Needlecraft Haven Monthly Challenge

I am finally here with a post I was intent on doing days ago but things happen and you lose your enthusiasm for a little while.

So last month ( I can't believe we are into February already ) the monthly challenge on Needlecraft Haven was to stitch and finish The Little Stitcher Sheep Day. Although it was a very quick stitch I was late in the month starting it and had to rush to finish it so here it is.

Of course I had to stitch this one didn't I? I must look to see what Christine has chosen for us this month.

I have had 5 new starts since my last post and 2 finishes :)

First up  two of the new starts which are also finishes.  These are quick stitches, very sweet and my new SAL with Barb. These are Days 1 and 2 from The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas.  We were going to do one a month but as they stitch up quickly we decided to just do another as we finish each one.

My other SAL with Barb is, of course,  those cute Little Sheep Virtues, and here is Gratitude which we started on Monday.  I wish we weren't coming up to this SAL ending as they have just been so lovely to stitch. 

Another finish that I have been unable to show until now is this which I stitched up as a birthday gift Mouse. I am happy to say she loves it.

M Designs Spring Garden ( from JCS March/ April 2011 )

28 count Count On Me Rose

DMC

Started 12th January 2014

Finished 21st January 2014.

Birthday gift for Mouse

New start no.4 is Cottage Garden Samplings March's Daffodils. Love this already!

Finally new start no.5 is Little House Needleworks The North Wind which I started with the ladies over at NH in the parlour. Not a lot done on it but it's a start.

I picked up Snowflower Diaries Angela again. I hadn't stitched on it since New Year's Day.

Finally on the stitching front is my SAL with Shirlee. I'm getting there with the house and I also now have a dog :) I really need to drop by Shirlee's blog to see how she's doing.

I've also been getting some knitting in. I finished the first strip on my afghan,  started the second strip and made a start on the first insertion strip.  I think I have renewed enthusiasm for this!

Just over a week ago postie brought me an envelope from The Patchwork Rabbit. When I opened it I got such a lovely surprise as someone gifted me these.

LHN Warm Winter Woollens and the threads to stitch it with . I have absolutely no idea who gifted me these so whoever you are thank you from the bottom of my heart. It really lifted my spirits. Look at the note Karla has written at the bottom lol!

I'm still doing well on Stitch from Stash. My purchase of stuffing did not count so up to my last post I had spent nothing :) So far for my next month I've spent 80 p for a skein of DMC I had run out of.

That's it for now. Until next time.

Take care everyone

With much love

Sally xxxx

January SFS

We are almost at the end of January so time to report on my SFS for this month as well as show my finishes, WIPs etc. There are 130 of us taking part in Mel's SFS 2014 and we each have an allowance of $25 a month but I am only going to use that for fabric,  threads and finishing items if I need them.

So if you will just bare with me for a paragraph or two I'll show my finishes etc further down.

I have had three starts from my stash this month so far. I started both Snowflower Diaries Angela and Lone Elm Lane Snow Angel on New Years Day and then Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Kindness.  I haven't stitched on Angela since my first few stitches but hope to get  back to her soon. I'm a bit disappointed that it's only 3 new starts from my stash but there are a few days left yet to start more lol.

I have worked on several WiPs this month and actually finished 3 of those WIPs as well as finishing one of my stitch from stash starts.

As for buying stash I have been very good. I haven't bought any charts, fabric or thread other than my autos which don't count. I have, however, bought a bag of stuffing at a cost of £7.99.

Admittedly I was desperate to buy myself some stash on the first anniversary of my Dad's passing but I thought it's not going to make me feel any better and I'll just feel a failure as,  even though we have an allowance each month, I don't want to buy new charts when I have all these in my stash.

 

So that's my round up for January's SFS. Onto my finishes now!

Tuesday was my dear friend Chris' birthday and here is what I stitched for her.

Nebby Needle True Friend

36 count flax linen

DMC

Birthday Gift for Chris.

I am happy to say that Chris loves it :)

Last Friday I popped the last stitches into my one of my SALs with Barb. This is Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive which I'm sure you will have seen on many blogs of late. I just love the words on this. I plan on getting a hanger from Sew and So later in the year when I'm need of something else! Barb and I will be starting The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas this Friday :)

Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive

32 count white fabric

DMC

Started 20th September 2013

Finished 17th January 2014

Monday evening and another SAL with  Barb saw me finishing this one. Ignore the year on this. My mind went into 2013 overdrive!

Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Kindess

32 count vintage country mocha linen

DMC

We'll be starting Gratitude next week :)

Next finish is my December SAL with Chris.  Yes at long last I have finished!  I just love this piece!

Country Cottage Needleworks Silent Night

32 count linen unknown colour

DMC

Started1st December 2013

Finished 21st January 2014

Final finish, which means all 4 that I hoped to get finished are done, is this one! I actually stayed up last night until gone 11pm to finish this! However had Abi and I not been standing at the landing window watching to see where the firemen were earlier on in the evening I wouldn't have had to stay up later! Apparently someone a couple of doors down had accidentally severed an internal gas pipe. Hmmmm could have been very nasty.

Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons

36 count WDW Straw linen

WDW

Started 8th July 2013

Finished 22nd January 2014.

So that's almost all my WiPs finished. What shall I do now? Of course Snowflower Diaries Angela will be getting some attention and I'll be carrying on with Snow Angel. I want something to replace Song of the Seasons in the parlour at Needlecraft Haven so I'm thinking of starting LHN The North Wind but I will have to change the robin for a British robin! I am also hoping to bet back to the Garden Journal series.

I joined in  the monthly challenge at Needlecraft Haven and Christine chose The Little Stitcher Sheep Day to stitch for January.  It's stitched but I have to make it up yet and have no ideas! Can't show it until reveal day and I hope I get it done before then.

Knitting now. Unfortunately I had to take back the block I was knitting right to the beginning of the pattern. It just would not go right and I was getting ready to scrap the whole thing and sell my wool! Anyway I set off again and managed to knit 20 rows without a problem so took it to craft group and knitted about 26!

So that's all I have to show for now and I'll,  hopefully, be back next week with WiPs to show and a finish that I can't show just yet. I'm feeling really pleased at getting those finishes done before the end of January. Tonight is Snow Angel with Shirlee and I am hoping for no frogs this week! I need to be stitching on winter designs seen as we still don't have snow here. We had a couple of lovely frosty mornings this week but that was it.

Until next time take care everyone.

With much love

Sally xxxx

Some Almost Finishes!

I am queen of the almost finishes this week! You know how it is you can see the finish but it's not quite there yet and no matter now much faster your needle goes it doesn't happen!  However by this time next week I * should * have 3 finishes or maybe even 4! Wow! To  be fair 3 out of those 4 were started last year.

So first almost is Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons. Just have some leaves etc and the  bottom part of tbe border to do. Hmmmm not sure I can get all that done on my next session on this one but I will try very hard!

Next one is Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive. I am hoping that when I pick this up this evening I can get it done. Barb has finished hers so we'll be starting The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas next Friday :)

Neither Barb or I finished Kindness on Monday but we don't have much more to do so we should get done next Monday then we can start Gratitude.

Look what arrived yesterday!  The last sheep and November's Garden Journal chart. So that's one auto done and one more to go on the garden journal auto.

I also had a couple of bits from Crafty Kitten. Dawn said she could get me some finishing forms when I asked about them on Facebook a while ago and they arrived just before Christmas along with the autographed chart I won on the Norden Crafts Facebook page. As I'd ordered a piece of Winter Skies opalescent fabric I had to wait for it all to be sent to me  but it was paid for in December so does not count as money spent during Stitch From Stash!

I think I went a little off the WIP track there! Here is another one I am hoping to finish soon. My December SAL with Chris. I just have snowflakes to do and finish another bit as I ran out of thread.

Lastly here's my SAL with Shirlee. I had to frog a little last night and, boy, this house seems to be taking forever lol!

I do have the one finish I can show now. Yesterday was my surrogate sis Lisa's birthday and this is what I stitched for her. I changed some of the colours to ones we both like and I added two hand charms to represent hands of friendship. I am happy to say Lisa loves it. I always get in a panic when stitching gifts!

The Primitive Hare Sister Stitcher

36 count flax linen

DMC and DMC Variations

After over a year of being away from it I picked up my knitting this week. Let me tell you it had become so close to going back in the bag! I took it to craft group with me and managed to get a couple of rows done no problem but then ended up having to take a row back and reknit it several times! Then I couldn't work out hkw to do yarn overs before a purl so asked the lady next to me. I got going with it only to discover I was somehow making 2 stitches with my yarn over each time! So I told her what was happening and she got the lady who runs it to help me out. So in two hours I only got 4 rows done! By the time I got sat down late in the afternoon to try it I'd forgotten what she'd shown me but I worked it out in the end!

