A Stitching Finish!

I hope all of my blog friends had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving filled with family and friends. My daughter visited us for a week. We didn't rush around doing things. We just enjoyed each other's company. Hubby and I are looking forward to having her visit us again at Christmastime.

I have been lazily working on my Thanksgiving towel. 

I finally finished it on Saturday. It isn't my best stitching, but it is just for my enjoyment.....next year. 

Today it is supposed to be in the 50's here on Long Island. It will be the perfect weather for Hubby to hang the Christmas lights. I will be helping by checking that they work and handing them to him while he is on the ladder. I really just watch the process, but I like to be close in case of emergency.

 I hope to get back to stitching my Christmas gifts. I put them away while my daughter was here as I didn't want her to have any idea about what she might be receiving. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what she and other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finally...

I was happily knitting the neck shaping on the right side of Mom's vest when lo and behold I realized that I had the shaping on the wrong side. Ugh! I should have looked at the left side to determine exactly where the neck shaping should be. So I had to frog 20, yes 20, rows.

Happily, I have now finished the right side. Yay! Next up is ironing, seaming, pockets, button and buttonhole bands and collar. 

It sounds like a lot, but believe me I am turning cartwheels that I am at this point. What a knitting journey this has been so far. I really hope there will be no more frogging on this vest. I could have been finished a long time ago without all the frogging I have done. Ugh....

I am really trying to finish my Thanksgiving towel by Thursday. Not that it matters this year as I am visiting rather than hosting. Still, I don't want this hanging around until next year. I just have back-stitching and a bunch of "Gobble"s.

I can't see the stitching at all on this at night no matter what light I use, so I can only work on it during the day. Of course it is pouring rain today so stitching is going to be a challenge. Almost there.

As for reading, it is just not happening right now. I would rather work on my crafts for Christmas. Of course, I am perusing my recipe books and magazines for Christmas ideas. I will be hosting that holiday and making numerous cookies.

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along again this week. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Yarn Along

I thought I would be far more productive this week than I have been. I did manage to cast on the right side of my mom's vest.

I have finished the ribbing and made the opening for the pocket. Now I am working on the body of the right side. I have 66 rows of easy reverse stockinette stitch to knit. I think this will go quite quickly. 

I am joining Ginny at Small Things for Yarn Along again this week. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to.

I finished reading A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams. I really liked this book. It is set in the 1930's. It is a love story ....sort of.... that deals with the taboos and prejudices of the time. There are family secrets that are slowly revealed as the story goes back and forth between 1931 and 1938. I have to agree with some of the Amazon reviewers that this book is a little like a soap opera, but I still found myself wanting to keep on reading. 
I haven't lined up another book to read yet. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Really Slow Stitching

My Christmas crafting seems to have slowed to a crawl. I was really hoping to finish this gift by this weekend, but alas that has not happened.

See that cream color. That is the last color of cross-stitch needed. Next is back stitching, stem-stitching and french knots. I am hoping to finish the cross-stitch today and move on to one of the other stitches. I have to admit that the stem stitching makes me somewhat apprehensive as it is being used more as a filler stitch rather than an outline. I have stitched all of these stitches before, but I have never used the stem stitch as a filler. Oh well, I will just have to dive in.

My Thanksgiving hand-towel is wallowing a little. 

I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year and my mojo for finishing it has been lagging. On top of that I have failed to bring it along with me sometimes and then find myself with time on my hands and no project. I will be packing it in my car each day this week to catch a few stitching moments here and there. That is all it will take to finish this. 

I am joining Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching this week. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Left Side Finished!

I have finished the left side of my mom's vest. I hope to cast on the right side of the vest later this week. My next few days are full to the brim so I am not expecting to get to that before Friday. I am so happy to be casting on the last large piece. 

I am also going to cast on a hat for a Christmas present. This is the pattern that hurt my hand last year, but it is fairly easy and makes a great hat. I will make it a little longer than the pattern specifies because my son thought the one I made him last year was a little short. I briefly considered crocheting a hat, but I don't want to make an unknown pattern as a gift.
I thought I would also show you an update on one of my cross-stitch Christmas gifts. It is a close picture because I don't want the recipient to figure it out if they see this post. 

I am joining Ginny's Yarn Along again this week. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. 

As for my reading I finished Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer before my Kindle loan ran out. I really like this book as I have all the other books that I have read by this author.  I have yet to begin reading another book. I have been spending my free time crafting and browsing my extensive stash of craft and food magazines and books.

Thanks for stopping by!

New Stitching

I have two new projects to share with you. First, I have started working on the Thanksgiving hand towel I mentioned a couple of post ago. 

It is easy to work on and is stitching up quickly. 

Up close the B's in the GOBBLEs look like 8s. I'm glad they look correct in the picture.

I have also started stitching a Christmas present. I can't show you the whole item, but this some of the stitching.

It is not a very large stamped cross-stitch so I hope I can finish it in a week. There is another one to work on right after this.

I also managed to make a trip to JoAnn's this week and came away with this fabric to use as backing for my table runner.

I think it goes well with the fabrics on the front and the binding will be a deep forest green. Even though I have been longing to work on this, it may have to take a back seat to the Christmas crafting. I want to machine quilt the runner which will go quickly, but most of my Christmas projects are by hand. I need to finish those first I think. 

Hubby and I took a walk along the path in our local nature preserve this weekend. This was part of our route.  

As you can see, many of the leaves have already fallen and left the trees somewhat bare.  

I am joining with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching today. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Yarn Along progress

Yes, I have made progress on the vest I am knitting.

This is the left front. It will have a pocket in that opening. I have actually knitted about 10 more rows since this photo was taken. All of a sudden I am able to work quickly on this. Then again it is purl one row, knit one row for 53 stitches each row. I hope I can continue to knit it quickly once I get to the top pattern.

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along again this week. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. 

As for reading, I am trying to finish Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer before my Kindle loan ends. I am really enjoying this book. It is mostly light reading with a little romance and self discovery by the characters. I always enjoy this author's novels and this one is no different.

Thanks for stopping by!



Stitching update

Okay, my stitching updates are getting boring, even for me. I have been working on Large Cross-stitch #1 whenever I can spare a half hour. It is coming along quite nicely, but there are 8 more pages to complete following the current page. Here is where I was on my last update.

This is where I am as of today.

This is definitely a long term project.

I have decided that I must start stitching something else. I need a trip to the fabric store in order to finish my table runner. Hubby has agreed to go with me today. I also want to pick up a hand towel with a cross-stitch insert and some floss (actually only one skein of floss as I have all the other colors I need). I am planning to work on this Thanksgiving towel.

This looks fairly quick and easy and I don't currently have one for Thanksgiving.

I have just ordered two cross-stitch kits to stitch for Christmas gifts also. I can't tell you what they are because at least one of the recipients reads this blog. When they arrive I will give you snippets of the stitching as I work I it. I am excited to have some new stitching to work on. Now I just have to find the time and break out the Ott-lite. Sorry Hubby, I know it is very bright.

I thought I would share the "Fall" flowers on my front porch. I am amazed at how beautiful my geraniums and begonias still look. 

They have been on my porch all summer and are still blooming. I just added some mums as a nod to Fall.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Stop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching!

Thanks for stopping by!