Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A day late and a dollar short….



Ok, several days late (oh my gosh, busy, busy, busy) and as for the dollar short, I have a great excuse for the lack of cash…honestly!!!


Teehee….more stash!

This yarn addiction has really taken hold – luckily I have some very good enablers,  ummm, I mean friends who donate their 40% off coupons allowing me to feed my addiction (at a cut rate price!)


So, on to some cross stitching news. I’m busy working on some Christmas designs..ooops, maybe I should have warned you about the mention of Christmas in August. No doubt somebody somewhere could tell you the number of days till Christmas, but not me….all I know is that it comes around much faster than I ever anticipate. So in the attempt to be a bit more organized (yeah…like that’s going to happen!) I’ve started stitching up this new little Christmas design.





And since I really don’t want to think too much about Christmas and all the snowy weather that comes with it, I want to show you this little summer visitor who’s been a total joy to watch….






 There have been three of these ruby throated hummingbirds enjoying the nectar from the plants and the feeder in the back garden. Sadly these delightful little creatures begin to leave New York State about now, so I may not be able to enjoy their antics for much longer.

And I almost forgot to show you the total of Granny Squares to date....


I managed to crochet some while taking my daughter back to uni....needless to say, I wasn't driving!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona










Sunday, August 19, 2012

Ooops! I almost forgot!

How on earth could I have forgotten it was TUSAL time?!!! 

Here's my rather empty jar for this month...


I'm either becoming more economical in my thread use, or....something is distracting me from my stitching. Mmmm, yes, I admit it, there's a slight distraction. Those addictive granny squares have a lot to answer for!!!

Here's my excuse for having so little orts this month!


I just love those colours, aren't they gorgeous? But I will get back to some serious stitching this week - I promise!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Cake and stitching

Yes, I've got both to show you!

First of all I have to show you the birthday cake my daughter made for me.....



Totally yummy! It's not really a cake, it's more of a pie. It has a shortbread base with white chocolate and cream cheese frosting and some super delicious fruit on the top. Looks very healthy, but probably has about a million calories per slice! It's a good job we only have birthdays once a year!

As for some stitching, well I have been really good and have worked on both WIP's!  I'm just giving myself a little pat on the back for being so good! ;)

Here's the progress on the geisha..


And the progress on Life's Simple Treasures....


It doesn't look like anything much yet, but you can just see the beginnings of the star fish!

And the tally for the granny squares has increased....

There would have been more, but I ran out of yarn! Can you guess what shop I'll be heading off to at the weekend?!!! Tee hee!

Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona




Monday, August 13, 2012

Oh no....another addiction!

After my last post, you may be wondering just what this new addiction of mine is. Well I can tell you that the new addiction is......



.......wait for it......




.....yes, some of you guessed correctly.....



......it's HOUSEWORK!





And in the words (or word) of Sheldon Cooper.... BAZINGA! 

Gotcha!


Haha, no it's definitely not housework, this is my new addiction....


Yarn! I can't get enough of it!  I decided to learn to crochet after seeing some wonderful crochet pieces on some of the blogs I follow. Thank heavens for YouTube videos as I really couldn't follow the instructions in the books that I borrowed from my local library! The peaches an blue yarn is going to be used for learning new techniques to make the different types of granny squares. (Pinterest has a lot to answer for!)

Anyway, this is what I have been busy making...



Good old-fashioned granny squares! Aren't the colours gorgeous? Only about another 150 to go till I have enough for a blanket! 

So, my plan is to crochet at least one granny square per night as well as doing some cross stitching. Unfortunately the nights are just not long enough for me to be able to accomplish everything that I want to....anyone else have that same problem? ;)

So, until next time, when there will be some cross stitching to show you...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, August 6, 2012

I have a confession to make!


After all the hassles of the last few weeks when it seemed as if everything was breaking down, I did what almost every women does to make things better…. a bit of retail therapy. And as a stitcher, a bit of stash enhancement retail therapy really does cheer you up!

But in my defense, I have to say that it wasn’t really my fault. I shouldn’t be blamed for it. It was all Joann.com’s fault. They sent me an email telling me that there was 40% of all cross stitch kits….how could I not click on the very convenient link and just have a little nosey. And when they had a 4cent shipping offer, I would have been MAD not to buy something! And so it happened that a certain kit just happened to be added to the shopping cart - just promise not to tell my hubby! (And I hope that you noticed I’m being good and not linking to the site as I don’t want to be blamed as an enabler to all my fellow cross stitch addicts!)

So this is what cheered me up….

 Simple Treasures by Dimensions
Designed by Sandy Orton from the Kooler Design Studio

It’s gorgeous! I can’t wait to get stitching that seahorse, but I’m being good and working methodically and will get to him in good time. I think I might even stitch him again, separately, and make a little wall hanging for the bathroom.
This is what I’ve done of the kit so far.



But, of course, as soon as I started to stitch this magnificent piece, I began to feel guilty of not working on my Geisha. She’s been hidden underneath a towel for many weeks, (maybe even months) as I had really begun do dislike working on her. So full of guilt, I pulled her out and decided to do some more of her and maybe rotate which pieces I was working on. And would you believe it…I enjoyed working on her! The threads still tangle and the colours are not as subtle as The Mighty Samurai, but we’re back in business and she’s been promoted back to a WIP!

Here’s what she’s looking like now….

  


I also managed to finish the second scarf, and just have to decide what colour to the next one!




I should also confess to the start of another addiction, but I think I might hold off and tell you about that another time….I’m feeling too guilty as it is without adding more!

Until next time…happy stitching!

Rhona

Friday, August 3, 2012

Craft Blog Directory

Whilst doing my usual Friday morning "I should be doing some housework but blog hopping is far more interesting" routine, I stumbled on this....


CraftyRie

Of course, any hope of getting some housework done went straight out the window, but then again, you all know my views on housework! ;)

So, the idea is that everyone with a craft blog links up to this directory. I did link up my blog but couldn't see the Tangled Threads  name on the list. I'm hoping that maybe it takes a few minutes to log the name, but it's more likely that I've managed to screw up the link! Anyway, for those of you who are more tech savvy than me... click here to go to the directory.

Be warned though, there are LOTS of interesting blogs there just waiting for you to click on! I just love some of those blog names....that's what makes me click on the link. So, are you drawn to a blog by it's cute, unusual, or funny name? I certainly am. I'd love to know how or why you picked your blog name. I got my blog name by looking at the bottom of my stitching basket!!!

Anyhoo, I'm heading back to the Craft Directory, to see if this blog has appeared on their list. Can you guess how I'll be spending the next hour or two? (Hint - it won't be housework!)

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona