Sorting through the WIP cabinet

One of the things that I wanted to do in the new year was to go through both my WIP/UFO cabinet and my yarn stash. Today I went through the WIP/UFO cabinet and did some cleaning and organising. It was not as bad as I thought!

I took photos to show you what I have hidden in there. There is just one WIP that I can’t show you as it is top secret until it is done. But here goes, I am airing my whole WIP/UFO collection here.

Here is the cabinet before I organised everything. And my notebook and some zip lock bags for some of the projects.

All the bags are out and on the floor. What is in them? I had some idea, but wasn’t sure of all of it.

Bjarki’s lopapeysa that I made for him needs some mending under the arms and I need to sew the zipper better as it has loosened with all the use it has gotten. This one did not go back into the cabinet as I am going to repair it tonight so that I can give it back to Bjarki next time he comes over.

The bed spread I am crocheting for our bed! It hasn’t gotten much attention lately, mainly because of my very secret WIP, but as soon as that is done, I imagine this will be my next focus piece. So neatly folded with all of the yarn, back into the cabinet it went to be ready for my attention.

A crochet shawl. This is in fact not my project, Helgi is making it! I love the colours and the green is dyed by me. It went into it’s own project bag and back into the cabinet so that Helgi can grab it when he feels like it.

Now, this one is almost done. Just the finishing touches left. But, it also needs a partner that is smaller and has a different colour where the purple one is. It is very high on my priority list to get these finished a.s.a.p.

Various stuff for some yarn graffiti.

Crochet curtains for a pub. Need to know if I should finish these or not.

One sock for Karítas that I did ages ago, too small now so I am either making the other one and giving it to someone, or frogging it or using the yarn for something else, like socks in the right size for her!

The start of a shawl. Frogged as I want to use the yarn for something else.

One sock for myself. Need and want to finish the other one, just have been suffering from ‘second sock syndrome’ since I finished the first one.

A cabled bag that I really want to finish, but I need to buy more yarn for it!

BSJ that I started, then the cat got a hold of it and I couldn’t figure out how much had frogged so I frogged the whole thing and will use the yarn for something else.

I thought that there would be way more in there! And I am very happy that I just frogged the items that I knew I would never ever finish anyway. I put everything in their separate bags or zip locks, depending on the size of the projects and the amount of yarn, and put them in back into the cabinet so that I can grab them easily whenever I feel like working on them.
None of these projects are something that I need to finish very soon, except for the knitted sweaters that I was hoping on finishing before Christmas, but off course things got busy and I just couldn’t.

Then I put my yarn into my yarn cabinet that you can see here. Now, I kind of need to go through it and organise it better. I will do that soon, maybe even tomorrow if I have the time.

Bits & Pieces

I completely missed last Sunday’s update. I was sick as a dog on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Still felt a little crappy on Wednesday and Thursday. All better now though.
This has been an easy week, work wise. Sickness and then there is winter break in the girls school so I took some vacation time to stay home with them on Thursday and Friday so I only went to the office on Wednesday. We have been cooking and baking and off course I have been doing loads of crochet.

Karítas as Claudine from Monster High on Ash Wednesday

Sumarrós as a zombie geek on Ash Wednesday

Lunch Beat, One Million Rising against violence against women. This is the first female president in the world and former president of Iceland, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir and me, dancing for a good and worthy cause.

Mornings are getting brighter and sometimes the sky is on fire.

I went to a music festival last weekend. Well, on Friday I did but I missed Saturday because I woke up so sick that day. I did see Gus-Gus on Friday. I have seen them so many times, but they always, always deliver. It was a great show!

I finished he blanket for my daughter Sumarrós! She loves it and so do I!

Off course I started a new blanket right away, this one will be for my bed. Stone gray and bright NEON colors here and there. Very excited about this project.

Wrapping your loved ones in your own creation is some kind of wonderful!

Oh yes, another blanket! This will be a baby blanket though, not a full size afghan.

