not much to see yet!

Here is my progress on Blackwork Fantasy - super slow going so far. I have to count almost all of it. But once this first brown knot is in place, the second intertwining green knot will go much quicker. And then I can fill them both in with the super pretty variegated Carries Threads and that will just fly since I don't have to even look at the chart to stitch. That sort of stitching is perfect for the train. After that is the blackwork designs in the open areas. I thought long and hard about the most efficient way to do this piece and I think this is it. I should be finished by the end of December I think. I worked on block 7 of the Village last night as predicted. I'm almost finished! I'm holding back the photo so I can share a finis tomorrow. :-)

Speaking of December, I need to think about my goals. They will be modest for sure - I want to get back on track with both the Village and Marquior ABC. I also want to start to work on what I already have in my stash. I have several things kitted up and several more almost ready to go. Then I can start buying more charts. I only have one auto shipment of charts and that's the Loose Feathers so I won't keep building up a ton more (if I can stay out of the stores that is).

As I said yesterday, I've narrowed down my thread color for Cirque des Cercles using a Vikki Clayton silk to two colors. And I think I should go with her premium silk rather than the standard silk. I almost never use more than 1 strand of floss these days even when recommended but I think the dark linen and the lighter thread will need more coverage and I hate the look of 2 over 2. Does anyone have experience with the premium floss? My linen is 32 count. I have yet to order a skein to check it out. And since I need 42 yards of a six stranded floss I would hate to make a mistake.

I have to mention once again how much I appreciate your comments and suggestions. I really depend on your experience! :-)

Back to work

Well it's back to work for me. Bummer. I just love being at home doing whatever I want to. I think I'll take off the week of Christmas so I can do more laying around and stitching.

Yesterday was an all Village day and I'm almost finished with block seven. Just the lettering to go - I'll work on it a bit tonight after Clancy's agility class and finish it up tomorrow night. I'm going to try very hard not to get behind with block eight in December. I'll do it in the evenings instead of other things.

Last Friday I received my Midnight linen from Silkweavers. This is the first piece that I've been disappointed in. It's kinda spotty in places and there is not much difference in the colors in the piece except where there is a spot. I'll wash it and see if it softens a bit. A couple of the Vikki Clayton silks I purchased the week before last will work just great. Right now my favorite is Glacial with Orb a close second. They are very close with Glacial having more green in it and Orb more purple in it. Either would work well for Cirque des Cercles I think.

I tired to start on Blackstone Fantasy Garden this morning on the train but when I pulled it out of my tote, I realized that I forgot to toss in my stitching glasses! I've gotten so used to stitching with them I gave up after 20 minutes or so - I could not see a blasted thing! I'll go out at lunchtime and buy a couple more. I always like to have an extra pair in my tote bag but I had to pull out the last pair I bought last week - Clancy loves to eat the ones I leave around the house. After going through five or six pairs you would think I would learn not to leave them about.

One more

I was right in picking the Christmas Heart from La-D-Da for my last ornament. It only took an hour to stitch and less than that to make into the ornament. And I won't mind making one for me. :-)

Ops! One more!

I just realized that I forgot to post the photo of Quaker Strawberry! It was drying and I forgot about it. I knew I had made eight ornaments and not seven! Old age is setting in...

A finishing frenzy!

I spend the bulk of the day yesterday finishing my seven ornaments that I have completed so far this year. And I love them all. I don't want to give any away! :-) But one is already personalized (Britty Puppy) so that will go and one really isn't my style (Mosey N' Me) so that will also go. But the others are all mine. And I still need one more to give away. So I will stitch one more - the Christmas Heart from La-D-Da from last year's JCS ornament issue. It should go super quick and it's very cute when put into ornament form. And if I want to make one for me, it won't take forever.

