Lisa's Stitching Addiction

Review Of Yiotas Cross Stitch Kit

2012-01-19T16:19:00.000Z

About 10 days ago I received an email from Yiota about her cross stitch kits. Yiota runs her own small online cross stitch business and asked if I would like to review one of her kits, free of charge.
I immediately went to have a browse through her site, which I found to be clearly laid out and I was able to navigate through all her kits without any problems.
As soon as I saw her Serenity Prayer kit I hoped straight away that I would be able to review it, and was really pleased when Yiota said that it would be ok and she would get it in the mail to me.
The kit arrived packaged very securely last Saturday, but as it was my Birthday weekend I didn't get chance to do anymore than open the main package and check that all was okay. It is only today that I've been able to get everything out and have a good drool lol. Here is the front of the package.
And the back.
The kit comes in a clear envelope and contains the cover sheet with a colour picture, instruction page and key on another separate page, chart, 14ct aida, needle and Madeira threads pre-wound onto bobbins and clearly labelled. The quality of the paper is good and the print is very clear. This chart is over four A4 pages and whilst in some parts the stitching and therefore symbols are dense the chart has clearly defined grid lines for ease of work and for those who like to grid their fabric as well rather than stitch cross country.

As most of my stitching friends know, I HATE kitting up projects, pulling all those threads, then winding them onto bobbins or putting them in flossaway bags, so this to me is a dream come true lol, all the threads ready to go, easy to sort etc. As I'm an evenweave and linen convert from a few years back, I will be changing the fabric before I make a start on this, but have to say that the aida is a lot softer than I ever remember it being when I used to use it which was a pleasant surprise.
At the end of 2011 I worked out my stitching plans for the first few months of 2012, which didn't include starting anymore large projects. At the moment I am holding strong, but I have to say that this kit as a whole, because of it's quality, is calling to me now as the verse is really something I need to take heed of, so you may be seeing some wips pics before too long lol.
After this experience with Yiota, her website and the kit itself I will definitely be keeping my eye on her site in future and would not hesitate to recommend that people go have a look for themselves and give one of her kits a try.

Whoohoo For Rotations!

2012-01-14T14:43:00.004Z

I seriously can't believe how well my rotation and stitching in general are going so far this year. I know a lot is due to me being in so much less pain from my coccyx for now and it will probably not last, but I'm making the most of it lol.
Since my last post I've worked on all my rotation pieces, but have only taken pics of the ones I've not photographed for a couple of weeks.
Mondays are time for me to spend with my HAED QS Alisha and although progress with working on this just one day a week is very slow I'm really enjoying it. I'm not rushing, just enjoying each stitch. Although I'd love to get this finished sooner rather than later I think I'm finally realising that it's better to make slow progress and enjoy it than rush and end up putting it away again because I'm sick of it.
Tuesdays are my LK SAL of 6 Fat Men with Sally and this is so much fun to work on. Sally and I have veered off in opposite directions with this so it's nice to be able to see what the other has stitched each week. Again I've been alternating stitching snow and the house.
This week's final pic is of my Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler. I've only photographed the page I'm working on at the moment, but it's getting there and I think I can see the halfway point on the horizon!Prairie Schooler's September also had some attention the other day but hubby decided to scupper my plans and came home earlier than usual on Wed night so I quickly had to throw everything down the side of the sofa so he didn't catch me with my secret stitching!
And I've now finished the backstitch strips on Cottage Garden, have attached the interfacing, fraystopped the edged and cut all the pieces, so it's now ready for me to start whipstitching it into a mattress pincushion. Sunday is my free choice day and I'm keen to get this finished up as soon as possible so I think it might be coming out then.
Well I'm expecting hubby and DD home anytime to shatter my peace so I'd better go and look like I've been doing something useful! Have a great weekend and til next time, happy stitching!

New Year, Two New Starts, One Finish

2012-01-06T10:26:00.002Z

I'm really pleased to say that so far 2012 has been a fab stitching year. On New Year's Day I had my first new start of the year and also my first finish! Sally and I had decided on a quick SAL for New Year, similar to the one we did last year. We both stitched Kelmscott Designs Miniature Monogram Hornbook. I stitched mine 1x1 on 32ct white linen using a HDF custom colour called Peacock Crowns. You can't really tell from the pic but the colour is the same gorgeous green/blue you see in peacock feathers and I love how it turned out. I'm hoping to get it finished finished over the weekend or early next week, and will post another pic then. The chart is now available on my For Sale page on the link at the top of the page. As I said in my last post I'm attempting to stitch from stash for at least the first half of this year, and will be using any funds I can make from the sale of stash that I'm parting with to either buy fabric & threads for charts I already have, or save up so I can make a dent in my growing wishlist when the challenge is over. I will be adding items all the time as I finish projects and also get the rest of my stash organised, so please keep checking for new goodies as they become available.

My other new start was Prairie Schooler September which is to be a gift for DH at some point when it's eventually finished lol. On Wednesday when DD went back to school I decided to finish kitting a few things up. I chose fabric for LHN's Quilting and for Gentle & Kind, and pulled the fabric and floss for September, intending to leave it at that. However the rotation I had worked out meant me stitching on September on a Wed night when DH usually goes out, so the next thing I knew I'd cut and prepped my fabby, found the centre and put in the first few stitches! This design is really not something I'd usually choose and it's also not my usual colour choice, but you have to do some funny things for love sometimes don't you lol. One thing I did make sure of was that I chose 40ct fabric so that I could stitch it 1x2 which is my absolute favourite, to make it more enjoyable.
I've also made progress on Alisha, 6 Fat Men and my Personalised Sampler but I'll save pics of those for next time.
I would like to start either LHN Quilting or Gentle & Kind soon. They are both for gifts and I'd like to make them into mattress pincushions, however I've never done one before! A long time ago I stitched LHN's Cottage Garden intending to make that into one, but I never got further than stitching the main design and starting the backstitch on the front piece. So I've dug that out again and have now done the backstitch on the front and back pieces and most of one of the edge strips. I need to either find some iron on interfacing which I THINK I have somewhere around here, or go buy some, so that I can starting trying to make it up into a pincushion once the backstitching is finished.
Well I think that's about it for now, can't quite believe I've managed to post again so soon after my last one lol, let's hope I've started as I intend to go on!

One Year Ends, Another Begins

2011-12-29T10:44:00.004Z

I know it's not quite 2012 here yet but my regular readers will know how rubbish I am at posting so thought I'd do it today while I'm in the mood lol.
First of all I have lots of updates on my life in general since my last post so here goes.
The day after I posted last I had an appointment with my doctor about my depression and we agreed to keep going as things are, taking one day at a time and hoping that the second operation on my coccyx would prove to give me some relief again, along with waiting for my counselling to start and also hoping to get approval from our NHS trust to be referred for a coccygectomy if necessary.
Anyway, I went home and a couple of hours later had a call from my doctor who said he'd just chased the trust again and they had given approval, so he was in the process of referring me for the coccygectomy! Then later that afternoon I had another phone call, from the counsellor this time, who said that she had had a cancellation and was I interested in starting my sessions on the Friday!!! So within 24hrs everything changed.
So as of now my pain after my second operation is greatly reduced and I'm taking it one day at a time and hoping it lasts as long as possible. I've had a letter from the hospital about the referral for the coccygectomy and will be making my first appointment in the New Year to start looking into that if it comes to it. I've also had a couple of counselling sessions which although so far I don't feel have had any benefit, I'm trying to keep an open mind about.
Now onto what this blog is meant to be about, stitching! One very welcome result of being in a lot less pain with my coccyx is that at the moment I'm able to sit comfortably for much longer than I was and so my stitching time has increased again finally!
I haven't been following a rotation, have just stitched on what I've wanted when I've wanted really, except for my SAL with Sally on Lizzie Kate's 6 Fat Men which we have been doing on a Wednesday night. Here is a pic taken this morning with it as it stands.
I'm really enjoying stitching on this although have to say everytime I stitch a snowy design I wonder why because I hate stitching with white lol! The solution I think I've found is to do a bit of white then when I get bored I move onto a different area with another colour, and so on.
I've also stitched some more on my Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler and have finally finished my 8th page out of 20. This page seemed to go on forever as it overlaps quite a bit onto the other pages, but hopefully when I get to those pages they won't take as long lol. I still can't seem to get decent pics showing the true gorgeous colour of the silk, maybe in the Spring when we get some brighter weather lol.And my final stitching has been on my HAED QS Alisha. I don't know how but I did finally manage to get a pic which shows the true colours of this one, they are so yummy!
I'm so happy that because I'm able to sit and stitch for longer at the moment I seem to have got my enthusiasm for my stitching back again, and so I'm hoping to work things out and get back to a rotation in the New Year. Sally and I were chatting a few weeks ago and if you read her blog you'll know that she has decided to try to stitch only from her stash for the first half of 2012, except for any fabric and threads needed to complete charts she already has, within reason. Well mad woman that I am I decided that this seemed like a good idea because I already have more stash than I and probably all my lovely blogging friends can stitch in our lifetimes haha! So I have agreed to join Sally in her challenge which will begin on 1st Jan. Funny thing is, I seem to have volunteered to start my challenge early as I saw some charts a couple of weeks ago that I would love to get. However when I was looking for my New Year's Day start which I'm happy to be doing with Sally again (Kelmscott Miniature Monogram Hornbook this year) I came across yet more charts that I'd forgotten I had, and it just reminded me how much stash I have and how much I'd love to actually stitch some of it in 2012 instead of just collecting it lol! I've also had some gifts half kitted up for at least a couple of years which I'd really like to get stitched so that I can give them to the recipients in 2012, so I've dug those out as well.
I was trying to see earlier by going back through my old posts if I'd recorded how many wips/ufos I started 2011 with, but I unfortunately I didn't. I do have a strange feeling that it was 11, and I currently have 10, so I'm going to say that that's progress hehe. So in order that I can keep track of my stitching in 2012 I'm making a list of those wips/ufos now. I've decided that my main goal for 2012 is to reduce that list by another one, so getting it down to 9 lol. Keeping this in mind will also hopefully stop me getting too carried away with new starts, although I do have several planned, but the idea is to keep them reasonable so they can all be finished in 2012. In my dreams I'd love to finish QS Alisha and my Personalised Sampler in 2012, but I'm sure I said that at the beginning of this year and it didn't happen, so we'll see.

1. HAED QS Alisha
2. Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler
3. LK 6 Fat Men
4. HAED Cabin In The Woods
5. HAED SK Moon Fantasy
6. HAED Romeo & Juliet
7. HAED QS Garnet
8. HAED QS Always Dreaming
9. Cross My Heart School Of Dolphins
10. L&L Celtic Autumn Alternative Colours

As for planned new starts, these are:-

1. Kelmscott Miniature Monogram Hornbook (New Year SAL with Sally).
2. Prairie Schooler September (gift for DH who really loves this design which means it's a must stitch as he doesn't usually show much interest in my stitching lol) Aiming to stitch this when he's on a late shift at work etc so that I can do it in secret.
3. LHN Gentle & Kind (gift for DH's Nana).
4. LHN Quilting (gift for MIL).

Obviously I have loads more ideas for things I'd like to start, but those are at the top of the list for now. Rotation wise I'm going to try going back to a rotation:-

Mon - HAED QS Alisha
Tue - LK 6 Fat Men SAL with Sally
Wed - PS September (DH is usually out on a Wed)
Thur - LHN Gentle & Kind/Quilting (haven't decided which to start first)
Fri/Sat - Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler (have decided to try to focus on this and hopefully make good progress by stitching on it two nights a week)
Sun - Free Choice (this way if I'm really enjoying one of my wips I can give it some extra time, or if I miss a night stitching on something because we're busy or whatever then I have a chance to catch up).

Well, that post turned into a bit of a marathon I'm afraid, congratulations if you're still here and still awake! lol I hope you all have fun seeing in the New Year in a couple of days, and that 2012 is everything you hope for. I'm nervous of what the year may bring with my depression, possible major operation, counselling etc, but also hopeful that it is going to be better than 2011 has been, and that I'll be able to do lots of lovely stitching along the way.
Til next time, hugs and happy stitching...

Don't Know Where To Start

2011-12-04T18:17:00.004Z

It's been so long since my last post, although I've been wanting to blog for a couple of week just thinking about it has made me feel totally overwhelmed as I had no idea what to say.
So I thought the best thing would be just to do a quick post which will hopefully get me back into it a bit and I can then go from there.
The last couple of months have been really tough for me, my depression seemed to come back with a vengeance all of a sudden and nothing I tried helped. I did end up visiting my doctor who put me on medication but they actually made me feel worse, along with some unpleasant side effects, so I stopped taking those a couple of weeks ago. For now I'm just taking it day by day and hoping that one day soon things start to get easier. I'm seeing my doctor on a fortnightly basis to make sure things don't get out of hand and have also been accepted for counselling but unfortunately there's a waiting list so I have about another 2/3 months left to wait I think before that will start.
I've also been in a lot of pain with my coccyx problems again, the pain unfortunately had got to the point where it was a lot worse than before my first operation in April which helped me be more or less pain free for 3 months. Anyway, I'm pleased to say that my consultant agreed to do the same operation again, which I had done on 25th November, and although it's still early days I'm hoping that it's worked again and I might be lucky and get longer than the 3 months relief this time. I'm also waiting to find out if my local NHS Trust will agree for me to be referred out of the Trust to enable me to see if I can actually have my coccyx completely removed. It's a major operation with up to a year recovery afterwards, but my consultant thinks I'm an ideal candidate for it because of my symptoms and reaction to the treatments I've had so far, and as I can't have the op I've just had done again because of the long term side effects then it's really my only option. At first I said there was no way I wanted the removal because of how major it is, but then I got to thinking that I'm 38 now and in chronic pain on a daily basis, with maybe 40 years life left in me. I really don't know if I can handle the thought of another 40 years in this much pain, so maybe up to a year recovery for the big op if it works would be worth it. Anyway, the decision might be taken out of my hands if I'm not approved, so guess I'll just have to wait and see and hope for some relief from the recent operation for now.
Stitching wise I'm afraid I've managed very little over the last couple of months because of the pain. I can't sit in my normal stitching position at the moment and the position I now sit in I can't do for long as I get stiff and achy, so when I have stitched it's just been for a little while, and I've often had several days in a row when I've not even picked it up :( I use my stitching as stress relief and relaxation so it's really hard not to be able to fall back on it like I used to. But I have managed a couple of finishes. First up is the IStitch Mystery SAL which I was determined to keep up with. I stitched this 1x1 on a piece of 28ct unknown hand-dyed fabric using a skein of Vikki Clayton's HDF silk.
My other finish is my 2011 Christmas ornament for our tree. I've stitched an ornie for our tree for as long as I can remember now. This year I told DH and DD that I really didn't think I'd be able to do it because of how little I've been stitching, but when I saw their dismayed faces I knew I had to try. So as this Shepherd's Bush Merry Be came as a kit I thought it would be the easiest option. I really enjoyed stitching it as it turns out, but the finishing cause me a lot of stress! I've never done ribbon edging before and it took me about a week to work myself up to do it, but I'm ecstatic with the results and I've learned several lessons for when I do this sort of finishing again.
I also had a new start but haven't taken a pic yet. Sally and I began a SAL of Lizzie Kate's Six Fat Men a while back and I'm really enjoying it. I've stitched the first chart, Snowed In I think it is, and am about halfway through the next, Snow Friends. Last night I stitched on it for longer than I've stitched in one go in a good while and it felt so good, here's hoping things are starting to improve.
Well, if you're still here and made it through thanks so much. I hope to be back soon with a pic of Six Fat Men, positive news on the operation etc and talk of Christmas which will soon be here!

A Happy Dance & More Progress

2011-09-30T12:12:00.003Z

I was determined not to leave it so long before blogging again this time, so am back with a few more pics for you.
First up is my finish of LHN's Travelling Stitcher which I've been stitching as a SAL with Sally. I've really loved stitching this design and it was really special as we started our SAL in person when we met for our stitchy day back in August. With this in mine Sally and I agreed that we'd like to stitch both our initials on the design to remember it. The chart is now available on my For Sale page at the top of this page, along with the A New Day chart which I finished recently. Please go have a look and see if anything takes your fancy, and contact me if so.
Next up is Part 5 of Carol's IStitch Designs Mystery SAL. Looking forward to seeing what Part 6 looks like next weekend.The final pic today is of my HAED QS Alisha by Hannah Lynn Disney. I've been working on this one night a week now for a few weeks and am really enjoying doing one night on it, but don't think I'd want to do more as the confetti is hard going. I've decided for now to stick with this as my only HAED wip as it's the closest to being finished, although it's still a long way off. Once that is done then I intend to pick Cabin back up again and focus on that. But I reserve the right to completely change my mind at any point lol.I've spent this morning tidying my stash by putting away threads from various finished projects and then pulling threads for Lizzie Kate's 6 Fat Men which Sally and I are going to start soon as our next SAL. Unfortunately I haven't got a suitable fabric big enough, so am going to have to order some from Sew and So this afternoon I think, just hoping nothing else jumps in the cart at the same time!
I'm not sure what to stitch on this weekend. My Shepherd's Bush Merry Be Pincushion is calling as it's getting fairly close to a finish I think, so I might give that a bit of attention, but I'd also like to try to get a bit more progress in on my Personalised Sampler. The page I'm currently stitching seems never ending lol.
I hope everyone in the UK is enjoying this gorgeous weather we're having this week and making the most of it. Erin is away in Southport with my mum til tomorrow so David and I are taking the opportunity to go out for an early tea tonight. I've got some laundry to bring in but then I think I might stitch or read sat in the sun for a bit! Til next time, happy stitching...

Not Much To Say But Lots Of Pics

2011-09-21T15:25:00.001Z

I'm afraid that I'm still struggling here, too long a story to bore you all with & to be honest I was thinking of stopping blogging altogether as I'm sure you're all sick of my long absences, but Sally convinced me to keep blogging for now, even if it's just to post pics of what I've been stitching on, so here they are.

My Big Toe "A New Day" Framed

Lizzie Kate Welcome Baby

Shepherd's Bush Merry Be Pincushion

LHN Travelling Stitcher

Istitch Mystery SAL Part 4
I'm sorry that a couple of the pics aren't showing correctly, I can't seem to rotate them on my phone for some reason. Please also excuse the creases on Travelling Stitcher.
I'll try to be back with more pics and a bit more to say soon, but until then happy stitching.

Lisa - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Withdrawals & IStitch Mystery SAL

2011-08-30T11:14:00.001Z

We're away in our caravan in Derbyshire at the moment and are having to go back to basics somewhat lol. I have no signal at all on my IPhone on the site and so can't get my usual fix of Facebook, blog reading, collecting & replying to my emails etc & I must admit I'm having withdrawal symptoms, never realized how much I rely on my phone til I can't use it lol. We went to Carsington Water today where I did get a signal so quickly downloaded my emails & checked Facebook before my right arm was cut off again ;) David on the other hand is having withdrawals because as well as no phone signal the site has barely any tv reception lol! Now don't get us wrong, when we go away in the caravan we maybe watch an hour of tv a day if that, after Erin has gone to sleep on a night usually, but choosing not to watch it & not being able to are very different things I guess.
So I think this week we will be reading even more than usual, & hopefully I'll have more stitching progress to show as well.
Tonight & last night were spent doing Part 2 of Carol's IStitch Mystery SAL. When Carol emailed this part it looked to me like it was going to be a quick stitch but I had the hardest time with it, the frogs appeared & just wouldn't leave. Can you believe it took me four attempts before I finally got the C right?! Anyway it's finished now & has gone away for another 10 days or so til Part 3 is released.

Tomorrow I'll be hopefully making some progress on the baby gift for my friend.
Have written this as a draft post in the hope that if we go out for the day on Tuesday I'll be able to post it, so if you're reading this we did reach civilization for a while at least lol.

Lisa - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Dancing Again!

2011-08-26T17:39:00.004Z

Way back in May I was so excited to be starting Seaside Retreat from the new Blackbird Designs A Stitcher's Journey book. I can't actually remember now why I decided to stitch it 2x2 on 32ct fabric, but it was a big mistake. More and more over the last year or so I keep proving to myself that I much prefer stitching with one strand on higher count fabrics. I stitch my HAED's 1x1 on 25ct, and I LOVE stitching 1x2 on 36 or 40ct fabrics, but for some mad reason I started Seaside Retreat 2x2. Right from the very beginning I didn't enjoy stitching it, I really should have listened to the voice in my head who told me early on I should do a restart, but I'm stubborn so told it to shut up and on I went on my miserable way lol. If I hadn't loved the design itself so much and been so determined not to add another project to my ufo pile I'm sure it would have been stuffed in a cupboard not to be seen again for sometime. But anyway, I persevered and persevered, picking it up, adding a few stitches, putting it away again in disgust lol. But last night I was finally able to have a much needed happy dance! As a reminder this is stitched with Vikki Clayton Hand Dyed Fibers silk in Ocean Breeze. I think I am more relieved than anything else really to have this finished. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it off yet, but it's going to be displayed in our conservatory eventually and will be a reminder to me that perseverance pays off, and that I should stick to 1x2 in future lol.
I was hoping to also be able to show you a pic of my A New Day after framing. The framer rang me yesterday to say it had been put in the mail, but Royal Mail are doing their usual stirling job of being totally rubbish, and it hasn't arrived today. I'm just hoping that it comes tomorrow.
This weekend's stitching is going to be Part 2 of the IStitch Mystery SAL which Carol emailed today, as well as the baby gift for my friend. I decided after my last post that I was going to be a good girl and stitch the Lizzie Kate Welcome Baby chart rather than ordering something new, so I've got it kitted up ready to go.
Hope you all have a great weekend, a long one for those of us in the UK, that the weather is kind and you get plenty of stitching in. Til next time!

