Show and Tell #3

I got a phone call that Margaret was ready early so I picked her up before I had planned to. I am very happy with the framing on this piece - even though they had to re-do it. That's right! The first time around was just awful. Even Harold said it looked sloppy. I took a close up shot of the frame to show it off also.



I appreciate all the wonderful comments about the framing I have shared so far. These are the first in-store framing I have had done since I was able to pick back up on my stitching after a long absence from it because of migrains! Cross stitch was always my favorite hobby and it broke my heart when I had to put it down for years. I was always picking it up again just to see if maybe - just maybe - I could stitch again without a sad ending but it wasn't until around 5 years (or so) ago and the discovery of a new type of magnifier that I was able to make cross stitch a part of my life again! I was thrilled! When I got back into stitching, I was shocked to see how much it all had changed but I was determined to adapt. I was so happy when Harold told me to get all these finished designs framed!

I have found a new love! Usually when we go to the steakhouse, I get steak and the works but since I have been cutting back that just seems like more than I really want. DH and I usually go up there around lunch time sometime over the weekend while doing errands and I have been ordering a special salad on the menu that is too good to describe! Lettuce, tomato, grilled chicken bites, crumbled blue cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries, deviled eggs and more! I could make it but in a house full of "gotta have meat" guys, I don't think anyone would appreciate it as much as I do!

Thanks so much for stopping by again and putting a smile on my face! Have a wonderful day!

Show and Tell #2

Next up on my framed list is Blessed are all the Needleworkers. This was a design in The Gift of Stitching online magazine but I just can't remember which issue without pulling them all out and digging through them! Actually, I liked this piece but was a bit disappointed because I felt it didn't turn out as good as I had thought it would. But now that it is framed, I am completely happy with it! It is everything I wanted it to be and more! I chose a simple frame with a thin gold band around it to pull out the yellows in the design.

I am already getting the itchies for a new start (no matter what I may have said in past posts)! lol. Until I decide what it will be, I have been working on AAFG for awhile. I kitted up several more designs yesterday. I have plenty to choose from, that's for sure!

There really isn't much news right now. I'll be back tomorrow with another framed goodie! Have a good day and thanks for stopping by again!

Show and Tell

I have been watching Who Do You Think You Are on Friday Nights. It's a collaboration between NBC and ancestry.com. It is a journey for well known celebrities to find their family roots. So far, Sarah Jessica Parker and Emmit Smith have studied their family histories. Very interesting and I couldn't help but feel excited and a bit apprehensive for them since I am an on again off again minor league genealogist . This week Lisa Kudrow will take her family history journey. If you don't get a chance to watch or record it, you can go to NBC.com and watch all the full episodes there.

Daylight Savings Time started over the weekend. It will take a couple of days for me to adjust to the change but I do like the longer days once in a while.

Wow! What a great weekend. I picked up three framed designs! I can't wait to share them all with you! This meant a trip to the LNS. I am totally thrilled with them! I told Harold that with the cost of framing, I better be jumping up and down in glee at the results! He agreed since he is paying! lol. One piece was not ready and will be picked up this coming weekend. Oh, I took Thankful Wheeler in for framing as well. This is it for awhile unless I frame it.

I will be sharing one a day so that I can stretch out the anticipation a little more! First up is My Home is Built in Glory. As you recall, I started this right before my Dad got ill and decided to finish it in his memory. I picked it up on the 7 month anniversary of his death. Very fitting, I think. I am 100% thrilled with this framing job! I picked out a nice heavy frame. No frills. Just something good and substantial to bring out the beauty of the design!

One of the charts the LNS ordered for me was in. I ordered the new chart Parting Hour by Beth Twist and an older one, Mary Corey by Threads of Gold. Mary Corey has not arrived yet but I told them to just set it aside for me when it comes. And by the way, these were already ordered before I said I would be good on my stash buying until next Market! I had to stick that bit of FYI in there mainly for my own benefit!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time, may you have simple days and uncluttered heart!

Happy Dance!

Rainy days have arrived once more. I did enjoy those warm sunny days so much! We even got outside and did some cleaning. DS cleaned around the front bushes while I cleaned out the birdbaths and filled them up with some fresh water. There is a lot more to be done though. DH and I talked about it all one evening and I was pooped by the end of our discussion! lol.

