Pretty busy couple of weeks

 I know it's only been two weeks but sure seems longer.  I think part of the reason is that I worked on four different pieces during my ten days of "pick a stitch" at the end of the month.  I'm used to seeing three pieces a month, so if there were six, it has to have been a long time.  

Lots going on in the family the last couple of weeks.  A couple of highlights:

Grady let us know...

He's going to be a really good big brother.  The photo started my search for a pattern for an announcement.  I've found two in my stash - Baby Bug Ball and Sophie's Roses both by Shepherd's Bush - that I keep coming back to, but I haven't started surfing for patterns yet. 

Next was that DS moved into his first Michigan apartment (he lived in several when he lived in New Hampshire).  As a housewarming gift, I did this for him:

The pattern is from Ampyfied on Etsy.  The fabric is 32-count Pacific Sunset from Sunny*Dyes Fabric and the thread is DMC.  The only change I made was to stitch the heart in red.  I'm planning to finish this as a pillow.  I've got it in my head to have a cartoon-ish fabric on the back (I'm sure I can find Godzilla fabric on Etsy) with black piping. 

Stitching-wise, Japanese Zen Moss Garden had one more day of rotation.  I had grand plans of getting the center finished and some beading started.  Unfortunately, I realized that I'd done Algerian eyelets instead of Rhodes stitches in a couple of places and had to do some frogging.  So while no beads, I did get most of the center done.  Here's where it was:

and here's the center with the specialty stitches done - most of those blank areas are beads or crystals:

After finishing Zen's 10-days, I put Temperature Tree by StitchinMommy on Etsy on the frame and finished off February and got March started.

See those four gold/yellow leaves?  That's the end of winter in central Virginia.  We'll still have cool evenings and even a cool day or two - like today's 45 F - but we won't have any more really cold snaps. 

Once I got the leaves on the tree, I picked up my secret stitching and got it finished.  I do need to finish-finish it, but I have a bit of time before it needs to be done.  After that finish, I started and finished May Godzilla Destroy This Home Last.  I had a few days left in the month, so spun the  wheel of what's next? and worked on Garden Fair by Courtney Collection.  I started this in January of  2020.  It's been touched once since.  When I last stitched on it, it was here:

and when I put it away after it's 2-1/2 evenings of stitching, it was here:

The before picture is wrong way around, I started this one in the lower right corner for some reason - I'm sure it made sense when I did it.  I'm stitching this on 40-count Mallow using Anchor black and DMC 817.  I will eventually frog the red corner motif but I wasn't in the mood for 1-over-1 frogging.  

Goldie went back on the frame for her ten days yesterday.  I didn't get enough stitches in last night for them to be noticable, so no progress picture of her.

And before I totally forget, last Sunday was WIPocalypse check-in day.  Fortunately, Melissa keeps that post open for stragglers.

Melissa at Measi's Musing started in 2012 so we had a place to show the projects we wanted to finish before the end of the world and it's just kept going.  Click on the badge at the top and it will take you to the official basics - there is also a Facebook group if you're more comfortable there.  I have two official WIPocalypse pieces, Goldie and Japanese Zen Moss Garden.  Zen's current picture is back just a bit in this post and Goldie's most recent picture is in my last post.  There are cues each month and this month's is: What is your process for working on WIPs? Are you a one-at-a-time stitcher, a rotation stitcher, or something else?  I am primarily a rotation stitcher.  I have had as many as 25 and as few as two projects in a rotation.  25 was right out - touching something for an average of two weeks a year did not make for much progress but it did provide a lot of variety.  Two provided progress, but not a lot of variety.  This year, I've found a rotation that allows for both productivity and variety.  My WIPocalypse pieces are my focus pieces.  I stitch on Goldie from the 1st through the 10th of each month, Japanese Zen Moss Garden from the 11th through the 20th, on the 21st I add leaves to Temperature Tree and then I spin the wheel of what's next? and work on that project through the end of the month or until I get tired of it.  If I get tired of it, I spin the wheel again and work on that project until the end of  the month, or until I get tired of it, repeat as needed.  Basically, those last 10 days are "stitch what I want with some guidelines".  BUT all that changes when I have a project with a deadline.  2020 was primarily a one-at-a-time year with two littles joining the family so double the announcements and Christmas stockings.  I will go OAAT once I find an announcement for Baby Girl W and when her Christmas stocking is picked.  I will probably replace my last 10 days with knitting as the blanket is taking much longer then expected (which I tend to say about all my projects)  I'll pick my rotation back up when I've finished all her stitching.  Going back into the office will also require me to evaluate my rotation, but we'll not talk of that right yet.

