Welcome


Welcome to my blog. You can read about my adventures in different types of needlework, and I also offer some free
cross stitch patterns. Please, come back often. :)

CAN'T SEE THE PICTURES? READ ABOUT THE PROBLEM HERE.

PLEASE NOTE:


PLEASE, NOTE: The designs on this site are copyrighted to Agnes Palko. They are for your personal use only. They may not be distributed or reproduced without permission.
If you wish to use my patterns to stitch for charity, please, let me know.

26/09/2011

Free hippy cross stitch bookmark - and my first pattern for sale.

I have made some hippy patterns. One is a bookmark you are welcome to use, as usual, for free. I am not sure the colours show up well enough, the idea is that the letters of the word "Love" are in a strong colour and the background motifs in nice pastel shades.

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In honour of the European Day of Languages, which is today, 26th September, I made a bigger version in many languages. This one is not a free pattern however, I offer it for sale. It costs 4 Euros.
I haven´t got round to creating a separate webshop yet but I am planning to soon. Until then it is very simple: you pay me in PayPal (benceagi@yahoo.com) and I e-mail you the pattern.
If you happen to want another language included, I can make the change - in that case the price is 5 Euros.

Here is a picture:

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I hope you like them. Happy stitching. :)

18/09/2011

New knitting WIP

As I was at home with a really bad backache, had to stay in bed quite a lot, and in a position that made stitching difficult, I started a new knitting project. The yarn I bought in a loppis (something like a garage sale) not long ago, very cheap. It is half wool and half acrylic. So I am making a long vest for myself for winter.

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I am making it, as most of my knitted things, without a pattern, as it comes. I started in the middle, or rather under the breasts, with a row of a different coloured yarn, then knitted top down, circularly. As I want it to be as long as possible, but wasn´t sure how long the yarn would let me go, I stopped now, that´s why there are needles in the bottom row, took out the starting row and started to knit upwards. The back is about half done, I am not sure how I will make the front yet. And I want a wide crocheted edge all around, but again, not sure what pattern I will use. If the yarn is not enough, I might go for another colour for the edges, but I would prefer to keep it one colour, this way it can be worn with more different clothes under it.


This is the bottom part. The pattern goes almost diagonally, I hope it will look nice after blocking. (By the way, does anyone know a good method for blocking circular knitting?)


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And this is the top:

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It is really exciting, not knowing what it will turn into and experimenting with different patterns and methods. Cross your fingers for me that the yarn is enough :)

Blackwork sampler - part 3 - I have finished it.

I am so glad, I got some really nice feedback about the blackwork sampler, although noone had time to stitch it right now. I, however, could not stop myself, I enjoyed stitching it so much. I almost forgot how much I like blackwork.

So first, here is the second part finished:

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I am giving you the third and final part now:

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The first lines are herringbone stitches.

And this is what it looks like in my version:

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And finally, a picture of the whole. I finished the sides with hemstitching, this was the first time I did it, and it went quite well. I was so proud of myself. When I was all finished, I realised that I miscounted somehow and on one side the margin I left was wider than on the other. So had to frog it, cut it and re-stitch again, but that didn´t turn out so well because I had to fold it on the line of the previous withdrawn threads, and became a bit wobbly. I am not very happy about it but there is not much I can do about it now. It will teach me not to be too proud of myself. :-/

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Black and gold pincushion side 2 - free cross stitch pattern

Someone asked me for this pattern, sorry it took me so long to draw, but finally here it is:

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The middle is empty for a button or embellishment.

13/09/2011

pincushion

I made a pincushion out of the black-gold pattern I stitched a while back. For the other side, I improvised a variation of the pattern, will draw it and post it soon.
I am sure it would look good as a biscornu, too.

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10/09/2011

Blackwork sampler - part 2

Hi, Friends,

Due to a terrible backache I have to stay at home and lie in bed almost all day. :( Not the best thing at the beginning of the school year. But that means I have time for knitting and stitching.

I have stitched the first part of the blackwork sampler, so I am publishing the second part. As you can see, I have already done one line of that part, too.

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The grey area is the overlap between the first and second parts.

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Happy stitching everyone. :)

04/09/2011

Cross stitched buttons - photo tutorial

Hello, stitchy friends :)

I was repairing a cushion that was torn, and the buttons were also missing. So I made some. Here is how.

The cushion looked like this:

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Then I did this:

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The white buttons were used with their rounded half outside. I stitched a running stitch around them and pulled it tight.

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These are the buttons at the front:

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and the back:

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The back is quite messy but it doesn´t matter if you sew them on a cushion that is pulled together in the middle. If you want to use similar buttons on a flat surface, you should buy a button-making kit. I have never tried them but would love to.

And the final result:

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I have also started stitching the blackwork sampler. Half of part 1 is done. It is good that I tried it out because again I noticed a mistake. When you draw a repetitive pattern, it is done with copy and paste, and it is so easy to go one or two stitches off. I have put up the corrected version but I am not 100% happy with it, I should have realised it earlier. But this is how it will stay for me - if you want, you can make adjustment on the black zigzag line, so it is centered. Or tell me if you want it, I can draw another version.

I am using DMC 310 and 221 on a lovely light green hand died linen. Unfortunately, in the photo the fabric doesn´t show. Sorry about the hoop marks, I ironed it but they will not disappear properly until I wash it.

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Is there anyone stitching it?

Some more news about myself: here in Sweden it is almost like autumn, at least like autumn at home. We have been picking mushrooms and bilberries.


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I hope, dear friends, that you are all well and been stitching/knitting/crocheting happily. Hope to see you soon. :)