Theme-a-licious Delightful December Wrap Up

Well, this month has been very relaxing for me! I've been trying to finish up some things, and I did have a good deal of success. Since my update, I managed to get Dasher framed (finally!)

 

I also finished my sister's ornament for Christmas. Well...almost. I decided to make her a stumpwork bird like mine since I had extra materials in my kit. Plus I liked the idea of trying to improve my technique!

 

I think he turned out better for sure! Instead of the spiderweb and moth, I added some festive snowflakes. =)

I did get him finished and mounted, but I didn't complete the beading along the edge. Three rows of peyote stitch shouldn't take long, but sewing on the bead border to start with does take some time!

 

"Fortunately", my sister didn't finish my ornament, either. =) So we're going to meet for lunch when we're both done. I'm probably going to finish mine a bit differently.

To start the new year, we have...
Jardin January

The holidays were a little stressful...let's relax in a nice garden. Work on any piece with flowers or gardens.

Ornament Theme
Tree or Wreath


Those of you who were around last year enjoyed this month, I think, as a respite from cold Winter weather! I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to work on at this point. Definitely Shakespeare's Garden...but I have so many other things that fit into this category!

I haven't picked my ornament yet, either, but I do plan to start it on New Year's Day. =)

---

I hope your December was perfectly Delightful. =) Please add your link below (to your wrap-up post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Our next post will be on the 15th of January, when we'll check in for Jardin January!

Happy New Year, all!

1. Jo who's first again! 2. Karoline

3. McKenna 4. Yana Hanim

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

WIPocalypse...but We're Still Here

Click now for JiffNotes



So this is the very last WIPocalypse post of 2012!

Since I posted so late last month, I don't have much to report here. I did make some progress on my Lapland Santa:

I thought I might get him done before Christmas (but then reality set in!!)

It's been a lot of fun doing WIPocalypse, but I don't think I'm going to continue next year. Since the posting times were usually so close to Theme-a-licious, I ended up rehashing a lot of stuff. If I weren't actually running Theme-a-licious, I could do combined posts, no problem! But I think this year I will just happily lurk and enjoy all your posts.

Happy New Year, everyone!

JiffNotes
For more WIPocalypse progress, visit Measi's blog by clicking on the graphic at the top of this post!

Finished Object Friday (Silver Rose)

Click now for JiffNotes

I already showed you one shot of my finished Silver Rose (Ravelry link)...

 

...but here are a couple other views! Side view:

 

I love the way all the motifs descend into cables so the hat band is surrounded with them. Here's another angle so you can see how the back star/flower fits with the side motif:

 

How's it sit?

 

Pretty cunning, don't you think? ;)

JiffNotes
Finished hat glamour shots. Well, at least as glamorous as I get, anyway. =)

Theme-a-licious 2013 - Themes Announced!

Click now for JiffNotes

Finally, you say!

As you know, some old favorites are back, but I also have some new challenges in store for you! Now, promise you won't freak out about any of them before we talk about them, OK? So without further (and further and further and further) ado, here are 2013's themes!

Jardin January

The holidays were a little stressful...let's relax in a nice garden. Work on any piece with flowers or gardens.

Figural February

Who are the people in your neighborhood...your WIP neighborhood, that is? Give your people-populated projects some face time this month.

March Madness

Work on something different every day...it's madness...of the funnest possible kind.

Amazon April

Dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects!

Monochrome May

Pick a color, any color, then stitch only on projects that contain that color for the month!

Jumanji June

Is it a jungle out there in your stash? Give some love to the projects with animals or birds.

Jubilee July

It's time to celebrate! What are you celebrating this year? Stitch on your holiday-related projects, OR find some WIPs you know you'll never finish and set them free.

Airborne August

What's that soaring through the air with the greatest of ease? It's the things with wings on your WIPs!

Sampler September

Whether you're stitching the alphabet over and over (and over), starting your own band (sampler), or marking some spots, this is your month!

Opulent October

It's time to don your tiaras and bring the bling! Stitch on projects with sparkly fibers, beads or charms.

No-Xs November

What can you make without making an X?? Blackwork, hardanger, embroidery, needlelace, and the list goes on! Don't panic...you can even backstitch for the month!

Detritus December

It's the end of the year...are there some projects you thought you'd have done by now? Let's take a walk down memory lane and start the new year with a clean plate.

I expect you to gasp in horror over May and November...but if you've been around, you know we can work the themes out so anyone can participate. =) Just remember that every project you stitch in a month doesn't have to be on theme.

Also, I was reading a post over at Bonnie's World and thinking it would be cool to have Theme-a-licious, Ornament Edition! I don't know about you, but I have a serious stash of ornaments kitted up that need to be stitched! So here are your monthly ornament themes in case you want to join me for those as well (they tie in with the monthly themes, just to keep things all neat and tidy...maybe you should think of them more as "inspirations".)

January	tree or wreath
February	snowman (or snowlady!)
March	3D ornament
April	Santa or elves
May	any monochrome ornament
June	reindeer
July	your choice
August	angels or birds
September	verse
October	bells
November	hardanger or blackwork
December	your choice--or do some ornament finishing

I'll also put up a Theme-a-licious 2013 page on the blog, but I'm not going to have a sign-up list on it like last year. Just drop in whenever you can...I'm happy to have you! =)

Oh yeah...you want to see the graphic, right??

