End of the Month: Winners and Stuff

Hello again! October has slipped on by with more excitement than I can really take, more on that in a bit!  I hope you had a sufficiently wonderful Halloween and are not in too-terrible of a sugar coma.

e'e

Hello to all my new followers! I do hope I don't talk you to death. :) I have followed those who have linked up via Blogger in my feed reader but have run into a snag with using the actual blogger widget to follow you back! Blogger has evidently changed something in their system and it will no longer allow me to link my blog profile. Instead, it is trying to use my "real name" profile and I. Do. Not. Want. I'm starting to get fed up with Google trying to push having one's real name everywhere, even if I "lied" so my real name wouldn't be on the internet! Bah, humbug. I'll keep searching for a workaround.

Next, you want winners, right?!  :D  I was curious to see if one design would be more popular than the others but I wound up with six entries for each! I used the random number generator to pick the winners  drum rolls

GGG #1

GGG #2

The winner of GGG#1: Garden Samplers is... Christine!

The winner of GGG#2: St. Nicholas is...  Bea!

Yaaaay!  Please contact me with your addresses and I will have them out ASAP and they will be one less thing I have to pack because... we're moving!  O_O!

yikes!

So, I am going to be rather silent on the blog front for a while. My husband has accepted a new position which means things have really been up in the air and throwing everything they have at my anxiety. There is just too much going on with packing, finding a place, NOT finding a place, actually finding a place, planning for a trip that has been known about for a year that just had to be at the same time as all this, leaving the house and community I love, the new job, the new life, the new aaaaaaaaa seriously, I am so ready for 2016 to just be over!  I am a creature of comfort and stability. There is a silver lining though; the place we're moving to has a Jo-Ann Fabrics and a Michael's and a yarn store.  Priorities!

Haunted House

I did manage to squeak in a little something for Halloween.  I'm not sure if this yarn was a good choice for this but it is what it is!  The haunted house is most visible but the tree and bat were kinda ehhhh....  I did not block it as these cotton cloths take a bit longer to dry and it needed packed right away.


Technical Details

• "October Mystery Cloth" pattern by Kris Knits, found here on ravelry (free).
• #3 needles for cloth, #4 DPNs for i-cord loop
• Yarn: I Love This Cotton, amethyst
• Started August 17, finished October 31, unknown hours.

Hasta la vista, baby! panic panic panic...........

Gifted Gorgeousness: For Your Reading Pleasure

Hello again!  It's time again for Gifted Gorgeousness, a lovely SAL where we work on/with gifted items or items to gift.  It's fun and you can click this little button for more info:

click me!

I have nothing stitchy to show, gasp!  I do have the next pattern made for the husband cube, and I have what I think are the right colors.  It's being another of those ornery ones.  :)

bookmarks galore

Instead, I have these little things to show.  Michelle at Ozark sew n' sews had a lovely bookmark crocheted back in early February.  She could not provide the original pattern but she did locate a similar freebie one for me!  As you can see, I've had fun making them.  I thought up a way to attach them to a bit of card stock for display and shipping purposes though they can be cut off!

I did not care for the original tassel; to me it seemed like such a big knot would bulge in a book, plus the ends would fray.  So, I made a simple braid about the same "thickness" as the bookmark crocheted up.  I didn't starch any of them as I don't like the idea of starch in a book.  They are plenty stiff as is, probably helped along by the smaller hook and the deep-seated need I have to strangle all my crafts by making them as tight as possible.  :B

Technical Details

• "Fan Bookmark" pattern by Crochetroo, found here on ravelry (free).
• 1.15mm hook.
• #20-#30 crochet thread, various colors.
• Started ?, finished October 2016, approximately 1.5 hours each.

a field of pumpkins

I liked the cute Halloween bookmark pattern too although I think it might have benefited from a good blocking!  Some of the little pumpkins (yes, they are supposed to be jack-o-lanterns) have three (or four) eyes!  It is also an easy pattern though I did have to brush up on how to make a treble crochet (double treble for you Brits); I rarely use that stitch.  It's just an extra wrap at the beginning!

