Moved!

After a long hiatus, I'm now blogging over at www.offthegridneedlearts.com

Hope to see you there!
Caroline

WIPupdate

So - time for a howl at the full moon......

My WIP's are seeing some action! I've one finish (as posted before - better picture to follow)

The Prairie Schooler design is finished - woot!

The other project that has seen a fair bit of action is the L. Perrin "One Long Panel" - really a pleasure to work on.

Caroline

First 2012 WIP finish

Prairie Schooler - "Winter". I think I started this two years ago, and once I knuckled down, it was a quick stitch. So - that's the first one I get to check off my WIP list for the year. Now I get to add another in its place. "Quaker Diamonds" is the one. I'd like to finish that up this year as well.

WIPocalypse postie

See this? It's missing something. Specifically, one of the seasons.

So - this has been added to the WIPs-oca-pa-looza. (pardon the horrific pictures. if I wait to post until I have perfect pictures, I will never post)

Here's "One Long Panel" - I've chosen a purple colourway. Love it.

This is the Landmark design and please don't judge a project by its picture (which you can barely see.) This is a BLAST to stitch.

Ooooops - how did this stunningly cute, loving scene find its way in here?

Almost out of steam, "Coffee".

The Hooligan Afghan, please may I finish it before she hates the colours that she chose. That's all I ask.

OK dokey.

list

WIP list since I see that I need to post an update on the 9th.......... This is just a starter list. Why wouldn't it be?? My goal is to finish these four projects and continue working on others.

1. Hooligan #1's garter stitch afghan - to fit a double bed - probably about 1/4 finished. I would really like to finish this for her this year.

2. Landmark design - I've finished 4 of these huge suckers so far and I would like to finish a fifth as this is the number that I need for my staircase. As I wanted the framing to match I'll then take out a second mortgage and have them framed. (Each one is about 39,000 stitches and I adore them....)

3. Laura J. Perin - "One Long Panel" - this is 1/4 finished.

4. Allesandra Adelaide - "Coffee" - stitching this on 28 count over one and I'm about half way done the steam.

WIPocalypse

Hi - been a while, no?

I was looking at some of the things I stitched last year and was sad that I hadn't posted about them on here as I can't remember some of the details. Getting old, I guess.

So - with that in mind and knowing that if I just make the effort to post I'll appreciate it in a years' time, I've signed up for the WIPocalypse to encourage myself to post.

Details here. I need to work on my list and will try to post tomorrow.

The biggest news is that we have a new furry friend. We had to put Ginger down last summer - it's a long, sad story and not really one I want to share but the house was really empty without a dog for the first time in 15 years. So - we've adopted Daria. She's 5, and so, so lovely. Gentle, loving and quiet - a perfect companion dog. So much so that when the littlest hooligan starts JK in the fall, I may look into what it would take to start working her as a therapy dog. She would love it as her favourite thing in the whole wide world is cuddling.

Send advil please

So - I've signed up my daughter for oboe lessons. There's a joke in there, surely.

As all Canadians know - Tim Hortons is running the annual "Roll up the rim" contest. Is it just me or have they loaded up those cups with coffee and muffin winners? I've won 3 coffees already and I hadn't won anything in the previous 5 years. Smart business really - I've NEVER seen such busy line ups at the drive thru. Anyone see the Rick Mercer episode where he asked George Bush how he felt about Prime Minister Tim Horton? Hilarious. From a special show called "Talking To Americans". I've never laughed so hard. No offence to my US friends.... :-) Just good clean fun. He actually got Mike Huckabee to congratulate Canada on our new "National Igloo"

Click here to watch

Progress continues on the Landmark design - one of these days I might actually take a decent picture of it. I've also started back up on DH's sweater. I've finished the back so now it just needs another sleeve and the front. I'm working on it in secret since it annoys him to no end that I continue to work on everything else but his sweater...... Passive aggressive is my middle name.

Sadness

I truly can not stop thinking about Lisa Roswell and her untimely death.

I think I will pull out my "With my Needle" design and work on it tonight.

I may lurk on your blogs, not posting all of the time on what you write or stitch - but you all have become my community and I actually feel like I lost a member of my extended family yesterday even though she never knew me.

I've also just read that Judy Harper passed away a few days ago.

Ladies - to you I raise my needle.

Caroline

What was I thinking...

15 days is way too long for me to be monogamous to one project. I find my eye straying lustfully over my other pretties and I want to cheat. Then I feel guilty. So - no more. I will stitch what I want to when I want to. There. Phew. (Also - I'm getting tired of my husband asking me when I'm going to put his damn sweater in the rotation and finish it.)

Remind me to tell you about the time that I said I would have the sweater knit by the time he built me a cottage. The cottage is built - with his own two hands. The sweater? Not finished.

