A Little Progress

Not a lot of crafting time as I've been running around getting my neglected business stuff caught up. But my various needles haven't been totally idle.

Dragon 8 of The 12 Dragonlets of 2012 (Dragon Dreams) is done (this is a better shot of the fabric colour than #9)

and I made some nice progress on Dragon 9.

A little progress with my knitting as well. I'm starting outfits for doll #3. The dress

which is knit but not sewn yet - I'm waiting for the other parts of the outfit. I'm really liking how the picot edge of this dress turned out, but what a pain to knit! And the panties.

Then there is a pair of white and green booties and a green hooded cape.

And Snowy insists on being his usual helpful self! Apparently sleeping ON me is better than sleeping BESIDE me.

Catchig Up

It's been a while, but health issues seem to be resolved, energy levels are up and I think I'm back to normal. So, hopefully, this will be the start of much more regular posting.

So, I've finished outfit #3 for doll #2

and the blanket.

I have been working on my 12 Dragonlets, although I am a little behind for my Christmas Ornie SAL.

Number 6

and number 7

and number 8, done up to the back stitching.

Here's the whole set so far.

The other thing that has gotten some time is the Great Blue Heron. He's gone from here

to here.

I was planning to leave the one over one stitching until the end, but once I got the head finished, I couldn't stand the empty hole where the eye should be. So I filled it in and I'm much more comfortable. Silly mind!

I'm Back! Well, Sort Of.

It's been so long since I've posted - I've missed you all. The health issues are being resolved, but it may be a while before the energy levels are back to normal. Meh!

I have been doing some stitching and knitting, more of the latter than the former, but I thought I would get you caught up.

I was knitting some outfits for a little doll (5") and I think I had finished the first one.

Here is #2

and #3

with blanket.

I gave this set to my Seniors' Centre as a raffle for our Spring Tea and it was very popular, but now all the seniors who have young granddaughters want me to knit outfits for them!

So here is set 2, with a smiling doll instead of a pouty one. Outfit #1

and #2.

There is still a bunting bag and a blanket to go for this set.

I've been pretty much keeping up with my Christmas Ornie SAL 2017, so it looks like this,

12 Dragonlets of 2012 by Dragon Dreams Inc. I will stitch #6 on this row - you can see my start - and then do #7-10 on the next row, then #11 & 12 on the next row, centred and hopefully it will have a Christmas tree shape.

The only other piece I have worked on at all has been my heron. What it will look like eventually,

where I was the last time I posted,

and now.

Much better fabric colour on the second picture. The eye is done 1 over 1 along with the dragonfly, so I will do them at the end.

Valentine Blog Hop

It's Sweethearts' Day! A day of hearts, flowers, chocolates and lots of love.

And thanks to our blog hop master Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, we each have a Stitching Sweetheart and a lovely piece of cross stitch to show off. If you hop over to Jo's blog you should see a list of all the participants so you can wander around, find your stitching and admire everyone else's work.

This is the piece I have to share and I think it's adorable. Please, if this is yours, let me know in the comments. Was there a particular reason you picked this pattern?

WIP Wednesday 1 February 2017

Eek! It's February! How did that happen?

Not a lot of craft time this week, but a couple of things to show. Last week the doll outfit was here,

this week it's complete. I tried to photograph her in front of a ruler to show small she is - only about 5.5 inches - but it's very hard to see.

At the beginning of January the Great Blue Heron (Crossed Wings) was here,

now it's here.

Fabric colour is much better in the top photo.

And I got some stitches in this month's Christmas ornament for the SAL.

My apologies, it's a terrible picture.

Things Are Happening!

As usual, things are happening in blogland. So, just in case you've missed them, here are some events.

Kaye at Kitten Stitching is organising an Easter Exchange, very simple and straightforward. Check out the details and join in the fun here

And there are a number of giveaways on the go.

Kaye is doing one of these as well. You have until February 5 to check it out and put your name down.

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler is having a Primitive Floss giveaway that closes February 15.

Sarah at Sarah In Stitches is having a blogoversary giveaway to celebrate 5 years. Check it out here - you have until the end of February to enter.

Have fun everyone, and if you enter, Good Luck!

WIP Wednesday 25 January 2017

Sorry about missing last week, but I hadn't done any needlework at all, not one X, one purl or one knit plus I was feeling miserable.. However, it's a better day today.

Last post, I had just finished knitting the doll's booties

And here she is in her finery.

She still needs her hat which I hope to do this week.

Retirement is beaded! Gone from here

to here.

Neither picture shows the colour properly - its DMC equivalent is 501. I'm hoping to talk my craft partner Cynthia into helping me make a wall hanging out of it and get it to the recipient ASAP.

I belong to a Christmas Ornament SAL hosted by the lovely Kaye at Kitten Stitching (who, by the way, is having a giveaway at the moment) and I finished my January design.

This is from Dragon Dreams' "12 Dragonlets of 2012", 2 over 2 on 28 count fabric from Silkweavers. The colour is good in this picture, but the gold sparkle in the fabric is not showing up well. If you're interested in checking out the whole set, they are on Facebook page Dragon Dreams Inc.

WIP Wednesday 11 January 2017

I'm running late - it's a little after 11 p.m. so I better get on with it.

Not a lot done on the crafting front, but Retirement Means has gone from here

to here.

It's done, except I've decided to do beads instead of French knots so have to wait for them to arrive. I had thought I was done a bit earlier, but as I was looking it over I realised I had missed the second E in Retirement, so had to frog and redo. I was not happy with me at that point.

The doll outfit went from here

to here, front

and back

plus booties that need to be sewn up.

Then a hat with a bow and outfit #1 will be done.

Thank you everyone for your kind words about my friend's husband. He had open heart surgery on Monday where a planned double bypass became a quadruple on the operating table. Surgery went fine, but he reacted badly as he started to wake up and they had to heavily sedate him to control heart and blood pressure. Today he is improving steadily and hopes to be out of cardiac ICU either tomorrow or Friday.

WIP Wednesday 4 January 2017

I am still not used to writing 2017 so I must pay close attention. And welcome to the first WIP Wednesday post of the New Year. So lets get going.

Retirement Means got a little attention going from here

to here.

Looking forward to her head and face being more defined.

The Great Blue Heron got just enough attention that I could say I started, going from a blank piece of fabric to this.

It's the very top of his head.

And Stormy got the same minimal start.

It's the uppermost leaf on the left.

Nothing like starting with Krenik!

And I did get in some knitting time, from here

to here.

I need to sew up the skirt, add 2 tiny buttons and sew in the ends. It does fit the doll (first thing I checked after I cast off) so hopefully next week you will see her wearing it with either the matching hat or panties or, deep breath, maybe both.

My oldest UFO didn't get touched.

I had hoped to do more, but my craft partner/best friend's husband had a heart attack around supper time New Year's Eve and another one around 3 a.m. New Year's Day. He and Cynthia (thank goodness there was room for her) were med-evacced to Vancouver, St. Paul's Hospital, where he is being fast tracked for open heart surgery as he has several blocked arteries. Needless to say I am worried about them both and feeling so frustrated and helpless as they are 500 miles away by air, double that by road. Any crafting for the next little while will be something that doesn't take concentration.