Happy New Year......Again!

**Wipes away the dust**  Helloooooo?  I've no clue if anyone is going to see this, but if you do...

Due to a number of health problems, my plans for last year didn't go as I intended....best laid plans etc. I had periods of good health however, I felt a little intimidated by the number of posts I'd missed and generally felt overwhelmed.  My plan for this year is.......absolutely no plan!  I'll post randomly and read posts from you guys as I can.

I've had to abandon some of my original WIP's, hopefully just temporarily, so I'll update the tabs to show what I am actually working on.  As our family and friends seem to have had a bit of a baby boom last year, it's largely birth samplers, with other projects thrown in to keep me interested!

I very much hope that my lovely blogging friends are doing well and I look forward to reconnecting with you all when I can!

Happy New Year

I'd love to wish all my blogging friends a very Happy New Year!

I haven't completely disappeared, I've just been taking my time to recover.  I experienced what is known as a Functional Stroke (basically the same neurological damage, but no identifiable cause), so I'm having lots of therapy to try and regain proper use of my left side, including lots of physiotherapy and also speech therapy to help with that too.

I'm still only able to use a computer screen for a limited amount at a time, but I'm really hoping to be able to keep up with reading everyone's blog posts!  I figured, New Year would be a good time to start, there is no way I could have caught up with 6 month's worth of posts!  I might not be able to comment on all posts, but I'll try :)

I have been stitching a little too, it's much slower than before, but anything is better than nothing and I even managed a finish!

It's Candy Cane Christmas by Ursula Michael,  stitched on 14 ct DMC Marbled Blue Aida.  

Anyway, that's enough from me for now, I hope to be able to blog much more this year, but it's enough to just become part of a community that I have truly missed.

Short update!

As much as I would love to write you a hugely detailed post with lots of pretty pictures, I'm sorry, this is a very short one!  I just wanted to let you know, I haven't disappeared, but I have been very ill. 

Annoyingly I was admitted to hospital with having a small stroke.  It's affected my co-ordination, my ability to say some words, given me light-headedness, painful headaches and the feeling of "pressure" at the back of my head.  I can't stitch at present, but I'm hopeful that I will be able to very soon and doing anything for any length of time causes the pain and pressure to increase.  

They are still investigating the exact cause of it, once I receive proper treatment I will hopefully be back with you and commenting on your blogs again!

Hope you guys stay well and enjoy the stitching time!  Make the most of each day as you never know what's around the corner!

Finished stuff!

First off, I must apologise for missing my YOTA post, I didn't stitch anything of them so honestly, nothing to see here!

You may remember me mentioning a bit ago that I'd been stitching something as a gift, well it's now been received so I can share photo's!

It's a kit from Anchor called Together Forever designed by Margaret Sherry:

It's stitched on 32ct Fairy Forest Opalescent Murano from Crafty Kitten.  I took a picture prior to personalising as they preferred for their detail not to be shared online and of course I respected that. It was framed in a modern, gloss white frame with an off-white mat.  I did find it hard to get through as it wasn't my choice and although it's cute, the fact it was for someone else put that "obligation" on me to HAVE to stitch it.  I am very pleased with the result and the fabric looked amazing and was wonderful to stitch on.

My next finish is my "Go-Bag" stitching.  I've not shared any pictures of this before mainly because it generally in my bag ready to go!  It's a nice easy to stitch design that is just 1 solid colour, so perfect for when you are out of the house!

Sorry for the slightly creased picture!  This was a free design from Love Thy Thread, who sadly are no longer trading.  It's stitched on a piece of 28ct fabric from Colour Cascades Fabric that has gold opal threads running through it.  It'a actually a little more red than the picture shows.  I can't tell you what the colour is as it was an oddment from one of the month sales from the FaceBook group.

I don't think I've shared a picture of my framed Pyramid with you all yet.  I've had it back for a while, just haven't managed to get a good picture of it, however I'll share one of the ones we've taken of it!

I hope this gives you some idea of how it looks.  We still haven't decided where to hang it, but hopefully once it's on the wall it'll be easier to photograph!

Also, my most recent progress photo of The Three Fates:

I was going to switch away from this but couldn't decide what to switch to.  hubby suggested using a random number generator and picking that way, so I did....seemed the Fates have conspired and are insisting I continue as this was the number that came up!  I think I'll switch back to the left side and continue down, maybe I'll reach the bottom corner, although that may be slightly too ambitious!

Finally, I want to thank you all for your lovely well wishes; I am feeling better now (well at least as good as I get!) and Charlie is doing well too.  Lets hope we continue feeling well until our little trip away at the start of June!

IHSW - April

Thank you for all your kind messages about my health after my last post, I was on the mend but sadly had a bit of a setback last week and ended up stuck in bed for a few days.  I am recovering, I'm just having to take it very easy and go slowly....something I tend to struggle with!

Also, poor little Charlie, our American Cocker Spaniel has been under the weather too, He's getting old now and every time a Vet visit is required I always worry, thankfully it's not anything too serious, just rest and time, so we are chilling out together!

As a lot of you may know, it was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend this weekend and I actually managed to get a bit of stitching done, thanks to my forced "taking it easy"!

On Saturday, I dug out Candy Cane Christmas by Ursula Michael that I've been stitching along with Linda and Sasha (check the Saturday SAL tab out for more info).

