Button Up Your Overcoat!

Hello, friends! Thank you for your encouraging words on my pathetic output of last year. You are a wonder.

Although the weather outside is frightful (Below zero in southeastern Pennsylvania? Crazy talk!), I haven't stitched quite as much as I might have sitting here bundled up on the couch like Bob Cratchit (stocking cap, scarf, fingerless gloves). I did continue to work on Nunavut Santa as promised. I think one more round ought to do it!

Speaking of ornaments, the tree is down and the little glitter lights that I love to watch in the afterwork hours (and dine by) have disappeared. I'll have to find another way to add some sparkle into these dark cold (cold cold cold) nights.

Stay warm; unless you're near the equator. And if you are, you might not want to mention it to people on the east coast of America right now.

Happy New Year!

Here we are, 2018. Before we look forward, a stocktaking. Though there wasn't much stock to take. I finished five pieces--Ortilda the Witch, Tada Santa and Snowman, Wabbit's Wonder, and Christian's Stocking.

Stitching did pick up in the latter half of the year, so I am hoping that is the trend for the future.

I am joining Stitching Lotus's Smalls SAL for real this year! (Last year I said I would stitch smalls but I didn't even change the link from 2016 to 2017. But look, it says 2018!) I plan to do a rotation, but I think I'm going to do fewer pieces for an extra day so seven pieces for four days each instead of ten pieces for three days with occasional theme months, like in February (Valentine's Day!) I'm going to focus on anniversary pieces*, and of course, Craft Month in March.

I also plan to blog more, and visit your blogs more often too.

For my January rotation, I'm going to start with seven smaller pieces so I can feel like I'm making headway!

1. Nunavut Santa
2. Lapland Santa
3. Four Fat Friends
4. Elizabethan Rose
5. Deruta Biscornu
6. Special K's Ornament
7. Sweet Baby Ray's Ornament

What are your plans for the year?

*There are three unfinished--47 Hearts ('17), Our Souls ('14), and To Thee My Heart ('10).

Tada!

Goals for September: 

1. Finish Christian's Stocking  -- YES
2. Bling all four stockings: Christian, Mary, Charland, and Sadie -- THREE OUT OF FOUR
3. Send to finisher -- THREE OUT OF FOUR
4. Stitch Tada Santa and Tada Snow Guy (Amy Bruecken Designs) -- I STARTED BOTH, NEARLY FINISHED SANTA (above)
5. Read Scribe of Siena for Books on Tap (9/19) -- READ, DIDN'T MUCH LIKE THE ENDING. MY IMAGINED ENDING WAS BETTER. 😉

I am still waiting to get the charms for Christian's Stocking. I may have been better off ordering directly from Shepherd's Bush. Live and learn.

For October: 

1. Stitch using my three day rotation
1. smalls
2. Our Souls
3. 47 Hearts
4. Love Me, Love My Dog
5. Deruta Biscornu
6. St Nick's Noel
7. Lapland Santa
8. Ladybug, Ladybug
9. Tis the Season
10. Cinnamon Stars
2. Read The River at Night for Books on Tap (10/17)
3. Make one dozen Christmas cards
4. Bling Christian's Stocking and send to the finisher

Half of Nothing is Nothing

I've got a bit of a tradition going to take stock on July 2, the halfway point of the year (2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2007). And here we are on the first day of the second half. I think you know how this has gone...
In December, I wrote:  For 2017, I'm going to stick with the rotation again, and sign up for the Smalls SAL. Maybe this year I can get even closer to 12 smalls for the year.

1. St Nick's Noel
2. Christian's Stocking
3. Our Souls
4. Forty Seven Hearts (new, anniversary present)
5. Love Me, Love My Dog
6. Deruta Biscornu
7. Lapland Santa
8. small
9. Ladybug, Ladybug
10. Tis the Season

I'm also going to celebrate Craft Month with the helpful input you gave me last year. 

---

I have stitched no smalls, done very little on the rotation, and skipped Craft Month!

I haven't even started the dude's anniversary present! (shock, horror) (Eleven days and counting!)

So here's the new plan:
July: Forty Seven Hearts
August: Christian's Stocking
September: twins' Christmas ornaments
October: Go back to the three-day rotation (above)
November: New project every day for NaBloPoMo
December: Three-day rotation

I'm also sketching out a plan to blog twice a week. And make the rounds to you regularly as well.

I have been stamping and making jewelry. Here's a pic to hold you:

Artful Dodger

The other day, I found myself in need of entertainment, and I wandered into Barnes and Noble to find a magazine and came out with this, Artful Blogging, which has to be one of the strangest magazines ever.

