January Turtle Trot

As promised there WILL be more frequent posting here this year! I've signed up for an extra SAL to help me out with that as well as keep my goals moving along. So let's get on with the Turtle Trot, hosted by Claudette over at BAP Attack. This SAL has stitchers pick 10 projects they want to make progress on and post their work by the 10th of the month. This one really appeals to me since I've got some BAPs that truly are coming along at turtle's pace so hopefully I can speed them up this year! Since I didn't participate last year I will start with some before pics of my choices this month. I've got a bit of obligation stitching to finish up (the seemingly endless birth teddy bear announcements) so progress might be a bit slow to start but hopefully will pick up soon. But back to that starting lineup...

Polar Lights Sampler


QS Pegasus and Castle Sampler


Fish City


Garden of Wishes


Dragon Moon


Watergarden


Fantasy Triptych


Dragon Master


Space Traveler


And last but not least is Flower Power which is a slow work in progress and I don't have a pic yet as I'm actually still gathering a few supplies and haven't started stitching yet. I intend to before year's end though!

So that's my Turtle Trot. Apologies if the thumbnails look a little weird. Photobucket has been doing something strange to my recent thumbnails but the full size pics look great, I promise! The next couple weeks are a little hectic in my house by the look of the calendar but I'll try to get back as often as I can and I'm definitely looking forward to reading everyone else's blogs and leaving some comments.

One last thing-Don't forget sign ups are still going on for the Grow Your Blog party, just click the pretty flowery button on my sidebar to get signed up before January 15!

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.

August IHSW/WIPocalypse

Everyone get a bunch of stitching in this weekend? I got a fair amount done, I'm definitely over the halfway point now on A Spirited Mandala...



And since I'm a day late this post also will include my pitiful WIPocalypse update. What is this WIPocalypse, you ask? Well, it's a fun SAL hosted by Measi to motivate us to work on those WIPs we really want to finish (since we're all still here and the world didn't end last December:) ) Anyway, most of my stitching last round was on the mandala but I did manage to make a headless lady appear in my Fantasy Triptych...





Besides stitching we actually got a jump on camping prep for our upcoming trip in September. I grew up with camping as our family vacation so I'm pretty excited to introduce that to Josh for the first time. Erich is a more recent convert but he's already wanting to plan a big trip for next year if this goes well. Josh has been out to visit Grandma and Grandpa's campsite before but this will be the first time he's stayed overnight so hopefully all will go well. At the very least he liked the tent when we popped it up to air out...







Thats about it for the moment. Lots on my plate this week-extra work hours, haircuts for the little guy and me, all the normal housework. Better get to it. And don't forget- I'm still looking for feedback on the Nordic Needle retreats past and anyone planning on attending next year. Have a great week!

Renaissance pics

So it's a rainy afternoon, the dog is snoring next to me and the little guy is happily munching lunch and watching Sesame Street. Sounds like a good time to sneak in a blog post:).

Finally got around to getting my pics from our trip to the Renaissance Faire loaded. Erich and I took my brother Adam to the Bristol Renaissance Faire two weekends ago. It was his first time and I think he liked it. Sometimes it's hard to tell with a 17 year old.

We started the day waiting with the crowd for the gates to open...



Made it in the gate...


Erich and me


Erich and Adam

Saw some shows (this was from the Sturdy Beggers' Mud Show as they call it "The Greatest Show In Earth")...



Had some food, of course there was a giant turkey leg...



Even caught Link and Zelda having lunch- I know, not strictly Renaissance but its usually a mix of fantasy and varying degrees of historically accurate there:). Some year we're going to get it together and dress in costume but I'm sure Adam would not have gone for that. Before the trip he was deathly afraid we'd make him dress up, apparently not cool in his world.



Of course no trip up to WI would be complete without a trip here...



We got lots of good cheese and treats though I had to keep from snickering at the counter as I heard another customer complaining about the price of the 10 year aged cheddar. Sorry lady, aged cheddar is not old cheese that deserves a discount! She left without buying any. Oh well, more for us.

So that was our trip. It was fun but too short. Maybe we'll have to try to get up there again next year.

Not much else going on around here. I went to the doctor for a sinus infection Monday so I haven't been terribly productive (today's the first day I can actually breathe through my nose) but I have been catching up on tv and stitching! Still working on Fantasy Triptych, there's almost half a lady on that half horse...



That's it until next time. Have to go back to work tomorrow but we have a family reunion and a birthday party lined up for the weekend so hopefully we'll have fun and get some good pics to share.

July WIPocalypse

Meant to get a post in between TUSAL and WIPocalypse but didn't quite make it. I have been stitching though and actually have 3 WIPs to show off progress on since last time. First up, Dragon Master which is still sadly just a small stretch of floor but it is growing. Here's a before/after with a regular sized highlighter thrown in for scale...





Dragon Moon is next. Almost to the top of the first column on this one!





Finally, I've been stitching on Teresa Wentzler's Fantasy Triptych most recently. This one is destined to live above my bed someday. Oh, and in case you're not familiar with the WIPocalypse SAL- click and learn and don't forget to sign up too!





in other stitchy news, I picked up the JCS special Halloween issue and Cross Stitch & Needlework's Halloween issue at The local bookstore today. I've only had a chance to glance through so far but the Ink Circles mandala and Drac in the box are calling my name loudly already! Might be about time to start thinking about a few new starts...

We did make it up to WI last weekend (and had a great time) but I think I'll hold off on pics until next post hopefully sometime before TUSAL:). Happy stitching until then, I'm off to try to get in a few stitches before its time to go pick up Josh. Daycare is offering swim lessons this week. He seems to like it but I'm not sure how much progress he's made, seems to be a bit timid in the water so far. Oh well, guess we can't all be fish! The soccer group seems to be more his speed so far. Whatever makes him happy as long as he finds a constructive place to direct all that energy.

July WIPocalypse

Hope everyone celebrating this week had a happy 4th! We had a great time.  It was my grandfather's 80th birthday so my family rented a suite at the local minor league ballpark and we had a surprise party for him.  Everyone had an excellent time and now I am officially spoiled for going to the ballpark.  Look for pics coming soon.

For now, it is time again to check in on what I've been stitching.  Since the last WIPocalypse check-in I've worked on 3 projects and I actually finished one of them too. So let's get to the pics. 

First up,  Fish City doesn't have any new fish to show off but the buildings in the background are growing...






Please excuse my wrinkly fabric and the lighting.  The colors are a little truer in the before pic.  I was taking pics in a different spot and don't think I like the lighting so well there.  Anyway, I also worked on TW's Fantasy Triptych...





And finally, I have WIPocalypse Finish #4 to share.  After much consideration and a little experimenting I give you Skeleton Crew...



After letting it sit for awhile with just a bit of backstitch unfinished I found a skein of 3819 in my Fish City box and went to work filling in the serpent's hair only to find that I really didn't like the way it looked.  I was never quite sure about it anyway and the 3819 didn't look great on the fabric so I ended up leaving it off, adding my initials and calling it done.  I started stitching on 9/2/08 and finished it this morning.  The fabric is Silkweaver Shadowbrook lugana in 32 count.  I stitched as charted except for the serpent's hair which I left off entirely. 

Now to decide what to work on until the Stitching Olympics start.  One of the boards I read and Measi are both hosting Olympic-themed stitching events to coincide with the London Summer Olympics at the end of the month and I believe I have settled on starting a new HAED to participate.  Josh got a look at Lisa Victoria's Pirate Dragon piece and he wants it so I think I might try to finish it off for his new big boy room when we swap rooms eventually after the next adoption.  Off to go browse the WIPs until then...