End of the Year - 2012

Well, well, well. Where has this year gone? Looks as if my last post was, gulp, over six months ago!!
That must have been about the time I lost my knitting mojo (I think I've found it again), and three months after that I lost my reading mojo.
At least I know where that went - my youngest has all of a sudden (but don't get too excited, it won't last) picked up reading. It began with her seeing a preview of the new Gatsby film. If you know me at all, you'll know that Fitzgerald's novel is one of my very favorites (in the whole, wide world). I told her, "I'll take you to see this film (even though I can't stand DiCaprio) if you'll read the book first."
She started it, didn't finish, wrote her book report (cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater), but then actually picked up the book again and read it to the end.
Le sigh.
So proud.
Now she'll be ready in two years when in 10th grade they read it again (as we did about 30 something years ago) and she'll have a better understanding the second time around.
Now to sum up the latter half of my year:

• Work was hard, difficult and trying, and now I'm finishing up my two weeks off for the shutdown (oh I do so love this), and actually quite sad that it's coming to an end. I am, however, well rested and ready to begin another year. Perhaps this year I'll get organized at work and at home? Just a thought.
• Aforementioned knitting mojo went the way of the Dodo bird, and disappeared. Fortunately it's come back Jurassic Park-style, albeit very slowly, with certain projects guiltily staring at me (is that even possible?).
• Reading mojo disappeared, but returned with the realization that I have been listening to more audiobooks, and reading more books on an electronic reading device over paper books. What is my world coming to?
• I got bronchitis in October and I am still suffering from yucky mucous in my lungs. Will this ever go away? Please say yes.
• We went to NYC in August and I didn't buy any yarn. We went to NYC again in December and I bought too much yarn and goodies. 
• We went to Boston and Salem in October and I bought souvenir yarn from a lovely shop.
• There was a large amount of stash enhancement this year. (Did I even need to say this?)
• My friend Andrea gave me yarn for Christmas and she doesn't grasp the idea of stash enhancement, so oddly enough I felt compelled to start knitting up her yarn shortly after I received it. It was an interesting feeling, but not so bad. One pair of socks almost done! Perhaps I'll wear these to work on Wednesday, if they're done. 

• I joined the Stranded in Oz fibre club for 2013. Mel has become a dear friend, and who better to support than someone for whom you really care.
• I knit a shawl for my 96 year old aunt who is in hospital - well she's actually been in two nursing homes, and was taken to the hospital just this past Sunday, so I know she needs something to keep her shoulders warm. This piece will do it - now to get it to her today or tomorrow.
• I had framing discount coupons to use at a particular chain store and used them to have two cross stitch pieces framed. This first one was done for the little one way back in the beginning of the century, and finally framed. She chose the matting and frame, but now won't put it in her room. Go figure. Can you read that it says, "You are Loved?" Perhaps it should have a flip side that reads, "You're driving me crazy!"

This next one looks like someone should have ironed it a bit more before taking it to get framed. Alas.

They do an okay job, this chain store, and I wouldn't have used them except for the 75% off coupons. They always have a little something that's wrong with the framing. But whatever. They're done.

• I went to a surprise birthday party for my second cousin in November, and was invited back by her dad to spend time with them at their annual Christmas Eve party. It was a good reminder about the importance of family and how much I love my cousins in a Billy Joel kind of way (you know, just the way you are).
• Hubby and the little one went to South America for two weeks, and will be returning this week, so the Baby Boy and I spent Christmas together and had dinner at my older daughter's apartment. It was a quiet Christmas, and that's okay. (Refer back to rediscovering said knitting mojo.)
• The year started out with my mother in hospital, and ended with her in the ER, but all is well. Just an interesting way to book-end the year (and perhaps a predictor of my life to come?)

So that's the latter half of 2012 in a nutshell with huge gaps of things missing probably. Tonight is New Year's Eve, and as I'll be home (with the dogs and cats) for the evening and it will give me time to at least organize my thoughts about what I resolve to do in 2013.

Happy New Year!

