Hot and sweaty S.E.X. last night.

My LNS is open til 8 on Thursdays. I have never been. I usually work Thursday evenings, for one thing, and I guess part of me didn't believe they WERE actually open that late, so I never went, but I had a few projects that needed kitted up with specialty floss, and I had an order to pick up, and after working all that overtime, I felt like I needed a treat, so, after work last night, I loaded Someone Small into the car, and we went over to Baltimore.

You forget how crappy traffic is when you don't commute. Even Crazyville traffic isn't really traffic, but I have been in traffic in the two major cities in Maryland in the last week and . . . I don't miss it. Even wtih the AC on, Someone Small was a sweaty mess when we got out at the store.  She was like, "no no no", but warmed up to the idea of the LNS quickly. I put her in her stroller this time--it seems to work a little better for her, I just parked her while I got my threads and talked to her. 

As far as what I bought, the new patterns were:

Cherrywood Design Studios Pumpkin Tree. It was cute  and Halloween-y and I think they went out of business, so I thought I should get it.
PS Rabbit Run--it was on my wishlist.
3 of the Frosty Forest from CCN--I think I am going to hold off on buying anymore of these til I actually start working on this. I haven't decided if I want to do them as ornaments for my Peace of the Wild Things tree, but I should probably decide that soon.
LHN Old Glory-patriotic stuff floats my boat, ya know.
A little Liberty by Lizzie Kate.
And Time for Halloween by Brenda Gervais. I saw the cat one on Prim Stitchers group on Facebook and fell in love with it. My LNS had the chart and the watch fob, which I have not been able to find at Hobby Lobby, so I bought it and I'll try to get it done befor the fall.


I also bought some 32 count natural light linen to do the Just Nan Mouse ornaments on. And some Stone Grey Lugana, because it was pretty.

My LNS also puts together kits for some freebie designs from out on the 'Net, s I bought the kit for July Daisy. The chart is free, they just kid up the materials.


As far as my kit-ups, it was the Halloween Pearls from Samsarah that they put put a few years ago. I think there were 4, I bought 3 of them to do as a bell pull.  They took Crescent Colors floss (I can't call it the new name for some reason). So I'd like to get that done this fall as well. I have to see if I have some 36 count linen in stash, but if not, I'll order some.

I also kitted up the Samsarah ornament from the JCS preview issue. It's a snowman and baby, and I stitched the pregnant snow couple in 2011 for us, so I thought that would be a cute way to match that ornament and move on. It's supposed to be for Left-brain from Someone Small.  We'll see how much she likes this one.

Also, a SS Pearls design, Twinkle. This should go pretty quick.

And Waxing Moon Nuts about Autumn. I have had this for a while. It's time to stitch it.

The other one I kitted up was Cuddle Up to Libearty, a Brittercup Design that I've had since it came out. I loved it from the start, and wanted to do  it. So I figured I might as well bite the bullet and get started.

And my other treat purchase was the chart and beads for Nora Corbett Gigi, as well as a cut of Exotic Orchid linen. We'll see how this goes.


I do plan for this to be the last major shopping spree for the year. I'm going on a money diet starting July 1st and that is my priority now. We're back looking at houses and we have a gameplan, but it won't happen if I continue to spend willfully. Plus, my company is getting sold again. I still get to keep my job, but I don't know how the pay structure will be, and the next few months may be a little strained. Left-brain explained this all to the mortgage guy, and we have a plan, it's just do I have the willpower to stick to it?

BTW, I hope no one views this stash haul as a brag. I don't think these come across in that way, but it's hard to tell. Since Katie was born, I haven't really bought a lot of stash, so this is really 2 years of S.E.X compressed into 2 months. And that is not bad. Plus, I'm paying cash for it, and some of the stuff I bought earlier in the year was with a gift certificate, so it's not a bad thing. I don't know if I'm phrasing that well, but sometimes it feels good to have a little extra money, and not have it eaten up in bills, ya know?

