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CELEBRATING OUR 150th READER GIVEAWAY

About Me

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I have collected incredible amounts of cross stitch magazines in my over 30+ years of cross stitching. I enjoy knitting, crocheting and cross stitch. In May 2011 I decided to make my dream of sharing my love of needlecrafts a reality and started the online shop, The Stitcher's Market along with hubby. My biggest hope is to pass on my love of stitching to my children. Let's face it, some one has to inherit all my stash. I am shy, but I truly appreciate everyone's comments and friendship. I am glad to help anyone who needs any stitching information. I love to have giveaways and share other bloggers giveaways, so please stop by often. Enjoy your stay!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Do you like Aida?

For so many years I had a stash of it and never used it always opting for 28ct. Jobelan. Yesterday I picked up a piece of Charles Craft Aida 14ct because the holes were easier to see.

Part of me feels weird because it has been so long sice I have stitched on it, but it is so easy! I am actually stitching something!! Better something stitched than nothing at all, right?
That is my story and I am sticking to it. I am also switching out colors and scrunching the Aida to soften it.

Giving in little by little, glasses are in my future and I have to make peace with that. I have noticed that my stitching mojo comes back when I can see!! The 26-28 ct needles are also too small for me to thread. I used to see those holes, now I need a magnifier to thread.

By end of February I will have glasses. First comes my DS' broken nose fixing. Yeah....all these years without an ER visit. Well, guess that somethings can't last forever. Glad I didn't lower my coverage last year. I was sorely tempted!! I admit it!! Sky high premiums and good kids tempted me. Decided to keep the costlier but better coverage and I am happy I did.

Although things have been challenging I feel blessed. My DS only has a broken nose and it can be repaired. My eyes aren't that bad and glasses will take care of them. We are all healthy.

You are reading this keeping me company. What else can I want?

Simple stitches .....

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Thank you, friends

for your very kind welcome back. Good to know that you are there. I will definitely look up those anti-viral addy's to see what is available for free. As a matter of fact, another friend showed me the AVG site and I was impressed (shh... doesn't take much to impress me IT wise LOL).

Sorry to hear that your son had so many problems with his computer. I don't think that people understand until it happens to them. This experience has definitely made me more careful of things that deal with passwords and accounts. A little paranoid, yes, but I admit it. Crazy to think that there are faked sites that mimic the real sites so well. You really have to look at the address your computer is linking up to. Lesson learned.

Cucki, did you receive the kit yet? I sent it a bit after Christmas for two reasons: the post office's I go to were so packed with people the waits were about an hour and I was afraid the package would take even longer to get there because of the Christmas rush. I would have rather it be home safe than in a bin waiting for its turn. If you haven't gotten it, you should have it any day now. I hope that you like it.

On the trading front, things are going well. This year, I am reaping the benefits of last year's search. Yippee!! Hope to trade a few more times this month. A friend once told me about 20 years ago that , "One man's garbage is another man's treasure." If I remember correctly that line is from a song. Maybe a Grateful Dead song. Don't quote me but he was really into the Grateful Dead. Well, in trading this proves to be the case for me. We don't trade garbage obviously, but trading what we don't use for something that we really want but can't get is a blessing. More than that, the friendships made are really out of this world. I can't begin to tell you how much they mean to me. Especially when I am having an "off" day to hear that something I did put a smile on someone's face for a while makes the day better.

It is true that someone somewhere is always thinking about you. I think of my friends everyday and there are times that one remembers those acquaintances from high school or college or former jobs and then somehow their names pop up in conversation out of the blue. We are all connected somehow in good ways.

Our shop, The Stitcher's Market, is going well. We definitely have to list the items that we have in stock and those that we can get. The journey is challenging and worth it. Like many stitchers I can get carried away and want every new thing that comes out. LOL. I am not immune. LOL.

Kids are growing like weeds!!!!! I no longer need to eat the leftovers the kids don't want. You remember that part of parenting, right? The kids don't want to eat something so they leave it behind and then you eat the rest. Well, that has become my DS' main goal in life. If I leave anything alone for more than 5 minutes, invariably the question will come, "Are you going to eat that?" What can you say other than, "Sweetheart, if you want it, you can have it." I don't know where he puts it. Kid is closing in on 6 feet at a really fast pace. If it is edible, it is GONE. It's a bottomless pit I tell you.

DD is closing in on 3 feet. Crazy, I tell you. The clothes baggy and long clothes that Christmas brought are now either just the right length or too short. Wait..... it has only been a month! Those clothes were baggy and long two weeks ago. Can't even blame the clothes dryer for that one. We are holding on the shoes.... both DS and DD's feet grow slowly. Rest assured, that is the ONLY part of them that grows slowly. But don't think that my son is falling over on tiny feet. He wears a 10 1/2 already. Lately, sneakers have been averaging 6 months for both. I think that is acceptable.

Need my stitching mojo to come back. Me thinks it is because I need glasses. (Shhhhhh) Yes, the eyeballs are straining and the eyelids are squinting and I have to face the fact that even with magnification the evenweave holes are still blurry.

