Some framing and a bit of stitching too

Sorry to have been gone so long but most of the posts I didn't write would probably have read something like this- Still tired. Still trying not to vomit (morning/all day sickness was pretty vicious for awhile). Still didn't stitch anything.

Things are getting better now. The morning sickness has subsided and I've got some energy back along with the start of a good sized bump. Babies are doing great, right on target for size at just about 20 weeks along and starting kick up a storm in there. Oh, and we found out they are boys at the last ultrasound too so I'm officially a minority in this house:). Realized that I'm prone to swelling as the weather is warming up so am going to attempt to spend a good chunk of my summer in the AC and hopefully get some stitching done. I actually did get a few stitches in today...



That's the first few stitches on my last My Favorite Teddy birth announcement. I think I'm starting to get some stitching motivation back so hopefully more will follow soon. In other crafty related things, I got Josh's QS Pirate Dragon and the last birth announcement framed recently.





Outside of baby stuff, there's not a bunch else going on here at the moment. We're getting ready to do some room switching so Josh can have his new room and we can start getting ready for his brothers. I'll try and get back a little sooner next time and bring more pics.

WIPocalypse wrap up and some 2014 SAL plans

Another Christmas has come and gone and the little guy and I are taking an afternoon to recover at home before we get back to the normal work schedule so I thought I'd catch up on blogging and I owe a WIPocalypse post so here I am. It was a lovely Christmas by the way, lots of family and friends and presents and general happiness though not many pictures. Too much time enjoying the holiday I guess:) Anyway, my goal this year was pretty open, mostly to work on the WIPs and not increase their number. Oh and finish the Pirate Dragon which I did so that's one goal made. I did pretty well on the other one, didn't get around to as many WIPs as I'd have liked but I didn't make any more BAP starts either so that's good. For the most part I finished all the smalls I started too so I'm pretty happy with my stitching basket as we get ready to leave 2013 behind. Here's where I stand on WIPs (at least the ones that got a little love this year)...

















There was no progress made on Nativity, Polar Lights Sampler, QS Pegasus and Castle Bubble, Fish City, Watergarden, Garden of Wishes, or The Storyteller but I'm going to try hard to hit each one next year.

So outside of the WIP work there were some finishes too...















I will be signing up for the WIPocalypse SAL again in 2014 along with TUSAL, IHSW whenever I can, and I was contemplating the Turtle Trot as it seems fitting for the amount of BAPs I've got! As we're still in baby waiting mode (though we might have some exciting and probably unexpected by you news by Spring) I think I'm going to stick to working on the WIPs for the most part with some smalls thrown in here and there. I do have one, maybe two, planned starts for New Years and I'll show that off when I get it all kitted up as well as one more birth announcement so finishing #3 and stitching #4 will be my first priority in the new year then it's freedom for whatever so I'm going to try to dig out the neglected WIPs from last year. I do have my eye on some smalls as well, particularly some more of the LHN sheep virtues and one of everything from Country Cottage Needleworks (they're my new favorite) but especially that Frosty Forest series. We'll see how it goes, I try but somehow plans seem to go out the window around here after awhile.

June WIPocalypse

Thanks for all your congrats and kind words on my finish last time. Still haven't made it to the framer but hopefully will soon. It's been a bit hectic with our recent trip and work and now we've been hit by some storms this week that have left my parents without power and some family with minor storm damage so we'll be busy with house guests and helping clean up the next couple days. I wanted to at least stop by with a quick with a quick WIPocalypse update before things get too crazy though. No new starts this round and I don't think I really have anything that qualifies for the suggested themes but I did have a finish that I'll share one more time:)



That's QS Pirate Dragon, charted by HAED and art by Lisa Victoria. It took me about a year to finish though I did work on it on and off. Josh is very excited that its done though he thinks he's claiming the next project I've been working on too...



That is my first partial and a half page of HAED's Dragon Master (artwork by Myles Pinkney). I actually started it this past New Year's Eve but didn't make any real progress until this past month. I think it's safe to say this is my largest project to date, measuring in at 525x965 stitches. It will be stitched over 1 on 28 count fabric so it won't be quite as giant as it could be but the fabric is still longer than Josh!



Josh held up the fabric for the camera before I started in December. I think it'll be fun to see how much bigger he gets by the time I finish. That's about it for now. Off to try to get a few stitches in before company arrives!

A finish!!

It's finally Friday and we are done with work, done driving, and relaxing in our hotel room at the beginning of a long weekend trip.  This is the first family vacation we've had since our last long weekend trip last summer so we are all happy to be out of town and looking forward to a little family time together without all the responsibilities of home.  I've got a few pictures so far but am sure I'll have more as the trip goes and I admit I'm feeling a little lazy so I think I'll stick with the original plan and just share my first big 2013 finish..







