Ice and Wind = Not a good driving combination

Here's my weekly installment of Garden Spot Sampler, the SAL I am doing on Tuesdays with Jo. I was able to stitch a couple of colorful motifs and get a start on the large flower that I have been dying to start since this SAL began :-)

As today's entry title says, ice and wind today - I think it will be icy tomorrow morning too. What a lousy combination - trying not to slide on ice while the wind is gusting at you. That summarizes my commutes today - both to and from work. With "W" having done his State of the Union address tonight, the news is delayed - I am anxious to see what kind of ice is forecasted for tomorrow's drive in to work... Come on Spring!! LOL

I am "and a half today" - my half birthday :-)

Of course, it is New DVD Release Tuesday yet again - a very fun one for us this week, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

Got this from Amanda's blog:

You're My Little Pony!! Sweet and innocent and

happy, you make people want to spew burrito

chunks. Even a Care Bear could kick your

ass.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Stitched on today: Garden Spot Sampler

The month is winding down, so time to just plain old choose a project I love!

Well, that is what I did last night too! But, I opted to just do a fun one again tonight - Angel of Love! I don't think I have worked on her since Christmas night. I would have to doublecheck that. Anyhow, I didn't make a whole lot of progress... a bit of the white on top of her wing... and some of the mosaic in her skirt... and then - ooops! I found a miscount and had to frog out two of the motifs on her skirt and then it was time to put it down. Oh well, I had to find that boo boo sometime. Now it is all rectified.

I have been told by at least one blogger that she is unable to see anything in my sidebar beyond the Moon Phase... she says it started after I added blogrolling, which was about 1-2 months ago. Is anyone else having that problem? I think I will delete the Moon Phase tonight. It has given me problems in the past... maybe it is the culprit again? Anyhow, please let me know. I see the full sidebar on the computers in both of my offices in Massachusetts, so it is not my server... very confusing!!

Becky and Barbara have both expressed an interest in jumping in on a SAL with me for Houses of Hawk Run Hollow! Becky needs to get all of her supplies, and I think Barbara needs to get her fabric... that would be fun!!! Barb, I have a Tuesday SAL commitment with Jo - right now we are doing Garden Spot Sampler, and when that is done we are doing Paradigm Lost by Long Dog Samplers. On Wednesdays, Becky and I stitch our Celtic Ladies together. Fridays sound good, though... does that work for you, Becky?? I think Barbara offered another day too - I have to re-read yesterday's comments to check that though :-)

I spent some time tonight dreaming up how to set up my Neighborhood RR. Here is what I came up with.. my January 31, 2006 entry about my design is here - I plan to set mine up in tic tac toe fashion with fourteen threads between each square. I will add the brick walkway that is seen on Liz Turner Diehl's 18th Century Colonial Garden between each block... and when it comes home I will add a central neighborhood garden in the center square - right now I am thinking of Martina Weber's Mini Rose Garden Mandala... but I might go with the center of one of Liz Turner Diehl's gardens... I have to see what goes best when it comes home with all 8 houses stitched on it... but that is well over a year away... is it two years? So no need to rush to figure that out right now! LOL! (I would post the images here that I put in the other blog entry, but those images are loaded on my other computer).

Mike surprised me with a DVD today that he knew I wanted: Lord of War - Oh, I almost forgot! Dani and Jenn asked how Flightplan was - I watched it Saturday morning - I liked it :-) You will begin to believe very early on in the movie that you know what is happening... don't believe yourself :-) I love movies with twists!!

Stitched on today: Angel of Love

Finished the second house

I didn't choose to work on Celtic Winter again tonight. I enjoy my Wednesday SAL with Becky on this one, so I want to stretch it out for a little bit longer. I feel accomplished that, other than the beading, I have the entire lady done. That is good enough for now.... So.... Houses of Hawk Run Hollow was calling out to me tonight. I finally finished the entire square for the second house tonight (which is actually House 8 on the chart), and I was able to start the third house (which is actually House 4 on the chart). I am still loving this color conversion for this sampler. I wish I had a SAL partner for this one, though. That would help me to keep more focused on this one.

