December 2018 update & Happy New Year!

Hi everyone,
It's time to share what I've been up to this month  it was a busy month with very little stitching until after Christmas.

I did get a few small ornies stitched up... early in December.
Merry Christmas Cat © Teresa Wentzler
published in the November-December 1990 Issue of Just Cross Stitch 
Fabric: grab bag linen tan color
Threads: DMC
Stitch Count: 38 x 34, 2 over 2
Cross Stitch, 1/4 stitches. back stitch, straight stitch





Since that went so well, I saw a freebie on CEC website and figured that it would be a quick and easy stitch...It was late when I picked this one up... didn't read the chart symbols for the white being french knots instead of cross stitch... guess I  was so used to the french knots for eyes that I completely ignored that there could be other french knots... so here is my late-night version....

Moose Smooch © 2018 the Cricket Collection freebie
Fabric: 28ct Antique white evenweave
Threads: DMC
Stitch Count: 39 x 39, 2 over 2
Cross Stitch, back stitch, fractional stitches, french knots

I'll probably re-do sometime as I want to try using a wooly white for the beard (knots) and maybe a red velvet for the cap.




Then this week I finally was able to pick up

2013BB SAL QS Mystic Garden (It is a cropped version of Peacock Garden.)
Design by Michele Sayetta Artwork by Ciro Marchetti
28ct Picture this Plus Valor
DMC & Kreinik#4
Stitch Count: 139 x 138, 1 over 1 full cross

November 2018 at 14050 stitches complete, now at 14350 complete. Only a little more to go to get this one finished...hopefully by springtime. (that's usually May around here)


First weekend of December is usually our town's craft fair/bake sale. Mom had a Dr. appointment that day so I made arrangements to bake my pies late the night before so I could get them picked up while I was gone. I had everything laid out on the counters... started the first pie,...and noticed that there was water on the floor by the sink cabinet... Oh no! Drain pipe had a crack in it leaking...and was causing pressure from bathroom sink to back flow and spray water in the kitchen.. had to cleanup using a bucket and dumped the dishwater outside.. felt like we were teens again and camping....called more than one plumber... all too busy with heating issues. So a neighbor nicely helped me out the following week.

 I took part in a birthday floss club this year.. My mailbox was overflowing with such nice cards....we were assigned a floss color to send to each person in the club during their birthday month. Our assigned colors were from the new range of DMC. I was the last one in the group this year. 

This wasn't a milestone year.. although I'm looking forward to next year when I will be old enough (55) to begin collecting my pension.

Look at these lovely new threads...



 




 

And since it was my birthday earlier this month, DH was nice enough to let me pick out a bunch of trims from Lady dot's etsy site... I'm looking forward to using these on my finishing.













 chenilles...

 
 



rikraks...










ribbons and pom-pom trims










So while I was getting these lovely envelopes in the mail, I was getting my packages and cards sent out - Just in time for Christmas.

On the day before Christmas, I was starting to make desserts for family dinner and I noticed that my oven was taking a really long time to heat up (over 1 hour)...Another Oh No!.. moment... Made plans to cook at Mom & Dad's house for the next day... prepped all the food I could ahead of time using the stove top...Christmas day I tried the oven and set the timer to see how long it took so we could inform the repair person.. and ... it worked fine.. best guess is that there was an impurity in the propane that was plugging the line.. Seems to be working okay now. (LOL!)


I really haven't made many plans for next year stitching wise... Probably because DH has cataract surgery coming up in the spring, and after that we are planning to adopt a new furry friend. I know I have a few  HAED, a Kustom Kraft (snowy), and a White Willow (chart that I got as a Christmas present)  that I want to start... and lots of smalls ready for Dr. visit waiting rooms. I guess it will be a surprise what I get done as the best laid plans often go off the rails pretty quickly. I am hoping to at least "finish" one of my smalls each month - my basket is overflowing and it would be nice to get some of them completely finished.

It wouldn't be December without a bit of Christmas stash...I'll share next month. I'm waiting for a few threads that were back-ordered.

December weather was a lot of nuisance storms... dusting of snow and lots of snow/mixes that sometimes changed to rain... we are expecting 2-4" tonight that will change to rain sometime tomorrow afternoon. But despite all the rain, we still have the ground covered in a blanket of snow.


Until next time,
Happy New Year & Have a wonderful day!
Lisa M.

Merry CHristmas Everyone!

Hi there,
 - I had a birthday earlier this month...I'll be back in a few days with an update..But I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

We had flurries (24th) so it'll be a white Christmas.
More later, Happy Stitching,
Lisa

November 2018 update- Merry Christmas exchange

Hello everyone,
I'm back again.. this time to share the nice exchange I signed up for on the 123 stitch message board.
we received our partner info - and then we went off to choose a Christmas ornament to stitch and send by November 1st. Something happened this time - our emails weren't talking to each other. But we persevered. 

My partner gave me a choice of  religious, snowmen or snowflakes and santas...so I chose to stitch her:

First Noel - Nativity © Foxwood Crossings
Fabric: 32 ct PTP Gothic
Threads: DMC, WDW, GAST, Kreinik#4
Stitch Count: 35x 72, 2 over 1
Cross Stitch, Backstitch

and it wouldn't be right not to include some extras.. so I added a few other items to her package.

She treated me with this lovely joy ornament...

and look at those handmade crocheted dishcloths.. they are too beautiful to use!

The joy ornament brings back some lovely childhood memories of listening to my Mom talking about her time in school orchestra where she played the french horn, and later the youth orchestra where her instrument of choice was the violin.

  




Not much other stitching - it was a busy month - but I added a few stitches to :

2013BB SAL QS Mystic Garden (It is a cropped version of Peacock Garden.)
Design by Michele Sayetta Artwork by Ciro Marchetti
28ct Picture this Plus Valor
DMC & Kreinik#4
Stitch Count: 139 x 138, 1 over 1 full cross
August 2018 it was at 13580 stitches completed, Now at 14050 stitches complete...every little bit is that much closer to the finish, right?

We've been cleaning out our closets...just because.. and making space to store a few things for my parents...I came across my tub of cotton yarn - it has been in storage for awhile.. I managed to pick up my crochet hook and started working with it... but looks like I need to re-learn as my tension was off... so practice makes perfect...just have to keep working at it. Maybe this will be a winter time project.






More snow... Snowfall: November 13th...5 inches
and on the 16th...11more inches
That makes 24" in one week!

We had a very cold turkey day - Luckily For Thanksgiving I did the cooking and brought meals to my parents who live a few miles away, so I was the only one to get chilled.

Temps finally rose this week to above freezing for the first time in awhile. Unfortunately, that brought some freezing rain.. and then rain with fog... and a Monday 26th - Tuesday 27th was a mix of rain/freezing rain and about 9" of snow, which caused another power outage - this time from 4an until 1pm .  Expecting more rain and snow mix tonight / tomorrow.  Hopefully we'll keep have our power this time around.

A few night ago, three deer showed up at dusk eating at our neighbor's garden.
Until next time,
Have a wonderful day.
Lisa M.