Thursday, December 11, 2025

Winter, snow, Alberta clippers and what else I've been up to

 As it often happens, I think of a good opener for a blog post and then quickly forget it as soon as I sit down to write. 

Oh well. Say La Vee! (Yes, I'm being cheeky)

December is moving at a swift pace. I thought December would be chill-ish and I'd be enjoying the moments, as they came along.

As usual, I'm in awe of the date. How is it December 11? Until I looked at the date just now I thought it was the 10th, despite my saying the date out loud earlier today. 

So, in that verbose way, I'm saying I've been busy. Ha!

Busy, and do you think I can think of all the things that have been occupying my time? Not really. 

My life has been full of work, Flossmas, and snow. 

I realized I didn't even post a photo of my tree yet. 


And at night 


Furby Jr., and her boy toy are in on the decor', too. 


Yes, I still think of my girl almost every day. 

The month started with snow. We've received more snow. Now the Alberta Clippers are hitting the area.  One day last week we woke up to temps in the negative teens Fahrenheit.  We survived. Barely. 😉

The other day I was outside, before my work day started, and shoveling snow, plowing the snow, and snowblowing the snow I felt I couldn't move with the plow. Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would. I felt it the next day. It's been a while since I've labored like that.  It felt good to move, however.

I do have a bit of excitement to share.  People over a certain age will understand my excitement. 

We decided to get new appliances! What we had worked just fine, but my husband found a good deal on appliances after Black Friday and we talked about it and decided to pull the trigger.  Everything is set to be delivered on Saturday. Fingers crossed! 

The stove has already been sold and gone. The fridge is still in the kitchen, sold and waiting to be picked up, (hopefully Friday or Saturday) 

Yeah, we've been without a stove since Sunday. With all the kitchen gadgets we have it hasn't been too much of a hardship to cook. Though you do have to change the menu a bit and adjust how you make meals.  There was one time where I felt like baking some cookies and quickly remembered I couldn't. 

On the crafting front ... 

Last weekend I received a box of goodies from a friend who I'd lost touch with several years back. She remembered the name of my blog and found my email and we've been writing ever since. 

She's been doing some clearing out and asked if I'd be interested in some crochet magazines. 

Naturally I said yes and said I'd pay for the shipping. 


I've done a quick look through a few of the magazines so far. No deep dives until January. What I did see where some really pretty crochet patterns for doilies, tableclothes and other house items. 

I think Sarah, the Northwoods Stitcher, would marvel at these treasures. 

Last weekend was the Jingle Ball. The tech gave me some troubles  on Friday. I ended up having a migraine on Saturday, so I barely logged on that day. Over the course of the full weekend I did meet up with some fellow flosstubers and enjoyed hanging out with them. I have all the other online retreats already marked on my 2026 Book of Days. 

I did recently finish a cross stitch piece, and I've been working consistently on another piece. 


All I want for Christmas is Bigfoot
Started: Nov. 28, 2025
Finished: Dec. 7, 2025
Fabric: Hobby Lobby Yorkshire 
Fabric color: Grey, but then hand dyed blue
Fabric count: 14 count
DMC: Called for DMC 310, 321, 3031, 3818, 3822, 3852, 3863, 3865

I know I'm going to turn this in to some sort of pillow.  I haven't decided if it's going to be a pillow or a pillow cover. 

The chart is only available on the Etsy shop until the end of the month.  Then it will be released during needlework market. 

The other piece I've been working on is another Etsy find. I don't have any current photos of my progress, so I'll save that for another day. 

This is what it looks like:


I've been posting nearly daily flossmas videos over on my Youtube channel. So if you are feeling impatient to see what my progress is, you can see it on my videos. 

Speaking of my flossmas videos ... it occurred to me yesterday that maybe I should be posting the videos on the blog. It was one of those "duh" moments, where I can't believe it didn't occur to me sooner. 

Should I? I mean the series is almost halfway done. 

In the meantime, here's the most recent one.  I haven't been loading the links on the sidebar since they are being posted so frequently and it takes me a bit of doing to link them. 


However, it's hardly anything to link them in a blog post

I've been enjoying the videos and the daily chit chat on my videos and other people's videos. Despite the hecticness of it all I'm really enjoying the entire experience. It's going to seem so quiet once January rolls around. I was hoping this exercise would get me used to sitting in front of the camera and not have to psyche myself up before hand.  Well, I'm still needing to psyche myself up before hand but I think I'm relaxing quicker once I get going and I don't feel quite so awkward.  Will it last? Time will tell. 

