Category: mystery sampler

Fox And Rabbit MSAL
cross stitch · Fox and Rabbit · Hand Dyed Fabrics · mystery sampler

Fox And Rabbit MSAL

My Time Stitching12 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! It is snowing where I am, so I have now had to accept that Winter is definitely here, even though the calendar says it is Fall. It is beautiful, looking out from my craft room window. And I am happy that I don’t have anywhere to go. I am also thankful not to be on the west side of my state or in Buffalo, New York right now. I think that is where they are getting blasted with a lot of snow and snow so hard that visibility is almost nil.

So I wanted to talk a little about the Fox & Rabbit Mystery Stitch A Long. First I have to say that this company is so awesome. They have been giving us FREE Mystery SAL’s for the last 6 years! The first one was in 2017 and that was my very first sampler that I ever stitched. I loved every minute of that stitch. It hangs in my craft room so I can see it whenever I am in my happy place 🙂

The Samplers from 2017-2021 are available for purchase on the Fox & Rabbit website. The current 2022 MSAL is available for FREE at least until the end of the year. So if you are interested in stitching the 2022 sampler, you can still download all of the sections through November for FREE and the December section will be available December 1. With these samplers, you choose the fabric and the threads you want to stitch with. It can be whatever you want it to be. I have stitched all but 2 of the samplers and they are well written and so beautiful. You can join their facebook group and see all of the beautiful fabrics and threads chosen by so many people from around the world. I can’t say enough how thankful I am for this company and their generosity with their beautiful designs.

As you know, I have been stitching on the 2022 MSAL even though I procrastinated when it first came out in January. I am so happy that I decided to add this project to my list this year and am over the moon happy that I was able to get it all caught up a couple of months ago. Which brings me to where I am now with the project.

This section was actually stitched sideways on my scroll frame and I was worried that my DMC variegated floss would not look nice, but I love the way it turned out. I did manipulate the colors where I wanted, like in the vase. I purposely made the vase and leaves darker, with the thought that I wanted the flower more red.

This is my finished piece so far. It is a very large piece, too. And I am so happy with how it has turned out. So now I wait to see what December will bring to finish off this gorgeous design. Many thanks again to Brendan at Fox & Rabbit for this beautiful and generous design. For the details; the fabric is 16ct Aida Winter Wishes from Fabrics By Stephanie. The floss is DMC 115 for most of the project with DMC 902 for backstitching the letters.

So that is what I have been up to. For now I will leave you with a picture of the view out my craft room window and wonder what are you stitching on?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

I Knitted A Hat!
cross stitch · Fox and Rabbit · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted hat · Knitting · mystery sampler

I Knitted A Hat!

My Time Stitching10 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! Happy Veteran’s Day to all the Veteran’s out there and thank you so much for your service. I am grateful to all that served and to those that serve today.

So winter will be here soon. Probably much quicker than I want it to be. I have a lot of hat patterns in my Ravelry that I want to make and plenty of yarn, too. My stash is way out of control and I am starting to feel really guilty about it. So, I thought that making hats would be a great way to knock out some skeins. I purchased a kit from Speckled Finch Studios last year. Actually I bought several kits from her. I do love her yarns. Anyway, I pulled out a kit that contained a skein of Cozy Worsted in the color Sangria and The Dragon’s Gate Hat pattern by Gamer Babe Knits.

Casting this on was heavenly! The yarn is so soft, squishy and bouncy.

I can’t tell you the last time I knitted some ribbing. It was actually relaxing and rhythmic.

The chain link looking cable is so easy. I didn’t even have to use a cable. Just slipped the stitches off and let them hang out there. The yarn just stayed in place. You can’t really see much of the cable here, but it is there. Blocking will definitely help open those stitches.

Then it was time for the dreaded Double Pointed needles. I must say that I really didn’t mind them so much for this pattern. The thing that throws me off is when there is a pattern to knit and some stitches are on one needles and the rest of the pattern is on the next needle. But I am getting better at knitting with the Double Pointed Needles. I’m still not a fan of them, but they are needed sometimes. Like the crown of a hat.

