And So It Continues…

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Heather

I have decided to name 2010 “The Year That Sucks”.  Yes, things have continued to go down hill.  Admittedly nothing is quite as bad as losing our beloved Isis, but the continuous stream of crappy things is really wearing on me.  The latest was an email that came last night from my local yarn shop announcing their closure.  And that sucks big time.

On the plus side, my yarn shop started a big clearance sale today.  All of their discontinued yarn is $1 a ball (and there is some good stuff there), books are $5 and everything else is 40%.  So, after my trip to the asthma clinic (good news: I don’t have asthma; bad news: I have some sort of respiratory tract disease /allergies), I went over to see what I could pick up.  And for $120CAN I got 68 skeins of various types of yarns, three books and one magazine.  Not bad at all.  (Sorry for the craptacular picture.)

To continue the good news, I have actually finished a project! It is the wee baby hat I shared the other day, Noggin, knit using Bernat’s Cottontot in colourway Wonder Dreams.  I still have a little kimono to knit up too before my dad’s co-worker goes on leave in mid-February.  I should be able to make it.

Noggin Baby Hat

I’m also making progress on Enchanting Lair’s Kitchen Blessing, for which I have changed the colours.  I’m stitching it on Firecracker from Country Stitch (at 1.5x strength) using Dinky Dyes Aussie Gold.  I am, unfortunately, running out of the silk and really need to get out and buy some more.  I’m still not sure what I will use for the border.  Maybe more of the Aussie Gold or maybe something else.  Once I get a chance to get to my LNS, I’ll see what my options are.  I’ve decided that there is no way I am going to be able to make this look traditional, so instead I’m going for a modern take on traditional Chinese banners. (The colours in the picture are a little off.)

Kitchen Blessing by Enchanting Lair

I would also like to say thank you for all the kind words about the loss of Isis. I’m coping fairly well, but I still hear and see her everywhere.  I take a good deal of comfort in the fact that I know she is now with my dog Max, who was her best friend until he passed away about ten years go. I thought it might be nice to share with you my favourite picture of Isis, taken about seven years ago.

Isis

I hope all of you are having a wonderful new year.  I know mine will eventually get better.  There is a Chinese saying: 先苦候甜 （seen fu hao tim) meaning that if something starts off bitter, the ending will always be sweet. Let’s hope that is true.

1 Comment | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , , ,

Is It Over Yet?

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Heather

So far 2010 has sucked.  I’m ready to give up and call it a year already.  Things started to go bad on New Year’s Eve and have gotten progressively worse.  I was going to write a post about all of it, but I’ve thought better of it.  I’m determined to be positive, even though I know the worst is yet to come: tomorrow we will say good-bye to our cat Isis.

I don’t want to dwell, so I will move on to other things.

On January 1st I started working on Sewing the Seeds, one of the designs that is a collaboration between Teresa Wentzler, Jennifer Aikman-Smith (Dragon Dreams) and Karen Weaver (Black Swan).  I’ve mentioned a few times that I am facilitating a SAL over on the TW board for these designs.  Anyway, I’ve started with the TW panel and am not making very good progress.  I’ve had to pick out a lot of mistakes and I’m missing one colour of DMC and I backstitched Love with the wrong colour.  I’m going to leave it like that since I can’t stand the thought of picking it out, and I think it looks okay as is.

Sewing the Seeds - Love Panel

I’ve also been knitting a baby hat for one of my dad’s co-workers.  I’m using Bernat’s Cottontot in colourway Wonder Dreams. (The background is the new white slipcover on our sofa. Yes, we are crazy. Thank you for noticing.)

Baby Hat

And last night I started a pair of socks for my husband using Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca.  I have to wear a face mask when knitting so I don’t have a reaction, but otherwise the knitting is going well.  Actually, I only have 3/4″ of one cuff done, so they are going slowly especially since they were Christmas gifts.  The pattern is Masonic Lodge by Emma Haigh. (Note that there is a newer version of the pattern on Ravelry.)

