Ta-da! Baker Beach is finished!

I sat down with Baker Beach lat Sunday morning and finished it just after noon. 

It has been washed and ironed (though it looks like I need to do more ironing) and is ready to be brought to the framer. I think I will wait until my son visits so that he can have a say in how it is framed as it is a gift for him.

This took over three years and consisted of 36,000 stitches. I made sure initial and date it although it is a little hard to see in this photo.

All in all I love how this turned out!

Next up is this felt Advent Calendar. 

In reading the directions I realized that all those mittens and stockings are actually permanently attached which is not what I really want, so I may have to adjust how this is made near the end. I would prefer that each stocking could be hung on its own button or bead. I have a long way to go before I really have to worry about that. I will be starting work on this today as my hands are itching to do some sewing. 

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!

Olympic crafting

I love the Olympics. Not only do I enjoy watching the huge variety of sporting events, but it is a great excuse to just sit and stitch all day long. I am even thinking of moving Baker Beach to the living room so that I can actually finish it today. Do you see how close I am to that finish? 

It is definitely going to happen today! 

I am wondering if I have enough yarn to complete all 80 rows of my cowl. I am really not worried about it as I will either stop at 70 or keep going to the full 80. It will be fine either way. The yarn is lace weight so there may be enough.

I am just loving this pattern and I am so glad that I tried a pattern out of my comfort zone. I am a fairly novice knitter, but I am usually willing to try anything at least once. This lacy pattern was easy once I got the hang of it. 

Hubby and I got a surprise in the mail yesterday. This little box of chocolates came from Adelphi University where we both completed our graduate studies.

The little card speculates that we met while on campus. Little do they know that Hubby and I met in High School and started dating just before I graduated. That was several years before we were at Adelphi.

My MIL gifted Hubby and I these little bottles of champagne to celebrate the end of our mortgage payments.

 Yes, we own our house free and clear after 30 years! Yay! Of course now I am thinking that it is in need of some updating. You know: carpeting, painting, ....maybe a craft room. We shall see.

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!

  

Closer

I am inching closer to finishing Baker Beach. I was able to spend about an hour yesterday stitching sand. You can see that I have made it down to the bottom left corner. 

I am oh so close. I just want to sit and stitch until it is done. Unfortunately, there are the basics of life that get in the way, but that is okay. With a February Break coming up, I know that it will be done by the end of this month. Wow, did I actually say that?
I have also spent some more time working on my cowl. I am loving the way it is looking.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. Baker Beach is on my stitching radar. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

985 and 37

That is how many stitches and rows I have left.

There are 985 stitches left to stitch on Baker Beach. Yes, I counted.

I have put in a few long sessions recently and made significant progress.

 I've included a close-up of what is left as I just finished stitching a white that is hard to see in the larger view.

A little blue and a bunch of sand is all that is left. I am really motivated to spend more time with it now. Of course, my university course starts up again this week, so I will have less time. Yet, I am only teaching one course this semester  and it is staying lighter later each day so maybe I can get some stitching in on my off late afternoons. 

I also have less than half of the rows left to complete on my cowl.....37 to be exact.

I had to un-knit a row recently when I just couldn't fix a mistake, but I am back on track now. 

Here is a close-up of the lacy pattern. I think you will be able to see it better once it is off the needles and blocked.

I have been spending some time sitting at my computer in my daughter's old room working at her desk. Lately, including now as I write, I have had this view of my neighbor's roof.

I believe this squirrel is building a nest under their solar panels.

 I watch him travel along my fence, up a tree, onto the electric wires and then on the roof. He/she sits on the peak and eats or preens. 

Sometimes he/she has some twigs or grass in its mouth. I really have to go over to my neighbor and tell them about their furry friend...er...foe?

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I will try to get closer to the finish with Baker Beach. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

1500 stitches

1500...that is the approximate number of stitches left on Baker Beach. I added a few more yesterday and hope to spend about an hour on it today. This is where I am.

It may not look much different from my last post two weeks ago, but trust me I have been filling in some of that blue.

I have been watching tennis and pre-Olympic sports on the TV at night and knitting this pretty cowl. 