Looky, looky what I finished last night! I was so thrilled. Thankful Wheeler by The Goode Huswife done on 18ct. Aida in Natural with DMC threads. After I took the picture I realized I had forgotten to stitch the bird on the right side of the design. I am thinking I might leave it off and put my initials there instead.

Now to decide which WIP to pick up and work on. I am pretty much on schedule with my stitching. More so than in the past. One week a month for AAFG, one week a month for Independent Mind and the other two weeks of the month for whatever I please (and hopefully a finish). I was thrown a little off kilter last month because of all the excitement around here so I am leaning towards Independent Mind since it missed out on it's turn at the needle last month!

I hope everyone has a great day and thanks so much for stopping by! I always enjoy my regular visitors and it's so much fun to meet new ones! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Orts and Ends

Back in December I said I was going to hold off on buying any more designs for awhile. I did wait awhile - until the end of February! lol. But now it's time to get serious again, I will hold off on buying any new charts until the next Market! *fingers crossed* DMC and fabrics are fine and trading designs is okie dokie too but no buying designs for awhile! I must be strong! *big pout*

Borders. Not the geographical kind but the stitching ones. How do you feel about them? I am not a border person but I will do them depending on how much of the feel of the piece is in the border. Some pieces just aren't complete without the border. Did that make sense?

Over the weekend, I took some of my old orts and scattered them around the yard on tree limbs and bushes for the birds since nesting season is here for them. Nothing like adding a little color to the home! A lot of times I use an old suet feeder to put all my orts and ribbons in for them and that works pretty good too.

Our weather has been beautiful the past few days. Sunny, warm and just a delight to open the windows and air out the musty ol' house that was closed up over the winter! Today's forecast is calling for rain. A good day for stitching and getting even closer to finishing up this current WIP.

The Blahs Can Be Good!

What a nice weekend! Mr. Sun came to visit us and the temps warmed up to early Spring status! The perfect days for getting out. We didn't have any usual errands to run so we just went out and about. We are wanting to do some repairs to the house so we made a visit to our home store to get some ideas on items and prices. I think I found everything I want plus a few extras! Other than that it was nice dull weekend! No hospitals, no ambulances, no excitement and no stress!

It seems like it's been quite awhile since I shared any of my stitching with you and I have been hoping my needle would take on wings so I could soar through the rest of my current WIP but it is just taking longer than I expected especially since my bursitis flare up this weekend. I had to take it easy on the stitching a few days but in the mean time I will give you all a sneak peek! Hopefully I will have a new finish to show off and happy dance around sometime this week! I should be getting a call this week that my orders are in and my framing is ready at the LNS. I am not a patient person so it has seems to take forever! As you can tell, I am expecting this to be a really good week!

Yea, Daylight Savings Time will be starting up again soon. I know a lot of people prefer Standard Time because of the mornings being dark longer but I just love those longer daylight evenings!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your visits and comments really brighten my days! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Nature Tells it All

The trees are beginning to bud which means one thing. We are going to have one more ice storm or a big snow! It seems whenever our trees begin to bud early this is what happens. Some people use Farmer's Almanac to check the weather, others just use the weather forecast. I use the trees and birds! You can always tell if inclement weather is on the horizon if the birds are dashing around almost in panic looking for food. *updated to add* The weather has confirmed that we will get a winter mix today meaning they just don't know for sure how much will be snow and how much will be ice!

I picked up this little table top trunk for keeping some of my WIPs in between working on them. Not really what I was looking for but I couldn't find what I wanted and this was on sale.

Besides the two charts my new LNS has ordered for me, I placed an order for several items online. I am trying to keep it down to a minimum and several are older designs I am finally getting around to adding to my stash. Of course, fabric was a must even though I seem to have more than enough for the moment. On my last visit to the LNS I picked up A&E by Primitive Needle which I have been wanting. I will introduce other things as they come in.

I have my own little yearly goal list and so far, I am doing pretty good despite all the unforseen "life happens" interruptions. I will be picking up A Mind again soon for her week of stitching. I would like to finish up my present WIP first though. I am about half done. I had to make a DMC run over the weekend because this piece really eats up the thread with all the frequent color changes.

Excited Jabber

Busy weekend! Sunny Days! Cold weekend! We stayed on the go with our usual errands plus a few extras. It felt good to get back into our regular habits since this was really the first weekend Harold was back out running around with me full force since his hospital episode. The temps stayed on the chilly side and the wind that accompanied it was one to cut right through you. Brrrrrr. Thank goodness that wonderful sunshine knocked off some of the chill.

