Month: October 2023

Weekend Stitching

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I made a point to have a nice relaxing weekend, since this upcoming weekend is a flyball tournament. There’s never much time to do anything but flyball on a flyball weekend, so I try to plan very gentle weekends before and after.

I started a new stitching project, I discovered Long Dog Samplers last year but did not feel I had the stitching expertise yet to try one. This year, after working on linen all year long, I decided I am ready.

The pattern is Pavane for these times, and I am so excited to have finished the first page already. There are 9 pages. But, the next stitch along clue will come out this week so I’ll get back to that shortly. However, both the stitch along project and the temperature tree will be done at the end of the year, so I am primed to find all the other projects for the upcoming year that I can create!

Then Something The Same

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Back to the cross stitch again-I had come to a stopping point with my projects. I had started another larger project but was deeply uninspired about it. I had my poppies project in the living room, but was working on some knitting there, but also did not want to break down the cross stitch station in the living room. I wanted to start something entirely new, some large project and even went so far as to plan it. But I was also just too busy to get to the stitching shop while it was open to pick up thread and linen for it.

So, I decided to work on a tiny project I already had in my collection. A bit of a palette cleanser so to speak. Something tiny and pretty and easily finished in about a week.

These tiny daffodils turned out to be just the ticket. The kit came with the little frame, so it really did feel like a very complete project once finished. I did start on another tiny project, but also got sidetracked with puppy sitting, spinning, and then being able to go get supplies for a new large project.

Now For Something Different

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Or maybe very much the same. For many many years, spinning was posted on this blog. But I really haven’t done much of it as of late.

Last week, while our flyball team was at Can Am, I was asked to take care of a 4 month old puppy of a teammate while she and her flyball dogs were gone. So, we had a scrappy little dog in our home along with our own dogs, and when you have a 4 month old dog around, you spend a LOT of time outside.

The weather was truly perfect, probably the last good weekend of weather for this season. Unseasonably warm, and when not warm, certainly mild. Good patio spinning weather. So while the dogs were outside playing, I decided to do that patio spinning.

Back in the spring, I had started spinning some batts, I’d finished one batt and started the second. But I didn’t finish the entire spin, and I set it aside and didn’t pick it back up again all summer. So, when I needed a patio spin, it was an easy decision to just grab that project on the wheel and bring it out to work on.

I was delighted to get through the remainder of the second batt, and then ply the project as well.

It turned out to be a pretty good seasonal spin, the colors lend themselves well to October. I’ll show off the full skein once it’s dry.

Then I turned my attention toward the next spin, and delighted myself with some plain superwash merino in gorgeous jewel tones. I really enjoyed getting started on this one.

That being said, for me, it feels a bit like spinning “season” is over and I am likely now going to focus on other things again for a while, this will not get worked on again until the spring unless some other unusual situation pops up.

Stitching through the weekend

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In record time I blew through the October clue of the fox and rabbit mystery sampler.

Only 2 more clues to go and I’ll be finished! I’ve got a few things hanging around that I am going to work on, but I also may decide it’s time for a new project as well. Mainly because I’ve decided that I love working on linen more than anything else, and both linen projects are at a stand still. Glad I didn’t overindulge in aida based kits prior to this realization!

More Updates from the Stitching Realm

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I’ve actually been doing a bit of knitting lately as much of a surprise as that is but haven’t gotten an opportunity to take a photo. But I am also interspersing that with a fair amount of stitching.

The Fox and Rabbit 2023 mystery sampler has again gotten the most work added to it.

I am now at a place where I am “caught up” and can begin on the October clue.

So I took the opportunity to get a photograph of where I am overall in the project while moving the frame to a new position.

It is certainly coming together and has been a real joy to stitch. I’ve also learned a lot this year. But next year i will not do a mystery sampler or a temperature tree, instead I will just devote myself to whatever I’ve got going on and not rush myself to “catch up” on anything at all. I suspect it’ll be a very busy year of flyball travel anyhow and I won’t have a ton of time for this type of thing.

4th Quarter Stash Shop

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And now on to the final quarter of the year! Here are the products I’ve chosen to concentrate on over the upcoming 3 months:

I have considerably lightened the number of products I am concentrating on. Because as is often the case at the end of the year-I would like to cycle through all my colored products. So from my stash I’ve pulled out all the eyeshadows, blushes, bronzers, and highlighters. I will use them and then they get added back into my stash. Honestly this is a good way to decide if I want to keep them all or if I am kind of over it. But even more so, it helps keep me focused on what I already have while the busy holiday season is upon us.

So, for this quarter we have:

  • Mac Fix Plus-this was in a previous stash shop this year and I am close to being done. This will get finished.
  • Pur love your selfie foundation. Not my favorite foundation but perfectly usable. A little light for me this time of year but I’ve paired it with a powder that tends to darken it. Let’s see if I can come close to knocking out a 4th languishing foundation in my collection! (I don’t think I can finish but I can get close!)
  • This Bare Minerals concealer has really been with me a long time and also does not look nice under my eyes, so I am going to concentrate on it this quarter as a cover up concealer and see if I can finally remove it from my collection. This weighs 15 grams.
  • There’s no way to finish such a large navy eye pencil but I am going to concentrate on it.
  • The Jecca Blac primer needs to get used up. I’ll use this until it’s gone even though I have almost no use on it yet. Even if it takes longer than 3 months, it’s getting used up. Starting at 17 grams.
  • I am sure I can finish the eyebrow pencil, which will be good because it’s not a fav and I have a fav I am going to move to using exclusively once I finish up all the extras in my collection.
  • This eyebrow wax from elf is something that I’ve used over and over and almost no movement is ever made on it. But, also, I have no eyebrow gels for hold anymore, and I don’t want to purchase new right now. I plan to make this work. This currently weighs 13 grams.
  • The Bare Minerals powder is deceiving. This is a tiny sample size product, but in reality I have this plus two travel size containers and so I am going to keep using them all until they are gone. This is a powder that tends to darken my foundation, so it’s not a favorite and using it up seems wise.

I am eager to see how I get one with this, but also with the knowledge that I don’t think that there will be many finishes this quarter. That should be ok though as I’ll be well occupied and entertained by deliberately cycling through all my colored makeup in general.

3rd Quarter Stash Shop Finale

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I am just going to say at the outset that despite using these items for 3 months, nothing that I didn’t fully finish changed weights in any way! It was a disappointing 3 months of tracking the weights on the items because despite knowing I was consistently using these items there was no tangible way to see that. But, many items were fully used up so that part is a win.

Here’s where I started:

And here’s where I finished. Though I very quickly dipped out on a number of items. The lip product as well as the cream cheek products just didn’t get used. But, I fully finished the sunscreens, the setting spray, the powder, and the foundation. Plus the mascara, as it’s now been open for 6 months.

Everything else had consistent use, and I do think you can now see a dip in the bronzer pan. I am still not done with the primer unfortunately but progress was made. It feels like this quarter was a weirdly successful but felt unsuccessful month! And I am not really sure why that is. It might be just a feeling of getting tired of the project which often does happen this time of year.

Next quarter I am going to make enough changes to keep things interesting for me personally to finish out the year, and then have a think about what I’d like to do next year.