An hour and some songs

An hour of time and a Luke Bryan CD and look what I managed to stitch! All of that tangerine color was stitched on Saturday morning. You can see that I strayed a little bit into the next page to the left in order to finish off a strand of floss.

There were over 300 stitches of that color to be completed yesterday. I just stitched along with the music to get it done. Now I can move on to another color. Unfortunately, there are no more large swaths of color left to this page. I hope to spend some more time stitching on Baker Beach today, but maybe not an hour this time. Here is a wider view. I just have to stitch a little bit into the mountains to finish this 7th page out of 10

I am not teaching at university this semester, so I should have more time each weekend  and some nights for some crafting. I have been steadily working on my daughter's On The Tracks infinity scarf also. I added a couple of rows to the pattern in between the two open work rows as she wanted something slightly wider.

Her birthday is tomorrow, but this really wasn't necessarily intended as a birthday gift anyway. She had a different request that I was having trouble finding until I stopped in a little local store yesterday. I will send both to her as soon as the scarf is completed.

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

  

Thanks for stopping by!

Yarn Along

 I have been crocheting and knitting regularly. I started on the infinity scarf for my daughter. 

 I am about halfway done and I love it. 

I have also made some progress on the Feather and Fan shawl. I have moved on to the darker part of the skein and I am making fewer mistakes. Finally. I really like how this is looking.

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along again this week.What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading? I am also linking up with Keep Calm Craft On at Frontier Dreams. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. I have started reading The Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini which you can see in the first picture. This is the third book of the Elm Creek Quilts series. I have read and enjoyed the first two.  I had  a whole lot of books from the swap shelf at my local library, but most of them were quite dark and I just didn't want to read them. I returned them last weekend and picked up a few books that I have been wanting to read. Now I am looking forward to reading agian.

Thanks for stopping by!

Inch by Inch

Baker Beach is growing inch by inch. I am trying to stitch at least one square inch, or 100 stitches, each week. I am really aiming for 100 stitches per day, but I know that is unrealistic at this time so 100 a week seems attainable. Here is where I was last week:

It was cloudy last week so I had to take this picture with my overhead lights on, hence the camera shadow. Guess what? There is no sun today either, but there is some progress to show. You can see the second tower of the bridge just starting to form.

We are expecting a rain filled Nor'easter tonight into tomorrow. No snow, but a whole lot of wind and rain. I should be able to get a bunch of crafting done. 

I am joining Kathy for 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 up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

New Projects

I started a new craft. I had purchased one of those Shawl in a Ball skeins of yarn a while ago. I am not sure how much I like this yarn, but I am busy knitting a shawl. I had a hard time deciding on the pattern. I wanted to crochet this shawl, but I didn't like any of the available patterns. I settled on the Feather and Fan shawl which is a very simple, lacy knitted 4 row pattern that I keep messing up. Ugh! 

I was hoping for a knit that was fairly mindless, but I really have to concentrate. As I said, I think part of the problem is the yarn. It tends to catch on itself and is not soft and luscious. I really want to make a shawl though and I don't want to buy any more yarn to do so. I have finally completed one 4 row repeat without a mistake.
I did purchase this beauty from my LYS. It is a sock-weight yarn. 

I plan to make another On The Tracks infinity scarf, this time for my daughter. She borrowed mine when she was home at Christmas and I asked her if she would like one. Her birthday is the end of this month so I think that if I get my act together she might actually get it this year. It is a crocheted project which usually goes quickly for me. 

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along. 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 own reading...not happening. I started a book when I had a break at work, but I really only have about 15 minutes a day besides lunch which I spend with co-workers. I am catching up on some magazines that I have laying around. That is enough reading for right now.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Did you miss me?

I have missed connecting with all of you. I have not had my computer for at least a week. There was a hard-drive problem that my computer savvy Hubby could not fix. He had to bring it to two different repair places until they could get it back up and running, but then the second place didn't fully connect the fan so it was overheating and shutting down completely. It still has a minor glitch that Hubby is researching. He is trying so hard to salvage this 7 year old computer that I really like. 

