December SAL is Finished!

Yay! I have a finish! Yes it's my December SAL with Chris at long last. I was determined to get it finished last Thursday so I stayed up until it was all done. I found some bits that I'd missed so couldn't go to bed until I was sure I had filled them all in!

UB Designs Beerenherz im Winter

32 count nougat linen

DMC

SAL with Chris.

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it off yet. Maybe framing,  maybe a wall hanging or maybe a cushion! I really love how it turned out.

I've also been doing a little bit of making up so here's Dear Santa and Spell of the Moon.

Both charts are still for sale along with Angels if anyone is interested. Just email me :).

I thought I might have a new start now the SAL is finished but I remembered I have my NH four seasons SAL to finish and the  Blessed ornament as well as an SB fob I started ages ago so I think I'll concentrate on those for now.

I've been busy stitching away in the virtual parlour on Wednesday evenings with Barb and the other ladies and here is where I am at with Frosty Forest :). I finished Snowy Reindeer last night so that will be some pennies earned for Stitch from Stash this month! It's going so well and I'm getting quite excited as it's almost done! This has been so fun to stitch.

My sweet robin is growing slowly but surely. There is a fair bit of confetti in that tree which drives me a bit mad so I shall be pleased to see the back of this page!

More progress on September's Morning Glory. These flowers are rather pretty and big!

Barb and I are still stitching away on our Halloween pieces.  Barb will be starting another one on Monday as she has finished her witch but I am still on Owls in Moonlight. As you can see I just have the border to do. Loving this one!

I made a start on the April Cottage last week and stitched a little more this week. I really like these cottages and the colours in them. March is up and on display :).

This Friday Barb and I will be starting our next ornament Snow Love which is snow cute!! I've been looking forward to this one ever since I first saw it! Love the fabric it is stitched on.  It's a shame these ornaments are put away in a box for much of the year.

That's all from me for now. I have another finish but as it is a gift I can't show it until it has been received.

Until next time take care everyone.

With much love

Sally xxx

February Stitch From Stash & Barb's Birthday.

It's that time of the month again where we report whether we've been good or bad lol! I did have a bit of an extra spend this month on top of the thread and fabric for my ornament auto so that is not good! I will explain later!

So here is my report.

Month: February.

Amount spent: £16.36 ( fabric and thread for CCN ornament,  3 charts )

Earned: £2 for teeny finish

Balance carried forward: £30.73

I am happy with that.  Lol.

Last month I saw the new Lizzie*Kate flip its and they just called to me with the frame of mind I have been in so I had a work out and knew I could manage them ( the first release is 3  charts ) and stay within my budget. I paid for them on Friday and will have them when they arrive with my ONS. They won't be getting started any time soon though! 

So I am sure you are wondering if I actually managed any of those near to finishes this week. Well yes I did! 3 of them but before I show those I have to show you something else! Last Sunday was my very dear friend  Barb's birthday. I stitched a sheep and a flower from Little House Needleworks Soft and Sweet and mounted it into a Tim Holtz pocket watch and here it is :).

Sheep from Little House  Needleworks Soft and Sweet.

32 count vintage country mocha linen

DMC

Birthday gift for Barb.

I am so happy to say that she loves it! I must admit that I loved it too!

So my other finishes now.

Blackbird Designs Spell of the Moon

32  count Weeks Dye Works Tin Roof

Classic Colorworks, GAST and DMC.

I love this! Just love the owl! Not sure how I will finish it. I will have to have a root around in my finishing stash to see if I can find anything that will do!

Tomorrow I'll be starting a Blue Ribbon Designs ornament which has owls! I'm a little  behind Barb now but we will be doing different Halloween pieces so it doesn't matter.

I was worrying a little that I wasn't going to get my March cottage finished in time but I don't know why as I didn't have that much to stitch so here it is. I just need to get it ready to hang.

Country Cottage Needleworks March Cottage

32 count natural opalescent linen

DMC.

All ready to start April on Tuesday! I just need to cut my fabric.

Final finish is, of course, this one.

Country Cottage Needleworks Dear Santa

32 count Light Exemplar linen

DMC & GAST

This was such fun stitch!

So I now have the charts for Dear Santa, Angels and Spell of the Moon for sale so do email me if you are interested :).

