Thursday, November 8, 2012

Easy Peasy

Just a quick post to share a few random things and a couple of pictures.
Here's my progress on Santa after one week of stitching. It doesn't look like much but I haven't had much time to stitch. I'm not one to wish away time, and I'm in no hurry, but I think that one of the benefits of retirement in several years will be more time to stitch.




We took a long weekend trip to Pigeon Forge, TN this past weekend. I had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite shops--Dixie Darlin'. It's such a cute stitching shop on a little side street in Pigeon Forge. The owner and the lady that works there are very nice and helpful. They have a cute dog named Macy who roams around the shop as well. I purchased several designs and some fabric cuts--CEC's Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I would like to someday complete all four and switch them out as the seasons change.

I also purchased these cute cardinal ornaments/designs and stitched one set of them on the way home. I made these for my parents and plan to stitch another set for myself. They were easy peasy and a fun car project.



That's it for me today.
Happy Stitching!
Kellie

Thursday, November 1, 2012

A Finish, Santa, fall break, life

My Mirabilia obsession continues. I recently finished Mediterranean Mermaid.


PTP Sterling 32 ct. 

On Tuesday, I started Santa (also a Mirabilia) design. I love his expression and the ornate cuffs on his jacket. I also love that this one does not use any Kreinik threads. I love the look metallic threads give a design but I don't enjoy stitching with them.

Zweigart Cream Belfast 

We celebrated fall break Disney style once again this year. My parents joined us for this trip and it was wonderful. One of the best trips ever. I wasn't ready to come home.




We also celebrated my husband's induction into his alma mater's Athletic Hall of Fame. It was a fun weekend. My husband was humbled and honored and we are so proud of him.




I hope all is well for you in blog land. Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Between work and busy home life, I have chosen to stitch or knit in the spare moments that I have had these last few months. My blog reader is busting at the seams. I'm hoping the pace slows down a bit and I can catch up in all areas.

Until next time, happy stitching!

And a belated Happy Halloween from the Pete-ster!




Kellie

Great giveaway!

Please check out Nancy's very fabulous and very generous December giveaways on her blog.

http://victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com/2012/11/25-days-of-christmas-and-25-give-aways.html

I will blog soon with my latest project. Stay tuned! :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Mirabilia Mania

I've been on a Mirabilia kick lately. Nora Adams has been a favorite designer since I bought The Dreamer at an LNS in the early '90s (which I still haven't stitched but definitely will at some point).

I finished Mermaids of the Deep a few years ago but recently got it framed. It is so hard to get a good picture of it without a glare.





This one is just covered in beads which I love!!

Getting this framed has once again jump started my "need" to stitch Mirabilia designs (and buy them, and kit them, and lovingly look at them lol).

I am currently working on Poppy. I started stitching with the Kreiniks today and hope to be beading later tonight.





I've had some happy mail days around here lately as well.




Little House Needleworks Family Sampler, ByGone Stitches One Nation with called for fabric and threads, Mirabilia Stargazer with beads, Mirabilia Elizabeth with beads.

So much to stitch, so little time!!


Friday, July 13, 2012

This is the Day



Hello everyone...

I haven't posted in a long time. No reason... Just enjoying summer and all the activities that the season brings.

I don't want to bore everyone with a long update of everything that has happened since I last posted. I will just suffice to say that May went by in a busy blur, and I spent June trying to catch my breath. Now it is July and almost time to return to school/work full time. I have stitched a lot, and I have knitted a lot.  I would like to be better about posting. Wondering if I set a specific day to post each week if I would stick to it?

Stitching.... I have spent a lot of time stitching this summer. But as per my usual MO, I have stitched a little on one project, put it down, picked up another project, stitched a little on it, put it down... well, you get the idea. And sometimes all in one day.