And in just a few days of knitting off and on, I have a finished hat. Complete with a really cute tie in Pom that also came with the kit. I was confused as to which size hat to knit from this pattern and chose the size 4, which the designer also knit for the photo. I think my hat is a little smaller than I wanted. It is supposed to be an adult sized hat. I did have quite a bit of yarn left over, so next time I will go up a couple of sizes. My chain link cable stitches are not very noticeable, so I will block it a bit in order to open up those stitches. But all in all, it is a cute hat and I would definitely make it again. The pattern is really easy to knit and easy to remember as you knit along. It is available on Ravelry, too.

Now for my cross stitch followers…I promise you that I have been cross stitching, too. I was working on Rosamund for a little bit, then switched to the Fox & Rabbit MSAL 2022. I am so proud of myself for getting all caught up on this project after starting it so late. And those borders were so long! I just started working on the November section.

Sorry about the lighting on this one. I had trouble getting a good picture of it this morning. I am hoping to get this section finished before the December section comes out. I am assuming that there will be some kind of design around the border, and that will take some time. This piece is quite large, so adding stitching around the border will not be a quick section I am guessing. I am using DMC 115 with a darker solid color (DMC 902 I think) for outlining the lettering. The fabric is 16ct Aida Winter Wishes from Fabrics By Stephanie

That is what has been on my knitting needles and my sewing needle so far 😉 I have visions of starting new projects!! What is on your needles?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

A Knit Finish and Cross Stitch Progress
Bella Fillapina Designs · Cross Stitch Patterns · Fabric · Fox and Rabbit · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Knitting · mystery sampler · yarn

A Knit Finish and Cross Stitch Progress

My Time Stitching14 Comments

Hello my blogging friends! We are expecting severe storms where I am, so I am hoping to get this post in before the storms come. Though it is getting pretty dark out right now.

So, when I finished knitting the last baby blanket, I decided that I wanted to finish the last 2 projects that have been in my WIP pile for the last couple of years. First up is Windsor Mitts. I started the first mitt in November of 2020 and I don’t think that I posted about them. So here is my start from almost 2 years ago.

Windsor Mitts start

A friend gave me this set of teeny tiny circular needles to try and I happened upon the Windsor Mitt’s pattern and it just happened to need this size 2 needle. I was not sure about knitting with this tiny circular, but it turned out that I loved it! So much better than Double Pointed Needles, which you know I hate.

Mitt progress

I was knitting right along with the tiny needles and loved how the pattern was turning out. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca and it is so soft.

Looks like it fits!

I just couldn’t wait to try it on. So far so good! so that brings us to where the mitt was when I picked it up a couple of weeks ago. I still had the thumb to do. Ugh! Double pointed needles…

Double Pointed needles for the thumb

I only had to do about 9 rows, so it actually wasn’t so bad. I finished it and then cast on the 2nd mitt with the tiny circular needle.

Knitting in miniature
Finished Mitts

And I finished them! Another project out of my WIP pile and just one more crochet project to go 🙂

For cross stitching, well there are still quite a few projects in that pile. But I will share what I was stitching on in July. First here is the progress I made on Esmerelda.

Esmerelda

This is as far as I got on her before putting her away. She is from Bella Filipina Designs and I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Oberon from Fabrics by Stephanie.

And the last project I worked on is the 2022 MSAL from Fox and Rabbit.

And this is how it looked when I put it away to do some crocheting. I really love the colors I chose. I am usually not a fan of red, but this is regal! The fabric is 16ct Aida Winter Wishes from Fabrics by Stephanie and threads are DMC 115 with DMC 902 for outlining the letters.

2022 MSAL

I still have the inner border to finish and the outer border to do. And the August section just came out, so I will need to get busy on it soon. This design is FREE from Fox & Rabbit Designs. New sections come out on the 1st of the month through December.

