Civility Unleashed... Hardly

Quietly Plugging Along

2011-12-22T11:16:00.001-05:00

In between karate, dog classes, work, food and sleep I've been doing a little stitching here and there. After finishing Sudden Showers I decided I should get to work on the Quaker Gameboard that has been languishing and also finish off a few smalls that were lurking. I'm trying to get through the WIPs and UFOs floating around the house so I can start a HAED project.

First I finally finished the pieces for the Polychrome Palooza project. I still need to assemble everything, but I figure that's something to do on a day i'm home sick from work and looking for something to stave off the boredom.

Then I FINALLY did the commemorative sampler from last spring's stitching retreat.It was a quick piece. I whomped most of it out while I was sitting at the car mechanic's garage waiting for my car to be winterized.

Then there was the nametag for the upcoming stitching retreat. But you can't see that one yet because it's a surprise for the retreat in March.

In addition to all the little things I've been assiduously working on the Quaker Gameboard. Here's the last WIP photo from the end of October:

And here's where I'm at as of 10:30pm last night:

This week I'll be heading to Portland, OR for the holidays. I'm planning on taking this project with me and also "Merry and Bright". I'm hoping to get a decent amount done on each while I'm on the planes and also hanging out in the airport. I have a nice 4 hour layover in Chicago that will allow some quality stitching/people-watching time.

Oh and.... I had a lovely attack of the greedies and ended up getting a number of new stitching patterns (like I really need them). Moon N Starz Cat, Rottweiler, Whimsical French Bulldog and Purple Dragon. And at the end of October I ordered more Silkweaverfabric (again, like I need it). Due to a rush on the limited edition colors it took a little while for me to get it, so I had a nice mail day recently when it all came in. I didn't get a photo of it all but here's the list of what I picked up and some images following from the website:

Cnt	Color	Fabric	Size
28	Solo - slate blueish	Linen	18x26
28	Solo - lt blue/purple	Lugana	18x26
28	Solo - tan/lavendar	Lugana	18x26
28	Solo - pinkish coral	Linen	18x26
28	Solo - deep blue (midnight)	Linen	18x26
32	Splash of Brandy	Linen	26x36
32	Autumn Leaves	Linen	18x26
32	Frankenstein	Linen	18x26
32	Harvest	Linen	18x26
32	Hocus Pocus	Linen	26x36
32	Witches Brew	Linen	26x36
32	Flighty Fairy	Linen	18x26

Check(ers) This Out!

2011-11-02T23:14:00.000-04:00

I love fall! It's finally a comfortable temperature outside for me and the dogger, the air smells crisp and clean in the morning and people start to wind down so I have more time to stitch :-D.

After finishing Sudden Showers I pulled out my Quaker Game Board project that I had done a little stitching on before I started the other project. Now I'm starting to make decent progress on it. It's difficult to see the letters that I've finished as they are white on the light tan and washed out with the flash, but you get the idea...

I've done a bit more since this was taken over the weekend. Is started the inner borders for the empty squares on the fabric. I'm organizing a dog event this weekend, so I'm not likely to be getting a lot done on it this weekend. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do more next week during the week.

I've also been sporadically working on a knotwork project. Mostly this has been my morning before work project. I posted the finishes for the scissor fob and the needle book cover. I'm now working on the scissors case. I also made progress beyond the photo here over the last week. I'm now just about finished with the first row in red...

I volunteered to provide awards for dogs passing the event this weekend from the "herding group" and forgot to get items. So... I'm frantically trying to get some little projects finished so I can hand out some ornaments to the successful dogs. I'll get photos of those once they are completed and handed out to the winners. Wish me luck - time is short!

Sudden Showers

2011-10-10T13:01:00.000-04:00

It was quite fitting that I finished this project last week during a day of showers. It felt great to finish one of my larger projects finally. I haven't been able to stitch nearly as much as I would like over the last year or so and I missed that feeling of accomplishment :-D. So here is... Sudden Showers:

Today I'm planning to get back to working on my Quaker game board. Yay!

Serenity

2011-09-23T11:06:00.001-04:00

It's been a great couple of months for me. My pup is getting older and more responsible and is a joy to live with. We've been taking and teaching a lot of doggy classes. The kitten is also growing up and makes a great companion for the pup. I have been enjoying taking karate lessons and will be testing up to yellow belt very soon. I'm hoping to move up to orange by the new year.

Between all of this stuff I've even been able to get a decent amount of stitching in. I've been working on a couple of large projects, a medium project and a small one. So I'll post from small to large :-).

For a thank you gift, I've been working on First Bass from Ink Circles. It's a lovely little project. I also have the other two pieces in the series, but I don't know if/when I might get to them. I'm almost finished...

I've also been working on a knot work project from Theresa Layman Designs. One of my favorite things is color and this one fits the bill with bright rainbow colors. It's Polychrome Palooza. I've finished the needle book cover and the scissor fob. I just need to finish the scissors case...

Every so often I feel like doing something light. I found a great pattern, "Merry and Bright", to stitch for Christmas. It's so Jetsons! I love it. I can't remember the designer right now (EDIT: Monsterbubbles), but I'm sure I'll post that information in the future...

Finally, I'm closing in on the last part of my year long project. I always think I'm going to get done fast than I do, but then when I finish I think to myself "well that really didn't take all that long". Interesting how time warps and twists. Maybe I'll finish this by the end of the month, maybe by the end of the year, who know!

I signed up the the annual A Stitchers Garden retreat. I'm really looking forward to March and my weekend of stitching, chatting and spending money I don't have on STASH! Now I just need to wrap up my outstanding projects and design my name tag so I'll be ready for the big event!

Dogs and Starting a Little Business

2011-05-22T09:04:00.000-04:00

I received another 3 mini projects for the dog club's obedience trial awards. These are cute little 1 hour projects. I did a corgi, a westie and a yorkie.

I've only done a little stitching otherwise because I've been splitting my time between training my dog for an upcoming trial and also working on getting items ready for the BMR Acres Shearing Festival yesterday. I started making a couple of little scented items to help cover my dog training and vet costs. I'm partnering with my vet/breeder/friend, Karen, who does wood burning and painting. We're slowly getting it ramped up. The first of the information is getting out to the web at... Winkin' Hound Crafts. I'm pretty excited about our little business. We're not looking to become a super store - just to keep those hound costs under control ;-).

Today however, I'll be stitching! I have a design I've been working on. More info to come on that later :-).

A Flurry of Activity

2011-05-12T07:09:00.000-04:00

Last week I finished up a few little projects. First I whomped out a couple of dog motifs for the upcoming Obedience Trial. I just picked up another 3 to complete, so I'm sure I'll be working on those tonight and tomorrow night.

Then I finished the first part of a three stage knotwork project that I picked up at last year's stitching retreat. This is going to be a needlebook cover:

And I have a friend who's going to be having a baby soon, so I did another little outfit on Sunday:

I also started putting together items for sale. I have some out to BMR Acres for sale at their annual Shearing Festival. I'm hoping they're well received. I've been working on a web presence for my little craft operation at Winkin' Hound Crafts. I still have a few things to add to it, but it's a good start :-). Now I just need to get to all of the other projects hanging about my place.

What a Little Sick Will Do...

2011-03-26T09:12:00.000-04:00

I've been home sick for two days and so, instead of sleeping, I've been taking care of all the little life things that creep up on you when you're doing the working thing. If nothing else I feel mentally better for having dealt with items related to my professional society, the NYS department of taxation (*sigh*), banking and even some stitching!!

This morning I wrapped up a cute little project that's going to a shiny new person. I'm going to be working on another one soon (maybe later today). In the mean time I'm planning on organizing my crafts area a little more. So here it is:

Finishes Abound

2011-03-24T20:06:00.000-04:00

They're all little finishes, but they're done :-). The first is a scarf the I designed - my first ever knitting design. Miss Thunder is modelling it. It's a double cable using roving...

And then I finished a little doodad I got from last year's stitching retreat. I was cleaning my crafts area and decided it was easier to just stitch it up rather than finding a place to store it...

And then I motivated to finish the stitching retreat sampler from last year the night before this year's retreat...

And of course the name tag for this year's retreat...

Currently I'm working on a gift for a friend - so I'm not going to post a photo of that.

This past weekend was the stitching retreat. It was a blast. Teresa Layman and Gretchen came again this year. Teresa gave a great presentation on the history and making of lace. We had a really nifty project from her that combined a number of different techniques. Here's the photo of it before:

And here are the photos of it after:

It was a ton of fun working on it. Now that the retreat is over I'm already wishing it was next year's retreat. What a blast we have!!! As usual I got a ton of things (you can see the charts on my pattern stash page. I won a couple of prizes, including one of the two gift baskets. Mine was a beach basket with a towel, flipflops, a cheesy romance novel, sunscreen (score!), chex mix, a can of iced tea and a spritzer bottle. The basket is gorgeous - I have a band that I'd like to stitch up for it. Oooh ton's of projects to work on. I better get to work!

New Knitting

2011-03-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

I found some great fibers when I was in Canada last year. One of them was this odd velour-ish kind of texture. I picked up a patter to knit using it that had a lace style to it. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but it worked out beautifully:

I love how it came out and passed it onto a friend as a gift. The only thing I'm disappointed with in this fiber is that it snaps quite easily because it isn't very elastic.

I'm thrilled that I have a computer at home again with internet access and a new camera. I'm hoping to find a little time this weekend to go through my place and get photos of my WIPs and various things in states of being finished.

I've been working on a sewing machine craft to sell. I'm hoping to get that all finished in the next week or two so I can bring my little items with me to dog shows and other venues this spring. I'll post photos of that when it's ready to unveil.

