Thank You!!

A few weeks ago, Lauralness had a draw for a ball of sock yarn, and I was so excited when she told me I won. I received the package in the mail last Friday. Of course, when I was trying to take pictures of all of the gorgeous yarn, I had a little `kitty helper` who thought that she also needed a picture. I managed to start into it immediatley (who waits on good things!), and also have progress pictures of the first sock, plus the toe of the second. The yarn is Colinette`s Jitterbug in Copper Beach. It`s *so* nice to knit with, and I may have to buy another couple of skeins....

New Beaded Bracelet Happy Dance

Here's a picture of the latest beaded bracelet - it's going to Mom for Mother's day. She wanted something in black and silver, so I hope that she likes it. I incorporated the new Swarovski crystal pearls into this bracelet, and I think that they worked out well.

I just don't get....

On one of the boards I read, there's a person selling ear wires, which are the part of an earing that you put into your ear, and from which beads or charms dangle from. They are usually made from silver, or coated in gold, or something which doesn't usually react with skin.

Only she's making them from copper and brass, both of which react with many people's skin. And she's proud of the fact that they are copper and brass, which "aren't usually available", according to her. I kind of get the fact that some people might want hand-made ear wires, but I don't get why you'd want them in a metal that will turn your skin black....

And the last of the to-do list....

I had a (mostly whinny) post a few weeks back about my lack of motivation on a few crafty type things. I'm happy to announce that the last of my four things (Alhambra, Socks, Bracelet and Beads) has been finished, as I have a few new beads to share. There are a few more beads, but nothing very interesting, as they are accent beads for bracelets in the works.

I acquired a Pandora style braclet a little while back, and managed to get in some torch time to make some glass beads to go on the bracelets. It's a larger hole than I'm used to, but I'm quite liking the style. I hope to get the supplies to silver core beads like real Pandora/Troll/Biagi style beads, but that's a little while off yet.

Beaded Happy Dance...

I posted a little while ago about items that were almost finished, or in the progress of being finish, but I had no motivation to complete. I finished the beading on Alhambra, which was the first of my items. I also finished my socks, and now I'm pleased to report that the freeform bracelet is also finished.

Ta - Da! Sock Happy Dance

And here are the finished socks - Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn in S40, basic toe up pattern.

An anniversary of sorts....

Today (April 5th) marks the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. I was never much of a Nirvana fan, and I never really thought much of the band. I do remember the event distinctly because it was the first time that I'd found about the "news" on the internet, instead of a more traditional news medium. While that might not seem like such an event in 2009, 1994 was an era when the most current news was on TV, and perhaps the newspapers. Internet connections were rare, and most of the content was published by "enthusiasts" rather than corporations. Who would have thought that 15 years later I would be writing this blog, and publishing my own content out there.

Some updates:

The second sock is now 3/4 finished:


Egyptian Garden gained one and a half arms of the blue "cross":


And St. Petersburg gained a small building and a set of tiles:

The Thursday Update

It's been an exciting week - a little stressful, but good nonetheless. The most awesome news is that I have tickets to see U2 in both New York and Vancouver. (I am aware that not many people chose those two cities as being "convenient" to them, but they both work for me, so I'm going). It's been 3 1/2 years since I've seen the band, and I couldn't be more excited. There's rumours that this may be their last tour, but I hope they have many more great tours ahead of them.

Seriously....

We have another 4 to 5 inches of snow this weekend... I haven't gone out to find out exactly how deep yet. (Fortunately, my fantastic neighbours shoveled the snow again from around the house, so I may not have to venture out today)

We had 6" of snow last weekend. I'm beyond tired of fluffy white cold stuff. I'm officially ready for spring to start.

St. Petersburg Progress....

Second Freeform Bracelet - In Progress

I wanted a white/cream bracelet to incorporate the vintage buttons, but I didn't want it to look too much like a bridal bracelet. I then found the green, which solved all of that. It's about 3/4 finished, as I started working from the centre out and now need to finish the ends and add a clasp.

Snow Day & a Happy Dance

We ended up with a lot of snow today - about 15cm (6 inches) so I took full advantage of the snow and stitched most of the day. With so much stitching time, I managed to finish Alhambra Garden!!

Back with pictures!

Here is the first freeform bracelet - blues and purples...

I have....

I have ....

