Theme-Tas-Stitch Animalia August

What is Theme-Tas-Stitch, you ask? Kerry hosts a theme every month that you can build your stitching plans around. Click on the picture above for more details!

I'm woefully late to check in for August, so this will be a very short update. Last month's theme was..."Animalia August - Give some love to those projects with our furry or feathered friends."

Of course, you know I had to stitch on at least one project with a squirrel, so I chose a Rovaris sampler that is nothing but squirrels, alphabets and acorns.

Or, so far, squirrel and alphabet.

I made another small bit of progress on Just Nan's Strawberry Bunny, until I got tired of tedious counting and color changes. :)

I made the largest amount of progress on Prancer.

In fact, he just needs antlers and a wee bit of backstitch before there's nothing but beads left!

Finally, a shawl I started with some mystery Noro yarn I bought in Japan. It has some wool content, which comes from sheep, which are totally animals, so it totally counts:

As far as I can tell with my detective skills (because the yarn label has zero English on it), this yarn is called "Ayame", and is composed of silk, wool, cotton and rayon. It has the usual long-repeat Noro color changes, but that yarn is twisted together with a turquoise strand and a very thin black strand. It was kind of challenging to find a pattern for it, because I really don't know what weight it is! Based on the recommended needle sizes (once I realized Japan's needle sizes were different than US), I'd say it's a heavy fingering, but I guess it could be considered a sport....

That's it for August! September's theme is "September Smalls - What is the smallest stitch in your stash? Show us your smalls!" I have a ton of smalls in progress, so I am sure I will make "small" progress on some of them. ;)

Theme-Tas-Stitch, March Madness Edition

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What is Theme-Tas-Stitch, you ask? Kerry was inspired by the Theme-a-licious SAL I used to run and asked to continue the theme-ing tradition, and she's doing brilliantly! There's a theme every month that you can build your stitching plans around. Click on the picture above for more details!

This month's theme was March Madness, a particular favorite of mine! Guided by the Sparkly Compote of Decree and the slips of paper I draw out of it, I try to stitch on a different WIP every single day in March! I always end up skipping a few days (the perils of having a full-time job). In case you missed my previous posts (because putting all those pictures in this one post would be too much!), here they are

• First March Madness update
• Second March Madness update

And now, what I've been up to in the past week or so! We left off with me drawing a "nice, big" project to work on...but it's actually a set of smalls!

Ye Shall Prosper by Moss Creek Designs

Squirrel! I really did not get much done here; just some chain stitch outlining. But if I waited until all the fun stitching was done before doing the outlines, I would never assemble these. The two small squares will be a tiny pin pillow, and the other two pieces will make an acorn-shaped scissors case. I need to do the back of that. The needlebook is already stitched, and then I just have the front and back of a thread bag to go and I'm done!

The SCOD gets "moods"...last time, it was in a yarny mood. Well, this time...

Spring Garden Gate by Moss Creek Designs

it was in a Moss Creek mood! Two projects in two days! I managed to get all the lupine flowers (the blue ones) done...they are double-sided buttonhole bars. I really had to use the magnifier. But you're not allowed to look that closely at them. ;)

That brings us up to March 17th...

The only thing I can remember about this hardanger piece is that it's an ornament from the JCS 1997 ornament issue (and I'm too lazy to go look up the name and designer!) I swapped the DMC floss for some random Hand-Dyed Fibers. I got a good bit done after I figured out which way I was travelling....

March 18th we saw Beauty and the Beast AND went to the Ballet, so I did not have time to stitch at all!

March 19th:

Peacock Tapestry by Teresa Wentzler

At the rate I'm stitching this, I will be done when I am 237.

March 20th I drew a magic blank slip (allowing me to choose!)

Prancer by Mirabilia

Still no deer colors!

Now I am really torn because I want to figure out a rotation (and I really just want to stitch some more on Prancer)...but I drew a slip out of the SCOD, anyway, just to see what it would say...and Spring Quakers popped out. That would be really fun to stitch, too...hmmmm....

Next month's theme is April Showers: "What pieces do you have that contain water? - It might be rain, river, sea or lake - see how many stitches you can make!" I am golden here. Especially when I remember that snow is just frozen water. ;)

JiffNotes
Even when directed by an inanimate object, I still can't make up my mind on what to stitch....

