Gitta’s Getaway 2010

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Heather

As you probably know, I was at a stitching getaway this weekend, hosted by my LNS Gitta’s.  And because I am a woman of few words, I’m not sure how to describe it other than to say I had a fabulous time and wish it could have gone on longer. The hotel itself was quite nice, the food was very good (but why must chicken always be served on the bone? yuk), and the location was perfect for a walk to the shop.

The ladies put together some wonderful gift packages which we got when we signed in and at the dinner on Saturday night.  There were also random draws and several big prizes awarded as well.  I did win one of the big prizes, a fabulous needlepoint kit, which came with wool. 🙁 It was a lovely kit of a Celtic knot, and to say I was disappointed by the wool is an understatement, but the ladies were so kind and managed to put together another little package for me, and awarded the kit to someone else.

Gifts and Prizes from Gitta's Getaway

Our Saturday class was a dragonfly needle book/scissor case and scissor fob set.  There were two colourways, teal and burgundy. Since, honestly, neither were really my colours, I got the burgundy.  It is gorgeous, even if it isn’t purple. 😉 The kit also came with a nice pair of scissor.  My only real concern with this is find the right colour of fabric for finishing it.  I think I almost would have preferred getting a finishing kit instead of the scissor (but maybe the scissor were donated?).

Dragonfly Case & Fob class piece

I did find some time to do some shopping on Saturday. I walked down to Gitta’s and bought the last few things (except beads) that I needed for the Châtelaine lotus temple design, and Just Nan’s Keep a Little Secret. (I’m not a fan of Just Nan at all, but I love this design! And, yes, I know the felt is wool. I’m not sure what I am going to do about that yet.)

Stash from Gittas

I also stopped by the yarn store a few doors down, Linda’s Craftique, and picked up The Great American Aran Afghan (for which I now need to buy 20 balls of yarn to knit!), some metal dpns, a ball of Tahki Yarn’s Nova (a cotton with some sparkle, to make a hat for me), and two skeins of Araucania’s Ruca, a yarn made of sugar cane fibre.

Yarn from Linda's

Oh, and here is how my name tag turned out.  I think it is quite pretty, even if it isn’t what I imagined.  I wanted to do a bouquet of ribbon flowers, but without the ribbon that is very difficult. 🙂

You can read more about the retreat at the Gitta’s Getaway blog.  I’m even in one of the pictures. Do you see me?

I am looking forward to next year’s retreat, which is also supposed to have a needle worker’s market and offer day passes to shoppers. I will say, if you were on the fence about going to this year’s retreat and you decided not too, you really did miss out on something special.

6 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch |

At the Getaway

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Heather

Right now I’m sitting in my hotel room, taking some time to relax before dinner at Gitta’s Getaway, a weekend of stitching hosted by my LNS.  I’m having a lovely time talking to other stitchers, and actually getting some stitching done during daylight hours (instead of trying to fight Baby Man off my lap so he doesn’t get stabbed by my needle.)

So far this weekend has been lovely.  The hotel is very nice and the food is delicious.  There have also been lots of prizes (although my non-winning streak still hasn’t really been broken; I did win one small prize, but mostly because I was lazy and quick 😉 ). I’ve also had some time do to a little bit of shopping, picking up some threads and such for the Châtelaine lotus temple design I will be starting very soon, and some lovely sugar cane fibre yarn.

The design for the class is beautiful, and I was able to get quite a bit done this morning.  Unfortunately, it will have to go on the back-burner for a little while as I try to get something else finished up.  (I’m also not sure I’m going to be able to find the right colour of fabric for finishing, since the project is in a colour I don’t normally gravitate too.)

All in all, I’m enjoying myself quite a lot.  But, I will admit that I miss my husband and Baby Man too.

2 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch |

A Little Sun(Flower)

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Heather

Well, as I’m sure you can guess, I didn’t get myself pulled together yesterday to offer a giveaway.  I’m very sorry about that.  I ended up going into the office yesterday, and was just too worn out when I got home.  However, I will definitely have a giveaway soon. On May 10th, to celebrate my birthday, I will be offering a cross stitch giveaway. So, please be sure to check back.

I’ve made some more progress on Sunflower Fairy.  I think she is turning out just lovely.  The colours just seem to glow on the dark fabric.

