New Year Wishes!

Well, I have to say I have been blown away by all the beautiful finishes I have been seeing in everyone's year in review!  I was almost afraid to see how many (or how little) finishes I accomplished this year!  It was fun to look back at my year and I am happy to say I did finish a few things, some knitting projects, a couple of smalls, and the beautiful flower sampler SM1678... I had forgotten about that one!

Most of my time in the past year was taken up with my SDW German Sampler.  While I am disappointed to not finish it in 2013 I am happy that the journey on that one continues into 2014.  I love every stitch of that one.  It is like a good book that I do not want to ever end!  

Check out my blogiversary giveaway post here to enter to win one of 2 charts offered, drawing is on January 4th!

Wishing all of you a 2014 filled with happiness and joy and, of course, stitching!  See you in the New Year!

Happy New Year!!!  

Blogiversary Giveaway!

I am a few days late but here goes... Merry Christmas!  I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday.  I was happy to be close to home and spend time with family.  And although I have been under the weather it has still been a special time.    We have also been under some snow too!

I finished the scarves I was knitting for my Mom and my Aunt, which were BIG hits!  I used Homespun Thick & Quick in Pearls and Tudor.  This yarn is so velvety soft.  I think I need to make one for myself too!  

There is one gift that I am still working on, but since I have shown it to the recipient now I can share my progress with you.  A moose parade!  It is from Mikusch Design.  They have some really great designs, lots of animals and for some reason I am fond of the cows!  They also have some reproduction samplers that look awesome too. 

So I will be keeping busy thru New Year's on the moose and return to my SDW and Saxony in 2014.  

And now onto the blogiversary giveaway!  Today marks my 2nd anniversary of blogging!  I can't believe how fast that has gone and am thankful for all the wonderful friendships I have forged in blogland.  So let's give away two charts for two lucky winners!  

We have Scarlet Letter's Emma Miles and Victorian Motto's Blackbird Wreath.  Both have a touch of holiday to them that seemed perfect for this time of year.  To enter simply be a follower and leave a comment!  That's all there is to it!  If you wish to only win one or the other indicate so in the comment otherwise you will be entered in both.  I will draw names on January 4th.  

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!  Happy Stitching to you all!  xxxx

Snow days

Hi Everyone, Hope you are all enjoying your December readying for the upcoming holidays!

I am still working on some gifts so I do not have so much to show at this point but I wanted to say Hi! just the same.

We had another snow in Connecticut, already the fourth one and it is not yet winter!  I do love how pretty it looks.  Here is a photo of the Town Green in Redding CT looking beautiful blanketed in white....

Here is another scarf I am knitting up for the holidays.  I am really loving the Homespun Thick and Quick yarn, this one is Pearls.  So soft and velvet-y...

I was snowed in for most of the weekend, but no complaints here!  I stayed inside nice and warm and cozy with Gigi enjoying the view outside our window, knitting and stitching...

I hope to have more to show next time around!  I have enjoyed reading all of your blogs and seeing all the beautiful stitching and quilting you are all doing.  Thanks for stopping by!  

Have a wonderful week!  Happy Stitches!!  xxxx 

Thanksgiving Finish and Wishes

Last night I finished my Ever Blessed, freebie from Heartstring Samplery. A super fun stitch with the perfect sentiment for today....

Ever Blessed by Heartstring Samplery
32 ct Vintage Buttercream with assorted overdyed cotton

                     

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving filled with friends, family and fun!!  xx

Knit, Knit, Stitch!

Happy Weekend All!

I have been having fun knitting my '2-hour' scarves. Although I am getting faster I do not think they will ever be done in 2 hours!  

Also have started the freebie SAL from Heartstring Samplery, Ever Blessed. 

Today I went out for lunch. I have a bit if an obsession with Panera's Greek salad, but at least an obsession of salad is good for me!  Reading Midsummer, so far a very interesting read. 

Hope you all are having a super relaxing weekend filled with fun stitches! xx

First Snow

                              

                             

                     

                               

Live from New York...

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

Lots of WIPs

Hi Everyone!    Another month is gone!  When did that happen?  :)

I am now having WIP overload.  With the holidays not so far away I am working on some extra pieces while trying to keep a hand in the projects already started!

First up is SDW.  I am working on the last few pages of this pattern so I know the end is not so far away.  I really want to finish it before year end....

Next is my start on GigiR's Saxony ATS.  The silks are just so amazing on this one.  I am using the Attic's silk conversion which includes so many different silks, Gumnuts, Gloriana, Belle Soie, and Dinky Dyes.  It is fun to try so many different ones.  I think so far my favorite is Belle Soie but they are all so gorgeous!  I am really amazed at how the one strand of silk covers so well.  

This past week I decided to try knitting up some scarves for holiday gifts.  I am definitely a beginner knitter, but found a pattern called the '2-hour' scarf!  The pattern can be found here.  And while it has so far taken me 8 hours and still counting I am enjoying it!  Two hours must be for the speed knitters!  lol! 

I had a very looooooong wait yesterday having my car repaired so I spent quite a few hours on it.  It is made using the Homespun Lion Brand yarn.  SO SOFT!

And last but not least, I have pulled the threads and linen to make Heartstring Samplery's Ever Blessed.  It is such a sweet SAL that Beth designed and is perfect for this time of year.  You can read more about the SAL and see Beth's finish here.  So I am already to go with 32 ct vintage buttercream and a combo of overdyed cottons.  I am looking forward to putting a few stitches in this weekend.  

A few weeks back I got to see a preview of the new movie About Time.  It is from the same people that did Love Actually (another fave of mine!) and you come away with that same kind of happy, feel-good feeling.  About Time made me smile, laugh, and cry, and stirred up memories from my own life.  I loved it and hope to get to it again while it is playing.  I hope you get to see it.  

This weekend I am going to New York City for a show and hope to get further on my WIPs!  

I hope whatever your plans you have a fantastic weekend!  

Keep stitching and smiling!  xxx

September Stitching

Wow!  A whole month has breezed right by!  Where did September go??

I have been giving my focus to SDW and finished a few more bands....

It almost looks like those deer are breathing fire!  

When I am stitching I cannot believe how long this sampler is!  If this continues into winter I could use it as a scarf!! 

I will forge ahead on SDW but will also make some time in my days for this beautiful sampler!!  The gorgeous Saxony by Gigi R!  I will be doing this one on 36 ct Lakeside Linen in Vintage Lentil with silks.  I am so very excited to be working with silks!  

This past month I also got to a book signing.... Michael Symon, Iron Chef and host on "The Chew"!   It was so fun to meet him, I just love his laugh!  The book is chock full of great recipes that look so easy to make.  Only 5 ingredients seem easy-breezy! :)  

And this is the latest book I just finished, in fact, today!  Another by one of my favorite authors, Elin Hilderbrand.  Silver Girl takes place on Nantucket.  I really enjoyed this one.. some drama, a little romance, and true blue friendships.  

And that about sums up my September!  I am so happy we are in my favorite season.  I love the crunch of leaves under my feet.  I wish you a wonderful week full of stitching and smiles!  Enjoy all the beautiful colors of Autumn!  xxxxx

Pumpkins for Cathey

Wishing a Happy Blogoversary to Cathey of Pumpkin Patch & Co.  It is so wonderful to see all the pumpkins today posted for Cathey.  

Cathey, sending you lots of pumpkins and lots of love! xx

Summer Lovin'

Hello All!  Here we are at September already!  How was the rest of your summer?  We had a gorgeous August here in the Northeast, so unexpected!

Stitching update first... I continue on SDW.  I know, when am I going to get to the END?!  LOL!  I hope soon!!  Every time I pull this sampler out I cannot believe how loooooooong it is!  and that I have stitched it all!

I am working on the lower alphabets.  Love the pop of RED in the crown.  I love all the colors, although hated all the thread changes!

I also did give the peacock and mallard some ground to walk on...  

It has been a quiet month.  I enjoyed spending time at my favorite place, by Candlewood Lake.....

Got to see the new film, Blue Jasmine.  I give it two thumbs up, Cate Blanchett is awesome in it!

Here are a couple of feathered friends we had wandering around the town green at work...hope they find a hiding place before November!  

I did some summer reading and finished the book Summer House by Nancy Thayer.  I really enjoyed this one!  It takes place on Nantucket and the story is told by three generations of women, all from the same family about their secrets and the dramas of the family.  

And today, I went Oktoberfesting!  I always enjoy this annual event.  German weiss beer, German food, German strudel, German music, and German dancing... all great fun!  

Here is a video I took of the Schuhplattler dancers doing a traditional dance.  They are so lovely dressed in their lederhosen and dirndls.....

                                 

Enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend!  I have definitely gotten lots of primetime US Open Tennis watching in over the last few days!!  I love night time tennis in NYC!  

Have a wonderful week filled with miles of smiles!  

Happy stitching!  xxxx

Summer Stitching and Fun!

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all having a great summer so far!  We have been lucky to get some relief from all that heat we had a couple weeks ago... it is almost bearable!  I am already counting the days until Autumn....only 56 days to go!!

After posting my last photo of my SDW Sampler progress I felt compelled to backtrack to the church band and get that completed before going forward.  