As for stitching since I've been off work, I've been plugging alone with block seven of the Village. Even though this is one of the least stitched blocks, its still slow going. But I should finish up by tomorrow evening. I hope! I need to get a start on part 3 of Marquior. I'm so behind on my two BAPs! I'll post a picture of the Village tomorrow.

I have to work for a little bit tomorrow - my boss is having a meeting in Lake Forest just down the road from my house. So I have to go and make sure everything is just so. But it's worth the time on my day off. I'll get to use my corporate credit card so I'll get the points. I've been saving my points for over two years now and I have almost enough for a cruise! :-)

It's a reindeer!

I finished up Quaker Reindeer from The Workbasket today. I used the recommended 35 count R&R iced cappuccino linen. I really liked using the 35 count and I plan on using it again. I don't really like the dye lot of the Waterlilies color I received - there is a bit more purple in it than I would have preferred.

So far I have completed eight ornaments - I have a full day of finishing ahead of me that's for sure!

I finally received in the mail today my copy of Moonlit Garden. Below are the results of the floss toss I did today. All are Silkweavers linens - from top to bottom: Antique Gold, Golden Wings and Heritage. My favorite so far is the first one Antique Gold with Gold Wings a very close second. Any opinions?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today I cooked a huge meal for my parents and my favorite niece and her husband. It was stellar. I even made the rolls from scratch. :-) nummy. Tonight we plan on sitting outside by the fire for a while. It's always so relaxing to do that.

Not much progress to report on anything. Last night I completed the front page for my Judy Odell project. I'm pleased with how it turned out but I had been looking for a script style "m" but could not find one that fit into the space provided. After drafting several out I finally said the hell with it and just used the M Judy provided. I like the colors I'm using and the best part is I had all the supplies so I didn't have to purchase anything else for it. Yeah!

Tomorrow I plan on meeting up with my niece at the local Sears store to get my $10.00 off coupon when they open at 5:00am. My Dad wants only one thing from me for Christmas this year and it's at Sears. So why not save ten bucks? It will be early but I will be finished with his gifts. I plan to spend the rest of the weekend stitching and just hanging out. I want to finish block 7 of the village and either start Part 3 of Marquior or start work on the Blackstone Fantasy Garden. I know what I should do (Marquior) and what I want to do (Blackstone), we'll see which one wins out. I also plan on having a finishing day - Sunday seems about right for that.

just a leg

I finished up the cross stitch portion on my Judy Odell project last night. I went through some books to find a couple of speciality stitches for the center border and I did find a couple I wanted to mess with. But at the last minute I took it out of my bag (so no photo) - I really don't like to do that sort of thing on the train. Too much movement. So I tossed in my Quaker Reindeer. It doesn't look like much yet with that big old leg sticking out like that! Pretty silk color - I'm using the recommended Waterlilies copper color on 35 count. This is the first time I tried 35 count and it's not too bad. I was afraid it would be too small for me to see. But I'm doing ok.


I've a ton of work to finish up today before my vacation starts tomorrow. And of course I don't feel like doing a bit. What else is new?


I need to gather all the ornaments I've stitched over the past couple of weeks to find out what I need to buy to finish them off. I have a ton of Christmas fabrics for those that need that and I also have many pieces of hand-dyed wool so I can use that for a couple. Right now the most I think I have to buy will be more floss to make the trim. And maybe some ribbon. I don't have a stash of ribbon at all. I can't wait to get into it.

A Disappointing show

For the first weekend in months and months, I didn't put needle to linen. Not one single stitch. It just turned out to be a busier weekend than I thought it would be. And I didn't feel any pressure to do anything because starting on Wednesday, I'm on vacation for a week. Plenty of time to stitch then.


Here are the finished I needed to take photos of and post. First Friday's finish, Cardinal by La-D-Da using whatever fibers I had around, mostly Weeks Dye Works and the recommended linen.

Second, Pear Tree by Little House Needleworks using the recommended threads and linen.

Part 2 of Marquior ABC. I love how this one is turning out. It's going to be huge!

