Some finishes!

Started and finished my first dishcloth Friday. Whoo! Pictures of it later after the recipient has received it. I don't know if she reads this, but she certainly knows where it is.

The second sock has been successfully started. One more round and I'll start the stockinette!

I've also FINALLY decided what size Peace Fleece needles to get. I've been mulling it over for a good 2 months now and have decided on some 14" 7's and 14" 5's. They're lovely hand-made needles from Russia with Russian enamel ends. Russians truly excel at enamel work.

For the life of me I can't remember my rotation order! I'm going to have to go back through my own archives and find it. Sheesh...

SBQ- Size matters

Today's SBQ was suggested by Kathryn and is:

What is the smallest count fabric you have ever used? Did you stitch over one? Conversely, what is the largest count fabric you have ever used?

The smallest count I've ever used would be 32, but over 2. I will be doing over one on 32ct once I start the Chatelaine St. Petersburg Garden. Smallest over 1 count as of right now is 28ct for an M Designs ornament.

The highest count I've ever stitched on would be 25ct over 2 for a TW. Not something I'll do again. Over 2 on 25 is just too big for my tastes. I only love 25ct when it's over 1.

My first sock!

My first sock is done!!!! I'm so proud of myself. Finished it this past Tuesday and then Mama took it south to show Mrs. Sandie and Kati.

The yarn is Trampoline Stretch, a superwash wool blend. The colorway doesn't have a name that I know of, but I have been told I won't have to worry about losing these socks. They are even bright IRL. (and I love that my camera blacked out the icky carpet in my room)

Knit on size 5 bamboo dpn's from Clover. I love bamboo needles.

The leftovers of this sock yarn will be used to knit arm/hand warmers for use while I'm at my computer. One of the symptoms of my fibro is chronically cold hands and they always get worse when I'm typing. I have the pattern for them, just need to finish the second sock.

I've been pretty scarce the last few days. My fibro is flared up pretty bad from being too tired and I slid into a pretty bad few days of depression too. I think that's getting better though. I've changed my work hours, and the new schedule starts Tuesday. I'll only be working one full day a week, and the other 4 days will be afternoons. This should let me get the rest I need, and let me have some time to devote to my writing.

Wedding announcement

This is the wedding announcement I'm stitching for my brother and Kati. They both love Celtic knotwork, the wedding colors are lavender and a pretty light minty green, so the color choicese were easy! There was no way on the face of this earth that I was going to use the drab browns that the model was stitched with, so I changed it! The words are stitched with VC Wisteria, and the knotwork is being done with Gumnut Stars 273. The pic is nearly 2 weeks old, I've since almost gotten to the halfway point on the top knot. Their names and the date will go underneath.

The Gumnuts are wonderful! Fudgey at HAED clued me in on them. The shading is very subtle and absolutely stunning in person. They're very soft, like Dinky Dyes. Have some yummy purple shades that I'll use on the Purple Sampler from Ink Circles.

And over there to the right is my new start for this past weekend's HAED SAL challenge. It's Nadia Tate's Kimono Butterflies Mermaid and that is her shoulder. The colors are very bright and one of them is the exact same shade as deer hunter orange! That totally cracked me up when I was pulling and sorting floss for it.

My first Piecemaker

Oh. My. Gawd. This thing is AMAZING!!!!!! No wonder so many people rave about Piecemakers. I fully understand why now and am totally on the bandwagon.

Piecemakers are AMAZING!!! It's just gliding right under my stitches, no pushing or tugging required. I am just floored. I've just become a Piecemaker convert I think. Now I just have to see how long it'll take for it to tarnish.

I did it!!

I finished a page on St. Basil's Cathedral!!!!! This puts me just shy of being halfway done. Tomorrow I'll start going up that tower and start on its spire. And then on Monday I'll rotate on to Alternative Reality.

I still haven't found the right place to take pictures where I can get the true color of the fabric. Will have to keep experimenting. It's SW Jamaica Sparkle and is nowhere near that orange IRL. It's more pink than orange.

Still love this design so very much. It's just breath-taking.

Quiz time!!

