Blog Book & Baby Update

 

My 2022 blog book has arrived, the smallest yet, and I have mixed feelings about it. I'm always glad to get a hard copy of my blog into my hands, but this was my last with Tiger Lily in it, and that's so hard. 

As always, she graces the back cover, one last time.

Next year's back cover will be the babies, although by then, they'll be all grown up. But I think because they were so tiny and fragile when we got them, no matter how old they are or how big they get, we'll always think of them as "the babies".

Baby update: Five months old! Marigold has reached 6 lbs, Butterfly is almost there. It's starting to get a little awkward to pick them up and hold them at the same time... almost 12 pounds of kitty! Hard to believe when they came home we could carry both of them in one hand! Marigold has joined her sister in learning to fetch. They both give kisses, and we're working on our household manners. Learning stitching manners is going to be a challenge for later. They are so very, very "helpful" with everything, and they have to learn not to "help" with stitching. We'll get there eventually (I keep telling myself)!

A Year of Winter: Winter's Rest

First finish in my Year of Winter stitching! This is Winter's Rest by Calico Confectionery stitched with the recommended DMC on some kind of 28 ct. rustic mystery evenweave. I love the charming retro look of this design. It reminds me of the design style back in the 80's, when I really got into stitching as a teenager. When I was about six years old, my mom taught me to stitch by having me make "x's" on a piece of gingham fabric stretched in a hoop, one "x" on each colored square. It wasn't until I was about 15 and discovered the double blessing of a stitching friend and a great local shop that I really got going. This design reminds me of that happy time. I chose the rustic fabric (rustic = bits of stuff in it) in tribute to the Fiddler's Lite (or oatmeal) aida that was so popular at the time. 

I know it's only January and I've only finished one project, but I am really enjoying this Year of Winter plan. I've assembled a little collection of winter projects that I love and am anxious to stitch. I'm also working on a big Christmas Open House for 2023, the tenth anniversary of that tradition. 

Hope you're all well and off to a great start on your stitching year!

A Long Sought Treasure

 

When I was a little girl, this was my favorite book and I checked it out of the library over and over and over. I have hunted for this book, off and on, for most of my adult life. It was published in 1964 and has been out of print for ever so long. But I knew I'd find it one day. And I did. I'm not sure exactly what a very small me loved so much about this book, but throughout my adulthood, when I thought of it, what I remembered so vividly were the colors and the illustrations. Black, white, blue, green, and purple. And of course the story is lovely, and feels as relevant today as it did when it was published almost 60 years ago, and television was still new. 

Just a sampling, so you get a sense of the story:

""It was a long time since she had seen moonlight on the water,

on account of watching television."

Indeed.

Blue & Gold Babies

 

This is difficult to photograph because the babies are wiggly and lighting is tricky, but it's neat so I wanted to show it to y'all if I could. The babies have dichroic eyes (two colors in one eye), which is somewhat unusual. They both have it, and in both eyes, which is also unusual. In their case, gold eyes with blue around the pupil. Marigold's blue and gold are lighter than Butterfly's. It's also easier to see when their pupils aren't so large, but they're almost always wound up, so... hard to photograph. Maybe you can see it.

Also, this is just for you, Laura! On my 8 January post, Laura pointed out they have little floofs below their ears, in addition to their Magnificent Ear Floofs, which cracked me up! Bonus wee ear floofs!

You can even see them in silhouette! Lol!

More ear floof. (I think this looks like an album cover.)

That's the baby update. Have a wonderful week!

Back to Stitching

 

For the last three months of 2022, our home was pretty much a kitty intensive care unit and there was zero stitching happening. I can't remember the last time I went that long without stitching, but thankfully we've gotten through that trial and I'm back to my needlework. I managed to get Mr. Wonderful's Christmas ornament stitched when we were in Texas, and I've just finished mine, this glorious little Chunkadee. Not only is he adorably chunky, I also stitched him on 25 count fabric over two, so the stitches are extremely chunky. Thus, Chunkadee. The design is from this leaflet and the Zweigart fabric is from a Lithuanian shop on Etsy. At the time I purchased this fabric, I had searched for a US source and was unable to find one. There may be one now, as I've had the fabric for some time, but I've had good service from this seller and they carry a lot of Zweigart fabric that's hard to get here. As y'all know, I'm a huge fan of this speckled fabric, especially the dark grey. Mr. Wonderful's owl ornament is from this Etsy shop, but be aware--unless it's been corrected--the chart does not match the model. I didn't realize that until I had already completed the owl, and I was stitching him over one, so I decided to press on and stitch him as charted, but I did prefer the model version. Anyway, these are our 2022 ornaments. When the finishing will be done is anybody's guess. Last year's aren't finished either. *sigh*

I also started Winter Sampler, which I showed in my last post. First block is a lovely wee fox. Of course I had to stitch him first. This is stitched on 28 ct. Pewter Jubilee. I'm not sure whether or not Jubilee is still made anymore; this piece came from my stash.

