March 29-31

Okay, so the weekend was a bust as far as stitching goes, but I did finally get most of my stash organized and I pulled out the things that I know I'll never stitch. Since I'm spending next weekend with two stitchers, I'm taking those items with me so they can take a look at them and take what they want.

To my shock and amazement, Uncle Wes told me when I woke up Saturday morning that he's going to finally change the kitchen faucet since it's leaking so bad nothing's coming out of the spout. I honestly thought he'd wait a while. Considering the number of dishes waiting to be washed, I wasn't looking forward to that. The new faucet is in and it works great. The best part is that I don't have water shooting out the back and running all over the counter anymore!

I spent my day periodically picking up in the livingroom and helping Wessy, as well as watching some of the movies on my DVR. My main focus, however, was my blog. I caught it up to Friday and finally completed "My Life in Blinkies" which was alot of fun. I've gathered some from others' sites as well as some free Blinkies sites. Basically, they describe an aspect of me or something I strongly believe in. There are things I like, and the last section is for laughs but still pertain to me. See how organized I am? There's a method to my madness! MUHHAHAHAHAHAH!

I spent most of Sunday organizing my stash and pulling out things I know I'll never stitch. I also continued cleaning up the livingroom and getting rid of all the things piled up around my chair. Now I have a tray on my end table for my meds, my camera (because I use it to take my "Daily Progress" photos), my salt flakes (for when I'm dehydrated), and my cell phone and bluetooth headset. My end table has been cleaned off to also hold my Golden Retriever page-a-day calendar and my two coasters (Alot of times I have my 1/2 gallon for iced tea and a mug of hot tea or chocolate in here). My "Laptop Table" finally has just that on it, but my third table-yes, I have three!-is a little junked up still. I put a basket on the floor by my chair to hold my stitching bag and a couple other things.

I was talking to Debi Murray tonight on Messenger and we were discussing my stitching slump. I didn't do any stitching at home all weekend, nor have I stitched at home for a quite a while now. I really want Deftly Wrought finished, but I just don't want to stitch on it. I've finally come to the conclusion that I need to put it aside rather than continue to mentally beat myself up about not stitching it. Instead, I'm going to take a little break and completely switch stitching directions to work on one of the two Navy Emblems I need to do for Uncle Wes this year. He picked an off-white Aida that I bought at the Upscale Retail Boutique run by Partners in Care. The emblem is approximately 7 2/3 x 7 2/3" on 18ct. I figured that, since I have to do two of them, I'll do one now and one later in the year because I know I don't want to have to do two in a row! Right before I went to bed, I pulled the floss and put it in an empty Stitch Bow page and stuck the page and the chart pack with fabric in my stitching bag to take with me to dialysis tomorrow. I also pulled out two UFO's. One just needs backstitching and the other is A Bird For All Seasons by Dimensions that I'm re-starting. I'm hoping to work on them on Tuesdays because it's the ILCS UFO Day SAL.

Today (Monday), I did stitch at dialysis. I almost finished the eagle's head on the Navy Emblem. Unfortunately, I had to stop stitching because I got a really bad headache. It felt like it was going to escalate into a migraine, so I took two Aleve right away.

We only have one bathroom at home, so I called Uncle Wes to explain the situation and ask him to take a shower before I got there because I was either going straight to bed or soaking in the bathtub. I know it's unconventional, but alot of times I find relief from pain by soaking in a very hot tub of water. Add a lightly-scented votive candle and some soft iPod music and I'm asleep and pain-free! It may only last a while, but anyone who has chronic or recurring pain will tell you any time is better than no time!

When I got home at quarter after six, I put my iPod on my iHome radio, turned on a Flute Podcast softly, and went straight to bed. I didn't wake up til 9pm and the headache was gone!

I saw the Golden Retriever by Pegasus Originals chart pack in my recliner when I woke up and considered pulling the floss for it. I was going to put it in a Stitch Bow page so I could work on it as well, but remembered the floss that needed to be put in my storage binders.

I got all my floss except for duplicates put away, but my three storage binders were stretched to maxium capacity. They're designed to hold eight full pages each and mine had ten to twelve pages. I looked up and noticed the four 3-ring binders sitting on the floor beside my stash tote and thought "Why pay $7.99 for a Stitch Bow binder when you have some right here?" So I grabbed the three white ones and only left eight pages in each of the Stitch Bow binders. I even made separate pages for the variegated and metallic flosses now that I have extra room. There are five binders of floss and there's room to grow! The fifth binder only has one and a half pages of variegated floss and a half a page of metallic. I looked up and saw it was 11:57pm and wanted to say I stitched at home but I had to end my floss and it was midnight before I got the needle threaded. GRR! Needless to say...no stitching at home...again (WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!). At least I can say I did stitch today, though!

