I am so very lucky...

to ha\/e such thoughtful and wonderful friends! Just look at what my friends from the Crafty Co\/en made for Lily:

Lily LO\/ES it! I e\/en took a \/ideo of her seeing it for the first time and she was just exploring all the squares, feeling the different textures etc.

Thanks again to Wanda, Brenda, Brandy, Jen, Joyce, Sheri, Mel and Karen for the lo\/ely quilt that Lily and I will treasure dearly :)

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

My mom left on her bra\/e journey to Tonga this past weekend. Although it's been \/ery difficult to see her go, I know it's something she must do. I sincerely wish her all the best and look forward to her next \/isit to Canada.

3 Generations

Stitching Updates...

"Summer" by Heaven & Earth Designs

"Alphabet Fairy L" by Nora Corbett

"Alhambra Garden" by Chatelaine

Lily...and life after...

I know it's been a few months since I last posted on my blog, but the truth is there's not much new. All of my spare time has been devoted to my family, which of course is never a bad thing. But I do admit I miss stitching. I have Alhambra sitting on a brand new scroll stand which I have yet to use. But Lily is a treasure, and I have never been so content :)

Here are a few update pics of the little bean:

During what little free time I have I have been attempting to knit a cute little hooded sweater for my step-daughter (she's 3). Hoping to have it done in time for Christmas...lol...Here's a pic of the sweater, design by Lion Brand. I'm using Lion Brand Homespun in "Mixed Berries".

24 hours of labour & 2 failed epidurals later...

Miss Lily Florence Hinds came into this world on January 22nd, 2010 at 2:29 am and weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs 11 oz :)

I finished something!

Here is Lily's Baby Bunny Beanie :)

As of late...

Things have been kinda stressful lately, what with all the changes going on in my life. Of course there's the obvious physical changes as I near the end of my pregnancy. My back is sore at night and sleeping proves to be quite the challenge. And walking is extremely difficult as I have had bad round ligament pain since about month 5. The pain has gotten progressively worse, and I'm feeling pretty useless these days. And the newest physical ailment is swollen legs, ankles and feet. Sometimes I cannot even fit my feet into my running shoes....lol... Oh well, not really complaining over here, as all the pain/discomfort is definitely worth the joys of having my little Lily :D

John and I finally found a nice apartment. It's a fairly large 2-bedroom with hardwood floors. Our official move-in date is January 1st, but we're hoping the current tenants will be out a little early and we can move a week before that. I can't wait to finally have a place to make a "home".

This week is officially my last week of work. My contract ends on December 4th, which is relatively good timing considering all the other stuff going on in my life (i.e. moving, Lily etc.) Although I am looking forward to not working, I will miss this job as it really was so interesting to me. But my boss has assured me that when I'm ready to come back to work, there will be another contract waiting for me. Of course it probably won't be a "Species At Risk Biologist" position, but I'll take what I can get.

In crafting news, I really haven't been doing too much. Started to make a hat for Lily and am about halfway done. Here's a pic of what it will look like:

Now my question to you is do you think it's cruel or cute to put such a hat on a baby? lol...I'm obviously leaning towards cute, but my mom seems to think it'll make her look silly...hahahaha...I'd love to hear your opinions!

Introducing Lily :)

29 weeks...

...and no, i'm not expecting twins! lmao

Lily-bean...sort of...

So on Tuesday I, along with my mom and best friend went to UC-Baby for a 3D ultrasound. Apparently my daughter is already taking after her mother in that she's as stubborn as can be! Despite me jumping up and down, climbing stairs, trying to shove my belly, and bending over, the u/s tech tried for an hour (my appointment was only for 30 min.) but was unable to capture a good face shot. This picture explains why:

Yup, Lily insisted on holding her legs up infront of her face the entire time...talk about a contortionist! I think I'll be putting her in gymnastics as soon as she can walk...lmao...

Here are a few glimpses of her face:

It was still worth the experience though, as I got a DVD made up of the appointment and I can see Lily smiling, yawning and sticking her tongue out at times :)
I have a free followup appointment for another 3D u/s next Saturday when hopefully the baby will be more cooperative...lol...I was told to eat/drink something sweet before hand to try to get her more active...hahahaha...here's hoping!

A little taste of "Summer" in the Fall...

1 page down, eleven-billionty to go...lol...

Life...or something like it...

I honestly had no idea how HUGE I was getting until I saw some pics from a visit to camp last month...lol...(5 months preggo)...I suppose I'm even bigger now that I'm nearing the 7-month mark!

Gift from a friend...

My best friend just returned from her honeymoon in Cyprus and she brought me back this beautiful ceramic tile with Jessica Galbreth's "Innocence" on it:

It's so adorable, and very thoughtful. I love that it's a mother and baby. Can't wait to hang it once we move into our new apartment :)

One Near Finish...and One New Start

Almost finished my "A is for Abigail" fairy. Just need to add 3 glass treasures which I seem to have missplaced :s

Started "L is for Lily" this week. I'm stitching her on 28 ct. "Lavender Diamonds" Silkweaver opalescent lugana.

