Getting ready for 2012

First a big southern welcome to my new followers. Can't believe I have over 50 now!  I'm sure some of you are finding me because of what this post is all about. Let's hope 2012 brings us lots of stitching time!

It seems I'm in the mood to start making lists for next year. I'm a great one for the making of the lists. I love lists. I even like to cross things off them. The problem comes when I make lists for stitching/knitting/crochet purposes and then aren't able to cross items off. I sometimes get discouraged and in a rut. But still I make them.

So, now I can make lists for Theme-a-licious 2012 and WIPocalypse 2012. The best news is that they aren't mutually exclusive lists and really each month's theme will help me figure out my list of WIPocalypse. I've kind of been throwing some ideas around in my head for Theme-a-licious, especially for January. My problem is do I want to use that challenge to focus on a single project each month or just create a my monthly rotation around the theme? Decisions, decisions. If I were only more like my friend TheresaR I wouldn't have such a problem. Unlike me of the many WIPs, she's a monogamous stitcher.

Here's what I've come up with so far.WIPs for WIPocalypse are noted as well.
Jardin January

• Margaret W Brown 1838 - I'm using Jean's (of The Attic fame) conversion. (WIP)
• Tulip Slip - my EGA chapter went together to purchase this as a project this year. We've contemplated doing the finishing in a program in 2012 so this makes great sense.
• Winter Garden Gate - cuz, well it's SO close to being finished and if I don't get it done by then why not have a nice finish to start the year? (WIP)
• Pansy Garden - and old UFO from ASG one year (WIP - kinda obvious)
• Wild Woodviolets - this is a silk gauze piece I bought after a class many years ago. So pretty. (WIP)
• Antique French Ribbons - since well there are flowers on some of the ribbons!(WIP)
• My new Christmas Stocking will fit nicely in this catagory.
• Apparently I wasn't around for the vote but I'm also going to start Ann Dale with my sampler guild friends. (Some friends huh? They wait until I've left to decide we're all going to do the SAL for this sampler!)
• Misty Morning Vineyard certainly fits into this month and I keep saying I'm going to work on it and finish it before I die. (WIP)
• Anniversaries of the Heart - because it's another huge project that I want to make progress on in 2012
• Daughters of Longbourn Hall - see AofH for a reason (WIP)
• Mary Corey - since I couldn't resist starting it when I bought it and it just is calling to me! (WIP)

Fangirl February (I'm listing the designers I'm going to choose from during the month)

• Rae Iverson (Moss Creek Designs - who's website is being redone so no link right now)
• Ellen Chester (With My Needle)
• Plum Street Samplers
• Patrick Woods
• Tony Minieri - cuz I need to make some progress on that class

I'm sure as I look through my stash I'll find some other pretties I could work on. I need to look at ornament kits and see if any fit the bill as well. Let's be reasonable, it's also possible that I'll start picking up something just because it hits my fancy. But looking at the list I've got more WIPs than new starts and even a few UFOs. If I could just finish one or two that would be fantastic. In January I have a nice 3 day weekend planned with my DF Jackie. We went to this same retreat last year. I took way too much to work on. I'm going to try and pare down this year and see what happens...oh who am I kidding, I'll take way too much to do and talk way too much, but at least I'll have a good time!

Any others making plans for next year?

PS - I just looked through this list and thought, "You know....I may just ditch that entire list and do something completely different. It's all going to depend on what I feel like come January."

Another Great Weekend in Atlanta

So, in case you missed it, I started the month off heading to Mesa, AZ with DF Heather for a weekend of stitching. Ok, let's be real, it was a partial day of stitching and lots of stash enhancement opportunities. Then I came home, worked to pay for that trip, and then proceeded to head off to Atlanta for 6 or so days of fun, stitching and more stash enhancement with my peeps up there after only being home for barely 10 days.

I worked from Jean's on Thursday but we managed to make a trip to Eat.Sleep.Knit's store. Now I've done some damage on their website. But as scary as the website is the store/warehouse is even more so. The proof is in the picture.

That's just my haul. DF Jean managed to have a pile just as nice. In all that is a full sweater and who knows what else.

Now, I was there to take a class at In Stitches with Tony Minieri Friday through Monday. But that didn't stop us from heading over to The Nimble Needle and checking out what they had. I like to make sure I support small business as many of you well know, so of course I couldn't leave empty handed.

 A little something for mom's blue & gold tree....eventually.

 Something for my stitched tree...eventually. 

And of course I changed the colors!

(Quick Jean...don't look!) I had to have the Halloween shoe.
And really, didn't your mom tell you about kissing lots of frogs? 

Then Friday we packed ourselves up and headed to In Stitches. Heather met us and she and I managed to get started on our project with Tony. About 2 hours in Heather leans over and says to me in a very low whisper, "I couldn't figure out what we'd be doing for 4 days!" That was way funnier than it sounds, believe me. By the end of the day my canvas looked like this...

No really, that's a day's worth of class. And that was a LOT of work. Tony kept the class moving and I kept up. By Monday, that's day 4 for those of you trying to keep track, I was a little punch drunk but still going strong. I think it helped that Jean & I decided back a few months ago that it would be fun to really try and relax some that weekend and to get a hotel room in Buckhead near the shop for Saturday and Sunday night. It helped some not having to get up quite as early as if we'd stayed up at her house.

We really treated ourselves, well and I found a good deal, and we stayed at the Grand Hyatt, which used to be Hotel Nikko. The Japanese garden is still there, but I didn't get out during a morning to get pictures. If you're staying in the area I highly recommend this hotel. The staff was wonderful and the whole place was beautiful. Unfortunately Jean started feeling sick Saturday and by Sunday she was slightly miserable...maybe really miserable. So she went home and I hung out Sunday evening with DF Heather watching the final NASCAR race and rooting for Tony Stewart to win. I even had Heather rooting for him, although if she'd seen Carl without his helmet before the race started she might have been yelling a different tune at the TV. Heather went home after the race and some dinner next door at Brick Tops and then met me Monday morning for breakfast at The Flying Biscuit cafe. Then we grabbed a ride from the hotel's shuttle for our final day of class. By the end of the day this is what my canvas looked like...