If anyone wants to make this pattern, please be aware there is an error in row 4.  It should read:  ch1, sc in tr, *(dc, ch2, dc) in next 2 sc, sc in 4th chain of ch7 loop*.  repeat from * to * once.  I found this out after trying to make sense of the original and running to the project page on ravelry for clues.  Thankfully there were some!

Technical Details

• "Jack-o-Lantern Bookmark" pattern by Jackie Tyler, found here on ravelry (free).
• 1.15 mm hook.
• #20? crochet thread, J&P Coats.
• Started ?, finished October 2016, approximately 1.5 hours. 

These were all made as a THANK YOU! for the lovely gifts I have received this year (and previous years cough).  I have a few more to ship off but need to confirm the addresses first.  I hope the recipients liked them and will enjoy using them!  Everyone likes books, right?! I tried to be sneaky and find out favorite colors but that didn't work out so well so I tried to match blog colors as best I could with what I had.  A few creative liberties had to be taken haha. :)

blocking - attempt #1

Not a part of GG, but here is my latest knit finish: the Kitty Prints Scarf! I started this back in November of 2015 and snacked on it ever since. I am soooo pleased it's finally done! Unblocked it measured ~7.5" x 58" (~19cm x 147cm) which is a decent length for a scarf though I usually like mine much longer so I can really wrap up.  I didn't want to buy another skein though!  I did get lucky with my second skein... It was a different dye lot, yikes! It did not show (much of) a difference when worked up though, thank goodness.

Unfortunately, this blocking did not fix the curl it has. :(   This was wet blocking though.  Steam blocking is supposed to be better for acrylics but I am still not hopeful.  Luckily it is just a scarf for me and I can still wrap up just as well in a curly scarf as a flat one!  It's the same yarn I used for the mittens and kitty hat and they were quite possibly made to match the scarf.

Technical Details

• "Kitty Prints Dishcloth" pattern by Louise Sarrazin, found here on ravelry (free).
• #6 (4.0 mm) needle.
• Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft Secrets, aqua.
• Started November 2015, finished October 3, 2016, unknown hours.

These also put me at finishes 12, 13, and 14 which may not sound like a lot to most of you speedy needles but it is the most finishes I've ever had in a year! This makes me so happy. :)

Lastly (finally)!  Because Gifted Gorgeousness is a perfect time for this: I HAVE A GIVEAWAY, YAAAAAAAAY!  And I suspect this might be a popular one.

Gifted Gorgeousness Giveaway #1 - The Prairie Schooler Book no. 45 Garden Samplers

book no. 45 - garden samplers

Gifted Gorgeousness Giveaway #2 - The Prairie Schooler Book no. 20 St. Nicholas and bonus 1988 Santa

book no. 20 - st nicholas and bonus

Gifted Gorgeousness Giveaway Guidelines

1. Be a follower (upper right corner of my blog)!  Feedly, bloglovin', etc. do not count as there is no way to show it!  I am sorry; blame blogger for this one.
2. Comment and tell me which number you would like to win!  Choices are hard, I know!
3. Open worldwide! 
4. Closing date: October 29, 2016, 23:59 CST.

I hope you can contain your excitement! I found these charts in a thrift store (charity shop) and immediately thought my blog readers would like an opportunity to stitch these.  They are all in great condition.  Garden Samplers contains three charts, each 182H x 81W.  St. Nicholas contains eight small charts at 54H x 45W.  The bonus is slightly larger at 75H x 57W and has an edit on one of the colors -- I have not checked this to see if the edit is a fix or just someone being creative!

These will be just the charts to cut down on shipping charges so I'm sorry there will be no extra goodies in with them!  I'm sure you can find something in your stash to work with.  :)

I will announce the winners on my next blog post which will occur at the end of October/beginning of November assuming life cooperates.  It sometimes does!  :D

Whew!  runs away 

I have set this post to appear in the wee hours of the morning since people on the other side of the Great Puddle are in the future.

