fab finishing!

look at the pretties i got to pick up over the weekend!

i made a goal that i would try and send 2 projects to the finisher after a big completion, so that my finish pile becomes more manageable and that i stay accountable for finishing what i started! (literally)

OU Santa stitching

OU Santa finish

This poor thing has been languishing in the finish pile since 2013, so it was way overdue for its date with the finisher! 

Patti Mann pig stitching

Patti Mann pig finish

Stay tuned for another big finish update!

a friday finish!

what a treat!

i had extra downtime this week and was determined to go into this weekend with a sweet little finish.

i really love how the ice blue background makes the santa the star of the show and enhances the reds, creams and whites. this guy finally gets an upgrade from the stash to the finish pile. 

next up, i'll be starting work on this beauty, but progress will most likely be slow due to packing and moving.  

can't wait to be back in the great state of texas!

background progress, and some exciting news!

i was able to get about 1/2 of the background stitched between plane rides this weekend to and fro Santa Barbara for a bachelorette party weekend! i chose this ice blue vineyard silk (called "cumulus") and really love the results! it doesn't distract from the stitching but adds a nice enhancement to the coloring.

trying to power through and finish this guy this week because i'm about to get really busy...

we're moving to Dallas! 

my boyfriend and i were fortunate and lucky enough to both receive offers from 2 amazing ad agencies in Dallas, TX and could not be more thrilled to be moving to the Lone Star State! for me it will be a nice homecoming, and i'm excited to share it with someone special. we'll have friends and family nearby, and it will be a great start for us together. 

needlepoint progress might slow down a bit due to all the moving madness, but i'm excited to be closer to many more LNS'. if you have any recommendations, lay them on me!

xoxo

stitching my way through mardi gras!

happy belated valentine's day, and happy lundi gras!

i was so bad at blogging last week so i'm including lots of pictures as an amends. let's start with my progress on mr. santa.

the sweater is stitched using gumnut "tulips" in kalem, with diagonal knitting for the sleeves. i like how textured it looks, like a real cable-knit sweater!

i originally thought beads for the "OU" and then once i started it i completely had a change of heart.

so i pulled out the sparkly neon rays and love it so much more!

also tested out a mustache/beard option in angora. 

finishing up his hat with fuzzy stuff, and then onto the background. his beard is so white-white against the cream of the sweater, so i'm having to wrap my mind around that. but i think he's cute. what do you think?

here's a glance at our weekend!

a new start

i'm really loving how my carol dupree santa is starting to take shape! also, can we talk about how much i'm enjoying getting back to decorative stitching instead of beading?

mittens and hat are in diagonal mosaic using splendor silk

had to post before i completed the hat but you get the idea

pants are criss-cross hungarian, i'll be going back over the open areas with kreinik for a little pizzazz

hoping to make some progress on the sweater this weekend and decide on a background color. decisions, decisions. 

happy weekend folks!

holiday stitching...it's a wrap!

my holiday stitching is complete and we can now go back to our  previously scheduled nativity club programming!

i put the final stitches in the last candy cane last night and promptly dragged the others out for a stitchy photo-shoot.

i used bronze beads for the lettering to play off the UT burnt orange and i love the finished product

the whole gang 

and just because new orleans never ceases to surprise me, check out my back porch visitor from this morning!

i've never seen one in person with that large of a shell! 

back to the nativity club this weekend *insert happy dance here*

a double finish in honor of america

the long weekend was just what i needed to finish up the next set of candy canes!

the red and white stripes made me feel very patriotic and it feels great to have 4 finishes under my belt!

starting on the last candy cane this week, and then back to the nativity!

getting the hang of it

i started the next candy cane last night and am hoping the upcoming holiday will help make this a quick finish!

i'm using neon rays for the OU candy canes, just to give it some variety. i originally thought i might do different stitches on each one, but i love the effect of the cashmere stitch. don't want to mess up a good thing, especially when these are relatively smaller projects. 

what are your plans for the 4th?

seeing double!

i'm seeing double this morning and i like it!

i managed to stitch up the second TCU candy cane this weekend and after a quick stop at the lns, i was properly equipped to bead!

so i know i mentioned last week that i was just going to tent stitch the letters for my parents' gifts and bead my own...but that plan was out the door after the first beaded letter was completed. it was too cute to deny anyone the joy of having their very own candy cane with beaded letters!

so i ripped out the tent stitches and beaded that one too!

i'm in lurve!

finito!

i finished up the letters for the first candy cane (1 of 3 holiday gifts for my parents)

i tried the beads i have in my stash, but the size 11's weren't looking right. a trip to the lns will fix that! i'll save the bead-work for my two candy canes, since i'm not entirely certain my mother will know how to properly store these needlepoint creations, so i'm keeping it simple. 

1 down. 4 more to go! since i already have my purple and white thread out, i'm going to try busting through the other tcu cane this weekend. deja vu stitching anyone?

have a fantastic weekend!

progress!

while my progress is not as quick as it would normally be, i'm just fine with it. 

i finished stitching the center band and just have to bead the letters and this will be complete!

4 more to go!

i've been wanting to make a change in terms of my fitness routine, and this week i took the plunge...

i've started pure barre classes and LOVE it! i've been going every night and really enjoy the curriculum. i've made a commitment to myself that this is going to be part of my permanent fitness routine. 

so while the 55 minutes of pure barre every night takes away from my stitching time, i'm ok with it. needlepoint and stitching is definitely my favorite hobby, but unfortunately it keeps me sedentary. i have always been active and only until i really started getting into needlepoint did my activity level drop. while in no way am i decreasing my stitching or giving it up in any way, i  do want to take time every day to get my butt off the couch and get moving. and if that means it takes me a week to stitch a candy cane instead of 3 days, so be it!

it's all about balance!

starting the candy cane countdown

 this weekend found me switching gears from the nativity to this year's crop of holiday gifts!

i completed all the stitching for the candy cane "body" and now find myself in a quandary. i'd like to bead the letters, but i also want to switch white threads. do i save myself the trouble of trying to find the right shade of white and just continue with the silk lame? 

in other news, this stitched up remarkably fast, and i'm fairly positive that once i find the answer i'm looking for with the center portion, these canes will stitch up for the holidays in no time!

question for those of you who have stitched these before: did you stitch extra rows for the finisher, or leave as is?

sorority canvas love

 earlier this year i caught myself drooling over steph's precious little chi omega heart by painted pony. i knew i had to have one. lucky me when pocket full of stitches had a painted pony trunk show that i was able to snag this for a great deal!

let's also not forget that this little lady has been on my 2013 stitch list...

let's also try and forget that i graduated from college 5 years ago and have no business having 3 sorority ornaments on my christmas tree, but i can't help it. they're just too darn cute!

(first kkg ornament seen here)

holiday stitching

instead of my usual ambitious holiday stitching (see last year's endeavor here), this year's holiday stitching should be a breeze!

while i LOVE the gratification of giving stitchy gifts to my family for christmas, it can get a bit expensive. so instead of trying to out-do myself each year and stitch for multiple family members, i decided that this year would be low key. 

voila!

these candy canes are so cute and festive, and i was green with envy watching all my cute blogger friends stitch them last year! i saved them for christmas 2013 which is perfect timing since my sister just graduated from UT, marking the end to my parents' "financial prison" as my dad so hysterically refers to it. 

the candy canes represent the schools attended in my immediate family. i think my mom will really love hanging these on the tree each year, or maybe on a garland!

don't worry, i bought the OU candy cane for my own tree. perhaps i sneak it in for this year?