Wednesday 27 May 2015

May's Small Stitch and In Season progress

When it has come to stitching this month the mojo just hasn't been there. The knee has healed well and I'm done with physio now but a wicked sinus infection set in and I just haven't felt like doing much of anything except sleeping.
This week, thanks to the help of antibiotics, I am feeling much better and the mojo has kicked into overdrive! I suddenly realized today that I hadn't even started anything for the Small SAL. Now you may not realize it but since I first joined this SAL I have not missed a month yet. So I set about to see what I could come up with in a very short period of time. Here's the result:




 This little vintage iron has been in my possession now for about 3 years. I always knew that I wanted to add a cross stitch finish to it but I just hadn't found what I was looking for. Then this spring Blackbird Designs released their booklet In Friendship's Way which contains several small stitches. They are all meant to be finished as a strawberry emory but I had other ideas!

I started stitching Emily's strawberry, as it is called, this morning and by dinner I had the final finishing completed. I am finishing challenged at the best of times and there were several small issues which is why the chenille trim was put in place, lol! However I have learned a lot for the next time and you can bet there will be a next time. I have a couple more of these irons in a larger version that I will be finishing in the future.

Remember that other BBD piece I started.... Button Box? Well I finally have some more lots of various called for floss that will work much better and I pulled it out this evening to frog some things and then continue on my way. Too early for a pic yet but on the next post for sure!

Besides this I have been working at a quicker pace on WTN&T In Season. It also sat neglected for much of the month and the progress that you see here has mostly occurred in the last week.



So far, so good when it comes to the floss colours on this. I'm liking what I see. There are two Valdani floss used in this one of which is the blue of the basket and I do love working with them. Only complaint that I have is that these balls of floss are 3 strand and I'm using 2 strands on the 32ct which always leaves me with one odd strand. It would have worked much better if I'd have used a 36ct fabric. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who sent well wishes my way during my recent knee surgery and recuperation. As I mentioned above I am done with my physio appointments but I will be continuing with the exercise program at home for some time. The knee is still stiff but my surgeon told me they had a few issues during the procedure which are responsible for a lot of the stiffness. It will subside over time. I'm driving again but I do find it a bit uncomfortable and I'm limiting the distance that I travel right now. However I see road trips in the near future so look out! 

Monday 4 May 2015

May WIPocalypse

Is it true? It's really May! Not only that but it's WARM!!! Actually today was warm enough that we need the air conditioning in the car and that's when we discovered that it's not cooling all that well. So as soon as I'm able to take the car in I guess I can add that to the brake job. Ouch! 
Actually I love the heat and I can do without the air most of the time. It's just that today was soooo windy that we couldn't hear ourselves talk in the car so we turned on the air to cool things down and quiet them as well. Wasn't long though before those windows were open again and we travelled the rest of our journey in silence. 

The warm weather is getting me motivated to stitch since I'm not able to garden yet. I'll be depending on my boys to help me out with that again this year. The first day of the month led to a new finish.... Primitive Betty's Pure & Pleasant.


I'm on the hunt now for some fabric to finish this one off with. I love the blues and browns which is what attracted me to this design in the first place.

BBD Button Box is back in my rotation again and I should have some updated photos soon.
In the meantime I had a new start..... With Thy Needle & Thread In Season. I'm just getting going with this one but loving every stitch so far! I'm using the recommended fabric and floss.


My WIPocalypse 2015 list isn't being whittle down a lot but as per the norm I'm adding new designs to it constantly.

I'm finally starting to feel more comfortable driving distances in the car and as a result I was able to see both of my husband's spring concerts with his two community concerts. I must admit though that after an hour drive each way and sitting for more than an hour that I was pretty darn stiff afterwards and tired to boot.
Sunday I decided to try going into Ottawa for the day with my hubby to church and then to brunch after with a friend. We picked an awesome day to have our brunch outdoors along the Rideau Canal at the Canal Ritz




 This is one of our favourite eating spots and let me tell you, it's a lot more enjoyable to see the Canal like this than the last time I saw it!



The Rideau Canal is known as the world's largest skating rink (7.8 km long or 4.8 miles) and they had a record breaking season of 59 continuous days of skating. Like I said, I'll take the current condition!

That about covers things here. I'll be seeing the surgeon for the first time this week since my replacement and getting the official okay to drive. Yahoo! Then watch me go!!

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