Two Retreats in February

Hello all,

https://fiberfuninthesip.com/

I started the month of February with 2 retreats in a row.  Last week I went to a crochet and knitting retreat (ok most ladies at the retreat would call it a knitting and crocheting retreat).  The name of the retreat was "Fiber Fun in the 'Sip Retreat" at Tara Wildlife  in Vicksburg, MS.  I went with my sister-in-law Katie.  We had a great time.  The retreat covered everything, lodging, food (which was awesome), and 1 class.  I went with one goal, to start and finish an afghan.  I did it.  I finished a corner to corner afghan using Caron's Chunky Cakes yarn, Ballet Sorbet.  Katie and I both participated in the dinner entertainment on Saturday.  We had a murder mystery.  Both Katie and I were "murdered".  It was a lot of fun.  I am planning on going again next year.

Corner to Corner Afghan

I also took a crochet class that was being taught by Dawn from Dawn O Designs.  The class was crocheting a shawl.  Below is my progress, I am about halfway through the pattern.  It was a lot of fun.

Rose Garden Shawl

We were supposed to go on an airbus ride around the area but the water level was too high.  So to fill the time we had a knitting competition to see who knitted the fasted.  I didn't participate because I am a very slow knitter.   We also had a crocheting competition.  I did participate.  I won!!  I beat Katie by 1 stitch.  Whoo hoo!

http://www.cross-stitchretreats.com/

Tonight, after I leave class, I'm picking my sister Bridget up and we are head to Orange Beach, AL for a cross stitch retreat with Katrina Boyd.  My sister Jennifer and our friend Lisha are already there.  I can't wait.  I'm bringing all twenty-something of my WiPs with me.  I will work on all of them this weekend.  I will post pictures when I get back.  But you can look at my posts throughout the weekend on Instagram.  28 minutes before class is over.  I can't wait.  Well got to go, I need to review a test with a student.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sharon

Star Wars Weekend

For Christmas, my brother Ricky gave me the Star Wars Movies 1 - 6; I already had 7.  So this weekend I decided to have a Star Wars weekend.  My nephew, Leif, spent Friday night at my house.  We got up the next morning and started watching the movies.  I crocheted on the sunflower squares for the afghan while we watched.  He made pod racers with Legos.  He made it through 3-1/2 movies before he couldn't do it anymore.  Thank goodness my nephew Tyler (they are the same age - 7) came over.  They went outside to play in the sand with their pod racers while I finished the movies.  In the two days (Saturday and Sunday), I completed all of the sunflower squares, 24 total.  Now I need to crochet them together.  I now know why the kit was on sale when I bought it.  The sunflower squares are 22 stitches across and the blue and white striped are 24 stitches across.  Monday I tried to crochet them together but I got discouraged.  My mom told me to do a decreasing stitch when I put them together to make the work.  They are the same size squares but not the same number of stitches.

I also worked on my punch needle.  When I finish all the ones I have, I will not buy anymore punch needles.  Actually I only bought 2.  My sister-in-law Mari bought the Christmas ornaments.  But, she decided that she didn't like it.  Well, I am the stitching & craft hoarder in my family.  If anyone wants to get rid of something, I take it.  That is why my craft room is busting at the seams.  So, I will finish the punch needles that I have, give them as gifts and then I'm done.

Happy Groundhog Day.

Sharon

Twilight Weekend with crocheting

My cousin/friend, Liz, and I usually spend one day a week together doing something.  Well since Thanksgiving, we have hardly seen each other.  So, this Friday and Saturday, we had a Twilight weekend.  We watched the first 2 movies on Friday then the last 3 on Saturday.  I brought my crochet to work on while we watched the movie.  I bought this Bucilla kit at Hobby Lobby over 15 years ago on the reduced for quick sale aisle.  I had started this kit back in December and had completed 10 of the blue and white squares.  I have to make 24 blue and white squares and 24 sunflower squares.  I didn't tuck the ends on the blue and white square.  So, I spent most of Friday on tucking the ends.  I finished the other 14 blue and white squares over the two days. 

Over the weekend, a tornado hit Hattiesburg and Petal (towns near where I live).  The power was out where I worked (in Hattiesburg).  So, on Monday, we didn't have classes.  I spent the day on my couch stitching and crocheting.  I did a different project every hour.  One hour I worked on my sunflower afghan.  The completed sunflower square you see in the picture below was completed in December.  I had also made all 24 brown circles for the sunflower. I tucked all the ends on the brown circles and put the yellow petals on the centers you see in the picture.  I decided to put all the petals on all the circles then crochet the green background.  I thought it would be easier than doing each square completely.

I'm going a little out of order but I keeping the theme together.  Well once a month on Sunday, my sisters, a few of our close friends, and I get together and stitch.  This year we decided to do exchanges.  If you look at my post last week you can see where I got the pattern for making my tool.  I sewed ort contains out of triangles.  Every time I sew, I think I can do this.  And EVERY TIME I get on the sewing machine, I act like a 2-years old throwing a temper tantrum.  My sewing machine pulls the fabric at one speed on one side and an slower speed on the other.  I start out with a 1/4-inch seam allowance and end with a 1/2-inch or 1/8-inch seam allowance.  Well, what should have taken me 1 hour to make took 2-1/2 hours.  They turned out really cute but I forgot to take a picture of all of them (I made 7).

I worked on the S&BF - A Friend's house and Trilogy's - Line Up Boy.  The Boy I am going to make into a Christmas Cracker ornament for my nephew Leif.  Each year my sisters, sisters-in-laws, and I get ornaments for a niece or nephew.  We have the same ones every year.  My two are Nicholas and Leif.  I always get Nicholas a superhero that is popular that year.  Leif's ornament changes depending on his interest each year.  I think this one will be cute. 

A Friend's House - S&BF

Line Up Boy - Trilogy

 Well, I'm off to a good start this year.  I hope to continue posting each week.  This weekend I plan on working on several different projects.  Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Have a great day.

Sharon

2017 - I hope it is better than 2016!

So, I have decided to try to keep up with my blog this year.  Last year was horrible, I couldn't find time to craft or cross stitch.  I could barely keep my house clean.  I don't know what I was doing that kept me from doing any of these things.  I just know that I spent many a night just being a couch potato.  I couldn't get the energy up to do anything.

This year has already started out different.  I started the new year with a completely clean house.  Barely any clutter (mostly in my office slash junk room).  I have been able to keep the house clean and work on several projects.  I have had a burst of enthusiasm to stitch.

My sisters and I have decided to do a round robin with Lizzie Kate's Halloween Rules.  So yesterday I went to Jennifer's house to stitch on it and watch floss tube.  I spent the entire time pulling out several things because I didn't like the color.  I have to re-stitch them before Saturday because that is when we exchange them.  While I was frogging.  I got a wild hair and decided to stitch Mirabillia's Our Lady of the Flag.  I actually got the kit at Hobby Lobby years ago for $6.53 (thread, beads, and linen included).  I am crazy because it took me years to finish the Rose of Sharon.  But I am going to finish Our Lady this year.  I started this on Tuesday.  It is hard to see but I have put in a few stitches and beads.

Our Lady of the Flag

One nights worth

Also, while I was there, Jennifer challenged me to do a new start each month on the 17th.  Crazy as it sounds, I took the challenge.  There is a Sisters and Best Friend pattern (A Friend's House) that I have had for a long time that I want to stitch.  So this will be my January new start.  I started it last night.  I did one side of the border and a little bit of the inside.  I am stitching it on Silkweaver's 28-ct linen colored Cascade using DMC floss.  It is a cute little pattern that I love.

 Tonight I am going to work on all 3 projects plus my punch needle project (like 30 minutes to 1 hour each).  I have 4 more punch needle patterns left then I will hang up my punch needle needle.  I don't think it is my cup of tea.

Friday I plan on working on some sewing that I want to do.  I am going to make Vonna's (The Twisted Stitcher) project envelopes for my mother and sister-in-law Mari.  I also have to make the "stitching tool" that I am going to give to everyone in our stitching group on Sunday. 

This weekend my cousin/friend Liz and I are having a Twilight day.  She wants to watch all of the Twilight movies.  I am going to work on the squares for my sunflower afghan while we do this. I have to crochet 48 squares; 24 blue and white stripes and 24 sunflower.  I have 15 blue and white stripes completed and 1 sunflower completed.  I have 23 centers for the sunflower made.  I plan on finishing the blue and white stripes and start putting the yellow petal on the brown centers.  I will let you know how far I get.

Thank you for stopping by.  I will post again next week.  See you then.

Sharon

What have I done in the past YEAR?

Has it really been a year since I posted?  I really don't have an excuse.  I should have been posting the whole time.  But, I have really slow internet at home, and forget to post at work.  So here is what I have finished and/or the stage I am at the moment.