... new frit (small bits of coloured glass) to create beads with
... a nearly finished piece (Alhambra) to bead on
... 1.5 hand knit socks in my newest favourite colourway
... a 1/2 finished freeform beaded bracelet

And somehow I seem to lack the motivation to finish any of them.

Snow's gone....

But it's not quite warm enough to be really warm yet - it's supposed to be quite nice for the rest of the week though.

I've been working out quite a bit lately - the last time I stepped on the scale it was quite a shock, and so I haven't got much stitching or beading done lately. I have been picking away at the white/green bracelet, which is turning out well. Alhambra is still "in progress". I can't quite figure out why I procrastinate more when I get closer to finishing a project, but it always seems to be the way. I also ordered materials for "Cirque des Circles" from Ink Circles, including Dinky-Dyes thread to stitch it with, and I'm hoping that shows up in my mailbox any day now.

Will spring ever arrive?

It's snowing - again....

I'm sure all of the snow will be gone by tomorrow, but it's depressing to see white stuff falling to the ground.

It's been too long

I can't believe it's been this long since my last post - and I have things to share, I just can't get pictures up. My laptop crashed in February, and although I was able to recover everything, I can't get back on to the internet with the laptop, and of course the only computer that connects to my camera is the laptop. It's terribly frustrating, but I'm hoping to get a new laptop and consolidate the laptop and desktop on to one computer.

I took a "freeform" beading class a few weeks ago, and finished a bracelet that I'm rather pleased with. I think it looks like undersea coral - lots of little branches of purples and blues, with some lampwork glass and crystals. Of course, that's my opinion now that I'm done with it, as there were plenty of moments that I *hated* the thing on the way to getting it finished. After I finished, I decided I was back to liking it, and liked it so much that I started a second bracelet, which will be white/cream with lots of vintage buttons and some spring green accents. I'm in the middle of the bracelet at the moment, which means I alternate between loving and hating it. I'm sure everything will work out, but there sure are tons of moments of self-doubt in the middle of a free form project.

In addition to that, I'm *almost* done beading Alhambra. It's now very sparkly, and the small packets of beads that I've had for far too long are getting smaller and smaller, which is encouraging. I hope to be done with Alhambra sometime this week, but again, no pictures until I can get the computer thing sorted out.

Slowly getting back....

Last week seemed like it was one thing after another - my computer crashed, I got a parking ticket and nothing else seemed like it was going right. This week is better - it's finally getting a bit lighter, and a bit warmer, and most things are going right.

I'm *almost* finished with Alhambra - just a few more sections to bead. I'd post pictures, but the camera only connects to the laptop, and it's the computer that is limping along at the moment, and won't connect to the internet, so there's no pictures. I hope to have something figured out soon so I can show everyone. It's definitely been a labour of love on that one, but I really enjoyed stitching it. I'm hoping to have Watergarden done sometime this year too, although I said that last year.

Just there....

Do you ever get so run down and tired that you know you're being cranky, but there's nothing you can do about it?

A life lived.....

I came across this on Christine's blog


Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyworld
8. climbed a mountain (it was a little mountain, but still...)
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the Statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train (I took a train trip through Eastern Europe a couple of years ago)
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the Lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the Everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in London
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the Alamo in person.
96. taken a road trip
97. been involved in a lawsuit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee
100. met the love of your life

More Watergarden....

I'm glad I picked up Watergarden again - I'm really enjoying it, and it may actually be achievable to finish it in 2009!

Watergarden Progress

Here's my long neglected Watergarden - I finally made some progress on it this week.

St. Petersburg progress

This is part 2 of St. Petersburg - I finally finished all of those eyelets!

My "helper"

My cat is exceptionally curious about, well, everything. She thought she'd take a look at what I was doing, and make sure that I didn't leave anything behind in the move. These are pictures from the old condo while I was packing up.

Happy New Year!

I'm a couple of days late posting this, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year and all the best for 2009. I'm mostly moved in, but have spent more than a few hours this week moving, cleaning, packing and unpacking. I now remember why I hate moving!

I'm hoping that 2009 brings lots of stitching time. I'm still undecided on whether to get Oriental Harem garden before the on-line class finishes in June. I have several (read: four) Chatelaine's on the go at the moment, but would love this one too. I need more stitching time!

Almost there....

I've got most of the items that need to be moved over from the condo - just a few more things to go. Most of what's left is cleaning supplies - I'll probably go over later today to finish cleaning and get the remaining things out. It's been a long haul, but I'm so enjoying the new place.

It's moving weekend!

I've got movers coming first thing Monday to move most of my stuff over to the new house. I've been in an apartment style condo for many years, and it's finally time to get something without neighbors on all sides. I was woken up this morning before 8 am (on a Sunday) by the sound of my downstairs neighbor playing his bass (or the stereo). There's nothing like a rock band for an alarm clock to convince you that a move was the right thing to do!

TW Ornament #3

This is my Winter/Non Christian ornament for the TW Ornament exchange. The ornament is a net of Swarovski Crystals surrounding a larger (no-hole) crystal. The pictures on this one don't do it justice, as it really sparkles!

Another TW Ornament Received

This is the border from one of the "Celtic Inspirations" designs from Teresa Wentzler. Needless to say, I took some artistic license with this - it was originally blackwork, and was intended to be the border of a larger border. I flipped the design to make the ornament into a square and changed the colours to white and silver. I was worried that I wouldn't finish this ornament in time, but everything worked out, and it's now safely in it's new owners hand.

too cool.....

It's darn cold here - a high of -23, a low of -30. At these temperatures, it doesn't really matter if it's Celsius or Fahrenheit. It's still cold.

And yet, while I was in the parking lot today, waiting for my own car to warm up, the car that had pulled in next to me had the sunroof partially open. I guess it's worth it to look cool, even when it's this cold.

This is my last ornament from the TWBB ornament exchange, from Anu. She was kind enough to include a chocolate treat for me as well.

Ornament received - TW Ornament Exchange

I think I'd shown a picture of the stitching before, but I wanted to share the finishing on this ornament. I used the finishing instructions from Monique (my mark designs), that she's posted on her blog.

TW Ornament Exchange

These two lovely ornaments are from Heather (Hlott) and Jo (puffthelacedragon). I've always received fantastic ornaments from this exchange, and this year is no exception.

It's so hard to be a kitty....

This is the first of my TW Christmas ornament exchanges to arrive - it's from Sara (RXLady) and she was kind enough to include some hot chocolate and floss along with the ornament.

What a week!

I've had my condo on the market for a couple of months now, not expecting much. There's lots of condos on the market, and so I didn't want to get my hopes up. But against my expectations, it sold last weekend, and conditions came off yesterday. So it's really, really sold!

Which means in the next 30 days, I need to pack. And find a place to live. So I won't be blogging a lot. (Or unfortunatley, finishing the 12 days of blog candy - I'm sure you all understand). It's been an exciting week,but there's oh so much to do.

Before I pack, Christine and Abi both tagged me for the same blog game.

Here are the tag rules:

Rule #1 ~ Link to the person that tagged you.
Rule #2 ~ Post the rules on your Blog.
Rule #3 ~ Write 6 random things about yourself.
Rule #4 ~ Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
Rule #5 ~ Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Rule #6 ~ Let the tagger know your entry is up.

1) I was born in a hospital that's across the street from my current residence. It's no longer a hospital, but the building is still there.

2) I've never started a lawnmower - gas or electric. My family's always had a push mower, and for most of my adult life, the condo or strata has taken care of the gardening.

3) I can't stand either yogurt or bananas because of the texture.

4) My first real cross-stitch project was TW's "Spring Carousel Horse". On Aida. Apparently I like a challenge.

5) I completed the advanced PADI scuba diving course. The best part of the course was going on a night dive, where we got to play with phosphorescent plankton.

6) The most adventurous thing I've done is sky diving, which was done outside of Auckland, NZ.

I suspect that this game has been going around for a while, so I won't tag anyone else, but if you haven't completed it yet, feel free to consider yourself tagged.

Scissor Fob Winner

Is Redwitch! Congratulations!

There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Redwitch
2. Karoline
3. Christine
4. StitchinGranny
5. Kathy
6. Juls
7. Suz
8. Abi
9. Dani

Christmas Tree Earing Winner

Is Melissa M! Congrats!

There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Melissa M
2. Redwitch
3. Suz
4. Karen V
5. Dani
6. Kathy A
7. Heather
8. Faith Ann
9. Karen (No initial)

On the fourth day of Christmas....

Sunday's blog candy, and the fourth installment in the Christmas giveaway, is for a scissor fob, plus 5 matching beads (not pictured). To enter, please leave a comment on this post, and I'll draw from all comments received on Wednesday. You can enter for both Saturday's and Sunday's blog candy if you'd like.

