The Turtle Trot

I made a page with these, but I thought I would go ahead and repost them with what they will look like finished.  The Princess Palace is the only one I'm working on so far, but the others will get some love before February's post!  Turtle Trot rules and sign-up are HERE.

1. Cut-Thru Princess Palace, Bothy Threads kit





2. Chang Wu Fei, Gundam Wing Pilot #5 - made with PC Stitch





3. Angel of Grace, Lavender and Lace




4. Mary Wigham, a formerly free pattern from Needleprint



5. A Whole Lotta Latte, a Dimensions kit



6. QS Lovers, by HAED





7. info coming soon


8. info coming soon


9. Yarr, by HAED




10. Snowing, by Witchykitt Designs

Two New Projects, Some Progress, and Puzzles

I finished two more of the puzzles.  The second had eight pieces missing, which as my mother mildly put it, "That's rather disappointing."  She was visiting and helped me finish that one off.  We left it put together in case the pieces turn up in one of the other boxes - wouldn't be the first time that happened with puzzles I've bought at some sort of second-hand sale.  It was still fun to work, anyway.



The third had all its pieces, but no extras.



I was going to count all six as one project for January, but I decided to be lazy and split them up since I didn't start anything else to replace them.  So that's starts #6 and #7 - I think.  I've already lost track!

#8 - Rose Bouquet; the second older kit with a rusty needle!



My start, such as it is.



#9 - Friendship;  This one I bought at the same time and its needle was also rusted and useless, but it was taped to the back of the pattern so at least there were no spots on the fabric.



I got half the first border done:



And here's an update on the Cook's Guide!



The next time you see this one, it will be done - three lines of backstitching and the bottom border.

I didn't start anything new for today - I decided to get a WIP out.  Since today should have been the first Turtle-Trot post, I got out Princess Palace, which looked like this:

And I will have whatever tiny update there is tomorrow!

The Cook's Guide

Recently, my grandmother gave me a huge stack of old 'Annie's' magazines - I'll have to take some pictures of the projects in some of them - they are occasionally lovely, occasionally amusing, often very dated, and sometimes downright terrifying.  (One is of a soft-sculpted male doll that nearly gave me nightmares.) They are mostly knit and crochet, with some sewing and a very occasional cross stitch pattern.

This project comes from the Oct-Nov 1984 issue of Annie's Pattern Club Newsletter.  It's called 'The Cook's Guide' and my Mum laughed out loud when she read it, so I decided to make it for her.  I'm not going to show the picture, because I think I'll have it done in a few days.  I want to wait and show you the finished project, in case you guys can get a laugh, too.

Here's my start, though.



The pattern didn't even have a color guide - it said 'use small amounts of black, red, blue, yellow and green', so I picked whatever bright shades I saw first in my floss drawer.  It'll be about 5x7 when done, has ten lines of backstitched words and a slightly bigger bottom border, so I think it will end up being my first 2014 finish!

I didn't take a progress picture of the shawl - I added six rows so there wasn't much difference.  I'll take a picture when I switch back to the solid brown.

I have no idea what I'm going to work on tomorrow!  Maybe I'll get a cross-stitch WIP out, instead of a new start.

Insomnia, and a Shawl

I thought I wouldn't be posting a picture of the puzzle just yet, since I had it about 1/3rd done, except I couldn't sleep last night.  When that happens, I always go work on something, and about an hour later I'm ready to sleep again. For some reason, I'm really, really focused during that hour, too. Last night when it hit me, I went for the puzzle.

Here's the result.



I've started sorting the pieces for the next one, but that's not my project for today.  I wanted to crochet something, but at the same time I didn't want to start anything new because I still have those three afghans to finish!  So I went hunting through the far too many crochet project bags in my closet and found this - it's a half-granny shawl that I put away for some reason the year before last - or maybe before that!  It's meant to be long, I remember that, so it's probably halfway done in this picture.




It's a bit wrinkly from being stuffed in the bag, but that will sort itself out easily enough.  I'm pretty sure I can figure out the pattern - it was in a magazine but I don't remember which one! - and so the only problem is guessing what size hook I was using.  I'll have some progress on it, and a new project, tomorrow!  Thanks for the comments on my previous posts, by the way - blogger still won't let me reply.  I'm sure it's some little button somewhere that I need to click, but I have no idea which one!

Love, and Puzzles

I got the top row of 'Love' done, with the little heart:



I think this one might become my new purse-project.  It's pretty simple.

My new project for the day isn't cross stitch - I got this set of jigsaw puzzles at a sale sometime in 2013; I decided to work them all in a row.  If all the pieces are present, I'll be able to sell these as a set for a pretty penny on eBay - gotta get some floss money!  Kitting up a HAED can really put a hole in your wallet, lol!



I started the one in the top left corner, with the horse and buggy and all the birdhouses.  I'll wait until its done to show a picture here, but I'll probably have progress shots on my puzzle blog.

I have no idea what tomorrow's project will be!  I have to work all day, so I may dig out a really old WIP and do a few stitches on it.

A Bit of Yarr, A Bit of Love

Here's my teeny-tiny bit of Yarr, from yesterday.  I got about 300 stitches done, though it certainly doesn't look it! So tiny! Also, there are five shades of blue and grey in it!



Here's my project that I'm starting today - I found two of this brand-name of kits at a flea market last year. There was no date that I could find, but they were old enough that the needle had rusted to the fabric.  I'll show you however much I get done of it tomorrow, and the other kit I will start this month, too.



It makes me sing the Beatles song 'All You Need is Love' whenever I see it!  Also, the actual floss colors are very bright, bubble-gum style colors which makes me think it's probably an early-80's kit.

I got a $10 gift card from another friend, and I spent it at Witchykitt Designs, cleaning off the last of my wishlist.  The lady who owns it says she'll be putting new designs up at the end of January - but for now, I have all the charts I want from it because there was also a 50% off coupon!  Here's a few:

'Keeper of Time'


'Early Death'


'Fairy Pixie'


'Resting'


and 'Paradise Bird'


I got all of these and four more and ended up with a couple pennies on my card.  So that was a fun day!  I'll show you guys the four others later; they kind of go together.

My New Year's Start

Happy New Year!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but my whole family has been sick!  One after the other - even the baby got sick and my brother had to go home to his pediatrician after only being in a day and a half :C

I finished five of my eight afghans and I'm almost done with two more.  The last is halfway done and I will show you those soon!

I always have a new start on New Year's Day and this year it is Yarr!


His pic:



His materials:



No progress pic yet as I have only barely started him but I will show whatever I have tomorrow.

I'm not 100% sure if I'm doing Crazy January as it should be done but I am going to start some sort of project - cross stitch, crochet, puzzle, organizing - something - every day this month and pester you all with posts!

For Christmas gifts, my sister got me two HAEDs - classical paintings instead of my usual :D

'Meeting on the Turret Stairs'



and 'King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid'



and a friend in the writing community (I like to write short stories) got me this off my HAED wishlist:

'I Hear Silence' by Adele Sessler