Stitch-N-Pitch 2008

Last night was "Stitch-N-Pitch" night for the DC Nationals. It's a collaboration between Major League Baseball & The National Needlearts Association promoting all forms of needle arts (cross stitch, embroidery, knit, crochet etc). For stitchers, it's a great night to grab your project and head to the stadium for a night of stitching & fellowship. And what a long night it was........ the game went into 14 (yes - fourteen) innings! I brought along a knitting project but the goodie bags were full of great cross stitch freebies too:
That Nationals chart will be great on a handtowel or pillow for some Christmas gifts. My cross stitching has slowed down quite a bit due to vision problems - old age is catching up with me (lol)! Nothing an eye doctor and bifocals (ugh) can't remedy. Have made a little more progress on Prayer Tree and in a recent visit to In Stitches, I picked up the new M Design's Family Tree. Would love to do this entire series on an afghan.....

Blogoversary!!!

OMG - it's been 2 years since I started this blog. I had high hopes that it would motivate me to finish projects, make some stitching friends, and get a glimpse into what others were stitching. I have not been disappointed! The first person to extend their cyber-hand in friendship was Sharon. By reading her blog & browsing her blogroll, the stitching world unfolded. She sent me great links for ethnic patterns & encouraged me to experience linen. Thanks, Sharon! To this day, I remain in awe of Carol. Her ability to work projects on a daily basis is what I aspire to (but fall short of). Keep up the good work, Carol!

Although I don't get to blog hop as much as I'd like, it's still a joy & pleasure to see what everybody's working on & receive comments from those that like my work. No predictions of what the next year will bring, but hopefully more of the good stuff!

Memorial Day Stash

Been stitching, been knitting, been working. That's right - medical leave ended and I've jumped right back into the swing of things. Honestly, I miss all that at-home crafting time. Just makes me hunger for retirement.

Last week was a business trip to New Orleans. My co-workers down there were nice enough to send me a gift certificate from one of my favorite LNS Acadian Corner in Metairie. I'm sure they knew my healing time would be accelerated with the thought of shopping. As always, I was not disappointed. Here's shots of my loot:




My favorite pattern has to be Glory Bee's - "Born to Stitch, Forced to Work" (lol). There's also Waxing Moon Design's - Live Simply (w/garden gate charm); Bent Creek's - Everyday Sampler & Valentine Row; Praying Hands' - Christ at Heart's Door; Sisters' - Thanks Be To God; Erica Michael's - Signs of Christmas; and Heart in Hand's - Hearts Sampler, Mind Your Manners, Look Both Ways, Study Hard & Wash Your Hands (gotta make these for the grandboys!). Be sure to check out Acadian Corner's website - they're having a fantastic pattern sale. Most are 50% off. I also stocked up on my fabric with Jobelan in Lavender Sweet, Babbling Brook, and Pewter as well as a Raw Cashel Linen and a Blue Country French Linen.

Surprise, surprise - I did a little more than shop. You can also see my progress on M Design's Pray Tree. My goal is to finish this in the next couple weeks as I rotate this project with a cardigan sweater I'm making. You can see my sweater progress on my other blog, MyDzire4Yarn

No More DMC?

DMC is declaring bankruptcy. This is the official press release from DMC on 24 April 2008, telling us they will "undertake significant restructuring in the near term". This apparently meant not paying April's wages to their workers in France. That is a surefire way to kill the business, combined with the news report confirming the bankruptcy. DMC's official website is saying the bankruptcy court may hold a hearing in May. DMC is a major supplier of threads for Cross stitching, either as individual skeins, packed in kits, or providing the source materials for custom thread dyers.What does this mean for Cross stitchers? Other thread suppliers should enjoy the opening market opportunities but it may be a while before new colours are in place to replace the DMC colours. Thread prices will probably go up. Less competition will mean thread makers have a chance of making better margins. Ah well. Interesting!

Stitch-N-Pitch 2008

It's that time of year again! Get ready to pack up your project for baseball & needlearts at Nationals Park! June 20 at 7:10 p.m. the Nationals play the Texas Rangers. Sit among friends, family & Nats fans while you cross stitch, embroider, knit or crochet. Tickets are $13 for an outfield gallery seat (& goodie bag).

Here's the link to order tickets online: Nationals Stitch & Pitch or visit your LNS.

