52 Weeks of Happy - Week 3

This was a pretty busy week and I had to remind myself a few times to focus on what makes me happy.  Here are some of the things that made the list this week.

Meeting Barbara in Belfast to stitch together on a grey Sunday afternoon.

My new bangs which I cut back in on the same day that Michele Obama debuted hers.  I'm not sure who had theirs done first but I guess great minds think alight right?  I'm so much happier with my hair right now.

The smell (and taste!) of fresh baked brownies.  I had to make them for a meeting potluck.  I have started baking them in my muffin tin because they come out cute and easy to eat as well.

And finally, a completed sweater sleeve.  I finished it last night and went to my LNS to pick up another skein to start the other sleeve tonight.  I hope to have this done by next weekend but we'll see how that goes.  It should definitely be done by the end of the month - and wearable!!

I hope you found things that made you happy this week.  I had an timely quote in my 2013 quote a day calendar my niece gave me - "Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled" by Benjamin Spock.  I hope you have fulfilling things in your life that are helping you stay happy.

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway too - that will make at least one winner happy.  The draw is open until January 31.

January Give Away

It's time for a little giveaway I think.  It's just past the middle of January and we still have a good three months left to go of winter (at least here in Maine) so everyone should welcome a bright spot right?  I've gone through my stash and have pulled a few things to be able to do several giveaways.

The first one contains the following: "Garden Walk" by My Mark, Sampler Pillow Cover #48 by The Needle's Content, a fat quarter of 32 ct. Zweigart Mulberry Belfast linen and some threads by Valdani, Olde Willow Stitchery and Watercolors.  A few more things may get added before it gets sent out.

Here's how to participate:  Leave me a post telling me your best coping technique for getting through grey winter days.  I will randomly pick a winner on January 31st from those leaving a reply to this post.  Maybe the hope of being a winner will help you get through the rest of the month of January and we'll be that much closer to spring!

Sunday Stitching

On Sunday Barbara and I met up in Belfast for a stitching day which we had not done in quite a long while.  It was great to see her and even better to get to meet Max, her oldest.  What a nice, TALL young man Barbara is raising.  Max wandered around Belfast while Barbara and I stitched and caught up and then we all had lunch together.  It was a perfect day for sitting and stitching because it was wicked foggy out and not exactly great weather for wandering around town. 

I was able to make some great progress on the snow in my current Christmas@HRH block.  I have to say I do not love the thread but I'm using what's called for so I'll have to stick it out for the rest of the blocks.  It's a Silk n Colors skein called Mint Frost but I'm not enjoying the greenish tinge (the mint part of the color I guess).

If You're In the Area - Local Needlework Exhibit

A while back I ran across something somewhere about a needlework exhibit coming to a local museum in January.  Luckily, I went straight to the museum's website and printed off what information was there because my memory is lousy these days and I was afraid I would forget about it.  In the almost 8 years I've lived in Maine, this is the first exhibit I found out about in enough time to go. 
 


I know there is a history of needlework in Maine and I believe there is some needlework on display at a museum in York but I've not done much to seek it out.  I am definitely going to visit this one though. I thought I would share it in case your in the area and didn't hear about it.  I'm hoping to get there this coming weekend.

52 Weeks of Happy-Week 2

I saw this great idea here and here and so I'm going to practice focusing on happiness in 2013 as well.  I believe the movement started here.  Care to join us?

Here's what made me happy this second week of the year.

My neatly organized desk this morning.  I should have taken a picture of the before - it was bad!  I feel so much happier when I see organization around my house rather than piles of clutter.  I'm going to be trying really hard this year to keep it organized.

A happy pup.  A dear friend called this week to share that her beloved companion had passed away unexpectedly last week and I'm so thankful for my happy hound.  Just knowing he's there to come home to this week has made me happy.

Seeing my sweater sleeve grow has made me very happy this week.  I hope to finish it by the end of next week so I can start on the other one.

There are two things in this photo that make me happy which I didn't realize when I took the photo.  The first is that pile of library books waiting to be read.  It's a grey, gloomy day here today and as soon as I'm finished with the housework, I'm going to dive into one of these!

The other is my purse which I bought as a Christmas gift to myself in 2011.  I carry it every day and although I still can't find anything in it when I need it, it makes me happy every time I see it because I love it a year later.

I hope you are happy today and even if you're not, look around and focus on what does make you happy because I'm sure if you try hard enough, no matter what your situation is, they are out there and hopefully, focusing on those will take your mind off of things that might not be so cheerful.  Happy Saturday!

January TUSAL

Boy, my January TUSAL photo looks kind of meager doesn't it?  I took a close up photo to be sure you could actually see that there are a few threads in there. 

Since the start of the year, I've been stitching on CHS Christmas at HRH and my HAED Story Keeper so you see a mix of colors in the bottom of the jar.  I guess it will take a while to get it looking a bit plumper than today's photo.

Okay, everyone lean to the right!  it is so frustrating when Blogger won't add your photos with the right orientation.  Here ismy progress on Christmas @ HRH.  There is a LOT of stitching on this particular square.  And I don't even want to think about the next one. 
 

I really have a yen to start a new project after looking at some of the new things coming out online.  I absolutely adore Paulette Stuart's new piece but I think I will go stash diving and pick something out that won't cost me any money.  Happy Friday!!!

Not so sleeveless any more

While watching the most awesome Alabama Crimson Tide play Notre Dame last night, I decided I would knit rather than stitch as I knew my concetration would be focused on the game.  I was really nervous at the start due to all the pre-game hype that had been going on but I shouldn't have been.  Bama was just doin' its usual thing and playing good ball.  They are such a great team and I look forward to the start of college ball again in September.  Roll Tide!!

As a result of the rather uneventful game, I was able to add some substantial yardage to my first sleeve.  I had to start a new ball of yarn and I'm not sure I'm happy with the results as it added a rather larger band of blue than the previous skein's knitting showed.  However, when I look at the pictures, there is a larger area of blue in the upper shoulder area so maybe it will be okay.

Here is a more close up photo that shows the colors more truly.  I am going to have to go into Portland this weekend and pick up the additional skein I hope they are still holding for me as I won't have enough to finish the other sleeve.  I can't wait to start wearing this sweater because it's going to be so warm and cozy.

ROLL TIDE!!! oh and some UFO stitching.

Well, tonight's the night and I'm ready to cheer on my favorite SEC team against ND.  Although the largest part of my heart belongs to my Alma mater Buckeyes, who were undefeated this year also, they are ineligible for bowl game play.  That leaves my conscience free to root for my most favorite of all the SEC teams (I enjoy watching them all play), the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Roll Tide, Roll Tide I say - all the way to the win tonight. 

I will probably be knitting on my sweater sleeve while watching the game because I made some great progress UFO stitching yesterday.  Here is where I started

And here's where I stopped.  The 3rd column was predominately one color for much of the time so I stuck with DMC 931 and made some visible progress.  I think I will make this a focus piece for Sunday stitching this month.

This is what it will look like (a long time into the future) once it's completed.  I love the design even though it is not my usual stitching style and I am not a fan of blue!  But I think because I'm such a reader, this design appealed to me. 

Bowl Game Stitching

I've managed to make some visible progress on my CHS C@HRH piece today.  I was watching Ole Miss beat Pittsburgh.  I'm not sure what I'll do when Monday night is over as I've been basically parked in front of the TV on Saturday's watching college ball as much as possible. 

I guess it will mean more visits to Redbox to rent movies.  Tonight I watched Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones.  It was as good as I expected it to be. I worked on my sweater while watching the movie and made some progress on the first sleeve.  I would really like to have the sweater done by the end of the month.

Tomorrow is UFO Sunday and I've already pulled out the project bag for my HAED piece.  I hope to get at least 200 stitches into it tomorrow.

Off to a good stitching start...

I've been trying to stitch a bit each day while watching the various college bowl games.  I chose to start off the year with a WIPocolypse project and picked up CHS Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow.  I am finding that my eyesight seems to have gotten a bit worse since the last time I picked up this piece.  I've definitely need to increase the magnification of my cheaters!