I'm getting ready for this year's stitcher's retreat with my local shop. I got my name tag kit earlier this year and had been sitting on it for a while waiting for inspiration. The theme this year is Oceanside Tranquility. Last weekend my idea came to me. I had it charted and stitched in an afternoon :-). Now I'm waiting for my next thought bubble to decide how I want to finish it. A couple of years ago I copped out pretty badly on the name tag and it's been weighing on me badly since then. I'm amazed with the ideas people come up with - they're so gorgeous!!

Time for me to roll another yarn ball before hitting the pillow for the evening - happy stitching!

Need I Say More?

2010-12-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

Finished last night at midnight when I should have been asleep.

A Tiny Little Thing

2010-12-22T15:52:00.000-05:00

I finished another one on the 11th just as my parents were walking in the door for a visit. And I was able to get it framed up. That's quite a step for me. It's just a little thing. My first time working on silk gauze. I liked it, but I think maybe not enough to do more - although there are a bunch of HAED projects I have that might be really awesome on silk gauze. So here it is...

And, of course, it's the time for holiday shopping and holiday sales. normally I ignore this kind of stuff. But then I got the sale email one such as myself cannot resist so I bought fabric on discount...

And that's the 18 different fabrics I got in my grab bag purchase. They're all in the 8"x8" range - just right for ornaments or little motifs, etc. And here's the big stuff...

The purple blue one on the left is an 18"x26" 32 ct linen. The middle red one is a 14 ct Aida, same size. And the last is a 40ct opalescent linen. I have so many good ideas for them! I have some really great samplers that would look stunning on these.

I have been working on Sudden Showers lately:

I'm hoping to get a WIP photo soon. So far I have most of the top 1/3 done. I'm hoping I can get some time in on it tonight, but I have some other little crafts to work on for the holidays. I should probably get those done since I only have a couple of days ;-).

I Pledge to Finish More Projects

2010-12-04T12:55:00.001-05:00

Yay I finished the pledge! It was sitting around with about 3 hours of work left on it for at least 2 months!

I actually pulled out a couple of projects that had been languishing. Hopefully I'll be getting a little more time in on them now that my life is settling down again. There was far too much travel going on for the past few months. And now that the puppy is old enough not to require constant supervision... XXXXXX :-)

Stash.. A HAHAHAHA!

2010-11-30T12:02:00.001-05:00

OK I have a problem. I admit it. But I'm happy with it. I bought more stash. I need to stay the hell away from the store and just work some of this stuff. I need to be left in a small room for long periods of time with a TV or radio so I can stitch. I need to quit my job so I can stitch (ok maybe I don't need to do that).

I got a few Erica Michaels patterns because there was a trunk show. They's silk gauze projects. I've never done one, but I can't imaging it's all that difficult. it's just 1/2 stitches on 40 ct. I've done that before. My only problem with it is coming up with my method for holding the project while I work on it. I could use the mat board method where one cuts a little window out of the mat board and mounts the gauze on it. But that seems like a lot of work. Or I could sew the gauze to some fabric and use my usual stitching frame. But that seems like a lot of work. So I have to sit around and think (while I stitch) of some simple, lazy way of holding the gauze. I think that "in hand" stitching of this might not work so well. But I have to think about it.

I also now have my mom's copy of 'Son of "Chickens?!"'. I'm not sure if/when I'm going to stitch this one. But hey, it's more stuff just in case of a stitching emergency.

I also finally listed the new fabrics I got from my fabric of the month club in my inventory. I have another on the way. Come to think of it, I should run over to the post office to see if the next one came in. You know, since I'm updating everything today and all.

And just to be complete, I should report on my stitching progress. I'm sooo close to finishing the pledge of allegiance project. I only have one more line at the bottom to do and the date. I've also been working on my Amish game board a little here and there. I'm planning to do a little more work tonight. I'm also hoping to start working on my Nova project again. It was making faces at me this morning.

Pledge

2010-08-30T10:35:00.000-04:00

Here's the progress on my pledge project. I have a little more of the bottom band finished as of last night. I decided I needed to take a break to work on another project. Strangely I don't have a photo of that one ;-). I know... I'm bad!!

I'm hoping I can wrap this one up by mid-month so I can have it ready for the county employee art show. I'm not sure how I want to finish it. I don't think I'll be able to get it framed. Feel free to post ideas of how I might finish it. I'm fresh out! ;-)

Red, White, Blue &.... Pink?

2010-08-26T18:24:00.000-04:00

I finished another project recent.y. I was going through my pile of little travel projects and needed something light to do. So I wrapped up this one:

It's the second time I've done this little project. I'm not sure I'll do it again. It seems like a waste to do something you've already done when there are so many projects just waiting to be started. But it was a nice diversion.

Currently I'm working on a sampler from the March retreat. I'm now much further along on it than this picture shows, but yet again I was remiss in my photo documentation. This is the problem of not having internet access at home - can't run out and get a photo when you think of it ;-).

As of now the top is completely finished through the "indivisible" and I've started the line under that. I'm hoping to finish it soon so I can have it for our employee art show in the fall. I thought it was a nice touch since I work for a county government and it's the original Pledge of Allegiance.

I'm happy to be back working on a few of my projects that have been outstanding. I'm hoping to get back working on "Nova" soon - that's the crazy huge canvaswork project that's done in DMC floss.

What;'s Your Vector, Victor?

2010-07-20T17:48:00.000-04:00

I finished the next letter in the Art Deco alphabet... V! OK this is not the best photo out there, but at least I remembered to take it! I allowed the variegations to occur on the diagonal with this one. I think it really works with the lines of the letter:

I'll be starting on the letter D later today. Well, that's the plan at least.

Oh and here's a photo of the garden sampler that I meant to post a while ago ;-).

Remiss in my Photo Documentation

2010-06-04T15:30:00.000-04:00

I finished the garden sampler from the retreat last weekend, but haven't been able to get the photos into the system. This seems to be the theme for the year ;-). But in order to make up for this oversight... check out this: http://www.debbeesdesigns.com/GlitzGlamourIndex.htm.

It's Spring - on with the Garden Theme!

2010-05-22T11:27:00.000-04:00

The business of the past year is slowly dying down for me and, as a result, I've been able ot find a little time to work on my stitching. I was able to finish one of the little kits I received at the stitching retreat on the 15th of May. It's a cute little project. I'll have to come up with a nifty way of finishing it.

I'm also made progress on the garden sampler from one of the retreat classes. I don't have any major commitments this weekend, so I'm hoping I can make big progress on that one and maybe even finish it!

Before I can get to that, I have to prep the week's workouts for the triathlon training group I lead, take the puppy tracking and update a couple more blogs ;-). Hopefully mid-afternoon will see me stitching for a bit!

Behold.. The Letter Q!

2010-05-09T17:13:00.000-04:00

Friday night stitch-in was a good time as always! A few of the regulars didn't make it and were missed. I was very happy to be there as I haven't been stitching much lately and it gave me a chance to get my art deco alphabet project moving again.

Today I put the last stitches in the Letter Q:

I'm starting the Letter V today. I've already made some decent progress on it. The Letter V has a lot of large blocks of stitching without much counting, so I'm hoping it will go fast!!

I also started a sampler from the stitching retreat. I haven't done too much on it lately, but I'm hoping to have an opportunity to make more progress this week:

I'll Update, Really I Will

2010-05-07T18:45:00.000-04:00

Tonight I'll be heading to my stitch in with Jerry. I have a few things to update on the blog. I just keep having a hard time being in the same place as my camera when there are active batteries in it. So tomorrow sometime, unless of course it's later than that. ;-)

Stragglers

2010-03-27T14:12:00.000-04:00

And here are the last few stragglers from the retreat. The kit in the lower left is the retreat sampler. I also won another prize (the Celtic Lads) and bought another two projects (yeah keep laughing). ;-)

I also finished one of the punchneedle buttons from the Artful Offerings class on Sunday. This is my first punchneedle experience. It was fun to play with the project a little. I'm happy with my little start button!

Today in crafts, I'm prepping the magnetic numbers for my car. I started stock car solo racing last year and am planning to go out 5-6 times this year in competition, so I'll need my car numbers and team mascot :-). I'm also assembling a project that I finished on Friday. I'm hoping I'll be getting to that soon, but I can only do 10 things at once!

Stitching Retreat Wrap Up

2010-03-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy few days since the stitching retreat. It's been a strange time over the past year where it seems that almost every minute of my life has been filled with some commitment. I'm hoping that I will be able to relieve that trend. *fingers crossed*

I had a wonderful time, as always, at the retreat. I received some lovely gift items:

Also, I got plenty of stash in the goody bags handed out:

I also won a few items in the games we played:

And then there's the stuff I purchased (as if I needed more):

I even did a little stitching while I was playing with all the new shiny stuff. I was able to finish the three projects from the round robin class on Saturday afternoon early on Sunday:

I've been sorting and filing all of the stash I received from the weekend. Most of the charts are logged on my patterns and kits inventory blogs. I also put all of the fibers into their appropriate locations. I mostly prepped up a couple of kits for two of the charts that I'm really looking forward to stitching (ooof I have a big pile of even those). Yesterday morning the last of the accessories were put in my stitching spot. I still have a few photos to take of the last of the items I received on Sunday and of course... the unfinished projects are on my plate. Now if I can just tell everyone to go away for a while I might be able to get some of this stuff done!!! *grin*

Fun Was Had

2010-03-21T00:50:00.000-04:00

Today was the big day at the stitching retreat. Gifts were received, classes were taken, purchases were made and great conversation occurred. I have photos of all of the stuff I received/purchased so far, but it's rather late to format and load them. I'm planning on getting most of them up tomorrow along with the finishes I whomped out. Time to hit the bed so I can be ready to stitch tomorrow!