I decided last night that I was bored with every project that I have upstairs. (I keep current stitching stuff upstairs, and not so current WIPs in the basement.) Rather than start something new (as I usually have no qualms about doing), I went down to the basement, dragged out the WIPs of Doom supersize tote (a result of the "no qualms" thing), and drug out a dozen (or more) projects that caught my eye. I reunited them with their various threads, put them in a basket and hauled them back up the stairs. I decided (at least for awhile), that I will stitch on whichever is screaming the loudest (hopefully until it is finished) and then choose another from the basket until I either a.) tire of this routine and go back to my more current projects, or b.) finish everything in the basket and then refill it or c) start whatever latest and greatest that catches my eye (Beauty and Grace, anyone?).

The latest "screamer" is This is the Day by Hands to Work which I fell head over heels in love with when I first saw it in JCS in 2009. I promptly collected threads and fabric and set my hands to work and was loving stitching it until I discovered that either my house or tree was one stitch off (I don't remember which now). I just as promptly put it all away in disgust refusing to frog, start over, or finish it as is. Looking at it now, I don't think it is that glaring. I am calling it a "design feature" and moving on....

Here's where it is as I left it with the exception of the over one block that I stitched last night. I am stitching on Silkweaver's Days Gone By 28 count lugana (one of my favorite Silkweaver colorways).



I do actually have a stitching finish and a couple of knitting finishes from my summer of stitching fun that I will blog about next time.


This is one of my current knitting projects... a pair of Georgia on My Mind Socks. Yarn is by Gnome Acres in the Franklin colorway. This is a KAL with the Knitabulls podcast group on Ravelry. I like to have a pair of socks on the needles at all times. They are perfect for long car rides, waiting rooms, etc. I plan to haul them with me to a Louisville Bats game tomorrow night. :)



I have been the lucky recipient of some of my Mom's cute project bags that she has been sewing lately. The cupcake bag will hold a large chart with fabric and threads easily. This is where This is the Day is currently residing. Check out the cute sprinkle lining. :)



This cute bag is a perfect for either a purse or a knitting project (or both!). It is fully lined with a lot of pockets on the inside. Probably my favorite bag that I currently have. I think she did such a great job on it. It combines a lot of things I love... Lots of color, paisley, polkadots, stripes. Perfect!



That's it for me for this time. Sorry for the long hiatus. I will try to be back sooner rather than later next time. DH and DS just left to spend what's left of the afternoon fishing, so I think a tall glass of sweet tea, an episode of Smash, and stitching are in order.

Happy Stitching!!
Kellie



Sunday, April 15, 2012

The stitching voices in my head

Do you ever have times when almost everything in your stitching stash is screaming to be stitched at once? And more stash is beckoning you to be purchased? Usually in the form of the blogs you read and the stitchers you admire... You all are stitching some amazing things out there in blogland. Which when I see these amazing things, I either want to start them immediately if I have them in my stash or I want to purchase them immediately if I don't. For the most part, I have refrained with one exception.... When I saw Terri's drop dead gorgeous finish of Mary Gibson, I took myself right on over to the Haslemere Muesum via the Internet and ordered it straight away. And I soooo want to start it immediately. But I also want to stitch it using Terri's fabulous conversion, for which I need to order some threads, so that has kept me in check for now.


I have managed a quick finish Here's Bloom Sampler by Threadwork Primitives.




I've progressed a little more on Christmas Garden. I'm trying to focus on it solely until it's finished. For someone who used to be a devoted one-at-a-time stitcher, it has become hard for me to just stitch on one thing until completion in recent years.




This past week has been spring break. We would normally travel at this time of the year, but we decided to stay home this week and get some stuff done around the house. The living room and hallway got a much needed coat of paint, and the carpets got a much needed cleaning. I'm sad to see my break end, but I only have a few short weeks until summer break. We only missed two days this year, and we've already made up both of those, so we are scheduled to get out of school on May 16 with the teachers' last day being May 17. We will have almost three full months off this summer. I'm ecstatic!!! I have a lot of things I want to accomplish around my house, some places to go, and my mom is going to teach me a little basic sewing. I'm looking so forward to all of it. I will have to work some too, but a lot of it is computer based that I can do from my home.

