SFS March: Over and Out Plus My Last Two Starts

Earned: $4 

Spent: $140

Ending balance: -$140

Not a good start to April! It still amazes me I spent that much in March; a little bit here, a little bit there all adds up (plus one big splurge at the beginning of the month when I received a bonus check from work).

So, I'm out of any giveaways for the remainder of the SFS session. I can try to stitch my way back to a positive number, but that's going to be hard to do. Plus, I would still probably add to my stash along the way. 

I'm not sure if I should continue with it or not; putting a curb on my spending is a good idea, but, on the other hand, stitching stash and yarn are about the only things I splurge on. If I spend less than $25 a month, great, but if I have the money and an opportunity to get something I'd like to stitch, I usually do. I'll have to really think on that one.

So, what did I buy? Fabric and floss plus several charts from Etsy and some from my LNS. I haven't taken pictures of what I bought at the store, but here are a few charts I got from Etsy:

 Pretty Little London from Satsuma Street (also Pretty Little Paris, New York and Barcelona and Arcadia)

Garden Cat from Satsuma Street

Monorail from Lovemystitch

Calvin and Hobbes from Hornswoggle Store

Do I have more charts than I will stitch in my lifetime? Probably. Will that stop me from buying more? Probably not. But the same goes for crochet patterns and yarn.

And, finally, here are my last two charts for Debbie's Insane Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February March Challenge! 

#89: I Never Finish Anything

Source: Amazing Cross on Etsy

#90: Not How Many You Finish

Source: My Big Toe

I find it funny that the center of both charts (my starting point) is the word "finish". A fitting end to the challenge! I'll be participating again next year, but only for January and February.

Tomorrow starts the Blogging From A to Z Challenge, so I'll see you tomorrow with A.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)

 

Monday Musings: Some Crochet and Starts #85-88

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Saturday, I spent the morning teaching our ladies group at church how to make mini cards. 

These are terrific for donating to hospitals and nursing homes to brighten someone's day.

We also had our Easter egg hunt Saturday. Our church is very small, so we only had about a dozen kids, but they all had a great time. Alex got her own little section of eggs to play with and put in the bucket.

Sunday after church, we went down to Lake Waxahachie for a picnic. It was very windy, so we didn't stay long. They have a tiny playground with a slide, monkey bars and a merry go round.

Alex wasn't too sure about spinning in circles, but we still had fun.

I finally picked up my crochet hook and have a couple of finishes.

I made a preemie cocoon and hat using Red Heart Super Saver in Purple Tones. The cocoon pattern is from Dly's Hooks and Yarns and the hat pattern is from The Dainty Daisy.

Today, Sharon of Sharon's Eclectic Retreat posted a link for a really cute beret. I don't wear hats much, but it was so cute I grabbed a skein of Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Poinsettia and a P hook and whipped one up in about half an hour.

This yarn has red tinsel woven through it, so it's perfect for Christmas time. I have another skein in the same color so I might make another one to give away.

I'm linking these up with the March Stashbuster Link Party at Linda's Crafty Corner.

Here are four more starts for Debbie's Insane Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge. I only have two more to go!

#85: Hootie's 12 Days of Christmas

Source: PinoyStitch on Etsy

#86: Christmas Owl

Source: Free chart from Holly's Hobbies

#87: Santa's 12 Days of Christmas Day 3

Source: Prairie Schooler

#88: Santa's 12 Days of Christmas Day 4

Source: Prairie Schooler

I just realized as I'm posting that all four are Christmas related. Too funny! That was not planned.

I'll be back tomorrow with my last two starts, and then Wednesday starts the A to Z Blog Challenge.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)

Today's Inspiration

Photo Credit

Smalls SAL and Start #84

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so it must be check-in time for the Smalls SAL, hosted by Heather of Stitching Lotus. 

I finished another free Erica Michaels chart from Rainbow Gallery.

For these, I substitute DMC floss for the recommended threads. And, as much as I enjoy stitching these, I'm going to take a break from them for awhile. They're very easy to stitch, but at 1700 stitches each, they're time consuming. I have started the April one, but I'm in no hurry to finish it. I do plan to stitch the rest in the series.

Here's start #84 (6 more to go!):

Meow Flip It

Source: Lizzie Kate

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)

Mini Rings Finishes, Starts #76-83 and A-Z Challenge Theme

How did another week go by without me blogging? Sheesh, I gotta get on the ball.

We have three more fantastic finishes for the Mini Rings of Change CAL.

Carla

Jacqui

Linda

I still have to finish mine.

I was tickled to get a comment from Frank O'Randle, the designer of the Mini Rings of Change, on the CAL page. He wanted to let everyone know about a big giveaway he's having on his Ravelry page. You can find it here.

It's the final week of Debbie's Insane Super Duper Crazy Ultimate January February March Challenge. I've really enjoyed it and am looking forward to really working on all of my starts over the next nine months. I do intend to join the challenge again next year, but I don't think I'll go all the way through March, just January and February.

