And Then There Were the SAL pieces

I enjoyed stitching the Maryse SAL piece this month – mainly because crocus are one of my favourite flowers!  Not that I can see any outside, given the size of the snowbanks and snowdrifts there are at my house – LOL.  I can dream tho……

I am particularly enjoying the colours in this piece, and am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the neighbourhood looks like.

And then there were two – owls, that is!  Well, okay, including January, there are now three:

I switched the colours on the tummys tho – I could not see much difference  in shades when I stitched the first owl in the colour called for.  Do you think there will be a shamrock owl here in March??

And then there were blackbirds – lots of them this time!  This is part II in the Blackbird Mystery Sampler:

hmmmm 12 blackbirds!  If this were a flock of crows, it would be a ‘murder’.

Can you stand to see another mitten?  The Cricket Collection offered a new freebie for Valentines day – Mitten Cakes!  The freebie is here: http://www.cecricket.com/gift_design.html and this is my finished mitten for February:

I backstitched the SWEET part of the sweetheart, cause I could not see the letters well. Vicki’s idea of beads for sprinkles was perfect!  And I think the pink and white cording tops it off!

Presenting February’s Ornaments

So far so good in keeping up with the ornaments – lol – but the year is young!  This month’s Halloween ornament is Jack O’Lantern from Blackbird Designs.  As always, you can click to make the pics bigger!

and that little calico body you see in the first picture is none other than Kelsey – the camera cat!  She fits in well with the colour scheme!

And who can resist such a pretty present at Christmas?  This is Christmas Box I from Country Garden Stitchery:

stitched on linen with Olde Willow Yorktowne floss!

Valentine’s day did not go unnoticed – we celebrated with a heart sal on one of the groups I am on.  This is Valentine Heart – an older freebie from Isa Vautier, stitched on white belfast linen using a Silk’n’Color silk specially dyed for Summer Trusswell.   I have looked, but I can no longer find a link online.  I can honestly say that I gave my heart to my DH:

Do you remember the sheepie pillow I posted pics of?  Well, I could not send it back to Australia without including a little gift – so I used the leftover bits and pieces and knit up this little sheepie, a free pattern from Frankie Brown that I found on Ravelry.  This link takes you to her pattern on Ravelry – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sheep-in-sheeps-clothing

He truly is the cutest little sheep I have seen!

Next up in the rotation are the monthly SAL pieces.  Stay tuned!

And a January Knitting/Finishing WrapUp Too!

I am happy to report that Christine’s giveaway package is on its way to her house!  I hope you enjoy it!
January was a busy month for knitting too – I was finishing off projects started in December 2010 and completing a few knitting projects for friends.  I started this Feather and Fan scarf as a travelling project before Christmas – and it is now on its way to its new home.  I love how the colours worked out in this yarn – JoJoLand Harmony – a sock weight superwash wool.  Feather and Fan is a classic knitting pattern, and was easy to memorize for knitting in the car.  Good thing DH drives!

I knit a pair of socks for a friend’s husband and new grandson – there is nothing like matching socks to tickle a grandparent’s heart.  I have to laugh at how long and skinny k2p2 rib makes these socks look – but I do like how stretchy that ribbing is!  I finished the baby socks with 6 inches of yarn to spare – talk about knitting fast before the yarn runs out!  The colour is a bit washed out – the socks are a much richer deeper green combo than the pic shows.

My final knitting project was this lovely sheepie pillow that Karleen sent all the way from Australia!  The kit was originally from England, so this is one well travelled pillow!  It was  fun knitting with the natural sheep fleece to give all those lovely curls, and the cats had many good long sniffing sessions.  Can you see the resemblance?

It is sad that the Sheep Shop company that produced this kit is no longer in business.  I am now without a single project on the needles!  LOL – an uncomfortable position to be in.  I have already selected yarn and a pattern for a pair of socks for me, so no worries!

There was a bit of finishing during January – have a look at all of Cheryl’s lovely pieces!  Cheryl has a great collection of this furniture now.

I really must stitch up some of these for myself – I have just one lonely arm chair!

It is time to get busy with February projects 🙂

January Stitching WrapUp …. and the Giveaway Winner!

January has been one busy month!  Between ornaments and SAL pieces, I worked on 5 different pieces!  The S’mores mitten makes 6 – and here it is finished as a flat mitten:

I am trying to choose a mitten for February …. I will have to see what appeals to me most!

I finished the Blue Country Teapot – a DMC UK kit I have had for a few years:
I hope to make a quilt with teapots, tea cups, etc at some point!

I also picked up a UFO from at least two years ago.  This is the Waterlily Quilt by Chatelaine.  I stitched the first 4 blocks, put the piece away, and was motivated to pick it up again for a UFO challenge on a yahoo group that I am on!  I have part of the border stitched for the next row of blocks – not much, but every little bit counts!  Would you believe that this is my only stitching UFO at the moment?

And, finally, I pulled out my ‘finished stitching’ box, and pulled this project to actually finish off!  This is ‘You Were Hatched’ – a Teresa Wentzler limited edition chart that I stitched in 2005!  My daughter has been waiting for me to frame this one for forever, and she received it for her 12th birthday this month!  I do hope to Finish-finish one project a month this year.

Okay, no more delaying tactics!!  Many thanks to everyone who stopped by to read, and to leave a comment.  It was a lot of fun to hear from you, and I have been visiting lots of new blogs!  Congratulations to the two surprise winners of ornament finishing services – Lynne K and Dottie K.!    There will be more surprise winners based on comments in the future, so feel free to leave a comment in any post!

Finally, the winner of the January 100th post Giveaway, as determined by a random number generator,  is…….

Christine Korndoerfer!  Christine, get in touch with your address, and I will get the pkg into the mail for you!