Found it :-)

2010-03-20T07:02:00.000-04:00

I found a photo of my name tag for this year's retreat in my backups!

Stitching Retreat Introduction Day

2010-03-20T00:06:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of the stitching retreat. There are a lot of people this year. I think more than either last year or the year before. The theme is Reflections of Americana. Jan and the retreat committee are shaking things up a bit. We're going to wait to vote on peoples' name tag designs until tomorrow. I was planning to post mine tonight, but I discovered after I got home that the photo I took in January was lost in the horrid death of my memory stick, so I'll have to remember to get a photo of it tomorrow and post it then. The name tags being displayed were rather impressive!!

We did a little meet and greet game where we had to tell 2 true things and 1 false thing about ourselves. Some of them were really tough and the true facts were astonishing. I had the following for mine (which were moderately interesting):

I have 2 girl cats with boy names
I went to Germany in 5th grade
I'm missing a bone in my foot

Well, I'll just leave you to ponder that. We met the designers for the classes and got to scope their trunk shows. Cheesecake was served (yum) and great, silly conversations occurred.

We had a little mini class tonight. I made good progress on the Garden Sampler project they handed out - photos to follow on that too. I also was able, between last night and tonight, to completely finish the A/B page in my sampler book project and get the C/D finishing stitching started. So I was feeling pretty great about all that.

Tomorrow we'll be doing a class in the morning, lunch, a round robin after lunch, some free stitching/shopping and some evening fun activities. I'm looking forward to being there and should get to bed soon. However, I should share my most recent finish... the E in my Sampler Book project:

Quick Finish

2010-03-14T22:50:00.001-04:00

I wrapped up a quick project Saturday afternoon while I was being driven around in the car. I'm thinking that a chauffeur is a critical component of a fine stitching addiction.

This project is one of the pieces I won at last year's stitching retreat. I figured, since the other one is coming up very soon, that I should whomp through a couple of the remaining little projects from the last one so I can make space for the new ones that will be coming in ;-).

I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do with this one. I'm sure a nifty finish will occur to me at some point.

In the mean time, I have made excellent progress on the E is for Elephant/English Stitch in my Sampler Book series. I'm expecting to wrap that one up tomorrow. At that point I'll be starting into the F is for Fox/Four-Sided Stitch. I doubt I'll be able to get too far on that one before the retreat on Friday.

I was hoping to wrap up the E tonight, but instead I nicked the vein in one of my dogs claws and dealt with a kitchen full of blood and a 100lb baby. He's doing just fine now, even though he thought he was going to bleed out. I swear!! Now I'm just trying to get up the motivation to hit the sack. The time change is messing with me!

D is for Done!

2010-03-07T10:01:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the next letter in my sampler book series. I wrapped it up at the March stitch in at A Stitcher's Garden. I'm hoping to spend the day working on prepping the next couple of pages for stitching. But, then again, maybe not - lol!

Tea Time!!

2010-02-14T14:26:00.001-05:00

This morning I put the last stitches into the hardanger tea cups project. I'm happy to have this one finished. Now I get to concentrate on my sampler book project. Here's a photo of the full piece:

I also have close ups of each of the cups:

This past week I also finished off the scarf to match the hat I did. I started the scarf a while ago, but wanted to get the hat done before I wrapped up the scarf so I could use all of the remaining yarn on the scarf. It's pretty long. :-)

Now, off for a run!

A Hat

2010-02-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

I have successfully knitted my first ever hat. It is a fine hat. I'm a little shocked at how well it turned out. My first attempt at the brim was a bit questionable. I tried first with a 36" size 7 circular needle. The cable on that needle was too long. So I knitted it off to my double pointed needles. The DPNs were a bit too shirt so it was a bit of a trick trying to use them without the stitches falling off. On top of that I apparently twisted the stitches as I was knitting them off as there was an enormous ridge. Now I want to figure out who I did that because it was really nifty. It would be cool to do a hat with a few of those big ridges going around the brim.

Right. So here's the photo. It's a bit of a cruddy photo since I'm still not very good at taking pictures with my cell phone. And no you don't get to see my whole face, not because I'm worried about my cover being blown, so much as I was making a stupid face and don't feel like taking the time to get a better photo :-).

I'm almost finished with the matching scarf. I wanted to wait to finish that until after I had wrapped up the hat so I could use all of the left over yarn for the scarf. There's no point in having a tiny little ball of it lying around!!

I'm hoping to get the scarf done tonight while I'm at the dog club meeting. Then I'm planing on wrapping up the hardanger tea cup project. I'm soooo close on that one! All of the white work on the cups is done. All of the specialty stitches on three of the cups are complete. I just need to do the cut work on the last cup, do 11 doohickey stitches (yeah I can't remember what they're called) and then do the green accent stitches on the last two cups. It should be the work of one Lord of the Rings movie.

Oh and I'm excited because it's just under a month til the stitch in and just over a month to the stitching retreat. YAY!

Yay - I caught up to last year!!

2010-01-23T12:48:00.000-05:00

Yippee I finished the stitching retreat sampler. I did it before the next one which is scheduled for March. I also finished another big section of my hardanger tea cups project. An update will be out on that soon. In the mean time, check it:

Oh And....

2010-01-18T19:37:00.000-05:00

Apparently I have a new convert to the stitching revolution....

I converted her father too - if only for one project...well, two ;-).

Woof!

2010-01-18T19:22:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I finished a gift for a close friend of mine. I was up against the deadline, not so much because the person for whom it was made had appeared, but because I was in the country where she lives and figured it would be easier to get it to her there than try to post it later. So here it is...

The idea to decorate a onesie was one of her friends. I think it's a great idea; however, a practical person and responsible mom-to-be pointed out that she feared getting decorated onesies with glitter and puffy-pens that would not be wearable. The stitched one met the cut ;-). I just hope its not too scratchy on the inside!

I did a little on last year's stitching retreat sampler today, but mostly I was knitting because I have a scarf that I feel should be finished before summer.... but we all know how that goes!!

Organizing and Finish I Can't Post (Yet)

2010-01-12T16:48:00.001-05:00

I'm starting to get back into the stitching mood. Not that I don't want to finish knitting the scarf I started for myself, but hey - it's a hobby. I don't need to follow the rules!!

This week I stopped by the store on the way to work one morning and found closet organizer stuff on sale. I've been meaning to come up with a better way to store my fabric collection - voila!

The details? All counts of 26x36 are on the top, then 32ct 18x26, then 28ct 18x26, all counts of 18x18 are on the left of the next rung and misc sizes in the other cubby, then the left two on the bottom are 32ct and 28ct 13x18 and the right two are 32ct and 28ct 9x13. I'm thinking I need to get more just to fill in the spaces! Nothing like a good addiction :-).

I also completed my first cross stitching finish of the year. Sadly, since it's the nametag for the stitching retreat in March, I can't post a photo of it lest I give away my fantastic design! My next project won't be able to be posted right away either because it is a suprise gift for a friend. But I promise I'm going to get them up as soon as they are revealed. Hopefully I'll have lots of other stuff to post soon.

ADDED: Oh and I made big progress on the hardanger teacups project at the stitch in the other night. Maybe that will be the first finish I get to post.

And Here's the Finish...

2010-01-06T19:16:00.000-05:00

Tada... here's the other scarf I finished :-).

It has little pockets at the ends for cold hands. I knitted it using the seed stitch - pretty easy and rhythmic to work up. I have a bunch of left over of this suede feeling fiber, so I'm planning to do a little stuffed toy with it. Hopefully soon. In the meantime I'm finally working on a scarf for me. I had a bit of a stressful moment today when I dropped an increase stich, but I bulled though. I'll see how bad the booboo is tomorrow.

New Year, Less Money...

2010-01-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a good new year so far. Not that I'm deep into it yet, but hey it's good to start out on a high note!

I went to Toronto to visit friends on the new year. While I was there we knitted a bunch. Unfortutanely, I forgot to get a photo of the scarf I finished. Hopefully I'll remember to get a pic of that before I give it to the intended scarfee. I did pick up some gorgeous yarns at a the local shop:

The top one is a 100% merino wool, the pink one is a cotton cashmere, and the blues are a 100% wool. I'm planning to use the merino to make some socks. I'll have to practice with something else first though. I'm thinking a scarf and mitten set with the wool. I couldn't decide what to do with the cashmere, but one of the ladies at work today was chatting with me and we decided on an open weave shawl to wear with a little black dress :-).

Just before Christmas I signed up for the Stitching Retreat run by Jan at A Stitcher's Garden (my LNS). I'm really looking forward to the fun in March. Of course, now it's the dreaded name tag challenge that's hanging over my head! The theme for this year is Americana. I have some ideas for the piece, but have no idea when I'm going to work on it now that I'm running a triathlon training program at one of the local Ys and have weekends filled up with visits to Canada (maybe for more yarn?). I'm sure I'll be able to pull through!

I am going to the stitch-in at my LNS this week, so at least I'll be getting in a little time on a few of my open projects. Maybe I'll work on the teacup hardanger piece this time.

A Break From Cross Stitch

2009-12-26T14:21:00.001-05:00

I've been taking a bit of a break from cross stitching lately. I think I needed to work on another craft for a while. The past couple of weeks I have been knitting like crazy. I found a nifty little set of knitting project cards for scarfs and decided that it was the time of year to work on such things.

The first one I completed was a tubey scarf. It was fun to work this one up on my round needles:

You might guess this is for a girl from the festive colors and the butterfly. That might be stereotyping. But you're right ;-).

My second scarf allowed me to play a little with my enormous knitting needles:

This one is a shawl scarf. There's a little blue butterfly - can you find it?

