I Am Back!

Wow!  I cab't believe that is has been so long since my last post.  The past hasn't been smooth by any means.

The arthritis has been steadily getting worse.  It all goes hand in hand with the Lupus with all of the complications.  One of my main concerns has been the joint pain and the Lupus fog.   The pain, well, I have easier days and some not so easy days.  It is the brain fog and some off and on memory issues that worry me the most.  It is unsettling to be unsure of yourself mentally or unable to concentrate for long periods of time.

I have been unemployed since August 2d.  Now that I have gotten over the "what will I do?' stage, I find I have I have time to spend doing what I want.  The only problem is that there are few jobs out there especially for mature people like me.

But I have begun cross stitching and knitting again.  I am stitching some Wizzers for Christmas gifts.  I am knitting a baby blanket for my newest grandbaby.  My son and daughter-in-law has brought into the world a beautiful little boy: William.  I think I will call him Willie because both his dad and grandpa are named Bill.

I have to mention a blog I love:  Crafty Lil' Witch. Meg has a great blog where she discusses my favorite designer, Brooke Nolan.  Brookesbooks are the most beautiful angel and spirits.   Meg is having a giveaway at her bog.  Please check her out.

Harry Potter Exhibition

Yesterday, Amy took me to visit the Boston Museum of Science and the Harry Potter Museum.  Needless to say I was excited and a bit worried.  I was excited because I am a fan of J. K. Rowling and the World of Magic that she has created.  Maybe not as much of a fan as Amy but I rank high. 

I was a bit worried because of my health.  It had been a long time since I have been on a major trip as a round trip to Boston and more than an hour walking through the museum.  I enjoyed to the whole day.  Yes, I was tired and a bit stiff and shaky by the time we got in the car to return to RI but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.  And the company was the best. The weather was cool but partly cloudy making the drive up and back great.

I discovered that I should not shut myself away from the world with the excuse that I can not do things because of my health. Yes, I will have good and some not so good days, maybe even a couple of lousy days but I can't let them stop me.  I must go out into the world and explore whenever possible and enjoy life.

The exhibit was fantastic.  If it comes near you, don't hestitate to go and see it.  My only regret was that we couldn't take pictures in the exhibit and they didn't have a couple of things outside the hall where we could mark our visit with personal pictures.  So there are no pictures of me sitting in Hagrid's chair or Amy tossing the quaffle thorugh the hoop. We both pulled up the mandrake root. 

Now i can't wait until the next movie to come out.  I guess I will have to reread the books and rewatch the movies until then. 

A suprising request.

Amy has showed off her new Gryffindor bag to her friends. I have been asked to knit another. Wow! I am so honored to think that the bag impressed them so. I take no credit for the design.

All that credit goes to a very talented lady: Rosemary Waits. She very graciously published the House Bag pattern on the Leaky Cauldron web site.

If you are a fan of Harry Potter and the World of Magic and haven't visited the Leaky Cauldron site yet, I urge you to do so today.  http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org  It is a fantastic site for all things Harry Potter.

It's a frigid new year.

It is supposed to be in the single digits tonight so i thought I would update my blog with my snowy finish. This is a table runner which I stitched for my DIL, Erin. The design was originally
charted for a Biscornu. http://www.feerie.co.uk/index/FreeCharts.html

So now that the New Year is here, it is back to work. I decided to set down my 2010 stitching goals. First, I am knitting a pair of mittens which Julia sweetly asked Grammy to knit for her. I couldn't refuse. I am knitting a hat for SIL's buddy. I want to knit myself a pair of gloves. My Cross Stitching list is a bunch of whimsies stitched upon plastic canvas and Brooke Nolan's Sugar Plum Fairy which is stitched upon perforated paper. I have Cross Eyed Kat's Labyrinth, a Krenik stocking kit, my Monopoly board and a Parcheezi board in line. We will not talk about UFO's.