For those familiar with this pattern you might notice that the colors I have are a bit different than any of the pictures you can find online. That's because I went with the "fuchsia" colorway, which is really more a jewel tone take on the original. Love the colors and I'm planning on working on this next year. It's an amazing piece with lots of great stitches. Learned lots of great techniques as well during the 4 days.

Now most of you are wondering what other trouble I managed to get myself in to while wandering around such a great needlepoint shop for 4 days. Wait no longer...

I mean really? You expected me to by pass this? As Heather told her dear husband it was a triple threat. Lots of great blue/green colors, bunnies and they are in Medieval dress. I was a total goner. It really was sad. Plus Tony Minieri himself was there and kept giving me ideas for stitches and pulling colors from the vast supply in the shop. For four days we had it laying on a table in one of the rooms and would just pull fibers and play with what would look just perfect. I forgot to lay out some of the fibers I bought already to get a start on this, but let's just say I'll be working on this for a nice long time. Heck, I don't even have stretcher bars this will go on yet! Oh, and that brown dress is changing colors thanks to Mr. Minieri's suggestion. Now to finish the Mermaid so I won't feel too crazy about putting this in the rotation come 2012!

Of course all good things must come to an end. So it is with getting to hang out for 4 days stitching and looking at fibers and great canvases, spending time with old friends and making some wonderful new ones. Tuesday I had to get back to work and fly home, in that order.

Thanksgiving was a day spent with my parents, nice and quiet. Didn't even cook. I took them out to dinner so we'd have a relaxing day for a change. Didn't even make it to shop on Black Friday (oh please stop...I know what you're thinking...why would I need to shop after my two out of town crazy stash hauls...and you might be right.)

Now I'm on the countdown to Christmas. We'll be starting to decorate this week I'm sure. Takes time to put all those tree's up you know. Of course now it's dark at like 5 so it's time to have trees with lots of lights to brighten the darkness.

If you want to know...

Earlier this month I took a trip to Mesa, AZ with DF Heather and took the infamous Chocolat with Jackie du Pleissi. Much fun ensued. She introduced me to her friend Annette who is apparently my twin separated at birth! The three of us had a great time.

Now, if you want to see pictures and a really good recap of what I did you need to head over to Heather's blog and read the post. My camera decided to hide on my and I didn't have it on the trip. Plus Heather does a much better job of letting you know all the fun we had (and the food we managed to find to eat).

I will show you my stash enhancement. I'm not sure what kind of fumes Jean pumps into the store to make you go all weak and have no will power to resist the patterns, fabric and threads, but apparently I'm hyper-sensitive to it. Here's what I couldn't resist...

 Mary Corey with my own twist. 

Changed all but the alphabet color, and working over 1 on 40 ct.

 Some things off my wish list.

Changed the fabric but that's all.

And then Heather surprised me with the great project bag

Obviously it's perfect because it has bunnies! But that's not all. Inside was....

That would be fabric for Spring Quakers. I had the pattern and the threads. Now I just need to get some things out of my rotation, or not.

So that was my weekend in Mesa. I'm proud that I managed to blog about it in the same month. Next up the weekend in Atlanta taking Tony Minieri's class, Antique French Ribbons. Not too many pictures from that, but there is more stash!

Honoring Veterns Day

It's days like today that I hope we all stop and think about the sacrifices that many have made so that we can all enjoy many of the freedoms we enjoy. Many of you who have read my blog and know me know that my family has a long tradition of serving our country in the armed services, well mainly the Navy. My brother Doug is retired from the U.S. Navy, his son, another Doug, is currently active duty Navy. Both my mother and my father's fathers served in WW2 in the Navy. One was lucky enough to come home, the other did not.

My mom's family served on both sides during the "War between the States" and I've been told that we even had members who served during the Revolutionary War. If I'm not mistaken someone in our family has served during every war the U.S. has fought since the start of this nation.

So today we take a few minutes to pause and remember and honor the many, many brave men and women have served in our military to make sure that we can live in a country that, while it may have it's problems, is still one of the best experiments in government by and for the people this world has known. There are still some of those great men and women who served in WW2 around, and if you are honored enough to know one, or are related to one, I hope that today you will say thank you for their amazing service. Same goes for those who served in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and the current wars we are waging. And don't forget those who just put the uniform on and served even during  the years when there wasn't an active "engagement" going on. Their willingness to stand guard is what has kept us free.

Thank you Veterans and may God bless you for you unselfish service to this country I call home.

A Return of the Themes

Some of your know my DF Heather (or as many of us call her "The Magic That Is Heather") and her great blog. Some of you may also know that she and I spent the last weekend together in AZ (hey H you need to blog for us 'cuz you have the pictures!) and while we were there we not only stitched, ate and bought more stash, we spent some time talking about fun things. Heather mentioned she was thinking of resurrecting monthly themes like we have done in the past. I LOVED the idea and mentioned it would be fun to have some alliterations. (Not sure why but it sounded like fun to me.) We laughed, we talked, we laughed some more at some wild ideas of words that start with "J", and "O" and well a few other letters.

In the end Heather came up with a great list and you should head on over to her "Theme-a-licious" post from yesterday to read all about it...and sign up to join the fun.

And yes, I have already been planning what I could stitch for each of the themes. I love making lists. Plus the last time we did this I managed to get quite a few things finished and made some good progress on other items.

Camera should be here tomorrow. Until then I'm picture free.

