Finish #3 for 2026 and other progress...

Finish #3 for 2026.  This is Bloomin' Hens by Teresa Kogut.  I used the suggested fancy flosses, on 28 count PTP Vellum, one over one.  I wrote before, that the finish is about the size of a recipe index card.  It has some bees on the pattern, but I was fine without the bees.  

This was what it looked like when I picked it back up again.  I like her designs, but even small designs just seem like there are a million stitches, and you are never gonna finish it.  I have another of her designs started, and it feels the same way.  I have no clue why they feel that way.  They ARE lovely - and actually, I know I have at least two more started.  But this is the first of her patterns that I remember finishing.

Long Dog Samplers - Life After Death.  I did get a bit more added, and a photo before it got tossed back.  

Harriett Salt 1866 - Hands Across the Sea Samplers.  I added just a bit more going up, but the spacing needed to change.  Sometimes I know immediately what to do, sometimes I take longer to commit to change.  There have been a couple of these lately, so I think this was one I changed, but I would not swear to it.  Then it got tossed back.

This is Lizzie Kate - the ABC's of Parenting.  I found another pattern to order, and this popped up on sale.  I have the others in the series, but I am not a parent - so I did not remember if I had finally gotten this or not.  So I added it.  I grabbed it, and started it when it arrived.  It is on 28 count Lambswool lugana, one over one, using suggested Classic Colorworks flosses, and dmc. Except, I felt like the Queen Bee was gonna be too light, so decided to try Ye Olde Gold instead.  It is used around the letters "Q" in Quit, and 'Y" in Enjoy on the right side bottom, and "U" in Unlock.  I'm happy with the result.  When I started stitching it - it felt familiar, so I looked it up on this blog - and I finished it the final day of the year in 1999. 

So here is the my photo of my finishing this way back in 1999.  This is the second time I have bought a pattern I already own this year.  But the fact I certainly had the choice to start the new pattern, or this pattern, and I started this one, one I didn't remember - from 6 year ago - mostly shows I still love the silly patterns in that series.  I did not immediately think - oh, I will toss it.  I felt - it's on different fabric, it will look different.  I added a photo of both versions of the suggested flosses on a post from back then.

I had to look at what I had used to stitch that version - here is a photo with both the Weeks suggested, and the Classic Colorworks suggested.  The Weeks version of the letters are a much more gray version, and the Classic Colorworks is a more midnight blue - and I did pick to use the Classic Colorworks floss both times.  The pattern doesn't show the Weeks version - for a while, there was just a slip of paper in the pattern.  And early on, the patterns came with the floss - so mine came with the alternate Weeks version.  At the time - I bought the original pattern flosses too - hence the photo.  But I think it is information worth showing, so I am including the photo.  I obviously like the pattern, I have stitched things twice - even a Long Dog.... on purpose.  Had I known I was stitching it again, I might have used the Weeks flossess - but I am happy with the version I am stitching now.  Again, my camera does not show colors accurately - but it gives you kind of an idea.  And it's not showing the 3 dmc flosses - red, green, and brown - like around the house.  Dyelots change - I have no clue what the flosses look like now.  Even mine - I try to pull from my stash.  I just bought a second pattern that was on sale, to travel with the first one.  I was honestly just too lazy to look - it was like $6.-$7.  I thought maybe I had it started, and not finished - so I was glad to learn I had finished it.  And this is also why I blog - to find it on my blog when I clearly am clueless.  I used to remember all this...  before cancer.  After cancer, and chemo, and all that for breast cancer.  I just don't remember certain things.  I don't know if it is because of the chemo - or if I decided it didn't really matter - and I was only gonna buy new things as they were released.  Or a bit of both.  

I have patterns kitted up - and I recently grabbed one of those - it had fabric cut to size, and floss - and a pattern on huge sheets of paper.  I had no clue what or where that came from.  I don't have a printer that could have printed that.  It ended up that it was missing the edge and two corners - so I HAD to figure out what it was - so I could try to find it, and order it.  But I had no clue.  It's clearly MY style - it would have been something I wanted to stitch.  But I have no clue where it came from.  I DID figure it out.  It is a Scarlet Letter pattern called Sarah Selfe 1784,  and it was a whole $8 plus $5 mailing it to me.  This is another one where I need to shift the rows slightly.  But I got it - and I can pick it back up again since I have it started.  Just no photos.  It's just a row of border with a few lines of text.  Not much to see.  But I really have no clue where it came from.  But I clearly measured the fabric - cause I double checked the math before adding the first stitch.