End of a Month: FotM and a Beautiful Surprise!

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. -- Anne Shirley

But I seriously can't believe it's October and it's less than two months to Christmas and panic eek.

half glad

In a delightful display of ignoring all thought of Christmas, I started the next flower of the month, August's gladiolus. Sorry there is no "before" picture.  I got the pattern printed and immediately started on it without any thought at all of pictures.  This one was so bizarre to stitch! I was doing one color at a time and every bit of it looked so wrong... until the last of the reds started. It was really amazing (and relieving) how it is coming together.

they fit

I also managed to knit up some (plain) mittens!  Mittens are not scary at all, although I did have some practice with the fingerless ones from earlier this year.  These were done entirely on DPNs and I'm not sure how I feel about that haha.  My joins are not good when doing K1 P1 ribbing but much better when doing stockinette.  I like that this pattern was the rounded tip.  I am getting good at M1 stitches.  I should've used a smaller needle for the ribbing but I do not have any size between a #4 and #8 in DPNs.  They are done in the same yarn as the kitty hat and kitty scarf because I like sets.

Technical Details

• "Paw Mittens" pattern by BEL designs, found here on ravelry (free).
• #4 for body, #8 for ribbing.
• Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft Secrets, aqua.
• Started August 31, finished September 13, unknown hours.

This was a well-written pattern.  I was a little confused by the M1 at the beginning of the thumb gusset... I did not know which way to go.  Was it a M1R or M1L?!  But a quick Google taught me a nice way to remember:  If the M1 is after the stitch marker, it is a M1L.  If it is before, it is a M1R.  I suppose the starting one is not all that important (it could be either R or L) but it was after the marker so L it became.

all the goodies

Lastly, I received a lovely surprise in the mail.  Sheryl at Sewing After Seven had a lovely display of pincushions for a pincushion parade (isn't that the most charming thing ever?) and it made me think that I needed to make one of my own whenever my sewing machine is done.  She offered me this lovely little Rosey pincushion for my very own!  She also sent some matching floss and a truly adorable piece of Christmas fabric!  I already thought of a few things I could stitch that would match the cute feeling (FPS anyone?). Thank you so much, Sheryl!  I love everything! ♥

love the button!

That is all from me this time. I will strive to get up the next GG post in a timely manner. We're entering the lovely busy time of year and there are some possible changes on the horizon that are doing their very best to freak me out! But let's not count chickens before they're hatched, right~? runs away

Gifted Gorgeousness: MH3U, Baby Blanket, Speaker Cozies!

Aloha! Here we are with another installment for Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness.  I feel like I have a lot of giftedness to show today so I will just dive on in!

click me!

before

after

Brachydios Mio!  Another square for the husband cube!  I so very much enjoyed working on this guy.  The pattern was great (tooting my own horn there), the colors were great, and he's just all around great.  I'm already thinking I want to make a little case for either my DS or games or something, just to have an excuse to stitch him again!

RGB

Three down, three to go! I have yet to decide on the next square. I am going to guess either Nargacuga or Zinogre. Or maybe Lagiacrus.  Or the pickle.  I'll let the giftee decide and absolve myself of difficult things.

Edit: He decided Zinogre!  I've tweaked up the image into a chart but I am not happy with the colors (again).  We shall go floss diving!

¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸

image courtesy of finishing madam!

Next up, here is the finished baby blanket for the lady who set up our knitting group at the library! Sorry these colors aren't quite optimal; they were taken under the library florescent lighting and at a rather weird angle. I like the way it was finished up but I do not envy the lady who finished it! All of our squares were different stitch counts and tensions haha. But she did a great job with what she had and the blanket is so soft and snuggly. :)  My squares are the top middle white (tiles) and the bottom right yellow (triangles).

¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸

gears?

