Stitching and Life in the Company of Pets

Look who I found :)

2010-07-17T18:56:00.004-04:00

I finally found a cute little Gargoyle of my own. Dee has had one for quite some time that she uses to help model projects and I thought he was so cute that I've been in search of one. This little guy turned up at a flea market I was at and so I snatched him up. Haven't decided on a name yet, but I'm leaning towards Claude. What do you all think? Other name suggestions?

So, without further delay I've put him to work helping me show off my most recent finish (doesn't the look on his face make you think he's just feeling so put upon, LOL). Yup, another Pine Mountain pillow. When I get in a stitching slump these really help get me back on track, fun, quick, and the finishing is already done. I enjoyed doing July, and the one before Whoo Loves You, so much I grabbed another out of my stash to start. I have gotten a little bit of stitching started on this, but as is only about 20 stitches of the white I'll wait and post that later.

It's been a busy week, I had two days off and did some fun sightseeing. The first day we went to Chelsea and toured the Jiffy factory seeing how they make and package their mixes (and got some goodies to take home). I went with my parents and we also went to a Teddy Bear Factory and saw them made and learned some of the history of Teddy Bears, also went shopping at all the fun shops in town, had a lovely lunch, and then finished the day with a play at the Purple Rose. We saw Boeing Boeing, cute play. It's based on an old movie with Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis. I hadn't seen the movie before so I got it out of the library and watched it this week too. The second day was spent wandering around Frankenmuth, lots of good food and fun shopping again. Then today we had a family reunion at a local park. Finally squeezed in seeing the new movie Despicable Me this week too. Busy week, now I need to catch up on all the boring things like laundry and grocery shopping that have been put off before the next week starts.

Couple of finishes

2010-07-04T19:26:00.004-04:00

Yup, I've actually got a couple to post, although two are crochet and only one stitching. First up is my completed Whoo Loves You. I really enjoyed doing this little Pine Mountain kit, the colors and design were such fun. This was a Father's day gift to my dad. It seems so hard to find stitched designs for a guy that don't come off as two feminine, and I thought this one worked great. The pillow design he can prop up pretty much anywhere too.

My two crochet finishes were both cat mats, 20x28, for the animal shelter. The once color way you're probably pretty used to by now. That yarn I found on sale seems to last forever. The one in the deep blues was a different yarn that I found, Serenity by Deborah Norville. It is a chunky weight and made for a lovely super squishy cat mat. While the other mats provide pretty colors and some cushion, this one being so thick I think will be great for an older cat who needs a bit more padding to lay on to be comfortable.

As to a new project, I haven't pulled one out yet to start after all. Instead I've spent a bit of time on Trick or Treat Mice. This poor project comes out periodically to be worked on (so far it is a ten year project). I don't know why it is taking so long, I really like it and think the design is just as cute as when I first started it. But somehow...... oh well, I'm sure you all have one of those projects that just doesn't seem to get time even though you still like it. I do need to find another small one to start though, as mice really isn't that easy to pick up and just work on in the spare minute.

For all my friends in the States, hope you're having a safe and enjoyable holiday. Tomorrow I'll be meeting up with my brother and his family for a visit, which means some stitching time with my DSIL too. :)

Woof Top finish :)

2010-06-13T18:57:00.004-04:00

Thankfully this weekend turned out to be pretty nice weather wise, even though they had originally forecasted rain off and on for most of it. Other than some rather heavy mist for a short period, it didn't rain but the overcast sky kept the temperature down. Nice for finally getting the yard mowed, errands ran, and for the picnic I went to today. Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend as well.

On the stitching front, I finally finished my Lizzie Kate Up On The Woof Top (sorry for the wrinkles, it hasn't been ironed yet obviously).
Other than the snow not showing up as much as I'd like, it shows up much less in real life than here, I'm really happy with how it turned out. I originally had a small white pompom for the hat, but then this fun larger red one caught my eye. I lucked out on the lights too. The small clay ones I had would have worked, but Kim had these fun sparkly ones that I think worked so much better. The only area I'm not totally happy with is the snow, the white kind of gets lost on the background so I may need to do something with that, either go over it again to make it puffier or add some glisten gloss to give it a bit more shimmer. I'll probably finish this off as a flatfold like my earlier Just Nan and am looking forward to being able to set it out at Christmas.

While not a lot of stitching has been occurring, I did get a nice start in on Whoo Loves You by Pine Mountain.
this is going fast, and I like the colors. The fabric isn't so nice to work on, but its a small piece so won't have to work with it very long. Then all I'll have to do is pop it in the tuck pillow and I'll have another finish (that's really finish finished). Got to love those tuck pillows.

Actually now I'll need to go stash diving, always such a hardship, LOL, to see what I want my next project to be. I don't have any fixed idea of what I'd like to start next, so I'll just dig around and see what calls to me the loudest and be surprised. :)

Time Warp?

2010-05-23T15:42:00.005-04:00

Ever feel like you've been in a time warp? You look back over the last month or so and wonder where the time went? It past, but you can't quite put your finger on what you did or where it went? That's the way I feel a lot of the time lately I swear, I just don't know where the time goes until suddenly I look at something (like in this case my last blog post) and go OMG has that much time really passed, it seems just the other day. Anyway, I'm back, and hopefully I'll stay a little more in touch with time now. Although, in the summer with so much to do going on now that the weather is getting nicer it is hard to stay home and find some quiet time.

Work is going great, still liking what I'm doing and the people I'm working with. Since it has now been almost four months since I started I think it's going to be a good fit. I'm so happy to have found something I enjoy and that is so close to home.

Wildlife in our area is still the usual squirrels, rabbits, birds and such, but recently a visitor started coming around on a regular basis that I hadn't seen for a while, does this little guy look familiar? Not sure if he's one of the young ones that came last year or not, but he thinks he needs to raid my bird feeders most evenings. Sometimes after finishing at the one he'll climb up to the top of the garage and sit there looking around, take a bath for a bit, and then leave. He does make himself quite at home, and as you can see he's fairly brave with letting me get close enough for a picture (although the flash did make his eyes go all glowing and weird, poor little guy I'll bet he didn't appreciate that).

This week I got a wonderful present from Felicity from an earlier drawing that she had that I was a very lucky winner of, look at these great goodies that came in my mailbox.
I think my favorite is the Eat Sleep Stitch one, I really must make more time for stitching. I seem to have been in a bit of a dry spell on stitching lately and it shows, I'm much more mellow when I stitch. I sat and stitched for a bit yesterday evening and I can't believe how much better I felt afterwards. Of course I was watching (and singing along to, as with the music you just can't help it) Mamma Mia, that is such a fun movie. Thank you so much Felicity for the lovely package.

While not done, I'm almost there on Up on the Woof Top, just a couple words and stringing the lights on the dog house to go. As you can see by the fact this little piece is still not done, I really have hit a dry spell on stitching.

One small new addition to my stash I got at camp earlier and missed posting with my other stash goodies was this cute little guy. I love Pine Mountain pillows, so fun and the finishing is soooo easy. I think this will be my next project as soon as Woof is done.

Finally I'll leave you with a picture of two of my tired out furbabies, not sure what they'd been up to, but they both just crashed and stayed that way long enough for me to actually get a picture for a change. Bug (cat) and Jaz quite often nap together, many times even closer than they are in this shot as Bug will put his little paws up around Jaz's muzzle and snuggle under her chin, who says cats and dogs don't get along, LOL.

We'll I'm off to visit blogs (after I go get the lawn mowed, it's turning into a jungle in our warmer rainy weather, ugh!). Thanks to all who are still visiting my blog with the sporadic way I've been posting, I really do appreciate you and your comments and enjoy keeping up with what you're doing.

Where have I been? CAMP :)

2010-04-03T17:45:00.006-04:00

Yup, I've been absent a while, but I've been busy. The new job is going well, I'm enjoying what I'm doing and the people I'm working with, learning a lot and the days fly by. As to Zoo on facebook, yup still spend to much time playing it there, but I hit the final achievement level so should be slowing down now. Spring finally seems to be sticking around a bit, even seeing flowers, daffodils seem to be early bloomers, here and there. So, Jazmine and I have been doing a bit more walking. This weather is nice, cool enough for her and warm enough for me. Pretty soon I'll ask if she wants a walk and she'll act like I'm crazy to think she'd want to leave her spot by the air conditioner. Hot weather and Jazmine do not go together.

As to what else I've been up to, March means camp Stitch-a-Lot. My DSIL Kim and I go every year, with our first time there being in 1999, it's become quite the tradition. We started the weekend with a road trip to stop at Rocking Horse in Farmington. I love looking at all the gorgeous models they have up in their store, they're awesome. They also have some wonderful shop exclusives. This year I picked up this cute witches hat kit, as did Kim, so you may see it as an upcoming SAL for us.

Isn't it great? I love how it is finished off so it stands up, very fun to be able to put out at Halloween. I also got Checkered Halloween to do, the goofy cat face in the upper left corner is the button for it.

You'd never know I like Halloween would you, LOL. After shopping there for a while we grabbed some lunch and then off to Stitches n Things for some more shopping. Yup, more goodies jumped into my hands. First off, to prove I don't only do Halloween (although it does seem like it) I got this beautiful Christmas Quaker Bellpull pattern.

However, after that, it was back to Halloween. First I saw the frame, then I went searching for the design that Kay's Frames had meant to go in it and found Boo Bird.

I love both Boo Bird and the other design Joy Bird, so I'll probably do both. The purple fabric I saw as I was getting ready to check out. While the design was shown on a natural fabric color, I think it will be a lot of fun to do on the purple. After we finished up at the shop we headed to the hotel. Fun goodie bags as always, large tote with all kinds of surprises inside. There were a couple Silver Lining patterns, which I think are beautiful but a bit intimidating with all the color changes, as well as this fun Sue Hillis design

This I can see me doing. Deb also had Amy Bruecken there as a teacher and her trunk show, and this fun EEK pattern was one I couldn't resist.

Finally on the free table, where people lay out designs they no longer want, I found this cutie

So, do you think I have Christmas and Halloween covered now, LOL. As to stitching, yes that did get done too. I got quite a bit done on my SAL with Kim, and Up on the Woof Top is coming right along, although he really does need a head.

I'm not really happy with how the snow is showing up, although otherwise I really like the fabric I picked. To make the snow show a bit more I think I'll go back over it with a strand of glissen gloss to give it some sparkle.

One other item I worked on at camp was some needlepunch. I started this when my eyes were getting a bit to tired to count.

Well that's all for now, I'll try not to be gone so long till my next post. Now I'm off to try and catch up on what all you've been doing. Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday weekend.

Lots going on

2010-02-21T14:48:00.004-05:00

For being the middle of winter I sure have been busy lately. Normally winter seems to go slower than other months, especially mid-winter around February when I'm getting pretty tired of snow and cold, but lately time is flying by. The last couple of days have been fairly warm (around 38 but still much better than it was) and sunny, so they look pretty out and the snow from the last storm has started to melt pretty good. The streets and sidewalks are nice and clear again, much nicer for taking Jaz for a walk when we are not slip sliding around. I'm glad I was able to get out and about and enjoy it as I saw where they are predicting another storm to come through tonight and tomorrow, forecast is 2-8 inches, yuck!!!

On the accomplishment front I have my taxes done and ready to go. One of the schedules I have to file hasn't gotten the IRS final approval yet, so the actual filing is on hold till they give the ok on the one form, but at least it's done. My DD's are done now too, not to bad for mid February.

On the stitching front I haven't gotten to much accomplished. Here's where I was on my new SAL with Kim as of last weekend. I've gotten a bit more done since this, but I haven't got an updated picture and the difference isn't a whole lot. I'm doing this on 18 ct Light Fiddler's Cloth with a combination of DMC and WDW. I love the color Midnight that I'm using right now, but then it is a blue so that's kind of predictable. :)

Keeping up with the snow and doing taxes wasn't enough to fill up all my time so that I didn't get more stitching done, so what else have I been up to? Well to a lessor extent I'm still playing Zoo on Facebook which my DD got me hooked on, but my largest time commitment is my new job. Yup, all your good wishes and positive thoughts came through for me. I made it through the three interviews and I started work on the first of this month. So far I'm really liking it, the people are really nice and the work is interesting. I'm also extremely lucky on how close to me it is, only about a 10 min. drive, which is wonderful in the winter weather.

That's all for now, hopefully I'll have more stitching done for an up date on my next post.

A finished finish

2010-01-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

Yup, my SAL of Just Nan's Be Scary with my DSIL is now complete including the finishing. We had a lovely day yesterday doing a FAL (finishing along) and we both got our Be Scary pieces finished up. I ended up using some different fabric for the flatfold than I originally planned. I'd totally forgot I had this fabric in my stash, but once I saw it I thought the coloring and pattern size were a much better fit than my previous choice. I'd never done a flatfold before, so Kim walked me through each step and we had a blast. So here's my finish in all its glory.

We also decided on what our next SAL will be. We'll both be doing a piece by Lizzie Kate, but not the same design, just similar in size. Kim will be doing Jolly Men Bearing Gifts (I think that's the right name) and I'm going to do Up on the Woof Top, some fun light hearted pieces.

Hmmm, I see a pattern here, we finished a Halloween piece up a couple months past Halloween, and now we're doing a Christmas piece after Christmas. Oh well, instead of feeling that we are behind in the holidays I'll look at them both as being well ahead of the game for the next one. :)

We'll I'm off to get the rest of my stuff for the tax preparer ready, as I'm supposed to drop it off tomorrow. Don't you just love this time of year, LOL.

Keeping busy

2010-01-18T19:18:00.006-05:00

Yup, that's what I've been doing. Not with stitching, I really need to get going on that again, but with lots of other things. First, my daughter has been here visiting since Jan. 1, she'll be leaving on the 24th so we've had plenty of time to catch up and do things. We've caught a couple movies, Sherlock Holmes and Avatar, both of which I enjoyed. We've watched some old favorites on DVD and she got caught up on the Harry Potter ones she'd missed. In addition she got me hooked on Zoo. I don't do much on Facebook, pretty much the only reason I joined was so I could see the pictures and such she would post as Facebook was what she liked to use. However, she started playing Zoo on Facebook awhile back and so got me hooked while she was here. The animals are so cute, and we have a lot of fun telling each other what is coming up for adoption or gifting to each other on it so that both our Zoo's will grow. Amazing how much time can get lost in computer game land.

As many of you probably remember my daughter worked for Ringling Brothers, in props and then in lighting. Here's a couple pictures of her just having fun

While she's loved working there as she traveled all over the US and got to see so much she never would have otherwise, she's decided its been long enough. Her boyfriend went to another circus a while back and they've been struggling with not being able to see each other due to different touring schedules (and always seeming to be on opposite sides of the US). So.. she's off to Calif. where he's at now so they can be together. Which is why I got the lovely visit from her for almost a month as she's between places.

While she's been here she's also been making me go to the gym. We've gone almost every day since she's been here. While I haven't as yet lost any weight (major bummer) the amount of time I can last on the treadmill and the time on the weight machines has increased, so hopefully I'm getting healthier and the weight will be reflected later. To try and encourage me to keep it up after she leaves she got me this beautiful blue ipod nano. Sorry the picture's not as clear as I'd like, I put it in the protective case before I took its picture, and then couldn't figure out how to get it back out of the case for the picture so its still in it, LOL.
She figures exercising is more fun with good music of your choice (she's right on that one), and she went ahead and loaded it with tons of my favorite music. She even had it engraved as you can see at the top, it says

Just put one foot in front of the other :)

which is kind of my motto. In so many things sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but I just tell myself to just put one foot in front of the other and take it one step at a time. So she had that put on the nano, and it fits as not only my motto but also for exercise too, kind of a double duty saying, LOL.

Finally, while no stitching has been going on I finished three more cat mats. Actually the one in browns needs about three more rows, but it is so close I counted it as done and took its picture with the others.
Thanks for all your good wishes on the job interview. It went well, and there was a follow up last week. So.. waiting to hear what may be decided.

Last post for 2009

2009-12-30T21:23:00.003-05:00

This will be my last post for the year, I still can't believe another year has flown by. This week has been a busy one. I got to the fabric store and found some fun fabric I think will work for the backing on Be Scary for my flatfold.

It's a bit bigger and busier than I'd normally choose, but I liked the purple and thought the pattern was fun. Also, this way it will be fun to look at whether you see the front or the back. Since some of my end tables are set so if I were to put it there you could see the back as you enter the room, this will make it a bit more interesting. At least I hope, anyway. What do you all think? Look ok? Do you like it? Or, do you think I should try to find a bit smaller print?

Also, while I was at the store I found two other fun pieces of fabric. The hot cocoa and candy cane one will be fun for a Christmas piece, and the hearts will be perfect for a Valentine's one. Just what I need, more stash, LOL. However, they don't take up much room. In addition, I had a coupon for $10 of product, with no purchase necessary so, actually it was all free stash. Pretty good huh!

So what else is new? My DD will be home for a visit. She's flying in New Year's Day. I'm so excited. It's been quite a while since she's been home. In addition, hope you'll all keep your fingers crossed for me and send good wishes my way because I got a call for a job interview. My interview is for next Wednesday morning.

Hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve, and I'll see you next year. :)

It's finished

2009-12-25T19:48:00.007-05:00

It's finished, I can't believe how quickly this piece went. I started it on Thanksgiving and finished up the other evening, that may be a record for me. This was such a fun piece. I can't believe it's been in my stash waiting to be done for so long. Doing this as a SAL with my DSIL was just the motivation I needed. So here in all its glory is Just Nan's Be Scary on 32 ct. Belfast Linen (not sure on the color). Ignore the owl charm being a bit cockeyed (it really does hang straight normally), I didn't notice till after I was ready to post the picture it was slanted, and it's to dark now to get a good replacement photo.

I've never done a flat fold before, but Kim has. Now I just need to find a time that we both have free so she can help me finish it off. She's close to being done with hers too, so we'll be able to finish them off at the same time as she wants to do hers as a flat fold also.

My other finish this week was the cat mat I started the end of November (the one with yellow/orange/purple/green). This one was done in a chunky yarn so is quite squishy, perfect for a little older kitty to nap on that needs more cushion. Size wise it is 20x28 inches, same as the others have been.

With these two finishes I'm up to 12 knit or crochet finishes this year and 11 crossstitch finishes, 23 in total. This compares to the same number last year, but last year I had 9 knit/crochet and 14 crossstitch, so the mix was a little different. With the little time left in the year, I don't anticipate many more finishes, but as I'm a little over halfway done with another cat mat, should have one more done by year end. With one more finish, I'll have completed one more project this year than last, not to bad.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful and safe holiday.

Bats and a Cat

2009-12-16T10:14:00.004-05:00

Couldn't think of a good title today and Bats and a Cat is all that came to mind as those were going to be my pictures, so that's what I went with. First off Bats, here is my current progress with Just Nan's Be Scary.

This is a fun stitch, the witches were a bit of a pain as the colors kept shifting, and since they weren't very big, and there were three of them, it meant quite a bit of stopping and starting. However, other than the little bead for each ones buckle they are done. I haven't done any of the beading on this yet. There isn't a lot, so shouldn't take very long to get it done once the stitching is finished.

I made pretty good headway on this as I just finished listening to the book on CD Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich while I was stitching. Her books are so funny, I had to stop stitching occasionally as I was laughing to hard to be able to place my needle. However, it was kind of odd too. I got a call from the library that the material I'd ordered was ready for pick up. I couldn't remember what I'd ordered, as didn't remember ordering anything. When I got there and saw the book on CD it hit me. I'd requested this back when it came out, a number of months ago. At that time I was working, and listened to books on CD while I commuted. I'd planned to listen to this then but I was so far down the request list that I knew it would be a while. Well my time to have it finally came up, but I had to listen at home as no job commute any more, really seemed odd, and brought home the fact once again I'm between jobs. Funny how little things can impact you all over again like that.

However, on the plus side, on occasion I'm sure other drivers I pass on the road have wondered if I'm crazy as listening to her stories I'd get laughing quite hard in the car. At home listening just had the fur bodies to wonder about me. The cats pretty much ignored me, but then cats for the most part are pretty laid back. Jaz on the other hand every time I'd start laughing she'd get up and look around like she was saying what? what am I missing? Then since she was up she'd come over to see if a) she could have a scratch b) I wanted to play c) she could have a treat or d) if I she could go out. Dogs have a pretty straight forward thought pattern, LOL. So far she's loved my being home, the novelty of being able to play I want to go out, I want to come in, go out, come in, go out,...... still hasn't worn off. I know one furperson who will not be happy when I find a job. The cats on the other hand, well, here is a picture that pretty much shows how they spend the day.

Other than meal times and some snuggling at the end of the day, I'm not sure they will register to much difference as long as they have a full kibble bowl and a sunbeam. :)

Slipping in under the wire

2009-11-30T14:49:00.005-05:00

With today's post I'm just slipping in getting in two posts this month, however, with one being on the 1st and the second on the 30th saying two in a month may be stretching it a bit much. This has been a busy month though, so hopefully next month will show a bit more in the posting area.

Week before last my daughter was close enough to visit (only about an hour and a half away) so I got to visit her twice. The first time I went with my parents as they hadn't seen her in quite a while and we went out to eat and just visited. The second day I went and picked her up and we went to lunch and had fun shopping and wandering around a large mall that was near the arena she was working at. The mall had those lovely massaging chairs, so we treated ourselves to some luxury time in those as well. Then last week was Thanksgiving. We went off for a family retreat, my parents, my brother and his family, and myself for a couple days at a state campground that has a resort lodge on site. Lots of good food, fun, and catching up. The weather was a bit colder than I'd have liked, and a bit damper, but for late November not to bad. There have been a number of years where we've had snow, sleet, or ice (or a mix of all three), so just having cold and damp wasn't to bad an option.

The last day of work for me was the 13th of this month, they officially closed the doors of the building. It was hard saying a final farewell to those of us that were still there. However, the timing worked well as I was able to spend time with my daughter and take time at Thanksgiving that I would not have gotten otherwise. Hopefully something turns up in the near future, two weeks off has been enough down time, although with Christmas coming up I've no doubt I can keep busy.

As to what crafty stuff I've been up to this past month, I've finished one cat mat for the local shelter and started another.

Also, I've made some nice headway on Trick or Treat Mice.

Finally, over Thanksgiving when my DSIL and I were together for the family retreat we started our SAL, Be Scary by Just Nan. I got some serious stitching time in and managed to get about half way done. This is looking so cute.

Kim got a good start on hers as well. In addition, I finished up a quick scarf for the elder project my mother works on. She knits scarfs all year and then donates to the local elder project, no senior left behind, who put the scarfs and other items that are donated into baskets that they distribute to the elderly in our community that might otherwise not receive any Christmas gifts. It was fun to be able to add to her scarf stash for the project.