I did finish the Vintage Crocheted Throw & Afghan last night. No pictures yet as it is in the washer. Pictures to come when it is all dry and ready. It is SO beautiful!

Busy, ornament finish and other things.

Yes, yes. I am still here. Still alive for the most part. This would be the reason for me being a little quiet lately.

Yes, this is my desk at work. We are working very hard to balance everything that belongs to the year 2008 and we are getting there. But this means a little longer hours, a little work on the weekends etc. Nothing that is killing me, just a little more busy than usually. Fun thing that has been happening at work. These geese (there are three pictures of them) have been visiting us almost every day for about two weeks now. I love them! They are so cute and I just think it is fun that they come almost every day. Well off course they do since people feed them when they are there. So one day I ran down stairs and outside since I had my camera with me and snapped some shots of them.

So, the stitching part of this post! I have been working on this ornament lately. It has taken much longer than it was supposed to since I have been so busy. But I finished the stitching and the finishing tonight and I love how it turned out.

TGOSM Issue 34 November 2008
Designer: Prairie Schooler
Fabric: 28ct Lugana
Threads: DMC
Beads: Mill Hill
Jingles from my stash

I have also worked a little more on Flea Market Souvenir and some other projects, but nothing work showing yet. The busy time at work will be over soon so then I will have more time to stitch and finish things. I have already started to think about a good time for my finishing weekend that I mentioned some posts ago. I think it will be fun!

Well, must get the kids in bed. I am going to stitch a little tonight. Not sure what though.

Two new starts!

I hope you are all enjoying the new year. And thank you for the wonderful comments on my last posts! I am very happy about my finishes! I went through some of the unfinished ones yesterday and thought about ways of possible finishing. At least I have some ideas now for some of them, now to just find the time.

I have been discussing the option of a ‘Finishing Weekend’ in my Icelandic stitching group. The idea is that each person brings a finished stitching project and all the supplies needed to do the finishing on it that she has in mind (I will send them a list of what they need for each kind of finishing, at least the basics). And they come here and get the help they need to get their project finished. Off course I do not know every finishing technique in the book, but with the help of the internet and the blogging world I have gotten some great ideas and help in doing my own finishing lately. There are quite a few members in my stitch group that are excited about this idea and so am I so now I just need to find the perfect time for it. This would also inspire me to do some finishing on my own projects. I am thinking about having an open house for a whole weekend so people can just show up whenever and stay for as long as they want. I can even house about 2-3 people if someone is coming from far away and want to have the option of spending the night 🙂

Well. This post was supposed to be about my two new starts, got a little side tracked there! Since I finished two projects I decided to start two new projects. These were both projects that I didn’t need to buy anything for and I had everything in my stash so all is good.

Design: Trousee aux Fleurs Bleues by C’mon Monde
Fabric: 32ct Off white linen from my stash
Threads: DMC

Design: Come Tarry by Shepherd’s Bush
Fabric: 32ct Dark Espresso Linen
Threads: Threadgatherer, Soie D’Alger and Gloriana Silk

I am thinking about going to a knitting store today because I want to buy some yarn for this project. I haven’t knitted in a LONG time and I miss it. I often get the urge to knit something in January/February and I love this project. It is so me!

Stitchers Studio Stocking

I am getting there! I finished all the stitching this weekend and started the back stitching. I am so happy! I am now going to take a little break from it just to keep it interesting as I really do not want to get bored with it at this point. There is not that much left to do now.

I was going to take a picture before I started the back stitching, but I was so excited that I forgot!

I had a pretty good weekend. I was extremely lazy and just stitched and ate and had a nice relaxing weekend. Aisté and Rósa came over on Friday for dinner and some stitching and my cousin Bjarki also joined us. Saturday was just plain lazy. Lots of stitching. And on Sunday me and Aisté went out and had coffee and cake and walked a little around in the mall. Then back home and more stitching. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Quilting – Happy Dance

Yay! I finished yet another project from my list! And now I am about to start the next one, I just wanted to update my blog with my finish first 🙂

Quilting from the ‘Little Women’ series of thread packs by Little House Needleworks
Threads: CCC
Fabric: 32ct Attic Lace by Lakeside Linens

Back to my stitching! Woop!