Monday, December 1, 2025

A real snow, Thanksgiving and another thing

 Once again it's been almost a minute since I wrote a life update. I swear, November JUST started and now we are at the beginning of December.

Well, we got our snow.  All 18+ inches of it. It started Tuesday afternoon of Thanksgiving week. I think I was in denial about it actually appearing. 

When we woke on Wednesday and started checking things out we were astonished at how much snow had fallen. 

Looking out the back door, I had to make a quick path across the deck so I could get out to the chicken coop.


Then I looked across the yard to the chicken coop I had a moment of panic because I thought a branch had fallen on the right side of the coop.  


It was okay though.  Can you see how deep the snow is over there? In some places it was above my knees. 

In the front of the house, my husband opened the garage door and saw his vehicle was encased in a shroud of snow.


With 10 inches of snow, before 6 a.m.


Later in the day we took another measurement, off my vehicle, and there was 18 inches of snow. *facepalm* 

My husband and son tried to drive in to work. The roads were so bad. The plow had gone by once and there was only one path for traffic and roads were incredible slippery. They turned around and came home. 

After a while my husband took the tractor out and took the snowblower on it's maiden voyage. Something that would have taken us the entire day, probably, was done in a few hours. Maybe.  I sort of lost track of time and we had to go out more than once to move snow. 

Course that doesn't do us any good if the roads are crap. 

My son started clearing off the deck and front. I was taking care of what I could, which also included shoveling a little path to the she shed. 


The garden looked a little magical. I hoofed it through the snow as soon as I could and cleaned as much snow as I could off the greenhouse. 

My sweet little greenhouse survived the snow and wind.  


So much snow ... 




My hubby very kindly snowblowed a path to the garden area for me, so I'll have an easier time getting over there and cleaning the greenhouse off.


At one point when we were outside we heard a cracking sound, like something breaking. 

We suspect we heard this branch break and fall out of the tree. 


It was a heck of a way to start the long holiday weekend.  

Thanksgiving day was a quiet affair. My son worked. My husband work on pushing more snow around. I worked on the big meal. 

No photos were taken of the spread. By the time my son got home, we all decided we were hungry right then and we started getting stuff ready and plated. Then we dived in to the meal, listened to good music and had nice conversation. We all proclaimed the smoked turkey very tasty. I ate so much food that I went in to a food coma for 20 minutes. 

Friday nothing really exciting happened. There was no major shopping to be done.  We did drive in to town, though. At 7:30 a.m. we were at Walmart and it was like a ghost town. Menards was more busy.  The golden age of Black Friday Shopping is passed. Everyone kept telling me that everyone is online shopping now. Superior doesn't have much for big box stores.  All the shops are in Duluth, up on the hill. There was NO way I was driving to Duluth. 

Today was back to work. It was publishing day and a bit hairy. Things usually are after a long weekend. This was something, though. We got it done. 

I'd say that's pretty much all the news from Lake Woebegone. We have to get used to the snow being here, and the colder temps. I'm still tiptoeing out to the coop in my garden clogs. Warm, right?  Every thing takes a bit big longer to accomplish. 

I almost forgot to mention that today is the start of Flossmas, or vlogmas, which every you prefer. My first video is out. 


 I wanted to do flossmas last year. The timing wasn't right. I'm feeling more optimistic about it this year. I still haven't settled down on a schedule. Every day, every other day ... *shrugs* I have no structure about it. At least not yet. I'm betting that by the time this is done I'll feel totally at ease in front of the camera. 











Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Ep. 37 - A quick one before Thanksgiving

Thank you for watching my video. I am so glad you stopped by! If you like what you see, please subscribe and click the notification bell to be notified of when I load new videos. 

I'm on Instagram: AmniconStudio

Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com


***Cross Stitch ***



Current Works in Progress

* Neon Cicada

Started: Nov. 5, 2025

Designer: Bad Stitch on Etsy

Fabric: Black cotton T-shirt

T-shirt inspiration from Katherine   @KatherinesStitchingChronicles  


***Knitting***

Current Works in Progress



*Vanilla sock

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici

Started: Sept. 9, 2025

Colorway: “Buddy”

Colors: red, green, very light blue.

First sock is complete.