It is storming now. Thankfully I took these photos this afternoon while the sun was still shining. I will end this post with a sweet photo I took this week of a beautiful little visitor. Until next time, happy stitching!

A Friendly visitor

Ginny

I Am Now A Crocheter!
Crochet · cross stitch · mystery sampler · yarn

I Am Now A Crocheter!

My Time Stitching21 Comments

It is a beautiful fall day outside.  I am sitting in my craft room with my New laptop, looking at all the beautiful colors and watching the leaves blow off the trees.  The last couple of months have been busy with so many things; weekend trips, yarn shop hopping, a wonderful visit from my mother in law (it was way too short) unpacking boxes and finding places for things, internet issues and my Surface tablet decided to stop working 😦  But  I still found time to create 🙂  So I am doing my first blog post on my laptop, so please excuse any typo’s.  The keyboard is pretty flat and I am not used to that at all, especially with long nails.  I’m not very techy, so I am still learning how to use this thing.  Hubby has already received several “help desk” calls from me this morning.  So onto the fun stuff.

I can confidently say that I am now a crocheter.  I have crocheted off and on since I was 11, but I am not very good at it.  While I have made some crochet items, they had issues.  Especially in keeping my sides straight.  And I have never been able to crochet a granny square.  Until now!!  It all started with this pumpkin.

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A few weeks ago I took a class to make this pumpkin.  It’s not very big.  As you can see in the photo, it is sitting on top of a candle stick.  I thought I would get it done in class, but no.  I had gotten the tiny circle that is the bottom and one strip up the side.  I was very frustrated in class and had no idea what I was doing.  A couple of days later, I whipped this thing up like I had been crocheting all my life!  I can’t explain it, other than the one who tried teaching me when I was 11 was working through me.  I can’t tell you how excited I was to have done this.  So then I had to pull out the new CAL patterns from Cherry Heart,  ( I have such a weakness for her patterns) Nature’s Walk Blanket.

natures walk blanket cal

I fell in love with the look of this blanket the first time I saw it over the summer.  I had printed out the first few patterns and ordered some yarn through my local yarn shop.  I thought since I crocheted a pumpkin, maybe I can crochet a granny square.  So last week I pulled out the patterns, read through the intro and pulled out my yarn and hook and began crocheting the gauge block.  With some tips from the sweet gals in the Black Sheep Wool group, I was able to crochet my very first ever, granny square!!!

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It’s not perfect, and I know where I made some mistakes.  I was so geeked and proud of myself for making a square I didn’t even realize it had hearts in it until someone pointed it out to me.  Duh!  I may just use this pattern for some of my squares.  It is so cute! My gauge was close enough and I was confident that I could get started on the first part.  And boy did I!

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I stitched up all 8 of the Gates squares and the first Berries square in a week.  I am over the moon!!  They still need blocking.  Hubby made me this nice box to put my squares on to block them.  He doesn’t usually do things like this, so it is even more special that he did this for me ❤

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Last night I started crocheting a square from the most current pattern, the Star.

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I’m not going to lie.  This one was a bit difficult.  One of my points is a little off, but I do know what I did wrong.  I will finish this one out and then get back to the berries and make 7 more of those.  I am loving this CAL and am looking forward to having a beautiful blanket of granny squares out of these colors:

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I’m using Berroco’s Comfort DK. I was able to get 5 of the gates squares out of a skein.  This CAL is free from Sandra of Cherry Heart along with Black Sheep Wools.  I believe you can still get in on it if you are interested.  You can get more information at the Cherry Heart Blog

I also finished cross stitching  the Sunflower Pillow I was working on.  It turned out beautifully and the recipient was quite happy with it.

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I also stitched the July thru October sections on the 2019 Mystery Sampler, so I am all caught up on that and can’t wait to see what the last 2 border sections look like. This is also free through Linen and Threads.

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And I started stitching on a little Baby Princess Tiana from Les Petites Croix De Lucie.

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She is so adorable!!! My favorite princess, too 😉  But she is a lot of work!  Lots of crazy backstitching. She was the first of 9 little Princess Babies. I believe the 6th one just came out.

