Slowly growing Christmas Tree

So I started crocheting this Christmas tree at the beginning of the summer. It is finally being assembled. First you take a knitting needle and push it through a foam disc.

 I glued some felt onto the bottom to avoid scratching any furniture the tree is placed on. I didn't have any white felt so I figured green would work.

 Next I glued on the skirt. Please ignore the basement in the background. This is my usual crafting space.

 Then I started adding the tree layers. You can see them all laid out in order on the table.

 It's not pretty, but I needed a way to weight down each layer while it dried....my wire cutters did the job.

And so it continued......

Until I got to the top! I found that the roll of masking tape worked well as a weight. The tools were there to keep the spiral upright as it dried.

 Almost finished.

 It needs some decoration. See that bowl of 1/4 inch red pom-poms. They all need to be glued onto the tree. As you can see, I have moved to the kitchen for this part. Brighter and more comfortable.

 Ta-da!!!

I am quite pleased with the final result.

This one will be a gift for my daughter. Now I have to make a second one for my son. I try not to play favorites and I get to do more crocheting! I certainly won't complain.

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. 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 Distant Hours by Kate Morton. I liked this novel, but I found it to be somewhat darker than her other novels. As a result it took me much longer to read than usual. I still liked the uncovering of family secrets and the intertwining of the characters' lives right until the very end of the book. I don't have anything else in mind to read right now. I will have to start looking around. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn is Here!

Autumn is here, but Autumn Angel is not yet finished. She is well on her way though. I worked on her for about an hour on Friday after I got home from work. Hubby and I had to stay at home so that we could pick up his car from the repair shop. The radiator blew....ugh! 

Saturday finally felt like Autumn here on Long Island. I was up early and I put a few more stitches on Autumn Angel.
Here is where she is as of Saturday afternoon. Although they are hard to see, she has her face and her hands and her dress is done.

I plan on working solely on her when I am cross-stitching so I can get her on display. Of course there are other crafts that are also keeping me busy, but that will be another post.
I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to their sites and see what other bloggers are stitching. I will be enjoying my Autumn weather and stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Blog Win and a Hand injury

Okay, so what I haven't mentioned in recent posts is that another one of the reasons my crafting has slowed is that I have had pain in my right hand. I am basically ambidextrous, although I write left-handed, but really and truly when you cross-stitch, crochet or knit you use both hands. I had 2 surgeries on my left hand many years ago and aggravated one of them a couple of years ago as some of you may remember. I was quite surprised this August when my right hand started really aching and I found a small ball in my palm. Now that I have slowed my crafting due to that discomfort and working full-time, my hand has been feeling somewhat better, but I still made a visit to the hand specialist. He told me I have "trigger finger" in my right pinky finger. I have always known this. I have it in other fingers also. It runs in my family. It was the reason for one of the surgeries in my left hand. So I got a steroid shot in my palm.....not fun at all....and a follow-up in a month if it is no better. Surprisingly, doctor said not to stop crafting unless I am in pain. Whew! That is a relief. 

Now to the better news. I won a blog giveaway! Zenia Rene over at A Quilted Passion was celebrating her 3 year blogiversary and sponsored a wonderful giveaway.  I won on what would have been my dad's 91st birthday. 

Look at this absolutely fabulous gift. Wow! Two jelly rolls and border fabric to make a Reflections Quilt whose pattern was included. You can see a picture of this modern quilt here.

 Isn't that fabric absolutely fantastic! And look at the gorgeous variegated thread.

I am in heaven. Zena also included a cute charm and That Purple Thang which I believe will really come in handy. Please pop over to her site and see the gorgeous work that she does.

I have managed to do some stitching this week on Autumn Angel. The gold has been added to her dress and part of her halo has been completed.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I think I will work be working on Autumn Angel as I would like to finish her at the beginning of that season so that I can put her on display.

I thought I would leave you today with a cute photo of two bunny visitors to our yard. They usually only come one at a time so this was a treat.

Thanks for stopping by!

School has started!

One week down and I don't want to think about how many more there are. My school week was quite interesting. I started the week in a new room. It is small, with three large desks that allow 5 people to sit at them and one table for six. I was sharing this with the teacher who conducts Math Research classes in this same room. The problem with this is I am the Math Center teacher and it is supposed to be open every period for children to come and get homework help or review prior to a quiz or test. This wouldn't have been possible with a research class in the room at the same time. After two days I was assigned to the same room that the Math Center has been in for several years. Now though I had to get desks, a file cabinet and a bookcase returned to that room in order to have the set-up that I need. I am all settled now. I am just missing a pencil sharpener. 

Needless to say, I have been quite tired upon returning home each afternoon. I did have an hour or so to stitch on Baker Beach yesterday. More blue, but at least there was a good deal of progress. Here is last week. 

This is how it looks this morning. The next color is a grey. I may be able to work on that today.

A close-up

Or I may try to finish Autumn Angel's hair. I may even stitch her halo. Her wings are outlined but I will leave the white stitches that fill them in until last.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. You know what I will be working on. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Being a New Yorker I have to include this:

May we never forget.

Thanks for stopping by!

September is Here

September is here and that means back to work for me. I will be returning to my Teaching Assistant position in the Math Center of the high school where I work. I basically tutor students who come to the center during their free periods or lunch in everything from Algebra to Calculus.

I will also be returning to work as an Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at Hofstra University. Yes, that is where the first presidential debate will be happening. It is exciting, but I won't be anywhere close to it as all classes have been cancelled for that day. I am teaching a course that I have taught previously so there is not all that much prep needed just some updating and making new exams. Of course there is a new edition of the textbook so I have to update my assignments as the pages and problem numbers have changed. 

What I am basically telling all of my blog followers is that my posts will be slowing down once again just like my crafting. I love summer, because I can get so much crafting completed. That being said, here is a update on two of my projects. 

First, Autumn Angel is slowly growing. I have filled in most of her dress and her wings are being outlined.

I have been giving Baker Beach a lot of attention. On my last update it looked like this:

Here is where I am now:

I am moving into the greys from the blues, but it is still large swaths of color which I am really enjoying stitching.

Look who visited our deck the other day.

Bunny was enjoying the view of our back yard.

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!