No Eye Candy

So, here's the deal. I've lost my camera. I went looking for it before I went to Arizona for Chocolat. Couldnt' find it. Figured I'd come home and "bam" there it would be right in front of me. Well, no "bam" no nothing. I'm at a complete loss. I've looked through all my bags, in my office, all over the house. NO CAMERA. I realize it's not that large so it could be hiding anywhere, but seriously? It's a nice Nikon point & shoot, about 2 years old. Takes fairly decent pictures. I really like it because it will fit in my purse and doesn't weigh a ton.

What's a girl to do?

Buy one of these is my answer.

Should be here by the weekend. Then maybe I'll have some pictures to share. And I'll probably find my sweet little camera as well.

Stitcher's Bucket List

Chris over at Tot Hill Farms blog posed the question what is on your stitching bucket list quite awhile ago. Let's face it, we all have one. It would be really easy to say, "Finish all the pieces I took a class for" or "Complete everything in my stash (really, who thinks that's something that's doable?? have you seen my stash??). So here's what I decided on this week.

1. Finish at least one of the HUGE Chatelaine pieces I have in my stash. The two top contenders are "Misty Morning Vineyard" and "Tuscan Town". I have the most done on MMV so it might actually get finished.

2. Complete all 5 of Rae Iverson's Gate series. I have 2 completed and on my wall. I'm SO close to having Winter Garden Gate complete. See...

For those not familiar with this one I'm missing the mirror image of the assisi stag and some initials. (and a date to show when I actually finished it. Then I only have 2 more to do. 

3. "The Wind Blows" from The Scarlet Letter. I'm not sure exactly why I love this piece, but I do. I have to stitch it some day. I have the pattern, just need to college the rest of the goodies for it.

4. I want a "Noah" wall. I have several charts that are Noah, all that I love. I want to do them so I can have a whole wall of them with a picture of my maternal grandfather on that wall as well. (Yeah, his name was Noah and he was in the Navy, died in WWII, and finally I was born on his birthday.) 

5. Along those lines I've started an "alphabet wall", a "Quaker wall" and want an "A&E" wall. I have at least 1 of each so I've got a start, but I want more....MORE I say! Here's my current list for each wall:

Alphabet Wall

• Stitchers Row (finished)
• small prim hornbook (finished)
• La-D-Da bunny (finished)
• Illuminated Letters Sampler (Samplar Workes)
• Poppy Maye Russell (Heartstring Samplery)

Quaker Wall

• An Emblem of Love (finished)
• Spring Quaker 
• Mary Peacock

Noah Wall

• The Flood
• A Weeping and a Blessing (Barrick Samplers)
• Noah's Stocking (Carriage House - but not as a stocking)

A&E Wall

• HallowEden (finished)
• Mary Corey (The Linen Sampler)
• and here's where I get stuck I need some more in my stash. I welcome ideas from those of you who read this blog. (Hey Siobhan which other ones should I add? You've stitched so many great ones I trust your judgement.)

6. Visit the V&A and really spend some time looking at their collection. Maybe even come away with some ideas for a design of my own.

I'm sure there are other things on my list, although right now these are the ones that come to mind. If you look, that's a lot of stitching. Who knows if I'll manage to finish any or all of these, but it's a nice little list. Maybe I'll take a look at it once a year and see if it changes.

Weekend Fun

I have to admit that I have been a bad, BAD blogger. I had this written right after my weekend in August (gasp, that was like 2 1/2 months ago!) and it sat in my blogger folder as a draft since then. Why you ask? Because I kept meaning to take one single picture which I never did. So, I'm just going to post this 2 1/2 months late and beg your forgiveness. At least it has some good eye candy in it. I'm going to try and do better. I have some things to share from both my stitching and my knitting. So look for them. Thanks to those who have stuck around even when I have been quiet. And now what I did the weekend of August 19th.

_________________

I promised a report on last weekend's festivities and I don't like to disappoint. It took awhile to get around to blogging it, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Friday morning DF Jackie picked me up and after loading up her car with my "essentials" we headed to have a quick breakfast before going to Camp Blanding for the weekend. We were lucky enough to meet up with some friends of mine and stake out a nice spot of tables in the middle of the larger of the 2 rooms. Everyone got all set up and as they started sewing, I started stitching. Now, before you get all excited that I accomplished everything I set out to do, let me just warn you that I always set goals and rarely make them happen.

On Friday I worked on a couple of things. One was the Hemstitch Pillow, which was a class I took YEARS ago, like in 1998 or something crazy like that. It's a neat piece and apparently will take me a lifetime to finish since when I pulled it out of my bag it looked like this...

I managed to finish that 2nd row. So now the after...(ok, so there's no after picture. Which is what held up this post for months....MONTHS.)

I also worked on Daughters of Longbourn. I love this piece and hardly ever work on it. So I decided it was worth working on Friday. Here's what it looked like before:

Actually I had a little more than this done, but not much. And here's what it looked like when I put it away after a stitching and talking and looking at other people's pretty quilts and eating and talking, did I mention there was some talking?

For me that's a lot of work!

Then Saturday morning was a little hard. I had to go to a funeral so I didn't have a lot of time that morning and came back after lunch. There was also the presentation of the Quilts of Valor to Camp Blanding. That's always something to see. I did make a good start on my Chocolat for the class in November. It always takes me awhile to figure out how to get my piece sewn onto the stretcher bars! But you can see, it's going to be fantastic!

 This thread is fantastic and really I think I have plenty of time to get it done...no really.

I also managed to put in some time on Margaret W. Brown. This piece is just so sweet and if I haven't mentioned it before I just love the more muted colors that Jean at The Attic did as a conversion. Plus all those silks are just wonderful to work with. A little before....

And what it looked like after....

