Long overdue update!

It has been way too long since I updated my blog. I was going to update a couple times a week, but the last couple of weeks I haven't taken the time to. Here is what I have been up to recently.

I haven't been working on my cross stitch project. Every time I think about it, I get a headache. I don't know what the reluctance is, but I figure that since it is a hobby, then I should be able to take my time and just work on it when I please. I did start a cute little stamped cross stitch project last night. I thought maybe a quick project would get me back into the stitching mood. It will be a really quick project. It is so cute! It is a Stitchables kit called Calico Cat (#7503) dated 1984.  I always thought I hated stamped cross stitch, but I guess it all depends on the size and the subject. It came with the printed muslin fabric,  4" hoop/frame and all that. I get to learn a new stitch too, as it calls for some satin stitch, which I have never done. Here is a pic:

I have been knitting almost every day, as usual. I am working on a frilly scarf from a free pattern I found online. A lady in the knitting group that meets locally once a week gave me some really nice yarn. It is Mini Mochi, which I never thought I would get to work with. It is a bit out of my price range. She didn't have the info on it, but it looks like it might be their Purple Dawn colorway (is that the correct term?). She gave me two skeins of it, as for some reason she just didn't like working with it. I love it. It might be an odd choice for the scarf to some, but it told me that it wanted to be used for that pattern LOL. It is going to take all of one skein and part of the second to make the scarf and I am considering just using all of it and hoping it doesn't make the scarf look weird by adding a few rows.  Here is a pic of it on the needles, but it is hard to picture what it is going to look like off the needles.

I also made up my own pattern for a baby long tailed pixie or elf pom pom hat. I didn't have a pattern for one so I looked at some pictures of other similar hats and went from there. It didn't turn out perfect of course, but I think that I learned a bit from the experiment. It is too small, so my daughter is getting it for her baby doll.  Here is a picture of it on her baby doll :

I wasn't sure if I wanted one pompom or two LOL

I am going to make a few more small cross stitch kit starts and am going to work on one every day. At least that is the plan. I have a calendar for just my projects now and every day of the week I will work on a specific WIP. For example (since I cannot explain things to my satisfaction the first time LOL) since I started my CAT stamped kit on Wednesday, then I will work on it again next Wednesday. I really want to work on it today, but have decided that this is the way I am going to do it, unless I decide to do it differently! I never actually know what I am going to do until I do it. So it will be a surprise for us all! Here is the pic of the ones I want to do:

There are a few of the little kits my kids gave me for Christmas. Aren't they sweet! I love how most of them have frames. There is the Imagine that by Designs for the Needle. It is # 6105 You Grow from the year 1989. Then next to it in the pic is Whimsical Christmas with a couple of cute kitties playing with ornaments. Looks like it is made by a company called what's new inc. I don't see a year, but most of my kits are from the eighties. Let's see... under the kitties is a kit from the New Berlin Co. It is Welcome Friends by Lois Winston. It comes with the frame and lace and all that. The date on this one is 1987. Under that one is another one by the New Berlin Co. It is called Hang Your Heart. Came with the frame and lace and all the doodads. It is dated 1986. to the left of it is the Wire Whimsy called Cow Whimsy by Karen Avery. This one is slightly less vintage as it is dated 1994. What makes a kit vintage anyway? That is how we got so many for me, they were all marked vintage and were going really really really cheap on listia and eBay. Anyway, the last one is called Pooh and Friends Balloon Ride. It says adapted by Symbol of Excellence A Leisure Arts Company. So I am assuming it was sold through Leisure Arts originally. This is one of the larger kits I have. It has a finished size of 11 3/8" by 5 3/4: or a frame size of 13 3/8" by 7 3/4" OK enough with the boring (for some) stuff!

Oh, I just remembered that I never shared my Crowned Glory KAL finish. Yep I finished it! I was so proud of myself. Now I just need to learn to block stuff. No plans to do so at this moment though. Here is a pic of the finished scarf:

Not much else going on in my crafty world. Now on to my life. I did get some nice things for Valentine's Day. I thought he would forget, but he drug his sick butt out of bed on that Monday and went to work, mostly so he would be near a Walmart. He went after work and bought me some real flowers (first time ever from him), some truffles in a beautiful box, some macadamia nut turtles, a wonderfully soft and fluffy heart patterned throw with a heart shaped pillow, and a really sweet card. Some of you might think this sounds more like gifts for a teenager than a grown woman, but he knows how much I love this stuff. I didn't get stuff like this when I was a teenager so it kind of makes up for that LOL. Anyway, I felt bad because all I got for him was the FM transmitter for his birthday and a Valentine's Day/Birthday card from me and a card from the kids. He absolutely loves the transmitter though. I hated that he spent so much on me and all I could afford was this little twelve dollar gift, but he says that since he is the one that works and has an income it makes sense that he  spends more on me. Besides that, the only thing he really wanted was that transmitter. It works so much better than he thought it would and he talked about it for days. You might think he was doing that to make me feel better, but he doesn't ever say things just to make a person feel better. I wish he would sometimes!

Kids are doing good, both in school and in their health. I am the lucky one that has been sick for a month! Couldn't afford school pictures this year so am currently trying to win a contest on facebook to win them a free picture package. If anyone wants to help they can go to http://www.facebook.com/ReTaLiImages and 'like' the page and then go into the CONTEST Photos album and 'like' either my son Joey's picture or my daughter Serenity's picture. Voting is open until February 26th. Thank you in advance to anyone that votes!

I think that is all for the update for now. I will be finishing the scarf soon I hope as well as starting another cross stitch project, so I will try to update again soon. Until then, my crafty crafting friends....

Happy Crafting!