I have completed three of the eight pattern repeats. I am loving this lacy knit. It is quite easy to keep track of the pattern with a stitch marker every 12 stitches as recommended in the pattern. Usually my only mistakes are forgetting to YO which are easily fixed. 

I finally received this cross-stitch fabric in the mail after an e-mail to the company.

 I ordered it just after Christmas and only received it this week. The company claimed that its distributor was on vacation, but I would have liked some notice that it was delayed rather than wondering whether or not my order was lost. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. This year she is having occasional photo challenges and today's topic is hoops. 
The one "hoop" that has been getting the most use lately is this cross-stitch stand that I am using for Baker Beach. 

It has been getting quite a work-out and I think I may have to replace some screws that seem to be stripped before I use it again. Do you like the view of my living room down below?

This little oval hoop I inherited from an Aunt many years ago.

I also have this frame to use for larger cross-stitch projects that don't necessarily need a stand with them.
I have several round wooden hoops for smaller projects

Although it is difficult to tell from this picture, the hoop below is a two plastic hoops connected to make a lap stand. I like to use this for medium sized-projects.

I own a large round quilting hoop that I prefer to use for hand quilting,

but I have an oval quilting stand also.

I sometimes use this hoop on the stand or on my lap.
Those are just a few of my hoops. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching and the kind of hoops they are using.

I will be working on Baker Beach some more today edging closer and closer to a finish. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Snow days

I ended up with an unintended four day weekend due to the blizzard we had here on Long Island. My son had some extra time in Southern California as it took an extra day and a half before he could get a flight to New York. 
Our back deck ended up free of snow, but one of our chaise lounges flipped over and the cover blew off of our table and chairs.

Our front porch had a nice drift. 

No snow on the cars, but a drift next to Hubby's car.

Of course that meant I did some some snow shoveling (our snow blower wouldn't start despite being tested prior to the storm).

 It took a while to shovel through the end of the driveway. We had to go back out after dark once the plows came through a second time.

  You can see how high the snow mounds are. We had over 12 inches of snow.

 The two snow days also meant that I had time to take down almost all of the Christmas decorations. 

Of course I was not going to waste two unexpected days off just doing chores. I sat down with Baker Beach for a few hours and made some real progress.

I also cast on this Milanese Lace Cowl (4 times) before I actually got the count correct and the pattern going. I have finished 2 of 8 repeats of the pattern. 

I haven't knit in a while and am really enjoying challenging myself with a lace pattern. It is surprisingly quite easy.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I think that Baker Beach needs a little more love today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafting plans for the New Year.

What do I want to craft in 2018? Oh my there is a really long list. 

First I want to finish Baker Beach. It is soooo close.

I have tried to cast on this infinity scarf 3 4 times. I will get it going and then have a new knit project to work on. (I cast on again last night and have the first row knitted).

I also want to finish my Granny Square Rose Afghan.

I have two felt kit projects that I can't share right now, but that I really want to finish before next Christmas. I will be starting these shortly. I will share my progress, but I won't be able to tell you what they are as they will be surprise gifts for my children. 

I just purchased the fabric to work on these two Christmas pieces.

I won these patterns over two years ago. The one on the left comes with the floss and jingle bells.

I also bought the fabric to start this big cross-stitch project for my daughter. 

This is going to take several years just like Baker Beach. I thought it was smaller, but it is actually larger than Baker Beach. I will start it once Baker Beach is completed.

I want to make a cowl with this yarn that I almost forgot that I bought in Saratoga this year.

I am going to start a quilt for my daughter. I think I have decided on the pattern though I will have to add about 9 stars in order to make it into a queen-sized quilt.

 I will start searching for the fabric in the Spring so that I can concentrate on the sewing when I am off from school in the Summer. My daughter likes the color palette that is given, but wants it to be less Christmas-like.

There are other projects that I would like to get to, but I think I will stop my list here as this many projects may not even be possible.

 Finishing the quilting on this baby quilt

 and finishing the stitching on the Autumn church embroidery that has been a UFO for so long may happen. This project is further along than the photo shows. The trees above the fence are mostly completed.

If I feel like it I will pick these last two up, but they are not planned finishes for 2018.

So that is my list. I am sure there will be other projects that catch my eye and are added along the way. There always are. 

Thanks for stopping by!