Wordless Wednesday - cross-stitch update

It's Cyber Monday! Did you do your shopping?

Good Morning, blog world!

It was a lovely long weekend.  I did, let's see....not a whole lot in sewing, unfortunately. 

Thursday, we went to my wonderful mother-in-law's for dinner.  Then, at 10:00pm that night, me, my 2 kids, my best friend Jody and her son Jeffrey ventured out to Tanger Outlets in Mebane to see what we could scarf up.  Traffic was REDICULOUS!!!  I40 was backed up in both directions.  There was NO WHERE to park.  Everyone started parking in front of the sidewalks, so we filed suit.  Whoever designed that parking lot should be shot.  There is NO parking there.  Seriously.  And with that being the only outlet like that in the triad area, you would think that they would have thought of that.  They also had the parking lot for the heart center (which is closed on holidays and weekends) blocked off, so you couldn't park there and go across the street to the outlet **sigh**

But anyway, we went shopping and I got:

Levi's Store - 3 pair of jeans
Coldwater Creek - a shirt and a vest
Hanes Mill Outlet - 12 pair of socks and a hoodie
Famous Footwear - boots
Le Gourmet Chef - a carving knife and an insulated cup
Lucky Brands Store - a plaid shirt
Yankee Candle Company - "cookies for Santa" candle and a candle shade

And that concluded my shopping.  Do my kids know what they got for Christmas?  Yes.  And that is fine with me because, unfortunately, we are not doing a tree this year.  We have a very small house, and where we have usually put our tree, that area is taken up by Libby's kennel this year.  I still have decorations out, though.

Friday, I did nothing.  I was exhausted and we didn't get home til 4am.

Saturday, wonderful day of cleaning the house and doing laundry.

Sunday, went shopping with my good friend Tammy for our little Angel Tree girl.  She's going to be very happy we got her everything on her list - an mp3 player, a bicycle, and a barbie and barbie clothes.

This morning, I found a GREAT deal on a Wii console and 3 games on HSN.  Discovering they have a flex pay plan could be dangerous for me :p. 

Will hopefully have an update on the cross-stitch for my mother-in-law tomorrow.  I started on it, but not enough to post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, we have a lot to be thankful for.  Health, our 2 kids, jobs, a home that is almost paid for, family, and on and on.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Screwy Weather and a 5K

This morning I woke up at 3am.  I couldn't go back to sleep, it was so hot in the house.  I've been at work since 4:30am.  I am about to fall asleep at my desk, so I guess I should get a cup of coffee...or 2 or 3.  Maybe I should go to Starbucks and get a double shot of Espresso.  Ugh.

In other news, here is a picture of what I will be doing tomorrow besides eating turkey :

Have a wonderful Wednesday all.

Quilting Obsession....to try or not to try

This morning, I decided to check out the websits of a quilt shop that is just up the street from my work.  I pass it every day on my way home.  It's called Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shop (link..I need to change the color of my hyperlinks to make them more visible).  I have always wanted to try my hand at quilting.  I think I even tried it once, but I don't have a sewing machine.  I had thought about buying myself a new laptop as my Christmas present to myself this year, but now I am thinking about a sewing machine. 

The hubby will probably pitch a fit if I get one.  BUT - if he can have all his car crap in the house (he rebuilds Ford Mustangs as a hobby....we own 6 of them), I should be allowed to have some sewing stuff.  My desktop computer is dead.....I can replace the computer desk with a sewing table.  It'll take up less space than the desk.  And the one I found, the sewing machine can be raised or lowered to make it a flat surface.  when the kids move out (first one graduates college December of 2013), one of their bedrooms will be turned into an office/sewing room and the other will be the guest bedroom.  Not that I want either of them to get out quickly, but I am sooooo looking forward to having the space, rather than having to clutter up the living room and dining room with my sewing stuff.

