Oldest UFO

Well, it's the last day of the month and I can't believe it, but I actually have a little progress to show. Not a huge amount, but it's much better than the nothing of the past five months.

Here is where I stopped 29 February 2012.

And here I am now, 31 August 2012.

I'm working on getting the left side to look like the right, then there is another flower in the middle. Above that but below the butterflies will be the alphabet and above the butterflies will be the personalization. And that will just finish the basic cross stitch and half cross stitch. I do love the pattern though.

Unusual Day Start

So, instead of sleeping in on this, my not-at-Sisters day, I was up at 6 and off to the hospital for just after 8 so my doctor could do a skin biopsy/mole removal. It wasn't complicated nor did it take very long, but I now have a medium sized bandaid on the left side of my neck that looks a little odd. And surprisingly, it hasn't hurt even after the local anesthetic wore off. I should get the results in 10 days to 2 weeks. My doctor is positive it's not cancerous, but since I've had cancer before, we never take that for granted. When my breast cancer was discovered, all the medical professionals had assured me it couldn't be a malignant tumour because it had none of the "markers". Now I assume nothing until verified!

Hopefully it will be a stitchy afternoon. I'm hoping to work on my oldest UFO for a bit before I go back to Ireland. I'm still working on the first colour to make the 'frame' of the country and it's a lot of counting and finger crossing and hoping that the stitches will meet where they're supposed to. A lot of rain coming down, so it's a good day for snuggling up with needle in hand and cats at feet!

And I almost forgot. Living in the ground floor suite of a house, I don't have a garden, but every May for my birthday my friend Cynthia puts 5 pots on my front steps, full of floral surprises. This year was no different, and all summer I've had pansies and other flowers, but look what is just blooming now.

Aren't they gorgeous? I particularly like the purple lilies and glads, but the tricolour orange glads are real eye catchers. I am so pleased.

Germany

And Germany is completed. Actually, I'm a bit late with this post as I finished it on the 23rd.

It's a Sue Hillis design, done on 28 count Cashel linen with DMC floss. It's the first of four, so on to Ireland!

August IHSW Done

I can't believe the weekend has come and gone so fast and I didn't get in very much stitching time - only a few hours on Sunday, but I'm pleased with what I got done. This is where I was with Germany on Friday night.

And here is Sunday night. Sorry about the different look for the fabric - Friday is natural light, Sunday is artificial light. Friday is the proper colour.

I just have to do the back stitching and it's done. And I've just now realized something - I think I need to remove the stitches that run down between the car and the pig and above the tractor. If I'm remembering correctly, that's the border between East and West Germany, which isn't there any more. Never thought about checking the chart date when I was stitching. Drat! I could have had some of the BS done!!

Looking forward to checking out everyone's blog to see how your weekend went.

I Stitched!

Waaahooooo, I put some stitches into Germay yesterday! Man on man, that felt good. It was only a couple of hours and I started to hurt a little so I stopped, but it was real stitching! Yes, Yes, YES.

And a good thing too as I signed up for IHSW not knowing for sure if I would be able to stitch or not. It's all good.

Check This Out!

Kathrin is doing a new 15 sided biscornu (that can also be done as a sampler) on her blog. This one has pulled-thread patterns. It will be lovely.

I almost have my left arm back. I still can't use it fully, but I can bend and straighten it with very little pain now. Just waiting to be able to close my fingers fully and I think my world will function again. Thank goodness for good friends, who have popped in and done all the things I cannot do one handed. I am blessed, truly. Looking forward to picking up my needle again - this makes 9 days with not a single stitch.

Out of Commission!

Somehow I've hurt my left arm - in the soft tissue near the elbow - and I'm one handed!! And it HURTS!! I can't put any pressure on my left hand/arm at all so I'm in a sling and living on Tylenol. And I don't have a clue what I did to cause this. AND I CAN'T STITCH!!! That's the worst part, even worse than not being able to get dressed - after all, isn't that why they invented housecoats? This makes day 5 of not putting a stitch in anything and I am NOT a happy camper. Can you see me pouting?

Very Pleased

I was working on Germany yesterday and wanted to backstitch the small bits that were stand alone shapes as I finished them and realized that there was no colour listed for a couple of things. So, I emailed Sue Hillis, the designer, and she got back to me in only a few hours. I am impressed with her - I've had to wait days and even weeks sometimes to get answers to questions I've emailed to some designers.