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Saturday, January 7, 2012

January?

Given that the temperatures have been in the high 50s/low 60s the last few days and we've only had one night below 20, it is feeling more like March or April.  The grass weeds are still bright green, the petunias in my planters no I haven't pulled them out yet are on the verge of blooming again and the doors and windows are open.  I know, I know, part of the reason I moved south was to get away from the sometimes harsh New Hampshire winters, but  I really would like some bit of winter.

Now that I have gotten that out of my system at least for the time being, I'm sure it will come up again welcome to the new Followers.  I've crept up to almost 60!  Thank you all for reading. 

I used a bit of my Christmas money and did some stashing this week.  It all started with some innocent web browsing which landed me on Sew and So's website.  I did a little searching and found Alexandra's Dream by Dimples Designs.  Not only was it the last one they had, but according to the note, it is not being published anymore AND it was on sale. I think I mentioned earlier that I came late to the Russian Imperial Egg series by Dimples Designs and this one, for me, was a huge find.  You can see a photo of a completed one on Hans's  website.  It is the pink one to the left of "The Enchantment of Winter" which you can see as an "in progress" on Dani's blog. Hans is a wonderful stitcher and has some amazing finishes, but I should warn you that the last photo of his finishes is an extremely well-endowed nude male torso.  If you would prefer to not see it, please do not scroll down past the Tropical Fish Sampler - just saying...  So this new addition is winging its way to me as we speak and I have added it to my possible start list for 2012 if I finish "Twilight of the Tsar".  I will say I have heard lots of very good things about Sew and So but had never ordered from them, but they certainly came through in the fast service department and I will probably order from them again.  Speaking of wonderful customer service, I had an email from Karen at Wasatch Needlecraft saying Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers Winter was in and should be shipping soon.  This series is on my 2012 stitching list so very excited to have all the bits and pieces.

As far as other stitching, I have found that having a cable internet connection has been very bad for my stitching time.  When we had the air card only one of us could be on at a time or there would be terrible lag and it was just frustrating.  Now?  No problem, The Hubs and I can both be on and not even notice that the other is.  I have done way too much blog reading, surfing, etc. the last week.  Hopefully the newness wears off soon and I can get back to my stitching.  I did start my new WIPocalypse stitching plan this week and made some progress in between all the surfing.

Hawaiian got the majority of my time as it was this week's focus piece:

I was able to finish the left volcano and start the bit of hibiscus you see on the right.

My First Friday piece was a new start, Holly by Nora Corbett.  This has been on my to-do list since she was released.  I didn't get as much time to stitch on her as I would have liked as I took down all the Christmas decorations yesterday the house looks very empty right now,  but in the few hours I had, I got this done:

Wings!  The fabric is 32-count opalescent Antique White not blue at all and I am stitching with the recommended DMC threads.  I did sub the Kreinik #4 braids for Petite Treasure Braids and the green Mill Hill beads for Delicas.  I am still trying to find a good Delica sub for the red beads, but may leave them as they are all used for berries and the Mill Hill's round shape might represent that better. Listen to me talking as if I have an artistic bone in my body!

I have pulled out my focus piece for this week, Marsh Marigolds on Logan's Creek by Brigitte Kozma.  The pattern is from a 1989 issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts.  As I tore the pattern out of the magazine, I don't have the exact issue but it was early in the year as there is an announcement for a contest with a deadline of July 1st.

5 comments:

Peggy Lee said...

I've been struggling with trying to balance my stitching time and the time I take blog stalking. I can't help looking at all my stitchy friends projects though.

Giovanna said...

What great progress on Hawaii!

Siobhán said...

Fantastic stitching! Yeay on the stash find, too!

I always struggle with computer time. I also have an iPhone that chimes when a new email comes in or there's a news alert, and I am entirely too nosey--I can't help but look. It's a constant struggle!

Joysze said...

Hawaiian looks great, Susan and I'm so excited to see your Holly start. i've always loved her. :D

Good luck with the cable. I try to never get on the puter when I'm home or no stitching gets done. LOL!

Lea said...

Lovely stitching.