Boy, am I tired. I have been tired all weekend, and apparently ate something yesterday that did not agree with me. I ended up pretty sick last night and had house guests overnight. Happily, life is back to normal... But.... still tired. It is rough to start a new work week without feeling rested.

Oh, I almost forgot - a couple of people commented on how difficult they feel it would be to stitch all the white and grey on the skirt of Celtic Winter. But, to be honest, it wasn't bad at all! I didn't think it was such a large area that comprised her skirt and it moved along incredibly quickly.

I was in WalMart with Mike today, and they had DVDs for only $4.88 - I was able to get Cheech & Chong's Still Smokin and He Said, She Said at true bargain basement prices :-)

Stitched on today: Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

I don't know if I will be able to stitch again today due to company coming over. But I did manage to finish the gold colored hem on her dress earlier today. Now the lady herself is done, except for the beading. I will do all of the beading last since I have to use my Q-Snap extenders to accommodate the project, and I don't want to work with that large of a frame until I have to :-)

Yep, company came and is staying overnight... so no more stitching tonight!

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

All that white and gray is done!

OK, I reached a little bit of a milestone with Celtic Winter tonight. All of the white and gray and pale blue in her skirt is now finished. I just have to finish the gold colored hem of her skirt. I hope I can do that tomorrow. I don't think I will have much stitching time because Mike has invited one of his friends over for dinner and then wants to play cards.

A little bit of new stash today (diet, shmiet)... Liz Turner Diehl's Green House Winter Garden (this is a must stitch for my mother, once I track down all the obscure fibers and crystal bicones it calls for....), LHN's Rose Sampler and two skeins of NPI 928 for CHS' Matter's Choice (to be stitched on the yummy Autumn Gold linen I posted yesterday). I also got in some items that are for a friend's birthday, but surely cannot show them here. I am sure she will show them when she receives them :-)

OK, I am going to try the meme everyone is doing - but I am going to do mine a little bit differently - I typed in "Carol believes" in Google and here is what I found, whether I "believe" it or not :-) Well, I obviously found the homepages of several therapists named Carol - and I believe all of these!
1. Carol believes buying & selling a home requires a high level of expertise
2. Carol believes that each person has special gifts to give
3. Carol believes our greatest hope is to organize resistance faster than the ruling elite can organize repression
4. Carol believes that we are living in a very interesting time when technology is changing faster than people can imagine
5. Carol believes that Tweety is a bird
6. Carol believes that justice should be administered firmly and
fairly
7. Carol believes that combining the mind, body and soul is fundamental to achieving a stress-free life
8. Carol believes that once a family has called on her for help, the rest of the process should be easy
9. Carol believes you deserve to have your therapy be a positive and productive experience
10. Carol believes everything happens for a reason

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

Still spending my time with a winter lady...

Does it look like there is any difference between last night's update and tonight's? I am not so sure there is. I spent about three hours working on two white splotches on her skirt, and a little more of 3756 in the gold swirls at the bottom of her skirt... Lots of work, not a ton of visual progress tonight.

Stash has been coming in here and there all week, so I figured I would hold off and do one report instead of nightly ones. I got in fabric - a bunch of it, here and there - all are fat quarters - the Heaven Lee Creations FOTM came in and it is Wedgewood this month (32 ct jobelan), and it is prettier than it looks here - when I opened it up it has lots of nice mottling to it. I also got in a really pretty cashel from Sugar Maple Fabrics which is called Mindy's Medleys (her version of solos) in greens and greys (much like the one I used for Fairy Flora), as well as Lakeside Linens 32 ct Autumn Gold (yummy), Silkweaver Jubilation 28 ct lugana and a blue and grey Silkweaver solo belfast linen (oh, right, this one is 15" x 22"). Along with fabrics, I also received this stunning White Willow Stitching chart called The Seer. I saw it stitched up on their website and it is super nice! I also got in a real treat - 100 size 28 petite needles for bargain basement price from Vikki Clayton!! That should keep me stocked up in my favorite size needles for quite a while now!

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

Stitching with Becky :-)

Tonight was my SAL night with Becky - we work on our Celtic Ladies on Wednesday nights :-) I worked some more on my Celtic Winter. Tonight I am posting a closer up view of the bottom of her skirt, since a regular shot would not show any progress.... just been busy stitching around her swirls.

Thanks to everyone for their nice comments on Celtic Winter. Several of you are predicting that she will be done soon. Aw, you are too sweet! But... honestly, although I am nearing the end with her, I wouldn't want to underestimate how much is still left to do - finish her skirt, do the gold colored hem of her skirt, finish all that detailed border (both sides) and then a whole lot of beading too :-)

OK, the snow event was a dud today - thankfully!! Only about an inch, and that fell before the morning commute. Things are looking up a little bit for a few days now, so I will surely be feeling happier!

Oh, I got an email from Silkweaver today - they say they already had the Autumn Fields belfast on order at the time that I ordered mine for the Neighborhood RR. They believe it will arrive quickly - good, I really want to start planning my house for my RR - it is fun watching the other ladies stitching theirs, and I want to start mine too!!

From Jo's blog:

You are a Ragdoll! You are known for your laid

back attitude. You are the ultimate in

low-maintenance. You'd rather hang out

around the house all day than seek adventure.


What breed of cat are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

A little change of pace tonight

A change of pace from working on Celtic Winter tonight, that is! Yep, it is Tuesday, so it is SAL night with Jo - Garden Spot Sampler. I busily worked on a couple of motifs tonight, and a start on the one that is all green right now on the bottom - I will give it some color next week!! Tomorrow night is my SAL night with Becky, which just happens to be Celtic Winter... how convenient is that?? LOL!! Yep, I will be stitching with Becky tomorrow night!

Well, it is also New DVD Release Tuesday - Mike picked one up that I have been wanting since I saw the initial previews - Flightplan!

Sorry to those of you who have been having problems with leaving comments in my blog. I really don't know what to do - I spent a little while today looking at the settings, etc and no solution seemed obvious to me. I hope it gets better somehow...

Well, more snow for tomorrow - conflicting reports but all saying the morning commute will be slippery. I will check my office messages first thing in the AM - with luck, my first appointment will have left a cancel message to avoid the slick roads too, and then I could go in later when they clear a bit? Gosh, I hope so!

Stitched on today: Garden Spot Sampler

*** Almost forgot! I got tagged by Isabelle to do the Meme of Fours - OK, I will for Isabelle!

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life
Psychotherapist in private practice
Psychotherapist for Arbour Counseling Services
Psychotherapist for The Psychological Center
Psychotherapist for MSPCC, Family Counseling Center

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again
The Patriot
Labyrinth
Pillow Talk
With Six You Get Eggroll

Four Places I Have Lived
Auburn, New Hampshire
Bedford, New Hampshire
Derry, New Hampshire
Andover, Massachusetts

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch
24
Two and a Half Men
Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Ellen

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation
Cancun
Aruba
Europe - London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam
Caribbean Cruises - Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, Puerto Rico, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Nassau, Paradise Island

Four Websites I Visit Daily
Bloglines
ebay
Mass Revs (work - to check status of insurance cards of clients!!)
Stitching Bits & Bobs

Four of My Favorite Foods
Chicken Tenders
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Filet Mignon
Scallops

Four Albums I Can't Live Without
I listen to satellite radio, older rock and the 70's station... regular FM in my office... no albums, though! But I do have Carly Simon's Greatest Hits in my office - love that one!

Four Places I'd Rather Be
Any place warmer than New England in the winter
Any place warmer than New England in the winter
Any place warmer than New England in the winter
Any place warmer than New England in the winter!!!!!!!!!!!

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging
I hope this is OK, but I am not going to tag anyone. I don't mind being tagged, but I don't care to tag others.... not everyone appreciates it, and that's cool!

Snow Day

We got about 8" of snow today, so I stayed home and pretty much stayed in... worked for a bit on Celtic Winter. Can you even see my progress? I worked on 3756 and B5200 in her skirt... it may not be showing up in my photo. Getting closer now :-)

There is a possible setback for me now with the Neighborhood Round Robin. Silkweaver emailed me today to alert me that the linen I ordered for it is on backorder. If it takes too long, I guess I will have to choose something else.... I was fearing they would send me that email, and voila - there it was today.