Anyway . . . have a great weekend! We're going to a picnic tomorrow, I can't wait.

The week's progress

My week's progress. I haven't had a lot of time to work on it.  On top of getting ready for the party, I was pushing myself to work 40 hours of OT last pay period. And that took up A LOT of time. I didn't make it, though, only got to 34, and I was exhausted. But I've been trying to do a little more since Sunday--been watching Ladies of London on Ondemand and stitching. The stop and starts are starting to kill me, I can't start and finish like I normally do, not when there are patches of two stitches.  But I love the colors. The hot red of the strawberries against the green is the epitome of early summer, so I soldier on.

New start and a finish

I have a new start to show off, though the progress isn't very far along. This is my start on Pamela Kellogg's Summer Quilt. I bought them all when they came out, back in 2007.This is not my first time starting this; I started it the weekend that I brought Robbie home from Texas, because the next day we had to run up to Lancaster, PA, and I brought it along in the car. But that first version was on aida and I didn't like how it looked, and it's gotten a little trashed in the past 7 years, so I threw it out and started over.

 

 

This is what it will look like when done:

 

Summer Quilt, by Pamela Kellogg

 

And this is my progress, so far:

 

 It was a Law and Order Binge night on WE Tv, so that explains how I got this much done. I think we stitchers should petition cable to do a Law and Order channel. You can get so much stitching done during a Law and Order marathon. And there are so many episodes--I swear, every time I think I have seen them all, I realize I missed a lot from the first seasons. And the younger detectives are so easy on the eyes.  Between all the series they've had, plus the UK one, I think there is enough for a real channel, don't you?

And a new start means a finish on CC and LHN collaboration, Peaches.

 

 

If I were to restitch this, I would substitute the cat colors for the Mocha Khaki. They show up well in pictures, but in real life, the colors match my fabric, 28 count antique white Jobelan, too closely. Maybe a pale blue would have worked better, but I'm getting ready to go on a money diet, so am trying to use what I have, not purchase new. Plus, I don't know how y'all feel about this, but when I have cat designs, I always feel vaguely like I'm cheating on my cats when I stitch cats of another color and don't at least include one that looks like one of them. I know, this is wierd, but . . . now you know why I stitch so many Halloween designs--they're additions to the Lily collection we have.  I think a yellow tabby would look wonderful on this, I was just too lazy to make it happen.

 

So that's all I have for today. We are celebrating Someone Small's birthday this weekend. It's a week early, but it was a scheduling issue. It's a Sofia the First party, and we ordered the cake on Monday. She chose it--"chock-it" and white, with white icing with a princess tiara on top. (Part of me doesn't like the princess theme, but Sofia is a regular girl who became a princess, and she's not a jerk about it, so it's OK, plus, they don't make Doc McStuffins cakes, so we were limited) And I have a special plan for her real birthday; it will make up for the day after, when we have her 2-year-old wellness check and shots.  Ohh, bad Mommy!The doctor wanted to schedule it on her real birthday--I said the last thing I wanted on my birthday would be a shot, and I think Kay-kay feels the same way. Would you?

 

Well, hope everyone is having a good week.

Finished!

I am sorry for the cruddy picture. Kay-kay and I finished this on Friday night. Left-brain loved it. I didn't have it framed, but he has a framer that he likes. I told him to make sure the guy knows how to frame needlework, but if he doesn't, there's a place in Metro Crazyville, that a couple of friends have said do good work. I am happy with the piece overall, but not sure I'll do another one like this for a little bit.

More progress

It's getting there.

All I have left is a bit of the lettering on the right side and the beach, but it's straight beach and water for 60 stitches, kind of boring stitching. I am not a big fan of LA charts because of them being colored--I don't like color charts when the color that they use has nothing to do with what the finished chart will look like. It's odd, but it throws me off and I don't like it. And so this vast run of color is dragging me down. I decided to break it into columns, 10 stitches wide, though, and that works a little better. I worked on it during Deadliest Catch last night, so it went OK.