For my train project this week, I started work on the My Treasure Workstation Project I'm doing with the Legacy Board by Judy Odell. I'm way behind with this as people in the group are already finished with the top panel But it's coming together super quick. Saturday night (one of the reasons I didn't find time to stitch) I went through all my fibers and linen to find materials for this piece. My goal was not to purchase a single thing for it. And I was able to do just that! I'm using a Waterlilies silk and four Crescent Colours of floss on a piece of 32 count Silkweavers Golden Harvest. I'm happy with how the colors are coming together. You can really personalize the stitching on this as well as the colors. Around the center portion (I will put my initial) you can do all sorts of speciality stitches instead of x-stitches. I'm hoping to do something really cool. Not sure what yet but maybe some stitches I usually use for needlepoint. When this is finished I'll get back to the Quaker Reindeer ornament I started on Friday afternoon.

I received in the mail my new Vikki Clayton silks I ordered last week - I think I might have a couple of strong prospects for my Cirque des Cercles. The lighter colors are just yummy. I also received my Blackstone Fantasy Garden in the mail. It is incredible. The Carrie's Threads that came with it are gorgeous. I'm going to look into purchasing more of her threads. The colors are beautiful. I did purchase a piece of Lambswool for it. I think I will look nice on it. I would like to start this piece sooner than later. But I will see what's what in the coming weeks.

Molly's and my agility trial was this past Sunday and I don't have any thing good to report. :-( Molly blew both start line jumps. This means she ran around the first jump that triggers the timing clock rather than taking the jump thereby starting our run. All I could do at that point was pick her up and ask the judge to excuse us. To say I'm a little disappointed is a huge understatement. We didn't even get a chance to do a single obstacle. After all the hard work we've put in. :-( And for her to do something that she has never messed up on before. I'm so bummed. The only thing that I can think of was this starting jump had little wings on it and she's never seen a jump like that before. I guess we just need to work harder. Our next trial won't be until February so we will have plenty of time.

no photos today

I forgot to put my camera in my bag this morning. And I had two finishes to show off! I finished up part 1 and 2 of Marquior ABC - it's looking good. And I finished off Pear Tree on the train yesterday. I made a huge start on the Christmas Bird ornament from La-D-Da - I'm more than half way done with that already. I'll be finished with that before I get home tonight. I think I'll start the Quaker Raindeer next - my silk came last night in the mail. I still have not received my chart for Moonlite Garden. It must be because of the skein of floss I asked Drema for. My checking account has not been charged yet so I won't get it this weekend. I guess that is ok, I'm really behind on block 7 of the Village so I can work on that all weekend. I probably won't have much time at all to stitch in any case. Molly and I have an agility trial on Sunday and I will be away from home all day. I would bring my stitching along but I doubt if I would put in a single stitch. There is just too much to watch.

I will post my photos over the weekend. Everybody have a great weekend!

almost a pear tree

I'm almost finished with Pear Tree by Little House Needleworks. I love how it's turning out - although I do wish I would have ordered a 32 count fabric instead of a 28 count one. I really, really like the smaller count. Because I knew I would finish up on this one before the train ride was over tonight, I tossed into my bag the La-D-Da piece, Christmas Cardinal. I want to make two of these also, one for me and one for my mom. I'm starting to have a real dilemma here - so far of all the ornaments I've stitched I only want to give two away! LOL! I love how they are turning out. I think I need to look in my magazine again and pick out a couple I'll be sure to want to give away. That sounds horrible I know but I don't want to start many two of everything I do. :-)

I have to laugh - KarenV suggested yesterday that I should buy sample pieces of Vikki Clayton silks instead of buying the entire skein just to check out the color. Thanks Karen! I didn't know I could do that. Not only can I just purchase the samples of a couple at a time, I can buy the entire set of all her colors and for a small fee, even the binder that they go in. I really need to think hard about purchasing it. I love her silk but I can't keep on buying five here and six there. I need to see all the colors in front of me.

