Oh, Please!

I just spent an hour on a post, hit the button, and nothing happened! Dammit! I guess I'll hit the hay and try again tomorrow. Ugh, damn technology.

Reed's Last Week

The final stitches were in on Thursday night, and the charms and buttons were put on today. First, a picture without the embellishments ...

And here's a picture with all the fun stuff ...

I'm very happy to have it stitched, and it'll be going off to the finisher as soon as I find a moment next week. This really was the quickest I've ever stitched a stocking, and I have to hand it to all of you who helped me with fun comments. Especially thanks to Anna for lighting the initial fire under me. For the moment, I can say I'm a good mom-in-law, which still sounds funny to me.

As I said I would, I've picked up Shores to start on Block 3. It had to wait a while, because I had some chores to do. There were the usual things (laundry, cleaning, etc.) that we all do, but another chore had to be done a little early this year. It was 18 degrees when I woke up this morning (brrr!), so I had to put my comforter on the bed. To do that, I had to press the cover and wrestle it onto the comforter, press the matching pillow shams and put them on, and then wash the stuff that came off the bed. I know! All just to keep cozy on cold nights. Now you watch ... we'll probably have some nights in the 40's this week, and I'll be wondering what the hell I was in such a hurry about.

You know, I never know when I'm gonna write something here that causes someone out there to come up with a good idea. When I wrote about my plan to stitch in my jammies next Friday morning, Staci, stitcher/knitter/enabler extraordinaire, asked what I'll be starting that day! Is she naughty, or what? I hadn't even thought of starting something new, and I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it. But Staci's suggestion made me think about putting Shores down for the morning and working on something different. Heaven knows, I have lots and lots of WIPs to choose from, so I'll have to pick out something interesting. Maybe something that might be finished in a few hours.

On the health front, the poor little kids have been dropping like flies at school. Most of the second grade was out the first half of the week, and then a lot of the first grade was out later in the week. So many of us are coughing at school that I did extra wipe-downs of the tables and Lysol-spraying of pencils and shared books, computers and doorknobs. I'm staying home this weekend with some unidentified virus that, knock on wood, has only made me cough and have a headache. My doc who roto-rootered my nose last January fixed me up yesterday to try to head it off at the pass, and I feel relatively well. The bad news: no time with Mom or the man I hang around with. The good news: it's a nice weekend to be at home stitching. It's ugly out there! Everyone stay well and make some fun.

Reed's Second Week

Well, what do you know? I think I'm gonna finish this stocking in a few days! That's record time for me, so thanks for all of the encouragement you've offered. I've been working on it whenever I'm not at work and can avoid my chores. Despite the chunkiness of the materials (18-count linen and cotton perle), I'm enjoying the stitching. So here's this week's Sunday-to-Sunday progress.

We're having a very gray day in the Denver area, so the picture is a little dark, and the colors don't show up well. Those blues I was complaining about look great in natural light. Last week, I was stitching in a sunny Starbucks while waiting for my car to be serviced, and I couldn't believe how perfect the colors looked. So those readers out there who thought the blues looked good, you're right.

Since I'm so close to finishing, I'll stick with Reed this week and then get back to Shores as soon as the buttons and charms are on. Really, Anna, I promise. We have many extra hours at school next week (evening parent-teacher conferences), so when I get my work finished (hey, a girl can dream), I'm gonna have my stitching at the ready. In fact, maybe having my stitching there will motivate me to get all the crap off my desk in a hurry! Hmmm ... a plan is forming in my pea brain. Picture me stitching while waiting for the next conference. Because we'll be spending more time at school next week, we get next Friday off. You know what that means, don't you? Friday morning stitching-in-my-jammies time. Ahhhh, something to look forward to, even if it is eleven days away.

Make some fun.

Reed's First Week

I have so little to show this week (sniff). I started Reed's Stocking last Sunday (that's eight days ago), and it's really all I've worked on all week. Of course, there wasn't that much stitching time last week, because I stayed late at school or went to school meetings three out of five days (she said whinily). On Friday (the day I long for), I went out with a group of teachers from my school that closed last year, which was extremely fun. I stitched terribly little Friday night, because my poor little eyelids just couldn't be forced to remain open very long after my butt hit the chair. The weekend was kinder, and (to make a short story long) some stitching was accomplished ...

