Turnaround time 43 hours

Christmas exchange sent
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist

So I was up in Pgh this past week to visit family and help/attend my best friends shower. I took A up all by myselfin a car (7-8 hour drive) following some advice from other travelers I left at 3 am and was able to get 6 hours before A was awake enough to be bothered with entertainment (THANK god for DVDs). unfortunately she got carsick about 20 minutes from our destination (my new car may be a bit more nauseating). but we got that cleaned up and our trip back was uneventful thanks to some dramamine. So we got in at noon wed, my mom came down yesterday to wath A for the weekend because I am leaving today for the Sue Hillis' stitch-in in Richmond in 20 minutes.
I will not have my computer but will be tweeting when I can.

the photo is of the christmas exchange that I sent to Natasha (currently I cannot find her blog) It is by Midnight Stitching... a freebie called Moonlight Serenade..I think. Dang I gotta go, I'll correct that later, my mom is asleep in my stitching room so i can't look it up.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Band three of the 17th Century Mystery Sampler

I just finished the 3rd band of our EGA mystery Sampler. Louise took pity on us and gave us an easy one to let everyone catch up. So now I have 2 weeks before the next band to work on my other stitching!  I am heading up to PA for a bridal shower this weekend then turn around and go to the Sue Hillis' Memorial Weekend Retreat in VA so I have lots of time to stitch on more stuff!  Maybe I'll allow myself to start 1 (only one) new thing. 

What the stitch is going on (3 of 3): Our Homemade Play Kitchen

I am posting this separately from my usual stuff because I know there are parents out there who research how to make one of these (cause that was me). Two of my favorites that we used for inspiration are here and here.

I wanted to get A. a play kitchen, and most out there are a) plastic or b) wood and expensive!.  Ian has a pretty big wood shop with some nice equipment so we figured we could alter a set of kitchen cupboards or an entertainment center like the two examples above.  We looked around for a bit but did not find anything that fit the bill.  Than one day i came home from work and Ian had started one from scrap-wood:




It slowly progressed, Ian found a wire shelf from target that he cut into many small shelves:



I went around to Habitat for Humanity and get the faucet, hinges, and handles. I found the "sink" at a thrift store, it was a small wok that we cut the handles off of.:


One other special thing Ian did was cut/route the stove knobs out of one piece of wood:


Then it got doors and a paint job (We used leftover paint from my kitchen) Ian did a great job and A. loves it!:




The thing ways a ton! but it only cost us about $40-50!.
Some cute video:

What the stitch is going on? (2 of 3)

So in non-stitchy news:
1. Annabeth has been walking better everyday and now does not need to hold on to anyone unless stairs or a curb is involved.   But her physical therapist noticed that her flat-feet (inherited from mom and dad) and severe pronation (walking on her instep) was probably holding her back. And  her balance was really crappy, she is always tripping and falling (and she is not like a boy, she does NOT like falling).  So we got fancy new braces in mid-April, to help her grow into proper position.  Ian and I both had orthopedics as kids, but we did not get them till we were 6 or 7. They called them cookies, but the trip to the orthopedist was always disappointing.  She is already walking with more obvious heel toe action,  a wider stride, and a bit better on balance.  Here she is a couple of days after we got them:



2. It is strawberry season here! There is a field about 10 min from the house and we went strawberry picking for the first time (Annabeth's first. I've been doing it since I was her age)...and I remembered my camera!


3rd and final post is coming very soon!

What the stitch is going on? (1 of 3)

Who gets into these funks of not posting a darn thing for weeks and then has a ton of stuff to share? THIS GUY!   I think what I will have to do is bullet-list stuff for you with the photos.  Part 1: Cross stitching

1. Got my Early Ornament Exchange yesterday from the HOE group, Malinda stitched me Emmanuel for Plum Street samplers...isn't it great?!  In other news I sent mine off and will post it when it gets to its destination.
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2. I finished the black outlining shading of Grand Old Duke, I will be filling in color next:

3. Most of my stitch time in April was taken up by the EGA 17th century mystery sampler I told you we were all doing together.  See band 2 had 2 new(to me) stitches...the montenegrin and the detatched buttonhole (center of the flowers) We are working from the bottom up, which is a bit weird. But in overachiever news, I was the only one to finish my band by the May meeting. Booyah!



4. and lastly, you all remember the needle book I stitched for a giveaway, well here it is finished (NOT FINISHED BY ME, I could never do this good a job) in its basket with some other smalls awaiting their friends.




Part 2 will have all the non stitch related stuff in my life. Part 3 will be a special post about my crafty woodworky husband.