This is QS Pirate Dragon by HAED/Lisa Victoria stitched over 1 thread with 1 strand on 28 count white evenweave.  I started it on 7/27/12 and finished on 6/5/13.  And yes, it is going to be going hung in Josh's bedroom when we redecorate/move him later this year.  



That's about all for now, I'll try to check in later with pics of the trip.  We've got big plans- zoo, children's museum, race track, a few new to us restaurants so there should be something to show later.  Have a great weekend!

May WIPocalypse

Thanks for all the kind words on yesterday's post.  We've always been very open with Josh on the fact that he was adopted to the point that we made a big scrapbook with lots of photos and airline tickets and various little souvenirs of our travel to help him understand his story.  Our goal is that it's just a fact of his life, no big deal, not a surprise.  He asks to look at it every couple months or so and we talk about the pictures and things in the book.  When he asks questions we try to answer in a way he understands though the big ones haven't come up yet.  I told him yesterday was a special day, explained it, and asked if he wanted to look at his book.  "No thank you, can I have some juice?" was his response.  Mission accomplished, I guess.



So to carry on the theme of happy this week Josh's special day is followed by one for Erich and me-







Today happens to be our wedding anniversary.  Seems like a long time ago and like yesterday at the same time.  At least this morning I didn't wake up to the power going out.  On the morning of our wedding the power actually went out at my parents' house about 6am or so.  Ended up having to make an early morning wake up call to my groom and have him evacuate the apartment for a few hours so some of the wedding party and I could shower.  Outside of that it was a pretty smooth day and here we are 9 years later.  No exciting plans for today, probably just Josh's post placement visit and maybe dinner out tonight.



But before I go- I've been promising stitching pics and I actually have some.  It's also not too late for a WIPocalypse update so here goes.  Since I missed the last couple stitching life hasn't been too exciting, mostly just more QS Pirate Dragon which is so close to being finished now and Dragon Moon which was the project I took to Tulsa.  No before pics today but here's where I stand now...











As I said, almost done with QS Pirate Dragon so really hoping for a happy dance soon but also proud of my Tulsa progress.  I finished close to a page of Dragon Moon and am closing in on one of my 2013 goals of finishing off the first column of pages.  That giant star is on the last page so almost hitting the top now!

Off to do a little clean up before Josh's visitor gets here and then maybe I'll actually have some time to catch up on my blog reading.

IHSW Results

So the Errand Saturday and Hermit Sunday idea worked out pretty well this weekend. On Saturday we saw my parents, Erich's parents, all the grandparents at various parts of the day, went to church and then out to dinner with my Dad's family. Then we rewarded ourselves with a pajama day Sunday- we all stayed home, slept in, hung around in our jammies, watched movies, and I got some good stitching time in. Probably would have been a little more productive if I'd left the iPad upstairs in the bedroom but I got quite a few stitches done in between games/surfing.

Here's the before/after...





Wanna see what everyone else stitched this weekend? Click on the cute crab at the top of the post to see the whole list of last weekend's hermits and don't forget to mark your calendar for the next SAL weekend too (every third weekend of the month).

March TUSAL, IHSW, and everything else I've been neglecting

How did it get to be the middle of March already? This year has been going by way too fast! So I've done it again and managed to miss TUSAL. I'm not too late, only a few days this time...



Not that you would know by my orts or lack of but I don't think I've put any more in since the actual TUSAL date. I think all the orts from this year are from QS Pirate Dragon which probably isn't helping my pile grow much since its all over 1 stitching.

The dragon has grown some since last time though, he's really starting to have a pretty filled in body now. I suppose it would be nice if he had a head too but that will be coming soon.



So since I haven't been stitching, just what is it I have been doing you ask? Well, most if it isn't really all that interesting but Josh and I did help my mother put together a family dinner for my grandfather. Josh even helped Great Grandpa blow out his candles...



So that's about it for now. Normal weekend plans for my weekend off- some visiting family, a few errands, church and pajama Sunday. We've started attending the Saturday night service instead of Sunday and it we really like it. Since all our running is done by Saturday night Sunday has become a sleep late, nice family breakfast, play/craft/watch movies kind of day. It's a nice start to our week and I think it's here to stay. It's pretty good for my stitching too, fits right in with IHSW which is this weekend too so don't forget to click and join or at least see what everyone else stitched this weekend.

February WIPocalypse

Thanks for all the kind words about my dragon, hoping we'll actually see his face soon! WIPocalypse time once again and I'm back with the one project that's been getting all my attention recently, bet you can't guess what! Never heard of this SAL? Check it out on Measi's blog and join us.

