Check out this giveaway...

Go see Jan at Belfonte Notes. Wonderful stitcher/designer/blogger and a great giveaway to celebrate her two year blogaversary.

It's good to be Queen!

Check out my new project bag. Fits me to a tee... I know I share my unfinished project kingdom and crown with many of you. That's okay... It's a good sorority to be in. :)




My first finish of the year is actually a knitting finish. I finished a scarf last week. I had started this scarf during the really long dress rehearsals of our church Christmas play last month. I put it to the side for awhile and then picked it back up to finish.



Brisbane scarf--free pattern hereLion Brand Hometown Yarn 3 skeinsColor: Tampa SpiceNeedles: Size 13
I cast on a new scarf. This is the "Sinful" ribbed scarf. I'm using KnitPicks Capra in Celestial for this. I love this yarn! It's so soft. I will definitely be using this yarn again.


I also have a new pair of socks on the needles... Monkey in KP Stroll Tonal Gypsy.



Now on the stitching front...

I started Her Sampler on New Years Day and finished the border and a little of the alphabet before putting it aside. I will pick it back up again because I love the design but I got a little bored with all of the green.


I'm stitching on Paradise Lost again. I'm wanting to get this finished, framed, and hanging on my wall. It has languished in the WIP pile for too long.



(sorry for the sideways photo... I'm blogging from my phone).

I'm thinking a hot cup of decaf tea and some time in stitching paradise sounds like a good way to end the evening.

Enjoy your evening or morning... Depending on where you are. :)

Looking back, looking forward

Goodbye 2010!

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, so I want to document some of the milestones from the past year for my own personal records (feel free to skip ahead...)

* Jake completed second grade with flying colors, and started a great third grade year. He has a wonderful teacher, and I have seen him really deepen his love of reading and writing this year thanks to her.

* Michael quit coaching football after 18 years. This has had such a positive effect on our family.

* I transferred from an elementary school counselor position that split me between two schools to a middle school counselor position at one school where I am the only counselor. And I love it. It has been a long time since I have really enjoyed my job as much as I am enjoying it this year.

* I learned to knit. I have wanted to know how to knit for years. I enjoy it as much as I enjoy stitching.

*I started some of the home improvement projects that have been lingering on my list for awhile.

*Jake had a successful little league football season, playing his first year of tackle. His team won the LL superbowl.

*We traveled some... two trips to Disney, several weekends away to Gatlinburg and Franklin.

*We became DVC members this year... a big dream of mine realized. :)

Great year over all.

Hello 2011! I am looking forward to the goals that I want to accomplish this year.

I won't go into my personal goals at this point, but I would like to share some of my stitching and knitting goals. Mainly I want to keep track of what I finish. I didn't do a good job of that in 2010. I didn't document all of my finishes here so I have an incomplete list for the past year. I am going to be better about that this year. I will start new things. That is a given. I started something new today as a matter of fact. More on that later. But there are a lot of things I want to finish this year as well.

My main WIPs that I would like to complete this year are:

• BBD Anniversaries of the Heart
• PSS Paradise Lost
• SP Sarah Woodham
• GH Ellen Birdseye
• RM Quaker and Quilts
• CHS Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow

There are more, but these are the ones that I am going to focus on first.

I also want to frame things and hang them on my walls. I hope to frame the things I complete this year and add them to my decor.

My new start for today is Carriage House Samplings Her Sampler. I have wanted to stitch this design for a long time, and I have seen it stitched lately on a couple of blogs. I decided that it would be a perfect new year start for me... not too big, not too small... hopefully easily finished soon. Pictures soon to follow....

That's it for me today. I am going to take down the lingering Christmas decorations and get my house back in order. Then I think I will see if we can make some fun... maybe dinner out combined with some shopping.

Happy New Year to all my readers and friends. Hope this year finds you and yours happy and healthy!

I'm Happy to Say....

• the tree is decorated (actually finished it after my last post) :)
• the stockings are hung
• the shopping is ALMOST complete
• the play went well, and two repeat performances are scheduled for this weekend
• we have missed four days due to snow/ice/bad roads/bitter cold, and I have had plenty of time to rest and recuperate. We are out again today, so I am officially on Christmas vacation as of today! :) No work until January 3!!

I have knitted and stitched until my butt is numb and my fingers are sore. Good times!!

I had my last sock class this week. I had to ditch one of my socks off of the needles because I messed up somewhere along the gusset. But I managed to finish both. The kitchener stitch was not nearly as horrible as I imagined. I was able to put my ripped off sock back on the needles without having to totally rip it apart. Looking forward to casting on another pair of socks this afternoon.

Classic basic socks

CO 64 sts.

Size 2 needles

Aslan Trends Santa Fe Kettle Hand Dyed Collection-Carnival

I also finished a pair of fingerless mitts this week. Love these. So does Jake. He has requested a pair for himself in black. I might cast on those this afternoon too.

Those Mitts Pattern - found HERE

Cascade 220 in Ruby

Size 7 needles

I've been stitching.... I am working on block 6 of Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow. This block takes awhile. It has a lot of solid stitching. It's really pretty though. I love the dark blue sky and the salt box house sitting on the snowy hill.

I have also been thinking a lot about stitching lately. I have seen a lot of stitchers that are planning to participate in the 2011 Crazy January Challenge. I have to say this whole idea really appeals to me and I am very tempted to join in. But I think I will end up watching from the sidelines and coming up with some goals for myself that include finishing a few WIPs from the massive pile that lurks in the basement and a few new starts as well.

