TUSAL and the rest of Hermit weekend progress

Okay it's time for my TUSAL posting and I have to say it doesn't look like I added much since last month but I did add!  Some of it was frogged threads but just a small amount.

The remainder of my Hermitting weekend was devoted to finishing the second sock of this pair which will be going to the post office in a birthday package tomorrow - the receiver's actual birthday.  Just a bit of a late arrival but I'm hoping she won't mind that too much after she opens the package.

The week is racing to a close and I'm okay with that.  The weather forecasted for the weekend sounds like indoor pursuits will be best and for me that means stitching of course.  Who would mind that?  Have a great rest of the week!

The Beauty of Hand Made Gifts

A friend asked me to help her son with some crochet and they came over on Saturday afternoon so I could do that.  In appreciation, she gave me a gift bag full of the most wonderful hand made goodies.  My friend is the most fabulous scrapbooker and she makes cards that she sells in a number of locations to benefit the Animal Welfare Society in our area.

I was lucky enough to receive several hand made cards in addition to a really cute and clever note pad and the most adorable tile/trivet.  My friend is going to make me a set of coasters to match the trivet - isn't that nice?  I really enjoyed working with her son and I look forward to seeing him wearing the new hat he's planning to crochet during his winter break this week.

As someone who is usually on the giving end of hand made gifts, it's especially precious to receive them.  I so appreciate the time, care and creativity that went into these very special and appreciated gifts.

She also gave me the gift of photos of the love of my life which I wouldn't have been able to capture with my camera.  Is he a hound or what?  I so love my sweet Walker Coonhound.

Ch..Ch..Changes

Here is my Hermit Stitching weekend progress so far.  I have been working on my BBD Anniversary piece and have managed to finish up the house with a slight change.  The windows called for GAST Harvest Basket but again, the contrast between the window color and the house was virtually non existent so I went stash diving again for a more contrasting color. 

I used GAST Butternut Squash.  While it's definitely much brighter than the other colors in the piece, I kind of like the contrast.  It makes me think of a winter house with all the windows lit at night - kind of glowing. 

This piece has certainly kept me stash diving so far.  I hope that all of the substituting is over with and I can get on with completing it and moving on to the next piece.  I have two exchange pieces to get going so I am not sure how quickly this one will get completed.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend and getting lots of stitching time!

Ripped and Restitched

Last night I ripped out the GAST Toasted Barley and replaced it with DMC 318.  I'm much happier with the contrast now.  Based on the comments, I guess I'm not the only one who has experienced the difference between the photo on the chart and the true colors of the actual threads.  I'm glad to have found a color that works even if it's not an overdyed.  I don't think it will make that much of a difference.

I'm excited because it's Hermit Stitching weekend starting tomorrow!  I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to put some decent time into this piece and maybe one of my WIPs.  Are you Hermit-ing this weekend?  You should be!  Just follow the link in my side bar to sign up.

Nothing like a photo....

to help you make up your mind about doing some frogging.  I've been working on my BBD Anniversaries piece today and I had been a bit frustrated with one of the colors on the house.  Britt and I had a bit of a discussion via email about being frustrated with our thread colors vs. the photo on the front of the chart. 

I was happy with everything so far until I began stitching the front side of the house (on the left) with GAST Toasted Barley and realized that the contrast between the roof color which is GAST Woodsmoke is barely discernible.  I decided to put the right side house color in before making a decision on whether or not to keep going with the Toasted Barley.  Looking at this photo, I'm going to have to find something that has more grey/contrast with the other colors and will still look good on the fabric.  I HATE frogging!  And this piece has had a lot of it considering how relatively small it is!

I can't decide if I will frog tonight or just work on the other side while watching the Grammy's tonight. 

Needles of a Different Sort

Tonight was knitting group night and I was so crabby I almost didn't go.  It's been a true full moon week with tons of crazy things going on and I'm not sure if that's what has my shorts in a wad or if it's just the usual February cabin fever.  Either way, I am so glad I went to knitting as laughing with the ladies was just what I needed. 

This is the project I bought and of course in full moon tradition, I left the pattern at home which I didn't realize until it was time to start decreasing for the toe.  I decided to trust my familiarity with the pattern and began my decreases.  Much to my delight, I had remembered the pattern correctly and I can continue on to finish this sock and hopefully complete the other before the birthday they are intended for arrives.  The yarn is OnLine which I've never used before.  The true colors are blues, greys and purples but I couldn't get the photo editor to really show them as they are.  I'm off to try and finish up the first sock tonight.  TGIF tomorrow!!!

February WIPocolypse Update

Well, not as much progress as I'd like to be showing but here are the photos of what I've worked on since my last WIPocolypse update.  I finished block 6 of C@HRH and started Block 7.

And Ann Sandels got a very tiny bit of attention.  I'm actually thinking that I'm going to restart this piece.  Crazy as that seems given what's been stitched so far, I'm not loving the 30 count fabric and how the stitching looks on it.  It was either do it over one on 30 count or switch over to 40 count. 

Tonight I dug through my stash and found a piece of 40ct R&R Iced Cappuccino that would work very nicely based on my floss toss.  I just need to get over the time and thread that's already gone into this.  If I do start it over, do you think it still counts as a WIPocolypse piece or a new start?

I hope you made more progress on your stitching since the last update!

Belated TUSAL Posting

Time got away from me and I did not post my TUSAL photo as I should have on the 21st.  As you can see, it's pretty empty for the month due to a lack of stitching time.  I hope to add to it this month though. 

The project that got the most time in January was my BBD Anniversaries of the Heart piece which I'm doing as an SAL with Brit.  I'm still happy with my fabric color choice and am looking forward to getting this finished in February.  I'm off to do a bit of UFO/WIP stitching - most likely on CHS Christmas@HRH.