Stitch from Stash – February 2014 Check-In

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Heather

We are now 53 days into the year, and so far I have spent:

CAN$7.99

on stitching supplies. Yay!!! I purchased the March issue of Cross-Stitch & Needlework . And, since I bought the magazine during the Nashville Market Exemption Weekend, I didn’t dip into my budget for this month at all. Double yay!!!

Stitch from Stash 2014 button

So, what did I work on from my stash this month? My Torah section, which I just shared.

Torah Stitch by Stitch - Genesis 21:19-22

Torah Stitch by Stitch – Genesis 21:19-22

I’ve also been stitching on my small for this month’s Smalls SAL. (All of my smalls will be from stash this year.) And, I dug out my copy of Little House Needlework’s My Needle’s Work for a SAL that will be starting shortly. I haven’t done anything more than look at the pattern, but at least it came from my stash.

Now, I will admit that I am having a really, really hard time resisting the new Passione Ricamo mystery SAL. I really want to buy the pattern, even though I know I won’t be able to stitch it as the pieces are released. But, it works about to about CAN$20, and that is a lot of money for a pattern. On the other hand, it is an exclusive and I hate to miss out on things. 🙁  I hope that I can maintain my willpower.

I’m also doing well when it comes to spending money on other crafts. I bought exactly $0 of yarn and fabric over the past month. My husband bought me a bag of fibrefill for about CAN$15 at my request, since I was all out. So, that brings my total for the year (ignoring the exception weekend) to just under CAN$30. I’m very pleased by that.

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Torah Stitching Complete

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Heather

I (just) made my six month deadline for my Torah Stitch by Stitch! Yesterday morning, six months to the day that I started, I put in the last stitch.

Torah Stitch by Stitch - Genesis 21:19-22

Torah Stitch by Stitch – Genesis 21:19-22

I started stitching on August 20, 2013, and didn’t really accomplish much. I took it out again in November, and finished about half the lettering. By the middle of January, I had finished all the words and got started on the border. I took the piece with me on my cruise, and stitched a little bit on it at every port. I was even working on it the morning that I watched wild dolphins playing off the coast of Cuba.

Sarit's Birds

Sarit’s Birds

The cute, crazy little birds at the bottom come from the work of one of the organizers’ friends. Sarit is a fibre artist from Jerusalem, who creates these funky birds from fabric. Some of the birds were charted, and provided as an option to use to decorate the Torah sections. And, I thought they looked like fun so I stitched some. 😉

Stitching!

Stitching!

As a bonus, here is me stitching!

So, that is one of my projects crossed off my Turtle Trot list. It is time to move on to the remaining nine projects, and possibly cycle in another one. But, before I do that, I need to get to work on my small for this month’s Smalls SAL post. Check-in day is this coming Wednesday.

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Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Heather

Happy Valentine’s Day!

valentinecoupleI hope you are having a lovely day full of hearts, chocolate, and love.

Today is also Secret Stitching Sweetheart Day, another blog hop organized by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching. Head over to her blog to see a list of the participants, and be sure to stop by and wish them all a Happy Valentine’s Day. And, if you are my secret sweetheart, please let me know in the comments below.

Valentine from my Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Valentine from my Secret Stitching Sweetheart

In other news, I am final done jury duty! Yipee!! So, things should be getting back to normal soon. 🙂

16 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged

February Turtle Trot

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Heather

It is the same old story: I really haven’t had much time to work on things and I didn’t make much progress on my Turtle Trot projects. I did, however, at least get some work done on my Torah Stitch by Stitch.

Torah Stitch by Stitch - WIP

Torah Stitch by Stitch – WIP

Once I’m done the border, I’ll be stitching some birds in the empty area. The Torah Stitch by Stitch organizers have provided some charts, and I think they look interesting.

Torah Stitch by Stitch - close-up

Torah Stitch by Stitch – close-up

My goal is to have this finished by the end of the month, and cross one project off my Turtle Trot list.

Wonder what Turtle Trot is? Check out BAP Attack. But, in a nut shell, we are working our way (slowly) through some of our projects and posting monthly updates.

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Tooth Fairy

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Heather

Well, I was away for a little longer than I expected. This past Monday, the day after we returned home from our trip, I began a week of jury duty. In my city, we are called up for a week to sit on a selection panel. Our chances of being picked to be on a jury depends on how many trials are happening that week and, of course, how the two attorneys feel about you. I figured I was in for a week of waiting around, reading and knitting. But, by about 11:30 Monday morning I was picked to be on a jury. There went my week, and it isn’t over yet. On Tuesday we will hear closing arguments and be sequestered to make out decision. Hopefully it will only take that day, but who knows.

Anyway, on to other things! The Olympics are on again, so that means it is also time for the Ravellenic Games over on Ravelry. This weekend I’ve been working on a couple of projects, and finished up one.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

Tooth Fairy Pillow

The pattern is a freebie from Knit Picks: Tooth Fairy Pillow. The yarn is Knit Picks Brava in white. I made a few changes to the pattern, doing the roots like two-at-a-time toe-up socks using Judy’s Magic cast-on, and picking up stitches to knit the pocket.

When I finished it up, I told the little man that he can now start loosing his teeth. 😉

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Gong Hei Fay Choi – Year of the Horse

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Heather

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese-New-Year-2014-Horse-1If all is going well, we should be enjoying a relaxing day at sea. Tomorrow, we stop at Key West, and the on to home on Sunday. I’m not sure if the ship will be doing anything to recognize the Lunar New Year, but who knows.

歲歲平安 (May you have peace year after year.)

2 Comments | Posted in Site News |

TUSAL – January Check-In #2

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Heather

Two new moons in one month means two Totally Useless SAL check-ins in one month, as well. Today we are in Cozumel, probably watching a sea lion show. I’m hoping we will have a chance to have some really Mexican food, but my husband doesn’t like it…

TUSAL - January 2014 (part 2)

TUSAL – January 2014 (part 2)

This is what my little ort container looked like before I left for my vacation last week. I doubt that I’ve had much time to stitch on my trip. I’ve found on past trips that the ship moves to much for me to stitch easily. I usually knit instead. The container is mostly full of black orts, since I’ve been working on my Torah Stitch by Stitch piece. (The picture is bad because I snapped it quickly the afternoon before we left.)

tusalIf you’d like to know more about the TUSAL, check out this page on It’s Daffycat. Sharon lays it all out for you there.

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