Thank You & A New SAL

2011-08-17T13:35:00.005Z

Before I go any further I just want to thank everyone who commented on my last post SO much! It brought tears to my eyes to realise I have so many wonderful stitchy friends around the world who really do care and who still want to read my ramblings when I've been missing for so long.
I joined a new mystery SAL that Carol at IStitch has kindlly organised. The SAL is hugely popular and so unfortunately sign ups are closed for now, but go have a look at all the wonderful wips so far. I chose to stitch mine over 1 on 28ct and will possibly make it into a pinkeep when it's finished. The fabric I chose was a Jayne's Attic Count On Me called January and the thread is a Hand Dyed Fibers skein I had in my stash called Enchantress which is a gorgeous variagated pink. The next part isn't due to be released til a week on Saturday, so I've put it away til then, but am looking forward to seeing how the next part looks.
Today is LHN's Travelling Stitcher SAL day with Sally and I'm really looking forward to making more progress on it. I can't believe it's a week since our wonderful stitchy day, makes me sad to know that I don't know when we'll be able to do it again :( So I will just have to imagine myself sat in Sally's dining room tonight stitching together. I'll post a pic on how far I've got later in the week hopefully.
One of my friend's from the gym had a baby boy recently, a surprise miracle for them as they had tried for a baby for years with no success and at 45 she found out she was finally pregnant! I went to see her and the baby, Amos Charlie, yesterday and he is the most gorgeous baby, I could have eaten him, and if I was ever going to get broody for another child myself yesterday would have been it lol. Anyway, I decided I'd like to stitch a little something for them so have been trawling through my stash trying to come up with something. I have Lizzie Kate's Welcome Baby chart which I thought might be nice, but I keep going back and looking at JBW's Teddy Bear Chart, which I don't have lol. I could get it pretty quickly by ordering from Sew & So in the UK, but I'm trying to be good at the moment. So what do you think I should do? Go with the LK design or say to heck with it and order the JBW design?
And finally, I saw yesterday that Daffycat is having a giveaway on her blog of THE cutest gnome fob & needleminder. Get yourself over there and have a look!

Surviving, A Happy Dance & A Wonderful Visit

2011-08-14T17:57:00.006Z

I am so sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. Things here the last few months have been a struggle to say the least. I had to finally admit around the time of my last post that depression had taken a strong hold of me again after being free of it for a couple of years. After a couple of severe meltdowns I forced myself to go see my doctor who listened to me and talked things through, and gave me a prescription for anti-depressants, but I couldn't bring myself to start them as I've tried so many in the past for them to only help me short term. So I decided to give St John's Wort a try, along with forcing myself to get out of the house each day, even if it was just to go to the gym (I knew things were really bad when I didn't want to go to the gym and see my friends). I can't honestly say whether the tablets and making myself go out have helped a lot and I'm still worried that there's going to come a point where I will have to try the anti-depressants again, but for now I seem to be on a slightly more even keel and am just trying to take it one day at a time.
Through all this however my stitching mojo took a serious beating. My rotation which had been working so well went out of the window and the only thing that I really tried to keep going with was my SAL on a Wednesday with Sally on A New Day. Even if I only did half an hour, I made myself get it out every week and it got me through some bad days. Although this piece involved a lot of tears at times it also brought out some good emotions and positive hopes for the future and so I was actually a little sad when I had a happy dance and finished it at the end of July.

I was also ecstatic to be able to take this and show Sally in person as we have just got back from a week away in our caravan in Hornsea, and whilst there I was lucky enough to be able to spend the day with Sally at her house, drooling over all her fabulous stitching, chatting, eating, drinking and of course we had to fit in a little stitching (we have now started a new SAL, LHN's Travelling Stitcher which seemed apt). I couldn't believe the amount of gorgeous stitching that Sally has displayed, I was in heaven, and after talking to her about her framer I ended up taking A New Day into his shop on Friday and it turns out he does lots of framing mail order so he is going to frame it for me and post it to me in just over a week! I've struggled to find a framer locally and have lots of finished pieces waiting to be framed, so hopefully if I'm happy with how he finishes this piece I'll start sending him a piece every couple of months or so and try to get some more displayed on my walls (although I'll NEVER be able to catch up with Sally pmsl!). We had such a wonderful day together, it went far too quickly, and I was really sad and tearful to leave her when the time came. Knowing Sally's love of sheep I had taken her a small gift of a sheep that I saw and knew she would love, and it turns out that Sally had also got me a gift. She stitched me this gorgeous LK Design, Friends Are Like Angels (hope you don't mind me borrowing the pic from your blog Sally, our camera is still buried in all the unpacking from the caravan lol). Isn't it wonderful? When I opened it I couldn't look Sally in the eye because I was filling up and knew if I did that I'd end up crying lol.

Having just got home today things are in chaos, unpacking to do, lots of laundry, getting back into my healthy eating and exercise routine, DH going back to work etc, so I'm feeling rather fragile tonight, but I'm hopeful that after my day with Sally and our new SAL start stitching a little in the caravan and getting A New Day framed etc, that I may have located my mojo again and be able to make a fresh start with my rotation.
One thing I've had to accept though is that try as I might, there is no way I can catch up with my blog reading and commenting. Before we went away I kept trying but got completely overwhelend, and as you can imagine after a week away the number of unread posts has increased massively. So I hope you will all please forgive me and understand when I say I'm going to mark all my blogs as read tonight, and make a fresh start with those as well as my own blog and my stitching rotation. I am really sorry that I have not been reading and commenting on your blogs, but better to start afresh and be able to keep up this way hopefully than to stop altogether which I had considered at one point when I felt really bad.
I will hopefully be back later in the week with a pic of my start on Travelling Stitcher and my other wips so you know where I am with them at the moment. Til then, I've missed you all and can't wait to catch up with what you're all up to!

Nothing To Say :(

2011-06-11T06:35:00.001Z

I'm afraid the black cloud over my head is still here & whilst I've still been stitching I haven't been able to put the words together to make up a proper blog post or keep up to date on my blog reading and commenting :( Please know I'm sorry if I haven't commented on your blog in a while.
So I figured I would at least post some update pics for you for now so you know I'm still here.

HAED QS Alisha

HAED Cabin In The Woods

Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler

Blackbird Designs Seaside Retreat

My Big Toe A New Day
I will hopefully pick myself up & dust myself off & start to feel better soon, but for now please know that you, my blogging friends, mean the world to me.

Lisa - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I Need A Seaside Retreat

2011-05-23T16:30:00.001Z

I'm afraid things haven't improved here since my last post. My stress levels are at an all time high and most days have involved tears and panic attacks which are scary. All I can do is pray that things start to improve soon as I don't know how much more this body can handle right now.
The only saving grace is that my stitching, when I force myself to sit down and do some, is a godsend. It's helping take my mind off things for a little while and easing the panic attacks on occasion.
I have updates on all my Wips but I worry that you might get bored seeing the same ones everytime so today I'm just posting my new start from last week, BBD Seaside Retreat and a full pic of my Personalised Sampler now I've finished another page.

Stitched 2x2 on 32ct white evenweave using HDF Ocean Breeze.

Stitched 1x1 on 25ct antique white evenweave using HDF Bewhined. I've now stitched 6 of the 20 pages in this and really beginning to feel like I'm getting somewhere with it.
Well that's it from me for now. Hope everyone is staying safe in the awful weather we seem to be having here in the UK and overseas.
Till next time.

Lisa - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Giveaway Winner!

2011-05-18T13:21:00.002Z

Just realised I completely forgot to draw a winner for my Trilogy Easter Line Up Giveaway on Monday, oops!

I had Erin draw a name (think I'm going to have to do more giveaways as she loved doing this and wanted to keep trying lol), and the winner is:-

COLLEEN!!!

Congratulations Colleen, can you please contact me to let me have a note of your address, then I can get the chart in the mail to you in the next few days.

Quick Update

2011-05-15T10:04:00.001Z

Testing to see if I can post from my phone.
Here are pics of my Wips after this week's rotation. Really pleased with what I got done this week on them all except A New Day as it's been a horrendous week here. Long story for another time when I can post without crying.

HAED Cabin In The Woods

My Big Toe A New Day

HAED QS Alisha

Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler

I had a new start yesterday, Seaside Retreat from the BBD A Stitcher's Journey booklet, but not much to show yet.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Happy Dance, Progress & A Giveaway

2011-05-09T08:29:00.008Z

I really don't know how I keep ending up taking almost a month between posts. The only thing I can come up with is that I am an eternal procrastinator, if there is something that I'm not in the mood to do then I put it off and put it off until it gets to the point where I HAS to be done. I love reading blogs but it just seems that when it comes to posting on my own I'm rubbish at it lol. I'm also way behind on commenting as well, so if I haven't commented on your blog recently please forgive me, I think I'm going to have to mark them all as read and start afresh so that I can get up to date and know what everyone has been up to as I'm feeling really overwhelmed with them all right now.
I'd like to thank everyone for their lovely comments and good wishes about my coccyx operation in my last post. I'm ecstatic to say that it seems to be improving all the time and the pain now is about a third of what it was before the operation after about 4 weeks. I go back to see the consultant at the end of this month and we'll see how it is at that point and then decide what, if anything, needs doing next.
Well, although I've not been blogging I have been stitching, and I have a happy dance!
I finally finished The Trilogy's Easter Line Up late on Saturday night and am really happy with the way it turned out. I subbed all the called for threads for DMC for this one, and stitched it 1x2 on 40ct Sand Newcastle. So now for the giveaway! As you may remember from my earlier post, I won this chart from Bev last year so now that I've finished with it I've decided to pass it on again. So if you'd like to be entered for a chance to win the chart please leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name a week today, Monday 16th May.
Next up is my new start! Sally and I began our My Big Toe A New Day SAL and this is where I'm up to after last Wednesday's stitching. I'm really loving how this is stitching up so far and am finding stitching certain words very emotional and thought provoking in relation to the rest of my life. It feels a bit weird but it will mean that a lot of memories and emotions go into the piece and will be there for me to remember when it's finished.
And finally are three of my wips that I've been sadly neglecting but am now stitching on again.
Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler. I stitched on this on Friday night and am now down to the bottom of the current page with the border and working on the next letter.
HAED QS Alisha. Hazel and I were chatting on msn the other day and she said that she and Tracy are doing a HAED SAL on a Thursday night to motivate eachother with their wips, and would I like to join. So I decided to bite the bullet and go for it! So this is a pic of her after I last worked on her, and you'll hopefully be seeing a little more progress each week from now on.
HAED Cabin In The Woods. I started this years ago now, can't remember exactly when, think it was about 2006 :(, but although it became a UFO I still love it to bits and it's on my bucket list of things I'm determined to finish in my lifetime. I decided last week that in order to do that I had to get it out and start stitching on it regularly again. So I've decided to join in the UFO SAL on Needlecraft Haven and try to make a little progress on it each week the same as Alisha. This pic was taken yesterday afternoon and I actually put some stitches into it last night which I really enjoyed.
Well, got lots more I could waffle about, but I think I'll call that it for today before I bore you all to sleep lol. I'm seriously going to try to start updating more often, one wip at a time maybe, and try to do it from my phone as it's quicker, although the pics won't be as good, but could then maybe do a monthly update of them all from the proper camera. Will see how it goes I guess.
Thank you to all those who visit and read my wafflings, and those who take the time to leave me a comment. Hope you all have a great week ahead, get lots of stitching done, and you don't get any visits from the frogs.

More Life, A Finish, A Start & A Floss Toss

2011-04-14T17:39:00.005Z

Last week things went a little crazy at home. I saw the surgeon about my operation on the Tuesday, and was then told that my operation would be on the Friday! In the end I'm glad I didn't have time to think about it because I was busy getting childcare organised for Erin etc. Friday came very quickly and I was surprisingly calm in the morning. The operation went well I'm told and I was allowed home later that day, although I was very spaced out from the anaesthetic and took to my bed for several hours. Friday night because I was still under the influence I had hardly any pain for the first time in months and it felt SO good. Unfortunately come Saturday morning the pain was about 10 times worse than it had been before the op. On looking into what I'd had done, it turns out that the steroid injections can take several days to start to have an effect, and this combined with the manipulation that was done had left me very bruised and inflamed. I spent Sat to Mon feeling extremely sorry for myself, but I'm relieved to say that the last three days things have improved a little each day, and today I'm about back to the pain I was in before the op. The expected results of this op can vary, unfortunately there's only a 33% chance this will be a good success. There's the same chance of it not working at all, and the same again of it being some help and me needing to have it done maybe another two or three times, so it's now a waiting game for the next 6 weeks or so before I go back to see the surgeon. I'm not a religious person but if anyone is and could spare a prayer or if anyone could just send some healing thoughts that this does start to work I'd really appreciate it.
Anyway, because I couldn't do much else over the weekend besides sit for about 10mins then pace the house again, I picked up my stitching and I had a happy dance on Sunday night (well, couldn't dance, just had to imagine it lol). I can honestly say if it hadn't of been for my stitching this last few days I would surely have been a lot worse and probably been a lot more frustrated than I was.

LHN Winter Band Sampler

2x2 on 28ct pale blue evenweave using called for DMC

I've also had a new start recently. I decided I needed something on an Easter/Spring theme, and although I know there's no chance it's going to get finished in time to display this Easter, I'm still loving every minute of it. I won this chart in a giveaway Bev had on her blog early last year I think it was, so it's about time I got around to stitching it, and once it's finished I'll be passing it on in a giveaway here, so watch this space.

Trilogy Easter Line Up
1x2 on 40ct Sand Newcastle Linen using mostly called for DMC

And finally here is my floss toss for another new start I have planned! Sally and I have both been having a rough time of it with various things this past few months and when we both fell in love with this design we decided it would be perfect for us to SAL together on, as it seems very apt.

I've chosen to use the recommended Flax Newcastle Linen although am going to use 40ct rather than 32ct, and have picked my own HDF silks. I've mainly chosen similar colours, except for the colour of the words which I decided I didn't want to do in a grey/brown. As I think this may end up in our bedroom when we eventually can afford to decorate it and it's going to be in magnolia, deep red and deep purple, I've changed the wording colour to a deep red, and the dark blue on the chart I've changed to a deep purple. I'm hoping this looks as good as I think it might when I get started, but if not I reserve the right to change them again as I go lol. I spoke with Sally earlier today and we've decided to make a start next Wed, 20th April, hopefully, so I should have a wip pic to show soon!
Well, that turned into a long post so I won't waffle anymore for today. I think I need to go back to posting shorter posts more regularly because I've been meaning to post for about a week now but kept putting it off because I had so much to say and didn't know where to start lol.
Til next time, hope you're all ok and happy stitching!

Gift Revealed, Gift Received, Life & Stitching Progress

2011-03-28T12:45:00.006Z

The weekend before last I finally got my finger out and finished the giveaway prize that Jane won back in December! I sent it off on it's way to her last Wednesday and I had an email on Friday I think it was to say she had received it and loves it, thank goodness!The design is Needles & Pins by Raise The Roof, stitched on a 28ct Silkweaver Solo which is a mottled pale lilac, using various hand-dyed threads in some of Jane's favourite colours. I also included a mother of pearl thread holder, a skein of HDF silk, and an Aero Lamb (well it is spring now and everyone needs chocolate don't they?!). This is the first time I've tried a beaded edge finish and although I found it fiddly at first I was really pleased with the way it turned out, and will definitely do it again.
Postie brought me a gift last week as well which was so welcome. Ranae recently stitched Homespun Elegance's Holiest of Nights and I had commented on her blog asking what the design was called and who by as I immediately fell in love with it and wanted to add it to my wish list. Anyway, as she had been RAK'd the chart herself she was very sweet and offered to send the chart onto me! I'm not sure when I will get around to stitching it, but when I have I will be sure to pass on her generosity.After finishing the gift I didn't stitch for a few days as I was feeling a bit out of sorts. I still am actually, but figured that stitching usually relaxes me so I should get back to it. I've got my first consultant visit at the hospital tomorrow afternoon to see what they can do about my painful coccyx. From recent doctor visits and examinations it's thought that either it is fractured or there is an old fracture around which scar tissue as formed, which means that it hurts me to sit down in certain positions and is VERY painful to get from sitting to standing after being sat for any length of time. The plan is, if all goes well tomorrow, that I will be having an operation to manipulate the coccyx and break up the scar tissue, and then steroid injections to help it heal. I'm really scared about going to see the consultant tomorrow, although I know it needs doing. I just know that the examination is going to be very painful, I'm scared of hospitals so nervous of being there, and already getting terrified of when I have to have the operation itself.
Anyway, in an effort to try to forget my worries I've pulled LHN's Winter Band Sampler back out and put in some stitches the last couple of days, and have actually really enjoyed it, so I'm glad I did. I was going to pull something else out today to stitch on, but I think I'm actually going to keep going with this while I'm still enjoying it.
That's it for now I think, hope you all have a great week ahead. Thanks to everyone who reads my wafflings and especially to those who take the time to leave me a comment, they always give me a smile.

Garnet Progress

2011-03-19T18:03:00.005Z

I've finished the front of my gift but can't show a pic so you're going to have to wait a bit longer I'm afraid. I'm hoping to get started on the back and then making it up soon, then it will be winging it's way to it's new home, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
I can however show an updated pic of my HAED QS Garnet which I'm stitching using HDF silks. I'm so frustrated with the pics of this I keep taking, they make it look all blocky and like the colours are totally wrong, but in real life I'm loving it and it's really starting to take shape this week.No other stitching to show I'm afraid, but hope to be back soon!

P.S. Heather, the JBW Designs A Very Merry Spring is stitched using a Hand Dyed Fibers silk called Pastel Rainbow.

Better Photos Update

2011-03-09T13:20:00.004Z

Last few posts have been done from my phone so the pics haven't been great.
Thought I'd take the chance today to get some pics with the proper camera of everything I've been working on recently and get them on here.
Here is HAED QS Alisha after the last 5hrs in rotation on her. Need to grid the rest of the page before I can stitch anymore, but really loving this at the moment and the colours.
Here is LHN's Winter Band Sampler after it's slot as well. Still not wild about this I'm afraid. I'm sure it's that it's because it's 2x2 on 28ct which I really don't enjoy much anymore after my 36/40ct addiction began lol, plus I think I've had my fill of xmas/winter stitching for now, but I'm going to persevere with it til it's finished.
This is my Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler. I decided to move down a page and work from right to left this time, and have most of the border finished on this page now.
And finally is my UFO slot! I'm stitching on this for 1hr in between my 5hrs each on all the other slots. It's HAED QS Garnet which I started way back early last year, and I'm stitching it in HDF silks which are lovely to work with. It will get another hour's attention after I finish my 5hrs on my new wip, then I will decide whether to keep it out, or choose another UFO to work on next round.
And talking of new wips, I started one last night which is to be a gift, so can't show any pics I'm afraid until it's stitched, finished, sent and received, but hopefully it won't be too long!
Thanks for looking!

Winter Band Sampler

2011-03-02T20:31:00.000Z

Just a quick update. Realised I haven't updated in 2 weeks!
Here is my LHN Winter Band Sampler after just finishing it's slot in my rotation. I'm now just over the halfway point and will be moving down to the house next round.

Feels Like Spring!

2011-02-16T15:51:00.000Z

The sun has been shining here today and I've seen a couple of crocuses peeking out in the garden so I'm really hoping spring is on the way.
I was close to finishing this cute design last night but my bed and book were calling so have just put the last half hour in and I now have another little happy dance!
Tonight is LHN SAL night with Sally & Lesleyanne so Winter Band Sampler will be coming out again, then I think my Personalised Sampler needs a bit of attention over the weekend.

Winter Band Sampler

2011-02-13T14:19:00.000Z

Don't know what's been wrong with me this last week but my stitching mojo has been playing up again. I've wanted to stitch but just haven't seemed to have the energy to pick up that needle.
So on Friday I made myself sit down to watch one of my tv shows and picked up Winter Band Sampler and I really enjoyed it!
This is stitched 2x2 on 28ct pale blue fabric using all DMC although you can't really tell from the pic as it's really dull here today.
Hope to stitch later but not sure what on yet, maybe more on WBS but QS Alisha has been calling so you never know.

Waiting For Spring

2011-02-08T10:10:00.000Z

The weather here has been so miserable I really want it to be spring, so stitching on A Very Merry Spring by JBW Designs is just the ticket.
Hadn't stitched from last Wed til last night due to being busy and having a stressful weekend, but made myself sit down and stitch last night as I knew I'd feel better for it, and I did.
This is stitched 2x2 on 28ct White evenweave using HDF Pastel Rainbow.

Here Again So Soon!

2011-01-30T21:24:00.004Z

I'm trying to do what I said I would and post more often with shorter posts so I don't get overhwlemed lol.
I've been really enjoying stitching on my Personalised Sampler by Nouveau Encore Designs this past few days, and tonight saw me finish page 5, which also means I've stitched right across the top and have reached the 25% mark! I really struggle with taking pics of this as without the flash you can't see the lovely variagation in the HDF silk, but with it looks quite stark. I will keep trying and maybe by the time I finish it I'll figure out how to take a good pic lol.I've now kitted up LHN's Winter Band Sampler and am ready for the SAL Sally and I are doing beginning on 2nd Feb. I'm going to be using the recommended DMC but have chosen an unknown 28ct evenweave in pale blue which I liked when I did a floss toss. Only thing is I'm not a lover of 2x2 since my addiction to 1x2 on 40ct began last year, but I wasn't happy with the floss toss on any of my 40ct fabrics so I had to make a decision and the blue fabric won. Just hoping that I will still enjoy stitching it.
So I have two days stitching before the SAL begins, and not sure what to stitch on?! I think I may put a few more stitches into A Very Merry Spring, and might also bring Cabin out again for an hour or so. I decided that even if I only do an hour a week on it, with a bit of luck it might get me back into it and if not it's still progress, no matter how little. I think Sally may be joining me and doing the same with Guardian so it will be fun to have some company.
Til next time!

The Longer I Leave It

2011-01-25T13:31:00.004Z

The harder it gets for me to do a blog post!
I've been meaning to post for over a week, and the more I think about it the more overwhelmed I get because I have so much to tell you all about. I really think I need to start posting more often with shorter posts and see if that works any better.
So, what have I got to tell you?! Well, the weekend before last was my Birthday and although I wasn't really looking forward to it it ended up being a wonderful weekend and I was thoroughly spoiled. We went to some friends for a couple of hours at teatime on the Saturday where I ended up drinking far too much champagne, then on for a slap up meal in a restaurant I've wanted to try for ages. It was gorgeous! Then on Sunday, my actual Birthday, after I'd opened my wonderful cards and pressies from family and friends David made me a scrummy breakfast. After an afternoon nap which was needed because of the festivities of the night before lol, we then went to my mum's who cooked a fab Sunday dinner and I had more cards and pressies to open there.
Pressie wise I was extremely spoiled this year. I received some new running gear, Davina McCall's new fitness DVD, clothes, perfume, books, a special hand warmer to keep my hands warm seeing as since I've lost all my excess weight they're SO cold all the time lol and David got me an extra surprise of the Kettleworx Ultra DVD set with my own baby kettlebell. I've been using the kettlebells at the gym with my personal trainer and although they are hard work the results have been amazing, so I wanted these for when I can't get to the gym eg during the school holidays or when my PT sessions are finished.
Sally my surrogate sis also sent me this gorgeous stitched pillow which is just perfect and has been added to my basket of smalls which are displayed on my stitching unit in the lounge. I hope Sally doesn't mind that I pinched the pic from her blog as my pics just never seem to look that good.My friend Amy also sent me a pair of the new Dinky Dyes Love scissors in hot pink, but I completely forgot to take a pic of them til after I'd uploaded all the other pics (duh!).
So, onto stitching. Although Sally and I are on the wagon until 1st Feb (can't be here soon enough!), I have had new stash because I bought it with my Christmas money I still had left and then some of my Birthday money I received, as well as the proceeds of selling some stash from my for sale page and doing a trade with Sally, plus her gifting me with one lol. I have received:-

LHN Winter Sheep Ornie - trade with Sally
LHN Fa La La Ornie - trade with Sally
LHN Snowy Pines Ornie - Sally was gifted this and gifted it onto me after stitching it
LHN Joy To The World Ornie - bought from Sally
LK Snowman '10 - bought from Sew & So

I also have on order the LK Winter Fab Fob kit which is winging it's way to me from the US as we speak, and will hopefully arrive later this week or early next.
So as you can see I haven't done too badly, but of course I still want more lol. But isn't that always the case? Currently I'm drooling over a Dimensions Christmas Village ornie kit which I saw stitched up on a blog, but I keep asking myself, do I really need more christmas stitching?
And onto actual stitching, I have TWO finishes to share! The Kelmscott Tombstone Angel Hornbook I started on 1st Jan as a SAL with Sally. It didn't take long to do the stitching but I only just got around to making it up over the weekend. The colours in the pic are a bit washed out, they are more vivid in real life, but it's dull here today so couldn't do any better. It's stitched on 40ct cream (I think) linen with an unknown HDF red and black variagated mini spool 1x2.
And my most enjoyable stitch for a long time, LHN's Winter Whites! I started this as a winter SAL on 1st December last year with Sally, Chris, Lesleyanne, Hazel and Claire and I think most of them finished their pieces way back, but I've been taking my time and enjoying stitching on it thoroughly in between my other wips and I got there in the end. I added a rich dark red to the recommended colours which I'm pleased with the result of but I wish I hadn't stuck with the Wisper called for for the two cute sheet. Big mistake! It was a nightmare to stitch with on the 40ct and the last sheep I really had to force myself to do. I know it would probably have been much easier say on 28ct, but I don't think I'll be testing that theory out for a while lol.Both the hornbook and the LHN charts have now been added to my For Sale/Trade page, along with a couple more things I've finished with, so please take a look and let me know if you're interested in any of them.
I've made more progress on my personalised sampler and HAED QS Alisha but haven't taken any pics of those this time. Shock horror, I even pulled out HAED Cabin In The Woods and stitched some on that. Not much progress, but I want to try to keep putting in at least a few stitches on this here and there.I also made a new start on Sunday, just a small one, but still. I started JBW's A Very Merry Spring. I'm using a variagated thread by HDF called pastel rainbow which I thought was a perfect spring choice, on 28ct white evenweave. I only put in about a dozen stitches just to get it going, but will hopefully do more soon. Sally and I also have a new SAL planned to begin next week. I am going to start LHN's Winter Band Sampler and Sally is stitching LHN's Belle Pepper, then we're going to swap charts and do the opposite at some point lol. So I made a working copy of my chart the other day and will start to kit that up later in the week.
Well, I think that's everything finally! Sorry this post has been so long, like I said, I'm going to try posting more often with smaller updates and see if that works any better.
Thanks to everyone who comes to visit and those who take the time to leave me a comment, they mean a lot to me.

For Sale/Trade

2011-01-12T11:10:00.005Z

I really need to go through all my stash and part with the things I have stitched or know now that I will never get around to stitching, in the hope that any funds I can raise will buy me a little more stash from my wish list that I will hopefully stitch in 2011 lol.
So I have made a start this morning and have just updated my For Sale/Trade page. You can see it by clicking on the tab at the top of the page. My email is at the bottom of the for sale page if there is anything you may be interested in. Some of these designs are now out of print. I will be putting the items on Ebay shortly if I get no interest. Pictures of everything can be found by googling the names.
Thanks for looking!

Not Much To Say, But Lots Of Pics

2011-01-06T13:33:00.006Z

I've been trying to work up the motivation to do a post for over a week now, to no avail. I'm also way behind with blog reading and commenting which is stressing me out, so if I haven't visited and commented on your blog recently please forgive me, I will try to get back up to date soon.
Unfortunately I've been in a real funk since between Xmas and the New Year, and I can't seem to snap out of it. Hubby isn't well and is off work sick and as he's not sleeping properly neither am I, so maybe it's that, or maybe it's the lack of my usual routine, not sure, but I just hope I can feel a little brighter very soon as it's awful feeling so down in the dumps.
Anyway, although I'm not feeling much like talking I thought I'd at least post some pics for you all to have a look at, to prove I've been stitching lol.
First up is a finish from ages back which I forgot to post. Waxing Moon's Spooky Greetings Bellpull. I still need to finish this into a bellpull for Halloween this year, but I think I have time don't you?Next up is Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler. I finished page 4 on this with just a few hours to spare on New Year's Eve, and will be starting page 5 soon hopefully.
Next is HAED QS Alisha by Hannah Lynn. I finally finished page 2 in December. Will be starting a new page soon.Final pic is of LHN Winter Whites which I've been doing as a SAL with Sally, Chris, Lesleyanne, Hazel and Claire. I know some of the girls have already finished theirs but I'll get there in the end.
And last but by no means least, I was a very lucky girl last month.
Firstly I won a giveaway on Carol's IStitch Blog of this lovely scissor fob. Next, just before Christmas I received a lovely RAK from Claire of HAED's gorgeous Milk & Cookies Stocking chart by Donna Gelsinger. I'd love to start this, but am trying to stick with my wips for now at least lol.Then on Christmas Day I was stunned to open this gorgeous gift from Sally. Sally tells me it's part of the LHN Peace design which was done for Unicef. Don't you just LOVE that pom pom trim? I need to get some very soon. Although I've thanked you all personally, please accept my apologies ladies for not posting my heartfelt thanks and the pics sooner on here.
Til next time, happy stitching....

Santa Is On His Way!

2010-12-24T15:28:00.002Z

Just a quick post as I've been meaning to update for a couple of weeks, but time seems to have run away with me somehow.
I have no progress pics to share yet I'm afraid. I have been stitching but again just haven't got around to taking photos. I've finished the page on HAED QS Alisha which I'm really happy about, and have made progress on the next page on my Personalised Sampler although don't think I'm going to get this page finished before the end of the year which I had hoped for. I'm also doing quite well with Winter Whites, although that definitely isn't going to be finished this year.
I can however show a pic of what I stitched for Sally's birthday earlier this month. It is a design from this year's JCS ornie issue and was my first attempt at a mini cushion using my sewing machine! Although I was scared making it up I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and Sally says she loves it so that's the main thing.Well, we are just about ready for christmas here. David is working today so Erin and I have been getting the house ready for our visitors tomorrow, whilst watching various christmassy films. David is bringing home a chinese takeaway for us tonight and that's when the festivities will really begin lol. Unfortunately he's also on call tomorrow so we have decided that we are having a buffet tomorrow when my family come so that if he's called in it won't ruin everything, and he can still eat when he gets back if need be. Then we are going to have our christmas dinner for just the three of us on Monday when we can enjoy it fully.
I'm afraid that I got way behind on blog reading and commenting recently and this week have just felt really overwhelmed so I have commented on very few this last few days. I'm sorry if your blog is one I have missed, but I have decided to cut myself some slack and am going to start afresh with blog reading after christmas.
I'd like to thank all of my blog readers and commentors for their friendship and kindness throughout the year, and for their enabling as well lol. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year filled with everything that they have wished for all year.

Christmas Stitching, Heaven..., And A Wonderful Gift

2010-12-08T16:54:00.004Z

I've been waiting to start the LHN Winter SAL that Sally and Chris organised for what seems like forever, so was really happy when the 1st December finally arrived (nothing to do with starting to open my yummy Cadbury's Santa Advent Calendar of course lol). I was so excited on starting Winter Whites that I went a bit crazy and ended up skipping allover the place, just to get as many colours going as I could and see how it looked, and I'm loving it so far.It was a real chore after my two nights stitching on it to more on and pick my personalised sampler back up at the weekend, and then when it was QS Alisha's turn on Monday I was still sulking and Winter Whites was still calling lol. However I do have update pics of both, although I'm afraid they're not great as all the snow we still have here seems to have sucked the colour out of them and they look quite harsh.I don't know if it's the fact that I'm loving Winter Whites so much, or that my rotation is getting a bit stale for me. I do know that part of the problem is I've been really tired this last week with both DH and DD being ill, and none of us seem to be getting a full night's sleep, so some nights I really don't feel like stitching but have picked it up because I've not wanted to miss a rotation night. I'm going to stick with it a little longer, but am thinking that I may need to tweak things and maybe say rather than have set nights for set things, do a couple of nights on each project, then move on, so it doesn't matter if I miss a night's stitching as long as I get two nights in.
And last but definitely not least, I was extremely lucky to win a giveaway on Andrea's blog for one of her beautifully stitched xmas ornaments. I didn't know what the ornie I was to receive was going to be, but when I opened this the day it arrived it was as if it had been chosen just for me. Two years ago we took DD to Lapland to see Santa early in December and on returning I stitched a Prairie School ornie for our tree as a reminder. Ever since then I've grown to love Prairie Schooler designs more and more and this one will be treasured and help us remember Lapland again (and Andrea confirmed that DD was right when she said the reindeer has to be Rudolph!). I hope Andrea doesn't mind that I used one of the pics of the ornie from her blog as it's much better than any I could take and shows the true colours.That's it from me for now, off to cook tea then once DD is in bed it's Winter Whites night for me again, and I can't wait!!! Thanks for all your visits and lovely comments, I truly appreciate each and every one.

Giveaway Winner!

2010-12-01T21:01:00.002Z

Happy 1st Day Of Advent everyone!
DD was up before the alarm this morning she was so anxious to open the first window in her Hello Kitty Advent Calendar lol. DH opened his Stig calendar as well and both proceeded to eat their cheap choc at 7am. Me being a good girl opened my Cadbury's (yummy choc) calendar and have left my cracker shaped choc on the side to have later when my evening choc craving hits.
So, time to announce the winner of my giveaway. I used a random number generator which gave me the number 2, and on looking at the comments the winner is....

JANE!!!!!

Congratulations Jane, can you please email me your full address, along with your favourite colours, and I will be sending you a surprise something in the next few months, hopefully sooner rather than later but definitely in the New Year.
And just before I go, I had a new start today, LHN Winter Whites for the LHN Winter SAL that I'm doing with Sally, Chris, Lesleyanne, Claire and Hazel. I've been wanting to start this for so long, and have had it kitted and ready to go for a couple of weeks. I almost started it yesterday as I've had a terrible couple of days with several crisis' around here and I really needed a pick me up, but I was good and waited til about 9.30am today lol. My attention span is obviously not great as I'm skipping about allover the place with it right now, playing with the colours and just getting a feel for it, but I'm loving it so far and think it's just what I needed. Will hopefully have a pic to show next post.

Let It Snow!!!

2010-11-27T13:53:00.003Z

Well, it already has here! We had about an inch of snow overnight which looks SO pretty, and we've had clear blue skies all day so far, a lovely crisp and bright day to lift the spirits a little.
Well, I know it's only been a few days since my last post, a miracle I know, but I've had the sewing machine out again this morning and finished finished Lizzie Kate's ABC Christmas! I don't know exactly what you'd call it, sort of a hanging pinkeep but not lol. I stitching the stitched piece and backing fabric together on three sides as if I was going to make a cushion, inserting ribbon for a hanger along the top side, then inserted a piece of mountboard covered in batting into the opening and stitched the final side up using ladder stitch. And for the perfect finishing touch I think I attached two little snowmen that I found in my stash to the ribbon. I am just so proud of myself with this. It isn't perfect, but I really do love the way it looks and I'm gaining confidence with the sewing machine all the time which I'm so happy about. I forgot to take a pic of the backing fabric I used, sorry, but it's red with snowmen in multicoloured outfits which I thought was a lovely match to the design.Finishing this up today has made me want to put our christmas decorations up, but we're waiting til next weekend so I'll have to settle for watching christmas films and admiring what's left of the snow while I stitch on my Personalised Sampler later and hopefully finish the page!
Don't forget to enter my giveaway by leaving a comment on my last post if you'd like to, I will be drawing a winner on the 1st!

A Sweet Gift And Overcoming A Phobia

2010-11-24T18:22:00.005Z

On Friday I received an email from Sally to let me know she'd put something in the post to me. So Saturday morning saw me accosting my postie as soon as I saw him coming down the drive (and he really isn't nice, so you can tell how excited I must have been lol). When I opened the package I was so touched to find this beautiful pincushion from Cherrywood Design Studios called Eat, Sleep, Stitch. Sally saw that I had this chart on my wish list so was so thoughtful to stitch one of the designs for me. I actually had a few tears I have to say as I'm struggling with feeling rather down at the moment and this was such a welcome surprise. Sally's stitching is so beautiful and this is my first ever beaded edge item, and it's perfect! I love the colours and have sat it by my side but can't bring myself to use it as a pincushion at the moment lol. So thank you again Sally, you are a wonderful friend/surrogate sis, and I will treasure this!After my early morning excitement I then went onto have THE best day in ages lol. Hubby and DD were both elsewhere so I had the house to myself, and I'd decided that Saturday would be the day I would finally get my sewing machine out and give it one last shot to get over my awful phobia of it. When I was at school I used to be great at sewing, even made some of my own clothes, but since then my phobia has grown and grown and I've been terrified of ruining my stitching by the machine running away with me or ripping the fabric or something, so it's just sat in the cupboard under the stairs. But on Saturday I got it out, had a good read of the instructions and figured out how to set it up. I found some old scraps of fabric and had a practice for a while (wanted to make sure I could actually sew a straight line lol) to check tension etc, then I was off! I was very nervous the whole time I have to say, but I did relax a little the more I got used to it, and in the end I had three finishes! Two are below and the other is for a gift so can't reveal it here for a little while yet. Sock Monkey is from this year's JCS magazine and I stitched it for DD who got a sock monkey from Santa last year and LOVES it. The M Designs Hope Tree I stitched a few years ago, but have just never got around to making up. I think the key for me now is to make sure that I get the machine out again regularly, if only to make up one item, so that the phobia can't grow again and hopefully I might get a bit more confident with it.I still have Lizzie Kate's ABC Christmas that I want to finish up before we put our decorations up on the 5th, so hopefully the machine will be out again in the next few days and I'll have another finish to show soon!
In and amongst all the excitement I have been stitching and even finished Waxing Moon's Spooky Greetings Bellpull, as well as making more progress on my Personalised Sampler and HAED QS Alisha, but I haven't got around to taking pics of those yet so they'll have to wait til my next post.
I've also now fully kitted up LHN Winter Whites for the LHN Winter SAL I'm starting with Sally, Chris, Lesleyanne, Claire and Hazel on 1st December. I cut and prepped the fabric yesterday and it took a lot of self control not to thread my shiny new needle and put in that first stitch! But I was a good girl and will wait til the 1st lol.
Finally, I know it's now well after the 14th which was my blogoversary and I now have 54 followers instead of the 50 I had when I last posted, but it's time for my giveaway! You were all very polite when I asked what you'd like to win in a giveaway and didn't make any silly demands of a whole set of DMC or anything, so it's going to be a surprise! If you'd like to be sent a surprise, which I hope you don't mind but will be in the New Year now as the Christmas chaos here is about to start, please leave me a comment on this post and I will draw a winner on the 1st December when it's time to start releasing those choccies from our advent calendars!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

2010-11-10T15:43:00.004Z

It's SO cold here today, just got back from collecting DD from school and as soon as I started walking down the road I was frozen, it's going to take me a while to thaw out I think lol. Mind you, I'll take nice blue skies, sun and cold like we've had today over the high winds and heavy rain of the last several days, I've felt so miserable with it and have just wanted to hibernate.
We had a busy weekend last weekend with it being Bonfire Night in the UK which meant a visit to the local Round Table bonfire and firework display on Saturday. I used to love to go as a child and it only seems to get better each year, and now Erin loves it as well. The local fire station also open up and do pie and peas, hot dogs etc beforehand to raise funds for charity and we love to make the most of that as well. Then we were invited to a belated 40th birthday party later on the Saturday night which was great fun, although I haven't had so much to drink in a LOT of years, and spent most of Sunday in bed dying lol.
But apart from the busy weekend I have been managing to keep stitching and am really pleased with my progress mostly.HAED QS Alisha now has another block of rows finished and is ready for me to start the next section down next week.Waxing Moon's Spooky Greetings Bellpull now has a witch on her broomstick flying across the moon, and I've started the tree in the graveyard below. Although I didn't want to stitch on this last week as I knew it was going to be black, black and more black for the witch I actually really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to getting it back out tonight for some more stitches. I'm really wanting to try to finish this in November before I start LHN Winter Whites for the December Winter SAL I'm doing with Sally, Chris, Lesleyanne and Claire, but I realised last week that I was starting to rush my stitching again and making myself too many deadlines, which lead to me losing my mojo altogether earlier in the year, so I've relaxed again and fingers crossed it will get finished, but if not it doesn't really matter.The only one which didn't get much attention was my Personalised Sampler this week as I usually stitch on this on Fri and Sat while Sally stitches on Shores. What you can see, a little more progress on the top border is what I managed to get done on Friday. I didn't get any stitching in on Saturday as we were out and then although I had planned to stitch on it instead on Sunday, that didn't happen lol. Hopefully this weekend will see better progress.
I noticed the other day that my blog has now reached 50 followers plus it is my blogoversary on the 14th November I think! So, I've been trying to decide on a contest. What would you like the chance to win? A chart or some threads or fabbie maybe? A surprise? Right now I'm struggling to decide so thought I'd throw it open to you to help me choose lol. Let me know what sort of thing you'd like the chance to win and I'll decide and post the contest when I next blog.

Wow, Has It Been That Long?

2010-11-02T14:25:00.004Z

I thought I was doing well with approx weekly posts, then I don't know what happened, didn't realise it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post, sorry (blush)! lol
But I'm pleased to say I do have progress to show on three of my wips, and even a happy dance!!!My Personalised Sampler seems to be really starting to take shape now and last time I stitched on it I finished page 2! I'm really hoping that if I can stitch about a page a month on this then I might actually have a BAP finish in about 18 months hehe.
I'm still loving stitching on my HAED Alisha QS. The colours are so bright and cheerful and I'm really happy with the way I'm stitching her now. I'd love to be able to finish this page before the end of the year, and again, I'm dreaming of a finish on her in about 18 months like PS lol.
Spooky is finally getting somewhere as well and I'm aiming to try to get this finished this month if at all possible before I start LHN Winter Whites for the winter SAL I'm doing with Sally, Chris, Lesleyanne and Claire. I spend 2 nights a week on this and the first night I never enjoy but the second I do for some reason, strange I know.
And finally my happy dance. Sock Monkey is finished!!!! If Erin hadn't loved this ornament so much it would have been binned long ago lol. I've found it SO boring to stitch for some reason and then had to frog some on Sun that I'd stitched right at the beginning. I thought I'd finish it Sunday, but actually ended up having to do more during the day yesterday and then spent all night on it last night before it was finally done. I've changed it from the model by using different colours for the hat as I wanted it to be more christmassy, and because of that I bought different mitten buttons as well. I also realised last night I couldn't remember how to do french knots (hate them with a passion lol) so after working it out and doing the two that had to be done, I decided against the ones on the background lol. I'm actually really pleased with how it's turned out though and Erin was so excited when she saw it this morning so it was worth it in the end. Not sure how I'm going to finish it just yet, but will come up with something and finish it along with ABC Christmas one day this month.
We went away in our caravan for a few days over half-term, but unfortunately Erin had been ill before we went and then DH and I came down with the same thing while we were away. It started as a sore throat and then turned into a head cold, followed by aching and then finally it seems to move down to the chest and leave you with a hacking cough and struggling to breathe. Lovely! So been feeling really sorry for myself this past few days. Just hoping that the worst is over and I'll start to feel better soon. I think Erin is on the mend now and isn't coughing much at all, but DH and I still have a way to go.
And finally for some really bad news... Sally and I were talking on MSN last week about our stash and spending etc, and I stupidly suggested we both go on the wagon for 3 months til 1st Feb so we can stitch some of our stash and save some money over xmas etc. And what's even worse, Sally agreed with me!!! So we are now firmly superglued onto the stash wagon and already I've had to make my wish list longer lol. Seriously though, it won't do me any harm and I have so many things I'd like to start in the next few months so it will be good not to add to that list as well.
Thanks so much to everyone who visits and takes the time to leave me a comment, it really brightens my day. I'm off now to go try to catch up on some blog reading and commenting myself before I start cooking tea. I am way behind with us being away and being ill, bit I'll catch up eventually.