Well, that pretty much catches up on what I've been up to. Now I'm off to see what all you've been up too. Also, to let Jaz out again. She is really enjoying mom being home, having a grand time playing the I want to go out, I want to come in, I want to go out, I want to.....She's going to have quite an adjustment once I find another job after all this spoiling. Oh well, at 13 I'll humor her, besides, I can't resist those eyes she manages to look at me with, yup, I'm a pushover.

Halloween

2009-11-01T17:42:00.004-05:00

Hope you all had a good Halloween, it was really busy in my neighborhood. There were so many little ones out and they looked so cute all dressed up. It was chilly and damp, but not anywhere near as cold (or pouring rain, snow, sleet) as we've had in other years, so the kids could show off their costumes.

As to my Halloween stitching, I've made a bit more progress on Trick or Treat Mice. I've finally finished up the pumpkin and have most of the little witch mouse done. While I didn't get it done this year for Halloween, I'm pleased with the progress I have made since I picked this one back up a while ago. After sitting as a pitiful UFO for almost 10 years, it is finally moving again. If I keep with it, it should be done and available for displaying next year at Halloween.

Kim and I finally settled on what our next SAL will be, Be Scary by Just Nan. It was a toss up between this and couple of others (Shepherd's Bush Goblins was second up). However, this doesn't look like it will be too large a project, so may have a go at Goblins afterwards. We'll be starting our SAL at Thanksgiving, as we'll be together and can do the first stitches then. I've got it all kitted and ready to go. For fabric, I'll be using a 32 ct. light Mocha Belfast Linen. I did two of Just Nan's Moon Riders on it earlier and liked how they turned out, and the coloring of those and Be Scary looks to be similar.

Well off to take care of chores so have things ready to start the week tomorrow. Just two weeks left now and we'll be walking out the door and turning out the lights. Needless to say, the atmosphere at work is a bit on the depressing side. To lighten it up a bit last week I hit the dollar stores and found all kinds of fun Halloween decorations. Then, last Monday I got in early and decorated the place up and had donuts for treats when the others came in. The looks of surprise were so worth it, and I think it made the atmosphere a bit better this last week seeing the fun decorations too. So this weekend I picked up some fun Thanksgiving ones and I'll be in early tomorrow switching out Halloween for the Turkeys and Scarecrows. :)

Daylight savings time for us was this weekend, so I got an extra hour of sleep last night, that will help too. Did everyone remember to adjust their clocks that had this? This year I remembered, but last year I forgot and then couldn't figure out why things weren't running on "my" time, LOL. Still need to set my car clock though, for some reason remembering how to do that is always so hard.

Where does the time go?

2009-10-11T18:04:00.003-04:00

Wow, I just don't know where time goes sometimes. I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Busy at work, finishing things up so they can close (very depressing), and busy at home.

On the home front we had friends visiting from Massachusetts, so spent time with them. Also, managed to catch two plays put on by local theater groups, both were wonderful. They did a great job, and both were funny, perfect for a evening out when you wanted to laugh and forget things for a while. Finally, my daughter was in the area, so I got to go visit her and spend a day running around and catching up. I'm always happy when the circus she's with is nearby and I get a chance to see her, it doesn't happen any where near enough.

Some of my time has also gone to a new game I found and am becoming addicted to. I've never been much on Sudoku, but I just discovered KenKen. KenKen is similar to Sudoku, but uses solving simple math equations in it (add, subtract, multiply, and divide). It's fun, and I get a feeling of accomplishment when I finish a puzzle. Also, since these types of mental workouts are supposed to help keep your mind sharp, I figure I'm doing something good for myself at the same time (now if I'd just lose the 30 or so extra pounds I need to as well). Oh well, one step at a time.

Now onto some stitchy/crafty stuff. First off, I want to show the lovely gift I won in Ranae's drawing. I knew I'd won the delightful cat fob, but the wonderful fabric and ribbon that she sent with it were a surprise. Just perfect for a Halloween junkie like me.

Here's a larger picture of the fabric, isn't it fun?

In between my running around and other activities, I did manage to finish off two more blankets for the local animal shelter. Both are 20x28 inches as usual.

Finally, I've made some more headway on Trick or Treat Mice

I'm almost done with the orange and can start with some of the other colors and am so glad. While I love Halloween, I'm getting quite sick of orange in all its various shades. You can just see the start of where the little mouse witch will be in the lower right corner (her broomstick and corner of her hat showing where they'll start against where the orange stopped).

We'll I'm off to see what all you're up to. Hope you're all doing well and have managed to avoid the flu and such that is going around. I just got my flu shot this weekend, so am hoping not to have to deal with it this year.

Little of this and a little of that

2009-09-13T16:42:00.006-04:00

Not much going on, still pretty busy at work trying to organize things and wind things down so they can transfer stuff to the new office in Chicago. My last day is still targeted for mid Nov., so have about two months left.

With everything going on, not very much stitching happening. However, in the short periods of time I've had available I've managed to finish another cat mat. I also have another mat almost done, but I'll post that one later when it is finished (hopefully I'll have some stitching progress to go with it).

I really like the colors In the mat I just finished, I think it would make a lovely scarf. However, the yarn is a bit scratchy (it was Red Heart's Super Saver), so would want it in a different fiber for a scarf, something softer.

Also, it just occurred to me I didn't post some lovely stitchy stash I got for my birthday earlier from my DSIL Kim. She got me Halloween House by Shepherd's Bush, along with the buttons and DMC that it uses. I'd been eyeing this one since it came out, it will make a fun companion piece to go with Goblins. Now I have to decide if I want to work on this one first or Goblins first if we do a Shepherd's Bush SAL this fall. We've also been looking at a couple Just Nan ones for our next SAL too, so I'll have to wait and see which way we go.

Kim just finished her Red Thread piece by Bent Creek (it turned out lovely so you should hop over to her blog and check it out, link in previous paragraph). We'll be starting our next SAL in Nov., so we need to decide by then what we'll pick to work on so we can be ready to start. So far our SAL's have worked great at keeping us motivated, and we've finished two larger designs this year that might not have made it otherwise (actually probably wouldn't have made it without us pushing each other to stay focused).

The other new bit of fun I got was Jim Shore's Cat in a Witches Hat isn't it great? I love his hat and the bird sitting on his tail. The picture is a bit washed out in color, the table topper he's on and his base and hat are more purple in real life. I've admired his pieces for a while but didn't have one. We went to Frankenmuth this past weekend, and in Bronner's there was a display of Jim Shore's pieces. I just couldn't pass up this little guy, even if he wasn't a Christmas piece. :)
I have him on an end table now where I have the table topper you see pictured with him that I made a couple years back. The purples in the topper and the purples in the cat's hat and base go great together. I was really tempted to pick up this little Leprechaun piece too, but figured I'd better save him for another time, he's a cutie though. Here's wishing you all the blessing he's saying

First Stitches

2009-08-30T10:38:00.008-04:00

Well, not really the first, but the first in about 10 years. I finally did some work on a UFO that I last worked on about 10 years ago. Back in March of either '98 or '99 I started Trick or Treat Mice. It was back before I had even thought about working on anything except aida. While the black aida was a bit more difficult to work on than the lighter colors I'd used, it didn't seem to bad. However, after working on it for several hours a day a couple days in a row (I was at a retreat, so had three days of uninterrupted stitching time, so it was getting around 10+ hours each of the first two days), I started to get a headache.

Instead of switching projects, I kept going. By the time I put it down I had such a nasty headache I was quite nauseous, and then I still had the drive home, not a good arrangement at all. After that, every time I went to pick it up, I found I just didn't want to work on it. I'd think about working on it off and on over the years, but never got myself to actually do it, I'd always switch to another project. Last year, I set working on this as one of my goals. While I didn't actually stitch on it, I did at least get it off the old heavy scroll bars it was on and put onto some smaller lighter Q snaps (which I much prefer working with and I didn't know about back when I started Mice).

Three weeks ago I decided I'd make myself do at least a few stitches, and I gave it about an hour. Since then, while I've not given it a lot of time, I have worked on it a bit more. I still find I have to push myself to pick it up, but once I start working on it I enjoy it. Hopefully after a while I won't have to push so much to pick it up and work on it. So, here's where I am now (the coloring here is actually pretty close to what it looks like)
and here's where it was when I left it over 10 years ago (this is much more orange/red than it really is).
Not a lot of headway, but I think it can now qualify as a WIP again rather than a very old UFO. My goal is to give it at least a half hour to an hour each week.

In addition to Mice, I finished up the multicolor cat mat I was working on.
While you probably won't see a lot of Mice, as I don't imagine it will progress quickly, please give me a poke now and then if you don't see it at all. I'd really like to get it done, as the little guys are so cute. Here's what it will look like finished.

Couple of finishes

2009-08-15T15:49:00.006-04:00

Yup, my needle's been fairly busy. Although, since they are a bit on the smaller side, it sounds more impressive than it really is. However, I'm pleased with my progress.

First up is my finished Ribbit. This was a SanMan Originals design and tuck hanger, done using DMC on 28ct. White Monaco.

Next up is Pretty Wicked by Just Nan. This came as a kit with the fun frame and mat. She's stitched on 30 ct. Peoria Purple linen again with DMC.

And finally, you saw the finish earlier, but now I have it framed, Six Bats and a Witches Hat by Blue Ribbon Designs on 32 ct. Lakeside Linen in Lentil, using DMC (if you click you can see the great marbling that the Lentil has).

And finally, I'll leave you with a picture of the little visitor that seems to come each evening to munch the grass. I love watching all the wildlife that decides to run around in the back (you'll probably need to click to enlarge to see the little guy in the center).

Flowers and a new start

2009-08-02T13:29:00.008-04:00

I almost never plant things, as a gardener I am not. Pretty much anything I try and grow dies. I've even managed to kill a Hosta, which according to a gardener friend of mine should pretty much have been impossible. However, earlier this spring my DM gave me a lovely planter, and so far I've managed to keep it alive, in fact I think it looks pretty darn good.
I've kept it outside by the side of my garage, so I get to enjoy it coming and going, and I can also see it from the kitchen window when I do dishes. Having it in view so much has also probably helped me remember to keep it watered, which may account for why it is still alive. So, with that brief momentary positive feeling, I decided to plant my flower box. I planted some marigolds there a number of years ago, and they actually didn't do to bad, so I decided to try it again. I couldn't find any marigold plants this time, so went with mums (in the front) and Angelonia (in the back) as they both said they liked a lot of sun. So far, so good, here is what I have.
The above picture was taken a couple weeks ago, and at the moment it doesn't look so hot. I forgot to deadhead the flowers, so I ended up with lots of dead blooms and the new ones couldn't bloom like they should. I got out yesterday and deadheaded them all, so hopefully I'll have lovely new blooms soon.

As to stitching, after finishing up Six Bats, I decided to go with something a bit smaller to get that lovely quick fix feeling. I started Ribbit, a small tuck design by SanMan Originals, which I'm doing on 28 ct white Monaco.
Isn't he a fun little guy? My other start was another cat mat, I'm loving the colors on this one.
We'll that's all I've got going on, other than trying to get used to a new haircut before work tomorrow. I went for a trim, but to a different stylist. And..... our ideas of a trim must be a bit different as it is a fair bit shorter than I'd planned on. Oh well, hair does grow doesn't it. Also, possibly it is just a bit of me having trouble with it looking different than I'd planned, I don't necessarily do change well.

It's Done :)

2009-07-23T19:16:00.008-04:00

Yup, it's finally done. I almost posted my progress this past weekend, but I was soooo close I decided to wait. While I didn't make the end of May I thought at one point I would, I finished quite a bit before Oct., my original target. I'll have plenty of time to get it framed up for Halloween this year. The coloring is a little washed out here, my prior post was a truer picture of the subtle shading in the fabric and its normal color.

Six Bats and a Witches Hat by Blue Ribbon Designs

Using DMC, and I think Lentil by Lakeside Linens

Not much else going on, I did manage to catch the sneak that's been getting into my bird feeder though, here's a couple of pictures of my little masked burglar.

No one sees me sneaking up to the feeder, I'll act like I'm innocently passing by

Just need to stretch a little more, almost there

What, all that work and no treats inside? I need to complain to the management!

Quite the cutie, huh. However, I do with he'd (she'd?) not knock down the feeder, it makes such a mess normally, which is probably his intention. However, as you can see in this case he was a little early and I hadn't refilled the feeder yet.

And then there were - none :)

2009-07-03T10:55:00.005-04:00

Well, no squares left that is. I've gotten all the squares done on Six bats and a Witch's Hat and just have the border left. So, here's how Six Bats looks now. The border is so repetitive, really no counting involved. Hopefully with just this little bit left I can stay focused on it and get it done. If I finish by the end of July, I'll have time to do the actual finishing and be able to have it for this coming Halloween. Although the end of July is a bit later than I thought a while ago that I'd get it done by, I had thought maybe the end of May, it is still earlier than the October timeline I'd originally targeted for this one.

I loved doing all the little squares, they were quite like individual finishes and completing each was a fun quick sense of accomplishment. However, with everything that started to happen at work, even the little bit of counting that entailed recently seemed to much for my mind to handle at the end of the day. While work is still crazy, with the way the border is designed, I'll be able to work on that even when I am brain dead in the evening. They finally decided what they were going to do with our office. I'd mentioned earlier the plant attached to our building was closing, but as we had other plants, they weren't sure what they'd do with our office, so the uncertainty has been fairly hard on the nerves. In addition, as people were let go, or decided to leave, the work load kept shifting, causing some issues there as well. Well they decided to move the office to another state, which for a variety of reasons is not possible for me. So...in the near future I'll be job hunting. I'll have a bit of time as they still need to train new people and transition the work our office does, but the end is in sight. Hopefully I can find something fairly quickly, but the job statistics that came out for June sure weren't promising, and Michigan seems to be fairing worse than a lot of other states employment wise to begin with.

Now, onto something a little more positive. Yesterday I spent a wonderful day with my DSIL Kim. We went shopping in the morning at Stitching Bits and Bobs and then spent all afternoon stitching. While I've been to SBB's website, we'd never actually been able to visit the store. We had a lovely time looking around, and I bought myself some early birthday stash as they were having a 20% off sale. Here are the goodies I got. The first two I picked up were Waxing Moon Designs, Hocus Pocus and Simply Halloween

I loved the layout of these two, with the little motifs mixed in. Add in the fact they were Halloween themes and I couldn't resist.

The other design I couldn't resist was Bless My Garden by Val's Stuff

The little rabbit had such a cheeky grin as he was stealing the flower and holding it in his mouth. Almost like he was saying Hee Hee Hee, look what I got. This was also done as a shop model, which was even cuter done up. I also got the supplies to do this little guy.Aren't the colors wonderful? The fabric is 28 ct. linen in Water Cress so will be easy on my eyes. While not Halloween, I loved the bright fun colors and am really looking forward to working on this.

Finally I got two lovely items in the mail too. First off, Dee earlier finished Summer Foursome by Pine Mountain. I love Pine Mountain tuck designs, and this was so cute. She was offering the pattern as she was done with it, and I was the lucky recipient. So I'll have that to work on. Also,Blue Ribbon Designs recently had a contest and I was one of six winners of one of her lovely designs. We got to chose which design we'd like, and I chose Postcard from Paradise. This will be a very fun summery piece to do. Well I think that's about all for now, so now I'm off to try and catch up on what all you've been doing.

Cat Mats and Stashing

2009-05-31T16:07:00.005-04:00

Well in my last post I said I thought I'd be done with Six Bats the end of May. Funny how things don't seem to work out the way you plan sometimes. Since my last picture I've only completed one and a half more squares, not even enough for an updated picture. I've got to get moving on this, my SAL partner Kim is done with hers and I'd like to be done with mine now by the end of June. Kim's Luck, Letters, and Leprechauns turned out wonderfully. I love the greens, at some point I want to stitch this for myself as well.

While I haven't gotten in much stitching, I've just been to tired when I get home to focus, I have gotten four cat mats done for the animal shelter. These are so easy to make and really don't require much focus. I did three in double crochet and the fourth is knitted, they all measure about 20x28 inches. They should give a small furry body a soft place to snuggle up. I'll be dropping these off along with some dog chewies we have. The chewies are a basted, stuffed, rawhide roll that Sasha used to love. However, all Jazmine wants to do is lick the basting off and then ignore them. So, I'll get Jaz some of the type she likes more and give the several packages of the ones I had on hand of the other to the shelter where a dog there may appreciate them a bit more than just for the outside basting.

While I haven't been stitching much, I did do a bit of shopping when Stitches n Things had their recent sale. I timed it for when they did their Memorial weekend one and got a nice discount on these goodies. I actually had to take the picture twice as the first shot I had a helper that covered up the lovely Lizzie Kate ones I got.
As cute as Isis is, and she certainly thinks she's helpful, I did want to show the fun Halloween ones. With these last three Halloween flips I have the whole series now. I'm so looking forward to doing this. Ranae just finished this series on a great green fabric and it looks wonderful (her May 13 entry). The other goodie was Beach Cottage, I love the blues and it reminds me a bit of the cottage my grandparents had on the lake that I used to visit often when I was younger.

Well that's it for now, hopefully my next post won't be so long in coming as this one was and I'll have a nice update (if not a finish) of Six Bats.

And then there were 10

2009-04-19T11:12:00.004-04:00

Well, ten squares and the border that is. From the original 81 squares and border I'm down to just 10 and the border to do. My griding of all the little boxes is done, and, surprise, surprise, they all ended up lining up. With all the stupid mistakes I've made in this I figured I'd be off somewhere, but I wasn't. How hard can it be to place an X correctly in a small, already defined, square, or to put the correct design in the correct box? Evidently for me, and as brain dead as I've been lately, it was to much of a challenge. However, Six Bats is a very forgiving pattern, and in almost all cases I was able to work around my errors and most I can't even find anymore. So, here is my current progress

This is going much faster than I thought it would when I first started it with Kim as a SAL. Her piece, Luck, has moved even quicker for her (she's down to 9 squares and just 3 sides of the border left). My original thought when we first picked it was to do about 3 squares a week and finish up early Oct. I've been able to average closer to 5 squares a week, and am looking to being done by the end of May.

We haven't decided what our next SAL will be, Lizzy Kate's word series Living with Charm was our SAL before our current one, but at the moment we seem to be leaning towards Shepherd's Bush. Kim has Wandering Shepherd and I have The Goblins (you'd never know I liked Halloween projects would you, LOL). These are both kits and as they are already in our respective stash piles it's a plus too.

A finish and camp stash

2009-04-04T16:32:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I just don't know where the time goes. It's been two weeks since I've been here, and over two weeks since I was able to visit blogs. Hopefully I'll be able to start catching up soon. As to what I've been doing, work seems to be taking up a larger portion of my time. We've had a couple plant closures and layoffs. So while I'm thankful I still have a job, the stress level, and amount of things to be dealt with, have definitely increased. In addition, road construction season has begun, so my normal rather long daily commute just got longer. Therefore, not a whole lot of stitching going on due to just not as many hours in the day.

I have managed one finish. The SanMan board is having a Twelve days of Halloween stitch along where we are doing one Halloween pattern a month. I just finished the February one, given it just turned April, not especially on time, but still a finish (forgive the wrinkles I haven't ironed it yet).

Like my earlier one, this was also done on 18ct Light Fiddler Cloth with DMC.

Not enough of progress on Six Bats since my last post to show, so that will be for another post. However, I do have my new stash from camp to show

These Blue Ribbon Designs were some I've had my eye on since they first turned up, and the little Love Birds by Miss Crescents Colours I just thought were so cute they hopped (or fluttered) right into my basket too.

Quaker Gone Tropic was also on my wish list from the time it appeared. I won't be doing it with the Silk n Colors it calls for, instead I decided on these four by Cresent Colours. I think they are gorgeous and can't wait to get this one started. When Kim and I go to Camp Stitch a Lot we always start out with a preliminary road trip. Rocking Horse in Farmington has an awesome display of finished models, so we start out there. While there I picked up the cute little Ghost kit. He comes with the pattern, fabric, floss, and frame and is one of their shop exclusives. After Rocking Horse we stop for lunch and then move onto Deb's. All my other goodies were from my shopping trip to Stitches n Things. After we finished up there, it was onto camp for the weekend.

Once I got to camp, here are are the free designs I got. Generally every year at camp people bring patterns that they no longer plan on doing and put them on the swap table. These three caught my eye right off. I love the little mice on Mini Creations, and the words (especially the crows) were just to fun. Finally, who could resist the Go For It with the surprised cat.

In addition to my earlier goodies, we got goodie bags from Deb. These were just some of the fun stuff in my bag (which was a fantastic oversized plastic tote that will hold large projects wonderfully). Unfortunately I waited to long to take a picture of my goodie bag stuff and some of it has already been eaten or moved and I couldn't find it. Then after I got this picture I realized I'd forgotten my lovely carry bag it all came in. Oh well, you get the idea of the goodies.

Camp Stitch a Lot just flew by way to fast. With all the fun chatter, munching, seeing what everyone was working on, and seeing the class projects that were taught it was a fantastic weekend. Sunday Kim and I headed back home stopping to eat and then at JoAnn's. I had two 40% off coupons and there is one of the large JoAnn's right off the highway we were on. We each got a large roll of Monaco fabric (20x24 inches) for about $3, not a bad way to end the weekend. Monaco, with being an evenweave and having such nice holes to see, is what I'm thinking of doing Quaker Gone Tropic on, as the white should really make the colors I picked pop. I wanted a plain white rather then colored fabric so it wouldn't compete with the colors I picked. However, my fabric choice may very well change by the time I start.

Well I'm off to take Jaz for a nice slow and short walk. The previous lump on her leg, while it went down some, wouldn't totally go away, and it kept bleeding a little. With the lump and not healing, the vet suggested the lump really should come out so it could be checked and I agreed. So... Jaz also had surgery this past week (told you it's been crazy lately). The lump turned out to be a nasty cyst that was under the skin far enough it wouldn't heal. The cyst is gone now, and Jaz's leg is working on healing up. We'll go back next week to have the stitches out. In the meantime, short walks, no running, jumping, etc... Good thing in a way she's 12, as running and jumping really aren't what she's into much anymore anyway. Unless she sees a squirrel to close to her, all bets seem to be off if a squirrel in her yard seems to get to bold.

Framing, a finish, progress, and a visitor

2009-03-23T18:55:00.006-04:00

First up, the framing I actually stayed focused this past week and got my framing of Joyful Summer done. This is the frame I got for $10. It's wood, but not the normal brown tones, it has an underlying hint of a greenish/blue cast to it which I thought picked up the green and blue colors in the piece. I started looking at regular wood frames first, but they seemed to harsh next to the piece. It's now up and hanging and I smile when I pass it. Summer really does seem to be on its way, as lately the weather seems to be much improved. Fingers crossed it stays that way, however, it's early yet for Michigan so we still may get another burst of winter before spring is here to stay.

