Apr 29th Monday Update

Hello to my readers so few they are haha. Time for a Monday update. WIPocalypse was yesterday but let's talk about details of what I did last week.

Monday -- No stitching time. Computer catch up and Groceries stole the day.

Tuesday -- Worked on Spring Line Up by The Trilogy. I want to finish this by June 1st if I can for a challenge I'm in. But we'll see....no pressure. I added 441...

I just love this one. Every row is exciting and fun to stitch. I will work it in so I can finish it up. I think it's going to come up today and tomorrow too. 

Wednesday -- April 23rd Semi Sane (a Facebook stitching challenge group I really enjoy) released a pop up challenge. In honor of National Book Day we needed to put 300 stitches in a piece by 4pm EST on the 25th that you can relate to a book, whether it shows a book, or the theme or motifs can be related to a book. Right away I knew I had the perfect WIP...

Book Dragon from Paine Free Crafts. So I added 304 and posted at 1:05 EST on the 25th...

Thursday -- After finishing up the stitches for that challenge I worked on the Mermaid Biscornu by Tiny Modernist. It was the last one I needed to finish my acrostic challenges for the month...

Friday -- Jeremiah's 26th birthday!!! I can't believe he is 26! He can't believe it either. He got a new game for his Xbox and we planned to eat out Saturday. So we just relaxed and enjoyed the day. I decided a new start was called to celebrate the day haha. Good excuse huh?

Patriotic Gnome Littles by Waxing Moon Designs. I also have the Christmas set like this. These are just too cute. I seen them at my LNS when I visited in March for the stitch day. I couldn't remember if I had them so I waited to check. Nope I was thinking of the Christmas ones. So I planned to look next time I went to the store. April stitch day the one chart was still sitting there waiting for me. So I grabbed it up. Meant to be if you ask me haha. I bought a piece of 32ct Platinum Belfast (Yep Linen!) to stitch them on. I am doing them individual like pictured but stitching them on the same piece so I don't waste so much fabric. 

Jeremiah picked the middle top one first. He was called Fireworks Gnome. I got 822 added on Friday. He went quickly and was a lot of fun to work on.....like everything right now. I'm so in love with stitching....Saturday we had a fun day so no stitching....Sunday I got back to work on him and added 325 more stitches and finished him...

Just love him so much! Can't wait to stitch the others. I really enjoyed the linen too so funny how our tastes change. 

Saturday we went to a new restaurant that opened beginning of April here in town. They have a food truck that is Viking themed. Jeremiah loves Viking so we checked it out. Still really new but the food was delicious. I hope they can stop open. The Hungry Heathen. We also got haircuts which felt fantastic. I always wait till my hair is driving me nuts haha. Then we came back and picked up Spike. We ran into Marion a larger town about 18 mins away. I ran into hobby lobby (with my eyes closed) Jeremiah wanted some frames...

When we attend the wrestling convention we get all the signatures on the poster we get with our tickets. Luckily they had the perfect frames for like $4 so I grabbed two. One for each year. Now I catch Jeremiah just staring at the awesome signatures. We've had them in a tub so they didn't get ruined. Better to have them displayed! We went to a huge dog park and Spike got to run. Stopped a few other places and came home to watch movies. It was lovely day together. 

Sunday Dad, Bev, and a few others stopped over to visit. She did not have any complications while in the hospital this round. She was released Saturday. Last time it was 4 - 8 days later so my dad is worried sick about what this week will bring. But we are keeping positive that maybe it didn't cause difficulties this time around. Guess we'll wait and see.

I had to stop typing and run out to get the mail....happy mail....

This package sure had a journey. I ordered from a stitching store in Laporte, Indiana on the 18th of April. Supposed to come April 24th. It went from Laporte to Elk Grove, Illinois. Then to Indianapolis, Indiana. Then to Saint Paul, Minnesota?!?! Then it was just in transit for several days so I was really worried it was lost. Then back to Indianapolis. To Kokomo. Finally here today haha. I guess at least it arrived safely. Two planned new May starts so glad it finally showed up. LOL

Okay well have a great week. May is Wednesday and I will have a new start. Every Wednesday in May. Wohoo! I have two other new starts to sneak in sometime. One was a planned new start from my 12 monthly mixed bag I picked. Love yourself. Find lots of reasons to smile.