I'm not sure I like the mixture of blues in this piece. I'm tempted to pull them out and use lavenders instead, but that's a lot of unstitching that I'm not really up for. Besides that, Nikki chose it, and she likes it. I'm wondering how much the DMC colors have changed since this stocking was designed. The Shepherd's Bush girls have changed one of the colors since then, but I think it looks a little funky. I suppose I'll just carry on and keep stitching.

Back to the progress thread of this post ... Anna said in a comment, "You could get the stocking done in three weeks definitely, possibly one and a half." Golly, I love her. Despite many previous posts containing visible evidence of my slow stitching, she thinks I'm capable of semi-fast stitching! That thought thrills me to death. When I first read her comment, I poo-pooed her estimate. But now that I've gotten this far, I may actually finish the silly thing in three weeks! Thanks for the encouragement, Anna! Nobody out there hold your breath, but I'm going for it. On October 1st, I'll have to make the decision to continue with the stocking and start Shores Block 3 after a finish, or begin Block 3 and go back to the stocking after that finish. I may go for the first option in the hope that the finisher (you really didn't think I'd sew it together, did you?) could have it to us by Christmas. And why am I boring all of you with this crap? I don't know! Maybe I needed to think it through. Thank you for your kind patience, those of you who are still awake.

I'm off now to get some stitching done before din din. Make some fun.

Yahoo for Shores Block 2

Yep, I finished Shores Block 2 on Saturday morning. I got up, made some tea, and sat on my ass watching a movie until I finished it. Boy, that felt good! I'll start Block 3 in October.

Later that day, the man I hang around with asked me to go on a little ride in the mountains on the Harley. We looked at the pretty aspen trees turning pink and gold, and then all of a sudden, there was a bear (squeal)! I know! It was so exciting. The man I hang around with was a bear-sighting virgin before I spotted that cub, but this was my second bear in the wild. We made a U-turn to get another look, but he saw us seeing him and ran off to find his mama. There would be absolutely no good reason for us to meet up with his mama, who would not approve of her cub being anywhere near us, so we watched him run up the hill and went on our way. Now for the question you're probably thinking. Doris, where's the picture? Good question. Neither of us had a camera, and I didn't take my cell phone! We're dopes, but we've learned our lesson. No more rides without something for picture-taking!


Now for my TUSAL pic for this month. I really thought I'd be on time, but I came home on Friday and had a drink (ok, two drinks) and sat down to stitch instead of doing a post. And then I had to stitch Saturday morning. Don't I sound like the kids at school? This picture of my jar was taken on the actual day it should've been pictured. I pushed down the stuff so I can fit some more in there soon.

On Sunday I watched the Broncos and worked on Reed's Stocking for the son-in-law (that's still a shock to say), but it looks like so little that I'll wait to show you a pic. It's such a change to be stitching with perle cotton after all of these months of 40-count. The whole time I was working on it, I thought about how chunky it feels. So thick in my hands. I kinda like it ... for a while. My big hope is that I'll have the stocking finished by the time I'm ready to start up on Shores again. I know, I know, but I can dream, can't I?

On Monday (yes, that's today) I wished I was at home stitching on this cool and rainy day. Instead, I was at work (repeat after me: it's good to be employed). And while I'd love to slap a couple of adults upside the head, the kids are wonderful. My new kindergarten buddy, Joseph, calls me Miss Brownie (tee hee). I know! Isn't that so cute? He says it quite loudly when I see him in the cafeteria. The other kids keep correcting him, but he likes that name. I told him it's ok. I love brownies.


Thank you, thank you, all of you positive and sweet commentors out there. Your happy wishes for Nikki and Grady and their babe are very much appreciated. I know I've been a real smartass about it (someone has to do it), but I do hope they'll have the best life ever. In fact, just the thought of it working out any other way is unthinkable.


Hey, I have stitching to do! Make some fun.

Another Week Speeds By

Oh, my goodness! It's only 7:25, and it's dark! I'm not sure why that's so shocking. Maybe I've been so busy that it's sneaked up on me. Finally, I'm to the point that I can see how my school year may work. I haven't completely adjusted yet, but I'm getting there. Dysfunctional schools require much more personal adjustment. I have to figure out how to do the right thing for kids within a climate/structure where that's not always the intention. Can you tell I've been thinking it over?


