Poor little neglected blog :( **picture heavy**

I knew I hadn't posted for a while, but I hadn't realized quite how long it had been.  After I finished Mill HiIl's Winter Wonderland, I whipped up a freebie by Aury for the Bride's Tree SAL.  THEN I started stitching on Home of a Needleworker (Too!), and it was like starting a new relationship.  It was all I could think about, I didn't want to spend time doing anything else, and (of course) I had to change it (just like a man :p ), and I became a bit obsessed until I was done.  By then, I was on a stitchy roll and moved on to one thing after another.  I thought about blogging, but the needle and floss kept me hooked.  So, here we are a more than a month since my last post, and I have a lot of new stitchy finishes to show, as well as a couple more stragglers from 2009 that I have unearthed since last time.  Here we go!

Mill Hill Winter Wonderland

As charted with floss, beads, buttons, and perforated paper from kit, Shadowbox frame from Ikea

Aury's Be My Valentine Quaker Style

40 ct LL fawn, DMC 815

LHN Home of a Needleworker (Too!)

40 ct LL vintage light exemplar - substituted GAST Brandy for house and thread on spool, CC Weeping Willow for swirls at bottom, the rest as charted.

The wire broke on my first attempt at a beaded fob while I was stitching Home of a  Needleworker, so I broke out the graph paper and "designed" this fob to fit a scrap of leftover linen.

"My Snips" fob

40 ct LL vintage light exemplar, HDF, filled with rice

Photographed on top of my current WIP, Sandra Cozzolino's Summer Blessings, which had been lanquishing as a UFO since 2008.  I am determined that I will finish it, but it might not be this year.  I'm not loving it.  It is in serious danger of going back into exile, as the siren songs of new projects call to me.

Blackberry Jam was another UFO.  I got bored and frustrated with all the backstitching, so it was ignored and forgotten for well over a year.  I found it, while trying to locate something else, in a project bag that I had been carrying to work before I got the one I use now.  It didn't look like there was much left to stitch, so I got to work on it.  I quickly learned why I had given up on it - I can't seem to count backstitches worth a darn!  But I plugged away and got it done.  It took much longer than I thought it would, both times.  It's only 60x60.  Wouldn't you think it would stitch up fast?  I did - until I realized that it was one that you have to have one eye on the chart at all times.  There aren't any big areas of filling in, just a lot of detailed back stitch on an open field.  Blech!  I love how it turned out, though, especially the berries.

The Sweetheart Tree Blackberry Jam

As charted, with 28 ct Graziano linen, DMC threads, and Mill Hilll beads from kit 

I belatedly decided I'd try to stitch Bride's Tree ornaments for both kids this year, so I had to play a little  catch up with the next two.  The original plan was to do one set this year, and another next year, but the first ones stitched up so fast....   I may regret this later - or now, since I haven't even started on the first one for March yet! LOL

Chartmakers House on a Hill

32 ct MCG natural linen, DMC as charted, omitting initials and date

Passione Ricamo Be My Love

32 ct white Belfast linen, DMC conversion except used 3823 instead of 677, because the 677 clashed terribly.  Omitted lettering.  The picture doesn't do this justice.  It is so vibrant IRL.

Here are the aforementioned stragglers from 2009.  I'm not ruling out the possiblity that there may be more. :)

Bent Creek Signs of Winter

32 ct Permin natural light, as charted. I used DMC 741 for the candle flame.*

With My Needle's A Needleworker's Pocket

2003 JCS Ornament Issue

40 ct LL fawn, DMC 815

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a "Birthday giveaway item" listed among the 2010 finishes in the sidebar.  My birthday is tomorrow, and I've stitched a little something to send to one lucky reader.  The giveaway post is scheduled for the same time that I was born.  (I sure don't plan to be awake at such an ungodly hour!)  So, come back soon, because that was the only time in my life that I was a morning person!  :)

Thank you for visiting and/or reading, and I appreciate your comments!  I may not respond, but I do read them all!  GOOD NIGHT!

*There was nothing in the key to correspond with the symbol in the chart, no correction on the website, and I got no response when I tried to email the designer(s).  One of the email addresses bounced, and I'm not confident the other was working either.  I guess I should have expected as much, since their website never seems to be up to date. :(