First up, the Mississippi State Fair results.  I entered the Ink Circles Mystery Stitch along, The Silver Needle 2013 Pumpkin with buttons we made at the retreat, The Bent Creek Summer Snapperville, Barbara Ana's Owlscornu, Shakespeare's Peddler's Passport Pincushion, and an scarf that I created using double crochets and front post stitching.
I got blue ribbons on everything.  I am so proud!

Tiramisu Complete

 I finally finished the Tiramisu.  It is gorgeous!  I haven't framed it yet but will soon.  I used DMC floss on beautiful yellow fabric from Silkweaver.

Girl's Christmas Ornament Exchange

 Every year the girls in our family create an ornament to exchange.  My mother says that every Christmas tree should have a bird in it.  So this year I crocheted these cute little birds for everyone.  I used different color combinations for everyone.











My cousin Liz's daughter Michelle wanted a purple and green afghan.  So I crocheted 9 different granny squares.  Well, actually 8.  Katie, my sister-in-law crocheted the round one that is at the beginning of the top row.  Michelle picked the colors.  I finished this during spring break.  Michelle loved it.

Michelle's Afghan

Also, during spring break I started a new craft/art.  I found a book on Zentangles. I truly enjoy drawing these min-art projects.  They are so relaxing.

Zentangled Owl

My Zentangle Art

For my Mom for Bridget

My mother started this Irish Coffee for my sister Bridget in 1995.  It was almost complete (just lacked the "coffee" section and the border.)  So I finished it for her.  I dated it 1995 2015 and put both of our initials on it.















Other Cross Stitch Projects I have completed this year are: Raven Bewitch, Pumpkin Kitty, and Chicken Love (which is suppose to be a pin keep but is too large for a pin keep)

Raven Bewitch

Pumpkin Kitty

Chicken Love

I had to make mushrooms for Liz, Patrick, Theron, Tucker, and Jennifer.  Theron, Tucker, and Patrick got the blue mushrooms.  Jennifer's dog Sally loved the mushrooms.  Now I have to make her a new red one.  :)  They turned out really cute.

a troop of mushrooms: Grow up (red) and get a life (green)

This summer I decided that I was going to complete as many of my craft projects as I could.  So here are a couple of the things I completed.  I finished 3 sets of bead ornaments, a crystal angel, these two snowmen (for my brother Pete), and Raggedy Andy.  I still have several crystal angels to complete.

Better late than never

Raggedy Anne now has an Andy

Crystal Angel

This year we didn't go to the Silver Needle Retreat.  Rather we created our own retreat.  My sisters (Jennifer & Bridget), Katie, Lisha, Theresa, Maddi, and I went to Birmingham for a week.  We each brought a craft to teach each night (a different person each night) and crafts for us to complete.

Katie's chain maile earrings

Katie's Chain maile earrings

Theresa's Paper Mache Craft

Jennifer's Basket weaving

Lisha's Christmas Ornaments

I completed three project and made a major dent in the other project.  I finished Panel 1 of the Halloween Pudgy, a hot pad, and some crocheted containers.  I have nearly finished Jennifer's LaLaLoopsy doll.  I only have to add the hair.

Panel 1 of Halloween Pudgy

crocheted containers

hot pad

95% complete LaLaLoopsy Doll

Jennifer found a sewing pattern to create a cover for your notebook.  Well of course we all wanted one.  Here is mine.

Sewn by Sharon

Mari, Jennifer and I also became interested in stained glass crafts.  We took a class at the Craftsman's Guild in Jackson with Jane Mullins.  We made the star sun catcher.  Then Mari and I took the intermediate class (Jennifer had a prior engagement) and made the bird.  Mine was horrible.  I had a bad day (cut myself 3 times).  So I will probably take the class again.  The bird looks good here but when I put it together the gaps were too big.

And last but not least.  The Rose of Sharon.  I am nearing completion of this project.  This week has been very busy (preparing for school).  Next week will also be very busy (first week of school).  I plan to have this finished before the end of the year.

I have decided not to make plans with definite deadlines.  Every time I do things go awry.  So I just plan on working.  I have started several projects that I hope to post as I go rather than one large post like this.  I have also started using up my small amounts of yarn.  I am crocheting afghan squares for "Warm Up America!"  I have decided that when I finish a project that I will get rid of the pattern rather than keep it.  I am trying the KonMari method of cleaning and decluttering my house.  Let's see what happens.

Thank you for sticking with me all this time.  Hopefully I will post more often.

