Should Auld Aquaintance be Forgot...

Happy New Year Everybody...

 

I think if we were all together IRL, we'd be standing together, arms linked singing in the New Year. 

 

Where once upon a time - in the not too distant past - I felt so isolated as a cross stitcher, I now feel as if everybody I know stitches!  They don't, of course, it's just that I've met so many people on line who share this stitchy obsession, that there's no way I could ever feel isolated again,  Firstly, to the ladies whom I originally met on the about.com cross stitch board - you all hold a very special place in my heart.  We've walked through a lot together over the past few years.  To the stitchers I have met in the blogosphere and in the facebook groups - it has been fun getting to know you all in the last two years and I look forward to getting to know everyone better in the time to come.

 

Ok, must stop or I'll get all mushy and end up crying!  LOL.

 

We're being very boring tonight.  The kids are in bed.  No company over.  Just DH and I watching tv and DSS playing x-box... I'm stitching.  Correction.  I will be stitching.  Desperately trying to squeak in one more finish, so I can say I finished 12 in '12!  LOL.  I've been "almost finished" Nora Corbett's "L" for almost two years.  Tonight is the night - and there's a little Bubble upstairs who will be demanding in the morning; "Did Mama finish my "L" last night?"  She's been very patient but is not willing to wait any longer.

 

It was supposed to be finished for her fifth birthday...ummm... *cough, cough* ...in May 2011... Mama got a bit sidetracked with other stitchy business.  I know, I know, I'm hanging my head in shame.

 

I'm ending 2012 feeling very satisfied. I've finish 10 of the 15 pieces I started as part of the Crazy January Challenge. I had one extra start and finish and have put in a few stitches here and there on other WiPs, even though I didn't end up participating in the WiPocalypse after all.

 

So... the outstanding WiPs would be...

From CJC2012

• Celtic Christmas (Conversion with cape and hood)
• O Holy Night
• Train of Dreams
• Woodland Enchantress
• EMS Garden Alphabet (Afghan)

WiPs started prior to 2012

• Lizzie Kate ABC for Parents
• Dimensions Precious Moments Advent Calendar
• HAED Queen of Hearts
• Joan Elliott's Little Summer Fairy

The 2013 Crazy January Challenge begins in a little under three hours but I've decided to do things a little differently this year.

I really love the five WiPs that are left from the 2012 challenge.  I've decided to spend the first 15 days of January giving those pieces some love.  Then once we hit January 16, it's all on!!!  LOL, I WILL be starting another crazy 15 pieces.  If you're interested in my list for the year - click on the tab at the top of this blog page. 

Happy New Year to you all.  Be safe, be merry and above all, be blessed!  May all your hopes and dreams for the year ahead come to pass and I pray your fears amount to nothing!

Much Love.

XXX

Kirstin

Super-Duper Happy Dance!

I'm pretty simple to please, really. (My DH might disagree...)  It doesn't take much to keep me happy.  The thing I've most wanted of late, is time.  Just time.  Time to myself.  Time to stand in the shower without having to rush so that I can't enjoy the hot water.  Time to move leisurely 'round the supermarket and not have to dash in, dash out. Time to do stuff without having to yell at the kids to "Hurry up, Mummy's got to go to work!"  Most of all I've wanted time to stitch...

Amazingly, time is exactly what I have had over the past week! 

You all know I finished "Hope" a few days ago.  Well, last night (actually 12:50am, this morning) I finished "Imagine".

Wooooooo Hoooooo!!!

I didn't think I'd get a chance to do any more to Imagine this year, let alone actually finish it!

Remarkably, against all odds,  here it is:  Joan Elliott's "Imagine" on 32ct Blue Whisper linen.  DMC floss, Kreinik 032 BF added for a little sparkle in the starbursts (I did that for all four words - I do love sparkles!) and Mill Hill beads attached with YLI invisible thread.

 

All four words on the one piece of fabric...

 



 

 

 Like I said, it doesn't take much to make me happy...

 

LOL!

 

xxx K

 



Happy Dancing!

'member how I wished for more stitching time for Christmas??? 

Well, guess what Santa brought me? 

Woo Hoo!

I actually had time Christmas Eve, Christmas Night and then again this morning to sit down and stitch.  I've finished "Hope!"

I didn't think I'd be done before the weekend but not only have I finished my Crazy No 9 but I've got a recognisable unicorn appearing on No 10!

Thank you Santa.

"Hope"  Joan Elliott's Inspirational Words
Crazy January Challenge 2012
Finish number Nine
32 ct Antique Blue Whisper Linen

Here's "Imagine".  We're going away for the next two days.  I don't expect to get much stitching done but I didn't think I'd get my stitchy Christmas either.  I'd like to finish this one at the weekend... Fingers crossed... or maybe not fingers, that would make it difficult to stitch!  I'll cross my legs instead. *wink*

 

 

Finally, here's the three completed words, all together.