I did not quite manage to get Beerenherz im Winter finished but I am not far off now. I just love this design so much. 

Snowy Reindeer on Frosty Forest is coming along quite nicely. I think realising I am so close has spurred me on to try and get more stitched on it. I think I could finish it for Easter.

A little progress on September's Morning Glory next.

I almost forgot about a little more stitching on LHN Blessed :)

Finally my lovely robin. I was chatting to my surrogate sis Lisa, who I am SALing with, and I decided that my aim is to try and finish him by my late Dad's birthday next February so I have just under a year to get him done.

I do have another piece started. I'm taking part on the Four Seasons SAL on Needlecraft Haven but can only show my stitching on there until reveal day which for the Spring one will be 31 st March :).

Do you remember the SAL I did with the lovely Shirlee last year? We stitched Lone Elm Lane Snow Angel. Well it has been languishing in my finishing pile since and  my plan was some sort of a box finish . When my DH and I were Christmas shopping we popped into Hobbycraft so I could buy a paper mache box but I changed my mind and bought a wooden stitching hoop instead and this is how I have finished it.

I am not 100% happy with it but then again I doubt myself constantly!

I have also, finally, finished CCN The Tea Room so that I can hang it.

Again not 100% happy with it!

I still have several pieces to finish off. I get some done then add more to the pile lol!

Thank you for reading and for all your wonderful comments. Knowing you are all interested in what I do and your lovely comments keep me blogging.

Until next time.

With much love,

Sally xxxx

So Near......

Yet so far on some of my WIPs this week! Just a few more stitches on them and they'll be finished.  It's always the same though when you want to finish but your eyes are saying no go to bed!

First almost finish is Spell of the Moon. Barb has started her next one and I'm itching to start mine but just need a few more stitches in. I'll get my next one ready to start as I'm sure it won't take me long when I pick it up on Monday evening. 

Next almost finished is Beerenherz im Winter. Yes nearly there and it all meets nicely . I say almost finished but now I look at it there is the tree to do yet so maybe it'll take a couple more stitching sessions yet. *sigh* lol!

Almost finished no. 3 is Dear Santa. I thought this would be a fairly quick stitch and I was right. Just the red bit of the border to finish, the star on the tree and the dreaded French Knots!  I hate them!

Progress was made on the March Cottage which is just as well as I only have two more Tuesdays to finish it. I have to keep up with these so there will be no slacking!

The next Frosty Forest was duly started. I am getting quite excited that I only have this block and the middle one to do now. It seems to have taken forever  ( yes I know that's a bit of an exaggeration!  ) but it has been well worth it.

I stitched a bit more on September's Morning Glory. Lots of lovely colours in this one too just like all the others in the series.

I have so much I want to stitch and it's rather silly. Too many lovely charts in my stash that I want to start right now but too many other things on the go so it is definitely a good job I'm doing SFS again this year. I think I have just gone overboard  buying charts in the past and let's face it you can only stitch so many at a time. If I never bought another  chart for 10 years I'd have plenty to keep me going I think! Why oh why do we do it! Lol!

Thursday saw me going for my first appointment with a balance physio. I've been waiting since last June to be seen and am glad I've finally been seen as I see the consultant again in just over a week when I will, hopefully, find out the results of the scan I had.  Obviously nothing serious as that was done in November.  I had over an hour with the physio being assessed etc and I  came away with some slightly different exercises to do which I find a bit more difficult but they are to push me. She noticed whilst assessing me that my hips are not in alignment.  Although she said she shouldn't move away from the  balance thing she couldn't leave it incase it's anything to do with my dizzy spells etc  so has given me an exercise to try and free my hips off then next time she wants to look at the line of my back. All I want to do is feel 100% again  but I'm not confident although she did think there was some improvement since I first saw the consultant.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post. I have finally got caught up on blog reading and commenting. I really should learn not to leave it so long before I do it! 

That's all for now. I really need to get some more finishing done to get the pile down. I seem to have got myself in a rutt of late but I'll get there one day!

Take care everyone and stay warm and safe if you're still having snow storms. None here and it looks Spring might be on the way. I'm so not ready as I don't feel we've had a decent winter yet!

With much love.

Sally xxxx

A Frosty Finish!

