Happy New Year

I had the best intentions of posting over the weekend, but didn't get time to do it. It was a very busy weekend in Crazyville. We hosted New Years Day dinner, and had to clean the house for that, plus celebrated Left-brain's birthday. I had to work a little on Friday and then yesterday was the day to do all the laundry and clean up after the party.

I did, miraculously, find a few hours to stitch. My first start of the New Year has been "Itty Bitty Kitty Quilt" by Val's Stuff. My aim is to stitch one square a month, so it will be a year-long project, but I managed to stitch the first square and part of the border between Sunday and yesterday. It's a neat little piece, done in DMC, mine is on oatmeal Aida, which I think will work well with the muted colors of the piece. I'll try to post a photo tonight, but you'll have to excuse the hoop marks--I didn't have time to iron between hand-washing the dishes and sorting out the clothes.

One good thing we did figure out how to do was to make pulled pork. My mother bought us a 7 pound pork roast for 5 people this year, and I don't eat that much anymore, so there was a LOT left over (we have a lot of food left over in general--my fridge is groaning right now). Left-brain mixed it up with some jarred South Carolina barbecue sauce we had, and we had sandwiches last night. So good, even without coleslaw!

I even found time to start working on one of the UFOs I have chosen to finish this year. It's the January 2006 Secret Needle Night project. Nothing fancy, but it needs finished as it's now a 6 year old UFO. After we got the house back in order, I sat down to watch a Law and Order Criminal Intent Marathon and worked on that. It's not really one of my favorite projects, and there is a reason it was a UFO for so long, but I made good progress on it, and, hopefully, it will be done by the weekend. My goal is to get 12 UFOs done this year. I know I can't get them all done, but it would be good to get one done a month--that's progress I can be proud of.

On my last post, Joyce asked what LNS I go to. My closest one is Stitching Post in Catonsville. I found that one in 2001, and it's really added to my addiction over the years. They are the largest LNS in Maryland, and it's not hard to get there. I try to not go to an LNS unless it's a special occasion, or I really need to, I usually mail order, since things fall into my basket, but it's good to know they are close. I did go over on Friday and treated myself to hand-dyeds, which were on sale 25% off. I did buy two charts by Victoria Sampler, but since they were the last two charts I intend to buy for a while and they were 25% off, it's OK. We are somewhat spoiled here in the DC area, with 3 great shops within an hour and a half (Stitching Post, Needlecraft Corner, and In Stitches, down in Alexandria), plus my favorite shop, Salty Yarns, in Ocean City, but, since OC is out of my driving range right now, per my doctor, I'm going to have stick close to home.