One thread before bed

The other day I was taking out a new flosstube for a spin.  Unfortunately I don't remember which channel, or her name.  

However, she said something that stuck with me.  I've heard it said other ways, but her way rhymed. 

"A thread before bed." 

And it makes total sense if you want to have some progress, but not dedicate hours a day to something. 

How do you eat an elephant? 

A bite at a time. 

Does anyone ever do just one thread when they pull their cross stitch out?  Maybe it's different if you are working on a high count linen. ... I usually end up stitching two or three threads. Tonite was three threads. 

I decided to take a break from the crochet cardigan.  I was crocheting like the wind and my hand started aching.  

I've pulled out my snowflake cross stitch project and giving it some attention. It is just over 50 percent completed, according to patternkeeper. 

Did you notice the pretties in the photo? I'm kinda matchy-matchy with this one. 

I found some snowflake scrapbook paper and made matching flossdrops and a thread charm.  Floss bling? I don't know what it's called. 

I also made a little beaded pendant to go with the charm. 

And then I decided to be *really* clever and make another scissor fob. 

The only way I could improve upon this is if I had a snowflake needleminder.

I had a LOT of fun pulling it all together. 

Project Name: #723 Snowflake

Started: Jan. 1, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Tiny Cross Stitches

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart. Aida has silver threads running through it. 

DMC floss in called for colors

747 ; 964 ; 995 ; 996 ; 3756 ; 3761 ; 3843 ; 3846 ; B5200

Colors: blues

Needle Size: 26

Made For: Myself. I've decided I'm keeping it for myself.  I told my husband that when it is done, I'm putting it on display year-round. 

Let me show off a finished object. 

Remember Edna? 

I finally finished her!

I'm trying out frames for her. That's why the fabric isn't trimmed or threaded.  

Isn't she beautiful? 

Project Name: Edna goes to brunch

Started: early July 2022

Finished: early September 2023

Designer/Source: Lindy Stitches

Fabric: 32 count Mint Splash Lugana by Zweigart

Floss: I'm using the called-for colors in DMC

Stitch count: 133 x 96s

Size: 8.3" x 6"

Needle Size: size 28

Lugana fabric is definitely not my first fabric of choice.  I'm a aida girl.  Definitely.  

But, ... I'll definitely give it a try on a small.

Works in Progress #6 for 2023

 It's been a bit quiet on the homestead this week due to illness. My son brought some kind of germ home last week and shared.  Blech! 

I haven't felt this crummy in a while. 

In the evenings I've been slowly plodding along on my snowflake.

Pattern keeper has been so great for this. I've been adding around 100 stitches to it each evening I work on it. 

Project Name: #723 Snowflake

Started: Jan. 1, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Tiny Cross Stitches

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart. Aida has silver threads running through it. 

DMC floss in called for colors

747 ; 964 ; 995 ; 996 ; 3756 ; 3761 ; 3843 ; 3846 ; B5200

Colors: blues

Needle Size: 26

Made For: Myself. Maybe. I haven't decided yet if I want to give this away. 

Sweet little Edna has been pulled out of hibernation. I go much slower on the Lugana. 

Since I took the photo in the evening, not in natural light, the colors are off. 

Project Name: Edna goes to brunch

Started: early July 2022

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Lindy Stitches

Fabric: 32 count Mint Splash Lugana by Zweigart

Floss: I'm using the called-for colors in DMC

Stitch count: 133 x 96s

Size: 8.3" x 6"

Needle Size: size 28

Last photo I shared back on January 1, 2023.

Today is the first day of summer and the weather has decided it needs to feel like summer.  The temperature hit the upper 80s Fahrenheit today. 

Speaking of the garden ... This weekend I finished planting seeds in the garden and I planted the flowers in containers. When I'm feeling better I'll make a video.  No one wants to hear what I sound like right now. 

Sunday, when my hubby and I were sitting out by the garden, I noticed a critter discovered my water fountain and was taking advantage of it.  

Not exactly the wildlife I was expecting to enjoy my fountain. I had visions of birds coming to take baths in the top tier. 

Recent finished objects ... and some blather

 While getting ready for this blog post I decided to look up the last time I posted finished objects. 

1. It's been a while

2. I was trying to track down the wrong tags.  I almost labeled this one WIPs #6 for 2023, or something like that.  

Oops. 

It's been a bit of a week.  It went fast. It dragged. I felt behind on all the things. 

And now I feel like I may be coming down with something. 

My son has been sick this week, and was complaining of a sore throat earlier this week. 