Mar 25th Monday Update -- After Retreat

I had a fantastic Spring Hoosier Retreat but first let me see what I did before leaving Thursday...

 

Monday and Tuesday I got my 500 in on Halloween Potions...

After hitting my goal for the month I started Spring Line Up by The Trilogy in honor of the first day of Spring...

I decided to start on the bottom for this one. 

Wednesday I worked on Thanks to the Brave a bit more in between packing...

Thursday it was finally time to leave. Jeremiah did great holding down the fort until Fred got off work. Fred did take Friday off to be here to let Spike out so that was really nice. I was picked up by 3 of my local friends. 2 I hadn't seen since my mom's funeral. 1 since probably 2019. We all got to talking and our last Hoosier Retreat was 2019!!! Boy we missed each other. On the way down we normally stop at a LNS in Bloomington Indiana but it closed. So I suggested stopping at one around Indianapolis called Always in Stitches that I haven't been to in YEARS. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Look at my haul...

I had been wanting to bite the bullet and get some of the Primrose Cottage ones. I have fallen in love with them. So one of my friends said they had the Autumn one I could have and I figured I might as well buy some of the others to go with it. Plus a few more haha. And a few more. In the 2nd photo the seasonal 4 and the Mandalorian chart came from another friend. The patriotic one in the top right I bought from someone at the retreat. The Pirate Snowman is just adorable....as are all the others haha. Now I just can't decide what I want to work on first haha. Like I needed more projects....now I have 21 more!!! OMG. But I smile so big flipping through these amazing patterns. I also bought some fabric both at the store and at the retreat. Black for some patterns in my stash and some linen from a lady selling at retreat. Also an arm full of beautiful project bags my friend was giving away.

 

We arrived safely at Camp Rivervale in Mitchell, Indiana and settled in for the weekend. It was wonderful...
 

A lady grabbed a picture of my tablemates.

We had 25 and two day visitors.

How to get 4 ladies worth of stuff there and home

My bed for the weekend

My setup. Ready to stitch away. I did get some stitching done...

I put in 1,225 stitches in total. I did more talking and catching up than stitching haha. I missed everyone!!! Plus had one big unload when I talked about everything going on with me in the 5 years. WOW! I tell you what though. I feel so much better. The support I got was exactly what I needed. Several had been through similar things and it helped so much to hear it's not just me and I'm not wrong for my feelings.

 

After retreats like this I always have major motivation and want to STITCH ALL THE THINGS! Boy do I ever now even more. Look at those beautiful new patterns!!! I want to start them all and NOW.  Plus Plus I want to work on what I have so I can happily start the new ones....but I want to stitch them all at the same time hahaha. See. Then I was so tired I slept for 2 hours when I got home. What a waste of time. Now I sit here on the computer typing. I don't have time for anything else but stitching for months. Then we leave again this Thursday for a weekend of Wrestling craziness. Jeremiah is going crazy and keeps saying Is it Time Yet?? LOL I can definitely tell you one thing I am a happy girl. Happy with my life. Happy with my stitching options that's for sure haha. Now to just breath and enjoy each and every little stitch. I sure will. No stress. Just fun and happiness.

Spike is making sure I never attend another retreat though. I have only been away from him one night before this. This was 3 long long nights he said...

Just as I got my stitching out (thankfully) Spike crawled in my bag and laid down. No mommy no more filling this bag you leave me too long. So adorable.

 

Have a wonderful week. I will be back next Monday. Love yourself. Smile. Hugs.

Mar 4th Monday Update

Wow it's March already. I know we all say this but life is just speeding by. I really really wish it would slow down. But we have some fun things planned this month so I'm glad it's here. Let's see what stitching I did last week.

 

Monday I worked on the Mermaid Biscornu after a busy day with computer work during the day and groceries in the evening. 98 stitches added.

 

Tuesday I worked on Winter Line Up and Finished it!!!

(#7) February 27th

Winter Line Up

by The Trilogy

Fabric 32ct Lambswool Lugana

Threads Suggested DMC

Started Dec 5, 2023. Took 12 Days.

3,367 Total Stitches

 

Wednesday I worked on the Biscornu again. 124 stitches added. So I ended the month with 1,874 stitches in this one...

Thursday I was in a weird mood so took the day off and did computer stuff. 