Weekly (Almost) Update

2010-10-14T13:54:00.005Z

I don't seem to be able to think of exciting titles for my posts I'm afraid lol, so had to use something really obvious.
Have had a good stitching week again this week and pleased with the progress I've made on all my wips. I'm afraid it's going to be the same wips for you to look at for a while yet, so hope you don't get too bored. Hopefully the Sock Monkey ornament and then Spooky will be finished this year, but my Personalised Sampler and Alisha are here to stay I think lol.

I've been having thoughts of what I'd like to stitch in 2011 and although I have other wip's/ufo's that could do with some attention, at the moment I think I want to keep going with PS and Alisha while I'm enjoying them and then devote the rest of my time to ornaments and small to medium projects so I can have some finishes and maybe even finish a biggie next year. Saying that though, I'm also daydreaming of a new start for 1st Jan 2011. I would love to start another biggie, but almost all my wip's/ufo's are biggies, so I think it needs to be a small/medium which I have a hope of finishing one day lol, and if so then it needs to be one I've wanted to start for a while. Or maybe I could start something I've given a bit of thought to, a monthly ornament for 2011? Not just christmas ornaments, but more seasonal. What do you think?
I have carried on adding my stash to an inventory as well over the last week, and the more I add the more I think I could open my own shop lol. I REALLY shouldn't be buying anymore charts as I've enough for me and all of you to stitch for the rest of our lives without worry I think pmsl. But that still doesn't stop me wanting to order more. At the moment I've got the Kelmscott Tombstone Angel and Monogram Hornbook in my cart along with some fancy scissors and tweezers at Anita's Little Stitches, but I haven't pressed the place order button just yet. I've also seen the upcoming releases from CCN and Christmas Carols is absolutely gorgeous, one I really am going to have to get at some point. And then I saw some new Dinky Dyes scissors which are heart scissors and available in purple or hot pink, some of my favourite colours, and they both want to come home to live with me. See my problem? I keep thinking of placing a big order and then going on the wagon for a few years hehe, but I don't think it's going to happen so I'm just trying to be good one day at a time lol.
Til next time, happy stitching and stashing!

Loving This Stitching Lark

2010-10-05T12:19:00.004Z

I still can't believe how good it feels to have got my stitching mojo back. It went missing really about a year ago and no amount of searching for it helped. I kept reading the odd blog and checking out new releases at the various ONS', and even stitched a little bit, but it all felt like a chore for so long I actually thought that I'd never enjoy my stitching again. So this last few weeks I don't know what has changed, but suddenly my interest has perked up again and I'm really enjoying my stitching sessions. I'm loving the very loosely termed "rotation" I've set up for myself, seeing the progress I'm making each week on my wips and just generally being able to relax with needle and thread again. I've even started cataloging my stash this last few days so that I can actually look and see what I have and what I want to start in the not too distant future lol. I have to say that it's frightening seeing how much I have, and knowing that I'll never in a million years be able to stitch it all, but I'm not going to let myself worry about it (or stop buying more pmsl!), I'm just going to enjoy it.
So what have I been stitching on this last week?Nouveau Encore Designs Personised Sampler - Here is my progress up to yesterday. I'm now on page 2 and working on the top border. This came out again last night and I finished the border on the page and have made a start on the letter C.
Next up is HAED QS Alisha by Hannah Lynn Disney. I spent a couple of nights last week filling in some of the confetti that was left, then started the next bit going towards the right hand border. I was really pleased when I uploaded the pic off the camera today and compared it to last week's as I can really see some progress.
Waxing Moon's Spooky Greetings Bellpull came out last Fri and Sat which I'm SAL'ing on with Sally while she stitches on Shores. Friday I didn't really enjoy it as 2x2 seems so big to me nowadays, plus I wasn't at all well and had been up most of the night Thursday night feeling like death warmed up, but on Saturday I got into it more and enjoyed it. I think SAL'ing on this with Sally is going to be a really good thing as it's something I think that would probably get overlooked otherwise, whereas with two evenings a week on it I think I can maybe have it done pretty quickly.
And finally here is my new start from Sunday, the sock monkey ornament from this year's JCS Ornament Issue. Again this is 2x2 because of the mitten buttons it uses, and his body is stitched using 1 strand each of cream and dark brown (is it called tweeding?) which is a bit monotonous, but I took a break to stitch his happy red mouth and then went back to do a bit more body lol. I think with only one day a week on it it might take longer than I'd originally thought, so I put another 20 or so stitches in it again yesterday afternoon, and think I'll keep doing that every couple of days or so, concentrating on his body, so that won't seem too bad and will hopefully see him finished quicker.
Well I think that's it for today, I'm off to take my contact lenses out now, then I'm going to sync my mobile and ipod and then hopefully put those few stitches in on sock monkey before hubby brings DD home from school in an hour. Then tonight I'm looking forward to a long evening stitching more on PS.
Thank you so much to those who left comments on my last post after finishing ABC. It really cheers me up when I see I've had a comment and that other people are interested in what I'm stitching, and just makes me want to stitch all the more!
Til next time, happy Tuesday.

For Sale

2010-09-30T18:34:00.002Z

I've updated my For Sale & Wish List Blog, which you can find in the side bar on the right, to include some of the charts I've finished recently.
If you're interested in anything please leave me a comment or email me.

Back With Pics

2010-09-27T15:36:00.005Z

It's a dull and cold day here today so the pics aren't great, but I did promise proof that ABC Christmas is finished, and thought I should take update pics of the other things I've been stitching while I had the camera out.

LK ABC Christmas 1x2 on 40ct flax linen (I think lol) using CC

Here is my new start from a couple of weeks ago, Waxing Moon's Spooky Greetings Bellpull. I bought this as a kit (without threads) about 18months ago and have only just got around to starting it. I've subbed the recommended threads and just hope it will look ok. It's stitched 2x2 which is not my favourite stitching, but I had to follow the rules due to the linen banding. I have decided to put this in place of ABC and stitch on it on a Friday and Saturday with Sally in the hope that I might be able to finish it by the end of the year like Sally is aiming to do with Shores.
We have been kicking eachothers butts since we started and it's obviously worked as I finished ABC last night and she finished block 8 on Shores lol.

Next up is HAED QS Alisha. Not a lot more progress on this since the last pic, but I'm pleased to say I'm still enjoying stitching on her in the new style so hopefully I can finally start to get somewhere with her.

And finally is my personalised sampler by Nouveau Encore Designs. I'm loving this more and more as I stitch it, and it's actually coming out again tonight for a couple of night's attention. At first I was worried that the variagation in the silk would make it really hard to keep it flowing, but I'm finding that isn't really a problem at all which is great. Page 1 is now completely finished and I've moved right to start page 2.
Well I think that's it for today. Tomorrow I am excited to be going to meet Hazel for the first time for a coffee and a drool over some wool in a shop in Holmfirth. Hazel has got seriously into crochet and is wanting some new stash for her blankets. I've tried to make a start with crocheting myself but don't seem to be able to do it and instead just got frustrated with myself lol. So whilst it will be nice to look I think I am safe from spending, unless of course I find something in one of the other shops hehe.

It's Finished!

2010-09-26T20:50:00.003Z

Just had to come on and post that I finished Lizzie Kate's ABC Christmas about half an hour ago!!! My second finish of 2010 and it's only September lol.
I'll be back with a photo of it and progress on my other wips tomorrow hopefully, but for now I'm going to go do a happy dance!

Whoohoo, I Really Am Stitching!

2010-09-14T15:41:00.003Z

I've actually done more stitching since my last post and really enjoyed it as well which is a definite bonus lol.
Over the weekend I concentrated on LK's ABC Christmas and managed to finish another letter, so I've only got four to go and I'll be having a huge happy dance! I'm tempted to just focus on this now til it's finished, but I don't want to burn out on it so am going to stick with Friday and Saturday night's with Sally and I may carry on on a Sunday if I'm close to finishing a letter. One letter seems to take me two to three nights, so I'm actually hoping I might have it finished in another four weeks, and then I'm going to start the yearly christmas ornament for our tree, which I've decided will be the sock monkey from this year's JCS Ornament issue, when it arrives. DD got a sock monkey last year for christmas after seeing the film Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium which she loved, and as soon as she saw the ornament on the cover she asked if I'd stitch it as this year's ornament, so how could I refuse?Before the weekend and then last night I stitched on HAED QS Alisha (artwork by Hannah Disney) again. I've changed the way I'm stitching this slightly as I was finding it really frustrating, and it seems to be working so far so fingers crossed I can keep going with it.And finally the finish I promised last post! This is Just Nan's Winter Hearts Humbug. I stitched it using the called for fabric and threads and although I struggled to get into it to begin with I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and am looking forward to displaying it during the winter. I will be adding the chart to my for sale blog soon, but if you're interested just let me know.Tonight I have decided to pull out my Personalised Sampler which I haven't stitched on for a couple of months. It's lovely to stitch as there are no colour changes, but as I'm using a variagated silk floss I am having to tape bits of chart pages together so that I can keep the flow going in the design. I've got a few sections to do and then page 1 will be all finished and I can remove that page and move on. Hopefully I'll be back with an update on that soon!
Before I go I just wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last post very much, I really didn't think anyone would still be reading lol.

I'm Baaaaccckkkk!!!!

2010-09-04T14:16:00.002Z

I'm probably talking to myself now after so long being missing in action, but here goes lol.
It's been so long since my stitching mojo went awol that I really don't think it's ever going to find it's way home. So instead I just stitch a little when I get the urge, and put it down again when it goes. This year has been my worst stitching year ever so far, but I'm just glad that I haven't stopped completely and I still enjoy what stitching I do manage and can still drool over new releases.
Sally being such a good friend always humours and encourages me when I whine about the pitiful amount I stitch, and after thinking about it for a while I've decided that I'll try to start blogging again, even if it's only very short update posts, so I can try to get back into the blogging world, start commenting on other blogs again and maybe even get stitching a bit more.
So without further ado, here are some update pics!!!
LK ABC Christmas
I've finished another letter and am part way through the next since I took this pic. I'm hoping to finish it before Christmas if at all possible, so I'm happy to be joining Sally on a Fri and Sat night starting next week when she stitches on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow as she's trying to finish that this year as well.
Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler
I haven't stitched anymore since this pic, but I'm hoping to pick it up again soon.
HAED Moon Fantasy SK
Haven't stitched anymore on this either.
HAED Alisha QS
Have finished the row of blocks since this pic and started the next bit lower down. Stitched on it last night and really enjoyed it so will hopefully be doing more tonight.
I also have a finish to show! I know you don't believe me, but really I have, I just need to take a pic of it, I promise I'll do it for my next post.
And if anyone is still here and reading, thank you so much for not giving up on me completely lol.

More Progress With My Weight Loss Than Stitching

2010-04-05T18:13:00.003Z

Happy Easter everyone, hope you've all had a great weekend. Ours has been fairly quiet as DH has been on call for work so we've not been able to go far, but I have actually stitched a little which is progress lol.
I'm very pleased to say that my 61lbs loss I reported in my last post has now increased to 79lbs! I've now lost 5 dress sizes in 8 months and have been learning to run on the treadmill at the gym for the last couple of months, which is something I never thought I'd do. I've signed up for the Race For Life on the 3rd July so now need to start getting used to running outside on grass. I've tried it once and it was a major shock to the system, so going to use the same programme I've used to get me into treadmill running to start with the outside running and hope that works as well.
Stitching wise I seem to have startitis, but once I've actually started something I then lose all interest in it...
I have done a little more on my Personalised Sampler, as well as starting a new HAED in silks from HDF, QS Garnet, and Just Nan's Winter Hearts Humbug. I have decided that I no longer enjoy stitching with 2 strands of floss which Winter Hearts requires, so that is getting a few stitches here and there just so I can keep making progress, but I'm planning on as many new starts as possible being with just 1 strand in future. The Personalised Sampler has also just been getting a few stitches here and there. I've started a 10 stitches a day SAL sort of thing with JM from the HAED BB and Sally also joined in with one of her UFO's. So the humbug and PS get approx 10 stitches a day in on them, some days more, some none at all, but at least I can see progress is being made. HAED QS Garnet is lovely to stitch so far, the silks are gorgeous colours and just glide through the fabric. The picture doesn't do it justice at all, the colours blend much better than they look on the pic, but you get the idea.
And I have another three starts in the pipeline. Sampler Cove's Rhapsody in Red in HDF silks, Ink Circles Kaleidoscope in DMC, and a new design called Follow Your Heart which is winging it's way to me from France as we speak hopefully (will use HDF for this but not sure what colours yet). Not sure which will get started first, depends on my mood the next week or so I guess lol.
Thanks for looking and for continuing to read my blog, even though I'm useless at posting regularly.

I've Been Stitching!

2010-02-09T12:49:00.003Z

Again, it's been a long time since my last post, but I'm still here and although my updates may be few and far between I do still intend to keep up with my blog.

I had a nice surprise when I just looked at my last post which said that I'd lost 50lbs. A nice surprise because as of today I've now lost 61lbs, so another 11lbs since the start of the year, which I'm very happy with. I'm now in between clothing sizes again so all my clothes are looking a little baggy lol.

On the stitching front, my rotation came and went AGAIN! but the one great thing that January brought was the final realisation that my hobby had turned into a chore. I was so taken up with trying to get a rotation that worked and make sure that I stitched on all my WIP/UFO's that I had totally lost all enjoyment in my stitching. I felt guilty about everything that I wasn't stitching on, and felt I wasn't allowed to start new things because I hadn't finished others. I kept looking longingly at my huge stash collection, and just being frustrated because I couldn't let myself stitch on it, and so felt it was just being wasted.

So after a long chat with Sally one night, who was feeling a little the same as me, we made a pact to stop being so obsessive over our hobby, to start stitching on what projects we want, when we want, and to put away and ignore anything we've lost interest in. I realised my ufo's aren't hurting anyone, but forcing myself to stitch on them is, me, because it's taken my love of stitching away. And we also decided if we want new starts then we shall have them! lol

Since that night I feel like a totally different stitcher, almost like the person who started stitching about 15years ago. I've stitched some days, and not others, but when I have I've just enjoyed each stitch. In the past few weeks I've stitched on LK's ABC Christmas, HAED's Moon Fantasy SK (which I hadn't intended to stitch on, but called to me one day lol), L&L's Celtic Autumn and my January new start the Personalised Sampler I had designed for my family. I'm stitching this 1x1 on 25ct antique white lugana using Vikki Clayton Hand Dyed Fibers in BeWhined. I did start this on 1st January using different fabric and threads, but I didn't like how it was looking, so started it again on my birthday in this colourway and am much happier. Apologies for the shadows on the pics, but I wanted to take the chance to get some photos while the sun was out, which is a very rare sight at the moment lol.

Items For Sale

2010-01-28T17:53:00.004Z

I am starting to go through my large amount of stash as my tastes have changed and I have some items which I now know I'll never stitch. You can see a list of the items over on my For Sale Blog, in the left hand side of this page. I will be adding more as I go through more boxes lol.

The End Of A Year & Start Of Another

2009-12-30T16:38:00.004Z

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and got thoroughly spoilt, and were able to get some time to yourself to stitch, we had a lovely time.
This will be my last post before 2009 ends, and what a year it's been! I thought I'd take the time to write about what 2009 has meant for me, both in my personal life and with my stitching. It's going to be a LONG post so please feel free to skip to the stitchy bits if you wish lol.
This year I've adjusted to life as a stay at home mum and after what was a very anxious first few months it's turned out really well. We've had to change a lot of things and make sacrifices, but I can honestly say our little family is so much happier and healthier for me being at home. We have decided that as long as we can manage on DH's salary and as long as Erin still needs and wants me around all the time I'm going to stay home. It's so good not to have to worry about childcare in the school holidays, getting time off work when she's sick or attending school events with her, to name but a few.

As I didn't want my brain to go to mush however I've done two courses during the year, one which has lead to me doing what's called Reading Friends in Erin's school a couple of hours a week. I go into school and read one to one with a child for 10 weeks, and it's been shown in most cases to greatly improve a child's reading age and social skills. I really love doing this, it's great seeing each child improve with their reading and come out of their shell over the 10 weeks. This then lead me to helping out at various activities within school and then doing a course called Helping In Schools in the early summer which is the equivalent of an NVQ Teaching Assistant's course. I have to say the first few weeks were a nightmare. I really doubted that I could do the work as it was extremely hard going and required a lot of hours put into it, and spent many a tearful moment, but I promised myself I wouldn't quit and once I got over halfway it became easier just knowing the finish line was in sight. I'm really pleased to say that the result I got was the top level, Level 3, which is the same as an NVQ3! Since then I've also been volunteering in a Year 1 class at school one morning a week as a Teaching Assistant, which has been a real eye opener lol! I am now SO much more aware of things like equal opportunities and inclusion within school and how children of the same age differ so much in their academic abilities and social skills! My respect for teachers who have to deal with this has gone up massively. I don't know that I'd want to be a Teaching Assistant as a permanent job, but I feel I've really widened my horizons and gained so much experience this year.

On a health front, on 27th July DH and I took Erin swimming and while we were there I saw an offer for a gym membership trial. As some of you know I'm a big girl, have been for years and have lost and gained a few pounds here and there through all that time, but never really made any real progress and was actually at almost my highest weight. Anyway, I don't know what made me do it but that day I decided to give the trial a go and just see what happened. I planned on trying to go to the gym approx 3 times a week for the 6 week trial and to try to eat healthier during that time and see what happened. In that 6 weeks I lost almost a stone in weight! So while I was riding high on my success I took out a 12 month membership and since then I average 5/6 workouts a week including step classes, cardio, weight training and swimming, and I'm ecstatic to report that as of today I've lost 50lbs (3st 8lbs) in 5 months!!! As well as the gym I'm eating healthier than I have in years and enjoying it, not feeling permanently deprived like I used to on various diets, and my fitness and energy levels are sooo much better. I actually get restless and edgy when I can't go for my daily workout lol! I still have a long way to go, but this is the first year in many many years that I can get to New Year's Eve and not have to make a desparate resolution to lose weight in the new year, only to give up a couple of weeks later. I'm now confident that no matter how long it takes I'll reach my goal and more importantly, enjoy the journey as well. 2010 is looking very bright!

And finally onto stitching! Although 2009 hasn't been a great year for that, looking back I can sort of understand that, with everything else changing so much in my life, my stitching mojo was bound to get a bit of a hammering. I had a few months when I barely picked up a needle, but I'm really happy to say that this past month or so I've been stitching far more regularly and enjoying every minute which is the main thing. I ended up having 14 finishes, 2 of those large, and made a little progress on several wips. Most recently I stitching an xmas ornament for my friend Amy (no blog), a scissor fob for Sally for her birthday and an ornament for our tree on DH's orders lol.

The ornament is a freebie I found on the web somewhere, I'm sorry I can't give credit where it's due as I can't find it again now, but it was seeing several finishes of it on other blogs which made me want to stitch it in the first place. The scissor fob is from the Prairie Schooler Christmas Alphabet and the strawberry emery is an Anita's Little Stitches design called Joy.

This past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to stitch in 2010 and so began my rotation thoughts yet again lol. After much smoke coming out of my ears I think I have finally come up with something I'm really happy with.

1. Mon/Tue - Small/Medium - Lizzie Kate's ABC Christmas. Began this on 10th Dec and really enjoying it. It's my first time stitching 1x2 on 40ct and I love it!

2. Wed/Thur - HAED SAL with Sally - SK Moon Fantasy/Cabin In The Woods. Planning on stitching on MF 3 weeks each month and CITW the 4th. Have a vague hope I might actually finish MF in 2010!

3. Fri/Sat - BAP - Nouveau Encore Designs Personalised Sampler. When I realised that 2010 is the start of a new decade I decided I had to have a new start on 1st Jan and it had to be a special one, so this is it. I had it designed at the end of 2008, so I figure it's time I made a start on it. My fabric is prepared and on the qsnaps (25ct bone lugana) and I will be stitching it 1x1 with HDF Garnet which is mine and Erin's birthstone as well so I thought apt.

4. Sun - UFO Night with Sally - Celtic Autumn alternative colours. I'm afraid I have several ufo's yet can't part with them. I love them all, just don't want to stitch on them lol. So I decided to grit my teeth and stitch on them just one night a week and see if I can make any progress. Sally is very good and only has one ufo so I bullied (cajoled lol) her into joining me for a while.

I'm hoping to put a few more stitches into Moon Fantasy before the year ends, but I took pics of them all today so I could show you all where I'm at with them, and it will be good for me to look back with a starting point. There is of course no pic of the personalised sampler yet as it's just a blank piece of fabbie lol!

