Flosstube podcast 31 - WIPs, FFOs and a new SAL

 

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Instagram: AmniconStudio

Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com

Current Works in Progress (WIPS)

Project name: One Stitch at a Time
Started: Jan. 10, 2025
Finished:
Designer/Source: La-D-Da Stitches, purchased at 123stitch.com
DMC conversion: 501, 3799, 315, 3826, 169, 05, 832, 3787, 3859, 640
Fabric: 28 Charles Craft DMC "Tea Dyed"
I'm participating in a stitch-along in the Across the Pond - Stitch and Chat group on the book of faces.

Previous update:

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Project name: Black Bellied Whistling Ducks
Started: 5/3/25
Finished:
Designer: Lindy Stitches, part of the Bird Crush Club
Chart purchased at Lindy Stitches in 2023
Fabric: Hobby Lobby 14 count aida
Fabric color: Mist
Fabric count: 14 ct
Floss used: DMC 310, 605, 827, 644, 08, 3064, 712, 838, 3819, 3782, 3863, 603, 3790, Threadworx - Rustic Red

Previous update:

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Project name: Licorice vanilla socks
Started: 5/3/25
Finished:
Needle size: U.S. 1 (2.5mm)
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll "Licorice Tweed"
Yarn color: Charcoal grey with flecks of color
Yarn Purchased: Stash yarn that was given to me.

Previous update:

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Project name: Beach Cruise socks
Started: June 1, 2025
Finished:
Needle size: 2.5 mm (U.S. 1)
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici "Beach Cruise"
Yarn color: Yellow, orange, blue
Yarn Purchased: 2025 Knitpicks order

Previous update: 

Fully Finished Objects (FFO)

Love, Hugs, and Kisses

Started: 5/9/25

Finished: 6/3/25

FFOed: June 15, 2025

Designer: Arlene Cohen of WorksByABC

Chart purchased: Just Cross Stitch Feb. 2023 issue

Fabric: Stash aida

Fabric color: White

Fabric count: 14 count

Floss used: DMC 816 garnet instead of the called for DMC Mouline EtoileC816.

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Bedelia Bunny

Started: Jan. 10, 2025

Finished: April 12, 2025

FFOed: June 23, 2025

Designer/Source: The Artsy Housewife, purchased at 123stitch.com

Used DMC colors. Changed color of bunny to DMC 03 to match the color of my little Feffer's fur. I also used Classic Colorworks - Blackbird for the eye and the few other spots in the flowers

Fabric: Stash Hobby Lobby Lugana 28 count "Ivory" color

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New SAL

A daily reminder by Brenda Gervais. – Doing my own conversion. 

Purchased from Farm Girl Dry Goods. Still need to dye fabric and choose colors

Other Flosstubers in the SAL are @Sarah’s Stitchy Spot, @Hobbies of Holly, Judy@Stitching bunny

Mail 

Charts from Ashley and Jan @We stitch and we know things. Thank you so much!

Kimberbell Needlepunch kit from Alison over at @ Mrs. AZfamilyzoo Stitches

Channels mentioned during my video:

Kenzie @mudpuppy Stitchery

Bernadette @Bern Stitches

Becca @Sambrie Stitches

Other channels I’ve watched since my last video. 

Patty @Stitching with my kitties – She has been making crazy quick progress on jessiechallinor1904

Roberta and Lenny @Sable Stitchers

Nancy @Disorderly Stitcher – New patriotic SAL, along with @stitcherwithalaughingface

Kathy and Molly @Linen and Scraps 

Dottie @Stitching Scottie

Stacy @911 Stitcher

Sheldon @Sheldon in Stitches 

Jason @Jason Cross Stitches – had really kind words at the end of his last video.  I encourage everyone to go take a listen. Episode #7

Shellie @Antique Needleworkers – fun video of her with Holly @Hobbies of Holly,  Kari @Tiger Lily designs, Lisa @Lady Huzzah and Jessica. She said she will start up her flosstube.