Caroline

15 days...

So in 15 days my Ink Circles Mandala went from this:

to this!

I think it will start to look less phallic once I put in some more colour...........

Next up is the Landmark design (you knew I couldn't stay away from it) So until February 3rd I will be faithful. I'll also try to take better pictures..... as this is about as bad as it gets.... I love me some dot dot dots..........

Caroline

Mandala check in

It has been a week and I have been 100% faithful to this project which is unheard of. I am a strumpet, after all. I am enjoying it - I don't usually do outlines first, normally the desire to see the colour RIGHT NOW would be overwhelming. This is working for me this time though.

Split pea soup for dinner tonight. Remind me to tell you about the time I gave away a ham bone on freecycle.

Caroline

First finish!

Ta-Dah! Nancy's Needle "Desert Star"

Started Dec.20th 2010

Finished Jan.4th 2011

I used all threads as charted and loved every minute of it.

So - moving right along. The next 15 days (so.. until the 19th) will be spent on this lovely. It's a special one. Ink Circles Designs has designed a special SAL project for my LNS - Thread and Eye. It's called Thread and Eye Mandala and I lurve it. I don't think she has released it generally yet - but you can get it at Thread and Eye (tell Kathy I sent you - she's the sister I never had....)

Click here to get a much better idea of what it will eventually look like and the amazing variety of colours that the stitchers in our group are choosing. That's the beauty of this one - you customize it to your colour loves. As you can also see, I am pathetically behind. So. 15 days - lots of coffee and a sharp needle. Oh - and if the kids could behave I'd appreciate it. Watch out Mandala, I'm going to STITCH you.

Caroline

Desert Star...

is not finished. When you have young children sometimes there is a warp in the space time continuum and suddenly it's the next day. So - this is my first WIP for 2011. It won't take 15 days to complete (did I just jinx myself?) and it will be satisfying to finish it.

Caroline

Stop the Insanity - love it!

I just read a blog entry by Susan - and I think she has come up with an idea that could really work for me and help alleviate some of the "OH MY GAWD I HAVE SO MANY HALF FINISHED PROJECTS STUFFED IN THIS CLOSET/DRAWER/UNDER THE BED etc.."

I just can't justify starting 15 new projects esp. since I tend to prefer BAP's and they take a few years usually for me to complete anyways. So - 15 days per WIP already on the go. I can totally do that - how about you?

I'm hopefully finishing up a Nancy's Needle design later today, "Desert Star". I started it last Monday so this has been the fastest finish for me ever. Love it. I'll post a finish pic tomorrow along with a picture of the project that I'll be working on for the next 15 days ;-)

Happy New Year!

Caroline

Has anyone seen my sanity?

Seriously.

So. The cat survived. Hopefully no one was holding their breath..... It took a month of syringe feeding (5-6 times a day...), a boatload of money and hiring a sitter to come and do it when I couldn't - but he lives! He's back to his lazy, lovey self and I couldn't be more thrilled. This picture I took the day he started eating on his own again. (ooooo - stitchy mess in the background.....)

Our older dog Madi started to have periods of dementia and bit me quite badly as I was trying to brush her outside. This was back in October. As we have young children - we had to make the decision to have her put down. My hand was very badly injured and if it had happened to one of the kids it would have been disastrous. So, we did lose an animal - just not the one I expected to die. I miss her terribly. Ginger - the shepherd pup is now just over a year old and still eating her way through socks, stuffed toys, carpeting etc. Remind me to tell you about the time she got out of her crate - ripped a hole the size of a small child in the middle of the carpet and pooped all over the room. My SIL said that she heard her howling at about 4am but didn't think to come and get me. Guess I've told you all about it now. Good times.

A ton of other things have happened, but I won't bore you with details. I've been stitching a lot - have discovered a new love of counted canvas and am considering this crazy pants January 15 starts. Though I will probably do what some others are doing and pick 15 WIPS that I already have on the go and organize them for the challenge.

I know you came for the stitching so here's the latest picture on my machine of the Landmark Design. I have don't quite a bit more since then - but I'd have to walk upstairs to take the picture. It's not New Year's yet - I don't have to exercise just yet. I learned how to tat at my retreat in October - fun but teeny tiny! And I finished a design that I customized for our family from LHN. I've missed the blogging world, so hopefully 2011 will find my nose more in your business and a few more updates about mine.

Caroline

Fatty Liver fun...

So. The last three weeks have been spent spending a small fortune on the cat. Remember the kitty who was looking so good, smaller floppy belly -etc.....

