Sudden Showers

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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!