Joshua @Cross Stitch and Cambria

Vacation is all done

 As the day winds down I thought I'd write a quick post and share a few photos from last week. 

Well, turns out there isn't a whole lot of photos.  So I don't know how this blog post is going to wind up.

My hubby and I were really looking forward to having the week off together. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate as well as we would have liked. 

The highlights: We went fishing almost every day. I was out-fished almost every time. 

I was bundled up almost every time we went out.  It was hilarious because in the past it's been the opposite of that. 

I spotted a Loon on the lake and tried to take a photo of it before it dove back under the water. I didn't see a mate. 

When I took video earlier in the week I'm sure this was the loon I heard calling. 

 I *finally* got the garden in.  I'm still working on a video. I've been fighting the weather with this project, too.  As I'm writing this it's thundering and storming outside.  Yeah, more rain. ... 

I spotted this moth in the garden on Sunday. I thought it was pretty.  I'm hoping it's not something that eats tomatoes.

And we got a few picnics in, but not nearly enough, because of the weather. Yup, I brought my knitting with me. 

I don't know why I took this photo, but hey, whatever works, right?

There was some pretty irises down by the water. 

And Water Forget-Me-Knots. 

This has been a chilly June so far. My friends and I have all been turning the heat back on, running our wood stoves and pellet stoves and lamenting how chilly this June is. 

On the bright side, the mosquitoes haven't been a problem.  On the flip side of that, the ticks have been AWFUL. Either the girls aren't doing their job or there is a poo-ton of ticks out at the lakes. 

One other fun thing happened this past week. We were cruising through Rice Lake and decided to stop at the Blain's Farm and Fleet to get chicken feed. As soon as we walked in to the store I could smell chicks. If you are a chicken person you know what I'm talking about. 

The store had a whole lot of chicks available for purchase. My hubby asked me what breeds were there and after hearing the list he said "Let's get four." I said "Really?" and he said "yeah." 

The funny part was when the worker was getting the chick box ready we heard a female voice coming from the back saying "You've heard of chicken math, right? Give them five." I'm guessing she was eager to get the chicks out of the store. Fine by us! So we got five babies for the price of four: Three Americaunas and two Barred Rocks. 

They are the quietest group of chicks I've had in a very long time. One of the Americaunas has already figured out how to get to the top of the tote.  She looked confused.  I tried to quick grab my photo to snap a photo and she must have sensed what I was about to do because she turned around and hopped back down and ran to the group. 

Vacation!

 I feel like it has been forever since I've had some honest-to-goodness time off for vacation. At least a year, anyways. 

As I mentioned in my video this week, I've been working to get things taken care of before I go on vacation this coming week. I almost got all I wanted to accomplish done, too. I was *so* glad when I was able to close things up and shut notifications off for all the work things.  One thing off the plate while I go have fun this coming week and finish putting the garden in. 

Yes ... the garden isn't in all the way. Rain kinda wrecked my plans. 

Almost everything is in. I'm not pushing too hard to get it done because, well, I have time and also because I'm old and busted. (Not really, but sort of true) so some things are taking me longer than I'd like. 

*ahem* 

Yesterday once I was done with work my hubby and I went out and did our first fishing trip of the vay-cay. He lucked out.  I did not.  That's okay, cause I did good this morning. 

The girls were *very* happy he was successful with catching a couple fish.  They crowded him until he made the right decision. 

This morning the alarm went off at 6 a.m. and it was a rude awakening. It took me a bit to process being awake and I managed to get down one cup of coffee in me before I went and started doing the things that need doing. 

Then we decided to go do a morning fishing trip because it was so pleasant out. 

There was a couple fishing off a dock that was near by me.  They were not successful with fishing and when they heard me land a fish they disappeared.  A short bit later I heard noises and realized they were getting their own kayaks ready to put out on the water.  I thought it was pretty funny. 

While I was waiting for fish to discover my bait and bite I spent a lot of time absorbing all the sights and sounds around me.

It was so peaceful out there this morning.  

The water lilies are starting to bloom.  At least that's what I think they are. 

And I caught a bass!

I don't often take photos of my catches.  I'm a bit paranoid about accidentally losing my phone in the water.  I wanted to send this photo off to my hubby and son.  My guy was over on the other side of the lake.  He made out better than me.  Fish lunch for him! Yay!

On the way home I took a shot of my summer sock progress. 

It's a nice amount of progress for not spending a ton of time knitting on it. 

Project name: Beach Cruise socks
Started: June 1, 2025
Finished:
Needle size: 2.5 mm (U.S. 1)
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici "Beach Cruise"
Yarn color: Yellow, orange, blue
Yarn Purchased: 2025 Knitpicks order

After lunch and a quick cat nap we went out to "play" in the garden. 

The weather was playing nice and the sun wasn't beating down. It's not too often that I'm glad for overcast skies. 

The tomatoes were all planted .... I can't remember now. Thursday? Rain earlier this week derailed my garden plans ad I think I would have had everything taken care of already if it wasn't for that darn rain.  They were in need of being staked or trellised.  That was the main project today.  Then I started planting my pepper starts and have almost all of them planted. 

Halfway through the planting I got a little garden visitor. 

Sweet little Feffer. My husband brought him over for a quick visit.  Feffer had a blast.  I have some cute video clips.  Just need to pull them together and load them to Youtube. 

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be the same as today.  Maybe I'll get the rest of the garden in? That would be lovely. 

Until next time, here's a video of my time out at the lake this morning. You're welcome. 😉 

Flosstube Podcast 30 - Hello June

Thank you for stopping by and 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. 

Instagram: AmniconStudio

Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com

Current Works in Progress (WIPS)

Project name: One Stitch at a Time
Started: Jan. 10, 2025
Finished:
Designer/Source: La-D-Da Stitches, purchased at 123stitch.com
DMC conversion: 501, 3799, 315, 3826, 169, 05, 832, 3787, 3859, 640
Fabric: 28 Charles Craft DMC "Tea Dyed"
I'm participating in a stitch-along in the Across the Pond - Stitch and Chat group on the book of faces.

Previous progress

*********************

No progress on this one

Project name: Black Bellied Whistling Ducks
Started: 5/3/25
Finished:
Designer: Lindy Stitches, part of the Bird Crush Club
Chart purchased at Lindy Stitches in 2023
Fabric: Hobby Lobby 14 count aida
Fabric color: Mist
Fabric count: 14 ct
Floss used: DMC 310, 605, 827, 644, 08, 3064, 712, 838, 3819, 3782, 3863, 603, 3790, Threadworx - Rustic Red

**************************************

Project name: Licorice vanilla socks
Started: 5/3/25
Finished:
Needle size:
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll "Licorice Tweed"
Yarn color: Charcoal grey with flecks of color
Yarn Purchased: Stash yarn that was given to me.

Previous progress

Finish (FO)

Emotional Support Chicken for Kenzie at Mudpuppy Stitchery

No photos shared until she has received the chicken. 

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Project name: Love, Hugs, and Kisses
Started: 5/9/25
Finished: 6/3/25
Designer: Arlene Cohen of WorksByABC
Chart purchased: Just Cross Stitch Feb. 2023 issue
Fabric: Stash aida
Fabric color: White
Fabric count: 14 count
Floss used: DMC 816 garnet instead of the called for DMC Mouline EtoileC816.

Previous progress

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New Start

Project name: Beach Cruise socks
Started: June 1, 2025
Finished:
Needle size: 2.5 mm (U.S. 1)
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici "Beach Cruise"
Yarn color: Yellow, orange, blue
Yarn Purchased: 2025 Knitpicks order

Other channels mentioned

Sara  ⁨@SarahsStitchySpot⁩  Holly  ⁨@hobbiesofholly⁩ 

Some of the other channels I've watched in the last few weeks  ⁨@themirrorimagestitcher⁩   ⁨@JasonXStitches⁩   ⁨@thesteadfaststitcher⁩   ⁨@the614stitcher⁩   ⁨@StitchinWiththeGriffin⁩   ⁨@HelloFromLizMathews⁩   ⁨@HyggeStitcher⁩   ⁨@institcheswithebony⁩   ⁨@sincity_crossstitcher⁩   ⁨@StitchingWithMyKitties-xe8qz⁩ 

Memorial Day weekend

 Memorial Day weekend, the weekend we remember those who have fallen while serving in our military. It's also the unofficial start to the summer. 

This past weekend was a quiet one for us.  My son worked.  My husband worked today and I had the day off. 

Oh, but let me rewind a bit. 

Friday I worked ahead a bit on work stuff because I have appointments this week. Fun, fun. ... and after work my husband and I went out to the lake to fish again. We went out a few weekends ago and the water was too cold. 

Guess what? The water is probably still too cold.  My husband caught a small sunny and I caught a small Northern. I was not amused. 

 Friends know I'm not a fan of catching Northerns. This one lost my hook and then got stuck in my net. After that no other fish nibbled our hooks.

After this I saw a crane on the shore, among the dead trees in the water.  We had a bit of a stare down, waiting for the other to make a move.  I took a quick video but you can just barely make the crane out. It was a cool experience. 

It was a beautiful time on the water. 

We cut the trip short and went home. 

Saturday eventually turned into a nice day.  I say this because it was nippy as heck in the morning. 

I was out and about, futzing with things, taking care of the animals and working on tidying up the back yard.  There was still downed branches.  There will never *not* be downed branches. 

Feffer was enjoying the sun after letting me know he was ready for hutch cleaning. Which he got. 

He's such a sweet boy.  He has his moments, but he's such a good boy.  He's officially 7 years-old now.  His "gotcha" memory showed up in my Facebook memories recently.  He's had a good life.  He's had mates, roommates, the opportunity to be a free-range bun, a house bun and he seems to be happiest right where he is. He's super friendly in the morning and I give him all sorts of lovings.

Saturday involved some "homestead-ey" type things. This will be the subject of a blog post later this week. 

We went out for a bike ride Saturday, too.  After the bike ride I cleaned my husband's vehicle for an early Father's Day gift. He was extremely appreciative. 

Sunday there was more homestead-ey type of things and it wore me out.  I was still a bit tired from Saturday. We made a trek up to Sam's Club. Not very exciting. 

Today I was home by myself and thought "Oh, I can do this, and this, and this. ... Then reality set in and I said to myself "This day will go super fast and I should pick one thing." 

I was right, the day did go by fast.  Like, crazy fast. 

So what was the one thing? 

I did the second roto-tilling of the garden. 

While I was roto-tilling I had some time to think. I decided I *was* going to make a garden chat video, but it wasn't going to be the video I was thinking of doing a few weeks ago. This is the start of my garden for the 2025 year and I wanted a record of it. 

Here it is: 

Since I decided spur of the moment to make a video I didn't have a mic, my hair was a mess and I was slightly squinting in the sun.  (The glorious sun). Real life. And then this afternoon I was watching Sarah's most recent video and she was all "I didn't feel like combing my hair today." and I felt like I was watching one of my tribe. 

When the hummers buzz your head ...

You better look and make sure they have food! Ha!

The hummingbirds are back, baby!

I have at least two who are hanging around the feeder I have set up in front of the house. I keep forgetting to set a second one up in the back. 

One bird is pretty territorial and likes to chase the other one away.  I get buzzed frequently when I go out in front of the house. 

I keep missing out on getting a good, clear photo of one hanging out on the little shepherd hook. 

So far this is the best I've got. 

I must cast a shadow when I go to the window and try to sneak a photo. 

Soooooo .... what has been goin going on? Not a lot, really. The weather was nice, until it wasn't. This morning it was just above freezing.  I decided I wasn't going to wait for the temps to rise and I made a fire in the wood stove.  This isn't my first morning making that decision. 

Yesterday the temps did warm up nicely by my lunchtime and I went out and puttered in the garden area and enjoyed the time outdoors. 

