CJC 2013 Days 2-5

First, here's some more progress on my January 1st start, Sanctuary Shells. I've been having ill luck with cross stitch lately, including breaking this needle! Apparently I don't know my own strength, haha. :)

 Here's a bit more ill luck, on "Blast Off!" This is my January 2nd start, and I have not yet gathered the will to deal with the one green stitch that is out of place and must be fixed. The farthest green stitch down, next to the newly worked blue stitching, should shift right one block. Oops.

Here's my January 3rd start, "Fabulous Feather," from the January 2013 issue of the Cross Stitch and Needlework Magazine.

Here's my January 4th start, "Blushing Rose," from the October 2012 issue of Cross Stitch Collection. Alas, more ill fortune! Apparently this ought to be stitched three over two, not two over two. I need to do some frogging on this piece, too.

But my ill fortune lifted! On January 5th, I started this Chrismon, the "Lamp." (You know, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, and all.) I started and finished stitching this piece during the Cincinnati vs. Houston game yesterday. It was delightful! My mom had supplies and such for tons of Chrismons given to her by her mom, which she let me use. :)

Happy stitching!

New Year's Eve!

I'm back! Life just keeps taking over, it seems. Doctors and Christmas and family and boyfriend... Haha, it's a busy life. And cross stitch, of course! :D

 

 

Here are the Festive Word Ornaments, all finished and on our tree. I gave them to my mom for Christmas. :)



 

And here's Quoth the Raven, which I finished stitching on December 23, 2012 and gave to my brother (a huge Edgar Allen Poe fan) for Christmas. :)



 

And here's the Rhodes Tile from the October 2012 issue of Cross Stitch Collection. I changed the colors and fabric based on what I had lying around. It was really fun, learning a new stitch. :) I started this on December 15, 2012 and finished it on December 21, 2012.





 

 

And here's Santa's House, which I've hardly made any progress on.



 

 

I got some cross stitch goodies for Christmas, and one of them was this adorable stocking stuffer. I started Flowers in Purple Vase, a Bucilla kit, on Christmas Day. I just couldn't resist!



 

 

Aaaaand finally, here's my little bit of progress on Snowman and Friends. :)

 

 

 

I would go into lots of detail on my Christmas, but this post is quite long enough already. I'll just say, I got the complete novels of Jane Austen in this gorgeous box set. I love it!! I immediately started reading Northanger Abbey, and I am loving it thus far. :)



Sleepless nights and British magazines

I had a lovely weekend with my family, although my headaches have been pretty bad due to trouble sleeping lately. Oh well, hopefully that'll straighten itself out soon. I didn't have time for much stitching, but I had some time when I was unable to fall asleep one night. I worked on Live Simply, it's such a wonderful piece!

"Live Simply"

I love the bright colors (which are kind of washed out in this picture, unfortunately) and simplicity of the design. And the darker blue piece is the combination of two different-colored threads, which I loved! It adds so much depth, and it's just plain lovely! It's also helped me pay more attention to how the threads settle when you make a stitch, so I think I'm making better stitches now. (Hopefully!) :)

After dinner with my family on Saturday night, my wonderful father bought me a cross stitch magazine from Barnes and Noble! Isn't that awesome?

I'm quite excited about the folk art deer pattern, and the rose is lovely. And I learned a new way to start threads - a loop start. I love it, it's so tidy! I must say, I'm also somewhat overly excited by this being a British magazine. Everything's in pounds! And "color" is "colour!" And there was talk of samplers for the diamond jubilee! :D

I hope you had a delightful weekend! :)