IHSW

Yes, it's International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW) but this is not my progress post,  I will actually be participating and not just drooling over every one's projects for the first time in four or five months and will be posting my progress on Monday.

First, thank you everyone for the compliments on my finish.  Holly was really a fun stitch.  I had a long weekend and stitched away very happily on Chatelaine's Mystery XV and The Nutmeg Cottage's Gingerbread Collection Parma Violets.

I am very happy to report that I have another finish!!  Okay, the stitching is finished, I have not even read all the directions to turn it into the cute little house that will hang on my tree sometime in the future.

Here are the finished parts of the cottage:

I have some unexpected time off in the next couple of weeks and hope to have some time to finish-finish this.

And here is the before of Chatelaine's Mystery XV - Deep Blue Sea

And this is where I was Sunday evening:

Chatelaine's Mystery XV
Stitched on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with DMC and Rainbow Gallery's PTB

I did do a bit of additional stitching but as it is a gift, photos will have to wait.

I have this coming week off from work and have lots planned which means I will get almost none of those items done but lots of other things.

An Unexpected Finish

Thank you all for the thoughts as Hurricane Sandy made her way up the east coast.  We were very fortunate, we were just far enough south to miss the worst of it.  Lots of wind, lots of rain, lots of flickering lights but no damage other than a couple of leaks but we think we've found the spot and are fixing it this weekend and the power was never off for long enough to even require us to reset the clocks.  My heart goes out to everyone that was in a more direct path of the storm.

Having a bit more stitching time than I had expected this week, I was able to finish Mirabilia's Holly. 

Here she is before:

And here she is finished:

She is stitched on 32-count opalescent Antique White Belfast with DMC.  I switched out the called for Kreiniks for Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid and the Mill Hill beads for Delicas.  I also changed up the back stitching and beading on the wings from the called for greens to silvery-blue as I wanted a frosty look. 

 I am going off my rotation for this week as I want to start and hopefully finish a Christmas gift or two and will start back on it next weekend when The Nutmeg Company's Parma Violets will be back on the frame so to speak - I finished a piece in my rotation and added this one to the list so it has two slots as well as Chatelaine's Mystery XV - Deep Blue Sea.

Frankenstorm

In case you haven't had the radio, television or computer on in the last couple of days, the mid-Atlantic and New England are preparing for what has been dubbed "Frankenstorm".  If it does what they think it will, three storms merging into one megastorm, it is going to be a rough ride.  It looks like the worst of it is going to go just north of here, but with a storm as big as the one predicted, we will be impacted.  Everything that we can do to prepare has been done - bathtub is full of water, bottled water ready, laundry done can you tell I freak at the thought of not having water - it is one of the negatives of living in the country, we are on a well and when the power goes out we don't have water, everything that needs a charge to operate is plugged in and I have enough cross stitch pieces on large count that I will be able to stitch, if not by candle okay battery-powered lantern but *that* does not sound like roughing it at least by whatever daylight we may have.  There's also enough food that doesn't require refrigeration or cooking to keep us going for a few days. 

Is it just me or has there been a rash of comments from Anonymous on every one's blog?  I must get five or six a day.  I really do not want to go to comment moderation but I may have to.

I was finally able to watch this season's Wallander last weekend.  As much as I enjoy them, I do have to be in the right mood.  While watching listening I was able to stitch on a couple of projects:

First is The Nutmeg Company's Parma Violets gingerbread house.  It is stitched on 22-count white Aida with DMC no beads yet.  This is one wall of the cottage the needle is to give some perspective on the size.  No before photo as I stitched the roof last go-round.

And this is Chatelaine's Hawaiian Garden Mandala:

Before:

And after hmmmm given how little I got stitched, I guess I was watching more than I thought:

Chatelaine's Hawaiian Garden Mandala
Stitched on Summer Sky Jobelan with recommended fibers and beads

Mirabilia's Holly is on the frame for the coming week.  Everybody have a good week and those of you in the path of the storm, stay safe.

Another October Post

Yes, it is a lame title, but I sat here for quite a while and came up with nothing better...

Before I forget, if anyone has stitched or is stitching The Blue Ribbon Sampler by Olwyn Horwood could you please contact Nicola at Stitching By a Cornish Sea Shore? She has a couple of questions before she starts and please don't wait too long, I can't wait to see this one stitched!

I know lots of you have beautiful Halloween displays throughout your homes.  Me?  Not so much.  DMom sent me these and they are the only Halloween items I have out, but I think they are very cute.  The owl's lantern is lit but it doesn't really show due to the bright sunshine in the background:

And just because it is my blog and I can...  Despite having two, almost identical, chairs in the den, the cats only seem to sit in one.  The Hubs sent me this picture the other day of Salem and Spot:

Please ignore Spot's glowing eyes I promise they don't glow, not even on Halloween but she seems to be saying, "DAD!! Make him move!!"