Let me start by saying this isn't really for people like me, hobbyists who blog with whatever they are working on, without expectation of compensation; people who don't spend hours and hours on the "look" and "brand" of their blog.

But should it really exist at all? I mean blogs are a staple of the virtual world. Why would you stick it into something as static as print form?

The photos in the magazine and most of the blogs are beautiful. And most of the people I read about were trained artists, And if they weren't trained photographers they
were people who spent a lot of time learning about and paying attention to their photos. Not like me--since my camera's battery "door" broke and won't stay shut, all my blog photos have come from my phone. You probably noticed but were too polite to say anything.

Photo from Death to Stock.

The bloggers all focused on different things--some were painters, others bakers; some were lifestyle bloggers and others interior decorators. That said, the blogs were all of a piece. I mean you could have dropped this photo of a succulent (especially if it were in a milk glass container) into all of the blogs and it would fit right in. They looked rather samey.Well, maybe if the shot weren't so crisp, but rather moodier and gauzy (Maybe that was an editorial decision to focus on a "look"?) .

The advice from the bloggers was similar--and maybe there's just not that much to say about writing. Words like "voice" and "authenticity" over and over. (How many months can you run the same story?) And it's not like you can't find the same advice...on the internet where blogs live!

This publication has been making it in the world for almost a decade (!) now. I'm pretty sure my buying it this time but never again isn't going to make or break them!

---

I bring you this foray into the publishing world because I did not work on the Deruta biscornu at all, after all the drama of not being able to find the next project in my rotation. We had a busy weekend for a change. I think the dude is taking one of those "say yes" challenges so when I asked him to go to IKEA to look for a chair to replace the one the dog has chewed, he said yes. (He hates to browse even more than he hates to shop!) When I asked him to help me with yard work, he said yes. (He's a delicate flower from the north who wilts under our harsh Pennsylvania summers.) When I asked him to go to an open house with me, he said yes. (That browsing thing again.) Anyway, I didn't spend the weekend on the couch, so no stitching.

Today's not much better. I snuggled into my massaging spa chair for my monthly pedicure and took out Tis the Season only to realize that I didn't have a needle with me! Welp.

Onward!

Greenland Santa, Nearly There

You might have thought you'd see a photo of my progress on Our Souls which was next up in the rotation. But I didn't stitch for three days (four, really) so it didn't see the light of day this month.

And that fourth day of not stitching means that I won't finish Greenland Santa in this round. So close! Just a few more beads in his boots and the ram. I love beading these things. So much!

It is time to move on to Cinnamon Stars, which is on this list because you chose it, so I am sure you don't want me to give up stitching on that just so I can finish this ornament. (And besides if I work really hard on my August small, I might have a spare day to return to this one.)

Mary Grows

Not the best photo, but here's our friend Mary back in the rotation. I didn't get as much done these three days as I did after several hours in the car, but the top of the stocking is starting to take shape. And she has a head! If not a face--still not sure what to do about the color.

Today is the end of summer hours, my last half day Friday. Two years ago, I bemoaned the fact that I never went thrifting on my half days as I had planned. Nor cleaned the craft room. (If you click through, you will get to see tiny baby pix.) Today, recognizing that it was my last half day, I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the craft room. I'm about halfway done. The scorching temperatures forecast for the rest of the weekend suggest I will be able to perhaps finish the job. Wouldn't that be nice?

In the Meadow, We Can Build a Snowman

In the U.S., it's definitely not snowman building time. We're back to PA with temperatures in the mid-90s and humidity to match, barely cooling to the 70s for sleeping. In Maine, temps were in the mid-70s during the day--with low humidity--and cool nighttime temperatures. No wonder I popped out of bed between 6:00 and 6:30 every morning ready to start my day (with a long walk with the dude, my mom, and her dog). Sigh. Who ever thought I'd spend my summer vacations chasing cooler temps? Would that the memories would help me sleep better. Anyway, the ride home gave me plenty of time to work on Shepherd's Bush Wisteria Snowman (kit). (I've gone out of order, since my sister was with us for the last three days of our vacation, and Mary's Stocking is for her.)

I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that one of our vacation days was spent in South Berwick (in Maine, they pronounce that W) (in the UK, they don't) to see Sarah Orne Jewett's house. We arrived at 11:30 not realizing that tours were only given on the hour. There were about six shops on the tiny main street--that hadn't changed much according to pics we saw from the 19th century--but fortunately one of them was a quilt store! And it just so happened that my mother needed fabric for a quilt.  (I acted as her proxy.) She recently gave in and bought my father a lift-chair, which she has declared the "ugliest chair you have ever seen." Complaining on Facebook brought her the offer of a quilt to cover the chair. Of course, I've never looked at fabric without needing some myself. This is what I picked up at Saltwater Fabrics for me. I bought larger quantities of the waves and jellyfish for my mother.

