An exercise in frustration...

Hi everyone!  I thought long and hard about posting this today.  You see, it seems everything I touch lately has been an exercise in frustration.  Between frogging and running out of materials, I've been a frustrated crafter.  Not to mention, I've been super busy with the holidays bearing down on us, so even when I can stitch/crochet, I run out of materials in the middle of my efforts and don't have time to run out for more.  Thankfully yesterday I was finally able to get some errands run and pick up some stuff.  Before I get back to stitching/crocheting, here are some pictures of what I've been up do.

I asked in my last post about what color to use for the flower basket in the middle of the circle in Quaker Harmony.  Thank you so much to those of you who responded, it's so nice to get a second opinion.  Most of you said I should use a lighter color...so I finally bit the bullet (as I didn't like the color of the DMC substitute) and ran to my LNS for the recommended color.  I haven't had time to stitch just yet, but wanted to show you that I have stitched all the rest.  I don't think it will take me much longer to finish it, just have to find a chunk of time...hahaha...like that will happen any time soon.

Since I couldn't stitch or crochet I turned to another one of my crazies.  This one is coming along nicely, but now I've made it to the tree.  That's a HUGE chunck of stitching so we'll have to see how that goes now that it's started.  I love this pattern and really can't wait to see how it finishes off.  I'll keep you posted!

As many of you know, I've been crocheting a bit more lately.  I have been trying different weights of yarn/cotton and as I practice, I'm happy that my work has gotten more consistent.  I love how this new scarf is turning out.  Lavender is my favorite color, and this scarf will be light enough to wear any time of year.  It's made with crochet cotton (very difficult for me to work with right now, but I'm hooked...pun intended...and can't wait to see how this will finish out).  

I also found this lovely yarn and bought one skein, then came home to see what pattern I could find to make something with it.  It was working up so perfectly...the stripes falling in line so wonderfully, and I got halfway done...and you guessed it...ran out of yarn.  Back to the store I trudged to find that the skein I had bought was the LAST one of that color.  *sigh*  But...there are benefits in living in a metropolitan area.  There was another Hobby Lobby within driving distance, so off I drove.  Happily I found the same color, unhappily it was one digit off from the dye-lot.  *heavier sigh*  The colors seemed close enough so I thought...it's only for me, I'll see what happens.  I discovered when I got home, that though the color is off a teeny weeny bit, it doesn't seem to clash with what I had already done!  Yippee!!  When I asked my son where I had switched yarn, he picked an area that was in the middle of the original skein of yarn...and since he has a pretty good eye for color I decided I have nothing to worry about.  Here is a picture of my progress so far, I'm nearly done.  It's going to be a long one, but then I can wrap it around my neck like I used to.  It will really bring some bling to my ordinarily dull winter coats!  

Astrid invited my guys and myself to a football game last night.  What fun!!  The football team of the school her boys attend made it to the state finals, so off we all went to M&T Bank stadium to watch the final game.  The team was undefeated all season, and they won again last night.  What an exciting game, as they were behind in the first half, but came back with a vengeance and won in the final half.  It was definitely a nail biter!!  Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but I know Astrid and her hubby were clicking away so maybe if you check her blog, she'll have pictures up.

I will admit that I don't have a clue what is going on on the field, all I see are men in tight pants tossing a ball and making pig piles to try and stop it's advance down the field.  I did learn a few more nuances of the game last night, but it's still pretty much a mystery to me.  I guess if I'm going to hang with Astrid's family I better learn more about the game.  LOL  It seems if you plan to live in Maryland, you need to love boating and football...neither of which really appeal to me.  I love me some baseball, and hockey I can tolerate.  I'm definitely not a native!  Oh how I miss the crazy people of my  native Northern NY.

I've made a few ornaments for some people.  I have sent out Mouse's and she has already seen hers so I'll post a picture here.  I'm laughing to myself, as I try to make things for people that suit their personalities, and I thought this looked so "old world" and "British" so thought it would be perfect for Mouse.  The others who have seen it love it so much that I'm not sure they will like the ones I've made for them...I don't know if I should remake theirs or what I should do...*sigh*  Well, hopefully the others will know that I stitched them with love and with them specifically in mind and will love theirs just as much.  We'll see.  Anyway, here's a peek at Mouse's.
 

Off to see if I can actually finish something today and I finally have all the materials I need.  Wish me luck!!