I think I'd better finish here for now as this has turned into a VERY long post, didn't realise I had so much to say and show lol. All that's left to say now is I hope that you have a very happy New Year and that 2010 is your best yet.

Not Very Good At This

2009-11-26T13:53:00.003Z

Stitching, blogging or blog reading and commenting, lately it seems...

For the past few months my stitching has been few and far between. When I have stitched I've enjoyed it, but although I have the urge to pick up a needle, most nights I'm just too tired or restless to actually do it. I've even considered deleting my blog altogether as I think all of my readers have probably given up on me now and decided I'm a lost cause, but I couldn't quite do it, so here I am again.

Added to that I've had gifts to stitch which I'm never very good at doing. As soon as something becomes an obligation it seems I run the other way lol. I love being able to give hand-stitched gifts to friends and family, it's just the actual sitting down and stitching that seems to be the problem! I also thought that this year I'd got away with not doing an ornament for our tree, but DH had other plans so I'm now in the middle of stitching that. We're putting our xmas decorations up a week today so I need to get my finger out and get it finished!

Anyway, here are pics of what I have done this last couple of months that I can show you. I have two gifts to show once they are received and opened, plus our xmas ornament, so will save those for next time. The two wips are both HAED's, Cabin In The Woods which is my nemesis and no doubt I'll still be stitching when I'm 90, and the freebie SK SAL Moon Fantasy. Slow progress on both of them, but progress all the same.

I've been looking back at what I have actually stitched over the year. So far I've got 13 finishes, with another finish to come when this ornament is done, so that will be 14 in 12 months, and only 2 of them are large. That has got to be the lowest number I've had in a LONG time, which makes me sad and annoyed with myself when I think of the amount of stash I have that goes untouched. I started off the year so well with 2 large finishes, but it's been downhill all the way since then. I really have to get myself back into a routine of stitching because I know that I love it when I do.

I'm considering at the moment trying a rotation again lol. I'm also considering what I'd like to stitch in 2010. Part of me is thinking of starting loads of new stuff and ignoring my already started projects lol, but the other part is actually thinking of making 2010 the year of the UFO like I've seen mentioned on a couple of blogs. I have 8 projects (5 of them HAED's) on the go which because they get so little attention really should all be classed as UFO's. However I think if I restricted myself to no new starts at all I'd be miserable, so I have to think of another way of making progress on my UFO's and still being able have some new starts. Any ideas? I'm considering picking one UFO to focus on mostly til it's finished and allowing myself one new start, with me using most of my stitching time on the UFO with a small amount on the new start. When the UFO is finished I'll choose another to focus on, and I can have another new start when the first is finished. Do you think that would work?

Well, I keep putting off stitching on this ornament but I really need to try to get it finished, so will finish waffling for now. If you are still reading my blog, thanks for sticking around!

I'm Still Alive!

2009-10-04T15:31:00.005Z

I know, it's been a LONG time since my last post, I'm sorry I disappeared without permission lol.

Unfortunately I hit a huge stitching slump which just does not seem to want to go away. I tried to not stitch at all for a few weeks to see if the need would come back but that didn't help, so instead I've been putting the odd few stitches into mainly small projects in the hope that eventually it will all click back into place. So far there isn't a great improvement but I do think that I'm starting to enjoy the little bit of stitching I am doing more so that's good.

Anyway, I thought I'd come on and liven up the blog a bit ready for halloween as we've put our decorations up at home today, and let you see what stitching I have done.

First up is a project I started for DD back in June, which I've only just finished (blush). She has been SO patient waiting for it, but I just couldn't get into it at all and had to force myself to stitch on it. Now I need to make it up so she can display it in her bedroom. Lets just hope she doesn't have to wait another 4 months for that lol.Next is a Pine Mountain pillow kit I bought when I visited The Nimble Thimble at Easter. Even though I'm in this slump I was determined to stitch this for halloween this year and luckily it was a quick stitch, only took me about 2 weeks rotfpml, can you tell I'm not stitching much?And finally is a very small update on my HAED Freebie SAL Moon Fantasy Storykeep. I really like this design, but at the moment HAED's are so much of a struggle for me, so the only way I can cope with them is to do say 100 stitches then put them away again. It's really frustrating because I love my HAED's and actually want to start more, but I know that right now it's just not practical. I've also put a few stitches into Cabin In The Woods, but not enough to warrant a new pic as yet.I've now started a xmas ornament that's to be a gift for a friend. I thought I'd better start early bearing in mind how long it's possible it's going to take me lol.

I'm in the process of sorting out some of the charts I've stitched and will be adding them to my For Sale/Trade page soon. They include the Princess Parade and Be Scarey charts, plus The Cat's Whiskers For My Friend Scissor Pocket I stitched a few months back, can't remember what else. If you're interested in any of these before I put them up just let me know.

Til next time, which hopefully will be very soon, happy stitching!

QS Alisha Page 1 HD

2009-07-28T13:18:00.004Z

Just a quick post to prove that I am still stitching, if slowly lol.

I finished the first page of my HAED Alisha QS on Sunday after having a full day of stitching which was heaven.

I'm now going make a start on the next page of Cabin In The Woods, as well as doing more on CCN's Princess Parade for DD.

HAED Wip Pics

2009-06-29T12:30:00.003Z

I've been stitching on my Alisha QS for the last few weeks, only managing a few stitches here and there, but she's slowly growing and I hope to finish page 1 before too long. I absolutely love the colours.

I also started the free Storykeep SAL on the HAED BB earlier in the month. I started Moon Fantasy and as you can see I've only done a tiny bit, but it's a start.

I've got 3 more weeks of the course to go and I can't wait til the lessons and placement are finished so I can relax a bit. I will still have my portfolio to put together before September when it needs to be handed in for moderation, but the pressure will be off to a big extent. Then I might be able to get more stitching time!

PIF's Sent & Received!

2009-06-23T16:04:00.004Z

Following on from my last post, I sent our my three PIF's early last week and then waited with baited breath for them to arrive at their new homes. One of them knew where it was going, but the other two were going on a magical mystery tour with their new home being a surprise.

Those of you who read my blog regularly may remember my sneaky post a while back asking for favourite colours etc, and it's that info that was used for my pif's lol.

Sally received the dark purple/red one, Karan received the autumn colours one and Claire received the dark pinky one. The multicoloured one in the pic I actually made for myself as I didn't want to part with any of them lol. They are all stitched with Vikki Clayton's silk, on 28ct 1 strand over 1 thread and I loved stitching them.

I included with each some floss tags and a skein of Carries Creations thread in their favourite colours, and I think from the responses that they were all pleased with their gifts.

I'm still doing my course, six weeks lessons down now, four more lessons to go, then putting together my portfolio over the summer holidays before it all has to be handed in for moderation in September. Been at my lesson today and been doing about how numeracy is taught, and my head hurts now lol. Got all my homework to do which I may start on tonight once Erin is in bed, but depends on whether my brain can handle anymore thinking by then lol.

Thanks to everyone who visits and takes the time to leave a comment, it is very much appreciated.

Finishing Frenzy

2009-06-14T20:02:00.004Z

I know it's been a long time again since my last post, I keep meaning to post but life is just so crazy right now I always seem to think about it when I'm too tired to even type lol.

I've been doing a course about helping in schools one day a week for the last 5 weeks, as well as volunteering at DD's school at least half a day each week, and added to that there is loads of homework from the course. To say the course isn't what I expected is an understatement, it is far more involved that I could ever imagine and I've been feeling really stressed about the homework and worrying I couldn't do it. But I've hit the halfway mark this week and the feedback from my homework has been great which has given me a boost to keep going. At the moment I'm just lurching from one week to the next as it's Mon - free day, Tue - course, Wed - school, Thur & Fri homework, Sat & Sun relief once homework is done and sent, then it starts all over again! lol The course itself finishes mid July although we have til the beginning of September to put our portfolio of work together and send it all in for moderation, but I'm trying really hard to keep up so that hopefully I'll be able to finish all my work sooner rather than later and I can give a huge sigh of relief.

Anyway, onto stitching, after all it's what this blog is supposed to be about lol. I've been stitching my PIF's for a while now on and off and finished the stitching on the last one a couple of weeks back (I stitched one for me as well as I wanted to keep all the ones I stitched lol). I've also stitched a gift for DD's teacher for the end of the year as she's been wonderful with her. So today when DD asked to have a craft afternoon I thought it the perfect time to get all the finishing done. Little did I know how long it was going to take me, 4 hours! I've only just finished tidying up, taking pics of them and then came on here to post and I'm exhausted lol. I know some people love kitting projects up and some love finishing things off, but me I just love the stitching lol.

So here is a pic of the teacher gift I did, LK's 2 Teach Is 2 Touch. DD asked her teacher what her favourite colours were without giving anything away, so it's done in pink, purple and blue. The star is metallic glissen gloss but you can't tell in the pic. I made it into a hanging pinkeep as I thought she might like to hang it in her classroom.
I can't show pics of the PIF's yet as I need to package them up and send them off this week, but as soon as I know they've arrived at their new homes I'll be sure to let you see them. One is going to Sally but the other two will be surprises to the recipients as Sally was the only person to sign up when I did my PIF. I've struggled to decide what to do about the other two and so have chosen two people who have read my blog for a long time, even when I haven't posted regularly, and often taken the time to leave me a quick comment. I hope they like their gift.

I have some other pics to show of my HAED stitching lately, and a little something else up my sleeve, so will be back soon hopefully. Hope you've all had a great weekend. Happy Stitching! x

Quick Update

2009-05-22T17:17:00.003Z

Thought I'd better post a couple of quick pics before you all assume I've closed my blog and stop visiting completely.

I've been dealing with a few things in my life recently which have got me really down, and when that happens I tend to retreat into myself and avoid people, which I know isn't good for me, but I can't help it.

Unfortunately my stitching is also suffering and I've lost my mojo. I have been doing some but have not stitched more days than I have and some days I've just stared at it for a while before putting it down again in disgust.

Anyway here is a pic of a gift I stitched a while back for a non-blogging friend in the US, who plays floss fairy for me regularly and sends me any US stitching mags I decide I have to have. It is The Cat's Whiskers/Dinky Dyes Collaboration "Friends" scissor pocket released earlier this year, stitched with the silk that came with the chart on 32ct antique white linen.

As well as working a little on my PIF's I've also put a few stitches into my HAED QS Alisha and thought I'd take a pic with the latest column finished.

I have no idea what I'll stitch on next, I seem to be stitching for the sake of it rather than things calling to me, so just taking it as it comes.

If I don't update again for a while, I am still around, I just don't have anything interesting to say or show. I'm sorry as well for not commenting on blogs for a while either, but please know that I do try to read them when I can.

Finished The Page!

2009-05-01T18:46:00.003Z

I was trying really hard to finish the page before the end of April, but with the way I've been feeling I just couldn't quite manage it. I did however finish it a little while ago so it's off the qsnaps, ironed and shown here in it's full glory. 22.2% done, loads more to go lol.

Now I need to decide what to do next, carry on with Cabin and start another page, or pull out one of my other wips and, if so, which. I think til I get some inspiration I'm going to spend a couple of days on my pif's...

Hope you all have a great weekend, and a long one for those of us in the UK.

Not Disappeared Totally

2009-04-26T15:05:00.003Z

I'm still here, just not feeling much like blogging or anything else for that matter recently. Going through a very down period and although I'm still stitching I don't seem to be able to get the joy out of it that I usually do.

But I thought I'd better add a couple of pics before you all think I've disappeared totally.

First of all is my update of Cabin In The Woods. I've done a tiny bit more since this pic and now have about 1200 stitches left to do to finish the page. I'm not sure whether I will start the next page once this is finished or move onto something else for a change. I'm struggling to decide as nothing is really calling at the moment so will see.

Next is an old finish that I finally made up into a cube type finish last weekend, only 2 years late. I finished this in Spring 2007 so it was about time it got to be displayed. It is Waxing Moon's Simply Spring and I have Summer, Autumn and Christmas in my stash still to stitch at some point.

I am way behind on my blog reading and commenting. I'm also aware I never interviewed Karan some time back for a position in the craft shop I'll be running in Helen's neighbourhood when construction is finished. I'm really sorry Karan, I haven't forgotten, but I will get around to it soon I promise.

Over the Easter weekend we went away in our caravan to North Wales and DH agreed to take me to The Nimble Thimble for a visit. I had a great time drooling over all her models and came back with some lovely additions to my stash. Once I'm feeling a bit brighter I'll take some pics and let you see what I got.

I was also lucky enough to win a giveaway on Bev's blog before Easter for The Trilogy's Easter Line Up and I said to celebrate my win I would in turn have a giveaway on here, so watch out soon for mine.

Thanks to everyone who stops by to read about my stitching even though I'm very lax at updating lately.

Please Humour Me

2009-04-06T16:14:00.004Z

I'm planning my next small project and have been trying to decide on floss colours etc, and it's making my head hurt lol.
This then lead to me avoiding trying to decide and wondering about all my blogging friends likes/dislikes etc. I know some of my friends favourites and we are very similar, and that made me wonder if we are friends because we like similar things, if it's just coincidence or if the things we like are generally popular.
So can you all please humour me and take a few seconds to leave me a comment with the following:-
1. Your favourite colour/s and why.
2. Your favourite season and why.
3. Your favourite floss brand and why.
4. Your favourite fabric/count and why.
5. Do you prefer bright or subtle colours.
If enough people respond and anyone's interested in the answers besides me I'll compile them and let you know the results.
Thanks!

My Garden Is In Full Bloom!

2009-03-31T15:11:00.003Z

I've been stitching like a mad woman the past few days in a desparate effort to finish last year's Papillon mystery SAL How Does Your Garden Grow before the end of the month, and last night I finished it!!!! Stitching on that last bead was SO satisfying. I love the effect as a whole, am very happy with the colours I chose and am pleased with myself for trying such a big piece with so many speciality stitches, but I won't be in a hurry to do another lol. I love my cross stitch and this has definitely been out of my comfort zone. The frog visited several times and I had issues with beads working themselves loose when I was using nylon beading thread. Only halfway through did I find Nymo which I now LOVE. Now comes the hard part and trying to turn it into a bellpull once I get some ends lol. I pestered Sally on msn earlier for hints and tips on how she finishes hers, and think I have a bit more of an idea what to do now, it's just plucking up the courage to actually do it. So watch this space...

I've also been working on my HAED Cabin In The Woods on a Wed and Thur evening as part of the SAL with Sally and Claire and also the Our Friends HAED SAL . Last Wed and Thur I spent a little more time on it than usual and I didn't want to put it away after Thur, so I'm hoping I'm getting into it a bit more again and can give it some more attention and see some good progress soon.

I've also made a start on one of my PIF's and think I might do more on that tonight. They aren't due til November, but I had an idea for them and want to see if it works out. As it's hopefully going to be for a gift I can't show a pic unfortunately.

So the first three months of 2009 have been very productive for me. Two BAP finishes and one small, and I'm feeling really motivated to finish as many more wips this year as possible and reduce that list a bit. I'm not sure what I'm going to focus on next though so I think for a little while until I do decide I'm going to spend more time on Cabin, and work on my pif's or other small gifts I need to do when I need a break from it.

Thanks to all who visit and especially those who take the time to leave me a comment, it makes my day to know my stitching interests others.

Getting There!

2009-03-17T15:28:00.003Z

Time has run away with me again and I realised it's over 2 weeks since my last post.

We've been decorating our hall and stairs in that time, well I should say DH has and I've been trying to stay out of his way so we don't end up coming to blows lol. I must say he's done a brilliant job and we are just waiting for the carpet to be fitted now, which is being done tomorrow. I love the smell of new carpet, am I strange? No, don't answer that lol.

On the stitching front I pulled out the Papillon mystery sal from last year, How Does Your Garden Grow. When I last stitched on this I'd just finished part 5, and I'm now stitching part 10! I took this pic after finishing part 9 at the weekend. Parts 6-9 seem to have stitched up very quickly, but these last few ones seem quite a bit more involved with lots of new stitches, so I'm thinking it's going to go slower now to the end.

I also picked up Cabin for a couple of days and did a tiny bit on it. The last time I worked on it it didn't go well and I ended up frustrated and with a headache which put me off, so I decided I needed to try again and see if it needed to go away for a while. I'm pleased to say it went okay this time and although I didn't manage much I enjoyed what I did, so I think it will be coming out again tomorrow for the sal with Sally and Claire and I might carry on with it for the HAED blog sal on Thursday. I'll post an update pic of it next time.

And talking of SAL's, I'm starting another at Easter hopefully, and another HAED one at that lol. Last week Claire rak'd me with the gorgeous QS Rae by Hannah Disney. I just love her colours, so bright and cheerful, so made a deal with myself that if I can finish HDYGG by Easter I'm going to start her. So then I decided I needed company and had to corrupt some other stitching friends lol. I think I've convinced Claire and Sally to join with Jasmine Beckett-Griffiths' TT Purple Dragon and Dawn with Molly Harrison's Pink. We're not doing anything structured, just using it as an excuse for a new start really lol. I know I need another HAED wip like a hole in the head, but hey, who cares!

Til next time, hope the stitching bug keeps spreading! x

Another Finish, An Award & My Interview

2009-03-02T14:02:00.003Z

First of all I want to thank everyone who left lovely comments on my Cirque finish last week. I had a record number of comments which really made me feel glad that I keep blogging, even though I don't do it as often as I'd like to ideally. It's been wonderful recently to see more readers and commentors and makes it all worthwhile so thanks again, I hope to see many more of you pop by and say hello in the future.

The Cirque chart and remaining HDF silks have both been sold now, thanks for the interest.

So it seems that you all like to see finishes, and I aim to please! Over the weekend I finished my Country Cottage Needleworks/Crescent Colours Thread Pack "Cottage Garden" which has been my travel project since January. I tried working on Cabin for a couple of days after finishing Cirque but ended up with an awful headache and feeling frustrated, so decided to try Cottage Garden and loved every minute.

The fabric is Jayne's Attic "August" from 2007 I think and just made the colours pop when I did the floss toss. I don't yet know how I'm going to finish it, am considering trying my first mattress pincushion, but am a bit scared to try it, so we'll see. I'll be putting the gently used chart up for sale/trade on my Wish List & For Sale Items Blog which you can see in my sidebar after I've finished this post if you're interested.

Next, a couple of weeks ago Sally gave me an award on her blog.

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with.

I love all the blogs I read so this is difficult for me, but I will try. If your blog is not listed please do not think I do not love your blog, I wish I could nominate you all.
Chris

Next up Helen was interviewed recently and asked if anyone would like to be interviewed by her in turn. I have to reply to her 5 questions and then ask if anyone would like to be interviewed by me. Please leave me a comment if you would like to be interviewed. Here are Helen's questions.

1. How long have you been stitching and what got you started?

I've been stitching 13 years now. I started stitching after getting together with DH and going to visit his mum for the first time. She was a cross stitcher at the time and it intrigued me. So off I went and bought a magazine with one of the freebie kits on the front and I was hooked lol.

2. Have you got a favourite designer and if so what is it that appeals about his or her designs?

I don't have one favourite designer, but I do tend to lean towards a few like LHN, CCN, Just Nan, Drawn Thread and HAED.

3. Do you do any other crafts apart from cross stitch?

I did try card making and scrapbooking and for a while, but they've now fallen by the wayside and I'm left with drawers full of tools that are unused as my stitching addiction has decided it won't share me lol.

4. If you could choose to own a whole set of any kind of thread what would it be and why?

It would have to be HDF or Crescent Colours. I love stitching in HDF silks and I adore the colours of CC threads with their subtle variagations.

5. Is there any stitching skill that you do not have and would love to learn?

I've tried hardanger and loved it and would like to do more in future. At the moment I'm wanting to try needlepoint and have a small Sue Hawkins kit in my stash ready. I really would love to learn to use my sewing machine with confidence though so I could expand my choice of finishes.

Helen also let me know recently that my offer to run the Craft Shop in her Village had been accepted! I'm so excited as I've always wanted my own craft shop. I understand that Karan would like to work in the shop so if you're reading this and would like an interview please let me know.

And finally here is a pic of something I bought on a trip to Liverpool last month. I've been looking for something for ages to display my tucks and hanging ornaments etc, and when I saw this I just had to have it. I need to stitch lots of for it as you can see, and eventually would like to make it a seasonal tree, but think it will be a while.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and you don't have any visits from the pesky frogs. I'm back stitching on the Papillon mystery from last year, How Does Your Garden Grow, so will have an update on that next time.

I Did It, I Did It, I Did It!!!

2009-02-22T15:45:00.003Z

I finally finished Cirque Des Cercles about half an hour ago! Please excuse the creases, I'll try to get a better pic another day once it's ironed.

I started this on the 20th June 2007, took over 18 months to stitch the first 3 pages, and then stitched the last 3 in just 2 months lol. I am so proud of myself for having a BAP finish after so long, my last one was HAED Tomboy QS about this time last year I think.

It is stitched 1x2 on 32ct antique white I think, using HDF's discontinued Caribbean Splash in premium. I love the colour of this floss, but I don't think I'll be stitching anything else with it after this lol.

I will be putting the chart up for trade/sale shortly, along with the 4 full skeins of silk. If anyone is interested in either please holler.

I've still to do my interview for Helen and post pics of Cottage Garden and my recent purchase, but my eyes are tired after all this stitching today, so calling it a day for now.

Thanks so much to all those who read my blog and take the time to leave me wonderful comments. I've noticed some new readers/commentors recently, so welcome to all my new stitching friends.

I See The Moon!

