By the Full Moon finis

By the Full Moon

Design by Ink Circles

32 count Ametrine by Silkweavers

I finished up By the Full Moon last night. How about that - stitching at night! :-) I LOVE this little piece and I can't wait to ornamentize it this weekend.

Jack O Lantern

Design by Casey Buonaugurino Designs

32 count hand dyed linen

I also stitched this little guy last weekend - cute and I'm going to finish it round rather than square like charted. I might add a little more dye to the background to make it a bit more orange. It came out a little lighter than I wanted but I didn't want to wait to start stitching. I figure I can just use a spray bottle and spray it on.

I started on this little guy this morning on the train ride into the office - Halloween Spot Motif Shoe by Prairie Moon. I'm doing mine on purple rather than the light green, well because I didn't have any light green linen. :-) This should be all that I get to this year but in case I have time I have two Blackbird Designs Halloween Stockings ready to stitch.


I did purchase this years JCS Halloween edition and nothing jumped out as a "have to stitch". I was hoping for a couple of non-square designs as that is pretty much all I have right now. My tree is going to look kinda boring. :-)

something new

As I mentioned last week, I've been feeling like working on something fall/Halloween related. So I picked out several Halloween smalls to work on. This is actually the second I've completed/ started over the past few days. I finished one already but forgot to take a picture. Hopefully I can finish it and get it on my spooky tree before next Monday. This one if from a past issue of Just Cross Stitch's Halloween issue from Tracey Horner of Ink Circles on a piece of Silkweaver. I love it. :-) And it's been a great change and I hope to get one more stitched before I sit down and finish the small stash I have from the last couple of years.

Aoife (e-fa) says thanks for all the warm words. She is still basking in the glow. And so am I. We didn't make the draw for the next trial in the area so we have nothing upcoming until November 25th. I kinda wanted to strike again quickly after her success. But we will continue to practice, practice, practice!

Yeah Aoife!

Two years in the making - Aoife's first Novice Standard Qualifying score and it was a first place with 100 points! We still have a long way to go before she is at the excellent level and I'm sure it might be several more months before she earns another one, but at least she is on the road.

Not to be outdone, Clancy qualified each day in Novice Jumpers with Weavers Preferred. :-)

Isabelle had her first physical therapy appointment last Friday and her outlook is excellent! She will still be in the splint for at least two weeks and for two weeks after a soft bandage so that means the cone for another four weeks at least. We are also going back to the office every Friday for the next six weeks ($$$) for laser treatments and physical therapy. In just two and a half weeks in the splint the muscles on the right side of her body are already larger and her left leg is getting smaller.

But the vet cleared her some freedom during the day when I can keep an eye on her. She spent her first free afternoon sleeping on the couch with the other girls. And she can also go back to obedience class. :-) We lost our space in agility class and will have to restart at some point in late winter. It is always tough to find beginners classes in my area as the really good agility instructors only like to give advanced classes. But I'm hoping I can get her as far as an intermediate class on my own. I have trained three other dogs in agility and do know the beginnings at this point. :-)

feeling fall

While the progress is adding up on this piece I'm really thinking I want to push it aside for a fall piece. Even a couple of fall/Halloween ornaments would be cool. I haven't purchased the JCS Halloween issue yet and I'm wondering if it's worth it this year? Of course by the time it would show up I'd only have a week or so to stitch. :-) I should have thought of this a couple of weeks ago. :-)

Isabelle is doing super! I had her stitches pulled on Tuesday and the surgeon thinks she is doing great. Almost full range of motion where her ligaments and tendons were cut. He didn't think she would need to be in the splint for the full six weeks but is going to let the rehab vet make the final call. Our first evaluation is tomorrow at TOPS. The place is super expensive but they are the very best in the area. I'm hoping I can stop restricting her activity level somewhat so she can spend more time out of her crate. I'm sure that would make her happy also.

Then on Saturday and Sunday Aoife and Clancy have an agility trial. Our first since a terrible trial in early July. I had just closed on my house and was under a huge amount of stress and we truly sucked. I should have known this would be the case and just passed on the trial but there was always a chance that I would not get the house and I didn't want to spend the weekend knowing one of my favorite trials was happening and I was not there. Wish us luck - especially Aoife. After two years I'm still trying to earn her first novice standard qualifying score and if I don't see some movement there soon I'm going to pull her from agility and focus on Clancy who is doing a bit better at trials. I only have so much money these days and I have to put my money where I can get results and Clancy is closer to his MaCH that Aoife is for sure.

Momentum lost

I was just starting to feel like I was getting my groove back when I found a monster of a counting error. I had been just living with all the others but this was a half a row mistake. And one I could not ignore. So frog, frog, frog. I don't know about you, but when this happens I tend to walk away for a while. Picked her up again yesterday and got past the frogged part.

Isabelle is starting to feel better and she is having her stitches removed today. Hopefully today I'll get some sort of estimate on how much longer she needs to be splinted. She also has an appointment with a physical therapist on Friday to start a treatment plan. Cross your fingers that we don't have to go the full six weeks. She is miserable in the crate.

long weekend

I didn't get much cross stitching done over the weekend - actually none. :-) Any progress I made was on the train this morning. I did sew some curtains for my front room bow window and I cut out some fabric for a valance that I'm making for the dining room. That was good progress given everything else I had going on.

It was a long weekend taking care of Isabelle. The poor baby is in pain and can't understand why I won't let her play anyway. I'm supposed to keep her on a leash when I let her outside but that proved impossible because she is so strong and determined and just pulls my arms off. The best I've managed is to keep her from launching herself off the deck. She still tries to run but usually stops short when she realizes just how much it hurts. It's going to be a long month.