 
Next-next, also for Mr. Husband, I worked on a few more motifs for the speaker cozies... finally!  It really seems to fly when I work on the individual little bits before putting them together. Plus it creates a nice sense of accomplishment having little parts done.  This particular cozy will be for one of the towers and will be 4x5 motifs.  I will need 10 of each color of these little inner parts... and this little inner part is only 1/3 of a full motif... and I will need four 4x5 motifs......  I'll kindly let you do the math as I'd rather not think about how many more I will be making LOL.  (They really are enjoyable though; especially the delft blue.)

Whew!  Gifts are fun.  I have another gift to show but it has yet to reach its giftee so maybe the next GG~

I do have a question for you all before I scurry away.  Assuming a miracle happens and you manage to not lose your needle for many projects, what do you do with the needle when it gets tarnished and "squeaks" through fabric?   These are just basic non-gold needles.  I assume pitching them but it seems a waste?  And a bit dangerous to put needles, even blunt tapestries, in the garbage!

Update & Finish: FotM, House Slippers

Hello, howdy, hi!

Inspired partly by Mini finishing her flowers, I decided to fish out my neglected Flower of the Month towels.  July's delphinium/larkspur was last shown love in April and that is just too long ago!

before

after

Well, I certainly didn't expect to progress this far!  They just bloomed on the fabric and before I knew it, poof! Done. At least for the flowers.  I haven't decided if I'm going to stitch the butterfly.  If I do, I will have to modify it.  It looks too much like a moth for my taste.

Technical Details

• "July: Larkspur" freebie pattern by Ellen Maurer-Stroh, found here.
• 2-over-1 on a 14-count ecru huck towel.
• Finished size: 4.5" x 4.5" (11,50cm x 11,50cm).
• Started March  16, 2016, finished August 30, approximately 11.5 hours.

¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸ . · * / ` \ * · . ¸
Next up, some crochet! Though I had just intended to make the hat for the Ravellenic Games, I finished it so quickly I decided to challenge myself to make myself some house slippers before the games ended. I had been meaning to make a pair that matched the ones I made last year for my husband.

yay!

I surprised myself by actually completing them, too!  I think I have finally figured out this pattern. Stitch markers became my new Best Friends in order to keep track of the particular stitch needed to start each row.  It seems that I am most prone to messing up when attaching the two soles together. I also vastly edited the fold-down cuff (see my ravelry project page for more info) to have a slightly more "feminine" scalloped edge.

Technical Details

• "Men's Padded Sole Slippers" pattern by Sue Norrad, found here on ravelry (free).
• 3.75mm (F) hook.
• Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Multi, macaw; soles and cuff unknown balls.
• Started August 15, finished August 21, approximately 11 hours.

medals & laurels

I wound up with two medals (hat dash for a hat, sock put for a pair of foot items) and two laurels (single skein for the kitty hat, stash for yarn over 6 months old - used on the slippers).

YAY I CAN COMPLETE THINGS!

Gifted Gorgeousness: More MH3U Goodness

Hello again! It is time again for another Gifted Gorgeousness, hosted by Queen Serendipity herself. Jo "warned" me to not have any more disasters regarding GG posts! It does seem that this year is conspiring against me. However, this post was safely typed up ahead of time so while we are indeed surrounded currently by flooding (we're safe, just very soggy), the show will go on~

click me!

I have continued to work on the MH3U piece that is destined to become my husband's gift.

before

after

Finished his other pounder!  I love the colors in this guy... and I'm loving stitching him. Apart from having a fabulous palette, his attacks are neat and his armor is fairly awesome (except the alien helmet) and his weapon is hands down my favorite.  We're getting close to his battle in the new version.  wiggling intensifies

This is not part of GG but I completed my hat for the Ravellenic Games! :D

nyaa~!

I found the pattern free on Ravelry and I thought it'd make a good newbie hat. And it is! Knitting in the round isn't that hard but I still need a bit of practice with the initial join.  I know with the hat flat like that it doesn't look like much but when one puts it on, the corners perk up into ears.  It's very cute.  They yarn is the same as the ever-growing Kitty Prints scarf and, yes, I made it to match. Turns out this lovely soft yarn is not quite sturdy enough to hold up the ears so I put a cottonball in them before tacking them down. Perhaps the floppiness was also because I used a larger needle than was called for; I have no smaller circulars.  I added the embellishment as an afterthought.  What do you think?  Should I keep it or leave it plain?  Maybe make the nose pink?