Some WIPs on the finishing short list may include:

Anniversaries of the Heart

Paradise Lost

Sarah Woodham

Ellen Birdseye

Quakers and Quilts

Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

Beatrix Potter's Quaker Sampler

June Morning

Some new starts that are calling my name include:

All Was for an Appil by Scarlett Letter

Adam and Eve by CHS

Sarah Esh by Barrick Samplers

Adam and Eve Sampler by City Stitcher

Heavenly Paradise in SANQ Fall 2002

Adam and Eve reproduction sampler in CSN May 2009 (see Tanya's beautiful finish here)

A&E by The Primitive Needle

(Notice a theme yet?)

Jane Philpott by Shakespeare's Peddler

Frances Eden by Handwork Samplers

As well as a few others that are not Adam and Eve themed... Will I start all of these? Maybe. Will I finish all of these? Probably not. But it is fun to plan and dream. I am on an A&E kick lately. This post on Paulette's blog started a two hour internet surfing session seeking out various A&E designs. If you love A&E samplers, what are your favorites?

I'm hearing another pair of socks calling my name. Time to cast on. :)

Have a happy one....

Kellie

I need a little Christmas now...

Why is it that the Most Wonderful Time of the Year is also the busiest? I can't catch my breath or a break lately it seems. I love Christmas, but the hustle and bustle of it this year is draining my Christmas spirit in a hurry.

I know what it is.... I have taken on too much and committed to too much and need to be better about saying no. Life has gotten crazy busy. I don't even have all of my Christmas decorations up yet or shopping done yet. Why this is stressing me out so? I have no idea. Seems ridiculous really... It's because of the self-imposed deadlines that I give to, well...myself. According to my own deadline, the Christmas decorations should have been finished by Thanksgiving weekend, and the Christmas shopping should have been done a little after that. Because in my own warped sense of time, that is not only doable, but easily doable. And having all of this completed already would give me the perfect peaceful O Holy Night Christmas that I long for every year... at least in the irrational side of my thought process.... When did Christmas turn into such a marathon? A marathon of events and "must do's"? I don't remember it being like this when I was a child. Is it because it wasn't like this... or is it because I was a child and didn't realize it was like this because my mom was behind the scenes handling all the details for our family just like I now handle all the details for my own?

Aside from stressing about decorating, shopping and all the other details, our family is part of a Christmas production at our church. Not a just a play... it is a production. With music, scene changes, costume changes, lighting, the works. And it is fun. Really it is. But it is also busy. We have practiced A LOT. I have a minor role. I sing in one part, and have around five lines as the program coordinator of the town's Christmas program (all part of the play). No big deal. My husband Michael has a smaller role. He's the town mayor with a couple of lines. Also no big deal. Jake, our nine year old, on the other hand, has one of the main roles playing a pioneer boy who hears the story of Christ's birth by his parents in his cabin long ago. He loves it. I, on the other hand, and more stressed about him learning his lines and part than I am about the decorating and shopping that is not done yet. LOL! The play is really neat. One side of the stage is present day... a family celebrating Christmas in 2010. One side of the stage is the past... a family celebrating Christmas in 1810. Center stage is the town square that is later converted to Bethlehem and then later still to Calvary. Very good play. Written by our music minister who is extremely talented and creative. And I am glad to be a part of it. And I hope it is enjoyed by hundreds of people. But I will be glad when it is over, and I can take a long winter's nap....

I did receive this little bauble in the mail today, and I. love. it. A handmade Jolly St. Nick necklace sold by Country Stitches. I can't wait to wear it.

On the stitching front...

I finally completed the bonus chart of the BBD Anniversaries of the Heart.

I started Lizzie Katie's 2010 Snowman... He's going to be a cutie!

On the knitting front, I have started a blanket, a couple of scarves and some socks. I am taking a sock knitting class at a local yarn store that just recently opened near where I live. I am really enjoying the class. I am learning how to knit socks top down and knit two socks at a time on one long circular needle. It is a lot of fun. My next class is tomorrow evening. We will be learning to do the heel turn, I think... Pictured below are my socks and the start of one of the scarves I have been working on.

That's it for now... Maybe after supper tonight we can "haul out the holly and put up the tree before my spirit falls again...."

Or maybe I will just start on that long winter's nap a little early and quit sweating the small stuff....

Granny Goodness

Hoping to turn these...

Into something that looks like this...

Stay tuned..... :)

A little of this and that...

I can't believe it has been almost two months since I last posted. I've been busy....and lost my groove there for awhile, but I think I am back. :) Here's my life in pictures for the last two months...

Started this...

(Lizzie Kate's Hiss of Eek, Boo, Hiss)

Worked more on this...

(Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart--bonus #1)

Started crocheting this...

(Granny Stripe afghan)

Also crocheting this...

(motifs for a motif style afghan)

Still knitting this...

(ribbed scarf in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Bulky Yukon)

Finished these....

(basic stockinette socks in KnitPicks Felici Abracadabra)

Started these....

(basic stockinette socks in KnitPicks Felici Boardwalk)

Greeted by this the day before Fall Break....

(My principal decorated my parking space... Love his sense of humor!)

Went here....

(Disney World, Orlando)

Rode this a bunch of times....

(my favorite roller coaster Mt. Everest in Animal Kingdom)

Love this...

(the Headless Horseman starting the Halloween parade in Magic Kingdom)

Wish I was still here...

And that's that...

Until next time... which won't be two months from now...

Kellie