On a stitching note, here's where I am with my brother's scarf:

The lighting in my office makes it look lighter than it is.  It's a very pretty pattern of yarn.  I have always liked the verigated colors, even though they can be hard to work with.  Scarves aren't too bad to use them in, but if you're doing a blanket, you have to be careful with working with strips, because the striping can make your eyes cross sometimes.

I have to take a long lunch today to go pick up turkeys.  I have to pick up the one for my mother-in-law, mine, my sister-in-law, and then my husband's boss'.  We get them from the local poultry farm.  If you ever have a chance to purchase one from a farm, they are the BEST tasting turkeys ever.  Much better fresh than frozen.  I also mostly purchase our meat from the local meat market.  Typically cheaper and better qulaity than a grocery store.

Have a good one all!

Fun Family Weekend

So, with the exception of working Saturday, this weekend went pretty well :).  I am a little annoyed that I overspent (darn you Hobby Lobby and Petsmart!) and won't have as much to spend this weekend as I would like, but that's ok, there are still 4 more paydays before Christmas and also my Christmas bonus to come on the 16th of December :)

Yesterday, for the first time in 20 years, we had family pictures taken.  We have never had pictures taken of the 4 of us.


Here we have your typical portrait:

Then, the not so typical :p

That's my boy....the 20-year-old physics major

They just CAN'T behave!

One more nice one:

Mom, she's strangling me.....

But I'll just break out the wrestling moves

See, we can behave...maybe....

We had Kendall in hysterics the whole time.  It was funny because we somehow got on the subject of other family members and we told her we were the only "stable" ones.  Michael and I will be celebrating our 21st year of marriage on the 10th of December.  Neither of his brothers made it even half that long.  The oldest is severely....how can I put this nicely??  He's a leach on my mother-in-law and a drug addict (both his brothers have caught him using at her house....he lives with his mom and is, I think, 48 or 49?).  The middle brother is re-married to a great girl.  But even they have their issues.

I guess I should mention, I do have permission to post these.  Kendall is a GREAT photographer.  If you live in the central NC area (Greensboro, Winston Salem, Burlington, etc), she's very reasonable on her prices.  I found out about her because her father-in-law owns our company and I met her through his neice (who also works here....small family business) who is a friend of mine.

As far as stitching this weekend, I am focusing on knitting right now.  I got about 1/2 the way done with my brothers' scarf.  I have a GREAT idea for a pattern floating around in my head that I am going to do for one of my best friends....more on that when I start on it.  I'm trying to find stuff that would sell at craft fairs and I think it may be a winner!  It'll be my first attempt at designing something myself.

Looking forward to TURKEY DAY!!  We get our turkey from a local farm.  I have to pick 4 of them up tomorrow - one for us, one for my mother in law, one for my sister in law and one for the hubby's boss.  I do ours on Saturday.  We go to my mother in laws on Thursday. AND the bestie and I are going shopping Thursday night!  I would rather get it out of the way - I just have to go to the Levi's Outlet and get 4 pair of jeans and to the Yankee Candle Co and I am done, other than online shopping WOO HOO!!  SO easy peasy!

Ok, enough rambling...more later taters!

Never fear the stitch......or don't be affraid to fail

So, knitting has never been easy for me.  First, I am left handed.  This poses several challenges in every day life, not just knitting.  Second, I never had a "mentor" that could help me.  No one in my immediate family does anything like this (but that's a whole nother story), except for my daughter, and I have had to teach her myself.

Take spiral bound notebooks for example.  Definitely NOT left hander friendly.  Or 3-ring notebooks for that matter. 

Pens?  Don't get me started.  The only kind I have ever found that don't transfer to the side of my hand or smear while writing are gel pens. 

The only thing I don't do left handed is play golf.  I golf right handed, because no one I golf with is left handed.  I putt left handed....but this isn't about golf :p

Well, long story short, I have always wanted to branch out my knitting and crocheting.  I have knitted hundreds, if not thousands, of just little sqares that are knitted.  I never even knew how to purl until about a year ago when with the power of youtube.com, I found some left-handed knitting instructional videos.