Technical Details

• "KitKat hat" pattern by Andre Sue, found here on ravelry (free).
• #9 29" circular, one #8 DPN for bind off.
• Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft Secrets, aqua.
• Cast on 92, did 2" of ribbing - 9.5" wide, 7.5" tall.
• Started August 5, finished August 10, approximately 8 hours.

Lessons Learned
(hopefully)

• How to knit in the round (not magic loop)!
• 3-needle bind off - LOVED this. 

I definitely see more hats in my future!  They're surprisingly simple to make.  I thought about making another one of these kitty hats in black and white.  I don't know how to change colors while knitting and I feel this is a big gap in my education!

Okay, that's enough babble from me. Thank you for reading~ :D

Update: Just One July

I'mma just dive right in here before August teleports away.  This is the next side for the Monster Hunter cube, filled with toxic green goodness!  This pattern cleaned up rather quickly once my computer parts stopped catching on fire and worked like they should(?).

endure the punches

I wound up not using a single one of the preliminary floss toss colors. Super Husband to the rescue picking colors! I love turning him loose in the store with the instructions to pick good colors haha. Maybe it's a bit silly to have him pick stuff for his own gift... oh well, he does a wonderful job of it.

hey there

Rather short on the update.  Of course we have over 60 hours in the new Monster Hunter game so progress ground to a halt.  Imagine the things I could accomplish if I didn't spend that time gaming!  But, gaming comes first, especially co-op gaming.  Then, the last part of July was spent on vacation down in Alabama and Georgia.  The Georgia Aquarium was really neat, even the gift shop with the silly fish faces.  Driving in Atlanta was horrendous.  Exit only lanes pop out of nowhere and speed limits are mild suggestions.  Nope, nope, nooope.  But all the stitchy progress was vacation stitching, that's a win for me!  I made sure to prep my fabric in advance; that helped a lot.

Oh!  And I decided to participate in the Ravellenic Games this year.  I will be knitting a hat for the first time and maybe making something else if the hat finishes faster than expected!  Having never done one before, I have no clue about time frames.  It's not a huge goal but it will teach me to knit in the round (normally; I was taught magic loop first) and do a 3-needle bind off, woo!

Just One Gifted Gorgeous in July

Hello! Thank you all for drooling over my sugar cookies. They were dutifully inhaled as is Proper Cookie Etiquette. I wondered if I would miss another Gifted Gorgeousness post this month. Why? Remember that I had a new computer build? Well, the battery backup/surge protector for it caught. On. FIRE.

ಠ_ಠ

I think I set a new world record for the speed of shutting down my computer. Luckily there was no harm done to the computer and only minimal smoke to the house. I won't use my computer without adequate protection so I had to wait for a new backup to arrive. Ugh. It arrived yesterday, whew!

click me!

Anywhoodle, you are here for some gorgeousness, not things catching on fire! This is a c-c-combo post for both GG and JOJ.

before

after

YAY! Madame Rathian is done! :D  I had a lot of issues with her.  First trying to pick the colors.  I went with the avocado DMCs for their brightness.  The olives would've been more "true" perhaps.  The original glyph had her eye blue like Rathalos (see below) but at no point does she have blue eyes in game!  They're golden!  So, I picked a drab sort of brownish yellow that I still don't know if I like.  Another issue was the lack of symmetry.  I wish I had made the pattern better!  Her tail came out well though, and that's her annoying important part. Her only goal in life is to poison you with it.

together forever

Technical Details

• "Rathian" glyph from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, pattern charted by me.
• 2 over 1 on 20-count light tan jobelan fabric.
• Finished size: 3.50 x 3.50" (9 x 9 cm).
• Started: February ??, Finished: July 8. 9+ hours, not including infinite floss issues.  

