New Mandala! (Pic dump)

Hello, all!  I have been away for a bit working on my health and I think it's paid off.  I'm officially back to walking every day.  You don't realize how much help the walking is until you're out of breath after a flight of stairs.  Taking the time off helped me feel better, but put me way out of shape.  Ah well, just means I have some work to do!

I was working on that Mandala Madness CAL, but I chose my colors before seeing the finished product.  That being said, I scrapped it.  Let's face it, it was ugly.  Really, really ugly.  So I picked out some new colors and I am much happier with the result.  Here's all the WIPs so far.  I think I'm working on 7 right now, so when that's done I'll update again.

Anyway.  I've been playing this game called Brave Frontier.  I am in love with this game and didn't realize I'd played as much as I have.  So, that being said...if you play, I started a guild called Shanalot.  If you would like to join, send a request and I'll accept!  Sorry, shameless plug lol

I'm off to play my game some more (and maybe some Dark Souls III, the DLC just came out).  Happy stitching, everyone!

Busy, busy, busy.

I haven't been able to update lately, but I've been having some issues that have kept me from updating.  Particularly medical testing and all that fun stuff.

I have Crohn's and so naturally I have a crap ton of things I have to do when something (ANYTHING) seems even a little bit off with my body.  I've been in and out of doctors' offices for the last month which has put a huge damper on my exercising because I just don't have the time.  Hopefully the next couple weeks are finally it for me.

AAAAAAaaaaaannnnnnyway.

Enough about that.  I started a mystery crochet afghan and I picked all the colors not realizing the way they would come together.  So now it looks like about halfway through my crocheting I forgot what I was making and started something new.  What I mean is that my blanket went from earth tones to a random few pastel rounds.  It's...not very lovely lol

Here's the pictures I took for the blog but never got around to uploading:

Page 1 of pattern

Page 2 of pattern

Page 3 of pattern

Page 4 of pattern

Page 5 of pattern (see what I meant?)

Page 6 of pattern

I'm really hoping that I get some darker colors back on it soon.  The pastel rounds are actually really pretty and if I had known how the colors would line up, I think I would have done all pastels because I love the way it looks.  I'm working on the 7th page right now and it's more pastel.  We'll see.  I am having fun making this, even if I don't particularly like the colors.

Okay, I'm probably not going to be on much for a while again because I'm going through this wonderful battery of tests over the next few months and I start physical therapy next month.  Life just kicks your butt sometimes, yeah?

Happy stitching, everyone!

Long time no post!

I haven't really been on very much because I'm, well, I'm a bit forgetful.  Some updates:

1.  Still working on the baby blanket.  I actually frogged the whole thing and started over because it kept curling.  No pictures because I don't want the recipient to see it.

2.  Just finished up my second yes.fit race.  This one was a Woodstock themed one!

The medal is HUGE.  It's roughly 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  Really large.  When I got it out of my mailbox this afternoon, I couldn't believe how heavy this thing was!

I'm starting another race on payday.  This one's The Race to Oz and it's based on the yellow brick road.  I'm excited to start this next one!

Mmkay...on to other things.  My son started school this year.  I'm so bored all day without him because he was the lively one in the house.  So now that it's just my daughter and I all day.  We've been trying new things together.  She's been learning how to bake, we've been coloring together, going to the playground, etc.  With my son not home, the house stays cleaner, so I haven't got as much to do during the day.

We've also been using the white board in the living room to draw a Pokemon a day.

Hmm...anything else?  Not that I can think of.  Happy stitching, everyone!

Yes.fit and a little star

25.3 miles.

I joined the website yes.fit and I'm so glad I did.  I am one of those people that needs a lot of motivation as I've said before and today I got my first medal!

Sorry it's a teensy bit blurry.  I couldn't get my phone to focus on it to save my life.  If you can't read it, it says, "Sleepy Hollow 25.3 Miles."  This took me 5 days to complete while walking my dog.  I am joining another one of these races tomorrow.  The new one is 69.1 miles, so it should hopefully take me a while longer to finish.

