March TUSAL, IHSW(?) and Special Fabric!

Aloha, world! I am completely timely, right? Well, at least I have a good excuse this time. This past week was our 2nd anniversary so my husband took some much needed time off and we disappeared! We went to stay with a couple of good friends and explored a different part of the US, lazed about their house with video games, and visited not one, but two cross stitch stores.

First off, welcome to my new followers!  I am creeping ever closer to that elusive 100 mark and that just tickles me blue. :D  I'll be catching up on blogs over the next week or so~

I will admit to being completely derpy about this month's IHSW!  I couldn't even remember if I signed up (I did not).  As most of the weekend was spent traveling, not a whole lot of stitching went on.  However!  The violets came with me on our trip. I suppose I got a lot accomplished on them though not enough to finish.  I keep telling myself this piece is now about halfway (possibly more since it's bottom-heavy) but man. It seems like I'm getting nowhere fast on it. And now that we're back, it will probably be neglected again as I try to cram more Muppet letters into my life hahaaaaa. sigh

But cross stitch stores! Stores dedicated to cross stitch! Who knew there were such wonders in the world! And to top it off, they were freshly filled with goodies from the Nashville Market! I was good. I limited myself to $20 and wound up with $23 of delicious fabrics and flosses I would never be able to find around here. It could've been much, muuuuuch more, especially as there was a large piece of delicious blue and sparkly fabric that I fondled for a long time before sadly putting it back.  I was informed by Madame Enabler that the shopkeeper would cut a smaller piece but something that lovely must be kept whole!  Right...?  I'll probably kick myself forever for not getting it. :)

two Silkweaver fabrics and four WDW

I picked up two fabrics and four skeins of discontinued Weeks Dye Works to try.  I'm a bit frightened of the fabrics because they're 32 count which will probably result in me stitching about 2" from the fabric.

Silkweaver - blue/purple 32 count evenweave

The first is this lovely blue/purple hand-dyed evenweave that I had to take outside to get even a little close to the right color.  It's not very large ( 9" x 13") but at 32 count I could probably get a lot of use out of it especially if I decided to go crazy and do over-1.  Who needs eyes?!  :D

Silkweaver - 32 count evenweave

And the other, the other.  Oh, the other.  13" x 18" SPARKLES.  This picture does not do it justice.  It is a lovely creamy white. With SPARKLES.  Oh, I could just hug it.  I think it screams a winter piece.  Maybe a redwork.  Or, knowing me, bluework.  Or I may just frame it as is because SPARKLES.

three chart leaflets and a card kit

And since cross stitching seems to be much more plentiful in that area, there were a few thrift store finds as well!  I found a few Christmas leaflets, a little card kit, and a welcome chart.  The welcome design is really pretty but my favorite are the towel designs.  There are some real cute ones in there and I spent a whopping $3 for the lot.

layers upon layers of ORTy goodness

And here's my TUSAL update! There's quite a bit of yellow Muppety goodness in there with a healthy cap of February violets sprinkled on top.

I hope you have a wonderful day and SPARKLES! :D

Gifted Gorgeousness - March Edition

Hello again! Here is my March installment of Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness. Still plugging away on the Muppet letters; I've reached the great milestone of having one part of the child's name finished! I apologize in advance for the somewhat sparse post, privacy being what it is and all. But here's one new letter for your viewing pleasure!

meep meep meep meep meep meep!

Beaker and Bunsen! :D They're some of my favorite Muppets and I'm quite pleased with how this one charted up. I may go back and play with Bunsen's glasses some, though. They seem small and too round! Or I might just be being picky.

Until next time! :D

FotM - February Violets

I'm late, I'm late! Here is my check-in post for the Flower of the Month SAL hosted by Alyssa at Brownie's Chair~

As you can see, not a lot. :( I am still spending a lot of energy on the Muppet letters. I have the March Daffodils completed though. I still have time to stay on track!

Short post because I am absolutely drained today. Plus I still need to cook some supper. Anyone want some chicken katsu curry? :D

February IHSW

Hello, howdy, hi! I'm a bit late for IHSW posting, forgive me!

First, let me say I am completely shocked how many of you do not know what snow ice cream is! I thought this was a delight known everywhere?! All you want is fresh snow, milk (I use evaporated but according to the great Internet, you can use regular or even condensed), sugar, and vanilla. The best ice cream comes from the best snow -- you know, the perfect snowball-making snow. Ours was kinda dry this time but snow was snow at that point. I do encourage you to give it a try, even if it's just for the novelty. It's really fun to dig out a container of it in the middle of summer. :)

click me for more info!

Now for IHSW! My goal this time was simple: Finish another Muppet letter. This was because I knew we were due for icky weather Friday night which would probably leave us with work to do. We got hit by a somewhat substantial ice storm (I love snow but I do NOT like ice). And this was on top of the still-present mountain of snow we got last week. So, we were locked at home and needing to dig a path to the highway. We went out and tried getting our truck out -- we'd get so far, have to stop and shovel, go a little bit more, shovel some more. A quarter-mile driveway is not so fun on ice-covered snow. We got it to where we were able to get out and back in by staying in our shoveled ruts and called it a day. Shoveled the ice off the sidewalks and tried not to collapse upon entering the house. I started a late lunch when my husband asked if there was a tractor rumbling by? I said no, it's probably just the snow plows out on the highway and we paid no mind. Here one of our wonderful neighbors took pity on us and plowed our driveway! I called around asking if different neighbors did it so I could shower them with baked goods of gratitude, all no!  We apparently have a ghost tractor working for us.

Anyway, with our new-found freedom I finished a letter.  There's been a few changes on this guy since my last post.  I picked out the bottom left portion and made it more D-like (hopefully?!) and made him one row higher to match the heights of the other letters.  Dunno how I missed that either.  I'm not overly thrilled with his hat because Dr. Teeth has a big hat not a little boater ahaha.  But there are size limitations to contend with so I did the best I could with the space available~  After I have more done, I may go back and tweak it some.  I did fish out my gold metallic floss for his tooth, a whopping six stitches.  I survived.

But I wasn't done there! I finished another letter (no picture).  I started the next letter (no picture again).

I started (finally) FotM - February Violets. Not looking too hopeful for a finish this month. :<   I'm still good because I have March's finished.

Whew! I hopefully didn't exhaust my productivity for the next few weeks!

February TUSAL

It was one of those days, you know?

Those days when you drop your phone in (spicy) soup.

And then get (spicy) soup in your eye trying to quickly dismantle said phone.

Clean up, twice, after a naughty kitten.

My husband sensed that I might be having an off sort of day and suggested we go out to eat for supper and that I might be okay with staying on the couch for the rest of the day, haha.

Anywhoodle these are trivial inconveniences because WE GOT SNOW. :D

om nom nom

I made enough snow ice cream to freeze for July/August when I'm thinking I want to annihilate the sun. Please don't mind the mess, I had to make it quickly and working quickly and neatly do not happen with me.  Already it's starting to melt in the picture.

TUSAL!

But now it's time for the next installment of TUSAL as hosted by Daffycat!  Lots of extra fluff, though I'm sure you can't tell because I continue to cram it down. Got all of FotM - Carnations in there, as well as the start to Muppets.  There is a bit extra green in there on top as I've been ripping out sections of the latest letter... and that floss just disintegrates upon removal!  Very weird -- and more than a little frustrating to a frugal soul haha.

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow :D!