I am not thinking too highly of the weather right now you would think that after living here for five years that I would be used to how variable October weather is as we are back in the 70s during the day.  It is so strange to have those temperatures, see people in shorts and then see trees that look like this:

 This is "Yellow Flower Meadow" in the early fall.  The reddish tree is some sort of oak, the yellows are gums and tulip poplars.  The yard is NOT that dark a green, the photo was taken just as the sun was coming over the trees on the other side of the house so it is not well lit.

This is a farm just up the road from me.  I just loved the contrast between the tree and the fences, clouds and buildings.

As I predicted in my last post, I did not get as much stitching done on Chatelaine's Winter Watergarden as I did on Twilight of the Tsars but Twilight has no speciality stitches nor blackwork, but I am happy with what I did get done.

Here is Winter Watergarden before:

And after:

It is difficult to see, but I finished filling in the area between the darker outer border and the middle mandala and lots of Rhodes and eyelet stitches in the middle mandala. I'm stitching on white Belfast with all the recommended fibers and beads.

I have The Nutmeg Company's Parma Violets and Chatelaine's Hawaiian Garden on the to-do list this weekend.  I don't know how much time I will have for stitching as it is The Hubs' birthday tomorrow and I have no idea what he wants to do but I am sure it has nothing to do with mowing the yard one last time or cleaning out the basement.

That's more like it!!

I was able to sit down and stitch for hours and hours last weekend and finally have some decent progress to show on a project.

Here is Dimple Designs' Twilight of the Tsars before my stitchy weekend:

And after:



This is stitched on 32-count Smokey Pearl Belfast with DMC - cotton and rayon threads, Kreinik, and Mill Hill beads.  The fabric color is actually about half-way between that shown in the before and after photos - it's a blue-grey.  The white flowers are DMC rayon which was not my favorite thread to stitch with but not as bad as I thought it would be.  I have put off doing most of the stitching that requires blending filaments I really dislike blending filament - love the results - but despite trying all the tricks I never enjoy the process but am quickly reaching the point where I have no choice.

Chatelaine's Winter Watergarden is going on the scrolls for this weekend.  Doubt I will have as much progress as last weekend, but it is so nice to have my mojo back again and the time to be able to take advantage of its return.

Doors Closed

The title really has nothing to do with much of anything except that I just watched an episode of "NOVA" that was sort of "everything you wanted to know about elevators but were afraid to ask".  Did you know that the "doors closed" button doesn't work?   I only use the elevator at the office if I'm going more than 3 flights up or down but on the few times I have actually ridden the elevator and used the button it certainly didn't seem to do too much.  Of course in my building, it isn't really a surprise when something doesn't work as expected.

We are expecting our first extended cold snap starting tomorrow.  I don't mind the cooler weather and I do hope that it decides to stay cooler.  The temperature ups and downs are very frustrating.  Dressing for the temperatures in the morning is sure to have you overdressed for the afternoon. 

Thank you to my new followers.  I have been very lax in my blogging and blog commenting - I have been reading (you are all an amazing group of stitchers) and really do hope to get back to a more regular schedule of reading, commenting and blogging.

Before I forget, Donna at By the Bay Needleart is hosting another freebie stitch along.  This one is an autumn themed one done in four parts.  One part will be released each Wednesday.  The really nice thing is that it is sized to fit a 5"X7" frame when stitched on 28 count fabric.  I have my fibers pulled but have not started stash diving for fabric.

As this is supposed to be a way for me to keep track of my stitching, I should probably show some...

This is Ink Circles' 99 stitched on an unknown company's 32-count Golden Walnut fabric with DMC:

Before

After

Just Nan's Christmas Elegance stitched on 28-count Antique White with DMC, Kreinik metallics and beads.

Before

After

And this is Mirabilia's Santa's Magic.  It is stitched on 32-count opalescent Amertrine from Silkweaver's with DMC, Kreinik and Mill Hill beads.

Before

After

Twilight of the Tsars by Dimple Designs is going on the frame for this weekend's stitching time.

Twice in one month!

Hopefully this is a start to getting back to my pre-slump blog posting - something about a journey and one step...

We have definitely taken a step towards autumn, the tulip popular trees have started turning yellow/brown - not very pretty but a sure sign of the changing seasons.  The other sure signs are the horde of hummingbirds have started their migration south.  There are still a couple that are coming in but nothing like the two dozen we had a couple of weeks ago and the blue jays have returned.  I am definitely looking forward to the slower pace of autumn and winter this year.

One advantage to the length between my posts is that I have a lot of stitching to show in each post.  So here is my "lot of stitching".

This is Snow Girls from Country Garden Stitchery:

Before:

And after - the colors in the "before" picture are much more true to life:

County Garden Stitchery's Snow Girls
Stitched on Silkweaver's 28-count Mulberry Mix with GAST

 

This is Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden:

 

Before:

 

 And after:

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden
Stitched on Silkweaver's 28-count Carol's Meadow with recommended fibers and beads

 And this is Blackbird Designs Summer:

Before:

And after (these colors are much more true):

Black Bird Designs' Summer
Stitched on R&R Reproductions' 30-count Irish Creme linen with recommended fibers

 I plan to finish filling in the flower and then spend the rest of the weekend working on Ink Circles' 99.