Last Christmas, Harold found an LNS to buy part of my gifts at. I was thrilled to find out there was a shop within a decent range of us and have been wanting to go ever since. He finally took me down there this weekend! I was one happy gal. The ladies there are wonderful and the shop is perfect with everything I could dream of wanting and more. Their framing section was a dream come true. The prices didn't make my mouth drop open in shock and the selection of mouldings was too good to be true! They are framing up some of my pieces and I hope to get back in several weeks! I even let them order several charts for me. Gives me a good reason to go back again! I can definitely see this LNS becoming a regular part of my life and I couldn't be happier! By no means do I intend to abandon my online shops but for now I am basking in the happiness of being able to fondle and wallow among all the goodies of a real life LNS.

While at the LNS, I noticed they had a wonderful selection of scisssors and as a lot of you know, I have wanted to add these to my collections of sewing items so I took the plunge and came home with these! I always say that once I have 3 of something, I have a collection so I went the full mile on starting this collection! I can't wait to add to it! In case you can't see, I got the Owl, Witch and Tudor Rose all by Kelmscott.

At the LNS, I noticed they had a framed sample of AAFG on their wall. I showed it to Harold and he thought I wanted it. I just laughed (because I would have loved to have taken theirs home with me) and told him that I was working on that piece. He was sort of taken back by the size of it! Wow, so was I when I saw their finished and framed piece!

I told Harold how much I appreciated being able to get all that framing done since this was the first framing I have had done in a long long time but I wouldn't be doing that all the time. I would continue to frame some of my things and then take certain things to the shop for framing. He liked the idea and I think I saw him secretly pat his wallet as if to reassure it all would be ok. lol.

While we were out, I saw a frame for Independent Mind but didn't get it. I should have gotten it but I think I will wait until it is complete since I am bad about setting things aside for long periods.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see me again! Your visits and comments always brighten my day! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Where Did The Sun Go?

While setting up my new 15 drawer organizer, I was happily surprised to see that I have much more fabric than I thought. I still need a few pieces though. Never enough fabric! Here is a picture of my organizer. Not as good a picture as Vonna's but mine is in a cramped little corner of our bedroom. On either side, you can see quilting rulers, mats and frames. On top are storage boxes that contain kitted charts, charts for trading or not yet kitted and extras like ribbon, doilies, lace, ect. Now I need a stitching stand and my very own craft room!

Our wonderful sunny days have disappeared! We are in the midst of cloudy, rainy, foggy days again! Ugh! I. want. my. sunshine. back. Now! I am so tired of wet and cold days! And so is our squishy yard. I don't think the poor ol' ground can hold anymore water!

Harold went in for his last follow up visit yesterday. The doctor released him from using oxygen during the day but he still has to use it at night. He was allowed to go back to work but with restrictions (which is what I had predicted for him) and he will have another test in a week to see if he can do without night oxygen as well.

Thanks for stopping by! I also enjoy your visits.

Signs of Spring

I want to apologize about the past several posts I have made. I know they have been downers because they even depressed me when I went back to read them again! I have had time to rest up some and that "bug" is getting better so I finally feel a little energy coming back. *grin* As for Harold, he is still on Home Health Care but as I have told him, I really think it is only a temporary thing. This whole ordeal has been a wake up call for him and he has quit smoking also. I did tell him to be prepared for some restrictions from the doctors at his follow up but all in all, I think everything will turn out better than he is expecting.

Our snow melted away quickly which was fine with me. It was a pretty surprise and I love the white stuff but I just don't care if it hangs around like I did when I was younger. Here today, gone tomorrow is good by me.

The piece I had started on (and got very little done on) was put aside for now. I just couldn't get the *feel* of it. I still like the design and hope to pick it back up at a later date. For now I am working on another WIP and will post a picture after I get enough progress under my belt.

As I have said before, I want to pack up and move to Hawk Run Hollow! Especially now that I have had a sneak peek of Autumn there! But why can't I start stitching these pieces? Is it the size or just the overall commitment to such a large piece? I have thought of doing it over one on 28 count which would cut the size back a lot. Then I have thought of only my favorite blocks from each one. Maybe doing a long table runner type piece. How about doing each block as it's own separate piece. And then again, maybe I am just thinking about it all too much and should just dive in and get my feet wet with HRH glory!