So that is what I have been up to the last few months. What new project are you working on or what project have you finished?

Summertime Stitching
cross stitch · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · mystery sampler · Nora Corbett · Sampler · Uncategorized

Summertime Stitching

My Time Stitching21 Comments

Hello my friends!  The summer is getting away from me and I know it’s been a little while since I last posted.  Our basement has come along nicely.  The waterproofing is done, the construction is done, it has been painted and carpeted, finally.  It is furnished with a couple of chairs and tv.  Office furniture has been put together and the computer and printer set up and files in the filing cabinets.  Mostly my cross stitch patterns, but some files, too, LOL.  Book shelves have been put together and books on the shelves.  They were filled pretty quickly with both hubby’s and my book collection.  And my Scrapbook cabinets have been brought down and filled with the scrapbooks.  The only thing left to do is get the doors sanded as they don’t fit now with the carpeting, and go through all the bins and boxes in the garage and bring down what we want stored in the storage room.  That will be a slow process as it has been so hot in the garage, and up and down 3 floors is taking a toll on my knees.  But it will get done.

I have been stitching whenever I get a chance.  Mostly evenings and when I am not so tired.  So I will share what I have worked on the last month or so.

Wherefore art thou progress 3

Nora Corbett’s Wherefore Art Thou came out for a little bit and I got quite a bit done on her.  Hopefully the next time I pull her out I will get her finished.  I am stitching her on 16ct Aida, a one of a kind from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  I am using all hand dyed threads on this one.

wingspan progress

I haven’t worked on this one in a few weeks, but so far so good on this one.  It is the famous WingSpan Shawl by Kyle Vey.  There are about 45-50 rows on my needles, even though it does not look like it.  I have finished row 24-1 and am looking forward to getting back to this one.  I am knitting this one for someone and maybe I will get it done before X-mas, LOL.    I have ordered yarn from Blue Brick to make one for myself, and hopefully I can get through this pattern without any problems and want to do it again for me.  The yarn I am using on this one is Mirasol’s Qulla in Moonlight colorway.  This pattern is available on Ravelry if you want to give it a go.

mermaids garden mkal

A couple of weeks ago I joined the Mermaid’s Garden MKAL from Softyarn Designs.  At first I thought my knitting was too loose.  I was getting gauge, but it just seemed off for me.  Not sure why, as it is a mystery and  I really didn’t know how it was supposed to look.  So after about the 5th start, I decided to keep going and busted butt to get caught up this week.  I am LOVING this shawl!  I’ve learned some new stitches with this one like Sea Urchins, Little Sea Shells and stitches that look like mermaid scales.

close up of mermaid shawl 2

I can’t wait for Clue #4 to come out tomorrow, and then the final Clue #5 next week.  So there is still time to get in on this one.  It is available on Ravelry. The yarn I am using is Mermaid’s Ass from A Whimsical Wood Yarn Co.  How appropriate, right?  I also purchased some yarn from AJHC Wools in DK in Tawaret colorway to make this one again.  It is a mauve color with some blue/purples specks throughout, but more of a solid color.

2019 Mystery sampler progress

I added the June section (lower left corner) to the 2019 Mystery Sampler from Linen and Threads.  I am stitching this on 16ct Graceful Gray from Wichelt and using DMC 3810 and Gloriana thread in Rainforest.

sunflower pillow progress 2

And in between all the projects, I have worked on the pillow.  I don’t want to show all of my progress because I want it to be a surprise for the recipient.  This one goes slow, with so much confetti stitching.  But it is really growing on me and I am liking the colors right now.  So bright and cheery.

I have also put a tiny few stitches into a new afghan project, but there really isn’t much to show on that one, so I will share when I have more to show.  I have also tried my hand at Tunisian Crochet, but not having a lot of luck with it.  As with all of my crochet, my edges are wonky and I still struggle with where to insert my hook.  I have 2 more classes left, so I’ll see what I can absorb and if it will finally click with me. My teacher, Jen, says I can do it, so I keep trying.  Wish me luck!