That's it from me today.  I really must apologise for not visiting and commenting on your blogs. I will get around to it one day!

Take care everyone.

With  much love

Sally xxx

Stitching From Stash Has Begun!

Happy New Year everyone! The New Year is here and stitching from stash is now in full swing! Admittedly the charts I have started haven't been in my stash for long but it's still 3 from my stash! I have had a couple of finishes but can't show them yet. I managed one final finish in 2013 which was this one.

Little House Needleworks Little Sheep Virtues Frindship

32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

DMC

SAL with Barb.

We both made a start on Kindness this week. I stitched the tree and the wording. Can't believe we only have 2 more to stitch after this one. It has been a brilliant SAL and thank you so much Barb for not only being my stitching buddy but also a very dear friend.  Of course we are still SALing throughout this year as well :)

So my new starts first I think! New Years Day saw me having two new starts. Shirlee and I had decided to pop just a few stitches into Lone Elm Lane Snow Angel on New Years Day then make Thursday our actual day for stitching it. I didn't get a massive amount done and will admit to having a wee crisis with this fabric and wondering if I had made the wrong choice! It is 40 count Newcastle linen in Sand but as I am stitching the Garden Journal pieces on 40 count I should be OK.

My other start was The Snowflower Diaries Angela on 32 count Crafty Kitten Muted Garden opalescent using Nina's Threads and DMC. The lettering isn't showing up too well in this photo but I think it will be OK.

The 5th and final part of La Pensee Positive SAL came out last week so Friday saw Barb and I stitching on that. Here's my progress.  I shall be sorry to see this end but we will still be Friday SALing with The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas. I am looking forward to stitching plenty of Wintery designs this year!

I've been trying to get Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons finished but when I picked it up last night I stitched the word Autumn then realised it did not line up with Summer! Hmmmm! I checked Winter and it was positioned correctly which meant Autumn was as well. I was a little puzzled to say the least but then discovered that the I in Spring was not right so had to frog Summer and part of Spring!  Thankfully it wasn't too much and it didn't tKe me long to restitch it and carry on. I'm aiming to finish this by the end of the month. 

Finally my December SAL with Chris which is another one I'm hoping to finish by the end of the month. Chris has finished hers.

I'm hoping to get back to a proper rotation soon if I can as it's been a little hit and miss.  I have so much I want to stitch this year while I'm stitching from stash. Also want to get to the  bottom of my finishing pile too. We took some old frames to the charity shop a while ago and I kept one back to frame Curly Q Ewe. Can I find it?! Nope! I will have to have a good look. I thought I'd put it under the bed but.........

Thank you to those of you who voted in the poll in my side bar. There is still time to vote if you would like to. I haven't had a look lately but last time I looked the NYD one winning!

Last Saturday the 4 of us took a trip to Sheffield. We spent a couple of hours in an extremely busy Meadowhall before driving about 10 minutes down the road to the reason for our trip. At the beginning of December DH and I decided to book tickets for Sheffield Arena to see the FIM World Indoor Motorcycle Trials. We all love seeing it on TV so thought what the hell! We had a fantastic evening and what those guys can do with their motorbikes is no body's business! Unfortunately one rider injured his hand/ wrist and was unable to continue. The winner was God knows how many times world champion Tony Bou. He is amazing!

That's all for now. I'll try and get caught up on blogs soon. I've been getting tidied up after taking the Christmas decorations down and the post Christmas blues have now set in and games on my tab seem to be my best friend at the moment and the first anniversary on my Dad's passing is coming up and I have been struggling with that.

Take care everyone wherever you may be and whatever your weather is doing.

With much love

Sally xxxxxx

Almost 2014.

Well the New Year is almost upon us so that means that Stitch From Stash 2014 is almost here too. I have been good for a week now. My last chart purchase was iStitch Designs Sew Advent and Sew a Brown Bunny. I didn't sign up for Sew Advent when Carol announced the SAL as I knew I had too much on to keep up with it so when she released it once the SAL was over and I had also seen the lovely progress I decided to have that one last treat. I am rather ashamed of what I have bought lately but it's not all charts as I have bought fabric as I received a GC from Kerri ( no blog)  for Colour Cascade Fabrics a couple of weeks ago which I added pennies to so I could buy a Gold/ Silver Duet which arrived on Saturday. That was amazing as it was posted on Christmas Eve and winged its way from Australia in record time! I do have some fabric on order from The Crafty Kitten along with a couple of finishing forms which I have paid for today :) The next chart in the CCN Frosty Forest series arrived so that has gone away ready for when I start it sometime early 2014!