Unfortunately, my eyes have become so bad I can not stitch even on 14 count aida cloth. This March, I will see my eye specialist to set the date for my cataracts to be removed. Until then I am going to try to keep stitching by using plastic canvas or perforated paper.

The frigid temperatures haven't helped my joints. I seem to be more intolerant of the cold temperatures. My hands, back, hips, knees, and feet sometimes ache all at the same time and all I want to do is crawl under a ton of blankets and sleep until it is spring. My energy comes and goes. Most of the time, I run out of energy before I run out of things that need to be accomplished. So far I have been able to work and stay pretty much positive. I know that with Lupus I will have good days and bad days. I just pray for more of the good than the bad.

Besides, my grandchildren's smiles can bring me up on a down day and let me fly on a good day.

Amy's Christmas Gift

This is the Griffyndor Bag which I knitted for Amy. I will never forget her face when she unwrapped it Christmas Day. She told me that it took her breath away. I found the pattern on the Crafty pages of the Leaky Cauldron. It was designed by Rosemary Waits whom I thank muchly for sharing her talent. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/knitting/housecrestfairislebag

My First Design

No, that's not totally accurate. This is the first design I have published. It's titled Tea Stack Bookmark. You are free to copy for your personal use but please do not sell as a chart or kit.

Tonight, I am going to stitching the model of the bookmark and will upload a pix when I am done.

My inspiration for Tea Stack came from my sister Claire. I had designed a coffee themed bookmark last year. She made the comment that I should make one for tea drinkers like her. Thus, this one is for Claire.

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I last posted. The fair had two days of excessive rain and three days of sunshine and heat. But the people did come. I enjoy my time spent in the Grange booth, tellingn people about the benefits of Grange membership. I get to meet a lot of very nice people.

The State Grange session was on the 1st, 2nd, and 3d of October. Bill and I stayed at the session. We had an enjoyable time even though I was fatigued.

Good news! Good news! My knight coaster won third place in the Harvest of Handicrafts contest. It is a cross stitch piece that started life as a small $1.97 hanger kit from Wal-marts which I mounted into a coaster frame. I now need to stitch three more of the knights or perhaps I can find other knightly charts to make up the coaster set. Hmmmmm.

I can't believe that my younger grand-daughter will be turning 1 year in a month's time. It seems only yeaterday, we were worrying about her as she laid in the neo-natal unit at Women & Infants. Now she is a rambuncious curlytop full of smiles.

KC's older sister is now 4 and taking dance classes. JMC is so full of energy and Fancy Nancyness. I think JMC would change her outfit at the drop of a pin. She loves being a princess. Of course Grammy helps by knitting boas and etc.

What I have Stitching: I am still knitting a bag during my Needles & Hooks group. I have a core group of 5 people attending every Tuesday noon. I am X-stitching several small items for my exchanges for the various yahoo groups I belong to. My Monopoly board will be picked up again for regular stitching time after Christmas. I also have a couple of SAL's which I am undertaking. One is a small Biscounu for my NEXstitchers@yahoogroups. The other is a weekly SAL that I am just beginning at Friendlystitchers.

My turn to enable. I have to tell you all about Brooke Nolan who designs the cutest and most beautiful cross stitch figures. Her latest set which is Dicken"s Christmas Spirits. I particularly love The Spirit of Christmas Past because she looks a bit like a young girl dressed up to portray Saint Lucia on Saint Lucia's Day in Sweden. When I first saw this I thought of my Swedish ancestors and now have this design on my very long wish list. Please stop by her site and check out all of her lovely designs: http://brookesbooks.com/

I have been enabled by the best of them and it seems my stash and to-do list is just expanding out of control but I wouldn't have it any other way. One of these days, I know I will have all the time in the world to stitch and then it will end because of arthritis or my lupus; until then I WILL stitch onward. Stitching is my meditation and serenity in a world of confusion and pain.

I have designed another bookmark which after I fine tune it, I will be publishing here. So stay tuned for it.