Wait for it...

If you're not a Doctor Who fan, there is a version without David Tennant. For either graphic, please copy the code below (click in the box and copy) to include it in your post rather than downloading the image and uploading it through Blogger. If you upload to Blogger, the animation won't work and you'll be stuck at Jardin January the whole year. =) If you're not sure how to put this code in your post, contact me and I'll walk you through it...but basically, you need to be in "HTML" mode rather than "Compose" mode.

Allons-theme! Version:
<a href="http://lottloft.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://www.lottloft.com/images/themeBanner_2013_doctor.gif"/></a>

Non-geeky, plain version (not that there's anything wrong with that):
<a href="http://lottloft.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://www.lottloft.com/images/themeBanner_2013_plain.gif"/></a>

I'll have a sidebar version of the graphics Monday!

JiffNotes
Let the planning begin! =)

Peace

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a day full of warmth and love.

Thankful There was no Apocalypse...Just WIPocalypse

Click now for JiffNotes


So, I am ridiculously, crazily late with this update. Maybe I was just so relived the world didn't end I was rendered immobile for a while. =)

I feel like I haven't done much work on "official" WIPocalypse projects, but I did do a little on my Santa:

 

Of course, the BIG news is that I FINISHED RANDOM THOUGHTS!!

WIPocalypse victory!! More pictures are here.

BUT WAIT! Now the world's supposed to end on December 21?? Well, at least I finished something!

JiffNotes
For more WIPocalypse progress, visit Measi's blog by clicking on the graphic at the top of this post!

Final TUSAL of 2012

(What's a TUSAL?)

Do you see what I see?

No? There's a small TUSAL there somewhere...see if you can spot it. =)

Theme-a-licious Delightful December Check-in

So far, I must say, it has been delightful to not feel like I *have* to stitch anything in particular!

Of course, the big news was that I finished Random Thoughts! Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on it! You all really made my day.

After I finished Random Thoughts, I finished my hat!

I'll post some more shots of it later.

And to complete my finishing triumvirate, there was my Western Tanager:

 

Hmmm...it seems like I kinda mixed this month up with Nail It November, doesn't it? =) Well, it has been delightful having so many finishes, anyway!

I have also been working on my Owl Cowl (glad you all agree with me on the eyes!), and I managed some work on my sister's ornament as well.

So, the graphics department assures me that I will have graphics this weekend. That means 2013 theme announcement this weekend!!! And I think I forgot to mention last time that in addition to the regular monthly themes, I will have a monthly ornament theme as well. It's totally optional; you can do one or the other or both...I don't mind either way! You know how we operate around here by now. =)

---

I hope your December is going Delightfully. =) Please add your link below (to your wrap-up post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Our next post will be on the 31st ("God willing and the creek don't rise," as we say here in the South...i.e., if there is no actual apocalypse in seven days). And don't worry if you haven't posted before...just jump in whenever.

1. Jo who's first again!

2. Yana Hanim

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Random Victory!

Random Thoughts is done!!

Random Thoughts
The Drawn Thread
NPI silks on Summer Khaki linen

I tried to make the colors in the overall shot accurate, but they're a lot more muted than this!

Here are some closeups I took of some of my favorite parts! (Click to embiggen.)

I made a few modifications to the chart. First, I stitched my initials in blue wherever they appeared. I wish I'd done my middle initial as well, but I honestly didn't think of it until I got to my first initial.

I also changed both of the houses on the sampler so that they look like places I've lived. I only changed the colors on the middle house so it looks like the place I grew up (by the tree below).

I changed the other house to look like the townhouse where we currently live. Actually, the colors are similar, but the shape is completely different! I gave the stitching lady longer hair. Finally, I changed the color of the cat to be similar to a cat I had growing up. I wanted to make it look like my beloved Siamese, but I didn't have to correct colors, so I settled for one of her kittens we kept.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and it was so fun to stitch! Next year our EGA chapter project is Toccata I, so expect to see more Drawn Thread in the coming year! =)

WIP Wednesday (Owl Cowl!)

Click now for JiffNotes

I have finished the owl portion of my Owl Cowl!

I love it! It's a LOT bigger than I thought it would be, but I think it's going to be very cute when it's done.

Now I have a question...the chart has you putting the eyes on like this:

But...don't you think the cables set up the eyes? Like, on a real owl they would actually be here?

I'm probably either going to put some eyes peeking out of the cables there on my owl cowl or just leave them off my owl cowl entirely. What do you think?

Also, have I mentioned I like to say "owl cowl"??

JiffNotes
For more WIPs (possibly by people who don't question the patterns they're working on), head over to Tami's Amis!

The Geekend That Was, 12/9 (Festivity Edition)

Click now for JiffNotes

Uh...yeah. So not trying to blog every day means I blog only twice a week, apparently. It was almost easier to try to do every day!