I havn't done any stitching today and not sure I will.  I had a cramp in my right hand this afternoon and it still hurts.  Sounds like a good evening to read.

Hope everyone is well.

TUSAL, Gifted Gorgeousness and it's IHSW

 So far my blogging and stitching plans are working of course I have now cursed both of them.  I am making progress on both but not stressing myself out.  I think my brain has finally settled into this "new" and I'm not thinking too hard on "what happens when I have to go back to the office".  Based on an email from the Secretary (of Agriculture) my "when" sounds like it's still a ways off and even when we reach that point, it will be very different than before.  He is reinstating our old telework policy that allowed for up to four days of telework per week and they're doing position reviews to see which ones can be done virtually (obviously the majority can as we've been doing it for a year now).  My direct manager is all on with the four days of telework, and hopefully upper management will be too I did hear that our Director said that managers had better have a very good reason for not allowing maximum telework so it sounds promising.  

Looking back at my stitching  "journal",   was March 13th.  TUSAL is hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat and is a just-for-fun collecting SAL.  What do you have to collect?  All those little snips of thread or yarn or what-have-you that you normally have hanging on your pants leg  throw away.  Instead of throwing them away, put them in a decorative jar and on the new moon, post a picture.  I'm a little late but fortunately, this isn't a high stress SAL.  Here's what's in my jar right now:

I added quite a bit of frog fuzz this month. It really is leaning towards darker/earth tone colors right now, except for that splash of blue Kreinik, isn't it?

check-in is the 15th of each month, but our lovely hostess, Jo at Serendipitous Stitching keeps the check-in open until the end of the month.  What is Gifted Gorgeousness?  It's our chance to thank everyone that has given us stitching gifts, or to show things we're stitching as gifts or anything else you can shoehorn into the theme of "gift".  I have two focus pieces that fit perfectly in this SAL as they are both gifts.

Goldie is charted by Heaven and Earth Designs and is a gift for my MIL and her husband.  I was coming to the tail end of her rotation time in my last post but will show from the beginning of her rotation time.

She started here the 1st of March and when her 10 days were up, she was here: LOTS of blue was filled in, there was some frogging and restitching, lots of body stitching and all that brown in her face.  EXCEPT the majority of the "brown" is DMC 934 which is actually a green, "Black Avocado Green" according to the DMC website.  It is things like that color choice that lead me to ask no questions when stitching a HaED pattern.  Should a green work, not in my mind, but it does.

After Goldie came off the frame, Japanese Zen Moss Garden went on.  This one is a gift for my son.  It was here at the start of its 10 days:  

and today it's here:    I finished the Buddah - that took the better part of a weekend, I'm not sure why it gave me so much trouble - added some of the "stones" in the water section, and started the fill-in of the center - lots of Rhodes stitches and Algerian eyelets.  It will be on the frame today and tomorrow and I am aiming to finish the center fill-in and maybe add some beads.  Chatelaines can be very heavily beaded, like all those swirls around the sandy center, so I add the Delica beads as I go, so I'm not facing days or weeks of beading at the end.  I'll roll a piece of quilt batting or sometimes a tea towel into the top scroll bar to keep them from damaging the fabric - if I use a tea towel it also provides a nice dust cover for my stitching.

This weekend is also March's   What is IHSW?  It happens on the third full weekend of each month and is permission for you to take time for yourself and stitch while knowing stitchers around the world are doing the same thing.  No set amount of time, no minimum or maximum number of stitches, no specific project, just stitch when you can from your Friday to your Sunday night. You can participate in blogland or the Facebook group.  As I mentioned, Zen will be on the frame today and tomorrow.  Sunday I'll fill in leaves on Temperature Tree and then work on my secret stitching piece.  Once that piece is done, I'll spin the "what next" wheel for my rest of the month stitch.

I have also been knitting and crocheting but I keep forgetting to take pictures.  While I'm not working on it right now, I did rip out what I had on my Heavy Metal Shawl.  I just wasn't happy with how it was working up - I did get a new needle - a Hiya Hiya Sharp (my favorites) - so am hoping that will make some difference when I start it again.

Hope everyone is well and has a chance to hermit and stitch this weekend.

