Week 3 Nikki's Stocking

Well, I am making progress, 

even if I did ended up doing some ripping!

Luckily it wasn't a lot.

I also have to be careful of what I am watching. 

I found when I am watching Downton Abby, for the 2nd time, 

I stop stitching and just watch. 

That doesn't help with the progress. 

This is where I ended last night Friday the 26th. 

I made it all the way to the left side and 

I was one stitch too close to the flower pot. 

I had to unstitch all the way to the left hand side of the 

bottom of the first hill on the right. 

It get's tricky when you have to skip stitches. 

I moved to working on this section because

 I was tired of working on the top part. 

January 26, 2024


Tonight I was able to find my mistake, undo and redo. 
And it is such a wonderful feeling when the two ends meet in the middle, perfectly. Plus I had just enough thread on my needle to do the last stitch. 

January 27, 2024 All fixed

I guess I did get a lot done this week. I have been reporting my progress on Thursday nights but tonight is Saturday. And I didn't stich everyday. 

Nikki and Klint came over last Sunday for a visit and they were impress with the process of doing counted cross-stitch. 

And the progress. 

Stocking update Week 2

It is amazing how much progress can be made 

when you make no mistakes!

Or no major mistakes!!

Or none that I can see!

I am now going to take my tired eyes to bed!

Happy Stitching!

Stocking Update Week 1

The first full week of stitching didn't go smoothly.

I ended up doing a lot of ripping. 😢

First mistake 

I counted only 7 stitches here up to the top step. 

It should have been 10. Except it turned out to be right and I made too many triangles. But I didn't realize that until later.

Mistake Number 2

I ripped out that top row, made the side 10 stitches 

and redid the top row and started down the other side 

when I realized I had missed a step.

All correct, finally!

By the time I got this in correctly my eyes were crossed-eyed!

I have resorted to marking my pattern.

I have never had to mark my progress before 

but if it helps me stay in the right place it will be worth. 

My eyes aren't as young as they used to be.

Another Stocking in the Works Day 1

We have a new family member and we really love her. 

Our son Klint and his new bride Nikki

Walling into the reception

So, of course this means Nikki needs her own stocking

 that matches the all the family stockings.

On January 4th I started the stocking. 

I had a really large piece of fabric and I had to decide 

which way to cut it so the stocking would fit. 

The the next step was to fray check all the edges 

so, I won't have loose threads on the end. 

Before I could start stitching I had to find the middle of the pattern and the middle of the fabric. 

Middle of the fabric and on my frame.

My first stitches.

That was my first evening of work on the stocking.
Doesn't look like much does it.

I have to include a recent picture of Richard and me.

A good picture of my hubby and me on the wedding day!

Card Making

The other thing I have been doing is making cards.

One of my favorite designers is Karen Burniston.

Today, I will show you some birthday cards I made. 

This first one is for my adopted daughter, Savanna.

Outside

Inside

Yes, that is a 3-D popup birthday cake.

On the card below is the one I made for my 17 year-old, 

adopted daughter, Samantha.  

It has three  panels, on the front that flip back and forth. 

Plus the front lifts up for a message.   

Outside Front

Flip side of the front.

Inside

These cards are fun to make but they are time consuming. 

Yes, picking out the papers is just as difficult as 

picking out fabric for a quilt. Only the qualities are smaller.

They are always well received. 

Stockings Were Finished in 2020

Yes, I did finish the stockings! 

They were well received by the recipients. 

The above picture is when I finished the stitching.

The second picture is when they returned from the finisher. 

And the backs.

Below is my niece admiring her stocking. She is the big sister to my two adopted daughters. They are on the couch with matching pj bottoms. 

And here is her husband with his. 

Week What??

I really don't know what week it is. I took a ton of weeks off.  

I did some scrapbooking and I was also sick and I didn't want to work on it sick. Plus getting the girls ready for online school and then in person for 2 days a week. 

And celebrating two birthdays, they are now 17 and 15.

 

So here are the latest and great pictures.

Between July 26 and Sept 21, I finished the second snowman and started filling in the snowbank. I also made the little bird. 

This is close up of the bird, he was supposed to be white but I could hardly see him on the background, so I used one thread of red and one of brown to make him more noticeable. I like him!

I made a mistake on the cat. So sad. So frustrating. The tail is right, the white chest is right and the red scarf is right but there is a mistake in his body. Off by one thread. Grrrrr

So I went back to the snowbank and the snowflakes under the border. 

This was my progress by Friday night on the 25th of September. 

Now to pick out part of the cat, hopefully, I can save the parts that are right. The goal right now is to have it finished by the 10th of October to take it into the shop to have both stockings made into stockings. 

Until next time! Happy Stitching!