Catching Up Part 1: The Largest Piece Ever!

When I was subbing, I ran across a teacher who was cross stitching an Afghan.  She had crocheted the blanket and was cross stitching on it but she had made a mistake.  So like many of us, she put it aside (because sometimes you have no time for frogging!).

She gave it to me and asked to see what I could do.  I found the mistake, frogged what needed to be frogged and set to work.  It took about 2 months of work.  We were in the process of packing to move so that cut into stitching time obviously.

This is the result:

The feet were done, the rest was me.

It was an awesome opportunity.  First, to help her out.  Second, to do something new.

Hello Blogosphere!

I have been away for awhile.  I've still been posting my work on Instagram. 

A lot has happened.  We bought a house at the end of 2016.  I took a long term substitute job in 2017 which turned into a paraprofessional job.  This fall, I got hired for my first ever teaching job!  I now teach 8th grade math. 

This has drastically cut into my stitching time.

And also blogging time.

So, I'm going to do a few catch up posts of some of the work that I have done.  Stay tuned!

And the Winner is....

I picked up my cross stitch from the fair today.  And here's what I got....

I was shooting for "grand champion" this year but apparently there weren't enough entries so blue was the highest ribbon.


I finished this piece awhile back but the frame I had bought would not let me drive nails into it.  So long story short, I hot glued the backing on and it fell off the wall.  I was able to repair it and used command strips to put it on the wall this time.  It's nice to have it hanging back on my wall!

I was a bit naughty and picked this up at Build a Bear.....  I had a coupon for $10 off so I added the sound effect.  It was buy one get one so I got Luna the My Little Pony too.

I also finally finished this great piece "Trimming the Tree" from Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  It turned out great with the bells and fusible fleece.

In not so great news, I discovered at the beginning of the month that my oldest had head lice.  Eeew!  My youngest also had it, I had some and so did the stepdaughter.  Everyone but my husband!  Fortunately, I think we've killed them all.

My suggestions for dealing with lice!

1. Don't panic. Lice can't jump or fly.  They are spread by head to head contact.
2. Lice can be anywhere on your head but look for them by the ears and back of neck.  You can tell nits from dandruff because nits don't just brush off but you can slide them off with fingernails.
3. Tea Tree Shampoo.  My husband thinks he didn't get them because he had been using tea tree soap in his hair and I didn't.  
4. Hair Dryers. Lice can't stand heat so blow drying your hair is a great way to kill them.  My hair dryer is the kind with the brush attachment so I thoroughly ran it through my hair after each wash.
5. Combing. I suggest a good leave in conditioner (I'm loving Ion Moisture Leave in from Sally's Beauty Supply) and detangling comb because a lice comb needs to have tangle free hair.  A comb with metal tines is essential.  I got a nice double sided one at Walgreens with a light.  Combing works best if the hair is wet and conditioned.  A spray bottle like beauticians use is great for wetting down hair (under $5 at Sally's).  There are good videos on how to comb on YouTube.
6. Benadryl Cream.  Lice can cause a rash around the ears and neck (I reacted pretty badly).  The cream helps with the itching.  
7. Gin. A cheap and effective alternative to Nix/Rid/pesticides.  Put the gin in the spray bottle.  Wet hair thoroughly and put on a shower cap to prevent evaporation. Reapply every hour for 4 hours.  Wash hair.  If you can't get the person to wear the cap, you'll have to keep reapplying every 15-30 minutes for 4 hours (Zoe wouldn't wear it).
8. Prescriptions. Adele would not let us comb much due to her sensory issues so I got a prescription from her doctor. It was $161 but it did kill everything and didn't require nit combing.
9. Clean up. After treatment, you'll need to clean stuff.  Fortunately, lice don't survive long off the human host (24-48 hours).  Boil any brushes/combs that have been used. Wash all bedding and towels.  Pop anything that cannot be washed in the dryer for 15 minutes. Vacuum carpets and mattresses. Put anything that can't be washed or dried in quarantine for a few days (or vacuum it if possible).

Catching up!

I've been off the blogsphere quite a bit this year.  Sorry.  But here's a run down of what I've been up to recently.

Work

I'm still seeking a full time teaching job.  I've had one interview so far and my local district has several positions open so I'm hoping to get one.  If not, I'll be subbing.  I also have been grading standardized tests and found out I'll be scoring leader for the next session.

Children

My girls will both be full-time in school next year!  Finally!  My six year old passed Kindergarten reading on grade level!  That is incredible since she really didn't start talking at all until age 4 and didn't say a sentence until age 5.  We are also expecting another grandchild (a boy) so that's more ornaments to stitch.

My daughters are into Tsum Tsum (these adorable little Disney plushes).

The Five year old's collection

The Six year old's collection

We also have some Build a Bear Ponies which have recently joined us.  

Stitching

I have had a few small finishes, but I am mainly working on Gathering Honey which I plan to enter into the fair in August.

A finished Long and Winding Road

A finished Dandy Wishes

A baby shower present

Work in Progress: Mini Twist from Stitchybox

My fair piece: Gathering Honey

Stashing

My husband, who totally understand me, let me get stash at the LNS for Mother's Day.  I picked up an 11x11 QSnap and a needle keeper (which I love) as well as the fixings for the bird ornament out of last year's JCS Ornament issue, some Kreinik and silk for another WIP and the GA Chalk for the Winter Chalkboard.

Blog Hop - June

I've been off the blogosphere for awhile now.  I was correcting standardized tests for most of April and May so my laptop was busy reading all those student written essays.  So, I'm back for the summer with a blog hop.  I haven't done one in awhile.

I have some great thrift store finds.  I have SCRAP, a "creative reuse store" which is a thrift store for craft items and other things that could be used as art.  They've moved to a new location and raised some of their prices but I still go there occasionally to see what I find.  I've found some amazing patterns, old magazines, kits and fabric.

This tote was only $3

Found my Fuji pattern for $2

And this whole lot of linen was like $4-5

My other, but not cross stitch related, find was these Boomwhackers.  They retail  for $25.  I got them for $2

April is Autism Awareness Month! And also some string....

I have mentioned it before, but both of my daughters are on the Autism spectrum.  They have been doing very well in school with the help of their iPads which they use for communication.

A few months ago, I listened to the audio version of In a Different Key: The Story of Autism.  I highly recommend it.  It is a great narrative about the history of Autism, starting with the first children diagnosed and the fight of parents to get their children out of institutions and into regular public schools.

On a string note, I am almost completed with "The Long and Winding Road" by Blackbird Designs.  Here's a picture.

Belated Posting

Hello all.

I haven't posted in a month.  I've actually gone the way of a bunch of fellow bloggers and started posting pictures on Instagram.  But I hadn't been stitching a lot until this week.  The girls were out sick again and I've been busy since I'm now playing organ for church again.  

I reached a milestone in my current WIP.  I completed the center (minus the french knots which I will put in last).  Here's a look.  

The amount of detail in this piece is stunning. This is the center and I think probably the most dense part of the piece.  After this there's a lot of white space.  I'll be taking a short break to finish up a baby sampler and a few other things and then I'll be coming back to it.