I have veered off from the pattern and made some of my own architectural details..... I made the doors brown and I used a 3 x 2 cross stitch on the roof which I think gives it features that are reminiscent of old European churches... dark, wooden doors and a tiled roof.  I also picked up the pattern in the berry trees to the right and left of the church and used it to give the windows a stained-glass effect....

SDW Sampler

So now I can keep marching forward....I feel a finish is not so far away now!

I also just finished reading a wonderful book.... The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier.  It came recommended by Marsha on the Scarlet Letter Year Blog, so when I saw it on the shelf at my library it was my new pick!  A wonderful story about an English Quaker girl who travels to America to live in Ohio in 1850.  It is a perfect book for a quilter, there is so much detail about the craft.  I found it so interesting to learn more about Quaker life and religion.   What I also enjoyed was the letters throughout the book that the main character writes back to her parents and friend in England.  Definitely two thumbs up!

I did get to a concert a few weeks ago.... I saw Lyle Lovett with his Acoustic Group.  Do any of you know Lyle Lovett's music?  Most know him from being married to Julia Roberts, lol!  I have seen him many times.  He is one of my favorites so when he is in town I am there!  He has a wonderful voice that I could listen to all day long.   He is great at storytelling and the stories are reflected in his music, kind of folksy, jazzy, country, a bit of everything.. with a pinch of humor too!  

Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett and Acoustic Group

I hope you are having a fun summer too!  

Have a great week!  Happy Stitching!!  xxxx

  

We're having a heatwave!

Is it HOT where you are??  Just too hot for me, I wish it would snow! lol!

So what's a girl to do in all this heat?  Well, keep cool and STITCH!

I finished another row across, the peacock and duck, except for the grassy ground underneath!  Looks like they are kind of floating along.  So funny, how the size of the birds are so disproportionate to each other.

SDW Sampler

Hope you are all having a wonderful week and keeping cool!

Gigi and I wish you miles of smiles and happy stitching!!   xxxx

Rocking out in Boston and Philly!

Hi All!

I hope you are enjoying the start of summer!

I have not been getting much stitching in lately.  The last couple of weeks I did some traveling instead!  First off I went to Boston for a few days.  Even though the weather wasn't the greatest the sun did finally come out the last day so I could get some sightseeing in!

I was so lucky to see this beautiful double rainbow!!!  So all that rain was good for something! :)

Boston is definitely a walking city.  I made the mistake of trying to drive around and it was just total frustration!  The subway T is the easiest way to go.  I came across this great farmer's market and Faneuil Hall Market area, lots of shopping and a great place for just chillin' out...

 

And there were great old buildings and pubs, and cobblestone roads...

Then I made my way over to the harbor and found a tall ship....

It was wonderful to see so many greens and parks everywhere I went....

And it seemed no matter where I went I saw this clock tower, it seemed to be following me!  lol!

It was great to see some of the city although the main reason I was there was not so much for the sightseeing but for another reason entirely.  Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I am a BIG Rolling Stones fan, so when they announced their recent tour I jumped in in a big way!  I just never know if it could be the Last Time so I wanted to see the greatest Rock 'n' Roll band and all my Stones buddies yet another time.  

So the challenge was 4 concerts in 10 days!  Could I do it?!   I certainly planned to get my Stones fix!  

The first two shows were in Boston.  The Stones were nothing short of AMAZING!   Lots of great hits: Get off of my Cloud, Brown Sugar, Tumblin' Dice, Honky Tonk Woman, Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash, Miss You!

Mick's energy is endless.  He just goes and goes and goes like the energizer bunny!!  lol!

With this being the 50 & Counting Tour, each show was a bit unique, had some guest stars and even Mick Taylor (one of the original members) joined them on a few songs each night.  One of my favorites they did in this tour was Emotional Rescue, Love that song!!  Here is one of the special guests, Gary Clark Jr. - he sure knows how to play some awesome blues!

 

 

So after Boston, I headed to Philadelphia for two separate nights the week after.  The ride to Philadelphia is sooooooo FAR!!  (and traffic is INSANE!!) but worth it once the show starts!  At each show there was a local choir to sing back up for You Can't Always Get What you Want. 

ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL! 

The energy the Stones put on that stage is incredible, I don't know how they do it!!  

It was a crazy, fantastic time, and I am thrilled to have seen them again and all my friends.  I do hope it is NOT the last time!  

So now that I am thoroughly exhausted!! I am looking forward to relaxing this weekend and getting back into the stitching swing while watching some great Wimbledon tennis.  

Have a rockin' week!! and happy stitching!!  xxxx