Friday I woke up grouchy but treated myself to a new start which always helps haha. 

This was the pick for this month in my mixed 12 monthly new starts. I love these Erica Michael's charts. So teeny on the 40ct silk gauze. I did treat myself to the suggested specialty threads. I love the way they look and using only one strand the threads go far with these. End of the day I had added 1,001 little stitches...

Looks so big on the picture haha. Next time I'll have to get a picture with a coin or something.

Bev update. She fell on Monday and was not feeling well at all. She went in for blood work Tuesday and they sent her to the hospital. They did all the tests and found out her potassium and magnesium was low so they medicated her and let her rest. Complications from chemo. She came home Friday. My dad said every time he takes her up he brings one less piece of her home. She is high spirits but very tired. So please send prayers/thoughts her way.

Saturday we decided to celebrate Fred's birthday early with a day out geocaching. If you haven't heard o it you go online to geocaching website. People hide things and post coordinates for you to find it. You use a GPS and locate the item. Inside is a sheet of paper where you sign your name and you log the point. We've done this since Jeremiah as tiny. Something to do to get you out and about. Plus other than gas it's free entertainment. The weather was lovely so we spent the day driving around the country. We found 13 and hit a total of 1800 since we started. We also stopped by Fred's favorite cigar shop. Grabbed some groceries and dinner and headed home. I had several phone calls with people about having a get together Sunday here at the campground since the weather was going to be gorgeous.

Sunday we woke up had breakfast. Started a fire in the fire pit and waited. Dad and Bev was able to come over. We ended up with 18 people including us here. It was a lovely day and impromptu gathering. It was great for Bev to visit with people and sit in the sunshine. Dad was able to relax and enjoy everyone helping to get what Bev needed. It was just needed. I put my phone on mute and put it down. Everyone was gone by 7pm and we had a wrestling pay per view to watch we were excited about. My eyes kept closing so we shut it off at 10pm and went to sleep haha. I'm so old  haha. It was a lovely day and we all needed it. 

There is so much going on in the world and our worlds. We are in a holding pattern. We don't know what's to come. But we try to focus on what we have each day and celebrate each little thing.  I have to breath and know the future is a question but I will go where I need to go when I need to go there. So breath and enjoy my day currently. I will do just that. 

Have a great week. Love yourself. Find reasons to smile. Stitch when we can. Stop when we need to.

Feb 26th Monday Update

 You might have sneaked a peek at some of my progress photos if you looked at the WIPocalypse update yesterday but you don't get the fun details of my week. So sit back and enjoy my look at last week.

Monday I worked on Rainbow Dragon again. Only 60 stitches added but it was a busy day so just wanted to work on what was ready on my QSnap...

Tuesday was my day for Winter Line Up progress. I got an awesome 546 added. I really really hope to finish it this week even if I have to work on it more than 1 day...

Then I'll start the Spring one March 19th when it's officially Spring...

Wednesday was Hedgehogs in the Snow Day 10 added 215...

 

Thursday was a 2 project day trying to finish up my monthly acrostic goals. First up was a oldie Stitcher's Code SAL from Stitchingly. It was released in 2019. I got it because I love Durene Jones artwork. I'm stitching them individually. I finished the scissors one in 2020. I needed to do the outline on the frog one I was working on previously and then started the parking one...

 

After hitting my goal I moved to Christmas Truck. The kit I bought while on vacation in OBX. Just love a red truck with a Christmas tree haha. 

I added 102 Thursday and 118 Friday before putting it away. 

So that finished my acrostics other than Mermaid Biscornu and Winter Line Up. Winter Line Up will be a finish this week! Mermaid Biscornu will not and that's okay. I know now that these biscornu's take a lot more work than I originally thought. So I will carry on working on that one as a normal WIP in my tote. No worries. 

So Friday afternoon I added 339 more stitches to the Mermaid Biscornu...

I didn't realize how long each little mermaid would take haha. Oh well. Love the way it looks. Saturday and Sunday it was time for a new start...

I joined the Winter Stitchonomy SAL. It's a Mystery SAL but I have enjoyed others from Stitchonomy and peer pressure from a few friends *cough Faith cough* was one haha. Here is week one finished after 965 stitches...

