Torn Between 2 Loves

My new Knit Picks catalog came yesterday, and I have spent a considerable amount of time looking through it and planning new purchases. Will I really buy now? No - but I'm planning on purchasing things some day - and maybe sooner that I'll admit. Do I need more yarn? Ummmmm - well... no, but... I do have to make DS some socks. He sleeps with a pair on and he needs new bedsocks, since he's really worn them out. I can't fix them any more. The more I fix, the more they find new places to wear through. It's time to move on to a new pair. He likes the Plymouth Encore for the bedsocks because they are so easy to take care of - washer and dryer and they come out so nice and soft. Not sure how they would hold up for regular sock wear though - don't thing they'd do too well.

Update on how the Knit Picks Palette is holding up on DD's socks... I'm very, very pleased! They are showing no real signs of wear - no pilling or felting except for a slight hint of felting on the heel. They have been washed and worn quite a bit since DD got them for Halloween. They are currently her favorite pair of socks. She says they are nice and soft as well as pretty. :-) I can't believe that it cost about $3 (I may be a bit generous there!) to make that pair of socks for her!!!

So now I'm getting the itch to start a knitting again, but at the same time, I don't want to put aside my XS. I'm having too much fun working on things.

I got a shipment from Needlecraft Corner today. I needed to purchase some fabric, threads and beads to finish kitting up some of my stash. I'm looking forward to finally being able to just sit down and start Mirabilia's Blossom Harvest whenever I want. It took me a while to get her all kitted as there were a LOT of beads to buy. I picked up a pack here and there to make it feel like I wasn't spending a fortune on the beads. I'm finally getting the larger pieces kitted. I could never justify the expense before, because it was "cheaper" to buy a whole bunch of patterns for my stash instead of putting $60 or so in one piece. Didn't matter that the pattern had been in my stash waiting to be stitched. It mattered that I could buy a whole lot of things on sale for the price of kitting up the one pattern. Then the pattern diet came, and I finally could stand back and see what I was doing. Thanks to the gals on The Wagon I finally saw how nuts I have been.

This year is a Stash Only year for me. Only things I really need are going to be purchased, nothing else. I sat down and entered things in on my PDA and was shocked - actually astonished would be a better description - at what I had. Things I forgot about, things I put aside to do and didn't because once it's out of sight, it was out of mind. I sat and put things aside - thinking, "ooooooh! I was going to stitch that" or "Man! I really loved this one, so why didn't I do it?" The Stash Only stitching should help me out this year. It will help - It will help - It will help!!!

Update on WIP:

DS bought me a lovely little kit from Dimensions Creative Accents line called Moonlit Play, and when I saw it was a kit, even though I liked it, I really am not a kit person. I HATE sorting flosses - I mean, the names of the flosses don't help me out when it comes to having 12 different yellows, tans and whites to seperate - especially when they are one shade apart! YUCK!!! However, this kit was a real surprise. Dimensions actually had a picture of each floss on the floss card and that made it so much easier. I only had problems with one color where the floss was so hard to tell apart. I did it in daylight and had to put it against a bunch of different color backgrounds to finally find which floss was which. WOW! That wasn't fun, but that has been my only real gripe. The piece is stitched on 14ct. black aida, and I've found that when I put my tap light under the fabric, the holes are so big that there's just too much light, so I've put a white cloth on my lap instead. It works a lot better for me.

And the newest member......

I also saw that my friend Carleen had put up her Lanarte "Romantic Picnic" up for adoption. I have always wanted to do this piece, but decided that I would wait until I had knocked some of my WIPs out before buying the pattern. Well, I ignored her posting for a long time, and finally I couldn't ignore it any longer. I promised to give it a loving home and add it to my rotation. Yes, I'm now the proud new owner of Carleen's "Romantic Picnic". I have it on my list to add a coniserable amount to, but I'm hoping to get it finished this year. I'm really drawn to the pieces that don't have much backstitching to them. I just love watching something come to life with just the color changes, instead of the backstitching defining things. So, I'm really drawn to this piece, because there's hardly any BS'ing in the whole things. Just how I like it!! :-) With all that said, I'm now going to introduce you to the newest member of our family..... Romantic Picnic. Isn't it gorgeous?!! Thank so much, Carleen!!!