Masonic Lodge Socks - cuff

And that is all the progress I’ve made this year.  I actually feel like I am going backwards.  I’m sure things will get better soon though. Right?

6 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting, My Life | Tagged , , ,

Hello 2010!

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Heather

Happy New Year! It is 2010, the start of a new decade (if you belong to that particular camp), and time for a new start.  Today it is time to set goals and make plans.

I could maybe reflect more on the year that 2009 was.  But, honestly, it wasn’t the best year for me.  Things happened that I wish hadn’t, but we are coping and doing fine.  I know 2010 will be a damn sight better.

This year I have decided to try something new.  I’ve picked a word to use as my theme for the year: Simplify.  I hope to make this my mantra and touchstone for the year, something that helps to remind me of my goals. And those goals are:

  • Declutter the entire house and reorganize each room as I go (baskets and other storage solutions are a must)
  • Donate unneeded items to charity
  • Work my way through The Change Your Life Challenge
  • Make use of The Inner Organizer
  • Continue with a daily Tarot card draw
  • Make time to write at least 5 times a week
  • Go back to writing a personal journal
  • Look into learning furoshiki for gift wrapping

For my cross stitching and other crafting goals, I would like to:

  • Finish Baby Man’s birth sampler
  • Finish Enchanting Lair’s Kitchen Blessing for my husband
  • Finish the Celtic Thunder bourse and put a little stitching kit in the living room
  • Finish up at least half of the Creativ Festival class pieces I have left over (Delightful Dragon, Tiny Torture Sampler, First Dragon Encounter, Dragon Lullaby, Celtic Thunder, Tiny Dragons, Cutwork Compass Rose)
  • Stitch another stocking (for Mom?)
  • Finish one of my felt kits
  • Knit socks for others (and maybe a couple more pairs for me)
  • Get up to date with and stay current with Papillon Creations’ Castles in the Air
  • Do some punch needle projects
  • finish a wedding gift

This is a much, much smaller list than last year.  And I will tell you why: my main crafting goal for next is reduce my number of WIPS. You see, I went through all my cross stitch stuff the other day and discovered that I have (as of today) 52 WIPs.  52!  And several of them are at least a decade old, if not older.  On top of that, I have 61 cross stitch projects kitted up and ready to go.  61! (Soon to be 62, when some fabric from Country Stitch arrives for Joan Elliot’s dragon.)  That is just a stupid amount I think, and it doesn’t even include the charts I have that aren’t kitted together with fabric.  I believe that I really, really need to finish up some of these design, or maybe even give away the ones I am not interested in any more.  Regardless of what I decide, my main crafting goal is to reduce my number of WIPs by 20, which works perfectly with my Simplify theme for the year.

Something else that comes from this, and from my Simplify goal, is to limit my stash buying.  If I was completely honest, I don’t need to buy any cross stitch stash this year.  I have 51(!) WIPs.  51! I only completed 40 cross stitch projects last year, and many of them were much smaller than some of my WIPs.  As for knitting and crochet, I do have a large yarn stash, but only when it comes to working on small projects and socks.  If I want to make a sweater for me or Baby Man, I just don’t have the yarn.  Could I go the whole year just knitting and crocheting from stash?  Sure, but it would be mostly socks and dish cloths.  They may be useful but not very fun for an entire year.  So, there will be yarn buying, but it will be limited.  Seriously, I’m almost totally out of storage space.

I know this year will bring a lot of changes.  Baby Man will be turning 2 very soon, and a toddler is a lot different that a baby.  I hope that we will be able to do more , and that we can start to do things like learn colours, shapes and numbers much better.  (Right now he counts “One, Two, Nine”. Maybe he is destined to be an accountant?)

I don’t know that the year will bring in terms of work of the husband and me, but I know there will be changes.  The economy is getting better,  but who really knows what the future will bring.

As for writing, my secret and ignored passion, well, I have some plans and goals there too.  But they are for me to explore quietly.