Yesterday, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some yarn, new needles, a cable hook, and a few other things.  Last night, I started playing around with the stitches, and ended up taking everything apart - twice.  I was about to give up on it, yet again.  I kept losing track as to what row I was on and kept purling when I was supposed to be knitting and vice versa.  I put it down for the night and decided to try this morning.  I have a notepad that I am writing the stitches down on now, to keep track of what row I am on.  I keep saying in my head "knit the knits, purl the purls" while catching up on the last 3 seasons of Southpark on Hulu.

And this is what I have done this morning- this is the front side:

And this is the back side:

I'm very happy with it.  I'm glad I didn't give up this time.  Sometimes, you have to restart multiple times to get through a rough patch - not just in knitting, but in life also. 

It's Friday, it's finished, and it's FREEZING!

Ok, 2 days ago it was 75.  This morning, it's 28.  Holy cow.  When I came in to work yesterday morning, it was 65.  By the time I left, it was 39.  This weather is just goofy.  No wonder everyone is getting sick.

So, Mom's Christmas present is now done....YAY HOORAY!

The full picture:

Just the gold finches:

And, my typical signature I put on my finished projects:

Started on my mother-in-laws last night.  That one is on 18 count fabric and I hope to get it about 1/3 of the way done this weekend and finish it next weekend.  It won't take me too long, I don't think.  It seems to be going a lot faster than the other one.

Then, I can start on something for me.  Not sure what I want to do yet.  I have always wanted to do something with deer on it for the living room.  There are a lot of pretty patterns out there to choose from.

Didn't get to Barnes and Noble last night, but am probably going to go tonight.  I still want to get a good knitting stitch book.  Will probably start on a knitting project next weekend to do in between cross-stitching.  It helps break it up when I am working on multiple things at a time.

I'm going to the Buckhead Betties sale at lunch today.  Never heard of them?  You can check them out here:  Get a Bettie .  My sister-in-law works there as their payroll person.  It's a local company and they have FANTASTIC bags for everything.  Totes, backpacks, lunch bags, etc, etc, etc.  She usually gets me one every year for Christmas or so.  I want a nice large lunch bag.  I bring stuff in tupperware and it doesn't fit in your typical small bag, so I should be able to find one that works.



Crazy Thursday!

Not a whole lot today craft wise until after 4pm - BOOO!  We have a customer audit today.  Pepsi/Frito Lay will be here from - well, was supposed to be 8-4, but they are late.  For some reason, GPS's like to take you around your butt to get here.

Soooooooooooooooooooo.....will post a pic of the finished product tonight!!  Yes, the backstitching is ..this close.. to being done!  Wooohoo!!

So ready to start on my next piece!

I feel like I have abused the exclamation point this morning, lol.

Heading to Barnes and Noble after work also in search of a good knitting guide.  All the ones we have do not explain stitches in depth. 

The Christmas Cactus

My best friend Jody and I went to Trader Joes on Sunday.  As we were going in, they had a display of mums, orchids, and lo and behold - Christmas Cacti.  Now, the technical name is not Christmas Cactus.  It is a Zygo Cactus.  It's rather pretty.  I'm going to go on Saturday to Lowes and get a different pot for it, so it's not in the silly tiny pot with the paper wrapped around it.  It's getting ready to bloom.  I gave it just a little water this morning, because it says just to keep it moist.  I don't want to over-water it (a green thumb I do not have).

Got further on the backstitching on Mom's present last night.  I was going to go to a weight lifting class, but I am still so sore from my session with John on Monday that I decided not to push it.

I will definitely finish it tonight and get started on my mother-in-law's humming birds.  I think I will make an order this weekend so that I have something else to be working on when we go to her house on Thanksgiving day.