Hope to see ya there! Be back soon with progress pics of Pray Tree.

April Progress

I need to change my header for Progress Pics on the left to UFOs. Ashamed to say I have not picked up any of them in quite a few months. Somewhere stuck in there is the M Design "Rejoice" tree - started with the best of intentions. Meanwhile, I go into my LNS and there's a tree design I hadn't seen. It's the "Pray" tree - offered by M Design as a freebie to bring attention to those affected by Hurricane Katrina and encourage donations to the charities helping in the recovery. Here's the progress on my Pray Tree. It's done on 28 count hand-dyed Jobelan (Thyme) using Silk-N-Colors (Forest). I promise not to let it get lost in UFO-land and to take a better picture.

Created a second blog for my knitting & crochet progress - it's MyDzire 4 Yarn. Stop on by & let me know what you think. Happy stitching everybody!

Another Milestone

Obviously, the month of March has always been precious to me. Both my girls were March babies. Happy Birthday Nelle! Twenty-six years ago today at 7:40 p.m. my world changed forever.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from me & the fellas.

24 Years Ago

Wow - at 11:44 a.m. exactly 24 years ago today I gave birth to this angel. She and her sister are the loves of my life. Although she has babies of her own, she'll always be my baby. Happy Birthday J!

THE SPOT!

Although I can cross stitch, knit, & crochet almost anywhere - it's a dream to have a dedicated space in my house. When the youngest moved out, I quickly converted her room in hopes of having my spot. Alas, the computers, printers, scanner and overall storage for stash, books & magazines quickly filled the space.


But I'm finally in heaven. Here's my newly created stitching-spot in the corner of my bedroom. I can now stitch in a comfy BIG chair w/ottoman, next to the window, facing the TV & DVD player. Got my cross stitch & Ott light on my left and a decent yarn stash on my right (Someone gave me a great tip about the mirror behind the chair - it reflects light for great late-night stitching). Should I ever get tired, it's just a hop & skip to the comfort of my bed........ Someone send out a search party if I haven't been heard of in a few weeks (lol)!



BTW, Big Lots has a yarn clearance sale. Here's the Lion Brand Chenille I picked up for $1.50 per skein - I bought all 13 skeins in the bin. I better go back to work soon......

Progress

I've managed to make progress on a couple of projects. Finished a crocheted beanie to compliment the neckwarmer I made a couple months ago. Also the "sistah" finally has lips & some filling to her church hat. Haven't picked up Peace Angel lately but she's next in line.

Just when I was basking in the glow of not heading out to work everyday, my co-workers reminded me that I work with a great group of folks. I received 2 flower arrangements, cards, and giftcards that I put to good use at Michaels for all this:

Men Should Come With Directions

I'm a huge fan of Emerson Quillin and his "Listen Honey" series. All his women are super sassy & fun. I have a couple dozen of his cross stitch charts in my stash and I've started buying the rubber stamps to make cards & bookmarks. You'll see "On A Clear Day, I Can Shop Forever" in my cross stitch slideshow. Yesterday I started "Men Should Come With Directions". Doesn't she remind you of a southern sistah with braids & a church hat (lol)? Of course, she's gonna be a pillow cover.........

Tommorrow, more work on Peace Angel.

Wings of an Angel

Not much progress on Peace Angel but I am enjoying working this piece. Dental surgery recovery is coming along slowly. Gum and bone problems required total extraction and stitches were removed last week. Now it's just healing time until the implants can be inserted. My body just wants to rest and sleep but my mind & hands want to get busy with needlework and craft projects. It would be great to finish Peace Angel during my hiatis as a reminder of all I'm going through.


In the meantime, it's easier just to knit so I finished this scarf for youngest daughter. I loved this Andes Wool yarn when I bought it, but the striping does nothing for me. Daughter loves it cause her favorite color is green. I still have 2 skeins so I will try making a felted bag to see if the pattern excites me more.
And finally - a funny sent to me by my Aunt Eunice

Stitch A Long

I've joined the Lavender Angels SAL for encouragement with the Peace Angel. I'm on a 3-month leave of absence for some extensive dental work (you don't even want to know) so I'm looking forward to making great progress now that I'm out of the Percocet haze. Stay tuned for progress pics and send plenty of prayers for quick healing........