 



I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas.  I'm looking forward to re-connecting with all my stitching friends here in the blogosphere.  I have missed you in the past few crazy months.

xxx K

All I want for Christmas...

...is some extra stitching time! It's not going to happen but a girl can wish, can't she?

I'm very close to the final Happy Dance of the year. I really wanted to finish the final two Inspirational Words but finishing three of the four words this year is a reasonable achievement.

 At least it is in my very humble opinion, LOL.

I stitched and frogged (and stitched and frogged and stitched and frogged) and finally stitched again and finished the left hand dove on "Hope"

 

 

aaand then I realised that the dove's back looked really weird.  *sigh*

 

I really didn't want to frog again, so I stitched the right hand dove, then went back and fixed the poor deformed bird. No, I didn't re-frog.  I bluffed.  I clipped a couple of backstitches, put them in the right spot and voila, looks okay. *wink*

 



 



Last night, I made some headway on the starbursts and I'm hoping to finish them tonight - if hubby will help with wrapping pressies then I'll definitely get them done.  That will only leave the beading, which I'll get done at the weekend.

 

 

Final pic... Believe hidden on the scroll, Dream finished, Hope nearly done and Imagine to come...

 

 



It's the End of the World as we know it...

and I feel fine!

I love that old REM song - especially the version they performed on MTV Unplugged...

Well, we're still alive and kicking down-under in the Antipodes.  How 'bout all you Northerners?

I guess this means I've still got a shot at finishing my 10 out of 15!

Wish me luck, I'm off to set my needles afire.

x K

Christmas Is...

I got itchy fingers a few weeks back.  Even with a bazillion WiP's to choose from, I still wanted to do something new.  I figured if I started something little, then at least I'd get it finished and it would be enough to satisfy those itchy fingers.

I ended up pulling Lizzie*Kate's "Christmas Is..." out of my stash, hunting up some suitable thread from the stash to substitute for the Weeks Dye Works that is charted - I've never yet bought any WDW.  Don't know why.  I'm sure I'll get around to remedying that this coming year *wink*

It was a super quick and easy stitch.  Loving the Crescent Colours I used - They're a little brighter than the original charted colours. Stitched on 32 count Lambswool linen by Permin.

 

 

IHSW and Finish number Eight!

Woah, hold me up!  Two blog posts in a row!

So, I just realised that I've come back just in time for the last hermitting weekend of the year - yay!

I stitched for several hours both nights of the weekend and as a result have now completed crazy number eight.

Here is "Holly and Ivy" from Shepherd's Bush.  It came in kit form with gorgeous silks and linen provided.  I've never used such a beautiful piece of linen.  It's so soft - it's a 30ct R&R, I believe and I think I will be saving my pennies to invest in a few pieces.  It's hot off the hoop, please excuse the "un-ironed-ness."



 

 

The words are stitched one over one.  The crosses in the top part are one over two...except for the moment I realised I had stitched the centre motif using two threads!  Aaargh!  It was a moment of panic and then a realisation that my stinginess with thread really is a blessing in cases like these!  I had plenty of silk to spare and am already planning on using these leftovers to substitute in a LHN piece next year...

Time Flies...

...when you're having fun - and also when you're so ridiculously busy that you don't have time for the fun stuff!

I cannot believe it's this close to Christmas.  I also cannot believe I kept my blog for a whole year, hit my first blogoversary and then promptly disappeared from the blogosphere!

For those of you who have stayed on my list of followers, thank you! 

I've had a very, very busy year and although my opening sentence was a whinge about no time for fun stuff, there actually has been some very cool fun stuff in among the exhausting work schedule.

You all know I joined the Crazy January 15 challenge.  Well, I've managed a few finishes. Seven actually.  I'll finish the eighth tonight.  So there'll be a happy dance here around midnight.

(I will post photo's, promise.  Just thought I'd get something at least on the blog before we see December out.)

I joined the WiPocalypse and although I haven't managed to make the required posts, I have managed to stitch on all of my WiPs at some point during the year.

So - the fun stuff... well, aside from stitchy fun (eg the aquisition of OoP Mira TTAS) I got to go home to New Zealand for a week, my sister came over from NZ to visit us in Sydney and we had a family trip to Melbourne to go to the Phillip Island MotoGP.

Ok... so, photos...

These are the seven finishes of the fifteen starts.

#1

Ink Circles
"First Bass"

 

 

#2

Ink Circles
"Alto Gether Now"

 

#3

Ink Circles
"Here Comes Treble"

 

#4

Joan Elliott
"Believe"

 

#5

Joan Elliott
"Dream"

 

#6

Nora Corbett
"Lilly Pixie"

 

#7

Mirabilia
"Christmas Elf Fairy"