And lastly, a small personal triumph. I finally finished Blackberry Lane's Let It Snow. I started this way back in 2016 and decided I didn't like the way the over one snowflakes looked, so I put it away. I finally figured out at some point over the last few years that for me, the one strand over one thread method was the problem. I've stitched with one strand over one on 40 ct. and it looked fine, but on 28 ct. I prefer 2 strands in sparsely stitched areas, like snowflakes. I know, I know. This is a stitching no-no. I don't care. I like fat stitches. Once I switched to 2 strands, I was much happier with my snowflakes. Fully stitched areas, like the birds, work fine with one strand.

This is stitched on the recommended PTP Stellar, which I don't think they make anymore. It's a shame, as it's such a beautiful blue (and that's from someone who's not crazy about blue). I've read dyers are no longer able to get certain dyes anymore, particularly ones used for some blues. Anyway, this is a loose interpretation of this design, as I didn't do a number of things suggested, but after all these years, it's finished and I'm happy with it and I'm proud of myself for finally getting it done. Good job, me.

In addition to Winter Sampler, I've also just started my next Year of Winter project. Stay tuned for a peek of that pretty soon. It's good to be back at the needle.

Happy Stitching!

The 5 Pound Club

 

We've come a long way since 1 lb 11 oz and 1 lb 13 oz when these little girls came home on 29 October. Not quite 5 months old and both have reached 5 lbs. Big milestone. Next up, the shedding of the baby coats! They haven't started that yet but I have noticed some really long adult guard hairs coming in at the base of their tails. In other news, Butterfly (left) is learning to fetch, and we've discovered both of them like to be bounced like human babies. Seems to calm them down. So when necessary, we walk around with a kitten on one arm, bouncing her gently up and down as you would a baby. Weird, but adorable. (The pink towel they're sitting on is where they have their breakfast and supper. I guess they figure if they sit on it there's no way they'll miss a meal.)

A Year of Winter

So here I am, watching a heavy tropical rain fall on the palm trees in my yard on a nearly-70-degree day, drinking our traditional hot punch and really missing winter. Y'all know I am a fall and winter girl. If you've been here a while, you also know that the week between Christmas and New Year's Day is my Stitchy Planning Week, a week when I leisurely play in my stash and plan my projects for the coming year. A few weeks ago, I decided I would stitch winter all year next year. Shortly thereafter, this Winter Sampler (which I've been anticipating from the designer for several years) came out, and I was so thrilled with how beautiful it turned out. I took the timing as confirmation that next year is, indeed, a Year of Winter for me. I figure it will either be a source of comfort, or I'll get so sick of winter I'll be able to cope with its absence better. Either way, I win.

I collected half a dozen other winter designs I want to stitch and organized them into one of these presentation books that I use for everything, including my inventory. My Stitchy Planning Week has been somewhat abbreviated, what with travel and wee ones and such, but Mr. Wonderful is on baby duty so I do have some time to get things together. Hopefully I'll be able to have a brand new start for New Year's Day.

If winter is not your cup of tea, never fear. I'll still be sharing my stitchy finds, good recipes, and of course, kitten pics. And you never know when I'll get distracted and have to stitch a spring bunny or a fall pumpkin or something. I may even actually have some non-winter finishing and framing to share at some point. I've also kicked around the idea of just blathering about what I've learned in 35 years of stitching, why I do things the way I do them, why I break the stitching "rules" I break, why I'm still blogging, etc. (Topic suggestions for my blathering welcome!)

Speaking of blogging, this post closes out 10 years for me. I don't plan to go anywhere. It seems blogging is fading away, as people choose faster and shorter means of communication over slower and longer. That's how we lost letters. But as long as the platform cooperates with me, and I'm able, I intend to just muddle along, showing my stitching and my cats and whatever else takes my fancy. I appreciate those of you who appreciate what I do, who value slower and longer, and take the time to read, and look, and comment. I haven't been able to keep up with blogs other than my own this year, but hopefully the new year will be a better one. It feels like we're just off over here in a cozy little corner, doing our own thing, while everyone else races by. I intend to keep it cozy as long as I can.

Wishing you many blessings in the New Year, may it be better than the last, and may you have oodles of finishes! 

Over the River and Through the Woods

To Grandmother's house we go! First big road trip to Texas, heading out at zero dark thirty.

Butterfly is not a fan of the carrier. It took her a couple of hours to begin to settle on the way out, with intermittent fussing the rest of the way. She wore herself out and napped fairly well. On the way back she did much better. Began to settle in about an hour and napped most of the way home. Marigold is a champion traveller, and helped calm her sister with an occasional ear wash. So cute. Overall, they did much better than I had dared to hope.

On the way home. So sleepy.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement before our trip. They did well!