First Finish of 2014

It is called Mt. Rainier Santa. When I saw the kit I knew I needed to add it to my collection!

"Her name be Hannah!"

For each of my brother's children I have cross-stitched a Care Bear and sewed it up into a pillow, an example can be found here. His youngest recently celebrated her first birthday and I figured it was about time she received hers as well. I had the cross-stitching finished before she was born (or maybe right after), and found the fabric in my stash. I just never got around to finishing it earlier. During one of my brother's visits, I was holding and chatting with the baby, and called her "Hannie". Her older sister quickly corrected me and said "Her name be Hannah!"

Here is Hannah's pillow-


A close up of the cross-stitch-


It's a good thing I finally finished since Hannah will be a big sister herself this year and I need to get started on another Care Bear.

The end of Christmas

The following two were done for my siblings and their spouses. They are very different and challenged me in different ways. The first was for the Murris. It's called Blackwork (for obviously reasons) but I cheated a bit and added burgundy colored beads instead of black. They're room is white, black and red so that's why I decided to do this one for them.

This was for the Westergards. It's inspired from a Thomas Kincade original, who they really enjoy. It used some metallic threads that made the lights look sparkly.

Ornaments Galore

I made an ornament for each of my family members from Parents to still in-utero (at the time) nieces.
For Papa #1

For Mama #1

For Brother #1

For Brother-in-Law #1

For Sister-in-Law #1

For Sister #1



For Nephew #1

For Niece #1

For Nephew #2

For Niece #2

For Nephew #3

For Niece #3

For Niece #4

Christmas Day Collection

This year I spent the holiday with the Borg Family - Dad, Mom, 4 Children, 2 Children-In-Law, and new Puppy. I was able to create and finish them all with supplies I mostly already had, I just had to get a couple of small things.

First up are the Parents. A Christmas tree of snowflakes, different types of fibers and beads. Fun and quite pretty I think.

Next up is Child #4. The hat and scarf are made from granny squares, an experiment that could not have turned out better. I had no idea about size and was worried it would be too big or too small, it was neither, it was perfect! Also and little cross-stitch ornament.



Child #1's gift can be seen in my previous post.

What's this, you ask? Another successful experiment.


A crochet Checkerboard and Checkers :)

This one was for Child #2 and spouse, red and blue being the favorite colors. I also made one for Child #3 and spouse, this time green and purple. It got away before I remembered to take a photo. Understandable since I was pretty much working on it up until it was unwrapped. I also made an ornament for each of the the couples.

Long Over Due Update

In August/September 2010 I moved back to Logan, mainly to become the care taker of the family home while my Parents finish their mission. It took a couple of months, but I finally procured full time employment the week of Thanksgiving. I'm now working for a company called Conservice, they are a third party utility billing company, I'm a member of the Transition Team. It's kind of hard explaining what we do, but you can find more about them here. As mention is a previous post I'm also teaching cake decorating classes. So far I've just taught one, which went really well. I hope to teach more in the future as well.

Besides a continual job search, and going to several interviews, I found other ways to entertain myself during my unemployment stage. First off my ward asked me to participate in several activities/callings. I am the pianist for the Ward Choir, teaching Relief Society, and a Visiting Teaching Supervisor. I was also asked to help plan the Relief Society Christmas party. At home I kept myself busy puttering around the house and yard, and doing oodles and oodles of projects, most of which ended up as Christmas Gifts. One of my claims to fame in 2010 is that every project I had previous begun and started in 2010 I finished by the end of the year! Now that the holidays have past and gifts have been given I can share some of those projects that kept me busy.

First up is one for me. I found this pattern years ago and wanted to make it immediately, the specialty beads are fairly pricey so I didn't get around to it until this year. The pattern called for far more than the few birds and snowflake I got, but I'm happy with the results. I procured the supplies in early 2010 and worked on it through the year. It's not an awesome framing job, just done by me, and all the beading made it quite bumpy, later on I plan to smooth it out and make the finished look better.



Next up is an afghan I made for my friend Katie. When I first started this project I was knitting, but as I got into it I basically detested it and just left it idle for a couple of years. I decided I still wanted to do it, just differently, so I pulled apart all the knitting, and started anew with a crochet hook. The undoing doing a while since I'd already knit through a couple of skeins of yarn, but it was actually quite enjoyable! Once I was finished I started making granny squares. I enjoyed working on the reinvented project and am happy with the results. First up is a photo of an overall view, then a close up of the granny squares (I did three different ones), and last is a close up of the edging.





A few straggler projects have not yet reached their recipients, once they have I'll share more details. I don't want to spoil the surprise even though I am quite tardy in getting them delivered.

A Springtime Project

This one was started and finished this year. I even finished the frame myself!


A close-up of the saying.


This one is for these delightful wee ones.

On Friendship

I can't remember when I started this one, probably early last year, but it was one of my first finishes of 2010. This one was given to my sister.

Mystery Project #2

Done - another wait for the reveal though :)

Mystery Project #1

Done! Stay tuned for the "big" reveal.



P. S. Just so you know it's going to be a LONG wait :)

For Miracle Baby Jack D

Close up of the Center - This was the actual "first" finish of the year.




I started this way back in 2009 but was unable to concentrate so it took a long time to complete :)