SAT Friday and a new start!

I really enjoyed this SAT Friday over at the Let’s Stitch blog and got a lot done on my stocking. I am again hopeful that I will have it done before Christmas. I had kind of lost all hope and was getting pretty bored with the piece, so many quarter stitches and confetti stitches and gaaaaah! It was just driving me crazy! Then I thought ‘One stitch at a time. One stitch at a time’ and it got easier again. So here are my results!

Stitcher’s Studio Christmas Stocking from Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine, Issue July/August 1989

I also started a project from my box of projects. It is the ‘Little Woman’ series of thread packs from Little House Needleworks. I started ‘Quilting’ last Monday and have been working on it on and off since then. The others in the series are Reading, Gardening and Baking. You can see a picture of them here (scroll down a bit). Anyway, here is my progress on this project also:

Little Women series from LHN ‘Quilting’
Threads: CCC
Fabric: 32ct Attic Lace from Lakeside Linens

So that is all my progress this week. I am thinking about if the new challenge for the Let’s Stitch blog will be a good excuse to start something new. LOL! I was thinking about something small, maybe something for Christmas. I am going to think about it at least 🙂

Tagged

I got tagged by Raven/Missy

So here we go:
THE RULES:
Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
Tag 6 people at the end of your post by linking to their blog
Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
Let your tagger know when your entry is up

1. I bite my fingernails. I know, yuck!
2. I love doing laundry but I HATE folding it and putting it away.
3. I play music all the time either on my i-pod (need to charge it) or at home.
4. I an not a big TV watcher. I prefer movies or listening to music
5. I collect books. They make me feel good.
6. I am a huge Prince fan. I just adore him!

JUDGE AWAY…

the people I tag are: Anyone who wants to do this. You can even do it in my comments 🙂

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Now on to stitching. I have been working on a project suggested by Becky over at the Let’s Stitch blog. She suggested we dig out our longest standing UFO or WIP and work on it this week. I am making great progress on my project. The project I decided to work on was Mini Cottages by Michael Powell. I am doing all four of them on the same piece of fabric and have finished the first three and started the last one. I took a picture on Sunday before I sat down with it and will take another one soon to show my progress. I am quite hopefull that I will get it done this week. It is a nice break from my stocking since the stocking has a lot of details and the Mini Cottages are much more simple. When I am finished with the Cottages I will work on my stocking more.

Stitch-A-Thon Friday

Over at the ‘Let’s Stitch’ blog there was a Stitch-A-Thon Friday yesterday. I decided to join and work on my stocking. I didn’t get much stitching done. I was completely spent after the busy week I have had. I am going to work on it again tonight though. Here is a before & after picture:

Other than that there is not much else to blog about. I am having a really lousy Saturday. I am going to try to turn it around and cook a good meal and have a relaxing night.
Hope you are all having a good weekend.

A wonderful gift and more of my Neighborhood

I was whining in one of my yahoo groups about the cost of eyelet setters here in Iceland (the cheapest one I could find was about $45) and my friend Tracy offered to pick one up from me and mail it my way. I just got back from the PO where I picked up the package. She didn’t stop with the tool itself, but also included 100 extra eyelets and 9 pieces of fabric! Most of them silkweaver solos! They are all so beautiful!

I know what I will be making this weekend, floss ring tags, and anything else that I can use my new cool tool for! Thank you so much Tracy! Love ya girl!

The only thing I have been stitching on lately is my Little House Neighborood. I just love working on it and it is such a joy to stitch. I have made some nice progress too!

Here is a close up of the first house I finished, stitched with Crescent Colors ‘Bramble Bush’.