A bit about the site.  I am not sure if they all are the same price or not, but the one I entered (and so far all the ones I'm interested in) was $25 to enter.  That covers the medal, the tracking, and the shipping and handling.  As you go through the race, there are "stops" along the way that are informational.  An example would be the Sleepy Hollow cemetery I hit at a certain mile marker.  The website sent me a page of information about it and it was really interesting to learn things about Sleepy Hollow's history and what it's like today.

My next one is Woodstock themed!  I hope to update y'all with that eventually, too!

Mmkay, on to something else.

I AM BURSTING WITH EXCITEMENT Y'ALL!!!  One of my best friends is having her first baby and as soon as I heard I started plotting baby blankets.  She's getting a star shaped green, yellow, and white one.  Of course I'm already about a quarter of the way through.  I want to show a picture, but I don't want anyone to see it until she does!

Hopefully I can go home for the baby shower.  I would love to be there, but unless money allows for it, then I can't.  Such is life.

Off to keep working on the little star <3  Happy stitching, everyone!

Working on some things

I know there are a lot of youtube tutorial videos out there, but I thought maybe I'd throw my hat in the ring, too.  I've been working on fixing up my husband's old school desk because it's a nice deep brown color which is a decent background color for overhead shots.  I just bought a bit of video lighting equipment and have been shopping around for a good microphone.

All I need to figure out is where I'm going to start.  I want to do both crochet and cross stitch videos, but I don't know when it's going to be.  I'm thinking within the year at least.  I don't expect many subscribers, but even if I can help one person learn then I'll be happy with that.

Okay...off of that, I'm going on to some other stuff.  I've been working on my Desert Star afghan and am sewing in the tails of  the next round right now.  So whenever that's done I'll be able to post an update picture of that.  I'm loving my afghan, I just hate sewing in tails, so when I finish a color it takes me forever to get the picture because of that.

I'm off to watch the Powerpuff Girls with my son.  Happy stitching, everyone!

Desert Star and Geisha WIP

I have a Geisha WIP for you!

The left picture is where I was at before and the right picture is where I'm currently at as of...oh...two minutes ago.

Next up is the Desert Star afghan I've been working on.  I finished the pink section a lot quicker than I did the grey, so here's where I'm at with that!

No more pink for the rest of the blanket.  Now I'm working on the variegated color again.  I was afraid these colors wouldn't really work together, but I'm really liking this blanket so far.  Apparently my daughter is liking this blanket as well because as with all my other blankets I've ever made EVER, she has stolen this one.

Okay, on to something kind of personal.  I signed up for a website called Yes.fit.  I've never actually signed up for anything like this before.  It's a website where you run "virtual races" and you get medals for completing them.

It seems to me that the entry fee for each race is $25-30.  I assume that's for the cost of the medal plus shipping.  A little gimmicky, I know, but for me I look at it like it's a tangible thing I can feel and look at that shows that I walked or ran that far.  I am someone who very much lacks motivation, but I feel like having something there that shows "Hey, I did it and here's the proof!" I will be more likely to keep going.  

Random, I know!  My dog is seriously benefiting from these walks though.  We went five miles tonight alone.  He ran through the grass that we walked by as if he'd never seen grass before.  That happy dog smile was definitely a mood booster.

Off to play some Demon's Souls.  Yeah, yeah, old video game, I know.  I'm looking to get a Siegward tattoo (Dark Souls 3) but I didn't want to get it until I've played all the games in the series (I've played Dark Souls 2&3)...even if they're not totally correlated.  I have never played Demon's Souls until now, so I'm really behind!

Happy Stitching, everyone!  Praise the Sun!!! (Dark Souls, sorry, couldn't resist)

Desert Star

I have finished the next part of my Desert Star blanket

On to pink!  This blanket is starting to take shape.  It's actually been a pretty fun work up so far.

I have been on this weird "go, go, go" kick.  You know, where I don't want to be at home, I only want to go out and do things.  I am now in the habit of venturing out to Barnes and Noble when I'm bored.  My most recent trip to B&N I went to the craft section.  I never visit the craft books there because I've never had good luck finding anything.  This time, though I struck gold.

I found THIS:

I'm currently working on one that says "I hope you choke" for my kitchen.

Off to go finish watching Wreck-It Ralph with my kids.  I've got banana bread cooking and it's made my house smell wonderful.  Happy stitching, everyone.