A bit of stitching

Hello!! I am happy to be here and committed to better blogging habits. I hope all are well, as I share with you some recent cross stitch and crochet.

Last night I finished Evergreen Lane on my Anniversaries of the Heart Sampler.  I am really excited that this sampler is nearing it's conclusion.  It has been a very fun stitch, but I am anxious to frame and hang it soon.  This block is dedicated to my parents' wedding,  Sadly, there was more frogging of over one stitches than I had expected :-(

I finished crocheting a blanket earlier this week.  This is The Garden Route Blanket, a free hexagon pattern on Ravelry.  I call it "my girlie blanket."  I used Stylecraft Special DK in Fondant, Sherbet, Spring Green, Apricot, Aspen, Lavender and Empire.  The hexagons are bordered and joined with Parchment.  Now for the tedious part... I still have to block it.

I broke down and joined the FB craze, and am making a Temperature Blanket for 2017.  I decided to use Geometric Lace by Cypress Textiles.  I found a pastel palette on Pinterest using Stylecraft Special DK.  My temp ranges are a little bit broad, as I did not want to get as fiddly and precise as I see some crocheters are being.  From coldest temps to warmest my blanket uses White, Parma Violet, Cloud Blue, Duck Egg, Cream, Soft Peach, Apricot and Pale Rose.  I have King Cole Top Value DK in a gray for additional corner blocks  and the border/edging.  Each hexagon takes mere minutes each day.  I think I can get this done...Am up to date so far!  Every day involves asking Alexa for the temps :-)

I was blessed once again this past Christmas to receive some truly beautiful ornaments from dear friends.  Katrina, Andrea, Karen and Marie sent these lovelies that were so gorgeous on the tree.  My fave time of year!  Thank you so much my friends, I will cherish these forever.

I also have one last ornament to share.  This is Snowflake Reindeer by Daffycat.  I stitched this for sweet Andrea on R&R Reproductions 30 ct French Vanilla linen with CC and DMC floss.  I love Daffycat's  delicate reindeer designs.

And more of our little Amelia!!  Here is my very perky, expressive and interactive little girl at 5 weeks!!

And at six weeks, just out of her first tubby!  Her grandma helped and is cuddling her here.  I have been told that she loved it :-)

Stitching Update

Yes, stitching, as in cross stitching.  I do still stitch...lol.  In fact, made a lot of progress on Anniversaries of the Heart this year.  A tiny peek as I pick it up to work on it tonight  :-)

2015 Stitching Plans

Plan for 2015....stitch MORE, stitch the big ones!

I started Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow at least two years ago...it's back, and I finally finished this first monster block...

And, Anniversaries of the Heart continues to find itself in my lap...a pic of the fifth block, dedicated to my friend Brenda, is shown here... Hope you are all well. We are enduring our second huge snowstorm in less than a week. Winter in New England.

Bonus Time!

Last night, I finished up the third block on Anniversaries of the Heart. This one is a bonus chart that BBD supplied to be placed here in the center of the top row. No personalization for this one. I noticed as I was stitching it that the lower case alphabet is missing a couple of letters...lol Guess that is fine, artistic license for BBD! I absolutely cannot tell much difference between the CC Cinnamon Toast and the CC Jakey Brown in the alphabets... might be my skeins, or just might be that way with those colors? On to the next block later today...

I heard yesterday that my dear friend Karen has received the little Halloween ornament I made for her. She and I decided to do our own personal Halloween ornament exchange... I chose one of my all time favorites to stitch for her...

Witch's Pantry Plum Pudding NeedleArt JCS 2012 Halloween Issue 32 ct Cameo Belfast Linen, DMC Floss

Snow Garden

Despite having And They Sinned as a major project to work on this year, I have decided that BBD's Anniversaries of the Heart has become a must stitch right now.

I spent the last couple of days starting it off, and tonight I finished the first block, Snow Garden, while DH watched Ender's Game.  It is so delicate!  I am using Lakeside Linens 40 ct Pearled Barley, which is much browner than the same linen was when I stitched Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.  No problem, like this shift in color.

Since I am from a very small family that is also fractured and made even smaller, I will need to really think about each block and how to dedicate it.  This first block has my sister's "pertinents and such" on it, as she has a winter birthday in January.  She has the same initials as the model on the cover of the chart ;-)  She is single with no children, so I added our parents' first initials within the design for her.

I am sure many of my friends, including stitching friends, will soon make their way onto other blocks in this sampler.  Sometimes we have to make our own families.

Now, if I could just find my GAST Picnic Basket I would be all set to do the second block....

So snowy here in NH.... really hope you have better weather than we do.  More on the way for us.  Enough already.