March 22, 2008

I made myself stitch today. Last Monday marked the three-month anniversary of my start on Deftly Wrought by Midsummer Night Designs. I had tons of laundry to do, but I stitched between loading and unloading the washer and dryer. Now that Mom and Dad have moved the tv downstairs, the livingroom is nice and quiet. I set up my OTT lite on the end table by the couch, put the footrest up, and have a nice stitching spot.

Mom asked me to go downstairs at 9:00pm so that we could watch the Enchanted DVD she bought when she and Dad went out this evening. Unfortunately, Dad picked up a Blue-ray DVD, so we couldn't watch it. Then we tried watching Mission Impossible: Three, but there was something wrong with the DVR recording and it wouldn't play. We also tried watching Madea's Family Reunion with the same results. Dad was learning new songs in his music room, so Mom and I ended up watching my DVD copy of Dreamgirls. I got it for my birthday and watched it right away but Mom hadn't had a chance to see it yet. About halfway through the movie she said "I think I'm going to buy the whole soundtrack from iTunes!" I have to agree that the musical performances are excellent. Jennifer Hudson deserved that Oscar!

I stitched on Deftly Wrought while watching the movie and made some great progress. The four mini-samplers across the top are done, so there's no more stitching over one! I'm so glad to finally have that part completed, you have no idea! Now all I have to do is the verse, finish the border, and the band of flowers between the verse and mini-samplers. I'm hoping this will be done in a week. I'm really pushing myself to get it completed so I can go back to work on my Stitching Challenge. I promised myself that I wouldn't add any more pieces to my list of UFO's, so this has to get done. I put it down 2 months ago, so technically it became one, but it's a WIP now!

March 17, 2008

Wow, three days in a row! Dare I call the slump "ended?" I went back to In the Land of the Free during dialysis today. I felt bad that I put it aside, but I felt bogged down working on it. I think finishing PS: Mom helped get my stitching juices flowing again.

This is zipping right along! I took this picture at 12:30, because I was zoned out on stitching and midnight came and went without me noticing. Look! There are beads on it already! The end is near! It's turning out even prettier in person than the picture, so I'm very excited to see this completed.

When Uncle Wes came up to go to bed tonight he asked me what Kasey did to her head. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about and he said she knocked it on something. Apparently she hit something with that Punkin' Head of hers, because she's got a raw spot the size of a nickel. I cleaned it with peroxide and put some antibiotic cream on it, but there's not a whole lot else you can do.

My theory is that she hit it on the dining room table. I know something happened in there while "the kids" were home alone, because one of the placemats was on the floor when I got home. I'm wondering if Chet didn't bring a mouse upstairs from the basement and "lose" it up here. He's famous for doing that. The last time, he dropped a live mouse on my foot while I was eating dinner!

March 16, 2008

I need to start off with an apology to Miss Deborah of ILCS. She called me last night and we were talking for about an hour...and then I fell asleep! Fortunately, she knew I'd gotten less than two hours' sleep the previous night, thanks to Kasey waking me up at 5:30 in the morning, but I still felt bad that I drifted off while she was talking to me. I promise, it was exhaustion, not boredom, Miss Deborah! I ended up sleeping for 17 hours, so I think I made up for the missed sleep the night before!

I did a little stitching on Pocket Sampler: Dad while I was watching the NASCAR race today. It's not much, but at least I can say I stitched! Sheer force of will, if nothing else, is going to get me out of this stitching slump I've been in!

I also spent a few hours working on my shopping list for the LNS Sue V is taking me to. I'm going through my charts and compiling a list of fabbys and fibers needed to kit them up.

March 15, 2008

After staying up until 4 this morning, a certain Punkin' Head Puppy woke me up at 5:30 to go outside. Apparently Uncle Wes went for his "coffee walk" and didn't take Punky with him, so she woke me up to let her out. When I asked her, "Do you have to go outside?" she ran to the door, but when I let her out all she did was stand at the carport door, looking. Once she did that, her jig was up and I made her come back in the house. I could have throttled her right there, because OF COURSE I couldn't get back to sleep! I tried, but gave up after an hour.

Today is my nephew's first birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALEB! Unfortunately, I can't go to his birthday party because he's got a nasty cough. I'm not allowed to be around anyone who is sick because I have a very weak immune system. Uncle Wes had things he wanted to get done around here, so he didn't go to the party, either. He was also concerned about bringing something home with him and me catching it, so that was another reason for him not to go.