So the optional themes this month were Little House Needlework, love/family, and white/red. I'm going to stretch a little and say that my dragon fits all but the LHN- it's a labor of love for my son and I did actually put in a few red and white stitches this round. Close enough, right? Anyway, here's how he looked before and now...





Sorry for the slightly fuzzy pics if you look at the full size. I've really got to start using the iPad instead of my phone for the pics. I think I originally said I was hoping to see the end of this page before the end of the month and there's no way I'll make that but I'm happy with the progress I did make despite all the time visiting Erich's dad in the hospital. He is home now, by the way, so we've got our fingers crossed that all will be well now. New goal is to have this done by the time I leave for Oklahoma which isn't actually until the first week of May so i think that's doable barring any more unforeseen problems. I've got half the current page and partial that I'm working on now and one more full page plus partial above it. There are some pretty big blocks of color once I get through the dragon himself so it should go fairly quickly.

Not too much else going on around here except that we've had pretty steady snow from the remnants of the storm that hit the Midwest this week. It's not enough to close schools but enough that I'm not going out today.

IHSW Results

So this past weekend was IHSW and I'm 2 for 2 in participation this year. The calendar has been on my side in 2013 as I've been off work both rounds this year so far so I actually have been able to get enough stitching time in to show some visible progress. Once again, QS Pirate Dragon was my focus and here's how I did...





Not too bad, the dragon is really starting to take shape now though I'd forgotten how dense the confetti is on the dragon himself. His tail looks great but it took me forever to muscle though all the confetti and his legs are proving to be quite a challenge as well. I think I might switch back to filling in the sky to the right of the boat for awhile to switch things up a bit. Still hoping to be able to mark at least one more page as done before the end of the month, we'll see how close I get.

In sort of related news, found out this weekend that I've been picked to be part of a conversion team at work to help out while some companies my company has bought are trained and converted to our computer system. That means a two week trip to Tulsa, OK and some pretty good stash opportunities. So far my friend Google has helped me find Stitchworks and The Silver Needle which I'm told are right across the street from each other and will keep me occupied in my off time. If anyone knows of any other stitchy places I should visit while in the area please by all means point them out to me. My credit card and husband may not thank you but I will:)

Late TUSAL and IHSW plans

So it's been awhile again, lots of stuff still going on around here. My father-in-law is still in the hospital. That's been a bit up and down but he's out of intensive care for the second time now and we hope well on his way to recovery. We're trying to maintain something that resembles a normal schedule for Josh but there's only so much we can do with all the trips to visit at the hospital. We are trying to do all our errands and visiting today so tomorrow we can stay home and have a family pajama day. I think we could all use it and its supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow too so staying in and hermiting is probably a good idea. Probably would be good for the stitching too especially since its IHSW weekend.

Speaking of the stitching, had my first 2013 finish the other day. It wasn't a WIPocalypse finish but I've been dragging my bag of Shepherd's Bush ornaments around the hospital with me and finally finished As Bethlehem Slept from the JCS ornament issue. No pic yet but I'll get that taken for next post. I'll get the exact issue too, it's from the series that ran 2000-2007 but I'm not quite sure which year this is from at the moment.

I have been working in my QS Pirate Dragon at home and am slowly seeing dragon legs forming.



That's from Thursday and will serve as my "before" shot for IHSW. Hoping to get a lot more done between tonight and Monday afternoon when I go back to work.

I know it's a little late but I also have TUSAL orts to show...



They're all from the dragon, lots of brown and some green on top this time.

Oh, and me more thing before I leave you for the night- looks like Angela received my package from the giveaway earlier this month so I can now what I sent her...



I tried to put together a few things for her new house as well as some stitching things with a Valentine's Day theme in mind so she got some Dinky Dyes, a Victoria Sampler kit, a cut of Silkweaver fabric, a small storage container, a candle, some cute little seed pots that hopefully grow pretty flowers and some strawberries, and a cupcake box to hold it all. I think she enjoyed it and it got to her before her move which is what I was crossing my fingers for.

January IHSW

So I actually remembered and was off work to participate this month, quite an accomplishment as this SAL has just not worked out for me the past couple months. Being that winter has finally hit us in northern Indiana we actually did pretty much stay home and hide for most of the weekend except for a quick trip out for church and soup-making supplies late Saturday afternoon. Outside of that we kept busy with movies, Legos and puzzles for Josh, modeling for Erich (military tanks and figures not fashion:) ) and plenty of time for QS Pirate Dragon for me. Here's the before/after...





And while we're at it, the other accomplishment for our weekend of hermiting was some homemade split pea soup. Not a favorite with the little guy yet but Erich and I love it on a cold, winter day...



I'll post the recipe next time in case we're not actually the only ones who like this. It's super easy and was even better for lunch today.

