Fell off the wagon..

and have not posted for awhile. Back in November, my good friend, Danielle, and I went to a retreat in Laurel, Md. I was glad I was able to go this year as it seems to be the last one they will be having there. In two years, they will be moving the retreat to the spring during the needlework exhibit at Woodlawn in Va(pending any difficulties finding a venue). I am DEFINITELY all about getting to that retreat! Danielle and I attend the exhibit every year and then stop to shop at In Stitches, so adding a weekend retreat into the mix will only sweeten the deal. Plus, we have been BEGGING for a retreat during this exhibit for years. Yay!

I worked a bit on my Chatelaine piece at the retreat, but mostly focused on a new start. Plus Street Samplers, Blackberry House. I adore the colors used in this piece and have enjoyed working on it. I do not have a picture to post today, but I am a good way through stitching and will have to post one later.

I am also on the search for what I call my "white whale" of stitching. It's that piece that you want to stitch, but doubt you ever will be able to finish but are determined to try. I am sure it's the same for many stitchers. But mine is "And They Sinned" by Examplar Dames Design Co. I find myself a couple times a week googling away and searching Ebay to see if anyone is willing to part with their copy of the chart. I would have no problem purchasing the chart from an LNS, but at around $50(just for the pattern), I figure if I can find it somewhere else, I am game. With upcoming after christmas and superbowl sales also approaching, I am sure to get my hands on it somehow!

My husband and I are getting very excited for Christmas this year. My little girl will be three next month and is always chattering about Christmas now and Santa Claus. We are planning to actually visit Ocean City in a couple weeks to see the Winterfest of Lights they have there. I have family that lives in the area, so we are going to stay with them for one night to save on a hotel stay. I am looking forward to seeing the beach in December(and of course visiting Salty Yarns).

My birthday is at the end of the month and I usually like to treat myself to something stitchy. I have yet to decide what that will be, but I am leaning towards either a scroll rod set(to fit my chatelaine piece) or another Chatelaine kit. I have the chart for Butterfly Lace, which is just so pretty. The kit is available for sale at European Cross Stitch online and would just be easy peasy to purchase.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

On a roll!

I've been home from work these past few days. My grandfather passed away on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. Yesterday, I was with family helping to make arrangements for his memorial and was able to say a final goodbye. Today, I was able to relax at home and stitch away while binge watching Once Upon A Time. 

I was able to get more done as I stitched well into the night after my little one was in bed and my husband was home from work. We like to stay up late on the weekends to enjoy our time alone and catch up on our shows. 

Tomorrow, we remember my grandfather and then home to take our girl trick or treating. 

Hawaii Mandala Update

Funny thing....

Last night I was enjoying a late night with my stitching and TGIT. I was super excited to continue work on my Chatelaine piece, Hawaii Mandala. I was just getting out of the blue and onto a leaf! Yay, new color! LOL. I was also approaching a specialty stitch, the jessica flower. All set to stitch and I realize I cannot find the thread! Now, I kitted up this project a few years ago, okay, maybe 4-5. I cannot recall exactly. I took months to get all the threads as they are somewhat expensive, so I could not buy them all at once.

So there I sit, panicking because I cannot find this thread. Oh my, did I possibly miss purchasing this one? ANOTHER thread I do not have?! I KNOW I had it!! Where is it?! My cat was quite disgruntled at the fussing, disturbing her absorption into the continuing saga and romance of Olitz.

I came to accept that maybe I just did not have it, maybe I just missed buying it when I purchased all the other threads. Maybe the LNS just did not have it in stock and I put off buying it for another day and forgot all about it. So, I moved on and starting stitching the rhodes stitches for the pineapples.

I soon realized the lateness of the evening. 1 AM and I have to work  the next day. So away went my wip, and all the threads gathered into their bag for safe keeping. Folded up my throw blanket and took the remainder of my code red mountain dew to the kitchen. I turned to check and make sure I did not miss putting anything away. Nothing can be missed for it will be snatched up by eagle eyed toddler.

Lo and behold, there is my thread. Where it had been hiding under my behind the whole time.

Well played, well played.

Standstill

I've come to a standstill ont mermaid. So close to being finished and I ran out of kreinik thread!! I don't have a picture, but I can't tell you that I was minutes from a finish when I realized the spool was finished. I don't live close enough to my lns to just take a quick trip to replace it either, so it will have to wait. 

I did some work on my growing like a tree sampler which is about 60% done! I got kind of tired of that as I was thinking about my chatelaine wasting away in its bag. 

I took that out today and got ALOT done! I'm so excited to work on it again! I am going to a retreat next month and will definitely be taking it with me. 

Kindness

At the beginning of summer I joined a secret exchange on Facebook and received this great package from Las Vegas! 

It was so generous and fun! I've been on a very strict stash diet for what feels like years so it was a great treat to receive THREE patterns as part of my package. 

One day on my lunch break I went to check out the local goodwill for some furniture deals and after striking out decided to check out the dollar tree next door. Everything is one dollar! Jack pot!! I found these super cute highlighters. Perfect for my stitching bag! 

And does anyone else remember these pencils from their childhood? With the pop up points? I remember how they used to come in so many fun designs and fruit scented ones! I would always beg my mom to get me some of them! Lol. They had one package of frozen designs left and I figured a buck for four of them, it was a steal! I did give the Olaf one to a coworker as we had been  reminiscing about them and that's how I got started even looking for them in the store. 

Did you know you can buy in bulk from the dollar trees website?! Shut up and take my money! 

A day at home!!

Yesterday I had to drop off my car to get its annual inspection. I took the day off work and took my girl to daycare and figured I would enjoy the day with some stitching and binge watching something other than Disney,Jr and Paw Patrol. Haha.

I caught up with the real housewives and watched a couple movies while working on my mermaid. 

I was starting to feel a bit of burn out on her but after really having some time yesterday, I was excited to see so much progress! All of the light green of the tail is what I got done yesterday, plus after I took this picture I had some time to start filling it in. 

I still have my etsy shop going and have added some very cute needle magnets!! 

I'm hoping to add some fall/Halloween items soon! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheAnchoredNeedle?ref=hdr_shop_menu

My husband and I are counting down the days to our beach vacation with our family!! Can't wait to some stitching by the ocean!