Here's the robins of spring:

The Cardinals of fall:

The Chickadees of winter:

The last section I need to do are the Gold Finches of Summer - you can see those to the left of the Cardinals.

  I guess you can say this is the largest cross stitch I have ever done, but I am actually not sure.  I usually work on either 22 or 24 count fabric.  I don't like 14 count.  This was a kit, so it came with 14 count fabric.  And no, I do not do my stitching on 22 count over 2 threads - I do it over one.  The smaller the better.  I've just always been affraid to try over 2, because I'm affraid I will lose count and end up with 1/2 over 2 and 1/2 over 1 :p.

Alrighty, better get cracking on work stuff.  It's gonna be a long day.....



Busy Tuesday

At work today.  Yesterday I didn't think I was going to make it.  My back was killing me.  I have had issues with my lower/mid-back since I broke my tailbone last May.  I have problems with stiffness in my right hip and occasional back spasms.  It didn't help that the hubby and I had stayed up watching movies until 1am on Sunday night :p

So, I took a 2-hour lunch and went to the gym and worked with John, my personal trainer.  I asked him to give me some good back-stretching exercises to do, so we worked a lot on upper body and core, along with a little cardio.  I'm going to go at lunch again today and work on the eliptical and then I have a weight training class tonight at 7.  My next 5K is Thanksgiving morning, so I want to be ready for that.

No cross-stitch update today.  I didn't get to work on it much yesterday.  I worked on it for about 30 minutes this morning while I was waiting on the dryer to quit running.  I got the missing leaf added and started on the outlining of the chickadees and the leaves.  Added a few more branches in the dark brown going from a branch to a leaf. 

I'm really wanting to start on  a knitting project for some reason, so I may start one this weekend and do that in between working on my mother-in-law's cross-stitch.  That'll be a nice break.

Monday, Monday...Monday mornin......

Well, here we are on Monday again **sigh**

I would much rather be home today.  I made the mistake of making some chocolate macadamia nut coffee at 7pm and drank WAY too much of it and I was up until 1am....ugh.  Hubby and I are both dragging butt this morning.  I was on a roll on the backstitching of my mom's Christmas present too, so that didn't help matters any

Well, that's annoying,,,,it's sideways O.o.  But, you can see, the robins are done and the flowers are ourtlined.  Therer are also branches coming off the trees now.  I forgot a leaf under the chickdees and have to go back and put that in - doh!  That wouldn't have been good!

In other news, I have emailed a friend of mine who has and Etsy shop to see if Megan and I even attempting to sell anything on there would be feasible.  We aren't looking to make a lot of money, or any money at all....it's a hobby we love to do and just want to share if we can.  I know people like things like that - I hear all the time "I wish I had/could do something like that, but I don't have the time/patience/dexterity/blah, blah, blah.

I have been cross-stitching since I was 14 years old.  I started doing it because I was bored out of my mind when I had a bout with plurisy (not sure of the spelling) in my lungs.  I started knitting when I was 8 because my mom knitted me 1 scarf.  I started crocheting when I was 16 because I wanted a change from knitting.

I have never kept anything that I have made, except for 2 blankets.  One I made for my son when he was born.  The other is on my couch in the living room.  I have made literally hundreds of things and gave them away.

I just really like it - it's therapeutic to me.

More later,

Lynn

Just a quick update :)

Almost done with Mom's Christmas present.  Just have a few branches to finish and the sky, then the backstitching.

Went to Trader Joes today with my best friend.  Had a great time and spent less than I usually do, lol.  Trying to be a bit conservative with Christmas coming.  I'm looking forward to it this year~!~  It's so nice to be able to go out and buy presents after years of not being able to and having to fully depend on my hubby's Christmas bonus for it - I feel like I am actually contributing now.

It's Friday! Not that it means...

Not that it means that I am off for the weekend.  Oh, no, not this regulatory affairs assistant.  I'll be working tomorrow, but I AM taking Sunday off.  We have family pictures on Sunday.

