Were Moving

That last couple of days have been somewhat hetic. Many of you know that my DH was diagnoised with Early On Set Alzheimers in 2007 at the age of 53. It came to a point this past September that I had to quit my paying job to stay home and care for him. The past couple of months have been very hard, as the progress of the disease has also moved forward. My daughter Charlene and Ralph, my soon to be SIL, have finally convinced me to move into a home with them, so that they could help with his care. It was a hard decision. I didn't feel it fair to burden young people with this problem and I didn't want to leave "my home". My daughter says, "it's my dad", my SIL says "your my family" we are here to help. After many conversations with them, it seemed like the only decision I could make to insure his care, quality of life and my health and sanity, was to make the move. Friday night I received a call from Charlene who said, Mom we got the house, you need to come here tomorrow morning. I made the drive to see the house and meet the owner. It's beautiful. 3 Bedroom, fire place, nice backyard, safe neighborhood, around the corner from Bidwell Park etc. It was like it was ment to be for us. So I'm on the move now. Pictured is our new home. I hope to be moved out of my home by mid-February and with any luck I'll be able to secure renters. I'll be busy for the next couple of weeks as I weed through all the "stuff" I've collected over the years and weed things out.

RAK - Lookie What The Mailman Brought Me!

I received something special in the mail today! If you follow my posts on ILCS you know that I am notorious for being off count by 1 stitch constantly. I think it's about the only thing I do contstantly on a regular basis! Rene sent me this lovely card along with a stitch picker for frogging (see the lil frogs on the end) and 2 stitch counters. I emailed and asked her if she really thought this was going to help me.LOL. Thank you Rene for your warm thoughts, but most of all for your friendship. I'm sure these will come in quite handy.

On another nother note......I'm still sitting idle. I started a new Hardanger project last night, only to find out that I needed colored #8 Pearl Cotton. My Michaels doesn't carry pearl cotton in colors, except in size #5. Go Figure. I just couldn't justify mail ordering for 1 ball of thread, the shipping would probably cost more than the product. Thought perhaps I'd get the 13 skeins of blue floss needed for a sampler I got the free chart for on EMS. Would you believe Michael's didn't have one skein of this color in stock. As a matter of fact their entire line of floss was almost empty. Will make a trip back tomorrow (when their stock comes in) and see if I can get lucky. So much for my dim looking day.

Hardanger Project 1 Completed

I had the opportunity this past Tuesday to attend a "Stitch In" with the Shasta Stitchers. They are the local chapter of the Embroidery Guild of American here in Redding. I can't tell you how much fun I had. Although I brought my cross stitch with me, I didn't make one stitch! I was so busy meeting people and drooling over the different types of needlework they each did. I was fortunate to meet Ellen, who was stitching on a beautiful Handanger piece. She was so generous and kind. She stopped what she was doing to demonstrate hardanger to myself and a couple of other newbies. Everyone knows how I've been wanting to learn, but hadn't made that first step. Well it didn't take me long to get in stride. I got home and dug out a pattern, my needle and my pearl cotton. Many trips were made back and forth to the puter for viewing instructions and tutorials, but now 4 days later my first project is completed. I learned Kloster Blocks, Satin Stitch, Webs and Weaving. Although not perfect, I had fun making this piece. Tomorrow I'll try and find a nice frame and matting at Michaels. I'm going to give this to Ellen at the next meeting as a Thank You for taking the time to show me the wonders of Hardanger.

Starting All Over Again - It's Gonna Be Rough

Well after all that frogging and re-stitching......I finally found out why my stitching was off one thread. Being the newbie that I am at cross stitch, I was unaware that when stitching on evenweave, one must start stitching to the left of the vertical thread. Well I didn't. In other smaller cross stitch projects that I did do, I must have just be lucky when I started in order for it to come out correctly. So now I know, bet your last dollar that won't happen to me again!LOL
I started frogging again last night, taking all the stitching out so I could start over the correct way. I should have waited, I know it was late and I was tired, but I wanted to be able to start over in the morning. Bad decision on my part. I cut right through my fabric!!!! Just my luck don't you know. So now I have to order more fabric and wait for it to get here. In the mean time I am reading and asking questions about Hardanger. I actually started a small project. We'll see how it turns out. So much for today.

Frogging All day

Well I thought I had problems yesterday with my cross stitching. Ripped and ripped last night. Took a look at my project today and for the life of me I can't find where or how I am off just one thread! I have now just about ripped everything completly . I think I would have been better off just getting a new piece of fabric and starting all over, but I didn't have anymore.

On a Happier note. Just Cross Stitch has their Jan/Feb 2010 issue of their magazine on digital. You can visit them at http://justcrossstitch.epubxpress.com/?site=1 and take a look at this issue for free. You will have to click on the magazine to open the program up. It may take a minute or two. Some nice projects in this issue. Remember this is a trial, they are not sure if they will continue, but you can also sign up for further information.

Back to Frogging :(

Stitching Away

Not all that much to report today. I've been stitching away on a couple of different projects I've started for 2010. I keep switching back and forth between them, with hopes that none will become a UFO. Hey, thats a good Resolution, no UFO's for 2010! What are the chances of that? With any luck I'll be able to post a picture of one of these, just to prove that I am stitching. The Heirloom Christmas Stocking SAL I am hosting, is underway. There are approximately 15 ladies stitching with the intent of completing these stockings by December 1, 2010. I can't wait to see the finished stockings. Some have really been going at it full steam and have posted pictures of their progress on the SAL Blog already.

Until Later

Happy Stitching

Cross Stitch Give A Way

Alright it's the beginning of 2010, so what better way to start off the New Year than with a awsome Give A Way! You will need to Run, not skip or walk over to the Calico Prairie and see what Kristi is offering in her very gracious Give A Way. Better hurry, cut off for this drawing is January 31, 2010.

I personally could really use everything she is offering, so get in line behind me, I'm going to win this One!