Start of winter

 So, in my last post, I said February was either the end of winter or just the start - this year it's just the start.  Like most of you, storms have lined up with little respite in between.  Unlike many of you, it hasn't been Arctic cold (although much colder than average) and we haven't yet lost power (although we were as prepared as we could be in case we did).  The latest winter storm warning has been lifted and it looks like we'll warm up into the high 30s F for the next couple of days so the ice should all melt off before the next storm hits on Monday.

The birds have been mobbing the feeders all week.  Most of them are seed eaters and the ice has covered all the grasses they rely on through the winter.  No unusual sightings this week, but a couple of robins (American robins are in the thrush family while European robins are in the flycatcher family so same name/different birds) are hopping around in the yard right now.  They will appreciate a bit of a thaw.

Before we get to the making, I have been very remiss in showing pictures of this young lady:

Cassie is almost 8 months old now and is a very happy, smiley little girl.  She is also very much a little night owl.  Although today she seemed to be much more of a morning lark - I guess there's just too much going on for her to miss any of it.  

Sooo, making happened and it all aligns with the two SALs that I'm also doing check-ins for.  

First, the easiest SAL you'll ever participate in   TUSAL is hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat (clicking there should take you to February's post).  If you want a no stress event, this one's for you.  If you craft there are always little bits of leftovers.  Save them up in a container rather than tossing them (or wearing them to work on your pants) and every month on the new moon (I said "full moon" in my last post - sorry for any confusion), post a picture and then link over to the check-in post.  Here's the bits I've generated since the beginning of the year:

My actual stitching fits perfectly into  Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  It is the perfect way to say "thank you" to people that have given you stitching goodness or to highlight gifts you are stitching or show stitching that you can shoehorn into the theme.  Stitch, take a picture and post around the 15th of each month.  Jo said she keeps the check-in open through the end of the month so plenty of time to get your check-in done.  My two focus pieces fit the SAL perfectly Goldie and Japanese Zen Garden.

Goldie was charted by Heaven and Earth Designs from a picture my SIL took of my in-law's dog and will be a Christmas gift some year for the in-laws.

In my last post she was here and now she's here

I decided that as there was miles and miles of blue stitching once her head was finished that I would complete one color in the head and then do one or two lengths of blue.  I am afraid that if all I have left is all that blue, I'll stall out and I really would like to get this finished sooner than later.  She's done on 28-count antique white Monaco with DMC - 1 over 1 with full crosses.

The next piece is Japanese Zen Moss Garden by Chatelaine.  This will be my son's when it's done.  When I finished in January, it was here  and today it's here

I'm stitching this on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with Martina's DMC conversion (except for a couple of threads that didn't have a good substitute) and the called for PTB and beads.  I was making very slow progress on this one.  I thought it was just a lighting issue, but it ended up being a magnification issue (guess 32-count is now my limit with my current glasses).  I moved my magnifier over and things are now moving along nicely (after I fixed all the miscounts).  Zen is on the frame through tomorrow.  

Even my knitting falls into Gifted Gorgeousness as this is for Baby W.  I was not happy with the way the blanket was looking so I ripped it out and started again.  I am much happier now.  Here is the whole blanket and here is a closer look    I have some work to do on uniformity but I suppose an individual bubble won't show up in the hundreds (thousands?) that will be in the finished blanket. This is three full repeats of the pattern, so only 20 more to go.

As I mentioned, Zen is on the frame until tomorrow.  I hope to finish the corner bit and maybe do some of the specialty stitches in the center before it goes away until next month.  Temperature Tree by Stitchin' Mommy will be going on the frame Sunday.  I hope to finish the branches and get caught up with the leaves fairly early in the "leftover" days in February.  I'll spin the wheel of projects to fill in the rest of the time.

Hope you are all well, safe and warm.

January Gifted Gorgeousness

I held off a little doing this one as I wanted THIS one to be seen by the central Atlantic folks.  Anyway, today is the first  post for 2018.  If you haven't heard of Gifted Gorgeousness, it's hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way for us to thank the people who have gifted us stitching wonderfulness or to show things that we are gifting someone or whatever you can shoehorn into "gift".  If you're interested in stitching along, click on over and join.

I am only working on three pieces this year and they all fit Gifted Gorgeousness' parameters.

The first is a gift to my MIL and her husband (or will be). 