I hope your new year has started of with some great stitching too.  I'm off to try and catch up with some blog reading and see what everyone else is up to.

Happy New Year!

This is my new Linnea calendar for 2013.  I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration where ever you celebrated and that your day has been a good start to 2013.  I've been watching college bowl games, reading a bit, stitching a bit and lazing a bit - an all around good day!

Last WIPocolypse Post of 2012

Well, I managed to finish one of the projects on my 2012 WIPocolypse list but the rest of the projects on my list kind of languished in their project bags.

Here was my finish for the year - BBD's Winter Wonderland

And here are the rest of the projects as of yesterday.  Now that I've seen them again, I hope to get back to finishing at least one or two more of them in 2013.

This is Nora Corbett's Halloween Fairy and needs the Kreinik and beads done to complete it.  I know that once I get going on it, it would not take long to finish so this might be the first project I focus on as far as WIPs go.

This loaded upside down but it's the restart for Anne Sandles by With Thy Needle and Thread.  This piece just seemed to have a curse on it because the 2nd time I started it on 40 ct instead of the 30 ct called for, I got the orientation wrong and had to rip out quite a bit of work.

 This is my one and only HAED piece called The Story Keeper.  My goal was to complete at least 2 more pages on it and unfortunately, I fell far short of that.  I did finish the first page and manage 2 columns of the 2nd.  This has been my 1st Sunday of the month UFO stitching project for a while but it didn't get much attention past the first few months of the year.  This is a piece I'm determined to finish at some point because I love the design and finishing it will be a serious stitching accomplishment!

This beauty is CHS's Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow.  I did manage to get past the 1/2 way point but just barely.  I had to increase the magnification of my readers to 1.75 to be able to work on this one.  I'd really like to get back to it and maybe have it completed in time for Christmas 2013.  The block below is where I left off the last time I picked it up.

 And finally it's another CHS piece - the alphabet series that I started on 30ct over one with the GAST threads called for in each letter except for the fill in the bottom.  Every time I bring it out of the project bag, I'm caught by the colors and the how cute each miniature letter block is.  This really needs to be finished and framed.

I haven't seen if there is going to be a 2013 WIPocolypse or similar challenge this year but I am going to try and stick with my 2012 plan and finish at least 2 more of these in the next year.

What's kept me from stitching...

I mentioned in my last post that I had not been doing much stitching and this is the primary reason.  I've been knitting my first sweater for myself.  I took a 2 part class in October & November and I finished the body over the Christmas holiday.  

 Now I'm preparing to pick up the stitches for the first sleeve and get this thing finished so that I can wear it.  Winter has come to Maine with a big bang so I need a great warm sweater to wear. 

This is a closeup of the yarn which I really love.  It's a combo of blues and greys from Berroco.  Another reason for wanting to get it finished is that I have a pair of fingerless mitts I want to make next and every time I see the yarn, I want to drop everything and cast on.  But one thing at a time......

December TUSAL

Well, I've certainly fallen off the wagon when it comes to blog posts haven't I?  Not sure why but I've just not been stitching much and staying away from the computer.  Hopefully my mojo will return in 2013. 

This is my final TUSAL post for 2012.  All things considered, I've almost filled my TUSAL jar even though I feel like I did very little stitching this year. 

Daffy Cat is hosting another TUSAL for 2013 so be sure to sign up soon!

November TUSAL

I'm actually managing to post my TUSAL photo on time for the first time in quite a long time.  I can't believe there's only one more month to post for this year.  It has gone by in its usual high speed fashion. 

The last week or so I was able to add some Christmas colored threads to my jar as I've been working on gifts for some colleagues.  I chose this ornament by Country Cottage Needleworks as it really caught my eye on the front color.

I used DMC on 32ct. Lambswool instead of the WDW and Crescent called for and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I hope to stitch the design several more times to finish up for gifts for work.

It's a Hermit Stitching weekend coming up and I hope to get at least one more ornament completed.  I need to get myself signed up!

