Lousy Weather = Lots of Stitching

Well the worst of the snow may have thawed around here but the lousy weather continues with one lot of freezing rain earlier in the week (not pleasant), the occasional foggy session and now it's back to rain, rain and more rain, with a little added wind chill added to the mix, just in case we weren't already shivering in our shoes (which I am..... when I'm not having a temporary tropical moment LOL). I yearn to get out into my garden but it's just not feasible right now........ so what else is a girl to do when she's cooped up indoors? Well, what else but get one serious case of Stitch Ass, of course (thanks Siobhan - I love that phrase. LOL)

Bouquet for Cheryl is coming along nicely but I can't show an update until 5th February, so am afraid you'll just have to take my word for it for now. ;0) Then Mother Earth has had more of those little x's added too. Oh, what a blessing that bargain magnifying lamp has been! It sure has helped me get to grips with a lot more of that 1 over 1 stitching..... and it's great knowing that I can do it without worrying that I might go blind in the process. The next update for ME is Sunday, so it's another wait for that too.

What I can show you is my first stitching progress update of 2010 for Sea Stars, as it's grown enough to be worth showing a pic. A pic of how it looked before can be seen here and this is how it looks now:

Two small motifs added (one to the left and one to the right), a medium-sized motif to the right, another rainbow fish and a bit more added to the very large central motif. Doesn't look a great lot when you see it like this but some of those motifs do seem to need alot of stitching to them to make them grow. I almost succumbed to making a start on one of those fabulous seahorses, as I do love them, but made myself stop and save them for another time..... otherwise I'd want to keep going with them and finish up not get anything else stitched. :0)

Last night I cut my fabric for the Just Nan SAL piece and marked the centre. As the centre panel of the Angel's dress is 1 over 1 I decided to count up and start elsewhere on the over 2 areas....... but the Most Haunted Live programme proved too much of a distraction and there were miscounts galore. OK, did not want to start in the wrong place, so it got put away again rather than a start made. It will come out again soon though, as I need to get on with it before the end of this month. It'll be nice to have something new to show you all, too - don't want you to get bored with seeing the same pieces over and over again. LOL

No start made on this month's ornie for the continuing JA/S&S Forum's Monthly Christmas Ornie SAL yet but I have got a design picked out for this and it's a small one, so shouldn't take long to do. Am also cheating for this.... but I'll leave the how and what until it's finished and I've posted a pic so you can see for yourselves. LOL Oh, and guess I'd better do something about finishing off the ornies that I stitched at the back end of last year at some point too.

The JA/S&S Monthly Challenge piece is a non-starter so far too. I've now got the threads I needed, thanks to Sew & So, but the colour chart is defeating me..... so guess I'll have to pluck up some courage and stitch my own interpretation of it.

I shall have all of Saturday to myself this week, as DH and DS will be at the theatre all day: there are three performances through the day, then the Get Out in the evening (that's when they break down the set, remove everything and take it all back to the Guild Room to store). They'll be out just after 10am and I'll be lucky to see them again before 1am. The Panto seems to be doing well, as they've had a sell out/near sell out most nights. I haven't managed to see it yet: the best night for me to have gone was last night (Thursday) but by the time DH and I had had our shopping session at the local garden centre's Edinburgh Woollen Mills area I was shattered and on the verge of falling asleep in my chair. Whoda thought that buying clothes could be so tiring? LOL Still, I now have four tops, three cardigans, four zip-up fleeces and a pair of trousers to add to my very depleted wardrobe...... it'll be so nice to have a choice of clothes that actually fit! LOL So Saturday will more than likely see some boredom-busting stitching being done. ;0)

Have also been having a bit of a nosey through my stash, with a view to resurrecting the NAY Basket (Not Another Year) and getting a few more pieces kitted up ready for going in there. The trawl came up with a fab Halloween chart I'd forgotten I'd got (as you do LOL): A Spot of Halloween by Midnight Stitching. With kitting up in mind, I ordered a lovely piece of Pumpkin Patch fabric from Sparklies today....... and I have a feeling that this piece might just end up as my second new start (not counting smalls) of 2010. This year I will be organised!

Oh, and the Development Circle went ahead this week, thanks to the thaw, and it was good to see the girls again - though one of our number has had to drop out since I last attended, which is a shame. I shall get around to doing a write up on my other blog about that at some point soon, for those that are interested.

Well that's all for now, especially as my stitching is calling loudly. The blog reading/commenting catch-up is going well, with only a few more blogs still to be visited - so if you're still owed a visit I'll be by soon.

Thank you for visiting and for all the kind comments. Hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever your plans are. :0)