Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

And Happy Birthday to Michael! Polar Bears anyone?

and just to reiterate:

I don't do goals.

LOL, that might explain a lot.

Stitching Bloggers' Best of 2008

Stitching bloggers Best of 2008

1. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) designers in 2008? And your favorite was?
I discovered charted canvaswork in a big way. Current favorite, Laura J. Perin

2. Same question - New Fabrics?
No new fabrics, but I've developed a fondness for the Crossed Wing fabrics this year.

3. Same question - New fibres?
Belle Soie, the Crescent Colours silks. And thanks to the increase in charted work, I have great familiarity now with lots of Rainbow Gallery metallics.

4. Same question - New finishing techniques?
Backstitching the design and then whip stitching the right sides together.

5. Did you have a favorite "theme" in 2008?
Theme. Hmmm. I bought a lot of mermaid patterns...

6. Did you try any new gadgets?
No, I don't think so. But this question is nagging at me, like there's something I'm not remembering. If I do, I'll edit this post.

7. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) LNS in 2008? And your favorite was?
The Waste Knot in Arlington, VA. Tons of lovely handpainted canvases and lots of fibers.

8. Same question: new or new-to-you online stores?
Nope.

9. Same question: new or new-to-you bloggers?
Too many to remember. I love reading everyone.

a) stitching bloggers
b) bloggers in general

10. Same question: communities/forums
The Shining Needle Society

11. Whose blog in 2008 was the Most inspirational for keeping you stitching?
Sharonb - The Pin Tangle

12. Whose blog was funniest in 2008?
Stitch Bitch - Anna, you're going to runaway with this one.

13. Which blog's posts did you "star" the most in your reader in 2008?
I don't star. Should I?

Serious Damage

The Stitching Post is having a sale.
The Stitching Post is having a sale.
(Um, that's supposed to be to the tune of the Prince is giving a ball...)

I've lighten my wallet by quite a bit. Went with a friend and had a great time.

In the 50% off pile - one art nouveau canvas from Heartland House, two punch needle pieces, The Heart's Content "Cherry, Cherry," Michael Boren's Arabella, and three samplers: Of Female Worth's Sideboard Sampler, Wild-Heart Design's Ann Lawrence 1837, and The Scarlet Letter's Sary Burditt 1755.

In the 20% off pile, various fibers, Whimsical Element and Olde Willow Stitchery's 2006 Christmas Ornament "Warm Wishes," The Cricket Collection's "Always Summer 1," and Permin's 1859 Anna Thies sampler.

And in other stitching news: made some good progress on In the Midnight Hour after I had to frog for stitching with the Waterlilies instead of the Watercolors. I'm seeing the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel on this one.

Some Stitching

I managed to get a little bit of stitching in on Christmas day. After opening presents and popping our Flintstone sized roast in the oven, I set up In the Midnight Hour on the dining room table, turned on the extra light in the chandelier, and set down my glass of champagne. I stitched about 20 stitches, went to reach around the back of the canvas and my hand hit the glass. But with lightening reflexes I grabbed it and thus did not dump the entire contents of the glass. Fortunately my fibers are in a plastic bag so they were safe. And only two pages of the chart got a tiny bit wet. Disaster averted. Yes, I continued to drink and stitch. But I moved my glass to a safer location.

Christmas night I pulled out Little House Needleworks piece that may be two hours from finishing. And yesterday I worked some more on canvas piece while listening to David Sedaris's Holidays on Ice which was in my Christmas stocking. Even though I read this book when it was first published, the best experience is hearing him read his own works.

We are now a Wii family. Oh my. What fun! We've got Mario Kart, Baseball Power Pros 2008, We Love Golf, a pinball game, and Boom Blox. If anyone has any favorite games they'd recommend, I'm listening.

Holiday Meme

From Anna at the Stitch Bitch:



Candy cane or peppermint patties? Candy cane if I can find some made in the U.S.