Finished Objects



*Mittens from Tin Can Knits

Started: Nov. 13

Finished: Nov. 17

Yarn: I love this yarn chunky

Colorway: 157 Safari Trek

Needle size: U.S. 6 and U.S. 8

https://tincanknits.com/pattern/the-worlds-simplest-mittens


***Future project***

“All I want for Christmas is Bigfoot by Sambrie Stitches.  She has a SAL starting Thanksgiving Day. Digital chart will be available on her etsy site until 12/31/25

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4406681340/all-i-want-for-christmas-pdf-chart-o?ref=shop_home_feat_2&sr_prefetch=1&pf_from=shop_home&dd=1&logging_key=da5fc8edada312e274ab58c2a7f79ad7cb949240%3A4406681340


Remember when we used to have blog circles? This is the same, but with YouTube Channels. You should check out these fun channels!

 Patty Penn    @StitchingWithMyKitties-xe8qz  

 Alison    @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitches  

 Kenzie    @mudpuppystitchery  

Gary and Ronnie  @GaRonStitchery  

Cathy   @craftycatstitcher6658  

Mair   @sincity_crossstitcher  

Ashley and Gianne  @Westitchandweknowthings  


Etsy shops and other shops you should check out

Forbidden Fiber Co. https://www.forbiddenfiberco.com/

AZ Family Zoo https://www.etsy.com/shop/azfamilyzoo

Mudpuppy Stitchery https://www.etsy.com/shop/MudpuppyStitchery

https://www.patreon.com/cw/MudpuppyStitchery

Lumi Stitch https://www.etsy.com/shop/LumiStitch

Disorderly Stitcher https://www.etsy.com/shop/DisorderlyStitcher

Black Ribbon Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackRibbonShop

Ladybug Stitches (Has a black Friday sale 25 percent off ) https://www.etsy.com/shop/LadybugStitchesShop

SamBrie Stitches https://www.etsy.com/shop/SamBrieStitches

Sweet Autumn Stitch https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetAutumnStitch

Stormy Blue https://www.etsy.com/shop/StormyBlue

Northwoods Stitcher https://www.ebay.com/usr/northwoodsstitcher

Milka https://www.etsy.com/shop/milkasrealm


The easiest ways you can support my channel: 

Subscribe 

Comment 

Give this video a thumbs up 

Share with a friend 


Thank you so much for being here. Happy crafting!

Saturday, November 22, 2025

Flosstube 36 - Winner, Winner, Chicken dinner



Thank you for watching my video. I am so glad you stopped by! Full show notes are below

I'm on Instagram: AmniconStudio
Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com

**Cross Stitch **
Finished Objects



*Little Mushroom ghost
Designer: The Little Stitcher, Just Cross Stitch, Halloween 2025
Started: Sept. 8, 2025
Finished: October 2025
Fabric: Hobby Lobby
Fabric color: natural
Fabric count: 25 lugana
DMC: Called for DCM




*A thing with feathers
Started: Sept. 9, 2025
Finished: Oct. 5, 2025
Designer: Mojo Stitches
Chart purchased: Just Cross Stitch, Autumn 2025
Fabric: Mystery stash aida
Fabric Color: White
Fabric Count: White
Floss used: 434, 3820, 3012, 3011




*Red Panda, part of the Endangered Species club, 2024
Started: July, 5, 2025
Finished: Oct. 20, 2025
Designer: Lindy Stitches
Fabric: Hobby Lobby Aida
Color: Ivory
Fabric Count: 16 count
Floss: called for DMC and fancy floss




*Rescue is my favorite breed
Started: Oct. 31, 2025
Finished: Nov. 2, 2025
Designer MrsAZzoo (Alison)
Fabric: 14 count stash aida


Fully Finished Objects



* Black Cat Sampler
Project Name: Black Cat Sampler
Started: Early Oct. 2024
Finished: Oct. 31, 2024
Designer/Source: Just Cross Stitch magazine Halloween 2024 issue
Nancy Wahler, Faithwurks designs
DMC Floss: 310; 645; blanc; 3822
Fabric: 14 Count Aida purchase from hobby lobby, spa color, I think. 
Needle Size: 26
Last spoke about it on Episode 24




* White Christmas 2022 ornaments
Started: Dec. 2, 2023
Finished: July 2025, I think. 
Designer/Source: Primrose Cottage stitches
Fabric: 14 count aida opalescent
DMC floss in called for colors
B5200, 310, 321, 435, 562, 722, 728, 761, 818, 898, 954, 3841
Needle Size: 26
Made For: Myself. 

Current Works in Progress



*A daily reminder
Started: June 25, 2025
Designer/Source: Brenda Gervais, purchased at Farm Girl Dry Goods
Fabric: Stash Aida
Color: Hand dyed by me, brown and splashes of green
Fabric Count: 14 count
DMC: My own conversion: B5200, 435, 947, 355, 321, 562, 435, 3776, 700
Stitch along with Sarah at Sarah's Stitchy Spot, Holly and Hobbies of Holly, and Judy and Stitching Bunny


New Starts




* Neon Cicada
Started: Nov. 5, 2025
Finished: 
Designer: Bad Stitch on Etsy
Fabric: Black cotton T shirt
DMC: 16, 17, 19, 34, 35, 158, 208, 209, 517, 518, 722, 793, 917, 956, 3804, 3807

**Knitting**
Current Works in Progress




*Vanilla sock
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici
Started: Sept. 9, 2025
Colorway: “Buddy”
Colors: red, green, very light blue.
First sock is complete.



Finished Objects



*Mittens from Tin Can Knits
https://tincanknits.com/pattern/the-worlds-simplest-mittens
Started: Nov. 3, 2025
Finished: Nov. 8, 2025
Yarn: I love this yarn chunky
Colorway: 362 Sunburst Harvet
Needle sizes: U.S. 6 and U.S. 8 



*Hat Captain Tracy’s Watch Cap – by LittleYeti
Ravelry link - https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/captain-tracys-watch-cap
Started:
Finished:
Yarn: I love this yarn chunky
Colorway: 157 Safari Trek
Needle size: U.S. 8






New Starts



*Mittens from Tin Can Knits
Started: Nov. 13
Finished:
Yarn: I love this yarn chunky
Colorway: 157 Safari Trek
Needle size: U.S. 6 and U.S. 8
https://tincanknits.com/pattern/the-worlds-simplest-mittens


**Crochet**
Finished Objects



**Harvest Table runner
Started: Oct. 1, 2025
Finished: Oct. 10, 2025
Designer: Sarah Sach
https://poshpoochdesignsdogclothes.blogspot.com/2025/08/harvest-table-runner-crochet-pattern-by.html
Yarn: Red Heart white with the stelina running through it. 



*Water bottle cozy (2 of them)
Started: Sept. 20, Sept. 21
Finished: Sept. 20, Sept. 21
Pattern: Ninja bunny crochet
Yarn: stash dishcloth yarn
https://www.etsy.com/listing/713066361/crochet-water-bottle-cozy-pattern



Crooked coffee cup cozy pattern.
Started and finished: October 2025
Yarn: Stash dishcloth cotton yarn
Hook size: 5 m.m.
https://oombawkadesigncrochet.com/crooked-coffee-cup-cozy-pattern/




*Octopus
Designer: http://mynomadhome.com/octopus-for-a-preemie-osmiorniczka-dla-wczesniaka/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNw55NleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF6RGFzdzNrcld3VkNBTVJoAR5fmZOERgd0Hu-wS1LoMTIRdhUtsUB0i9fQnxAW8G_vcyrrTcBnMmvHXKWaSw_aem_Xpo6_a4qEXKnlX8AMskImw
Started: Sept. 24, 2025
Completed: Sept. 25, 2025
Yarn: I love this yarn
Colorway: Sugarplum stripe
Hook size: 3.5 mm

2 Suzette scarves





Started: Oct. 11, 2025
Finished: Oct. 13, 2025
Yarn: I love this chunky yarn
Colorway: Plum garden
Hook size: 9 mm
https://www.hookedbyrobin.com/blog/crochet-suzette-scarf






Started: Oct. 14, 2025
Finished: Oct. 16, 2025
Yarn: I love this chunky yarn
Colorway: Sunburst harvest
Hook size: 9 mm
https://www.hookedbyrobin.com/blog/crochet-suzette-scarf


I’m doing the granny square CAL hosted by Madame stitch.  I’m currently on square 7. 
https://www.madamestitch.com/2025-granny-stitch-sampler-blanket-free-crochet-along/

Started Oct. 2025
Yarn used: Stash yarns
Crochet hook: 5.0 mm









Other channels mentioned in the video
Cathy  @craftycatstitcher6658  
Alison   @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitches  
Holly  @hobbiesofholly  
Sarah  @SarahsStitchySpot  
Judy  @Stitchingbunny1127  
Katherine  @KatherinesStitchingChronicles  
Cat  @StitchinWiththeGriffin  

Remember when we used to have blog circles? This is the same, but with YouTube Channels. You should check out these fun channels!
 Patty Penn   @StitchingWithMyKitties-xe8qz  
 Linda and Susie   @yarnoverwithus  
 Alison   @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitches  
 Kenzie   @mudpuppystitchery  
Cat   @StitchinWiththeGriffin  
Jessica  @LumiStitch  
Cathy  @craftycatstitcher6658  
Bethany  @Bethany.BirdStitcher  
Denise  @BlackRibbonStitchStudio  
Mair  @sincity_crossstitcher  
Coggie  @Thehighfiberdiet  
Heather  @themirrorimagestitcher  
Ashley and Gianne @Westitchandweknowthings  


Etsy shops and other shops you should check out
Forbidden Fiber Co. https://www.forbiddenfiberco.com/
AZ Family Zoo https://www.etsy.com/shop/azfamilyzoo
Mudpuppy Stitchery https://www.etsy.com/shop/MudpuppyStitchery
https://www.patreon.com/cw/MudpuppyStitchery
Lumi Stitch https://www.etsy.com/shop/LumiStitch
Disorderly Stitcher https://www.etsy.com/shop/DisorderlyStitcher
Black Ribbon Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackRibbonShop
Ladybug Stitches https://www.etsy.com/shop/LadybugStitchesShop
SamBrie Stitches https://www.etsy.com/shop/SamBrieStitches
Sweet Autumn Stitch https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetAutumnStitch
Stormy Blue https://www.etsy.com/shop/StormyBlue
Northwoods Stitcher https://www.ebay.com/usr/northwoodsstitcher
Milka https://www.etsy.com/shop/milkasrealm

The easiest ways you can support my channel: 
Subscribe 
Comment 
Give this video a thumbs up 
Share with a friend 

Thank you so much for being here. Happy crafting!

Friday, November 21, 2025

Crispy morning

We woke up to a "crispy" morning today. 

When I walked out to to the coop, to wake the girls and open the door to the run, I noticed the grass was covered in frost and it crunched with each step I took.


It made for a hard time being quiet when I walked out to the back 20 to swap out SD cards on the game cams. 


It was pretty to see everything covered in frost. These photos are from the woods when I first headed out. 

It ended up being a very sunny day so the frost didn't last long. 

It was a pleasant walk out there to the furthest game cam and then back to the house. The air was crisp but not cold. I tried to listen for animals. It was hard to hear anything over the sounds of my foots steps going *crunch, crunch, crunch* as I tried to move through the woods like a ghost taking high steps. On the way back to the house I thought I heard an animal spook and run.  It probably was a squirrel with the zoomies racing from tree to tree. Each time I stopped walking and tried to hear if anything was moving, all I heard was silence. 



It really was peaceful out there.  I had visions of sitting out in the blind, scanning for deer and listening to tell tale sounds of something trying to tip toe in to the area. 


It just occurred to me that I don't think I ever mentioned filling my anterless tag for this year. 

There isn't a really exciting story to tell and that's why I didn't think to write anything down.  I will say, that the deer literally tip-toed into the area I was hunting. Tip-toe, tip-toe.  Then she'd stop, listen and look all around, before delicately tip-toeing a few more steps. 

It was a quick harvest and tracking. 


Tomorrow is the first day of firearm season. I'm mildly curious as to how many shots we'll hear this coming week, based on the number of day time deer I see on the game cams, there won't be many successful hunts in the immediate area. 


Wow, I sort of went on a side tangent there. It's just been a weird hunting season. And by weird, I mean not enough daytime deer being photographed. 

*ahem* 

There was plenty of frost on the game cams this morning. Each camera I wiped the frost off the lens. There isn't much more annoying than photos of things you can't see because of moisture on the lens.


I saw the sun on the tops of the pines trees when I returned to the house. I don't know what it is, but there is something about seeing the early sun rays on the tops of the trees that makes me smile. 


I saw this on the book of faces this afternoon. 



Just in time for Thanksgiving. Which, I'll be planning and getting the house ready for this weekend. I'm hoping the weather stays more on the decent side for just a little bit longer.  After Thanksgiving I'll be okay with snow. 

This upcoming week is going to be a bit of an odd one for work, thanks to the holiday. We have an early pseudo-deadline that's not really deadline. We just need to get pages to production sooner in the week so there's time to work and everything isn't held until publishing day, the Monday after the long weekend. This time of year until just after the first is always a bit of a blur and craziness. Usually the Monday of Thanksgiving week is publishing day. I think.  Yeah, pretty sure. 

After I post this blog post I'll start working on the show notes for my most recent flosstube. If you were wondering where it was. 😃