Update on Nora Corbett's "Letter A"

I wasn't liking the way the brown in the "A" was looking on the fabby I chose, so I replaced it with "Bejeweled". Looks much better, I think. Almost ready to start beading!

A is for Abigail...

All the supplies arrived on Friday for Nora Corbett's "A" and "L" so of course I started right away! I decided to stitch "A" on a piece of 28 ct. Silkweaver's "Seaside Twinkle" opalescent lugana I had received during my stint with the FOTM.

As the picture I took doesn't really do the fabric justice, I've included a pic of the actual fabby colour as well.

Finally a stitching update!

Here is my progress on my restart of HAED's "Summer" (artwork by Ruth Sanderson).

It's being stitched on 32 ct. antique white lugana, using 2 strands and tent stitching.

Drumroll please....

Looks like we're having

A GIRL!!!

The ultrasound went very well on Friday. After finding out that the baby was indeed doing well (despite my idiot GP scaring the crap out of me when he couldn't find a heartbeat at my last appointment), we were then informed that it appears we are having a beautiful baby girl :D

I couldn't be happier! And of course now I've been searching diligently for patterns to stitch.

This is what I've come up with so far...

I'd like to do a birth announcement, but instead of doing something "kiddie", I'd like to stitch a piece that my daughter will cherish throughout the years. I came across Mirabilia's "Fairy Moon" which had been stitched as a birth sampler:

My boyfriend and I have decided to name our little one Lily Florence and so I was thinking I'd stitch Nora Corbett's "Alphabet Fairy L" as well as her "Alphabet Fairy A" for my boyfriend's other daughter, Abigail. I liked this idea:

Although I find the "A" and "L" aren't quite as elaborate-looking as the "E" shown above.

*sigh* soooo many choices...lol...if anyone has any good ideas, please feel free to let me know ;)

Expecting the unexpected...

Well, I haven't formally announced it on the web yet, for fear of "jinxing" myself, but it would seem that my boyfriend and I will be expecting a little bundle of joy come January :)

I have my second ultrasound this coming Friday to make sure all is well and also to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. I never thought I'd be the type to want to know in advance, but all I can think about is getting some new starts underway for the little bean...lol...everything always comes back to stitching!

Soooo if anyone has any good suggestions of baby patterns/birth samplers to stitch, please feel free to let me know!

On the stitching front, in between prepping for my best friend's wedding, and all the festivities that come along with it (ie. showers, bachelorette parties etc.) I've switched to working on HAED's "Summer" (artwork by Ruth Sanderson). My best friend had requested I stitch it up for her several years ago and I had made good headway on it until I realized that my fabric wasn't large enough. So I restarted in tent-stitch. I can't believe how much quicker these stitch up using tent-stitch instead of full crosses. I've got about half a page done and will post a pic as soon as I can.

I've been doing really well concentrating on finishing pieces I already have in my stash...and then a dear friend from the Crafty Coven "had" to post a link to this:

It's called Fairy Flower Garden and it's by Chatelaine. It's a little on the expensive side, but that's to be expected with Chatelaine patterns as the materials are so luxurious. Oh I CANNOT wait til payday to get this ordered...lol...so much for willpower!

It's All About Alhambra...

I've been stitching away diligently on Chatelaine's Alhambra Garden. I think I mentioned before that it's a present for my mother. Well, she's going to be moving to Tonga in October so I need to get it done before she goes! And although it seems like a lot of time, I know that it's going to just fly by! I'm already having difficulty making good progress between the constant sinus headaches I've been having and other "issues" that have recently popped up in my life. But I try to get at least some stitching in every day ;)

Sorry for the lack of picture, but I no longer have reliable internet access at my apartment, so I haven't been able to upload a pic. But I promise one is coming!

Picture Trail

What I've been up to these past few months:



In March, after my contract with the MNR ended, a fellow coworker and I took a week-long trip to the Dominican Republic. It was an amazing experience!





In May, myself and 4 girls all went to Las Vegas in celebration of my best friend's upcoming wedding. What a city!

I just started a new job in June as a Species At Risk Biologist Assistant with the MNR. Below is a picture of a clump of Lakeside Daisies (one of 40 species at risk we have in our area).

Alhambra Update...

As promised, here is an update pic of Chatelaine's Alhambra Garden:

MIA...

Well, life within the past year sure has changed for me...
However, looking back, I can safely say all these changes have been for the better :)



I hadn't stitched in almost a full year, but finally managed to pick up Alhambra a few weeks ago and make some significant headway. I'll be sure to post a picture soon.

I finished the Trellis baby sweater for my nephew, however it was too small for him by the time I completed it...lol...I really must learn to knit quicker.

Over Christmas I knitted an Irish Hiking scarf and toque for a friend (apologies for the blurriness):

I played around with "entrelac" and managed to knit one full scarf, and about half another:

Now that the warmer weather is here, I've put away my knitting and am more focused on stitching...I'm in the midst of moving, but hopefully within the next week or 2 I will have things organized and can get myself back into a rotation :)