Well a part finish at least! So it's 7 down and 2 to go :). Yay the end is in sight!

Country Cottage Needleworks Frosty Forest Snowgirl's Cottage

32 count pearl grey linen

DMC & GAST

I'll be starting the next one next Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get it stitched faster than Snowgirl's Cottage!

Barb has finished Spell of the Moon this week but I am not quite there yet. I just love how the moon changes the look of the owl! He looks quite evil now but in a cute way! I think I should have it finished Monday then I'll be starting a Blue Ribbon Designs one from the JCS mag.

The March cottage is coming along nicely. As February is a short month I need to get a move on with March so that it's ready in time.

I am happy to say that it looks like the wreath on Beerenherz im Winter meets up! I got a little worried as I was stitching along on Thursday but it looks OK so fingers crossed!

Barb and I have started our next ornament which is Dear Santa. As with all of these I am using the recommended fabric and threads.  I had a good start on mine last night and I don't think it will take too long to stitch. Karla very kindly resent the missing Christmas Cookies chart etc  this week along with the next chart Christmas Cheer and the final part of the Lizzie Kate Things Unseen Mystery which I had signed up for last year so that was some nice post. Then Barb kindly passed on Lilli Violette With You chart which she had stitched. Such a sweet design and one which I hope to stitch sometime this year.

Lesleyanne has kindly lent me LHN Blessed so I made a start on that when Gill came for a crafting morning on Thursday.

Last but not least is my progress on my robin. I finished the 10 rows I have been stitching on and started the next 10. Lisa has finished Frosty and he looks stunning! We'll be carrying on SAling though which I am very happy about :)

I have also been doing some knitting. Abi asked me if I would knit her a shawl she had seen. Well I've been taking it to craft group with me until I reached the lace pattern and that pattern has been causing me grief!  Lol. I think I must lose concentration or something as I've had to take it back three times! Fingers crossed it's right now and I can get on with it! I'll take a photo when I get more done. 

Well our forecast of snow didn't come to much unfortunately although we did get a very nice flurry on Monday afternoon. It was lovely to watch it falling. There is just something so magical about it.  There was only a slight covering so it was rather disappointing. No more forecast for now as the jet stream has moved and the more time moves on I can't see us getting a decent fall.  I know we have had snow into March and April in the past but we shall see. God willing there is always next winter!  I think because we didn't get anything last Winter it just gets more disappointing!

We went to the cemetery this morning to put some flowers on my parents and parent - in-law's graves. Tuesday would have been my Dad's 86th birthday. I took my camera with me and took just a few photos. I can't take claim for the robin I'm afraid as I couldn't get my camera to focus to Abi took it for me with my camera. 

This angel is beautiful. 

 Sweet robin

 This squirrel looks like he's been in the wars!

Sparrow in my garden this morning.

That's all for now. I might have a couple more finishes next week if I'm lucky! Lol.

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxx

February Already?!

Where did January go? The weeks are just flying by and how I wish we could just wave a magic wand and stop time from going so quickly.  January was quite a productive month for stitching and I hope February will be the same.

I have had my first finish for February although it was started * hangs head in shame * back in early November!  To be fair it did get put away for a while.

Cottage Garden Samplings August's Poppy

40 count pearl grey linen

DMC

So that's 8 down and 4 to go! September's Morning Glory has been started so I'm hoping I might just get them all finished by mid year. Please! Lol.

In my last post I showed my finished CCN ornament Angels and here it is all made up ready to hang on my tree next December.  I finished it the same as the model and I love it! Barb and I will start Dear Santa, the next ornament, on Friday.  Typing of ornaments the Christmas Cookies chart, threads, button and fabric remains missing in Royal Mail's clutches so Karla is very kindly sending me another package out this week so here's hoping that one arrives!

For a couple of evenings last week I tried to get as much as I could done on Beerenherz im Winter which was my SAL with Chris. She finished hers a while ago and I can see the end of mine now. Well sort of! I don't seem to be able to get into a good flow with it as you have to change colours quite often but is it well worth it as it is so pretty. So just a little more of the wreath to do and the final tree. Hopefully not too much longer.

I still have quite a bit to do on Spell of the Moon which is my other SAL with Barb. I have picked out my next Halloween stitch in readiness for finishing this though!