Gifted Gorgeousness February

As usual, I am late with my Gifted Gorgeousness post! What is Gifted Gorgeousness, you may ask? It's the brainchild of the lovely and talented Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, who invites us to celebrate gifts we've been given that we are stitching on (or gifts we're stitching for others). If you're up for seeing more eye candy, click on the graphic above and visit Jo's link up post!

First, I have to share some tulips my wonderful spouse brought me a couple weeks ago to cheer up a gray Winter day.

Tulips are my favorite; it won't be long before the Atlanta Botanical Garden is overrun with them and I can't wait!!

Now for actual stitching...I spent a fun afternoon trying to pick threads for this beautiful squirrel canvas that a good friend gave me for Christmas.

I've done counted canvas before, but this whole painted canvas thing is new to me (she keeps telling me she's trying to bring me over to "the dark side"). So I was kind of clueless on what kind of threads I should be picking, but between the employees and a couple friends, there was plenty of help...and plenty of opinions. ;) But it seems to me that was the easy part, since now I have to figure out what stitch to use for all the areas. I'm most puzzled by the metallic gold outlines of the squirrel. I don't want to just tent stitch them...bo-ring. Any canvas aficionados have any suggestions? I got Caron Snow in a metallic gold for those.

Now I will shoehorn in an old online class piece (the "gift of knowledge" from the instructor) that I've been working on. She had another class I wanted to sign up for, so I gave myself until the deadline to see if I could get at least half of this one done. I didn't...so I was a good girl and didn't sign up for the new class. This one is a lot of fun, though, so I'm not disappointed!!

Have you worked on anything this month that has been gifted to you or is going to be gifted to someone?

Of Gifts and Gorgeousness

For more information on this stunning and serendipitous SAL, please click on the graphic!

Well, I kind of disappeared there again, didn't I? I think what happens is that a "deadline" comes up...for instance, I was taken completely by surprise that the Alphabet Club's "first Saturday of the month" was the SECOND of this month...I am unprepared, and so I delay while I try to think of what to post, and many other posts go into some mystical queue behind the post I "need" to write, where they languish! So I am going to try to not beat myself up if I miss a SAL post and just soldier on!

So anyway...the lovely and talented Jo at Serendipitous Stitching has invited us to share our projects we are working on that have been gifted to us, that we are gifting to others, or that we can in any way possible shoehorn into the category of gifting!!

What's great about having a birthday at the end of a month (mine was at the end of February) is that you can usually claim the next month as a birthday month as well (and if you're really doing well, the month after that as well). In March, my DF Jean gave me a lovely birthday package:

Look at the little squirrel paper clips!! My journal is now covered with them. I immediately went to Ravelry to find the perfect thing to knit with that extraordinarily gorgeous yarn, and I think Pamuya will fit the bill! You might think I would have picked a plainer pattern, but I get bored if something is too plain (too much stockinette or garter stitch). And how about that blinged-out squirrel magnet!! He is already in action on my Curios, a mystery class with Kathy Rees (we don't know what the project will look like once it's finished):

This is just the first part of the first lesson. I am woefully behind! This is the project that is using all those gorgeous threads I showed you in my last GG post.

And now my gift of knowledge to you for this month...you might remember the two-colored hat that was in progress last month. (I have finished it, but it hasn't had its glamour shot yet!) I want to make a pair of mittens in the same colors. Now, the hat was a mosaic pattern, where you only need to hold/knit with one color of yarn at a time. The mittens I want to make, though, are done in a Fair Isle pattern, where you must hold two colors at once. I watched the most brilliant and clear video of how to do this! There's your gift of knowledge. ;) I picked a(nother) hat pattern for my final Loopy Academy project this semester that has a small band of Fair Isle on it so I could practice but not be in over my head. So, this is happening...