I really like how it turned out with that floss. I stitched it up and down and really like the effect that makes. Makes the house look more ‘wood’ to me.
And I started the red house. I decided to go with Crescent Colors ‘Wild Berries’ for that one and am very happy with that color as a substitute. I am also stitching this one up and down.

This weekend is the biggest travelling weekend of the year here in Iceland. I on the other hand am not going anywhere and am going to enjoy the nearly empty city with my daughters and do something fun. The weather is supposed to be wonderful so we will probably spend a lot of time outside and hopefully go swimming.

WIP updates, awards etc.

First, thanks to Maria, Asta and Dovile for the Brilliante Weblog Awards. Since I am supposed to nominate 7 blogs to each of the nominees I get, I am just going to say that I really love each and every stitching blog that I have in my blogline reader! You all inspire me to be a better stitcher and not to be afraid of trying new things!

I have been working some on ‘Ladybugs & Bumblebees’ and have a progress picture to share!

I am just over half done! It is such a fun stitch!

I also started ‘Little House Neighborhood’ and have hardly put it down since I started it. I decided to change the DMC colors for the houses to Crescent Colors and have started the first house. It is being stitched with Bramble Bush.

Sorry about the wrinkles, I try not to iron my pieces until I am done stitching them.
I had a good weekend. I went to two concerts and one birthday party and had a lot fun! My younger daughter is with her father durring her summer vacation so I am feeling a little ‘off’. Sumarrós is here with me, so that is good, but still, I am so used to having them both at the same time, or not having them at the same time that life seems a little weird when just one is missing. We have never done this before, so it is just a matter of getting used to I think.

Me and Sumarrós saw Mama Mia at the movies last week and we both really enjoyed it. I am going to try to go and see the new Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight’ sometime this week. I am very excited to see that movie!

The Rain Fell – WIP update

Yes, I am uploading a stitching picture. YAY!
First I want to thank Diane Williams for her wonderful designs. I sit down with them and I just can’t stop stitching. This one is a special favorite though. I just don’t want to stop stitching it. So here is how it is as of today. I am about to sit down and stitch a little more though 🙂

The Rain Fell – Little House Needleworks
Threads & Fabric – recommended

I have done all of the black on top but it is on my q-snap so I didn’t want to take it out. Next time I will show you the whole thing 🙂 I have decided to go with the Light Mocha Belfast for Little House Neighborhood. Thanks to everyone who helped me to make up my mind! It really helped a lot! I have been playing with the threads and fabrics a lot and I am pretty sure that this project will look amazing on the Light Mocha.

Karítas is feeling better and better. I will keep her home tomorrow though, and then she might be ready to go to play school. I have to go to work tomorrow though, so my great wonderful best cousin Bjarki is staying home with her. She adores him and he adores her, so they should have tons of fun! I have next week off from work (summer vacation) so I hope the weather will be nice since me and Bjarki are thinking about going camping with my daughters.

Tagged, foot, WIP update.

Thanks everyone for the good and healing thoughts about my foot. It is getting a little better, slowly but surely. I really wish I could just sit down and stitch until it felt better, but as it is, I have to work full time and then take care of a house and my two daughters when my workday is over. That’s life 🙂 I have been taking it easy with the chores (it is not like they are going anywhere anyway!) and doing as little as possible around the house, but that is just the way it has to be for now. My daughters are really understanding though, and are bringing me whatever I ask them and being very careful around my foot. The swelling has gone down quite a bit, but my foot is quite colorful these days. It is bruised all the way through, that is, I can see a bruise under my foot also, and everywhere between my toes etc. It is really weird! I keep my foot wrapped during the day, so it is a little wrinkled 🙂

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I started Ladybugs & Bumblebees by CCN and here is a pic. The colors are off, but I couldn’t be bothered to fix it at the moment. Next picture will be better, I promise 🙂

And Miss Mary Mack got a little attention last night. I miscounted and had to frog a whole bunch. Man do I hate frogging when I am stitching one over one!