That's it for now. Getting ready to settle in with Christmas Garden and enjoy some stitching in front of the TV this evening.

Have a happy stitchy week!

Kellie

Monday, April 9, 2012

Some framed finishes

I recently took a couple of pieces to Michael's to have them framed. I decided it was time to get my finishes out of the drawer and on my wall. So hopefully, I will have a lot of these posts to show you this year. As much as I stitch, I have very few stitched pieces displayed in my home. However one of my goals this year is to decorate my home with things we love, and my handwork fits into that overall goal. :)

Here's Paradise Lost by Plum Street Samplers.




And Home is Where My Heart Blooms by Blackbird Designs.





I'm enjoying a blissful week of spring break, at home stitching and knitting with an occasional outing during the day here and there.

Hope your week is a happy one!
Kellie

Monday, March 19, 2012

A finish and a start

I finished knitting a quick little project tonight. It's called a Monster Chunk. It's a free pattern by Rebecca Danger on Ravelry. He's stitched out of Knitcol Adifil and Cascade 220 (feet) on size 5 circulars.




I also started Christmas Garden by BBD a few days ago. I haven't made a huge amount of progress but I am enjoying every stitch. I'm thinking I will probably stitch an alphabet at the bottom like Katrina, rather than the words Christmas Garden. This is a sampler I would like to leave out all year as it doesn't "scream" Christmas, especially without the charted words. Katrina was very kind to offer to share how she stitched hers, so I hope she won't mind if I borrow her idea.




Please pardon my crappy iPhone photos. I'm too lazy to grab the real camera and in a hurry to get back to stitching CG.
Have a good week!
Happy Stitching!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Lately

Spring has sprung here in my little KY town. The flowers are blooming.






We have a new little fellow that has found us. I think he belongs to someone. He's very tame and becoming territorial which doesn't set well with the other cat members of our family. We are hoping to find his family and return him. And if not, maybe a new family that will love him. And this needs to be happening soon before I get attached to him and name him Zebulon (Zeb for short; anyone else a child of the 70s who grew up watching The Waltons? You will know where I came up with Zeb. Lol!)


On the stitching front, I've been very unfocused. I can't seem to stick to one thing lately and therefore the only thing I'm accomplishing is making a mess pulling out multiple projects and making a couple of new starts that I quickly abandoned.

I finished Small Token by Blackbird Designs for the 2012 Year of Smalls.



I started March Wordplay by With Thy Needle and Thread.



Also started Spring by Cross eyed Cricket.




I think part of my focusing problem has been because I had been working on Sarah Woodham. Somehow I lost the part of the pattern that is the over one verse. I'm sure it's around here somewhere, and it will turn up,but it is driving me insane trying to figure out where it is.

As for knitting, I don't have much to show there but I did aquire a few cute new project bags and a set of stitch markers that I love.


Sock bag from Slipped Stitch Studios on Etsy. LOVE this! Very well made and how can you resist a sick project bag with well, socks! on the fabric. :)




A couple of just as awesomely made bags from Tangerine Designs on Etsy.




Hunger Games stitch markers also by Tangerine Designs. Love this series of books, love these stitch markers, can't wait to see this movie.

I think that's all of my ramblings for today, folks!

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Happy Stitching!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Somber

My heart is breaking for all the families that lost loved ones and their homes in this week's storms.

Our little town fared better than some but did not remain unscathed.