I will not describe the fits and starts I went through with this, from trying to wrestle my clumsy hands into holding yarn in a way I could live with, to discovering I had made a mistake close to the beginning of the first round and needing to rip back, not once...not twice...but THREE TIMES!! And then when I finally had knit it correctly, realizing that I had skipped the increase row before that completely. *cries a little* I am on my way now, though. My tension is terrible, and it looks pretty bad (I picked the best part to photograph, of course ;), but it's getting done. The very observant of you may have noticed, though, that this is NOT actually Fair Isle...some of those bands have THREE colors in them. So, I quickly moved from learning to hold two yarns to three...good thing I had bought a yarn guide ages ago, or I never could have managed it.

My final "gift" of the month is a preview of what is coming to the Atlanta Botanical Garden next week!

A very "gifted" artist, Dale Chihuly, who makes large glass art pieces, will be setting up art around the Garden! (Or, to be more accurate, his team will be setting them up.) I can't wait to see the whole show; as members of the Garden, we get to get a first glimpse of the sculptures all lit up at night as well!

That's it for me for the month! If you'd like to see more Gifted Gorgeousness, go back to the top of the post and click the graphic!

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...

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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....

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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!

Marching into Madnes

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I thought I'd post an update of what I've been working on during March Madness so that my month-end report wouldn't be so long it would require a couple gallons of Gatorade for anyone to make it through.

So, the day I got back from vacation, all tired and sad to be back at work, the Sparkly Compote of Decree decided I needed to frog.

Because that's where Magical Night is at this point. I backstitched the wings in the color called for, but I had changed the fabric to a darker shade, so it didn't really show up very well. So, I'm in the process of ripping it all out. I got a good bit done.

Next, Ye Shall Prosper came up.

 

This is the pin keep from the set, and I did some boring chain stitch. This is actually an older picture, since I got so little done, it seemed kind of pointless to take a new one!

Les Rubans was next. Here's a shot of the whole piece:

And the bit I did:

That bit is part of a ribbon that I've already finished one section of...so it will look a lot like this when I'm done with it.

Whew, that's a lot of stitching so far. Let's take a quick break while I announce the theme for April!

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).

The idea for this theme actually came from two people! SoCal Debbie and Shebafudge, but since Shebafudge gave us February's theme, the prize is going to go to Debbie this month. Debbie, please send me your snail mail address!

And now, back to the Madness...

Next, an old class piece came up, a Christmas drawn-thread border piece.

This is just the smaller class piece, but I did almost get one whole side done. The picture doesn't show how sparkly it is...all the stitching is done in DMC stranded metallic floss.

Obviously the SCOD was still in a Christmas mood, as the next thing it spit out was this Partridge in a Pear Tree.

It is possible that I've only worked on this piece during March Madnesses Past.

Continuing the theme within the theme), this Hearts and Flowers ornament was next.

It's a 3-sided ornament, and once I get the middle peyote band done, I will have to learn brick stitch to do the six top and bottom panels!

You'll see the rest of the projects I worked on on April 1st! (No foolin'!)

JiffNotes
In case you missed it amongst all the pictures, the theme for April is April Showers!

The Geekend That Was, 1/13 (say cheese edition)

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This past weekend we took one of my Christmas presents out for a spin. Michael got me a new lens for the camera...a 55-210mm lens.

So of course, we headed to the Botanical Gardens...for some ZOOMING!

Here's a shot (unzoomed) of the Chihuly chandelier in the entry atrium, inspired by our collection of pitcher plants.

And now, zoomed all the way in!

 

This is now my desktop picture. =)

To use it to take picture of smaller things, I now have to stand farther away and zoom in rather than just getting closer like I did with my 18-55mm lens.

 

It still works great, though!

It's also great for taking pictures of flowers that are on, say, a camellia bush that's 15 feet off the path.

 

Works great for capturing far-away bees as well. =)

 

Michael took this next one (obviously!) while he was explaining about the tighter depth of field on the lens.

 

You can see how the daffodils are nicely blurred in the foreground. You probably didn't notice it as much on the camellia pictures, but if you go back and look, you can see it there as well.

But the real reason we were there? Scouting for wildlife!

 

SQUIRREL!

