Finishing Cross Stitch

I framed some more cross stitch today. It was pretty fun, washing and ironing and framing in the kitchen with loud 90's music. :) Here are the total results from last time and today:

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the other heart (the pink and orange one) before giving it to my friend. It was finished as a refrigerator magnet like this one.

This one had a perfect frame - but it didn't allow for the thickness of the foam board that I use to frame cross stitch, so this piece is homeless for now.

Another update from my iPhone. :D Here's a picture of the case:

First World Problems: I wanted to take a picture of my iPhone 5 case, but my only good camera was inside it. I had to take the case off. :o

Happy stitching!

August TUSAL Update

Here's a quick Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long update real quick, from my brand new iPhone. :D It has a beautiful T.A.R.D.I.S. case. :) Not a lot of stitching this month. Blame it on my new love of knitting that's jockeying for my time. And I'm leaving for school in a week and a half! :O Lots to do, but I'm excited. :)

It's been too long... TUSAL and stitching

So here's some of what I've been up to lately, interrupted slightly by three weeks of visiting family in Myrtle Beach and then New Hampshire. I'll put up my knitting as soon as I figure out how to manage a good picture of it, haha. It's gotten really long, and I've used up the ball of yarn I bought. It's not quite as long as I want yet, though. Less than a foot to go. Then maybe I'll try to learn how to make a matching hat!

Visit Heather's blog to enter her great giveaway!

I finally got around to some finish-finishing last Sunday. I'll post proper results once I get around to finishing what I started!

I have a new cross stitch start, "Love," a bookmark from Stoney Creek's X Marks the Spot book.

And here's my ridiculously late TUSAL (blame traveling):

Total so far this year. :)

Newest Cross-Stitch and Needlework
magazine in the background! :D

Shell Collection and Knitting

Yes, I finally learned how to knit. And oh, I wish I had done this so long ago. Not only is knitting one of the coolest things to ever happen, the ladies at my LNS are soooo amazing. I never wanted to leave! My LNS has the policy where you buy the materials from them and they'll help you as much as you need. So I told them I wanted to learn how to knit, and they handed me some yarn and needles and started teaching me one-on-one. Everyone was so nice and I spent all afternoon there! They decided I was a quick learner, so I learned how to purl, too, and they created a pattern for my scarf. So here she is so far:

I've also been stitching on Shell Collection, after I steeled myself to frog and redo those stitches. I've been watching a lot of documentaries while stitching and knitting lately and learning all sorts of things on topics ranging from pharaohs to the Knights Templar to Charles Dickens to Pompeii. So much fun! Here's Shell Collection:

That's it for now, so happy stitching!

This month's IHSW - take two and a finish

So I'm finally back to post last weekend's IHSW results. :)

I finished Graduation Heart 1, but have yet to finish-finish it and the second one. I gave up on Shell Collection rather quickly, because I have to frog some of those gray stitches. Frogging always makes me lose my stitching mojo. Oh, go check out this amazing giveaway! And now I'm not feeling very talkative, so - Have a nice day and stitch lots! ^_^

This month's IHSW - take one

I worked under the assumption that this past weekend was IHSW, since the first of June was on a Saturday, but apparently this coming weekend is the real IHSW. That's okay, I get two weekends of stitching! :) So here's the result of the first weekend:

Graduation Heart 2 - Finished!

Graduation Heart 1 - The end is in sight!

I am so busy and exhausted this week - in a mostly good way. I wake up early each morning to walk about two miles, then have physical therapy or doctor appointments or see Ben (<3), then spend hours at my church's Vacation Bible School in the evening. I'm helping with crafts, as I have been ever since I aged out of VBS. It's exhausting, but worth it. I especially love the two and three year olds. :) All this busyness is taking away from my stitching and reading time, though, so I'll be glad when things calm down. Happy stitching!

A late TUSAL update and lots of stitching

I tend to go for long periods of time without really using electronics, and these past few weeks have been one of those times. I didn't even think about posting! Not to mention I've been in Myrtle Beach this week visiting family, which was loads of fun. :) The last week of May I was beset by a wave of ennui, and I attempted to counter this by putting down everything I've been stitching lately and picking up Shell Collection. Here's the progress I made:

Then I decided to stitch something for two of my best friends' high school graduations, and I started the day before their graduation, which was last Saturday. Needless to say, these'll be slightly late presents. They're just generic heart shapes, but in pretty thread that I won from Shebafudge in a giveaway. I'm calling them Graduation Heart 1 and Graduation Heart 2, respectively:

And now for a slightly late TUSAL update. It doesn't look like I have all that many threads for this month, but it feels like I stitched a good bit, so maybe looks can be deceiving. I worked on the Graduation Hearts (which I'm going to put in refrigerator picture frames), Shell Collection, You Have Stolen My Heart, and there's also some progress on Poinsettia Place that I don't have a picture of right now, from before the ennui. So here's my monthly ORT jar and then my 2013 one, the former with my journal in the background (it's my third one since December - I write a lot):

And that's all for now. I'll be back for an update after the weekend, which I think is IHSW, even though there isn't a post about it yet at Joyce's blog. Happy stitching!