Next up is my new finish I did this for my daughter, I'm going to tuck it into her Easter card. She has a small stuffed mouse that travels all over with her, it's kind of her mascot. Checkers went to college with her, traveled to work at Disneyworld two summers, did an alternate break in the Florida everglades working with alligators, went all over Italy/Spain/France/England when she had a student exchange, and now goes all over the country with her on the circus train. Checkers is quite the well traveled mouse. So, I thought another little mouse would make a fun companion to hang on her wall. This was a flat tuck and design by SanMan Originals done on 28 ct. Monaco and quite fun to do.

I also got quite a bit done on Six Bats and a Witches Hat This piece is moving quite quickly. Of course it helped that I had quite a bit of uninterrupted time to work on it this weekend, since I was working on Cheese earlier in the week, but more on my weekend in a bit.

Finally, here's an update on the newest visitor to be captured for my wildlife in the city pictures.

Isn't he (she?) a cutie. Normally I don't care for possums, their tail is kind of nasty looking. However, I just thought he was so cute hanging out in the bush. When I first went out he was on the ground by my bird feeder, but when he saw me he scooted off into the bush and climbed up the fence. However, he must have felt safe in the bush, as he stayed there while I went in and got my camera and came back out. I was able to get within about 5 ft. of him, with him just looking at me. If I focus on his face, with his little pink nose, I do think he's kind of cute. Needless to say Jaz wanted to come out and say hi too, but I figured that might not go over to well, so Jaz had to stay inside until he finally ambled off (she was not to pleased with that).

As to my weekend, I got quite a bit of stitching in as I was at Camp Stitchalot this past weekend, which was hosted by Stitches n Things. I had a wonderful time, lots of chatting, munching, stitching, and laughs. I'll post some pictures of my lovely new stitchy stash later, as well as tell a little about all we did. In closing, thanks to all of you for your continued good wishes for Jaz. Her leg seems to be doing much better, the bump has gone down quite a bit. It still has to stay wrapped until it is totally gone, but it seems that with just a little more time she'll be back to normal with no more medicine or anything needed.

A finish, a visit, and some awards

2009-03-15T11:01:00.008-04:00

Well it's done, and just in time for the start (hopefully) of some lovely spring like weather. I finished up Joyful Summer by Country Cottage Needleworks the other evening.

I loved working on this piece. The fabric color (blue is my favorite) and the fun and colorful birds and flowers made me smile. This was a perfect pick me up piece. The fabric is 28 ct Little Boy Blue linen and I used Crescent Colours (always lovely to work with) and DMC. Even the french knots in this worked well for me (and those usually I have a horrible time getting to look right). Yesterday I was over at JoAnns and found a frame I liked on sale for $10. It was one that had artwork in it, so I'll need to open it up and take the current picture out and then frame this up, but I think it will look good when done, and $10 for a nice frame is hard to beat.

Yesterday I spent the day at Kim's. It had been a while since we (my parents and I) had been able to visit my brother and his family, and since the weather was bright and sunny, everyone was well at the moment, and my brother is having his birthday this week we headed there for the day. We had a lovely visit, went out for pizza, and Kim and I got to stitch some. It is so nice having a SIL that I can not only count as a good friend but that also shares my love of stitching. We got to compare our progress on our BRD SAL that we are doing. While we'd seen the design and fabric we were going to use, we hadn't gotten together to see each others progress since we'd started. Luck is so cute in real life, I'll enjoy stitching it when we swap patterns. I also got to see several others of Kim's recent finishes, and got to show off Joyful Summer. A very fun day.

Recently I received two awards, the first is from Lizzie
Thanks Lizzy, it is such fun to have a place like blogger to show off our stitchy finishes, furbabies, and such. Now I am supposed to list my five addictions and also nominate five bloggers...

As for my addictions, only five hmmm that's a challenge
- My daughter, she's the light of my life and challenges me to try things that are out of my comfort zone. Also, she's the only one I can actually say has ran away and joined the circus, yup, she's the adventuresome type (she so does not take after me in that way).
- My furbabies, they're always so glad to see me no matter what, especially if I come bearing treats. :)
- My stitching, I love being able to see it grow, know I'm creating it, and it is my stress reliever and helps keep me sane in this crazy world
- My books, I love to read, and will read just about anything. It's a wonderful escape from everyday issues, and as with stitching keeps the stress at a lower level and me reasonably sane.
- My treats, Chocolate, Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Chai tea or Mocha Cappuccinos, all so yummy (now if I could just get addicted to exercise to offset them a bit, LOL).

I'm supposed to name five others for this award, it is so hard to chose, I love all your blogs and would really give this to everyone. But lets see, to keep the award moving

I also got this fun award from Judy Thanks, Judy, I love to get comments and so try to comment on others.

Again, I need to pass this on to five other bloggers, all of whom I think have wonderful blogs to look at, as well as leaving such lovely comments. Again, it is so hard to pick out just a few. Really, if I visit your blogs I think you're all awesome.

Well, it is bright and sunny so I'm off to do errands. While still cold (only about 40F), there is no snow and we've got beautiful sun. Spring may be on its way.

Spring and hot pink accessories

2009-03-07T21:34:00.007-05:00

Ok, I'm just to impatient to wait for spring, I needed a spring fix and I needed it now. So, what to do you when you need spring and it's not here yet? You stitch it :)

With that said, this week was my mother's birthday, she really enjoys gardening and always has such beautiful flowers and such. As part of her present I decided to make her this to hang by her back window where she can see a large section of her garden.

It's a SanMan Originals design, and the little tuck to finish it with came with it. I used 28ct antique white Monaco and DMC. Monaco is such an easy fabric to stitch on, and so easy on the eyes. Other than a couple times, the frogs were quite kind and didn't bother me at all.

After I finished Garden, I picked up Joyful Summer by CCN which kind of got put on hold when I was working so much on Six Bats.

I love this design. Blue is my favorite color, so I love looking at it. In addition, the coloring and the little birds are such fun and so cute. As with Garden, so far the frogs have been kind on this one too, even the french knots for the eyes have gone well. I've just started putting in the last row on the bottom, so as you can see it just fits into the Q's. Only a couple leaves and a couple small flowers to go and I'll have another finish. Isn't this a great spring piece.

On a final note, I'll leave you with a picture of Miss Jazmine, who seems to think her life is quite hard at the moment. We've been getting a bit of rain lately, which she doesn't like (think wicked witch of the west and an I'm melting scenario when she has to go out). If she had her way I'd go out with her and hold an umbrella for her each time. Water she likes, wade in it, splash, roll around and then come back in the house and shake (joy, wet dog smell). However, falling on her head, nope not in her idea of what is acceptable. In addition, she has a nasty lump on her leg with a sore in the middle. Off to the vets we went so it could be checked out. Not sure what caused it, but now that she has it she won't leave it alone. Not infected, so she doesn't need antibiotics (thankfully), but very itchy. So now we have topical cream for the itch and healing, and have to keep it wrapped so she leaves it alone.

Doesn't the hot pink legging brighten things up? And this is the poor pitiful look she keeps giving me. Ignore the bit of paper on her lower lip, she'd just got through trying to get some goodies out of, or should I say through, a grocery bag when I wasn't looking, she's so helpful at times, and I didn't notice a piece had stuck until after the picture. Not sure why the coloring is so off in the picture, in reality the bandage is hot pink and the carpet beige, somehow everything ended up with a yellow cast. By the end of this if I'm not careful she'll have gained several pounds as she seems to think pitiful looks get cookies, and so far it's working (I'm such a pushover).

Half way there

2009-02-28T20:12:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last post. While I don't post as frequent as many, I do generally update once a week. However, life in general seems to be a bit overwhelming at times at the moment. This seems to be the case for many of us with everything going on given what seems to be in so many blogs. One of the things I'm thankful for is my stitching. It really does help me to destress at the end of the day. Somehow after an hour or so of stitching, other things seem to be a bit more manageable. Six bats has been such a perfect project, I don't think I could do a more complicated one at the moment. It is amazing the mistakes I seem to make on this, and how hard can it be to count a pattern in the little squares that are already laid out? Thankfully it is a very forgiving pattern.

This last week, while my counting wasn't off on one of the designs like in my previous post, I did manage to stitch a whole square and then noted I'd put it in the wrong square. Thankfully it wasn't a letter or number where it would really stand out, so I just stitched the one I was supposed to have stitched in the other square and called it even. So here is my progress so far I've gotten 43 of the 81 squares done. So although I haven't started the border yet, I figure I'm halfway done, not to bad for two months work. Kim and I are really keeping quite a similar pace on our SAL even without making a huge effort at doing so. Kim has about 40 squares and some of the border done on Luck, Letters, and Leprechauns too. While I took a short break to work on my earlier SanMan finish, Kim's spent a bit of time on Red Thread.

Some of my stress must have come through in my voice when we've talked or in my emails, as I got a lovely Stitching Break in a Box surprise from Kim the other day. My mailman delivered the best goodie package. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it before I got into it. I opened it up to a very cute card telling me to take a break, make some tea, put my feet up and stitch. Inside the box was some Chai tea (I love Chai), some Comfort and Joy tea, some biscotti, and the fabric, floss, and tuck pillow to make this wonderful little guy. So that's what I did
Didn't he stitch up cute? This is Portrait of a Dog by Brittercup Designs on 28ct Monaco. I did Portrait of a Cat (also a present from Kim) earlier. Kim made the tuck pillows for both of them for me too, I think she did a wonderful job on them. So now in my kitchen I can enjoy seeing this little fellow, as well as my earlier one of the cat This is why we stitch, it's relaxing and seeing the fun things we make, makes us smile. Hope you all are able to have some relaxing stitching time as well.

31 done, including the over 1

2009-02-15T10:41:00.006-05:00

From 21 squares done to 31 done, not to bad on the progress. I've gotten it out to the right side and bottom edge (excluding the border that goes all around it) so instead of 60 squares left, I'm down to 50. While 81 squares in total sounds like a lot to do, many (like the letters and numbers) go quick, so it isn't as intimidating as it would be if they were all solid stitches. I've made a couple small counting errors in some of the squares. However, given they are all different and there are so many squares in total, for the most part I've left them. For example, the little black bird should have started down one more row from the top, so to fix it I just gave him longer legs. Trick or treat the r in treat was one off (doesn't match r in trick), but that is over 1 stitching. It was close enough for me, as I didn't notice till I was finishing the last t in treat, and frogging over one on 32 ct. unless it was major was just not going to happen. I love the look of over 1, but don't do it much as I have a hard time seeing it and keeping the threads from slipping under. Overall I was pretty pleased with how Trick or Treat turned out, so figured no one would ever really notice the difference with all the other squares and everything that is going on in the design.

Although we don't have a set time to work on our SAL, my DSIL and I are keeping pretty close in where we are at. Kim has about 29 squares done on her Luck, Letters, and Leprechauns and some of the border.

So how many of you have been following the new Nashville releases? What's on your wish list? I've decided I'll need It's Cold Outside from Blue Ribbon Designs (the little penguins are so cute) Polar Quakers from The Workbasket (the penguin in this is adorable too, hmm usually it's Halloween but I seem to have a penguin theme going this time) and Quaker Gone Tropic by Michelle Ink (I love the colors and fun motifs). I've already gotten the first three of the LK Halloween Flipits, so of course when the rest in the series comes out I'll need to grab them.

Hope everyone is staying warm. Our lovely warmer weather has left, but pushing 60 in February really was to good to last. We've got the snow and cold back. They forecasted only 1-2 inches for our area, but as usual the forecast was slightly off, try at least 6 inches. Oh well, at least the sun is out today, so that's a plus, somehow things always seem better when it is sunny.

A finish

2009-02-08T13:52:00.005-05:00

This week has been one of those where you just feel everything is getting away from you. To feel a little more in control, and to destress a bit, I decided I needed something to do that would give me a finish. While I'm loving Six Bats, it was no where near being able to be a finish. After a bit of stash diving, which picked up my spirits, I decided on a fun SanMan Halloween design. Between playing in my stash, picking a fun Halloween design, and getting it done, I had a productive week. So, no new pictures of Six Bats, that will be back next week. However, here is my first finish of 2009. Fright Night, a SanMan design using good old DMC on 18ct Fiddler's cloth Lt. Oatmeal. The original didn't have the eyes for the bat or the cat face. However, I thought they looked a little to plain with no eyes or face so added them myself. I'm happy with how the bat turned out, but am thinking I should have made the cat's whiskers a bit longer. What do you think?

81 Halloween squares to go...

2009-02-01T12:05:00.004-05:00

81 Halloween squares to go, 81 Halloween squares, get one done, show it around, 80 Halloween squares to go.

It actually fits the song. Strange what you think up when your mind starts to wander (or scary?). Well I started at 81, but now I'm down to 60, which means I'm averaging about 5 a week since I started Jan. 1. This is going quicker than I thought, my original goal of early Oct. should be met well in advance of that date. So, here is my progress for the week. Today is another bright and sunny day, so I could get another decent picture. Well I'm off to run errands while it is nice out for a change. Hope you're all having a nice weekend. While I don't watch the Superbowl, I do like to take advantage of their sales so I may do a bit of shopping too. :)

More squares

2009-01-25T10:37:00.005-05:00

Not a whole lot going on this week. I enjoy watching the TV series Bones, Monk, and Psyche, and did remember when they came on this week, so while they were on I got some stitching time in. My Halloween squares are growing. The lower right corner is where the boxes will stop and then the border will go in (design is 9 squares by 9 squares). The 11" Q snaps I have it on will be a bit tight. However it will fit and I like the 11" ones, the 14" ones tend to make it a bit harder to handle so I'll leave it on these to finish. Here's where I am now, at this point I'm still a bit ahead of my schedule for this. For a change I even got a good picture where you can see more of the true color of the Lentil linen I'm doing it on.

Last night my friend came over and we knitted and watched an older movie that I hadn't seen before, January Man. Overall it was pretty good. It had Susan Sarandon, Kevin Kline, Harvey Keitel, and Alan Rickman, all actors I enjoy. She'd had a bit of trouble finishing her knitted square that she was working on for the donation piece from the book reading earlier, so unfortunately we had to rip about half of it back out and restart from there. I felt a bit guilty ripping it back, but it turned out well. She got some more practice in on the decreasing part, and it looked much better by the end of the movie than it had before, so she was pleased. They are collecting the squares till the end of the month, so she'll have time to finish and get it turned in. I turned mine in last week, and they had a nice amount in the basket they were collecting them in. They should be able to have a lovely afghan and raise funds for a good cause. While I was there I also had a fun look around the store. While none of the yummy yarns ended up going home with me, they sure were tempting.

Since she was knitting, I worked on my knitted cat mat too, so that I was doing the same thing if needed to explain something again. A little less confusing than if I was crocheting or stitching. While I have a small dishcloth started, since I'd have to pay attention to a pattern and didn't want the distraction, I worked on the cat mat I also have going. This one's almost done. I'm using the Vanna's Choice again in Mountain Print.

No pictures of wildlife this week. Yesterday, while cold, was nice and sunny, so I'll leave you a picture of the not so "wild" life from inside that were taking advantage of the sunbeams to grab a nap. Don't these two look comfy? The other two were dozing too, but not near enough to get in the same picture.

More squares and the clown

2009-01-17T17:50:00.005-05:00

Well as crazy as it's been this week, I did manage to squeeze in a bit more stitching time. I can't believe I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy doing the squares (the outlining of them) on my Blue Ribbon Design, that I'd find it to boring or repetitive, I'm loving them. Every time I finish a little square it feels like an accomplishment, even though it is just the outline. Then I get the fun of looking to see what fun little goodie I get to stitch inside. Even when I'm really tired I can work on it, as doing the square outlines doesn't even really require looking at the pattern. I have the Six Bats and a Witches Hat that I'm currently doing, and I also have Winter WingDings. If I swap with Kim who I'm doing this as a SAL with, since she's doing Luck, Letters, and Leprechauns, that gives me a third I can do. There are so many other fun ones in this series, like PostCards from Paradise and Bunnies and Blooms, I think there will definitely be more of these in the future. So here's what I got done this week. Again lighting wasn't so good. However, since we are getting snow again and not much sun (and I don't even want to go into the cold) this is about as good as I was going to get.

Last week I introduced you to the bully in our neighborhood, today I'll show you the clown, and I'll bet a lot of you have these crazy little fellows living in your neighborhoods. Here he is checking out the seed basket and getting ready to steal a bit and here he is after he's gotten a handful and wants to eat it They are so funny the way they can hang upside down with their toes and eat. I know some people don't like it that they get into the bird feeders, but I don't mind. They are so cute and fun to watch, they make me smile. Some days I can have as many as 6 or 8 running around in the back at the same time. I was complaining a couple weeks ago when I took these that it was cold, and at that point a lot of the snow we'd gotten earlier had melted. Little did I know what we'd be getting later, I should have enjoyed it while we had it. Again, I was having to take the pictures through the window, so as not to startle them off the feeder, so they are a bit fuzzy. However, as soon as I go out and they hear the door they are on alert, courtesy of Jaz. While she's getting older so doesn't chase the squirrels as much anymore, she still does just often enough that they are wary of her. Earlier this summer I was quite worried on Jaz, as she seemed to have such difficulty getting around anymore. However, the colder weather seems to have given her a new lease on life. While I don't like the snow, she sure does. Here are some pictures of her having her normal fun in the snow. When I took the pictures, I thought we had a fair amount of snow, but it just kept coming, so this is just a small amount of what we currently have.
Can you tell how much she loves it, LOL.
Well I'm off to see what all you've been up to. Hope you're staying warm, seems like everywhere is cold this winter.

A new style squares, SAL, and a Bully

2009-01-10T10:53:00.013-05:00

A new style of square is what we learned to do at the book reading. Last weekend I went to the book reading/signing at our local bookstore where they had Kate Jacobs appearing, the author of Friday Night Knitting Club. It was a lot of fun, she was a good speaker, read a section from her new sequel Knit 2, and answered questions. Just before she started, the owners of a local yarn store got us all started on making squares that would be about 5"x5" when finished and be donated. They are going to put the squares together for an afghan (or afghans if enough are donated as are collecting all the month of January) and then it will be auctioned off as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer research. I know how to knit a regular square, but the squares they had us do are knit in a diamond shape, with increasing and decreasing. It turned out to be easy and fun. My mom and friend went with me. My mom did great, picking up how to increase and decrease quickly and she's finished her square. My friend also did well, but had to work a bit harder. My mom loves to make scarfs, just straight knitting but varying the yarns. She then donates the scarfs to the local police station who puts them in the Christmas baskets they do each year and distribute to local seniors so they get a lovely warm scarf as a Christmas treat in their goodie package. However, this was really the first she's tried to increase and decrease. She only had to see it once or twice and she was off and going great. My friend has only just learned to knit, so trying to do the increasing and decreasing for her was harder, but she's sticking to it. I had such fun making the diamond type shape that I did three squares. I did the rust colored one first, and then the other two. Most squares they are getting seemed to be solid colors, so I did the other two in a variegated yarn so they might have an easier time transitioning between some of the colors in putting together the afghan. I used Lion Brands Vanna's Choice, which was a nice yarn to work with.

For you non knitters I've also got a bit of stitching done. My goal for this is 2-3 squares a week, so I'll be done by Oct. At this point that means I should have 4-6 squares done. As you can see I'm doing well on my SAL with my DSIL. It is kind of bright out today, but not sunny. We are getting a lot of snow, so is more of a glare. The picture turned out pretty good, except for it made the linen look more washed out than it really is. I'm really enjoying this. I didn't think I'd like doing all the little squares as outlines, but working on those at the end of the day is pretty relaxing. Not a lot of counting, as they are all the same size, and no color changes, so I can just grab my floss and go. The pattern is a delight to follow too. She gives the pattern all on one sheet, but also includes four additional sheets with the pattern blown up to a large size, lovely to look at with tired eyes. I'm definitely going to want to do some more of the Blue Ribbon Designs in this series.

As to the bully part of the title, this week I'll introduce you to our neighborhood bully. I live in the city, and while there are a lot of birds and squirrels, some of the other wildlife surprises me on occasion. We have numerous rabbits, and I've seen opossums and even raccoons, remember these two little guys? There are two of them hiding in the picture. All pictures are clickable so you can see them better. However, the Hawks I would have thought would have stayed in a more rural area, guess not.
In the first one he's hiding in the bushes, waiting for a unsuspecting bird or mouse to amble by. The second one he'd boldly come out into the yard. Sorry the picture isn't clearer, but I had to shoot the one on the ground through my window so as not to scare him. Since are blurry, he kind of looks like an oversized fat turtledove. In real life though he's gorgeous. Next week, I'll show you the neighborhood clown.

A finish, a WIP, and a New Start

2009-01-01T10:51:00.010-05:00

Happy New Year to you all, I hope the coming year is a good one. I stayed in last night and for the early part of the evening tried to teach a friend to knit. Given my knitting skills aren't the greatest, it was a little bit interesting at times. However, we had a good time and she got several rows done and took the needles and yarn home to practice a bit more. So at least she hasn't run off screaming never again. Kate Jacobs, the author of Friday Night Knitting Club, is coming to a bookstore near us to talk about her new book, the sequel Knit 2, and as part of the promotion they are having a knit-in. Two individuals with yarn stores nearby will be there and we are all supposed to bring size 7 or 8 needles and some yarn. Not sure exactly what we'll be knitting, but it will be donated with the pieces put together and auctioned off for funds for breast cancer research. Beginners to experts are listed as being welcome. I'm planning on going with my mother, and my friend wants to go too, but figured a bit of basic knitting knowledge might be beneficial before hand, hence the knitting lesson.

After she left, I got down to some stitching, and I made some good headway on Joyful Summer.

While we don't have sun today, it is fairly bright out, so for a change I could get a fairly good picture. I so love the colors on this, it is just so cheerful.

The night before I had my last finish for 2008, I finished another cat mat for the animal shelter. This was a fun one to do as I liked how the coloring worked. Variegated yarns are so great, you just keep going and it does all the work of changing colors. As with the others, it measures 20x28. I did this one using Bernat Berella "4" afghan yarn in Fresh Lilac and I'd definitely use this yarn again, it was great to work with.

The other thing I got done yesterday was the final kitting of my new SAL, which I'm doing with my DSIL. I got the fabric pulled, cut, put on Q-snaps and the center marked. Here's how it looked to start and here's how it looks after spending a bit of time on it putting in my first stitches of 2009. Not a lot done, but at that time of night (just after midnight) I didn't want to do to much as then I'd just be frogging it back out the next morning. All the good luck frogs I have in my stitching area don't save me from mistakes when I stitch when I'm to tired. I'm doing this on Lakeside Linens 32 ct Lentil. The pictures really don't show the subtle shading. Over all it is a light tan, but the mottling gives it just a hint of a greenish cast in some areas and a rusty cast in others. If you click on the picture showing the start with the stitching you can sort of see the coloring in the fabric. I think this should look great with the overall Halloween colors of the piece. Kim is doing a different one by Blue Ribbon Designs, but as both of ours have the same number of squares, it should work out well.