Jackie and I had discussed that we wanted to finish another project from our trip to Mesa in January. We decided that we could do an entire small little sampler that we got and put it in the cool frame we received during the weekend. Well, we did! Look, isn't it just too adorable?

The pattern called for the colors to be black, scarlet and a gold, but I decided to use some threads from my stash and go a bit more red, white-ish and blue. I'm working on getting this fixed so it can hang on my "alphabet wall". I need to find one of those small sawtooth hooks to attach to the back.

I did manage to add some things to my stash. There is a "sale" room where anyone can bring things that they no longer want to others can procure those items. I managed to procure several charts, and even some that were fully kitted up with fabric and fibers. All at a great deal. I also managed to "encourage" the purchase of a Singer Featherweight machine. It needs a little TLC, but was still a good deal. I almost wish I'd bought it since it was a 1935 which just might be the year my mother was born, but that can't be right so it's a good thing Eva took it home with her.

I did purchase a little bunny that's just too adorable and complete handmade by the very talented Heather Lynn. His name is Dusty and if you hurry over to here and scroll down you can see much better pictures than the one I took below of where Dusty is living for now. Although I think he likes being the bunny protector of my growing collection of "primitives".

That's all I have to share for now. It was a great weekend. I had a load of fun and can't wait for the next one in January.

The Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


First off the Kindle edition has some problems with formatting. I tried not to let the bother me, but I have to admit that I think this would have been a much more enjoyable read if it hadn't been an issue.



Otherwise, this was a good solid mystery/romance with some paranormal elements thrown in for good measure. I liked the mystery more than the romance, I felt that the author could have developed it a bit more than just pawning it off as "instant lust/love" I mean that has it's place, but then I like things to develop a little more than it did. The rest was good. The mystery/suspense part was well written with a few twists that kept me guessing what would happen next.



Like a lot of the books I read for pleasure this isn't a hard book, won't make you think too much, just enough to be pleasant and enjoyable.

________________________
So, since I've promised to blog more often I realized that this was sitting in my drafts and needed to be published so here it is. I'm sure Jackie and I are having a fantastic time and much stitching and knitting has been accomplished. Yeah, that's probably what's happening.....

The rumors of my demise are false

I am alive, and doing relatively well. Life has been busy with work and life. I realize that's not a perfect reason not to blog, but it's the only one I have. A lot has happened in the last 3 months or so and since I don't have a ton of time right now I'm going to give you the very, VERY quick update and then hopefully find some time to do more in the next couple of weeks. So here are the highlights:

• Got a contracting job back with the company I've been with the last 3 times. I really like working there and this is a nice challenge. So far I've enjoyed it and learned a lot. It's through the end of the year so we'll see what happens after that. 
• I've been to Atlanta 3 times and Charlotte once. The Atlanta trips were a mixture of business and also some pleasure during my birthday weekend. Charlotte was all about family. 
• I really haven't finished anything on the stitching front. I'm very close to having the Mermaid done. The picture below is the latest and taken with my iPhone so not the best, but you get the idea.

•  In other stitching news, I took another class at the needlepoint shop in Atlanta for my birthday and started another large needlepoint canvas. I'll show pictures later.
• In non-needlepoint stitching news...well all I can say is I've been stitching. I can't really tell you what all I've worked on and if I've even accomplished anything. I can say that I've made great strides in obtaining stash. GREAT STRIDES. I'll have to do an entire post on that, so for pics and info you'll just have to wait. Needless to say I've been trying to stimulate the stitching economy practically on my own.
• I have no knitting news to report. I've been in the knitting doldrums. It's been so gastly hot that I couldn't even think of picking it up. I do have a few things on the needles and a pair of socks I really want to start so we'll see what happens.
• Health wise, things are pretty good. Some days better than others. The RA seems to be in control, just have days where I have almost no energy, but those aren't too often. I did have to go to the dermatologist the other day. I had him remove a mole from behind one of my ears and he also took a spot on my leg. Neither are suspected of being cancerous, both were just annoying. The one behind my ear sometimes was being irritated by some earrings and the one on my leg was being caught by my razor so my very nice doctor said they were both going away.
• Upcoming events include a very busy fall. Our EGA chapter is having an open house event the 2nd Saturday in October with a program about Bargello work. Then two weeks later they and our Sampler Guild are hosting a wonderful teacher, Ellen Chester, for a day long class which is completely full! Then the next weekend, (first of November) I'm meeting my DF Heather in the Atlanta airport and we're headed to Mesa, AZ for the weekend and a great class from Jackie de Plessie called Chocolat. THEN 2 weeks later I'll be back in Atlanta for a 4 day class with Tony Minieri called Antique French Ribbons. And at some point I'm trying to find a weekend to meet DF Jill in Tallahassee for a weekend of FSU football. That's enough to make you tired right there! Plus there's work to pay for all the fun. More on all of this later
• This weekend DJ Jackie and I are headed far, far away (ok, it's really only a couple of miles away from my house) to Camp Blanding for a retreat. It is mainly quilters, but I'm taking all my stitching and even some knitting to work on. My goal is to touch each of my current projects for my 2011 challenge. I've taken before pictures and I'll take some afters. We'll see if I make any progress. I'm also taking my bag of ornaments that are stitched and need to be finished. Maybe, just maybe I'll manage to finish one or 2 of those. We'll see.

Ok, that's way more than I intended to write. I hope there are still some people out there who check in with me occasionally to see if I'm still around. If so, thanks for sticking with me and I'll try to do better! Until some time next week....good stitches all around!