He decided that it really wasn't worth living if he had to share the house with the D.O.G, so he stopped eating and drinking entirely. Overweight cats are prone to fatty liver disease if they stop eating for a period of time and that is indeed what has happened. This is not the easiest cat to either pill or force feed (I gave it a go for about 3 days, and he really and truly despised me) so, we had a feeding tube inserted in his neck. For the next 8-12 weeks I'll be syringing his food into him and he better damn well survive. My car drove itself to the vet this morning for a check up on an infection in the tube site. My bill reflected a "premier customer discount" which means that because I'm paying his children's university tuition, they'll cut me some slack. :-)

I am very attached to this kitty, so - fingers crossed.

Who, me????

Progress on Shushi:

Progress on Cirque des Cirques:

A new start - notice anything wrong? It should be a circle instead of a diamond...... So, now it's a do-over.

Keslyn's "Bliss Content" finished - but this is a terrible beauty shot. I stitched it entirely with Crescent Colours Bandana, and it is really lovely.

LHN's Coffee House - finished:

So - enjoy the rest of your Sunday! I'm off to feed the cat.

Caroline

Thursday is thirsty.......

for Coffee!

This is an UFO from 2 years ago. It's LHN "Coffee Shoppe". This picture was taken on Monday and since then I've stitched most of the bottom half of this design.

I gave a lot of thought this week as to why I am such a slacker on the updates. I can not stand having to take the pictures, load the pictures, choose the pictures, insert the pictures....... I'm lazy I guess. Several times I wanted to write here to tell you about my latest finish - Keslyn's "Bliss Content", but put off posting. I finished it - it's gorgeous, but you can't see it because I'm too lazy to go and follow through the picture taking hoo-ha. The photo above was only snapped since I had my iPhone in bed while I was stitching (any other bed stitchers out there?I adore listening to audiobooks in jammies with my blankie and pillows ) so I took a quick picture. I think this is key. It's quick, and I'm always syncing the phone so the pictures are all right there. They're crap, but better than nothing, no? So - let's see this week if I can get into the habit of snapping more phone pictures. Also - that Noel ornament? Imagine a finished picture right......

.....................HERE..................

It's also finished and very cute.

How about a picture of my cat? He's cute too.

See? Since we put the dog's crate in the kitchen, our cat has lost weight. He hates the dog and refuses to go anywhere near him. Therefore he's not begging 4 different people for food in the kitchen anymore. It's awesome - he doesn't look like a blanket roll anymore - just a regular cat with a floppy belly. We match.

Caroline

Gadzukes!!!!!!!!!!

"No way! You're posting on your blog???? Get out!!!!!!"

That must mean you've been doing some of this:

Trying to survive this.........:

Madi (on the right) is 13 now, practically blind and deaf (though that might be largely selective, she figures she's old now she can do whatever the hell she wants) Ginger, the baby is now 8 months old and is just as destructive as ever, hence the crate. I look forward to getting past that stage....she has yet to grow into her ears LOL)

And drinking a metric tonne of this: (too much of this can make you redundant...snicker...)

In all seriousness - I would like to keep up with this here blog on a more frequent basis but I always seem to let so much time lapse in between posts. Any really good tricks from people who find it easy to post a few times a week?

Also - a shout-out to a very special friend in Portugal who will probably fall over in shock when she sees that I've updated my blog. We miss you here "V" - looking forward to our Wednesdays again soon.

Caroline

Stitchy weekend

Half of my family is away this weekend - leaving me with one small, easy to care for little boy. :-)

So, some serious stitching has already been under way. I had some good stitching friends over last night and we chatted and stitched until 11:30 - I am so lucky to have found women who share this love of stitching. We try to meet every Wednesday during the littlest hooligans' nap time and sometimes we are lucky enough to sneak in an extra bit of time during the week as well.

I have made a serious start on my 3rd enormous Landmark design, "Shushi". Here is the top left corner. I have completed the black row at across the entire top of the design and am really enjoying this project. Tonight I hope to get a large chunk of that right corner filled in.

I have so many BAP's on the scroll rods right now that I really, really needed a quick and satisfying project that I could actually finish. This Mill Hill Bead kit - "Noel" christmas ornament is perfect!! I like working on the perforated paper and it is such a cute little design that it is hard to put down. I started it on Wednesday night and hope to finish it up this weekend.

Happy Friday everyone!

Caroline

Pattern to give away - LHN's Holly and Berries

I meant to post this ages ago. If there is anyone reading who would like my used copy of LHN's Holly and Berries design leave me a comment and I'll pull a name out of a hat. It is such a cute pattern and I really, really like the box ornament way that I finished it. I may even still have a copy of those directions kicking around. (No promises on that though LOL, not with my organizational skillz.........) I'll wait a week before choosing someone. so...... that would be next Tuesday, June 8th.