Catching Up

Ok, so I'm not so good at this "blogging" thing.  I guess I'm struggling with the idea of who would really be interested in anything I have to say or what I've been doing.  But here goes...

The holidays were quiet for hubby and I this year.  I had a really hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year and I struggled with whether I should even put out the decorations but in the end I wound up decorating the house -- inside only -- doing so did manage to get me into the holiday spirit so I was glad that I took the time to do it.  I also wound up doing more baking than I thought I would.  I think that happened because my early Christmas present to me was the purchase of a new Kitchen Aid mixer to replace my old one that died in the fall.  I still have the old one and have some decorating ideas I'm going to be trying out with it - I guess I just can't bear to trash it.  I can't believe how the "death" of that particular appliance affected me to the point I whined about it constantly.  Treating myself to the new mixer boosted my holiday spirits I'm sure!

In December I had another appliance "death" that has actually turned out to be not so bad.  My clothes dryer died.  It was about 12 years old.  We took it to a local repair guy and was told it would cost more than the purchase of a new one what with parts and labor. So while we are saving our pennies to buy a new one, we have been making trips to the laundry mat on Sunday mornings with our wet from the washer laundry.  Mind you, I haven't been to a laundry mat in many a year and was not exactly relishing the idea.  However much to my surprise my hubby and I have turned it into a sort of "date" every week.  We load up the car with about 4 loads of wet laundry, stop and get a fancy coffee and head off to the laundry mat.  Much to my surprise this particular business is clean and well maintained and has an attendant on duty.  We can dry our four loads at one time and it takes us about an hour.  It's actually something we do together and don't mind -- who would have thought!

I have a few pics to show of some finished projects and works in progress.

This piece is called "Sew Fine" from Shinysun's Cross Stitch.  I enjoyed working on this alot because of the bright colors.

This was a panel from a kit I've had sitting around for years and years.  I stitched the center sentiment and will be adding some tree buttons and other embellishments to finish it off.  Of course I didn't get it done for 2012 but can easily have it done for this year (famous last words!).

There has been some progress on the Angel of Cross Stitch project.  This is one I started in the 90's and have resolved to complete.  This one uses all the colors of DMC floss.

That's it for now.  Have a good week and get some stitching time in!

No, Really I'm Back On Schedule!

Well, it's been well over a month since I have updated my blog.  I have no excuse I just didn't do it!  I've kind of been in a stitching funk of late and actually not in the mood to do much of anything.  So I really haven't had too much to chat about lately.  I think I have snapped out of it though and am slowly pulling myself together.  I must confess that in my non-stitching funk I have become quite addicted to my Kindle app.  I have been doing lots of reading.  Reading is a guilty pleasure I allow myself late in the afternoons with a cup of coffee or tea.  I have finally gotten over feeling guilty just sitting and reading thinking I should be up and around cleaning somewhere or something in the house -- what's up with that anyway!  You'll be glad to know I am so over that!

This weekend entailed working out in the backyard getting things ready for the colder weather.  I would much rather do yard work in this kind of weather than in the heat of summer.  I actually enjoyed being out there and getting some things done.  I was also in the baking mood and managed to bake an apple cake and some white chocolate chunk cranberry oatmeal  cookies -- hubby was pleased!

On the stitching side of things I figured out that I was using a wrong floss color in a section on a cross stitch tapestry piece I have been working on.  I kept having to pick out the stitches (at least 3 times)  because the color just didn't look right.  It finally dawned on me to double check the color of floss I have been using -- geez it took me long enough to figure that one out!

Sew Fine from ShinySun's Cross Stitching

Cross Stitch Tapestry - over half done with this now that I figured out my floss issue!

On a positive note - I got into a "finish it up mode".  Last week I did finish stitching a Halloween embroidery I have been working on.  I'm not entirely happy with the way it turned out (due my own personal stitching demons) but I will go ahead and put the finishing touches on it if only to say that I have actually finished another project!  I also finished seaming together a sweater that I knitted several years ago.  It has been blocked and waiting to be put together for quite a while.  I have also been knitting on afghan squares for the Great American Afghan.  This was a "knit-a-long" I was leading at the yarn shop I worked in.  I'm over half way done on those.

