Finally... my cross-stitch picture! I was able to stitch on her quite a bit last weekend. I think I may be able to get in several more hours tomorrow. This is the only project I've stitched on in like a year, but it had been about six months I think since I last touched it.

That nasty headache that I had kept me out of work on Monday, but it finally went away. A co-worker of mine asked me if perhaps it could be sinus problems, but I've never had sinus problems that I know of. However, I realized on Tuesday morning as I went to my car that the pollen count had gone way up (car was practically yellow), so perhaps that did have something to do with it. Who knows. In any case, I'll stay attuned to the possibility.

Guess what? Today, I actually have stitching news! In 2004, I started Mirabilia's Madonna of the Garden. This was my last WIP pic.

Since this picture, I have done a bit more. I stitched her face and the baby's face as well. Notice the date on the WIP pic - 10/11/04. I went into the hospital to have Kaleya four days later. I started stitching this for the daughter-in-law (she had a baby boy) of a coworker of mine who has been absolutely GREAT to me. But, I never finished it. Three days ago, my coworker gave me an invite for the baby shower for the second baby and the shower is on Friday! So, I took this out of the attic today so that I can finish it. I really don't have much to do - add some beads and finish the top arch and do some leaf stems. Look out for a finished picture hopefully tomorrow.

My Cross-Stitching

This post is for prosperity's sake. I am beginning the process of phasing out our main website in favor of my blog, so I needed to make a post about my stitching so that I could link to it from my blog sidebar. Some of you will know all this already, but perhaps this will be new for some.

I began stitching when I was 17, the summer after graduating high school. My mother used to stitch when I was younger, and I finally asked her to show me how to do it. Well, she did and it was on from there, I was hooked! I stitched off an on throughout school, and then starting in grad school, I started to stitch more frequently. Then, once I finished my master's I began stitching obsessively. That time period lasted for about five years. Then, I had my daughter, and over the past couple of years, my stitching has seriously dwindled. The fact that I have also taken up new hobbies has also contributed to that. But, my love for it remains as high as ever and I know that in the next few years, I can look forward to having more time for it.

The last piece that I finished was this from an issue of Stitcher's World. I finished in in March 2006 (just at a year ago at the time of this post). Here are links to some of my stitching activities:

• My Works in Progress (though, currently I am more of a one-at-a-time stitcher)
• My Finished Projects - All the pieces I have finished.
• XS Magazine Database - another site I created so it would be easier to look up magazine patterns.