I have bluebirds building nests in my birdhouses out back! They are always early birds about this and I am surprised they waited this long to start but I am thrilled because last year they just passed my houses over and I had no baby blues to enjoy. When moma and daddy fly away for a break from the kiddies, I am able to sneak over and lift the lid for a better peak. Of course, I always knock first. One year I forgot to knock and Daddy Blue almost flew into my face. Don't think badly of me for doing this. The Bluebird Society even recommends monitering the babies for abandonment or preditors (and count), I never stay around long and they build the sides up so high, there is no way those darlings can fall out. I always put out my leftover floss from projects to help out with the building so it's fun to see my contributions mixed into the nest walls.

Thanks so much for stopping by and listening to me yack away again. I always enjoy your visits. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Weekend Surprise

I thought I might be able to get a little stitching in since getting Harold back home but a very little is exactly what I have done so far! Between waiting on Harold, catching up around the house and trying to take care of a bug I caught (probably during one of my many visits to the hospital) I just haven't had time to do much. I was able to finish one tiny bird on the WIP if that helps any. lol. So many pieces have birds on them, it would be impossible to guess.

Harold has several doctor follow up appointments next week and we will probably know more by the end of the month whether Home Health Care will be permanent or just a temporary fixture around our house. I know he is scared but I keep telling him to think positive. He would have to give up his astronomy trips and I would have to give up my day/weekend trips (which I'm not ready to do). For now he is taking some time off work until we know a little more.

I have added a few things to my wishlist and hope to add some more to my trade list by the end of the month! I am getting excited by the few sneak peeks I have seen for Market this month. I will have to be very selective though.

Look what we woke up to! I wasn't ready for ice but a nice snow is always a fun surprise! I was able to get my errands done before it arrived and I even managed to remember to pick up some birdfood for my little backyard sweeties.

Thank you to my wonderful friends for all your comments of care and concern. They really do mean so much to me. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Back Home

Thank you again to everyone who wished Harold well (and me too) during his hospital stay. He is back home now. It seems like he was up there forever. He is not 100% well but is on the mend. For now, Home Health Care has come in and set up a few things he will need and he goes in to see the doctor in a week to 10 days for another evalution.

Hopefully I can pick up some stitching tonight and relax. Not much other news on this side of the world right now. For now I am exhausted and will just take the day to do nothing.

Have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by.

Wet and Messy Friday

No new starts for me just yet and the reason will become apparent on into the post. I promised myself that I would not start another big stitch until I had finished at least one of the two big pieces currently in progress. I know what I want my next biggie to be. Now, can I really hold off?

I wish I could say that it looked like it would be another not so eventful weekend. Several family members have been sick, including Harold. It started out yesterday morning when he woke me up while getting ready for work and told me he was dizzy and had a fever so I told him to call in and stay home sick. He had bouts of fever and chills all day but around 3:30 in the afternoon, he began having breathing problems and they only got worse as the day progressed. By 9pm I was begging him to let me call an ambulance (as you remember we did this same thing several months ago and for the same reason). My pleas and watchful eye were only making him more aggitated thus making his problem worse so I went on to bed knowing he would come for me if needed. Sure enough, about midnight he came in and woke me from my very light sleep and I called the ambulance. We were in ER until the wee morning hours before they decided to keep him overnight and sent me on home. I got a needed (but hardly enough) several hours sleep. I will know sometime today whether they are letting him come home or keeping him another day. Depending on today, the doctor even said that Harold may need to take some time off from work. All I know is that it will take me the remainder of the weekend to catch up on my rest just from yeterday's broo-ha-ha.

I will leave you with a close up of AAFG in progress. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by. Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Slushy Monday

I don't know that I have a lot of news or anything exciting to share. It's been cold. Then it turned warm. I stitched. Then it got cold again - real cold. Before the snow and ice arrived on Friday, we went grocery shopping. I picked up some more DMC - a major haul this time. I stayed warm and cozy indoors all weekend and I stitched except for the several times I ventured out to refill the feeders for the birds.

The weather people are already predicting several more winter storms for us in the upcoming week. Sleet on Tuesday and another winter mix next weekend. Of course, weather forecasts change day to day or even hour to hour so we really won't know until something (if anything arrives).

While I was out doing errands before the winter storm, I picked up several more tomato pin cushions. Now I can accommodate all my pins and even sort them. I love these. But my favorite one is my oldest one and is a well worn soft velvety red tomato (at the far right). I also picked up some more pins to fill them up with and some foam board.