These are my starts from the last week:

#76: Calvin and Hobbes

Source: Hornswoggle on Etsy

 

#77: E is for Embroidery

Source: Prairie Schooler

#78: April Spring Hare by Erica Michaels

Source: Free Chart on Rainbow Gallery

I was doing these as my Smalls SAL projects each month, but at 1700 stitches each, they've become too cumbersome to try to finish in a month. I'll be choosing smaller charts from now on for that but intend to complete the series.

#79: Cinderella

Source: Free Chart From Sprite Stitch

#80: Elsa

Source: lovemystitch on Etsy

 

#81: Santa's 12 Days of Christmas Day 2

Source: Prairie Schooler

#82: Monster

Source: Boo Club by Lizzie Kate

 

#83: Woof Flip It

Source: Lizzie Kate

So, what am I going to do once the challenge is over? (Besides stitch my starts.) Why, join another challenge, of course!

I'll be doing the Blogging From A to Z Challenge. You post every day in April (except Sundays) and each post has to go in alphabetical order. April 1's post will be themed to letter A, April 2's to letter B, etc. 

My posts will be cross stitch and crochet related (maybe some other things, too, I'm not sure yet). I'll be joining Linda in stitching the Disney Alphabet Sampler by Cloudsfactory and the Christmas Carol Alphabet by Fangirl Stitches; both of these can be found on Etsy. It's nice to have people who are just as crazy as you are and will support (enable) your craziness.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)

Catching Up

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I have my green on; do you?

The memory card in my camera broke today; I can get all the pictures off it, but I can't add any new pictures. So I can't take any pictures until I get a new card.

I haven't disappeared completely, just been running after a crawling little Bean. Alex is crawling laps around the house lately; her latest love is standing and trying to walk while holding on to things. She'll be 10 months next week; how did that happen?

The weather is finally more to my liking; I'd much rather it be hot than cold. We've been enjoying evenings outside on our $5 yard sale Adirondack chairs. So far, the dogs haven't tried to eat them.

The peach trees are starting to bloom. I'm hoping for another bumper crop this year like we had last year.

My crochet mojo is still missing. I have the desire to crochet, but as soon as I pick up a project and start stitching, I get bored and put it down.

I'm late with my Gifted Gorgeousness post; this is a SAL hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching. We stitch a project that was a gift to us or a gift for someone. 

I've been working on an Elsa chart for Hope, but, alas, we've had more fabric issues. It started off on the white, then changed to oatmeal. The white stitches were fine on the oatmeal, but the multiple shades of brown and gray were invisible. So I finally got smart (that's a first!) and did what I should have done in the first place. I pulled all the colors needed for the chart. It has every shade of blue, white, gray and brown in it, plus shades of purple. So Hope settled on a green Aida from 123 Stitch. We ordered it Thursday and it should arrive today. Hopefully, third time's a charm.

But, I still have something to post for the SAL. My friend, Linda of Stitchin With My Furbabies, sent me an amazing gift of several Lizzie Kate and Prairie Schooler charts. I was so excited, I cut the fabric and started several of them already.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas Day 1 by Prairie Schooler

January Stamp by Lizzie Kate

Boo Club Brew by Lizzie Kate

I'm still keeping up with my starts; only 15 more to go!

#69: May Flowers

Source: Cherished Teddies Calendar A Calendar Year in Miniatures

I was originally going to start all 12 of them this month, but I got tired of all the quarter stitches and decided to finish some before I started anymore.

#70: Brew

Source: Boo Club by Lizzie Kate

#71: January Stamp

Source: Lizzie Kate

The white is much more noticeable on the fabric than it appears in the picture.

#72: All Dressed Up

Source: 6 Snow Belles by Lizzie Kate

This is a huge stretch for me; it's my first attempt at stitching on 28 count linen. So far, I like it, but I'm still an Aida girl.

#73: Pretty Little Paris

Source: Satsuma Street on Etsy

#74: Santa's 12 Days of Christmas Day 1

Source: Prairie Schooler

I'll be doing this as a SAL on Sundays with Linda. She's my crazy stitching buddy :-)

#75: Pretty Little Barcelona

Source: Satsuma Street on Etsy

The Pretty Little City charts is another SAL I do with Linda and Jo; we work on these on Tuesdays. So far today, I've worked on Pretty Little New York; if I have time, I'd like to work on Paris and Barcelona, too.

Well, that's about all I have for now. Tim will be home in an hour and we'll be headed to Walmart for a new SD card. I have to switch the laundry and start dinner and chase the baby. 

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)

Mini Ring Pictures

Well, the warning was too late for Tama and Linda; they discovered the pattern mistake on their own. But I love the resourcefulness of crocheters. Tama went ahead with round 41 and decided her blanket was perfect and didn't need the last round.

Linda finished round 40 with the extra stitches and is going to modify the remaining rounds to make it work.

They're both terrific! 

I didn't get any further with mine. I frogged about 50 stitches (the first several treble clusters) and restarted the round as it's written in the pattern, but that was it.

If you haven't finished your Mini Rings yet, go ahead this next week and send/post the finished pictures.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Blessings :-)