The Last Ornament of 2013

The Last Ornament of 2013...or is it?

Gift to Be Simple by Trail Creek Farm
Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, 2005

Frankly, I'm not sure the Shaker who wrote Simple Gifts would think much of the Kreinik braid on this one--or the fact that it's stitched with silk--but I like how a little glitz works on the Christmas tree. Since it's been so gloomy here lately, we've kept the tree lights on all day, and I've been reminded of how a little metallic braid or a sprinkling of beads can catch the light. This is stitched as recommended except I substituted a black silk for the words and the backstitch on the flowers.


And since I was so close, I finished September's ornament which had been languishing.

Mistletoe House by Prairie Moon
Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, 2006

As I've said, Chelle gave me this kit as a RAK in days of old (2006?7?). The colors were switched out to DMC from Soie d'Alger. She supplied me with the called-for ecru, but substituted 890 for the green and 815 for the salmon. Much more work than many of the other ornaments I stitched, (or maybe I think I should stitch faster over one) but it's cute!

I look forward to stitching smalls with Stitching Lotus and her other readers in the coming year. I hope I am as successful with that SAL!

Go check out the other ornaments.

November Ornament

Well, I have to say that went as badly as I imagined. Seven days with eleven other people? That kind of thing is doomed from the start.* Sure we had an owner’s suite with a bathroom that was bigger than ours at home (a  double sink! it had a double sink!) but as everyone always says about cruises, you don’t spend a cruise in your stateroom. 

The weather was kind of bad (um, you could feel the largest cruise ship in the world rocking and rolling with the waves), and we had to skip Nassau all together because the seas were too rough to navigate such a narrow port. We went deep sea fishing in St. Thomas on 3-5 foot** seas.  And then they canceled our mountain trek in St Maarten because of the mud after three days of rain (too slippery). Also, there were about 5000 kids on the cruise. So fabulous accommodations aside, this was not the best vacation I’ve ever been on. But it’s over and we survived. (And, my BIL saved a woman’s life. For real. She was choking in the dining room, and her husband was doing a bad imitation of the Heimlich maneuver. Jersey strode over, pushed the husband aside and the next thing you knew, he was being congratulated by people at all the tables around us.)

I did finish my November ornament. I even did it before last Wednesday, but I was totally disconnected on the trip. I didn’t miss a minute of social media. On Monday my first full day of reconnection, I was bored by Facebook and had no desire to play WWF. The horror!

This is Little House Needlework’s Pear Tree from the 2006 JCS Ornament Issue. This poor ornament was plagued with errors in the printed pattern, not down to Diane Williams, I am sure.  I stitched this on a random piece of khaki fabric, 28-count. It’s not the pale green of the original, so the green in the design looks really washed out. Oh well, I was out of reach of my supplies. Sometimes you have to make do.

*Now my mother is talking renting a house for 12 people next time. OMG. I have to figure out how to divorce my family. Hasn’t anyone ever heard of traveling alone?***

**That’s what Captain Crazeballs told us it was. It was over five. (In response to me saying “A bad day fishing’s still better than a good day at work,” my cousin’s husband said he just kept imagining being at his desk in New York to be followed by a Manhattan and a steak at Sullivan’s.)

***You would be correct if you think the dude and I would never travel with you. I was just flabbergasted the first time I heard about people traveling with another couple. Why on earth would anyone do that?

Christmas Stitching in the Dog Days

I forgot to begin my last post by assuring you that I do not intend to give up blogging! I like to hear myself talk, or you know, read my own writing. That doesn't mean I'm not going to post the occasional sneak peek to Instagram or Twitter. You're stuck with me for now.

I hadn't planned on stitching this one, but when I declared August the "dog days" of stitching I thought I should stick with the theme.

This is Brittercup's Britty Christmas Puppy from the 20006 JCO issue.
I stitched it on a random piece of white fabric with a host of color changes.
For the GAST buttercrunch I subbed WDW Squash
GAST pomegranate --> GAST Buckeye Scarlet
GAST evergreen --> WDW Spring Grass
GAST soot --> Crescent Colours Black Coffee

{If you click the SAL icon above, you can see what everyone else stitched.}

I think she looks a little bit like Stella. Only Stella would so not wear that hat.

Happy Returns

Thank you for your charming notes and good wishes on the perseverance that has kept me blogging for a decade! That's
ancient history in internet years. I do appreciate that you stop in from time to time to see what's up around these parts.

As you know I was on vacation up in Maine. We went and visited my grandmothers in New Hampshire--lunch with one and dinner with Maggie--and it was a bit of a depressing proposition. It's one thing to know they are aging and quite another to see it in person. In fact, I haven't been writing about my trip because of this in fact. It's just too difficult to think about how to make a jaunty little travelogue with this weighing it (me) down. At any rate, I visited and I should do it more often.