A Successful IHSW

This past weekend was IHSW, and I was really inspired to stitch and got lots of good stitching done as a result! I had a great weekend in other ways, too - I enjoyed a few hours of Attic Greek studies on Friday, a great movie Friday night (The Last Samurai), time with my sweetheart Ben on Saturday, and several Great Course lectures on Sunday. I stitched on Saturday while watching a documentary on Netflix - Greeks: Crucible of Civilization. It was one of those documentaries where you don't really need to look at the screen because it's just panning shots of statues and stuff, so it was perfect to stitch to! It was a very Greek weekend - the documentary, the studying of the language, and I made a lot of progress on reading the Iliad! The Great Course lectures I listened to on Sunday while I finished up my stitching were from the course "Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior." Some interesting stuff, there. Among other things, I learned about the science behind falling in love and what makes relationships succeed or fail. Anyway, let's get to the pictures! I had trouble getting a good picture of the over-dyed threads on this piece, but here's two tries:

"You Have Stolen My Heart" by Lizzie*Kate

28 ct. sandstone tea-dyed linen with recommended threads

Started February 12, 2013

Finished May 19, 2013

I'll probably get a frame for this one as soon as I can lay my hands on a bit of money, and it'll be a random "I love you" present for my boyfriend (assuming it's not too girly-looking for him). I also made some progress this weekend on Poinsettia Place. Look at me go!

"Santa's Village: Poinsettia Place" by Country Cottage Needleworks

Recommended fabric and threads

Started May 1, 2013

Let's have an update, since it's past halfway into May, on my goals (oh noes!):

1. I've finished You Have Stolen My Heart, I've made a lot of progress on Poinsettia Place, and I still have those two French knots I want to redo and a button to add before I'm done with Santa's House. I'm not sure why I'm putting it off so long. I still have a lot to go on Snowman and Friends.

2. Yeahhhh, this reading thing got quite derailed. I've read The Catcher in the Rye, How to Save a Life, Looking for Alaska, The Autobiography of Henry VIII, and The Running Dream so far this month. Only The Catcher in the Rye was on my original list. Haha, oops? But I'm 1/3 done with Walden and 1/3 done with the Iliad and 1/2 done with The Help and 1/3 done with Pride and Prejudice. So that's something. I may not read The Jane Austen Book Club yet, because I haven't read all of Austen's novels and I want to read them before I read about them, ya know? I also still have a large pile of library books that I wanted to finish this month. Eh, that's fine, I've been trying.

3. I called to sign up for knitting classes today! Yay! :)

4. I took a while before I dug into my Greek, but now I'm back into the swing and it is GREAT. :) I'm working on other things too though (Latin and some history and the Great Courses and documentaries), so Greek isn't every day health allows, but very frequently.

5. Eh, I could blog more often, but I feel like this is fine. But then again, I don't have the slightest clue what I'm doing and what the ideal style for blogging is.

Now I think I'll wrap this post up with a picture of my awesome giveaway winnings from Sharon/Shebafudge (here's her awesome blog, which you should totally go check out). I was so excited to received a little package from the U.K. on Saturday! Thank you so much Sharon, I can hardly wait to use these gorgeous threads! :)

Happy stitching, everyone! :)

It's TUSAL time!

First, I'll show off the tiny bit of stitching I've done since my last post:

Yeah, I've been busy doing other things. My ORTs reflect that as well. On the bright side, so far this month I've read:

The Catcher in the Rye

How to Save a Life

Looking for Alaska

The Autobiography of Henry VIII.

So that's something! I didn't adore any of those books, but they were good. I didn't really like The Catcher in the Rye, though.

Anywho, here are my TUSAL pics!

So far this year!

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to go enjoy the lovely day! Here in the South Carolina midlands, we're in that precarious span of time where it's sunny and warm but not 100 degrees outside. Gotta enjoy it while we can, in a week it'll be HOT. Happy stitching!

Of Bibliophilia and White Thread

My worsened health lifted for a couple days last week, and on Thursday I left the house. For something other than doctors. *gasp* First, my mom and I went to the library....... and I may have gotten a couple more books than a intended. Just a couple.

But they were so beautiful and I couldn't resist! And really, I would've gotten wayyyy more if I could have carried anymore.

So this large stack of reading... plus the four or five books on hold... just might mess up my May Goals for Reading. We'll see though. So far this month, I've read The Catcher in the Rye, How to Save a Life, and Looking for Alaska. I'm like 600 pages into the Autobiography of Henry VIII, too.