Books and a Contest

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'd heard about this series for years and finally decided to look for a copy of the first in the series. Thankfully I found one at a local used book store and I'll be looking for the rest. Brother Cadfael is a wonderfully written character, not to mention the story is good. The good brothers of Shrewsbury Abbey are off to obtain the bones of St. Winifred from her resting spot in Wales and the adventure is on. Brother Cadfael came late to the monastic life, but the lessons learned prior come in handy to help solve the mystery of who shot Rhisiart, the prominent landowner and vocal opponent to the moving of St. Winifred's bones. A short book, but a great read. I can't wait to hunt down the rest in the series.


________________________
And now for the contest. The ever wonderful Edgar is celebrating his 4th Blogiversary with a give away. Even if you don't want to enter you should take yourself over to his blog (Blacksheep's bit of the web)  and view the beautiful stitching. I also look forward to his estate sale finds and info on great movies, oh and the occasional baked treat is always nice too! 

I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures of any stitching lately. This week was the first at my new contract job and it's been busy from the beginning. Nothing like diving in and going straight to work. That also means by the time I'm done in the evenings I really haven't felt like doing much of anything. I have managed to knit on the surprise gift I'm making but that's about all. Tomorrow is Sampler Guild so I promise I'll stitch and make some pictures!

Tonight some friends are throwing a dinner party for my parents to celebrate their anniversary. Even though it was almost 2 months ago, they decided to have a get together and celebrate now that my mom is feeling a bit more herself. They are all close to my parents and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time together tonight, as we usually do. I might have some pictures from that as well.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening and enjoy some fiber goodness!

___________________

I thought this would publish Friday night, and it didn't, so I'm going to let you in on another contest. Deborah over on Cranberry Samplings is having a give away. So click the link and see if you want to put your name in the hat.

Books, Books, Books!

Obviously I needed to catch up on my book reviews since I've been away from the computer for a week. No really great reason why except that I took a break while I waited to receive the computer I'll be using for my new contract job and can get back to earning some real money. I've even been lax about reading blogs this week, but I'll be catching up this weekend and hopefully will be back to normal after Easter. For now, enjoy some reviews of books I've read lately. It's a bit of a hodge-podge, but then my taste in reading materials is pretty eclectic.

____________________________________________

The Ship in the Hill by William L. Sullivan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


(Disclaimer: Won through Goodreads "First Reads", signed copy from author.



Another book I'd like to give 3.5 stars to if I could. I loved how this book blended the excavation of an actual Viking ship and the lives that the women found in the ship might have led in the 800's. Weaving some of what really happened, myth, legend and good old fashioned imagination the author brings to life the story of Asa of Agthir and the fictional Dr. Kirstin Williams. I think the author did a great job of taking the Viking legends and sagas handed down through time and used them as a starting point to flesh out the characters from the 7th century in the novel.



What I didn't like about the novel was how the people in the 20th century were "linked" to the people in the 7th century. I realize it helped to move the underlying plot, but seemed a bit contrived at times. But it didn't bother me too much, since it's a technique I've seen used by many a romance author who write stories that involve "time travel" (even though this book didn't).



All in all I enjoyed this book, it was interesting and well written enough to keep me reading well into the night. Plus I feel like I learned something about a part of the world that I didn't know that much about and it made me curious about Viking lore and history.


____________________________________________


The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The first in a series of mystery novels set in Africa finds Precious Ramotswe setting up shop as a "Lady Detective" after her father's death, definately not something anyone thought she would do with her inheritance. Along the way we learn about Mma Ramotswe's life before becoming the first lady detective in Gaborone. The main mystery surrounds the disappearance of a young boy from a small town in the region, but throughout the book "smaller" mysteries, which really aren't mysteries in the traditional sense of the word, are revealed. Through it all Mma Ramotswe's down to earth intelligence and good sense shine as she helps those who come to her for assistance.



I'd really give this one 3.5 stars if I could. It's a fairly easy read, not too taxing on the brain. I liked that the author stayed true to the setting, giving me as a reading more insight to the area and the people. I'd like to read more of these and will probably try to get them from the library.

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I got this one free from Amazon on my Kindle. Too lazy to check and see.

____________________________________________

Enchanting the Lady by Kathryne Kennedy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Some romance, some fantasy, some magic, some Victorian England and a hot man who's a shape-shifter...what's not to like? I have to admit that I thought this was more a YA book until I hit the first hint of sex and realized it was meant for adults.



This wasn't a challenging read, I had most of it figured out pretty quickly, but it was interesting and fun, and just what a friend likes to call "good brain candy".



I liked Felicity, the main female character. She has spunk, even though it seems she's almost invisible to everyone until she meets Terrence Blackwell, a shape-shifting baronet who is also a spy for the royal family. Terrance can't seem to forget the beautiful woman he can see through the spell cast by relic-magic, the type of magic that killed his brother. Terrence is a were-lion and his character reflects his animal nature, which made sense and made the story even more interesting in my opinion.



The author does a great job of describing an alternate Victorian England that is filled with magical peers and were-animals, where even the buildings aren't what they seem. This is the first in a series that I downloaded from Amazon when it was offered as a free promotional and is no longer offered free. I liked it enough that I'll be downloading the other books in the series soon since this really gets a 3.5 in my book!


____________________________________________

I started a new knitting project, but I can't show it off yet. It's a present for a friend that I'm fairly certain reads my blog. Also, I haven't taken any pictures. I do have some stitching updates that I need to blog about so be on the lookout for those. 

HallowEden Happy Dance

Can't believe I've actually finished another piece but...well....I have! This was one I started with my DF Jackie when we were on our retreat in February. We'd purchased it while in Arizona at The Attic's retreat in January. I loved stitching this piece and can't wait to decide on a frame and get it on the wall.

HallowEden by Plum Street Samplers

I love how Adam has a leaf but it takes a pumpkin for Eve! It's stitched on 40 ct Purely Primitive Newcastle with the called for Crescent Colours floss. I did do some creative cutting with the Candy Corn used for the pumpkins so they didn't turn out too yellow. I also used Brandied Pears for my first and last initial in the alphabet.

