TNT 03/19/19

Good morning!

It is a beautiful (though somewhat chilly) SUNNY day out there.  So sunny, that I had to close the blinds by my desk due to the glare on my monitor. 

Last Friday when I got home early I went through my stitching stash and picked a new piece to work on.  Those WIP's were just not calling me (as I said before, there's a reason why they are WIP's - lol).  Rather than go with one of the HUGE samplers I had listed, I chose a smaller piece to get back into stitching.

This is Fox Forest by Work Basket.  I like foxes and, in fact, one ran across our yard just the other day.  I do NOT like hearing them "bark" in the night, but I do enjoy seeing them.  I thought this would be a cute piece for a child's room (NO, Mailing is NOT pregnant and they are not planning any kids in the near future...but I'll be ready should that occur - lol).  My very teeny start:

The linen was unmarked in my stash, but I believe it is 32 count and I am stitching over two - much easier than 40 count.

On the reading front, I am just about finished with The Library Book (still reading slowly, but enjoying very much).  Next up are two books from Overdrive:  Tell the Wolves I'm Home and Love and Ruin - I should be able to start one of them tonight or tomorrow.

Fletch and I started watching Trapped but that has turned out to be way too gruesome for me - bad dreams, etc.  So, we switched the other night to Reign and are enjoying that - good acting and new faces to us. 

After Valerie talked about all the greenery coming up in her yard I decided to take a look around - our lilac bush does have buds (leaf buds, not flower buds) and the wisteria has buds that are looking purplish.  The daffodil leaves are up and some tulip leaves and the crocus have begun to bloom.  Tomorrow is the first day of Spring!

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Teeny Needle Tuesday

Hello All,

A quick post as this morning is turning out to be quite busy!  The wind seems to have (somewhat) died down (though I was woken in the night by the roar outside our bedroom windows). and the sun is out!

Already we are once again at TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday).  Some, but not much, progress has been made - a couple of leaves and a star shaped motif.

I've been struggling with this and have been complaining to Fletch that the light in the kitchen (where I stitch) is not as bright as it used to be.  We have LED bulbs in the light fixtures and when Fletch first put them in the room was bright - brilliant really.  Now, not so much.  Well, he finally took the globe off the overhead fixture and discovered one of the LED bulbs was out.  Duh!  The good news is that more are being shipped to us from our friends at Amazon and they should be here by tomorrow or Thursday.  Let there be light!!

Closing went off well and fast for Colin & Mailing who are now happy home owners.  Not only did their realtor give them a gift, but the sellers also gave them some gifts which is just so sweet.  I'm happy for them that it has been a good/positive experience.

And that's it for me - gotta run.  Have a great day.

Teeny Needle Tuesday (With a Bit of Yarn Thrown In)

The Spring temps are continuing for a little bit – 40 degrees this a.m. and will get into the 60’s today.  I drive past a very pretty horse farm on my way to work and this morning the horses were racing around the fields with their manes flying behind them.  Usually at this time of year they are standing huddled together wearing blankets.  Not this morning!  Tyg, to celebrate the warming trend, stayed out all night…but was waiting for me on the patio when I came down to have coffee this morning.

As you know, Dee has tempted me to get back to stitching and today is TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday).  I decided to pick one of my unfinished smalls to start with in the hopes that I will soon have a finished product.  I chose Penny Pumpkin by The Scarlet House:

I was drawn to this one for the border – love it.  When I picked it up last week I had already finished the border and the black basket.  Here is where I am today.

It feels good to get back to some stitching, but I’ll tell you, this one is SLOW going.  The fabric is 40 count and the color is Woodsmoke.  I love the linen, but my eyes have some trouble with darker fabrics…and small count.  Once finished, I will make it into a small pillow (or pin cushion) and throw it in with the others I have in an old wooden dough bowl.

There has also been yarn and knitting along with the stitching.

Yesterday the mail brought a little stash enhancement to me!  I fell for this skein of yarn that Vicki dyed and it is even more beautiful than I had thought (plus – a bonus pin!!).  I need to think of something special to make with this.  If you have not already seen her yarns, please check out Make.Do - she has some lovely choices and they sell out FAST.

Last night I knit a couple of rows on the sockhead cowl and then switched over to the Sunday Swing Socks.  The pattern calls for 3 repeats of the pattern on the leg (16 rows to the pattern), but I think I will make that 4 repeats (I usually knit 65 rows for the leg on my socks).  The pattern is still not showing up really well in my pictures, but I think once the sock is on my leg it will be visible.  Meanwhile, this shot gives you a good sense of the colors in the yarn.

I’ve brought the sockhead cowl to work today and am hoping to add a few rows at lunch.  I’ll work a bit more on the KAL socks tonight.

On the reading front, I finished “As Bright as Heaven” by Susan Meissner.  It was a good read and I give it 4 stars.  What a horrible time in Philadelphia at the beginning of WWI and the outbreak of the Spanish Influenza.  Yikes!!  I am now about a quarter of the way through “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.  So far it is ok – it reminds me a lot of another book (but I can’t remember the name of that one).

Hoping this finds you enjoying a lovely Tuesday morning!