I need to learn how to schedule things. I have, what 4 days to finish this, and not sure I am going to make it.  I signed up for a training class at work to learn a new skillset, and I was in class on Saturday for 5 hours. Training continues this Saturday, I don't think it's as long, though, and I'm supposed to go see a play for work, if I can get tickets, then we are doing the big Father's Day thing on Sunday, so that will take some time.  On top of it, I have 4 books to read by next Thursday that are on the highly-requested list, so not sure that's going to work.  I may end up owing the library some money, y'all, cause I am not returning them til I am done.

With Father's Day being so close to when Daddy died, it's hard for me this year. In a different way than it was when Gramma died. That was a terrible year--the first Thanksgiving, we didn't feel like cooking, so we ordered one of those pre-cooked meals from the grocery store. And it was dreadful. And the turkey needed to be cooked another two hours. It was the worst Thanksgiving ever. Plus, Daddy was in the hospital, still fighting to recover from the car accident that took Gramma, and that cast a shadow on everything. At Christmas, it was just trying to find a reason to believe in the wonder, now that the person who made the holidays so special was gone. But Father's Day feels different, and those stupid ads! Belk sent an email to a link for a Father's Day sale. They had pink pants. And those irritated me. Maybe because Left-brain wouldn't wear pink pants if they were the only pair he had in the closet--he's a jorts and t-shirt kind of man. My dad would have probably have worn them, if they were on sale, because my dad still thought in terms of 1970s prices, til my mom and I started buying him clothes. But I won't get to buy silly things like that anymore for him. And it got to me. I saw a guy who looked a little like him at the grocery store, and it hit me that I don't have a dad anymore; I bet that guy thought I was crazy, a fat lady pushing her cart away, crying, in the middle of the Food Lion, but it happened. I'd give anything to be able to have my dad back for an hour, the way he was before all this happened, how he was when I was in college, or even right after I got married, and I'd be able to tell him I am sorry I was a royal pain, sorry for the times I didn't have enough time for him, and thank him for being there for me when he could be. Heck, I'd give him pink pants if it would get him back for me. I think I may have to settle for just not checking email and ignoring the TV til the weekend is over.

Progress

 

 Left-brain's Father's Day gift.

 

All those footprints (yes, they're footprints.) are FULL of quarter stitches. I am pushing myself to finish them before moving on to the rest of this. It is going to be a lot of work to get this done by Father's Day, but I'm going to do it.

"I ain't nothing but a dream"--RIP, Dad.

My Daddy died on Saturday evening. I am feeling a mix of emotion right now. I didn't want him to hurt and that prayer was answered, but, for the first time in 37 years, I can't talk to my dad. And I didn't realize how much I'd miss that. I don't usually post music to this blog. I know I have slightly wonky taste in music. I try not to inflick that on you. But this is a song that, to me, is my dad. I first heard it in college. It was on the soundtrack to "The War" with Kevin Costner and Elijah Woods. It did not do well in the theatres, but it was an awesome movie. And it has THE BEST soundtrack, because it's all good 60's music. I had it on cassette, because I couldn't afford CDs. My dad drove down to Kentucky to pick me up for my first Christmas break, and this was one of the tapes we played on the way home. We used to talk a lot on those trips, and, anytime I hear this, I'm back in that old Dodge pickup truck, heading home through December twilight, seeing Christmas lights. And everything was OK. I know it will be that way again, someday, just a different kind of OK, it's the figuring out what that different is that's a challenge. And some pictures of him (I think I've posted these. We don't have a lot of pictures of our younger days. my family was a family that took pictures, but we were not people who got them developed. There are rolls and rolls of film at my parents house and I don't even know if you can get film developed anymore. I think someone who had parents like mine developed the digital camera.)