It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME!!! Hooray!

*ahem*

I love Daylight Saving Time; I really feel like we should be on this time all year 'round. I am NOT a morning person, so having light later in the day is awesome for me!

We went to see Cirque du Soleil in "Kurios" today, with gorgeous warm weather...by the time intermission rolled around, the sky was mostly sunny with just enough clouds to make for a beautiful sunset!

The show is "steampunk" style, and it was amazing! We were sitting in the second row and got to see all the performers' incredible costumes and makeup up close! I took a few pictures during the "pre-show", but just on my phone, so they're not the best...

You can't see it in the picture, but the two "tanks" on either side have sea creatures "floating" inside.

This "automaton" is person-sized!

Now for some random pictures of random stitchy progress...

I started Mirabilia's Bluebell Fairy on some beloved stashed Sugar Maple Fabrics hand-dyed lugana. I placed her so it would look like she was hopping over a swirly puddle. =)

My second Loopy Academy project is coming along well. The assignment was "two colors, one of which is variegated and one of which is solid or tonal".

I was too scared to try Fair Isle, so this is a mosaic pattern instead. You only knit with one color at a time, and the pattern is formed by slipping stitches. It's ridiculously easy to memorize the pattern for the round, so it's zipping along. I love that the blue/green/purple yarn is called "Spectrum". Since it doesn't actually have all the colors of the rainbow, I like to think it's a secret homage to Nathan Fillion. =)

JiffNotes
Hooray for Daylight Saving Time! I want it to stay this time all year...politicians, if you want my vote, make it happen!

Loopy Academy Sophomore Year, Semester 2, First Project!

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I have already finished my first project for Loopy Academy this semester! The assignment was to knit socks whichever way you have the least experience with--toe-up or top-down. Well, since participating in the Cookie A Sock Club for two years, I definitely had more experience knitting top-down! I also knew I wanted a pair in worsted (or maybe sport) for two reasons:

• I am a slow knitter, so I needed the yardage to be as close as possible to the required 225 yards! Socks knit in "sock yarn" (or fingering) run about 400 yards.
• The first pair of socks I ever knit, a super-snuggly pair in worsted weight, were very close to giving up the ghost, and my feet get very cold on cold nights!

I cast these socks on in the middle of February and had the heel turned before we went to Disney for my birthday. I finished them on the way down!

Mistake Braid Socks - Ravelry project page

Good thing I brought a "back up" project with me. =) They were mindless to knit, which is a good thing, because we were listening to the novelization of "The Force Awakens" on the way down (MELODRAMATIC NARRATOR IS MELODRAMATIC). I actually cast them off at home, since casting off socks knit two-at-a-time is not that fun in the car. The night I cast them off, my old socks literally fell apart!! Of course, the next day it was almost 70 degrees F. =P

JiffNotes
I have socks! Socks that are way too warm to wear now! Socks that I will probably forget all about until I'm moaning about how cold my feet are this Fall, but won't I be happy to have them then??

Thanks for the Love!

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Hey, ya'll! :)

Gosh, you guys made me feel great returning to the world of blogging! I appreciate all the comments. I missed you, too. I haven't had a chance to respond yet, but I will! I realized another thing that's been hurting my blogging is the fact that our Xbox 360 died, and that is what we used to watch things recorded with Windows Media Center (we rarely watch live TV!) What does that have to do with blogging, you ask? Well, I blog from my laptop, and since the 360 died, the laptop is the only thing we can use to get WMC programs to play on the TV. So while I used to blog while we watched TV...now, I can't! Nevertheless, I will try to do better!

I promised to show you the card my awesome spouse made me for my birthday. He gave it to me on my birthday, just before we took off to go to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Rey is looking for advice...

...but I think BB-8 has some ulterior motives!

JiffNotes
Thank you for the warm welcome back! Hope you enjoyed my geeky birthday card from my hubby!

The Alphabet Club - H!

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It seems I'm even late for detention!

"They only met online, but it changed their lives forever"

No idea what's going on? Click the poster above for an explanation!

This is my first time participating in the fabulous brainchild of Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and chiara at the grey tail. I have really been enjoying reading everyone else's posts, though...I love hearing about local language and customs!!

The first "H" word I have for you is a typical Southern greeting...no, it's not "Howdy"...it's "Hey." It's also the thing that Stormtroopers yell when they see someone doing something, rather than trying to stop them!

Get it? Get it???

When I was a teenager, I'm pretty sure I had this conversation more times than I'd like to admit:
Me: "Hey, y'all."
Friend 1: "Hey."
Friend 2: "Hey."
Me: "Hey."

Yep, those were some articulate times.

And now for some H-related stitching!

During my hiatus, I went to Hardanger University. This is my in-progress Hardanger class piece from Meg Shinall:

The center is done; I am working on the lacy edge. You can see on the left where I started to cut it away from the supporting fabric threads. This is my favorite kind of edge; much quicker than blanket stitching!

And here is a barely-started Heirloom Sampler in a Year by Linda Driskell, sold by Nordic Needle. I did one of her other samplers-in-a-year and really enjoyed it...I even finished it! Is anyone else doing this one?

I found an actual finish that starts with "H"...this is my hedgehog, Tilly!

She was a class from Rae Iverson (Moss Creek Designs). We pre-stitched her back, and in class we learned how to assemble her. There is also a cute bag and other accessories that go with her, but of course she is the only thing I have finished! Here's a view of her "bow"-hind. :)

Of course, the last H is me...geeky Heather! =D

Well, that's all I have time for...check back next month for ramblings about the letter "I"!

JiffNotes
If you'd like to see more Alphabet Club posts, check out chiara's link-up post!

Anyone still out there?

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Hey, hey, it's 2016! Long time no blog. Is anyone still "listening"? =) Thank you to those of you that reached out to see if I was OK. Nothing big happened to make me wander away from the blog...my only real excuse is work-related, and who wants to be bored by that??

Rather than try to recap a year or so, I'm just going to move forward and try to do smaller posts so they won't seem so daunting when I think about starting! I don't have any good needlework pictures to share right now; I have finished a few small things and even more knitting (thanks to Loopy Academy). I'll share some in upcoming posts. For now, here are some pictures fresh off the camera from February.

It's Orchid Daze time at the Atlanta Botanical Garden! There was no theme like in years past, but the orchids were still pretty.

In the main atrium of the orchid house, they had these cool hanging grapevine balls!

My birthday is at the end of February, and we took a last-minute quick trip down to Walt Disney World so the Dapper Dans could sing me "Happy Birthday".

Birthdays at Disney are awesome; they give you a birthday button to wear and everyone says, "Happy Birthday!" to you all day long.  We were in the Magic Kingdom on my birthday, and the next day we went to Epcot, where they were gearing up for the Flower and Garden Festival.

Later in the day, we hopped over to Hollywood Studios, where we rode Star Tours many times (had to see all the variations!) and got to see the amazing Star Wars fireworks show!

Alas, Rey merchandise was sold out in my size everywhere, but my wonderful spouse made me an awesome birthday card (which I will have to show you later!)

Well, that was my quick post for the day...it's time to go make dinner!  See ya real soon!

JiffNotes
I am back after a long hiatus! As usual, Orchid Daze is happening and I went to Disney for my birthday.