So Much Yellow!
cross stitch · Knitting · Mirabilia · New stash! · Uncategorized · yarn

So Much Yellow!

My Time Stitching16 Comments

Hello friends.  I hope that your New Year is going well.  I can’t believe that we are already over half way into January!  I have a funny feeling the rest of the year will fly by also.  So, here is to taking one day at a time and enjoying each day doing whatever makes us happy.

So…what have I been up to? Well, I am still stitching on Mirabilia’s  Ella, the Frog Princess  and trying not to let all the yellow get me down! Here she is as I left her last night:

Ella progress

As you can tell from the photo, I have a long way to go. I am trying not to let that sea of yellow get the best of me.  Thankfully I have some pretty flowers to give me a boost of color when I get too bored of the yellow.  I have been overly tired lately, so the progress has been slow.  But I am still enjoying her, so far.

A few weekends ago, I found a couple of knitting shops that I had never been to.  Here is what I added to my stash 😉

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Yarn and needles to knit a pretty little shoulder shawl from the book shown above.  Forgot to take a photo of the actual shawl.  But I will when I start it.  I also bought my first Addi needles.  I have heard they are nice, but have never tried them before.  I am not a fan of circular needles, but this pattern called for circulars, in a size I knew I didn’t have.  So I will let you know how I like them when I get to knitting on them.

And from the other shop that I visited, I found this:

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This shawl was actually done up in the store and I fell in love with it immediately.  The yarn it calls for is Saki, a hand dyed yarn by Prism.  The color I chose is Portofino and I can’t wait to see how it knits up.  I have actually started it and this is where I left off with this one:

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I started with 11 stitches and increased up to 161 stitches in just that little bit!  It is full of pattern and the last row that I did, I ended up with too many stitches, so had to knit it back 2 rows.  I have put the purl row back in, but was a little afraid to pick it back up for fear of making another mistake.  I have been too tired lately and I know better than to tackle a pattern when my brain is not up full speed.  I am loving how the colors are knitting up  already.

So, that is what I have been up to this month.  What are you working on?

Happy New Year 2016!
cross stitch · Games · Knitting · Mirabilia · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized · WIP

Happy New Year 2016!

My Time Stitching30 Comments

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you a happy, healthy, wonderful 2016!

I had a great stitchy year in 2015 and hope to have another great one in 2016. Usually I grab something new to start on New Years, but this year I decided to work on a WIP.  And this one may as well be considered a new start as I didn’t have much done on it when I picked it up.  It is Ella, The Frog Princess from Mirabilia. Here is Ella when I started her in November, 2013..

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Not much of a start, so that is why I say it’s like a new start 😉  Here she is after I put her down last night..

New year start on Ella

It sure is a lot of yellow.  But I am trying to keep her going until I finish her. Or until a wonderful designer releases something that I just have to start right away 😉  The lovely flowers give me a nice break from the yellow when I need it.

I only received one stitchy gift for Christmas this year, but it is one that I have been wanting for quite some time.  A dear friend gifted this to me..

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An adorable yarn bowl!!  And I have used it to make a couple of scarves already 🙂  I love it.  And it looks so pretty on the table with yarn inside it.

While this next gift isn’t a stitchy item, I have designated it to be.

Mermaid journal

It is my stitchy journal made and gifted to me by my VBSF (Very Best Stitchy Friend).  She made this amazing journal cover from clay.  She is so talented with her new clay hobby and she knows me so well.  I just love this little journal and will keep all kinds of stitchy info on projects and materials and such, inside.

And one other gift that isn’t exactly stitchy per say, but stitchy related..

Yoshis wooly world

Hubby bought me the Yoshi’s Wooly World game for the Wii U and I am so addicted to it!  Everything in Yoshi’s world is knitted, crocheted or sewing related.  Even Yoshi 🙂  As you can see in the picture, the trees and walkways all look like they were knitted or crocheted.  There are buttons and crochet hooks and needles throughout.  The object in each level is to find all the yarn balls to knit a new Yoshi back together.  So cute and I love that all the scenery is stitching of some sort.