 

I bought the complete kit from Stitchonomy. The fabric is 14ct Riviera Aqua Aida. Threads look like DMC from what I can tell. I just love the way it looks so far. I did see it's typography which I always enjoy. What's next??? We'll have to wait till Friday to see.

Our weather is typical Indiana Springish time but we've been running about 20 or 30 degrees above average. Then it snows. So never know what will be out the window. Today the front door is open. Wednesday snow. In between possible severe storms. 60plus to 30's haha. 

Last Wednesday Jeremiah had another eye doctor appointment and everything was great. His pressure was lowest she had seen it. Who knows why we haven't changed anything since last visit. But we hope it stays that way. I had my BP checked and it was still high so they doubled my med. Which made me dizzy and way confused so hopefully that means it's working haha. I go the 11th to be checked again. Fingers crossed that was the answer. Bev did great with her 2nd treatment. Just a 5 day hospital stay back home yesterday. This time they put her on a chemo pill to keep taking while at home. She will go back to the hospital in 3 weeks for another stronger treatment. But so far so good. So thankful. 

Okay I've been updating this way too long. Typical Monday. Everything goes longer than you want haha. So I'm off. Love yourself. Find a reason to smile. Hugs. Have a wonderful week. 

Feb 12th Monday Update

 Howdy readers. I hope everyone is doing good. Let's see what I worked on last week.

Monday was one of those days. I worked on my computer. Life happened. Laundry and Groceries in the evening. An annoying reminder that life can just suck sometimes type of day. But it will be okay. Just some annoying things that needed focused on that took my time away from my fun hobby.

Tuesday was more of the annoying thoughts and just couldn't shake Monday. I did get Mermaid Biscornu by Tiny Modernist out which didn't help haha. This piece annoys me. I stitch stitch stitch and I feel like I don't get anyway but pictures sure do help. I am more surprised by anything at how slow it seems to go. I added 58 stitches Tuesday...sad. So I kept it out Wednesday again. Added 486 finally...

I see the progress which helps. Just want it to go faster haha. This one is going away for a little bit. I want to get some of my other goals marked off. If I don't finish this one this month it's okay. 

Thursday was time for the weekly progress on Winter Line Up by The Trilogy...

I would love to have this finished by March 1st but again no pressure. I added 586 this week. The border really added up to lots of stitches.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was Beer Dragon for it's minimum of 500 stitches. Added 591...

Finally hit the wing!!! It will have more confetti but at least more colors haha. 

Saturday we had an errand day. We went out to eat breakfast, haircuts, took stuff to storage, Walmart for some new shoes and pants for me, brought that stuff home and picked up Spike, nail trim for Spike, hobby lobby, Fred's cigar shop for a package he wanted, Aldi's, picked up dinner, home. See busy haha. What did I get at hobby lobby?

Fabric for the back of Country Life and Wee Bit Irish. Plus some buttons. I love the fabric. The clover piece was on sale too so Wohoo.

I found a new mobile game so I've been playing that way too much and it's stealing stitching time. I told Jeremiah take my phone away so I stitch haha.

Bev was finally able to go home. After talking with her new oncologist they want her to go back to the hospital for the next round of chemo which unfortunately neither my dad or her was expecting. So that's scary. Trying to stay positive. The first round was horrible for her. So very scary indeed. 

Love yourself. Have a great week ahead. Find reasons to smile.

Feb 5th Monday Update

Hello my friends. Another Monday update. I guess that's what today is haha. Let's see what I worked on last week.

Monday and Tuesday was doctor appointment days for me. I already discussed my doctor appointment Monday. I called the OBGYN that my doc suggested for my skin tag and they had an opening Tuesday so I reluctantly made the appointment. I was just wishing they could just get it done. The lady was older and very set in her ways. She wasn't happy with a lot of my life choices and made sure to share with me. I just asked her to please take care of this problem. She definitely seen the issue and said Okay I will remove it today. I was excited until I thought about wait they need to numb me to remove this. Yep shots in a very sensitive spot like a dentist appointment injection...I came off the bed and was not happy but luckily it was numb and removed quickly. Then she did sutures and I said Wait literally with needle and thread...Yep. Weird. They dissolve which is very nice but I really wanted some pretty X's at least haha. She said no just a running stitch. It was finally over and taken care of. So no more worrying about that. Plus I don't have to return to see her. All testing was negative so no worries there. Just a weird thing that happened. She did say I could blame Jeremiah so I have a lot haha.