I hope everyone will be happy and healthy in 2010.  I hope all of you will experience joy and love and happiness.  And I hope both you and I will be able to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

Since it is the first day of the month, I also need to set my monthly goals.  So, for January I would like too:

  • crochet Planet June’s Sea Turtle for Baby Man’s birthday
  • make significant progress on socks for my husband
  • make significant progress on the wedding gift
  • clean out Baby Man’s closet and toy box
  • Establish a weekly writing practice
2 Comments | Posted in My Life | Tagged

Good-Bye 2009

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Heather

It is time to say good-bye to 2009 and to review my goals.

First, there are my every day goals:

  • Be the best mom and wife I can possible be to Baby Man and quanta
  • Try to be nice to my parents too :P
  • Do a Tarot card draw every day, even if I can’t spend time thinking about what it might mean
  • Reach my goal weight before our 4th wedding anniversary – Not going to make it this year if I am being healthy, so it will have to be our 5th anniversary
  • Learn to knit socks (starting a class on January 20th) – finished first pair of socks on February 4, 2009
  • Don’t fall too far behind with work, but also don’t take on too much
  • finish getting all of The Lotus Pond material moved over, and start posting some new stuff – Done! Need to write more new material
  • No more celebrity gossip sites or shows (this one will probably be the most difficult) – Well, I peaked at TMZ the day MJ died, but only because Wil Wheaton’s Twitter feed confused  me.  I blame him!

In this first section of goals I think I did very well.  I may not have reached my weight goal, but I did pretty well.  I did draw a Tarot card for every day, which was very interesting.  Work for me is a strange thing, but I can say that I kept up pretty well.  I’m not sure how my work situation will change next year, but hopefully I will be able to keep busy.

I did a good job of keeping away from celebrity gossip.  I looked at TMZ a few times around Michael Jackson’s death and when Britney Murphy died.  I think I can be excused to that.  (Isn’t it funny how TMZ gets news before the traditional media does?)

And for cross stitch and knitting:

  • finish one felt kit (either Christmas car, plane or train)
  • finish knitting Brooke’s Column of Leaves scarf and hat (and think about the gloves) – Hat completed on January 17, 2009 and scarf on January 31, 2009; have decided not to make the gloves
  • start and finish knitting Ice Queen (assuming I’m not also allergic to mohair) – Not happening. Apparently mohair causes me to have a bad asthma attack. I’m very sad, but glad some room on my To Do list was cleared up.
  • knit Bernat’s baby kimono for Baby Man before he is too big for it – finished knitting in April 2009
  • knit some gifts – done, and knitting a couple more!
  • XS Christmas house ornaments (one a month) –not happening as of April 2009
  • finishing XS’ing all my class projects from the fall CreativFestival before this fall’s festival (Overdyed Odyssey, Camelot Mini, Delightful Dragon, Tiny Torture Sampler, First Dragon Encounter, Dragon Lullaby, Celtic Thunder) – There is no way this is going to  happen now.  I got too distracted by other projects and Baby Man
  • XS Stitcher’s Trove in the purples I picked out
  • make some progress XS Baby Man’s birth sampler – decided on which design to do in April 2009
  • finish Halloween Fairy, which I started on Boxing Day – finished on March 12, 20009
  • XS Take Time to Stitch, and think of a way to mount it on my sewing box – Completed in January 2009, still thinking about how to mount it
  • Start and finish these small designs: Black Hatter, Voodoo Girl, Scarab Monogram
  • Start and finish at least the box top for Christmas Treasures, if not the ornaments too
  • Make a start on stocking for everyone, and try to have Baby Man’s ready for Christmas 2009 – Started Baby Man’s stocking in July
  • finish gift for family member  (ooh! a secret!) – Done!!

The items in red are things I did not finish.  But, as I said yesterday, I figure I finished about 40 cross stitch projects of various sizes, so I did very well overall.  My main goal was to get Baby Man’s stocking done, and I achieved that.

And if you haven’t seen this, it is worth a look: The Decade in 7 Minutes from Newsweek.  (It is a bit America-centric, but interesting none the less.)