Candy Cauldron from P3 Designs

I think this is destined to be a wall hanging.

Sweater I finally finished seaming!

Not a great picture but you can get the gist of it.  Being a "vertically challenged" person I probably shouldn't try to take these kinds of pictures!

In the new project department I started knitting on a vest project I have had waiting in the wings for a while. I also strung beads for a scarf project I purchased at least ten years ago.  The scarf will hopefully knit up quickly for a holiday gift.  Maybe I'll have progress pictures on these two knew projects soon -- hey,  it could happen!

Have a good week and get some stitching time in!

Back on Schedule

I'm back from visiting family in California.  I brought one of my sisters back with me along with her "wonder dog Murphy" and then had another sister and her husband visiting.  Everyone is gone now but my house was a wreck and it's taken me a few days to get everything back in order and to get back on my schedule.  It was nice to have everyone visiting though.

While visiting my family in California I as able to attend a bridal shower for my niece.  It was nice to be able to time my visit to attend a family function.   Needless to say my sisters and I were feeling quite melancholy over our advancing ages!  I remember this niece at my own bridal shower entertaining everyone because she was so doggone cute -- that was over 20 years ago!  I also took my mom out and helped her purchase a new sewing machine.  It was interesting because the new machines are so sophisticated and can be somewhat overwhelming when you are not used to all the features they now have on them.  My mom is 80 and was not interested nor did she need all of the bells and whistles that some of the new machines come with so it was interesting to watch the sales people move from high-end very expensive machines to lower-end basic machines which they of course would not make as much commission on.  Mom wound up with a Janome machine which I think suits her just fine.

While sitting and watching the Olympics with my dad, I stitched a "patriotic" piece.  I just kind of felt like I needed to do something red white and blue. I actually brought it home and framed it -- amazing but true!  I found a frame in my stash of Goodwill finds.  Here it is...

I found this chart in stash of charts I had cut out from a magazine years ago.  It was simple and easy to work on and done on 14 ct. aida cloth, a nice break from 28 and 32 count linens I've been stitching on lately.

The summer is slowly winding down and I can't believe kids have started back to school already.  Fall is one my favorite times of the year so I'm actually looking forward to it and getting a break from the heat.

Well that's all for now.  Have a good week and get some stitching time in!

My Warped Corner of the World

Well, I haven't been doing much of anything in the last couple of weeks.  I have kind of been in a funk as of late and not quite sure why.  Oh well chalk it up to the "dog days of summer" I guess.

I have been mourning the loss of a favorite kitchen appliance this week.  My KitchenAid stand mixer that I paid alot of money for and it just unceremoniously died.  I can't believe it.  I'm still in denial. I took it to the certified KitchenAid repair guy in Boise and he said it would cost more to repair than to buy a new one.  I thought it just needed a new gear or something but it was the motor.  I brought it home and just set it on my kitchen counter, where it still sits, I just can't bear thought of a)having to lay out big bucks for another one and b)just throwing it away!   I really do need to pull myself together here and just get over it.  It gave me 20 years of good faithful service and some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever!!!  My husband thinks I'm losing my nut getting so emotional over a small appliance.  He hasn't figured out yet that that small appliance has kept him supplied with the home made goodies he loves to devour.  Oh, wait maybe when he figures it out he won't squawk about the cost of having to replace it -- hmm, I may be able to work this to my advantage!

I dead-headed my flowers in my container garden and we will just have to wait and see if they rebud again.  I'm still dealing with those nasty wasps under the deck.  I try to get outside and pull the never ending weeds early in the morning before they awaken and make it nearly impossible to work outside!

Next week I'm off to visit some family.  It should be a nice break.  Hopefully, I will come back inspired to get back to work on some on-going projects and seriously start looking at getting to work on holiday projects -- ugh -- did I just say that!!

Have a good week everyone and get some stitching time in!

OMG, I HATE BUGS!!!

For some reason this summer I have been dealing with bugs and more bugs!  First it was the crickets and now it is wasps!  I have also spied some ugly looking little spiders -- where there are little spiders you know there are bigger spiders some where else. I can't like any of them!  My internet solutions to the wasp problem are not working so I have been dumping wasp spray on them and their nests and trying to knock them down.  Not an easy task when the nest is located in a corner underneath the deck.  Weeds are starting to take over the section of the yard by the deck again because the wasps have been so bad I can't get out there to pull the weeds because they start swarming-- that's my excuse any way.

