Needlebooks are DONE!

Woohoo! My needlebooks are done. I've stitched, twisted cord, matched lining, searched my entire inventory for the right button, made buttonhole loops and sewn in the wool felt needle pages. And after all that...I don't hate them. Usually, by the time I'm finished with a project like this I'm tempted to throw them in the fireplace. But this was fun...for the most part.

Of course, playing with the colors was the best part, but I enjoyed searching through my various reference books for interesting bargello patterns too. It was time consuming and a bit of arithmetic was required to figure out the size of various pattern repeats, but I think that's fun too. My nephew, who is not a big fan of math, would say "you're evil". There wasn't nearly as much frog stitching as I anticipated, but that is probably because I took the time to do the math.

Now I can get back to the 29 ornies on this year's agenda!

Just Something I Found Uplifting

Last week I made a few "Honor our Veterans" posts in various places with all sincerity, but today I read this story in Nordic Needle's weekly newsletter. I felt the need to share it because the National Anthem still gives me goose bumps...and I'm proud of that.

The Music Stopped

(For those who are unaware: At all military base theaters, the National Anthem is played before the movie begins.)

This is written from a Chaplain in Iraq :

I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the music stopped.

Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.

Here in Iraq , 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again and the Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect 1000 Soldiers standing at attention to do ?? Frankly, I expected some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie to start.

But No!!... You could have heard a pin drop, while every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of the auditorium, then a dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off: "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you. Remember them as they fight for us!

Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. Many have already paid the ultimate price.

Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in Iraq , north of Baghdad

Another Ornie done!

I've been working on the Angel ornaments that I showed you from Twisted Oaks Designs. They're fun and pretty easy. The blackwork does take some concentration because it's easy to get lost, but it's so gorgeous.

I just realized that I did the green one on 32 count apparently, because the cabachon used for the face doesn't fit. Oops. I'll have to think of something. And I'm not real thrilled with the Algerian eyes in metallic. Hard to be consistent. Oh, and I haven't put the beads on yet. (Did I mention that the beads and 3 cabachons come with the chart?)

And I've started the pink one, but obviously not much is done yet.

I'll probably do more once I figure out an alternative to the cabachon for the face. Any suggestions? I really love these sweet ladies.

Another great stitching blog giveaway

You have to check out this amazing end-of-the-year GIVEAWAY at Hooked on Stitches blog.

Whew! One more finish

So, I took the day off from Etsy...well, I quit before noon...to stitch and watch football and NASCAR. And it was a very productive endeavor. I finished the hardanger Christmas tree, Philip Rivers, QB of the San Diego Chargers and NCSU alum, led a last minute drive to beat the NY Giants, and Mark Martin finished fourth in Texas and picked up a lot of points on chase leader, Jimmie Johnson. Now I know most of you don't give a fat rat's ass about Philip Rivers or Mark Martin, but it made a great afternoon for me. And finishing the Christmas tree made a small dent in the mountain of stuff I still have to do in the next six weeks.

And I even managed to get about halfway thru one of those angel ornaments. I'm on a roll! Unfortunately, tomorrow real life intervenes. I'll be cleaning, grocery shopping, doing laundry, and finishing a custom order scissor fob. (That part is good.) So I'll be back to stitching after supper only. What a life!

The Christmas Panic Continues

Only ten ornies left to stitch and about two dozen to finish! Those of you who read my blog and receive one of these little jewels every year may quit reading now. But even if you continue, you'll never know which ornament you're getting until arrives in the mail...or in your pile of goodies under the tree. So, in those immortal words...na na ni boo boo. (Loses something in the typed translation, so sing it to yourself. But if there is anyone else in the room be prepared for strange looks.)

I was looking for some new ones to stitch (in a hurry) and found these hardanger angels from Twisted Oak that I added to my stash some time ago. I promptly filed the chartpack with all my other Christmas patterns like the good, right-brained, anal retentive freak that I am. They definitely fit the parenthetical criteria because hardanger has few, if any, color changes and the geometric nature of hardanger makes it easy to follow the pattern.

Of course, I have to do something different with them (I have a contrary nature, as my grandmother used to say), so I'm doing them in the three colors you see here. Unfortunately, there are beads, but I'll suffer through. Ironic, isn't it, that my Etsy shop is all about beads, but incorporating them in my stitching projects makes me want to scream. Okay, I admit it, I'm a little weird.
Hopefully, my finishing will be somewhat close the models. Not my forte. But you should see the ones I stitched for my family 30 years ago! Scary.

Woefully Shameless Plug

Here it is, my woefully shameless plug. If you are thinking of giving a gift to a needleworking friend, please take a walk through my Etsy shop. It's like giving jewelry, but it's functional too! Beaded scissor fobs with handmade tassels...some even have matching counting pins for needlepoint and/or cross stitch.

Everybody needs a beaded needle threader.

And for the knitters and crocheters (is that a word?) on your list, I have beaded row and stitch markers.