Progress

I have spent a wonderfully relaxing winter break off from my high school position. I got some great bargains shopping on President's day. I needed to toss some clothes that have holes and replace them. Unfortunately, my wonderful savings flew out the window when I hit a pothole on the way home from the mall and ruined a tire. The cost of a new tire was way more than my clothing savings.

I have been reading a book I found at the library that I am totally enjoying, The Forgotten Seamstress, by Liz Trenow. The reading is easy and the story line is fascinating. 

I made some progress on Jingle. I finished the bird and started on the holly below its feet. 

I had to frog the smallest holly immediately to the right of the bird's tail, because I realized it was a half stitch down. Thankfully it wasn't too difficult to remedy. I am enjoying working on this piece finally. I think it is because the motifs are a little closer together and easy to move from one to another.

I have also made a small dent in Three Boats. 

I was dismayed to realize that I would be starting with black to stitch the palm trees, but better to get that out of the way at the beginning and look forward to all of the gorgeous colors that await me. I have already stitched almost 200 stitches, but on 18 count the area is quite small.

My scarf is growing. It is currently around 50 inches long. 

I can stop whenever I want. I had thought I would just work until I finished the skein of yarn, but there is a lot left and I don't think I need a scarf that long. 

I made New England Cranberry Muffins from a new to me recipe that I have had hanging around for many, many years. 

They are quite tasty. I share the muffins I make with my mom and my MIL so that I don't eat them all myself. Hubby isn't big on muffins in general. I usually try one and put the rest in the freezer to bring to work for lunch with a yogurt every so often.

Yesterday, I made some more individual chicken pot pies for Hubby and I to eat after we teach at the local university. I get home earlier than he does, so I just unwrap the frozen pies and pop them in the oven. They are ready to eat when Hubby gets home. I also cooked a pot roast and divided it up into single serve dinners for my mom. I put them in her freezer and all she has to do is make a vegetable to go with them and maybe some noodles. 

It is back to work tomorrow, so I wanted to be sure everyone had enough nutritious food for the nights when I don't want to cook from scratch.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I am hoping to add some stitches to Jingle today.

Thanks for stopping by!

First Finish of 2020

I finally finished crocheting my hat. 

I am quite pleased with the result. Now I am working on finishing the matching scarf.

I also finished reading True Blue by Luanne Rice. 

It took me a while to get into this book, not for any other reason, but that I just didn't have the time some days to pick it up. I am so glad that I stuck with it, because I really liked this book and will be looking to read some others by this author.

I put some stitches into "Jingle". The bird is now more than halfway done. 

I am off from school this coming week so I should have more progress to report next week.....unless I get sidetracked by other WIPs.

I also want do some clearance shopping while I am off. This is always a great time of year to snag some cold weather clothes to replace some that are wearing out. Of course I have scheduled dentist and eye doctor appointments this week too. I like not to have to use my sick days for these and we don't have any travel plans.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will be working on either Jingle or Three Boats. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day

     

Started

I just had to get started on "Three Boats". It has been calling to me. 

Yesterday, I sat down and put in all the grid lines that I will need for the first 3 pages and then I stitched a few stitches in the upper left corner. 

I am stitching this on 18-count Aida cloth to keep the overall size manageable, but I really prefer 14-count. This is going to be quite a long stitching journey. It has started.

Last weekend I finished the ribbon and leaves and started on the second crow of Jingle. Just the head is done.

 I will put some more stitches on the body today. I might even finish it, though probably not.

I have almost completed my crocheted hat too. 

It is 9 and 1/2 inches long and needs to be 10 inches before I stitch the border row. So close. I should be able to finish it very soon. I can't believe that it has taken me so long, but the arthritis in both my hands has been very limiting. Once the hat is done, I can go back to working on the scarf. 

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

Thanks for stopping by! 

Slow Sunday Stitching

I added all the snow on the top of Jingle. If you click on the picture you can see the snowflake confetti. I really don't like stitching confetti so I just sat down and made myself do it.

I started working on the bottom half of Jingle yesterday. Yay! You can see the green ribbon on the right side of the picture under "Enter". 

I finally feel like I am making some progress on this piece. Now I am looking forward to working on it.
I have also added some rows to my hat. 

It is dark and rainy here today which probably explains why the color looks blue rather than lavender. I need to make it 10 inches long so that the bottom can be folded up. I have just about 8 inches completed.

My university job started again this past week. I am only teaching one class so it is somewhat more manageable. I made Individual Chicken Pot Pies last week that I froze. All I have to do is take them out of the freezer when I get home and pop them in the oven.

We have a late dinner, but at least it isn't take-out. Today I want to make some baked ziti and Swedish meatballs to put in the freezer for future dinners. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will add a few more stitches to Jingle in between my cooking.

Thanks for stopping by!