I didn't do any stitching at all last night - I'm going to make it a "planned" evening off. Today is the part three download for Marquior ABC so I'm going to mosey over there and print my copy some time today.

Clancy did ok in agility last night until we got the the shoot - it's the closed tunnel. He did not care for it at all. But I'm not worried a bit - it took Molly four or five months before she would do it. It's really scary for a little dog to go through a dark tunnel where they can't see the end. It takes a lot of trust in their handler and a lot of self confidence. Clancy will get there.

Just a R and half an S

It's hard to get much stitching done on Tuesdays and Wednesday evenings - both are agility nights now. I worked on Marquior and I did get the R finished and a good start on the S. Tonight the only goal is to finish the S. I'll try to get a photo tonight. On Wednesdays I literally have to throw some dinner at Molly, toss some food in my gut and walk out the door with Clancy to make the start of class. But I always manage. It's so distracting when people come in late. And I'm always surprised on how many people walk in way after the start of class time and then expect the entire class to wait while they get a quick lesson.


I finished up Quaker Strawberry by Blackbird Designs using the recommended fiber and linen - like I said yesterday, it doesn't look like much now but will be very cute when completed into an ornament. I started on Pear Tree this morning. I love the sassy brass color.

I continue to ponder what sort of linen and fiber I should use for my Cirque des Cercles. I did purchase a piece of Golden Harvest (a variegated tan color) from Silkweavers to use with this piece and I was thinking of some sort of blue/green variegated silk from Vikki Clayton. Well yesterday that all went out the door. On the Ink Circles website, there is a photo of a completed Cirque des Cercles stitched on black 32 count using a DMC variegated gold #111. It blew me away. In the very beginning I had been thinking of using a dark linen with a light fiber. And once I saw that photo on Monday, I could not help but think that maybe I should go back to my orginial plan. So I went to the Silkweavers site and picked out a new color linen - I went with Evening Dreams. I just hope it's not too much of a dark purple and leans more on the dark blue, dark green side. And natually I had to go back to the Vikky Clayton site and look for more silks. I picked out seven more than might have promise. I will order them this week. And I can use the Golden Harvest for the design I purchased yesterday. Or hold onto it for another project - there is always another project. :-)

On the agility front with Molly - she was almost spot on last night. On her first run she only had two mistakes and one was mine! I'm so proud of that little girl. She has come so far and I think we are ready for our trial on Sunday. My goals are very simple - one is to have fun, fun fun and to only have two off courses. It might really happen.

G, H and Q

Last night I managed to put G and H and finish Q on Marquior. Still to go on part 2: R, S, T, and U. And I need to finish up the border from part 1 that I had to rip out a last week. Can she be finished by Wednesday evening? Not a chance in hell! LOL! I'll get all caught up over Thanksgiving break - I have a week off. I need to get moving on my Village also - I did give block seven a start the first week of November but it's just been sitting there after one days work.

Not much to show today since I didn't take a progress picture of Marquior and it's hard to see what I'm doing on my Quaker Strawberry. But here it is, I should be done with this by tomorrow. This one won't look like much until I turn it into the strawberry. I've got three more ornaments all kitted and ready to go but I'm starting to feel like a bigger project. My Quaker Sampler maybe? Or hold out for Moonlit Garden? So much to do, so little time. And I haven't even started to think about my Workstation project. So far the only certainty I have is the linen choice - I'm going with 32 count lambswool. I don't want to spend more money right now on a hand-dyed.

Today I'm having another "what was I thinking" moment. Below is the latest Ink Circles design called Blackstone Fantasy Garden. Tracy has the most beautiful and different designs. I ordered it along with the Carries Threads that go with this piece yesterday. I haven't even picked out the thread yet from the last Ink Circles design I have! But I just could not resist. The Celtic pattern users multi colored threads and in between the knots are blackwork designs. It's not a small piece either - 225 x 225. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Slow weekend

I wasn't very productive over the weekend - I did make a little progress on Part 2 of Marquior but I'm way behind and doubt if I will have that part done before part 3 is availalble on Thursday. I'll give it my best but I still have a ton to finish.