Sunflower Fairy by Nora Corbett

Sunflower Fairy will have to pause for a few days though; I need to get working on my name tag for the getaway I’m going to next weekend.  I have it all planned in my head, I just need to get it on fabric. 🙂  I was waiting for some ribbon to arrive in the mail, but I don’t think it will get here on time, so I have to go with Plan B.

No real knitting is happening, just a couple of rows on a dishcloth (and I think I am totally over dishcloths for a while).  I have eleventy-billion projects I want to work on, plus about 10 different balls of sock yarn I want to buy (the colours!), but for some reason the husband and Baby Man expect me to cook and do all those sorts of things instead of spending my time knitting and stitching. Seriously!

And, last for today, I’d like to award the Sunshine Award to Darlene of Craftkitten.  Check out my last post for info and rules.  (Thank you for your comment, Darlene! See you next weekend at the retreat.)

Oh, and one last thing! I won a free chart from Whisper by the Wind, through the online Needlework Show. It was difficult to picked, but I ultimately decided on their newest design, Julia’s Quilt.  Thank you very much to Mari for the chance to win. 🙂  (I’ve entered sooooo many draws lately, and haven’t won any. I was starting to feel really sad, but this win has totally perked me up.)

1 Comment | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged ,

An Award and some WIPs

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Heather

A few weeks ago, Loretta of Loretta’s Stitching Blog was kind enough to award me with the Sunshine Blog Award. But, me being me and not feeling well, it slipped my mind. I don’t know why, since I was so excited to get it. Sadly, though, that is par for the course right now.  Anyway, here is my lovely award:

The rules of this award are:

  1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
  2. Pass the award to 12 bloggers.
  3. Link the nominees within your post.
  4. Let them know they received this award by
    commenting on their blog.
  5. Share the love and link to the person from
    whom you received the award.

As much as I would like to pass this award on, I think just about ever blog I read has already received it!  But, if you read my blog and haven’t received this award, leave me a comment and let me know.  I’ll pass it on to you. 🙂

Next up, some of my currents WIPs.

First, the current state of my Broadripple Socks: the second sock has had the heel turned and the gusset stitches picked up. I’m now happily and slowly working my way down the foot.  And this means that I’ve met another one of my April goals. Yay!

I’m also coming along nicely with Nora Corbett’s Sunflower Fairy (stitched with Vickie Clayton’s silks).  The only problem with it is that I used a piece of fabric that is much, much too big.  I just assumed it was the same size as the Trick or Treat Fairy, and used the leftover fabric from here.  Well, I could have used a piece half as big.  Now I will have some strange sized leftovers that I need to figure out a  use for.  I’m thinking about maybe designing a simple bookmark.

And this past weekend I decided to get my sewing machine out and put together a toy for the little man.  It is only partly finished right now, so it looks a little odd. I’m waiting for some safety eyes and a safety nose to finish it up before I stuff him well.  And I will  let you in on a secret, that neckerchief hides a multitude of sins.  I suspect that even the designers couldn’t get the neck perfect, which is why it was included in the pattern.

Lastly, I am thinking about having a small cross-stitch related draw for Earth Day.  Please check back then to see if I managed to pull myself together and get it organized. 🙂

2 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , , , ,

TUSAL and Hardanger

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Heather

It is a couple of days past the new moon, so I am late (again) in posting my TUSAL picture. (You can find out more about the TUSAL here.)  I took the pictures yesterday, as the sun was going down.  But I just didn’t have the motivation to get them posted.

This month I added all the bits from picking out old UFOs, a small piece of 25ct. evenweave I cut off an over-one bookmark I will never finish (I didn’t want to pick out anything over-one), a label from the yarn I am using to knit Lily Cardigan, some yarn from Lily Cardigan (I’ve weaved in all the ends on what I’ve knit so far), and some threads from Sewing Seeds and Sunflower Fairy. My jar is actually getting pretty full.

Yesterday afternoon I worked on the first part of the hardanger course that is running in The Gift of Stitching. It went very quickly, and I am pleased with the results.  The materials are 20ct Irish linen and Ginnie Thompson Flower Thread.

My lovely husband totally reinforced my love for him when I showed this to him yesterday. He said “It’s very nice, but aren’t you pretty far beyond that now?” Obviously he does pay at least a little bit of attention to my needlework. Yay! And he is right, I have done some some more advanced hardanger before, but I am totally self-taught and I thought doing this course would be a nice idea.

