A Small Start on Ice Wind

This is what I have done on Ice Wind so far:



I included the pattern page in the pic because I think the white is hard to see. I'm pleased with the progress so far even though it seems very weird to have that many solid 'blocks' done on a HAED and yet have only used 2 colors so far.

I also got some nice stash from Nicole's sale page:


It's Little House Needleworks 'Neighborhood' and 'The Counting House' (that one has the blue linen with it, too) Bent Creek's adorable 'Cold Snowman' and Country Cottage Needleworks' 'Ladybugs and Bumblebees'. Niiiiice :D

Almost Halfway

This kit sort of divides itself up into five parts - Four sections in the main part and then the border.
I'm two sections down and have half the border done, so I would say I'm halfway done, except that the last section has more stitching than the others. So almost halfway. Next I will be stitching three identical pink roses. Outlined in black :D



My visiting kitty has finally made it up to the porch to nibble out of the cats' outside dish, but it still runs if I get too close. But isn't it a pretty visitor? It has a meow like an old, creaky gate.



I've started 'Ice Wind' - I thought I was supposed to wait until the 24th, which is what the original post said, so I did, but apparently everyone else started as soon as they got the pattern, so I missed something, somewhere. Now I'm way behind. I'll post a pic tomorrow, maybe. Right now it's just blue and white blocks, which is prolly what it will be tomorrow, too, only bigger.

Gotta Love Those 80's Designs!

Almost everything is outlined in one strand of black.


The chart has hand-written (drawn?) symbols, which is weird. And occasionally hard to decipher.

I stitched another of Missy's Sprites:



This is Genesis from Final Fantasy

Today I scrubbed out my parent's grill - my brother put it away greasy last fall, ick!!! - and then worked a bit on their storage shed. The cats came along, and Grizabella decided to be cute.


"So much cuter than you'll ever be!"

She was playing baby in an old-fashioned buggy.


After working for awhile, my sis and I decided to take the plunge:


Our parents' pool looks incredible on a hot day. It's not that big, but it's pretty deep.


No worries, though...


We had lifeguards.

Bread, A Kitty, and a Mystery. Oh, and Sprites!

I had a very busy weekend - I had to work every day, except Sunday which I spent with my Dad. We had a family-only pool party. Which meant five people, since my brother couldn't come up from Georgia for just one day. He's planning a longer trip later this summer.

Anyway, I didn't have time to really search for my UFO - I didn't find it until late last night, so this is all I have done:


However, I did want to do something for IHSW, so I stitched some Sprites:

Cloud in a different outfit


and Zach, both from Final Fantasy VII


Both patterns are by Missy

While searching for my old UFO, I found this:


I have no idea what this is. After wracking my poor lil' brain for several hours, I vaguely remembered another kit bought at the same time I bought the Daily Bread kit. I don't ever remember starting it though, but this one is exactly the same size with the same type of fabric. So I'm guessing it's that one. Problem is, I couldn't find the floss or the pattern. I'm going to keep searching, but if it doesn't turn up within a week, I'm going to try and match the border color, finish it, and find some quote about either memory or mysteries, and stitch that in the middle.

During the above-mentioned brain wracking, I also remembered a carousel horse kit that I bought around that time (this is early 90's, I think) and I'm pretty sure I started it. So that's also on my to-find list. I hope this doesn't continue - I have enough UFO's!!!

In the past week, there's been a very pretty, very skinny kitty hanging about my house. The neighbors say (s)he is not theirs, so I'm trying to get her calm enough to catch. She'll come up to the porch, but no further until I go inside. I'm pretty sure she's a girl, because Audio is fairly calm about her, but Grizabella hates her. So I started calling her Lorelei, but my sister insists she looks more like an Iris. If I can catch her, it's off to the vet for a checkup and if she's healthy, to be spayed and I'm keeping her. I like her.


This is the best pic I could get - sorry, it was foggy. She's at the far end of my driveway. If she does turn out to be a boy... I don't think I can resist calling him Quaxo. (S)he has a white tuxedo down the front.