Frogs - the good kind

2008-12-29T12:08:00.004-05:00

I had a wonderful Christmas, hopefully you all had a great holiday as well. My DD was able to come home unexpectedly for the week. We found out last minute (about a week before Christmas) that she would have enough time off from work that she could get home and back for Christmas. She flew in last week Tuesday and left this morning. It was so great to see her. My parents had enough mileage points on one of their cards that the flight was covered, another nice treat for the holidays. It was so good to see her, and this is the first Christmas in several years that she's been home so we could spend it together as a family.

For Christmas we went to my Brother's house and spent the day there. We had a lovely meal, and they were quite surprised to see DD walk through the door with me and my parents as they didn't know she was coming. I got a number of lovely Christmas presents, among them an awesome floss fob and Biscornu set from my DSIL. She made these for me using a frog theme as I collect them (one, they are cute, and two, if I have friendly frogs around me maybe the nasty ones that make me have to undo my stitching will stay away). Here's what they look like Aren't they adorable? Here is the backside of the Biscornu I love them, and the finishing as always is great. She also got me the flosses on the fob, which are what I'll need for my SAL I'm doing with her that we're starting the first of the year, Six Bats and a Witches Hat for me and Luck, Letters, and Leprechauns for her.

Hopefully you'll all have a safe and fun New Years. I'm planning on staying home, watching a movie, and stitching, what a way to start a year. :)

Quick post

2008-12-22T20:22:00.007-05:00

Just a quick post before the holidays hit as it occurred to me that -

One - while I mentioned Joyful Summer I'd not posted an update and I did get a little more done. I'm over half way now, so as a finish this one is in site within the next month. No matter how I try I just can't seem to get the lovely soft blue of the fabric to show well in a picture from my camera, it always looks so washed out. So, this is a scanned one, but even then it still doesn't do it justice. The last time I got a good color shot was awhile ago and that was because for a change the sun was shining and I could take it by the window. However, not much sunshine now, so this is as good as it gets. And -

Two - Since I probably won't be posting again till next weekend wanted to wish you all a wonderful holiday season whatever holiday you may be celebrating. I'll be sending Christmas with my parents and my brother and his family.

For a point of reference, this is older, but shows so much more how the colors should look, in reality they are so much more bright and cheery.

I have a Pumpkin :)

2008-12-20T09:17:00.005-05:00

I know I said I was planning on working on Joy this last week, but another cutie I have in my stash just jumped out at me when I was doing a bit of organizing. Earlier I'd picked this up and the floss to do it with, so it was all set to go. Added to the appeal, besides it being cute and I was having a bit of startitis from playing in my stash, was the fact it was small. Therefore, should be a relatively quick finish, and the just one more finish I was looking at to meet my one goal for the year noted in my last post. I promptly pulled out the various fabrics in my stash to see what would work, and saw I had some Fiddler Cloth in Lt that seemed perfect. So, here is my new finish - I scanned it rather than trying to get a picture with the questionable lighting today, so the coloring is pretty close. It's done on 18 ct Fiddlers Cloth in light with Fallen Leaves by Crescent Colours. I managed to get my count off somewhere, but by the time I noticed I was pretty far along and didn't want to pull it all back out. Since is so many little motifs, I thought I could fudge it without a problem. I ended up leaving out a tiny heart in one area, and lengthening another just a bit, but I think it balanced out fine and you can't tell that I needed to change it. I'd like to finish it off into a flat fold using some fun fall fabric. We'll see on that one though, as finishing really isn't my strong point. I have a couple finishes from last year that are still waiting on actually getting "finished" so they can be displayed.

With this finish, I have all the finishes completed that I set for a goal for this year (both number and type). The remaining goal for this year, to work on my two large WIP's (or at least one of them), is still open, as I haven't touched either one. However, there is almost two weeks left in the year, and I have some of that off for the Holidays so...... Hmmmm I think I hear a good movie and Flower Dragons calling my name for this evening, I may hit the last of my goals yet.

Yarn wreaths and goals

2008-12-13T14:42:00.008-05:00

Well, not much stitching going on, to much everything else I guess. By what I've been reading in many of your blogs sounds like a lot of us are to busy to do much stitching/knitting/crafting lately. Or, what is being worked on in a last minute hurry is a present and so pictures can't be posted yet. After Christmas I'll bet there will be lots of beautiful things to see being posted.

One fun item I saw was a yarn ball wreath, yup you read that right a yarn ball wreath. Here's what it looks like (courtesy of JoAnns).

If I was to do it I think I'd change the colors a bit, but overall, a pretty neat idea and so perfect for a crafter.

No projects to show at the moment, but I did do a quick review of my goals for the year. I don't do monthly goals like some of you, I just don't stay that focused and didn't what the pressure. However, did set some more generic yearly goals for myself. Overall I think I've done pretty good.

1) Do one more project than I completed last year.

Almost there, and depending on how you count them, I've actually met this goal. Last year I did 14 total projects, 13 crosstitch and 1 knitting.
So far this year I've done 21 projects, 13 crossstitch and 8 knitting. So I've met it in total, met it in knitting and just need to complete 1 more to meet it in crossstitch. However, I did the LK Doubleflips. The 13 crossstitch is counting that as 1, since I did them all on one piece of fabric. However, they were 6 individual design cards, so if count them that way, I've surpassed my goal. However, with a couple weeks left in the year, I'd really like to try and finish just one more so that I have a "clean" finish on the crossstitch count too.

2) Do at least two large items in the mix.

That I covered too. Most of last years were a lot of small pieces with about 4 midsize ones included. This year I finished CCN Gingerbread Cottage, Waxing Moon's Snow Ho Ho and LK's Doubleflips (especially if count as 1 piece and it was big), as well as completing Creativity, a RR with my DSIL, so have that covered.

3) Do my SAL with my DSIL (this was added later in the year, so not really a start of the year goal). Yup, finished and framed the LK Doubleflips (they just keep turning up don't they, really covering multiple goals).

The last goal was to work on two specific projects. The first is a long term WIP (actually several years old so really a UFO) which was LB's Trick or Treat Mice. While I did get it off the scroll bars and onto Q snaps (so I at least touched it) it didn't get any stitching time. Also, Flower Dragons didn't get touched either.

Oh well, overall I think I did pretty good, and I know I did better than I would have if I hadn't set any goals. Now I need to think what my goals will be for next year.

Stashing and a new SAL

2008-12-07T16:17:00.008-05:00

Well during Stitches 'N Things lovely 20% off sale I just had to do my part with helping the economy. Here are the lovelies that I got in the mail

Fat Bat Cat by Victoria Sampler
Quaker Halloweens by The Workbasket
Something Wicked by La-D-Da
and When Witches Go Riding and Pumpkin Patch by Prairie Schooler

The second batch of goodies is

Happy Halloween by Sue Hillis Designs and the full set of Christmas Spirit with Charm series by Lizzie Kate.

I love all of them. Fat Bat is just so cute, and the other Halloween ones are so fun (can you tell I have a weakness for Halloween, LOL). The LK Christmas ones will look so pretty done up too. I've seen several others doing these and really admired them. These will probably wait awhile before get started though, as I'm just a bit tired of words at the moment having just finished the earlier LK Doubleflips one.

In addition, have you seen this one that Lizzie Kate will be starting up soon?
Isn't it great? You know this will be on my must get list.

In addition, since my DSIL and I recently finished our SAL of the LK Doubleflips, our next SAL will be starting the first of the year. For this coming year we'll both be doing designs by Blue Ribbon Designs. The pattern we are each doing is a little different, though the size and style is the same so it still should work well, as we can pace each other with how many boxes we've gotten done. I'll be doing Six Bats and a Witches Hat,
and Kim will be doing Letters, Leprechauns, and Luck

These are going to be fun to work on. We're both kitted up, other than cutting our fabric to size, and ready to go for the first of the year. Well that's all for now, have I managed to enable anyone?

A little of this and a little of that

2008-11-27T17:41:00.006-05:00

Let's see, where to start. First off I've been tagged by Kim for the six random things so here goes
The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Now the 6 random things about myself:
1. Like Kim I also love it warm, up in the 80's, so I'm not sure why I'm still here in Michigan. One of these days I need to consider moving somewhere warmer like Florida or Arizona.
2. I dislike traveling, but one place that really tempts me to visit sometime is Ireland, the pictures I've seen of it look beautiful, and I love Celtic music.
3. I like frogs and have quite a collection scattered around. I even have a set where it looks like a royal court with all the frogs dressed up like the King, Queen, Jester, etc...
4. I rarely seem to stitch for the season or holiday that we are currently in. I was doing Snow Ho Ho this summer and now it is winter and I'm working on Joyful Summer.
5. When I was little, like most kids at various times, I'd threaten that I was going to run away and join the circus. Now I can actually say my DD did run off and join the circus. While she loves it, timing might have been better if she'd done it before spending four years at college and getting a degree totally in something else, LOL.
6. I love watching old movies, the ones with Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, etc.. they are one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. In fact, a Christmas tradition for my DD and me is to watch Barbara Stanwyck in Christmas in Connecticut, what a great movie.

I tag the following:
Lynn
Lizzy
Vonna
Wendy
Noreen
Cathey

Ladies, this one has been around a bit, but I didn't see it recently on your blogs so hopefully I haven't tagged you when you've already been tagged.

Next, Hazel asked how I was making the cat mats. They are so easy. I just make sure the yarn is machine washable and dryable and then chain stitches (since mine are crochet rather than knitted) to reach 20 inches. While I've done some in a single crochet, most are in double crochet. I then just go back and forth until it is 28 inches long. If was knitted, I'd cast on enough stitches to reach 20 inches, and then just keep doing rows to reach the 28 inches. No thinking or pattern to follow, just making a big rectangle. The size 20x28 is what the humane society by me likes, as that size approximates the cage size, so fits nice and snug in the area. However, they'll take them larger or smaller. If you're doing it for a shelter near you, you might want to call and ask if they have a preferred size. The knitted or crochet mats are soft and warm for the cats and kittens, and make the cages look more homey and friendly, and the cats more cared for. The mats look so much more appealing than a towel in the bottom of the cage. They are nice for me too, as it gives me something to work on in the evening when I'm to tired to focus on anything, I enjoy it, and the cost is tax deductible as an added benefit as it is donated to the humane society, it's a win win combination. With that said, I just finished my seventh mat. I love the variegated yarns, they make a nice design and no extra work is required by me.

I also got in a little work on Joy, although not much. Unfortunately the coloring isn't as good on this as my earlier picture in my last entry, it is a little washed out looking. However, while we are lucky enough not to have snow today for traveling, not much sun either so this is scanned in. I'm at about the half way point now. I have some time off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I'm hoping to make a bit more headway this weekend.

Well I'm off to enjoy a bit of the leftover Thanksgiving meal desserts. To all my U.S readers, hope you're all having a safe and delicious holiday as well.

Framing, finishes, and a WIP

2008-11-16T14:11:00.006-05:00

I've got some fun stuff to show off this time. I'll start with the largest and the one I'm most proud of, my Lizzie Kate Doubleflips are back from the framers :)
The wood on the frame is lighter on the outside with it turning darker along the inside edge (that's not shadows). Originally I was going to go with a more cream color frame, but this two toned one, and the slightly distressed look it has, seemed perfect. I love how it turned out and it's already hung in my living room.

My next framed finishes are Jinx and Jasper from Just Nan's Moonrider series, I framed them in the Just Nan Wimzi frames I finished up the pumpkin Jasper was holding this week so could frame him along with Jinx. I hadn't worked with the fusible interfacing before, but I really like how it made these two set up and be just the little bit firmer that they needed to be. I can see this coming in quite handy for other types of projects.

Finally, I finished up one more cat mat This was in some more of the lovely squishible Homespun yarn and again measured 20x28. The coloring isn't what I'd normally be drawn to, but I thought it was so pretty. As usual with my pictures the colors aren't quite right, they are much more jewel toned in real life. These cat mats have made wonderful projects for me to work on in the evenings, and with the weather turning colder, we had snow again this morning, it is a cosy evening project as well.

The WIP I pulled out to work on now, since decided to work on a project that is a little bit bigger than Jinx and Jasper were, is Joyful Summer by Country Cottage Needleworks. It's been a while since I had this one out to work on. Naturally with my timing I now find myself working on a summer piece going into winter. Oh well, I'll just pretend I'm getting an early start on next year. I didn't get a lot done this week, just the little bit of the new start of another flower up at the top. However, now that it is out again and in my stitching corner I think it will move along.

Couple finishes, almost a finish, and SNOW?

2008-11-09T16:27:00.007-05:00

Yup, you saw that last one right, snow. If you're reading this and it is still snowing you may see the little flakes all round my weather lady. Ugh!!! There is something not right about trying to get the leaves cleaned up and having to do the raking in snow. Although it is better than in the rain, but still. It isn't sticking, but is coming down enough when Jaz lays still long enough outside she's getting a light dusting of snow along her back. I want summer back.

Work is still slightly nuts, and so by the time I get home I'm more than a little mentally challenged to do much of anything. In addition, not a lot of time before it is time to go to bed to start all over again. Stitching under those conditions is usually not a good thing, as I'll end up doing more frogging than stitching as I just can't seem to keep my counts lined up. I have gotten most of Jasper done though I just need to add the pumpkin he's holding. While not done quite in time for Halloween, pretty close to. Jasper and Jinx will be a fun set to put out next year.

So, if I haven't been stitching, what have I been doing? Mindless cat mats for the shelter. I'm so glad that Lynn got me started on these. They are perfect for when your brain really is just to tired to think. Each of them measures 20x28 inches, and the two multicolored ones are really soft and squishy. They are done in Homespun, which was a lot of fun to work with once I figured out a larger size crochet hook was needed. The third is a pretty bright blue with a denim blue edging on both ends and sides. Unfortunately, with the snow and overcast there wasn't good light to take these in and so they're quite dull and faded in the picture, not like in real life. This blue one, like the red and blue ones earlier, is in worsted weight, so all five that I've now completed can be thrown in the washer and dryer with no problem. Next weekend I'll be taking the cat mats over to the shelter, as I have five done now, along with some other dog supplies, extra leashes and such, that with just Jazmine I don't need so many now. Some of the items, like the large Kong toys that Sasha loved, Jazmine doesn't play with, so they will go to the shelter to keep another dog happy and occupied.

With work and everything I've gotten behind on blogs again, seems like I'm always playing catch up. So I'm off to see what all you've been up to. My Doubleflips are supposed to be back from the framer this coming Wednesday, so hopefully next weekend I'll have a lovely framing finish to show. My DSIL also got her Doubleflips done, we were doing them as a SAL, and also has hers at the framers. The last time we saw each others progress we each had several words left to do. It will be a lot of fun to see each others finished piece and see the frame we each picked.

And another two

2008-10-26T10:43:00.010-04:00

Ok, I'm shallow, I went for the quick finishes again instead of working on one of my larger WIPS. Guess that's what comes from focusing on a larger project for awhile, stitching attention deficit disorder combined with startitis happens and nothing large is even on the horizon at the moment. Good thing my next SAL with my DSIL Kim doesn't start for a while yet.

I've been lazy, and believe it or not still haven't stitched the charms onto the Doubleflips. Somehow it just seems to close to sewing or finishing, so it's just fallen to the wayside. My goal this week is to get the charms on so I can get it in for framing. With only 12 little charms, I really have no excuse.

Now onto the finishes. My first finish was another cat mat for the shelter, this one in blue. The requested size is 20x28. I wasn't paying close enough attention, and it actually came out 20x30, a little larger than planned, but guess they can use it for a cat that is a little larger. :) I also got a little off at the one side, so it isn't as straight and even as I'd like. However, I don't think a kitty will be counting my rows, and with a cute furry cat laying in their cage snuggled on it, hopefully it won't be too noticeable that it is off to anyone else either.
Lynn is who got me started on these, as she makes quite a few, as well as other items for charity. I'm not up to the other items like hats, mittens, and such that she can do, but figured the cat mats were a safe project. I'm so glad I gave them a go, they are so relaxing to work on.

My next finish was Jinx one of the MoonRider series by Just Nan. Kim got me this a design a while ago, and I figured the size would be a perfect quick finish. She also got me the frame, so now all I have to do is pop it together and I'll have a fun one to set out for this Halloween. The pattern came with three designs. Aren't they cute? They finish up at 2x2, so are quite small. I had some small scrap fabric on hand of 32 ct. Belfast which was large enough to do two of these on. I've completed Jinx, and am now trying to decide which of the other two to do. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Ghost, but Jack the pumpkin is cute too. Well I'm off now to catch up on what all everyone else has had going on since last weekend. Cold and rainy here today, so a good day to stay inside. Hope you're all enjoying the weekend.

Two finishes

2008-10-19T12:26:00.003-04:00

One smaller finish and one different finish for this week. Work is still slightly crazy, but seems to be settling down some. However, didn't want a project that I had to focus too much on in the evening, and after my larger LK doubleflips wanted to have a finish that occurred just a bit quicker. So after a bit of digging around in my stash I pulled out an older Pine Mountain pillow kit. This is really a beginners kit with its simple design and large count fabric, but I fell in love with it when I first saw it. I think the little ladybug is just so bright and cheery. Unfortunately it isn't to good of a picture, weather and lighting just didn't want to cooperate today.

My next project was a cat mat for the local humane society. Being done in single crochet, except for the double crochet edge, it was also a pretty mindless piece. In size it measures 20x28. A while back I was in Michaels and they had some yarn on clearance. There were a couple of skeins of this in the bin, and at $1 each I couldn't pass them up. Again, weather and lighting didn't cooperate for a good picture, in reality the mat is a bright Christmas red. I think it will look quite festive when the shelter has its holiday open houses. I also picked up some of the yarn in green and blue, so there will be some more of these turning up later. It was fun to do, and I enjoyed knowing I was making something that will help keep an animal warm and comfortable, and look bright and cheerful when people go to the shelter to look around. All my pets have been shelter animals or strays, so it was nice to find another way to help them out.

Thanks for all the complements on Ghouls Night Out, it was a fun piece. Veronica asked if it was done on opalescent fabric, it was. The fabric is a lovely sparkly blue, however it was done to long ago for me to remember exactly what fabric I used. However, I believe it was the recommended fabric for the piece.

Well I'm off to try and get up a bit more Halloween decorations. I have fun decorating for this holiday, however, I have quite a ways to go before I'll be able to catch up with Tammy she's made an awesome start on her decorations this year. If you get a minute, check out her fun decorations and adorable Shephard's Bush pieces.

And then there were .....NONE :)

2008-10-12T14:18:00.005-04:00

Yup, I've got none of the words left to do on the doubleflips. The border even got done this weekend. The only thing I have left to do is stitch on the charms, iron, check one more time for any stray specialty fiber my four footed furry buddies may have decided to donate, and then off to the framers. I am so thrilled with finishing this. It's been a while since I took on a design this size. My DSIL Kim is almost done with hers too. We've been doing this as a SAL. No set day to work on it, just when we had time and wanted too. It is amazing how closely we kept pace given our loose SAL schedule.

Not to much else going on, work is still crazy but hopefully may start to settle down a bit soon. I'm getting some of my Halloween decorations out, so I'll leave you with one of my favorite pieces
Ghouls Night Out by Lizzie Kate This was such a fun stitch, and I loved how it looked on the blue sparkly fabric. The only part I didn't really enjoy was the patent leather fiber used for the one pair of shoes, that was a pain to stitch with

I'm off to do chores, but as it is a beautiful bright and sunny day today, it will be enjoyable to be outside. Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.

Stitching, stashing and framing

2008-09-27T20:39:00.007-04:00

This past week I did get some more stitching in, got some framing back, and got some new stash. So, here is what I've had going on

First is my current progress on the Doubleflips I've just got two and a half words left and then to sew on the charms and I'm done. Looks like I'll have it done by the end of Oct. I'm counting it as six finishes, as it was six pattern leaflets, so it will add a nice amount of finishes to my this year goal.

Next up are my framed pieces I just got back. My Needle and My Floss by Waxing Moon, also known as the traveling pattern, was a delight to do. I really like the frame and mat I found for it. Waxing Moon has another one in a similar style that I want to do as a companion piece. I love the denim mat I found for it, so close to the denim color I used for her dress.

Next up is Schoolgirl lessons by Little House Needleworks. This I really loved doing as the all one color was so relaxing to stitch. I could just sit and stitch and not worry about color changes. The mat is a velvety blue, with I thought looked great with the rich blue I used for the stitching. I used the same frame as with My Needle and My Floss, as I'm going to hang this one in the middle of the two Waxing Moon pieces, so wanted the frames to match.

Finally, Snow Ho Ho by Waxing Moon. The blue and red mats are a velvety type finish, so have their own texture. This one will be such fun to have up come Christmas.

As to stash, I just couldn't resist the new Just Nan one, isn't she great?

I also finally got my copy of the new Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue (guess what I'll be reading this weekend)

And finally, the Reading Threadpack from Little House Needleworks. I think I'll probably be doing this one twice. I ordered some 12ct. tula (which is behind the pattern) to do it on first, so will make it quite a bit larger than normal as I'm going to turn it into a pillow. Later I'll probably do it again as a small piece to frame or as a small tuck pillow or flatfold.

Well that's about it for now. Thank you all so much for your kind comments on Midnight. She was such a sweetie, and she's sure missed. However, I know it was time and I made the right choice. Luckily I have my other fur babies and my stitching. I wonder if the change in season affects animals though, as I've noticed some other bloggers also dealing with the loss of pets currently too, so sad.

Goodbye Midnight

2008-09-20T15:11:00.004-04:00

She was a sweetie, and one of the smaller cats I've had at around 7lbs, although her size was deceptive, she had the heart of a lion
While D'artgon and Jaz have been doing better lately, Midnight was getting sick again. We went to the vets, and she had another massive infection going on. At a minimum she'd have been in intensive care again with IV's and such for 3 or so days, and the doctor wasn't sure she could beat it. In about the last six months she's been in and out of the vets often. Once with a nasty infection that kept her in intensive care for 3 days, she got better and came home. Then, she got herniated disks in her back and it took a while to be able to have the meds work to keep her mobile, then she got another infection, which she got over. During all this, the levels showing the kidney's and liver were starting to fail kept increasing. So Thursday night we were back at the vets again with a decision to make. We could have tried to fight it, but we both knew it was just a matter of a short time and she'd be back again. She was tired, and at 14 the kindest thing at that point was to let her go, so I did. She went to her last sleep in my arms. While I'll miss her, I like to think she's having a good time now on the other side of the rainbow bridge. She's probably hanging out and trying to boss Sasha around. Even though Midnight was tiny, she ruled the house and even Sasha at around 120lbs would back down to her.