So that is my update for the beginning of 2016.  I have a long list of things I want to accomplish in 2016.  Most are stitching or craft related, like finish up WIP’s, scrapbook all of my page kits, stamp more cards, use up my yarn stash, etc., etc, etc.  What do you hope to accomplish this year?

Finished Stitching for Christmas
cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · Passione Ricamo · Queen · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized · Winter

Finished Stitching for Christmas

My Time Stitching20 Comments

Well, we are down to the final 2 days before Christmas.  I finished stitching my last Christmas gift this week, but it will have to wait for a finish as the hornbooks I ordered have not come in.

Winter Whisper 2

This is my 2nd Winter Whisper.  It is a gift for my Mom.  It is stitched on 16ct Aida Ice Goddess by Stephanie.  This fabric turned out a little darker, but she still looks beautiful on it.  I will turn it into a flat ornament (kind of)  and have it all ready to mount onto the hornbook when I get it in.

Speaking of Whisper Winter, I wanted to thank everyone who voted for my piece.  With all of the votes and the decision of the designer and her assistant, I was awarded 3rd place.  I am just thrilled.

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And here is my wonderful prize package sent all the way from Italy by Laura from Passione Ricamo.

prize package

I received a beautiful piece of blue 30ct linen.  I have never stitched on 30ct, but may give it a try.  Some beautiful post cards with Laura’s beautiful artwork on them.  A package of 25 skeins of floss and a pattern of my choice.  I chose The Night as it has been on my wish list for quite some time.  I love all of my goodies. Thank you again to everyone who voted for me.

I also finished stitching another piece this month.  It is the Raven Queen by Mirabilia.

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She is stitched on 16ct Aida Twixt N Tween by Stephanie.  I LOVE how she turned out on this fabric.  Like there is an awesome sunset behind her.

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A few nights ago I started stitching the train on the Gingerbread Village by Country Cottage Needleworks, but ended up ripping it out last night.  I had about half of the middle train car done when I realized that the white stitching really doesn’t show up well on the Lambswool fabric.  I was stitching on 16ct Aida, but after talking with my LNS this morning, the Lambswool Linen (which the pattern calls for) is not any darker than the Aida.  So I ordered some Dirty Aida for both the Gingerbread Village and the Santa’s Village.  I want my white to show up, especially since there is so much.  It seems that several of CCN patters are on the Lambswool which doesn’t make any sense to me.  Not a good match to me.  So I will work on Mirabilia’s Moon Flowers until the end of the year.

I want to wish those of  you that celebrate, a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends.  Happy Holidays to those who have a different celebration.  And I hope that you get some relaxing stitch time in for yourself 🙂

Mermaid Trio back from the Framer!
cross stitch · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Nora Corbett · Sunny Dyes Fabrics · Uncategorized

Mermaid Trio back from the Framer!

My Time Stitching26 Comments

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I picked up my Mermaid Trio from Stitches N Things today.  I think it turned out really well.  It is quite wide; measuring 30 1/2″ so I haven’t yet found a place to hang it.  I may have to start rotating my projects around.  I am happy I put all 3 of these sweet mermaids onto one piece of fabric.  Just in case you are not familiar with the designs, they are all separate mermaids by Nora Corbet; the same designer that does the Mirabilia patterns. I love all of her designs.  On the left is Mermaid Azure, Coral Charms is in the middle and Mermaid Verde is on the right.  They are stitched on 16ct Aida Summer Showers by Sunny Dyes Fabrics.

Who is your favorite designer to stitch?

 

 

 

Voting is Open!
Contest · Craft projects · cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Passione Ricamo · Uncategorized · Winter

Voting is Open!