And finally, I got tagged by Monique!

Where I was 10 years ago: 10 years ago I wasn’t at a very good place I must say. I was 20 and a bit confused about my life and what I wanted from it. I did a lot of partying and stupid things. I got pregnant with my older daughter and thankfully I wised up and turned my life around.

Five things on my to-do list for today: Work, dinner, get kids to bed, fold laundry, stitch.

Snack foods I like: Doritos with hot dip. Some nuts. Fruits and veggies. Popcorn.

If I were a billionaire, I’d: Oh I don’t know. I would try to do as much good as possible with the money. Travel a lot too. I would like to visit all of my blogging friends. Or better yet, invite you all to come over for a visit 🙂

Places I’ve lived: Here, that’s it 🙂 I have lived in Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær and Reykjavík, but that is basically saying that you have lived in the separate ends of one city. And a tiny city at that.

People I want to know more about: Anyone who would like to answer this 🙂

Well. I better get dinner started. I am just going to have some easy snacks, bread, fruits and yogurt. Minimal cooking for me!

Pretty good weekend, that ended not so great.

I had a pretty good weekend. On Friday after work, I drove with my friends Aiste and her husband Þorri to Þorri’s family’s country house in Fljótshlíð. The weather was wonderful and as soon as we got there we started up the grill and flew a kite. I haven’t flown a kite since I was a kid so it was great!

We then made wonderful BBQ dinner and ate. Me and Aiste stitched a bit that night and then we all went to bed. I woke up to the morning sun and the song of birds at about 5am but soon fell back to sleep. The day after I took some walks around and took a bunch of pictures that you can find here. It is such a beautiful place and when we were getting ready to drive home at about 2pm I just didn’t want to leave.

I am hoping that they will invite me back there someday!

On Saturday night I went out dancing. Somehow, the genious that I am, stepped on my foot wrong and it is pretty swollen and badly bruised. I can walk, but I limp all over the place and I can’t say that it feels good. Actually it feels horrible and I am hoping that it will feel a whole lot better (the optimistic that I am) tomorrow since my girls come home after their weekend at their fathers. So I am crossing my fingers that I will feel better by then. At least a little bit since I have to grocery shop and stuff since I couldn’t do it today

Next time I will have some stitching photos to share, it is just too dark to take a decent picture right now. I started a new WIP, ‘Ladybugs and Bumblebees’ by Country Cottage Needleworks and I am loving it!

I hope you all had a great weekend, and that your feet are feeling better than mine! LOL!

RAOK, WIP, School show etc.

First of all. I got the most wonderful package in the mail yesterday from Paula. She sent me a needleroll pattern from my wish list, Forget Me Not Needle Roll – The Sweetheart Tree, and the recommended fabric for it (32ct China White Royal Crown Linen, gorgeous) and another Needle Roll kit from Silkweavers called ‘Summer Days Needle Roll’ with the fabric, threads, beads and button for it! How generous and sweet! I have e-mailed you Paula, not sure if you got my e-mail or not since I haven’t gotten a reply yet. I am very grateful, you are so sweet!

I have started ‘Miss Mary Mack’ but haven’t gotten a lot done as I have been feeling tired and have been trying to go to bed early-ish lately. I am also working on a pinkeep for my friend Brenda, and some other things that will remain secrets for a little while. But here is a pic of MMM.

I am stitching her on 32ct Belfast in Willow Green with Needlepoint silk, one over one. I love how she is turning out.

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Today when I got outside with my daughters, Sumarrós pointed out this cute ladybug that was on the wall just outside our door. Since I had my camera with me (I was going to a school show at Sumarrós’s school later) I took pictures of it. I have only seen a ladybug once before here in Iceland.

I took a bunch of pictures at the school show today. Here are some that are favorites. Images are clickable for a larger view.

The rest of the pictures are here.