2009-02-15T11:00:00.003Z

As the title suggests, I've finally seen the moon! On my HAED Cabin In The Woods that is lol. I've been stitching on this every Wednesday with Sally in our SAL but sort of got the bug last week and decided I wanted to get to the bottom of the page with the columns I was stitching. So I kept going and the result is I can finally see the moon which is another landmark for me. I don't think I could stitch on a HAED all the time because I have to really concentrate and they just don't grow quick enough for me lol, but I do love them and am thinking of adding another day to work on it as well as Wed so I can get a bit more progress.

Not sure this will happen just yet though as I have other fish to fry for the next couple of weeks at least, my last page on Cirque!!! I finished page 5 last weekend I think it was and I am SO excited to be on the final lap with this. It's going back on the qsnaps later today and I'm going to try really hard to finish it this month. Not sure if that's going to be possible, but just knowing I'm on the last page feels so good, to be so close to a BAP HD!

I've stitched a bit more on Cottage Garden as well but forgot to take a pic of that so you'll have to wait til next time. I've been thinking that when I finish Cirque, as well as adding an extra day in for Cabin, I'm going to give my small/travel project a day as well rather than just when I'm out and about and waiting around. I have so many smalls I want to do and if I leave them just as travel projects they'll never get done, whereas if I spend a full day a week it should speed things up a little. Again this may need tinkering with but will see how it goes first.Helen emailed me before she went on holiday to let me know I'd been selected for an interview and sending me my questions. I will answer those in my next update as I have too many pics to show this time but she also asked to see Erin's first real attempt at cross stitch, using the kits we got her for her birthday. The first part of the set the outline is printed onto the aida and she definitely seemed to get the hang of it that way. She made me laugh as it's wool you use for the first two parts of the set and she wasn't too happy as she said she wanted to use floss like mummy, but she was pleased that she got to use a "proper" needle and not just a plastic one lol. So here is her elephant so far.

I have another pic to show of something I got when we went to Liverpool to visit BIL last week, but I think I've waffled on for long enough so will save that to show when I have my interview. Please wish me luck, I haven't had an interview in over 7 years lol!

Hope you're all having a lovely Valentine's weekend, whether you celebrate it or not. DH, Erin and I exchanged cards and then had a nice meal at home last night with candles, pink sparkling wine (pink juice for Erin lol) and we all dressed as if we were going out for dinner with a film afterwards. Erin thought the whole thing was wonderful and was so excited, so I think we may have started a new family tradition.

Stitching In The Snow

2009-02-05T12:49:00.003Z

Well, yet again I let time run away with me and it's been 2 weeks since my last update. I seriously thought when I got made redundant that I'd have more time on my hands to be able to get all my daily chores done plus do the things I like, like stitching and blogging, but it doesn't seem to be working out that way lol, I seem busier than ever before!

Then this week most of the UK got hit by lots of snow and so DD's school has been closed 3 days out of 4 and my routine has been totally shot to pieces. School was open yesterday so luckily I managed to run around like a mad woman and get lots done, because it's closed again today and I'm just about to give DD a cross stitch lesson with a kit she got for her birthday last week. Below are a couple of pics of the snow on Monday taken in our conservatory, but we've had more since then and it's showing no signs of going for now.

Whilst all this has been going on I have at least been doing some stitching and I have pics of Cirque, Cabin and my travel project, the Cottage Garden thread pack. I am getting close to finishing my 5th page on Cirque and am getting so excited that I will have a BAP happy dance soon! I'm really really going to try hard to finish this in February but I don't know if it's going to be possible. Cabin is only being worked on on a Wednesday evening at the moment and I don't have a pic of it after last night but I really enjoyed stitching on it yesterday. I am tempted to stitch more on it today, but my Cirque goal is in my head so we'll see what ends up in my hands later lol. Cottage Garden only gets a few minutes here and there when I'm in the car either being driven somewhere by DH or waiting places for him or DD, but it's a pleasure to stitch. Once Cirque is done I'm considering spending one day a week on my small project so that it stitches up a bit quicker, but we'll see.

I do keep trying to catch up on all your blogs and comment, but I don't seem to be getting very far for some reason lol. I know how much I appreciate getting comments on here so I really am going to start trying to set aside some time each week to read and comment. You are all as always an inspiration to me with your beautiful stitching and finishing.

Cirque & Cabin Progress

2009-01-21T15:35:00.005Z

First of all I'd like to thank all those who took the time to comment on my last post about Erin's school. I'm pleased to say that after speaking to her teacher for the third time last Monday Erin did come home with a new book on Wednesday. I am now keeping a record of when she brings things home and takes them back so if something does disappear from her bag I know when it was and have records etc to refer back to. I'm just hoping it won't happen again.

Anyway, finally I have some stitching updates and pics to show! Last year although I did stitch and had some finishes, it wasn't anything like as much as the year before and I have to say I was disappointed with myself. I tried rotating several times without much success and got very frustrated that I didn't seem to be making much progress on anything. So this year I decided to try to change things a little and see if there was a way to get the progress I craved. So since the New Year I have been more or less stitching solely on Cirque, with one day a week on HAED Cabin In The Woods, as Sally and I have started our own HAED SAL on a Wednesday, which I think Claire is also now going to join us on. I've also started one of the CCN/CC thread packs called Cottage Garden which is in my handbag as my travel project. And I have to say that so far it's working really well! Last week I finished my 4th page of Cirque which takes me to 2/3 done and I have started my 5th page and can really see that I will finish it pretty soon if I can keep going like this. And because Cabin is quite hard going on the eyes it's good to just do one day on it then be able to move on, but still know that I'm making regular progress on it. It's also surprising how much I'm managing on my travel project in a few minutes here and there while I'm waiting in the car or travelling etc. So anyway, without further ado here are the pics!
4 pages out of 6 done!
The start of the next page!

4 full pages done
Starting another page

And finally last Friday was my Birthday! I have decided to go backwards as of this year so I'm 34 now hehe. I received some great stash from DH and Erin, but I knew what it was as I ordered it myself as he failed miserably at christmas lol. Sally sent me a card and gorgeous stitched floss ring tag along with a skein of Crescent Colours, and Claire sent me a card and a lovely set of marking pins. I know I've thanked you both already but just wanted to say it again, thanks for thinking of me and your kindness (hugs). I also got other things which I won't bore you with and DH managed to get the afternoon off work so we had a lovely afternoon together and went out for a meal at my favourite mexican restaurant in the evening as Erin was at my mum's.

Well, I'd better get off here now. Tonight is Cabin and I'm hoping to get stuck into it once Erin is in bed. Hope you're all having a good stitching week and managing to stay warm in this really wintry weather we're having. Thanks so much to those who still visit and take the time to comment even though my updates have been few and far between recently, I really appreciate it and I promise I will try harder.

Soooo Angry - Need Advice Please

2009-01-09T23:20:00.002Z

DD goes to our local school and is doing very well there. The school itself isn’t high in the league tables and has struggled in the last few years although it is improving, and to be honest we didn’t want her to go there in the first place. But that’s how it turned out and we’ve made the best of it, and as long as she is happy and doing well we are fine with that.
School send home a spelling book with spellings to learn each week, a reading book and a diary that we as parents have to fill in after we’ve read the book with her, and a library book of her choice. The reading book and diary are in one clear bag with her name on and the library book another. She then has a school bag which we always keep both of those bags inside, along with her spelling book and any other bits and pieces.
Everyday after school I check her bag for letters etc, new books and homework. If we take anything out it always goes straight back in as soon as we’ve finished with it.
Before the Christmas break her reading book bag and library book bag disappeared from her main school bag and DD said they had all been collected in by school. Which leads me to this week and her return to school. I’ve been asking her each day what they’ve been doing as no new books have appeared in her bag. Fast forward to yesterday and she came out of school with a label stuck to her t-shirt saying “please send me back with my reading book”!!!!! I immediately went to her teacher and said that we had returned all her books etc before Christmas. She responded by saying “well it isn’t in the classroom so will you please check”. I know 100% that we returned that book, but I said I would check and came home and checked in her bedroom and where she keeps her bag just to make doubly sure.
When I took DD to school this morning I went to see her teacher again and said that I had checked and was certain the book had been returned to school before Christmas. Her teacher again said it wasn’t in the classroom so “there must be a gremlin taking things”. I didn’t expect to hear anymore, but this evening DD has told DH that everyone got their reading books and diaries back today but she didn’t get hers “because it’s not been returned to school”!!!
I am absolutely livid and even more so that it’s Friday night and there is nothing I can do til Monday morning. I know from the school newsletters etc that a lot of parents don’t return books when they should so I understand the school’s point of view, but DD has been there for 18 months now and I have never failed to return books etc on time. I KNOW those books were returned to school, but DD is being punished for something she hasn’t done and is missing out on learning as well.
Before Christmas she was off one Monday when we got back from Lapland and so on the Tuesday I sent her to school with lunch money for 4 days in her usual bright orange envelope. That evening on checking her bag I found a note from school chasing us for her lunch money, which was in her school bag when they put that note in...... See the organisation that is obviously in place there, not?
So what do we do? DH says I should speak to her teacher on Monday morning and say that we know we returned the book to school but appreciate they say it isn’t in school, and that our main concern is DD gets a book so doesn’t miss out on learning and we want to know what can be done to make sure that happens immediately.
I want heads to roll for DD being singled out when she has done nothing wrong, but I think I will try DH’s suggestion first but if I don’t get a satisfactory result quickly I’m going to take it further with the headmistress.
Any advice would be very appreciated as I feel like this is out of my control. I don’t want to make relations between us and her teacher difficult, but I’m not prepared for her education to suffer.

Happy Belated New Year!

2009-01-08T17:18:00.004Z

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted, don't know where on earth that time has gone, and so much has happened.

First of all mid-December we went to Lapland and had an absolutely amazing time. I've added a few photos below but don't want to bore you all with loads. If anyone does want to see more please let me know and I'll point you in the direction of my photobucket album.
Family Fun In The Snow
Husky Sleigh Ride
Snow Angel

When we returned things were manic with christmas and me finishing work coming up so I didn't get much stitching done at all, but I did manage to finish the Prairie Schooler Snowy Cabin ornament from this years JCS Ornament Mag. Now silly Lisa didn't remember to take a close up pic of it before the christmas decs went away, so you're going to have to make do with a pic of our whole tree after santa's visit lol. If you look just to the right of the centre where there is a snowman ornament you can hopefully see it lol.

Then at Christmas I officially finished work and became a stay at home mum. Although financially things are now very different, so far this is the best thing that could have happened for our family. The number of people who have commented on how well I look and how relaxed I am is silly, DH constantly has a smile on his face because I'm not permanently in tears and dreading work and therefore taking it out on them, and Erin thinks it's better than all her christmases put together. I've signed up to volunteer at Erin's school a couple of hours a week, I start one part-time course next week and another the week after and I am so excited about doing something new. Of course I'm still looking for a job in the hope I can find something suitable during school hours, but in the meantime I'm just enjoying being home and having the opportunity to learn new things and get more involved with Erin's schooling.

Stitching wise I have nothing else to show as yet. I decided at the end of last year that I really want to just concentrate on my HAED Cabin In The Woods, Cirque and last year's Papillon mystery HDYGG for a while and see if I can actually finish Cirque or HDYGG before I start anything else (other than small projects). I pulled out Cirque at New Year and so far I've been stitching solely on it. I've finished half of my 4th page and for now am just keeping going with it until I get bored, at which point I'll move onto Cabin or HDYGG for a while. Saying that, I am planning on a small new start on my Birthday next week lol. I like to have a small project in my bag for if I'm out and about and have a spare 5 mins or so to stitch at anytime, and don't have one on the go at the moment, so I'm allowing myself a guilt free new start with Country Cottage/Crescent Colours Cottage Garden thread pack to look forward to spring!

Well, I think I've waffled enough for now. I promise to try to update again before another month goes by, but my next job is to start catching up on all your blogs!

Bye for now, Happy Stitching!

It's Christmas!

2008-12-03T18:58:00.004Z

First of all I want to thank everyone for their wonderful supportive comments on my blog and emails after my last post. Although I still can't quite believe it is happening, I am slowly coming around to the idea that in the end my redundancy might be for the best. Two major things I have noticed in the last couple of weeks are that I am not comfort eating anything like as much as I was, and I'm not getting horrendous indigestion everyday, so I think that could be trying to tell me something. I am still going to be sad to leave my job in a way (I'm now leaving on the 19th, not the 23rd), but I am looking forward to having some time at home to get myself together and decide what I want to do next.

Anyway, onto what this blog is supposed to be about, stitching, and some pics to show!

Firstly Amy received the ornament I stitched for her in the private exchange we did, and I received the most gorgeous ornament in return which is taking pride of place on my tree already.

Next up I've been in a stitched stocking exchange on the Tranquil Stitches BB and I've received my stocking and my partner has hers!

I've just finished off the last of my gift stitching and that will be going in the mail tomorrow, and then I can hopefully get back to stitching the ornament for our tree.

We go to Lapland a week today and I'm like a little kid at christmas with excitement! I'm also panicking trying to make sure we don't forget anything important, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't worry about something lol.

So if I don't get chance to post again before we go, I hope you're all enjoying the build up to this special season, staying warm and cosy in this cold and snowy weather, and still fitting in lots of stitching. Hugs.

Shellshocked

2008-11-18T15:17:00.003Z

Well after a lovely long weekend off I went back to work this morning and was only there for half an hour before being called to a meeting with my senior partner and the HR Manager.
I've been given my notice of redundancy and finish work officially on the 23rd December....
Although it isn't unexpected I'm in shock right now and can't quite believe it. I have had a few tears when speaking to DH and my mum on the phone, although Erin's reaction and happiness that she will see more of mummy did make me feel a little better.
I know we will be able to survive on DH's salary, but it is obviously going to mean big changes to our lives and spending habits from now on, I just hope we can rise to the challenge as a family and maybe even turn a bad situation into a better future for us.

Yummm, Gingerbread!

2008-11-16T16:04:00.003Z

It's 16th November and I'm already in the christmas spirit for some strange reason lol. Maybe it's the fact I've been doing christmas stitching for the past week or so, not sure, but not complaining as it's definitely lifting my spirits which has been sorely needed lately.

First of all I stitched an ornament for Amy (no blog) for a private exchange we're doing. I finished it into an ornament the other night and Erin doesn't want me to send it off as she says she wants it for our tree lol. Can't show a pic just yet as Amy sometimes reads my blog, but promise to post one when she's received it.

Then I stitched a small piece for a stitchers stocking exchange on the Tranquil Stitches BB. I know a few of the members of the BB may read my blog now and again so that's another pic I can't show yet, but the clue is in my post title. I had thought of posting a pic as no-one would know if they were getting it, but seeing as I've added my partner's name to the piece I've had second thoughts. Erin then decided she wants to keep this as well as you can put sweets in the stocking lol.

And then today I got Erin set up in the conservatory this morning with lots of bits to make christmas cards. This led me to thinking, I should take the chance to finish finish something from my stitched drawer. And because my head was full of gingerbread I couldn't resist making this up into a large pinkeep. I used a green/red/gold fabric to back it, red ribbon and then pins in different colours as used in the design and I just love how it's turned out. The ornament and stocking will be packaged up and sent on their way in the next few days, but I'm not parting with this, and it's staying up til the rest of the decorations join it in early December!

Tonight I'm going to start an ornament for our tree. It's the Prairie Schooler "Snowy Night" design from this year's JCS Ornament mag, and makes me think immediately of Lapland where we're going in exactly 24 days!!!!! We have had this booked for SO long we thought it would never arrive and with everything going on at work etc it's going to be so wonderful to get away as a family and for DH and I to go back to being kids for a few days and forget about everything. Erin still doesn't know and we're trying to keep it that way until the day we leave, but it's getting harder by the day as DH and I are so excited we keep nearly letting the cat out of the bag!

And just to make me even happier, tomorrow is my first Monday off work (yay!). I have big plans of reorganising Erin's bedroom while she's at school, in plenty of time for santa to make his visit and deposit piles more toys than she already has lol.

Thanks to all my lovely visitors and commentors on my last post, hope you're having a wonderful weekend and are stitching up a storm.

Go Check Out Chiloe's Giveaway

2008-11-12T21:34:00.002Z

Chiloe is running a great giveaway on her blog to celebrate her 600th post. Go check it out and say hello whilst you're there!

Finally I Have Pics!

2008-11-09T15:34:00.005Z

I've been working on my HAED Cabin In The Woods for the last couple of weeks and finally today finished page 12 which is my 4th page! I think I'm approx 17-18% done with this now which doesn't sound too bad, but when I look at the huge piece of fabric it seems like I've hardly done any! But it is wonderful to finally be seeing the cabin appearing before my eyes.

And as promised here is a pic of part 5 of the Papillon mystery which I finished a couple of weeks ago.

Next up I want to try to finish off an xmas ornament I'm stitching for a private exchange I'm in, not sure how it will go because of the shape but will see. I also have a little stocking on the way to stitch up for another exchange I'm taking part in and I want to stitch an ornament for our tree, so it's going to be xmas stitching for a while to come for me, but I'm looking forward to it.

Now onto my PIF, I have to say I'm disappointed that no-one has signed up for it, just hoping everyone doesn't think that my stitching is that bad... I'm going to contact Hazel to see if she wants me to drop out of her PIF but if she does think it's ok for me to still take part I guess I will do some randon PIF's instead for people who I think might appreciate it.

That's it for today, happy stitching everyone!

PIF!!!

2008-11-02T17:16:00.002Z

I've just found out I've been very lucky and have been chosen to participate in Hazel's PIF (pay it forward). This is my first PIF so I'm very excited, I just love the meaning behind it.
So now I am offering the same thing on my blog. If you would like to receive something handmade by me within the next 365 days, please comment on this post to say that you are interested. I will then ask Erin to draw 3 names on Sunday 9 November. If you are one of the chosen three then in return, please post the same offer on your blog. This is a simple and a lovely way of spreading joy in the stitching world and I hope that you will want to take part! This PIF is open for everyone!

Life & Stitching

2008-10-27T16:37:00.003Z

Last week at work we were all waiting with baited breath to hear news as to whether the reduced hours would save our jobs for the time being or if some of us would be getting redunancy notices. This meant I wasn't exactly in the mood for stitching on a night, just couldn't concentrate, so after finishing part 5 of the Papillon mystery I put my stitching way (no pic I'm afraid yet).
One thing I did decide after sending Karan her prize from my contest was that I miss being in exchanges and sending my friends stitched items and gifts. I haven't taken part in any since early this year when I hit a slump and was scared I couldn't keep up with them, so I've joined a little xmas stocking exchange on the Tranquil Stitches BB and am also doing a private xmas ornament exchange with one of my stitching friends in the USA. I so love to see what people receive in exchanges on their blogs, and often wonder about the exchange boards they are on as I've never come across them myself. Does anyone know, are these sort of things invite only generally? I don't want to commit myself to lots of exchanges again just yet, but will see how the 2 I've signed up for go and take it from there. All I know right now is that I'm excited to be exchanging again.
And talking of the private xmas ornament exchange, I've finished the stitching for that today after only starting it yesterday! I decided I felt like some xmas stitching but it took me a few days to find the right ornament and kit it up as I always procrastinate that lol. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, now I just need to decide how to finish it into an ornament. No pic of that either I'm afraid and it will be a good while before it can be revealed as my exchange partner reads my blog.
I've also been thinking more about joining in the UFO night on the Stitch & Stash BB again. Julie does a stirling job along with Mr Stick in beating people until they stitch on their UFO's, erm I mean encouraging them lol, and while I'm being a bit flaky about my stitching right now in general I think that if I can at least put in one evening a week on a UFO I might feel like I'm making progress on something. Going to give it more thought, but it's seeming like a good idea right now.
And back to work, finally late Friday afternoon we had an email saying that the reduced hours had been passed, and asking us to decide which day we want to take off each week, starting 17th Nov for approx 6 months. I've chosen Monday's as it will mean a longer weekend for me, and after the worry of thinking we were going to be out of a job altogether the reduced hours are a welcome alternative. I've decided to make the most of it while it lasts, the reduced money isn't ideal, but the extra time at home will be wonderful, especially in the run up to xmas, and hopefully overall it will mean more stitching time as well lol.
Well, enough of me waffling, seem to have got carried away there, guess that's what you get for having a couple of days off for half-term, going to the cinema and then a play barn with Erin, and xmas stitching and writing most of your xmas cards whilst there!!! I think I must be giddy with the shock of being organised!
Til next time, have a great week everyone (hugs).

Boo Winner

2008-10-20T18:29:00.002Z

Sorry I'm late with the draw, the weekend didn't go as planned so a bit behind with everything lol.
Anyway, without further ado, Boo's new owner is.......

KARAN!

Can you please let me have your snail mail addy Karan and I'll get it in the post to you asap.
Thanks for entering!

Some Enforced Wagon Time

2008-10-16T18:19:00.002Z

Well, it's been coming but was still a huge shock when an emergency departmental meeting was called at work for 2pm today.
We've been told that unless enough people are prepared to reduce their hours by working say 4 days instead of 5 for the time being, then redundancy consultations will begin on Monday. As much as everyone needs every penny with living costs going up as they are, the majority of us have agreed that we would rather try to manage like this for 6 months or so in the hope things improve, than risk having a redundancy notice on our desk in the next couple of weeks.
I'm trying to think positively in that it will mean I'll have more time at home to do the things I'm always trying to fit in on an evening. We are going to have to tighten our belts though and part of that is obviously going to mean me climbing on the stash wagon for the foreseeable. Anyone got any tips lol?

Boo To You!

2008-10-12T12:25:00.006Z

First of all I'd like to thank everyone who left me a lovely message after my last post with hugs and support etc, it means so much to me. Things here are still not great but I'm trying to stay positive and thankfully I've been stitching a little more which has helped.