We were hit on Wednesday by two EF-2 tornados. No lives were lost here thankfully. One of the tornados ripped through the neighborhood right next to my middle school and leveled it. We were at school when all of this moved through. We had kids in the hallways from 9:00 a.m. until after 1:00 p.m. with a couple of 15 minute reprieves. We lost power by 10:00 am. Our students were AMAZING. I am still so proud of them! They listened so well and were so patient. We are so blessed that this tornado literally "jumped" over our school. My husband and son were experiencing the same things at their respective schools. DH works at the high school; DS attends one of the elementary schools. I am very thankful for the staff at my son's school who kept him safe and tried to keep him calm. He suffers terribly from storm phobia (almost debilitatingly); it was a very long emotional day for him and I could not be there to comfort him. I was needed at my school and it was too dangerous to leave to go get him.

Had we been home, this would have been the view from our front door. This picture was taken from within our neighborhood.




But we are blessed. We have not had the destruction that others received on Friday.

We were very nervous about the storms on Friday after the events of Thursday. We knew Fridays storms were on the same path as Wednesday's but were predicted to be a lot worse. We were home this time when they hit. Thankfully it was just high winds, thunderstorms, and hail for us this time around.

I'm so thankful that my family is safe and sound... All of my family, extended family too.

My thoughts and prayers are with those who were not as fortunate.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

New stash!

My Valentine's Day gift from my husband....



Some new charts and fabric to go with each, a couple of needed threads, a VB bag for knitting tools and trinkets, and a bunny needle minder.

I was waiting for the mail yesterday because I thought i should be receiving all of this. When Michael came in from the mailbox yesterday afternoon, I was disappointed that I didn't receive my order... Or so I thought. He said (and truthfully, he thought) that all we received was junk mail and he had dumped it in the trash on the way back inside. I asked him if he saw any boxes on the front porch and he said he didn't notice any. So I resigned myself that I would be waiting until later in the week. I stayed up stitching until around 1 am last night. Before going to bed, I went to make sure the front storm door was locked and flipped on the front porch light. There on the porch, in the opposite corner that our mailman normally puts boxes, sat my order. I was thrilled!!! And wide awake suddenly. After looking at everything several times, I went on to bed. But I was up early this morning putting the first stitches into CEC's Spring. Progress pics to come!

Happy Stitching!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Bloom

Finished this sweet design earlier this week. Such a fun, pretty, and quick stitch.



This is by M Designs and was in the March/April 2011 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. I plan to finish it as a pincushion with brown seed beads all along the edges similar to the model photo in the magazine. If only I could find the time! I don't want to stop stitching long enough to do the finishing. I don't enjoy that part as much. Lol!

Have a fun stitchy weekend!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

a few finishes and a WIP

I have finished the February installment of the 2012 Year of Smalls SAL.
This is Garden of Love by Citrouille's Designs. I made a few little mistakes but not so much that I wanted to frog them and start over. And the raspberry silk thread had way too much dye in it so I didn't want any "bleeding" to show on my fabric either. (personal rant.... why is that a particular brand's red/deep pink silks always stain stitching? Is it too much to ask that when you pay approx. $7.00 a skein for silk threads that it not bleed all over your fabric?!.... rant over).

This was a cute, fun, quick stitch. I purchased the kit that Cathy of Inspired Needle put together. This was stitched on a 32 ct. fabric, 2 over 2.

I also finished a couple of knitted items.

A pair of Monkey Socks by Cookie A out of LunaBudKnits fingering weight yarn. Love this yarn!! She is a somewhat local KY dyer).



And a waffle knit dishcloth out of Knit Picks Dishie yarn (blue) and Sugar and Cream yarn (natural). This the is the first dishcloth that I have knit with Dishie, but it won't be the last. I really like this yarn.

And for my biggest Ta-Da....

I FINALLY finished Paradise Lost!!!!! I started this piece on October 29, 2009. I didn't stitch on it exclusively. Often there were very long lapses in time between stitching sessions, but I am so glad to finally have it finished. As soon as I find a good framing deal at Michael's, this little beauty is going to be framed and hung behind the living room couch. As much as I have stitched through the years, I have very few pieces framed and displayed. I am making a conscious effort to remedy that. I am starting to become more of a project stitcher rather than a process stitcher. I want to stitch things that have a place and purpose in my home decor rather than stitching whatever strikes my fancy just for the fun of stitching it, if that makes sense. :) (Excuse my wrinkles...)