Here's the latest pics of my little container garden with my wildflowers.  I actually have some flowers blooming.  I have no idea what they are but they are there and pretty.

The flowers below are zinnia's that I planted in an old solar fountain that was collecting debris in the corner of the deck.  I only know what these are because I saved the seed packet -- seems like a good thing start doing when I plant things -- duh!

Not much stitching going on this week.  I had to step away from my thread tapestry because I kept getting lost and having to rip stitches out.  So I decided I need a break from that piece for a while.

Have a good rest of the week and get some stitching time in!

Yarn Everywhere!

In the last couple of weeks I have been on a "straightening out" binge.  Specifically, the room where my office is located which I also call my knitting room since that is where most of my knitting supplies are.  I have been unable to walk through this room for months without stepping over something or moving it out of my way.  The floor has been filled with tote bags, baskets, boxes and other knitting "essentials".  I decided to organize all the yarn by category, i.e., sock yarn, worsted weight, cotton, etc.  Well, this actually worked and got stuff up off of the floor.  I thought I was done and then I opened a closet in my sewing room and low and behold I found eight medium to large zippered comforter/bedspread bags (love those for storing projects!) stacked with yarn in them!  How did I forget about those?  I know I probably purchased most of that yarn with specific projects in mind but do you think I could remember what I had planned?  So that meant going through all those bags and organizing them too -- which took another three to four days.  I had yarn in the hallway and spread out on the floor in two rooms.  I wound up spending time looking through pattern books and storing the yarn with the specific pattern I wanted to use it for.  Who knows, I may change my mind by the time I get around to the project but at least now I'll know what I planned on doing with it.

I'm thinking I need to go through my stitching stash/supplies and do the same thing but I just don't have the energy for that right now and that stash believe it or not is much larger than the yarn stash!

I did manage to work on some projects the last couple of weeks in between organizing the yarn.  I finished knitting a pair of socks, stitched a bit on my latest cross stitch tapestry and canvas piece and I actually put the finishing touches on an Adult Surprise Jacket I started knitting several years ago as a gift.  I actually put an edging on it and got it blocked!

Here are some pics of my foray into container gardening such as it is.  My method of growing flowers is to just toss wildflower seeds I found into a pot and see what happens  -- here's what's coming up -- a few of them have buds on them but for all I know I could be growing containers full of weeds!

Here are some progress pictures of my current stitching projects.

Cross stitch tapestry - Sew Fine

Phoenix

Have a good week everyone and get some stitching time in!

This & That

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend.  The weather was kind of gloomy around here so that meant "crafty" time in the house! Unfortunately, I was suffering from toothache pain all weekend so crafty and stitching times were welcome respites from focusing on pain. I finally broke down and took some pain medication Sunday afternoon which helped me, along with my crafty puttering , to make it through to my dental appointment on Tuesday morning.  I am happy to report that the toothache is gone -- thank goodness!

Well, the cricket problem has been resolved.  Poor Jiminy Cricket.  Actually the solution I found on the internet seemed to work.  Sticky paper you can buy to catch other critters and then you put cornmeal on it and set it out where you think the annoying pest is hiding.  It took about 3 days but it worked.  Don't ask me why they like it but they do.  There was only one cricket making that major racket, hard to believe, but I am glad it is gone.

Here are some pictures of things I have been working on

This is Phoenix an old EGA project I re-discovered.  I really do enjoy working on canvas. I'm looking forward to finishing this one.

This is a cross stitch tapestry I just couldn't wait to start.  After I finished the Black Lab Pup tapestry piece I told myself, and others, I didn't think I wanted to do another one of those but here I am doing another one!  If you can't tell, it is a pile of spools of thread.  I think I am drawn to the bright colors in this one and although I had a couple of hiccups with it (I lost my place on the chart and wound up taking out lots of stitches) I am enjoying stitching it.

I just put the linen on scrolls to start "A Women of Noble Character" from My Big Toe Designs.  Ever since I saw that one finished and framed at the trunk show in my old shop, I have wanted to start it.

Well that's it for now.  Have good week and get some stitching time in!