I Survived Sandy

I just want to say thank you for all of the prayers and well wishes sent my way. We lost power last night (Monday night) for a few hours and it has been raining constantly for over two days, sometimes very hard.  The winds were really bad last night and are just about calm now in comparison, the temp is in the low 40 degrees, if it gets any cooler we may have to turn on the heater.  There are some areas here that have flooding and still are without power so keep your prayers for my neighbors going up.  I tried to stitch some yesterday but I guess the nerves got the better of me and it didn't amount to much.  I can definitely try again today and maybe next time I will have some pictures to share. Thanks for stopping by and may God bless everyone in the path of Sandy.  xxs

Pre- Sandy Wipocalypse for October

I realize that Wipocalypse posts aren't due until Monday, but if you've been watching the weather forecast lately there is a hurricane heading our way and by then we may not have power.  Since the last Wipocalypse I worked on Halloween ornaments that I shared in my last post so I don't  have to show them again, what I can show you is part 7 of the 24 part SAL "Around the World in 80 Stitches" by Papillon Creations.  This month we worked on stitches representing Turkey (three sided triangle Turkish stitch), Malta (Maltese Cross) and Cyprus (techniques used in Lefkhara Lace). After the little battle I had with the frogs early on everything went rather smoothly.

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Close-up

Tomorrow I will be finishing up my hurricane preparation, stowing away lawn chairs and planters from the baloney wouldn't want the expected winds to send them through a window.  And one last and very important  task will be buying extra food for Bud.  He's been a little anxious lately.

If only he could cross stitch he would be more relaxed. I think I will find something to stitch right now.  Welcome to all my new followers and thank you all for stopping by.

For My October IHSW...

I continued to work on "Africa" I wanted to finish the top left section before I went on to anything else.  I got everything in that section done with exception to the border and of course you know the back stitch and beads go on last.  You know, I just noticed from my picture I have a lot of stitches missing, so I guess I didn't finish this section, oh well, what can I say.  Part seven of AW80S from Papillon Creations came in. I had been eagerly awaiting it's arrival as always this was to be my project for the IHSW  and it was late again but I immediately read through what the stitches were to be and dove right in. A little advise to all stitchers pay close attention to what you are doing or the frogs will get you.  On the simplest part of this chart I was attacked! It took me three tries to get the outline of this section stitched. The first time I had went all the way around the petal shapes and the ends didn't match up, I had to pick out the whole thing for a miscount on very first petal.  I started restitching and was about halfway through the second petal when I noticed that I had not picked back far enough to correct the first error, so I picked again.  On third try I checked for errors every couple of inches just to make sure everything was going in correctly. I finally finished the outline and started the actual design stitches but after doing only the Lazy Daisy stitches and the new to me  "Turkish three sided triangular stitch" I couldn't see straight and had to quit for the night.  There is no cutting in this months installment so it should go pretty quick.  I also have some shots of my last Halloween ornies and a new book I ordered. Well thanks for all of the wonderful comments I've been receiving and welcome to all my new followers.  I really do appreciate each and every one of you. Now it's time to make some more wonderful little xxs. But not before I show you some pictures:-)

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Back

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Looks what's inside Joan Elliot!

October TUSAL

My TUSAL brought to you by Mr. Cleo Jenkins.

Halloween is coming...

I don’t care what other people say, before Christmas there is Halloween and believe it or not Thanksgiving.  For years, according to some stores (Wally World, Targe’, etc.) Christmas season started right after Halloween now it’s been moved up another month.  Usually there would be big Halloween displays, candy, ghost & goblin costumes for sale up until the big day and then Halloween candy discounts lasted at least until Thanksgiving and then in came everything Christmas. Not anymore Wal-Mart now has the Halloween display in one room and the Christmas display in another. AT THE SAME TIME! This is ridiculous! I love Halloween.   Just to show how much, here are a few Halloween goodies I made.

This little witch is “Salem” from Just Cross Stitch 2012 Special Collector’s Halloween Issue, I stitched mine on 28 ct Crystal Brash instead of the perforated paper and finished it into a small pillow.

This little cutie was snatched from “Fraidy Cats Welcome” from the same magazine issue.

I liked the 28 ct Crystal Brash so much I used it again this time finishing the “Fraidy Cat” as a hanging ornament.    

This beauty is “If the Shoe Fits!” from 2011 Just Cross Stitch Annual Halloween  issue, it’s stitched on 25 ct black Lugana. I used Kreinik metallic and DMC on the shoe and Thread Worx (Kreinik braid overdyed) for the buckle.  It will be finished into an ornament as soon as I can get the spider button to hang from the toe of the shoe.   I told you I love Halloween.

Thank you all for stopping by, I’m off to make more little xxs.