After finishing Paradise Lost, I dug Sarah Woodham out of the WIP pile to start working on her diligently once again. She's another reason that I am ranting about those particular red silks.... Between the deep pink and dark red silks, parts of her are getting a pinkish cast that I do not like. I am very concerned about stitching all of the over one verse in the deep pink. I hate to spend so much time (and $$) stitching a project for it to look like it has been dipped in a pink bath. Hopefully that won't happen, but I am noticing some bleeding in other parts of the piece where I have used those two colors. I put this one back into q-snaps, even though I usually stitch in hand. I am hoping that will alleviate some of the bleeding if I do not have it in my hands as much.


A couple of knitting notes... started a February Lady Sweater out of Cascade 220. I haven't made enough progress for it to even look like a sweater as of yet. I plan to knit a bunch of Cloisonee mittens out of Cascade 220 as well. If I can master this pattern, everyone I know will be getting mittens for Christmas because they are so stinkin' cute! I'm also working on a Hitchhiker scarf which I will show on my next post and talk a little bit about it. (If you are on Ravelry, and would like to "friend" me, my username there is kellieps3).
I want to thank everyone for their kind comments and emails regarding my former principal. While she continues to be missed daily, her staff members are settling into a new normal. I have had the opportunity to visit the school in a professional capacity several times since her death, and while it still seems very surreal, everyone (staff and students) seem to be adapting.

Super Bowl Sunday... who are you rooting for? Honestly, I don't have a personal team that I hope wins. Jake does. He wants the Giants to win. So I guess I will root for the Giants since that is who he seems to want to win. Michael and Jake have big plans of watching the game this evening. I agreed to make some super bowl snack food and give them a party atmosphere. Personally, I will be taking my buffalo chicken dip and lil smokies back to my sitting room where I intend to stitch and enjoy my latest audiobook (Alone by Lisa Gardner) and later watch Downton Abbey.

Petey says, "Mom, quit your belly aching about silk thread and fix the super bowl food already..."

Have a fun week.
Happy stitching!
Kellie


Saturday, January 14, 2012

overload

I didn't mean to be away so long. I am trying to be better about blogging more frequently.

The last week has been very hard. I don't typically dwell on sad things on my blog, much preferring to mainly focus on stitching and knitting and positive. But this week has had a profound impact on me and if you will indulge me for a minute, I will get back to more positive things....

Most of you that have been reading for some time, know that I am a school counselor. I have worked at all levels from kindergarten to eighth grade. Actually when I first started this blog I was an elementary school counselor shared between our two elementary schools and within the last year and a half, I transferred back to our middle school. Anyway....

Last weekend, one of the elementary school principals that I worked for previously was tragically killed in a car accident. It was a single car accident. It is thought that she swerved (to avoid an animal maybe?), over corrected and lost control of her car. She was killed instantly. She was young. Forty seven (I think that is young...), and she had two children. And she was the caretaker of her family. And she was a respected well-loved principal that knew every single child and adult in her building by name. She hugged. A lot. She told people she loved them. A lot. And a whole community has been in mourning for her all week. Along with everyone else, I am struggling to understand how such a vibrant person can suddenly be gone when so many people needed and relied on her. It has caused me to rethink a lot of things. To want to be a better version of myself. To be kinder than necessary. To live fully in the moment. Every. Single. Day. To not dwell on past hurts or troubles. To not worry about future problems that I have absolutely no control over. To be the best mother and wife and daughter and sister and aunt that I can be. To tell people that I love them and appreciate them. Not just people in my family who I tell daily that I love them, but my friends that I am close to who I may not have let know how much they mean to me. To learn ALL five hundred and fifty plus students names every single year so that they know that they matter to me too.

Okay enough of the sad.....
On to the positive....