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

Focusing on Celtic Winter

I have decided to focus on Celtic Winter for a while now, as it is nearing its completion. It would be nice to finally have a finish :-) However, I will still work on Garden Spot Sampler on Tuesday, since that is a SAL. I did indeed find two "s" symbols down amongst the gold swirls that I had missed. So, I had to pull out that last tiny length of DMC 169 and use it! However, DMC 168 proved to be an even closer call. I exhausted my skein of 168 with about 25 stitches left to go. Fortunately, I recently stocked up on skeins of some of DMC's newer colors (not terribly new, but the newest they have) at a recent floss sale... and 168 was one of them, so I was saved from having to do any serious mining through my stash tonight! Yay!
I guess that Lily felt that our family room was a little too cool for her liking tonight (the cold air has found its way back into New England today)... and apparently the cable box/DVR is a warm spot to rest for a while :-)

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

An end to spring like temps :-(

I figured I really should be working on Mermaid Heaven today, but decided instead to put some more time in on Celtic Winter. I can sense this one is close to finishing now, and I would love to free up more space in my rotation. I stitched a lot of grey today. I found out that you really need one full skein of DMC 169 to stitch Celtic Winter on 28 ct. I have a piece about four inches long left and it is only one ply. I am super conservative with my floss, and still only this tad bit left. I may have missed some of the "S" symbols and may end up needing to break into a second skein. Just some info if you are also stitching this project.

While out running errands today, Mike bought me a new stitching magazine :-) This one looks pretty good. There are actually a couple of appealing projects in this issue... whether or not I will stitch them, I don't know... but fun, nonetheless.

Well, tonight the spring like temps are tumbling and snow is forecasted for Monday... and cold temps for the upcoming week. We all know this is because Mike took his Corvette out of storage. My guess is that it will go back into storage tomorrow!!
Can you see my face?? When I went upstairs tonight to try to take a better photo of Celtic Winter, I noticed our black persian, Angus, was sleeping in one of the recliners in our living room. It is pretty tough to find his face, isn't it?? (Yep, we are those sorry type of folks who put sheets and throws over our good furniture when there is no company here! Heck, two of our cats - Angus and Ava - love to destroy furniture with their claws - sigh)...

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

Oh my gosh! I joined a RR!!

Hard to believe, but I actually did join a round robin! Years ago, I used to be in round robins. I used to coordinate them, and at one point I was in several at a time. It got to be overwhelming. And, then came the disappointments - the lost projects, the stitchers that dropped off the face of the earth, the damaged projects, the ones with poor stitching on them.... Ugh. I quit. I mean I really quit! But... then I saw Barb's blog entries about the Neighborhood RR she had joined. I remembered seeing the website about this type of RR a year or so ago and loved it. Well, Barb was able to find me a slot in the group! OK... now to get my thoughts together and get started. Luckily, the first mailing is not until March, and we get three months on each project before the next mailing. Whew! I can easily make that schedule without messing up my other stitching much.... So, I ordered up a fat half of Autumn Fields belfast and while I am waiting for that to come in I need to start thinking about my house that I will stitch on my own... I want to do houses with gardens... and each to have a cat :-) Barb set up a blog for the group - in case you want to see it: Our Neighborhood of Make Believe.
Back to working on Mermaids of the Deep Blue tonight :-) The first mermaid has her hair now. Yep, there are lots of gaps in it, what is going on, you wonder? Those gaps will all be beads... lots and lots of beads on this project!! Love it!

The "stash dieter" has a stash report today.... Um, OK, I got Rose Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks (I have been eyeing this one - "Home is where your flowers grow" - that's me, right??) and the Crescent Colours floss it calls for.... The Monkey Sampler by Midsummer Night Designs ("Monkeys steal my underwear at night" - who could resist that? I will definitely change this to more muted colors though)... Today's Special by Crossed Wing Collection... another Tacky BOB (because I have soooo many projects getting ready for beading)... and two packs of my favorite Size 28 Tapestry Petites....

