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!