Afghans · cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Fairies · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · yarn

My Framing is Such Joy


Hello blogging friends.  Hubby took 1/2 a day off today and he surprised me by taking me to the Rocking Horse to pick up my latest framing.

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Isn’t it lovely?  I was so afraid of how it was going to turn out because my framing session was not enjoyable.  And I didn’t have it framed like the model in the store because I felt it was too much green.  My fabric is a darker green than theirs, and I am not a fan of green.  So I went with the red mat.  And then I was afraid it wouldn’t match the stitching, but I really like it.  The frame was my first choice.  I didn’t even look at any others and I think it is perfect.   So now to find a temporary hanging place for it.  Just for a while so I can enjoy it a bit.  So sweet.

I am still waiting for threads for the Mystery Sampler.  My LNS says they are on back-order from the manufacturer, so no telling when I will get them.  However, a very sweet gal on the sampler group has offered to send me 3 skeins that she has as she is undecided about her sampler.  Stitcher’s are such sweet people ❤  While waiting on threads,  I have been working on Ella.  Here is where I left her last night:

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Not too much added since my last post, but every stitch counts, right?  The empty area in the dress is getting smaller, so I am excited about that.  Once I finish the bottom of the dress, I will have to move the scrolls up and work from the middle up.  But that will be a lot less stitching than the bottom.  This photo also represents my fabric perfectly, as it is a beautiful sunny day with 60 degrees!   It is 16ct Aida Pandora from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.

I also started my Temperature blanket the other day.  What is a temperature blanket you ask?  Well, it is a blanket that is crocheted or knitted, with each row based on the high temperature of where you live.  So I found this color scheme on-line and tweaked it a bit for my blanket:

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I ordered my yarn from LoveKnitting and if finally arrived on Thursday.  I am using Stlyecraft DK instead of worsted weight.  Here is my start:

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I am using a G hook and chained 250 stitches.  I decided to do my blanket 3dc, sk 2. Then do 3dc in the skip 2 space of the previous row.  Today, while in the car, I noticed my blanket is bowing and my ends are not even.  I should have started with maybe an I hook and then switched down to a G after my foundation row.  I will have to brush up on my chaining on the ends and where to stick my hook for the first stitch.  So today I will be ripping this out and starting over.  I will probably be doing a different stitch, too.  Something where I can make sure I have the right amount of stitches every row.  My crochet skills are still not very well without a specific pattern and some visual tutorials, so I will be sure to have all that when I re-start.  It will be a fun blanket to stitch on every day or do a couple of rows once a week, based on the high temps.  If you are wanting to get started on your own Temperature blanket, you can knit or crochet, whatever pattern you want, whatever yarn and color scheme you want.  I do believe that Lion Brand also has some info on their website.  For the high temperatures, there is a website called weatherunderground.com that you can get the history of high temps in your area.

So, what are your needles creating today?

Fairy Letter · Nora Corbett

Brought to You by the Letter “Y”


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Catchy title, huh?  Last night I finished the letter “Y” to complete my JOY project.  This one turned out just as cute as the rest.  In the original conversion, there are no red beads, but I felt as if they needed some.  In this one, I added the beads to look like she is blowing the peppermint like you would a dandelion.  All the red beads look like “petals” falling off or magic from the peppermint.  I wish I could capture the true color of this fabric, as it is a beautiful shade of green, but as much as I tried (with all 3 letters) I just could not get it right.

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So here is my completed JOY all together.  Such sweet, sweet fairies.  And all together, it took me only 32 days to stitch them all!  So if you are looking for a quick project, this is it!  My first Christmas piece to hang in my house during the holidays.  I cannot wait to get them in for framing.  In case you are seeing them for the first time, they are Nora Corbett’s fairy letters.  I stitched them on 16ct Aida Sage, from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie and I used the conversion from The Rocking Horse.

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So now what am I going to stitch, you say??? Can you believe I have already started a new project?  Yep, a few night’s ago I put the first few stitches into a new project.  It is a SAL Sampler and can be found at Linens & Threads.  And guess what??? It’s FREE!!  Now I have never done a sampler before as I am not a sampler kind of gal.  But this one really appealed to me. A new section will be introduced at the beginning of each month.  You come up with your own fabric and thread colors and do whatever you want.  My scheme was determined by the only piece of fabric that I had that was big enough.  It is 16ct Aida Castleview from Silkweaver.  I have decided on doing all the stitching in DMC 310-black.  Here is my start:

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I am already second guessing my choice of black threads because I can see the fabric in between the stitches.  But I am going to stick with it.  My fabric is blue and gray and cream, like sky.  Black was the first thing that came to me.  I will see how I like it as I go on.  If you are interested in doing this one, the January and February sections are on the website.  There is also a facebook group you can join; Linens and Threads – Mystery Sampler.   There are so many beautiful versions of this on there.  Some using variegated threads, all one color, silks, everything!

This last week has been a week of seeing all kinds of new projects I want to start.  The sampler, a Temperature Blanket, an Afghan, an Owl blanket.  I have started the sampler, but I see a Temperature blanket in my future.  Like as soon as I can get yarn 🙂

So, what new projects have you started or want to start?  Or are you being good and working on WIP’s?  I’d love to hear all about it 🙂

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cross stitch · Fairies · Nora Corbett

My 2017 New Start


Happy New Year!  I hope your holidays were wonderful and that your New Year has started off with a bang!  I didn’t go out anywhere.  I stayed home and hung out with hubby and played Indoor Corn Hole!  Yep, got it for Christmas.  I just love that game.  Ever since playing it at the zoo two summers ago during Summer Zoomance.  It is quite expensive to get a nice set, so we haven’t bought one yet.  But hubby found an indoor one and bought it for me for Christmas.  For those of you who don’t know what corn hole is, it is basically like horse shoes, but you throw a beanbag into a slanted piece of wood with a hole in the middle.

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It’s pretty fun.  If you like horse shoes, you would like this.  So that is what we did New Year’s Eve, while waiting for the ball to drop.  At midnight, I kissed my hubby, toasted the new year and started a new cross stitch project.

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This one is going to be Nora’s Fairy Alphabet – letter “J”.  I will also be doing “O” and “Y”.

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While these letters look pretty, I will be doing a conversion from a local cross stitch shop and it will look like this:

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I fell in love with this piece a few years ago and purchased everything I needed to complete.  When I was going to start it a month or so ago, I realized the fabric was 28 ct and I really didn’t want to work on 28 ct so soon after mermaid 😉  So I looked everywhere for a green I wanted and settled on the 16ct Aida Simply Sage from Hand Dyed Farbics by Stephanie.  The color is actually a little brighter green than my photo.  I just couldn’t capture the true color.  If you are interested in the conversion of these letters, you can find it here.

That’s it for me.  It’s cold and I am going to go and stitch for a bit, under a warm blanket 🙂  I hope the new year is a wonderful one for all of us.  Did you start a new project to bring in the New Year?

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