Stitch from Stash Update: October

The month is drawing to a close already so I figured it is time for Stitch from Stash before I forget.  I got a bit of stitching in today so it is not quite as pathetic as last month.

I started on Stained Glass Holly by Ink Circles.  I also worked on two WIPs: A Time of Thanksgiving and Country Grace.

Are Your Ears Ringing?

Well, they will be now!

If you've been a follower for awhile, you might remember me talking about my experiences in a handbell choir.  I was feeling nostalgic today, so I looked up some of my favorite bell pieces.

First up is "Variations on Madrid" (also known as "Savior, When in Dust to Thee").  It uses almost every technique in the book (except maybe suspended mallets, mallet lifts and a tower swing).




Another of my favorites is "Fantasy on Hyfrydol" (also known as "Love Divine All Love Excelling).  Known for the part where almost every bell rings and then goes into a tower swing.  It is also one of my favorite melodies in the hymnal.




This last one is a piece we did at contest my junior year at high school and it is absolutely gorgeous.  It is called "Soliloquy for Bells."  It has a bit of a story behind it.

My sophomore year of high school, the freshman choir director convinced the Ladies Auxiliary to buy the school a five octave set of handbells (so we wouldn't have to borrow a local church's set for Christmas).  When you ring in a handbell choir, it is very hard to cover if a person is absent because it takes the whole choir to make a song so after the first year, I was designated the extra "floater" because I can sight read music without a problem and I filled in for anyone who was missing. Well, we showed up to contest and we were missing two ringers.  We had to start because you have designated time slots so we had to do our best to absorb the missing person (since we had one extra person, not two).  We still did well on the song and made it to State.

A Stitch from Stash Prize

I have been participating in the "Stitch from Stash" initiative this year.  The goal is to spend less than $25 per month on stitching supplies with a few extra "cheats" thrown in.  So far, I've been on task (mostly because I have not had any extra money for stitching supplies).  This month, I won a giveaway and won this wonderful HAED:

Holly Update

I was able to get a bit of Holly done today.  It is not quite looking like anything at this stage still.

Some actual stitching

This weekend, I was able to finally make it to my library's knitting and crochet circle.  Here's what I worked on.

This was a new project.  My mother-in-law saw some infinity scarves at Wal-Mart and wanted one.  I discovered the "crazy stitch" for crochet so I am crocheting an infinity scarf.  It crochets really fast.  I'm almost done.

I added another line to my flag afghan.  I have one red and white done.  Back to red.  Soon I'll need more yarn.  Eventually, I'll get to add blue.

I'm almost to the end of this pocket scarf I'm making for Zoe.  It is working a lot better since I got aluminum needles instead of the wood ones I was using.

I also started a new cross stitch project.  I am doing the "Stained Glass Holly" ornament out of the JCS preview issue.  The pattern is my Ink Circles.  It is solidly stitched with no partial stitches so I decided to do it on gold perforated paper instead of the recommended 32 ct fabric.

Sadly, there's not much to see yet.