These are the jalapeno plants I purchased from Menard's last week.  The planters contain radishes and mesclun lettuce mix.  Something nibbled on them after they sprouted.  I don't know if it was birds, squirrels or my naughty hens. 

I think on one of my flosstube videos I said I was working on a garden video. ... Well, for some reason making a video of the garden stuff seems daunting and I can't quite get over the hump. ... Or, I think it seems silly to make a video record when I don't actually *have* anything in the garden.  

As you can see, the garden is still bare. 

We've rototilled and we plan to rototill one more time before the garden goes in.  

Also, the weather hasn't cooperated very well.  Things were so dry that our region is dealing with several forest fires up in the arrowhead region of Minnesota. Several hours from me, but still, I consider it "my area."

Then we got some rain. Probably not enough. ... and now it's back to being cool and overcast, for the most part. 

My last anticipated frost date is June 1 so it's not like I'm in a rush just yet.  This weekend is Memorial Day weekend and it would be the ideal time to start planting. Alas, I don't feel like risking it. 

Also, the idea of recording me while I'm doing something is still a bit odd.  I'm still not 100 percent comfortable in front of the camera.  I need to practice, I suppose. 

In the meantime you get some photos of what I've got going on right now. 

These are my pepper plants. Most of them. I have no idea which plant is which of them are, except for the one that has a tag in it. It's a mox of hot peppers, sweet banana and at least one bell pepper. It is a Carolina reaper.  I have one ghost pepper plant.  It's being babied in the house for now. I'm crossing my fingers it is prolific and I'm able to collect seeds this year. Carolina reaper seeds are a bit easier for me to get a hold of.  In a perfect world I'd be able to collect ALL the seeds this year. I'm ready for it! Bring it on. 

*ahem* 

Behold my tomato plants. 

My poor plants.  They are so overgrown in their red solo cups. ... Which I had to buy because they outgrow their soil blocks and I'm not investing in one of those bigger soil blockers. 

Remember when I started my seeds? It was March, based off a past year when I was able to have things out and had my first tomatoes in June. ... The weather ... and the fact they are doing SO good in the greenhouse. Oh my word.  I've been picking flowers and flower buds off my plants the last several days. 

This is the other side of the greenhouse and the rest of the tomato plants. When I look at them I'm just in awe. Truly. 

This is the last of the starts I have. I started broccoli, cauliflower (which appears to not have come up) zuchinni, yellow squash, winter squash and cucumbers. ... what else. ... a few more peppers, coleus, lemon balm, a couple lavender plants, celery, thyme. ...  I'm going to try my hardest to keep those lavender plants going. I want *so* much to be able to winter it over in the house so I won't be putting it in the garden.  It is definitely not a perennial in my zone of 4a.

I have something fun (and I think exciting) to share about the garden.  

I already told you guys about the bird bath, so that is not it. (On a side note, do you have any idea how hard it is to note use emoticons on here?)

Last fall, I think it was, my hubby and I were talking about having a water feature over in the garden.  It's one thing I really desire to have in the garden space.  I have the container fountain powered by a solar panel.  It only works when the sun is out and the sound isn't *quite* what I've been looking for. 

Well, he is familiar with *real* solar power and battery storage. We have an extra solar panel and he figured out a way to set it up so I can have a water fountain in my garden. 

Hooray! 

This may not be the permanent spot for it.  I'm still deciding. But for now I wanted to get it set up and running because the solar panel is up and the power is there. 

I'm pretty excited about this.  I've been going out there just so I can hear the water flow.  This is the fountain that was right next to our back deck.  We are saving up money for a different style fountain to go back there.  And for it to go on sale. 

The sun charging my power back up yesterday.  That sky is such a beautiful blue. 

Yup, it's starting to really feel like gardening season. I'm finding my interests in what videos I'm watching sort of shift. I know only a handful of channels that are garden and homestead-based, and that I've been watching steadily for the last several years. I've been watching back episodes, here and there, and it is sort of like revisiting an old friend.