That's all for today. I'm still waiting on all the paperwork to be completed so I can get started learning what's going on there. Until then I'm getting some things done here at the house although today was a bit of a loss since I had a migraine almost all day. Hopefully I've got it under control this evening and won't have any more problems with it this week. Thanks everyone for stopping by and leaving comments I love reading them! Have a great evening and Thursday.

Lots Going On

No really, there has been. There was the Clay County Fair, two Jacksonville Symphony concerts, a quick visit from my aunt & uncle on their way to summer in Michigan, oh and I got an offer for a contract through the end of the year that sounded very interesting and I've been getting all the paperwork for that done. But ya'll just want to see pictures.

Let's start with how mom and dad's anniversary sampler turned out when framed.

An Emblem of Love by Ellen Chester of With My Needle

It's so hard to get a really good picture of this since I ended up putting it under glass. The colors really don't show through in this picture as deep and beautiful as they really are. There was a small problem with the frame so it was ready until the Tuesday before our county fair started, which was the last day you could enter things in for showing. Mom, Dad and I went to the framers to pick it up and then take it directly to the fair grounds. Mom said she almost cried then, but didn't thinking if she did I would as well as the mother and daughter team that do our framing. It's now hanging on a wall in our house and they both really love it. Plus I did manage to keep it a secret, neither of them knew I was working on it.

Speaking of the fair, I took a few other things and did well in the ribbon department.

Left: Entries and ribbons awarded, Right: in exhibit hall

As you can see I took Traditional Elegance, Little Green Acorns, An Emblem of Love, Peacock Pinkeep Drum and Linen Sewing Book (entered as one item) and my Traveling Woman shawl. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Since I last posted I also finished La-D-Da's Briar Rabbit.

I love how this turned out and can't wait to decide on a frame. I think I know what I want but not positive. It will end up on the same wall as A Stitcher's Row. I finished this in record time, mainly because that's all I stitched on. I started on March 28th and finished it on April 7th. Crazy right? And I had to stitch the majority of the bunny twice since I messed it up and couldn't figure out how to make it work without ripping and restitching.

I'm not sure why I'm on the kick to only stitch on one thing at a time but it's continuing with HallowEden. I'm really close to having it finished and picked it back up after I finished Briar Rabbit. Here's a peek as of this morning.

I hope to get this one finished at least by the end of this week. We'll see. Last week I was asked to return to ING as a contractor and jumped at the opportunity. It's with the same group I worked with last and I'll be doing something a bit different. I am hoping all the paperwork gets completed and my computer arrives soon so I can start working. Yep, I'll be mainly working from home again which is another reason I jumped at this job. I like working from home, I have a home office so it all works out really well. Plus have you seen the price of gas? It's 33 miles from my house to the office in Jacksonville and my truck gets like 15 mpg on that trip. Ugh! Not having to go into the office every day is really nice, not just because it saves me some money, but time as well, those 33 miles take almost an hour to drive. So I don't have almost 2 hours of drive time every day or the expense of the gas plus a job that sounds interesting with a group of people I like. Just a great blessing.

I'd like to also thank Lee for including me in her March Favorite Posts. What an honor and so unexpected. If you've never checked out her blog run right over there and enjoy. And be sure to see what other bog entries were her favorites last month, she always finds some great posts!

That's all for now, I'm headed to a meeting a church that I'm hoping won't last too long. Hope everyone has had a great week and has been getting some time with your fiber project of choice!

SBQ: April Question

Do you keep records of your finishes?  We are so lucky to have so many record-keeping tools at our disposal to record our accomplishments.  So if you do, what recording methods do you use?  What do you think is important to record when you've finished a design? 



For years I used a program called CrossMagic to keep track of my stitching patterns, projects that I've started (and finished), floss and silk threads. Unfortunately the owner of this program hasn't made any updates so it doesn't work on my newest laptop. For now I managed to upload the pattern and project data to Excel so I can keep it up there until I can maybe build a new database for me to use. This final part could take awhile. I've taken a beginning SQL class online but that was a year ago and since I haven't really used it a lot I've probably forgotten most of it. I figure I can get a good book to help me remember and get it all worked out.

Finally A Book I Really Liked

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was a very nice surprise, partly because I've been reading a lot of ok but not good much less great books and partly because I really wasn't expecting to like it quite as much as I did. If I could give it 4.5 starts I would.



Rachel Morgan is the kind of character I like in my paranormal with a bit of thriller books. She's surprisingly more "human" than "witch" and she doesn't even realize it. She's tough, but a bit vulnerable. And she's honest, and steadfast (which is not a word you see often but I think it describes her perfectly.) She certainly can get herself into some interesting situations, living in an old church with a vamp qualifies as interesting in my book. Throw in some pixies in the garden, an old witch across the street, a rat turned human (or would that be a human turned rat turned human), a very interesting bad guy (or is he the really bad guy?), some more really mean witches and a demon and it's a fun ride from start to finish.



I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of secrets all the characters really have as this series progresses because that's what's going to make this all very interesting.

I downloaded a free copy of this book from Amazon to my Kindle.

View all my reviews

Time to Have some Fun! 2KCBWDAY7

Day seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.  2KCBWDAY7
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft? 

Well the answer to that question is whenever I can. Seriously, I rarely like to just sit and do nothing. I almost always carry something with me to a doctor's visit, either an ornament I'm stitching or a small knitting or crochet project. I always carry multiple projects with me on trips. I stitch, knit or crochet when I'm watching TV, listening to a book on my iPod, hanging out with friends, you name it. I've knitted at baseball games, in restaurants, airports, in my car (not while actually driving, but sitting still at long traffic lights during rush hour why yes I have), on a plane, on a boat (took a knitting cruise with my LYS a few years ago), at home, my LYS and I'm sure some retail stores totally non-yarn related. I've pretty much stitched at all those places as well, although I haven't stitched at a baseball game, but I have stitched in the car on the way to a football game, and probably while we tailgated at least once. I love to knit or crochet on something simple during NASCAR races, usually while on a chat with several of my online friends. It has to be simple since I do pay attention to the race more than I normally would other things on TV.