Lastly, the Legends SAL starts tomorrow. If you are planning on joining in, please head over to this thread and let us know what you are stitching.  There will be a draw for a prize. 🙂

Comments Off on Good-Bye 2009 | Posted in My Life | Tagged

A Final Few Finishes

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Heather

As the last few hours of 2009 tick away, I’ve managed to find a bit of time to finish up a final two projects.

The first is a freebie from Prairie Schooler, Snowman.  You may remember me mentioning that it was a little kit given away by my LNS during their holiday open house.  They changed the design to be stitched with DMC Colour Variations and Anchor floss and a few beads.  It is stitched on 20ct. white opalescent fabric with two threads over one.  I’ll finish it up into a pillow ornament the next time I get the sewing machine out, using the backing fabric in the kit.

Snowman by Prairie Schooler

And, I just put the final stitches in Lost Dragon Sampler by Dragon Dreams.  It is stitched with DMC and Waterlilies on a 28ct. Silkweaver Solo.  I made a few changes: 1 became A in the first line of the verse, I used different beads (maybe 03004?), and I left off the blackwork row below the dragon.  I’m very pleased with how it turned out, and how quick it was to stitch up: 3 days!

Lost Dragon Sampler by Dragon Dreams

I’m pretty sure that puts me at 40 finished cross stitch projects for 2009.  Here’s a slide show of them all:

I also figure I finished 14 crochet projects (including those five Christmas puddings), and somewhere around 46 knitting projects (about half of those were dish cloths).  I think that is a pretty productive year for someone who has an active toddler to deal with. I may not have met all my goals, but I don’t think I have anything to be disappointed about.

Comments Off on A Final Few Finishes | Posted in Cross Stitch, Knitting | Tagged , , , ,

Final Week of 2009 Meme

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Heather

It is funny how the month of December seems to fly by.  First it is Christmas cards that need to be mailed and decorations that need to go up, then it is get-togethers, and before you know it is the big day.  Then there are the after Christmas sales and finally we say good-bye to the old year.  But, as Ferris Bueller says:

Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

With the end of the year and the end of the decade (depending on which school of thought you belong too) around the corner, I’ve had that quote in my head quite a bit.  (Okay, I’ll confess, I recently heard it again in an episode of Good Eats, and it really did strike a chord with me).  So, in the reflection kind of mood, I came across a meme on Melissa’s blog The Daily Mel.  She got The Final Week of 2009 Meme from the Sunday Stealing blog.  And, I figured, it is the perfect meme for me to do today.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

I tried some new knitting techniques, learned to crochet, and tried to be a good mom to a toddler.  All new things for me this year.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I’ll talk about this over the next couple of days.  But, in a nut shell, I did pretty good on my 2009 goals and I have some planned for 2010.

3. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?

I will be staying at home with my husband, a shrimp ring and a good movie. Baby Man will be sound asleep in the next room.I’m not really a fan of big parties, and we have a family get-together early on New Year’s Day.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?

We didn’t travel this year.  Baby Man isn’t quite ready for that.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Well, I suppose I could say world peace and an end to hunger, but that is a given, right?  I would like to have more patience and more sleep.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

That would be Baby Man’s first birthday.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I’m not really sure.  Maybe knitting an entire sweater jacket.  I never expected to be able to do that.  (Gosh, that sounds a little sad, doesn’t it?)

9. What was your biggest failure?

Losing my temper so often and not reaching my goal weight because I got lazy.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No, everyone was pretty healthy this year.  Baby Man did have roseola.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I think that I would have to say pre-ordering the Gaian Tarot deck.  And, actually, my husband bought that for me as my Christmas gift.  I have to wait until March to get it though. 🙁

12. Where did most of your money go?

Food and housing.  Okay, beyond that it went to yarn and cross stitch stash. Yikes.

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?

I’m not sure.  Maybe something from Glee like Last Name or Gold Digger.  (Yes, seriously.)

14. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Losing weight and teaching Baby Man things.

15. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Complaining and buying things I don’t need.

