October 2016

As usual, my determination fails for me trying to post here regularly.  It has been a busy year, but that's really no excuse.  I just need to put it on my calendar and make time like I have to do with other things.
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I waited a long time to get the first model of the year.  During that time I tried a new rotation but that fell apart.
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I stitched a wedding sampler for my niece that turned out just perfectly!  I used the wedding colors and I got it framed in time to take to the wedding.  But I took it back home with me because they were headed out shortly after for their honeymoon.  I mailed it to them within the month and it arrived safely.  Now I'm just waiting for her to find a place to hang it in the house and send me a picture of it.
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I'm on the second model of the year and I'm nearly done with the center/main part of it.  I have two more rows to go before getting started on the border.  If I'm lucky I'll be able to get a lot of stitching done this weekend and get a good part knocked out of what remains.

I've gotten this far on Mermaid and stopped.  I thought I had what I wanted for beads and such but the "charm" I had wasn't a "bead" and I had to look for something else to support my vision of what I want this to look like when she's done.  Also, there's a TON of beading on this and beading is not exactly my favorite thing.

Here is my Mickey and Minnie balloon ride.  In this pic I have finished the first 3 pages of the chart.  Yes, it's huge!  It has a total of 16 pages.  I am still working on this one, slowly.

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I have finally started a Christmas ornament for an exchange that I participate in regularly, and I only have about a week to get it done before I have to mail it out.  Thankfully ornaments are small and this one is not solidly stitched so I should be on time.

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And last but not least I started a little kit I picked up.  It's a ship in a bottle for DH.  I don't normally do kits but it was small and cute.  I think I'm about halfway done.  There's a bit of confetti in the sails so it's slowing me down.  I just need to make myself pick it up again and work on it.  Part of the problem is that it's white on white.

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As for shopping, I mentioned last time that Stitch from Stash closed down.  I haven't been keeping track of my spending but I know it has been pretty small.  Most of my stash has been obtained from garage/estate sales.  I had one where I found a set of q-snaps and a couple others where I found some floss.  All in small quantities of course.  The rest has been floss obtained from Joann's either on sale or with coupons.  I picked up the JCS Halloween issue at our new WalMart.  The Ornament issue was sent by a friend.  Other than those I haven't gotten any new charts in some time.

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On the crochet front:  I am making mermaid tails for my daughter and granddaughters for Christmas.  I have one done and two to go.  I need to buy the yarn to do the colors I want for GD#1 and I need to find the yarn I already bought to start for my daughter.  I also need to dig through my yarn stash to find my scraps to make one for GD#1's birthday.  Apparently she was a bit jealous when her sister got one for her birthday (that my daughter asked me to make).  I don't mind.  I love crocheting and making blankets!