Another Saturday Night SAL

After a week of no stitching due to a slight injury to my hand, I was glad to start up again by participating in the Saturday Night SAL sponsored by the Only One Ewe cross stitch forum. I had a great night of stitching, due in part to my state of mind after returning from a stressful all-day swim meet. Those of you who have kids involved in competitive swimming will understand, but to those who do not, let me explain. Pools are usually not set up as a spectactor sport, so for many meets, parents bring their own folding chairs and space is always an issue. This year, perhaps because of Michael Phelps, it is nearly impossible to find a place to even set up your chair. This made parents cranky and unfriendly. In addition, indoor pool buildings are heated to a level for the swimmers' comfort, who are running around in wet swimsuits. So for parents, who are not in swimsuits or wet, it is uncomfortably warm. Then there is the smell and taste of chlorine in the air, and the echoey nature of almost all indoor pools that seem to amplify sound and bounce it all around all the walls, increasing its volume fourfold, I'm certain. Add to this lovely environment, about 250 excited, pumped-up, carb-filled 9 to 12 year olds, and you may begin to get the picture.

So when I got home, I was very happy to sit in my comfortable chair, and cross stitch away on the North Pole while watching The Lake House on TV. Cross stitching helps me to de-stress, and I had a lot that to accomplish :-).

I got the toolbox on the left side done, the icicle on the right side roof, and all the light brown stitching in the ceiling part. I continue to love this design and hate the fabric that I am using, but felt in my Q-Snaps helps tremendously. Here is the progress picture:

I also had a good stash week. Two separate orders, from two different stores arrived. One of the orders arrived promptly, but the other was placed nearly 9 weeks ago and I had all but given up on it ever arriving. I received Blue Bird Sampler and Christmas Row by Bent Creek, and Blessings & Kind Wishes which is a Loose Feather design from Blackbird. There were also some Weeks Dye Works threads which are for a another Blackbird design, Awake the Dawning Day, that I want to start, probably after Christmas.

And I also received Winter Wonderland by Crown & Thistle, which I have to tell you, I would never have purchased had I not seen one finished. The picture on the pattern really does not do it justice. In this package was also The 4th Day of Christmas by Prairie Moon, a designer that I am becoming more and more fond of, who actually lives near here. I have to say, though, I am still a little shell-shocked from perusing the thread list on this design-- a whopping 22 different GAST threads. Finally, there were three Lizzie Kate monthly flip-its from a few years ago.
I have been busy surfing many beautiful blogs this week. Here are a few that had some wonderful finishes:

At Jum's Blog, there is a beautiful finish of Blackbird's I Thee Wed. The colors on this one are spectacular! Edited to say that Val at Jum's Blog emailed to point out that this is not yet finished, there is a bit left to stitch.

There is also a cute finish at Roses et Caramel. Charline has stitched Winter Row by Bent Creek. I have seen several splendid Bent Creek "Row" design finishes in the last month, and it is really making me want to stitch one myself.

And at Croix Begood, there is a stunningly beautiful picture of her finish of Momenti di Vita.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

December Thoughts

I have not posted in a while. It has been just too crazy busy with the Christmas season. I think next year, I am just going to put the blog on holiday during December. But finally things are now getting back to normal. The decorating, the baking, the crafting, the shopping, the wrapping, the cards, the packaging and mailing, the caroling, the Christmas performances and parties to attend...all that has come to pass. I love the holiday season, but I also love when it is over. I still need to take down the decorations, and I traditionally do that on December 30th.

I have not had a whole lot of time to stitch, but I did participate in the HAED monthly SAL challenge. I managed to stitch on Fairy Village in each of the 12 monthly SALs in 2007. Here is a picture of this month's progress. I went ahead and signed up for the 2008 SAL challenge on the HAED forum with this same project. Also I finished my squares for the Fair and Square Exchange and I will be mailing them out to Ruth tomorrow.















And today I managed to drive over to my LNS, which was having a store-wide sale, and make a few purchases. I now own these charts: Redbird Sampler by Bent Creek, Fuchsia Chick Chat by Valerie Pfeiffer, and Colonial Homes by Little House Needleworks.















I also purchased some 32 count Lakeside Linen in Nutmeg and some threads for the Red Bird Sampler. The threads are WDW Bark, Lancaster Red, and Juniper; GAST Harvest Basket; and CC Roasted Chestnut (this last one because my LNS was out of WDW Chestnut and this looked like a good substitute). This store was missing two different colors of WDW that I still need for the Red Bird Sampler, so I will probably run over to the other LNS near me tomorrow to see if they have it. That particular store is more needlepoint oriented, so they don't have many cross stitch patterns, but they have a huge array of fibers.



Happy stitching everyone, and have a good Friday!

Thankful

We spent Thanksgiving with family at their lovely home in East Texas. I so enjoyed walking around their land, and I took some pictures. Please forgive the blurriness...I didn't realize that there was a smudge on the lens until later.

Their meadows had been recently mowed for hay, so they were very picturesque.

We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the delicious trimmings and a good time was believed to be had by all. I am so very thankful for God's grace in our lives, my wonderful family, and our health and provision.



And when I got home, I had more to be thankful for as I had a couple of packages waiting for me in the mailbox. What a glorious time was had revelling in the new stash. First, I received four backissues of some French magazines. Did I tell you how much I love French designs? Roaming around French stitching blogs, I came across some great pictorial reviews of some French magazines, and I decided to try and purchase these four. They took 5 weeks to arrive, but here they are! Point de Croix #47, Point de Croix Thematique #31 (Torchons), Mains & Merveilles #58, and De Fil en Aiguille Hors-Serie Alpin.

And, I got another package, this one full of charts. They are Strawberry Fields Farm by Victoria Sampler, Button Up by Prairie Schooler, Back from the Brink by Crossed Wing Collection, Circles of the Sea by Cross My Heart, Gingerbread Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks, Magie de L'hiver by Isabelle Vautier, Winter Whites and Snowflakes and Frappucino by Little House Needleworks.