May 2015 Smalls Finish

Over the weekend I managed to finish stitching the smalls ornament I chose for May and to finish it as well.  The design is Fraidy Cat by Knotted Tree NeedleArt.

I messed up the stitching in the cat and didn't realize it until I went to put in the bottom border.  I was off by one and the spacing wouldn't have looked right so I decided not to put in the top and bottom border as designed.  I think it came out okay despite the mistake. 

I need to pick something for August and I'm leaning toward a Christmas ornament as I'm kind of tired of Halloween colors in my ort jar.  Hopefully, I will keep some stitching momentum going and be able to have another finish in August.

While I was on hiatus....

I finished this pair of socks:

I started another pair.  This is the first sock which is now finished and I'm at about the same point on the 2nd.

I went to the Maine Fiber Frolic and bought some yarn.  This is for me - I think for a shawlette.   It was dyed and spun by ontheround. 

This is for a gift.  Dirty Water Dye Works destined to be a zigzag cowl thing. Five mini skeins in gradations of blue.  My pictures are lousy because it was gloomy when I took them and I'm too lazy to retake them.  I love being able to buy local Maine yarns.

I fell off the stitching wagon again but I think I've climbed back on.  I started this in May as my May 2015 Smalls project.  I didn't finish it nor did I stitch one for June nor for July so far so this may end up as July's entry.  This is where I left it in May:

This is where it is as of yesterday after meeting Barbara in Belfast.  I think seeing her projects kick started my interest in picking up a tiny needle again.

Summer was slow in coming to Maine this year and we've only had a handful of truly warm days.  I hope there will be more before summer ends.  I hope you're enjoying your own version of summer.

March and April 2015 Smalls SAL projects

I realize it's May and I'm way behind but I figured I needed to share these photos to show that I've actually been doing a little bit of stitching even thought I've not been blogging at all.

First up is my 2015 March Smalls SAL project.  This was a quick stitch that I modified slightly in that I did not include a year which was shown in the chart.  I was lucky enough to have two of these little black frames in my stash and it was easy to pop the little design in.  Definitely my fastest finishing project so far!

Next up for April was a design from Les grilles des Maryse.  This was a fun little stitch and I finished it as a pillow weight.  I filled it with walnut shells and it's got a great feel to it.  I used the backing fabric that was included with this little exchange kit and I am really happy with how it turned out.  

I'm pleased that I've been pretty close to keeping up with this SAL and I've now got 4 new little items to display for Halloween this year!

March-ing Along

So another month is gone and we're starting the 3rd month of 2015.  Is anyone else freaked out by how quickly time is flying by?  I don't like it!

Last Thursday I took a class at Michael's - my first ever at the store.  They had an Art Journaling course and I've been wanting to try this craft for a while.  I've looked at some stuff on line and I have tons of supplies accumulated over the years so when I saw the blurb in their February class flier, I decided to sign up.

It was very informal and the store manager was the instructor.  There was one other lady beside myself there and it turned out to be a relaxing and fun way to spend a cold Thursday evening.  Here is the start of my journal - the cover.  In case you can't read the letters, the typewriter keys spell "change".

On the stitching front, I did start BBD Spell of the Moon which is one of the projects I kitted up in January.  This is the tree and the start of the outside border.  I hope to put some additional time into it tonight if I can stay away long enough!

And also waiting on the horizon is a new crochet project.  I'm going to attempt the Greenway afghan using some Caron Simply Soft and Bernat Satin yarn I had in my stash.  It will match some throw pillows in my living room. 

I'm still struggling with my crochet skills and this has a tricky for me pattern so I'm kind of avoiding starting it but I just need to start that chain and get it going.  Worrying about not getting the pattern right has prevented me from starting.

Thank you for visiting and I hope your weekend was a good one.  It's on to another work week all to soon.

February Smalls SAL Update

Here is my small for February.  This is another of the Halloween kits I have in my stash.  It's smaller than last month's but since it was a short month and I had both a knitting and stitched gift to complete this month, I felt it was okay to stitch something a bit on the small side.

I'm not sure on the fabric or floss details but it's a lovely hand-dyed purple with a variegated orange thread.  I've lost the details if they were included in the package.  The backing fabric also got lost so I used some from my stash.  The design is Boo! by the Cross Eyed Cricket.

I did a simple twisted cord finish in two DMC colors pulled from my floss box.  I was not as pleased with my finishing this time around as the bottom was wonky and I trimmed the edges much too close and the top left corner was fraying.  Thank goodness this is for me and not a gift because it would have to be a do over.

I have to say I'm really pleased I already have two finishes for display come Halloween!  I am going to sort through the project bag with the remaining kits tonight and choose my next victim.

Thank you so much for stopping by and your comments on previous posts.  I'm still not where I want to be with blog visiting and commenting but I'm trying!  It's that "snow fatigue" thing....

Late TUSAL Update & Trying to Stay Positive

So I think I'm going to use "snow fatigue" as my excuse for no posts lately.  But I did take an updated of my TUSAL (totally useless stitch a long) jar, which is now much cleaner than last month, which contains proof that I've been stitching so maybe snow fatigue is not such a bad thing (yeah right....).

New for this month was lots of red from the HIH Collectors Heart I stitched for my sister which went out in the mail today (her birthday!) and orange from my February smalls choice which I can't show until later this week.

Here is the heart finished.  My sister opted to frame it local to her so I sent it out as is.  She seemed very pleased with it.

As you are aware, my neck of the woods has had an exceptionally cold and snowy last few weeks and its really been tough to not bury myself in a snow bank in despair.  So when I saw this lovely frost gift on my window on Valentine's Day, I decided to try and capture the incredible beauty that Mother Nature gifts us with if only we can see it.  To me it's like a tree of life in ice.

That design is on the inside of the storm window!  And the next day, it had morphed into this beauty.

And for a final taste of what we've been having, here are some photos of a window on the 2nd floor of one of the hospital's I work at.  I considered it my own mini-Alps.  It's a good thing I took the photos when I did because it's all been shoveled off now.

I can't wait for it to all go away - overnight with no messy thawing, refreezing, ugly mud season please!

January Smalls Update and Progress Report

I'm late in posting my January small but here it is.  I finished the stitching on Tuesday morning during the blizzard we had and the finishing finishing on Saturday.

The reason for the delay is that I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish this piece.  It came with backing fabric and it could have been a pillow or hanging pillow but I decided I'd like a flat door hanger type finish that I could use for my front door.

Luckily, I had a gorgeous piece of orange wool in my stash and some fun trim.  The piece came together pretty easily and I'm happy with how it turned out.

I found that with several projects going, it didn't feel like I was making a lot of forward progress.  I have also been working to finish this cowl for my niece so that she can get some use out of it before winter passes.  At the rate we're getting snow storms, she's gonna get a lot of use out of it!

I have also made some progress on the HIH Collector's Heart for my sisters birthday and I will show you that and the February smalls project I picked out for that SAL.