Mystery Solved?

Yeah I have a happy dance to do!  I was able to finish up the last of the stitching on With My Needle & Thread's Birds of a Feather Mystery sampler while tropical storm Irene raged outside.  I'm really please to be done with this piece.  Now to get it framed!

Talk about a Hot Tamale

The weather here in the north has cooled off a bit since the start of August and there is definitely a feel of fall in the air.  Leaves are starting to fall a bit, probably due to dry weather, but there are always a few trees that seem to start their turn much earlier than others.  I hear crickets outside my windows at night and there is a sweetish dry grass/hay smell to the air.  And the golden rod is definitely coming into its own and I've been itchy enough to notice it this year.

As a result of all this fallishness in the air, I started a pair of socks using Spunky Eclectic sport weight hand dyed yarn from my stash.  I think I bought this way back in 2006 so it's been sitting in my stash for quite a while.  Sport weight on #3 DPNs goes ever so much faster than fingering on 1s or 2s!  I'm not sure if I will keep these or pass them along to my oldest niece.  She will be starting her first year of college on September 1st and maybe her step will be more confident in a lovely pair of hand-knit socks!

I'm still working on the Birds of a Feather mystery but I'm stuck on the grass stitching right now which isn't very far along.  Maybe it will be photo-worthy tomorrow.  And darn if Brenda doesn't have more wonderful designs coming out to tempt my wallet.  Have you checked them out?  I think the purse chart and both Ann Dickinson and Mansion at Fox Hollow need to be mine.... I've been trying not to see any of the new designs that are coming out at the market in the next few weeks but it's so hard!

Making some progress

I've managed to make some progress on my Mystery sampler, adding some of the left side tree.  Some how I've got one extra row but I have it on both sides so hopefully it won't be noticeable when the whole piece is stitched.  I've enjoyed working on this piece but I am ready to be finished with it and get back to Ann Sandles or a new project.

Crochet Thanks

I meant to send out my thanks much sooner on the crochet advice you guys gave about gauge.  I experimented a bit with smaller sized hooks and trying to keep my tension tighter.  I decided to take the first two dishcloths I made and crochet them together so now they are a potholder.  The other two pieces are crocheted with the next size down hook.  I'm thinking I could probably go down another size on the next one.

On the stitching front, I added a sheep to my mystery sampler and a key but it wasn't enough to take a photo.  I hope to get more time on it this evening.  Hope you are having a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Falling out of love with leaves

Today, I finally but the last stitches into part 2 of the Birds of a Feather mystery, putting an end to the misery of leaf stitching.  There are still a few more left to do for part 3 but nothing like in part two thank goodness!  I know it's been way longer than I planned since I last posted but I just seemed to lose my blogging/computer mojo.  I've taken photos but then just couldn't seem to bring myself to sit down at the computer and write something.  With the start of a new month and the waning of summer, I'm going to try and be much better.

Part of what has me preoccupied is that I've decided to put my house on the market.  I've been working daily to sort through and organized things to be kept, stored and donated away.  The plan is to put the house on the market for the beginning of September and see what happens.  I don't have to sell it but it's just become more of a drudge than a pleasure to be a home owner, especially for a 90 year old home.  And when I add in all the extras besides the mortgage, I think it will be much more economical to rent something.  We shall see how that goes.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy this last full month of summer and I hope you are too!