Survived!

Survived what you ask? Taking Molly and Olivia to the vet.  I figured things had calmed down too much so they needed stirring up again.  Anyway I am very happy to report that both girls are healthy and are now up to date with their shots.  Both girls are also younger than the in-laws said.  The vet estimates they are no older than 7, the in-laws said they'd had them for 10 years.  Molly, who I have not heard say a thing made her displeasure about the trip and being at the vets know LOUDLY to all who would listen - she made one of the dogs in the waiting room jump with one of her howls!! 

This cute little Jim Shore snowman came in the mail today 

 

Funny thing is, I didn't remember ordering it.  Now I do forget things, like where I put my keys or parked my car or why I walked out of the room, but I don't forget needlework orders ESPECIALLY as I'm participating in Stitch from Stash right now.  Digging around a bit more in the envelope and there was a letter congratulating me on winning one of the prizes on The Stitchers' Village 12 Days Event!  THAT I had totally forgotten about entering mostly because I never win anything so I never went back and checked. 

 

Speaking of Stitch from Stash, I had a zero spend in January but have already spent February's budget.  I caved and signed up for the Ingleside Imaginarium Guardians of Notre Dame SAL.  If you haven't seen it, here's the border and first two parts: I have no idea what color fabric or whether I will order the over-dye to do the border, but I love grotesques and gargoyles so looking forward to starting this.

 

I am still filling in the ear/head on the Goldie stocking.  When I put it on the frame last week, it was here:

 

 

And when I took it off the frame a few minutes ago, it was here:

 

It's definitely looking more doggish. 

So there's some stash and some progress and now, a new start. 

This is By the Full Moon by Tracy Horner of Ink Circles.  It's from the 2010 September/October Just Cross Stitch and is stitched on an unknown scrap fabric although I suspect it is either 28-count DaVinci or 28-count Haunted both by Picture This Plus with DMC.  Yes, I know I said The Sampler Life SAL pieces were going to be my smalls until I finally finished them off, but I just couldn't find one that called to me.  When I went looking for one, this jumped out and grabbed me.

Zen will be going on the frame for this week.  The PTBs finally showed up so I plan to go back to the middle and tart it up a bit.

 

Enough all ready!!

No, not stitching but this heat and humidity!  The yard and "gardens" are looking very sad but it is just too uncomfortable to be out for more than a few minutes at a time.  I will have ask that you all remind me of my tantrums about the weather this winter when I'm complaining it's too cold and according to the Almanac it is supposed to be a very bad winter.  DFIL told me he read a report saying that the weather patterns are exactly as they were three years ago when we had that crazy, snowy winter - the only plus if it turns out the same is that we now have a 4X4 and would be able to get out of our driveway!

First - welcome and thank you to my new followers!  Given my sporadic and rather whiny postings recently, I am surprised that anyone is even stopping by anymore, but I do appreciate it. 

Speaking of previous posts, I finally figured out that my mojo was still hanging around but it was being overpowered by my stitching ADD.  Fortunately, I seem to be overcoming it, as I was able to sit and stitch for almost two hours the other day yes in a row with no interruptions!  I know, for lots of you, that's nothing, but for me in the last few months it's a miracle!

Second - hop on over to the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe blog for an amazingly wonderful giveaway.  I should warn you that Nancy has some beautiful fibers and trims as well as patterns.  Please do not hold me responsible for any uncontrolled stashing that may take place just saying. 

Now that I have said my stitching ADD is getting better, I suppose I should show you.

This is Papillion Creations Eightsome Reel.  It's stitched on 28-count Chai Tea Jobelan with HDF silk conversion.

Before:

 After:

 

This is a Mill Hill Buttons & Beads kit Tree Farm.  It's stitched on 28-count Natural linen with DMC and Mill Hill beads.

 

Here's where I started:

 

 And here's where I stopped:
The fabric color in the "before" photo is correct.

 

Next up is Carriage House Samplings Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.  It is stitched on 40-count Sand Dune from Lakeside Linen with NPI silks.

 

Before:

 

And after the colors are more correct in this photo: 

 

And finally, Blue Ribbon Designs Countdown to Christmas.  It is stitched on 40-count Magnolia from Lakeside Linens with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads.

 

Before:

 

And after unfortunately I have reached the boring part on this one as all that is left on this part is stitching the grid for the calendar.  

 

 
Country Garden Stitchery's Snowgirls and Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden are on the stand for this weekend.

If Found Please Return

If you find my mojo, for just about everything, would you please send it home?  I really do miss it and am tired of being in this funk.  Stitching and other things are getting done, but I'm not able to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.  I sit down, take a couple of stitches and then think of something to do or get distracted by something on TV which is VERY unusual for me and then it's an hour or so before I sit back down to stitch and repeat so while I have stitching pictures to show, there isn't a lot of progress. 

So rather than try to remember what I've been up to since my last post, I'm just going to go right into stitching pictures:

Before:

 And after:

Holly by Mirabilia
Stitched on 28-count opalescent White with DMC, Rainbow Gallery PTP, and Mill Hill and Delica Beads

This one is actually a finish!!!

Before:



Summerhill House by Debbie Mumm for Mill Hill
Stitched on 28-count Bluebell Jobelan with DMC and Mill Hill beads

 As is this one!

Before:

And after:

Summer Mystery SAL by By the Bay Needlearts
Stitched on 32-count Lavender Swirl from Silkweaver Fabrics with DMC

Before:

After:



New England St Nick by The Goode Huswife
Stitched on 35-count Onyx from Weeks Dye Works with NPI  

 And finally:

Before:

And after:

Japanese Octagonal Box by Chatelaine
Stitched on 32-count Light Blue Belfast with NPI, Petite Treasure Braid, Gloriana, Wildflowers and Delica beads

 I have already started thinking about my 2013 stitching plans.  They will certainly feature fewer projects but I am enjoying the structure of my rotation just as I am enjoying all the projects that I have in it, but I would like to see more progress on fewer pieces than just a little on a lot.  It is going to be difficult to decide which pieces to leave and which to put "in the wings".