Time flies

2008-09-13T18:36:00.004-04:00

They say time flies when you're having fun, I think it does when you're losing your mind too. I can not believe that it has been almost three weeks since my last post. Work has been quite intense, both time wise and mentally. By the time I get home in the evening, I pretty much take care of what has to be done and then just fall into bed to start over the next day. There's been stuff going on family wise too. So, unfortunately while it has been three weeks, I don't even have much stitching to show for all that time either. The little bit I have had I've spent on my LK doubleflips. I love how all the words look, but I'm getting eager to get it done as well. I so want to see it all finished and framed.

I'm really enjoying my current word, Encourage, the blue is so pretty.
All the furbabies are doing well. D'artagnon's leg continues to heal well and the fur is now growing back. Jaz is on a slightly higher dose of pain meds now for her arthritis, and it seems to be helping, her limp isn't as pronounced. Sorry I haven't visited your blogs lately, hopefully soon I'll be able to catch up a bit.

Almost another one

2008-08-24T15:28:00.007-04:00

Well I didn't quite finish another word this week, but I'm close. Just the bit of decoration under Believe to do and then on to my next word. It's a little bit crooked, but for a change I think the coloring came out closer to its real fabric shade, so I decided to keep it. Not sure why it has some funny shading in it (especially around Love), it isn't there in real life. I'm still enjoying this, even with doing it in hand, and it's moving along well. I should have it done well before the end of the year, which was my original goal.

Thank you all for your well wishes for D'artagnon, he's coming along well. The leg is healing up nicely, and he should be able to get the stitches out and the blue collar off next weekend. We got the results back and it was benign, so that is one less worry. However, they said it was caused by a skin condition, so...it could come back. I'll have to keep an eye on him there and his other legs, and if it appears again the vet said he may need to go to a Dermatologist. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. Who would have thought a vet would specialize in Dermatology for pets? I sure hope this is the last of it, as that sounds like an awful expensive proposition. Also, if it is a skin condition that comes back, even with a dermatologists help, it could be hard to fight. Even with the collar on though he is happier, as he is finally through with the antibiotics he had to take. As several of you mentioned, giving a cat meds is no fun. My oldest cat Midnight gets meds every morning and night, and she's actually pretty good about it. However, D'artagnon was less than cooperative (although he was getting better toward the end). All in all though, I'd rather give meds to Jaz, a dog is so much easier. I tuck it into a bit of bread, roll, or something similar and she swallows it right down, I swear she'll eat anything. :)

Half way there

2008-08-17T11:07:00.006-04:00

Yup, I'm half way done with the Doubleflips, I just finished up Learn last night. As usual, it's wrinkly since I'm stitching in hand. However I'll try to iron it for its next update. Learn went really quick, for a change the frog didn't visit me once on this word. Feels strange to have reached the half way mark, when completed this will be my largest project in quite a long time.

Not much else going on stitching wise. Between work and home it's been quite busy. Overall my furbabies are doing good. Isis (DD's cat pictured earlier) is well and full of energy. DD's two Gecko's are also doing good. In addition, Bug my black and white cat is quite happy just laying in sunbeams. Please excuse the dirt, this is the back door Jaz and everyone tends to go in and out, and as we'd been having some good rain, the mud that was being tracked in/splattered in was more so than normal.
Jazmine is doing well too. However, she's slowing down again, and is acting quite stiff when she gets up, so we may need to try and have her meds adjusted again. Midnight is doing very well. She's put on weight and is getting around great, she's really bounced back from when she was so sick earlier we didn't think she'd make it. Midnight is 14, Bug is 13, and Jazmine is 11, they don't look to bad for their ages do they.

However, the challenge this week is with D'artagnon. He's had a bump on his leg we've been watching, and lately it started to grow. Given where it is on his shin (do cat's have shins?) we couldn't wait to long to take it off, as there isn't much skin there to work with to allow it to heal up. So..this past week he went in to have it removed. What do you think, is this the face of someone who isn't happy? He's almost 18 pounds, and when he's not happy, he makes sure everyone knows. However, in this case I think he has reason to be grumpy, as the actual area cut and stitched is almost 3 inches long.
He's supposed to take it easy, and will go back in 14 days to have the stitches out. The biopsy on what it was isn't back yet, but my fingers are crossed it was just a cyst and not a cancerous growth that may be a sign of other problems. He's getting medicine twice a day (antibiotics and pain meds) and to say he doesn't like them is a significant understatement. I'll be (and so will he) very happy when this is over and he's all healed up.

Another one's done

2008-08-10T10:35:00.005-04:00

I have some progress this week, although it really doesn't look like much. First up is the Doubleflips. I finished up Listen, so now it's onto Learn. I'm doing this in hand, so the sides are a bit wrinkly, however, since I was just going to wrinkle them up again, and I was a bit short on time, I didn't bother to iron it for its update.

I'm still playing with my new camera, and overall love the pictures. However, getting the right lighting to keep the colors true is still a bit of a challenge. The Doubleflips are done on 28 ct Lambswool, which is actually more tan than this, and the Little Boy Blue cashel on the below Joyful Summer is actually a paler blue. The earlier postings are more true in color. No idea why when I put them right next to each other to take the pictures one went lighter in color and the other darker, I'd have thought they would have each gone the same way.

My next one is Joyful Summer, and I got the large flower motif done. This is an easy and fun stitch, but it does have a bit of a challenge in that it has french knots in quite a few places and French knots are not my strong point. So far they've been the birds eyes and the center of the flower, and they don't look to bad I think, so fingers crossed the rest go smoothly.

And the Winner is....

2008-08-02T22:36:00.004-04:00

After listing out the names of everyone that posted they wanted to be included in the draw to be the next in line to get the Traveling Pattern, I then assigned everyone a number. Then I went to the Random Number Generator site and got

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

14
Timestamp: 2008-08-03 02:33:34 UTC

So, congratulations to Jennifer of Sweet Pea Stitches you'll be the next one to join the sisterhood and stitch this wonderful design.

So without further delay, here is my finish Now I just need to do the finishing. This was on 34 ct Legacy Linen in Devonshire Cream. It was a joy to stitch on, the only problem was that the white in some areas doesn't show real clearly. However, it shows a little better in real life, so I left it as was. I think it will come out a little more when I get a mat and frame for it as well. This was such a fun stitch, I hated to see it come to an end.

However, my new start of Joyful Summer by CCN is a delightful stitch as well. I've made a bit more headway on it now as you can see. This is turning into a fast stitch. It looks more time consuming than it really is, as it is kind of a spread out design. In addition, the lovely overdyes it uses, so there are large blocks of color with no real color change needed, makes it move quickly. This one, with all its bright crazy colors just makes me smile to look at it.

Awards, pictures, and a new start

2008-07-30T20:51:00.015-04:00

It's been a while since a I did a mid-week post, but if I wait till this weekend my entry will be a mile long. First off I can't believe I've been nominated by four people for awards lately. I received the from both Dawn and Sachiko

and then I received the
from Noreen and Veronica

I wanted to tell these ladies thank you so much for the awards. I love reading blogs of others, but am constantly surprised that people would enjoy reading mine. Comments are always so welcome, and an award is as they say icing on the cake. However, I really can't narrow down the blogs I read to just a couple, as I love following all your blogs. And, I've noticed most of you have already received one if not both of these awards already. So I hope I won't upset anyone if I don't pass these on to any specific blogs, I want to tell you I'm awarding these to all the blogs in my blog line, as well as those blogs I visit regularly and haven't gotten around to adding yet, and if you haven't received one so far, please consider one awarded to you and post it on your blog.

I've also been experimenting with my Camera. I got an adorable little Blue Fujifilm FinePix Z10fdIsn't it adorable? I still am learning what I'm doing. For example I took quite a few pictures, then couldn't figure out why I couldn't see them. I tried everything. Then...I went back to the directions. Seems that you press once to focus and a second time to actually take the picture. So, looks like I got lots of practice focusing, LOL. Anyway, through trial and error (mainly error so far) I have the following pictures to present.

First off is my Stitch collection, although I forgot to put the Stitch videos in the grouping. The top Stitch is the Stitch on my sweatshirt that I got as a birthday present from my DSIL Kim. Then I have my big Stitch and three smaller Stitches. The tiny Stitch on big Stitch's head is actually a decoration. However, he actually hangs on the side of my stitching basket. Aren't they cute, and they are all such a lovely blue, do you see a pattern here. :) I also have a Tigger collection, hmm guess I'm a kid a heart do you think?

Next up is my newest start Joyful Summer by Country Cottage Needleworks. I'm doing it on 28 ct Little Boy Blue Linen with a combination of Crescent Colours and DMC.
This is what it will look like done Isn't it an awesome piece? I so love the colors, so bright, and fun, and.....blue :)

Finally I'll leave you with a picture of my invisible cat, Isis Even though she's been living with me a year now (she's actually my DD's cat) she still is such a skittish cat that many times you don't even see her. If she wants attention, it is always on her timetable, don't even try to pick her up. However, she can be a real snuggler on occasion, especially at around 3 in the morning when she's awake and thinks that she'd love to have her head rubbed, so she curls up on my head purring and licking my ear or eyelids. Boy, talk about waking up quick. Needless to say she can't quite figure out why I'm not honored that she is going to let me pet her and looks totally insulted if I push her away so I can roll over and go back to sleep.

Hope you're all having a good week, and this weekend I'll post my finish of My Needle and My Floss. Yup it's done, and I love it.

Almost there and a new toy

2008-07-26T17:38:00.008-04:00

Well my entry title and this picture should say it all. I can't wait to finish this and get it framed up, I'm loving how it is turning out. The words have been the biggest challenge so far. First, it took me quite a bit to get the color I wanted figured out, so a bit of stitching and unstitching there, and then the frog came to visit so many times on the counting I couldn't believe it. I can't remember the last pattern I had so much difficulty keeping my counting straight, and it wasn't that difficult. Only thing I can think of I was trying to stitch in the evening when I was tired, not a particularly good combination. If it wasn't for the stitching, frogging, and restitching of the letters, I'd have been done by now. Oh well, with just the bottom to add in, I'll be done by next weekend. So next Sun. is when I'm planning on being able to post my finish, as well as announce who the pattern will be going off to next on its journey.

No pictures of my cute Stitch sweatshirt or any other goodies that require a camera instead of the scanner, as my camera still didn't want to work. I took it to the camera shop, and they said it wasn't the battery (tried a brand new one and nothing), but rather something else that knows there is a battery and a power source. So, getting a new battery would not fix the problem. They also said with the age of the camera, and difficulty getting parts (assuming they could get the part when they figured out what was wrong) etc.. it would probably cost almost as much to fix than just getting a new one, and a new one would have a warranty whereas my old one could have something else go wrong next week and I'd be in the same fix. So...I now have a new toy. They had a cute little Fujifilm FinePix camera on sale. It is supposed to be easy to learn to use, and it came in a beautiful blue. :)
In addition, it takes the same picture card my other camera did, so I didn't need to get a new one of those. However, easy still means I need to learn how to use it, and how to get the pictures off of it and into my computer to upload to show off. So far I've figured out how to get the battery out and charged up in its little charger and back into the camera. Hopefully by next week I'll have figured out a bit more and have some fun pictures to show off.

Well off to catch up on some chores, and then I have a family reunion to go to tomorrow, so won't be able to catch up on your blogs for a couple days, however, I will catch up.

Lovely Weekend

2008-07-20T16:39:00.008-04:00

A lovely weekend is what I've had so far. Yes we've had plenty of rain, but most of my time has been inside so it hasn't bothered me. I got a little stitching done during the week on My Needle and My Floss, but not much. However, that ended Friday night. My DSIL Kim came up Friday night and stayed till Sat. afternoon. My nephews are spending the weekend with my parents, so Kim came and stayed too for awhile. We were able to get in about 3 hours on Friday night, and then about 5 hours more on Sat. morning before she headed home. Kim made good progress on the LK Doubleflips we are doing as a SAL, and I got quite a bit done on My Needle. This has moved along fairly easily with making color changes until I got to the lettering. I had initially picked out several different shades of variegated blues for the wording that I liked, but each one I'd try, I couldn't get the rt that goes into her dress to stand out. Part of the problem is the dress is such a deep blue. I needed the lettering to be quite light to show up against it, but if I wasn't careful, when the variation changed in other letters, it was so light that it didn't stand out on the cream fabric. I finally decided I needed a totally different color for contrast, and with Kim's help decided on this golden brown (it is one of the DMC variegations). It is nothing like I'd originally envisioned, but I'm liking it more and more as I get more letters done, I think it compliments her well. For the hearts I have two shades of rose picked out, and hopefully those will work when I get to them. Other than two of the white tones used in the stitching fabric, apron, and lace edge of the dress, I've changed all the colors in this, and that has been quite a challenge for me, very much out of my comfort zone. However, I'm glad I've made the attempt, as I still LOVE the blue I used for the dress.

In addition to our stitching, Kim gave me a lovely birthday surprise. I love Stitch (the Disney character) but I've never seen any clothing with Stitch on it. I have several stuffed Stitch's, including a tiny one that hangs on my stitching basket (appropriate don't you think, LOL). My other Disney character I love is Tigger, and have some stuffed ones of him as well as tee shirts/sweatshirt. Somewhere Kim found a website with Disney licensed characters and was able to get a sweatshirt made for me with him on it. It is great, and will be such fun to wear, especially at Camp Stitchalot next year. In addition, she got me the pattern WingDings by Blue Ribbon Designs. So now I have WingDings to go with my Six Bats and a Witch pattern by Blue Ribbon. I still haven't gotten around to getting my camera fixed (I'm such a procrastinator on occasion), but once it is I'll post a picture of my lovely sweatshirt, Stitch is just so cute.

The other fun thing I've done this weekend was on Sat. afternoon I went to see Mama Mia. It was fantastic. I laughed and hummed along with so many of the songs. It is a totally fun movie that I'd enjoy going back and seeing again. I'd seen the stage play last year, and so had an idea of what the movie would be like, and Meryl Streep didn't disappoint, she can really sing.

As a side note, in the picture in my earlier post of the cute raccoon in my tree, Lynn asked me if I'd realized there were two raccoons in the tree. I hadn't. I clicked on the picture to make it a bit bigger, and sure enough, there are two little guys up in that tree. One about a third of the way up on the same tree leaning to the right, and the second (easier to see one) a little over halfway up leaning to the left. The lower one is the one I saw when I was taking the picture with Jaz, I never saw the one further up. No wonder Jaz was so excited, she thought she was going to have two possible playmates, LOL. So if you want a kind of "where's waldo" hunt, go back and see if you can spot the second raccoon in last weeks posting. :)

Guess what I got

2008-07-12T17:41:00.012-04:00

Yup, the traveling pattern landed at my house. It made pretty good time to, as was coming from Wendy in Canada and she just put it in the mail this past Monday. As you can see, I got started right away. It took me a bit to get it kitted up, as wanted to see the original colors listed and such before changing to colors I planned on using, but I've still been able to make a start. I'm doing it on 34 count Legacy Linen in Devonshire Cream. I haven't worked with this linen before, but had a small piece on hand that I had picked up at some point to have on hand to try that was the perfect size. So far I'm loving it, the holes are easy to see (even easier than the 28 ct lambswool I'm doing the Doubleflips on) and it has a nice feel. The creamy color is easy to work with too, as it went quite nicely with the colors of floss I've picked out so far. I'm using Sampler Threads in Midnight for her dress, which her dress being in blues should be no surprise. I'm going to so enjoy working on this design.

The Doubleflips made good headway this week as well. forgive the wrinkly fabric, I didn't take the time to iron either of them before putting them on the scanner. I'm enjoying the colors and feeling like there are lots of finishes in this, each word is kind of a happy dance. It took my whole scanner this time to get the picture, maybe an inch or so of border could be added before I'm out of room but that's it. My camera needs to get its battery replaced (hopefully it is just the battery) soon or I won't be able to show full shots of the Doubleflips in progress.

Jenn asked where I got the info on putting all the doubleflips together. Lizzie Kate has the info on her website, http://www.lizziekate.com/news.html
It is partway down the page in the January 2008 and December 2007 letter section. Sorry I don't how to make the link to an html work, so you'll have to copy paste.

Doubleflips is being done as a SAL with my DSIL Kim. I may get to see her a bit again next weekend, it will be fun to compare progress again in person. This one won't get as much attention while I'm working on My Needle and Floss. However, Kim will be using the time to either catch up to where I'm at or working on her other project, Bent Creek's Red Thread.

I don't have many wildlife pictures to post like some of you, as I'm in the city so just don't get as much. However, did see this cute little guy in my back yard yesterday. Can you see his little face almost right in the middle? I always take my cell phone with me when I walk Jaz, just in case, so had it with me to take a picture. When we got back from our walk, Jaz scooted into the back and sat under the tree. I couldn't figure out what she was watching at first. However, after looking closer I spotted him. Originally he was further down, but with both Jaz and me there he decided to move up the tree a bit. Isn't he a cutie? Click the picture to see a larger image. He was actually closer than this looks, but between my cell phone giving a feel of more distance due to the way it takes pictures, and his not being very big, he looks further away than he really was.

Another one done and Traveling Pattern win

2008-07-05T18:18:00.005-04:00

I've managed to finish up another in the Doubleflip series, so with the completion of Remember, I'm now a quarter of the way done with this fun word series. This is turning out to be such a fun one, and is actually moving along quicker than I thought it would. I spent the day at my brother's today, so my DSIL and I got a fair amount of stitching in, which allowed for a nice start on Give. I'm running a bit ahead of Kim on this, whose my SAL partner, so I'll need to be working on something else soon to give her a chance to catch up. There are several WIP's that haven't seen any attention in a while that I could start or ........

I can start this one when I get it Yup, that's right I won Wendy's drawing to be the next one to get My Needle and My Floss by Waxing Moon. Or, as it is getting to be better known, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern. This pattern has been through the hands of several stitchers now, each putting their own unique changes in it to make it theirs. I'm honored to be in the group sharing this link.

If you go to Wendy's blog you can see her finished one, as well as her earlier entry where she shows some of the notes people have left on the pattern as it has been passed around. I don't know how many have stitched it exactly, but I do know that it has been all over the world, showing that the love of stitching really has no borders.

Given that I'll want to get stitching this when I get it, so that I can forward it on to the next individual in the Traveling Pattern chain, this will be my focus piece for a bit. If you want to be included in my drawing to be the next one to get this pattern, please leave me a comment and I'll put your name in the hat. I'll collect names until I get it finished. At that time I'll draw, and the Traveling Pattern will be winging its way to a new home.

Hope everyone is having a fun and safe holiday weekend, now I'm off to catch up on what you've all been doing.

Two down and a Long Time coming finish

2008-06-28T18:31:00.007-04:00

Well I have two done, words that is, with 10 more to go on my Lizzie Kate Doubleflip series. I've finished up Dream and Love (you'll have to overlook the wrinkles) So far I'm still loving the looks of this, and for the most part I'm enjoying stitching it. I'm doing it on the recommended 32 ct. Lambswool, which does seem to be softening up as I stitch more. The overdyes are showing nicely too, especially in the green heart. Where I'm having the trouble is aligning the different squares. Normally with a pattern you have the parts above and below that you can count from. However, as all the words are on different cards, I'm trying to work with the general placement graph but it doesn't show the details. I like to have lots of points to count off of to try and check my placement, but this series, since it was originally set up separately, doesn't have them all one place and lined up to look at. It took me forever to get comfortable with where I was starting Love relative to Dream, and not being able to check that the O and and V were where they should be to the design under Dream drove me nuts. Oh well, it all worked out, and hopefully Remember will go a little easier. This is the new SAL I'm doing with my DSIL Kim. We stitch at about the same pace, so make good SAL partners.

As mentioned in my earlier post my parents just celebrated their 50th anniversary. For quite awhile my DSIL Kim and I have been working on a special SAL for them, actually a number of years. It took a while as we only recently moved fairly close to each other (about an hour now). We didn't want to trust our piece to the mail, so always hand delivered it to each other when we'd be together. Needless to say, with life, kids, and jobs, we weren't always ready to transfer it back when we'd meet up. Also if my parents were around, we couldn't always get it done easily either. However, we stuck to it, and got it finished and framed in time for their anniversary. The piece we chose was Creativity by Just Nan (picture is clickable) This isn't as good a picture as I'd have liked, but I forgot to get a picture before it was framed, and framed under glass doesn't photograph that well. Quite a while ago I showed a tiny piece (a little mouse) of a mystery piece I was working on, this was that piece.

The saying on this is so sweet, and along with the cats (my parents have always had cats) perfect for them. Kim and I divided the bands between us, my brother stitched the cats in the cat band, and each of the three grandchildren (my daughter and my two nephews) each sewed on one of the dragonfly charms. It was a work of love that all of us were able to contribute to. They have it hanging up already, and seemed to be thrilled with both the design, and appreciative of all the time and love that went into selecting it and stitching it for them.

While a busy time at work, I've managed to squeeze in three movies (one each weekend). Once my DD moved I pretty much just rented movies, or watched ones I already had, as none of my friends were very big on movies. However, found out my neighbor loves movies, so now I have a movie buddy. I've seen the new Indiania Jones one (really enjoyed, but the first one and Crusade are still my favorites), Kung Fu Panda (very cute), and WALL-E (fun, and I loved the underlying message it gave). There are several others either out already or coming out that I want to see. It's going to be a busy summer.

Well off to do some more yard work before it rains again. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Pirates, Clowns, and a Finish

2008-06-15T16:26:00.010-04:00

I can't believe all that has been going on since my last post. It has been a wild couple of weeks. This is kind of a long post, so if you just want to see my stitching finish, you can scroll down to the end.

First off I was able to take some vacation time to visit my DD. The circus won't be in MI this year, so I needed to figure out where else I could meet up with her to visit. The closest location she was at, with a time I could take off, was in PA. So, off to Wilkes Barre, PA I went. I left on a Wed., and drove about 10 hours. I had found a motel that was close to the arena she was playing at, but didn't realize what a great location it was until I got there. It was about 5 min. from the arena one way, and about 7 from where her train was at going the other. I was able to shuttle between the two easily. The theme for her tour this year is Over The Top.

We had a great time. I was able to spend part of Wed. evening and part of Thurs. with her. Friday we spent the day as she only had one show in the evening. Fri. evening I was able to see the show from the lighting booth where she works. It was fun seeing the show, and interesting to see how she coordinates the various spotlights, timing them to fade in and out and such, during the show. She doesn't do the lights, but she calls the cues for the people on the lights to follow. Time went by way to fast, and then it was Sat. morning and time to drive back home.