The third is almost finished. I'm expecting to complete it today :-). It has a fantastic ribbed pattern and will be about 6 feet long. It uses roving instead of fully spun yarn and has a wonderful felted feel to it as a result:

I have another scarf that I'm planning to start with a beautiful nubbly texture to it. I'm hoping I can get started on that one later today if I can finish this one up.

Yesterday I stopped by a friend's house on the way home from a Christmas visit with my in-laws. I saw a cross stitched mug on the counter and asked when she had gotten it. It had been a gift from her daughter-in-law, who was also the matron-of-honor at my wedding. She received the gift before her son was married to this woman. We got chatting about how wonderful it is to give and to receive hand made gifts. I noted that I find it sad when someone gives a craft as a gift and the receiver puts it away and never uses it. I feel that crafts, by definiton, are meant to be used. She had a wonderful response about what its like when, later in life, you come across just such a gift when cleaning out a disused room or a closet. That is just the type of conversation one should have at Christmas!!

Awards and New Crafts

2009-12-05T18:12:00.002-05:00

This week my Paradise Macaws project was on display at work for the employee's art show. I was excited to learn that I had received 1st place in the needleworking division for the juried awards! I was also thrilled to find out that the award was 2 oil/lube/filter changes at a local auto shop :-).

Today Jerry and I went to a beginning spinning class at a local Alpaca farm. It was very interesting. It was $40 for each of us for a 5 hour class. The fibers were provided and we could borrow a drop spindle for the class. The first part of the class our instructor, Elizabeth, told us about the history of spinning, different resources, local sources and demonstrated basic technique. After lunch we tried our hand at it. We ended up spinning using the drop spindles and plying the yarn we had created. We also got to try our hand at the spinning wheels she brought with her. Here's a picture of Jerry using the parking method to draft his yarn...

And here's my yarn after spinning, but before plying....

And here's some of my finished 2-ply yarn....

And with that I'll close my thrilling photo essay so I can make some mac n cheese n dogs for dinner!

The Birds Are Framed

2009-11-22T11:21:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I picked up the framed Paradise Macaws from A Stitcher's Garden. Jackie did another great job on the framing. I'm looking forward to entering the piece in the employee's art show for the county where I work.
I also finished the Letter X from my Art Deco alphabet project. I think I have 6 of the 24 done now. I'm moving along slowly on these. They are nice travel projects thought, so it seems like a shame to rush through them.

I've been making some progress on the Magnolia project. This was a little toss off piece that's been sitting in my closet for a while. I just felt like I needed to get it done so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore ;-). It will go into the base of a small serving tray. I'm hoping I'll be ab le to get it done before the end of the year.I've also been doing a little on a hardanger project. But the photo of that project will have to wait a bit :-).

No Photo Finish

2009-11-09T09:01:00.003-05:00

YAY! I finished the birds project. Unfortunately, I didn't have batteries for my camera at the time and so no photo yet. It's out for framing now. I will be definitely posting a pic once I get it back! I'm so excited.

I'm also almost finished with my Letter X. I'm home sick from work today, so I might see if I can get that one wrapped up too so I can feel like a super hero ;-).

Despite my vow not to start another stinking project until I got through a few of the ones lurking about the house, I decided to start my Quaker gameboard project. Hmm, lets see here where that link is... oh, here's my pic of it:
Well, time to wander off for some medicine, breakfast and stitching :-).

Birds progress!

2009-10-26T14:36:00.003-04:00

Yes it is true... I have been stitching!! I made enormous progress this week on the birds project! I only have the tail feathers and the flowers that sit in the middle of the leaves to finish. Here's the piccy...

I'm sitting in Lake Placid right now, taking a break from a conference for work. I don't think I'll be able to do much more on the birds this week because I'm here through tomorrow, have an appt tomorrow night, have stitching on Wed, skating on Thurs and then getting ready for the dog tracking test at our house this weekend. Whew!!

While I'm on travel I've been doing a little on the letter X project. I'm sad that is going as slowly as it is, but I suppose there's nothing to help that!

Well, time to head to the next session. Happy stitching!

Hey Strangers

2009-09-08T19:08:00.006-04:00

Well it's been a long time since I posted an updated on my stitching. Its been a busy summer for me, so I ended up not getting a lot of stitching in. I missed doing it, but still I was having a good time. Mostly.

I've been working on the Birds of Paradise project lately. I was able to get the second bird's shoulders finished and the surrounding feathers complete. Now I'm onto the wings which are a lovely blue color.
I've also gotten a little work done on the Letter X from the Art Deco alphabet project. This one is going to be a slow goer. Its funny, no one really wants to be injured, yet sometimes I hope for a good ankle sprain so I have an excuse to sit around and stitch. Shame on me!!!!

Snowmans in Summer

2009-07-10T20:01:00.002-04:00

Who doesn't love snowmen??!! It's silly hot out today and I'm happy to post the finish of my chilly friends. This was super fun to work up. I'm trying to decide what it should be assembled as still.I'm a loser and am missing my LNS stitching group tonight for two sessions in a row. I have a bike ride I'm organizing tomorrow and a friend I'm trying to help out. I can't quite seem to squeeze the time out of my days anymore. *sigh* But I'm planning to head downstairs to my stitching station and at least put in a little time on the macaws project. I did some on that this morning. It's going to be lovely! I can't wait to finish that one :-).

The Fair

2009-07-07T14:29:00.002-04:00

My entries went down to the county fair yesterday. I entered the Autumnal Abstract Bag, Alchemical Symbols and Sunny Day Cat for this one. *fingers crossed*

I was able to wrap up a small that I started over the weekend while I was chillin in the parking lot before work this morning. I have a photo of it, but I need to get back to my computer before I can post it since I accidentally left my SD card in the computer. I made it for a friend and am trying to decide how to finish it. And I'm trying to decide if I want to show it to them tonight when I see them or if I want to wait until it's completely finished. Tough decisions!

Its not looking good for the La-D-Da Free-Bee I've been working on for a while. I'm just about to run out of thread. I think that I'll use up what I have left tonight and then try to figure out what the heck I'm going to do about that. I'm pretty sure I pulled that stuff from the discontinued bin. Either way I have lost the tag that was attached so I have no clue what manufaturer the cotton is, let alone what color. I suppose I could just grab another color and bull through acting like it's what I meant to do. *shakes head*

A Little Late

2009-07-03T09:27:00.003-04:00

I completed the third page in the sampler book a little over a week ago. I've been a bit slow in getting around to posting it :-). There are letters in the sky above the castle, but they are white on white and so are a bit difficult to see in this photo.

I started on the letter D. We're going to head to Canada today, so I'm hoping to get some time in on that one in the car. Possibly I'll be able to finish it during the drive?

I've been doing a bit of work here and there on my traveling projects. Unfortunately a bit of life caught up with me over the last week, so I didn't get to use my lunchtimes to make progress on those.

I was able to make a big dent in the second Macaw last week. This is where I was at on the 26th of June. Since then I finished most of the macaw's head and some of the pink feathers that make up it's shoulder. Not awesome progress, but its something :-D.

For the Birds

2009-06-20T11:31:00.003-04:00

After finishing the Letter T last week I spent some time working on a few of the little projects I have poking around the house. I couldn't get into any of them, so I decided what the heck - start another. But I didn't want to have another stinkin' project sitting around in my pile. Instead I decided to compromise and start a new project on an old project.

I've been meaning to get back to my Birds of Paradise two-fer project and found it when I was "cleaning" my stash over the weekend. I set it up and got started last Sunday. This is what I have done after a week of dinking around...
I'm thrilled to have one block of color finished. I'm planning to get the leaves around the bottom finished up this week. I like this project because there are color changes, but I can work in decently sized blocks if I get sick of dealing with confetti stitches. I can't wait to see this piece finished. If I'm super fast (yeah right!) I might be able to have it done for the fair.

I also decided to finish off a couple of little motifs from the Autumnal Abstract to make into accents for the bag I assembled recently. I am hoping to enter this one in the fair. I hope my nasty sewing skills don't hurt it in the competition ;-)

Best Day EVER!

2009-06-11T13:02:00.007-04:00

Well if it's not the best day ever, it's pretty darn close! I went to work this morning to discover that a worm had infected our network and my computer was a victim. After about a 1/2 hour I asked my boss if I could bug out since there was absolutely nothing I could do - and I got the OK :-). So home I went to finish assembling this....
I'm thrilled with how it came out! There is a magnetic hook inside the top of the bag to keep it closed. I'm planning to stitch a couple of the motifs from the bag and make some little dangling charm sort of things to hang off the strap, but I'm not sure when I'll be getting to those.

The following pic shows the lining of the bag...I can't wait to start using it. I think I'll have to wait until after the county and state fairs as I would like to enter it in those and see how it does. I'm so excited about it!!

Last night I was able to finish off another one of the letter squares I've been working on. Now I have five finished and _only_ 21 left to go. I'm trying to decide if I want to do the four random designs that go with the letters series or not. Such difficult decision I face! Here's the Letter "T":I'm really happy with this one. Now that I'm home for the day I'm expecting to spend a little time working on the "Nova" canvas work project. Also, I'm trying to decide how to organize my fabric again.

Christmas and Not Even July!

2009-06-06T09:18:00.004-04:00

Yay! I got my sewing machine working, bought some thread and figured out how to assemble my Christmas stockings! I need to tack the cuffs down - but I'll be doing that in the car today. I can't believe I got those finished :-).
I have another project I want to finish, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get to it this week. Maybe the next one? Maybe next year. Still, I have assembled almost all of the projects that were sitting around. Now I just need to finish a few more!

I went through my various piles this past week in an attempt to try to get things a little more organized. I've been experiencing project creep around the house. I discovered that I'm likely not going to have enough floss to finish my Free-Bee project. I'll need to figure out how I want to deal with that one. I also pulled out the letter "T" that I've been slowly getting started on and made some great progress on it.

