Nancy's Needle Notes: March 2013

Where has the year gone already? It's almost spring and I have lost the first 3 months! After my last post, I got the flu (yes, I had my shot) and it lasted a good 3 weeks. I missed a whole week of work which has never happened in my 30 years working there. I did recoup finally, just in time for a vacation! I'll talk about that later in case you're just here for the stitching!

First up, I finished the piece for my friend. I changed most of the colors to go with the darker material I picked out. She likes it and is finishing it in an old window frame & putting this into one of the panes.

Little House Needleworks - America Stitched on 32 ct Vintage Antique Almond

I still didn't have the ambition to put any more beads on my CdC, so it sits in my craft room crying, but I've been pretty good at ignoring it lately.

After I recouped from the flu I had to start something new! I joined a Mystic SAL that was to start March 1. I would be on vacation then, so I started a week or 2 early. I am tackling it differently than all my other Mystics I have done. I am only doing a 10 X10 row all the way across. When that row is done, I go to the next row. I'm doing that versus stitching where the colors take me. It does help with searching the pattern for the next symbol and so far it's working well. I do go a few stitches into the next row if I see that symbol has only one or two in the next one. Cuts down on confetti for the future. This is a picture of the finished pattern.

I am using 22 ct Aida with 2 strands. I tried using one, but that first corner with all the black...I just didn't like the coverage, so back to 2 strands. Here is the first row.

And here is the 2nd completed row. I did all this before I went on vacation on Feb 22. It's the most boring part of the pattern, I hope I will stick with this way of tackling it!

I took some stitching with me on vacation, but this is what I accomplished!! Whoop-de-do!! It must mean I had a great vacation though!! LOL

Here is what I did since I've been home this week.

Plum Street Samplers- Halloweenies on 36 ct Vintage Sand Dune

2 of my co-workers have "weenie dogs" when I saw the pattern, I knew I had to do it.....not once, but twice! So here is my first completed one. I changed most of the colors, the ones charted were way too similar. I'm not sure what they will do to finish them....or have me do something with it.
And since I only worked 2 days this week after returning from vacation (and realizing how fast the month was going) I decided I better "finish" the April cottage that I stitched last year for my calendar but never completed. So here is April all ready to hang in a few weeks.

Now on to the vacation! My husband reconnected with a friend he hadn't seen since 1974. They invited us to see where they live and vacation with them. I was a bit hesitant since I had only met them for 4 hours last summer when they came to visit. I have to say it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. They were great hosts and the similarities between the 2 are just eery. We have been married the same amount of years (30), have 2 kids, one boy, born first and the 2nd born a girl. (Both within a year of each other) They look similar, act similar, buy the same clothes, the wives have almost IDENTICAL wedding rings and so do the men. We all got along very well and plan on taking vacations with them again if at all possible. It's like they picked up their friendship right where it left off almost 40 years ago. They live in Flagstaff Arizona so we started there and then ended up in Mexico for 4 great days of sun and warmth. Did I mention we missed the biggest snow storm of the season in Michigan??? Yahoo!!! Here are some photos of the scenery and fun we had.