Hello my blogging friends!  It seems like I blinked a few times, and now January is just about over.  Wow!  But I was productive. So grab your coffee or favorite beverage and I hope I don’t bore you too much 😉

Early in January, I was reluctant to make a New Year’s Resolution list.  I know that there are things I want to accomplish this year, but I didn’t want to call them Resolutions.  So that first week in January I decided to go with a “word” for 2020 and that word is “conquer”.  I want to conquer all of my started knitted, crochet and cross stitch projects.  I want to conquer all of my scrapbook kits and photos.  I want to conquer some things in my personal life also.  So conquer is a good word for me for 2020.  And I have made some progress.  On January 16 I finished a cross stitch project that has been in the works since 2016.

I have to apologize for the photos of her.  They are from my phone and are not the greatest.  For some reason I forgot to photograph her before I put her in for framing.

Just look at that large, beautiful bead that was made in Italy!  So beautiful.  It is quite bulky and I wasn’t going to add it, but then couldn’t resist as it is beautiful.

Here she is at my Local Needlework Shop, looking to find the perfect frame that is also deep enough to accommodate that bead.  I think I chose well 🙂  Can’t wait for her to go to the framer and come back.  I will be sure to take photos with my camera 😉  She is stitched on 16ct Aida Pink Impatiens from Silkweaver.  All the threads are hand dyed  The pattern is Wherefore Art Thou from Nora Corbett.

I almost have a knitting finish.  I am so close.  Like tomorrow I will probably finish it.

This is the Rainbow of Hope shawl from AJHC Wools.  It is the advent shawl that I started on December 1. I have 1 1/2 more leftover micro skeins to add and it will be finished, aside from blocking.  It is so big and so beautiful.  The colors are so scrumptious!  The pattern is available on Ravelry and some kits are available on her Etsy at http://www.ajhcwools.com

A couple of months ago I knitted a baby blanket for a friend, but didn’t want to post it until it had been gifted.  Then I forgot to take pictures.  I do have one photo of it all folded up:

This was made with Plymouth Encore yarn, held double.  The pattern book said all the patterns could be made in 8 hours.  Not true.  Not for me anyway, and I am a pretty quick knitter.  Maybe it could have been made in a weekend if that was all I did.  But it is a blanket that could be made pretty quickly if you were in a pinch to get one done.  I love how it turned out.  It is soft and cuddly and I do love how the striping came out on this one.

Back in November, I went to my LYS and Clevergirl designs was having a pop up shop there.  I just love her bags.  She had 1 bag that she was introducing that day.  Just one of them.  A flat project bag with a clear front.  Perfect for my cross stitch projects!  So I snatched it up and told her I hoped she would make more in the future. Here is the bag I purchased:

Here is the back of the bag.  Lots of squares sewn together.  So cool.

I love these bags so much! And Hubby was with me when I bought this one.  So guess what I received for Christmas?

Hubby asked Kristene of Clevergirl Designs if she would do a bag a month for a year and she said yes.  I was so surprised when I opened this on Christmas morning.  Hubby also gave me this for Christmas:

This one holds my current cross stitch project that I am working on.  And on my birthday last week, I received my January bag.

I just love these bags.  the clear window in the front allows me to see what is inside without having to open the bag.  And they are so pretty and Kristine does such a great job on them.

Here is the next WIP project I have picked up to work on getting finished.

This is Aquamarina by Bella Filipina Designs.  It feels good to be stitching on her again.  I am hoping she will be my first Bella Filipina finish, soon.  I am stitching her on 16ct aida, a one of a kind fabric from Fantasy Dyed Fabrics.  I love it and think Aquamarina is going to look amazing on it.

Since last week was my birthday, Hubby took me to my LNS where I belong to their stitchy club.  Included in the membership is a 20% off birthday shopping spree during your birthday month.  So I picked up a few things 😉  Hubby went next door and bought me chocolate and then took me to dinner.  The Clevergirl bag in the back ground arrived in the mail when I got home that day.  I thought it was a nice background for my photo.

And I finally had my white birthday cake last night 🙂

I also have scrapbooked 20 pages this month.  So I think I have a pretty good start to conquering the things I want to do in 2020.  Do you have a word or a list for what you want to achieve in 2020?