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. 

A week later...

 Teresa Kogut - In Command.  It almost got tossed back in the pile, but I decided to fill things in a bit more.  I still don't have any of the four pages completed yet.  The light directly on it makes it look pretty harsh with my crappy camera. 

 Decided to make myself an under the bed box of completed things.  But flipping through them, one of them seems like it has water stains on it.  Something I completed at the end of 2018 - Courtney Collection - Garden Fair.  Tried a first pass at cleaning it, but that didn't clean it totally.  But I looked back to see how much floss I would need to stitch it again, but it says I bought double the floss cause I was gonna widen the design.  Then I ended up just stitching the pattern as is.  So I must actually still have enough floss to stitch it again.  It is done in silks, so I was glad I wrote down what I used.  I might need to order just some antique white jobelan or lugana, but I might have that too.  That is the only thing I have ever had that ended up with some weird water type stains.  But that is why I needed to get them protected inside of something.  Luckily, I have stitched several of the Courtney Collection patterns twice, so doing that one again would not be something awful.    

And I got the response back from the IRS.  It said I owe nothing.  That what I provided was enough to end what it was they were questioning.  Which is why I keep everything. 

Let's start this....

Teresa Kogut - In Command.  A new start using the suggested PTP Mystic and dmc flosses.  This is Mystic lugana, 28 count, one over one.  Again, it's maybe the size of a postcard?  The pattern is four pages, and I've completed one page at least by this point.   There are 43 colors, some of which I haven't used yet.  At this point I am trying to start to fill in colors to be able to get to a page actually completed, but it is very shotgun to fill in sections.  I started the bottom right hand corner, and mostly worked to the top to finish the wing, which isn't actually finished.  There is a color called for that is the color of the material basically.  Stitching the lights on the fabric is not bad, but stitching the colors very close to the fabric color is something that seems like it should be final fill in, not a first color to grab randomly.  It's been a while since I did a piece like this, full coverage, but I have now started so many of her patterns, I'd like to finish something of hers, but I don't see that happening.  This was a pattern that I picked up as a stitching store was closing out. 

This week is now a year since my breast removal.  Been a weird year, that's for sure.  Because of my cancer type, my cancer feed off of my estrogen, so I now take an estrogen killer pill.  Which on a scale of possible cancer things.... this is nothing. 

More Than Halfway This Time.

Teresa Kogut - Newcastle Bouquet.   I finished the right hand side completely.  At this point, I need a break from it, but I got way more done than I expected to get done this time.  I need to fill in just a bit more so I am not confused about - was I using the fancy floss or the dmc floss.  But just adding a few more threads solves that.  

As for real life stuff...  I sent off my response to the IRS, and they suggested it would be there on a Tuesday...  It was due Wednesday.  I was mailing it the Friday before at 4:30pm at the main post office.  It had lots of pages, it needed to be weighed, it had a due date.   So I was asking how to make that happen for sure.  They said Tuesday arrival.  I could just pay that, or, get Tuesday with tracking for $11.  Or I could overnight it for $28.  The IRS is closed Saturday, overnight seemed silly, and expensive.  But tracking did sound like a good idea, gave the $11.  Later I was told by the next postal employee, ALWAYS put tracking on anything to the IRS.  

Last Friday it was still between Salt Lake City and Ogden Utah.  Handed off on Sunday, to go 38 miles between those two places.  But on Friday it was still not there.  As of today, after 10 days, it still has not gone that 38 miles.  And the due date was a week ago.  I call the number for that IRS location just to see if they can say if it ever arrived at all.  And it had, it was scanned into 'their department', last Friday.  I  just wanted to know that it got there.  Nothing more.  I've gotten things in my hand that said they were not delivered yet.  I know postal tracking makes mistakes.  That it was possible it was there.  But with the IRS, that is not a game you wanna play.... maybe it got there.  You just have to wait long enough to give it time to be in their system, but not a month, cause you might be resending everything if it really is lost.  There is always something weird in my world.   

