A finish, a finish and another finish

Before I forget, thank you to everyone for their comments and welcome to my new followers, hopefully my on again/off again blogging style won't chase you all away.

I have almost caught up on my sleep, am relaxed and feeling chatty, so as Mouse would say, grab a cuppa and get comfortable...

Lots of things going on here in my little corner of Virginia - mostly weather related right now.  We are forecast to have a morning of YUCK! that's a technical term for sleet, freezing rain and snow turning to rain by the afternoon but they are saying 2" to 3" by the time the front gets through on Wednesday.  We're all settled in and planning to stay in until at least Wednesday well I am, I really can't speak for The Hubs.  I am very glad that I took this week off and don't have to think about slogging into the office the commute is bad on a nice, dry day, it devolves into chaos when the weather gets the least bit messy.

Oh yes, for those of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I found this friendly reminder on Stitches 'n Things' newsletter:

You may have noticed a new SAL badge up there on the left, Zeb at Keep Calm and Cross Stitch is hosting a Just Nan SAL for 2014.  If you click on the badge it will should take you to the information page and hopefully get you excited about stitching through or adding to your Just Nan stash.   Hang around and read through her blog too, you have got to see the one on her new craft room - I dream of being that organized!  I only have one Just Nan on my WIP list and will concentrate on that to begin with but my mind is rushing around thinking of what I should start when it is done - I have enough Just Nans in my stash to supply a small cross stitch shop.  She was a must buy for me for years and I was fortunate enough to be able to kit most of them up, so I'm in a great position to reach in, grab one and start but for me the planning is half the fun.

So, one SAL for 2014 is definite.  The ornament SAL that Stitching Lotus hosted for 2013 is morphing into a Smalls SAL for 2014 sign ups and "rules" haven't been posted yet and I will probably sign up for that one also.  No other stitching plans just yet, but I do have another month.

Given the title of the post, I suppose you're expecting to see stitching finishes, and I do have three to show you.

The first is The Nutmeg Company's Sugared Almonds Gingerbread House:

This is stitched on 14- and 18-count Aida with DMC and Mill Hill beads all included in the kit along with the parts needed to make it into a house.

Next up, from Chatelaine is:

I don't know if it has a name but it is one of Martina's advent freebies from 2005 or 2006(?).  It is stitched on an unknown color of 32-count Silkweaver fabric pre-current owner so don't know if it is a current color, with my own DMC conversion of the called for Gloriana silks and Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid and more unknown beads, crystals and center thingy.

 As I didn't have an ornament finish in September, finishing two in November at least keeps me caught up.

And finally from Plum Street Samplers is my version of Mary's Sampler 2:

 It is stitched on an unknown color of 40-count linen with DMC, Simply Wool Oatmeal (for the white sheep) and Crescent Colors Hickory Sticks (for the DMC 3371 - how can I not have what I consider a basic color like that when I have duplicates of most of the current DMC colors?)

Santa's Magic is going back on the frame for the rest of the week so hopefully I have some amazing progress to show this weekend probably not, between baking and getting things ready for Thanksgiving dinner and card making, the week will be over before I know it.

November IHSW

While I have a few more minutes before I have to start getting things ready for work tomorrow, I don't think any of those minutes will be used for stitching, so here is my IHSW progress:

First is Mary's Sampler:

This week's part was a small one - two crowns and the cross.  Next week's part is the final one and will most likely fill that bottom left corner I do have a grasp of the obvious don't I?

And next up is Santa's Magic:

In case you forgot (I did) where this started, here is the before:

And here is where I am tonight after looking at the before and after, I got a lot more done than I thought:

The colors in the before picture are much more accurate than the after.  The gap in the beard near the face is supposed to be filled in with Wisper thread.  I have a love/hate relationship with that fiber so I am not sure if I will use it or not. 

Starting IHSW

Are you ready to stitch?  It's a IHSW weekend! Care to participate?  Hop on over to Joyce's blog and sign up.

I have dinner in the slow cooker (and a slow cooker meal for tomorrow also), laundry in the washer and dishes done, so all I have left to do is.... STITCH!!!!

Santa's Magic is on the frame so will continue with it as I am still enjoying it.  Here is where I am right now:

I will also be stitching on the next part of Mary's Sampler when it comes out tomorrow.  I have been able to keep up with this one which is a huge surprise to me and with only two more parts I may actually finish it this year.  Here's where I am with this one:

I made a slight counting error on the angel on the left, so had to do a little artistic redesign to make the stars fit correctly.

I did have a finish this week, but it's my monthly ornament, so will hold off showing until the "grand reveal" on the last Wednesday of the month for the ornament SAL.

November YOTA and TUSAL

Happy November, welcome to my new followers and thank you all for your kind comments!!!  The best thing about November besides Thanksgiving?  Daylight savings time ended!!  I never really adjust to springing ahead so will enjoy being in synch with the world until March. 

Yesterday was the first Saturday of the month and time to post my YOTA progress.  Santa's Magic is my focus piece right now and I had a fair amount of progress.  Here is my before:

And here's where I am now:

He's stitched on 32-count Silkweaver's opalescent Amtrine with DMC, Kreinik, Wisper from Rainbow Gallery and Mill Hill Beads (eventually). 



Today, being the new moon, is TUSAL check-in time.  I don't take nice artsy photos, so here's my bowl of ORTS:

I have also stitched on a couple of other pieces, here's Mary's Sampler SAL from Plum Street Samplers parts one through 6:

Another star and a shepherd were added today.  I'm using the DMC conversion on an unknown color of 40-count linen.  It just hit me that Paulette said this would be finished up Thanksgiving weekend, if this is a nine part SAL and this is part six?  YIKES!  I need to start working on a menu and grocery list!!


And here is Sugared Almonds from the Nutmeg Company:

This is stitched with kitted fabric, fibers and beads.  I have switched out the DMC metallic very nasty, horrible stuff IMO with Kreinik which I really don't like either, but I didn't have a good Petite Treasure Braid substitute.  The needle, a John James petite, will give you some idea of the size.