A Good Week

My birthday week was a roaring success.  Lots of relaxing, lots of reading and lots of stitching were done and I have renewed my obsession interest in Midsomer Murders.  I caught the odd show when A&E was still doing sensible television I think they show NCI-take-your-pick-of-cities and Law and Order 24/7, but was never able to watch it consistently.  One of my birthday gifts came with a free month of "Amazon Prime" which includes lots of free streaming videos, so I started with Season 1 and am working my way through.  I doubt I will be able to finish the entire series before the end of the month, but I checked and Netflix also carries it so I should be able to get "caught up" if watching 15 or so seasons all in a row is considered "catching up". I have only once, so far, figured out the mystery before the grand announcement, but it is fun to watch the "gears turn".   As much as I love the show, I always have the same question, "How is there anybody left alive in that town/county?"  And when you throw in Inspectors Morris and Lewis  and how many others that don't get aired in the US and it's amazing that there is anyone left alive in England at all.  I suppose anyone watching US crime drama would say the same thing about us, I mean Jessica Fletcher of "Murder, She Wrote" had to start traveling to continue solving murders as there just weren't enough people in Cabot Cove, Maine to keep a series running very long.

The only thing we weren't able to do was get out on the boat. The wind this week wasn't terrible but it was steady and kept the Small Craft Advisories up all week they're supposed to calm down tomorrow or Monday.  But as I mentioned stitching took place and I am very happy with my progress.  Debbie Mumm's Summerhill House was on the frame.  Here is what it looked like when I started:

And here is where it was when I took it off the stand on Thursday:

Debbie Mumm's Summerhill House
Stiched on 28-count Bluebell Jobelan from Wichelt with recommended DMC

There is a little bit of cross stitching left, lots of backstitching, and all those gaps are beaded and well as beads in the trees and scattered here and there it wouldn't be a Mill Hill pattern without beads would it?. I am hoping to have a finish the next go 'round in the rotation.

Yesterday I started Chatelaine's Mystery XV - Deep Blue Sea. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped as I got a late start, but I am pleased with what I did get done.

Chatelaine's Mystery XV - Deep Blue Sea
Stitched on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan from Wichelt with Martina's DMC conversion

The colors are really off on this one just like they are with every photo I take no matter with overhead, daylight bulb or real daylight

Japanese Octagonal Box is on the frame for this coming week.

Pathetic Start and Some Progress

Again, thank you for your comments on my progress on Eightsome Reel.  Honestly the more I stitch it, the more I wish I had done it in one color - perhaps a deep cranberry? Oh well, the investment in time and materials has been made and that amazing color changing fabric is hard to come by so multi-colored it will be. I keep hoping that some day I will get DSon's photography skills, but I do not see that happening any time soon.  Nicola, I commute to work five days one week (9 hours for four days and 8 hours on one), four the next (9 hours each day) and I get one day off every two weeks.  I do have a telework agreement that allows me to work from home one day a week, but the project I have been working on has a ton of back-up paperwork associated with it, so I have not been working from home for fear of throwing out my back or shoulder lugging the computer and all the paperwork back and forth.  I am hoping to get back into my telework schedule in the near future. The commute is not all bad, I drive a half hour each way and then spend the rest of it on a train.  I sleep for the majority of the morning ride and read on the way home.  I use to do a lot of stitching, but I have been on a reading kick for the last six months or so.  My commute is on the outside range of usual, but 1-1/2 to 2 hours commutes aren't uncommon for a commuter in the Washington, DC area.

As mentioned in the header, I had a pathetic start to my Mill Hill series.  I am doing the Buttoned and Beaded 2006 Christmas Village on one piece of 28-count natural linen.  I had another one of those days that started with great plans but went off on tangents and suddenly it was 7.00 and I had done no stitching.   Here is what I did get done in the short time I had left for stitching:



Tree Farm from the 2006 Mill Hill Buttoned and Beaded Christmas Village
Stitched on 28-county Natural linen with DMC and Mill Hill beads

The outline you see on the sides and top will be repeated for all six of the kits.  I am thinking of extending the flakes a bit further down the left side, but will see how it looks when I finish the entire piece.

The progress is on Carriage House Samplings' Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.  This one was so much easier with my new Mighty Bright magnifier.  I started this one with a magnifier attachment on my OTT floor lamp and it worked but I always had a problem adjusting the light so that I didn't get any glare on the magnifier.  As the lights are around the magnifier on the Mighty Bright, no glare - ever.  Hmmmm, that sounded like an advert didn't it?  Not affiliated in any way with either OTT or Mighty Bright, just a very happy customer of both companies. Anyway, here is where I started this week:



Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings
Stitched on Lakeside Linen's 40-count Sand Dune with NPI and Thread Gatherer fibers

And here is where I stopped:



Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings
Stitched on Lakeside Linen's 40-count Sand Dune with NPI and Thread Gatherer fibers

And no I haven't changed from my usual top-down/left-right stitching pattern, I'm actually stitching it upside down so that I can keep up my normal stitching style.  It looks like someone took a huge bite out of the side of that pumpkin doesn't it?

According to my project cards, Blue Ribbon Designs' Countdown to Christmas will be on the frame for this coming week.  Another one stitched on 40-count! Very poor planning on my part.  The forecast is for cold and rain/snow this weekend, so it will be a perfect one to stay in and stitch.