And... Mirabilia just keeps putting out more pretties (so fast!). Well, now it is The Stargazer... yep, I will be receiving my copy soon too - she looks like a "must stitch" yet again!!

OK, one New Englander stitcher wrote that she fears I jinxed the weather yesterday. Well... I don't think I did, but we are about to get colder weather next week, even some snow... but it wasn't me! It was Mike! He went and got his Corvette out of storage today because it has been spring-like here. He jinxed the weather - and he knows it too!!

Stitched on today: Mermaids of the Deep Blue

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow is back

With no SAL commitments tonight, I was happy to be able to pull out Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and to put some progress in on the second house block (actually called House 8). Now all I have left to do for this house block is to finish the copper colored block outline. Then I get to decide which house is next :-) No idea which one I will pick yet. This is such a pretty piece, pretty much a legacy sampler in my view. I started it in January 2005, and I can't help but wonder what date will actually get stitched onto it in the end :-)

Well.... so far this winter I have gotten a taste of what it must be like to live in other parts of this country or of the world in January. Very nice! I'll take it! Now, it might end... it is all a matter of time, I suppose. But these above normal temperatures and below normal snowfall amounts are very pleasing to me!! Of course, this does not come close to what those of you in tropical climates see. And even my friends in the southern parts of the States may consider my temps to be cold... but that just shows how brutal Januarys tend to be in New England. I am sure my other NE stitching pals will agree with that!!

****Happy Birthday to my SIL, Renee :-)

Stitched on today: Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Wind and Rain

I was very lucky today! Around noon we had a huge burst of rain and heavy wind. It was forecasted and very expected. I was parked in front of my office building along the street, and a psychiatrist I work with had her Honda parked in front of my Jeep. The wind dislodged something from the roof of the old building we work in and a huge piece of metal flew down to the sidewalk. It missed my Jeep, but grazed her Honda. Yikes! I sure was lucky today!! What amazing January weather we are having!
Yikes, I have to start taking photos of Celtic Winter somewhere else! Lying it on the floor of the computer room is not the place for it - the fabric looks so.... yucky! I will try for a better shot next week! Anyhow, here is this week's progress :-) I quit early, though. My sinuses are acting up and my throat is sore again. I just want to drink some tea and watch a little TV with Mike now...

Yep, I am on a bit of a stash diet, it is true... yet, the mailman delivered goodies today! Hey, I didn't say I was quitting cold turkey LOL! I do still have a pulse! I got in a custom cut of Golden Harvest 36 ct edinburgh linen from Silkweaver that I had ordered in December for Fouroaks Designs' A Love Song (it was delayed because they were out of the base fabric at the time that I ordered it). And, I got in a nice 15" x 16" cut of Silkweaver's Romantic Interlude on 40 ct Newcastle Linen. I love 40 ct for samplers :-) I managed to pick this one up on ebay for a great deal! I also got in something I can read tonight while I have my tea - Nordic Needle's newest catalog! Yay! I don't order from them often, so this should not hurt my stash diet much! (The catalog just so happens to have Fouroaks Designs' A Love Song right there on the cover - how timely!). I, like Becky, could probably have bought a house, or at least a car, with what I spend on stash (ha, ha - only kidding Mike!!).

Q. Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it!
(Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you
predict it will be?

A. Nope, none, unless you count that I finished Part 1 of Mystery IX and Part 4 of Medieval Town Mandala... but those are really only partial "happy dances" (OK, I admit, I am not fond of that term....). I am a rotation stitcher and lean towards large projects, so I have been busy but not finishing yet. I really don't know when my next finish will be... but I figure it will probably be Celtic Winter, but who knows??


Stitched on today: Celtic Winter

Garden Spot SAL Night

It's Tuesday, and right now Tuesdays are Garden Spot Sampler SAL nights with Jo! So, here is a little more progress for tonight - I finally reached the bottom of the sampler on the far left side tonight, and also stitched one more grey rosebud... This is a huge piece. My picture, unfortunately, is rather terrible again tonight.