Sugar or gingerbread cookies? Sugar cookies. As long as I don't have to make them.
Tinsel or beaded strands? Tinsel. Bright, shiny tinsel.
Multi-colored or same-colored lights? Right now, all white. In the past white and blue.
Flashing or still lights? Flashing lights induce seizures, I says.
Wreaths or mistletoe/holly? Both. Can't have too much green stuff.
Rudolph or Frosty? Give me the Heat Miser.
Sledding or snowball fights? Ice skating, sledding, and snowballs!
Snow or ice/icicles? Snow. Ice can be deadly.
Snow hat or earmuffs? Hat if I can find one big enough.
Getting or giving? Both have their merits.
Snow days or plow trucks? LOL
Stockings or presents? Both, please.
Cookies & milk or letter to Santa? Cookies and beer. That's what we used to do.
Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? I'm never sad on Christmas Eve. Same can not be said of Christmas Day.
Log Burning Channel or real thing? Please, the real thing.
Cards or e-mails? Handmade cards.
Shoveling or cleaning off the car? I will do either. It's the price we pay for the beauty of the snow.

Frogs A-Visiting

I ran by my LNS yesterday before the big grocery shopping expedition to see if there was another skein of Belle Soie's Sandy Beach that matched the one I was using for the background on my dogwood canvas. No such luck. There was one skein, but it didn't even come close to matching mine. I don't know why I was thinking one skein might be enough, but after stitching three rows I knew it wouldn't be. I found some AVAS that was a close match and got two skeins of it. Last night I frogged the Sandy Beach, but didn't put in any new stitches.

Nearly have all the wrapping finished. House is getting cleaner. Even the gutters got cleaned yesterday - not by me as I don't do heights. My Christmas presents won't arrive until January, i.e., what DH is buying me. But I can wait. Definitely worth waiting for.

Today is a bit more cleaning. A little baking - too funny that both my sister and I have no idea what to make for desert on Christmas. We're both tired of pie. Will be interesting to see what we both come up with. And wrap hubby's gifts which need to come out of hiding.

Who Knew?

Who knew that Jethro Tull had recorded an album of Christmas music? LOL I gave to my DS, who is a huge fan, and I haven't personally listened to it yet. Also found a bargain copy of the Talking Heads "Little Creatures," which I love. Some how we had never purchased this on CD, it being one of the last albums on vinyl we bought. I think the absolutely last "new" vinyl album we bought was the Bruce Springsteen double album release in 1986? As for the Talking Heads - love it! Sounds as wonderful to me today as it did when it was new.

I started my border on the dogwood canvas last night. Doing a cashmere stitch. Love it.

Busy Buying and Wrapping

I have been making stitching progress on my little dogwood canvas. It's nice having a project this size that my clip on light fits on and I don't have a chart to look at. I am motivated to keep stitching on this because I'm trying to get to the part where I can stitch the background. Wha? I have a few ideas I want to try out and I'm thinking of creating a border for it, too, and I just want to experiment.

We've got a mega wind blowing this morning and I had to take DS to work. Pretty darn cold out there. Later I have to take DD to work. Then 2 1/2 hours later I have to pick DS up at work. This could get to be ridiculous. But thank you, Target, for providing jobs to my home from college kids who need cash.

I need to go and put everything together for stockings and see how it adds up. I might need to find some more little things. I've had a hard time keeping track in my head this year. Too much junk up there I suppose.

Thank You, Weather Gods

DD got home last night. Oh wait. Make that this morning. We picked her up at the airport around 1:30 a.m. Only nearly 6 hours late. She did not have a pleasant day. But she's here and that's what counts.

A Plea

A plea to the weather gods - don't dump so much snow on Boston that DD can't fly out later today. She'd been stranded at Logan before. And we'd both like not to repeat the experience. I, frankly, just miss her and want her home.

DH set up his new toy, a Sony home theater system replacing beautiful sounding but ugly to look at nearly 23 year old speakers. Those speakers are so good that they are the only stereo component that he hadn't updated in all these years since buying them in Germany, probably at Mainz Kastell or maybe the Rhein Main Audio Visual Club. Now lots of wires of have disappeared from the living room and I've got a wireless remote controlled speaker in the kitchen. Cool beans. And we went with our traditional test - playing the Disney movie, Aladdin. Sounds great.

On the money side of this equation about buying electronics. I can see why Circuit City and maybe soon, Best Buy, too, will fail. These stores are selling this product for $499. DH bought it online for $349 with free shipping. We've taken to purchasing all electronic gear online - computers, cameras, MP3 players, etc. because of the price. Maybe every retail operation is going to become obsolete except for the ones that provide a unique hands on experience. I don't know. Hard to think of the mall as a place of the past. But I know I rarely go the mall. Any mall and I've got many to choose from here.

I kitted up my heron that I bought in November. Was wondering what DMC #1 was until I realized looking at the chart that she meant white. Duh. White is not #1. It doesn't have a number.