Friday, March 1, 2013

An All-In-One Post (it's a biggie!)


 

This is becoming a bit of a habit. I've been a less than reliable blogger. Sorry.

In my defense, we had another death in the family in February. We suddenly and unexpectedly lost my uncle. We had family come in from out of state, for whom we were entertaining for a couple of days. In that same time frame I got terribly sick. (again!!)

I apologize for whining. It was just a tough month.

So here I am with a huge post. I will cover not only my February WIPocalypse update; not only my end-of-month Theme-a-Licious wrap up; but, I've also remembered that it is Friday, and you are overdue for your hunk.

Let's see...Where to start?

WIPocalypse
The themes for Feb. were Little House Needleworks, Love/Family, and white and red colors.

I found and started a new project that would fit all the categories of the theme. (Don't expect that to happen often!) I started stitching LHN's Baked Goods. I love baking pies for my family at the holidays. This reminds me of that. It does have the colors of white and red in it. The red that was called for was GAST Mulberry. The skein of Mulberry that I got, though, was very brown and has almost no red in it. The next time I'm at my LNS, I will pick a different color that I like better.


In January I started my Joan Elliott Diary SAL. This is how far I got on the January piece.




And this is how far I got on my February piece.....

[  ]

Yes, it is supposed to be blank. I never got to start Feb., so on to March I go.


I allowed myself another new start. (So naughty!) I did the first bottle of Ink Circles' "99." This piece is for my dear hubby. He really has been supportive with my stitching, even though I tend to make him sound grumpy. He even turns a blind eye to my stashing addiction. (mostly) I wanted him to see me start on something just for him. I changed the shelf color from the charted solid mauve to a pretty wood-colored overydyed cotton. There will be more to the shelves than just one row of stitches. That's all I got to before starting the Blue Moon beer bottle.





I have been working really hard on Laura's band sampler round robin piece. It is sucking the life out of me! The problem is that the sections ended up side-by-side (long story) and quite wide. Each section seemed to get larger and larger as each stitcher got more adventurous in the Celtic theme. Dear, sweet Catherine, who did the section to the right, was so inspired that she created an absolutely enormous section. Normally that wouldn't affect me at all, but since I had to stitch across from her, and because I am the last stitcher, I felt that my section needs to be the same size as hers to keep it symmetrical. Gaaaaaaa! This thing is eating my mojo.





How about some entries for Theme-a-Licious?

The theme this month was:
Figural February: Who are the people in your neighborhood...your WIP neighborhood, that is? Give your people-populated projects some face time this month.


Firstly, I posted last month that I finally received my Mira round robin back, with Lavender started in the wrong spot. I ripped out the offending stitches and re-stitched her in the correct position. I will send this on to Julie to work on Sweet Pea shortly. When I get it back from her, I will bead everything and call this one done!






I had wanted to get at least another 300 stitches done on Bellydancer No. 1. I didn't get quite that far. Almost 200 done in a couple of hours, but it doesn't look like much.

Before
After   










I had intended to stitch a step or two of my exceedingly neglected Passione Ricamo SAL. I didn't get to it at all. I blame Catherine of the uber-large band. :-b (If you're reading this, Cat, I'm just teasing.)

The theme for March is:
March Madness: Work on something different every day...it's madness...of the funnest possible kind.


Honestly, that's not going to happen. I have too many obligation stitches to finish. Once I get through those, though, I might jump around a bit to some WIPs that have been neglected. I may even make a new start or two, just because I'm nuts that way.

Now, what you've all been waiting for...HUNKY FRIDAY!

Again, I'm sharing some special requests. Today I have John Cena for your entertainment. I much prefer Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson over this guy, but to each her/his own, right? ;-)





Oops. How did that get in here?




If you got all the way to the end of this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink post, thanks for sticking it out!

Until next time...
*hugs and stitches*

~Karen

10 comments:

Lisa said...

Some great stitching, hope you have a better month in March :-)

cucki said...

Sweet stitching..
Sending you love x

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear that Feb. was such a tough month for you. It's behind you now and I am routing for a fantastic March and rest of year for you! Love all of your WIP's. The JE Diary piece looks wonderful. Love the colors. You really have a lot going on, don't you? When your life settles a little, I would still like to get together and get a PC stitch lesson from you. Have a great weekend and may your needles be stitching :)

Miamina said...

Sorry to hear of your loss and a difficult month.

Your projects look amazing and I'm sure no one thinks bad of you starting a new one :P Sometimes it's just what we need!

I think that band sampler is coming on really well despite it being a pain.

The Mira RR also looks stunning and once it's beaded will just be amazing.

Sending love and hugs your way xx

Kasey said...

I sure hope that your mojo returns for March!! Everything looks great!

Terri said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I like The Rock too! :-)

Hope things get better for you and I enjoyed seeing your stitching progress.

Susan said...

Sorry to hear of your family's loss. WOW, you had a busy stitching month. The hunkies that you've posted this month, give you a pass on the stitching posts. 8-)

Andie said...

Nah you can keep him too :D Although that last pic is cute :D

All your wips look great and the band sampler is really pretty even if it is being nasty :(

*hugs*

SoCal Debbie said...

What a great all-in-one blog post! I'm sorry you had to redo parts of your RR. 99 looks like a great chart. My PR Fairy is also "exceedingly neglected."

geeky Heather said...

ROTFLOL, is that a baby goat he's holding??? Too rough and tumble for a kitten, I guess. =P

You made some awesome progress in February!!!