Wedding Blessing Update

It's cold here.

And rainy.

Rainy and cold.

And a little bit snowy.

and wet.

and, ya know, cold.

It's also raining.

...ah, November! how I love thee!

Anyway, since it's cold and raining - in case you missed that - I've been spending a little more time stitching. I'm soooooooo close to finishing my sister's wedding sampler!

It's Fantasy Wedding Blessing by Dragon Dreams

I finished the castle and most of the border and all the 'verse'. However, since it's cold and raining and dark and dreary and all that, I can't get a decent picture. So here are scans - I had to scan it twice to get the whole thing. Scanning makes it look crooked and wavy, but it's not. I promise.

And here's a close up of the castle - I love this castle!!!

I really love this pattern-chart, too - it's beautifully done and very easy to work with! Now I have to make (more) changes to it, though; my sister doesn't want their last names on it. Long story, but they might end up changing their last name to his mother's name due to some issues with his father. Anyway, she asked if I could put their first and middle names instead. 'Sure,' I said. Well, 'Alison Irene' is pretty easy to fit, but his name is 'Robert Roosevelt.' Not so easy. I may have to leave off the charm and just put an ampersand. If I do that, it'll fit perfectly under the bottom line of herringbone stitch.

Then, my sis wants to know if I can put a little dragon on it, too. This, I'm not so sure about. I'm going to have to go through all my Dragon Dreams patterns and freebies and see if I can find a little one that will fit, because I don't have enough material to put a very big one. Hmmm... maybe I could find a little dragon charm to go on one side of the date, and a different fantasy-style charm to go on the other side? or a little heart? That might work!!!

**Edit** okay, so Blogger, being evil, has cut off the sides of the pics instead of resizing them. I refuse to try to figure out why. So I'm going to try turning them into links to my webshots album.

Afghans!

My mother's Women's Group has been working to make lap blankets for three local assisted-living homes. So I took a break from cross stitching and the never-ending scarf to make these:

They're all made from scrap yarn left over from other projects. I just worked with the bits, changing colors randomly in the middle of rows as each ball of yarn ended. I think I like the pink one best. The one with the red border will suit a male - I think - and the bluest one could be for a guy or a gal, but the pink came out very feminine. It was fun to go back to crocheting for awhile; it was the first craft I ever learned to do and I haven't done much lately. Especially not granny squares - they are so easy, and I can actually get them done while watching TV or listening to music, instead of getting distracted and either missing the show or forgetting to stitch.

They're all about four 1/2 feet square, maybe a little bigger. Just right for a wheelchair-patient. I also made a lap quilt, but I forgot to take a picture and I've already given it to the lady collecting them. I'll ask if she happened to take one, but it was just a simple one, so no big deal.

Now back to work on 'Going to Market' - I want to get at least halfway done with her this month!

Finished Brittercup Kitty!

'Trick or Kitty Treat'
from JCS Halloween issue.
Stitched over one on 28ct.
DMC threads
about 2 by 2 inches. I think.

It's supposed to have a lil' spider button to set it off, but - I don't like spiders.

At all.

So I'm thinking I'll put a couple little leaf buttons that I have. Then it shall be a fall kitty! (and I can leave it up longer)
Turning it into an ornament this evening!

Some Slightly Better Pics

My scanner is working now, even though my camera is not. So here's some slightly better pics than the last post!
Creation: And my progress on Trick or Kitty Treat:

Over one stitching takes forevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvver.... X_x

But so cute!

A Finish and a Start

I finished 'Creation' on Monday, I just haven't had time to post about it! I hate it when life gets so busy.

So anywhere, here's my mum's birthday present:

Pattern: 'Creation' from the book 'Beloved Bible Story Samplers' by Praying Hands

Fabric: 14ct ivory

Floss: DMC

Finished Size: 5 1/2x9 inches

Not the best picture in the world - seems like when my camera works, my scanner dies, and when my scanner works, my camera vanishes. Right now, neither is working! agh! and I had to borrow my mum's old one.

And since I never finish anything without starting something else - which is why my WIP list never shrinks! So here's my newest little start, 'Trick or Kitty Treat' from the Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch. It's done over one on 28ct. Here's about an hour's work:

I didn't bother cutting the fabric down smaller because I'm not sure how I'm going to finish this one yet.

Not enough knitting done to post a new pic, but I'm still working on that scarf!!!

Adam, Eve, and the world's longest scarf!

Here's my progress on 'Creation':

I'm not sure if you can tell, because my scanner washes colors out horribly, but the sheep are adorable! They're done in a blend and they look all tweedy... ^__^

Now, this may not actually be the world's longest scarf (probably isn't) but it's the longest and coolest! lol - I'm a big fan of the old Doctor Who - haven't seen the new one yet - so when I decided I was going to learn to knit, and the books recommended I start with a scarf - well, how could I resist?
This is Doctor Who's scarf:

Yes, I realize that I may be insane for trying this, but come on! I'll be a geeky-hero! I'll have made my very own Tom-Baker Dr. Who scarf!!! *wibbles happily* I found the pattern(s) here. I added it up, and if I did my math right, it's got 1,040 rows for Season 12's scarf. It's traditionally about 14 feet long.

So here is my very small, very sad looking little scarf so far:

...

Yeah, so a knitting genius I am not. Lol - pretty bad, actually! The right side isn't wavy like that, though, I just didn't smooth it out as good I as should when I was taking the pic. The purple showed up black, but in real life it actually is purple. I really need to buy a new cable for the good camera.

I estimate I'll be done with this scarf in about 87 years. By then, though, maybe my knitting will look a little better.

And possibly go a little faster... O_o

Starts and Shopping

Sometime on Sunday, it dawned on me that it's October now.
Okay, I knew it was October, so it dawned on me that it's gift-time-October. As in, my mother's birthday is this month (the 27th) and Christmas is less than 3 months away.
So, out goes the old rotation - except for Mulberry Tree Sampler, I'm keeping that one in - and in comes the gotta-get-these-done! gift rotation.
So, without further ado:

This is going to be my mother's birthday gift. It's called 'Creation' and is from a pattern book called 'Beloved Bible Stories'. (not affilliated with site, and have yet to order from them. Just the best link I could find) They're all very primitive looking, which she really likes. And the colors will look good in her house, too.

This will be my sister and BIL's gift. It's a claddagh, or it will be. I'm stitching it on 22ct with ecru thread. It will probably be made into a pillow. It was a freebie pattern I found somewhere. I'll try to remember where.
Those are the only two new starts I've done so far. I still need to start my Dad's gift and my brother's gift, a possible one for my brother's girlfriend, and some sort of toy for my probably soon-to-be nephew. My mum's gift will be 'Going to Market', or the next of the samplers if it looks like I won't get that one done in time.

Now - for the shopping!
I live in a very rural area - as in, it's over an hour and a half drive to get to a Wal-Mart. If that's not rural, I don't know what is! So for buying floss, I usually order online. But it just so happened that Monday, my brother was going to the last of the big-time flea markets before cold weather moves in, so I went with him. Why? Yeah, I like flea markets, though I don't usually spend much, but there's a JoAnn's about half an hour from there! Whee!
So we left the house at 7am (shudder - not a morning person!) and got home at 11:30 that night.
Bleh.
But I got almost 100 skeins of floss for .29 apiece, several pieces of fabric that I want to experiment with dyeing, a skein of pearle cotton that I need for my dad's gift, a bead nabber, some needles, Thread Heaven, and this lovely kit that was on clearance:

So, despite the disgustingly early start (for me, anyway, I'm used to working evenings!) it was a pretty good day! I also spent about $10 at the flea market. No stitchy-stuff, though.