I'm thinking about stopping by the shop today to pick up some more floss for the letters. They're good for travel projects. I only have 21 of them left to go ;-).

While we were watching movies last night I made some excellent progress on my hardanger teacups project. This one is moving fast! I just need to spend a little more time watching TV I guess!

Little Steps

2009-06-03T09:08:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to post some progress photos for some time. I promise... soon. I haven't gotten a lot done, but I have made some steady progress on a few of my projects. There's something about May that makes it hard to find time to stitch. The weather is getting nicer and everyone whats to do everything _right now_ because they have been cooped up all winter ;-). Now that we're heading into June my schedule clears out since everyone else seems to be getting burned out on doing things. Now I can start to concentrate on more stitching.

I am happy to note that I have been able to get my Christmas stockings almost fully assembled. I'm hoping to get them completed by this weekend with some finish photos. I'm super happy with how they are coming out. I have one more project that needs to be assembled. *fingers crossed*

Stitching in the Background

2009-05-17T07:58:00.003-04:00

It has been crazy busy for us this spring. I've been having a lot of fun, but I've been missing my cross stitch. I'm glad to have finished the knotwork project from the retreat. If I let those things go they'll never get finished. But, I missed the rhythm of cross stitching. Last night and this morning I found a little time to work on my Letter T from the Black and White project. So relaxing! Now I need to get myself psyched up for a bike race. grrrrr!

Knot Work Finish

2009-05-13T08:11:00.004-04:00

I finished the Theresa Layman knotwork project from the retreat this morning. Last night I was able to get all of the stitching done. The morning effort was to get the piece assembled. I'm pretty happy with how it all came out.
I'm not yet sure how I feel about knotting. I think I'm still a cross stitcher through and through. I'm happy with how cross stitch looks. The knotted finish, hmmm, the jury is still out on this one. I have another project that I picked up which I think I will enjoy working on. I do really want to get back to working on some of my outstanding cross projects. Next up... who knows!! Maybe I'll start a new one just to live dangerously, maybe I'll get back to St Petersburg the UFO from heck!

Little Miss Suzie Homemaker

2009-05-03T17:03:00.004-04:00

I've been working on a couple of my projects in between riding my bike and working. Now that my back is feeling better I've been doing various sporting activities so I'm usually too tired to stitch in the evening. But I do try to get some stitching in at lunchtime and in the mornings. And TA DA....
I'm so close to finishing this knotwork piece! Only a little more to go and I can get it all finished. It's going to be on a seagrass basket that Theresa Layman gave us when we took her class at the March 2009 Stitching Friends Retreat that my LNS put on. It wa great learning how to do the Colonial Knot better and getting some tips on French Knots also!

I've also been working on my very first real garden (as opposed to a couple of bulbed crammed in the ground). I put four flats of annuals in yesterday in about three hours. I woke up this morning with gardener's shoulder ;-). It seems to have worked itself out however!
I'm hoping we don't get another frost this year. We've been known to get frosts in June. There's only been one month of the year, I think August, in which it hasn't ever snowed in recorded history here in Central New York. I don't know if I'll be able to handle covering the plants, but here to hoping!

During my morning sessions I've been working Nova, the canvasswork project that I hope to complete this century. I'm really enjoying all of the different little pattern. Each of the variations is interesting. This is going to be an awesome peice when I get it finished.I finished the entire top row. There are 18 blocks across. I think it goes down to "V" on the side. I can't remember right off hand though ;-). Maybe I'll spend some time working on this one tonight... I am hoping to get this one and the knotwork ones done so I can get back to cross stitching. I'm feeling like I'm cheating on my cross stitch projects. Bad stitching whore that I am!

Slow Progress...

2009-04-04T08:40:00.004-04:00

I haven't been making fast progress this year in my stitching. I suppose I should be happy for that. Last winter my back was injured, so I wasn't able to do quite as many physical activities as usual. Also, this year I'm trying to work on some of my larger projects that have been stacking up around the house.

I made some good progress on Nova this past week. This is a canvas work project on mono canvas using 4 strands of DMC floss. It's a bit fussy since I have to use a laying tool, although I am getting more adept at that. I wish I had gotten a close up of some of the squares before I was separated from it for the weekend. Here's the progress anyhow :-)...
There are 18 columns and "V" rows in the project, so there are 396 12x12 blocks total. And I've done 22 - I'm one eighteenth done. eeeep!

I also have made some progress on one of my travel projects - Free-bee from La-D-Da. I found this awesome grey thread, but am seriously concerned that I'm going to run out of it before the pattern ends. I think it was discontinued. I may have mentioned this before. Oof the stress! I think I'm a little more than 1/2 way through this one.
Today I'm hoping to assemble my stockings and abstract bag. I'll have to see how that goes. I have a friend helping me out with that so I don't mess it up too badly.

A Finish I've Been Meaning to Post

2009-03-29T11:23:00.003-04:00

I finished up the cute accessories keep from the retreat last week. I think I wrapped up the stitching on Wed or Thurs. It was a fun little project. I think I'll probably send it to my mom since she doesn't have anything to keep her scissors, needles, etc. in.
I also made the matching scissors fob:

They both stitched up quickly.

Now I'm working on Nova, by enormous canvas work project. I'm on the hunt for one of the colors - maybe my neighbor has some...

A Bit More Retreat...

2009-03-26T17:05:00.004-04:00

I just realized that I hadn't gotten around to finishing my updates on the retreat. It's been so busy here as I transition sports seasons. Also, the weather has been _awesome_ so I've been taking every opportunity to get out on my bicycle.

First off, here's the required stash shot...
I didn't quite get as much stuff as last year. During that retreat I won one of the baskets and was so loaded down! I don't mind getting a bit less. I have so many projects to work on already. The floss and fabric was awesome! The little charts are a hoot. I'll be making a few of those up for some friends and family while I'm in the car and on trains, etc.

I also got a shot of all of the completed bunnies from the needle felting class on the first day. They're pretty adorable. Mine is the one just to the right of the dark brown bunny. He has the curled ears. :-) The retreat sampler, which was given as a prize, is in the back. Betsy did a wonderful job designing and stitching it!
And then there is the group shot! We were 19 strong. There were two teachers, one assistant, a shop owner and a gaggle (or maybe a giggle?) of stitchers. We had an awesome time!

Don't worry -there's more to come. I have one of the projects finished. I just need to attend to some stash organization.

Knot Kit Exposure

2009-03-21T23:06:00.002-04:00

OK here's the beginnings of the knot kit. I since have gotten the flowers and most of the leaves done. Whew - this is different. I'm not sure how I'm feeling about it yet ;-).

Catching Up!

2009-03-21T07:46:00.007-04:00

My poor computer couldn't read my photo card last night. I think I was overworking her. She's all rested this morning.

I finished this bookmark for a coworker waaaaay back on 9 March. I was a fun little project that I pulled from The Gift of Stitching Magazine. I'm pretty happy with the quality of the projects I've seen in their pages. Oh if I only had more time!

I've mad some progress on a couple of my WIPs. This is Free-Bee from La-D-Da. I got the pattern at last year's spring retreat. I've been working on it on and off during travel. It's since become my lunchtime project at work. I'm hoping I'll be able to get it done soon. I'm a little concerned that I'm going to run out of the thread that I'm using. I'm not sure I'll be able to get more - I thnk it's a discontinued color.I also started a hardanger project that I've been meaning to do for a year :-). I got this pattern when I swapped charts with people a while back. This pattern came to me from England. It's been fun to work!
I'm sure there will be more to come about the retreat later. We're going to be taking classes from Teresa Layman and from Laurie of Chessie and Me. :-D

Long Time Coming

2009-03-20T23:00:00.004-04:00

OK it's been a while since I posted. I got a bit caught up in the end of the skating season. I'm glad I did because I ended up getting a good ranking for the end of the season. But now it's spring and I'm attending the "Nature's Beauty" stitching retreat with my LNS.

This evening we took a class in needle felting. The goal was to make a bunny. Here's the beginning of one of the "campers" projects...
So, do _you_ think this looks like a bunny?

They got better though. This one is mine - he's a little bummed about life, but his ears came out OK!More to come.....

WOW - Two Posts, One Day!

2009-03-08T21:04:00.003-04:00

I got on it today and wrapped up the two projects I was working on. I finished stuffing and assembling the biscornu. It came out pretty well. I hope the woman I made it for will like it. I'm thinking of attaching a ribbon so she can use it as an ornament. I'm pretty sure she won't be using it as a pin cushion ;-).

This morning I also wrapped up the stitching on my stocking. I don't think I'll get a chance to assemble it this week - maybe next week since I won't be skating anymore for the season!The weekend after this one I'll be at our LNS's annual stitching retreat. I'm really looking forward to the classes and the company. It's going to be a nice followup to the nationals competition I'm heading to this week *stressssss*. Hopwfully I'll get some of my travel projects werapped up while I'm on my way out and back to the big meet :-).

Finally - Some Progress ;-)

2009-03-07T19:19:00.005-05:00

I've been on-again-off-again stitching the last few weeks. I was traveling a couple of weekends for sports and didn't get a chance to even pull out my travel projects.

This week I did get to finish a biscornu during my 1/2 hour lunch stitching. I was just playing around with some of my old DMS variegated floss. I was bummed to find out that they discontinued these colors. *sigh*

I went to the LNS stitch in last night. It was rough! I've not been getting enough sleep for the last week or two with all the travel and DH being ill, so staying up to midnight after getting up at 5:30 am was not working too well for me. I hung on though and almost finished my Christmas stocking...

I'm actually a bit further along than this picture shows, but well we all know how that goes ;-). I'm hoping to wrap up the stitching tonight so I can finish my stocking and DH's sometime soon. I bought the fabby for it just before the stitch-in last night. I'm really excited to see them done. I hope my sewing skillz are up to par!

