March biscornu

Growth Rings kept me busy most of the month, but I had enough time to get my March biscornu done for the Basket of Biscornu blog. This is from the blog Cross Stitch Happy (both are in my blog list down on the right if you are interested) and is called Roberta's Cats Scissor Fob. It's very tiny for a biscornu, only 2 inches across! I changed the colors of DMC called for, and used a scrap of 28ct watercress linen from my stash. The top has a crystal bicone, and the bottom a button of a mouse!
Before biscornu finishing.
After finishing!
And this is the back...
don't know why Blogger keeps rotating this one picture, but you get the idea!


And, since the orange cat color was inspired by my other male cat Leo, here's a pic of him sleeping too....

Growth Rings Happy Dance!

Dance with me! I finished Growth Rings! It took six weeks and chasing off a few frogs (they were small but annoying) and here it is, all stitching complete......the picture just does not do it justice!

I will take it in April to be framed....this was a really fun stitch and I enjoyed every minute, even after chasing off those pesky frogs....LOL!

Now I can work on the biscornu I started yesterday after the last stitch was put in Rings.....my cat Pixel is happy because I don't need the big floor frame for something so small, so he can nap on my chair arm. Don't ask me how he sleeps like this....he reminds me of the Wysocki cat in Too Pooped sleeping on the tree branch!

Back to stitching....

I'm back to stitching this week after a lovely day w/my Dad on Sunday! Last night I settled in to watch the Carolina Hurricanes (thanks to the NJ Devils for giving Brodeur the deserved night off so we could win!), and finished off the last ring on Ink Circles' design from the March JCS...Growth Rings! I ended up using 4 and 2/3 silk skeins of the main color, with one+ skein left over to add to the stash. Took the picture and right away started on the secondary color (still had part of the game to watch after all!), which is for the leafy sections inside the rings and things. I am enjoying this design thoroughly, and hope to finish it this month at the rate I'm going! I also need to squeeze in a biscornu before the end of the month for the Basket of Biscornu blog I am taking part in...better be a quick one! The rest of the monthly plan is going to be postponed, but I'm having fun with Rings, so I don't care.....and besides, there will shortly be a new mystery SAL (Papillon) starting and I need to clear a spot in the rotation, right?





















ETA: Errata for Growth Rings (I just sent her a couple more so check back!)

My Daddy

I couldn't let the Ides of March (3/15) pass without making note of my father's 80th Birthday! I told him I looked for a card that said "Happy 50th!....because if you are 50, that makes me 23!" Alas, no luck finding that card, but he was happy with the Panara card we did get him!

We took the short drive to his house yesterday and helped with disposing of the cake, but not till after watching our family's favorite team, Duke, win the ACC Tournament! Thanks to Coach K and the guys for giving my daddy such a great present! Five years ago we surprised him with this cake, but this year it was kind of hard to pull the same trick! The pic was from his college days at Duke in the 50's......

And here he is today, handsome as ever! He still has the little cross stitch I did for him when I was a Duke student 30 years ago! (and you thought this wouldn't be a post with stitching in it!) LOL!

More Growth Rings!

This Growth Rings pattern is all I've been stitching on this month...it's obsessive! I finished the third skein of the main color and kept right on going to the end of the first two pages of the 4 page pattern! Last night after taking this pic, I kept right on going to the third page.....once the main color is done, I'll go back and add in the secondary color (there are only 2!) Maybe I'll even be able to finish it this month, but not much else will get done...oh well!

Blue Bayou framed!

Last Saturday I was able to get over to my LNS (before the snow on Sunday/Monday!) to meet some friends for lunch. I also managed to pick up a few more items I wasn't able to get at the open house, including the Crossed Wing new Dogs Day Out chart, and the Just Nan 15-point biscornu pattern, among other little items. I also was able to get one of the items I had taken for framing....Blue Bayou! This is taken from a low angle due to the glass reflecting too much...it's actually square, and hung on point because I like it that way! I still have 2 more framed pieces to get back (things I finished last year) sometime in April.


I'm still working on Growth Rings, and am getting near the end of the third main color skein, and near to finishing the top two thirds of the pattern in the main color. I am debating how to proceed....finish all of the main color continued on the second page, or work on the secondary color in the top two thirds........either way, I'm enjoying it! Very relaxing to work on, in fact.

Growth Rings is growing!

I can't seem to put this one down! Here is Growth Rings, after the second full skein of the main color silk. I just kept right on stitching on it after this, and have almost closed the second ring!