The dude and I went kayaking in the marsh very early one morning, and I would show you the fabulous pictures, but we didn't bring our picture taking devices because we didn't want to get them wet. The good news is after 12 years of marriage, we are pretty good at tandem rowing. We also dragged my mother on the Marginal Way, a paved public shoreline footpath between Perkins Cove and Ogunquit Beach. It's a beautiful pathway, but this is the only photo I have of it. (So go ahead and follow the link to see many more.) And we spent two whole days on the beach. We had such beautiful weather this time! It was remarkable. On the whole, a very relaxing trip. Marred only by the fact that on the ride home, we were listening to a book on tape and I was stitching (so completely engrossed) and we missed an exit. It took us a whole hour out of our way. I was more philosophical about this than the dude, but I hadn't been driving for seven hours either.

As you can see above, the threads I needed to finish the Blackbird ornament that was supposed to be my April contribution finally came in! At long last.

July Ornament

It's time once again to see what I have been stitching up for my tree!

Sisters and Best Friends
Believe
Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue 2000

Stitched on a piece of 28-count fabric instead of the called-for 11-count Taverna. I stitched with two threads instead of three, but I did use the called for GAST. The snowman needs a carrot nose, but he's just going to have to wait until I take a trip to the LNS. The santa's beard is done in French knots. The eyes are also French knots. It took me as long to do the four blue ones as it took me to do the million white ones.

I love this because I do believe in Santas and Snowmen.

I'm so happy I joined Stitching Lotus's ornament SAL. I love my handmade Christmas tree, and I would love to have more ornaments on it. Sometimes I just need a little push to put things at the top of the list!

June Check-in

 

This week has found me a little unexpectedly in Florida taking care of my dad. My mother is off on a cruise in northern Europe. He was supposed to have surgery but it was put off before she left. I was supposed to be here for that, but it was postponed again. Now I'm just hanging with him. And changing bandages. (Awesome, right?) It does give me the opportunity to spend his birthday tomorrow with him.

My June ornament is Monsterbubble's Joyeux Noel from the 2007 JCO issue, as you can see from the photo that I took with and altered on  my phone. I wanted to color correct the fabric and my unfamiliarity with my parents' computer (which seems to have a lot more on it then they need or use) pushed me to my phone. It does need some beads (is this a theme with me?) but I didn't bring them with. (Of course not!)

Stitched on:
28-ct tropical green linen from Wichelt
Called for flosses

This is part of the Ornament SAL that Stitching Lotus is hosting. Check out what everyone's done.

Ornament Stitch-Along, Stitched...Along

I am writing this post so far ahead of the deadline it's not even funny. That is to make up for the Blackbird bird from last month that is still not finished. Still waiting for silk. {frowny}

This happy little snow guy is Bent Creek's Roly-Poly Snowman from JCO 2002. He is stitched on a random piece of fabric with the called-for colors. He is just such a happy little creature. I love.

Ninety-nine Problems but a Stitch Ain't One

Here is my ornament for the SAL or I should say "ornament" or maybe "SAL". At any rate, this is where this adorable ornament was stopped for lack of silk threads. It will simply have to do.

In the meantime, I was soldiering on with Crazy Love. Until I noticed...what the what? Look at that L. It's supposed to line up with the E. Yikes! That is one low-down and dirty L. As I see it, I have a few options. I could just go on with it as is. I mean, the designer designed the L backwards, why can't my L ride low? Or I could extend it so it was as tall as the V. Then it would look like a design element--or a capital. There are those of you, of course, who would suggest I rip it all out. I'm not listening to you. No matter what.

Stitchalong Ornament

We interrupt this craft month to bring you the Ornament Stitchalong report.

You know I have a tendency to give a pass to the crazy Jemini Designs birds when I review the ornament issue. I couldn't resist adding one of hers to my list for this stitchalong. I have no idea why I chose this otter over, say, the flamingo I love so well.

I've ordered the buttons, and I'll give him a press before I put those, and the sparkle-plenty seaweed, on. But the stitching is finished!

"Snowdon"
Jemini Designs
Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue 2008

Ornament SAL Report

At last! I've finished my first ornament for the Silver Lotus's Ornament Stitchalong.

I worked on it with my old ladies at the library yesterday, but when I got home from the library, I had to start prepping for our first stamping night. My rep has thrown up her hands at the behavior (messy, thieving) of some people at her stamp classes, so she has stopped doing that and gone back to the model of the PMS (Pizza, Music, and Stamping) party; this means she provides us a place to stamp and some supplies, but she doesn't design any cards. Because I know myself, I knew I had to go in with a plan. Preferably over-prepared. So I had four cards from Pinterest and some of the supplies ready to go. And I completed two of the four (seven cards total), but the group used another one of my ideas.

This morning while we watched Newcastle United beat (!) Chelsea, I completed the stitching on my ornament at long last.

Bent Creek

Starry Wreath

Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue

I also went through my JCS ornament issues, and chose a bunch of ornaments for the next few months. With any luck I'll be able to finish them on time!