Working on the Right side...

Teresa Kogut - Newcastle Bouquet.  Finished filling in the border.  Just filling things in on that right side.  Lots of things going on.  Nothing bad. Well, the letter in the mail from the IRS asking me to explain something from my 2021 taxes was a new learning experience.  But I keep everything, and I knew I had proof.  There is always something that needs fixing. 
 

From the Started Pile of stuff...

Teresa Kogut - Newcastle Bouquet.  Pulled back out, and it sure won't get to the end this time either.  Finished the basket, and started the leaves, flower, and then the bird.  Decided to fill in the upper border section that was missing as a break from the center section.  My goal is to finish the border this round and enjoy stitching on the center section.  The border is dmc, the bird is dmc, the leaves are fancy floss. I noticed I have the Cayenne red called for, but I have the Classic Colorworks version, not the Weeks Dye Works version that is called for.  And I don't seem to have it in my stash, so that is why I used the dmc version for the bird too.  I know I picked dmc for the border so I would not run out.  At this point, I wanna finish things as I go along, not leave a half done leaf and wonder if it is fancy or dmc floss.  I did write what I was doing in my stitching notes on the blog, but I was not smart enough to write it on the pattern.  The designer has lovely patterns, but having now started several, there sure are LOTS of stitches to stitch in her patterns. 

 

Photo showing where it was when I picked it back up again.  It was May? of 2021 last time I worked on it at all.  And just to give you an idea of size, it's about the size of a legal sheet of paper.

I also finished stitching the block borders for Shores of Hawk Run Hollow before it was tossed back in the pile.  No photo, but it was an entire day of stitching to get that completed. 

Finishes and Starts...

 

Finish #7 for 2023.  Used the suggested floss.

Finish #8 for 2023.  Used the suggested fancy flosses.  My Big Toe Designs - Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Started it, and finished it.  28 count antique white jobelan, one over one.   
 

Carriage House - Blooming Basket.  Using suggested dmc flosses, on PTP 28 count Vellum lugana.

Teresa Kogut - Bloomin' Hens.  Using suggested fancy flosses on PTP 28 count Vellum lugana, one over one.  It's about the size of a recipe card - so not as big as it seems.  The bottom half is finished.  And I am leaving off the bees.

Teresa Kogut - Nature.  Using suggested flosses.  Kinda wandering on this one.  It's much bigger than it looks, even one over one.  

I started radiation last week.  I went to schedule getting my port removed, and be on his surgical schedule for after radiation, and then asked if they had surgery the next day, and if there were openings, and the nurse said yes to both.  So I suddenly was getting the port out the next day before radiation started.  Surgery on a Friday, start radiation on a Tuesday.  But I was glad to have it out.  So far I have done 6 of 30 treatments.  The ladies there are very nice, and get you in and out. My hair has started to grow again.  It is so short that I am still wearing hats when I go places.  My body has lots of things to fix, and it doesn't happen overnight.  They placed a sensor on my skin to check the level during my first radiation treatment.  And it felt like a warmed stone.  They warn me about everything, but said nothing.  So I asked - was that heated?  Cause I felt the same feeling on the second one.  And the third one, I knew it was there, but didn't feel anything.  The women assured me it was not heated.  But I asked the doctor about it later.  My body is a bit cross wired - I feel it on my skin, but I feel heat, and there is not heat.  So a connection that is not really correct.  Lovely.  Cross Wired basically.  But somethng I had not considered till the doctor said it.  I still have numbness in my fingertips.  Which makes stitching a bit weird.  It was one of the last things I got during chemo, and I know it's a normal side effect.  I think by next week I might start to get eyebrows again.  I have had a few hairs, but the first ones back were the ones you need to pluck out and not in the line of your eyebrows at all.  If you can't laugh when stuff like that happens...  you are screwed with what happens to you during cancer. 

Stitching on lots of things...