I did complete the Brittercup puppy from the Christmas issue of JCS 2006 in brown insead of black - it turned out cute. I have one more of these to make - super quick.

I stated the Quaker STrawberry from Blackbird Designs from the Christmas issue of JSC 2006. I'm using one strand of floss and it's coming out pretty light - maybe I should be using two to make if pop a little better.

I did manage to take some pictures of Molly and Clancy for our Christmas cards this year - here are two cute ones (the quilt was one I completed last year). I'm hoping to work with the woman who helped me out last year. It was only Molly because I didn't get Clancy until after the holiday but it was super cute.

A finish and a start

I finished up Winter by Prairie Schooler yesterday on the train ride home using lambwool 32 count linen using the recommended DMC floss. I have to admit, it's a pleasure to pull out almost any color of linen and open up my boxes of DMC floss and pull out what I need without having to buy anything. Don't get me wrong, I love variegated floss but it gets so expensive after a while at $2.00+ a pop. I'll look for some more Prairie Schooler smalls for my ornament collection. I like last years from the JCS Christmas issue - it's a partridge.

I also finished up Heart and Hand, a free design from Hands To Work. I used Silkweavers 32 count Golden Harvest using a Vikki Clayton silk called Fire Dragon. I'm very please with how it turned out. I love using Vikki's silks - I find they tangle much less than say the Waterlilies silks. I use thread conditioner on Waterlilies but I never have to while using Vikki's.

I started on the Christmas puppy by Brittercup Designs from the JCS 2006 Christmas issue. Talk about quick! I will be finished with this possibly by the time I get home from work. I'm making two, both using brown variegated floss for the puppy instead of the black. My sister and my agility coach, both have brown dogs, not black. I thought it would add a nice touch. I've also thought about trying to make one for me to look pug like but I don't think I'm up to altering a pattern at this point.

And last but never least, here are the official photos from Molly's first agility trial. I'm such a proud mom!

She was having a blast and I think both the photos show just how much.

I have no major plans this weekend except work with Molly to fine tune her weave poles and jumps for next weekend agility trial. I hope to work on Marquior ABC and I would love to finish up part 2 (and what I pulled out of part 1 last weekend) but I think that is a little ambitious. I chatted with Drema yesterday and she told me she has the new Loose Feathers in hand! I bet they are mailed by tomorrow so I should have my copy by Tuesday. Yeah! But it does make me wonder if Barb and Alma are back on track. If they are, that means that #23 will be out on schedule in early December. That one should be the holiday piece I've been waiting for.

And again thanks for checking out my blog and giving me such nice feedback! You guys are the best!

More stash

Yesterday in the mail I received the silks from Victoria Clayton Hand Dyed Fibers that I ordered on Monday - I love what I picked out but I still can't seem to find one for my Cirque des Cercles. But I think I have finally figured out what I don't like! I'm picking out colors that are way to busy and have quick color changes. I think I need to start to look for much more subtle colors - maybe a monochrome color that just goes light to dark. And I think a drive to the local needlepoint store is in order. I need to see a wall of thread to really know what I want. I've been trying not to go there because I spend way to much money on fibers. And they are never on sale. Bummer. So I'll plan on just picking up a couple of single skeins and then purchasing what I need from Drema or Stitching Bits and Bobs during a sale. It's not like I'm in a huge hurry to start this BAP. Like I need another one of those right now. Aren't these pretty? I especially love the one on the far right - Country Roads.

