I realized today that I never checked in for January on the Theme-a-licious challenge Heather is hosting this year.  Oops!   I’ll try to do a better job in February!  Since it’s also WIPcalypse update time again, I figured I would just combine them into a single post to make things easier for  me.

The first piece I’ll report on is just for WIPocalypse and covers Celtic Christmas.  I spent about a week after the last update just plugging along on her and making some great progress.  Unfortunately, when I was in Vegas with Terri and Annette in mid-January, I discovered I’d made a colossal error in her skirt at some point and had completely left out three rows in the middle of it, so nothing was lining up as it should have.  As a result, I ended up frogging ~600 stitches from her skirt.  This means I actually made negative progress on her this month.

Progress as of January 7, 2012

Progress as of January 15, 2012

As you may notice from the photo caption, I haven’t worked on my Celtic Christmas piece in nearly a month now.  It was so disheartening having to frog so many stitches that I just needed to put her down for a while and work on something else instead.

The something else I chose to work on was Hannah Beeby 1816.  Not only was it on my WIPocalypse list, but it would also satisfy the January Jardin Theme-a-licous goal since I knew there was a flower motif I could stitch.

I started this sampler three or four years ago as a Stitch-a-Long.  So far, I think only two of the original stitchers in the SAL (Carol and Heidi) have actually finished it.   After some serious stitching time over the past week or so, I’m finally starting to make some real progress!

Progress as of 31 December 2011

Progress as of 5 February 2012

In other stitching news, Tracy surprised me with an early birthday present on Thursday!  She gifted me with the Stargazer chart from Mirabilia as well as a $50 gift certificate to Needlecraft Corner.  I’ve had the Stargazer chart on my wish list ever since it came out, so I’m excited to finally have it!  I used a gift card I got for Christmas to pick up some fabric (Angel Dust) from Jo over at Polstitches.  I’m going more for an early morning/twilight look instead of the typical evening/dusk look that many folks do with this design.  Here’s a mock-up of the look I’m going for:

Stargazer on Angel Dust Fabric

Well, that’s my January Theme-a-licious and February WIPocalypse updates.  The current Theme-a-licious goal is Fangirl February which means stitching on designs from your favorite designer(s).  My current designer du jour is Nora Corbett from Mirabilia, so I’m planning to put in some work on my Lady Alexandra WIP.  Since she’s also on my WIPocalypse list, this will be another two-fer month for me.

Until next time …

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I’m a day late in getting my January update for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long posted.  I meant to get it up yesterday, but time just got away from me.  So, without further adieu …

The orts in the bottom of the jar are from my new start on Royal Holiday by Mirabilia.  Next up is a bunch of red from work on Celtic Christmas from Lavender & Lace.  Sadly, a good portion of that big chuck of red orts is the result of having to frog nearly 600 stitches from that piece a couple of weeks ago.    The darker orts on the top of the pile are from some recent stitching I’ve done on my Hannah Beeby 1816 reproduction sampler from Timeless Designs.

My little jar has now been emptied into my larger clear paint bucket.  I didn’t bother taking a photo of it this month since it would just be the same orts.  I’ll include a photo of it in next month’s TUSAL update after I’ve added my February orts to it.

Until next time …

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I haven’t participated in Kenlie’s weekly Friend Makin’ Mondays in a while, so I thought I’d jump back in today since it seems really fun.

Per Kenlie’s instructions:  If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Short Answers

1. Mac or PC? I have both, but definitely prefer Mac.  I’ve been a Mac user since the late 80′s.
2. Do you paint your own nails? Sometimes.  I like going and getting pampered occasionally, too.
3. Beach or mountains?  Living in southern California, I’m fortunate enough to have both in fairly close proximity.  If I had to choose just one, I’d probably go with the beach.
4. What’s the title of the book you’re currently reading?  Lover Mine (book nine from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series) by J.R. Ward
5. Do you dance?  Not very often, but I enjoy it when I do.
6. CNN or Fox News?  Neither.  I usually watch MSNBC.  I <3 Rachel Maddow and would happily run away with her if it weren’t for that pesky detail of her partner, Susan.
7. Do you ride a bicycle?  No, but I own two of them.  Don’t ask.
8. Do you get a yearly flu shot?  No.
9. Best movie you’ve seen in 2012?  I haven’t been to the movie theater yet this year.  I watched The Help on DVD a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it.
10. Do you prefer to workout at home or at the gym?  It depends on what I’m doing for my workout.  If I’m going to walk or want to do an aerobics-type workout, then I usually just do it at home since I have a pretty large DVD selection.  I usually hit the gym if I want to spin, swim, Zumba, etc.
11. Last airport you were in?  Well, the last was technically LAX on a return flight from Dulles following a business trip to the D.C./NoVA area in December.
12. Married or single?  Single
13. iPhone or Android? iPhone
14. Do you prefer to be in pictures or taking pictures?  Definitely taking pictures.  I’m not really a fan of having my photo taken.
15. Favorite brand of sneakers?  It’s a toss-up between New Balance and Asics.  I really like Brooks, too.
16. Do you like snow?  For visiting, yes.  For putting up with an entire winter, no, which is precisely why I live in southern California.
17. Do you have/want to have kids?  I wanted kids, but couldn’t have them.
18. Summer or Winter? I actually prefer Spring and Fall over either Summer or Winter.
19. Do you know how to swim?  Yes
20. Do you prefer to shop in store or online?  With the exceptions of food & clothing, I do most of my shopping online.  I’m not really a fan of malls and it just works better with my busy schedule to shop online.

Until next time …

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I just wanted to give a quick shout-out post and welcome those of you who found me today by way of the MeYou Health blog!  I’m a major fan of the work they do and their small actions approach to health and fitness.  I’ve participated in the Daily Challenge for almost 13 months and love it! Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog!  I hope you like what you see and will stick around and subscribe via RSS feed or email (widget in my sidebar).

Until next time …

MeYou Health logo used by permission.

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I will be participating in the internet strike on Wednesday, January 18 in protest  about the SOPA/PIPA legislation currently being considered by both the US House of Representatives and US Senate.  So, on Wednesday, my regular blog will be replaced with information for contacting your members of Congress to ask they NOT support SOPA/PIPA since these bills are nothing more than legislated censorship.

While I certainly understand the need to protect intellectual property and the need of protection for copyright holders (although that’s technically already been covered since 1998 in the US by DMCA),  SOPA/PIPA are just not the best way to handle that task.  Both pieces of legislation are poorly written and too far-reaching.  Please contact your Congress Critters to let them know your thoughts before they vote on this legislation on January 24th!

See you on Thursday …

P.S. – You can’t even begin to imagine how difficult this post was to write without citing Wikipedia!  If you think this legislation doesn’t apply to you, just think about how often you use that or similar resources.  What would you do if they were suddenly gone?!  They, along with several other major sites, will also be going dark on Wednesday in protest of SOPA/PIPA.  So, I guess we’ll all have to step back in time to a world before Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist, LOLCats, and more for at least one day.  Personally, that’s not a world in which I want to live!

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