Then, as if my day couldn't get any more exciting, we went to Barnes and Noble to spend my $25 gift card! (The only money I've had in months, and I get to use it on books. Guilt-free.) So after much deliberation on getting the most good books that I hadn't yet read for the least money, I came out quite thrilled with my three wonderful new-smelling books.

We also picked up a bit of white thread while we were near Michael's. Just a bit.

Okay, or as much as my various coins could afford. Poor check-out lady. I did not have many quarters.

In this first week of May, I have managed to stitch a bit, particularly this past weekend.

I am simply adoring Poinsettia Place so far. It's such a delight to stitch! I have a feeling this series is just going to keep picking up for me as I get over the stress of the many firsts it is bringing (first stitching on non-Aida cloth, first stitching with overdyed floss, first French knots....).

Happy stitching!

It's May!

I love new months so much. No matter how things went in April, it's a new month, a fresh start! Which is, of course, prime goal-setting time. So let's get going!

1. Finish stitching Santa's House, Poinsettia Place, Snowman and Friends, and You Have Stolen My Heart.

2. Read The Catcher in the Rye, Pride and Prejudice, Walden, The Help, Things Fall Apart, The Jane Austen Book Club, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Troy, Ithaka, and the Iliad. (And whatever I check out from the library on a whim. Cannot. Resist.)

3. FINALLY start those knitting classes.

4. Work on my ancient Greek, every day that health allows.
5. Blog more often - two times a week, at least?

I am so ready to do stuff. I started a new medication last week, and for a week I seriously couldn't get out of bed from being so sick. It was awful. I'm done taking it now, though. :D Oh, by the way, y'all should look into detoxing sugars and carbs and stuff. It's insane. Like, raisins taste like candy now, and candy seems awful.

Anyway, here's the scant progress I've made since last week. I only just felt like stitching again today, so it's not much.

See the difference? Yeah, I don't either. There's a few more stitches there, though.

I'm not happy with Santa's buttons, but they were driving me crazy so I started Poinsettia Place. Yayyyyy new start!

And now I'll sign off, to get a bit more stitching time in before bed! Happy stitching, y'all!

April IHSW

A bit late, but not too bad. I had kind of a crazy day yesterday. Anyway, I didn't take a before picture on Friday, so some of this progress was made during the course of last week. For example, I finished this piece midweek:

I also stitched the scarf and a lot of white (which doesn't show up so well) on Snowman and Friends during the week. On a whim I broke out this piece, which I haven't touched in a few months.

Happy stitching!

April TUSAL (and stuff)

I'm back from a nice long stay at Table Rock State Park in a tiny cabin with no cell reception or internet, and I feel so refreshed. I needed a break from the tomb of my room so desperately, and a break in the routine of medical leave. If I'm going to feel bad so often, it's nice to feel bad away from home every once in a while. :) Anyways, some pics!

First, here's my Dad's birthday gift
(well, the cross stitch part of it).

I started this on April 1, while I was on my family vacation. This is how far I am now! It's "Best Friends," from a Stoney Creek book, X Marks the Spot. I'm making it for Ashlyn, who's been one of my best friends since elementary school.

Here's this month's ORT report, along with some of this month's current reads. If you look closely, you can see three layers - the bottom one being Santa's House, the middle being Blushing Rose, and the top being Best Friends.

Here's all of this year's ORTs so far, in a new container! Pretty vase that came with some pretty flowers that my boyfriend once got me. :)

The view from the top of Table Rock. :)

This was the view from the little patio of our cabin. Can you believe this gorgeousness??

Well, I guess that's about it. Happy stitching!

A VERY late IHSW update

Hello all! I made lots of progress on Santa's Village over IHSW, and I had every intention of posting on that Monday.... but I just felt so miserable! And then there was a flurry of discoveries and doctors. *deep breath* So I almost definitely have fibromyalgia. I'm torn between the misery of having chronic pain for the rest of my life and the joy of having a name for my multitude of symptoms. I'm not crazy, it's not in my head, and other people have the same pain I do. It's comforting. And kinda scary. Anyway, on to the stitching!

Here's Blushing Rose:

LOTS of pink. I'm enjoying this piece. :)

 And here's Santa's House:

Yep, it's so close to being finished that I can taste it. I finished the cross stitches on Sunday, March 17th. Then I spent fifteen minutes teaching myself how to make French knots (see scrap fabric in bottom right of picture) and proceeded to make Santa's eyes. Then I didn't touch the piece for a week and have yet to finish the other French knots. Sometime soon, though, I'll finish this up and start Poinsettia Place! (So excited!!!)

Here are some amazing giveaways that y'all simply must check out:
Awesome Giveaway #1
Awesome Giveaway #2

Happy stitching, my dears!



PS: I have been reading all your blogs and adoring them, I just haven't felt up to commenting. Know that I love all your posts and I shall try to do better with letting y'all know! <3