I intended to continue on with these glyphs as part of Just One July but seeing as I needed a computer to make the next pattern, that didn't happen.  I unfaithfully worked on knitting in the meantime.  Of course once I set things up again, the next one just fell into place!  If you know your monsters, perhaps you can guess by this (preliminary) floss toss:

best weapons ever

This one will be fun.  That is assuming I will have time to stitch.  This post is going up on the day Monster Hunter Generations is released here and of course two copies were pre-ordered.  I am going to bet my guy flies home from work and we'll never be productive again.  \ :D /

Just One (4th of) July!

Hooray, the 4th of July! Go America, escape from those silly Over-Puddlers who sought to tax our tea! Shame!

via Google Images

Yes, I like the 4th. It's probably my favorite holiday. The town puts on a lovely fireworks display... and so do our neighbors. The neighbors might even do better than the town. We will attempt to grill fancy burgers and hot dogs and otherwise stuff ourselves silly. Hopefully we will not be rained out; this has been a very soggy, stormy weekend!  Of course I had to make some cookies, but I was good and sent most of them into work with my husband on Friday.

need all the sugar

Just One July
So, being the sucker I am for one-focus projects, of course I had to join in when Justine suggested Just One July! So, what have I decided to work on? I bet you're thinking FFIII since it's so close to being finished! Welp, you are... wrong! Buu, buu! I have to admit to myself that I really need a good amount of mojo to work on that piece and I am currently lacking the required mojo. So I am not going to force myself into it and wind up hating it.

before

So, Rathian will get some love this time!  She hasn't been touched since early February, which totally shocked me, even more than the idea of this being July and the year half over soon it will be Christmas again o my goodness.  ahem.  There's not much left on her so I will content myself with a possible finish.  I will count working on the next pattern as part of Just One July as well since it's all one project.  I'll leave it to my husband to pick who the lucky monster will be.

Knitting

swimming on the kitchen table

I needed something new to knit and decided that since all of our bathroom washcloths are completely functional and boring, I would make a new one that would be functional and less boring!  It was my first time knitting moss stitch (the border).  I love how it looks but I could happily live my life without ever knitting it again!  It requires more focus than I want to give but it does help me with "reading" my stitches.  I also added the little loop because I didn't want to totally forget how to do an i-cord.  It was good practice.  Small steps. :)

Technical Details

• "Dolphin Dishcloth" freebie pattern by Kelly Daniels, found here (ravelry)
• Yarn: Unknown cotton, best guess would be Peaches n Creme in bright blue
• Size 3 (3.25mm) needles, size 2 (2.75mm) DPNs for i-cord
• Approximately 8.5" (21,5cm) square, 3" i-cord
• Started June 22, finished June 27, about 7 hours.

It helps when there's a two-hour knitting meetup, twice! After the first meetup though, I did wind up ripping it back several inches. I wanted to try knitting on the purl side to see if I could make it reversible but it made for a rather wonky looking dolphin.  At least it boosted my confidence in ripping back and putting stitches back on the needle correctly!

Okay, that's enough Iskabibble Babble! Hope you have a great 4th of July (holiday or not) and if you're in America, give your pets a safe place to hide from the fireworks!

Gifted Gorgeousness, Maybe

Well! Hello! This silence went on for much longer than intended. It was time for a new computer build and of course it decided to be the Build from Hell. Long story short: Skylake and Windows 7 do not like each other.  Windows 10 is currently installed and I'm still trying to figure out how to get my soul back from it because boy-o-boy does it have a lot of invasive privacy defaults.  There are still some hardware issues to work out but at least I'm up and (sorta) running again.  Of course all my blog follows are still on the old computer which I am going to rebuild for my mother.

click me!

