Happy 2011!

What the heck, it's January 1st someplace already. Happy New Year!

It’s hard to believe that 2010 is almost over. It’s been a good year; I started a new job, passed my coding certification test, and took a real, live, honest-to-goodness out-of-town vacation for the first time in years. I did a good bit of stitching, although I didn’t have many finishes. I hope to do a little better in 2011, but for me, the pleasure is in the process.

In keeping with the spirit of the season, I’ve made a few resolutions/goals for 2011:
1. Finish some WIPs. I’m not setting an exact number, but I have several small WIPs, including a couple that are very near to being done, so I’m thinking that shooting for 4 would probably be reasonable.
2. Stitch some ornaments and finish-finish them. I made a list of 13 that I’d like to do this year. I don’t expect to finish all 13, but I wrote them down so I can cross them off as I go.
3. Get rid of some stash. I have charts that I bought years ago and that I will never stitch because my taste has changed. Time to clean house!
4. Read some of the classics that I wonder why I’ve never read. I have Dr. Zhivago and Sense and Sensibility on my TBR pile, so I’ll probably start with one of those.
5. Take some positive steps toward getting in better shape. I walked up two flights of steps at work the other day and was huffing and puffing. Pathetic.
6. Find a new job. I’m very grateful to have the job that I do and it’s a good learning experience, but I truly dislike it. I need to stick with it until mid-May, but then it’ll be time to try to find something more agreeable.

Wishing everyone a safe New Year’s Eve and a wonderful 2011 – happy stitching!

Santa in the Moon

I'm home again after my weekend travels. The weather coming back north was not so great; I was in and out of (mostly in) snow all the way up, but the road wasn't bad. It was mostly wet, so I made good use of the windshield washer fluid.

Our Christmas was quiet but good. My sis and her family came over on Friday night and we had our family Christmas, then yesterday Mom and Dad and I stayed home and just kind of took things easy. I got in some stitching and finished Santa in the Moon:

I have a short week at work (yes!) as we are off next Friday for New Year's and I'm taking an extra day on Thursday. I have an appointment Thursday morning to get the car worked on but otherwise I plan to do a few things around the house and maybe get in some extra stitchy time.

Wishing everyone a good week and happy stitching!

Happy Christmas to All...

I will be traveling this weekend and won't be online to wish everyone a Merry Christmas on Saturday, so I'll do it now. Whatever holiday you celebrate - or if you don't celebrate at all - I wish you a safe and blessed weekend.

"...and to all a good night!"

Best wishes and happy stitching from me and the furry kids!

More Ornament Stitching

So last night, when I should have been doing something sensible like being in bed asleep, I was surfing around the blogosphere and I came across Sharon's blog. And on said blog, I discovered her wonderful little reindeer designs, three of them, one for this year and one for each of the past two. I promptly printed them and this morning I dug through my stash and found a small piece of 40 count vintage Light Examplar from Lakeside and I pulled the DMC fibers and then I sat down this afternoon and started stitching on "Mistletoe Reindeer", the one for this year. I'm not a fast stitcher but I still managed to finish it, even with the occasional break.

I think they're adorable!

Snow is headed our way, according to the weather guru-types on the telly. NOT wanting it!

Here's hoping everyone has a good week. Happy stitching!

Saturday Stitchy Stuff

My Saturday was fairly productive and it started with a quick trip to the LNS. Always a good way to start the day, if you ask me! I was hoping that some of the things I'd ordered had come in, but, alas, no, so I had to content myself in other ways.

The big purchase was the Alphabet Blocks from Carriage House, along with the 6 skeins of GAST Bittersweet that it calls for. She had 6 and they looked to be from the same dye lot, so I snagged them. It also calls for 8 skeins of Black Crow which she didn't have, so I ordered those. I think I've got a good few of the other colors in my stash, so I'll go diving before I buy. I know that several of you have stitched this and the more I see of it on your blogs, the better I like it. I love the colors in it. I'm thinking that I'll probably stitch it on 40 count, maybe Pearled Barley from Lakeside. That's my new favorite linen color.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to stitch this evening but I wanted something small that didn't involve Q-Snaps or spreading stuff out all over the sofa, so I just pulled 3 small wips out of the basket thinking that I would start out working on one of them and if I got tired or frustrated with it I would switch to something else. The first one I picked up was Santa in the Moon out of a past JCS ornament issue:

I took a closer picture but Blogger is being disagreeable this evening and didn't want to upload it. Maybe tomorrow. Anyway, I finished about the lower third of the cross stitching and started the backstitching. There's a good bit of backstitching in this piece, but once I get the beard/face done it's just outlining around the cross stitches. When this one is finished I plan to stitch the design again (well, probably not right away) but I'm going to flip it and stitch it in green. I think that'll be kind of neat.

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Tomorrow afternoon's weather is supposed to get ugly, so it should be a perfect day to sit in and stitch and watch the Steelers on TV.