March

April

I know Linda has been taking part in various challenges so I've not stitched on it every week as I don't want to get too far ahead, it's hard as it's such a fun stitch!

Then Sunday I carried on with stitching The Three Fates - Jasmine Becket-Griffith (HAED).

Friday

Monday

Not masses done, but at least enough to see a little difference :)  I'm going to take it off the QSnaps later so I'll take a full photo then.

Overall I'm really thrilled with the progress and it's been a good weekend!

Thank you to the new followers, I hope that enjoy reading and looking at the pictures.  Please feel free to leave comments, it's always great to hear from people!  I'm sneaking ever closer to the 100 mark, once I hit it, I think it might be time for another give-away!

Pickle Barrel Designs!

Just a quick information post (so no need to comment!) to help raise awareness of the lovely lady of Pickle Barrel Designs.  Nancy's had her designs featured in several magazines and is currently giving away a freebie.  If you aren't aware of her designs and her beautiful blog, please stop by and give her a look...and don't forget to collect your freebie too!

Where did March go? YOTA post!

I don't know what happened but I seem to have missed March!  I've spent pretty much the whole month being under the weather with Sinusitis and generally feeling pretty grotty :(

Due to the afore mentioned grottiness, stitching has been very slow.  I've stitched a little on The Three Fates, but not enough to show any progress as yet.  I have managed to get my obligation stitching done....HUGE YAY!  I had no idea how hard it was to motivate myself to stitch something that wasn't my choice....I don't think I could be a model stitcher!  I can't show you a picture of it at present as the recipient hasn't got it yet (I only completed it yesterday).

I have decided to add Dirt and Glitter to the YOTA SAL (if you are not familiar with YOTA check out Pull The Other Thread).  She's not had any time spent on her for some time and I wanted to try and get some more stitching time on her.

March 2014

April 2015

Not loads done, but some progress and that's the main thing!

I feel such a sense of freedom now the obligation stitching is done and I can finally catch up on some of the SAL's that have been left behind.  I've got quite a few WIP's on the go and being able to get some of them completed would be good.  I also have fallen behind on blog reading so catching up might take some time, but I'll get there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday SAL & YOTA - March

I hope everyone is doing well and managing to get some stitchy time in!  I figured I'd squish 2 SAL updates into 1 post and hopefully save you a little time :)

We'll go with Saturday SAL first, this is the one that is organised by Linda (details on the tab at the top of the page)

February

7th March 

This is such a fun stitch and I love working on it.  I missed last week as I'm still concerned about getting too far ahead of Linda, who is continuing the challenge for Debbie but it's really hard when I love it so much!

Now for the YOTA SAL organised by Pull The Other Thread:















It's very slow going and if you look REALLY hard, you might spot the bit of stitching I did! I've decided to add another couple of my WIP's that have been unloved for a while to the YOTA SAL so that it gives me a bit of variety.  There's nothing worse than trying to force yourself to work on something you really don't feel like stitching so a little flexibility is not a bad thing.

As some of you may know, very sadly, Neil from Eclectic Bloke Designs passed away after losing his battle with cancer.  I didn't know him personally, however I know that some of you guys did and my thoughts are with his partner, family and friends.

Neil's passing has reminded me that life is too short to worry and stress over my stitching.  I had got myself workd up about the number of WIP;s I had and pushing myself into a rotation to make sure certain projects got stitched.  As stated above, I'm allowing myself much more flexibility, it's a hobby, enjoy it.  Life is precious and the time and energy I spend stressing could be better spent.  I'm aiming to have much more of a "go with the flow" approach and see how I feel!

Back at it.....

First off...I'd like to say a big hello and welcome to the new followers!  If I reach 100 I think it may be time for another giveaway to celebrate!

I've finally gotten back to stitching and I've a few updates to share!  I picked up Mini Starlight - Linda Ravenscroft (HAED).  It's been a long while and she's been a bit neglected but this year she's going to get a bit of love!

September 2014

February 2015

Not loads done, but a little progress and anything is a step towards that finishing line.

The Three Fates - Jasmine Becket-Griffith has also been out to play:

October 2014

February 2015

Last up, I've not been stitching on the Saturday SAL as there have been the "Crazy Challenges" in tribute to Debbie, who very sadly passed away last year.  However, I caved last weekend and pulled out Candy Cane Christmas!

December 2014

February 2015

I've dropped off Pyramid 4 with the framer so hopefully I should have it back in the next couple of weeks.  I really love the frame we've gone with and I really hope it work well.  To say I'm nervous leaving my stitching with a framer I've not used before would be an understatement, however we chatted and I'm confident that he will do a good job!  I can't wait to be able to share it with you!

YOTA - February

My post is a little late, I finally got my PC upgraded so it's taken a while to sort it out and install all the stuff I had on my previous.  I'm still not quite there, but it's definitely on the way!

Now, about my YOTA project, turns out I've "borrowed" a fair amount of the threads to use in other projects, which I completely forgot.  I'm now waiting on a fairly large thread order to arrive so that I can get a bit of stitching done!

I would also like to say a huge thank you to all the people who left such nice comments about my finish of Pyramid 4.  I admit, my stitchy bug went wandering once it was done, but it's slowly coming back and I've been doing a little bit.