Then, I went crazy at work trying to catch up from being gone, and getting ready to leave again. I had Mon. - Thurs. to work, as I had Friday and all of last week off also. Friday I spent getting ready, as on Sat. morning we took off for a Cruise. My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and to celebrate they wanted to take the whole family on a cruise. Unfortunately my DD couldn't get time off, but me, my brother, my DSIL, my two nephews, and my parents all went on a Disney cruise. Here's a picture of the ship that was our home away from home.
The two postcards show the ship, the Disney Wonder, much better than I could have (it was huge).

We flew to Orlando on Sat. and spent the night there, then took the Disney shuttle to the ship on Sun. to start the cruise. We did the 4 day cruise, with two stops at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, and one stop at Nassau. I wasn't sure how being on the ship would agree with me, as I get motion sickness very easily, but I did ok. I took a Bonine each night, and wore my sea bands whenever we weren't on land. There was only once where I felt a bit ill, but an extra dose of Dramamine settled that. There was so much to see and do on the ship, and off, that we couldn't do it all. Which is probably the point, so that you'll want to come back. Each night Disney put on a wonderful production. We saw two original musicals, Toy Story and Dreams, a juggling/comedy act, and a musical called Golden Mickeys.

The Golden Mickey's highlighted some of the major Disney movies. Here are some pictures from that one. No flash photography was allowed, so they are a bit dark, and most of the ones I tried to get didn't turn out, but this gives you a feel for the theater and style. Toy Story and Dreams, the ones I don't have pictures of, especially were Broadway quality.

The next day we went to Disney's Island Castaway Cay. The weather was perfect and we had a fantastic time. We even splurged and had a massage in the open air cabanas. What a treat. Here are several shots of the one side of the island. The one boat shown is the Flying Dutchman that was used in several places in the Disney Pirates of the Caribbean film (as was the beach areas).

The picture of the Dutchman is from the back (from the ship), which is why you can see the cut out area. From the front, it looked like the full ship did in the movie. I would have had more pictures from the cruise (other shows, Nassau, etc..) but my camera decided it didn't want to work anymore at that point. :(
Oh well, everyone else took lots of pictures, so I can get some of theirs. While we were on Nassau we did the Dolphin encounter trip, where we got to get in the water with a dolphin and even get a kiss from it. When we went back to Castaway Cay, we went on the Glass Bottom Boat and saw lots of lovely fish, and I even learned how to snorkel (which is much more tiring on the legs than it looks). All to soon it was over and we were headed home. We docked on Thurs. and flew home on Fri.

While part of this weekend was spent getting everything in order to go back to work on Monday, a good part of yesterday was spent cleaning my yard up. While we were gone some really bad storms went through. At times it is unclear if it was just really strong winds (70+ mph) or an actual tornado (depends on who you ask) but there was a lot of damage in our area. The storm hit last Sun. and when we came home on Fri. there were still about 300+ people with no power. While most roads were open, most parks are closed due to tree damage. The golf course not to far from me lost over 100 trees. Lots of uprooted trees, downed limbs, broken fences, etc... on my block. Quite an unexpected site to come home to. Luckily I didn't have any damage, but cleaning up all the tree branches and stuff that came down took several hours, and since I'd been gone I also needed to mow. My neighbors were such sweeties, they moved the biggest limbs out of my front yard for me to ensure they were picked up by the city, and so it wasn't so obvious I was away from home.

And finally, my stitching finish. There was so much to do on the cruise, not as much stitching got done as I would have thought. However I made enough progress on the last of Schoolgirl Lessons by Little House Needleworks that I was able to finish up the last little bit last night. So here it is (and for a change I managed to get a good picture of it with the colors pretty accurate). This was such fun to do, and with it being a single color, a really relaxing stitch. I love the blue silk, Mer Bleu, that I used, so soft, a real treat to stitch with. It even was finished by the SAL ending date, which was today, talk about cutting it close.

Well, if you've managed to hang in here this long thanks, I know it was a very wordy posting. Hope you've all been well, and I'll be catching up on everything you've been doing this coming week. With being off the computer for two weeks, I have A LOT to catch up on.

Progress and eggs

2008-05-26T08:31:00.014-04:00

While not as far along as I'd like, Schoolgirl Lessons has moved forward a bit. This turned out a bit darker than it really is (coloring in the earlier post from using the scanner is more accurate on the fabric) but since this was taken with my camera the picture is clickable, so the lovely shading in the blues can be seen more easily. With only about a quarter of it left now I'm hopeful of having it done by the end of the SAL. I thought the SAL ended the end of this month. However, it actually ends June 15, so it should be doable.

Since I don't have much stitching to show off, I'll show off my new toy. I'm not much of a cook anymore, preferring to make what I can nuke in the microwave and what is quick. Therefore, frozen foods that can be microwaved are quite big on my list. Things that take a while to cook, or things I'm going to feel like I need to cook a lot of to justify, just don't get made. One of the things I haven't made lately and I love are hard boiled eggs. Ok, I hear most of you laughing saying those aren't hard. I agree, but, they do take time (20 minutes plus) and if I'm going to heat a bunch of water and use the stove to cook that long I feel I need to make quite a few. Since I'm the only one that wants to eat them, I don't really need a lot. However, this weekend I was out shopping and found this really neat new toy, it is a Egg Boiler for the Microwave by Nordic Ware. It looks just like an egg and works wonderfully. To make my eggs I just open it up into its three parts like this The bottom of the egg I fill with water to the fill line. Then I put the metal middle back in, which has 4 little indents to put eggs in. I can cook just 1 or up to 4 eggs.
Once the eggs are in, I snap the top back on, put it in the microwave, and cook for 10 minutes. Let it cool for 2 minutes and I have eggs. Much quicker (and I think less energy) than the old way. Also, especially in the summer it will be nice not to have the extra heat in the house that running the stove for that amount of time would give. And if I get sidetracked and forget them, the microwave turns off by itself, I don't have to worry about boiling the pot dry. I used it for the first time yesterday and made a couple and it worked wonderful. Eggs were done, easy to peel, and are now gone, guess I need to make some more for lunch tomorrow.

Today is Memorial Day so I have the day off. It looks like it is going to be a lovely day. We had storms last night, which was good as we needed the rain. However, it is nice and sunny now. Hope you all have a good day too.

Interesting Mother's Day present and progress

2008-05-16T19:51:00.004-04:00

I've had a number of Mother's Days to celebrate since my daughter was born, and in that time I've had quite a number of Mother's Day presents, some of them more lets say unique than others. However, this past Mother's Day I received my oddest one yet. Lets just say sometimes what someone chooses to give you doesn't quite equate to what you'd like to have. In this case I could have done quite well without my gift. The gift in question though did not come from my DD, it was presented to me from one of my four footed and furry children (maybe you now have a vague idea where this is going). Mother's day went very well for me. I talked to my DD, went over to my parents, spent some time with my brother and his family who were also there, and in general had an enjoyable day. Later that evening however it must have occurred to Jaz that she wanted to give me something (needless to say quite a few people have now been informed that next year they can take Jaz shopping for something a little more appropriate, LOL). Here is my angelic looking culprit, now would you think she'd have come up with this creative of a gift? At about 2 am, Jaz decided she needed to go out, so ok, out she goes and in a bit she's ready to come back in. As she's passing by me I look down and see what looks like some grass on the side of her mouth (since she loves to eat grass that's not unusual). So.....I say her name to get her attention so I can get it, at that point she quite happily proceeds to drop a dead mouse at my feet. Ok, I can hear you all going eeeeewwwww, believe me I was doing the same. As I'm doing a crazy fast step to get further away, Jaz is standing there wiggling all over, tail waving madly, and is sooooo pleased with herself she can hardly stand it. Also at this time one cat then another has noticed something interesting is going on and are starting to move our way. So, at that point I am still icked out, Jaz is still wiggling with glee, I'm trying to figure out how I can get the dead mouse off the floor and out the door without touching it and without leaving it as the cats now want to move in and claim it. Chasing a cat through the house to reclaim a dead mouse at 2 am is really not something I want to do. Having a cat steal the mouse and leave it somewhere I can't find and then having it begin to smell is not high on my list either. Finally I managed to get it scooped up and out of the house, all the while avoiding Jaz who is trying to lick my face when I bend down (another eeewww, I know where that mouse was, yuck!!). The cats are now not happy as they didn't get their new toy, Jaz is trying to figure out why I wasn't thrilled with her present, and I just want to calm down so I can go back to sleep. To say it was an interesting experience is an understatement. I so do not understand dogs. Why on earth would you want a mouse in your mouth in the first place, eeewww, and she was just so incredibly pleased with what she brought me. Oh well, they say it's the thought that counts, but even so, I hope next year my Mother's Day is a little quieter. Something from the furbabies that is a lot more boring and less unique will be much appreciated, LOL.

Not a whole lot of stitching has gotten done, at some point I keep saying my life will settle down but it doesn't show signs of slowing in the future. However, I have made some progress. Schoolgirl Lessons now has the house done and part of the tree I still can't get the lovely deep blue of the silks to show, but I'll keep trying. I'm hoping to get some more time in on this during this weekend. The SAL runs through the end of this month, and I'd really like to have it done by then. Lizzie Kate's double flips has also moved forward a bit more just a little bit to go and I'll have the first word finished. Kim has already finished Dream and has a good portion of Love done so I need to get moving to catch up.

Well I'm off to see what all you've been up too. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and it was a little, ummm, less exciting than mine, LOL.

Two new starts, and some pictures from Philly

2008-05-03T10:47:00.007-04:00

My first new start is for a SAL with the Little House Needleworks group. I'm doing Schoolgirl Lessons on 32 ct. Belfast Linen, not sure of the color, and using Crescent Colours Belle Soie in Mer Bleu. This picture really doesn't do the beautiful blue color justice, hopefully my next picture will be more true to the color it is in real life. This is the first time I've used the silks by Crescent Colours and they are wonderful. So soft and plush, they just glide through the material.

Here is what it will look like finished. The other thing, besides the silks, I'm really enjoying on this piece is that it is all one color, so I can just sit and stitch and not worry about changing threads all the time, very relaxing.

My second new start is the new Lizzie Kate Double Flips series. This one I'm doing with the Weeks Dye works and Sampler threads on 32 ct. Lambswool linen. You've all probably seen what it will look like done, as so many bloggers seem to be working on this lately, but in case you haven't here it is. This is such an unusual piece for me, not my normal style at all. However, I fell in love with the colors and the wonderful words, they really do convey some great ideas to live by. I'm not to thrilled with the fabric though, it seems quite stiff and even scratchy. I've been told that the manufacturer uses quite a bit of sizing to ensure consistent size and count in measuring and that it should get softer as I work on it more. Or, I could try washing it to remove some of the sizing. I may try to do that, being careful not to get the very top wet where my stitching is as I won't want it to run, which overdyes are prone to do.

Have any of you worked with the lambswool before? What did you do? Do you think that it does really soften up as the piece progresses? This piece I'm doing as a SAL with my DSIL. We tend to stitch at about the same pace, so it will be fun to have the company. With so many people starting it much earlier in the year, I think most other stitchers will be done long before we are.

My DD is still with the circus and having so much fun traveling around and seeing so much of the country. Her latest stop was in Philadelphia. I don't know how we'd keep in touch without our cell phones, as her hours are quite different from mine so actually talking is difficult. However, we send each other text messages all the time, and I get great pictures from the places she's at. We love the fact she can take a picture on her cell phone and send it to my phone, I can see what she's seeing at that time. It sure helps in feeling like we are staying connected even though she's so far away most times and I rarely actually see her.Then I can forward her pictures from my cell phone to my email and can share them with family and friends and such. So many times new technology drives me crazy trying to learn it, but in this case I think it's wonderful.

She really tries to take advantage of the opportunities to sight see and explore the various places she's in, travel is after all why she joined the circus. While in Philly she made a point of seeing a number of places, including the Liberty Bell (you can even see the crack)

A museum with a Star Wars theme going on, I love the Darth Vader they painted on the steps (all pictures are clickable, but if you click this one you can see Darth Vader even clearer)
She even tracked down the steps that they used in the movie Rocky and made a point to run up them.
She's a big movie buff, in her travels she also made a point of going to see the Brooklyn Bridge, with the main reason being she'd seen it destroyed in so many movies she wanted to see it in real life.

Midnight continues to hold her own, moving around a little more, and with a little more interest in things. However, not much interest in eating. She'll munch a little kibble now and then, but mostly only interested in baby food. She loves the turkey flavor. Sure feels funny to be back in the store buying baby food, when my baby is now almost 25.

Finally he's finished

2008-04-27T13:42:00.006-04:00

I don't know where the last two weeks have gone. It seems I haven't been able to get anything done other than what has to be dealt with. I apologize to you all, I'm so far behind on reading and posting on your blogs. It just seems to have been all I can do to put one foot in front of the other lately.

Fortunately Snow Ho Ho was pretty much done except for fill in work on the border, pretty much a no brainer, which is about how my brain has been functioning in the evening lately. So I'd like to present my finish

This design in by Waxing Moon and he's done on 28ct Denim Jobelan. For the most part I followed the pattern, other than using 2 stands instead of the recommended three. Three stands are so difficult for me to get to lay so that I'm happy with them, and it then it gets so that I'm spending more time being frustrated with how my stitching looks than enjoying it, which is not the point at all. Therefore, I went with two strands other than for his nose, cheeks, and eye. These I did with three, partly as I started there thinking I would do the whole pattern in three strands as recommended and then was to lazy to frog it all out when I switched to two strands, and partly as I liked the slightly puffy effect it gives that area compared to the rest of him. Since a snowman would have eyes (or as shown here an eye) of coal, and a carrot nose and such, I think it gives a bit of a hint of 3-D effect he'd have in real life.

While I have a couple new projects kitted, no new start as yet to show. Hopefully I'll have something new soon. Although, I still need to do the pin cushion and finishing on my Necessaire, and I have a couple other WIP's I could (should?) spend some time on as well (Trick or Treat Mice and Flower Dragons come to mind). And hmmmm, seems I have a single sock knitted that at some point would really like to have its mate, and then I could actually wear it.

Thanks for all the continuing well wishes for Midnight. She's still hanging in there. We've been back to the vets a couple of times for fluids and new meds, so are pretty much just taking it one day at a time. There was sun for a bit today, and I did manage to get her to leave the corner in my bedroom she's been spending her time in for a brief time. Actually I moved her and then I think she just didn't want to move back at the moment, but at least she had a bit of something different to look at for a while.She blinked when the flash went off, but I think she looks pretty comfortable at least for the moment.

I'm hoping to get to your blogs soon, but now I'm off to do some laundry, clean cloths for the week would probably be a good thing.

A finish and almost another

2008-04-12T13:39:00.009-04:00

I finally have a finish, may I present

Cardinal in Winter Quilt Ornament
Handblessings Patterns
28ct Thyme Jobelan

The actual pattern came with a silver charm. However, since I planned on doing this a couple of times for Christmas ornaments/presents I'd picked up a gold one as well. I had the more gold floss next to me when I went to attach the charm so decided to put the gold one on this one and I'll use the silver one when I do it the next time. The other changes I made were using regular DMC for the snow instead of the perle cotton listed, and I switched the material that was called for. Over all, only minor changes. This was a fun piece, and was a really nice lunch project given its large blocks of color. Now I just need to get organized and actually turn it into an ornament. With this done, I'll need to start another lunch project, what a hardship huh. :)

I've also made some decent progress on Snow Ho Ho. I have the border half way done, so maybe by the end of next weekend I'll have another finish to post. Here's how he looks now.

Surprisingly enough, I'm still enjoying working on the border, it has made for a nice relaxing stitch when I work on it in the evening.

Still haven't finished the Indigo Rose piece, so no pictures of that. However, here are a couple of my furbabies. Isis was "helping" me take pictures. However, that attraction quickly grew old and she now seems to be saying ok now what do we do.

At the moment I'm her only option for entertainment, as the rest of my four footed household was following Bug's lead I was going to try and get pictures of them all, but my moving around was starting to disturb them, and from the look in D'artagon's eyes they really wanted me to stop with the noise and movement. His favorite nap place is the footstool. No pictures of my oldest Midnight, as she was curled up asleep under a desk by a heat vent and I really didn't want to bother her. She's doing about the same, better than when she went to the doctor originally, but still not "normal". She had a check up today and she'd lost a bit more weight, but other than that seemed to be doing ok (at least no fever). She was a little dehydrated, so they gave her some fluids and they started her on a different pain medicine to see if it would help her, which might also get her to eat more. So we'll see how that does.

Actually seeing them all napping on an dreary, overcast and drizzly day like today it looks like a good idea, maybe I'll join them. :)

Progress and Frogs

2008-04-06T10:18:00.017-04:00

Not a lot to show this week. I'm stitching, but they just don't seem to be moving along very quickly. However, I'm beginning to think they may all get done about the same time, and then I'll have three finishes to celebrate, not all bad. All pictures are clickable for more detail (especially on my cute frog fob).

I haven't done anymore work on my Indigo Rose piece, which just needs the pincushion to be made and then the finishing. I really need to get back to this one, as it looks so pretty finished up. My DSIL Kim finished hers this past week and I think it looks beautiful. You'll want to hop over to her blog and see how lovely it is. Hopefully mine will look halfway near as good when I'm done, Kim is a lot better at finishing than I am.

It didn't get posted before, so I'll show it off now. At Easter Kim gave me an adorable little frog scissor fob she'd made. She'd made me a little frog tin for my stitching a while ago, so now I have a set. Aren't they adorable? My theory is that if I have cute little decorative frogs around, the real ones that aren't half as cute will want to stay away from my stitching nook. Doesn't always work, but I keep hoping.

My lunch piece, Cardinal, did make a little more progress, the snowflakes in the corners are done, now I just need to do the three little trees in each of the borders. Not sure why the picture turned out so dark this time, it is much lighter in real life. The picture in my last post is much more true to its real colors.
This one may get done by next weekend if the week stays quiet at work and I can get some lunch stitching in.

Snow Ho Ho also got a nice bit started on his border, it is almost a third done now.
I still love this piece, and think it is fun the way they designed it so that it looks like he is winking. It does feel a bit odd though working on a snowman with the nicer weather and sun we are finally having.

Thank you all so much for your well wishes for Midnight. She's doing much better. We still don't know what the problem was, the vet treated her for a number of possibilities and something clicked as she's much improved. She still is moving slowly, as her back and joints seem to still be causing discomfort. However, she's starting to jump short distances again, so hopefully the arthritis medicine we started her on will help with that. So now both Midnight and Jazmine are taking arthritis medicine daily. It isn't fun getting old. My fur babies are Midnight 14, Bug 13, Jazmine 11, D'artagnon 10, and my DD's cat Isis is 2 (guess who the insane one is in the group, LOL). Jazmine and Bug have always been close, but they got closer when we lost Sasha last fall. Here is a picture of the two of them. I tried to catch them when Bug was rolling around and actually cuddling under Jazmine's chin between her front paws. However, by the time I got there with the camera, he'd moved off a bit.

We'll I'm off for errands, which for a change I can do in the sunshine. Hope everyone has a great week.

A little of this and a little of that

2008-03-30T10:34:00.008-04:00

I think I really need to pick one project and try to focus on it. I'm making headway on several pieces, but it feels ages since I actually had a finish. My last finish was early February, and here it is now the end of March. All my following pictures are clickable, as used my camera this time instead of my scanner. I think it especially helped on my Indigo Rose piece.

As to getting a finish, I'm optimistic that my Cardinal piece may be done fairly soon. The border is done now, I just need to finish up the design inside the border. I'm planning on making this into a little Christmas ornament, the finished size is 3x3 inches so it is relatively small.

The other piece I've put some time into again is Snow Ho Ho. His hat is done now except for the star tassel, then will just have the border design. Even though I'm not big on borders, it is in blue which will help. Also, I have a lot going on at the moment between work and home, so some fairly mindless stitching will be a good idea of what to work on in the evenings.

My Indigo Rose piece also moved along this past week. I now have the cover stitching completed. The wrought by section with the words and flower vine is over 1. This is the section I was having trouble with earlier and had to frog a portion back out. I'm happy now with how it turned out though. I also frogged out a portion of the vase that I had done previously and redid that, as I didn't like how the flower ended and the vase started, I like it better now. I flipped the picture as thought that would be easier to see than trying to imagine the vase upside down. Now I just need to make the pincushion and do the rest of the finishing. My DSIL Kim is also working on this. For a while I was ahead, but this week Kim finished up her stitching and has started the finishing. Hopefully she'll be able to give me some good tips on putting mine together. This is such a neat piece, I'm looking forward to having it done.

The snow in my previous post all melted, and then we got a couple of inches more. However, most of that is gone now too, and the sun was peeking out. Isis (in the window) and D'artagnon (on the stool) are really enjoying being able to catch some sunbeams. Although D'artagnon doesn't look to happy in the picture about my disturbing him with a camera shot.

One of my other kitties, Midnight, hasn't had a very good week. This is her sacked out over the edge of the couch taking a nap. You can see where the front part of her leg has been shaved. I came home from work on Tues. and she wasn't at the door to meet me, not normal. When I went to find her, she was laying in the middle of the floor and didn't want to get up, so off to the vet we went. She was dehydrated, running a fever, and was very uncoordinated when trying to walk. Midnight ended up spending two nights at the vets with IV's and antibiotics and such. We still aren't sure what is wrong, at 14 though little things can cause big problems. All they could see was a kidney stone, but didn't think that could cause this much trouble. She's home now and resting, still on antibiotics and such, and has gone back once to get some more fluids as she's not drinking as much as she needs. She's a little better, but no where near normal. I'm hoping that with the treatments, some new arthritis meds, and rest she'll be able to bounce back. She's the little diva in our house, for being so tiny she really does rule the roost. Hopefully she's back to that position soon. If you would, healing thoughts her way would be most appreciated.

Progress and.....Snow?

2008-03-21T20:01:00.012-04:00

Ok, it is past the first day of Spring, it is the end of March, it is almost Easter for pete's sake. So I was really hoping we would not have any more of this.....

These were taken a couple of hours ago, before that all the snow we'd gotten earlier in the week had melted. All together they are saying 4-6 inches for my area, other areas are forecasted for quite a bit more. The temperature has been up around 40 the last week or so too, and it is dropping fast again now. The poor Easter Bunny is going to freeze his little behind off in this weather.

Needless to say, guess who is thrilled with having snow again

This is Jaz in the previous snow as I couldn't get a good one of her in the current one, but she's out there running around and having a grand time.

On the stitching side I've made some more headway on my Cardinal lunch project

This is such a great project for on the go as the counting is so easy, and the bright red is easy to see against the light green of the fabric.

My needle/tool pocket is also coming along nicely. It is a little too long for the scanner now, but all that really got cut off was the flowers that are on the very outside end, which are the same as those on the other corners.

The over 1 section I'm currently working on has been a bit of a challenge. The pattern said to use 1 strand for the backstitched green vine, but didn't say anything about the flowers or numbers. So.. I started those in two strands. After about a dozen stitches I realized that 2 strands over 2 threads on 32 count really doesn't work to well, it is so bulky and I was having a hard time getting my stitches in, so I had to frog them back out. Frogging over 1 stitching is really miserable, it just doesn't want to come out. Luckily I didn't have a whole lot that I had to do or I'd really be frustrated with the project.

I got the frogging done last night, so that I was able to start fresh today. Since I didn't want to be in the snow, I put on a DVD and stitched, and got the flowers, vines, and 2008 put in. All I have left in this section now is "Wrought by" and my initials and then I'll do the pincushion for the center, and then the finishing. I'm hoping to have everything except the finishing part done this weekend.

Barbara, thanks for the suggestion to put white paper behind when I scan a piece, I think the colors came out better using that.

Jennifer, yes the one center part in the cover area and in the two pockets I have in my previous post are a specialty stitch, it is a spiders web. It's a lot of fun, you start with an Algerian eyelet for the base (the spokes) and then weave around them to create a web effect.

I still want to post the fun stash I got earlier, but some is still in the mail as it had to be ordered, so maybe next post I'll have the rest of it and will show off my new goodies.

Hope you all have a lovely holiday, and that the weather wherever you are isn't getting to bad.

Pockets and Cardinals

2008-03-15T10:53:00.011-04:00

With stitching, I'm over half way done on my class piece. However, I'll still have the finishing left after the stitched decoration portion is finished. I made good progress this past week. Here's the first pocket. It just needs the white backstitching around the edge to allow it to be whip stitched during finishing. Here's my second pocket which was only partly done last time. This one does have the edging in so it's ready to be whip stitched to the backing fabric. Finally, here it where I am on the cover piece, one end is done and I've started the middle Not sure why some of the areas are looking dirty in the above pictures, as if some of the flosses have ran. It is clear white in real life, somehow my scanner just doesn't want to take a clean picture of this piece.

As mentioned before, when finished this folds like a notebook, with two sides and a flat middle edge. When closed, all the tools (pin cushion, needle case, laying tool, scissors, etc) are inside and are protected. However, when in use I can reverse the fold direction so that the tools are on the outside and the pin cushion is on the top outside of the shape. Here is a picture off of Stitches 'N Things website showing what it will look like done. The final one for class is actually a little different, as the pincushion is rounder with a round spiderweb stitch decorating each end rather than the flatter pillow style shown here, but other than that its the same.

I'm hoping to have the stitching done by next weekend. However, that will depend on if I get the extra fiber I need. It is done with Caron's waterlilies, a silk that is yummy to work with, but the kit was short on two colors. I can work around the two colors for a bit, but since it is the greens that are short, I'll be stuck soon. I've let Catherine know that the kit didn't have enough, and she's said she'll get more in the mail, so hopefully I get it soon. It is so frustrating to want to work on a piece and not have the fiber you need to stitch it. I'm going to be reallllly close on the yellow that is being used in the center right now too, but hopefully I'll have just enough, otherwise I'll be stuck on that also. Catherine said she recently had to change the designer of the fiber from what she designed it with to the waterlilies, so she had to estimate on how much of the waterlilies was needed compared to the other brand. Most of them she got just fine, but the two greens (and maybe the golden) somehow got off in the translation.

Cardinal my lunch project made a little progress as well
I'll be able to add in some of the little trees in the border soon so the box edge isn't so empty looking. This is a fun one to work on at lunch, easy counting and it moves along quickly.There is a tiny snowflake charm that goes in above the right side of the cardinal to fill in the middle a bit more, but I'll wait on that till the rest is done or I can just see myself snagging it constantly.

No work on Snow Ho Ho this week. I've decided to put him on hold until I finish my stitching pockets. Since that design is done with overdyes where the dye lot can vary, I want to make sure I don' t have any other problems with a color being short while I can still get a little more to finish it and know the dye lot will match.

Time Flies

2008-03-06T20:07:00.011-05:00

My, time sure does fly when you're having fun. Or at least I had a ton of fun last weekend (this week has been very busy at work so almost no stitching time so far). However, last weekend I was at stitching camp with my DSIL Kim and we had a ball. Stitching, and talking, and seeing what everyone else was working on. There were about 40 of us there, so we pretty much took over the hotel for the weekend. There was a lot of lovely stashing going on as well, but I'll put that in my next post. This one I'll save for my stitching updates, because I was busy.

First off is Snow Ho Ho, yup, he got a nice bit done on his coat and hat. Here is what he looks like now Just a little more left on his hat and then on to the border. Here is what he looked like before

My next one is one of my new starts, Cardinal in Winter Quilt Ornament by Handblessings. I'm doing this one on 28 ct. Thyme Jobelan and it has been such fun so far. Here is what it will look like finished.

My second new start is from the class I took while at camp. The class was by Catherine Strickler of Indigo Rose and was so much fun. Catherine is wonderful to take a class from. The design is called Kate's Necessaire and will be a needleholder, laying tool holder, pin cushion, needlecase, and scissor holder all in one when it is done. So far I've completed the design for the first inside pocket and the outside area of the second inside pocket. The center of the second pocket will look like that of the first, I've put them one on top of the other to show the similar design on the two. Once I finish the two pockets, I can start stitching the outside design, which is what is shown on the design cover. This picture is of it laid out flat, it folds in two when done, with the yellow banding in the middle you see in the picture becoming the middle or end piece once it is folded. This is stitched with Caron's Waterlilies, and working with silks is wonderful, they are so soft. The finishing looked to be fairly straight forward so I have my fingers crossed I can do it. Kim took the same class, and is about at the same point right now. We're planning on taking a day and spending it finishing it together once we get the stitching done. Kim is pretty good at sewing and finishing, so with her help I should be able to get it done.

So that is what I've been up to, why I didn't post last weekend and why I'm behind in my blog reading again. Hopefully I can get all caught up with what you've all been doing this past weekend.

Little more progress and taxes

2008-02-23T20:52:00.003-05:00

I did make some more headway on Snow Ho Ho this week. His beard is now done and I'm working on his coat. I really like how he's starting to look. Hopefully the enjoyment will still be there when I start putting in the border. While the border will really set it off, I tend to have a hard time staying motivated with borders, and projects drift back into WIP/UFO piles on occasion. However, the border for this is a lovely variegated blue, with a little bit of white here and there. Since blue is my favorite color, that should help keep my attention.

One of the reasons I didn't make a little more headway this week was taxes. Ugh, I hate doing those. I was good though and stayed focused and, THEY'RE DONE (big happy dance). So, mine are all finished and in the mail. Unfortunately I also do my daughters for her, so those are still in the to be done stack. Those are on my list to finish this week, at least her federal one. Still thinking through how to deal with the state(s). Since the circus plays in lots of states, they withhold taxes from her for the different states she works in. Some are easy, for example she worked in Florida but they don't have a state tax. However, she also worked in Texas, Michigan, Connecticut,..... so that should be ummmm interesting.

It was bright and sunny today, seeing the sun was so nice. I'm one of those people who really need sun, it just makes my whole outlook on life so much better. Tomorrow should have sun again too, with a high up to 34, this is shaping up to be a very nice weekend.

WIP progress

2008-02-16T22:27:00.004-05:00

This week I worked on one of my older WIP's, and I think I made pretty good headway. First, here is how he looked before this week
And this is how he looks now

Snow Ho Ho

Waxing Moon Designs

28 ct Denim Blue Jobelan

I was working on just his beard for a while, but decided to go back and do the backstitch to create his other eye and smile. I think he looks much better with his face (and no longer like the cyclops snowman, lol). He's been sitting negleted in my WIP pile for almost a year now. However, somehow I don't think he'll languish that long again. While we are past Christmas, there's still plenty of winter left (unfortunately), so I think I can have quite a good amount done before the weather starts to turn.

Remember Your Mittens

2008-02-10T15:10:00.000-05:00

My newest finish is soooooo appropriate for the weather we are currently having. With the snow we've had recently we've gotten just under a foot of snow. Today, while not snowing, it is bitter cold. Last temperature I heard was 0, with a wind chill of 18 degrees below. Not fun, so if you're heading out you really need to -

Remember Your Mittens
San-Man Originals
28ct Antique White Monaco

This was such a fun stitch. Not only was it cute, but it was in my favorite color, I love blue. On top of that, being a tuck the finishing was so easy, just tuck it in and I'm done. This is now hanging in my stitching corner.

I did get out and brave the cold for a bit. I haven't been to one on the IMAX type shows in probably 20 years. However, a friend wanted to go to see U2 in 3D at the IMAX here. I had a great time (after I warmed up again) . It was fun going to see a concert that way. I wasn't sure how much I'd like it, but being able to really see U2 play (and Bono sing) was really enjoyable. For a change I didn't have someone in front of me blocking my view, or was so far back all they were were tiny figures on a stage way off in the distance. I'd definently go again.

Fourth finish - Follow Your Heart

2008-01-31T21:07:00.000-05:00

Well it is January 31st and I've just managed to squeak a fourth finish in for the month. So far this year I'm doing really well. I've finished Gingerbread Cottage, Cherries, a knitted dishcloth, and now

Follow Your Heart
SanMan Originals
28 ct Antique White Monaco

I love the colors in this one. While I did consider keeping this for myself, it will be fun for Valentine's Day, it actually will be going to my DD (she doesn't read my blog so I'm safe posting the picture). I forgot to keep my camera charged, so I scanned it in making it look a little flatter than it normally would. Now I just need to pick up some other treats to create a Valentine's goodie package to send her.

She's still with the Circus and still enjoying it. The route this year will take them seveal places she's always wanted to see: Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas, Nevada, New York, New York, and several cities in California. The only stop they have that I might be able to get to in order to see her this year is in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It would take me a day to drive there, and another to drive back, but I have driven it before so would know where I'm going. In addition, Hershey has fun stuff for me to do while she's working, so I could be going to the underground caverns, Amish village, Hershey Park, etc.. when I was on my own. Between that and my stitching, there would be plenty to keep me busy when the shows are on. Then I could spend time with her when she's not working. Don't know if it would work with my schedule at work, but would be fun if it can.

Haven't gotten a picture yet of the framed Acorns, Strawberries, and Cherries. When I get the camera charged up I'll post that sometime this weekend. Now, I'm off to sleep. It's been a long day and we are under a winter storm warning, could get up to 12 inches of show. Between that and the winds, which they are saying will make visability very poor, the trip to work tomorrow does not sound fun. Maybe I could do a snow day and stay home and stitch. :)

2 finishes and a PIF

2008-01-26T19:07:00.000-05:00

I've had quite a good week. My first finish this week was

Cherries
Little House Needleworks
32ct Belfast Linen

I haven't had a chance to frame this yet, but I did lay it out in the three opening frame that I found earlier with Acorns and Strawberries and I really like how it works. The cut outs in the mat are perfect for their small square size. I'm hoping to have it framed this weekend as would really like to get it hung up.

My second finish this past week was another dishcloth

The pattern is called Stacked Barrels. I love the color, and am pretty happy with how it turned out. My transition from a knit stitch to a purl stitch still needs work though. The tension doesn't stay very well when I go back and forth and in several places the purl looks quite loose when it falls after a knit. Also, I think I grip the needles and yarn to tight most of the time. I keep trying to pull the yarn tighter so that I don't end up with that loose stitch, but the result is after a fairly short time my hands start to cramp (even the backs of my hands and fingers don't feel so great). I may try my next cloth on a smaller needle (the two I've done so far were on 7's and I used plastic needles) to see if I can get the tension I want without making my hands cramp up so much.

The last item I have is a PIF of a kind. Recently another blogger listed a bunch of patterns she had in her stash that she'd decided she wouldn't use, so was giving them away. I now have four lovely SanMan patterns on their way to me. These are originals not copies, as we're both following copyright laws. In the same spirit of giving some orphan stash a good new home, I have about 20 different leaflets/books/or patterns that I know I won't use, so...they are up for grabs. If you'd like one or several, let me know and they are yours free.

Rather than type out all the titles I put a picture of each in my webshots album under Free Stash My Webshots Album
As they are spoken for, I'll take their picture down, so what you see will be what is still available.

Hope you find something that you like, all stash needs a good home. :)

Framing and a new start

2008-01-19T00:26:00.000-05:00

I finally got out to look at frames for Gingerbread Cottage, and think I really lucked out. I found not only a frame, but a stock double cut mat at JoAnns, and I had coupons too. The coloring is much better in real life, as I couldn't get as good a picture as I'd have liked. This shows the frame pretty well, but the coloring on the stitching is off. My last entry had a picture much closer to how it really looks. The lettering especially in this one gets lost, but at least overall you can see how it finished up. I hadn't thought about the mat color combination of green and pink until I saw it and thought I'd just try it next to Gingerbread Cottage, just to see how it looked. I was surprised how much I liked it. The pink seems to bring out the lettering, and the green goes well with the trees and ivy. I managed to frame it for about $18, which I think was an excellent deal. I'm glad I got it done when I did, as it is now up and can be enjoyed. It's only January, and there is a fair bit of winter left, so I'll be able to enjoy it for awhile.

However, with finishing Gingerbread Cottage I needed another small project to work on. While at JoAnns I also found a lovely three aperture frame. It is off white and came with a double mat already. The coloring will go perfect with the two Little House Designs I finished earlier, Strawberries and Acorns. However, I needed a third design for the third opening so I started Cherries, another of the Little House Needleworks Threadpacks. The original design was on white, but since Strawberries and Acorns were both on this kind of cream linen, I wanted Cherries on it as well so that it would match. All the original floss colors worked except for one, the top of the pie. The original color was almost exactly the color of the fabric. On white fabric this would be fine, however on this fabric it didn't show up at all. The top of the pie is now in Little House Brown instead of the Perfect Piecrust originally charted. As with all the threadpacks, this is another really fun stitch. It's also moving along quickly enough that I should have a second finish this month. In addition, since I already have the frame, it should be finished off and hung quickly too.

First finish for 2008

2008-01-09T20:51:00.001-05:00

Well I have my first finish for 2008

Gingerbread Cottage
Designed by Country Cottage Needleworks
Done on 28ct Vintage Country Mocha Linen

It was actually finished a couple nights ago, after staying up way to late working on it. However, it was just so close to being done, and it was such a fun stitch, I couldn't wait to see it completed. The original design had a border on it as well, but I decided to leave that off. I don't really like doing borders, and as I'm planning on framing this with a mat I don't think it will need one.

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to start a new project, or give some time to one (or more) of my WIP's for a while. There is another WIP in my stash that has been calling out for some stitching time (in addition to Dragons and Mice that I had in my last post), Snow Ho Ho by Waxing Moon.

I think I started him in late 2006, so he's been around for a bit. He's on 28ct denim blue jobelan, which even though it is a darker fabric isn't to bad to stitch on. While it is past Christmas, it is still winter so he's season appropriate, lol. Athough at this point we don't have any of the snow left from before. This is what he'll look like when he's done, so I do have a good start on him.
The weather has been so strange lately. Today was colder, but the last two days have been around 60 degrees. I can't believe that almost a foot of snow melted in two days. Then the last two days we've had lots of rain, and even a thunderstorm, very strange weather for January.

However, even if I focus on one or more of my WIP's, I still need to have a smaller project for quick pick-ups and working on the go, which I don't have at the moment, so....I think I need to go stash diving, always a fun past time. :)

Goals and WIP's

2008-01-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

I've never had a knitted dishcloth before, but I'm loving using the one I just finished, I wish I'd discovered them sooner. The feel of the sugar and cream yarn when I was knitting wasn't as nice as other yarns I'd felt, so I wondered how I'd like it. However, it really feels nice when washing the dishes. The patterns in the booklet I have are really easy to follow even with my little experience, and there are quite a few designs, so I should have enough to keep busy for a while. One thing I may look at though is an easy design (not a animal or flower pattern) to use for a second one with the yarn I just finished the frog with. That would let me use the last of the cream speckled yarn (I have plenty for a second cloth) and probably have it show a little better. Maybe a block or rib type pattern? Any suggestions on an easy one that might look good with that yarn from those of you who knit?

Hopefully the goals I set are general enough I can do them with just a little pushing of myself. While I'd like to have one more finish than in 2007, I'm only targeting including two larger size ones in the mix. In 2007 I had 4 that I would consider larger, so I'm adding 1 more finish (any size) but losing 2 larger finishes. Gingerbread House is now about 3/4 done, and I'd consider that a larger size (at least for me). Hopefully by Jan 15 (the SAL ending date), or at the latest Jan. 30, I'll have it done and only need one other larger finish for the year. Here's my current progress on Gingerbread Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks.

So far the only change I've made is I stitched the cupcakes on the side in the slightly darker brown rather than the lighter brown the body of the house is done in. Since they are smaller I thought the lighter brown might not show very well. I like the way it made them "pop" a little more, and transitions a little from the light brown of the house to the darker brown of the Gingerbread Men. I'm not quite sure on the wording yet though. The letters seem to be getting a little lost. I'll wait until I get the borders in on the top and bottom to see if it stands out better then, but I may need to change that to a slightly darker color.

The bigger challenge will probably be pushing myself to work on Flower Dragons

and Trick or Treat Mice by Lori Birmingham

I do have a decent start on Trick or Treat it just never gets worked on (even thought ahead to do the backstitching as I went since is a good size piece, figured it I didn't it would never get done). I took it to stitch camp one year several years ago and worked on it almost exclusively all weekend. Even when I started getting a nasty headache I kept at it. Being on the black aida didn't help, and by the end of the weekend I had a really nasty migraine. I think the memory of feeling so ill the last time I worked on it influences my wanting to pick it up again. That is one of the reasons I moved it from the scroll frame to the Q'snaps, hoping to change the memory and association a bit.

Hope you all had a fun and safe New Year's Eve. I had a quiet one, and as you can see watched it snow. We got about 8 inches. Less than many places, but still enough to be messy. However, at the moment it is still looking fresh and clean and pretty.

And as you can see, Jaz is enjoying having new fluffy snow to play in

We'll I'm off now to try and shovel out (the drawback to all that pretty new snow). However, at least it isn't to terribly cold at the moment, and I don't have to work until tomorrow so I didn't have to drive in it.

May I present - Garfield :)

2007-12-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

I'd like to show off (and yes I'm doing a major happy dance) my 13th finish of this year -

He's finally done. Garfield was a Dimensions kit done on plastic canvas. I'm still planning on making him into a magnet for my refrigerator. While I'm not big into finishing projects, finishing on this should be easy even for me. All I need to do is put a bit of felt on the back, trim the edges of the plastic canvas and then glue a strip magnet to the back and I'm done. This poor little guy has been a WIP forever it seems due to his backstitching, but boy did it make a difference.

Actually the last two days have been very productive for me, as I also finished off my knitted dishcloth. This took me forever to photograph so that the frog design would stand out enough to even be seen, even after all that it is still hard. He should look like he is crawling upwards towards the left side.

This was the frog pattern from the booklet Garden Dishcloths. The example was done with a solid green yarn, so the pattern stood out better. However, the store near me didn't have a dark green, only a very bright (almost florescent) lime green color that I really didn't like for it. I loved this color yarn with the flecks of color. However, the speckles of color compete with the design and make it hard to see. Here is what it should have looked like (bottom right photo) I have a deeper green now, so may try again. Although the red one with the ladybug looks like it would be fun, and there's also a really sweet butterfly and sunflower pattern I liked also.

Well it is almost the new year, and a review of what my goals were for the year and what I got done shows I did pretty good.

Goal 1 - Complete one more project than last year
Last year I had 12 stitched and 1 knitted finishes, this year I had 13 stitched and 1 knitted so I met goal 1

Goal 2 - Have a couple more larger items in the completed projects
Since most of last year's finishes were card size or tuck pillow size I did well on this. While I didn't have any large size finishes like a Mirabilia, compared to last year's sizes I did complete several larger projects: Chocolate Shoppe, Winter Welcome, Jack and His Cat Tabletopper, and Dogs of Duckport.

I had one more sort of goal (not a real solid goal like the ones above), which was to work on Trick or Treat Mice by Lori Birmingham. This has been a WIP (although a UFO probably is more accurate) for several years. While I did take it off the old scroll frame it was on (that I disliked working with) and put it on Q-Snaps (which I love), that was all the attention it got.

So, my goals for 2008 are -

1) Finish 1 more project than in 2007 (so would be 15 projects)

2) Have at least 2 slightly larger project finishes in the mix (so all don't end up being card or tuck pillow size)

3) Actually do some work on Trick or Treat Mice

4) Work on Flower Dragons by Clear Star Designs (which is for my DD)

Hopefully I'll do as well next year as this past year. Gingerbread House is coming along well, I have the house and both side trees done now. I still have a few days off for the holidays, so it will get some more stitching time in. While it won't be done before year end, I'm optimistic that it will be done by Jan. 15th, the end of the SAL. I'll put an updated picture of it in my next post.

If I don't get another post in before the 1st of the year, I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year .

Snow Dog

2007-12-28T16:02:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before that Jazmine loves snow (and Sasha used to even more than Jaz), and that she loves to roll in it making kind of doggy snow angels all over. We had some snow about a week ago, but then it melted off. However, this morning we started getting some more. We are forecasted for several inches. These pictures were after only an hour or so, so the snow amount was still fairly low, however, you can see how much my crazy dog loves snow -

Wonderful snow, I'm so happy

Ok, lets get comfortable and then

Roll

and roll some more

Like my snow dog angel?

Just a couple more snow shots for those of you that might be missing it

This was taken during a brief lull when it had stopped and I'd thought maybe that would be it. However, it is now showing so heavy again I can hardly see the end of my street.

No stitchy pictures this time. However, I did put almost two hours into Garfield, and his backstitch is almost done. So instead of posting him now, with any luck my next post will have a finish. Given how long poor Garfield has been hanging around just waiting on the backstitch, this one will be a nice finish to end the year on.

Ready Santa's Finished

2007-12-23T11:46:00.000-05:00

What a difference a week and some backstitching can make. Although there wasn't a lot left to be done, since I tend to stitch slower than many of you (based on seeing all the lovely finishes you treat me to seeing), I surprised myself and got Ready Santa finished, even the backstitching (which everyone knows how I feel about). However, in this case there really wasn't that much backstitch and most of it was straight outlining so I didn't have much in the way of counting.

