Hardanger Card of the Month

I haven't stitched anything hardanger for quite awhile. Since the Hardy Girls haven't been meeting since last year I guess I didn't have any motivation. That, and the fact that I have about a millions things on my stitching to do list. (No one knows what I'm talking about, do you?)

Jill called me one day because she had just received her Nordic Needle catalog and found their Hardanger Card of the Month Club. She is the one who first introduced me to hardanger a few years ago. She signed up and I decided to wait to see if I liked hers before I committed myself to another new project. She had January and February at one of our TANA meetings. I fell in love with them. They work up very quickly and are absolutely beautiful. The cards match the floss color and each month there is a different fiber. Each month I will receive a new card and project. It reminds me of the mystery sampler that Del and I did a few years back. I have no idea what each month's pattern will look like until it comes in the mail. I love good surprises.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

Another ongoing project is our trip around the world that Liz is taking us on for our monthly classes. March and April classes are Brazilian Embroidery. This was so much fun to do. I love the bullion knots. The cast on bullion knots remind me of needle tatting so it's fun as well. I had done bullion knots in the past but always got them knotted or too loose. I think these turned out quite well if I do say so myself.

Most of you will know what I'm talking about when we think of pieces we've worked on and have the memories that go with them. Not just the memories of learning new techniques or the amount of time we spent working on them. Most of us can remember what we were doing in our lives when we were stitching some particular pieces. The memory that I will have with this piece is working on it at the hospital while I sat with Jill while Larry was in the hospital. Becky came over during her lunch hour (or two) and stitched on hers.

Jill is such a very dear friend. I have so many wonderful memories with her but this is a difficult time. I hope that I can be there for her and give her the strength that she will need to keep her life going when his passes.

The Loss of a Pet

I woke up this morning to find my pet rat, Bella had died sometime this morning. I saw her around 1am when I gave her a treat. After I eat breakfast I always give her a piece of whatever it is I had, poptart, cereal, etc. When I went to give her breakfast this morning, I found her laying on the floor of her cage.
I know a lot of people think having a pet rat is strange. It's not like a puppy or a kitten. I never thought I'd have a rat as a pet either. My daughter used to have some of them and they were mean. She couldn't pet them or hold them without them biting her. The last one she had I took and kept because she got mad at it and was going to set it free. I felt sorry for it because it had been in a cage it's whole life and I didn't think it would survive on its own. I fed it and gave it water on a regular basis but when I had to clean the cage I had to put on extra strength, heavy-duty work gloves to take it out of the cage and then put it back in. It was terrifying to say the least.
Bella wasn't like that at all. I had gone to the animal shelter in Columbus with Phoebe and the girls to donate newspapers. Bella was in a cage with a bunch of her babies. Her name was Loretta then but nobody liked that name so I let Alyssa name her Bella. I'm sure if it was a boy she would've named it Edward. I went up to the cage to see the babies. Bella climbed up the side of the cage and just looked at me. I wouldn't call it love at first sight but it was kind of sweet in a twisted sort of way. The lady told me she was only $5 and that I could get a used cage for $10. I called Randy and told him I had a pet rat in a cage and was bringing it home. He's learned over the years to just go with it. It's usually better for him to just accept my strange behavior and be done with it.
Bella loved to be held. She would crawl all around my neck if we were walking together. If we sat on the couch she would just climb all over me. I would put her on the floor sometimes. At first I thought she'd run and hide and it would take me hours to catch her, but she never did that. She would venture off a little ways to explore and then hurry back to make sure I was still there.
She loved my furry bathrobe. Maybe it reminded her of her mommy. Just night before last I was holding her and she kept crawling down in the robe and just sitting there completely at peace.
I will miss her. She was a great pet, but more than that, a great friend who trusted me to care for her. I don't know how she died but I know she was happy living here with us.
Goodbye Bella.

