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.