DH and I watched Stargate Universe on Netflix last week. Some bonding time there with me talking to the characters and him keeping quiet. I over analyze television shows out loud. Yes, I am guilty of saying things like, "Is this a sci-fi show or a romance novel?" "No, no, no, don't have casual relationships with two or three people at a time, not good for the gene pool." And my favorite....."How can it be possible that no one is pregnant billions of years away from Earth?" Let's face it, almost everyone is in a relationship, no birth control, and no one is pregnant. Not very realistic there with the young nubile crowd. LOL. Yup, science fiction there, for sure!! LOL!!

If you have been with me this far, thanks for reading. I usually don't write long posts like this one so I hope that you enjoyed my ramblings.

Even stitches.....

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Did you miss me?

Believe me, it was not intentional.

The computer that I use for my blogging and everything else was infected with at least 50 viruses. It got so bad that I could not even get it to load anything. Scary, scary!!

I guess that at some point in my life I did something really kind for someone, because someone I know offered to use their expertise to help me clean the computer. It took 5 days! I had worms and viruses. Even my viruses had viruses.

He found a keystroke logger, trackers and other things that are just plain scary. So, I have learned my lesson and will purchase anti-virus software as soon as my pocketbook lets me. I have 25 days to purchase it since I have the trial version right now.

Plan to get him at least a gift card to Dunkin Donuts, he saved me money I don't have. There were times I was going to just throw out this computer thinking that it was garbage. Not so, it was just infected.

Thought I would share that with you so you can learn from my experience and keep safe.

Scary, scary.... and it is not even Halloween....


Saturday, December 31, 2011

Good News!! Under the Wire for 2011

My hands are stiff, my eyes are wonky, because they have done great work in completing a beautiful shawlette for my daughter. It is grey/silver lace with pretty shell ruffle on the edges.

Will post picture tomorrow because camera batteries are on hiatus (not that they work overtime or anything like that.. lol...)

Two days work, all worth the ripping and the recounting at 3 o'clock in the morning. Don't know if I will lightly block it yet.... it does drape beautifully now. Even when se grows taller, it will drape perfectly over her shoulders.

I always beam when I make things for my princess and they fit!!

Fairytale stitches.....

2012 is on it's way



Wishing all my friends and their families a fabulous 2012.
Wishing you smiles and tears of joy.
Wishing you peace and wonderful excitement.
Wishing you rainbows and enough rain to make them brighter.

Wishing you your heart's desire.


Let's make 2012 a year to remember!


Happy New Year stitches.....

Last scarf project of 2011

Well, well. this was an unexpected quickie of a project! My projected wear date is Easter 2012.... yeah, started a tad early.



100% cotton ... yarn from stash ...
Basketweave stitch repeat pattern


Hubby is making cheesy Crescent rolls, yummy!!

I expect to be back in a couple of hours. There is another crochet project on the hook that may get done in a few hours, if I can keep my sanity... LOL...


Happy stitches.....

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Thank You Penpal!!

The postie brought my last letter from my penpal yesterday. Hubby brought the package to me at work. (He's a keeper). Anywhoooo... I couldn't wait to open it because I knew that there would be a letter inside from my penpal and I would finally know who had sent me my favorite Weeks Dye Works thread colors. She had also sent a large envelope with a very hard item inside which I thought was either a book or a frame. Hmmm....I was getting even more curious.

I have to say that even though I LOVE cross stitch, I was secretly hoping that it wasn't cross stitch related because I was caught in a weird S.A.B.L.E. moment and I wanted something i could share with the kids. She must have known because inside was a wonderful letter letting me know that her grandson was born healthy. Along with that was a beautiful book, The Tale of the Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt and illustrated by Tim Jonke. She also sent me 4 gorgeous blank cards.

I wanted to say THANK YOU for the most lovely gift. I read and re-read the book with tears in my eyes. The true meaning of Christmas. I will read the book to my children at Christmas, it is truly lovely.

All in all, I am very happy to have met such a nice and thoughtful person in my penpal and will continue to keep that relationship alive.

I feel blessed....blessings to all.....

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas will be here soon......

and I am not ready.

Luckily, I was able to pick up all of my children's gifts on during the Black Friday sales. Now, it's just the gift certificates and cards that are left. Hubby and I will exchange gifts after Christmas during the after Christmas sales.

This year I will be home for the week between Christmas and New Year's so it will be a wonderful time to spend time with the family and shop leisurely.

I received a wonderful exchange gift from my friend Lucy. We have exchanged gifts for the past 10 years or so. It's a very special bond that we have nutured throughout the years.

Back to knitting the red and whte sweater for my DD. If I don't finish it for Christmas, there is little hope that she would be able to wear it for much longer. Yes, she stretched out a bit since the RIPPING event. I now knit, knit, knit hoping for a quick finish before Christmas. I will definitely post a picture of that sweater here.

This year I was able to have a few giveaways and meet new friends. I joined a few exchanges and hopefully brought joy to other people. Looking forward to joining a couple of exchanges next year and continuing with my personal exchanges too.

For now, I am purling those stitches.....

And the Winner is.....

The winner of my 150th reader giveaway is:

CUCKI

Congratulations Cucki!! You have been a very loyal reader since you joined my blog. Your uplifting comments and readership is so very much appreciated!

Thank you to all who entered the giveway. Winner was chosen by counting all entries and asking an innocent bystander (read: hubby) to choose any number within the given range. He chose the number 6. That was Cucki's lucky number.


Happy stitching to all......