So that is what I have been doing with my summer so far.  What fun projects are you working on?

And Just Like That It Is June
Crochet · Crocheted Wrap · cross stitch · Diamond Painting · Knitting · mystery sampler · Sampler · yarn

And Just Like That It Is June

My Time Stitching31 Comments

Hello, friends!  I can’t believe it is the start of Summer, unofficially.  Though today doesn’t feel like it as it is only 59 degrees.  But that’s ok.  So what have I been up to?

Well, I started this Willowy Wrap crochet pattern back on March 4.  I know, crochet??!!  The pattern is by JL Creations, the crochet expert at my LYS.  It was released on March 3 at the shop in conjunction with AJHC Wools.  I saw it at the shop that day and it was so beautiful and soft that I just had to try it.  So here is how my progress went:

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progress on willowy wrap

Just about finished!!  So excited!

wrap finished

Finished, just needs blocking.

wrap soaking

Just look at all of those luscious colors soaking in the water.

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I am so geeked at how straight my sides are!  This is the first project where my sides are not all wonky.  And look how straight that blocking is!  So proud of myself 🙂

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And here it is all finished! I am so excited to get this one finished.  It’s not perfect, but it looks pretty good to me.  The pattern is Willowy Wrap by JL Creations and the yarns are by AJHC Wools.

I was also able to get my Peacock Garden Mystery Sampler from Linen and Threads all caught up and started the June section. This is a FREE Mystery SAL and you can get the patterns on their website for this sampler and the previous 2 samplers.

peacock garden

I am stitching this on 16ct Graceful Gray from Wichelt.  Threads are Gloriana Silk in Rain Forest and DMC 3810.  I’m not loving this one as much as the previous 2 samplers put out by Linen and Threads, but I like it.  I am anxious to see what is going to be in the other blocks.

My basement is coming along.  Painting was done last week.  Carpet has been ordered. Then we can begin putting it all back together again and get our house back in order.  Between the front door and the path to the basement, all furniture has been moved to another room or shoved over and all of my pictures have been removed from the walls.  My diamond painting has been moved all over trying to keep it from being ruined.  So I thought it was time to get it framed.

butterfly diamond painting

This diamond painting was a gift from my best stitchy friend a couple of years ago.  The picture was taken from a photo I had taken in my front yard and had posted on Facebook.  She had it made onto the canvas.  It is now hanging in my dining room, which is just inside my front door.  It really brightens the room and I will treasure it always.

And I have started a new project.  Did you really think I wouldn’t have?  But it is not cross stitch.  It is a knitting project.  It is the famous Wingspan Shawl by Kyle Vey and is available on Ravelry.

Wingspan

I fell in love with this one as soon as I saw it.  I even ordered yarn from Blue Brick Yarns right away.  The dyer, I am sure, has been overwhelmed with orders, so it will be a bit before my yarn arrives.  In the meantime, I am knitting this one for someone else.  The yarn is Mirasol Qulla in Moonlight colorway.  It is more like a denim blue, and not the dark blue in the photo.  This one took me 2 days to finally get the first row done.  The pattern calls for “make1 left and make1 right throughout the first row, after the cast on!  I didn’t even know it was possible to “Make1” on the cast on row.  But a gal at my LYS pointed out that there is actually 2 threads in between stitches on my longtail cast on. Boy do I need new glasses!  So home I went, trying to cast on loose stitches, but not too loose that my stitches sag.  And struggling to get those Make1’s in and have the correct stitch count at the end.  My mind tends to wander after so many repeats, LOL.  After several attempts yesterday, I finally had my first row done to my satisfaction!  I even held my breath and did row 2!  Just skimming through the 17 pages of pattern is very intimidating and I have been a knitter for about 33 years. So, fingers crossed, wish me luck and send good vibes that I can get through this pattern.  And that I can get through it a 2nd time once my yarn arrives 😉

So that is what has been going on with me.  What fun things have you been up to lately?  I’d love to hear about them 🙂

Happy Valentine’s Day!!
cross stitch · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · Mermaids · mystery sampler · New stash! · Sampler · yarn

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

My Time Stitching31 Comments

Hello my blogging friends, and Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope you have a wonderful day however you celebrate this loving day.  I can’t believe it’s February!  I have been so busy and the days have just gotten away from me.  I had so many days I wanted to post, and just didn’t get to it. So, this one may be a long one.  Grab your favorite beverage and get comfy.

I suppose I should start with my birthday, that happened near the end of January.  To celebrate, Hubby took me to a winery about 1 1/2 hours from our house.  They just so happened to be having a Winter Wine and Wool festival the weekend of my birthday and I had decided that is what I wanted to do.

Winery sign

I was so excited to get there after the drive.  If you know me, you know I don’t like being in a car on the highway.  So nerve wracking.

Wine tasting room

This was my first time to an actual winery.  This one was a very sweet, inviting place. Once inside, I made my way to the yarn and bag vendors.  It was a very small place for an event like this.  There was almost no room to get up and down the hallways.  So I searched out the 2 main booths I wanted to shop at.

AJHC yarn booth

So many scrumptious yarns! See that yellow/orange and red cowl on the left?  I picked up some mini skeins to make that.  And a few other skeins to make a shawl.

Yarn stash from winery

Then I found the MidMitten Designs Project Bag Booth and purchased a bag and some small notions bags.

Me at Midmitten Bags booth

Midmitten bag

Love this new Sassy Style bag!  There is already a project in it 😉  Then is was time for some wine tasting.

me wine tasting

Winery

This was a Raspberry wine, perfect to pair with chocolate!  Hello!!  I came home with a bottle of this one and a Meade wine.  Hubby spoiled me so much for my birthday.  It was not so bad turning 55 😉

If you remember from one of my previous posts, we found out that we have to have our basement waterproofed.  So hubby and I have been going through things, donating things, pitching things and putting things aside for our boys and hauling it all up and out to the garage.  We have done quite a bit, but we are not going to be ready for the end of February, so we have moved it to April 1 with the contractor coming to remove the drywall and carpet the last week in March.  I can’t believe how much we have accumulated in the 23  years we have been here.  So we are still working on that a little at a time and in between, I am still stitching.  So, lots to show you with that.  First, I finished the Treasures of the Deep SAL.

Mermaid SAL finished

Sorry about the blurry photo.  Just couldn’t capture it right.  But it is finished with all the hundreds of tiny beads.  I have to admit, that looking at it from a certain angle, it looks a bit gaudy, but then from another angle it looks beautiful and sparkly.

close of december mermaid

I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning to finish it so I could take it to the cross stitch shop to put it in for framing.  Here is the frame I chose for it:

Frame for mermaid SAL.jpg

I was not going to go with a gold frame, but nothing else seemed to work.  I think this one will be perfect.  And while I was there, a framing was ready to be picked up.

2018 Mystery Sampler framed

I absolutely LOVE how this turned out!!  So beautiful.  The frame is so perfect, too.

Frame for 2018 sampler

The weathering on this one matches perfectly with the variegated threads.  Now I will need to find a place to hang this one, so I can see it all the time.

While in the cross stitch shop, I was inspired to start a new project; the 2019 Mystery Sampler.  I had already ordered a piece of Graceful Gray 16ct Aida by Wichelt, which was there for me to pick up.  On my last trip I had picked up a smaller piece of the fabric and a pink silk thread. I started stitching the peacock, but the pink was too light for the fabric.  So I hadn’t thought anymore about color, until I was in the shop.  And I saw the beautiful variegated thread that I thought would be perfect for a “Peacock Garden”, which is what the new sampler is called.  The thread is Gloriana, a silk and the color is called Rain Forest.  How perfect!!

