Rockin' New Year's Eve

There's nothing like ending the year on a high note. Thanks to an early release from work yesterday, a babysitter that had already been paid, and two girls who went to bed earlier than usual, I was able to get some stitching (well, beading, really) done yesterday. As a result, I present to you my final happy dance of 2010. This is my Santa ornament for the Bride's Tree SAL.

Mill Hill Kit

May you all have a merry and peaceful 2011!

Alphabet of Books

Both Anna and Donna completed this last month. When I saw this, I was inspired to do it as a list of young adult books* that I have in my collection. I didn’t repeat authors, which made this more of a challenge. I think I changed my entries for D, E, F, & W each four times before I settled on the final list. Z was the hardest. (I almost used a picture book called The Zoo.)

ABC Book Meme
For this meme, you list a favorite book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. If you don’t have a book for a letter (such as Z or X) then you can substitute a favorite book that simply has that letter in the title (ex. The Lost City of Z or Hot Six by Janet Evanovich). However, you can only do this a maximum of 3 times. (Z, X, and Q. But not Z, X, Q, and V.) Books can be of any genre from fiction to non-fiction to poetry to textbooks.

A. The Adventures of Nicholas: A Christmas Tale (Helen Siiteri)
B. The Blue Sword (Robin McKinley)
C. A Cricket in Times Square (George Selden)
D. The Devil’s Arithmetic (Jane Yolen)
E. The Egypt Game (Zilpha Keatley Snyder)
F. Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
G. The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)
H. Homecoming (Cynthia Voight)
I. The Ireta Adventure (Anne McCaffrey)
J. Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Paterson)
K. The Keeping Days (Norma Johnston)
L. The Lotus Cup (Jane Curry)
M. Making Up Mega Boy (Virginia Walter)
N. Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)
O. Out of Phaze (Piers Anthony)
P. The Pushcart Wars (Jean Merrill)
Q. The Queen of Sorcery (David Eddings)
R. Rose in Bloom (Louisa May Alcott)
S. Sarah, Plain and Tall (Patricia MacLachlan)
T. Talking to Dragons (Patricia Wrede)
U. Up a Road Slowly (Irene Hunt)
V. Very Far Away from Anywhere Else (Ursula K. LeGuin)
W. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 (Christopher Paul Curtis)
X. Foxtrotius Maximus (Bill Amend)
Y. The Young Unicorns (Madeleine L’Engle)
Z. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (E. L. Konigsburg)

* My definition of “young adult” is very broad. Some of these are appropriate for 8 year olds; some are more appropriate for 18 year olds.

December SBQ

This month, Lee asks: Many stitchers really kick it up a notch over the winter holidays. Christmas, Hanukah, the New Year, Kwanza - whatever holiday you choose to celebrate usually means that we’re stitching something gift or holiday-related. Tell us your best story about some holiday stitching.

My family has always given a lot of homemade gifts, so it was natural for me to start looking for some projects when I was in college to give to relatives. Some how, some where, I bought a couple of cross stitch ornament kits. I hadn't really done much stitching at that point, but they looked fairly simple, so I bought them and stitched them up. My first attempts weren't exemplary, but my grandparents appreciated the effort. I did this for a couple of years in a row, and that's really the start of my stitching habit.

As my grandparents passed away and we cleaned out their houses, some of these projects came back into my possession. Each year, when I pull these ornaments out the storage box, I feel like I'm reconnecting to my grandparents.