Brilliant Butterfly Celebration, Rose Cross, Mask of Colors 1, Batik Cascade

I finally got over the nasty virus that has kept me from blogging. Here's what I've been up to since April 3rd. (Except, of course, for the finished Tweedy Topper that I've already posted.)

Quilting:

I did some more quilting on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs.

Cross Stitch:

I did some more work on Mask of Colors 1, a Colray Crafts chart by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs based on artwork by Linda Ravenscroft.

I also pulled out the Rose Cross by Irene O. Thomas.

Finally, I pulled out Brilliant Butterfly Celebration (designer unknown) from The Gold Collection by Dimensions and got quite a bit done on it.

Tweedy Topper

I've caught yet another cold, but I did manage to take pictures of my hat just before wearing it out the door on Tuesday so I do have something to show y'all this week. I also did some more work on Batik Cascade and Mask of Colors 1 but didn't get any pictures. We'll see what next week brings.

So here's my finished Tweedy Topper designed by Susan Z. Douglas. In addition to leaving off the band, I also left off some slip stitch crochet that I couldn't see any purpose for.

In these photos it looks like something Johnny Depp would wear in a Tim Burton movie, but it actually looks like the classic bucket shape when it's on my head.

Mask of Colors 1, Batik Cascade, Tweedy Topper

Knitting:

Since the brim on my other sunhat is too floppy to be of any use on windy days, I've started knitting a new one. It's a bucket-shaped hat called Tweedy Toppers designed by Susan Z. Douglas (whom I can't find online). It's supposed to have a contrasting-colored band just above the brim, but it looks like the person who knit the one at the link made the same decision I did, i.e. to leave the band off. I'm using leftover cotton yarn to knit it, so I'm having to do some color blocking: blue/purple for the brim, green/purple for the side of the crown, and blue/green for the top of the crown.

I've learned a lesson on this one: change the length of your circular needle if feels like the recommended length is wrong. Not only did I have great difficulty knitting the brim with far too many stitches jammed onto the 16" needle called for in the pattern, but I actually broke my needle! Things were much easier after I switched to a 24" needle.

Quilting:

I did some more quilting on Batik Cascade (Batik Go-Round) by Karen Combs. I've just started the outermost round of squares.

Cross Stitch:

Finally, I did some more work on Mask of Colors 1, a Colray Crafts chart by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs based on artwork by Linda Ravenscroft.