In the little time that I have had, I have stitched and knitted this week.
I finished Poinsettia House! Just in time for the new small that will be announced tomorrow. I am so loving this 2012 Year of Smalls challenge. I chose to stitch our name on the sampler rather than "poinsettia."

Poinsettia House by Little House Needleworks
40 count Lakeside Linen Navy Bean
recommended threads
I think I mentioned in my last post that I am wanting to stitch a lot of smalls this year and to work on whittling down my WIP pile. Most of which are BAPs.... I am trying to focus on one WIP at a time in between the smalls that I stop to stitch. Right now, my focus in Paradise Lost by Plum Street Samplers. While I love Paulette's quirky fun trees, I will be happy to have all of them stitched on this piece. This last one with the diamond shaped leaves is about to plow me under.... LOL!


In the world of knitting, I have embarked on making some baby hats. I have two teachers in my building that are having babies soon. Like one of them is due this month. She's having a girl and I finished her hat last night. Here it is modeled on one of my baby dolls from when I was a child.

Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat
Free pattern found here: Ravelry
Classic Elite Yarn Summer Sox
3.25 mm needles
Mods:needle size and stitched stockinette for 4 inches instead of 3.5 inches
Anyone know what these dolls are called? I know they are old and antique, but I know very little about them. I was given two of them by a great aunt. I remember seeing these type of dolls in clothing stores when I was a child in the 70s. They used them as mannequins for baby and children's clothing. I can remember seeing them sitting on top of clothing racks, but not for sale. I have no idea how my great aunt came by the ones she had. They were old when she gave them to me as a child. If any of you know anything about them, let me know. I am curious to learn about them.

I am working on Jake's epic striped blanket. I have started stripe number three of seven. This is supposed to be my focus knitting project right now, but I have strayed. I am knitting this out of Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand. Not that I am a yarn snob by any means, but I am not too fond of acrylic yarns. However for blankets, I want something machine washable and dryable. And Vanna's Choice is actually pretty soft to knit with and not squeaky on the needles. This is a modification of the Purl Bee Super Easy Baby Blanket. I just cast on a bunch more stitches (around 300 maybe?) and have made my stripes approximately 10 inches long (39 garter ridges). Very easy knit. Also very boring knit. But I love the simplicity and squishiness of garter stitch, and this is a great TV project.



Speaking of TV, I am officially hooked.... Love. This. Series. I watched the entire first series last weekend which was very therapeutic for me and helped to keep my mind occupied.


I cast on a pair of Toast mitts last night. I am making these out of KnitPicks City Tweed in the color Larkspur. This is the first time that I have knit with City Tweed, and I love it. I will be looking for more projects to knit using this yarn.


A lot of stash enhancement this week, partly thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who gave me gift certificates for Christmas....

Here's my yarn haul...


And the stitching haul....

The scissors were from my parents for Christmas. And I had the JCS magazine. I ordered the fabric, button, needed threads and beads to make the Bloom pincushion. I have fallen victim to Laura's stitching group's influence. I think all of them have this as one of their twelve projects to complete in the coming year. After seeing it featured repeatedly and loving it more each time I saw it, it is now one of my projects to complete in the coming year. :)

Another goal for the coming year... organization!! Everywhere, but including my stitching and knitting. I am a pretty organized person, but I have let some things slide lately and one area is keeping my stash and supplies organized. I am sucker for the visual. I love quirky and unique. I am going to try to find a few more of these locker baskets to store my stash of charts in. I love being able to see what I have at a glance and to be able to flip through them easily. More organization ideas to come. Please share yours with me. Particularly on overdyed threads. I like flossaway bags. What I don't like is figuring out a good way to store them. I have outgrown the big 3 inch rings. I either need more rings or bigger rings or a whole other system. Any ideas?

Okay, now that I have overloaded you completely, and probably very few of you are still reading at this point, I am going to sign off of the day.

Have a good weekend. Tell someone you love them today.

Kellie