The mailman delivered a little pile of stash for me today. I am on a bit of a stash diet right now, primarily because I have grown a little bored with buying stash - yet another function of OCD... full bore and then get bored... But, I am not bored with stitching :-) Anyhow, I received the little spool of Nymo from European Cross Stitch for Mystery IX, a fat quarter of 36 ct Sand Edinboro linen, Maria Van Scharrenburg's Java Dance kit, Just Nan's Christmas Wallet with embellishments, and some Weeks Dye Works and MH Treasure for Nature's Alphabet II. And... a pack of size 28 needles, always need more of those, whether or not I am stash dieting :-) Anyhow, can you believe I am bored with stash? Well, there will still be things... LOL! Right now, though, I am focused on saving for that Jeannette Douglas class at Celebrations in May :-)

Oh, and it is New DVD Release Tuesday, of course - this week, I am giving Two for the Money a try.

Stitched on today: Garden Spot Sampler

Part 4 is finished!

Today I was able to finish up Part 4 of Medieval Town Mandala. And now my Chatelaine commitments for the month are over, so let's see what I can do to catch up on some of my many other projects for the rest of January :-)
Erin and I ended up watching a late movie last night, so I put some time in on A Christmas Spirit. I plan to again tonight as well. Slowly, she is growing. But it is a bit of climb to get up to her face :-)
Here is how my niece Erin has chosen to sit while she plays The Sims 2. Are you comfortable, Erin?? LOL!

Stitched on today: Medieval Town Mandala and A Christmas Spirit

Cruising along with Part 4 now

I went back to work on Medieval Town Mandala today. It is so cold and so windy out today, that staying in and stitching while watching DVDs is the only thing that made any sense today :-) So, I made some progress with Part 4, and now only have two fences left to stitch.

Someone asked what fabric I am using for Mermaids of the Deep Blue. It is Ocean Waves belfast by Stitches and Spice. You can't really see the fabric yet - it is lighter near the top and darker near the bottom, like the ocean is :-) It is easily one of the prettiest pieces of fabric I have ever purchased.

And, I snuck up on Erin while she was watching DVDs today too... I think she is enjoying this quiet weekend away from her sisters :-)

Stitched on today: Medieval Town Mandala and A Christmas Spirit (photo to be posted tomorrow)

Time for some mermaids...

I realized today that I really missed working on Mermaids of the Deep Blue and with being active in the Mirabilia SAL, so I put Medieval Town Mandala aside for the day and worked on my mermaids instead. I am glad that I did. There are lots of days left in January to get Medieval Town Mandala Part 4 finished anyhow :-) My rotation is all messed up right now, and I will rethink it a little... but will keep my Tuesday and Wednesday SAL nights just as they are!

Here is something a little bit hopeful! Although, I have to admit that I am also quite skeptical. Instead of receiving the March issue of Stitcher's World today, I received Cross-Stitch & Needlework, which claims to be the return of the old beloved Cross Stitch & Country Crafts. This was very exciting to me.... except when I looked inside the magazine, it still looks like Stitcher's World on the inside... nothing too spectacular at all. Maybe it will get better, but I am not so sure that it will. Just taking the old name does not mean it will be the old magazine. At least, they are not off to a great start with it. Better Homes & Gardens used to run the old CS&CC, which later became CSN, but now they do not appear to be involved any longer. Hmmmm.... skepticism....

Some great news today! I noticed that Jeannette Douglas is going to be teaching at Celebrations this year! Yaaaaaaay!! I am definitely going to have to budget the money to take one of her classes, for sure!

Well, the Patriots did not win tonight. I am actually feeling a bit relieved. I was disappointed that they lost to the Denver Broncos due to so many turnovers that they committed on their own.... But the relief is that it is soooo hard to continually be champs and to have to withhold that status is tough. Next year will go well for them - it is someone else's turn this year :-)

Stitched on today: Mermaids of the Deep Blue

***Anyone else sick of the Brad/Angelina (or Brangelina) news??? I am a Jennifer Aniston fan. This whole to-do is annoying to me! Can't stand either of these two.

More Medieval Town Mandala... and a long weekend ahead!

