October Ornament

Time for:

 

 I worked on an ornament in September but didn't finish it, but I did start and finish one in October:

 

This is Poinsettia by Brittercup Designs.  It's from the 2007 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  Stitched on 28-count Queen Anne's Lace Jobelan with fibers from The Gentle Art and beads from Mill Hill.  I rather like the design and will be stitching it again.  Not sure how I will finish-finish it but have a couple of ideas.



A multi-tasking post

My one and only stitching resolution for this year was to keep up with all the SALs that I had joined.  I did fairly well, until August (missed IHSW) and September (missed IHSW and the ornament SAL).  I have missed a couple this month but will make this my catch-up post and try to keep up with them for the rest of the year.

Before I get started, thank you everyone for your kind comments on my finishes and WIPs, I really appreciate you all taking the time to read and comment.  And yes, a temporary deal was reached on Wednesday, so I was back to work on Thursday.  Only one voicemail message but oh my aching email!!  As I work as support for our field offices, I thought that there would be minimal emails as they were all closed as well, boy was I wrong.  Seems I get more outside emails than I thought as I finally finished sorting and flagging and could start answering them Friday morning.  I should be busy the next couple of days, at least, with that.

So back to stitching and SALs:

The first Saturday of each month is the YOTA SAL - a fun, no pressure, WIP reducing SAL much like WIPocalypse but with different posting days.  As I posted photos of the WIPs that I had worked on for the last month in my last post, I won't post them again - to see them again, click here.

It's hard to tell, but I had a lot of new threads in TUSAL container (I think I am going to use something different if this one continues into next year):

Lots of new browns from 99 but a fair number of more colorful pieces too.

In addition to the pieces shown in the post linked above, I do have some new ones for my WIPocalypse and IHSW:

This is Poinsettia from Brittercup Designs.  It's from the 2007 JCS Christmas Ornament magazine.  It's stitched on 28-count Queen Anne's lace Jobelan (it's tannish not blue) with Gentle Art Sampler Threads and Mill Hill beads.

I finished part 4 of Mary's Sampler from Plum Street Samplers this morning.  It is stitched on an unknown color of 40-count linen with the recommended DMC conversion. 

As I mentioned in my last post, Mirabilia's Santa's Magic was added to the rotation.  I don't remember the last time this one was on the frame, but given where my "before" photo was in the archive, it was probably a year ago.  This is stitched on 32-count opalescent Ametrine from Silkweaver using DMC, Kreinik metallics and Mill Hill beads (I may try to convert them to Delicas as I really don't care for the way Mill Hill's sit on the fabric).  Here's where it was when I left off last year:

And here's where I left off today:

The fabric color is fairly accurate in the photo but the sparkle from the fabric is not quite as obvious in real life.  Most definitely not "normal" Santa colors but I think that's why I am so attracted to it.

I think for the rest of the year, I am going to change my rotation.  I was switching out projects each weekend, but I think a "screaming" rotation sounds like good way to finish out the year - no stress, no pressure, just stitch what I feel like.  I have started thinking about my stitching plan for next year already but don't have anything firm yet.

What's this?

It looks like a neglected blog.  September was a bit crazy here in my little corner of Virginia.  The Hubs had two surgeries,  he has severe carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, that we are hoping will be successful.  After almost a month, neither one seems to be doing any better but the surgeon said that it could take up to six months for the nerves to wake back up if they are going to wake back up.  Work was absolutely crazy but that is pretty typical for the end of the fiscal year, unfortunately we weren't able to tell each other "good job" as my division is part of the several hundred thousand Federal employees that are locked out of their offices until this country's leaders and I am using that term loosely get over their childishness. As of today, I have been out of work longer than I ever have been since I started working and I am not liking the feeling.


I tried knitting years ago but never learned anything other than how to knit.  A few years ago, I knitted a number of scarves on huge needles (50 US/25mm) and really enjoyed it, so I started looking around for scarf patterns and have had the yarn and needles in my stash for this scarf since then.  I figured now was as good a time as any to give it a try and here's where I am:

I do have to work on keeping my tension even and pattern reading but I am happy with how this is turning out with simple knit and purl stitches.

I do have two finishes since my last post!  I am as shocked as any of you over that news!!!

Here is 99 by Ink Circles:

This is stitched on 32-count Golden Walnut with DMC.  Mine is in a different order from the pattern due to a placement error when I started so I do have to type a new guide but I am very happy that it is finished.

And here is Twilight of the Tsar by Dimples:

This is stitched on 32-count Smokey Pearl Belfast with DMC, Kreinik and Mill Hill beads.

 In addition to the finishes, I have made progress on several other projects:

Serengeti by Chatelaine stitched on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with recommended fibers and beads.

Sugared Almonds Gingerbread Houses by The Nutmeg Company stitched on kitted fabric, fibers and beads.

And, Mary's Sampler II SAL by Plum Street Samplers.  Stitched on a piece of mystery linen, it is actually browner than shown in the photo, with provided DMC conversion.  I used Simply Wool in oatmeal for the white sheep as it added a little bit of dimension.