I've been working on Cirque as it's easy going with no colour changes and last weekend I finished page 2 which is my third page, taking me to officially over half done!

I may go back to it soon and carry on, but for the last few days I've been working on my HAED Cabin In The Woods. I spent 2 nights getting really frustrated as I was in confetti central and just wasn't making any progress so in the end decided to start at the opposite side of the page which isn't as bad, and haven't been doing too badly. Will show a pic once I've got more done.
Then today I've mustered every ounce of courage and made up the Just Nan Boo Tin! Now I don't have any finishing flare lol, so it really is scary for me to try to finish off something I've taken ages stitching and it makes me feel really nervous the whole time I'm doing it in case I make a mistake or it doesn't turn out right. But apart from having to fiddle with the twisted cording I'm really pleased with the result on Boo. DH has now been instructed to get the halloween decs down from the loft this afternoon so Erin and I can put them up and display my new tin!

And in recognition of the kindness of stitching friends I am now doing a draw for the Boo chart and leftover beads. Obviously there will be no tin, web charm or ribbon, but I'm sure you imaginative stitchers can work around that lol. So, if you'd like to enter, please post a comment and saying you want to be entered, and I'll draw a name a week today and then get the chart in the mail to the winner on the 20th Oct, so you'll still have time to stitch it for halloween if you get your skates on!

In The Doldrums

2008-09-30T17:44:00.003Z

Things at work since I went back after my op have been getting steadily worse again and this last week I've spent a lot of the time near to or in tears, and taken to having early nights as all I want to do is hide away and sleep, which I know for me is a sure sign I'm depressed again.
There were more redundancies at work last week and everyday we seem to hear more doom and gloom about the housing market etc, so everyone I work with is at rock bottom and the atmosphere is awful. I think my job is probably safe for a while due to my length of service, experience and qualifications, but dealing with the atmosphere on a daily basis is getting hard to bear. When you spend so much of your life at work it becomes impossible to turn off after work when things are so low whilst you're there and I have to admit that I'm really struggling. I'm trying to take it one day at a time but earlier today I was so close to handing in my notice and just throwing in the towel...
I have had one nice day though. At the weekend DH and I took Erin to Gulliver's World in Warrington which is a theme park for young children. Erin absolutely loves it there as she can go on the rides as many time as she wants. This time she was also tall enough to go on the three rides she's missed out on before, a roller coaster, a runaway mine train and the log flume, and loved them, especially when I got soaked through on the log flume lol. We had an absolutely wonderful day, the weather was gorgeous, the queues were short for the rides surprisingly and it was just so nice relaxing and being a family with no worries for a while. DH and I said we definitely need to get away for more days like that, as I felt like a weight had been lifted off me for a few hours.
Stitching wise I've nothing to show I'm afraid. I have done the stitching for the Just Nan Boo Tin, but have yet to pluck up the courage to attempt the finishing. I've done none besides that and to be honest the rotation has fallen by the wayside, so I've decided for now that when I do actually feel like stitching I'm just going to grab what's calling and see how it goes. It's typical that when I'm stressed or down I usually turn to my stitching, but at the moment I can't even be bothered with that.
Here's hoping I'll snap out of it in a few days.

How Does Your Monday Go?

2008-09-22T17:28:00.005Z

I've got the usual Monday blues, not helped by still worrying about the Paypal fiasco. We managed to get all the cards stopped so now it's the waiting game while the new cards come through and we see if we will get the money back from Paypal. We have decided that if/when it is resolved, if we get our money back we are in future going to use an old bank account we have never got around to closing just for Paypal, and just keep a small amount in it for that purpose only, so this can never happen again. Thanks for all the messages I received, it makes me feel a bit better at least knowing people care.
Now onto what this blog is supposed to be about, stitching! Here are my HAED Alisha QS and the Papillon mystery How Does Your Garden Grow with Part 4 now complete. I've also done a little more on Cirque but want to wait til I finish the page til I take another pic.

The past couple of weeks I've carried on with my rotation but have missed quite a few nights of stitching which isn't good for my sanity lol. Anyway, I've finally finished the round and I'm pleased with what I've achieved, especially on HDYGG.
I've been wanting to start the SALexandre with Sally and we had planned to begin this month, but I couldn't help thinking that I shouldn't be starting another big project at the moment when I want to make more progress on my wips. So we've decided to put it on hold for now and we'll see how we're both set in another few months or so.
In the meantime I've decided to keep my slots in the rotation as they are, but rather than a set time on each project I'm just going to stitch on it for as long as I'm enjoying it. If it's one I'm not particularly enjoying I can move on, but have to have at least put in a few stitches. I'm hoping this way that I can make much more progress on my focus pieces, Cirque and HDYGG, and maybe even finish one of them before the end of the year so I can free up a slot, whilst still making some progress on my others and mostly not getting bored.
So it's back to slot 1 today, which is smalls, and I get a new start which I'm really excited about! With halloween coming up next month I couldn't resist the new Just Nan Boo Tin and Needlebook when they came out, and have been dying to start one of them since they arrived. I have plumped for the tin first and now have everything laid out at the side of me on the sofa for when Erin has gone to bed!
Hope you all have a good week. Thanks to all my readers and those who take the time to leave a comment. And welcome to my new commentors, it's lovely to see some new faces here. I've been very lax in reading and commenting on blogs this past couple of weeks, have just been finding it hard to settle, but I hope to rectify that soon.

Argh! Paypal Fraud!

2008-09-18T18:34:00.003Z

Sorry for my screaming, but this afternoon has been a complete nightmare. This is nothing to do with stitching so please feel free to ignore my post, I just need to vent.
I got an email earlier from Paypal to confirm that a payment had been sent and my bank account debited.... Now only DH and I use the account so I wondered what DH had ordered. When I looked at the amount, $1,150.00! I knew immediately that it couldn't be DH, but by this time my bank account had already been debited with £659.57!
I then got an email from Paypal to say that they had flagged it up as a suspicious transaction and I immediately followed this up by reporting it as an unauthorised transaction, which will take 10 days to either resolve and for us to get our money back, or we're over £650 out of pocket.
Now I don't know how you girls that use Paypal use your account, but for ours when we buy something the money comes straight from our bank account, and if there is not enough money available it is charged to a backup credit card.
So we've had to ring our Bank and credit card companies to stop our bank and credit cards, and on doing so we found that someone had tried to charge £6,000.00 to our credit card as well! Thank god they had immediately flagged it up as suspicious and when we rang it was then rejected. It's going to be 7-10 days before we get new cards, so until then we can't get any money out or buy anything!
In the meantime our Paypal account has also been frozen and I don't want to give anymore bank/credit card details until I know if this is going to be resolved.
I feel totally sick to my stomach right now, can't stop crying and am really worried that we're not going to get the money back.
So another reason for my posting this is to ask if anyone can give us any advice to help stop this happening again. How do you use your Paypal account? Do you have a bank account registered as well as a credit card, or just a credit card? Do you use a separate card that has a small limit on it specially for things like Paypal and Ebay? Right now I just want to close the account I'm so worried and scared because I don't know what I'm supposed to do....

Finishing Fun

2008-09-07T11:45:00.004Z

Well, my first week back at work wasn't too bad thank goodness. I was a nervous wreck last Sunday and then Monday morning I felt physically sick, it was like being the new girl again! Anyway, once I'd been back a few hours I settled down and now it feels like I've never been away.
As it's DH's and my Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday I thought I'd better try to get Always & Forever finished finished this weekend to give to DH.

Now I've only made one flatfold before so was still quite nervous about doing this one. I had to choose backing fabric from my stash and didn't really have much choice of suitable pieces, but didn't have time to go shopping for something else. The finishing took less time than I expected and although it's not perfect I am pleased with the finished result on the whole. I have to say that flatfolds aren't my favourite finishing technique, can't quite seem to get on with them like I do with pinkeeps etc, but as an alternative to framing a smallish piece of stitching I think they're a great idea.

This week I've been working on Celtic Autumn for the first time in a LONG time lol. The pics are before and after so I'm pleased with the progress I've made this time around. The most recent pic is also a much better colour match to the real thing, the original pic was awful. I have Spring, Summer, Autumn and Xmas in my stash and would like to stitch them all eventually, so I figured it was time to give Autumn some regular attention so at least one of them might get finished one day. I'm not a great fan of beading so am trying to do it as I go along. I've tended to do a bit of stitching then add a few beads and so on and it's not too bad that way. She will be up again in my rotation in about a month so you'll be seeing more of her then.

Yesterday I stitched on Cirque and made good progress, but don't want to risk boring everyone with a pic showing just one day's stitching every week so think I'll probably post a pic every couple of weeks instead.

Next up in the Papillon mystery again for a couple of days. I'm hoping to finish Part 3 this time around!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend and all my fellow UK'ers aren't suffering too badly in all the rain we're having. It's sunny here right now but daren't put any laundry out as it's sure to be raining again before I know it.

I'm Back!

2008-08-29T13:01:00.002Z

Well we got back from holiday on Wednesday afternoon and things are slowly returning to normal. I can never get over how long it takes to empty the caravan and put things away, and the amount of laundry there is! We had a good week away and were very lucky with the weather as it was lovely a few days, and we only had rain during the day on the second to last day. Saying that, I came down with a stinker of a cold on the 3rd day and felt dreadful the rest of the week. The last two nights I had to dose myself up with cough medicine and prop myself up on pillows in the caravan to get myself to sleep, so it was nice to come home to my own bed.
Stitching wise the rotation went out of the window for the week which I knew it would, but I still managed to get some done. Firstly I finished my LHN Always & Forever for our 10th anniversary next month, and then I made some more progress on Cirque. I've now done half of the page and for some reason that's given me a boost that I might actually finish it one day lol.
The pic of Cabin has only just been taken, but it's a couple of weeks since I worked on it last. I've now actually reached the cabin itself and it's SO good to be able to stitch colours that are not blue. I'm looking forward to working on this again soon.
Back to the rotation, and I am going to tweak it slightly. There have been a few days when I haven't stitched for one reason or another and this has meant certain projects have missed out on stitching time. So I've decided that rather than have the set days of the week I'm just going to do 4 days on slot 1, 1 day on Cirque, 2 on the mystery, and then onto slot 2 for 4 days, and so on. This way if I miss a day's stitching it doesn't matter, I just don't move on until I've done my set day/s on that project. I'm hoping to get the Papillon mystery back out tonight for a couple of days, don't really feel in the mood for stitching but hoping once I pick it up I'll soon get back into the swing.
Well, only 2 more days of freedom and then it's back to work for me after 5 weeks. I had 3 weeks sick leave after the op and then 2 weeks holiday leave, so this is the longest I've had off since having Erin over 5 years ago. I'd be lying if I said I was happy about going back, right now I'm dreading it and feel sick when I think about it, but there's nothing I can do so just got to try not to think too much about it til Mon lol.

Flying Visit

2008-08-19T22:25:00.002Z

Just a quick update as we are going away in our caravan tomorrow for a week so I won't be able to post while we're away.
Haven't been able to take update pics of my wips today as the batteries for the camera are on charge ready to take away with us, but I have taken a quick pic of the Papillon mystery with my phone to give you an idea of progress. It's not a brilliant photo but you'll get the idea. I've now finished parts 1 and 2 including adding the beads, and I made a start on part 3 earlier.

I made good progress on Cabin In The Woods in the 4 days I worked on it last week and finished another oval in Cirque when I worked on that for a day, but you'll have to wait til we get back for a pics of those lol.

I've managed to sneak four wips into the caravan to take with us. The mystery, Cirque, Celtic Autumn and Always & Forever. A&F is to work on during the day if I get chance at any of the activities Erin goes to, and the other three are for in the caravan or sitting out in the sun if we get any by some miracle. Sometimes when we go I get loads of stitching done, other times hardly any, but I can't risk having nothing to stitch can I?!

So til next time, I wish you all plenty of frog free stitching (hugs).

I Love My New Rotation!

2008-08-12T14:49:00.003Z

Well 11 days in and my rotation is still working lol. I don't want to jinx myself as I've tried so many different ones all for them to fail eventually, but I really am enjoying this new set up. The pics I've taken were taken before the weekend and the colours are all wrong as it was so dull, but you'll get the idea.
Cirque is great to work on for just one day a week as I'm keeping making progress, no colour changes means it's easy to pick up and get going on, and I don't get bored of it.

How Does Your Garden Grow is fast becoming my favourite project. This pic doesn't show it but I've now finished Part 1 except for the beads and have made a good start on Part 2. It seems to stitch up very quickly once you get the hang of each stitch, and it's so pretty.

Last week Mon-Thur I made a good start on LHN's Always & Forever. This is for DH for our 10th Wedding Anniversary with is in September. I've been going to stitch it for a while but then he does something to annoy me and I think "I'm not wasting my stitching time on him" lol, then he does something to get back in my good books again and I change my mind. Anyway, I love the design and it will be displayed in our lounge when it's finished so I'll enjoy it as well, so figured I might as well just go ahead and stitch it. I had the silk specially dyed by Vikki Clayton to go with the browns in our lounge, and although I wasn't wild about it when I first got it, I just love it stitched up. I have to say though that by Thur I was glad to put it away as I was getting a little bored. This will be coming out again before it's next slot though as we're going away next week in our caravan for the week and I'm going to take it to stitch a little on when I'm watching Erin doing the activities, plus I need to get it finished and made up somehow before 10th Sept.

And finally as it was smalls week last week I made up the Alphabet Tree freebie I stitched a while back into a floss ring tag! I'm not wild about how the eyelet setting worked out on the back, but I guess it's practice I am very pleased with the finish on the whole.

This week is the turn of HAED Cabin In The Woods and I've managed to get a good bit done the last 2 days. I'll take a pic before it goes away again.

Health wise I'd say I'm back to about 80% now. I'm still having trouble bending over and the main incision is uncomfortable and placed perfectly to catch on anything I wear, plus I still can't drive so am stuck at home when David is at work, but other than that I'm managing to do a lot more and feeling better.

I have til next Wed on sick from work and already had 2 weeks holiday booked from work which starts next Mon, so unless something happens in the next couple of weeks I'll be going back to work on 1st Sept. Right now I feel sick when I think about it and am dreading it, but it's got to happen so I'm trying to not focus on it too much and just enjoy the time I have left and get myself to 100% before then if possible.

Hope you're all having a good week, thanks to everyone who comes and visits my blog and especially to those who take the time to leave a comment. I still haven't figured out a way to track my visitors like some can do on their blogs, so I'm just hoping I do have other visitors besides the ones who comment lol. Til next time!

Whoohoo!!!

2008-08-02T13:52:00.002Z

I finally figured out after god knows how long how to add a pic to my blog title! I've tried this so many times and finally today found out by trial and error that the template I was using was the problem. So I've been playing for a while with a new template and colours etc, and am really pleased with myself and the result lol.
Now don't laugh, but I've decided to have another try at a rotation. This last week while I've not been able to do much stitching as I've struggled to get comfy I've been thinking lots about it instead, and how I can make the most of my stitching time, make progress on some wips and not get bored. So I've come up with something slightly different from the last few times I've tried. You can see my idea in my sidebar.
I started it yesterday and worked a little on Cirque last night. Today and tomorrow are How Does Your Garden Grow. I've already put a few stitches in that this morning when I went out with DH in the car for a little while to get me out of the house for the first time in a week. He was trying to get some parts for his car and we ended up going to about 4 different places, with me staying in the car the whole time, but at least it was a change of scenery lol. Easily pleased aren't I!

Phew!

2008-07-30T12:48:00.003Z

Well, I made it through the surgery, not brilliantly, but it's over thank god.

Last week things got worse by the day in the run up to the op. I nearly crashed my car twice by leaving the handbrake off, I left it unlocked all day at work one day, went to work another day and didn't turn on the burglar alarm at home.... Get the picture? One highlight was a lovely good luck card and stitched gift from Sally which I received a couple of days before which brightened my week (hugs Sally). I hope you don't mind me borrowing your pic of it Sally as I'm not up to setting up the camera and taking pics just yet.

So when Friday came I just wanted it over. I did have a few tears but when it came down to it I was pretty calm. I remember seeing 2.02pm when I first went into the anaesthetic room, and the last I remember was 2.05pm, then I was in the recovery room with people pestering me to wake up lol.

I didn't find out til later that day, but the surgery didn't go exactly to plan. The largest of the 4 incisions should have been 10mm, but ended up being over 50mm as my gallbladder was so inflamed and filled with lots of large stones that if they hadn't of done this they would have had to have opened me up fully to remove it. I was also told that if I hadn't have had the op when I did I'd have been in casualty within the next couple of months with it as an emergency because it was so bad.

My hospital experience on the whole was good though. The nurses were nice, I was in a room with 3 lovely ladies who seemed to take me under their wings as a surrogate daughter and it was made sure that I was well looked after with pain meds etc.

The worst part came when I came home and my plan of feeling great on Day 2 like lots of people I've heard about didn't happen, Day 2 was my worst day with my tummy getting really swollen and me being in floods of tears. I felt so low and regretted ever having it done as I was in so much pain.

Thankfully things seem to be improving very slowly with each day, but it's been a big shock to the system to realise my recovery is going to be a lot harder than I expected (I thought I'd be out dancing the night away on Day 2 haha!). So far all I've managed to do is do a slow waddle around the house picking up the odd thing as I go past, watch tv, surf, and finally last night I managed about half an hour stitching before I got too uncomfy.

Erin has been such a little star. She is very careful about cuddling me and has only caught me offguard once by mistake which made her cry because she was scared she'd hurt me lots. She is playing nurse and fetching and carrying for me and helping to tidy up and I'm so proud of her it brings tears to my eyes. Tomorrow however she goes on holiday with my mum for a week and although I know she will have lots of fun and it's better for her to be on holiday with them than stuck in the house with me, I'm going to miss her like mad and keep crying when I think about it. This weekend DH and I are going to have our first weekend alone since before she was born and I'm not well enough to make the most of it lol. We have said if I'm up to eating a bit more by then though we might have a nice takeaway and a DVD.

Thank you again to those who've left comments, emailed and sent texts with good wishes and asking how I am, I really appreciate them. Thanks also to Claire for her lovely get well card which came yesterday and brightened my day and also to Dawn for coming to visit me yesterday even though I'm living in my pj's right now lol.

Hopefully my next post will be more back on the topic of stitching and I might even have some update pics to show!

Photo Binge!

2008-07-20T19:13:00.005Z

Well, since I found out about my upcoming operation a couple of weeks ago I've been allover the place. I am getting more nervous by the day and veer from being terrified I won't wake up afterwards to being awake all through the op and not being able to let the doctors know lol. DH has been great and answered millions of my medical questions (he's a charge nurse in operating theatres doing joint replacements) but he's getting a bit sick of me having constant hissy fits and bursting into tears now so I think we'll all be glad when it's over.

Anyway, the upshot of this has been I've really struggled to concentrate on anything for long, including my stitching and it's lead to 2 new starts as well lol. As much as I love my new starts though even these haven't been able to hold my attention so I'm just hoping that after the op things will return to normal and I'll be able to enjoy my recuperation time with loads of stitching.

So without further ado here are my update pics. First is my HAED Cabin In the Woods which now has a chimney and start of the cabin roof!
Next up is my first new start, the Papillon mystery How Does Your Garden Grow. I've loved this design since the first part was released and finally gave in and made a start a couple of weeks ago. I am using DMC Variations for the flowers and basic dmc for the greens. This caused lots of naughty words when I was working on it though I'm afraid as I had a visit from the frog three times!!! At one point I was ready for throwing it in the bin, but I persevered and hopefully the worst is over. I sent the frog packing and don't want him back!

And my most recent start is a new HAED QS, Hannah Disney's Alisha. I know I already have three HAED's on the go, but I really love stitching on them even though they are very slow growing, the detail just amazes me and I've been wanting to start one in my fav colours for ages, so this had to be it. So far I've stitched approx 1000 stitches and I love it. The colours are gorgeous to work with and her pouty little mouth makes me smile.

And my last pics are of my Quaker round robin that was returned home to me completed recently! I have still to find a way to fit all of our initials on one of the pages if it's possible and then make it up into the book, but I'm hoping I might be able to do that after the op.

This will probably be my last post before the operation on Friday and not sure when I'll be back online after that. I should only be in hospital overnight but depending on how I feel and doctors/DH's orders it maybe a few days before I'm up and about and surfing/stitching again. Thanks to those who offered advice and kind words after my last post, I appreciate them.

I'm Scared!

2008-07-04T21:23:00.001Z

After a long time of getting very ill on and off I finally found out in April that I have gallstones. I've been waiting for a date for the op and today found out it will be on the 25th July. Only 3 weeks away. I've only ever been in hospital when I had Erin 5 years ago and it wasn't a good experience shall we say, and I've never had an anaesthetic or operation. I'm an absolute wreck and feel sick and shaky now, so god knows what state I'll be in by the op date.
It's also come at a very bad time work wise as my boss goes on holiday the week after and I was supposed to be running the office for 2 weeks, but obviously now that isn't going to happen and the big bosses are not at all happy. Add to that the housing market which I work in is very bad at the moment and our jobs are all at risk. I'm scared that I will have no job to go back to.....
I know I have no choice about the operation as each time I get a flare up it is worse than the last (on Sunday night and Monday I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency department), and if I refuse this date I'll have to go back on the waiting list, but it just couldn't come at a worse time and I feel really stressed.
Up til getting this date I was thinking, ooh, 2/3 weeks off work afterwards, loads of stitching time, naps and watching chick flicks. I need to start chanting that or I'm going to go mad in the next 3 weeks!

Yay!!! Major Happy Dance Time!!!

