Wednesday, April 30, 2014

April Smalls SAL Check in


It's the fourth month of the year, and I've finished the fourth dragon in the Twelve Dragonlets of Christmas series!


Four colly birds! Or are they calling birds?? Wikipedia tells me "colly" was an old English word for black...I think most people sing "calling" rather than "colly". These fellas work either way. =)

To see more smalls, click on the banner at the top of the post!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

April Just Nan SAL Check-in


Soooo...I have to admit that I didn't stitch on any Nan pieces this month! But let me distract you by showing you a Just Nan finish from *mumble mumble* that I never shared!

This is Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden.
The stitched piece is a wee needlebook. It was actually pretty easy to put together. The flowers are blue on one side...
...and pink on the other.

I'll definitely be working on Lady Scarlet's Journey next month though...May is Menagerie May!

Friday, April 18, 2014

2014 Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome! If you have hopped over here to find another letter in the lovely and talented Jo's Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop, then I have a letter for you! And if not, well...I still have a letter for you!


In case my little Rabbit isn't the best communicator, your letter is...
R


Have you figured out the phrase?? You'll now be hopping back to Jo at Serendipitous Stitching where you can leave a comment with your guess! Good luck, and come back for a visit, where I might show you stitching, knitting, or more pictures of lovely Spring flowers!


Or you know, you might be in for a real treat and get to "listen" to one of my geeky rants. =)

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Orchid Daze: Lasting Impressions - Part 1!

Click now for JiffNotes

Gracious, this year's Orchid Daze opened at the beginning of February, and I am just now getting around to posting about it!

Like last year's display, 2014's theme was inspired by three artists. This year, however, instead of Surrealist artists, the orchids paid tribute to three Impressionistic artists.

In the lobby, it was Van Gogh.

This little guy was posing so prominently, I couldn't resist. =)
But back to the orchids!

Moving on to the atrium, we have what I think is the most easily identifiable of the three...Monet and his waterlillies, of course.
Lots of gorgeousness all around the "bridge" (it's really just a hanging prop...very clever).
These orchids foreshadow the daffodils that would come up in just a few weeks.
There were also some beauties in giant pots set around the perimeter of the atrium.
Now we move on to the main greenhouse.
Can you guess the artist??

The focus here is more on individual blooms than a profusion.

Did you guess the artist was Gauguin? I have to cry foul here a little bit...he is technically a Post-Impressionist. And, c'mon, there are plenty of awesome Impressionists left! Renoir, Pissarro, Cassatt, Manet??? Color me disappointed.
The orchids, though...they do not disappoint. =)
Thought I'd throw in a little leaf texture to make sure you're still paying attention. =)
Now, although a lot of these shots were taken with the macro lens, I was using a crappy tiny tripod (a cheap GorillaPod knockoff). Just wait until you see round two (and three...), taken with my spiffy birthday tripod!

JiffNotes
More orchid photos to come...not to mention the fantastic tulip photos after that!! I'll concentrate on those as I endure the suddenly-cold temperatures and FREEZE WARNING for tonight!! =(

Friday, April 4, 2014

Finished Object Friday (two socks! er...FOUR socks!)

Click now for JiffNotes

It's time for my latest finish in the Cookie A Sock Club! Actually, this is the first finish for the 2014 club...Possibly Maybe!
Or, as I called them, Definitely Absolutely, because there was no contest on which of the two sock patterns I was going to knit.
I made one big modification...I continued the pattern down the heels. The socks in the pattern are photographed on this wonderfully fuzzy "bearskin" rug, and the depth that the model's heels sunk into it tricked a few of us into thinking that there were going to be patterned heels.
But when I scanned the pattern...plain heels! So I decided to make up a heel. If I had to do it again, I'd do things a litle differently...you can peruse my Raverly page if you're curious for more details.

I've actually started the second pair of socks, and they are going much quicker. Both patterns are inspired by Björk, so I'm calling them Swan Feathers. =)

I also took some better pictures of my Vamp socks:
My legs are not cold, they're just so white they're blue, LOL!
These socks were a little tedious to knit, but I LOVE how they turned out.

And the obligatory cookie shot:
Chocolate Crackles. I was honestly disappointed...they seemed kinda dry. I may have done something wrong, though.... The hubby still scarfed 'em. =)

JiffNotes
For more fab fiber...head on over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder!

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Theme-a-licious March/April



Whew! I am always so happy to see March Madness arrive, and--if I'm being perfectly honest--I'm always pretty happy when it ends, too! =) It's a ton of fun, but it is a wee bit exhausting. Nights when I'm really tired and might normally just sit around after work comatose or pick up something really simple to work on, I feel "obligated" to work on whatever the Sparkly Compote of Decree has...er...decreed.

To give a little recap, on the even days during the month, I draw a slip of paper from the SCOD and stitch on whatever appears on it. (On the odd days, I was stitching on SAL items.) I already recapped the first part of the month here.

Mid-month, I finally got my first wildcard slip! I had promised myself that the first one I got, I'd work on my Squirrel Fob. I had already sewed it shut (rather badly), so the next step was ruching some ribbon to put around the outside (to hopefully disguise my less-than-stellar sewing). I didn't get very far, because I tried about five different ways to ruche the ribbon!

The next project was a real blast from the past. We won't talk about how far in the past, but this is an old Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board round robin that I never finished.
I still have to stitch my block and, of course, finish the border.

This stash bag tag is sooo close to being done!
I really should just finish it up!

The next project that came up was a really old class piece, and it was a little frustrating, since I could NOT find the hoop I used on it. I still have no idea where it is.
I tried using Q-snaps with it, but they didn't maintain enough tension. I was too brain dead to think of using my stitch away mount, so I didn't get that much done. Ugh! I blame work.

Just in time for Spring, the SCOD coughed up my Urban Necessity Gloves.
Yeah, I really could have used these, like...last month.

The SCOD does sometimes seem to be acting less randomly than I would like. The next project was another knitting project...Astrid.
Hidden Mickeys, your key to quality blogging.
I got two small circles and one medium done. The largest circles are a lot more fun to do, so I'm savings them for last. I think I "only" have 12 more small and 7 more medium ones to go.

I just added Summer Quakers to the SCOD before March Madness started.
I moved this motif down a bit, because I am not going to stitch the names of the flowers on the piece, so I am evening out some of the spacing. And I mainly wrote that sentence so I'd remember later that I moved it down! =)

I'd been kind of miffed with the SCOD this year...I think last year, I probably got three or four wildcard slips! But so far, I'd only gotten one...until the very last day. And of course, I was too tired out to really appreciate it. I had all kinds of wild ideas about what to do with it (*cough* start something new *cough*), but in the end, I decided to be all responsible and pick a project that I'm trying to finish but isn't part of any active SALs.
(Eight-Pointed Star)

And that wraps up March Madness for another year!

Now it's time to share our plans for THIS month, which is...



April Showers
What pieces can you find in your flood of WIPs that include water? Rivers, lakes, oceans, or rain (and anything that lives within).

Hmmm, this is actually going to be a challenge for me! Off the top of my head, I can only think of two of my WIPs that have water on them. Of course, there are a few more that have frozen water on them....



So how was March Madness? Did you make a mad dash through your stash, or did you completely lose the plot? What are your plans for April Showers? Please add your link below (to your latest Theme-a-licious post), and visit some other Themers if you can (everyone loves comments and encouragement!) Unlike last year, there will be no check-in post on the 15th, so our next post will be on May 1st. And remember, it's never too late to join in or send suggestions for future themes!


Old Geek-outs