My Time Stitching17 Comments

Voting is open to the public until December 9, 2015 for the Winter Whisper Contest.  There are many beautiful entries and 2 categories for voting.  When you click on the link that I give you at the bottom of this post, there will be 2 categories in which to vote at the top of the page in blue.  1. For the best stitching and 2. For the Best finish.  There will be a circle next to each person’s name.  Click on the circle to cast your vote and scroll to the bottom of the page to submit.  Make sure to vote in both categories.  My finish is below.  If you like it, vote for mine under Ginny Schleich. Good luck to all the participants!

http://www.passionericamo.eu/contestpagestitchers.htm

Winter Whisper horn book

 

A Sweet Little Finish
Craft projects · cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Passione Ricamo · Winter

A Sweet Little Finish

My Time Stitching17 Comments

Happy December!  Can you believe it’s here already?  Now the rush begins.  I am trying not to let it all overwhelm me.  I have a small finish to share with you today.  And the falling snow which has now appeared on my blog, will be perfect with this piece.

Finished Winter Whisper

This is a design called Winter Whisper by Passione Ricamo.  It is a contest piece.  I had 2 weeks to stitch this beauty onto a shade of blue fabric.  I chose 16ct Aida Ice Goddess by Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.  It turned out to be perfect for my piece.  Threads and beads could not be changed, so she is stitched as the pattern suggests.  The finish was my choice.  It took me a few days to get up the courage to cut the fabric.I found a great tutorial for making ornaments at The Twisted Stitcher, which really helped me out.   I mounted her on a piece of mount board with some batting underneath.  On another piece of mount board, I added batting and a piece of snowflake fabric.  I then sandwiched the 2 pieces together.  Then I added some trim around the edges.  My choice of finish for her was to mount her onto a Horn book.  First I stamped some snowflakes with white ink all over the edges of a black Horn Book.

Copy of Winter Whisper 1_small

I created a bow from Seam Binding and attached it to the handle with my glue gun and added a snowflake looking jewel to the center.  I am so pleased with my finished piece.  She is so beautiful and Sparkly.  She is called Winter Whisper, but to me, she is my Winter Princess. So beautiful and elegant.

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She will look great hanging in my dining room, which will soon be my snowflake room for the holidays and winter.

What is your favorite way to finish a small project?

Accomplishing Alot
Crochet · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · knitted scarves · Knitting · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Passione Ricamo · Passione Ricamo SAL

Accomplishing Alot

My Time Stitching24 Comments

Even though I haven’t been blogging a lot, I have been crafting and even have a few finishes.  First, I finished the Spice of Life afghan.

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It’s not perfect, but I am happy with it. It seems I got a little too relaxed with the last 10 or so rows and so my sides veered out.  I wanted to take the last 10 rows and the border out and re-do, but hubby wouldn’t hear of it.  He liked it just the way it is and has claimed it as his own.  He has even used it a few times :).   I learned so much crocheting this blanket.  Thank you to Sandra at Cherry Heart Blog and everyone involved for a wonderful Stitch A Long.  The pattern is still available on Sandra’s blog if you still want to give it a try.

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I also finished a couple of scarves.  The first one was a gift to someone at my husband’s work.  I thought I had taken a picture of it, but can’t seem to find it.  This morning I finished the fun fiber scarf I was working on.  It turned out so pretty!  Love all the different fibers.

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I can’t wait to wear it.  I really enjoyed kitting the pink/red/tan ribbon fiber on this one.

Last night I finished a beautiful little project that I worked on this week.

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This is Winter Whisper by Passione Ricamo.  I call her Winter Princess.  It is for a contest.  Now that I have finished stitching her, I have to turn her into some kind of finish.  Can’t wait to see what I come up with ;). I stitched her on 16ct Aida Ice Goddess from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.  LOVE this color and I am so in love with this design.  My photo doesn’t do it justice.

I also picked up Under the Moonlight mermaid from the framer this last week.  I had the framing done at Joann’s and I must say, the gal there did a great job.  Aside from crooked beads, I am very pleased with it.

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Now I need to figure out where to hang her.  I have really run out of wall space.

I will be getting back to stitching The Raven Queen tonight.  I will post a progress photo soon.  I am getting close to finishing the stitching on this one.  What are you working on finishing these days?

 

Afghans · Craft projects · Crochet · cross stitch · knitted scarves · Mirabilia · New stash!

