I Need A Seaside Retreat

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.