I Love January!

Happy New Year!

I hear again and again that people don't like January. I think for a lot of people, the holiday bustle is over, the credit card bills are in our mailboxes, and the dreary winter weather sets in. But I LOVE January. I put the Christmas decorations away, vacuum and dust and make the house fresh and new again, and I settle in with some cocoa and some good DVDs and spend some great time stitching.

Good weather helps, though. Last year at this time, we were buried in record amounts of snow, so much so that I couldn't get out of my driveway, much less down the street. Our little city was so overwhelmed that the plows only cleared the main roads, and our residential streets were left unplowed. This winter, so far, has been quite the opposite. The last few days have been in the mid-forties. My dog, Scout, has spent most of the day so far lying out in the grass enjoying the sun.

Oh, and did I mention... January is my birthday month? I do not have a birthDAY. I have a month. You can blame my husband for that. He finds little ways to spoil me all the time, but more so in January. I have always loved having a January birthday because if there is something special I really wanted for Christmas and didn't get, I still have an opportunity just a month later.

I apologize for not posting again sooner. Wow... it's been a whole month. You have been on my mind, though, all of you who took time to post such nice comments. My current cancer treatment, an oral chemotherapy drug, has a yucky side effect called "hand and foot syndrome." The extra chemo ends up in my hands and feet, and if I expose them to really hot water (washing dishes, bathing) or if I walk a lot, the capillaries burst, releasing that chemo into my skin. The result is really dry, peeling, cracking skin. So, my fingertips have had little "fish hooks" next to my nails, which, oh baby, makes cross stitching SO. MUCH. FUN.

Not.

The thread catches on one of those little fish-hook-like pieces of dry skin, and before I realize it, the needle has become unthreaded or the thread is tangled or knotted. Joy.

Thankfully, Bath and Body Works had a huge clearance sale, and I loaded up on a bunch of shea butter body creams. I've been pampering these hands and feet, and it has made a difference.

Enough about that. On to the stitching!

"Cottage of the Month January" by Country Cottage Needleworks, stitched on 32-count lambswool linen with DMC, Classic Colorworks and Weeks Dye Works threads.

I have so much to show you, but only one project framed and ready. It's my January cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks. I love that little snowman! I finished this while visiting my mother-in-law at her ranch in central Idaho. I didn't have my Ott-Lite with me (love that lamp), so I was struggling with low light and fish-hook, dry fingers. Those little French knots on the snowman really threw me. Between the thread tangling and the knots looking terrible, I ended up taking them out twice, and I finally had to move into the bathroom, where the light was better, and finish making those little knots while sitting on the toilet! Haha...

I hope your January brings you lots of time to work on projects! I have loved getting to know you through your wonderful comments and emails. If you have a blog, please tell me in your comments. I read all of the comments, and I would love to get to know you better.

Happy 2018!

Robin's Eggs in December

Good evening, friends!

My current stitching project is still in the works and won't be ready for a couple of weeks at least. I'm working on "Olde World Traveler" from the 1991 Leisure Arts book Christmas Portraits. Can't wait to show you!

In the meantime, I'm trying to enjoy baking some holiday cookies. Emphasis on trying to enjoy. When that cramp in my neck says, "Hey, take a break," I remind myself why I do these things. Fun! Right.....? But when my son comes home from school, sees the spread of frosted cookies on the table and says, "Now that is my favorite part of Christmas," it's all worth it.

I want to share a unique recipe from my mother-in-law—Bird's Nests. I hadn't made them since she first gave me the recipe 20 years ago, and that was for a little cooking column I used to write for my hometown newspaper. You can color the fondant eggs any color you want, or you can leave them white. I chose blue because right now in Boise, we are stuck in an inversion (cold air trapped under warm air). It's dreary and cold outside, and I could use a little thought of spring right now.

Bird's Nests

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg, separated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

chopped nuts (or crushed cornflakes if you have a nut allergy)

fondant eggs (recipe to follow)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat well. Add flour and mix well. Chill dough about an hour.

Preheat oven to 300° F. Roll dough into small balls, about 3/4" in diameter. (You should have about 35.) Dip each ball in reserved egg white and roll in chopped nuts, pressing the nuts into the dough so they stay put. (If you have a nut allergy, you can use crushed cornflakes.)

Place the cookies on a baking sheet and press an indentation in the center of each with your finger. Bake for 8 minutes, press the center of each cookie again, then continue to bake for 10 minutes longer. If necessary, press the center of each cookie again lightly. Cool and fill with fondant eggs.

Fondant Eggs:

1 egg white

2 teaspoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

2-3 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar

food coloring, optional

Combine ingredients, adding a couple of drops of food coloring if desired, until mixture is very, very stiff and does not stick to your fingers. (The amount of powdered sugar you need will vary, depending on the volume of your egg white.) Roll into tiny eggs and fill nests. You will have a lot of fondant left over.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you! Thank you for your encouragement and friendship since I started this blog. I'm so grateful for the time you take to leave comments!

Framed! (Better Late Than Never)

When I began cross stitching in the early 1990s, I often stitched big projects. When I finished something, I would trek to a big-box craft store framing department and shell out $100 to $200 to have it framed. That was before I owned a home and had a kid. These days, I look for more economical ways to finish my projects (first, by stitching smaller things), or I let them sit...*sigh*... unfinished in a box in my closet.

I'm trying to get over my perfectionism and intimidation when it comes to finishing things myself. I'm lousy at sewing, and even worse at framing, but I'm working on it. Thankfully, there are lots of blogs out there with great tips.

Today I finally framed my December cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks. Only a few days late! I think I am obsessed with little houses. I just love them! I followed a tutorial I found here for the framing, using straight pins to "stretch" the linen on foam core. It was really easy! The only thing I'm still unsure of is how to tape down the extra fabric in the back. Does anyone out there have a super-sticky, archival tape they like? Or another way to do this? Most framing blogs just say "tape down the loose cloth edges," but so far I haven't found any tape that sticks very well. I've been using archival linen tape with mixed results.

The December cottage is stitched on 32-count lambswool linen using Weeks Dye Works and DMC threads. I've been reusing the same simple black frame each month.

November's cottage is also stitched on 32-count lambswool linen. The yellow overdyed thread in this one, "Harvest Moon" by Weeks Dye Works, is just yummy. It worked perfectly to give the leaves that golden tone they have in fall.

October is stitched on 32-count linen, but I don't remember what color or brand - it was something I had in my stash. The big flowers next to "October" look like fried eggs, don't they?

Have a great week, everyone. I am trying to stay sane during these last few weeks before Christmas, although I admit to spewing a few F bombs while driving. My gift shopping is DONE (!!!) but there are always those last-minute things to take care of... buying stamps, a trip to the post office, groceries, stocking stuffers... and it seems that everyone behind the wheel is in a hurry and distracted. Take a deep breath and do something you love. I'll be stitching!