Haven't done one in awhile, and Mrs. Sandie put this one up on her blog the other day.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 8:13
2. Diamonds or Pearls? Amethysts!
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Pirates 2
4. What is your favorite TV show? Can't pick just one, lol. CSI, Criminal Minds, The Unit, Psych, Monk, Farscape, Magnum...
5. What did you have for breakfast? a bowl of Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal. Yum!
6. What is your middle name? LeighAnne
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Just about anything
8. What foods do you dislike? Things that are very very spicy, things with lots of onions, tofu and tomatoes
9. Your favorite Potato chip? Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar
10. Favorite CD you've been listening to lately? Nickelback All The Right Reasons
11. What kind of car do you drive? Pontiac Grand Am
12. Favorite sandwich? Hmm.... The club sandwich from the corner deli at work and the Devil Wood chicken spread
13. What characteristics do you despise? Narrow-mindedness and condescension
14. What are your favorite clothes? Jeans and a comfy shirt
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Russia!
16. Favorite brand of clothing? Whatever fits, thought right now it's Newport News because for the first time in my life I own a pair of jeans that are actually too long! It's a wonderful feeling.
17. Where would you want to retire? Right now, lol
18. Favorite time of day? Afternoon
19. Where were you born? Little Rock, AR
20. What is your favorite sport to watch? Thoroughbred horse racing
21. Who do you think will not send this back? Everybody. I'm blogging it!
22. Person you expect to send it back first? ^^ see above
23. Pepsi or Coke? Coke!
24. Beavers or Ducks? For eating, ducks.
25. Are you a morning person or night owl? Neither!
26. Pedicure or Manicure? Pedicure. Specifically at California Nails in the mall. When they put the lotion on your feet, they massage all the way up to your knees!
27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I finally joined ACFW!
28. What did you want to be when you were little? A nurse, thank goodness I grew out of it, lol
29. What is your best childhood memory? There are so many...
2. Ever been toilet papering? Nope
33. Been in a car accident? According to the police yes, according to me no
34. Favorite restaurant? anyplace with shrimp
35. Favorite flower? Irises
36. Favorite ice cream? Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate
37. Favorite fast food restaurant? I'll eat at any of them except McDonald's. Checkers has really good fries.
38. How many times did you fail your drivers test? None. I'm just smart like that, lol
39. From whom did you get your last e-mail? My bank and an ACFW member
40. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? ABC Stitch and Barnes and Noble. I have two cards after all. :D
42. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? I don't know!
43. Last person you went to dinner with? My brother and sister, tonight in fact
44. How many tattoos do you have? zilch
45. How many people are you sending this to? none
46. What time did you finish this e-mail? I finished blogging it at 10:26
47. Favorite magazine? Writer's Digest
48. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be? Robert E. Lee
49. If you could choose another first name, what would it be? Charlotte
50. If you could change your profession right now, what would you be doing? I would be a published novelist.

Ugh

The weather is still nasty. It rained most of the day. Needless to say I feel awful! Thursday is the night of the GTG at the Parrot Stitch, and I've made it once this year. Because of feeling so awful. I had wanted to go tonight to show off my sock, but just couldn't find the energy. So instead I caught up on message boards, fought with my wireless connection and then stitched on St. Basil's.

I am *thisclose* to finishing the first page of St. Basil's! And by first page I mean the page I started on, in the center. So this page has the most stitching on it. When I'm done it with it, probably tomorrow, I will be a hundred or so stitches shy of being HALFWAY DONE!!! I am so excited that for the moment I've chucked my rotation and I'm focusing exclusively on St. B's. But what's the fun of having a rotation if you can't chuck it every once in awhile. Finishing St. B is one of my major goals this year. The sooner I finish it, the sooner I can start St. Petersburg.

Speaking of, the materials list will be up Sunday! Martina promised. She also said that she would be including special stitches and extra threads to use in place of all the Swarovski crystals that this one has. I'll decide which route I'm going to go after I see the kit prices at ECS. I already know I'm not using NPI's, so there's a chunk of change saved right there.

The wedding announcement is halfway done. Will be taking a picture this weekend to show off. Need to order some more Gumnut silk so I can finish it. I'm horribly bad at estimating the amount of floss I need, lol.