Now I have a smart phone and a mini-iPad, but I didn't couldn't get to any of my photos or even to Blogger Dashboard. Everything is backed up, but not accessible to those devices so updating this blog was just not happening. I must say that I was going through laptop withdrawal, but I did get all of my Christmas decor put away in a timely fashion. Our tree told us that it needed to come down when the star on the top started drooping.

I enjoyed visiting with my son who spent a couple of extra days with us when his flight was cancelled due to snow. He helped Hubby with the snow removal. 

 That is my son running the snow blower.

I was able to put a few stitches on Baker Beach during my school break also. You can see the pale yellow that is new. I couldn't avoid the shadow of my hand as it is snowing again today.

I will be joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. I plan on spending some time working on Baker Beach. I will join the Stitchery Link Party on Monday at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are up to.

I am glad to be back to blogging, but I realize now that in order to get more crafting completed I need to stay away from the laptop time trap. I have stumbled into a New Year's resolution to craft more and play laptop games less. I think I will be much happier with my crafting progress. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

2016 Retrospective

First I want to thank all of my followers and all of my readers. I am so thankful for all of your comments, support and encouragement throughout the year.

It is the time of year to review my completed projects and report on last
 year's WIPs that will continue into the coming year. I also have a few new projects that I want to start.

I had 15 completions this year. Not too bad. 

January

I finished my Winter Angel. 

February

Mom's vest is finally keeping her warm

This hat was requested by my MIL.

April

I finished stitching Spring Angel. 

July

This sleepy dog kit was a gift from my son. I have yet to frame or finish it.

Spring Angel was made into a standing placard.

August

Gratitude is the Key to Happiness was stitched, finished and sent as a gift.

 Fresh Till Cowl was one of the easiest knits that I have ever done.

I needed something new for my dining room's bay window so I made this Lantern Floral Craft.

September
I love this hat pattern so a made another one for Hubby

 I made this Crocheted Christmas Tree for my daughter.

I finished stitching Autumn Angel. 

October

I made Autumn Angel into another standing placard.

I tried this easy No-Sew Quilted Ornament.

December

Merry Christmas Angel was stitched long ago, but I finally make her into yet another placard.

This blue cowl was made for my daughter out of the yarn from a hat that she didn't like.

I finished a hat for myself sometime during the year, but I can't find a picture anywhere.

WIPS

I hope Baker Beach will be finished this year. There are still 3+ pages to be stitched.

My 2nd Crocheted Christmas Tree is almost done, but I won't need to give it to my son until next year when he has his own apartment. This is one start of the tree skirt which has been taken apart a few times. It is the last piece that I need to finish crocheting before assembly and it no longer looks like this.

This Royal Squares Quilt is disappointing for a few reasons. 

First it is not going together easily. Some of the sizing is off and I can't seem to get the seams to line up without extensive pinning. I have tried several different methods. On top of it all, the twin-sized bed that I was making this for is soon to be replaced with a queen-sized bed, so I will have to decide if I want to search for fabric to make it bigger or just finish it as is. 

I think I will work on hand-quilting this small baby quilt that my mother made. 

This Fall printed cross-stitch is a long-term project. I am just not that into working on it. I think it is a little farther along than this picture shows, but I can't locate a more recent picture.

I have two Prairie Schooler Santas that will now be made as gifts for next year as I ran out of time this year. The front one is partially stitched, but I will update that another time.

I think I will probably work on these this coming Summer.

I also have the Granny Square Roses to work on.

There is no real plan for them right now. They are an easy project to work on here and there.

Future Projects
Summer Angel .....well first I have to design her. At least I have some ideas this year.

This Pinkeep was sent to me by another blogger. I now have the correct linen so I can get started.

I bought this Felt Advent Tree kit to make for my daughter. 

I want to get started on it soon as it has a lot of little pieces.

I am sure there will be some crocheted and knit pieces also, but right now I have no definite plans. Of course, that can change in a moment.

Thanks for stopping by!