Last, but certainly not least, a lady in our choir (I run the sound system, I DO NOT sing and everyone should be grateful!) saw me stitching and said she'd give me some old floss she had. This isn't the first time someone's offered me old floss, but it's usually some generic brand and/or a tangled mess. So I said thank you, but I really didn't expect much. This evening she gave me this:



It's almost full. I am a happy stitcher tonight!

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My Oldest UFO

If I can find this, it's what I'm going to work on for ISHW. I saw on several different blogs lately that people were showing off old finishes and old UFOs - after careful calculation, this is my oldest one. I don't even have the pic of what it's supposed to look like, but it's a very 80's little sampler with a bread loaf and the words 'Our Daily Bread' (I think). It doesn't really appeal to me at all anymore, but I can give it as a gift to a relative that will love it.

It will also feel really nice to knock this one off of my Projects list. It's not actually one of my goals for this year, but I don't really care :D

This is all that is done so far, but it should be a quick finish. I think it was only a little bigger than a 5x7. I started it years ago, just a week or two after I learned to stitch the first time. (I took a break of several years, and had to re-teach myself later)



Now I just have to find it. My craft room is totaled at the moment.

If you're not signed up for ISHW, you should! It's really fun!!!
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Little Deformed Animals

I stitched another!



Actually, this kitty is not as bad as she could be - I changed her face (and I'm considering frogging it and changing it again).
I just think it could be better, but the original chart had her mouth and nose firmly positioned beneath the left-side eye.

I added a book to Fred's shelf, all except for the blending-filaments bit. I save those up until I have several books in need of it. It's too annoying to waste my patience on just a few stitches.



The blue one is on his top shelf - one more small book and I'll be ready to start stitching Fred's back-half.
I'm going to stitch some of his top border shelf first, though, then go back to Rapture for a while - after I stitch a Sprite! I'm going into withdrawal :D

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An Update on Rapture

This week is the Freebie SAL on the HAED Bulletin Board, so I'm working on Rapture.
Since I haven't posted about this one in a loooong time, here's what it will look like:


What sad wee bit I had done:


What sad wee bit more I've gotten done so far:


I've got a long way to go!

The Great 2011 Frog Rescue

**This post is PICTURE HEAVY and only slightly stitching related!**

My parents have a pool that is usually covered all winter & spring.
This winter, however, the cover ripped and had to be removed.
When spring rolled around, this resulted in the pool being completely taken over by frogs and toads until it resembled a pond.
Today, we started pumping the nasty water out and cleaning up the pool. My sister and I decided we needed to do a frog rescue... which was easier said than done and these pics should show you exactly why.

There were Mama Toads, Daddy Toads, Green Frogs, Tree Frogs, Tadpoles and literally hundreds of baby Toads. The entire half-full pool looked like this:



See those wee little dots on the pool edge around Mama Toad? Those are baby Toads.

Lots of baby Toads!


The tadpoles were easy enough to net out, but the baby Toads were a little tricky. We got a lot of them out, though.

And Mama Toads and Frogs...









This Mama we named 'Bertha' - she was huge!



Daddy Toads





and several tiny, adorable Tree Frogs with very wise expressions...



Since there were plenty of people around to help keep an eye on them, I let my furry babies come along for some air. Audio, my 'retired gentleman cat', slept most of the time. He is a bit elderly, of course. He'll be 16 this year.



Grizabella, who has not yet reached her first birthday (it's in August) wanted to be involved with everything! She was fascinated by it all.



But eventually she succumbed to the lure of resting in the sunshine.



While we continued to rescue wee, perfect babies until it got dark.



I couldn't resist, and hope this pic doesn't come back to haunt me :D



Everyone was happily relocated to a nearby pond. Except us and the kits, of course!

So how was your day?

Puppy V/S Bow

I have finished another stocking from the kit of 30 stockings...

A wee (destructive) puppy!



I haven't quite figured out the random green stitches... perhaps they are from paper he has already shredded? I started to leave them off but then decided 'why not'? and stitched them.

I think his eyes look a bit odd, though it could just be me, but I'm relieved that they don't look even stranger - in the pattern, he looks positively demented!

I think this is number 6 out of 30. I really need to get a move on!

Things In Jars, or June's TUSAL

TUSAL is hosted by Daffycat!