When Life Gets Boring

I hear too many people compain that life gets boring. Sometimes boring is good. Too much excitement can be a bad thing. A week or so ago I was going to pick up Nick from school and head over to Hobby Lobby to use my Christmas gift card. Sounds ordinary, maybe even boring. This is ME we are talking about. Even walking down the stairs can be boring. In my house, you walk down the stairs to a landing and the door to the garage. Most people (not all people, meaning me, of course) walk down the entire flight of stairs to the landing, open the door and enter the garage. The important part is that one would walk down the ENTIRE flight of stairs to get to the landing. Not me. I had my hands full; purse, keys and a new cd to listen to while driving. I tried to step to the landing without walking down ALL of the steps. I fell and faceplanted into the wall, breaking my nose. Only me. I knew it was broken because I hit the wall hard and the only part of me that hit the wall was my nose. Blood was dripping all over the landing and my cell phone as I was calling Randy to pick up Nick and then take me to the ER. When I looked in the mirror there was also a major bump on the right side of my nose that wasn't there earlier. But, there was NO pain. Not until I got the ENT to have it straightened. The four pain shots, hurt. When the pain meds wore off, it hurt. When I got the ER I had to explain to the doctor that I did not slip outside on the ice like some people would. I don't need ice. Phoebe mentioned that for me to fall all I need is a little bit of forward movement. (Did I mention she's no longer in the will?) I hate photographs of myself even when I look my best but I thought I'd share a bit of my misfortune with you anyway.

This is taken while waiting for Randy to show up.
This was taken a few days later before I went to the ENT.

This is after the ENT fixed it.

This one is from yesterday. Bruises always look really bad just as they are getting better. I have gotten some stitching done. For some strange reason my family wouldn't let me drive, carry heavy objects or walk in the snow and ice.

This is a project that I've been working on for some time. I just put the finishing stitches in it yesterday. I'm heading off to Hobby Lobby to get the foam board to stretch it onto. (Wish me luck on this journey.)

End of the Year

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. Well, the only excuse I can give is the truth: I've been busy! My daughter and two granddaughters have moved back in. I enjoy have the little ones so close by and love them so much, but it is a lot of work and a big change. I don't have a lot of the quite time I had before to just sit at the computer, upload pics and post cute stories. I barely find time to stitch.
I also had a cold that lasted several days. Last weekend I went to Cedar Lakes in Ripley and took some great surface embroidery classes. The weather wasn't too bad but after the first night we woke up to snow and some car windows that were frozen shut. I also woke up that morning with a slight sore throat, but the chai that Jill brought was nice and warm and extremely soothing. That night, however, it broke out into a full-blown sinus, head cold. Sunday morning Becky went to the store for me and I took some liquid cold medicine. It took the edge off but I really felt horrible the rest of the day.
Sunday afternoon I left Ripley and was on my way to visit my sister, Brenda, in Dunbar. I was just about to her exit and she cancelled on me. Not sure why but I just headed on home. I got a little more than half-way there and the engine in my car died. We got it towed home and after having the mechanics look at it realized the whole engine needs to be replaced. Not a good thing to happen any time, but even worse just before the holidays. Guess it will be a light Christmas.
This weekend we had our TANA Christmas party on Saturday. It was totally amazing! The food was Italian and delicious. I think I got the best gift of the whole exchange. It was made by Rachel Craycraft. It was a beautiful basket and she had stitched a wonderful oval flower arrangement on it. Inside was a hardanger needlecase and an embroidered scissor case. Absolutely wonderful! I got my picture taken on Santa's lap which hasn't happened since I was just a toddler. The table favors Becky and Rick made were great, too.
After that party, I had to go to my niece's 17th birthday party. Pizza and cake make a great party as well.
Today, we went to church and listened to a guest speaker, Willard Willis. He writes books as well and told us today that he has been preaching and traveling for over 50 years. He does a great sermon. Afterwards we had a wondeful dinner. We are baptists so you'd have to just expect great food would be involved.
So, this evening we finally put up the tree and decorated. Emma just went to bed so Phoebe, Alyssa and I are going to attempt to make an edible gingerbread cake. It will surely not be as lovely as the one Marsha brought to the TANA party, but we will have fun nonetheless.
Sorry there aren't any photos with this post but I do have a lot of them to add and hope to do that soon.

Craft Fair Ideas

I went to the Boyd County Middle School Arts and Crafts Fair last weekend and jotted down several ideas for things I could do myself. This is just a practice piece but it's turning out nicely. I discovered some mistakes and ways to do things differently so the next one should be easier and quicker. (Let's hope.) I love Christmas and want to decorate using many hand-made projects. Of course cross-stitch is my favorite but some of those projects take more time. This project and the one in my last post work up fairly quickly. I have several more ideas and hope to get them started and finished soon.

Football

Are you ready for some football? I always am. I love watching Big Ben and the Steelers play. I didn't finish my Promise Piece this year and I didn't win a helping hand frame weight so I had to make my own. I found this fabric that I was planning on using for something else and it just caught my eye and the wheels started turning inside my little brain and...VOILA!...a frame weight.

