Thursday, December 31, 2015

10th YEAR BLOGAVERSARY !

Wow - I almost let a big anniversary go unmentioned !  10 years of blogging  as the Woolwoman!

I could do one of those "YEAR(S)" in review things but frankly I'm not sure I want to recount everything I haven't done or completed.

Since this is primarily a needlework related blog - that is mostly what I blog about.

I also promised I'd pop back here and divulge my  New Years starts and focuses.

The first is a SAL being done by our local EGA chapter duClay.  It is Amy Mitten's new Scottish Sampler.  it is the first sampler in her Around the World sampler series.  We have 20 members participating and we are all so excited.  I hope to start mine tonight.  Some people got theirs in October and I am already seeing finishes on FB.  Amy suggests it can be done in 80 days - hummm - I am hoping for 180 days !

I wanted to include a photo but I forgot to take one this morning on my Iphone and I couldn't grab one off her website.  Go take a look.

The other cool SAL duClay is doing is a Kathy Rees canvas SAL.  I am doing Elements - Earth - A club offered by Tomorrow Heirlooms.  I don't know exactly when I will start this because I am waiting for 10" stretcher bars to mount my canvas.  It's smallish so I know I can finish it in a few months - I hope !

I'm going to close now and wish all my blog friends around the world a very Happy New Year.  I wish you health and happiness and many hours to do your chosen hand work.  Please let me know what you are planning for 2016 - I love hearing from everyone - it's what makes blogging important.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE !

Seasons Greetings to everyone !

We are back from our Christmas vacation in Tenn.   In search of cold weather !
A photo of my DH in front of the condo unit.

To prove we did find some cooler weather !

Love the winter landscape at the condo.  The Smoky mountain range in the background.

Spent a day at Dollywood with my folks.  Yes it was C O L D and I was woefully underdressed for the occasion.  I only wore a sweatshirt and didn't even bring a scarf or shawl, no jacket or hat.  By the time darkness fell - I was ready to go back to the warm condo and do some knitting!

It was a first for us to take a vacation at this time of the year.  We enjoyed it a lot,   the days just flew by.  We had 24 degrees and snow flurries on Friday in and around Cherokee NC.  The temps seemed to rise about 10 degrees every day but still better than the record highs we are still having in NE FL right now.  Seems so un-Christmas like to be wearing summer clothes and have the AC blasting.

I did a little stitching on my No Pole Express but not enough to snap a photo.  I mainly knitted on a shawlette in a special edition Christmas color called Peppermint Stick Forest by Blue Moon Fiber Arts purchased at The Loopy Ewe.  It is easy knitting on a design called Fractal Danger.  I'm sure after Christmas I will lose interest in it and put it away till next December but for now - it's holding my attention. 

Are any of you starting a new project on Christmas Day or New Years Eve/Day?  I am hoping to start my Amy Mitten Scottish sampler SAL with our EGA chapter tomorrow.  However with that said - we do have a lot of cooking (and cleaning up) to do in the meantime.  I hope I have the energy to sink a few stitches tomorrow and help get my dear mom started on hers.

I'm  hoping my NYE start will be the canvas SAL with our EGA chapter.  I am doing a special club piece by Kathy Rees/Needle Delights from Tomorrows Heirlooms.  It's called Elements and the first one is Earth.  LOVE the colors ,  next is Water I think and that will come in January but I am just focusing on the one right now !

Wishing all my friends in blog land a most wonderful Christmas - If I don't make it back here before the new year - I wish you peace, happiness and health in the New Year ! 

Monday, December 14, 2015

TIS THE SEASON !

At the rate December is flying by - I figured I better make a post in a hurry or Christmas would be here and gone !

I am seeing so many wonderful blog posts and FB entries on the groups and from stitching friends showing all their beautiful trees and things finished for holiday delights.

I only have 1 finish to show you today and an "almost finished" piece .

This is a shawl called Big Blue - I got about 1/2 done with it last summer and then put it down as I so typically do with any project.  I decided it needed to be off the WIP list.

It is a gorgeous color of Madeline Tosh Sport yarn called Blue Spectrum - I am not typically a "blue" person but I found this yarn in a shop in GA and they only had 2 skeins of several colors and this was the most appealing of what they had.



Here is my "almost" finished tree #1 from the Fanciful Forest club I was doing with The Needlepointer in WA.  Yes the club is over and this is just the first tree but I have lofty goals for more trees in 2016.  Yes its time to start agonizing over those Christmas Day and New Years Day new starts if you are of that school of people who does that type of thing every year.  Next post I'll show you a few things I have planned for those starts.

Have to show you my best friends in the world - my folks.  This was taken recently at brunch at the Club Continental - one of our favorite places to be during the Christmas season.  This lovely estate home turned private club has been mentioned on my blog before.  It is a great wedding venue and special occasion place for my folks and my DH and I.  Go out to their website and read the very interesting history of this lovely estate.

Last year we had Valentines Day dinner in front of this gorgeous fireplace with a roaring fire inside.  I don't think we are going to have anything this year but a fan or AC blasting.  It continues to be record highs here in the deep south.  I hear there might be a tiny cool front coming soon.

Showing how abnormally hot it is here - this was a recent photo of my DH sitting on an outside patio overlooking the water at a favorite seafood restaurant. 
 
Well friends these are a few of my favorite things -  what are a few of your favorite things?
 
I enjoy hearing your comments and I hope you are having a most marvelous holiday time and enjoy all the sounds and sounds of the seasons.