On the third day of Christmas.....

As a gift to my on-line friends this year, I decided to give away 12 items of blog candy on the 12 weekend days before Christmas. The rules are simple - just add your name to the comment section below, and I'll draw a name on Tuesday night from those comments, and then mail the item to the winner.

Saturday's draw is for a pair of Swarovski crystal Christmas tree earings. I'll have to admit that I didn't think up the design on these ones, but I saw them a couple of weeks ago at the local bead store's sale, I decided they'd be perfect for what I had in mind.

More baking...

Salty Nut Bars. I love the combination of salty and sweet, and these are perfect for that.

Its arrived.

In all of its Harry Potter splendor. In colour way "Tonks".

And the winner .... (Christmas Blog Candy #2)

Is Lelia! Congrats! She wins Sunday's scissor pocket.

And the winner .... (Christmas Blog Candy #1)

Is Claire! Congrats!

For those of you who missed out - stay tuned! There's 1 more open blog candy, plus 10 new blog candy items to come.

I've been baking

Bite-sized pecan pies. This one is only about an inch in diameter.

Just a reminder - Saturday's blog candy is open until tomorrow, Sundays until Wednesday - just leave a comment.

On the second day of Christmas.....

Sunday's blog candy is for a beaded scissor pocket. Please leave a comment in this post if you'd like to be included in the drawing. I'll pick a name from the comments received on Wednesday at midnight Eastern time. Feel free to enter your name if you've also put your name in for Saturday's drawing or if you've won something previously from a blog draw.

On the first day of Christmas....

I decided to give away 12 gifts on the 12 weekend days before Christmas as blog candy. I love doing blog candy - it gives me a chance to send things out into the world and have other people appreciate them. I like the act of creating things for other people, and blog candy is a perfect way to do that.

So without further ado, here is the first of the 12 gifts - a hand beaded needlecase. It's a combination of blue, turquoise and lime green beads, which are more green in real life than the yellow tone showing up in the picture. If you'd like to enter your name for the needlecase, please leave a comment in this post, and I'll draw from all the comments on Tuesday night at midnight Eastern time. You don't have to be a regular reader, or have commented before, just leave a comment and I will enter you into the drawing.

10,000 hours ?

I was reading the New York Times this week, and ran across an article (which of course, I can no longer find) that suggested that to achieve "mastery" in any area, you needed to put in 10,000 hours, or about 10 years of practice at three hours a day, to become an expert at something. Which got me to thinking - how far am I into my 10,000 stitching hours? And does 10,000 hours just qualify me as a cross-stitch expert, or is it a general stitching or needlecraft expert?

Curious minds want to know.

I've succumbed....

I've been knitting pretty much non-stop for two days. Except for a break for work and a few other things, I've just knit. And it's going pretty well - I have most of one sock, knit toe up, with an invisible cast on. I must say that I'm pretty impressed with myself. It's not a perfect sock by any means, but I've managed to shape a heel and a toe, which I think is an accomplishment in itself.

And during all of this, I've watched the first season of "Mad Men" on DVD. The DVD was on USA Today's list of perfect hostess gifts, and it was also recommended by the hostess at a restaurant last week, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's terrific - a great period show, set at a time when women managed the house, and men worked in the city. If you get a chance, its worth catching.

I learned over the weekend that one of the two bead studios in town is closing, or at least shutting the bead portion of their shop. They've had a substantial increase in rent, and can't justify the extra space it takes to have the torches available. The torches are mostly in use on Saturday, and even then, it's not usually that busy, so I can see why they're trying to rationalize. The other bead studio in town charges a lot more, so I'll have to see how often I get up there.

A new hobby..

Most people who read the blog know I stitch and bead. Both hobbies can be pretty expensive and time consuming, depending on what you're working on at the time. I also have a pretty full life elsewhere - a job, travel, friends and other stuff going on. I don't need a new hobby. I don't have time for a new hobby.

But I've now bought sock yarn. Opal, in the Harry Potter "Tonks" colourway, which I've fallen in love with. Which means I now need to brush off my very rusty knitting skills and attempt to make socks. Or convince/bribe/pay someone else to do it for me....

Stay tuned.




In other news, may favourite LBS (Local Bead Store) was having a sale today. Crystals are definitely my weakness, and I bought too many of those. I also bought supplies for the 12 Days of Christmas blog candy - so stay tuned for that.

