The Birdkeeper is finished, and I have a new start

Here she is with all her feathered friends:

The Birdkeeper - The Goode Huswife
Stitched on 35 ct tea-dyed linen with DMC

Next, I started the S. Wood sampler from The Scarlet Letter.

S.Wood sampler - The Scarlet Letter

This is a miniature sampler that dates from about 1820.
I am stitching it on 32 count tea-dyed  linen, using Au ver a soie. Even though it is a miniature, this is a tough one because it is all stitched one-over-one. Very tough on the eyes!

I finished up the upper border. The gold border is made up of three rows, a light gold row, a dark gold row, and another light gold. The visibility here is not great! I am going to start the verse tonight, and skip back and forth to the border, doing it a little at a time. It is easier on my eyes that way.

This is what I have so far:

We are in the middle of yet another raging blizzard here tonight.

Hope you are all safe and warm tonight wherever you are!

Knitted Hat and Progress on The Birdkeeper

I have another finish for 2014.

I finished up the hat that matches the self-striping scarf I made for Keith.

It is a very basic, easy free pattern, that I found here.

Here is the finished set:

I also made some progress on my bird girl. She is actually finished, but I will be a while longer in the trees!

I always under-estimate how long it takes to stitch a tree, any tree, in any pattern. They always look so easy!

Playing Catch-up, and the 1st TUSAL of 2014

Here it is, still in the early days of January, and I am already playing catch-up!

Here is my TUSAL jar the way it looked on Jan 1st.:

I always dump out all the orts on Dec 31st and keep them in a bag. On or around the first day in Spring, I scatter them about outside for the birds to use them for their nest-building.

New Years day I finished up Keith's scarf. It was an easy knit.
Here is my reluctant model:

For my next stitch, I wanted to pick something light-hearted. This one has always made me smile.

I had to make a few color changes here because the suggested colors did not show well on my linen.

I am working on her hat. This is what I have so far:

I will also be continuing with the Scarlet Letter Challenge for 2014. I have several charts in my stash. I need to pick one out today and get it kitted up.

Last but not least, I want to thank everyone for their well wishes for Keith. He is doing very well now in his recovery after surgery, and is starting to get his energy back.

Back soon.
Erica