Reading Challenge - January

Here is my update on the books I have read this month.  Follow along with what I read on my Goodreads (contact me for that info) or follow my Newbery quest at neverendingbookquest.blogspot.com.  I have listed the different reading challenges in its own tab on this blog.

A book that became a movie: The Princess Bride by William Goldman

I had recently read As You Wish (which I highly recommend) and decided to go back and reread the original book. 

A mystery or a thriller: Broken Symmetry by Dan Rix

I got this for free on Kindle.  It is about people who have the ability to go in and out of mirrors.  It as ok.

A book with a one-word title: Paperboy by Vince Vawter

This book was one of the 2014 Newbery Honor books and I really liked it.  It is about a boy who stutters and takes over his friend's paper route for the summer, during which he finds out many things.

A book set in a different country: A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic by Hilda van Stockum

This book is a 1935 Newbery Honor book that has become public domain.  It is set in Holland and talks about a brother and sister who go on a skating picnic with their teacher and classmates.

A nonfiction book: 41: Portrait of my Father by George W. Bush and Killing Patton by Bob O'Reilly

I don't tend to read a lot of nonfiction but I found both of these books to be interesting.  I also listened to both books on Audible.  George W. Bush was encouraged by historian David McCullough to write a book about his father because John Quincy Adams, the only ever son to ever become president after his father, had not written a book about John Adams and McCullough would have loved it if he had.  It was very interesting and I learned a lot about the state of affairs during the elder Bush's presidency.  I have also read O'Reilly's previous three "killing" books (Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy and Killing Jesus) and I really loved them.  I didn't know a lot about Patton but I do now after listening to the book.  I love how he uses a lot of first person accounts and kind of weaves a web so that you understand what was going on in the world at the time of the person's death.

A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)

I was pleasantly surprised by this good old fashioned private detective novel after my intense disappointment with Rowling's A Casual Vacancy.

A memoir: I Am Not Spock by Leonard Nimoy

I have had this book for awhile but have not read it yet.  I loved the conversations between Spock and Nimoy.

A book with magic: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

I do like fantasy so I thought that I should really try to read some of The Wheel of Time series.  This was a first book.  It was long and bogged down in places but it was pretty good.

A graphic novel: Farscape Vol 5. Red Sky at Morning by Rockne S. O'Bannon

I was missing this volume in the Farscape comic series that tracks the crew of Moya after the events of the Peacekeeper Wars.

A book by an author you've never read before: The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish

This book was a 1925 Newbery Honor book and is public domain.  It was a little "out there" for my tastes, talking about a coach that delivers dreams to children around the world.

Downton Abbey and Stitching

I've fallen behind on Downton so I decided to catch up with the new episodes on PBS.org.  I got through the first episode and 20 minutes into the second while steadily working on my ornament.

This will be Zoe's 2010 ornament.  Only two more ornaments needed to catch her up.

Yesterday, I worked on the fish in Yellow Submarine.  Here's a peek.

I have also been crocheting a blanket out of last December's Crochet World.  I got two of the six squares mostly completed (they are missing their feet).  The others will repeat these two penguins.

We All Live in a Yellow Submarine....

After receiving my stitchy goodness yesterday, I decided to first finish the eye on my chickadee.  It's hard to see the bit of sparkle in the picture, but it's there.

I can now say that I have officially finished the page.  It is approximately 1500 stitches.  This squares out to 38 x 38, giving me $4 earned. 

I did a little bit more work on my Tigger Candy Cane Ornament.

Then, I turned to Yellow Submarine.  I am very glad that I chose to use the recommended sampler threads and fabric as they give the submarine a great look.  I am especially loving "harvest moon" which is the darker yellow.  I though that "toasted marshmallow" did not have a lot of variation but as I stitch, I found that is does (it's the lighter yellow).

New Stash!

My delivery from 123Stitch arrived today!  I'm so excited.

So, while looking at the other blogs who are participating in Stitch from Stash, I saw someone post their wish list which included the patterns Blackbird Designs are doing on their Magical Mystery Tour.  I love the Beatles so I had to have them and my husband liked them and decided he wanted them for his office at work.

I was able to get the pattern and the threads off 123Stitch but they were sold out of the recommended 32ct Cedar Plank.  Fortunately, my husband was able to get the fabric from the not-so-local LNS (which turns out to be only 15 minutes from where he works - dangerous!).  I cut the fabric in half because Octopus's Garden also uses the same fabric.

So now, I'm about 49 cents over budget but that's okay because I should be able to count the finished page from Fuji for this month (I also ordered the missing Blending Filament which is actually what put me over budget).

I decided to start with Yellow Submarine

The bulk of the cost was the Sampler Threads because I don't have many of them. 

Before the mail person came, I was stitching on an ornament that I actually put a few stitches on a few weeks back but didn't post a picture.  It's a Tigger ornament stitched on perforated plastic.  It's from my stash so it will count once I finish it.  I was listening to Killing Patton this morning on Audible while I stitched on it.  I'm not a big WWII person, but it's interesting and reads more like Killing Lincoln which I loved, because instead of being boring, it read like a thriller.

HAED Progress

Well, I was able to make some more progress on my nicely gridded second page.  There are definitely more interesting colors than the first page but the frequent color changes take much more time.  So, I went back to do some more work on page one. 

Grow Your Blog Party!

It's party time!  This is the second year that I have participated in Grow Your Blog.

About Me!
My name is Joy and I have had this blog since 2009.  I started blogging when my new husband and I worked opposite shifts and I needed something to do to pass the time since I couldn't spend time with him.  Since then, I have had two children, went through a major layoff and got my master's degree and state teaching certification.

What I Blog About

• Cross Stitching - This is probably the number one topic on my blog.  I have been doing Counted Cross Stitch for 14 years or so.
• Stitch from Stash - I am currently participating in a group called Stitch from Stash hosted by Mel at Epic Stitching.  We stitch on a budget of $25 per month.  This is only for cross stitching materials, not yarn for knitting or crochet.
• Ornament Box Project - I am working on cross stitching an ornament for each of my daughters for each of their Christmases until they turn 18.  It's definitely a work in progress
• Yarn Projects - I crochet, knit and loom knit so I share that as well.  I am a member of Ravelry (username: gadgettrek)
• Reading - I found a reading challenge on Facebook that I'm currently working on.  In addition, I have set a lifelong goal to read all the Newbery books which has its own separate blog (neverendingbookquest.blogspot.com).  I am a member on Goodreads.

I don't really do giveaways because the last time I did one, my husband fell off a ladder at work and all my extra spending money dried up.  I took a financial hit the time before when I had a giveaway.  So, I figure they are bad luck.  My apologies to anyone who is still waiting on stuff from me.  Now that I'm out of college, I will try to get it sent out. 

Some Border Work

I put Fuji up for now until my missing shade of blending filament comes in.  I realized that the pictures don't do justice for the actual size of the piece.  The Chickadee is huge!  I'll have to take a picture of it by a ruler or something.  It's certainly larger and more detailed than the bird pictures from my Grandma which hang in my hallway.

I did some border work on Sunflower Sampler today.  There are five different colors involved so there were lots of parked needles as I worked along.  I put a bit of yellow letters in as well.