No Stitching but TUSAL

This long weekend is turning out to be a bust for stitching.  By the time I got everything done on Wednesday that I needed to get done, I was too tired to do much stitching.  We headed to Virginia Beach early Thursday morning and instead of stitching (I did take Lizzie*Kate's Socks &Underwear: Santa 2010  with me (and I did get a smile from your misread Mouse)) I read mail and a couple of magazines.  Thanksgiving was fun, but it was different having small children around again and I will be honest and say, I'm really glad I'm past all that!  We stayed in VAB for Friday as DFIL's family wanted to do their Thanksgiving with everyone, so we spent the day outside (it was sunny and about 70) and talked until well after dark.  I did do some Black Friday shopping and bought a very nice artificial tree at Home Depot yes I do prefer a real tree, but with the cost and mess I have come to appreciate the artificial ones.  We got home this morning and I"ve been cleaning and getting the "bones" of the decorating done.  The details will be done over the next few weeks.  Unfortunately, I am feeling like I"m coming down with something - achy, sore throat and stuffy - I really do have too much to do at work this week to be sick, so hopefully it's a quick thing.

Well, that was definitely the "no stitching" part, so here's the TUSAL part:

The green fluffy bit is frogging from Birds of a Feather mystery, there's Hawaiian Garden, Socks & Underwear: Santa 2010 and bits from iStitch's SAL.  Daffycat has opened sign ups for TUSAL 2012 and you're not required to put your container in your lunch for photographs - I was having hummus and pita chips and the chip bowl was convenient.

Unofficial IHSW update

Thanks again for all the kind comments.  I'm a rather isolated stitcher, so it's nice to hear from other stitchers.  March Ann, I really do like this area.  For me the biggest plus is that it's rural but only a skip to Richmond or Fredericksburg and then on to DC.

I didn't officially participate in IHSW this month, but I pretty much hermit and stitch every weekend, so I'll claim unofficial participation.  Let's see, I got through the rest of this season's Dr. Who - I sort of figured out the "surprise" ending a few episodes ago, but it was still fun to watch; all of this season's Warehouse 13 - didn't see *that* ending coming; and, one full episode and the first part of a second of Whitechapel - this is a new to me series and one I really enjoy.  Oh yeah, I also saw the first episode of this season's Primeval.  I realize that my "this season" is not everyone's "this season" as these shows are mostly British imports and folks in Europe probably saw them years ago.  Anyway,

I'm sure you all didn't click over here to read about my television habit which isn't as bad as it sound as I don't watch any during the week, so it all gets saved up for the weekends and I was terribly behind and I don't really watch as much as listen, except for Whitechapel, that one did require a bit more attention than most so here's what I accomplished:

First up is Tree of Stitches:

I finished up the algerian eyelets, french knots and stared the rice stitches.  The picture is dark, but this is done on a piece of Silkweaver's opalescent Ocean with an unknown NeedleNecessities thread that reminds me of autumn leaves.

Next is Hawaiian Garden:

Definitely a volcano now.  This is easily the most colorful piece I have stitched in a long time.  Most of the blank spaces are filled with beads and Petite Treasure Braid, so this section will really sparkle!

And last but not least, Birds of a Feather mystery:

I did something I almost never do and changed the colors a bit.  The house is charted with Weeks Dye Works "Straw" but I thought a bit of red inside the border would balance out all the red in the border, and I like red houses, so I used Week Dye Works "Brick" (rather appropriate I thought) instead. 
Sort of busy weekend coming up.  I'm waiting for cakes (one flourless chocolate and one carrot) to cool so that I can frost them - they are my contribution to tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast.  We'll be in Virginia Beach at DSIL's sister's house.  I think we're coming home Friday, but that's not decided just yet.  I do need to figure out what stitching I"m going to take with me, probably Socks & Underwear, but that's not decided yet either.

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating and happy weekend to everyone else.

Could get used to this!

I have another three-day weekend this week.  Of course, I had to work extra hours to do it, but I am liking this 4-day work week deal.  I'm just waiting to hear back from the garage that my car is ready - it needed new brakes and some new belts so hopefully it won't take forever as I have a few errands to run and while I was brave and drove the Hubs' truck this summer, I will not drive it around downtown Richmond!  I get tense enough driving my little car around down there, never mind his small continent on wheels...

Thanks again to all your kind comments on my stitching and agreeing to ignore my blatant disregard of my stitching goals...

As I finished iStitches' SAL last week, I need a new Friday project.  I can't decide whether I should work on finishing Tree of Stitches or start one of my 2012 projects.  I know which one I *should* be doing but it's not really the one I want to be doing and honestly, I should be working on Socks and Underwear Santa.  While I wrestle with myself, here's what I accomplished last week:

Part 2 of Birds of a Feather mystery is done! and part 3 is started.  As seems usual for my recent projects, there is a counting error.  This one is somewhere in the tree trunk.  I am not going to take that out and redo, so I am in the midst of some fudging.  And yes it is upside down, I had to turn it around to accommodate my stitching style.

I got a bit more done on Hawaiian during a marathon Dr. Who watching - only four more shows and I'll be caught up for this season: 

WOW! that is a wonky picture.  The side really is straight!  If you look hard enough, you can see the volcano taking shape.
No plans for this weekend other than to do some winterizing in the garden, so hopefully there will be either a house or a hill on BoaF and a volcano on Hawaiian by Sunday night.

Start of a long weekend

Errands tomorrow morning and housecleaning in the afternoon, but I hope to have the rest of the weekend for stitching.  I had a bit of progress and a finish last week.

First, my finish:

This is iStitch's SAL.  It's done with HDF Cloud and Victorian Mauve on a piece of 30-count R&R Reproductions.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one - one of my stops tomorrow is Michael's so maybe I'll get inspired there.  I was so happy to see that my initial fit perfectly in the space I had left.  So many trials and tribulations with this piece, but I'm very happy with it and thank you all for listening to me grumble and for the possible fixes for my fiber issue.

Up next:

Birds of a Feather.  I have about a dozen leaves left before I can call part 2 done.  Once this is framed, I think it's going to live in the guest room.  The colors will fit and there aren't a lot of pictures up in there.

And last but not least:

Hawaiian Garden.  Those of you that have stitched this or have the pattern will know that I am not stitching this in order, so pay no attention to my previous post on goals for this month as I am obviously not!  

October Recap and November Goals

My totally unrealistic goals for October were:

• Keep up with iStitch's mystery SAL Done
• Finish part 2 and start part 3 of With Thy Needle and Threads Birds of a Feather Mystery No
• Finish part 1 and 2 sides of part 2 of Hawaiian Garden No.  I did finish part 1 but only 1 side of part 2
• Finish Santa's beard and shirt Lizzie*Kate's Socks & Underwear Santa 2010 No, only finished the beard

Not too good, but there was progress so I'm pleased.

My just as unrealistic goals for November are:

• Finish iStitch's mystery SAL
• Finish part 2 and start part 3 of With Thy Needle and Threads Birds of a Feather Mystery
• Finish part 2 of Hawaiian Garden
• Finish Santa's shirt of Lizzie*Kate's Socks & Underwear Santa 2010

I have a couple of long weekends this month.  Veteran's Day will be a 4-day and Thanksgiving will be a 5-day I really like my new schedule and the fact that my compressed day off falls on Fridays of holiday weeks, so I'm hoping to have a lot of stitching time.  DMIL mentioned that DBIL and family may be down for Thanksgiving, but we're not sure (1)  if they are coming and (2) if they are, if they are coming here or going straight to DSIL's parent's both of her parents are doing poorly, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get the drive-by visit.