1,000 backstitches

They should call this the pattern of 1,000 backstitches.

There's not a single cross-stitch in it anywhere.

I think I stitched every stitch in this twice.

The ripping nearly killed me.

And, then, of course, I decide to finish it as a biscournu and add the outlined border.

Sorry for the bad photo, but it's the only one where you can see the snowflakes and beads.

I'm glad I did this, but now I'm really, really glad it's done.

Sweetheart Tree Snowflakes in the Pines Platinum Cashel linen
I used the brown that the pattern used, the green that was one shade darker than the one used in the pattern, and the newer off-white, since the ecru just blended right in to the fabric.

It's a Beatiful Day

Well, it was. I wrote a post yesterday that disappeared into the ether. Sigh.

But yesterday was a gorgeous day here in DC, and I got to relax and experience it because DDL was home from daycare. (She'd had a brief fever on Monday.) We played outside (and I even got to stitch a bit), we walked to the grocery store, and we had dinner outside too. This year we've had a number of fine spring days, which I'm trying to enjoy as much as possible before the humidity hits.

Here's DDL after her lunch, which contained blackberries.

In tribute to the gorgeous day, it only seems right that I'm finally posting a picture of the stitching I finished two weeks ago. This is the Spring Band Sampler by Elizabeth Designs. I love, love, love the colors in this. It was super easy to stitch, and I'm thinking of doing it again as a birth sampler for a friend's daughter. I used the called-for DMC colors, substituting 3836 for the Lilac and 893 for the Pink (I wanted something that was more coral rather than mauve).

May SBQ

Lee, the Lake Stitcher, has reincarnated the Stitching Bloggers Question. I'm so very excited. This is a terrific way to find new-to-me stitching bloggers. She's doing it as a monthly, rather than weekly, enterprise.

Her first question is Which kind of stitcher are you: a process stitcher or a project stitcher? Does this carry over into other parts of your life?

As Lee wisely points out, most stitchers are somewhere in the middle, which is definitely true for me. To pick one, though, I'd say I'm more of a project stitcher. I stitch a lot of gifts, so there are often timelines involved. I also fret (lightly) when something has been sitting in my work bag for a long time. I do get really excited when I finish a project.

When I first started stitching, it was all about the project. As I've become an experienced stitcher, I've learned to relax a bit and focus on enjoying the process of stitching. I particularly like projects in which I learn new stitch techniques.

I'm like this in the rest of my life too. I tend to focus on the end goal and not as much on the process. Again, as I've gotten more experienced, I try to remember that life is about the journey. Getting pregnant and having my daughters has really helped in this area of my life.

Spring

Spring is here. Since I don't have much in the way of stitching news, I thought I'd share some photos of Spring here in DC. This is the cherry tree in our back yard (if you can call something entirely covered in flagstone a yard).

Here are the daffodils in our front yard. Our house faces north, and these are in the shade most of the day, so our daffodils are always the last ones to bloom in our area.

Finally, what would Spring in DC be without the White House Easter Egg Roll? Yes, that's me in the yellow hat. The girls wanted to carry their eggs on the spoon rather than roll them, but it was a fun minute and a half anyway. We did get to see the First Family speak.

My stitching is also Spring related. I've been stitching the tree sampler from Spring Medley by Elizabeth's Designs. This was one of the charts I bought last year on our not-a-vacation. It's a quick band sampler. Too bad I don't have more time to work on it.

I probably won't have much else to update for a while. I'm on the planning committee for my college reunion next month, and that's taking a lot of my free time. Plus, after all the home renovations, we've finally started cleaning out our storage unit. I have boxes of junk everywhere in my basement right now -- as if our house hadn't looked like a tornado had hit it before! As we're unpacking about 1/3 is trash and packing materials, 1/3 is going straight to the thrift store, and the other 1/3 I'm having to find places to put it. My goal is to disposition one box a day on average. I hope your Spring cleaning is less of a challenge for you.

Happy Dance

I finished my nephew's sampler last weekend. Here it is in all it's unironed glory. I'm looking for some sort of doo-dad to add to the top of it and my other nephews' samplers, like a charm or a birthstone. My mother's really keen on the birthstone idea. Anyone know where I can find smallish birthstone charms that are boyish that might work? I need something to represent August, September, and November.

This is the Acorn Garden Sampler from Patricia Ann designs. Stitched on 28 ct Platinum Cashel with the recommended threads.

February update

It's been a crazy month. With the Snowmegeddon, the girls were out of daycare for days on end, and this week, their daycare is opening 2 hours late. My souvenir from all of this is a lovely black eye from where DDA banged her head into my glasses. It's almost a week later, and the bruise is still sporting its full technicolor. (A friend of mine says that using the term "technicolor" dates me. Oh, well.)

I've completed some Olympic stitching. I'm *this close* to finishing the sampler for my nephew. I've also been working on my second April bunny. I hope to have a picture of the sampler to share this weekend.

Thanks to the weather, I've been making lots of soup. Tonight's offering is Texican Beef Stew. I think Anna first posted this recipe.

Wednesday, I made a variation of Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup. Let me tell you, it's quite yummy and very lemony. Here's my variation, which serves 4 instead of 8. I didn't have time to cook my own chicken and stock, so I bought some prepared.

4 cups of prepared chicken broth
2 carrots, cleaned and diced
1 leek, cleaned and diced
2 stalks of celery, cleaned and diced
a large palmful of orzo
2 cups (2 packets) of diced baked chicken pieces
a small palmful of dried parsley
1 lemon

Place broth and veggies in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add orzo and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes. * While waiting, zest one half of the lemon. Flip it, and make 4 slices from the unzested end of the lemon (while the lemon is still whole). Juice the rest of the lemon. Add the parsley, zest, and a Tbsp or two of water to the lemon juice and set aside. Once the veggies start to soften, add the chicken pieces to the broth. Cook 3-5 minutes. Stir in lemon mix. Serve with lemon slices and black pepper.

* At this point, I simmered for ~10 minutes before having to leave. I covered the pot and turned off the burner. A while later, Paul came home, brought the mixture to a boil, reduced to simmer and then added the chicken and lemon mix. This produced a very creamy consistency to the soup.

Year in Review and Looking Ahead

Sorry I've been M.I.A. lately. The girls have been sick since mid-December. It's not been fun, but they seem to be on the mend finally.

I thought I'd give you a brief recap of what I did manage to work on this year, along with an idea of what's in my stash bag for next year.

I finished two teapots in March, a rose in August, the swirlygig challenge in September, and the pumpkin for October. In November, I worked on my nephew's birth sampler. I've been working on it some more this month and am nearly finished now. Picture soon.

In December, I stitched Casey Buonaugurio's Hot Cocoa sampler for a dear, dear friend. I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her, but I'll post it when I get one.

For 2010, I would really like to finish my three remaining Bride's Tree SAL ornaments: pinecones, angel, and Santa. I've started all three. The first two are very intricate and require a lot of concentration, something I don't have much of these days. The Santa is a Mill Hill kit of a cat in a Santa hat, and I'm not eager to work on the beads. So, I will need to push myself on these.

I also have the idea that I want to stitch second versions of my BTSAL bunny and cardinal in different colors. I've started the bunny, so there's a good chance I'll finish that. Maybe I'll try to get that done before Easter!

I will soon finish the sampler I'm currently working on for my oldest nephew. I also hope to work on samplers for my middle nephew (the last of the niephlets for whom I need to do one) and for my daughters.

We'll see how much time I have to work on any of this. Now that my girls are two very active toddlers, my stitching time is nearly non-existent.