Guess who is feeling a bit of a sore throat?  Yup.  This girl here.  

Fingers crossed the vitamin C I took will knock it out before it gets a hold. 

The weather this week has been a bit odd. The other day I broke down and made a fire in the wood stove.  My husband said "Really?" when he came home and I told him what I had done.  I was cold! It was *not* warming up in the house and I had opened the windows early in the morning, thinking it was going to warm up a lot earlier than it did. My feet were like ice that day. 

Anyways, I'm sure the weird temperature fluctuations aren't helping anything. 

*clears throat* Okay.  On to the finished objects I promised. 

Vanilla socks are done! Another project that had been on the needles for what feels like forever.

Project Name: Vanilla socks

Started: Jan. 7, 2023

Finished: June 1, 2023, or thereabouts

Designer/Source: My own pattern

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colorway: Mexicala stripes

Colors: oranges, red, purples and a smatter of blue and white

Required Amount: Two skeins of sock yarn. 100 grams

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 1 (2.25 mm)

Gauge: beats me

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: WL238520

I think I'm going to put a bit of a pause on vanilla socks, and get back to basics.  

"What?" you are probably asking. 

The last pairs of socks I've made have not been my best work.  I seem to have lost something. 

Soooooo ... I decided to look up sock classes on craftsy.  I have a membership there and came across a class by Lucy Neatby. I'm going to do a remedial (to me) class. 

I decided to pick up some acryllic worsted weight yarn and I'm going to work through the class and use that yarn to make some bedroom socks.  

The other thing I finished is my February Month to Month.

Here it is. "Barn fresh."

Project Name: Month to Month - February

Started: Jan. 15, 2023

Finished: June 14, 2023

Designer/Source: https://www.etsy.com/shop/stitchinghousewives

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart.

Floss: Using called for Classic Colorworks fancy floss

Colors: Black, pink, red, teal, green

Needle Size: 26

Made For: Myself

I am very happy to finally have it complete. It's going to go into a finished object pile until I decide how I want to FO all of the pieces in the series. 

In other crafty news 

Last night I started back up on my snowflake cross stitch. 

Using patternkeeper to keep track is on this chart is great. I'm bouncing around the grid with the same color and it's so much easier. 

I put in just over 100 stitches.  Last night I was scrolling through the Facebook and a group or page had something about a stitch-along and the notes said if the stitcher stitched 200 stitches a day, it would be easy to keep up and finish the stitch-along on time. 

I thought "What? That's a lot of stitches," and figured the person would probably have to really dedicate their time to the project.  Then I saw how quick you can do 100 stitches.  

With that in mind, I'm thinking if I put some dedicated time to this project, I can get it down sooner than later. 

I'd also like to pick "Edna" back up and work on her, and get it finished. 

I felt like I was starting to pick up steam before I decided to put it away.  Evenweave kinda kicks my butt. 

Recently I switched up the hashtags I am following on Instagram and was reminded that Tour de Fleece is just around the corner. I've been working on the same wool for the last several tours. 

My problem with spinning is that I don't have a good dedicated spot for spinning.  The chair I usually sit in when I'm in the living room isn't very comfortable for the sitting position I need to be in when I'm using the wheel. What I have been doing is  bringing out a kitchen chair, setting it up near Furby, and leave it like that for a while. 

Furby doesn't seem to mind my hanging out by her. 

First Works In Progress post of the year

 I had the first week of January off.  That was good, except for having to deal with the snow.  

When I went back to work it basically hit me sideways in a sneak attack of tech issues, a surprise early deadline, and a last minute "Hey, this needs to get into the paper." 

I was so mentally drained each day that I didn't do much of anything except sit and watch television. 

When I did work on something I mostly worked on the Inspired by Joy blanket

I finished part two this past weekend.  Or, maybe Friday. ... 

I love how it's turning out.  I'm learning new things.  I will say (and this may be unpopular) I am not very keen on the way the crochet-along videos are done.  The host goes too fast for me and he's going with different colors so I'm having a hard time figuring out some of what he's doing, because he decides to do color changes when the pattern doesn't call for it. 

Project Name: Inspired by Joy

Started: Dec. 26, 2022

Finished: 

Designer/Source: The Crochet Crowd

Yarn:

Color A - Red Heart - White

Color B - Caron One Pound - Rose 

Color C - Caron Jumbo - Rosewood

Colors: white and rose colors with hints of green.

Required Amount: I purchased two skeins of each color

Needle/Hook Size: 5.5 mm /  I/9

Gauge: beats me ; pattern calls for 13 dc x 6 rows = 4″ [10 cm]

Made For: Myself, maybe

Dye Lots: Will find that out later.

I haven't touched Edna since I last wrote. 

I did a bit of work on my #723 snowflake cross stitch

Marking a grid on the fabric has been immensely helpful. Especially with the bit of confetti stitches within the pattern. I was working on this a bit last night, and thought this snowflake would probably look fantastic in all white on black fabric. Or, maybe a silver thread? 

Project Name: #723 Snowflake

Started: Jan. 1, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Tiny Cross Stitches

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart. Aida has silver threads running through it. 

DMC floss in called for colors

747 ; 964 ; 995 ; 996 ; 3756 ; 3761 ; 3843 ; 3846 ; B5200

Colors: blues

Needle Size: 26

Made For: Myself

Last weekend I started a new chart from Stitching with the Housewives

Project Name: Month to Month - February

Started: Jan. 15, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: https://www.etsy.com/shop/stitchinghousewives

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart.

Floss: Using called for Classic Colorworks fancy floss

Colors: Black, pink, red, teal, green

Needle Size: 26

Made For: Myself

I'm trying to decide if I like working with fancy floss or not. The black color keeps knotting up on me. I've worked a little with Forbidden Fiber Co floss previously and it was a joy to work with.  

I haven't touched my spinning wheel yet this month. 

I completed the chart for my Valentine's stitch.  

I'm happy with how it turned out.  I still need to FFO it.  I'm thinking of making it into a pillow. Hopefully, I will FFO it this week. 

Project Name: Happy Valentine's Day SAL Chart is only available in the group. 

Started: Jan. 1, 2023

Finished: Jan. 7, 2023

Designer/Source: Cherry Hilly Stitchery Chart is only available in the group. 

Fabric: 14 count aida I dyed aquamarine 

Floss: Called for DMC and recommended DMC for the substitutions for fancy floss.

B5200 ; 310 ; 321 ; 3345 ; C816 (A floss I included in case I want to add a bit of sparkle

Stitch count: 77w x 58 h

Size: 4 5/6”w x 3 5/8”h on 16ct/equivalent.

Needle Size: size 26

I started a pair of socks. I've worked on the first sock mostly in the car and for minutes at a time in the early a.m. 

I have 6.5" of the leg completed.  About 1.5" more and I can start the heel flap. 

Project Name: Vanilla socks

Started: Jan. 7, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: My own pattern

Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn

Colorway: Mexicala stripes

Colors: oranges, red, purples and a smatter of blue and white

Required Amount: Two skeins of sock yarn. 100 grams

Needle/Hook Size: U.S. 1 (2.25 mm)

Gauge: beats me

Made For: Myself

Dye Lots: WL238520

On other news, I've collected them all! I think. Back on New Year's Eve I decided to put an order in on Hobby Lobby.com, to fill the gaps of the colors I didn't have. Hobby Lobby's website had a "Free shipping" promo if you bought $40 or more. I still had to pay a $3 shipping company surcharge, or whatever it was called.  I wasn't too happy about that. And I'm even more annoyed I had to pay it because it took two weeks for the DMC floss to be delivered. 

This is a few skeins over 100 skeins.  Doesn't seem very impressive in the bag. 

Then I spread them out and took a photo. 

Much prettier. Too bad I can't display them in such a manner. 

I spent the evening sorting and organizing the floss in my collection that wasn't already kitted up with a chart. 

I should have all the colors in the collection, save a few of the etoile and most of the DMC floss that is "fancy" pearlescent, and the like. 

I've been thinking hard about how to organize the floss so I can easily tell if I have a skein of this or that.  Previously I've been using the sew sampler boxes and putting a portion of the collection in a box.  I am still digging through skeins and skeins of floss to find a particular one.  Definitely too much time. 

I asked in a Facebook group how people stored their floss, and I did some looking online. 

I finally settled on flossaway bags and stackable tote containers. 

This is maybe half of the flosses. I had to order more bags.  This is going to work so much better than my old system. 

A quiet start to the new year

 I made it to just after 11 p.m., I think.  It was later than I thought I'd be up. So ... go me? 

Someone decided to call my husband's phone at 2 a.m., and it freaked me out.  You know late night phone calls like that are usually not good. The caller ID said it was from Jean, Nevada. I don't know anyone from that area. So I didn't answer it. Then checked my phone to make sure no one had tried to call me.

Once my heart rate slowed down I was able to fall back to sleep and sleep until just before 8. 

It's been a nice quiet day.  I've been busy, though. 

I decided to dye up some aida fabric and grid another piece of aida fabric.  Then I figured I'd write this blog post.  It will only have current WIPs.  If I decided to post the things I want to start, too, this would probably take me several hours. 

Cue the triumphant trumpets. ... or something like that. 

Everyone remembers Edna? 

Project Name: Edna goes to brunch

Started: early July 2022

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Lindy Stitches

Fabric: 32 count Mint Splash Lugana by Zweigart

Floss: I'm using the called-for colors in DMC

Stitch count: 133 x 96s

Size: 8.3" x 6"

Needle Size: size 28

Yes, I'm still plodding along.  Counting every stitch. I'm pretty close to finishing page 1 of 2. 

I was keeping the project on my Hope stand when I wasn't working on it. However, I noticed some dust from the wood stove was landing on the fabric.  Now it lives in a project bag I made last year. 

Next up is the Inspired by Joy crochet blanket.  I'm following the tutorials by Mikey of the Crochet crowd. 

Project Name: Inspired by Joy

Started: Dec. 26, 2022

Finished: 

Designer/Source: The Crochet Crowd

Yarn:

Color A - Red Heart - White

Color B - Caron One Pound - Rose 

Color C - Caron Jumbo - Rosewood

Colors: white and rose colors with hints of green.

Required Amount: I purchased two skeins of each color

Needle/Hook Size: 5.5 mm /  I/9

Gauge: beats me ; pattern calls for 13 dc x 6 rows = 4″ [10 cm]

Made For: Myself, maybe

Dye Lots: Will find that out later.

This is a crochet-along.  First part was released on Dec. 26, and the rest of the parts will be released on the following Mondays.  This is my first time doing something other than easy crochet.  It's been a trip. Took me a lot longer than I thought to finish the first part.  The pattern has a lot of texture in it, and then the first part there was a bit of a goof in the tutorial, so I had to discern what he was trying to explain, without actually seeing it. It's giving my brain a bit of a work out. 

When I'm not working on it, it's living in a tote. 

Up next is a cross stitch chart I recently purchased from Etsy. 

Project Name: #723 Snowflake

Started: Jan. 1, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Tiny Cross Stitches

Fabric: Aida cloth 14 count Hobby Lobby Zweigart. Aida has silver threads running through it. 

DMC floss in called for colors

747 ; 964 ; 995 ; 996 ; 3756 ; 3761 ; 3843 ; 3846 ; B5200

Colors: blues

Needle Size: 26

Made For: Myself

I took the time to grid this fabric up with a fabric marker that disappears with water.  I spent some time on youtube looking for ways to grid fabric and came across this gal's tutorial. Her youtube handle is Stitching Jules. 

The floss is so pretty all mini-skeined up. 

Project Name: Happy Valentine's Day SAL Chart is only available in the group. 

Started: Jan. 1, 2023

Finished: 

Designer/Source: Cherry Hilly Stitchery Chart is only available in the group. 

Fabric: 14 count aida I dyed aquamarine 

Floss: Called for DMC and recommended DMC for the substitutions for fancy floss.

B5200 ; 310 ; 321 ; 3345 ; C816 (A floss I included in case I want to add a bit of sparkle

Stitch count: 77w x 58 h

Size: 4 5/6”w x 3 5/8”h on 16ct/equivalent.

Needle Size: size 26

I originally thought I'd stitch this on white aida.  Then I saw someone's photo in the group and they had pink hand-dyed aida and I though "ooo!" 

I have no pink or red rit dye and I wanted to do something today.  I thought aquamarine would be fun. Fabric was still damp when I took the photo. I can't wait to see how much it lightens up when it is fully dry. 

If I don't like how it looks I will rip it out and save the fabric for something else.  I will introduce the rest of the projects as I start them. 

My last WIP is some fiber that I've had on the spinning wheel for several years. Each year I participate in a spinning even and I've been spinning that same fiber. This is the year I wrap it up!

This is an old photo so you can see what the color is. It's Grey Corriedale.

I don't know how much I have left, but it's got to be less than a pound.  Half a pound? I don't know. I'm getting so close to being done! Then I'll figure out the yarn weight and I can start a sweater with it. 

Meanwhile, Miss Furby June was been in a mood all day.  At one point I booted her outside for a bit and I don't think it cooled off her little attitude. 

She's been scratching in her tote all day, making a mess of things.  She's kicking pine shavings into her food and water dishes.  I can't tell you how many times I've cleaned her dishes out. 

My little brat regrets nothing.