New Year, New Blog, New Goals

Well, here I am at my new 'home'. Like it is many times, my new 'home' has yet to be decorated, nor has it had all it's finishing touches. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll get the header up and do a bit of work to make it just right. But I didn't want to wait any longer to move in and start posting:) I will leave 'Around the Homestead' open for a while as new and old friends start coming by here, but I will eventually shut it down, I'm just not sure when yet.

Yesterday (at the other blog) I mentioned that I had a stitchy finish and also received a couple stitchy related gifts this year. First I finished a couple of ornies to give as Christmas presents...

 

The top one is Winter Song from BBD found in the 2008 ornament issue of JCS. This was a gift to my sil, Marianne Meyer. I also made this for my 12 Days of Christmas exchange partner, but used an 'A' as her name is April:)  The bottom one is Snowbirds from CCN found in the 2013 ornament issue of JCS. This one was done for my mil who loves birds:)

 



I was also able to get this done just in the (St.) Nick of time!! Except I still haven't finished it into a stocking:) Luckily this one is for me, so it didn't matter so much. This is Christmas Stocking from Plum Street Samplers found in the 2013 Ornie issue of JCS.

 

I LOVE stockings!! And I *think* I mentioned this to my sil, so she made this adorable stocking for me!! This was her first stocking finish, and I think she did great!! I believe this is part of the December Stockings that BBD did.

 

Every year my sil and I also receive a gift card to our local needle work store. It just so happens that our LNS also has an inventory sale at the end of the year and every thing in stock is 20% off. Of course that means that we have to have a little shopping day to spend our Christmas money!!

 
It wouldn't be a New Year without some New Starts!! This year I have 3 new starts.

A stitching start...


Madam Cottontail from Brenda Gervais/With thy Needle and Thread

And a new knitting and crocheting project!! :) The purple/grey wool blend sock yarn with be for crocheted mitts. The teal yarn is for a knitted wrap. It is a bamboo/silk blend and is OH SO SOFT!! The pattern is called Guernsey Wrap created by Jared Flood and can be found at Brooklyn Tweed website.

I've been spending a bit of time for the last couple of weeks trying to decide what handwork goals and challenges I want to try and tackle this year. Here's what I've come up with so far...

Smalls SAL from Stitching Lotus - Stitch and finish a small project and post on the last Wednesday of the month.

IHSW from Joysze at Random Wonderings - Work on a project(s) of your choice on the 3rd weekend of the month, trying to devote as much time as possible that weekend just for your stitching.

YOTA from Pull the Other Thread - Pick a project to focus on for the month and show off your progress on the first Sat of the month.

Turtle Trot from Claudette at BAP Attack - Pick 10 projects you would like to finish this year and post progress on them on the 10th of every month.

Gail Pan Patterns Sew Along from Martina at Sunshine Quilting - This is a embroidery/quilting/sewing SAL that I participated in last year and was a lot of fun. You pick any Gail Pan pattern to work on and post your finish/progress on the last week of the month.

I think this will be the bulk of my stitching goals/challenges. I haven't decided/found any that I want to do yet with knitting/crocheting, but will add them if I do. I do want to make sure to continue with the knitting and crocheting in order to build skill and confidence with them, plus it's a lot of fun!!

Of course, I would love it if you would cheer me along as I will cheer you along in your stitching/knitting/sewing/crafting adventures!!

Here's to a wonderfully creative 2015 year!!!