November 14, 2009
Angel Supplies
Here is the latest picture of my cross stitch angel. I just finished the lighter medium red color, which really fills in the overdress and sleeves. I think will do more of the green next, and then purple, and save the face, hair, and wings for later. Several of the colors have a strand of Kreinik metallic added, so I want to save those for later since they can be trickier and take longer, trying to keep the thread intact and laying straight. I tend to work with shorter lengths when using metallic thread too, since it twists up so easy and when it gets tangled, it usually breaks.
I went to the craft store to look for the accesories needed for the tree-topper crocheted angel, but didn’t have much luck. I got some fur for the bottom of the dress, but the store didn’t have any porcelain doll heads, feather wings, or doll cones. I couldn’t go to another craft store that day, since I had all 3 kids with me, and it was just about naptime. So I ended up ordering the rest of the supplies online, through 2 different stores. The wings I liked best were at Crafts, Etc., but the porcelain doll head and doll cone I got at Sunshine Discount Crafts. All the items I needed were relatively cheap, just a few dollars each, but the shipping was $5-8 at each place, so to justify the shipping, I ordered a few other things for Christmas presents at each place. I love to shop online and not have to figure out what to do with the kids, but I wish there were more free shipping deals!
I finished the dress part of the angel tree topper. I didn’t quite understand how to do the arms at first, but now I see that the long tube you crochet goes through the dress sleeves, and you attach one hand on each end. I was originally thinking that you made 2 of the arms, and each one just stuck up into the sleeves and somehow attached to the angel head, but the first one I made was way too long for that! It makes much more sense now!
Finished the medium gray on the angel. The shading created by the different gray colors is really beautiful, and make the dress look quite realistic. The sheep look better too. There is outlining to do afterward still, which will make it all stand out even more. I’m now doing the “very dark red” color. Not too much of that, since it is more of a edge color. I’m not sure what color I’ll do next. Green? Purple? Or start on the face, hair, or wings? I think I’ll leave the lion for last.I’ve gotten a bit more done on the crochet angel topper. I’m more than halfway done with the dress, so it should get done fairly quickly, and hopefully in time for decorating the tree starting after Thanksgiving. Once we decide where to put the tree, that is. I have an extra table in the living room right now, for the kids to eat on and do their crafts, but it’s sitting right where we usually put the tree, so I guess I’ll have to rearrange something.
I’ve gotten about a third of the angel tree-topper dress done, as shown in this picture. Hopefully I will get more done on it this week. Hopefully I can also keep the 4-year-old from swiping the dress for her doll!
I’m still working on the cross-stitch angel, but I’ve decided to pause my work on the crochet table runner and work on a few Christmas projects instead. I’m trying to finish a crocheted angel tree topper in time to use on our tree. It is from “A Crochet Christmas” booklet, which I got from Annie’s Attic a while back. The crocheted angel dress is going fairly fast (I’ll put up a picture of my progress soon), but there will be more details later which are new to me – adding the doll head, wings, etc. I’ll have to make a run to the craft store to look for the accessory parts….
I finally finished the medium dark red floss. I just barely had enough thread, and I started with a brand new skein of floss. I ended up with a single strand left over, and I’m very efficient with my floss. The color I just finished is actually one of 4 red colors in this design. I’ve done the 2 middle shades now, and still have the lightest and the darkest reds to go, but the structure of the angel’s dress is very clear now. There is some purple to the dress too, but I’ll probably finish the red and green colors first. I still have some more gray to do, and the angel’s wings, of course. I’ve done a lot of the sheep, but there’s still an entire lion to do too! The outlining will probably take some time too, since there is metallic thread involved, and beads also.
I finished the first motif of the table runner too. It needs to be stretched, but it is quite pretty. I’ve started the 2nd motif, which is identical to the first one until the last round, where the motifs are joined. Then there is a 3rd motif, also joined, and then a border all the way around. I may not finish this before Christmas, since I want to concentrate on the angel to give it as a Christmas present!