This weekend was all about the tree. We get a live tree every year, so that was Friday's task. Saturday we started to decorate, but Michael had to run sound, and then we went to my sister's annual Christmas tea, and then a party, so we had to finish the tree Sunday. We missed a concert I wanted to go to, but it would have been too stressful to try to do that and finish the tree. As it was, we finished at about 10:30 pm after choir practice!

It didn't look so great...

 

...until we got all the ornaments on.

 

Ahhhh. Much better. Due to my extreme love of all things Christmas, we actually have three schemes we can decorate the tree in...blue/silver, cream/gold and multicolored. We decided to go multicolored this year, with accents a little on the silver side.

And since we had already done the other decorations the week before, we can now relax and enjoy the Christmas glow. Here are three shots of the garland that houses my handmade ornaments.

 

 

 

About half of these are from exchanges I've done. Hmmm...I didn't do one this year. That makes me kind of sad! Is anyone crazy enough to do one with me this close to Christmas???

Even the Sparkly Compote of Decree gets decked out for the holidays.

 

To top the weekend off, I did manage a little finish!! Here's my Western Tanager!(Have fun googling to see how far off my version is. ;)

 

Although I have a lot to improve on here, I'm pleased that I finished him!

JiffNotes
Halls are decked!

WIP Wednesday

Click now for JiffNotes

This is kind of more a Finished Object than a WIP, but it's still blocking, sooo...

 

This is Rose Red by Ysolda Teague (Rav link). I think it's going to be a bit big, so I may have to add some elastic to the edge. I'm not sure what else to do...any suggestions? I'm totally in love with this yarn, and this pattern, by the way. It was an enormous pleasure to knit!

I succumbed to the free yarn being thrown around by Knit Picks, so then I had to find a one-skein cowl pattern.

 

Here's the start of my Owl Cowl (Rav link). I looked through a lot of patterns, but this one was the only one that was guaranteed to work well with the yarn. Plus I just like saying, "Owl Cowl". =)

JiffNotes
For more WIPs, visit Tami's Amis!

The Geekend That Was, 12/2

Click now for JiffNotes

Boy, not having the accountability of NaBloPoMo means I don't update the blog over the weekend! Did you miss me? Or was the decrease in inane drivel a welcome change?

Thursday night was both the most fun I've had in a while and the most epic camera fail EVER. We got tickets to see Pentatonix in Little Five Points, and this was one of those concerts where video/audio recording were permitted (and maybe even encouraged). We've been following Pentatonix since they were on The Sing-Off on NBC. (If you've never heard them, I recommend you search on YouTube. Start with "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Let's Get it On"...then my personal favorite, a mash-up of "Since You've Been Gone" and "Forget You". Finish with "Born to Be Wild" or "Dog Days Are Over".) I thought I'd have time after work to go home and get the camera, but we had to go straight to the concert. So I can't show you that I was standing a mere 20 feet from Kevin as he laid down his sweet groove, nor can I explain how Avi's bass pounded in my chest as I was standing right in front of the massive subwoofers. Michael found us THE BEST place to stand; right at the front of a side section. While we were a little off to the side, there was no one in front of us (except the people in the middle section) and I had a nice, defined place to stand where I knew no one would infringe on my personal space. Plus, the concert wasn't too loud for my freakishly sensitive ears.

Saturday the weather was so beautiful that we went to the Botanical Gardens for lunch.

 

And some orchid perusal.

 

And some watching of frisky squirrels.

 

Awww.

The Gardens were all decked out in holiday finery.

 

And whimsy. =)

 

They even had an awesome model train display!

 

There were three separate areas and probably 7 trains. Very cool.

 

I would love to see the Gardens lit up at night, but I'm sure that not all the LED lights they use are fully rectified (or full wave), and the flickering would drive me batty!

 

Yup, along with my freakishly sensitive hearing, I also have freakishly sensitive vision. I can see those old CRT monitors flicker if they're set at 60 Hz, so I can see unrectified LEDs flicker (they're going at 60 Hz, too...I will not bore you with the explanation...technobabble blah blah blah).

The big news is that Random Thoughts is DONE!!!! Hemstitched, ironed, and charms sewed on!!

And here's where you'd expect to see a picture, or a lot of them, but it's so dark in the mornings and by like 5pm every day, I haven't been able to get one yet.

HERE! I SHALL DISTRACT YOU WITH MORE ORCHID PICTURES! (This will at least work for one person. =)

 

Ooooo...

 

Ahhhh.

I have to share some of my other favorites from the day!

 

 

 

I also finished my hat!

 

I think it came out a little too big; I was going to use Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast-Off, but that made it WAY too big, so I un-cast-off (???) and did a regular bind off. We'll see once it's done blocking.

Sunday we did some decorating for Christmas. Usually we haul out all the decorations, go through the epic decorating extravaganza that is our tree, and then we are exhausted but still have to do all this "other" stuff. This time we did the "other" stuff first (or most of it), and it was actually fun and very satisfying. Here are a couple of pictures...

 

The "Fairy Tree". I keep angling for another artificial tree in addition to the real tree we always get, but so far this is all I've managed.

 

Christmas bears!

JiffNotes
Christmas is coming!! Hmmmm...what's better? Lots of short posts or a few chunky posts like this?