I have a finish! I got the Pocket Sampler: Mom all done! Don't ask me how I'm going to "finish-finish" it, though! I may just buy a small frame so Mom can hang it in her craft room, or I could put it in an easel frame and she could put it on her bureau. I'll have to see what I can find in the way of frames and decide then. But here it is!!

March 14, 2008

While I can't officially say my stitching slump is over, I can tell you I stitched ALOT today at dialysis and once I got home! I made great progress on Pocket Sampler: Mom. I'm so happy I did some stitching at home, at last! The specialty stitches were alot of fun. I did have to refer to my Encyclopedia of Needlework for one of them, but it was pretty easy once I understood the directions.

March 12, 2008

I didn't make much progress on my pocket sampler today at dialysis. Between eating, talking to the techs, watching a really funny episode of Little House on the Prarie, and discussing some things with my dietician, my treatment time seemed to fly by. This is all I got done today.

Instead of stitching when I got home, I played with my new stash! That's right, it was a great mail day! My prize from Karen of SNS2's January Goals Contest arrived today. She kitted up Good to be Home from Heart in Hand and added an extra piece of 28ct Lambswool linen and a skein of Dried Thyme from GAST. The note she sent along with everything said "Beth, after your long hospital stay, I couldn't pass this up. Enjoy!" Karen, thank you for your thoughtfulness. I'm definitely going to love stitching that one! My order from Shirley at Country Cottage Framing & Needleart also arrived! My Dinky Dyes charts are here!

I've been drooling over Southern Stars since I found it at the Online Needlework show in October of last year. I also discovered Heirloom Embroideries, which is only available through Dinky Dyes Designs. I got Charmed Dreams and Medley. Shirley sent me all the silks, beads, and embellishments for the charts. Also included in the order was the Just Nan chart Queen of the Needle and its embellishment pack. I know there are alot of people doing a SAL with QotN and I really can't wait to get working on these, but I have that pesky Stitching Challenge to complete first! After fondling the silks and embellishments I worked on cutting Aida for other charts in my stash. I have a few I think will look really good with the Aida I've chosen for them.

I've really got to get out of this stitching slump, so if anyone has any suggestions PLEASE HELP! I thought switching projects would do the trick, but I'm back to old habits. I'm not doing any stitching at home still.

March 10, 2008

I know, I know, it's not In the Land of the Free! I've just gotten into a slump or something. I didn't even stitch at dialysis today and haven't stitched at home in over a week, so I thought I needed a change of pace. I decided to work on Pocket Sampler: Mom by Heart in Hand instead. I'm hoping to have this done by Mother's Day for my mom. I thought I'd get more done, but that just didn't happen.

March 7, 2008

At dialysis today, I continued working on In the Land of the Free. I made more progress on the bow above the heart, but it doesn't look like it's going to be done by tomorrow.

March 5, 2008

I worked on the bow above the heart while I was at dialysis today. I didn't get a whole lot done because I was watching tv. I would like to have this finished by the weekend so I can work on Debi's small stitched exchange piece, so we'll see what happens.

March 3, 2008

Today at dialysis I worked on the heart of In the Land of the Free. I got the white stripes and the cable stitching done and started on the innermost outline. I'm hoping to be able to finish this by the end of the week so I can start stitching on an exchange I need to send out as soon as possible.

Today is also Chet's 14th birthday! To celebrate, I split a packet of soft food between him, Piper Kitty, and Kasey. They only get soft food a couple times a year, so they really enjoyed the treat. I know he doesn't know it's his birthday, but I do! Besides, he's my baby, so I can't ignore his special day. I got Chet from a co-worker 10 years ago because they couldn't keep him. He has brought so much joy and laughter into my life. Here's a picture of my Chetter-buggy watching over me in my chair.

I also forgot to thank Kathy Bradford for the wonderful RAK she sent. I no longer have to have a plastic bag beside my stitching chair because I have a gorgeous Dolphin Snip-it jar! Thank you, Kathy! Kathy had hip replacement surgery today, so please say a prayer for her.

February 29-March 1, 2008

Continuing on my newly-started stitching roll, I'm still working on In the Land of the Free and made significant progress. This is my first Sweetheart Tree project that I've tackled. I have several more in this year's stitching challenge and seeing this one coming along makes me want to stitch on the others even more.