So even though there are still a couple of days left in 2013 I'm not going to succumb to anymore ordering! I will start as I mean to go on. No more charts until December except for buying one probably in November for the SAL Chris and I will be doing in December and fabric and thread when I need them.

Speaking of the SAL Chris and I will be doing next December I have set up a poll  on my side bar and ask if you would help us decide which one to stitch please! We have 3 and can't decide which one to do! Here are photos of the 3.

Barbara Ann Designs O Christmas Tree

 New York Dreamer Frosty Night

 UB Designs Beerenherz im Winter

So I guess I'd better show what I've been stitching and the gifts I received for Christmas. As I said in one of my last posts I finished both February's Primrose and Mary's Sampler but didn't show them. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish Mary's Sampler yet.

I can now show the challenge piece I stitched from the Jura Point De Croix blog. I loved stitching this. It was a must stitch for me!

I've been desperately trying to get plenty done on Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons so have been stitching mostly on that. I finished part 2 and am getting on well with part 3. It won't get finished before the end of the year but hopefully it will be an early finish in 2014.

A little progress on Friendship with Barb :)

The only other thing I can show is my progress on Country Cottage Needleworks Silent Night which is my December SAL with Chris. I settled down yesterday with it and got quite a bit done.

I stitched an ornament as a little gift for Michelle which she loves.

These are the lovely gifts that I received for Christmas in no particular order. This is what I received from Michelle.  Isn't that ornament so me!

This is my beautiful glass robin from Barb which was made by her DH Martin.

This lovely ornament came from Shirlee.

This lovely needle threader is from Lisa.

This is Rory the Reindeer which is from Lainey.

This lovely notebook is from Karan. I am going to use it as a stitching diary for 2014 and beyond :)

My DH bought me these fabrics and chart ( they were on my Christmas list! ).

Thank you all for my wonderful gifts. Hugs to you all :)

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. We had a quiet one full of happy memories, a few tears and lots of laughs. We ate far too much, drunk a little, watched a little TV and just generally chilled. I asked Father Christmas to bring us a Wii U console, which he did, and it's great fun. I downloaded the new Wii U Fit for free. It's a 31 day trial but if you buy a Wii Fit Meter and sync it to your console you get to keep the full version of the game which is a great deal. My meter arrived today so will see if I can get it synced! Hope so as it's no use without the game lol! It's been lovely just chilling and spending precious time together as, believe me, you never know what is going to happen. 

Anyway I have had a very successful stitching year finishing a grand total of 44 projects. Not as many as previous years but I've just been enjoying it and having great fun with it. There have been highlights and low points through the year. The highlight has to be my 50th birthday earlier this month as my family and friends made it so special for me. I will never, ever forget it as long as I live. The low point was January 14th when my dear Dad passed away. I still have guilt and I don't feel as though I have anyone I can talk about it to. Hopefully I'll be able to deal with it better in 2014. 

This is my last post for 2013 so I shall see you all, hopefully, in 2014 with some new starts, WIPs, SAL's and finishes. Thank you all for reading and commenting on my blog. It means the world to me. Happy New Year to you all!

With much love

Sally xxx

Sneaking in.....

One last post before Christmas! I have been panicking a little as I popped a little gift in the post to Shirlee at the beginning of December and as the days went by I was getting more and more worried that it wasn't going to reach her or it was stuck in customs as I forgot to remind the man in the PO that it needed a customs label. Of course he should have known really and not needed reminding if he knows his job! Anyway it finally arrived yesterday so a massive sigh of relief could no doubt be heard right across the world! 

So here is Shirlee's wee gift. Unfortunately I messed up big style making this up and it ended up a little too small to hold teabags without folding them but she loves it all the same so I am very happy! I included some teabags with it, Mango and Cinnamon, which I hope Shirlee will enjoy. 

The Little Stitcher Tea Time

Gift for Shirlee.

On Sunday evening I finished Cottage Garden Samplings My Garden Journal February's Primrose but will save that for after Christmas. I also finished PSS Mary's Sampler :). I'm getting down my WIPs now!

