Happy 2011!

Well, happy New Year to you all! My girls made these funky hats in their new preschool.

It wouldn't be January in DC if we didn't have some sort of yucky weather. This year, it was the dreaded "wintry mix", which left icicles and made the city sparkly-pretty, and even managed to delay work and school for us for a couple of hours.

You all are making me horribly jealous with your starts on the Crazy January Challenge. I want to play along too, but I haven't done any stitching in the new year. Instead, I'm showing you my full set of Bride's Tree Ornaments. To recap, I started with the Stitch-a-long in January 2008. I completed January - July pretty much on time and started November. Then I had my twins. As the Brits would say, Full Stop.

Over the next 2.5 years, I stitched August - October, and December. I even managed to ornamentify one quarter of them (that sounds better than saying "three of them", right?). Sadly, November's angel isn't done and probably won't be for several years. It requires too much attention to detail for me to stitch on it much. It goes with me to doctor's and car appointments, when I know I'll be sitting (without kids!) for long stretches of time.

I'm glad I participated in this SAL and am pleased with the results. Except for the angel, all of the charts, materials, etc., came out of my stash or were freebies. Thanks to Jennifer and Aury for organizing the SAL.

Rockin' New Year's Eve

There's nothing like ending the year on a high note. Thanks to an early release from work yesterday, a babysitter that had already been paid, and two girls who went to bed earlier than usual, I was able to get some stitching (well, beading, really) done yesterday. As a result, I present to you my final happy dance of 2010. This is my Santa ornament for the Bride's Tree SAL.

Mill Hill Kit

May you all have a merry and peaceful 2011!

Alphabet of Books

Both Anna and Donna completed this last month. When I saw this, I was inspired to do it as a list of young adult books* that I have in my collection. I didn’t repeat authors, which made this more of a challenge. I think I changed my entries for D, E, F, & W each four times before I settled on the final list. Z was the hardest. (I almost used a picture book called The Zoo.)

ABC Book Meme
For this meme, you list a favorite book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. If you don’t have a book for a letter (such as Z or X) then you can substitute a favorite book that simply has that letter in the title (ex. The Lost City of Z or Hot Six by Janet Evanovich). However, you can only do this a maximum of 3 times. (Z, X, and Q. But not Z, X, Q, and V.) Books can be of any genre from fiction to non-fiction to poetry to textbooks.

A. The Adventures of Nicholas: A Christmas Tale (Helen Siiteri)
B. The Blue Sword (Robin McKinley)
C. A Cricket in Times Square (George Selden)
D. The Devil’s Arithmetic (Jane Yolen)
E. The Egypt Game (Zilpha Keatley Snyder)
F. Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
G. The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)
H. Homecoming (Cynthia Voight)
I. The Ireta Adventure (Anne McCaffrey)
J. Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Paterson)
K. The Keeping Days (Norma Johnston)
L. The Lotus Cup (Jane Curry)
M. Making Up Mega Boy (Virginia Walter)
N. Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)
O. Out of Phaze (Piers Anthony)
P. The Pushcart Wars (Jean Merrill)
Q. The Queen of Sorcery (David Eddings)
R. Rose in Bloom (Louisa May Alcott)
S. Sarah, Plain and Tall (Patricia MacLachlan)
T. Talking to Dragons (Patricia Wrede)
U. Up a Road Slowly (Irene Hunt)
V. Very Far Away from Anywhere Else (Ursula K. LeGuin)
W. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 (Christopher Paul Curtis)
X. Foxtrotius Maximus (Bill Amend)
Y. The Young Unicorns (Madeleine L’Engle)
Z. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (E. L. Konigsburg)

* My definition of “young adult” is very broad. Some of these are appropriate for 8 year olds; some are more appropriate for 18 year olds.

December SBQ

This month, Lee asks: Many stitchers really kick it up a notch over the winter holidays. Christmas, Hanukah, the New Year, Kwanza - whatever holiday you choose to celebrate usually means that we’re stitching something gift or holiday-related. Tell us your best story about some holiday stitching.

My family has always given a lot of homemade gifts, so it was natural for me to start looking for some projects when I was in college to give to relatives. Some how, some where, I bought a couple of cross stitch ornament kits. I hadn't really done much stitching at that point, but they looked fairly simple, so I bought them and stitched them up. My first attempts weren't exemplary, but my grandparents appreciated the effort. I did this for a couple of years in a row, and that's really the start of my stitching habit.

As my grandparents passed away and we cleaned out their houses, some of these projects came back into my possession. Each year, when I pull these ornaments out the storage box, I feel like I'm reconnecting to my grandparents.

Giving Thanks

Some of the things for which I am thankful this year:

My beautiful daughters
My supportive husband
My friends and colleagues
Being in a position to help others
Not having to travel this year
Having my sister and her kids come stay with us
Traditions
Looking forward to my new job

May you all have a great Thanksgiving with the people you care about.

November SBQ: Thankful

In this month's SBQ, Lee asks us to give an example of a specific instance when we've been thankful for our ability to do needlework.

This question is difficult for me. I've not had to deal with a difficult illness or terrible loss of a loved one. I've not had one of those "ah-ha" type happy moments either. Stitching really is just part of the fabric of my daily life. I tend to turn to reading, especially escapist reading, when I'm really stressed out.

Two stitching-related incidents do come to mind. Way back in 1997, DH and I were flying stand-by on a military flight to Hawaii from Travis AFB. We were on vacation, and the flight was essentially free if we could get on. We'd been checking the schedule and availability regularly, so we thought we'd easily get on a flight. What we didn't realize was that we were trying to fly the week before school started back in Hawaii, and all the families stationed there were trying to get back, and they had priority over us. Every morning, we'd get up bright and early to go check in, only to wait for hours to be told that there was no space. We spent the afternoons touring the local area. We did this for 3 days before deciding to book commercial flights out of San Francisco. I was very appreciative of having my stitching with me during all the waiting. I stitched in the waiting room. I stitched in the car. I made significant progress on this project. Coming back, we were able to take the military flights. Whew!

Last year, I wanted to do something special for a close friend of mine. We've been friends from a very long time, and she was with us all during my labor and delivery of the girls, and went way above and beyond in helping us out during the first year of the girls' lives. When I saw Casey Buonaugurio's Hot Cocoa Sampler, I knew that I had to stitch it for her. My friend was delighted to receive it as a gift last Christmas.

Happy Veterans Day

Wishing all veterans a day filled with peace, and remembering all of my family members who have served, particularly those still on active duty.

Here's a happy story to make you weepy.
Last Flight

I grew up near Geneseo, which is why this story caught my eye.