This is Goldie Christmas stocking as charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  It is stitched on 25-count Antique White lugana with DMC threads. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I don't need a magnifier with this one, even though it is over-1.  Yes, I still need my glasses but not the extra help that I need with my 28-count, over-1 HaEDs.  She's back on the frame but I have yet to put a stitch in her tonight - see "Plans", "best laid" and see the results and you'll understand. :-)

My second piece is Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine and it is a gift for my son:

Not a lot more done since my last photo, but progress.  I am stitching this on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with Martina's DMC conversion except for a couple of variegated silks that had no conversion number and the Petite Treasure Braids.  Despite my lack of progress I am loving working on a Chatelaine again.

My third piece is a gift to me, The Sampler Life SAL from a couple years ago:

The hosts at The Sampler Life contacted designers and asked them to donate a 50X50 design to the SAL  As these were donated, I am calling them a gift to me and shoehorning them into the SAL.  This is stitched on Vintage Autumn Gold from Lakeside Linens (yes really!) with the called for fibers - usually DMC.  This particular block is Fountains by Rainbow's Daughter.

And those are the three pieces I am stitching this year and the three pieces that you will see, hopefully with lots of progress, on February 15th for next month's check in.

Hello 2018

In addition to trying to keep The Hubs comfortable after his shoulder surgery, 2018 started with snow and cold.  I figured having to deal with those 100+ degree days in the summer was a fair trade off for moderate winter temperatures - 16 F is not moderate.  We're not having to deal with it for weeks or months on end, but just the time we are is plenty for me.  When I moved from New Hampshire one of the things I was looking forward to was thinking 32F was cold - I have reached that point!!.

With the start of a new year, it's time for the first 2018  posting.  Melissa at Measi's Musings is hosting WIPocalypse again this year.  If you click on the badge it should take you to the information page.  If it doesn't try clicking on the badge up top on the left. The nice thing about this SAL is that it is just that a SAL and not a contest except maybe with yourself.   You pick the pieces you want to finish or see progress on and post about them on the last Sunday of each month.  This posting is early just so everyone can introduce themselves.  Melissa also gives us blog prompts or questions each month so we have something to talk about.  This month's is:  Introduce yourself, your projects and any goals you have for this year.

I'm Susan.  I live in northern central Virginia those you that know the area or just want to look on a map, I am almost exactly half way between Richmond and Fredericksburg and about 6 miles north of Kings Dominion amusement park  in the middle of not a lot.  It's just The Hubs, me and three cats here.  I have one son that lives in Michigan along with just about all of the rest of my extended family.  I work for the US Department of Agriculture as a senior loan officer assisting small, rural communities by financing water and sewer systems.  It's not glamorous work, but it is fulfilling especially when you realize that someone will have safe water in their home and won't have to haul water from miles away yes, that still happens in the US.  My office is in Washington DC so I have a bit of a crazy commute about 2-1/2 hours each way counting all the driving, walking, waiting and riding.  I take the train most of the way so it's not as horrible as it might sound.  I used to stitch on the train, but it's become a very popular form of commuting and the trains have gotten crowded so I mostly read now.  Because of the commute, my stitching time is very limited and I don't stitch as fast as I think I do so I have a lot of WIPs. I am a rotation stitcher although I have been known to go OAAT (one at a time) when something needs to be finished.  This year, I am rotating between two pieces Goldie (a gift for my MIL and her husband) charted by Heaven and Earth Designs and Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine (a gift for my son).  I would love to finish both of these to give for this Christmas.  I plan to spend Sunday mornings stitching on smalls so that I have some finishes through the year.  For my smalls I am planning on finishing up The Sampler Life SAL from a couple years ago, start and hopefully finish the four The Drawn Thread patterns my parents gave me for Christmas and then start the Joyful World's SAL from a year or so ago.   To help with my stitching goals, I am participating in Gifted Gorgeousness, Smalls SAL, Stitch from Stash and International Hermit and Stitch Weekend in addition to WIPocalypse.  If you're interested in any of these, click on the badges on the left at the top and you should get taken right to the info pages.

I didn't get any more stitches into Zen my family got together and bought me a Cricuit Explore Air 2 for Christmas and I spent a lot of last weekend reading, You Tubing and playing with it so my stitching was waylaid a bit so here's where it was on January 1st.

The fabric is really a light blue it's showing splotchy white on my monitor and is my go to fabric - Summer Sky Jobelan.

I worked from home this last week didn't want to go back to the office until after The Hubs' first post-op check up so had much more time for stitching than usual.  Goldie was on the frame and went from here:

To here:

I have the rest of today and tomorrow on her and then Zen goes back on the frame.  I am thrilled with my progress so far.  I have had to keep reminding myself that this was not a normal stitching week and past performance is not indicative of future progress.