Huh...

So there's July done and dusted.  In my last post, I was getting ready to go to Michigan for a family reunion.  I've been and come back from two now.  Yep, my Mother's family reunion was the 14th and my Dad's was the 28th.  It was so good to see everyone again and I had a wonderful time with the immediate family too.

Nephew and Niece announced they're having a boy!  Let the crafting begin!!  I probably won't have a lot of stitching for the foreseeable future as I'm making a quilt.  I also took my crochet knowledge (one unfinished scarf) added lots of YouTube watching and started...

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I am completely chuffed.  The yarn is Jordan Almonds from Caron. It's self-striping so it looks like I know what I'm doing when all I have to do is keep up with the pattern (which is just the same thing over and over). 

I did do some stitching in July and actually have a finish:

Just Nan's Seasonal Gems I: Summer

I finally decided an extra eyelet balanced everything out just fine.  I'm contemplating adding a bead on each side but have to see if there are any left after I finish:

Just Nan's Seasonal Gems I:  Autumn

I'm counting Summer as my July  entry.  Heather at Stitching Lotus hosts the Smalls SAL.  It's a very no stress SAL, stitch a small and post a photo of it the end of the month.  Don't have one one month (or 6 or 7 as happened to me last year)? No problem, just join back in when you do.

I also worked on Snowman and Pals the Dimensions' Whimsies I mentioned last post.  I was able to get a decent picture of it:

Need to finish the light and there's some background stitching and lots of backstitching before he's done.  There are two side pieces to stitch and then they're stitched together to finish the standup.

I'm a few days late but still within posting time for  .  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and reminds us to give some love to something we've already started before starting something new.  The snowman and Summer were both from my stash, but they weren't WIPs so they don't count and I didn't put a stitch in either of my targeted WIPs so this month's report is a big 0.  Melissa gives us topics each month to nudge us along if we can't come up with something to say.  This month's is:  Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far?  Not so good.  I realized early on that I had, as is typical of me, over estimated how fast I could stitch.  I should be half through each of my focus pieces as I was hoping they'd be gifts for this Christmas, but I am nowhere near close to half way on either piece.  I've had a mini-slump going on either for mental health reasons or vacation/traveling BUT my major stresser at work left for greener pastures and I won't be traveling again until October.  So I should be able to settle myself back into a routine.  Once I finish up the quilt and blanket (probably blankets as I am really enjoying it) I can get back to my stitching.

I'll be pulling the sewing machine out this evening and getting myself into quilting mode - I might even hem those two pairs of pants the The Hubs hung over the back of my chair a while back...