The little reindeer really came alive with the backstitch (just check out last week's entry). So... here is my 12th finish for this year -

Ready Santa by San-Man Originals
28 ct. Lavender Sunset Jobelan

The only change I made to the pattern was instead of doing the snowflakes with just one strand of the color called for I used one strand of the color and one strand of Petite Treasure Braid. I like the bit of sparkle it gives it, and they seem almost to look like the round red and green peppermint candies. I first took the picture with my camera, but while you could then enlarge and really see the sparkles in the snowflakes, the color of the fabric was much more blue than lavendar, so I gave up and scanned it in. You can kind of see the sparkles here, but they really show up great in real life.

I only set two stitching goals this year. One was to finish one more project than last year and the other was to have a couple larger finishes in the mix. With finishing Ready Santa I have 12 done. Last year I finished 12 cross stitch projects and one scarf. If I don't count the scarf, I'm now tied with last year and just need one more finish by the end of the year. As to the couple of larger finishes in the mix, that I did with Chocolate Shoppe, Dogs of Duckport, Jack and His Cat Tabletopper, and Winter Welcome. While not large finishes compared to some, compared to my finishes last year which was my goal I actually surpassed my expectations.

I have two WIP's that may be able to be done yet by the end of the year. The first is Gingerbread House and the second is Garfield. All that is left on Garfield is some backstitch (why does that always seem to be what snags me up, LOL). So if I sit and work on him he could probably be done in two evenings. Gingerbread would take a bit longer, and be a little more on the iffy side for finishing this year. So I think I'll focus on Garfield so that I have my last finish and then go back to Gingerbread. If they both get done, great. If not, I'll hit my goal this year and have a lovely first finish for 2008.

I'm off now to finish the last of my Christmas stuff up, I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas eve. Here is wishing you all a safe and Very Merry Christmas.

Ready Santa and Jaz and Santa

2007-12-16T12:56:00.001-05:00

I haven't made enough progress on Gingerbread House to post a picture yet, but I have made some headway on Ready Santa.

This little guy has been such fun. I had time off at Thanksgiving and will also have time off at Christmas, so have been working more to catch up or get ahead for the two holidays. Therefore, I've been quite tired in the evenings and wanted something that was easy to stitch. This little guy with his large spots of color hardly needed any counting, and I could just load a needle and stitch along without having to change colors much, very nice. I still need to add his antlers, then do his eyes and some backstitch. There isn't a lot of backstitch needed (which is nice as I hate backstitch), but it is pretty straight forward on this and boy will it make him pop. At least now you can see though why I said he was going to be chubby little reindeer, LOL.

We've had snow here since last night. I've cleaned the drive and walk out once already, and really need to go out again. However, since is still snowing I hate to go out to soon as will still need to do more later. Hopefully it stops later today so that things can be cleaned up before every ones commute to work tomorrow. All in all though we've been very lucky here as didn't get the ice storm so many others had, and we only have about a foot of snow projected for our area instead of the much larger levels others are getting. Hope you're all staying warm.

And to end on a holiday note, here is Jazmine with her visit to Santa.

I was so proud of her. We went with Sadie (the golden retriever she has been having play dates with) and she didn't stress out to much at all. She didn't even piddle on Santa's boots, for which I'm sure he was grateful, LOL.

Nashville

2007-12-08T08:32:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a four day trip to Nashville, TN and had a great time. I'd never been before and I had a chance to go with a tour so they took care of all the driving, tickets for shows, and everything else for us. Basically all I had to do was get myself packed and onto the bus.

We stayed at the Opryland Hotel and it was gorgeous. It's like three big hotels all hooked together with beautiful indoor courtyards, stores, restaurants, walking paths and much more. It is all under a huge roof, I've never seen anything like it. I didn't take a camera with me, but here are a couple of pictures of it I took with my phone (all pictures are clickable). All the below are inside the building, you never have to step outside (except for the one of the lights on trees).

Balconies and courtyard of one of the sections

Courtyard and decorations in one of the sections

The Delta section and the quarter mile long lagoon that runs through it. You can even take a flat bottom boat ride on the lagoon (boat is kind of hard to see here, it's toward the back of the piece of river shown). I can't believe this is all still inside the same building

One of the outside entries with the lights

One of the indoor restaurants and its view

One of the indoor waterfalls

Isn't it amazing? We also saw the Grand Ole Opry, the Pam Tillis Christmas Show, rode on the General Jackson Steamboat, saw Christmas with the Rockettes, and had a tour of downtown Nashville. We spent most of Mon. on the bus going there and Thurs. on the bus coming back, so had Mon. night, Tues. and Wed. to do things. As you can tell we kept pretty busy. I'd like to go back again sometime if I had a little longer stay as there was quite a bit we didn't get a chance to see.

As to stitching, not as much has gotten done as I'd like, but I have made some more progress on GingerBread House and started a second project.

I've finished the one tree and added a bit more to the house.

My new start is a SanMan design with a cute chunky reindeer. Unfortunately at this point all I have is the bottom half of his head with his nose and the start of the top of his shoulder. I'm doing this one on 28ct. Lavender Sunset Jobelan. It's a smaller one, with just the reindeer and the saying Ready Santa and some snowflakes, so it may get done by Christmas.

New Start

2007-11-25T10:29:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, I know I did. Plenty of goodies to eat and some wonderful stitching time. I was able to get a good start on my new project, a SAL of Gingerbread Cottage, a new Country Cottage Needleworks design

Gingerbread Cottage - Country Cottage Needleworks
28ct Country Mocha linen

I wasn't sure if I would like it on the fabric I chose, but it seems to be working ok so far. Unfortunately I'm missing one of the colors, so there are a couple of gaps in the house and tree that I'll have to fill in later (the door, a band at the top of the house, and two tree decorations). When it's done it will look like this

I thought this was so cute when I saw it, and love the colors. Like the Little House Needleworks patterns, it has the added plus of no backstitch or partial stitches. Although I may do a backstitch line along the outside edge of the house in the medium or darker shade of brown, as the light shade of tan that the house is in does not stand out all that well against the fabric I picked, so just that tiny bit of backstitch may help give the house a bit more definition. The contrast is slightly less in real life than in my picture.

During Thanksgiving I got to spend a good amount of time stitching with my DSIL Kim and so got to see some of the fun projects she's recently completed and even done the finishing on, like her Chocolate Covered Cherries and Pumpkin Scissor Fob. I love the pumpkin fob and plan on making one for myself. Her finishing always looks so nice to me. One of these days I really need to learn to do more finishing myself. Acorns and Strawberries are still sitting in my basket waiting for me to decide how to finish them off.

Acorns is Finished

2007-11-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

I was up a little to late last night, but I was so close to finishing Acorns that I just couldn't put it down.

Acorns - Little House Needleworks

32 ct. Belfast Linen

This was such a fun one. I love squirrels anyway, and this time of year they are so busy running around outside and acting silly in the leaves that it was fun to be watching them and to be stitching one at the same time.

This makes my 11th finish this year so far. Five of them were Little House or Country Cottage Needleworks designs, so you can tell where my focus has been. These are such fun designs, I love the size and colors, as well as the lack of backstitching and partial stitches. This past year has been so hectic in many ways that not dealing with backstitch (which I really dislike) and partial stitches has made stitching time more enjoyable.

If you don't count the scarf I knitted last year I had 12 finishes. My goal this year was to have 1 more finish than last year, with a couple of larger pieces in the mix than in prior year. I've already met the part of doing some larger pieces. With my Acorns finish, I just need two more to meet the doing one more part. I have time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas, so getting two more done (as long as neither is to large) is certainly doable.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and safe travels to all of you that will be traveling over this holiday.

Squirrels, Acorns, and Leaves

2007-11-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning to think I'll never see the end of the leaves this year. I've put out over 40 bags so far. When I got up this morning after looking at the ground I'll have several more at least. My yard is not that big, so they are not all mine (other than me needing to be the one to clean them up). The angle my house is at, and the way the fencing sits, creates kind of a wind tunnel. So..if my neighbors do not clean up their leaves in a timely manner the wind will blow many of them into my yard where they tend to stay. For the most part I like all my neighbors, but this time of year I get frustrated they won't clean up their leaves quicker or better. I can't leave the leaves on the ground, as there are so many they will kill the grass, but it is irritating to have to spend so much time raking because they aren't. Oh well, this season will pass and I'll have winter and snow to deal with, and then I'll wish I could have the cool weather and the leaves again. Or, better yet, how long until summer?

I've gotten a bit more stitching done, and with the fall season this is an appropriate stitch.

Acorns - Little House Needleworks
32 ct Belfast Linen

This is on the same piece of mystery color linen as Strawberries was done on. While an odd cut of fabric which I found in the odds and ends bin when I bought it, you can see how perfect it worked for the two thread packs. This is a fun one, I love the pudgy little squirrel. The original pattern had the tail in the same color brown as the tree, but I changed it to be the same color as the squirrel. The other change I'm thinking of making is instead of leaving the eye as it is (with the linen showing) I may do a small black french knot or seed bead. Squirrels have such lively, mischievous eyes that it seems appropriate. I'm watching two of them steal seed out of my bird feeders right now.

I've found a play friend for Jazmine. One of the ladies in my area has a 7 yr old golden retriever who is an absolute sweetie. We've been meeting and taking Jaz and Sadie for walks together. Also, once a week we try to get to the dog park for them to be able to run free in a safe area. Jaz seems to love it. Sadie is so sweet and goofy that Jaz is not intimidated at all. Jaz is still the same outside if Sadie is not around (nervous and just wants to go back home), but at least this is giving her some time outside with a playmate so she can see the world isn't always a scary place.

I'm still working on catching up with everyone, you've certainly been a busy group. I'm a little over halfway through reading blogs, so hopefully I'll have caught up with everyone by the end of this weekend.

Thank you (and Strawberries)

2007-11-11T18:17:00.000-05:00

First, thank you all for your kind concern and well wishes. It truly is hard to lose a pet you've had for so many years, it is like losing family. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted on Sasha's passing, but time has gone and I've received a number on inquiries on if I'm ok as it had been so long since I last posted, which is not like me.

Jazmine and I are doing better, but still have a ways to go. Jaz really took not having Sasha around very hard. Most of the old routes we walked with Sasha she now refuses to walk. For the most part, she really doesn't want to leave the house. To get her out and moving we do more, very short walks, going a different direction than before. Part of Jaz's problem I know is missing Sasha, but unfortunately part is her natural insecurities. Jaz was not socialized as a puppy well before we got her, and it takes very little for her to get scared and nervous, and this has now increased without Sasha to keep her balanced. She's better now than a month ago, but it takes time, and she'll probably never be totally comfortable outside the house (her safety zone) again poor baby.

Fall is in full force here now, and the leaves are falling like crazy. It seems I can't hardly keep up with them. I'll be so glad when they stop falling. Although pretty, they are such a mess to clean up. Last week I had a little over 20 of the big paper yard waste bags full of leaves to put out for pick up. This week I have 14 more already. While all that raking is good exercise, my back and arms sure do feel it. So..with all that fresh air and exercise that I'm not used to, the evening getting darker so much earlier (it is 6:30 now and pitch black outside, sure looks like night), and my feeling down still from losing Sasha, we tend to go to bed early. Between work, Jazmine time, regular home chores, and feeling like going to bed sooner than normal as it is so dark out, that doesn't leave much time for much else, blogging kind of fell by the wayside.

However, while I haven't been stitching much (I know I should make more time for it, it is amazing how a good stitching session can make you feel better), I did get my Strawberries piece done.

Strawberries - Little House Needleworks

I did it on 32 ct. Belfast linen. Not sure on the color as the piece was an odds and ends piece when I bought it and not labeled for color, but it is a really pretty pale tan. The piece was long and fairly narrow, perfect for Little House Threadpacks. There was enough that I could cut it in two and have enough to do Strawberries and Acorns (another Threadpack). I have Acorns almost half way done now, so will post a picture of that next time.

Haven't decided how to finish off Strawberries yet. I've seen it done as a flatfold on a couple blogs and it turned out adorable. I'm also considering framing it and doing the threadpacks as a series framed and then putting them up along the top of my one wall in the kitchen.

Thanks again for all your well wishes, I'll try to visit your blogs soon. I'm so behind though that it will take a while to catch up on what all you've been doing.

Good Bye Sasha

2007-09-30T16:59:00.000-04:00

Good Bye Sasha

You were an amazing dog and you and your wonderful doggy smile and outlook on life will be greatly missed.

Strawberries, Peaches, and Garfield

2007-09-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

I've gotten a little more done on Strawberries this week and am now about half way done. Just have the bunnies (my favorite part) and the bottom box with the word Strawberries in it to do. These are such fun pieces. The pictures on the chart just don't do them justice. The Little House Needleworks board is doing a SAL starting Oct. 1. With the little stitching I've been doing lately I don't know if Strawberries will be done or not (probably not), but my plan is to finish it soon after the SAL starts and then start Acorns (love the squirrels).

I've also gotten a tiny bit of Garfield done. Just when this little guy looks like he's going to become a permanent UFO he seems to hop out and get some work on him done. All he has left is the backstitch, which I hate, which is why he's taking forever. However, as with my other projects, little by little he's getting there.

Finally, here is my finished and framed Peaches piece. I normally go with a med. to darker regular wood look frame, however, this time I went with the off white distressed look. I really like how it turned out, as it seems to blend well with the soft greens of the mats.

Little bit of this and that

2007-09-19T20:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can't believe I've gone so long between posts. I've been so busy time has just flown by. I was lucky enough to see my DD twice this last weekend. The circus came to Grand Rapids, so was only a little over an hour away. I left work early on Friday and my parents and I drove there to visit and see the show. We got there about 3 hours before she had to go to work, so had a good amount of time to catch up on things and visit. We were able to drop off some of the stuff that she had left at home when she flew out to join them that she wanted, got to see the train yard where the train stays and have a tour of the train she lives on, and got a wonderful behind the scenes tour of the set up of the circus. She was able to transfer out of the one department that she didn't enjoy the work in and is now in props. She absolutely loves it. She gets to paint, fix things, solder, set up and take down, run around in the arena with the different prop changes and such. It is not a job I'd like, and the small living space and always moving around would drive me nuts, but it seems perfect to her. For example, the other day I got a text message saying that she had elephant slobber in her hair, bruises all over her shins, and that wasn't her job awesome, it just rocked. Hmmmm guess that means she's happy. I could really see it in her face when I was there as well, she just glowed. I made a second trip there on Sun. morning to drop off a little more of her stuff and to visit a bit more before they moved on again. She's off running around Indiana now, but it was great to see her.

As to stitching, I've gotten so little done I can't believe it. Unless things settle down a little bit there is no way I'll make my goal of getting at least one more project done this year than last. I have done a couple of larger pieces for a change, which was the second part of my goal for this year, but getting the number of projects done is beginning to look like it won't happen. Oh well, one day at a time and one stitch at a time, at least I have gotten a tiny bit done. I'm still loving this piece, the colors are such fun to work with. I can't wait to start the little bunnies as well. However, as you can see my headway has been incredibly small. The other stitching picture I'll have to post next time is my framed Peaches. I think it turned out great, but I haven't taken a picture of it yet so that will have to wait.

Thank you all for your kind wishes and prayers for Sasha. While she doesn't seem to be any worse, she isn't any better yet either. The vet changed her meds again and she's been on the new ones about a week. Unfortunately they haven't helped as much as we'd hoped. I've bought a pet ramp for her, and that should help with her going up the stairs when she has to go in and out. Going down she no longer does the side stairs due to a sharp turn at the bottom which makes her pivot on her bad leg, she now uses the front where there aren't any turns needed. At almost 12, she really is getting old for a dog with Newfoundland in her. It is just hard as other than the arthritis and related pain in the hips and leg, she's perfectly healthy. One good thing in a way though is due to her personality and breed she's never had a high energy level, so laying around and just watching makes her happy. Give her some fun chewies, or especially some of the special doggy ice cream they make, and she's a very happy dog. I've got a call into the vet today to see what else we can try. Hopefully there are some other meds that, either alone or in combination, the vet can think of that we can try. If you can continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers I would sure appreciate it.

Strawberries

2007-09-05T20:06:00.000-04:00

I finally decided what I wanted to start as my small project to have to pick up and work on when I just had a short time to stitch, which unfortunately seems to be the norm lately. I chose Strawberries byLittle House Needleworks. I love her thread packs, all I need to do is pick my material and I'm ready to stitch. The thread pack comes with the five crescent colours I need to do the project, but since each is a full skein I could actually do it several times over. Getting the thread pack designs has been a fun way to expand my specialty fibers in addition to having a fun design to stitch (Peaches was a thread pack as well).

When I'm all done Strawberries will look like this. Isn't it cute? I love the little bunnies. I'm doing it on 32 ct. Belfast linen of some color. I had bought the piece earlier when I found it in a remnant basket. At that time it was labled with the count and type of fabric, but no color. The piece was large enough, and the strawberries pattern small enough since finished will only about 4 in. x 4 in., that I could cut it into two pieces. I have enough left to do Acorns on it as well, I love the little squirrel on that one.

Sasha is having difficulties again, so I've had to up her pain meds. Any warm wishes and prayers you can send her way would be appreciated. I know she's getting up there in years, but since healthwise the only problem she has is her arthritis and her one back leg getting weaker, I'm hoping we can find a combination of meds that can keep her comfortable (which is the big issue) and with me for a while. Not much else has been going on. Work has been busy, so very little extra time to stitch or bloq. I've missed visiting you all, so know I'll have quite a bit to catch up on when I get a chance to see what all of you have been doing. Hopefully I'll get out to visit you all this weekend.

Frogs and clovers

2007-08-26T14:13:00.000-04:00

I got a good bit of my dishcloth done this past week, although it doesn't much look like what I'd envisioned when I started. While I do like the color, and with its little color speckles, I really can't see the frog design. Maybe it will standout a little better when I get further along, so far all I have in is his lower leg and the start of his back and the toes of his top leg. The green it was originally done on (see picture in my post before this) made it stand out much more. Oh well, I'm enjoying it and am looking on it as a practice piece, the next try I'll get some solid green.

So far it has gone pretty well for a first piece. I think I've done pretty good at keeping the tension even, and I even hit the gauge perfectly when I measured (even though I was told that it wasn't all that important in a dishcloth). Keeping track of the rows has gone smoothly so far too. I'm using my grandmother's stitch counter, and I copied the pattern and mark off rows as well when completed. The most difficult part was in the beginning. I ended up having to cast on three times before on the forth try I had enough tail to get all the stitches in. Then, I ended up having to find a picture of how to purl. I thought I remembered, but when I tried it I kept getting a stitch that looked just like my knit stitch when done. While I was putting the needle in correctly, I'd forgotten to bring the yarn to the front. Thank goodness for online sites. I found a wonderful one that actually had a video clip of the lady doing the stitch so I could see it being done.

The other item I worked on is my secret project, but I'm going to show just a bit of it. If you recognize it don't say what it is from. However, the person it is for, even if she looks at it, won't have a clue what the full piece is so I don't think this tiny clip of what I stitched will hurt. The little flowers were pretty easy, other than making sure I didn't travel any threads that would show through. The eyelets were a bit trickier trying to keep the tension even.

We've had a ton of rain here recently, so everything is green again. I even had to mow yesterday. While I hate mowing, having things green instead of the dead brown parched color they were beginning to get is really nice. I was also lucky in that the storms that hit went around my area, so I didn't get any damage, although there was some heavy damage in many areas relatively close by.

Seems work and life are keeping me busy enough I'm only getting out to blogland about once a week now. So..I'm off now to see what all you've been up to. Given how often some of you post, I imagine it will take me quite a bit to catch up on you all, but I'll get there.

Little stash and memories of Grandma

2007-08-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

While I did get a little stitching done this week, it is on a project that I can't show since is going to be a gift for someone that does visit my blog. While she doesn't come on a regular basis, I'm not going to take the chance of spoiling a surprise. With Christmas beginning to be in the not so distant future anymore, I imagine there will be a number of us posting similar comments in the future.

So, now for what I can show. A while back I placed a birthday order for some stash. I'm still missing one of the items, but my other goodies have gotten here. First up is the one that I'm still waiting for, Kitty Cat Row by Bent Creek. I think this one is so cute. I want to do it and put it over the door casing in the bathroom. The area there is long and narrow and this should look perfect, besides being just plain fun to look at.

My next two pictures are the stash I do have (all pictures are clickable to see better). Sorry the picture of Violets in the upper left didn't turn out so good. I didn't think to take them out of the plastic until I was loading the pictures into the computer and then realized it didn't turn out so great. The sun is gone now, so this picture will have to do. However, if you want to see it better you can head over to Country Cottage Needleworks for a better shot. I got Violet by CCN, Believe by LHN, Quaker Cat and Mouse by Workbasket, and J*K*L and Spring & Fall by Prairie Schooler. When I first saw the Cat and Mouse pattern I wasn't sure I liked it, but then I saw it done up (and so did my DD) and it was so cute finished. The PS ones are a new style for me as well, however, the goofy looking Kitty in the one and the Squirrel, Kitty, and Turkey in the other I think will be a lot of fun to stitch.

The last stash I got was M*N*O by PS, I loved the Owl, and I think the Mermaid would be fun for my DD. The fabric, Tundra, just came as my FOTM, so really wasn't Birthday stash, but the green is really pretty. It is a soft sage color. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but the soft green really is lovely.

Finally, I have some odd stash. This I just got today. I was in JoAnn's looking at frames and such for Peaches, and just wandered over to the yarn aisle to see what they might have (I think I've been readingLynn's blog to much). I'm not a Knitter, which I've mentioned before, but a while back in a catalog I'd seen a booklet of dishcloths with garden themes that I thought was just too cute. I fell in love with the frog. My kitchen has lots of frogs (well, actually, I have a fair amount throughout my house, but I tend to have more there), and I thought it would be cute to have. The book has a frog, beehive, ladybug, butterfly, cherries, birdhouse, bird (cardinal?), hummingbird, and various flowers (including a lovely Sunflower). There wasn't any green yarn in stock at the time, but I picked up the cream one here. While not green, I think it will make a fun frog one (hopefully the pattern will stand out ok). While I'm not really sure what I'm doing, with it only being a simple knit/purl pattern, and not very big, I figure I'll be ok. Besides, how badly can I mess up a dishcloth? And if I do, since is just for me, it won't be that bad. Even if I had to rip a bit (which I hate) wouldn't think it could be toooo bad, a dishcloth is relatively small.

I looked at the pattern and it said size 7 needles. Here's the neat part, I have a stash of knitting needles and crochet hooks already. Not a huge stash, I didn't keep all I inherited, but when my grandmother died I got a lot of her stash of that type. I went and looked through what I had, and yup, there was a pair of size 7's and a little red stitch counter on the end. I even have a little metal slide ruler type thingy to check stitch gauge that she left me. So, I'll be knitting them on needles my grandmother left me. I'll bet she'd be pleased. She was a fantastic knitter, stitcher, etc... so hopefully she'll guide my hands and help keep me from making to many mistakes as I use the knitting needles that she used so many years ago.