There are a couple of bead stores in town, and I've had reason to not like most of them, except the one that had the sale today. One sells mostly plastic, which is OK sometimes, but mostly not what I want. Another seems like it hasn't cleaned since I was in high school, which was many years ago. And another has great beads, but also has the highest prices in town too. The store with today's sale sells mostly what I want, has reasonable prices, and has a very sweet owner, who mostly remembers the customers. What else do you want in a store?

This is the PIF/Blog Candy that I created for Heather. She'd signed up for a gift at the start of the year, and I'm terribly embarrassed to say that it's taken me this long to finish her gift. I hope it's been worth the wait.

The peyote stitch needle case pattern is from "Threaded Needle Designs" and is the same pattern as I'd used for Barbara's gift earlier in the year. The pattern is originally came as a kit with the purple beads, and I re-used the pattern to create a second needlecase with some plain black and white beads that I had on hand. The beads are all Bullseye art glass, handmade by me.

A sneak peak

I was making beads this weekend, and nothing seemed to be going right - my beads were all collecting soot or I was melting the glass wrong and getting funny colours, neither one of which was very attractive. So I switched gears, and made this little bead. It's only about 3/4 of an inch wide, and I think it would look great on a necklace or something with dangles.

I decided to show this, because I'm going to try and run a "12 Days of Christmas" blog candy event on the 12 weekend days prior to Christmas. That means that there will be blog candy offered November 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, and 30th, as well as December 6,7, 13, 14, 20 and 21st. Stay tuned for more details.

If you're going celebrity spotting....

it would be best not to take me along. I was at the airport today, in the security line, and only realized Stephen Ames was in front of me because he had his name and the words "PGA" written on to a label on his laptop. Otherwise, I'd still be clueless....

St Petersburg Progress.

I'm stuck in the middle of what seems to be a thousand algerian eyelets on this one - There are 15 pink eyelets on each corner, plus 24 dark purple ones on each of the corners for a grand total of 156 eyelets. I'm about 2/3 the way through, and it seems like all of those little eyelets will go on forever....

Baby Biscornu

Here's another little design from "Floss Box". There's one of my hand-made glass buttons in the middle, which seemed to fit perfectly...

And the winner is - Ranae

Ranae's name was selected by the "Random.Org" randomizer. Congrats!

Key Lime Squares

This week's adventure in baking was inspired by a challenge on "The Wagon" BB. One of the members there has challenged all of the members to make a lemon square recipe. I'd found a couple of recipes I'd wanted to try that were close to the lemon square recipe that the member shared - one for Pink Grapefruit Squares, and one for Key Lime Squares. I have a meeting tonight for which I'm bringing treats, so I thought I'd try the Key Lime Squares. The original recipe called for white chocolate whipped cream, but I was running out of time tonight, and I only had time to make regular whipped cream. I thought the little slices of lime were a great addition to the top of the lime bars.

Ornament #3

This is "Be Merry" from My Mark Designs. I stitched it using the recommended DMC on white fabric I'm planning to finish it using the tutorial that Monique, who designed the ornament, has on her blog.

Thanks for all of your good wishes on feeling better - I think my neck has almost completely healed, but I've missed a few exercise classes, and want to catch up this week.

Blog candy is on until Wednesday - please comment on Saturday's post to enter.

Christmas Ornament 2

This is a mini-biscornu, stitched from a freebie at the "Floss Box" blog. It's on the same red mystery fabric as the ornament I stitched earlier in the week. I stitched a simple border on the biscornu, as I thought it would be too hard to stitch into a biscornu if it wasn't a little bigger. The small button in the middle is vintage from a collection I got at a craft sale.

Don't forget that the blog candy draw is open until Wednesday!

Blog Candy - At Long Last

I've finished the last of the Pay-It-Forward/Blog Candy gifts that I offered out back in....um.... January, and thought I'd celebrate with a little blog candy. The blog candy is for 12 handmade glass flowers, plus 6 glass beads. The glass is all Bullseye odd-lots, which is handmade in the US. These glass colours are outside of their normal range, so there are not that many of these beads running around.

To give away the beads, I'll make a drawing from all of the people who comment on this post. It doesn't matter if this is your first visit or you are a regular reader - just leave a comment and I'll throw your name into the hat.