Before I go, just wanted to say thanks to all the new (and returning!) visitors and followers from the Grow Your Blog party. I really appreciate your interest in my corner of the world and all the kind things you have said and fully intend to visit everyone I haven't gotten to yet, sometimes it just takes me awhile as my iPad time occasionally gets interrupted by a certain 4 year old who also wants a turn.

TUSAL 2013

So much for posting SAL posts on time this year:) I meant to get my orts posted this weekend but life kind of got in the way. The flu has hit my area pretty hard so work has been crazy busy with people trying to treat for it and lots still coming in for flu shots. Thankfully no one in our family has gotten anything except the occasional cold this flu season. Also, we've been busily putting the finishing touches on our dossier which has now been sent out and according to our agency is being shipped to Poland as I type. We've got our fingers crossed that 2013 will be our year for some good adoption news.



Until then, I'm going to do my best to finish QS Pirate Dragon so that it can hang in Josh's new bedroom after we do whatever switching around and redecorating we will need to do as we expand our family. He's very excited about seeing his dragon come to life as I stitch. Here's where I stand now...






The dark blue water has been pretty free of confetti so that has been nice but I'm looking forward to getting to the dragon again on the next page. Speaking of all that blue, my ort jar is almost completely blue this round...






I'm a little light in the orts this time since I just emptied it on January 1 but I'm hoping to get back to filling it up now that adoption paperwork and the holidays are over. Just in case the TUSAL is not something you are familiar with- its a fun monthly stitch-a-long run by Daffycat to show off your ort jar (all those little leftover thread scraps from stitching) and what you've been working on to fill it up.

TUSAL/WIPocalypse/End of the year (but not the world!)

Happy New Year! Sorry for neglecting you poor readers this holiday season but it just went by so fast with so much to do and all. Since the Christmas rush is done now I've actually gotten to do things like organize my mess of a craft room and even stitch a little so things are starting to look normal again:) The short list of what's been going on around here since I've been away...

-Josh turned 4:)
-Thanksgiving
-My mystery sinus pressure/pain/headache problem finally got solved (I think, fingers crossed the meds keep working)- migraines but not the traditional variety of course, that would have been way too easy!
-Adoption update- our dossier is finally complete after much emailing/calling/UPSing and is going through the final authentication steps before shipping it to Poland, should be there in Jan. 2013! Once it goes all we have to do is try to be patient and wait for the happy call that a child has been matched with us. And then all sorts of preparations start up again but we'll enjoy the relative calm until then.
-Josh's black nail came off leaving him with an exposed nail bed, should have bought stock in J&J for all the bandaids we've bought.
-Christmas- the man in red came and did his thing leaving us with one very happy 4 year old.
-Josh has discovered Legos thanks to some sets left by Santa which will lead to all sorts of fun future purchases and hopefully more trips to Legoland too. He was a little young last time but the adults sure had fun

Stitching time has been a little less than I wanted but I have managed to get some things done. Since I missed both the last TUSAL and WIPocalypse posts I'll try to get caught up now and get back to the current state of things for the next round...



Not the best collection of orts and very late for the TUSAL check-in but you can sort of tell I've done a little stitching on Polar Lights Sampler lately. On to the latest pics for WIPocalypse which I'm not late for if you conveniently forget that I totally missed the post before this...





Almost finished that top page!





Finished another piece of the Mill Hill Christmas Village!





This one hasn't seen the light of day in awhile, finished the right side of the border and filled in some more of the middle. Sorry for the wrinkly and apparently sideways update photo, I knew it was wrinkled but have no idea why it turned out sideways. I'll fix that someday when I'm not on the iPad. One more stitchy thing to share...



Found this while shopping online and had to have it- the 500 gram cone of DMC 310 for all a stitcher's Ink Circle mandala and HAED needs, pictured with a single DMC skein for comparison. Erich says I'll never have to buy black again. I hope not, this thing is equivalent to somewhere around 250 black skeins but the price was awesome so we'll see how long it lasts. I'm going to date the inside when I start using it which should be sometime in the next few months.

And finally some Josh-



My favorite Christmas pic from this year. If you look closely you might be able to see a few stitched ornaments on that tree but sadly none stitched by me. I'll need to correct that some year soon.

So the grand plan is to put together a wrap up WIPocalypse post and look at last year's progress and make plans for 2013 in the next few days or so. I did my traditional New Year's start last night so there will be pics of at least one new WIP this year. I've picked a HAED BAP- Dragon Master by Myles Pinkney. I had it as a huge wall poster in college and was thrilled when HAED picked up Pinkney as an artist. It's been in my stash awhile and I definitely don't expect to finish in 2013 (it's 525x965 stitches) but its time to start at least so first stitches went in last night. I'm starting with the bottom so it will take awhile to get anywhere near the fun part but I'll get a pic up as soon as there's something substantial to look at.