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and only managed to spend 10.00.  I'm trying to refrain from too much craft spending, since Christmas is coming.  Megan, on the other hand, went yesterday and I am affraid to ask her how much she spent.  She came home with stuff for 4, yes 4, knitting projects she wants to do.  She has yet to master the art of multi-tasking when it comes to multiple projects.  We need to work on that if we're going to try to start a hobby business.  I have a feeling I will be doing some knitting in the future......

My next project - it's actually a small one, about 5x8.  I was going to do the large version of this for my sister in law for Christmas, but I won't have time.  Plus, I decided to fix her up a bag with bath and body works stuff and a gift certificate for a massage at the place I get mine at.  But, I still wanted to make her something - she loves wine and cooking, so this suits her :)

Last night, I went to Zumba class at the gym.  I LOVE Zumba!!  It's so much fun and a great workout.  One of my co-workers went last night too and I didn't think she was going to make it through the class, lol.   She said she and 2 other of my co-workers were thinking about doing a bootcamp starting in a few weeks - aka, kick your butt every morning workout.  I may try that, but my trainer does a good job of kicking my butt twice a week, thank you very much.

Megan and I are talking about starting our own Etsy site once we have some stuff done, and possibly having a booth at the local fall festival this next year.  I'm waiting to hear back from one of my friends who has an Etsy to see if it's even a viable option.  I'm not looking to make a lot of money, since this is mostly a hobby, but I don't want it to be a complete waste of time either.

Back to work....

~*Lynn*~

Payday and New Shoes

Horray for payday!!  I have been needing new running shoes for a few months now.  And, I am going at lunch time to get them.....so psyched!  I have been putting it off - I go through shoes rather quickly (I run/walk an average of 70 miles a week) and while I hate breaking a new pair in, they will be sooooooooooo much better on my legs/back/feet!

Anyhow.....

My current cross stitch project is about 80% done.  Here is a picture I took of it at lunch time yesterday - the 2 robins now have bodies and beaks.

And then Megan started a new project last night as well.  We have basically tought ourselves the knitting and crochet patterns we use.  Being as I am left-handed, I have to switch my stitches around anyway.  Megan is right-handed and got mad at me when she found out I taught her things "backwards", so she has been working on doing them as to what she calls the "right" way.   She started this one - a very pretty basket stitch.  Not sure what she's going to make it into yet, but we'll see.

She was thrilled when she figured out it was coming out correctly, lol.  I'll be happy to finish the first cross stitch project and be able to move on to my mother-in-laws hummingbirds.  I should have already started on that one, but I have been working so much, I just haven't had time.  I do bring it to work with me and work on it during my lunch hour.

Today during lunch though, I will be running to Shoe Carnival and Petsmart - 2 of my favorite stores :)

More later,

Lynn

The first post of hopefully many :)

Good afternoon!  My name is Lynn and my daughter Megan and I love to sew!  Be it cross-stitch, knitting or crocheting, we love it all. 

It's been a passion of mine since  I was about 8 - I started with knitting 100's of tiny squares and tried, unsuccessfully, to make a quilt.  I took apart and put back together all those squares more times than I can count. 

Now, I at least try to actually finish what I start :).  Sometimes, I am successful, sometimes not.  But, it's my escape, so I keep on doing it.  It's my realease at the end of a long work day.

Currently, I am working on "Bird Seasons" by Elsa Williams.  I'll post a picture later this evening.  I'm almost done with the main body and then will do the backstitching.  It's my mom's Christmas present this year.  Then I have another bird one to start for my mother-in-law.

I would like to learn how to do Hardanger (like doilies and table runners and such) and needlepunch projects.  Those are next on my list.  I tried quilting before, but since I dont' have a sewing maching, that didn't work very well.

Anyhow.....I'm finishing up my day at work, then heading to the gym for a session with my personal trainer, then home to stitch!!  I look forward to reading other sticher's blogs!

~*Lynn*~