The Blog Candy closes Wednesday, October 29th - so please comment before then.

New Ornament

I've been trying to complete an ornament for the longest time. I finally got my hands on the JCS Ornament issue for the year and found quite a few that I wanted to do. This is the Cat's Whisker's Design Studio ornament - in the issue, it's quite colourful, but I stitched it on red fabric with white DMC and Delica silky rainbow beads. It's quite sparkly with all of the beads on it.

St Pete's Progress

This is about half way through the second section of St. Petersburg.

Ouch....

I woke up this morning with the *worst* neckache. I thought I'd pulled a muscle in my shoulder last night, but I thought it would get better with a little bit of rest. I woke up this morning and everything in my neck and shoulders hurt. Pulling my head up and off the pillow was just terrible, and yawning wasn't fun either. It's a bit better this evening, or I would have been off to the doctors to make sure nothing was wrong.

Its also hard to stitch or to clean (which is what I really should be doing instead of stitching). I'll try and get a little bit of both stitching and cleaning in tonight though.

Dessert - Week 2

This is croissant-banana bread pudding with southern comfort sauce,again from "Cuisine at Home" magazine. This will be tonight's dessert.

Egyptian Garden Progress

I got my order of Bullseye odd-lots today - Peach Glaze, Wild Mulburry, Sand Dune, Neo-Berry Shift, Dark Blue Adventurine (sparkly), and Pebble. Glass colours are almost as much fun as hand-dyed fabric and threads.

St. Petersburg Update

Here's the cross stitching in Part 1 of St. Petersburg.

Catching Up....

Questions and comments:

To MissyAnn - thanks for letting me know you bought your first peyote stitch kit - hope you enjoy it!

To Trixie - I think making beads is pretty easy, but I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the beads from my first attempt. I was lucky that I had some good resources and teachers when I first started out. Beads like the bracelet beads, which are pretty much just small even beads are actually pretty easy to make.

The Recipe:

Apple Pie a la Easy

Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 T. Corn Syrup
Pinch of Salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T. Dark Rum
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 t. vanilla extract

Pie Crust:
1 round purchased pie dough
1 T. butter, melted
2 T. coarse sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw

Apple Filling:
1 T. unsalted butter
2 Braeburn Apples, peeled, cored, thin sliced
1 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 t. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of apple juice or cider

To assemble:
Vanilla Ice Cream

For Caramel Sauce:
Boil sugar, water, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat, swirling occasionally. Cook until caramel is the colour of iced tea, 10 minutes. Add cream and rum, whisking to combine. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer sauce to a bowl to cool.

For Pie Crust:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees; line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unroll pie dough onto prepared baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Using a pastry wheel, cut dough into 12 wedges and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

For Apple filling:
Melt butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add apples, raisins, cinnamon, salt and saute until apples begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add juice, simmer until nearly evapourated, then add 3/4 cup caramel. Reduce heat to low and keep apple mixture warm.

To Assemble:
Arrange 1 crust wedge on each of 6 plates, then top with 2 small scoops of ice cream and a spoonful of apples and caramel sauce. Place a second wedge on top with more ice cream and apple mixture. Serve immediatley.

Thanksgiving Dessert

This is Cuisine at Home's "Apple Pie a la Easy", which I made for Thanksgiving dinner on Monday. The pie crust is cut into wedges and baked, and the apples are pan-fried with apple juice, raisins and caramel sauce. All in all, it was easy - I only had to peel 3 apples, and I didn't have to fuss with trying to make sure that the pie crust wasn't soggy.

St. Petersburg progress

This is about 2/3 the way through the first of 12 sections. It doesn't show up much in the pictures, but it's going to be really sparkly.

The Weekend

Its been nice to be home for 4 whole days. Today is a public holiday in Canada, and I took Friday off from work. And I've pretty much done nothing this weekend except stitch, cook, eat and go to the gym. It's been a busy year - I feel like I've continually been in an airport or in a meeting since about January, and it's nice to have a couple of days to get the tightly wound springs in my life unwound a bit.

I did manage to:
- Get my hair cut
- Have 2 Thanksgiving Dinners
- Watch an entire season (Season 4) of Grey's Anatomy
- Go to 3 spinning classes, which will go a little way into making sure that some of the calories from the dinners get burnt off
- Stitch on Egyptian Garden and St. Petersburg
- Re-arrange the blog layout