Waldorff

I thought I might get through the second page of Waldorff but I got sidetracked by my vacation. As it should be. Everybody who saw me working on it asked if they knew who it was for, and they do--a special person who's had a few such dogs. I'm trying to decide if I can incorporate the dogs' names as well. Right now I'm thinking around the edge so I don't have to disrupt the design. What do you think?

Rotation, Continued

Despite the notable lack of time, I was able to fill in a flower or two and complete the white smyrna stitches.

Today is my first half-day (summer) Friday. (Summer hours started last week, but I was off sick.) Despite the fact that I have a doctor's appointment in the city today, my list of gardening chores is loooooooong. Looks like we know what I'll be doing this weekend!

Good News!

First the good news. Stella's tumor was "low grade" and the margins were clear. She requires no further treatment. Woohoo! She'll get her stitches out next Tuesday and should be back to normal before we know it. (Coming off the Benadryl has certainly raised her energy level.) It will take about four months for her fur to grow back, however.

I have returned to work so am well enough. I am no longer coughing so much that I need to mainline cough drops. I didn't even take Nyquil last night! 

I thought it might be good to get back to my 10 project rotation, so the plan for the rest of June looks like this:

June 13-15 Our Souls*
June 16-18 Cinnamon Stars**
June 19-21 Greenland Santa
June 22-24 Small #6
June 25-27 Mary's Stocking
June 28-30 Tis the Season

*I have a number of meetings these evenings, so there may be less progress than we'd hope.

**The three weekend hiatus from gardening may result in less progress than we'd hope.

Projects Past, Present, and Future

An extra day to work on Tis the Season, and I am taking it! I'll show that one to you tomorrow.

What I have for you today is Mary's Stocking from Shepherd's Bush. (All called for materials.) I had put in an extra strip of pink (this is what it looked like last time I showed you) before I realized I was stitching with the wrong pink. {Sigh.} I began unstitchening and restitched.

Not bad for a day's work. 

Tomorrow is March, and March is (say it with me) National Craft Month. As usual I am going to attempt 31 projects in 31 days. See you then!

Rotation Rotates

Dear readers, I have stuck to my rotation even if I haven't been reporting in regularly. Every day this past week I thought, "This will be the day I blog," and instead I didn't. You probably realized...

Greenland Santa was going along swimmingly making me think I might finish all the stitches before the end of my three days, but that sheep is made out of confetti!

I didn't do nearly as much on The Thread that Binds as I had hoped but I did get a few words in. I am reading Just Mercy for a reading group at work, and it's devastating. I keep having to take breaks from it. Stitching and listening to Amy Poehler's Yes Please has been a good antidote, but I do still have pages left to read.

Nevertheless, life will continue to intervene. I won a Fitbit at work, but that means I am in a group of about 50 or so that are in friendly competition. Unfortunately this week I am in a contest for the most steps. Since my job is a lot more sedentary than others, I am only aiming to get over 10K steps every day. (The athletic trainer gets as many steps in a day that I am aiming to get during the work week.) So far the only time I've done that this month was when I took the day off to go to doctor's appointments*. (In the city, and I only parked my car once.) So I guess I'm going to have to spend more time walking, less time stitching. I don't think this can be entirely bad.

This past weekend the Strawberry Sampler had a stitch-in. I missed Friday night for stamping (of course!) but I was there from 9(ish)-5 on Saturday and 9(ish)-12 on Sunday. (So much for the step count, right?) I got soooooo much done on Winter Row that I am two swooshes and 12 snowflakes from being done. I'm going to keep on going with this one even though the rules tell me I should put it away to start stitching on my small. {Shhhh. Don't tell.}

*And today. I'm just back from my third walk of the day!

Our Souls, Part II

The Majestic Rooster should be arriving in Alaska today. I know some of you will be horrified by this, and others will think, "I knew her when." But it is a relief, honestly. I'm happy to permanently scratch it off my list. Kristen (craftrat) asked for the pattern but she is that odd duck "the no reply" commenter. (C'mon people, be all in!) Kristen, there's a line behind you so if you want it I have to know where to send it--and soon!

I did keep Watercolor Geraniums, however, because I think my MIL might like it. Someday I'll work that into the rotation...

I've completed another round on Our Souls. You can see how it looked after the last rotation here. I was going to start the initials and wedding date but the designer didn't include an alphabet. I guess I'm going to have to find something suitable. (Am I the only one who thinks it's wrong for a designer not to slap together an alphabet for this sort of thing?)