Sharon

Beginning of August

Hey I have been really busy traveling, moving, and stitching.  My sister Jennifer and I took my parents to Houston, TX.  My dad is 80 years old and his only living sibling of 9 children is 88.  So we went to see Uncle James, Aunt Ruth, their son Ty and his family (wife Cherie and children Haley and Logan).  We drove over from MS, which is a minimum of 8 hours,  on Friday.  We stopped in Lafayette for lunch and ate at Pasado's Mexican Restaurant which we all love.  Then we shopped at Stitch n Frame, the local stitch shop.  I used to go to stitching night once a month there.  We stayed the weekend.  Ty and Cherie cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us on Saturday.  My parents had a great time visiting while Jen and I did a little shopping.  They lived in a neighborhood that was near a shopping area.  Loved it!  They had everything that you could need.  Finally we drove home on Sunday.  Again, we stopped in Lafayette for lunch at Texas Roadhouse, my favorite steakhouse.  We had a great time but were all happy to be home.

I spent last week working on an part 1 of JABC's Tuffet's Cupboard.  I finished it last night (Saturday).  When stitching this pattern I chose to use DMC.  I probably should have used specialty threads because of the large blocks of color.  One of the more difficult parts of the pattern was the spool.  This spool of ribbon has little sheep on it that are suppose to be cross-stitched over one.  Well I can't do over one well (I always pull it under the fabric thread) so I just did quarter stitches instead.  It turned out cute.  I have part 2 which I will start on after I finish my Owlscornu.  I plan on ordering part 3 from Theresa's shop.  But as far as I know JABC hasn't released part 4.  I don't know why I love this pattern but it is too cute and has a lot of buttons.  There will be a sheep at the top near the candle looking pattern, a map, a shell and many others.  The sheep looks really good.  I can't wait to finish it.

Today after church I started working on my Owlscornu.  I had already finished the branch the owl stands on in all 4 corners.  Today I finished the 4 blazing blue lizards.  I would have completed more but my sister-in-law Katie asked me to crochet this baby hat.  Well of course I said yes.  You see this baby hat pattern was created by Katie.  She wanted to make sure that the pattern was easy to follow, which it is.  Yes I know that it's too big to be a baby hat.  That is because I used the wrong weight yarn.  But I finished it and the pattern was pretty easy to follow. Here is a picture of the hat on my Chrissy doll that I have had since the 1970's.  She and her original clothes may be a little worn (she's wearing a new dress my sister Bridget gave me), but she did a good job at modeling the hat.  Katie was pretty happy with the results.  I think Chrissy looks cute in the hat.

Soon after I finished the hat everyone left Mom and Dad's house for their own.  I came home and worked on my Owlscornu but I need to go to bed early.  All faculty have to report to work tomorrow at PRCC.  I have an hour's drive to Poplarville in the morning for "Professional Development".  Which brings me to the moving.  I moved offices on Thursday.  I knew that I was going to be moving but I thought it would be sooner.  My new office is not as wide as my old office but it is deeper.  I got all of my stuff in the new office.  So on Tuesday after our campus meeting I will finish unpacking and start preparing for the new school year.

Well got to go.  Got to go to bed so I can get up extra early for me (6:30 am) and get to work.

Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

July Activity

I really was planning on writing every week since it was summer.  But the best laid plans of mice and men....  I didn't get to do what I wanted.  So here is what I did all summer.  I worked on the last plastic canvas seasonal stickup.  Bridget had cut the guy out for me but I hadn't finished him.  So, I worked on him and finished him on July 4th at almost midnight.  I think he turned out pretty cute.  I used the smaller version and a couple of pictures online to create the one I stitched.  You can't see but the entire back of the guy was stitched in blue.  Then I put two yellow Rhode stitches for the buttons.  I was thinking that Uncle Sam usually has on a coat with tails, so I stitched it that way.  That same weekend, I put the spots on Theron's Yoshi egg.  I thought he wanted light blue but he choose royal blue instead.   Now I need to crochet his Yoshi amigurumi.  The first full week of July I participated in Vacation Bible School.  We had a great time.  Only a total of 10 children showed for the week with 6 coming every day.  Our theme was "Mighty Kingdom".  The kids had a great time painting, gluing and putting stickers on things. 

As for my crafting and stitching I worked a lot on stitching and some on crocheting.  First up is my Rose of Sharon.  The progress you see is from June.  I was at Jennifer's house early in the month stitching on it. As you can see, I was working one color at a time (which is kind of difficult for this pattern).  The lower front section of the dress that is a few rows, I had to take out and put back in.  Because this is such a color changing pattern, I made a copy of the chart to highlight my progress.  Well, I decided to try to fill in the areas rather than run one color down the full length of the pattern.  So, I was highlighting my progress on this pattern when I dropped my bright pink highlighter on the dress.  I had to pull out a small section of thread.  Then, use a Tide pen on the fabric to remove the color.  And, finally restitch the area.  I was so upset, I almost threw it away.  I didn't but I can still see the slight pink area on the dress.  My friends say that they can't see it.  I hope they are right.