If you’d like, you can see some of my finished pieces with hardanger:

I do like hardanger, but in small doses.  And I don’t like dove’s eyes. 😛

In my next post I will share with you a blog award that Loretta was nice enough to award me with a little while back.  It totally slipped my mind, even though I was so happy she picked me.  That just goes to show how unwell I have been feeling.

3 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged ,

It Has Sleeves!

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Heather

I’ve managed to meet another one of my April goals: my Lily Cardigan now has sleeves!

I added a couple of rows of garter stitch at the cuffs, before the picot bind-off, to stop them from rolling.

After getting the body stitches back on the needles and knitting a couple of rows, I was able to try it on.  It is just a touch too small, like I expected, but I love the style and the feel of the yarn. It is so soft and yummy.  I would totally buy this yarn again to make something else, on sale.  At $11.99 regular price, well, it is too much.  I’m so glad I bought it on sale, though. Actually, I’ll confess, I bought eight balls on sale, but I need nine to knit this.  So, last week I went to my sort-of-LYS (which I don’t really like because the customer service is awful, but the selection is amazing!) and picked up a ball at full price in a different dye lot.  It is a bit lighter than the original dye lot, but I think it is blending in okay because I am knitting two rows with it and two rows with the original dye lot.  It helps that this yarn is unevenly dyed to begin with.

Seriously, I knew I needed nine balls to knit this.  I have no idea why I only bought eight. From now on I promise to buy one extra ball of yarn, if the price isn’t too high. 🙂

On to cross stitching!  Sunflower Fairy is coming along very well.  Although, in the picture below you can see a wee bit of a mistake.  That shouldn’t be such a light colour on top of that bud in the bottom left.  I’ve since fixed it and stitch a wee bit more.  Unfortunately, I won’t be working on it tomorrow night at my LNS’s stitching night. 🙁 My husband has to go to a condo board meeting, and I have to stay home with Baby Man.  It is a sacrifice I will make with only mild protest since I get to go to my LNS’s retreat at the end of the month.

On Thursday I’ll be taking another one of my monthly trips to the office, which means I need to get some small knitting project on the needles.  A half finished cardigan isn’t really bus knitting.  I did say I would work on my second Broadripple sock this month, so I guess I’ll get that cast on tomorrow.

3 Comments | Posted in Knitting |

A Friendly Finish

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Heather

April is turning out to be a bit of a mixed bag of a month for me.  I feel better one day and then feel awful the next.  We suspect it has something to do with low blood sugar (perhaps mixed with some serious fatigue), but I’m not able to see my doctor until after the 20th and I won’t know anything at all until then.  In the meantime, I’m managing as best I can, resting often and keeping candy in various places for when I feel particularly ill.

On to happier things!  I’ve finished Sewing Seeds of Friendship, Hope and Love by Karen Weaver, Jennifer Aikman-Smith and Teresa Wentzler.  I made a few changes (like leaving off the lazy daisies in the Friendship panel), and I am very happy with the finished piece.

Sewing Seeds of Friendship, Hope and Love by Karen Weaver, Jennifer Aikman-Smith and Teresa Wentzler

The SAL is still going on at the TW Board here.  Interest is wanning, and if we don’t see many posts this month, I will likely end at the end of April.  If interest does pick up, then I will start work on Legends of the Dragons, which I think will make a nice addition to the other pieces I’m stitching for Baby Man’s room for when we finally de-baby it.  (Right now there are three Mirabilia baby pictures hanging in there.)

I’m also moving along well with my Lily Cardigan; one sleeve is totally done and more than half of the second has been knit.  I’m getting quite a bit of knitting done because sitting on the sofa and knitting endless stockinette is one of the things I can do when I’m not feeling well. Although, on Tuesday I had to rip out 6″ of sleeve because I forgot to do two decreases.  This afternoon I finally got back to the point I was before, which makes me very happy.

Lily Cardigan - WIP - April 9, 2010

I apologize for the dark pictures today.  The cardigan is more pink than it appears in the picture. We’ve gone from having over a week of lovely sunny weather, to rain, to cold and snow today.  Sunday we are supposed to have sun and a high of 17°C. I’m so looking forward to that.

5 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , ,