A Lid for an Altoid Tin

Jen1 and I have talked about putting stitching on top of an Altoid tin for quite a while. I have an empty one and a couple with the mints still in them, ready for the task.

Vonna Pfeiffer has a tutorial here with some good tips. I will use it as a guide when I go to finish mine.

Last week, I stitched a couple of pieces that would fit on a lid - basically anything the size of a business card would do.

I designed the top piece and stitched it with DMC115 - my favourite variegated DMC floss. The bottom one was adapted from 'Spring Sampler' by Whitley Quimby of Sugar Maple Designs. It appeared in the current (Spring 2025) Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine.

The cardboard on which I'll attach the stitching is cut out. I'll use a bit of padding between the stitching and the cardboard before I stick it in place. However, I don't have any braid in my stash so will have to go in search of some for around the lid's edge.

I'm in the process of doing the decreases for the toes on my latest scrappy, striped, two-at-a-time socks.

Also this week I tackled some of the piles of stuff in my office. There are still some piles but they're more organized. I'll be putting several bags of trash out on garbage day this week, Today I took 4 bags of Skip's clothes to the donation place. There is lots more to do but every little bit helps.

Paulette, her husband, and a couple of buddies came on Wednesday and removed the fridge from my front hallway. They'll be taking it up to their cottage. Another thing off my checklist.

The weather has been so cold and rainy. I turned the furnace off last week and was determined not to turn it back on. I lit a fire the other night. It was very cozy.

Unfortunately, the temperature in the house had dropped to 15C (59°F) by yesterday so I caved and had to put the furnace on again. 

One good thing with all the rain - it makes pulling weeds in the garden much easier to do. I didn't get out there to do that today. Oh well. They'll still be there when I get around to it.

Update...

I finished the scrappy socks last night. The legs and feet are 68sts and I used 3 x 1 ribbing on the leg for 8" before starting the heels. I switched yarns every 6 rounds and knit the tails in as I went. To avoid seeing purl bumps when changing colours, I always knit the entire round of the first colour, then resume the ribbing pattern. This doesn't work on anything where you'd fold back the ribbing, though.

Zooming in, you can see I used Eye of Partridge stitch (EOP) ** on the bottom of the heels to the ends of the gusset decreases.

This is a slipped stitch technique so a double thickness of yarn results, hence reinforcing the heel where most of the wear occurs. I've never had to darn a pair of socks on which I've used the EOP on the bottom of the heel. If you tend to wear holes in your socks at other pressure points like the ball of the foot area, you could also use EOP on the sole stitches in that area. Once you are finished the heel flap, and are knitting in the round again, simply execute the staggered slipped stitch rounds alternating with a plain knit round.

**

Eye of Partridge stitch 

Row 1: *Sl 1, K1 repeat from to last stitch, K1

Row 2: Sl1, purl to end.

Row 3: Sl 1 (sl 1, K1) repeat ( ) to last stitch, K1

Row 4: Sl1, purl to end