Less Worrying News

My little nephew had a scan of his heart yesterday and the technician said that his heart is fractionaly enlarged but that everything was working as is should. She also commented that my nephew was a very healthy baby and that he was showing no signs of having a heart defect. My sister & BIL still have to go and see the specialist for the full results but the initial signs are good and it is most likely that my little nephew will never be adversly affected by his enlarged heart. Fingers crossed that the specialist will be as positive about the future for my little nephew.

Other news is that I exchanged contracts this week on the sale of my flat and the purchase of my new home. I am now frantically packing my possesions into boxes in preparation for the house move which is due to take place this coming Thurday. It is a good job that Monday is a bank holiday otherwise I don't think I would have time to get everything done.

Worrying News

I have just got off the phone to my sister; she took my little nephew to the clinic today for a routine check up and an x-ray of his hip (it had been clicking but is now o-kay) while he was there they also took an x-ray of his lungs because he has an almost continual cold since he was born. The x-ray indicated that he may have an enlarged heart. The diagnosis is not definite at this stage since the x-ray was positioned to view his lungs so he has to go back early next week for more tests. We are also not sure what impact having an enlarged heart, if his is, will have. To date other than a snuffly nose and a little nappy related soreness he has not any health issues and has been growing at a normal rate. In fact he is what he is very healthy for a one month old. Fingers crossed that it is all something and nothing.

Angel of Spring Progess

As requested by Liz here is a progress picture of Angel of Spring. As you can see I have very little left to stitch, just some of the white in the skirt, 2 of the birds a few of the flowers in the bottom of the skirt, most of the gold and most of the beading. I can not now think why I put it away with so little left to do. I am hoping to get it completed before the end of the month.
Karen I use Tails Press in Lichfield for my framing, they are very good and also very nice people who understand what goes into creating hand stitched pieces. Oh and the shop helper Zoe is just adorable - she is a long haired Dachshund who just loves to have her tummy rubbed.



Sorry it has taken so long to reply but I have a little frantic, work is busy but home life is even more hectic. I have just signed the contract on the sale of my flat and the purchase of a house and fingers crossed I will be moving next week. Which means that I need to pack up all my stuff and clean out the flat. I have so much stuff this may well take more time than I actually have so I may not be arround very much over the next week or so.

Progress Report

So far so good and I am managing to stick to my rotation but am about to amend it slightly. I am just approaching the 50% stage on the letter A which will form one-third of my focus piece, so I should be switching to stitching on Royal Holiday (a new start) but I have decided to pull out one of my oldest UFOs - L&L Angel of Spring. I started this piece as a teenager so she has been a WIP/UFO for over half of my life and I have decided that it was well past time to finish her. I am a little worried though since she was the first large project I ever started and I don't think I have left enough spare fabric to allow for successful framing. However I am too close to finishing to start over so have decided to finish her anyway and then see what my framer can do with her.

A New Handbag

I finished this handbag last night. The material was something I bought years ago just because I liked it and a couple of weeks ago I decided to turn it into a handbag this being the result. I will use it to carry around my current knitting projects when I want to knit on the move.

Heather, unfortunately I had to miss the pub meal because I already had plans that were is was not possible to rearrange for that evening. By the way I missed you being at the GTG. Hopefully we will both be able to make it next time around. I was attempting to knit a lacey scarf but had to rip it all out and am still to cast on for a second attempt.

A Lovely Weekend

Yesterday I spent the day knitting and chatting with fellow stitches at a get together that was held close to my home town. I can normally knit & chat better than I can stitch & chat but ended up ripping out everythign I did. It was great to meet up with friends old & new and to see everyones stitching.

Today I have made a start on getting ready to move house, fingers crossed early in June I will be moving into my new house and I need to have a major clear out before then. I am planning on spending the rest of the day watching TV and stitching. I am still working on my M-Designs A but hope to get to the quarter done stage this afternoon and also get some stitching time in on the next project in my rotation.

A HD and A Purple Blob

Yesterday was a Bank Holiday which meant extra stitching time as well as time to visit with my niece & nephew. Because I was so close to finishing Rose Window I decided to stitch on that before starting my new rotation. After completing Rose Window I made a start on the M-Designs letter A which I am stitching on 32 count white linen using Vikki Clayton silks in Dark Burgundy. Although I have several VC silks this is the first time I have done any stitching with them and am finding the silk a delight to stitch with. Now I just have to decide what to add to my rotation in place of Rose Window. I am thinking of adding one of the smaller pieces from my stash pile in the hope that I can get some more finishes in an attempt to put a stop to the seemingly never ending expansion of my stash pile. I realised the other day that my combined stash piles are currently at 100 projects. Given the rate at which I finish things I estimate that I need to live to be 130 in order to get everything completed. I have also recently realised that my tastes in stitching have undergone a major change. Most of the projects in my stash pile while being things that I still think are nice and worth stitching are not projects that I would now purchase or consider must stitch items. I have set myself the challenge of not purchasing any new stash (of any kind) for the next three months. As a reward I will allow myself a limited shopping spree of no more than 3 small / medium sized projects. Which projects I am not yet sure as there are far far more than 3 designs out there that I want but it is sure to be fun trying to decide what to treat myself to.

The last picture is one of my niece and her new baby brother who for reasons only known to himself loves the one sock look.

May's Goals

• Beading: Complete 2 projects
• Knitting: Complete another scarf
• Stitching (1): Stick to my rotation
• Stitching (2): Progress 'A' to 75% complete

Current Stitching Rotation
I need to keep reminding myself of my rotation in an attempt that I might actually stick to it.
Focus Piece: M-Designs A, D & Celtic Heart (currently at 0%)
Slot 1: Rose Window by Derwentwater Designs (currently at 90%)
Slot 2: Royal Holiday by Mira (currently at 0%)
Slot 3: Ice Blossom by Just Nan (currently at 0%)
Slot 4: Around the World by Barbara Thompson (currently at 25%)

Focus piece to be stitched in 12ths (or 1/4s of each letter & the heart) with 10 hours on one of the other projects in between.

Since I have a bonus day off work today (I just love Mondays when I don't need to go into the office) I am thinking of cheating a little by spending the extra stitching time completing Rose Window as this should only take a couple of hours.