Next up is the Tiramisu.  I am behind again.  In June, I finished April and May's band.  I still have to finish June and July's band.  June's band has two colors and is about as wide as May's band.  July's band is a single color and about the size of the second band.  August starts tomorrow so I need to get busy.  I love blackwork; it is very easy to stitch but you have to follow the pattern carefully.  I chose to stitch it using several shades of one color, orange.  I signed up for this class though EGA twice but didn't get enough finished to turn it in to be evaluated.  Now I hope to finish it by December.   I look at the pattern and think man this is going to be hard and a lot of work.  But, when I start, the stitching goes really fast.  I just have to make myself sit down and work on it.  I think I will work on this today.


As you know from my previous post, my mother had found several projects that she started but hadn't finished.  I started with the ones that were nearly finished.  So here they are.  One was the Hip Hop pattern and the others were seasonal kitchen towels.  The Hip Hop pattern, Mom had stitched the letters A through N and part of the rabbit.  I finished it quickly once I figured out where I made my mistake.  She is very happy with the results.  She had me put both of our initials on the fabric. The first towel was the gingerbread people.  My mother was stitching it for my sister Bridget.  The gingerbread people were nearly finished.  I finished them and the border.  The jingle bells towel I'm not sure is finished.  I finished outlining the words but we couldn't find the pattern.  The Thanksgiving towel, I finished the border, added the g on the end, and outlined the words.  My mom gave Bridget her towel and put the other two away.




 




    

As you know, my sisters, Jennifer and Bridget, our friend Theresa, and I attended the stitching retreat at Silver Needle.   We drove up to Tulsa for the weekend (a 11 - 12 hour trip).  The week before I had gotten my contacts and tried to wear them.  I burned my eyes with the cleaning solution (I didn't realize that you were suppose to wait after using the solution before putting them in your eyes).  My eyes were horrible.  I had to wear sunglasses all the time and when I walked the wind hurt my eyes.  They are better now but still slightly light sensitive.  Anyway, Jennifer help me finish the JABC pumpkin with our buttons on it so we could display it on our table.  It turned out adorable.  Sharon from Chicago (she sat with us this year and last year) said that it made her want to finish her pattern the same way.

While we were at the retreat we had a great time meeting Amy Bruecken and Miranda Weeks.  Even though I am allergic to wool, I had a great time dying the wool and making the project.  While stitching, the girls and I played a sort or game.  We all brought 10 projects along to stitch on.  Every hour we would draw a chip out of cup.  The chips were numbered 1 to 10 or 3 chips had words on them.  The words were "seriously" which meant the person who drew the chip picked the project, "awesome" which meant take a snack break, and "yeah yeah" which meant shopping for an hour.  When you look at what I brought, it doesn't look like I stitched a whole lot but I did a lot of the borders on all of the projects.  Well one of the projects that I brought was one of my mother's.  She had completed the red part of the apple and the leaf at the bottom.  I put in the white spots on the apple and the two leaves at the top.  I didn't finish it at the retreat but the Monday after we returned home I did.

Last but not least, my friend Sharon from Louisiana came to visit this week.  She drove up Monday and stayed until Wednesday. We had a great time. I gave her the grand tour of Sumrall (15 minutes) - Monday Night and of Hattiesburg - most of the day Tuesday.  For lunch, she didn't want to go to any fancy or expensive restaurant; so I took her to Glory Bound.  We had the trio appetizer (we chose chipotle lime, sundried tomato pesto, and original humus) and the surf 'n turf gyro.  It was delicious.  At night we sat around looking through her patterns and talking.  She has recently moved and wanted to deplete her stash.  So I, being the craft hoarder that I am, accepted everything she didn't want.  We also stitched and I tried arm knitting.  Arm knitting is really easy to do.  I knitted this scarf in about 40 minutes.  The scarf was for my friend Liz.  I told her if she didn't like it that I would take it out an crochet her a scarf.  She didn't like it; the hole were too big.  She said that she would get caught in it.  I agreed.  I really didn't like the scarf but I love the shawl pattern and the cowl pattern.  So I will take this apart and crochet her a scarf.  Then I going to buy the yarn and arm knit myself the shawl and cowl.

Now that I have bent your ear (or strained your eyes) long enough, I will say adios.  Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Sharon