I figured I'd try to get a GG post up though I haven't much to show for it.  I'm sad that I didn't get to post last month; it really bugs me to skip out on things I sign up for which is why I don't sign up for much!

before - with bonus parked string

after - with different bonus parked string

I'm not going to beat myself up too much. The stand this project is on, while appreciated, is very uncomfortable to sit at for any length of time. Add the heat of summer arriving and I practically want nothing to do with it.  I am trying to be particular with the second leg of the cross stitch as there are only four colors going from green to blue.  I want the transition to be as unnoticeable as possible.  I hope I've succeeded so far!

Oh!  Remember those baby afghan squares that I gave away before taking a picture?  A lot of you cheeky people admired my invisible projects.  Well they are invisible no more!

such soft much wow

At our next get-together, I asked for my squares and took a lovely(?) shot of them in the library under perfectly ideal(?) lighting. :D They hadn't been blocked yet so they look a little squirrely around the edges.



Our teacher has started piecing them together which she says has been an adventure! I suppose that's what happens when you have many people with their many tensions.  Mine were fun because, you know, tight. :D

I received a wonderful RAK in the mail during the Computer Crisis which made grey skies blue again!

huck towel and bonus!

After hearing about my plight with Hancock Fabrics shutting down and the ecru huck towels vanishing into the world of darkness, Tiffany at Tiffstitches a Blog offered to send me one she got in a "job lot" (new term for me!) on eBay!  Yay!  Thank you so much!!  I'm determined to have the Flower of the Month series completed before I'm 80 haha.

bonus goodness

And look, a bonus! I'm tempted to display the skein on the wall, it's so lovely.  It's a Jodyri Designs hand-dyed thread in Alaskan Beauty.  I have not heard of this dyer before Tiff's blog so I went exploring their site; so many beautiful colors.  I am still a bit afraid of hand-dyed threads because they are not colorfast.  I think this particular skein would look wonderful on some sparkly Silkweaver fabric I picked up last year.

Welp, that's all on this edition of Ishkabibble Babble.  I think.  The heat has fried my brain.

Faithful April and a Bit of Kindness!

Here we are, April done and over with, whatever is the world coming to! Thank you for all of your lovely and snarky comments on my last post about my invisible squares!  I suppose I could have all manner of things completed if they were all invisible ahaha~ :b  Please feel free to join me in my Invisible Escapades and we shall take over the world with our imaginations!

First up!  If you haven't heard of Kim's 60 Random Acts of Kindness, it is her awesomely crazy way of celebrating life this year!  It's so fun to give during your birthday!  But! I can't believe I am RAK #2 and lookit the exclamation points the mail brought!

the goodies

A STONEY CREEK PATTERN!  Yes, I squeaked.  I really like Stoney Creek patterns.  She also sent some lovely fabric!  This is my first new fabric in eons!  And those little squares down on the bottom?

home is where you are ♥

Eeee!  They are so tiny and adorable!  Each block is ~1.5" square (I measured them at her suggestion haha) and they're stitched on perforated paper.  I've worked with perforated plastic but haven't been brave enough to trust myself (or cats) to paper!  Eeee! :D   They reside on my geeky shelf, not because they are geeky!  It's just my space for stuff I love. :)

Thank you so much, Kim!  :D :D :D

Now, since it's the end of April (egad, pt. 2), Faithful April, Justine's brainchild! It was so nice to work on just one thing again and I continued on with Final Fantasy III, letting it shoehorn its way into Gifted Gorgeousness along with invisible squares. Here's what happened!

before, start of April

after - with bonus parked string

Eee. I am so close to a finish. I hope the subject is more apparent to those who have not seen the final image.  I imagine the WIPs looked rather odd!  I feel like I'm in the area right before the final boss battle. I'm still free to roam around the map (chart), doing all the side quests and gathering all available ribbons (putting in backstitching and filling in the other leg of the cross).  But the boss is still there, waiting.  

I am going to continue with Faithful April right on into Faithful May and have. This. DONE(???). Two years, shameful! I've already started daydreaming about which one I'm doing next.  It will be the "easy" one haaaaaaaaaah.

Thank you for tuning into this week's edition of Ishkabibble Babble!  wriggles away