October TUSAL

Wow, two posts in the month and it's not over yet.  I am a week late in getting this photo taken and posted but here is my TUSAL as of today. 

I have not put much into it since finishing my October Word Play because I've been obsessively knitting. 

I will show you my knitting results tomorrow though because I want to be ready to catch The Voice when it starts in a few minutes.  Hope you had a good Monday.  Thank goodness they only come once a week!

September gone already?

I can't believe that it's now the 2nd of October and last week was time to post my WIPocolypse update.  I did have a finish in September and I can't wait to get this piece back from being framed.  I expect a call from the store any day now.

And I did pull out the project bag for my next focus piece which is going to be Nora Corbett's Halloween Fairy.  Here is where I left it - I'm not sure when I stopped working on it or even when I started it but it's definitely been a while.

I haven't started working on this because I've been trying to finish the October Word Play by With My Needle and Thread.  I'm almost there - just a two more pumpkins and it will be ready to finish.  I'm off to try and complete it tonight!

Seasonal Start

The weather here has been so fall-ish that I decided to start something seasonally appropriate after finishing up Winter Wonderland. So I dug through my stash and pulled out the October Word Play chart from With Thy Needle and Thread. 

This is stitched on 35ct. Abcedarian, which I am really liking, with GAST threads.  This is my progress after a few days work.  It would be great to get this finished in time to hang up for October so I've been working exclusively on this although I did pull out another WIPocolypse piece that happens to be seasonally appropriate as well. 

I decided my next WIP focus piece will be Nora Corbett's Halloween Fairy.  The regular stitching is pretty much complete but it's the specialty fibers and the beads that are left and not my most favorite of things to stitch.  I hope to give that piece some time tomorrow.

Double TUSAL Update

I took a picture of my August TUSAL but just never got around to writing up a post and uploading the picture so I thought I'd post both my August and September updates.  As you can see from the September photo, most of the month was dedicated to stitching on BBDs Winter Wonderland.

 August 2012 TUSAL Update

September 2012 TUSAL

Speaking of that finished piece, I took it to Michael's yesterday (thinking it was AC Moore complete with AC Moore 60% off coupon in hand) and picked a frame.  Did you know that Michael's accepts competitor coupons?  I had no idea they did but was very happy to learn that they had no issue with my AC Moore coupon.  What would have cost me $221 ended up costing me $83 with archive quality glass.  Thank goodness for a coupon!

Vacation Knitting Start

 Thanks for the kind stitches on my BBD finish.  I am going to try and make it to AC Moore tomorrow to pick out a frame and I will be sure to share the final finish. For me, picking the frame is the hardest part of the whole process.

After tackling my first baby sweater, I decided to make something for myself that would be fairly challenging so I could stretch my knitting skills.  I think I saw this pattern somewhere on the whirlpool that is Ravelry and loved the color contrast and that fact that this pattern was multi-functional so I went ahead and bought the pattern and some yarn.

For my Cosette, I chose Madeline Tosh DK in Golden Hickory and Bark for the contrasting picot trim.  Since it's primarily stockinette, I thought it would be a perfect vacation project because there weren't a lot of tricky details to keep track of while chatting with family and friends at the beach. The shaping is done with short rows and wrapping stitches and that is why there are so many stitch markers - they've started to chime musically as I move the piece around the needles. 

I'm sorry the photos are so bad but I just couldn't seem to get a good one that truly shows the colors.  They are really gorgeous and remind me of all the gorgeous fall foliage we get in these parts.  And that change has started thanks to cold nights and warm days - it was 34 when I got up this morning!  I'm so not ready for that yet but it's on its way.

Computer Avoidance

I'm not quite sure why I have found it so hard to sit down in front of my computer and create a post but the good thing about my lack of computer time means that I devoted more time to stitching and as a result, I finished my BBD Winter Wonderland on Saturday.  Thank goodness for college football season - I've been watching a lot of it.  And it means that I've completed one of the projects on my WIPocolypse list which I'm very happy about.

And even better news is that there was a 60% off framing coupon in my email from AC Moore today so I hope to get this up to be framed this week.  It will be ready for Christmas viewing finally!