Stitching, Knitting, Shopping

So I have done a bit of stitching at last. Here is my progress on Autumn at HRH. I am enjoying the  piece but found the over 1 on 25 getting a bit tedious  so I switched  to my latest Mystic Stitch effort. It is called Magpie  and I am working over 2 on 32 count. That should be easier on the eyes except that the colours so far are a pretty boring mixtures of taupes and greys in a large variety of shades. 

                                                    I have managed to knit up a few socks.

Last week I went shopping.  I do not like the Ott Light that I have been using for a few years. I had bought it at Michaels and found it to be wobbly. The shaft connects in the middle and the threads are stripped and it never did sit well in the base so I treated myself to a new one. I'll take this one home and leave the old one here. As an added bonus I got 50% off  the price at Joann's so I am feeling pretty pleased with myself.

While there I picked up some more yarn for socks. I think there may be socks in the familys' Christmas stockings this year!

Florida

Hi Everyone, I know it has been a long time since my last blog but things have been happening. As you know  we came to Florida after the March retreat and a very stressful number of months with Dan's Dad's illness and death in February. If ever we were ready for a break from routine and reality this was the year for it. 

So here we are in Florida. We spent a couple of weeks in the  rental house which we enjoyed for the last 3 years we have been coming down here. However this year, we bit the bullet and bought our own place and here is a shot of Dan carrying me over the threshold of the new house!

We did not purchase it in two weeks. We had been looking for 2 years and during the winter our excellent Real Estate agent, Ron Kubala found us the perfect house. We closed the deal after we got here.

He also had to carry Paddy over the threshold.

And of course Mollie too!

Here we are having a meal on our lovely lanai overlooking the pool. We spend a lot of time out there. it is screened, shaded and private.

My stitching has taken a bit of a back seat to a lot of other things so far on this holiday but I am hoping to get back at it  very soon. Yesterday we had a bug guy coming to spray the house  so in anticipation of the fact that he was going to spray all the baseboards, we pulled out ALL the furniture and appliances in all the rooms and vacuumed   behind and under them  and wiped down all the baseboards.  I have to tell you we were somewhat unimpressed with the cleanliness of the house  but it is pretty shipshape right now.

Now that the moving in, the cleaning, the placing of things where we want them, the buying of the stuff that was missing,the arranging for TV and Internet,  the improvements that Dan is puttering at, are all mostly done I am planning on stitching and blogging more. 

I have some photos on my camera of some visitors who came by yesterday  and of course I will show my limited progress on my new Mystic stitch piece and on Autumn at HRH. Alas my 40ct Rosewood Manor piece has not yet seen the light of day but photos of the others will be posted soon.

March retreat

Thank You all who attended the Nashville Open House on March 9 and 10. The door prize winners were Bert on Saturday and Susan on Sunday.

The 2013 annual March stitching retreat at Timberhouse Inn in Brighton was another success with lots of fun and stitching enjoyed by all.

Colleen, Carmen and Clare

Tracey, Dani, Christin and someone's feet...maybe Rebecca's??/

Debbie looking marvelous in new glasses...although she really could not see all that well out of them!

Wendy and Marg

Sharon looking pensive

Bonnie and Rebecca

Carmen, Clare and Eveline

Beatrice and Tracey

Judie, Brenda and Sharon

Marg's stunning hand appliqued quilt

Judie's pillow 

Beatrice's Loon

Wendy's Christmas Garden

I also had a picture of Bonnie's Dragon,the first finish of the retreat but I don't know where it went!

New Website

Knowledge and Needles has a wonderful new website which of course I want you all to visit but there is a problem. When you type in knowledgeandneedles.com you will get a warning from Google that there is malware on the site.
There was a problem with the old site but there are NO problems with this one. We just have to wait for Google to "crawl" the site again  and declare it virus free. I do not know when that will happen.
If you want to visit the site...there is NO RISK to your computer.
Where Google chrome tells you that there is a risk, just  click on "advanced"  then "proceed at your own risk"...but once again there is NO RISK on this new site.
I am delighted with the new site. I have been busy adding in pictures from Nashville in the New Items gallery  and also adding to the Clearance category.
I will gradually tweak the rest of them  and get the pictures in alphabetical order  to make it easier to browse the designers and themes.
Hope you like it and do not be afraid to get on it!

Nashville Open House this weekend March 9 and 10 from 10 am to 6 pm.

Nashville 2013

The Open House is next weekend March 9 and 10. Hope to see you there! Until then...a few previews ...I had fun today.

Rotation February 2103

Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. That house is has lots of stitches in it!

Christmas Ornament from Cross stitch Gold Magazine. Over 1 on 25.

I had to start another Mystic Stitch chart. This one is called Magpie. These are very addictive!

When I have time to stitch this rotation works quite well. These last couple of weeks have been slow stitching days but some progress has been made. I have not touched Inspiration by Rosewood Manor yet in this round but it is coming up.

Thank You everyone

Dan and I have been very touched by the overwhelming support we have received from all our stitching friends. As many of you know Dan's father had been very ill since May  so his passing on February 2 was not a big surprise. However he was Dan's Dad and we will miss him and be grateful that he is no longer suffering. We held a beautiful celebration of his 88 1/2 years on Feb 8 and gave him a good send off in the midst of the worst snowstorm in 5 years in the Mississauga area!

I do not have any stitching progress to show at this time but  perhaps now our lives will settle down a bit for a few weeks at least. On February 28, we are going to Nashville for the Needlework Market and I know I will have lots to show then.
On March 9 and 10 I will host the Nashville Open House  and  I hope  many of you will  be able to attend and enjoy the latest designs hot off the press.

On March 15 to 17, 18 happy stitchers will attend the March retreat at Timberhouse Inn and then on March 18, Dan and I are leaving for 6 weeks in Florida. Do we ever need a holiday this year!
Items will be available from the shop, if you email me. I will have people in the house and shop regularly to keep an eye on things and keep the insurance company happy.

I am hoping that my new website will be up and running very soon. There are problems with the old one so I am now putting a bit of pressure on my website designer to  speed up the process so I can post pictures on the new site when I get home from Nashville.

That's all the news I have for now. I will take some pictures of my rotation progress and post them soon!

Thanks again for your love and support.