Crafty Stuff

My Time Stitching27 Comments

Yesterday I told you I would post my purchase from my weekend get-away.  So here goes:WIN_20151027_160803

These fun things ended up in my bag from Stitches N Things.  The newest Mirabilis pattern, Twin Mermaids and the bead pack.  No plans to start this right away, but just had to have it.  It’s 2 mermaids! And some threads and a horn book for an upcoming project.

This past weekend hubby and I spent the weekend in Frankenmuth, MI for our anniversary and he spoiled me wonderfully.  We stopped at one of my favorite shops there.  Rapunzel’s Yarn and Boutique, where I picked up this:

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I didn’t get a picture of the yarn hank before I tore it all apart.  I forgot to have them wind it for me, so ended up spending the whole trip home trying to detangle it.  But as you can see, I started knitting a scarf already.  The yarn is so awesome; lots of fun fibers and textures all in one skein!  The yarn is Alp Premier from Feza.   It was quite an expensive hank, but like I said, hubby spoiled me.  So I can’t let this yarn just sit around.  I will work on it in between everything else.  And if you click on the picture, you will see those cool looking knitting needles I picked up.  I had planned on starting this on the car ride home, and needed a pair of needles.  These are from Knit Picks.  Very pretty, made of wood, with very sharp points.  They are actually very nice to knit with.  I am glad I picked them up.

I am also still crocheting on my Spice of Life blanket.  I have 4 more rows to go before I start the border.

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This blanket has been keeping me warm the last couple of days while I crochet on it.  I am really liking it and am hoping the border will not give me any problems so I can get it finished.

We stopped at a bead shop while in Frankenmuth.  Boy was I overwhelmed!  I haven’t taken up beading yet.  Not sure I ever will, but I like looking at all the beautiful beads and charms.  Bead Haven was the largest bead shop I had ever been in and if I were going to shop that day for a project, I wouldn’t have known where to begin.  Hubby found a rack in a corner of the store that had some hand made knitted items and he purchased this beautiful hat for me.

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I love it!  It’s a pinky mauve color and fits me perfectly!  I can’t wait for a little bit cooler weather so I can wear it.  Someone did a wonderful job knitting it and lining and adding beads and fibers to the sweet knitted flower.

Dear husband bought me this awesome bag to carry around while shopping for the weekend.

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It is a very nice bag and held all the little things we picked up over the weekend.  Right now it is holding my scarf project and it’s perfect.

And for my most favorite purchase of the weekend… Hubby bought me this as an anniversary present from a wonderful shop called The Enchanted Garden.

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She is a beauty and I love her!  She is 26″ tall and gorgeous!  So I had a wonderful weekend and was spoiled to the max.  So now I am off to crochet a bit and see if I can get those last few rows finished.

What are you crafting on today?

cross stitch · Mermaids · Nora Corbett

Mermaid Azure and the Mermaid Trio

My Time Stitching20 Comments

I finished Mermaid Azure last Thursday, thus completing my Mermaid Trio.  I was so excited to get it finished.

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She was another sweet stitch and it only took me a day to bead her.  So here is how the entire piece looks.

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I stitched this piece on 16ct Aida Summer Showers by Sunny Dyes fabrics.  The 3 mermaids are all individual patterns by Nora Corbett.  They are Mermaid Azure, Coral Charms and Mermaid Verde. I  started this piece on August 28, 2015 and finished it on October 22, 2015. So it took me 8 weeks to stitch. And since I finished before my trip out of town over the weekend, hubby said we could stop by Stitches N Things and drop it off for framing.  I chose a frame that is very similar to the frame used on Siren and the Shipwreck.  I can’t wait to see it all framed up. A few fun things ended up on the counter while at the cross stitch store.  More on that tomorrow.

What are you working on finishing up these days?

Mermaid Coral Charms is All Beaded
cross stitch · Mermaids · Nora Corbett

Mermaid Coral Charms is All Beaded

My Time Stitching25 Comments

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I finished her last night.  Nora Corbett’s Coral Charms.  She is a little beauty and she sure has a lot of beads.  I am now working on mermaid #3 of my trio and hope to finish beading her tonight.  Then I can reveal the entire mermaid trio.  I am so excited about this piece!