Early Monday Morning...

Another Monday and life is good!  We got a splash of well-needed rain yesterday evening and it has finally cooled down a tad, so it is a great beginning of a new week.  The incredibly hot weather has forced us to sit indoors most of the time (I am not crying about that.. LOL), which means that a lot of weekend time has been spent stitching on a variety of things.

The In-Laws were down for a visit from Wednesday to Friday and we had a really nice and laid-back visit together.  I took the last couple of work-days off from the lab, so I feel well-rested as you can see.  DH's and my new life-style involves "going to bed at a reasonable hour", which meant that I could not get back to sleep after waking up at 5 AM this morning...  He is happily snoozing away though.

I don't know what to do with myself, but the reign of unfocused random stitching continues.  I decided to pull out the new partial kit I got from Scholehouse of the Needle, Frog Pin Keepe.  It really is a quick stitch (tent stitch, say no more) intended for 35 ct linen.  Since the LNS doesn't carry any 35 ct I opted for a small cut of 36 instead.

Here he is - ribbit!

WIP:

 I love the back of tent stitched pieces, don't you?

There is a back-side to stitch up too before assembly, but it should be even quicker; just year, initials and a couple of simple dragonflies.  Very cute!  Scholehouse of the Needle's designs definitely reminds me of some of the old and OOP Historic Needlework Guild pieces (especially the Tent Stitch Etui and some of the ornament patterns).
(Next time, I'll throw in a quarter in the photo too, so that you can get a better feel for the size.)

We have been productive during out craft-lunches at work too.  The word is spreading and we have recently expanded to include no less than three crocheters.  It is odd how the dynamic of a group changes completely just by adding a few more people and stir.  It is really cool that so many crafters want to join, but it is no longer just a group containing my closer friends, which I know I'll miss.  On the other hand, it is always fun to hang out with new people!
Anyway, I finished the Spring piece from Sweetheart Tree last week.  I have really enjoyed stitching on this series.  I think that all but one was stitched during lunch breaks at work.

As for the winter piece, I changed the text from "Welcome Friends" to "Welcome Spring".  I also found the birds long beak pretty peculiar, so it got shortened - it doesn't look like he minds.  I like the small packets of bling that come with the SHT kits and this time is was small cherry-blossom beads.  Fun, fun, fun!  (And time to stat thinking about what to stitch on at work next.)

I did also finish the first SamSarah stocking!  I am getting used to the fact that all the pieces are a lot darker colored in reality and I think that I have almost gotten over it.. LOL  I do have the button embellishments and we decided that this one will be DH's stocking, so I just ordered the alphabet buttons too.

Here is the progress on the reindeer stocking.  It is pretty interesting; about 50% of people I have asked claim that the big red "balls" in front of the reindeer are ornaments, while I am in the other camp - I totally believe that the red balls are supposed to be their noses (see the cover pic in the upper left corner for a better view)!  Thoughts on that out there?

Yesterday evening I pulled this old Acufactum WIP back out.  It got thrown into the "don't wanna' stitch on this anymore" pile, since all that is left is about a billion French knots.  I got maybe half of them in yesterday and it won't be put away until the rest is done.  See the bird on the left below?  He is holding a sprig of dill... The dill crown is waiting for Fk in three different colors - all pretty much on top of each other.  At least the wings of the birds are now dotted!

 Dot, dot, dot...

So, I had great plans for this piece - it was supposed to magically become this adorable cafe-curtain with a polka-dot ruffle and pretty ribbons for ties.  Well, we have been looking for a new house lately, so I am thinking that I'd better hold the creativity back until I know how my future windows will look...

Finally, despite DH not giving his approval of posting this photo - here are a couple of snuggle bunnies - Alpha Bunny and Bubba.  Sometimes it is really good to be a small, black rabbit.

As always, thanks so much for following my blog and for all your wonderful comments.  It means more to me than I can express!

Take care and Happy Monday everyone!