Light Week

2009-02-22T19:46:00.002-05:00

It's been a light week for stitching. I did get a little work done on a few of my traveling smalls. I also got an hour or two in on the stocking, but not too much. I was in Lake Placid for the Empire State Games. Oddly, I ran into a woman who ran cross-country with me in high school. It was rather spectacular learning about what she's up to. I was also happy to medal in all three of my events against a tough field. Mostly I was thrilled to travel with the little team I coach. The kids made me very proud! They exhibited wonderful sportsmanship as had a good majority of the other racers laughing.

Hopefully I'll be posting some photo updates soon :-).

Stocking Progress

2009-02-14T14:03:00.002-05:00

I was all stitched out at the beginning of the week, so I spent a few days organizing my fibers. Talk about excitement!

Later in the week I started back in on my Christmas stocking. I know that I won't have it done in time if I wait until spring. This is a really fun project to work on!

Big Finish!

2009-02-10T21:15:00.003-05:00

HOORAAAAY! It's been a while since I finished one of my larger pieces. Yesterday I finished the Autumnal Abstract. I'm hoping I can find some time this weekend to assemble it into a nifty configuration (to be revealed at a later time). I'm feeling pretty magnificent at this moment.

I pulled out my Christmas stocking to work on that a bit tonight, but I wasn't feeling it. So, instead, I'm organizing my #5 pearl cotton pile and trying out a new organization in the meantime.

Today I also put in to cancel my Silkweaver Fabric of the Month subscription. I'm not a happy camper about it, but I do have piles of fabric all over the place that are waiting to be stitched on and could use the extra money. *sigh* I hate being responsible.

So now I'm trying to estimate how long it will take me to wrap up a couple more of my open projects so I can start some new exciting thing. Or maybe that won't hold me back anyhow!

Penultimate Post!

2009-02-07T17:45:00.002-05:00

Well here it is...the second to last post for the Abstract! I only have the lower right corner to do. Most of the lattice is finished. It shouldn't take me long to fill in the crosses and the interior of the flower. Then there's just the halo area around that. It's all yellow and green though - I'm getting a bit sick of yellow and green ;-).Off to the movies to see Coraline - YAY!

Trifecta...

2009-02-02T19:40:00.005-05:00

This weekend meta4life from the LJ cross-stitch group suggested a Finish-A-Long. Hence the finish in my previous post. I was also able to finish this little guy. It's the piece from the Mystery Stitch Along this fall. I went simple on it and made a pillow. I love the fabric that I found for it.

I was also able to finish up a little project for one of my coworkers. I'm working on a new little project for another one of my coworkers this week. I'm planning to do one for each of the four of them, hopefully by spring.
Also I made some progress on the abstract. This photo is already out of date. I finished the gold/yellow block and the orange tiled block in the upper right corner. I also was able to get most of the brown block finished up this morning. I just need to fill a few of the lighter colored areas there.I'm not likely going to get any work done tonight since it's only an hour before I got to bed and I haven't eaten anything for dinner. But tomorrow night I think I might have some clear sailing to finish up that brown block and start the next yellow section! When this one is done I need to switch over to my stocking -that one will go quickly... maybe!

Assembling

2009-01-31T10:08:00.005-05:00

This morning I started working on some finishes. OK, so mostly just one so far. I think that's about all I can handle for the time being, so I'm going to work on the Abstract for a little while and see if I feel like coming back to the finishes later in the day.

This is what my little dude looks like with the fabric added to the inside of my bourse:
And here's what it looks like after I finished the whole thing:I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, considering my shoddy sewing skills and all. I'm hoping to drop it off to the recipient sometime tomorrow.

Time to take the dogs for a walk :-).

Abstract Progress!

2009-01-25T19:48:00.002-05:00

Not far to go now! I'm stitching as fast as I can. I might be getting a bit obsessive...
My wrist is starting to hurt. Egads! I better take a break :-|.

Bad?

2009-01-23T16:22:00.004-05:00

Is it bad if one is looking through one's stash inventory and starts panicking? I'm sitting here trying to keep myself from starting another project right now. I have the following going: abstract, nova, x-mas stocking, angel, st. petersburg, co-worker gift, free-bee. OK I think that's all. Oops, no - also the sampler book. And I'd like to start the blackstone fantasy garden, fire and ice, a needle keep, an accessory box, seasons of the trees, and about 30 different little projects.

Then of course there are the projects I need to finish - some soon.

I wonder when someone is going to stage and intervention! Sheesh!

2009-01-21T19:31:00.002-05:00

Ta Da... The letter B. As usual I took a less than stellar photo. I need to get my filters out so I can do a better job with them. But you get the idea ;-).
I'm enjoying samplers all of a sudden. I'm not sure why this last year has me so focused on letters. I guess it's similar to my interest in school figures in figure skating (they should never have done away with those in the olympics). It's the conventional that lets one really see someone's style and execution. Or maybe it's because I have a bunch of friends with babies now and we're all singing the alphabet song!

Oops I Lied

2009-01-20T13:42:00.003-05:00

I didn't get the "B" section of my sampler book done yesterday. I did end up having a very good time though! I took off to deliver the cake in the late morning and got hung up there chatting. Then I went into the city and to my LNS :-). I spent an hour at the shop picking out colors for the rest of the sampler book and then realized I was going to be late to my doctor appointment. I quick paid for it all and sped off for that. After the appointment I returned to the shop for another hour of color picking. I accidentally kept my buddy Gail a little late at the shop - she's a gem!! Then it was off to dinner with some friends and returned home late.

I can't wait to get going on the rest of this project! The colors are wonderful. Sadly I think I'm in the process of ransoming my first born. I hope whoever it is that's taking him doesn't realize he's a dog and not a people :-).

Day Off...

2009-01-19T10:35:00.004-05:00

I have the day off of work today in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr's life's work. It's one of the few non-holy holidays in the US that promotes peace and caring. Now that I think of it, it may be the only one.

Calls are out around the nation for people to spend the day engaged in community activities. I'm a little bad in that I won't be doing that today. I don't feel too awful about it though because I visit nursing homes with my dog twice monthly and coach a kids sports team regularly, among all of my other charity activities. If you're not already volunteering on a regular basis, think about it - it's very rewarding and is so wonderful for the people who need help.

This morning I did some baking and then settled in to work a bit on my sampler book. I'm hoping to have a photo of my completed 'B" square up by the end of the day. It's very close to completion.

I also motivated to hang my framed Sunny Day Cat project that I got back from the framing shop on Friday. It looks great in my sun-shiny guest room.
I didn't put in any time on my Abstract this weekend. Between the skating meet (all day Saturday) and messing around the house on Sunday I just couldn't find the time. I'll be putting in some hours on it during the week though. It's so close to completion!

Big Push

2009-01-16T19:39:00.003-05:00

This week I've gotten quite a bit more finished on my Abstract project. I'm very excited about the progress. I'm glad I'll be taking tomorrow off for a skating meet since my hands are getting tired. Here's where I'm at:
At least I was able to move the frame to the other half of the project. That's always a good pick-me-up :).

Yesterday I received the new Nordic Needle catalog in the mail. I shouldn't be looking in it since everything is so tempting and I overspent a bit on crafting items during the holidays. ooooh I couldn't help it. Today I brought it to work so show a couple people who have been asking about my projects. I didn't know that my coworker at the next desk was interested in stitching. It turns out that she used to do some before her kids were born and went nuts over the catalog. Yay - I'm an enabler.

I better get back to the project... happy stitching!

Stitcher's Panic

2009-01-15T12:32:00.002-05:00

Earlier this week I was swimming in the morning and strained the index finger on my left hand when I overdid it a little on the breast stroke. It was rough stitching that night (I'm a lefty). I was worried that it would be out of commission for longer. It's funny how something little like that can make one worry.

I've been stitching like mad on the Abstract. Since I've been getting out from work a little earlier than usual I can get in a walk with the dogs and spent a couple of hour stitching at night. It's made a huge difference in how I feel in the morning. The dog walk gets me out in the sunlight and the stitching is so relaxing and productive.

I'm planning to post another progress photo of the abstract this weekend. I have the last portion of the project broken up into weekly goals. I seem to have broken through the blockade on that project. I decided to put all of the smalls on hold for a while so I can get some work in on the projects that were starting to languish.

Winter Reflections

2009-01-10T12:14:00.003-05:00

Winter is my favorite season. I'm a snow monster. I grew up alpine ski racing, sledding and making snow forts. In high school I went to a school for ski racing and learned to speed skate. I now cross country ski, speed skate and snowshoe in the snow. I live in snow country. This makes it vary hard to cross stitch in the winter!

The other wonderful thing about winter is that so many people don't like it, so there are fewer social engagements to go to and it's so much more relaxed and introspective. I can still find some time to do my stitching between all of my snowy pursuits.

Yesterday I was able to wrap up the first frame in the sampler book I'm working on this year. I was thinking about doing it as an installment piece, but now I've decided not to worry about rigorous schedules and to work ahead if the mood takes me. I have no idea if I'll have time to. It is a nice portable project though.
I also have made a little bit of progress on the Autumnal Abstract. I thought I was going to get a lot more done in the fall and early winter, but events, and small projects, kept me away from the favorite stitching chair. I'm over halfway done with this one and just switched the frame over to I can reach everything on the right side of the project. I'm going to work on this on today exclusively - between skating and show shoeing :-).