 Finish #5 for 2023.  Heart In Hand - Bluebird Sampler.  Used the suggested Chesapeake Bay floss on Colour and Cotton Spiced Honey, 28 count lugana, one over one..  

Finish #6 for 2023.  The freebie pattern from Hello from Liz Mathews website.  Stitched on just a scrap of white 28 count lugana, one over one, using Classic Colorworks Bandana floss.  

I tried adding more to this... Brick House Sampler - With Thy Needle and Thread. 

Not much got added, this is where it was when I picked it up again.

This is Violets & Verses - Mary Woodrow.   A new start.  Done on Dove Gray jobelan 28 count, one over one, using dmc 3799.

Another new start - Teresa Kogut - Nature, on 25 count white lugana, one over one, using the suggested floss colors.  So far, this one is a fun stitch.  

Another new start - Marjorie Massey - Quaker Street.  On PTP Gingerbread 28 count, one over one, using Anchor black.  I am one stitch wide on the right side....  I think.  I don't want to start over.  I'm not sure how much being off is gonna confuse me.  I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the results of this start, so there might be a restart on this.  But I just love the pattern.  Might just need a different color combination. 

Nothing impressive...

Newcastle Bouquet - Teresa Kogut.  Finished the border outline.  

                                         

Been almost a year since I picked it up.  It's back in the pile again.

Blackbird Designs - Cats on Parade.  Got this far before just burning out on it.

I got my second covid shot, and it just kicked my butt.  Dropped 7 pounds in 3 days.  I was worried about my kidneys shutting down.  So stitching was just out the window.  Still catching up on the sleep, but I am feeling much better.  My attitude is that if the dead virus kicked me that hard, the live virus would be really bad.  I did a restart on a project, but I only got a couple threads in, so nothing really to see yet. 

Back to the already started pile.

Cross Eyed Cricket Collection - A Walk in the Woods.
Pulled from the already started pile.
Below is where it was when I picked it back up.

All the main letters are completed, the bottom border is coming along.  Still needs some back stitching and a birds nest and a leaf, and the initials and year.  The first few things I stitched, I had to unstitch, and restitch.  Then I seemed to find an even path.  But this is about the part that I am ready to change projects. 

Teresa Kogut - Newcastle Bouquet.
Almost done with that bottom border fill in.  I think that the border feels like it is never ending. 
Which is why I took a break and added to - A Walk in the Woods. 

Let's rewind...

Crappy photos today.  Sorry.
Gonna change the GAST Tomato, to Weeks Merlot.  All the reds are the same.  It's maybe not a baltimore color, but it is a red.  As I said before, my GAST Tomato is really orange, which might be lovely, but not for the flag. 

Started Teresa Kogut - Newcastle Bouquet.
On a 28 count Colour and Cotton - Stratus.   Stratus is a light to medium gray.  I wanted something that those ecru flowers, actually dmc 739, would not get lost on.  I am doing the outside border in dmc, and will do the inside birds with the fancy floss. 

Let's go back to this one -
I actually read things before I stitch them, but reading this again, I am gonna call it - the elephant in the room.  That IS the pattern.  Sure a stitch here or there different, but that is the words.
But it makes no sense.
Needle  n.  Device for carrying thread to making stitches.
What? 
Maybe... Device for carrying thread to MAKE stitches...
OR - Device TO CARRY thread for making stitches. ? 
I tried looking it up in a dictionary.  They used a lot more words. 
So I am gonna pull out part of this and change it.  I think to try to keep is fairly centered, I am gonna pull out the first part of the second line - 14 letters, rather than rather than the end 11 letters, which probably would be quicker.  Then I will add back - 'thread to make' .  It never started out centered, it's not gonna be centered when I am done either.  I know at some point, I thought, I can't keep being fussy.  Some things I need to just let it go, and stitch the pattern.  Then I get this in my path, and I kinda hate the crap grammer lesson.  So I will fix it.  Only took me three days to stitch the whole thing, can't be that long to fix it.