I did try to take pictures of some birds as well, but they didn't come out too well. That's OK; I learned a lot while trying, like how to adjust my LCD screen brightness, how to use the movable focus to zero in on the tiny animal I was stalking, and that this lens is less tolerant of backlit conditions (or at least it seems to be). It also take some practice to track flitting birds while you're really zoomed in! I was THISCLOSE to getting a great shot of a male cardinal sitting in a holly tree...then, flit! =) Even with the zoom lens, I would have had to crop it so you could see him, though.

The squirrels were much more cooperative!

 

These shots are not cropped at all, by the way. You can see the tight depth of field illustrated in these two shots.

I call this one my "squirrel hero" shot.

 

SO FLUFFY!

JiffNotes
I love my new ZOOM lens!!

Epic Holiday Catch-Up Post

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Sorry I've been so absent! It was difficult to find time to blog during the holidays...I'm so busy in preparation, and then after Christmas I was just exhausted.

But enough excuses! Here are some random moments from my December....

The week before Christmas began with my favorite annual Christmas concert. A friend at work is in his church's handbell choir and they do a service every year that is nothing but congregational carol singing and handbell pieces. It's gorgeous, and I adore singing carols...no wonder it's my favorite.

 

I had the additional wonderful surprise of my DF Teresa coming in to town for work, so she got to come with us and go to dinner afterward.

 

Even though the weather wasn't very Christmassy, the crazily decorated Marietta Diner provided a festive mood.

 

Then it was all about trying to get the cookies done in time to give away. In other words, turning these raw ingredients...

 

...from this...

 

...into this.

 

That's seven different kinds: Buried Cherry Cookies, Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, Eggnog Thumbprints, Scandinavian Almond Bars, Peppermint Cream Bars, Snickerdoodle Cups, and Mexican Chipotle Chocolate Bites. I estimate that I rolled over 300 cookies, not including the approximately 96 bar cookies.

The Wednesday before Christmas Michael and I sang in a Festival of Lessons and Carols. It was a wonderful, worshipful evening, even though my body was trying very hard to get sick!

You may be wondering about this random squirrel picture...

 

I just had to give a shout out to Bloom Woodworks. In my usual last-minute fashion, I ordered a couple gifts (along with this squirrel for myself. Jodi and her dad were great; she responded to my desperate email right away, her dad made a special trip to the post office, and she even remembered I'd entered a drawing and had gotten an (expired! my fault!) coupon for free shipping, so she only charged me a few dollars for Priority Mail. Fantastic customer service, and the thread keep is BEAUTIFUL. It's so light, too. The gifts were also beautiful, but I can't show them to you because both of them haven't been given yet. ;)

 

We headed over to the Georgia Aquarium on the 22nd because our annual passes were expiring and we wanted to see the dolphin show one last time...with the addition of the Weeki Wachee mermaids!

 

On Christmas Eve, we went to lunch at my sister's house where we got to hang out with my nephew. He got surprise leave (at Christmas!) from his service on the USS Eisenhower (where he flies a jet). It was fantastic to see him (and the awesome in-cockpit videos he took of his takeoffs and landings)! After lunch, we headed over to Michael's parents' house for Settlers of Catan and general festivities. He was put in charge of pancakes for dinner...

 

...I can't even believe I got that shot. These weren't just any pancakes, either. These were Grandfather Lott's Famous Apple Pancakes!

 

Boy, were they good. Especially alongside the rest of the feast...sausage bake in phyllo, egg casserole and asparagus!

The next day was Christmas! After a gorgeous church service, we went to my parents' house for presents and feasting. Look at the beautiful package my sister gave me! I almost didn't want to open it...almost. =)

 

She's SO good at shopping for me. She gave me the most gorgeous scarves, earrings, hat and dress!

I brought some Christmas crackers for us to pull before dinner, and they went over even better than I'd expected.

 

Everyone immediately donned their crowns and we had fun chortling over the ridiculous jokes inside.

The rest of the week we pretty well hermitted. I did go out on Boxing Day, thanks to my sister and niece who wanted to go to the sale at Anthropologie (and thanks to my in-laws, I had a nice gift certificate to spend). It was so fun to shop and have lunch with them! The next day I had lunch (and did a bit more shopping) with DF Jean.

I'll leave you with a bacon angel Michael made me for breakfast. I love it when he cooks; his food is always so much prettier than mine!

 

JiffNotes
I love Christmas!!