Lady of Shalott progress pic

I've been making pretty good progress on this. It's fairly easy to tote around the house. Logan's letting me stitch while he plays with his toys, so I can stitch while looking after him now.

I plan to join a stitch-along in January with Teresa Wentzler's Legends of the Spellcasters and then Legends of the Dragons. If you're interested, check out the TWBB.

Sinus surgery: Since I've had 10 sinus infections in 10 months, the ENT ordered a CT scan and then determined I need surgery to clear out my sinuses and fix my deviated septum. I'll be having it right after Christmas, which means my birthday on December 31 might be spent recovering. Oh well, it's not like I was looking forward to turning 40!

Lady of Shalott progress pic

Not the greatest picture, but it shows my progress on Teresa Wentzler's Lady of Shalott. Progress has been slow because there are a lot of color changes and I haven't been using my stand.

I'm going to try to take a picture of all my needlerolls, but I need a bigger basket first.

Sick again: This is the 10th sinus infection in 10 months, so the doctor has referred me to an ENT. I really hope he can fix this without having to cut me. A few years ago I had a doctor comment that he was surprised I didn't get sick more often and they could scrape out my sinuses. I don't think I'd be as quick to say no now, but I still wouldn't be eager.

Last two Sweetheart Tree needlerolls done

I finally got the last bit of ribbon I needed to finish up these last two needlerolls (Violet Bouquet and Sweetheart). I am so happy to have these all done. I started the series at the beginning of 2008. It feels like I've been working on them a lot longer than that.

Now I've been working on the Spirit of Snow Angel by Brooke Nolan, but I'm having second thoughts about the perforated paper. I've already ripped a square out when trying to tuck a tail in (fixed it, though). I'm wondering how long this paper's going to last. I don't need it to last hundreds of years, but just through my lifetime would be nice. The angels are a fair amount of work and money, so I want them to be around for a while. The paper's also taking a bit of bending with all the stitching, Kreiniks, and beading. I could switch to fabric, but then I like the paper-doll quality of the pieces. Hm.

As you may have heard, TW Designworks has closed. This makes me very sad since Teresa Wentzler is my favorite designer. I still have lots of her designs to stitch, but there won't be any new pieces, not even Illuminata, which was promising to be something spectacular. This economy really sucks.

Halloween exchange received

Chris sent a beautiful Just Nan piece for the HoE Halloween exchange, plus a whole bunch of goodies. The piece is Fraidy Frog from the Sept./Oct. issue of Just Cross Stitch. She finished it as a really cute tin and did an excellent job with it. It's one I probably would have stitched for myself eventually, and now I don't have to!

She also sent the chart and a frame for Moon Riders. I've admired this chart for a while. She also sent some orange TicTacs, but they inexplicably disappeared. They are my favorite, so they didn't last long. They remind me of baby aspirin from when I was a kid. Yes, I liked them!

Not much stitching going on lately, which is so unusual for me. I pulled out Skeleton Crew and hope to put in a few stitches. I noticed the fabric's gotten warped, undoubtedly from my Qsnaps last time I worked on it. The Wichelt fabric is so loosely woven that the strands move around a lot. Bleh. I hope I can get the fabric back into shape. It's not motivating me to stitch.

Sick, sick, and more sick: We've all had a few rounds of illnesses lately. The latest one is Logan's pink eye, which had been going around daycare. The drops the doctor gave him yesterday have really helped. I'm hoping the rest of us don't get it.

Finishing of Gray Hare

This morning I put the bow on a second pinkeep, My First Gray Hare by 4 My Boys. Let's see what other items I can pull out to finish up.

Finishing of Stitchie Witchie

I completed the finishing of Stitchie Witchie by Brooke Nolan as a rather large pinkeep. I used some fabric and ribbon that I received in an exchange too!

Remember Zelda's Fancy Hat I was selling in a charity auction at work? It sold for $26, and the minimum bid was $25. Rather disappointing.

I'm still searching for the right colors of ribbon to finish the needlerolls. So far Wal-Mart, Joann's, and Hobby Lobby have not had what I'm looking for. I even looked online and haven't had any luck yet.

Almost finished with all the needlerolls!

I haven't had much time to myself recently(my mom's away on a trip, and Matt's been studying nonstop), but I did get a little time to work on these needlerolls here and there. I just have two left to finish up. I'm missing some 1/8-inch ribbon in colors 503 and 3041/3042. I'll have to check around for them. Then I can say I've finally finished this series of Sweetheart Tree needlerolls! What an effort it was. I also need to find a bigger basket for my needlerolls. (The rest of the series is on my Sweetheart Tree page.)

I've been more in the mood for finishing than stitching lately anyway (very strange for me). I have a few other pieces I'd like to finish off as pinkeeps. Stay tuned.

In other news, my Zelda's Fancy Hat is about to go up on auction for my work's charity event. We set a minimum bid of $25. I've already had one person tell me she'll bid on it. We'll see how high it goes! I'm very excited.