Threads for 2019 Mystery Sampler

I will use it for the borders. So I picked out a color that matched for my peacock.  And this is what happened:

2019 Mystery Sampler start

And look at that! I am using a Q-snap frame :O I am cringing that my aida fabric will be pretty wrinkled.  I am not used to that with using a scroll frame.  But I used this for the beading the last half of my mermaid SAL so I didn’t roll over the beads, and it worked pretty good.  So I thought I would try it for this Mystery Sampler.  Here is what the January and February sections will look like for this sampler:

2019 Peacock garden

It is different than the last 2 samplers.  This one reminds me more of a Round Robin.  I can’t wait to see what will end up in all of those squares.  If you want to get in on this sampler (or the last 2) they are all FREE and put out by Linen and Threads.  So sweet of them to do this.  There is also a Facebook group where people from all over the world are stitching this and sharing and connecting.  It’s awesome.

Now for my last project.  On February 6, I started this project and was so excited:

Floral shawl first start

By the end of the day, I was so frustrated with this project.  It is the Floral Shawl from Woolenberry.  I was just not coming up with the correct amount of stitches at the end of row 7.  I knitted back several times, ripped out several times, and then just gave up.  Then I decided to leave a comment on Ravelry for the designer to see if there was an update or to figure out what I was doing wrong.  So after several emailings back and forth with the Sweet Janina Kallio, I kept trying.  I arrived at row twenty something and thought I was doing well.  My floral pattern didn’t really look right and I was still concerned about the yo ssk knit 3.  It just wasn’t feeling right.  I was ending up with a yo after the ssk.  Anyway, a light bulb finally went off in my head yesterday and I finally figured out what I was doing wrong.  I was knitting the ssk on the front needle instead of the back needle.  What was I thinking?  I knew better. All I can say is that it was a very senior moment.  And after a week of frustration, I am happy to say that I am all straightened out and I have the correct stitch count and my floral pattern is looking lovely.  I am using AJHC Wool’s Rhea.

Floral Shawl start

If you look in the bag, I am almost up to the frogged strands.

So there you have it.  I told you it would be a long post.  I think I am all caught up now.  If you are still with me, thank you 🙂  That is just about everything I have been up to.  So now I want to hear what you have been up to? Have you started a new project? If not,  what are you working on?

 

cross stitch · Knitting · Legos · mystery sampler

Happy New Year!

My Time Stitching30 Comments

Happy 2019!!  I wish for everyone a very happy, healthy and loving New Year!  I am looking forward to having a great year.  I did not make any New Years Resolutions list this year, as most of the time I failed and did not want to set myself up for failure this year.  There are things I want to do, accomplish and finish, but if I don’t do them this year, there is always the next, right?

I already have my first finish for 2019.  I tried my best to get it done by midnight on New Years Eve, but I just couldn’t get it done.  I frantically stitched from 9:00-midnight, but was still hours away from a finish. So I finished it on the night of January 1st.  Here it is:

mystery-sampler-finished.jpg

I am so happy with how this one turned out.  This photo really doesn’t do it justice.  The fabric is a beautiful 16ct Aida peach with gray, hand dyed by Johanna from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  I stitched with DMC 53 and DMC 310.  The pattern sections are still available from Linen and Threads as well as the 2017 one and the first section of the 2019 Mystery Sampler.  I haven’t fully decided if I want to do another year long sampler, but the first section is beautiful and I look forward to seeing more.

And I have to share a wonderful gift I received on Christmas from my sweet husband.

addi needles

A set of Addi knitting needles.  I have 2 addi circulars and I LOVE stitching with them.  There is nothing like knitting with these metal needles.  They just glide so wonderfully!  I was with him when he purchased them at the knitting store just a few days before Christmas as he didn’t know if I would like the short needles or the longer ones.  Definitely the longer ones 🙂

New Year’s Day was earmarked as Lego Day, and so I created this:

lighthouse legos

The Friends’ Heartlake  Lighthouse 🙂  I had a nice lego day 🙂

I am getting back to stitching on the mermaid SAL and will post my progress soon.  That is what I have been up to.  I’d love to hear what you have been up to?