I went through my stash again. I have all my designs boxed up into the following categories 1. Definitely to do 2. Finished and/or no longer interested 3. I can't decide whether to keep it or not. I finally went through that last category and really made myself decide what to keep and what to say good bye to. I have added some more designs to my trade blog. I know there are some other AIDA stitchers out there besides myself and I have some 14ct. up for trade on the blog as well. I mainly use 18ct. and Hardanger now.

I worked on "A Mind..." last week. I am still on the zig zaggy divider. It is coming along but not as quickly as I had hoped. As I said before, I really want to wait until the divider is complete before posting another progress picture. After the divider is finished, it should be smooth sailing. Believe it or not, I have really wondered about leaving the top alphabet and divider off completely and just going on from there. Hmmm. I guess I would always know but it's not like I haven't done stuff like that before to make it a little easier on me. *tapping finger on my chin*
It seems that so many people have theme walls for their stitching. Adam and Eve wall, sampler wall, mermaid wall and the list goes on. I like this idea but I wonder how long it would take me to fill up all the walls I would like to do. Better yet do I have enough empty wall space to accommodate all the themes I have in mind so for now everything goes up as it is ready then later as my wall(s) begin to get full, I will begin to think about seperating it all into themes. LOL. Best not put the cart ahead of the horse!

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Snow!

Yes, we got snow last night! Not as much as the weather channel had called for but it was so pretty coming down and as always I got excited when I saw that it was beginning to stick to the ground! But, alas, all good things must come to an end and the pretty snow stopped and the ice began! Yuck! Snow - good. Ice - bad. It is definitely a stay at home weekend since the temps are not getting above freezing and everything on the ground will just stay frozen. I have my blanket to snuggle up with, my coffee and my stitching so I am happy.

I am grateful we had no power outages - yet! *fingers crossed it stays that way*

Solutions

I have made plans to get a 15 drawer organizer like the one Vonna showed on her blog. I just love it and I know it will help organize and unclutter my craft supply area a lot! I also informed Harold that I want a floor stand , also like Vonna's. I told him I could wait if need be and let that be a Mother's Day or Christmas gift. I think that will help my hands a lot when stitching. Sometimes I will notice that I have a death grip on the frame in my hand as I stitch without meaning to. Not good and probably why my hands give me such problems from time to time.

Our cold weather came back! We have had some very cold and very windy days. The kind of wind that just cuts right through you! The forecast is calling for possible snow, freezing rain plus lots and lots of cold weather. I guess our poor ol' yard is never going to dry up. As long as I can stay inside where it's warm and stitch, I'm happy.
No progress pictures of "A Mind..." this time around. I would like to get the entire zig zaggy divider completed before posting another photo.

I have a plan for both "A Mind...." and AAFG that should allow me to work on them regularly, post update photos and finish by the end of the year with no burnout on either one. When I saw that I had two big pieces in progress, my heart sort of got stuck in my throat! Now I feel like I can breathe again. Oh and my plan will allow me to work on smaller pieces for those feel good finishes. No, it's not a true rotation schedule but I think it will work for me!

For those of you interested in AAFG, the picture shows where I was when I stopped working on it (I should have pressed it but was lazy). I really don't know why I stopped other than the fact that life got really hectic and emotional for me last year. There are 14 sections (pages) and I am almost finished with #6 so I was right in saying I was about half finished.

Thanks for stopping by again! I always enjoy your visits. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Productive Weekend

Where have I been? Why, stitching of course! I was getting into "My Mind..." so hard and heavy that I felt a burnout in the making. How to avoid that? With a quick finish! So I pulled out the Early Candle Pocket by Country Stitches and worked on it over the weekend! Ta- Da! Another finish and my stitching spirit is renewed! It was quick and fun to stitch up. As I said in an earlier post though, I will probably frame it. Now I can work the other WIPs with peace of mind.

My hands began to feel a little tight and sore so I took some of the weekend to just play around in my stash. I found some fabrics I had forgotten about having (that's always a nice surprise) and did some stash re-organizing. I found a UFO that I had set aside (And A Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor). It is probably over half done. Wouldn't it be nice to finish it up in 2010? I think so!

I also updated my wishlist and trade blog (even though the post date still says Sept. 2, 2007 - I just edit that one post over and over). I will trade from the list of charts I have for trade for something off the wishlist. Please be sure to read the entire post. Several have already been claimed and say so beside the item.