If I'm home I have two places that I gravitate towards when I'm knitting/crocheting/stitching. One is the chair in my bedroom. It's a big, comfy chair with a nice large ottoman that I bought back in the early 90's. I love that chair. I have my Dazor on a rolling floor stand that I bought around the same time as the chair after I saw one at Spirit of Cross Stitch oh so many years ago.

Only mine is cream colored that's it exactly. This was totally worth the investment all those years ago. I have a place to put my drink and quite a few of my supplies close by. I also keep my stitching and knitting bags beside that chair for when I feel the need to switch projects. Right now I've got just the ones that I have in my "rotation".

The other place is in the family room. We have a sectional couch that has 2 recliners. I have staked a claim to the one closest to the fireplace since that's where I can plug in my Ott Lamp and actually see. There's always a project or two (ok or more) laying close by to pick up and work on. That's where the nice HDTV is and where the Wii is, so if I'm going to watch a movie from Netflix or really want to see the yummy men on Hawaii 5-O (just for instance) then I have to go in there to see them in all their yummy glory.

If there is nothing on TV that I want to listen to/watch, then I just listen to a book. One of the women that frequents my LYS turned me on to Audible.com and I love it. Sometimes I listen to several books a month, other times just one, and some months none. I always have several that I haven't heard on my iPod ready to go.

So, there's nothing typical about when I will craft, or maybe there are more people like me than I realize. I think that a lot of my friends are like me, but then again, maybe not.

Something to aspire to. 2KCBWDAY6

Day six: 2nd April. Something to aspire to. 2KCBWDAY6


I really thought about how to answer this. I'm not sure there is much I feel is something to aspire to in the sense that I'm not sure I could do it. There are a few things I don't care to learn how to do in knit, but aspire to...not really. As I said I do want to learn double knitting, but I don't think it will be that hard. I can do color work and think it's pretty, but not my thing all that much.

The only thing I can think of is to make a Pi shawl a la Elizabeth Zimmerman. It's not like there aren't plenty of beautiful pattern already figured out, some are even in my favorites on Ravelry. But for some reason I want to make one that's unique. I have some amazing red lace weight yarn for one, I have the book with the directions and I even started looking at lace patterns to determine which patterns I wanted to use for the different sections, but putting it all together has eluded me thus far. Maybe I haven't been in the right mood to do the math, maybe I just don't want to tackle a BAP in my knitting when I have plenty in my stitching WIPs. I don't know what's holding me back. So maybe that's what I aspire to do, to create my very own version of the Pi shawl. I know I can do it, I just need to get motivated to start the planning and do the math.

If you aren't familiar with what a Pi shawl looks like just Google it and look at the images. There are some very beautiful ones out there.

________________________________

A brief stitching note. Today the frogs came to visit after I thought I could keep them away. I was one row off on the bunny for Briar Rabbit. I thought I could make it work, I was wrong, so today I pulled out most of the rabbit and started it over. I am not going to put it aside though and not finish it. I'm determined.

I also tried to move the program I've used for years to keep track of my patterns/charts/kits and what projects I have started to my small laptop. Didn't work since apparently the program won't work on Windows 7 and it certainly won't work on my Mac. I was not amused. So, I used the export feature and created .txt files for the two main databases and then imported them into Excel, at least for now. Maybe, just maybe, I'll create my own database that I can use on any of my machines. It would be a good project to reteach myself how to create and manipulate them. For now I'll just keep these files up to date. I even added in most of my newer purchases and what I've been working on. I made a few changes so I don't have to refer back and forth between the two documents to tell what is going on. I don't know why someone hasn't developed something as nice as the program I've always used that will work on a newer operating system and/or Mac.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. I'm hoping to make it to our county fair to see how my entries fared. I do know that my knitted item got a blue ribbon since a friend saw it and sent me a picture, but she couldn't get a good look at the stitched items and couldn't see the names so I'll have to see about those.

Friday's Should Be for Books

So from now on, or until I get tired of doing it, I'll  post about books on Fridays. Hopefully I'll actually have something to talk about each Friday. Of course with the knitting blog week I'm participating in this week that means there will be two posts at some point today. Luck ya'll

Murder Off the Books by Evelyn David

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this book. Not high lit by any means, but a good solid mystery. The characters were well written and I really loved the interaction between Mac and his lovely dog Whiskey. The story was convoluted enough to keep me interested and the ending was a bit of a surprise. I hope to read more about Mac and Whiskey solving mysteries and saving the day. (And maybe even getting the girl?)

View all my reviews

Downloaded when offered free on Amazon.

Currently reading: Dead Witch Walking (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows, #1) on Kindle.

Where are they now? 2KCBWDAY4

Day Four: 31st March. Where are they now? 2KCBWDAY4
Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

I guess this isn't so much about the projects as it is what happened after I knit them. Back in 2008 a church friend's granddaughter was diagnosed with a brain mass that was causing her to have seizures and be in a lot of pain. At the time Lilly was only 2 and of course scared of all the poking and prodding that was going on plus she hurt. Her great-grandmother (actually step-GGM) was still alive at the time and she loved to dress up and wear hats and so when Lilly was going to have to have brain surgery and most of her hair would be removed GGM told her she'd get to wear pretty hats until her hair grew back. I wanted to make sure she had one that was pretty and soft for her head so I knit her one from a design by Leigh Radford. I used Plymouth Wildflowers DK in a soft blue color since she is so fair skinned. Here's a picture of Lilly sporting her hat after her hair had grown back some.


