Merry Christmas !

Here is Kevin's stocking finished ... And here are Kevin's and Ethan's stockings ...

I'll be taking them to Betty to get them finish finished next week when she gets back from visiting family in Alberta.

Turning the heel

I have been diligently working on Kevin's stocking (my brother's son-in-law) and I am pleased to report that yesterday I was at the point of turing the heel. With all apologies to knitters...but the saying seemed apt! It looks like I will be able to have it done for our family gathering in July.

Last night I took a break from colour changing in the stocking and switched to working under the magnifier on this 40 ct French stitch along...I think I may be almost caught up to everyone else.And last but certainly not least...have a look at Anne's latest finish... Kustom Kraft's Macaw! Great work Anne! Oh and by the way, Anne has lost 74 pounds in the last year...talk about a determined lady!

Another Christmas stocking

Last Friday, my brother Christopher, who likes to start Christmas stockings for his family, but doesn't have time to finish them dropped in.
I had told him I would finish his son-in-law's stocking for him, so he brought it along and this is how it looked last week. He actually had done quite a bit of work on it!

I have decided that I would like to have it finished for the family gathering we are hosting in July so I set to work and so far, in a week, this is what I have accomplished.

Startitus

I seem to have come down with a rather severe case of startitus...

This one is called Sampler au Bouquet and comes from France. A number of enablers are already working on it...Fran, Clare, Kathy, Wendy, Marg, the London gang and I don't know who else..Beatrice too I think...anyway now I am too! You order it on-line ( www.jardineprive.com )and have it within minutes!

And this lovely delicate thing is from Rosewood Manor...a huge piece called Inspiration.

Since it is so big (230 X 290) I am scaling it down a bit by doing it on 40 count linen...

Gold Magazine

Remember these cute little 3-D houses that were featured in Cross stitch Gold Magazine before Christmas? Well I really liked them and I expect showed them off here in my blog when I finished stitching them. I also, uncharacteristically, sent a letter to the magazine indicating how much I enjoyed them. And...lo and behold, my letter was published in the most recent issue!!!
I'm famous!

On a completely different note... those 5" hoops from Germany which hold your fabric extremely taut are now in. They are pricey little devils (at $20) but people who use them say they are fabulous. I mention this here because while I was sure I ordered only one package of 10, they sent me 2 packages of 10. I guess this way no one will be disappointed that she cannot get one.

Morning courting...

This male turkey put on quite a display for Dan and me this morning. I suspect that the performance was really for the female turkey seen in the next picture and not the two turkeys watching and taking pictures from the living room!

Before this turns into a wldlife blog, I had better get back to the stitching part of it. Yesterday at Friday stitching Cheryl brought along her work from the weeks I was in Florida and unable to see her progress. Have a look at her beautiful work...Letters from Nora E and N ... Christmas presents for her grand daughter and sister.

And this Sue Coleman wolf for her son!

Beautiful work Cheryl!

Bird Keeper??

So will the real bird keeper please stand up?