My extra Fire Dragon was also in my package so tonight I'll start on finishing up my Heart and Hand piece. It should go really quick because it's all letters - one over two. And I'll finish up my Winter ornament on the train home today (just the background left). Even though two out of three of my finishes this week are ornaments, I'll have quite a week. :-) But a finish is a finish so I'll take it! Maybe I'll even complete part 2 of Marquior be Sunday evening. OK, OK, I know that pushing things a bit. LOL!

Yesterday I did order the five Weeks Dye Works threads I need to start Blackbird Designs, Moonlit Garden. I have a piece of 32 count Golden Wings from Silkweaver that I think will be perfect. If it's too dark of a linen for this piece I also have a piece of 28 count Antique Gold that also might work. I'll do a toss when I get all my threads together and see what's what. I probably won't have the chart until late next week at the earliest so it will be a while before I get started. But I will stop whatever train project I'm working on to start this project. But who knows? I've said that before and maybe I'll be working on my Quaker Sampler so I won't want to quit.

Last night Clancy had agility and he had a blast. That little guy is so fast I had to run him off leash a couple of times because I was holding him back. I think I'm going to have to teach him contact stops at the end of the contact equipment (a-frame, dog walk, teeter) so he doesn't blow the contact.

I will now translate that previous statement for you non-agility people. :-)

In agility, for their safety, dogs have to hit the yellow areas (in AKC rules, contacts are painted yellow) at the beginning and end of certain pieces of equipment - these pieces are called the contact equipment. When a dog is really going fast, it will have a tendency to just jump off the equipment before the end of the piece or as we say, blow the contact. So you teach your dog to pause for a fraction of a second at the end of the equipment. There are numerous methods to do this. I will teach Clancy the two-on/ two-off method. He will learn to pause with his front two feet on the floor and his back two feet on the equipment before going on. I don't have to do this for Molly because she doesn't go fast enough to blow the contacts. She just saunters around the course. :-) It's a fast saunter but a saunter none the less.

Moonlit Garden

Here is the new Loose Feathers from Blackbird Designs #22 - Moonlit Garden. It's done on 30 count R&R Broomstick Brown linen using Weeks Dye Works Amber, Chestnut, Cognac, Havana, Palomino, Straw, Sweet Potato and Tiger's Eye. I love the design, hate the saying. So I think I will either change the saying or just keep it off, maybe putting in a bottom border. I think I'll use one of my new 28 count linens from Silkweavers. The WDW threads will go really nicely with three that I have. I had to order a couple of the threads but for the most part, had them all. I LOVE stash....

A small happy dance

I decided to just go ahead and put Santa to bed so to speak... I finished him up yesterday on the train ride home. He is a Mosey N' Me design from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Christmas issue with the recommended DMC colors.

Here is my progress on my Prairie Schooler piece, Winter - I should be finished with this tomorrow afternoon. I received my fabric cuts from Drema yesterday so I'll be able to start right away on my next ornament. It will most likely be the Brittercup - Britty Christmas Puppy. I plan to make two of them, one for my sister and one for my agility coach. I also made a little more progress on Part 2 of Marquior. I should have a progress photo tomorrow after tonight's stitching. I didn't get as much done last night as I had hoped because I had to play with my linen cuts and I received my monthly fabric from Silkweavers. I received two beautiful fabrics but there seems to be a problem with the instructions I sent them. They keep sending me 28 count which I hardly ever use instead of the 32 count I requested. I'll give them a call today to straighten it up.



Last night was agility with Molly. I'm starting to see real progress with her. The off courses are almost a thing of the past and next week I will no longer depend on a tab to control her. I still think our next agility trial in ten days won't be a spectacular performance, but we won't stink up the arena either. Yeah!

Election day

If you are a registered voter, please remember to vote today - you can't complain if you don't vote. I do both - complain and vote. ;-) I cast my ballet before I went to work today because tonight is agility and I won't have time later.