Still plugging away on Part 4 of Medieval Town Mandala... I lost time somewhere tonight (???) - I stitched and stitched, but don't feel like I made great progress... tomorrow is another day, though - lots of rain and wind coming our way, so a good day to sit by the fire and stitch!

I got in Issue 151 of Mary Hickmott's Stitches from ebay today - when I had gone back to Barnes & Noble, they had already pulled it and put out Issue 152... so now I have the second part of that pretty marquoir... I hope to stitch that someday. I also received a super pretty belfast solo from Silkweaver today too :-)

Our niece, Erin, is up for the weekend... she is 12... growing fast... it is not like when the girls were up and were little anymore... they are so independent now.

Wow, 50F today! Geesh! Very pleased about that! But, tomorrow's rain will probably turn to snow overnight tomorrow... the hope is that the temps will warm up again next week though :-) And now, it is a long weekend ahead - no work on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday :-)

Stitched on today: Medieval Town Mandala

Finally.... Medieval Town Mandala!

Finally... I got to work on Part 4 of Medieval Town Mandala tonight! No SAL commitments on Thursdays!! This is just a bit under 1/4 of Part 4. It shouldn't take long to finish this up, and then back to all my other fun projects. I feel like I am so far behind this month LOL!!! I want to do the beading on this one and Mystery IX, but cannot figure out when would be a good day - so I am thinking that it is inevitable that we will have a snow day at some point this winter - maybe I can do it then :-) Looking at the graphic for Medieval Town Mandala, it is looking like Part 5 for next month might be a honker of a section - I wonder if we will be doing all that green and blue working around the corners past the fences.... uh oh!

And... ask and you shall receive, I guess :-) I am thrilled to be able to say that I received my Silkweaver FOTM today!! For those who don't know (why would you??), my option is their Expressions line, belfast, fat quarters. This month they sent me Blue Fusion. Oh, this is soooo pretty! The belfast, as expected, is darker than the lugana version I used for Earth Angel. I can't wait to use this! I am thinking, off the cuff, that it is probably just perfect for L&L's Angel of Dreams!! I love this Expressions option!

Happy Birthday to my sister, Kathryn! I will be dignified and not reveal her age :-) I am thinking this may well be the very first time that it was 50F on her birthday - it is usually snowing on January 12th in New England - and not just snowing, but snowing a lot!! Too funny - this weather has been great! Guess it will be very cold on Sunday, though.

Stitched on today: Medieval Town Mandala

Ah, internet is functioning again :-)

Our internet is not up and running tonight (Wednesday) - I will edit in my WIP pic (Celtic Winter) when I get home tonight (Thursday). ****OK, I wrote that at work today :-) Here is what I got done last night on Celtic Winter... I wonder if it shows up in the pic after Blogger does its thing to it. I worked on white and pale blue in her skirt... she moves along so nicely :-)

I received a fat quarter of Honeydew 32 ct lugana by Dyeing4U from ebay today... it reminds me of Zweigart's Ray of Light. I think it might be greener. I might resell or trade it if I can't find a project for it :-)

I contacted European Cross Stitch, and they say they are not including Nymo in their Mystery IX kits because they have no Nymo color that matches the Lavender Bliss belfast. However, they are going to send me some white to see if I like it. I probably will just use DMC, as there is a shade in the 3700 range that matches the fabric quite well. (Heather asked what Nymo is - Nymo is a thread used for beading that is made of what?? Um, nylon is the best word that comes to mind....).

Hmmm... my FOTM from Silkweaver still is not here... seems to be late every month now. Maybe it is because my new option is scheduled to ship the first Friday of each month... it just seems to take forever to get here :-(

Stitched on today: Celtic Winter and 17th Century Irish Garden for a little while at work - finally!

Garden Spot Sampler Progress

Here is my progress on Garden Spot Sampler for the week. My SAL partner, Jo, is nearing the finish of another HUGE project and is working on that tonight instead. Hopefully we will be stitching together again next week. I think I have made a little progress now. Hopefully Jo and I will be able to start our Paradigm Lost SAL soon now!!

