to finish. I kept losing my place! 

But I powered through, with Allyson's help, and I love the finished product. I did some stash-diving for this, and used a black skein of Lamb's Pride Worsted, and teal skein of Caron Sheep(ish). I love the effect of the two together - the neon teal really pops with the black. I finished the ties with some tassels, as modeled above. 

The construction is great, too. The latvian braid portion is knit back and forth, and then joined in the round for the crown. I love this bonnet style of hat, but I'm wondering how much use it'll get here in Southern California. Maybe I'll start a new trend - bonnet with tank top?

Ps. I posted this photo as my Facebook profile picture, and my friend Derick added some Wes Anderson-inspired text. It's too funny not to share!

New Embroidery Pattern - 2014 Calendar!

On Monday, Allyson and I released our newest embroidery pattern for Red Letter Day Stitches - A 2014 Calendar! This is our first paid pattern, and it's quite the project - a full calendar (lots of french knots), with pretty little motifs that set up a year of patterns. Allyson will be hosting a stitch-along for the calendar, starting on Friday. 

Buy the pattern!

2014 Calendar: What better way to celebrate the new year than with a fresh calendar? This stitched calendar not only looks pretty, but it incorporates little peeks into our full year of designs for 2014! Sure, you’ll get a workout on those french knots, but the final result is a piece that can hang in your home for the whole year.

Finished Size: A 17” by 11” rectangle.

DMC Floss: #839, Dark Beige Brown; #445, Light Lemon; #3033, Very Light Mocha; #350, Medium Coral; #310, Black; #334, Medium Baby Blue; #761, Light Salmon; #3835, Medium Grape; #522, Fern Green; #414, Dark Steel Grey; #3854, Medium Autumn Gold; White (no number).

Materials Required: 2 30”x20” rectangles of muslin or other woven cotton fabric, fabric marking pen or pencil, safety pins or masking tape, 12” or smaller embroidery hoop to use while stitching, embroidery needle, scissors.

Notes: Use 2 strands of DMC Floss throughout, unless otherwise noted. Instructions are written to be worked in sections to minimize moving your hoop.

Stitches Used: Back Stitch, Chain Stitch, Satin Stitch, Straight Stitch, French Knot, Lattice Stitch, Long & Short, Lazy Daisy.

And be sure to download our free stitch guide!

Buy the pattern!



2014 is gonna be a great year, right?

Let's Talk Turkey Stitch-Along!

Time for a little stitch-along action!

Over at Red Letter Day Stitches, we've released our second pattern, Let's Talk Turkey! 

Allyson designed this one, so I'm running a little SAL, and it starts today. Won't you join us?