 

All my test results from blood work and all other tests came back negative. So everything was fine except for blood pressure. My A1C (shows for diabetes) was even great. Which makes me very happy. So all clear for a go at being a healthy me. Just needed to heal from the removal of that annoying spot (finally feel mostly all better today it was sure sore). 

Tuesday I did get a few stitches into Rules for Life from Kincavel Krosses. Just 89 though.

Wednesday I kept Rules for Life out to give it the respect it deserved plus the February challenges hadn't started yet haha. I added 639...

Moving along on it and it will definitely be finished this year. I didn't add it to my February goals though. Completely forgot to fit it in.

Thursday it was finally the 1st and my brain was in overdrive on what to work on first. So Fred said 5th from bottom which was the Mermaid Biscornu from Tiny Modernist...

I'm stitching it on 18ct Vintage Country Mocha Aida. I bought 3 of these biscornu's while attending a retreat in 2019. Finally adding them into my WIP tote. I got the first of the 4 mermaids finished up which was 769 stitches...

The skin shows up better in person. Guess I didn't think about her skin when I picked out the fabric. I love the in person look though. Since I started upper left first one was upside down. Poor girl haha. 

Friday I realized I almost forgot to do my weekly progress on Winter Line Up by The Trilogy. This is a side effect of having no idea what day it is haha. I did up the progress I would like per week this month to least 200. I would love to finish this one by March 1st but we'll see. Helps I added 376 Friday for Day 8...

For the weekend I picked up Halloween Potions by Les Petites. I wanted 500 for one acrostic, 200 for another acrostic, and 400 for the Halloween group haha. So I added 711 to be safe haha...

I focused on adding the fun skeleton this time. The backstitching was a pain but I love the way he turned out. 4 Days into this one now. Slow but fun.

I joined the Stitchonomy Winter SAL which starts Feb 23rd. I splurged and bought complete kit which arrived safely from Germany last week. I'm looking forward to stitching that with several friends who have joined in as well. 

Yesterday was officially 2 months since Bev was home the last time. She is hopefully in the rehab for her last week though. She is doing fantastic. This week she has several doctor appointments one with a local oncology to find out her next steps but hopefully this stuff will be easier than the first round in the hospital. She should be able to be home with my dad while on it. They are both very very happy about that. My dad has left the house every day for 2 months and he is exhausted. Ready to have her home. He said they aren't doing anything other than sit and nap haha. Good for them. They sure deserve it.

Yesterday was had a frustrating thing happen. Fred, me, and Spike went to a local park for a walk. It was a slightly warmer day and sunny. We were really enjoying ourselves until I seen two off leash dogs. I was worried because I didn't see the owner anywhere. Of course here they came. I'm not judgy about breeds but honestly we know some dogs are more aggressive than others. When they got closer I realized they were pit bulls. The female was smaller and wanted to play but she wanted to play a lot harder then Spike did so he verbalized to get her to stay back. The larger male who was already watching Spike closer took that as excuse to bark and show teeth. Which irritated the female and Spike. It was a blur of teeth and barking and it was very very scary. Fred grabbed Spike to get him as high as he could. Our probably 40 pound plus dog. The two other dogs were jumping and barking and snapping. She kept jumping up a licking my nose which I was glad was at least a lick but still. It was scary because I was so worried any moment biting would start. Fred pretty much ran like a football player holding Spike to get to our van. We jumped in quickly at that point breathing very heavy....All of us. I was looking for a number to call to report the incident and the owner pulled in looking for her dogs. I seen online a lady had posted looking for the two on our local FB board. 

I took a deep breath (being arrested is expensive) also bottom line I care about animals and no one was hurt and stepped out of the van to show her where the dogs had ran off to. She sheepishly asked me if my dog or anyone was hurt. So in that she proved she knew they shouldn't be running loose. I said Thankfully no one was hurt. She apologized so many times. Her young son had let them outside while she was in the bathroom. She was able to get them into her vehicle and we headed home. Careful examination of Spike found a lot of slobber on his side so contact was made but luckily no bite marks on him or us. Frustrating end to a nice time that definitely could have been a totally different story. 

Today...It's a new week. Hopefully lots of stitching ahead. Love yourself. Have a wonderful week. Find lots of reasons to smile.