A Pile of Pillows

2009-01-04T15:48:00.003-05:00

The last few days I've been hosting my parents for the holidays and traveling all over the place visiting. All the car time gave me the opportunity to assemble all of the Quaker Squares I completed in 2008. Fortunately I got a nice storage box with one of my gifts, so now I have a nifty place to store my projects until I get around to making a display case.The first photo is the first 6 months of the year and the design Suzanne stitched for me for an exchange recently. The second is the last 6 months and Suzanne's signature square.I still have another 3 or 4 exchange squares to do up as pillows. Hopefully sometime this week. It's a good year so far ;-).

2008 Retrospective Slide Show

2009-01-01T20:33:00.002-05:00

Ahh the end of 2008! What a crazy year this one was. I entered stitching competitions for the first time and actually won some awards. I also completed more projects than I ever have in one year. Most of them were smalls, but there were still a good number of larger ones.

I finished my first year long series project. That was the Quaker Squares. I'm in the middle of finishing them all as little pillows that I can display in a basket somewhere around here. I'll be starting a new series project in a couple of days.

Tomorrow evening is the first stitch-in of 2009 at my LNS. I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening.

And now for the slideshow...

2008 Series is Complete!

2008-12-29T17:42:00.003-05:00

I finished the last of the Quaker Squares yesterday! I'm starting to assemble them all into little pillows which will live in a basket on a shelf somewhere that hasn't yet been hung on the wall, or purchased. This was my first ever series project. I'm happy with the outcome, but I'm not sure how I feel about the process yet. I'll have to think about it a bit more to decide if it's something that works for me or not.
My parents are coming to visit in a couple of days, so I need to pick up most of my stitching projects and bring them to my storage room :-(. I suppose I'll survive the trauma. I was just getting everything out into their stations again after the last time people visited. I tend to be a spatial thinker, so I need to use locations to keep track of things. I move the projects around the house based on some odd little locality prioritization my mind created. My husband has even figured out what order I work on things based on where they are. Sometimes he suggests he might move things around as a joke. Not funny!! :-)

Only a few more days until the end of the year. I don't think I'll be finishing anything else between now and then other than some assemblies. It's time to go through the pile and pull out the stuff that needs finishing early in the year and figure out what projects I'll be getting to next. The pile has gotten mighty large this year!! It appears that 2008 was the year of the smalls. I think it might be time to focus on a few bigs for this year. Let the stitching continue!

Holiday WIPs

2008-12-25T07:18:00.004-05:00

Happy holiday to everyone. I'm sitting at my in-laws kitchen table while my FIL concocts a holiday breakfast for the 4 of us. After that we'll be exchanging our end of year gifts. I'm looking forward to DH opening his. I got some great ones for him this year.

Last year I stitched up a stocking for DH and meant to have one done for myself. Though we are fairly non-religious, we do follow our cultural traditions as they feel homey and festive. We're always up for a party. I've always enjoyed the little tidbits that come in a stocking. Well, with all that was going on this past year with shifting jobs, stitching retreats, sports, injuries and the usual life-y stuff I just never got around to the stocking for me. Which means DH didn't get to use his (since I'll assemble them at the same time). On Tuesday I started mine. Here's what I have done so far:It's going very quickly, so I'm pleased with that. Yay for 22 count fabric over-2. I have a little more done since the photo was taken, but had a horrid miscounting incident at the top of the green, so I had to back out pieces. I didn't frog the whole area, I just snipped around the edges and filled in where I needed to to shift it all over. I'm not to worried how the back will look since it's going to be hidden in the body of the stocking and, when it's filled with stuff, it will be lumpy any how.

I also have made some (slow) progress on the December Quaker Square. This is the last one in the series. Next year I'll start a new installment project. For now I'm just hoping I'll be done with this by the end of the month. I'm running low on left over thread (finally), so this one is going to be in red, green and gold. But then that seems appropriate, doesn't it :-).

Time for breakfast!

A Leetle Finish

2008-12-21T08:49:00.004-05:00

It took me some time to set up the new wireless printer I got. I had to contact the manufacturer's tech support because the drivers for the printer didn't work with the security features I have enabled on my household wireless network. In the end we had to compromise by stepping down the security on my setup and having them submit a bug report to correct the issue with a patch.

During the few hours that I spent on chat and screen sharing with the (excellent) techs, I was able to finish off this little booger: I'm a bit of a dope and stitched him on white fabric, so it's a bit hard to see the snowman and the snow drift (under the W), but I figure I'll back him with some dark fabric and deal with it ;-).

Today I'm heading to a Winter Solstice party ay my in-laws. This is all my fault really because I decided a few years bask that we needed something happy and non-denominational in the winter to cheer up all the people who complain about the snow (which I love). So we all sit around and eat finger foods and then we light candles and each person has to say one thing that they like about winter that no one else has said yet. So, I'm not planning to get a lot done today. I'm thinking about bringing a few projects with me that need assembly. That's usually good busywork in the car.

Welcome Winter!!

Back in Business

2008-12-19T17:54:00.003-05:00

Yipeee I have a new computer and it functions without making horrible scary noises of the HD crashing slowly. It came last night. I was able to get most of it set up then, but I needed to have a little time today to get everything just right and comfy how I like it.

The nifty thing about my itty bitty 'puter is that I can sit it next to me now while I'm stitching and prattle on with my friends while I while away the hours in my stitching chair. Oh frabjuous day!!

OK, now that the cheering is wrapped up, on to more...

I finished up the Sunny Day Cat needlepoint, oh I think Monday-ish in the morning. I'm pretty happy with the result. Needlepoint, more to the point - the tent stitch, is not so much my thing. But I really likked this piece for my sunshine yellow and cat filled guest room. So there you have it.
I also started the last quaker square this week. I'm running low on my left over thread colors so this one is going to have reds and greens and golds. But then that's just right for December with a bell theme. I'm hoping to wrap that up this weekend so I can get the buttons on months from the second half of the year and start assembling them into something before January is too far gone.

As usual I'm trying to keep myself from starting too many new projects at once. I still have lots of work to do on the Autumnal Abstract, but I'd sure like to work on my Christmas (Yueltide) stocking and then there's the pile of minis, a needle casket, oh so much that wants to be done!

Tis the season :-)!

WIP Updates w/o Photos

2008-12-11T16:44:00.002-05:00

The weather has been great for stitching lately - for most people. For me, not so much. I'm a winter person and the more snow that's out there, the more likely I am to be out there with it. I've been squeezing the stitching in between ice skating, cross country skiing, teaching at the gym and the usual work stuff.

I'm closing in on the finish of the Sunny Day Cat. I'm hoping I can whip out the rest of it tomorrow since I have friends coming in to visit this weekend and it's all in the middle of the dining room table. I just have just the one flower in the corner and the embroidery details on top.

I just rememebered that I need to do my December Quaker Square. Oops - it would have been bad to forget the last one that I have left.

After I whomp out those two I'm planning to clear everything else away and work only on the Autumnal Abstract. These projects seem like they've been going on forever. I'm just glad I made it through all of the smalls that I had floating around 1/2 done. Hopefully I'll smarten up as bit and won't get the bug to pull more of those off the shelf. It's time to focus on the biggies for a while!

The Final Art Show Installment

2008-12-11T16:40:00.002-05:00

And here are the last of the art show photos I took. The flower at the top is a ceramic piece. It's one of my favorites from the show. The quilt and the wood burning on the wood mold are also incredible!

Last 2008 Exchange Received

2008-12-08T10:17:00.002-05:00

Friday night I came home to find this wonderful square in the mail from Australia! I love the colors - purple seems to be my thing this year. I can't wait to finish these off. I may even have to spring for the pattern for myself. I'm inspired to do this pattern in a bunch of different colorways on the same fabric and frame them up together. I love geometry :-).

Thanks Suzanne!

More Art Show Photos

2008-12-08T09:45:00.002-05:00

I was amazed at some of the stuff people submitted to the art show. The handmade dulcimer included in this set of photos was stunning. Also the kayak which ended up winning best in show.

The Art Show!

2008-12-04T20:23:00.003-05:00

Here are a selection of photos from the Madison County Art Show this past week. The pieces people submitted were amazing! More photos to come...

YAY Finishes and a Computer to Post From

2008-12-04T20:06:00.005-05:00

OK so I'm just borrowing (monopolizing) my husband's computer...

As previously mentioned I finished that last two ornaments in the Twelve Days series. And I give you 11 Pipers and 12 Drummers:

I also started cleaning my craft room. This entails grabbing all of the bits and pieces that are left over from other projects that can't be easily used for other projects I have in charts and making stuff up. So far I did a couple of little squares from some canvas work remainders and am now kicking myself for not doing them as bookmarks.

I'm closing in on the end of the Sunny Day cat. I'm hoping to be done with the project by Monday night. I'm losing the time I planned to work this weekend because I have to travel for a dog event. I'll be able to work on my travel projects, but no work on the big ones. Hopefully my large monster will behave and earn his first title to make it all worthwhile.

Death of the Computer

2008-12-01T18:04:00.003-05:00

My computer is dying. I can use it for about an hour at a time before it starts to overheat and the hard drive begins to holler at me. I'm hoping to get a new one soon. In the meantime it's difficult for me to get photos uploaded because it's dragging on accessing the file system.

In good news, the county art show went up today. My peacock project got third place in the needlepoint division. I'm a bit confused about which category I entered, but I think the judges were too. *shrug* It was great seeing all of the incredible project everyone entered. I'm planning to get some photos of the show to share.

Over the long holiday weekend I finished the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments (YAY). I also played around with some left over fibers from a canvaswork project I did over the summer. I have a few little ornaments that came out of that and likely will have a few more. I'm in a cleaning mode, which means lots of little things from scraps will be occurring for awhile.

On the way up to skiiing yeasterday I worked a little on my La-D-Da Free-bee project. That's been swapped in as my new travel/TV project.

I also put in a good chunk of time on the Sunny Day Cat. I'm about to head down the dining room table to get a bit more done on that one. I'm so close to finishing it up.