I think even Ben would be proud of me. (Actually, he probably wouldn't give a s*&^ one way or the other but a girl can dream, huh?) Anyway, it holds the frame down as required and that is all that really matters anyway, isn't it?

I started working on some Christmas pieces as well. These aren't cross stitch related but they are hand-stitched anyways. I found these fabrics at Hobby Lobby and they just called out to me and desperately needed to be used in a project of some type. I think this works pretty well. I think Nick and his dad are going to work on making stained dowel rods with decorative end pieces for this and another project. Hope they finish them before the holidays.

Stitching Related Activity

I had so much fun last night with Debbie and Becky but I really got in trouble when I got home. Nick was asleep and Randy was about to go to bed so they were ok with the fact that I got home late. My friend, Bella (my pet rat) however, wasn't so happy. I usually feed her a yogurt treat around 9 and when I didn't get home until almost midnight she was a bit upset with me. Here's how the conversation went:

Jan: Well, hello Miss Bella. Are you ready for your night treat?

Bella: Yes. Where the h*** have you been?

J: I was out with the girls.

B: You were out with the girls until almost midnight?

J: Yes

B: Doing what?

J: I can't tell you. It's a surprise.

B: You have a surprise for ME?

J: No. It's a surprise for my stitching friends.

B: Then why can't you tell me?

J: Because you might tell someone.

B: You are such an idiot. I only talk to you and it's only in your mind.

J: Well, some of my friends might be as crazy as me and they might hear you.

B: (Good Lord) Alright Well give me a hint.

J: It is a Stitching Related Activity.

B: I probably could have guessed that much all by myself. Even with the mind a size of a rat, I had that much figured out. More info needed. And, why until almost midnight.

J: We went to Hobby Lobby first and then ate out at a Mexican restaurant.

B: Did you eat out just with Deb and Beck?

J: Yes.

B: Noone else?

J: Well, there were two very handsome men in dark blue uniforms from the police department but they ate alone. We just enjoyed the view. You know, men in uniforms.

B: Yes, I know what you mean. Go ahead.

J: OK After we ate we went to Debbie's and started working.

B: How do I know you were really working at Debbie's?

J: We took pictures.

B: Can I see them?

J: Sure thing. Here's the first one:

B: That doesn't even look like you and if I do say so myself, that does not look like a Stitching Related Activity.

J: Well, it is me and it is a SRA.

B: Prove it.

J: OK. Here's another picture:

B: OK. That sure does look like you but it still doesn't look like a SRA. What does hammering into a piece of plastic have to do with stitching?

J: Well, stitching involves placing thread into holes in the fabric. Maybe we are stitching something through the holes I'm making.

B: I don't believe that at all. Where's my yogurt snack?

J: Here you go. Can I go to bed now?

B: No. I still don't believe you were stitching and still don't believe you were with Becky and Debbie. Do you have more photos?

J: Of course. Here's another one:
B: That is Becky alright. She's so pretty. What is she doing? Is that rice?

J: Yes, that is rice. I can't tell you what she's doing.

B: Right the crazy mind reading thing. You aren't doing very good at convincing me you were actually doing something productive instead of coming home on time and feeding me my snack, which was delicious by the way. Thank you very much.

J: You are welcome. Would you like to see another picture?

B: Of course I would. I have a feeling there is much more to the story than this.

J: OK. Here's one of Debbie:

B: That's not Debbie. She's taller than that.

J: OOPS. Well, that's me of course. I pushed the wrong button.

B: And what is that you are drinking at the SRA?

J: Uhh, root beer.

B: You expect me to believe that? I wasn't born yesterday. That looks like beer.

J: But you know me better than that.

B: You didn't come home until midnight and you want me to think you were just drinking root beer, hanging out with the girls, eating Mexican food?

J: Yes.

B: I still don't believe you. Where's the photo of Debbie?

J: Here it is:

B: She looks like she's as tired of listening to your story as I am.

J: She's tired because we were working late and I kept taking pictures. See how hard she's working?

B: Yes, and she actually looks like she is stitching.

J: She is. We were.

B: It's getting very late and I'm very tired. Do you have any more photos?

J: No. No, I don't. Not right now.

B: You DO! Show me!!!

J: I can't. After we give them away, then I'll show you more photos. I promise. Can I go to bed now?

B: Yes. But, remember, I am nocturnal. If I find a way out of this cage tonight, your secrets will be revealed to me!

J: You are psycho.

B: You are the one talking to a rat.

J: You are right. Good night.