While Miz Kittling Knits: Annika

 

I've mentioned that I took a break from knitting afghans to take on a few different projects (one of which was the baby blanket I showed you a couple of weeks ago), so I thought I'd show you two or three... maybe even four!

 

One is this seed and stockinette stitch scarf done in 100% acrylic yarn. The pattern called for the stockinette stitch to be the outside rows but that stitch rolls terribly. I got the bright idea to reverse the rows and begin with the seed stitch. Voilà-- no rolled edges!

 

Here's another scarf done in a braided cable pattern. (I love how the bottom edges of the scarf form little ruffles.) The yarn was an absolute treat to work with: Cloudborn Limited Edition in a gorgeous blue-gray color called Pebble. The yarn is 65% alpaca, 26% silk, 9% wool... and is so incredibly soft, with beautiful drape.

Another scarf done in a simple knit one, purl one rib stitch in one of my favorites: Isaac Mizrahi craft yarn in a colorway called Spanish Harlem. This yarn is incredibly soft and satisfies my occasional yearning for bling.

An attempted closeup of Spanish Harlem with its shades of black, blues, and purples.

Here's the finished needlepoint mat I made for my new end table. (I just realized that you can tell a lot about a person by the "necessaries" they keep by their chairs...) It's done in my favorite herringbone stitch that looks like woven cloth and wears like iron.

Herringbone stitch, right side. Stitched in Caron Simply Soft Speckle 100% acrylic yarn in Blue Gingham. It took me a little while to get the hang of this stitch because 90% of the yarn is on the top side of the canvas, leaving very little on the back for hiding tail ends of thread.

Herringbone stitch, wrong side. I think another reason why I love this stitch so much is because it reminds me of one of my mother's lessons in embroidery: Always have the "wrong" side of your work so neat and tidy that other people have a hard time telling the right side from the wrong side. Once I learned that I had to hide my thread tails on the right side instead of the wrong side, there was no stopping me.

I'm now about halfway done with a major needlepoint project using the same yarn and the same stitch for Denis's side tables. He has so many medications, etc., that he needs by his recliner that I put two end tables together for him. Having a mat on his tables (like I have on mine) is a must because he has a tendency to spill things. How major is this project? It's going to take five panels stitched together to cover the top of his space. I'm currently stitching the third panel.

 

 

 

What was one of the programs I was watching while I was keeping my needles flying? 

 

 

Annika, starring Nicola Walker

 

 

Denis and I watched Annika on PBS Masterpiece through Amazon Prime. I'm beginning to wonder if Nicola Walker has ever turned in a blah/bad performance because I've liked very single thing I've seen her in. She seems to have a knack for choosing good stories. Here's a synopsis of the series from IMDb: "The sharp, witty and enigmatic DI Annika Strandhed (Walker) heads up a new specialist Marine Homicide Unit (MHU) in Scotland that is tasked with investigating unexplained, brutal, and seemingly unfathomable murders."

Walker's character often looks right into the camera to talk to us, and although it's unusual, it took very little time for me to get used to it. She always has a literary tie-in to the case she and her team are investigating, the stories are good, and I'm enjoying the Scottish scenery. Fortunately for Walker's single-mother character, her angsty teenage daughter seems to be calming down a bit, although the bombshell at the end of the latest season makes me wonder how long that will last.

Bottom line: Bring on a new season because I still have plenty of stitching to do!