Here is my progress on my two current ornaments - almost done with Santa! I had been planning on stitching on some white fuzzy stuff on his beard after I did the cross stitch (thanks for the suggestion Sue) but I just want to finish this one up - I'll save the fuzzy stuff for another Santa. And I can finally tell the second one is a house. Last night I made some more progress on Marquior, I finished up the the medium size alphabet - I'll work on the smaller one tonight before I leave for agility. Then I will be half way done with part 2.


Here are the two colors I picked out for Quaker Samplers I and II - Milady's Teal from Crescent Colours and Grape Green from The Gentle Art. They will both be done on Sugar Maple 32 count linen. I think they will look really nice hanging together. That green is exactly what was looking for.

I signed up for the My Treasures Workstation class from Nancy Odell. What was I thinking??!! :-) I will have six works in progress plus a half a dozen more projects kitted up. And I said it was never going to happen to me.... LOL! I'll be picking out the linen and fiber over the next several days. I think I'll be using overdyed silks and a Silkweaver linen. I have received four now from my new autoship program - maybe one of those will work? Does that make sense? Starting with your linen and then picking out fibers to match it? I think so, so that's what I'll do.

Frustrating weekend

I had one of those stitching weekends. We've all had them - the one's where nothing works? Of course it wasn't all bad - I did go to my LNS for some stash enhancement and that was pretty fine. I picked up an alternate color for one of my Quaker Samplers from With My Needle. I bought a really nice green that goes nicely with Myladies Teal (I forgot to write down the name). I also picked up a chart for Homespun Elegance called Delivering Winter - it will be my White Elephant for Christmas. And I picked up a super cute pin kit with a carrot in a tin. I love how it's finished and it gave me a couple of ideas for quick Christmas ornaments. And speaking of ornaments, the shop still had the 2005 ornament issue from Just Cross Stitch. Surprising enough, there are only a couple I think I plan to do.

After I got home, I sat down and decided to finish up Heart and Hand before starting work on Marquior ABC. It was around 7:00pm and I was starting the second row of the saying, when I realized I was going to run out of Fire Dragon. :-0 Such a bummer. So today I'll place an order with Vikki - I had some things I wanted to buy in any case, I just hadn't planned on it this week. When I was finished with the saying, I picked up Marquior. There is a motif on the left hand side that has been bugging me since I completed it last month. It just looked off but when I would check my chart, all was stitched correctly. And then I looked at my chart better. When I joined the two half's of part one and taped them together to work on them, I misaligned the two pieces and I was short one row in the middle of the motif. Duh. No wonder it looked so off. So I started to frog the entire thing out. About half way though that chore, I realized that I had to have made a mistake also in the left hand side border since the two half's are joined there also. And sure enough when I looked across to that portion of the piece, I was off - it just jumped of the fabric it was so clear. Well double damn. By this point it was close to 10:00pm so I just finished up pulling out the motif thread and went to bed.

On Sunday I started back early frogging out the border but never got to the point to start to put it back in. It was really slow going and the Bears were loosing! And looking really bad in the process! It really didn't much matter from that point on. Put 20 stitches in, pull 10 stitches out. I finally gave up making real progress on Marquior around 5:00pm. I picked up the Mosey n Me Santa ornament and made little progress there also but at least I finally started working on the beard.

This morning I put in my bag for the train the Prairie Schooler ornament, Winter, from the 2006 JCS. Not much of a start because I put in a row of Santa's beard (one down, seven to go). I plan on working on the beard on the train for 20 minutes each ride this week so I can finish this one up. I'd love to have several to finish into ornaments while I'm on vacation at the end of the month. So far I only have one ready. I'd like to have four or five. I ordered several of the ornament cut linens from Drema on Thursday - I'm hoping they arrive this week but she said she was still waiting for the Queen's Ann's Lace to arrive and I needed two of those cuts for the Brittercup Designs puppy ornament - I'm doing two of those, one for me of course and one for my sister.

The boss is in the office all week - that means the early train in and the late train home with no chance of working from home.