February 28, 2008

I started stitching again on Wednesday and finished My Very Bestest Friend by 4 My Boys at 1:52am. I feel so much better! My eyes aren't getting blurry anymore and my ability to concentrate is returning. This, more than anything, has my spirits up and my faith that everything will be okay restored. I know it won't make any sense to non-stitchers, but I'm sure my stitching friends can sympathize with that feeling.


After getting some sleep, I started working on In the Land of the Free by The Sweetheart Tree. This kit called to me because of the message it contains, "We live in the land of the free because of the brave." I don't think anything says it any better. My brother served ten years in the United States Army, and I'm stitching this for him and all the other brave men and women who serve our country.

Catching Up to February 22, 2008

It's been a long time since I've been able to update this, so I'm going to have to make one entry to bring y'all current. The days seem to blend together into one long day when you're in the hospital so the only way I could tell them apart was to take a picture of my progress, at midnight, whenever I stitched.

So here's how my stitching went while I was in the hospital and Heritage Harbour Rehabilitation Center:

January 30: No Matter WhatJanuary 31 February 1February 2: A Finish & Work on Hinzeit's Mini Block Stitch February 3: Mini Block Stitch by Hinzeit Designs (FINISH!), Cabin in the Snow by Hob-Nobb Designs









February 4

February 5 February 6 February 7 (FINISH!) February 12: In the Land of the Free by The Sweetheart Tree February 15: In the Land of the Free & My Very Bestest Friend by 4 My Boys

February 16 & 17

January 7, 2008

I knew I had to wake up early today, so last night I shut down the computer in preparation of going to bed. Then I made the mistake of picking up Lavender Luminesence and stitching on it. After about twenty minutes of backstitching the leaves and vines, it occurred to me that I was getting awfully close to the bottom of the fabric. So I measured, and, you guessed it!

RIP-IT! RIP-IT! I had to frog the ENTIRE piece, so all my previous progress is null and void.

Therefore, instead of taking Deftly Wrought with me to dialysis today, I took Lavender Luminesence. I re-started itin the middle this time! I stitched my first Rhodes Heart today, and am quite pleased with it. I think I'll continue stitching from the center out, as that's what I'm used to doing and I'm more comfortable with that method. I know the directions say to start from the outside and work in, but none of the steps overlap, so I'm safe. Anyway, it's re-started and I'll continue on it later. Tomorrow is UFO day, so I'm dragging out A Bird for All Seasons. I'll tell you all about that story in tomorrow's post. G'nite!

January 5, 2008

I was able to get some stitches in on Lavender Luminesence today after getting through several hundred group messages and running some errands.

When I woke up this afternoon, I went to my friend Tiffany's house to drop off some Beef Stroganoff and Cheesy Beef & Broccoli dip. I'd had cravings for both, but there's no way I can eat all of it by myself. Her kids love my Beef Stroganoff, so they were more than happy when I dropped it off.

Tiffany's son, Jerrard, went to PetSmart with me to carry Kasey's dog food. I knew better than to try to get it myself, especially since Uncle Wes isn't home to carry it in the house for me. Jerrard even poured it into the storage buckets for me, so I didn't have to worry about that big bag being in the livingroom until Wes gets home.

While we were at PetSmart, I saw that they still had a large selection of Christmas dog toys, so we picked up some of the larger ones for Kasey. Yep, Kasey's Santa is a cheapskate! She waits until the toys are 50% off! It's not as if Kasey minds, though. She was standing right in front of me to grab each toy after I cut the tags off. You can see more pictures of her playing with them, just look in Webshots.

January 4, 2008

Here are my first five finishes of 2008! I needed to get these bread covers done by Monday, so I'm two days ahead of schedule. I was up all night and finished these between 2 and 8am before I went to sleep. That takes care of one of my goals for this month, so now on to the next!

Fridays are the Santa Day SAL for ILCS, so I worked on my Heart ornament at dialysis. I've made some progress on it finally. I know it doesn't look like much right now, but just wait until you see what I do with it! Since I need to finish two ornaments a month, I will probably work on this one extra day per week. I just haven't decided which day that will be.

January 3, 2008

I didn't have alot of stitching time today, so there wasn't much progress. This is what I did do, though. Unfortunately, I had about 600 group messages and had to get through them before I started stitching.

January 2, 2008

Today I continued working on the bread covers. I've decided that I'm going to do all the words first, and then stitch the wheat. I think I actually finish them faster doing it this way. I'm almost done with the backstitching, so they should be done soon!

January 1, 2008

Well, I did it! I got all twenty-two Challenge pieces started and even stitched a little extra on a couple of them before getting some sleep. When I woke up, I got to work on the five bread covers. They have to be ready by Monday as my grandmother will be picking them up to take to GTC.