I was catching up on blogs the other day when I came across a mention of Stitch From Stash 2014 so I duly followed the link to see what it was all about it! I have my surrogate sis, Lisa, keeping me right and me keeping her right and my dear friend Barb too but I thought what better way to make it even better by joining Mel and all the others doing this. It will give me even more determination to make it through to December 2014 without buying although we have allowances but I won't be using that for charts and I certainly won't be using it every month or the full amount. The purpose of me stitching from my stash in 2014 is so that I don't buy anymore charts, get my charts down and stitch some of the beauties I have that have been neglected! So if you're interested in joining go have a look at this page on Mel's blog and drop her an email. 

That is definitely it now until after Christmas! Lol! The turkey crown is cooked as is the gammon and everything else is prepared just to go in the oven tomorrow. I get as much as I can done on a Christmas Eve so that I don't have to send all Christmas morning in the kitchen meaning more time with my family. I am just about to vac up and get a shower then we can all relax this evening. Jess and I have a Christmas Eve tradition of getting in our PJs and watching A Christmas Carol ( the Patrick Stewart version) and now Abi joins in too :) 

So again have a wonderful Christmas everyone and stay safe and warm if you are in areas of storms. The wind is supposed to whip up here this evening but further up North it is forecasted to be much worse.

With much love

Sally xxxx

Four Sleeps

It's hard to believe that it's only 4 sleeps to Christmas Day and not long to go to 2014. Where did 2013 go?

I'm trying to have as much of a clean slate for 2014 as I can but I know some things are not going to be finished! Last night I did finish part 4 of Jardin Prive La Pensee Positive which is one of my SALs with Barb. Unfortunately I discovered that I have messed up in several places on this part so am going to have to be very careful with part 5 as there is no way I'm frogging all that! It's personalised lol! I'm looking forward to part 5 in January then I will need to find a hanger I think and finish it as a bell pull.

I did say in my last post that I didn't know when I would get my December ornament for the Christmas All Year Round SAL finished but I decided, rather than having a new start for my 50th birthday, allbeit a bit late,  to try and get the ornament finished as well as  PSS Mary's Sampler. The ornament is stitched, not made up, so that's that SAL done for this year. I'm not sure if I will do it again next year if anyone takes it over as I've managed 24 ornaments over the last 2 years so my tree is looking lovely now. I will probably still stitch the odd ornament especially as I have all those JCS ornament magazines as well as the Lizzie Kate Flora McSample 2013 Stocking Ornaments.

And here's my progress on Mary's Sampler. Almost there.

Part 2 of Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons is almost done. Hopefully part 3 will get done a little faster!

I've finally got the trim on Country Cottage Needleworks Winter's Eve and Full Circle Designs Moonlit Joyride.  I've also completed the challenge piece for Jura Point De Croix and emailed a pic in but can't show that until after Christmas.

I also got some trim on Shepherd's Bush The Journey. I stitched this last year! The initials on this are mine and Barb's. 

I haven't stitched anymore on my SAL with Chris but hope to do a little tonight and try and get Mary's Sampler done too. Tomorrow evening I'd love to get February's Primrose finished if I can then I start the next one.

I went through all my charts the other day and listed them in To Stitch From In 2014. I have to say I got a considerable shock when I saw just how many charts I have and those don't include HAEDs! So I feel I've done the right thing deciding to go on the chart stash wagon until December 2014 then I will probably have a treat from my wish list before possibly doing the same thing in 2015 depending on how much of my stash I get stitched next year. It's not as though I don't have plenty to keep me going!

I'm really pleased with what I have stitched this year. It has been great therapy for me during what has been a difficult year. I am sure there are people who look at what I get done and think I stitch all day and all evening  but I don't.  I very rarely stitch during the day and the only times I do are for a couple of hours when I go to the craft group and when my friend Gill and I have our stitching afternoons. Sometimes on a weekend if I have nothing else to do I'll sit for an hour in an afternoon but that is very rare.

I am still having problems with my thumb. Overnight while I sleep it seems as though it is ceasing up so when I try and move it it clunks and clicks and is quite sore and painful. I am determined to keep stitching and Lisa B kindly sent me her Handeze gloves to try as she can't get on with them. 

All that remains now is to wish each and every one of you a Happy, Peaceful, Healthy, Stash filled Christmas and thank you for friendship, enabling and wonderful finishing to drool over!

With much love,

Sally xxxxx