16. What was your favourite TV program?

Glee, Ugly Betty and Good Eats.

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nope.

18. What was the best book you read?

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Glee?  Yeah, I don’t listen to a lot of music beyond our local classical radio station.

20. What was your favorite film of this year?

We only went to see one movie, so I guess I would have to say Star Trek.  And it was a pretty good movie.  Much, much better than I expected.

21. What did you do on your birthday?

Dinner and a movie with my husband while my parents watched Baby Man.  He also bought me a great purple leather jacket.

22. What kept you sane?

Knitting, crocheting and cross stitch.

23. Who did you miss?

The people who have moved away (Chris & Jane, Haun & Mey) and my grandparents (who all died many years ago).

24. Who was the best new person you met?

I haven’t met too many people this year, but I would have to say a couple of neighbours from down the hall.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:

Sometimes you have to do things even if you don’t want to, but it really does make you a better person.  Oh, and your parents are right when they say you will understand things better when you are a parent yourself.

1 Comment | Posted in Memes & Collabs, My Life | Tagged

Unwrapped and Happy

Posted on December 26, 2009 by Heather

Christmas is over and the year is very quickly winding down.  I’m starting to think about my last few posts for this year where I plan to take a look at the goals I set for 2009 and set some new ones for 2010.  But, before I get into the serious end-of-the-year stuff, I thought I would take some time to share a little about my Christmas this year.

This was Baby Man’s second Christmas, and he was a little better able to understand what was going on.  Admittedly, he was more interested in running his big Mega Bloks truck into the presents under the tree, but by the time the gifts were just about all opened, he finally started to grok it.  When his 2nd birthday rolls around in just under a month, I think he will be opening all his gifts himself.

Baby Man was spoiled, of course, by Mom and Dad and by Grammy and Grampy.  He got lots of cars (which are his favourite things), including a little remote control car made just for little guys.

Baby Man and His Fire Truck

I was spoiled too.  My mom had the foresight to pick up some things for me back in June when my not-so-LNS in Hamilton closed.  So, I got three Victoria Sampler charts with the thread packs (M is for Mother, Harbour Village, and Heirloom Nativity, which also had fabric), two charts (Marjolein Bastin’s Watering Can and a Kat’s by Kelly chart) and a little ornament kit in my stocking along with a ball of that Mary Maxim sock yarn I like so much.  So, there is no way I will run out of things to stitch… well, ever, really. 🙂

My dad got me the weirdly cool AeroGarden 3, which I love.  It is set up in the kitchen, and its light is bright enough to light up nearly that whole room.  And my husband got me Alton Brown’s Good Eats: The Early Years, another favourite. (I’ve started a list of kitchen stuff I must now have.)

Everyone seemed happy with the knitted gifts I gave them.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures of most them.  Isn’t that always the way?  You forget to take pictures before the gifts are wrapped, and then forget to take pictures of them when they’ve been opened.  My mom did ask me to remove the ruffle I put on her Pfieffer Falls hooded scarf by Crafty Diversion, and I totally agreed with her.  Here is a bad picture of it with ruffle still on.

Pfieffer Falls by Crafty Diversion

Anyway, enough rambling about gifts.  I’m just happy that everyone seemed so happy with what they gave and received.  It was a good Christmas, and we all enjoyed the company so much.  It was especially nice because Baby Man is just so happy about everything.

As for the turkey dinner, well, we eventually ate at about 9:30.  Next year I am seriously considering Chinese take-out.

I do hope that every one of you had a wonderful Christmas, or just a wonderful day if you don’t celebrate it.  I read over 50 cross stitch blogs, and about another 15 knitting blogs.  I hardly ever post comments because, honestly, I don’t know what to say (even to the people I have actually met!).  But, I love reading about all of your projects and your families and pets and vacations and retreats and classes and whatever you choose to write about.  One of my goals in 2010 is to comment more to let you all know. 🙂

I hope you will all get a chance to put your feet up and cross stitch or knit or sew or whatever before the year ends.

2 Comments | Posted in My Life |