Long post, lots of photos

First up - embroidery. The stocking is currently making good progress, which is nice. I'm sure it will slow down again when I get back to some of the more bitsy bits, but I'm enjoying seeing actual progress while it lasts.

(For some reason it will happily go every way except upright. A sideways picture will do, I can't be bothered arguing with it)

I've also been knitting a bunch of Small Things, although I think the only new items are a pair of mittens (so quick to make!), and a Very Small Singlet.

Mitten pattern is The Stay Put Mini Mitts, wool is John Q Heather DK from my stash. I used half of a 50g ball, so I may do a second pair the same, but will more likely use a different colour for the emergency backup mittens.

Singlet is shown with the 18 month size one, and it really is ridiculously tiny. (I have compared it to other clothing of an appropriate size, and it appears to be correct...). The larger singlet used 83g of wool, this one used only 34g of Vintage Purls Sock - which is lucky, as I only had 35g of it!
Next singlet-related job will be writing up the pattern, and seeing if it makes sense to anyone. This is my first attempt at making a knitting pattern to fit multiple sizes, and as far as I can tell from my two samples it looks at least somewhat plausible that it is correct.

On the sewing front I have finished my first ever Proper Trousers. Peter hates trying to find decent trousers, so I finally convinced him to let me try making a pair. The pattern is taken from a pair he had made when we passed through Bangkok on the way to Europe a few years ago, so it should fit fairly well.

The fabric was from the $8 table at Fabric Vision (when they had their last 25% off sale), and is a heavy cotton broken twill. It got a wee bit creased when I prewashed, but for a pair of prototype pants it'll do. There are a few things where I could have done things in a slightly different order, but I've never done a trouser fly before and I was making it up as I go along. I think at very least they have worked to prove that I can make something that fits from the pattern, and that trousers aren't really that horrendous to put together. Next pair will be trying out some moleskin from the same sale.
I have also reached the decision that I really need to do something about my wardrobe. I haven't really added anything to it for a while now, and it's getting pretty dire. First new item is (theoretically) going to be a top from a blue striped knit fabric.

Not sure what it is, but it has a nice drape. I may test some to try to work it out, but I'm not sure I actually care enough. It will be a bit of an adventure, since the styles of clothing I like best are nicely fitted woven fabrics, but that's not really practical with constantly changing size/shape and needing access for feeding Small People. One day I can go back to that, but in the meantime I will have to venture into the world of knits.

And lastly, spinning! I have just acquired a second-hand Majacraft Suzie.

I suspect it's quite old, given some of the features, like the metal knob on the front that is now being made from wood, and the straight plates on the crank assembly. Also, it has hooks on the flyer, rather than the sliding hooks that are the norm on all the other ones I've seen.

I've started spinning some merino on it, and it spins nicely. When I've finished the first half I will go through and do some maintenance/tweaking, and spin the second half. It definitely feels more enticing to sit down and spin with it than with my old wheel (an Ashford Traveller - nothing wrong with it, the Suzie just feels a lot more Engineered).
I also finished off the purple corriedale that had been sitting half spun for far too long.

I couldn't quite ply it all onto one bobbin, so there is a smaller second skein with the purple, and I found a bobbin with a bit of brown corriedale to finish off the uneven end with. So I not only finished up some long delayed spinning, I also cleared an extra bobbin.

Whew, that was long.