I ran out of one of the greens on the March Cottage but thankfully the local DMC stockist had it in. I do hate having to pay 80 p a skein when I know I can get it cheaper online but when I only want the odd one it's not worth putting an order in. I know it should be dearer than 80 p as the lady in the shop has told me that it should be about 90 p.

Frosty Forest got a little more attention than usual as I stitched on it Wednesday evening then again at Gill's on Thursday morning. Hopefully Snowgirl's Cottage will be finished this week and I can start on the next one.

Finally my lovely robin! I started this nearly 2 years ago as it was started on 10th February which was my Dad's first birthday after he passed away. It should really have been finished by now but it did get put away for a long time. It won't be going away again as I'm determined to get it finished.  This page is hard going where the tree is but, hopefully, once that is done I can get a move on.

Many of you both in the UK and in the USA have been seeing lots of snow. The forecast keeps saying we'll get some here on the coast and it doesn't come. Just rain and more rain :(. Last Thursday afternoon it started to snow but within minutes it had stopped and there wasn't even a covering. I was so disappointed!  I envy those of you who have had plenty although I'm sure many of you are wishing you didn't have it! I miss a good snowfall. It is forecast to remain very cold and there is still snow forecast but it seems to change several times a day!  I will just have to keep stitching it instead!  Not the same though lol!

Take care everyone and stay warm and safe.

Until next time.

With much love.

Sally xxxx

January Stitch From Stash

Here I am with my very first Stitch from Stash post of 2015. This year, after reading blogs from other SFS participants, I have decided that I'm using £25 for my monthly budget. Stash is quite pricey over here and we don't get much for our money. However this does not mean I am going to allow myself to spend £25 but it's there if I happen to need fabric and threads during one month as it would soon go! My goal this year though is to do even better than I did last year, use as much fabric etc from my stash and get my chart collection down.

So here is my report then I'll get onto my stitching!

Month: January

Spent : £8.91 ( fabric for Classic Collection ornament, hand dyed threads. Not yet received. Possibly lost in post :(  )

Earned: £4 ( For finishing Jenny Bean's Pin Tuffet )

Total to carry over: £20.09

I have started a grand total of 4 charts from my stash and finished 3 of those but only one counts towards my earnings ( a new feature for SFS this year ) as I've had the chart in my stash over 6 months. 

Wednesday was Chris' birthday and I had been stitching away on a gift for her and here it is.

With Thy Needle and Thread Blue Bunting

32 count Vintage Country Mocha Linen

DMC, GAST, WDW.

Birthday Gift for Chris.

This is my first watch fob finish and it certainly won't be my last. Chris loves it too :)

WIPs now and everything is coming along quite nicely even though I say so myself.

My robin is getting a little progress every Saturday evening. It may not be growing very quickly but these things are time consuming! I kept looking down the page thinking oh my God such a lot of confetti where the tree is! It made me want to give up there and then but I know I can do it! 

Barb and I have been carrying on our Halloween SAL so here's my progress on BBD Spell of the Moon. Unfortunately the skein of CC Black Coffee that I found in my stash is not the same shade as the one I'd already been stitching with but hopefully it won't be too noticeable.

My March Cottage should be finished in good time! These lovely little charts are such a joy to stitch :)

No snow here but it's snowing plenty over in the Frosty Forest and Snowgirl's Cottage is growing quite nicely. 

I've managed a teeny bit of progress Beerenherz im Winter. I just love this piece. It looks so pretty so far.

Silly me I totally forgot my progress on August's Poppy. Some frogging needed to be done unfortunately!

Finally Angels with Barb is finished! I did have to frog some as it turned out not only was the centre angel too high she was also too far to the left! Duh! She is still too high but I had to restitch her that way or everything would have been wrong! How can something so simple cause problems! We'll be starting our next one in February.

Country Cottage Needleworks Angels

32 count Lambswool Linen

DMC and Classic Colorworks

Thank you for all your lovely comments and for your congratulations for Jess. She's had a bit of a shaky start this week after the rota got changed and no one let her know or someone ( not Jess! ) got  things mixed up but everything is good now! 

I really must apologise as I still haven't visited all your blogs yet. I will get there as I love to see what you are all working on and I love getting inspiration.

Take care everyone.

With much love.

Sally xxx