Another Finish--What?!

Look at me go! I finished another piece from last year's Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge. Apparently all I need to to is concentrate--and stitch! I think I stitched this on the recommended fabric, but I'm not sure. I know I used the called for fibers.

Shabby chic, just like the lighthouses I've visited in Maine. It's hard to keep up the paint job in all that weather!

I'm sure I've told you a million times that the dude's grandfather was a lighthouse keeper off the north coast of Scotland. His grandmother had and his mother has such wonderful tales of living on the land while his grandfather was in the lighthouse. (Here's a picture that will give you some perspective, even if it was taken in France.)

And the sea, all tranquil and orderly. (Ha!) Love this and adore my new rotation!

Waldorff

Waldorff, Homespun Samplers, DMC

Waldorff hasn't received the attention he was probably expecting during this rotation, but that's what happens when you land on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday--especially when your Wednesday evening is taken up with a trip to hear Colson Whitehead. One of the best things about living so close to so many colleges is that there are any number of free events to choose from--readings, plays, dance recitals, and concerts. The dude and I went to see what he had to say for himself.

That's my excuse for a lack of progress on Waldorff. His daffodils got bigger. On the other hand, my daffodils are the saddest little things ever. The mild December led them to pop out so early, and they were nearly blooming when the blizzard came. Now the stems have lost all integrity and the yellow buds are sunk into the mud.

February Goals

Credit: Death to the Stock Photo, Floral 2

Hello, February!

I feel like I had great success with my new rotation. I saw measurable progress on each of ten projects, finishing two this month. (That's a rate about twice as productive as I was last year!) I don't think I'll be able to complete one of my larger projects each month, but I like the sound of measurable progress! So, I'm going to keep at it.

Feb 1-3 Waldorff
Feb 4-6 Hawaiian Santa
Feb 7-9 Lighthouse
Feb 10-12 Our Souls
Feb 13-15 Greenland Santa
Feb 16-18 The Thread that Binds
Feb 19-21 Winter Row
Feb 22-24 Small #2
Feb 25-27 Mary's Stocking
Feb 28-29 Tis the Season.

Round Seven: Winter Row

I guess I should be working on Bent Creek's Winter Row during this blizzard but I did work on it during the incessant pre-blizzard media hype! 

I had to stop at the grocery store last night on the way home for some dishwasher detergent. Can't go through a blizzard handwashing dishes! The empty aisles included water, bread, snacks, and sour cream. I'm living among a people who survive on chips and dip.

Went from three letters to 21. Not bad.

Round Six: Anniversary Sampler

I can tell you have been waiting with bated breath to find out what the 2016 Anniversary Sampler will be. For our fifteenth* anniversary, may I present Mosey n Me's "The Thread that Binds." I'll be honest, this is one of those pieces I bought because I loved the sentiment and thought the design was only okay. The whole thing reads, "You are the thread that runs through my life, the stitch that binds my heart." It is original to Frank and he wrote it to Judy in a Christmas card.

But since I have been stitching it, especially the curlicues at the bottom (what will be the middle), I've grown to adore it. The cover photo looks like it was taken with a cell phone in the middle of winter, so you can't see the wonderful colors or how delicate this piece is.

I'm stitching with the recommended colors on 40 ct cream Newcastle**. It's a joy to stitch.

* Don't forget we were together for nine years before we got married. We are nearing the point where we have been together for half my life!

**The dude went to school in Newcastle, so that's apropos.

Round Three: Lighthouse

I was zooming along on Bent Creek's Lighthouse on Thursday and Friday and then...Saturday. On Friday the dude texted and asked if we could have dinner with his boss on Saturday night. We could (it was lovely, by the way). And then we learned at the last minute we were hosting Sunday dinner--that meant errands and cleaning. So Saturday was a bust. Still the two days I did work on it showed marked progress. I alternated the dreaded "white house stitching" with stitching the rocks at the bottom.

Last time, in August 2015

What I like about this rotation method is that three days of stitching is noticeable, but doesn't sap my desire to continue with the project. With a ten hour rotation, it might take 5-7 days to reach that amount of stitching time. And if you had a few busy days, it extended and extended the time you were "working" on that project. (I can't be the only one that feels like I've been working on a project "forever" even when I don't get that much stitching time on it, can I?) The other nice thing about this rotation--and this will become clearer in the coming months--is that each project gets a different three days. So, for example Lighthouse got a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this month, but next month I'll be stitching on it on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Over time, each project will "equal out" to some extent.

On to "Our Souls."