2008-06-17T17:39:00.004Z

Today I finished the last part of the Quaker RR I've been in with Sally, Chris, Tracy and Jane for the last 6 months!!!! My last part was Jane's and I have to say the floss she chose is gorgeous. She used Olde Willow Stitchery floss in Boysenberry and it was a joy to stitch because it's such a beautiful colour.

We are not returning our RR's home until the 17th July and once mine does arrive home I wil still need to make it into the concertina book as per the chart, but I'm considering this my major happy dance because the stitching itself is done and that's when I count my happy dances lol.

Thought I'd also post pics of a couple of smalls I've stitched recently. First is a coaster I've made for Erin's teacher as an end of year gift. We've already got her a mug and was going to make this into an ornament but changed my mind at the last minute and made it into a coaster to go with the mug. It's stitched with Vikki Clayton silks in her teacher's favourite red, yellow and orange colours, and I've personalised the back with her teacher's name, the year and Erin's name.

Secondly is Blue Ribbon's Alphabet Tree freebie that was re-released for a short time. This again is stitched with Vikki Clayton silk in Pastel Rainbow which I love, 1 over 1 on 28ct black fabric. I've been pondering for ages on how to finish it and am leaning towards a floss ring, but I could change my mind again so watch this space.

Thought You Deserved Some Pics....

2008-05-28T17:53:00.003Z

To show that I do actually have some progress to show this year lol.
First of all is the most recent pages of the Quaker RR I've stitched. This part is Tracy's.
And next up is my Cirque wip after the last few days stitching on it. I've finished pages 1 and 4 now and am onto page 2. It is being stitched using Vikki Clayton premium silk in discontinued Caribbean Splash, 1 over 2 on 32ct antique white. I love stitching with this colour as it's so bright and cheerful but am feeling a bit bored now so going to put it away again for a while.

Next up I think is going to be my HAED Always Dreaming QS which has been whimpering at me for a while. I figure if I pull her out I'll see if she can get a bit louder and hold my attention for a little while.

Still Here!

2008-05-24T15:16:00.002Z

I know it's been a long time but my stitching mojo completely disappeared and so blogging became impossible for me as I'd nothing to talk about or show.
I've had a couple of weeks with no stitching whatsoever, but yesterday I decided to pull Cirque out and just see how I got on stitching for half an hour. When I picked up my needle I literally panicked, it was such a strange feeling, I didn't know where to start. Anyway, I put in the first stitch and felt better.
Then I realised that I was thinking "how much can I get done tonight"? That made me think, I'm always thinking this when I stitch lately, how much can I stitch in a session or how soon can I get this finished? Then it finally hit me why my mojo has run away....
At the beginning of this year I signed up to two SAL's on the HAED bulletin board, as well as signing up for a Quaker RR with Sally and three other stitching friends. This was the first year I've signed up for any formal SAL's and I've never done a round robin before.
So a lot of my stitching time has been taken up with stitching on certain projects at certain times. The SAL's have found me trying to stitch as much as possible in the alloted time for showing progress pics, and the RR has meant stitching to a deadline which I'm not used to.
I've never liked being told what to do right from being a child lol, and even though the SAL's and RR are things I willingly signed up for, I've felt like I had to stitch on those projects at times when I didn't actually feel like it, and to get as much done as possible, which has resulted in my not enjoying my stitching.
So last night while stitching on Cirque I kept telling myself to slow down, stop rushing, just enjoy the process, and it worked!!!! I was so excited I was buzzing!! I thoroughly enjoyed the bit that I stitched and can't wait to pull it out again tonight! Whoohoo!!
So the result of all this is that I've decided to pull out of the SAL's. I'm due to get the last part of the RR around the 6th June and instead of pressuring myself to stitch it as fast as possible I'm going to practice my new mantra and "slow down and enjoy the process" lol.
I can't believe it took me 5 months to work this out and I am a bit sad that I've wasted 5 months of my life not enjoying my hobby which I've always loved so much. I've also been struggling badly with my moods and depression this last couple of months, and I'm wondering if my not being able to escape into my stitching has actually played a part. I guess only time will tell, but here's hoping the worst is over I have loads of fun stitching in my future!

Long Time No Blog

2008-04-13T18:24:00.002Z

I still haven't been able to find the culprit who stole my stitching mojo a while back, so in the meantime I've been trying to build a new one.

It's a slow process and think it's going to be a long while before I get it like my old one, but at least I'm stitching again most evenings, if only for a short while.
First of all I finished the stitching for the Stitch & Stash BB's March Challenge but unfortunately still haven't got around to making it up into anything. I know it should have been stitched and made up in March but some of you who've lost your mojo before will know when you pick up your stitching and have to frog two for every three stitches you make, it's a sign to put it away again. Anyway, I'll post a pic once I make it up, soon hopefully.

And the other only other stitching I've been doing is Chris' RR which you can find out more about on Quaker Friends . So far I've stitched the two pages on my own, Sally's and Chris'. I think the next one I'll be getting is Tracy's and then Jane's will be my last, and the RR will be finished! We should all get our own pieces back fully stitched around mid July. I haven't seen my piece since I sent it on at the start of the RR, so must say I'm curious to know how it's looking so far. I'm sending Chris' on it's way around the 24th April so going to have a couple of weeks before the next one arrives to start and think I'm going to see if anything starts screaming at me from my wips.

Before I forget, I'd like to try and enlist some help locating a pattern. I have become fixated on a chart I saw by Haberdashery Designs called Voodoo Boy. My boss and I at work are always joking that we should have a voodoo doll to stick pins in when once of our really nasty clients upsets us which is most days lol. As soon as I saw this I knew I had to stitch it for her, but the only place I can find it is Stitching Bits & Bobs, and I really can't afford the extortionate shipping charge for one chart. Does anyone know where else I can get it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, till next time, happy stitching!

Couple Of Photos

2008-03-11T18:02:00.005Z

Still no stitching done here since the weekend, the mojo is well and truly missing, but just taken a pic of Sally's RR before I send it on it's way to Jane tomorrow, along with the tiny amount I did on HAED's Romeo & Juliet before putting her away again.

Last night I felt like getting rid of all my stash I felt that bad, but today that feeling has eased a bit, much to Dawn's disgust who is on her way over as we speak with a lorry to collect it all rotfpml!

Instead of stitching I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on blogs and play with mine a bit, in the hope that that will tempt me to pick up a needle again soon.

Have You Seen My Mojo?

2008-03-09T18:12:00.002Z

I have realised this weekend that my stitching mojo has gone missing, don't know where I saw it last and haven't a clue where to find it, any ideas?
I don't feel that 2008 so far has been great for me, I don't know about anyone else. The weather has been awful, high winds, loads of rain, very cold, but not much sun. I know that that definitely affects my mood, I NEED sun to give me some get up and go and optimism.
Then there was my really low mood which lead to me stopping my medication, the following withdrawal symptoms and then the tonsillitus! And now, don't ask me how, but I trapped a nerve in my neck/shoulder the middle of last week and have been in pain since. It doesn't feel too bad first thing on a morning but gets worse as the day goes on, and by evening I can't get any relief or get comfy. I've had the same thing a few times before, first on one side and then the other, with no explanation and it's really painful, but it hadn't happened for a couple of months. After talking with DH I tend to agree with him that it's due to my weight and the way I'm sleeping on a night somehow, but not sure.
So my stitching has been few and far between. I finished my 2nd page on Sally's RR by doing it a motif at a time every few days and will be sending it onto Jane on Wed, but other than that not done much at all, haven't even managed to take a pic yet. This weekend is the HAED SAL Challenge and I should be working on Romeo & Juliet. It doesn't help that for some reason I just can't get into this, I've worked on it on several occasions now and it just doesn't seem to flow for me. I have put in a couple of hundred stitches so it's all progress, but again it will be going away with me annoyed with myself over it.
I've also started the March Challenge piece on Stitch & Stash. Can't say what colours or fabbie I'm using, or what I'm planning for it, but it's started, and even that isn't grabbing my attention.
So you see why I think my mojo is lost? I decided to brighten up my blog a bit with Easter colours and see if that helps brighten me up in turn. I have thought about another new start, but nothing is really calling to me, and none of my other wips seem to be even whimpering, so maybe I just need a break from it, although I always worry when I'm like this that it's never going to come back.

Grrrrrr!

2008-02-25T15:46:00.004Z

I was updating my blog yesterday, had spent ages waffling and uploading pics, just about to publish and my laptop shutdown on me as it had overheated. You can imagine there were some not very nice words said! So now to try to remember what I had been waffling about...

Firstly I want to thank everyone for the wonderful supportive comments after my last post on going cold turkey with my anti-depressants. I'm very pleased to say that most of the withdrawal symptoms have gone now, with the worst ones just bothering me occasionally, like dizzy spells. If I had known I would be able to do this I would have done it ages ago, rather than staying on the meds for all this time. So now we just wait to see if I can get the appropriate help for my issues with food. I have a hospital appointment next Wed for an initial consulations, so fingers crossed.

Unfortunately now though I'm suffering with tonsillitus which started last week. It's hard to believe but at 35 I've never had it before and boy what a wake up call that was. I ended up crawling to the drs last Fri instead of going to work and am still not feeling much better although I did drag myself into work today. So things like housework and socialising are non-starters here right now, didn't leave the house from Fri to today, and think I'll only be going to work then back home to my sofa the rest of the week.

So now onto what this blog is supposed to be about lol, stitching. I don't feel to have done much since my last post, but looking at the pics I guess I have. I've worked on Ink Circles Cirque Des Cercles and managed to get to the bottom left hand corner, plus I've stitched my first page of two for Sally's Quaker RR. These two were a relief to stitch when I couldn't concentrate on my HAED's, but I knew I was feeling better when they started calling again, so now I'm having a few days on Cabin In The Woods and seeing if I can reach the chimney of the Cabin!

And finally I was tagged by Claire and Elisa over the weekend. I have to name 7 weird or random facts about myself.

Here are the rules of the tagging;

1 Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

2 Post the Rules on your blog.

3 Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

4 Tag 7 people and link them.5 Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

So for the 7 weird or random facts about me:

1. I'm scared of the dark.

2. I can touch my nose with my tongue.

3. I was in labour with DD for 42 hours.

4. I met DH on a blind date.

5. I cannot stand the noise of other people eating if I'm not.

6. DH says I can reverse park and read a map lol.
7. We gave DD the middle name Dominique as we got married in the Dominican Republic.

I see that a lot of people have been tagged over the weekend, so not naming names, but if you read this and haven't been tagged yet, you're it!

Awful Week

2008-02-12T17:08:00.000Z

First of all I'd like to thank all my wonderful blogging friends who commented on my finish of Tomboy. I had a record number of comments and it really made my day.

Now on non-stitching things which I just feel I need to explain, please feel free to quit reading now if you wish as it's long and quite heavy. This week has been really really hard and I'm just thankful at the end of each day that I've managed to get through that day.

A few of my close blogging friends know that I've been on anti-depression meds for a long time now after suffering with post natal depression after having Erin 5 years ago. I've had counselling regarding issues from my past and have resolved those, but the depression still has me in it's grasp and a lot of it is to do with my weight etc. I saw my own dr last week and to say he made me rethink things is an understatement. I spent 3/4 hr with him when it should have been a quick 5 min app to get a repeat prescription, and the upshot of it all is that he thinks I need specific help for my issues with food, and my meds need rethinking as they are obviously not working anymore. I cried through most of the app and came home totally drained, but it really opened my eyes. After a lot of research, thought and discussion with DH I decided last Friday to come off the tablets and go cold turkey as they say. I know it is something you're not supposed to do and I've had a telling off from lots of people, but I really haven't done it on a whim. I did try to come off the meds last year by reducing them, but I had bad withdrawal symptoms and knew it would go on a long time that way, reducing the dose slightly over months. I've read A LOT on the internet about the type of tablets I was taking and I can honestly say I wish I read it BEFORE I started them. The tablets I was on are the worst for coming off and are well known to cause horrendous withdrawal symptoms. Anyway, call me crazy or stupid but I decided that this was the way to go and took my last tablet last Thur night and haven't had one since.

Sat which was my first med free day I felt great, motivated, elated, happy, it was great... Then came Sat night and I got about 3 hours sleep in total in between the most horrendous nightmares and sweating. Sun I spent most of the day crying, wanted to scream and shout and felt like I was going to fall over I was so dizzy. Sun night I suddenly started hearing funny noises in my head (now don't laugh, I know I've always heard funny noises, but not these lol). I've since found out that these are what medical professionals have named brain zaps.... It's like hearing zzzt, zzzt, zzzt, in my head at regular intervals but stops when I close my eyes. I tell you, the first hour I thought I'd really lost it lol.

Sun night thank god I slept better, no nightmares or sweats, but woke up dizzy again and yesterday spent the day trying not to fall over and instead stay calm. Last night I had a nightmare again when I first went to sleep and ended up going back to sleep with the light on at first, but this morning when I woke up I did feel a bit better. Today hasn't been too bad. The dizziness is still there constantly and the noises come and go. I've had to get a hold of myself a couple of times and think "stay calm, deep breaths", but other than that it's been ok. As I get through each day I feel proud of myself that I've done it and it gives me more determination not to give up and go back on the meds. I can now say I've nearly done 4 days med free and if Sun was the worst I have to face I think I'll be ok. I am aware that new symptoms can appear at any time, and all of them can go on for weeks if not months, but I'm just taking it one day at a time for now. I have to see my dr again in another 3 weeks or so so we'll see what he has to say if I manage to stick with it. I know I'll probably get another telling off, but by then hopefully I'll be over the worst.

One symptom I didn't expect was not being able to concentrate on my stitching.... This last weekend has been the Monthly Challenge SAL on the HAED BB and I've been working on Romeo & Juliet again, but I've got very little progress to show. I've found that I really can't cope right now with confetti stitching, I came close on Sunday to taking my scissors to all of my wips and cutting them into little pieces lol. Anyway, the outcome was I stopped doing any confetti and just stitched a couple of blocks of the same colour and that seemed ok, no wanting to explode anyway lol.

Next in line is Sally's Quaker RR which I made a start on last week. I'm actually really looking forward to it as this is stitched in one colour of variagated floss over 2 and so means no confetti, colour changes or anything, so I think I'll be safe lol.

If you have read this far, are you mad?! lol No, seriously, thanks for listening and sorry to waffle on, but it's mainly for me to get it down in writing what's going on as I'm trying to keep a sort of diary to look back on and keep a track of any changes as they happen.

Til next time...

She's Finally Finished!!!!

2008-02-05T21:33:00.000Z

After 2 years and 1 month approx my HAED Tomboy QS is finally finished! I finished her this afternoon and as the last stitches were going in it didn't seem real, but when I took her off the qsnaps and looked at her all finished the excitement hit. I really can't believe she is actually done, there were times when I thought I'd never do it, and right now I don't ever want to do another black and white design or stitch with kreinik blending filament ever again lol. But I am absolutely ecstatic with her and can't wait to get her washed, ironed and to the framers to choose a mount and frame. She is going to be my first professionally framed piece because after all the work that's gone into her I think she deserves it. She was stitched 1 over 1 on pale blue 28ct jobelan using 21 colours of dmc plus a huge amount of kreinik lol.

We Got Snow!!!!!

2008-02-02T11:45:00.000Z

Here in the UK snow has become something very rare since I was a child. I remember walking to school regularly in the winter with it like 12 inches thick. We haven't actually had any snow that you could do anything with where we lived since Erin was 2 (she turned 5 last week) and even then we were pushing our luck a bit lol.

So when DH got up this morning and said we needed to get the shovel out I thought he was just joking. He was actually but we had about 3 inches which Erin and I immediately went crazy over lol. As soon as we'd had breakfast we got wrapped up and went out in the garden to make her first ever snowman before it all disappeared. After all, the way things are going she might never get to do it again....

On a stitching front, I'm down to 991 stitches to go on Tomboy and just about to sit for a bit and try to put in a few more!

1800 To Go....

2008-01-30T16:27:00.000Z

I've no pics to show this time around I'm afraid. The reason being is that I have been working diligently on Tomboy since last week and I'm now down to 1800 stitches to go before I have a huge happy dance! I've made up my mind I'm not taking anymore pics until she's finished, and I have a daily goal of 200 stitches which I'm managing to stick to so far. I started her way back in 2006 and it's been a long hard haul with her as if I'm honest she hasn't been a whole lot of fun to stitch. All the different shades of grey and the huge amount of dreaded kreinik blending filament have made for some naughty words and her being hidden in the cupboard regularly, but thankfully I've finally reached the point of no return with her and am determined to keep going til she's done. It's great being able to mark off those stitches each night and then when I finish another couple of blocks I've been cutting them off the chart, so my piece of paper is getting smaller everyday lol. HAED are having a sale which started yesterday and is running until the 9th Feb, so I'm really really trying hard to finish her before the sale ends, in which case I'll treat myself to a chart as a reward. Any cheerleaders out there need a job? lol
Yesterday I was excited to receive Sally's RR through the post. Her stitching is lovely and the Friendship Book she has chosen to stitch is really pretty. Yesterday I had to fight the urge to start on my part straight away, but it's going to have to wait til Tomboy is finished then I can give it my undivided attention.
Hope you're all having a good week. The weather here seems to have picked up a little bit, we've at least had a bit of dry and bright weather which is very welcome, but it's cold out today. Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and those who take the time to comment, I really appreciate knowing that people are interested in my stitching. Hugs.

Quaker & Cirque

2008-01-23T20:44:00.000Z

I finished stitching my two pages on my Quaker Pattern Book for the RR last Thursday, but have only just got around to taking a pic. I am stitching mine 1 over 1 on 28ct antique white evenweave using DMC 99 which is a lovely variagated pink. I have so enjoyed stitching my pages and can't wait til Sally's piece arrives with me to start stitching on.

Then the last few days I've been working on Cirque Des Cercles for the sampler SAL on the HAED BB. I had got a bit bored of this the last time I worked on it but I really enjoyed getting it back out again and had forgotten how nice the colours are. I have finished the first page now and am working downwards and onto page 4.

I have to admit that my former rotation which included several single evenings on different projects just didn't work for me, it made me feel all at sea and I couldn't seem to get into a rythm on anything, so I'm going back to making Tomboy my focus piece (she's up next) and will just see how the mood takes me as to what I work on in between, but intend to spend a few days on each of my wip's as they come up.

Hope everyone is surviving the terribly wet weather we're having here in the UK, areas very near here have been flooded for the first time in my memory this week, it's really scary.

It's My Birthday!!!!

2008-01-16T16:24:00.000Z

Well, today is my Birthday and I can't believe another year has gone by so quickly.
I was woken at 6.15am with DD bringing in my cards and presents and a choc cake with a candle on for me to blow out. She was upset when I said we weren't having cake for breakfast lol.
My main pressie from DH and DD hasn't arrived yet as it's coming from the US. DH gave me the go ahead to order the kit for Chatelaine's Egypt Garden for my birthday as I've wanted it for about 3 years. I was hoping it would have arrived as I ordered it on 3rd Jan, but at least I've still something to look forward to. I did also get a lovely plate that DD and DH made for me specially at a paint a pot shop near here which is really nice.
My mum got me a watch and sent me some money, my aunt got me some books I've been wanting, DH's nan sent me some money as well, my friend/boss got me a HAED gift certificate and a lovely necklace and I got a Boots gift card from the girls at work.
I was then very spoilt by my wonderful stitching friends Sally, Julie, Karen and Claire. Sally sent me the pretty pinkeep, Julie sent me the lovely tin and Karen sent me the fab mirror. Claire sent me a gift certificate to Down Sunshine Lane so I will have great fun browsing their later.
I am also taking part in a Birthday Thread Exchange on the Stitch & Stash BB and I received some lovely threads from Dawn, Dusty, Jayne & Lindsey. Lindsey was also kind enough to send me a stitched card which I'm definitely going to turn into something else in the future so I can make good use of it.
All that is missing is some nice weather and a good stitchy session. I hope to stitch later on but don't think I'm going to be lucky with the weather, guess I can't have it all lol.
Last night was UFO night on Stitch & Stash and I worked a bit more on School Of Dolphins. Again not a lot of progress but I've filled in the dolphin's nose a little bit. Tonight is QS SAL Night on the HAED BB so I'll be working on Always Dreaming again, then tomorrow I have a free night and will be working on my Quaker RR again which I'm really looking forward to. Til next time....!

HAED Monthly SAL Challenge

2008-01-15T16:46:00.000Z

Friday to Monday this last weekend has been the Monthly SAL Challenge on the HAED BB and so it was time to dig out Sara Butcher's Romeo & Juliet from the UFO pile.
Looking in my photobucket album the last time I worked on this was October 2006! And that was when I first started it I think. So I think it really is about time that it gets some attention again this year lol. The pics are the before and after.
When I first started it even though I'd gridded the page I started stitching it cross country and I have really regretted that this weekend. I also found out that I hadn't even fully kitted it up when I did start it, I'd just pulled the first half dozen colours. So I spent 4 days filling in holes in the stitching and pulling some more threads so I could carry on, not fun!

Anyway, I know where I'm at with it now and have the threads I have pulled properly organised so it should be much easier to work on next month and hopefully there will be more progress.

Tonight it's back to School of Dolphins for UFO Night on Stitch & Stash and although I'm not really looking forward to it it will be good to make more progress. I find it very strange working on aida now I'm a confirmed evenweave/linen girl and the aida seems very stiff. If this wasn't for DH and the only stitching project he's ever really shown a huge liking for I think it would highly likely have been resigned to the bin by now lol. But as it is I am going to keep going and hopefully with enough Tuesday nights it will get finished eventually.

Well, that's it from me for now, hope everyone is having a good week and the weather is not being too awful to you (it's high winds and heavy rain here, yuck). Hugs.