yellow bird

Except it’s blue – Yellow Bird from La D Da. I stitched this up quite a while ago but finally took a few minutes to finish it up this weekend. You can read more about the materials I used here I think…scroll down to older posts about Yellow Bird.

More snow, the girls like to watch it fall, it’s about the only time the three can get along for more than 30 seconds without someone having a hissy fit (Yzma)…I’ve been out in it once to ship orders, would very much like to be home for the rest of the day but boys’ activities may rule that out.

I’m off to do a bit more stitching, some sewing, and some much needed dusting!

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PS – I’ve blogged about the other pincushions here and here.

hello Monday

I spent a lot of time yesterday getting things prepped for a very productive day today. Mondays just never go how I plan them. I did get some things done, not things on my official ‘to do’ list but useful things nonetheless.

I have actually done a bit of personal stitching too that will be something worth showing soon. I’m putting together some threads to make kits for that project and I’m also giving some serious thought to seeing Raspberry Patch from Country Cottage Needleworks on my kitchen wall soon!

I’m waiting on several shipments of inventory just now, some I expected Saturday, some today, tomorrow I expect heaps of mail since I’m still waiting! I did get some yarn to match Yzma’s eyes in the mail today which was nice, I wasn’t really trying to match her eyes…it just happens to.

Hope your week is spectacular!

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PS – the finished, framed, ‘busy’ cross-stitch shown is a kit from Shepherd’s Bush, it also comes with a little hat for the sheep but I liked it better without.

Winter Stitches

I’m beginning to feel much better and get caught up around here. I shipped a box of Winter Thread Pals off to Hoffmans, stitched a little more on my Quaker Sampling III (using DMC 3787 and 40ct lambswool linen), and made some knitting progress on two projects: a light wool scarf and warmer baby alpaca cowl (yarn, pattern).

I still need to get the Christmas tree down and decorations packed away but we still have one more Christmas party to attend so I’m feeling like it’s appropriate to still have the decorations about.

GO Broncos!!

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PS – Hi from Yzma!

knitting and housework

That’s my plan for the day. In reverse order of course, I would NEVER do my knitting before my housework….that is when I’m being exceptionally good, which happens on a rare occasion, now and then…sometimes.

I’ve finished up this super warm scarf. It’s really long and can wrap around the neck nicely and still be as long as my coat. It more than a foot taller than I am so about 75 inches at a guess. I list the yarn and the pattern in this blog post.

Today’s housework includes dusting, vacuuming the cat hair covered steps, and cleaning the bathrooms. I’ll spare you any bathroom pictures. Thankfully I only have to clean the master bath, the boys take turns cleaning the other two.

When I’m all done I think I’ll bake a cake (to justify eating the leftover icing) and get back to my knitting. I’m using Cascade Alpaca Lace yarn in Ecru to make this cowl.

Jerry comes home tonight – yay!

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PS – the Austen cross stitch is by The Sampler Girl and the other is a pattern from Blackbird Designs.

3 little kittens

Yzma

Ophelia

Jane

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cool in the pool

Went to my friend Jan’s house today. She has air, and a pool, and pizza. Even her dogs went swimming.

Back at my house….the cherry tomatoes are getting ripe and Yzma is doing the laundry.

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PS – Ethan loves that life jacket. We bought it last summer on the lake. He plans to save it for his own children. He thinks he should wear it all summer because it’s getting small. I convinced him to only wear it when he goes swimming.

something knitted

I knitted this in Michigan but just finally got around to blocking it. This is the Ashton Shawlette which is a great learning project, this pattern really made me feel like I was well on my way to becoming a knitter, it gently teaches you how and the results are very good I think. I’m not sure that link will work if you aren’t signed into Ravelry. I used Manos Serena yarn in the color Wildflowers.

This shawl is very lightweight and can be bunched up like a scarf too. I like to wear it with this thrift-store broach.

I’m still unpacking boxes. The cats love all the boxes and baskets as you can see. Yzma loves Ethan and he’s pretty fond of her, he takes her all over the house like this and she happily goes along. As usual, he needs a haircut!

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PS – just unpacked a box with lavender sachets in it – why didn’t I put lavender sachets in all the boxes!?!

a new week

I hope Mother’s Day was a sweet occasion for all who celebrated this weekend. This year was very different than last year. This year I was able to celebrate in person with all four of my children and Jerry, last year with just 2 of the boys. We had a yummy Chinese food take out feast here at the house. It was good to be at the table with everyone!

When I think back on last year I remember all the encouragement I received throughout the year from blog friends to hang in there. I want to take a moment and thank you all again. You truly were a huge encouragement and still are. Moving is a big job and I really do appreciate your good wishes.

As requested I’ve included a few pictures of Jane from the last day or two. She feels like queen of the castle here. I haven’t told her yet but Yzma and quite possibly Ophelia will soon be invading her space. I hope that goes well, Yzma was queen of the rock when Jane arrived as a kitten, now Jane feels she is the one in possession! Ophelia is happy as long as there is food in the dish.

I framed my Red House Sampler. I love seeing this on the wall, makes me want to sit and stitch but I’m refraining til I’m caught up on EVERYTHING here. I think I might feel I can sit down to a good long, guilt free, stitch by the end of the week if all goes well. I apologize for the very blurry peek at the living room so far. Jerry’s sister sent those chairs home with us, they are super comfy and where I will be doing that bit of stitching. She still has 2 just like them at her house so we match! I would like to get a leather(ish) ottoman for that room.

We had some rainy weather over the weekend, there should be mountains beyond those trees in the view from my sewing chair!

Jane says hello!

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PS. a bit of kid news…Amber has finished her degree (Bachelors of Science – IT, Web Programming) and Tyler just got a job for a company that works with IBM at their facility near Boulder. Happy for both of them. The bad news for my other two, they will be doing school all summer, well some anyway, we have a bit to catch up on, they aren’t really excited about that, don’t know why???

Christmas Cat Napping

I feel like joining them!

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a little finish

In the tiny bit of time I have for stitching while waiting for kids in the car and while dinner is cooking, sometimes a few minutes before lights out….I finished up this little Quaker Acorn by Midnight Stitching. The name of this chart is Quaker Acorns I, there is a Quaker Acorns II as well. I used a scrap of 30ct R&R from my heap of tiny linen scraps, and Threadworx floss from my heap of threads that have lost their label. I attached a store bought beaded tassel. You can read more about the other project in this picture here.

I went outside to take a picture of these on our leaf-filled back porch (better send out the leaf crew) and brought a bowl of leaves back inside for the cats to examine. Jane kept trying to run off with a leaf and then Yzma thought she would like to keep a few as well so we took them all back outside.

More Clues (see yesterday’s post for game details):

1. Jerry’s comment to me on the phone while driving away from the airport where he is working was ‘there are more palm trees here than in Colorado’ – by the way, there are no palm trees in Colorado.

2. The name of the state he is working in begins with one of the letters in my newest cat’s name.

There will be two more clues before I draw a winner from the correct submissions.

The prize:

I will send the winner a little kit to make your own Quaker Acorn. The kit includes the design (new) a piece of the same linen and 4 yards of the same thread I used. A piece of the backing fabric I used and if possible (if I can still get one) a beaded tassel.

Leave your guess in the comments section please and thank you for visiting and playing along.

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PS – I’ve added this design to the ‘blog projects’ page at the webshop.