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.

Whole lot of stumbling and tuning going on

Thank you to everyone that drops by and reads my posts.  I am still a bit mystified about the whole "blog thing" but I am certainly glad I took the plunge and started writing. 

I almost completely lost myself in iTunes and StumbleUpon last weekend.  I had wonderful plans to start Chatelaine's Serengeti and make progress on Carriage House Sampling's Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. instead I listened to lots of music and found some really amazing ideas for home decorating, gardening, crafting and food.  It was almost as relaxing as stitching and I really don't feel too bad about not meeting my weekend stitching goals.

Not that I totally flaked on the stitching, here is where Autumn was when I put it on the frame Friday evening:

And here's where it is as of tonight:

The colors in the "before" photo are much closer to true.  Despite my apparent indifference to this piece, I really am enjoying the stitching and the big bite mark is finally filled in.

Blue Ribbon Designs' Countdown to Christmas is going on the frame for this weekend.  I am still working my way through Midsomer Murders, Queen's Another One Bites the Dust has started running through my head every time the music changes to a minor key that's a dead giveaway (pun intended) that someone is going to die, but I saw that Sherlock Season 2 will be on Masterpiece this Sunday, so some competition is in the future a development I am sure you are all grateful for.

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.