My fingers are itchin' to be stitchin'

Cross stitching that is.
Black gold, Texas tea.
No, wait, I'm confusing myself.
I have a hankering lately to be cross stitching.
I only wish that I could sew, but we've already discussed that.
I do have a cross stitch piece that needs to be repaired, however.
Well, if not repaired, finished at least, and isn't that the perfect place to start - with something that needs to be finished.
I created this piece for my youngest. I saw the pattern in a magazine, and thought, oh this is wonderful. I stitched it on, oh gosh, maybe an Aida 16 or 18 count, something like that. I followed the pattern to a T - actually you could pick between two color schemes, and I went with the colors that were more feminine.
So I stitched, and stitched, and stitched.
When it was finished, I thought, but wait, you can't see the saying that is in the middle.
Here's what it looks like:

I looked at the pattern, I checked the internet to see if there were any corrections to the colors, but no.
Then I decided that maybe I should stitch around the letters, perhaps make them pop.
I chose a color that would coordinate with one of the lighter colors. This was in thinking that the light against the dark squares would work.
Nope.
Still couldn't see the letters.
You can, actually, once you know what they are, and of course if you turn it just so, kind of like an Alien Illusion Scarf.
(Of course, in looking at this photo I also see that there is a mistake in the middle of the pattern where there's an extra line - if you look you can see it - and like all mistakes, once you see it, you can't stop looking at it.)

Finally, after consultation with the child for whom this is intended, we decided that a pink color would help. This is as far as I got on Saturday before my illness on Sunday caused me to be bedridden.
What do you think - is it better?
Want to know what it says?
"You are Loved."
This last picture will give you a good idea of when it was finished, and then folded up in frustration.

The date reads "2001".

Yes - this piece is 11 years old, and you can see that I actually intended for this to be finished.

Until I really got a look at those letters. The letters I couldn't really see, that is.

I knew I had this piece, it's traveled with me from Virginia, but it was folded/rolled up, and forgotten about. I probably couldn't find the pattern unless I spent days hunting through old stacks of magazines.

When I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago, and told the little one (who was 2 1/2 years old when I finished this) that this was for her, she got all....you know...verklempt.

She'd never use that word.

But she was really touched, and for a teenage girl who has the typical love/hate issues with mommy, that's a good thing.

So she'll probably never notice that the pattern is a little screwed up, that some of the wrinkles may not be completely pressed out before I have it stretched and framed, and she'll never notice the half stitch that has unraveled in the solid green row above the "o" in "you" (I really should fix that at least), but she will know and remember that she is loved.

I guess I'd better get to stitchin'.

Board Games

When I was commenting on her great new Hogwart's cross stitch piece yesterday, I was telling Micky about a new board game I found.
When DN2 and I were in JoAnn's on Saturday I saw this in the store - it is called Stitch-opoly and it is from DMC.
The board has embroidery stitches and I believe the cards even tell you how to stitch them.
The game pieces are little stitching tools:
It was so unique and I really liked it. I would have bought it but it was $25 and I thought perhaps I would find a 50% off coupon in Sunday's paper. I didn't, so I still have to get out there and somehow get this game.
I don't normally collect Monopoly games, but we do seem to have quite a few -- at least five. It starts as many collections do, not intentionally but once you have more than two, you have a collection. Right?

The Curse Continues

I just can't get my knitting to work out properly.
So yesterday I went through some of my cross stitch things and straightened them out.
I'd forgotten just how much I have in the way of embroidery floss and cross stitch kits.
("Crap," DH would say.)
I have quite a few kits, but I also have a lot of magazines - and a lot of floss.
My friend Julie likes kits but I find it a pain to have to sort colors.
I'm lazy that way and really don't want to overtask my simple brain by trying to figure out which one is light pink and which one is salmon.
But I was feeling inspired because I had just finished reading a book called A Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris.
It's about a woman named Betsy Devonshire who owns a needlecraft store in Minnesota and it got me hankering to stitch a bit.
And because it's Minnesota I thought of Julie and her cross stitch (she's a master - and fast).
So I began to stitch.
Something quick, and yes, from a kit - simple like an easy Christmas ornament.
And of course I stayed up until 11:00 stitching this "simple" ornament.
It's not done, but it probably will be tonight.
No pics, you'll have to wait.
And stay tuned, because I have an interesting post - with pictures - coming up.
Something that should/could have been one of the highlights of my life, but if you know me, I don't like quite that much attention -- or opportunity to embarass myself.
More later (I almost typed "Moor" - what am I thinking about? Probably my brother and the Melungeon connection.)
What do you do when your knitting is not working properly?
And how long do you wait before you go back and tackle a piece?