Enough shop talk. On to the stitchy talk. Here's a little pic of my progress on Shores Block 2. Just a couple of fish and the remainder of the eel, and this baby's finished. That seaweed took me a long time. I was trying to watch movies while stitching it, and I had to divide my attention appropriately. Also entertaining me during stitching time has The Help on cd. What a great book! I stitched at a much faster pace while listening to it.


When you're stitching something untamed like that seaweed, do you pick out paths to follow? I do! Is it just me? I pick out paths that will make my stitching more efficient (kind of like working my way through a maze), so I'll have fewer stops and starts and shorter carried threads. Could this be that crazy OCD issue I've written about before? Or is it my feeble mind trying to find something extra to work on? Or is it my brain trying to free me from all the other things I have to think about? Hard to say.

Wanna see a couple of planned projects? Below is a picture of the supplies I've gathered to stitch Reed's Stocking by Shepherd's Bush.



To understand why I'm starting it, you'll have to hear a little story. My 25-year-old daughter, Nikki, sneakily (so like her mother) got married this summer (sigh ... I think 30 is a good age to get married, and yes, I realize that this isn't about me.). So I have a son-in-law (oh, my gosh!) who needs a pretty Christmas stocking like the rest of the family. Being a stitchy kind of mother-in-law (Geez, Louise, I'm a mother-in-law), I'll be getting that stocking done ASAP. All of those other projects will have to take a giant step back to let the stocking cut into line. Ready for the good news? Nikki will be having a baby at the end of March (huge gasp)! I know! Then I'll get to stitch a grandbaby stocking ... when not holding that baby, of course. I'm from a family of confirmed baby nuts. We love, love, love babies. It's nice to have something big to look forward to.


Something else I'd like to start is Sarah Esh. It's an OOP reproduction sampler that I was lucky enough to find on Kathy Barrick Dieter's (Carriage House Samplings) Etsy site. It's been on my list of have-to-haves for a long time, and I'm very excited about (eventually) stitching it. In the picture below is my conversion from DMC to Gumnuts Stars (my favorite fiber ... so far) and one Silk 'n Colors that Stars didn't have a close match for. I think the fibers will work out well, but I'm gonna have to have a little fabric spa time in the kitchen to work one of my stash fabrics into a suitably splotchy state. The Lambswool in the pic just isn't vintage enough for me.



It's time for this post to end. It started two hours ago, but my slow-as-a-snail computer needed a restart a while back, and I got sidetracked. Hope you're all having a good week. Thanks so much to you who visit and comment. Comments are like getting little letters from people who understand what's been written.

Make some fun.

It's Really After Labor Day?

Have you noticed that my recent post titles indicate that I'm struggling with time? I am. Seems like just a few days ago I was spending the Fourth of July on a Minnesota lake. Now Labor Day is over. Yep, I know it happens every year, but it also seems to happen more quickly every year. The new school (sorry, but I can't bear to call it my new school) continues to suck up my time, but I will get used to it.

The long weekend was a fun one. Each Labor Day weekend, the Taste of Colorado is the big event in the Denver area, and they always have an interesting music schedule. The man I hang around with and I are music fiends, so we found some blasts from the past to check out. We saw Grand Funk Railroad (if you remember them, you're old like me), the Spinners (huge crowd) and Robert Cray (not from the olden days). Robert Cray is one of my personal favorites, so I was enthralled, even with the huge outdoor crowd of talking gawkers. Enjoying free music is a great way to relax.

Even though I finished Evil Serpent ten days ago, I'm just now getting around to showing you the finished product. Here's a little picture taken as the sun was coming up one morning.

I changed a few little things. I put Rhodes stitches in the eyes of the peacock's tail feathers, giant eyelet stitches in the flower centers, and I stitched my children's initials instead of Vilma's charted letters.

The directions about how to stitch the grass were unclear to me, so I used satin stitches, as I did for all of the other bird's tail feathers. The date was a little too big and fat for me, so I stitched it over one.

I'm pretty happy with that little finish. This past week, there's been very little stitching (sniff), but I've worked a little on Shores and Women of the Mayflower. Eventually, there'll be enough progress to show you, but not yet. Speaking of progress, I'm gonna go make some.

Make some fun.