Santa's Magic by Mirabilia has been put in the rotation.  That gives me three very large projects in my rotation so I am glad I have Sugared Almonds and Mary's Sampler II or there would be no finishes for the rest of the year.

I do have to get busy finish/finishing things soon and have been searching through the house for some boxes that I bought years ago (years before I moved to Virginia).  I know I brought them with me but for the life of me, I can't find them.  I know I will find them as soon as I figure out an alternative. 

Late on Everything

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but I did take a slight vacation from blogging and to a lesser extent stitching.  As the days start to get shorter, I feel myself having the need to start getting everything ready for winter although that need is not as necessary as it was when I lived in New Hampshire as we don't have much of a winter here in central Virginia (of course now that I've said that...)  A sure sign that the season is changing is the number of young that are being brought into the bird feeders now.  I've seen two cardinals and a wren coming in with their parents, along with the crows and finches and last evening a mother raccoon and two cubs.  I'm not as excited about the raccoon family, but the sighting explains the amount of feed we're going through.  Another sure sign is the hummingbird invasion has started.  I counted as best as I could with the things whizzing around 15 of them the other day. They are so busy chasing each other away from the feeders that I doubt they have time to feed.

So what have I missed since my last post?  Well, first IHSW but I can't go back and participate so will have to give that one a miss.

Then I missed posting my TUSAL, now that one I can show you:

Not a lot new in there, but the color mix is very pretty.

Next I missed the August WIPocalypse.  Another one I can fix.  I know you're very surprised to see this one aren't you?  67 done, 32 to go.

And one I haven't missed!  My August ornament:

This is Strawberry Delight Ornament by Tink Boord-Dill Needlework.  It's done on a 28-count Lambswool with DMC.  It is definitely more of a springtime pattern, but I like the colors.  Glad it's number came up for the ornament rotation.  I haven't run the random number generator to see which ornament/small is up next.

YOTA Saturday

The calendar say it's August, but I don't know where July went,and since it's the first Saturday, it's YOTA Saturday. Taking two weeks off from work sure did mess with my internal clock - not that I am complaining well except for the 300+ emails I had to deal with on Monday.  I did a staycation for a week and was off to my sister's and then my parent's home in Michigan, for a week thanks Mom and Dad and Nancy.  My mother's family had a reunion and it was fun catching up with folks that I hadn't seen in a while okay it had been 23 years but that's just embarrassing to say.  I definitely have to make an effort to see them all sooner.

I took 99 with me with some delusions grand thoughts that I would stitch all afternoon and evening, and managed to stitch one bottle.  Yes, one bottle, having nothing to do takes a lot of time.  I was able to do a few more once I got home, so there is progress to show but not what I hoped.

Here's where 99 was:

And here's where it is today:

Lots of catching up with housework and errands this weekend and then packing for a work trip to St. Paul, Minnesota.  I'm going to be more reasonable and not take any stitching with me - I'm training and know that won't have the energy at the end of the day to concentrate on stitching or much of anything as we're down a trainer.  I am behind, again, on my blog reading and commenting.  This time, instead of trying to catch up, I may just call a "from this day forward", certainly takes a lot of pressure off me pressure that I am so good at putting on myself.

July TULSA

I am a bit late with my TUSAL posting, but as I didn't do any stitching between Monday and today, my container looks the same as it would if I had posted on time.  Who would have thought that not stitching would be a good thing?

Given that the majority of my stitching has been beer bottles this is actually rather colorful.  There are some fairly long pieces in there - I am getting wasteful in my old age...

I have been rather remiss in welcoming new followers and thanking those of you that pop into my little corner of the world, it is not that I don't appreciate you taking the time out of your day to stop in, it's that old "life" thing. I am taking the next two weeks off from work so I hope to finally get caught up with my blog reading and commenting and maybe get some quality stitching time in.

YOTA Saturday and a finish

It is the first Saturday of July already!  I finally picked a focus piece for this year and have been steadily stitching on 99 by Ink Circles for the past month.

Here's where I was the beginning of June:

And here's how it looks today:

I stitch about a row and a half each month, I am taking a couple of weeks off the end of this month, so maybe I can up that count for July.

So that none of us becomes terribly bored with looking at bottles, I am still stitching on smalls on alternate Fridays and have another finish.

This is Heart in Hand Needleart's Wee Garden Gate:

The bird is charted to be white, but I don't have any white birds around my house and I like crows so a crow it is.  Since there is a finish, I also have a new start.

This is a freebie called Strawberry Delight Ornament by Tink Boord-Dill Needlework.  It's copyrighted 1999 but I'm not sure I have had it in my stash for that long.  It is stitched on 32-count Lambswool with DMC.

Strawberry Delight Ornament by Tink Boord-Dill Needlework

 The Smyrna crosses are charted as Algerian eyelets but I didn't feel like pulling this fabric as it is rather stiff.