We had another unseasonably warm day today! More of them to come, but it is destined to end - really enjoying this while we have it though!

Stitched on today: Garden Spot Sampler

Mystery IX Part 1 Done

I finished the backstitch, so that completes it. I couldn't do the beading tonight, though. There is no Nymo in my kit. I don't know if there should be any. Last time I bought a Mystery kit from European Cross Stitch (Mystery VI), they included the Nymo. I guess I need to search my stash or find somewhere to buy some. I think I have white, but not clear... ooops - well, no need to bead right now anyhow :-) Whew, it is done!

I got in a couple of fabric treats from ebay today... Gnome on 28 ct Jubilee by Sugar Maple Fabrics and Northern Lights on 32 ct lugana by Heaven Lee Creations. Lousy picture, pretty fabrics :-)

Thank you to everyone for their kind comments on my recent framings - I agree, I like them too. Believe it or not, we haven't hung any yet - not these three, not the four from before Christmas... and not two of the ones Karen's husband framed for me either. It is really time for Mike and I to get to it, isn't it? LOL

Stitched on today: Mystery IX... and since I had a bit of free time with MIX being kind of a short stitch tonight, I put about 90 minutes in on A Christmas Spirit before I went to bed (no update pic)

Soooo close.... (and some more framed projects)

...but not done yet! Yep, Martina gave us a lot to stitch for Part 1. This is pretty much it, though. I just have to do the burgundy backstitching in two more corners. I have no SAL commitments for tomorrow, so I will work on it tomorrow night. And, what the heck, I guess I will just add the beads on then too.

This is for Dani.... we stitched Celtic Band Sampler together along with Katrina. I know Dani is anxious to see what frame I selected for mine. Here is a closeup of its detail. I need to ask Mike to try to photograph the entire sampler today, as my efforts have been poor - the darn flash gets in the way! But here is a start for you!

And now, the three pieces I got back from the framer yesterday - with the best pics we could really get of them... the color of the fabric for Celtic Band Sampler does not look right, but we had to turn off the flash in order to avoid those horrible bursts of light in the glass :-(

Celtic Band Sampler
c. Homespun Samplar
Silkweaver 32 ct Rock Quarry Lugana
Stitched in 2005 with Dani and Katrina

The Marriage of Minds
c. The Drawn Thread
Zweigart Summer Khaki Belfast Linen w/Weeks and DMC conversion
Stitched in 2003 as our 10th wedding anniversary sampler

Garden Bounty
c. Lanarte
28 ct. Potato Annabelle
Stitched in 2002

As I was going through some photos just now, I decided this one from yesterday is fairly good, so I am sharing it - left to right, my niece Nicole, my niece Caitlin, my SIL Renee, and my Mom... and Nobska, who is sure growing fast! :-) This was our make up Christmas celebration as the family was on Cape Cod over the holiday. Renee's father has been very ill.

Stitched on today: Mystery IX

Still going...

I put a few more hours into Mystery IX tonight. Martina has us stitching a lot with the Silken Perle Size 5, but says the clumpiness will be abated a bit after the project is ironed.... OK.... we'll see :-) Still not done, still going. I am not sure if I can get this finished tomorrow, it all depends on how our day goes.... There is a bit more ornamentation to go atop each of the chards in the corners, and then those blue objects on each side are said to be red cabbages (no red in them), and they look pretty quick to do. We'll see... I would love to be able to start Part 4 of Medieval Town Mandala on Monday.

Here is Mike and I at the Christmas celebration at my brother's house this afternoon. Odd angle - my SIL was sitting in a chair when she took it :-) I did get some other photos and may sort through them to share soon too.

My framed pieces did come back from the framer today - Celtic Band Sampler, The Marriage of Minds and Garden Bounty - but I was so busy with watching the two football games, and then also working on Mystery IX that I did not yet take photos of them. I will try to do that tomorrow. They came out great :-)
New England Patriots 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 3... a good start to the post season, so I am cautiously optimistic again this year (to be overconfident sure would be foolish) - loved the game! And loved the Redskins game - congrats to them and their fans too :-)

Stitched on today: Mystery IX