It's looking like I'll be clearing a number of the open projects out of the queue before the end of the year. This is a good thing. I never did get a chance to do my Christmas stocking. Although my husband's is finished, it never got assembled as a result of my dropping the ball on mine. Oh well - there's always next year ;-).

They're Starting to Come Together

2008-11-27T17:50:00.005-05:00

The numerous projects I've been working on are all seeming to be finishing up at the same time. This morning I wrapped up the 6th installment of the Mystery Stitch Along. I couldn't really see what it looked like until I took the photo - my brain was stuck in the details and was missing the big picture.
This was stitched on Tutti Fruitie from Silkweaver. The yellows, pinks and blues are fun. I have another 1/2 of the fabric I can use for other projects. Maybe a few biscornus?

This afternoon I finished up a little piece I've been working on.
It's from the Heartstruck Friends chart from Midnight Stitching. There's another one in blues that I'm planning to work on after I wrap up a few more of these extant projects.

Stitch on...

Another Competition

2008-11-25T17:44:00.006-05:00

The office I work at is hosting an art show of the employees work next week. I couldn't resist entering 2 pieces for $2.

I entered the Spring Hat, which got a 2nd place at the state fair:

From 2008 Finishes

I also entered a piece I finished a while ago:

From Pre-2006 Finishes

I just got the last installment on the Mystery Stitch Along. Maybe I'll work on that tonight. I'm not up for anything super exciting - too much exercising this morning.

Two Ornaments to Go...

2008-11-23T09:19:00.004-05:00

I got the stitching bug back this week. I finished the next ornament in the Twelve Days series and have made a good start on the 11th. I'm getting a little sick of stitching the border. It disturbs me a bit that I have the pattern memorized at this point. My husband has decided to call this one (10 Lords) "Angry George Washington with Googly Eyes".

I also finished a large portion of the Sunny Day Cat needlepoint I've been working on. The needlepoint is satisfying in that it gets done quickly, but I definitely prefer cross stitch. It doesn't look nearly as nice as the cross stitch projects do in my view. Still it's a nice change from what I've been doing.
I also did a little on the Autumnal Abstract, but didn't feel that it was photo worthy yet. When I get through the next set of blocks on the chart crease I think it will be time for another progress pic.

X-mas Projects

2008-11-16T10:56:00.003-05:00

I got back to work with week on a few outstanding projects. The fifth installation of the Mystery Stitch Along for the LJ Stitching Community came in and I was able to stitch it up. I'll post a photo of that when I'm done in two weeks.

Also, I was able to get the first of my Christmas stitching presents done. Of course no pics of that until it's been gifted :-(.

But I did get the next ornament done in my 12 Days series. This one is the 9 Ladies. I've also started 10 Lord and hope I'll be finishing that one up this afternoon.

I need to get all of my started projects finished so I can clan up the dining room table for when my parents visit in January. *fingers crossed*

Check Please

2008-11-10T18:38:00.001-05:00

Ooh my award money from the NY State Fair was deposited today! Of course I already spent that award money on supplies :-).

Far Far Away

2008-11-10T18:01:00.003-05:00

My Round 10 partner, who lives way on the other side of the globe, received my Round 10 exchange squares in the mail. So here's the finish:
This one was mostly back stitching, satin stitches and mosaic stitches. I used some x-stitches for the signature block. The colors were a blast to work with.

I've got everything but my actual name on the X-mas round project and made headway on some gift projects this morning.

Right now: I'm going to shut up and go stitch.

Penultimate Squares

2008-11-09T15:19:00.003-05:00

I finished the November Quaker Square this afternoon. Only one more to go!

I've been using scrap fibers for the rest of the squares, but wasn't happy with what I had in my stash for this one so I ended up getting a new color for it. I opted for The Gentle Art's "School Yard". It was a fun color to work with.For the rest of the day I'll be finishing up the signature block for an exchange project I'm working on and hopefully getting a bit more done on the Autumnal Abstract. I did work on the abstract for a couple of hours this morning :-). I'm over 1/2 way done on that one now! Maybe I'll be able to wrap it up by the end of the year. Maybe...

Holiday Squares

2008-11-08T21:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the last set of exchange square for the year came in. What a great way to cap off the season! Heidi B stitched this wonderful set for me. I'm a big fan of snowmen since I love winter. I'm really looking forward to finishing this off in time for display when the snow flies (I better hurry!).
Last night was the bimonthly stitch in at A Stitcher's Garden. We had a wonderful time as always. I worked on a couple of x-mas ornaments and started my November Quaker Square (will post finish soon!). I also picked up a few Heart in Hand Wee Ones charts. I grabbed a handful of snowman patterns and also some patterns in the bird series. These smalls are great! Not that I have any idea when I'll get to them. My backlog is getting a mite bit scary.

Off I go to take up more stitching!

Powerless

2008-10-31T19:44:00.004-04:00

I was planning to get a ton stitched on Tues when I had the day off for a medical test (I'm mostly fine, so no real worries). I got a bunch done on that new Sunny Day Cat project before I left. I was thinking I might be able to stitch while I was getting pictures taken of my innards, but no such luck. They wanted me to hold still - pooh on them ;-).

When I got home I started doing a bit more on the Cat, but then we lost power. I called in the loss to our power company and thus started the SAGA of getting power back on. We were slated to have it off until Sunday night. So instead of stitching these last few days I've been on the phone with our local officials and various people to try to get the service people out to the house.

It all paid off with our power coming back on Thursday at noon. Unfortunately we lost a bit of food, but really it wasn't all that bad. We like roughing it, so we had all of the bases covered. We were really worried about a fellow who lives down the street who needs power for his medical equipment and to feed his chickens. We live out in the country, so no one is on municipal water, so we can't get water when the power is out. Our other neighbors were having a tough time getting their cows and horses a drink. It was a good team building exercise.

Either hoo, I was able to get the next section of the Mystery Stitch Along done. Photos of that to come after the weekend. I know - I'm a bum lately with the pics. I can post the photo from a recent exchange - the Thanksgiving Exchange from Fair Squares.

This is the piece I sent:

And this is the piece I received:
I love this sheep in turkey's clothing. Now I need to think of a suitable way to finish it!!

Finally - photos!

2008-10-27T18:50:00.006-04:00

This morning I remembered to get photos of most of the project that have seen progress lately.

I discovered that one of my exchange partners posted that she had received my project. This is the one I sent out for the Fair and Squares autumn exchange at the end of September.
I'm expecting another project to be posted soon as received. A third is getting dropped in the mail tomorrow. Only one more exchange to go before the end of the year. I have everything staged for that and am hoping to get it done by the middle of November.

Last night I discovered that I have gotten a little out of control with the projects I'm working on:
Mystery Stitch Along with the LJ cross_stitch community: I just received issue #4 - no photo yet
Nova: a brutal canvas work - no progress since my last photo
Free-bee from La-D-Da: again no progress since the last update
Christmas Angel: I do believe this has dropped into a UFO
St Petersburg: another UFO. It's haunting me!
Autumnal Abstract: I'm trying to get in at least a few hours every week on this one
Winter Friends: a couple of patterns I'm planning to make for x-mas gift - so no photos :-)
Sunny Day Cat: this one I started last night just to make my life a little crazier!
X-mas Exchange: previously mentioned ;-).

Tonight I have some updating to do around my various web places, then I'm hoping to either get the MSAL #4 issue done or get a bunch more done on the cat. I'd like to get that one done so I can hang it in the guest bedroom soon. Tomorrow I have to take the day off for a dr appointment, so I'll be able to spend a lot of the day stitching - YAY!

More Stash :-)

2008-10-25T19:09:00.002-04:00

Today was a big shopping day for the household. We haven't been out a lot lately, but now that everyone's job situations have settled down we took care of things that were waiting on money. One of the stops I made was at my LNS. I ended up getting lots of yummy colors threads for the Christmas projects I'll be working on this year. I also picked up some pearl cottons for next year's installment project - Erica Michaels Sampler Book. I need to prep all the pages for that soon.

This morning I had to coach, but I got a couple of hours in on the Autumnal Abstract before I left. I'm hoping to get some photos up of all of the projects soon since I've been making stready progress. But, just a little more work on the super secret exchange projects to go...

Swapperoooo

2008-10-23T19:07:00.002-04:00

Last night, despite exhaustion trying to overtake me, I ended up finishing my next stitching exchange project. The photo for that will show up soon after my partner receives it. I've got a couple more of those to wrap up, hopefully before the end of the month, or soon after.

I'm very excited because my dog (a large German Shepherd) and I passed a certification test for the sport of tracking last weekend. The goal is to let the dog sniff something left by a person and then follow a 490'-500' track they left in a field to another item they left in the field. The dog is then supposed to indicate that the item is on the ground. At that point we all jump around for joy. Now that he's been certified by a judge we can enter a test and see if we can earn a title through the American Kennel Club. Training for this is how I've been spending a lot of my weekend time.

As of today I'm even more excited about this because I just found out that he's been accepted into a test next weekend. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll get that title! I think I'll go channel the nervousness into some stitching :-).

And Here I Thought I'm Obsessive About Stitching...

2008-10-17T18:38:00.003-04:00

Really there's nothing to say about this...
Pink Knitted Rabbit

LIttle Steps

2008-10-15T18:08:00.003-04:00

Last night I worked a bit more on the abstract. I didn't get too much done, but I enjoyed just sitting in the chair thinking a bit. I needed so quite time in a big way!

I received the Fair Squares Autumn Exchange from Jessica M in the mail :-). They are lovely:I did a little work on the TG squares I'm prepping earlier today. I'm trying to decide if I want to work on those tonight, work on the abstract, or just laze about. We shall see.....