To me the most important thing is that 3 years later Lilly is a happy and very healthy little 5 year old girl.

The other is also related to sickness. In 2009 we found out that my cousin Dennis had aplastic anemia and due to his age the usual treatments weren't advisable. So instead he had to have chemo to kill all the stem cells and then take medicine to grow back his own with the hope it would grow back without the illness. It was a difficult treatment which meant he had to leave his home outside of Charlotte and move to Baltimore during the procedure. He and his wife stayed there for months and of course it was in the fall and winter. Poor dear lost all his beautiful dark hair so I thought he needed a dashing cap to sport when he went for treatments. I made him Claudia with Misti Alpaca Silk & Cotton yarn. It was soft enough it wouldn't bother his newly bald head, but would also keep it's shape. No pictures of him in it, but I did manage to get a picture of it on my mom before I shipped it off. I know he was surprised and since I made it in Ohio State Buckeye Scarlet, or at least as close to it as I could, he was happy.

Pretty simple pattern and looked great too.

So it's a theme of hats for people who are sick and lost hair, but the great news is that even though the procedure that Dennis originally went through didn't produce the results we had hoped for, he was able to have a different procedure last year that did the trick and he's doing quite well.

It's fun to make things for yourself, but I also enjoy making something for a friend or family member, especially if it lets them know that I'm thinking of them during a time of difficulty.

Tidy mind, tidy stitches - 2KCBWDAY3

Day Three: 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches. 2KCBWDAY3
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organization exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organized at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organized, blog about an aspect of that organization process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organized stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

In some respects I'm very organized about my work, and by extension about my crafts. I have lovely containers that I store my yarn in, well most of it at least since unfortunately I'm acquiring yarn faster than I can knit it! For now I have a lovely tall wicker basket full of yarn, 2 smaller baskets full of yarn, a large round hat box full of only sock weight (but not all of my stash) and a lovely trio of baskets that my mother bought for me last year for my birthday.

I only have a picture of the pretty set of baskets since the rest is kind of well boring. Not sure if you can tell but the middle basket has all the yarn for my Great American Aran Afghan that I started back in 2009. I wish I had more of this completed than I do, but some day I'll get all the blocks finished!

My goal is to purchase a couple of these lovely shelving units from IKEA, Expedit. I'm shamelessly copying my DF Heather since I'm pretty sure this is the same ones she has in her "craft cabana".

My goal with these is to be able to then put all my knitting books, patterns and magazines together in one place and also have baskets that would hold some of the overflow of yarn.

I wish I were a lot more organized, but it is my hobby so I don't like it to be too much like work!

Skill + 1UP -2KCBWDAY2

Day Two: 29th March. Skill + 1UP. 2KCBWDAY2
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Sadly I haven't learned any new skills this year. I have a few on my list that I really want to delve in to and at the top of that list is double knitting. Last year I bought yarn to make Rainbow scarf, which is double knitted with Kuani. Even bought the Kauni I liked for it, but I haven't dipped my foot into this technique. Maybe after I finish the scarf that's on my needles right now.

I did have fun at my first attempt at dying yarn. I dyed some sock yarn at my LYS during a Midnight Night. I love how it turned out but haven't decided on a pattern to use it for.

  The colors are pretty wild, but it was a lot more fun than I imagined and I'd like to do it again.

A Tale of Two Yarns 2KCBWDAY1

I know! Two  blog posts in one day is insane, but it may happen a few times this week. I just found out about this and couldn't resist joining in.

Day One: 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns. 2KCBWDAY1
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

This isn't exactly an easy question, there are SO many yarns out there and SO many different ones in my stash that I just love for many different reasons. I've thought about this and am going to say that I love all things hand dyed and am a sucker for them in all their forms. I mainly buy hand dyed sock or lace weight yarns because I live in FL and it gets fairly warm here and we don't really have much of a winter, some of my friends would say we don't have any winter. So I really like knitting things like socks, shawls, wraps and the occasional hat or two. Sometimes I'll buy a yarn because I just love how it looks, thinking I'll use it for one thing and end up using it for something entirely different.

That's what happened with this skein of Rio De La Plata sock yarn.

I thought I wanted to use it for a crocheted purse I saw in a magazine. Obviously the yarn had other ideas since it became this...

Southern Porch Hat (ok the pattern is really North Porch Hat). The yarn was perfect and I've gotten more than one compliment on it when I've worn in this last year.

And then there's times when the perfect yarn is found for just the right pattern. Last year I went to Stitches South with friends and it was a wonderful experience. I finally saw yarns I'd only heard about, The Sanguine Gryphon, Habu Textiles, Lisa Sousa and Madeline Tosh to name just a few. Knowing that if I didn't have at least some sort of plan I'd just buy all kinds of things that when I got home I'd have no idea what to do with, so I went prepared with several patterns that I wanted to find something different for, something that my local store doesn't, or didn't at the time, carry. One of the patterns I had in mind was a fairly easy wrap called Cambria Wrap. I wanted something just perfect for this pattern, not too much change in color, but enough that it would flow thinking that the pattern was fairly simple so the yarn should be as well. I searched and in a booth from a dyer I'd never heard of I found this.


The yarn is from Knitting Notions and is their Classic Merino Superwash Sock. It's just beautiful to hold in your hand in the skein and then you knit it and it looks like this.


And at this point it wasn't even finished so it's not blocked. I'm still hoping to get it blocked and a picture of it in all it's glory up later this week. But the colors are unbelievable.

So what don't I like about these yarns, not much I have to say. They both work up beautiful, have great drape and just plain look amazing. The only problem is I don't have more in my stash!