We are experiencing our second Snow Day of the year, which is highly unusual for NC! Another 2 or 3 inches of snow, and I am enjoying every stress-free minute! No where to go, nothing to do but stitch....Yea!

Alas, the poor daffodils got good and nipped, which is the only bad thing....believe it or not, the weather report for next weekend has temps in the low 70s! Variety weatherland this year!

February Progress, March Goals

February Recap
Work on focus WiP
~Holland Landscapes, tulips over pt.6 window scene Postponed again...
New Starts
~Do a biscornu...Garden Biscornu Done!
~Do an ornie fob...XS Cat Done!
~Do a VS state heart...Ohio Done!
~Trellis by Workbasket Postponed to March...
~Blue Bayou by Northern Pine (SAL) Done!
~Growth Rings (impulse new start!) Working...at least 1/3 done so far!
Finishing
~do one finishing project a week Done!
Garden Biscornu Fin.2/4
Raccoon's Visit Fin.2/14
XS Cat fob Fin.2/21
Not a Creature Was Stirring Fin.2/25

March Goals
Work on WiPs
~Holland Landscapes, tulips over pt.6 window scene Postponed again...
~Growth Rings, continue with top half Done!
New Starts
~Do a biscornu... Done!
~Do a peacock....Working....
~Random new start...maybe Trellis, or what? Nope!
Finishing
~do some finishing! (at least one item) Biscornu finished!

Not feeling particularly ambitious this month...we'll see what else grabs me!
I can't seem to stop working on Growth Rings...finished the second skein of silk and kept right on going! Time to go with the stitching flow, I guess.......

It's a cold and rainy day in my neighborhood, and SNOW is projected! I think I'll nap today, and stitch tonight while the snow falls.....

Finish It February

On one of the boards I frequent on Yuku, it is Finish It February, wherein we all endeavor to finish things, be it UFOs laying around too long, or ornaments that have been stitched but never "ornamentified" (a word my friend Heather coined!). My goal was to finish at least one thing a week, and since I have no quick finishes in the UFO or WiP categories, I've been catching up on my finishing in other ways. This is my last one for the month, an ornie I stitched in 2006, and now it's tree-ready! It's a design by Dragon Dreams, from the 2001 JCS Ornament issue, called Not a Creature Was Stirring.

I also stitched up another heart from the Victoria Sampler series Hearts of America, this time Ohio. Eventually I want to make a quilt with the hearts as the centers of blocks. This is obviously a loooong-term project since this is only #17! I have an album on Webshots for VS designs, so if you want to see the others, please visit me there! These are really quick stitches...I did this one last night in about four hours.

Tonight I'll finish up the second skein of silk on Growth Rings and post a picture tomorrow. That still leaves me two days this month to work on Holland!

Weekend stitching...

I did stitch on Growth Rings over the weekend, but I also took a break and made up this little fob. It's from a Margaret Sherry design for the letter X (as is X is for X-Stitch Cat). You can see why I just had to stitch it! I didn't stitch the letter X, just the kitty Kat.

I think I'll keep working on Growth Rings this week (at least a few more days) and finish up the second skein of silk, plus, I'm superstitious (or maybe super-stitch-ious!).....both my teams had wins over the weekend....'Canes (hockey) won Friday night and Sunday afternoon, and Duke (basketball) beat Wake Sunday night! I was stitching on GR for every game! (well, the hockey games anyway, I was AT the Duke game!-evidence coming-check my Facebook page for a video clip) Good luck, right? ;-) February is almost over and I still have a few unmet goals, but hey, so what? I'll get 'em next month!

Quick update on Growth Rings

Here's a quick update on my Growth Rings progress...this is after one full skein of the Exemplar Flannel Dark. I'm enjoying working on this, but I need to get some other things done too! Back to Holland next week I think...

Growth Rings and froggie things!

Here is Growth Rings progress so far...this is an Ink Circles design from the March/April issue of JCS. The silks are from Vicky Clayton, the fabric is a 32ct lugana Silkweaver Solo from my stash.

I also ran by AC Moore's for the President's Day sale....DMC is 6/$1.00!! I got about 250 skeins, that now need to be sorted and stored for the future. I also went by Michael's with a 50% off coupon just to see what I could find. How is this for cute? Mr. Froggie is a clear jar (his head comes unscrewed (like many folks who find sales), and I'm going to fill him with Orts from my ort box I keep by the stitching chair. The little tin bucket is getting a lid cover stitched (a Just Nan bunny maybe) for it, just for fun. (there are more bunny pics on the sides) You just never know what you will find on a good sale day!

edited to fix JCS issue month...oops!