I was able to pick up some DMC while we out over the weekend. Later in the weekend, I picked up "A Mind..." again and got a small start on the zig zaggy divider. That's the only way I know to describe it! LOL. I didn't get very far on it yet but when I get farther along, I will post another progress photo. The weather was dreary and overcast most of the weekend. The weekend was not eventful and that suited me just fine! As I have said before, I like dull.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Onward Ho.......

I promised an updated progress photo of "My Mind..." by CHS and I am good to my word. Here it is. I finished the larger top alphabet! Yea for me! Even though I found my rhythm on it, which made it easier, I have to be honest and just blurt it out. This top alphabet was tedious! Beautiful, yes. Worth all the stitching, yes. But tedious it still was. Probably because I want to get to the main part of the sampler so badly! I have even found the frame for this piece. I just have to go back and pick it up which I hope to do on my next errand weekend.

Still not much going on. Dull is fine with me though. Our weather has gone from the teens to very Spring like and back to cold again. Luckily we are staying above freezing for now. I have to run several quick errands today but I hope to be back home early and snuggled up with my stitching once again.

I just love going over to the PS Stitching Bee blog and drool over the wonderful work these ladies are doing. This has always been one of favorite stitching alphabets and I came very close to joining the band wagon but changed my mind because I have so many other pieces I want to do this year and some of them are big projects in themselves (at least they are for me). Reason #2 being that I don't need another UFO sitting around and I'm afraid that's how it would end up! So I continue to go over to this great blog and let my stitching dreams sore high in the clouds while ohhhhhhing and ahhhhhhing over the beautiful work.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

An Oldie but Goodie

I pulled out one of my WIPs that I began during the Fall. It is With My Needle by The Goode Huswife. Vonna and I had planned to do a SAL using this design but we both got sidetracked by life. For now this will be the WIP that I work on when I have time on the weekends. I was able to work on it a little during some breaks over the past weekend and here is where I am now on it. Still a lot to do but farther along than it was!

Not much going on around here lately. The sun has come out making for several very nice days but we must have had some rain too because our yard is squishy wet. Even with the nicer temperatures I have been hold up inside just stitching away! I put it all down long enough to go outside and put some birdfood in the feeders for my little darlings before they think I have totally abandoned them then I sat on the deck while enjoying my coffee in the nice warm sun.

I am coming right along with "A Mind..." by CHS and will have another updated progress photo to share next post. Finding that rhythm made all the difference in stitching the top alphabet but I must confess that I will glad to finish that part off and get on to fun part of the sampler!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I always enjoy your visits. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

New Day. New Start.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments left about my finish of MHIBIG. They were all appreciated so deeply. Our weather has finally gotten up out of the teens and into some more comfortable temperatures.

The winner of the giveaway is Jeni. Congratulations! Contact me with your mailing address and I will pop it in the mail to you this week.

My new glasses arrived over the weekend and I went to pick them up. I was a bit nervous to try them on since this would be the first time I would see clearly what the new frames looked like on me. I was pleasantly surprised! The new frames are a big change from my old ones but change is good. Especially when you are happy with it.

I had some extra stitching time the past several days. Not as much as I would have liked but anything is better than nothing. Right? I am not making a rotation schedule for any of the new/WIP pieces I am working on. I'll just do what I feel like when I feel like it. Makes everything seem much less demanding.

Not much to show just yet but I did get started on AMIAF. Even a little start is still better than nothing! At first I chose a nice piece of 22ct Hardanger but my eyes were really tired from working on this count after MHIBIG so I switched it out for a piece of 28ct evenweave. One of my *uh, duh* moments. After several small stitches, I knew that wasn't going to work either so I am back working on my standard 18ct Aida in Natural. It agrees the best with my eyes thus making it a much easier and more pleasurable stitch (and that's what it's all about).

After I got several letters of the large up top alphabet completed, I realized there was a rhythm to it. Sounds a little funny but it worked for me once I got into it. Now I'm not dreading the rest of the alphabet as much as I was afraid I would. I did see that the large up top alphabet is missing the letter J. I don't know if this is done purposely or not but I'm fine with it. So far, so good! Just one tip about this piece - be sure to have plenty of black floss on hand. This top alphabet really eats it up!

I am doing this piece in memory of my aunt. It just reminds me of something she said to me many times over and I will think of her each time I stitch on it.

I haven't started on the Early Candle Pocket yet but I hope to get that up and going very soon. Something simple and fairly quick should be nice to have in the "pile".