Where have I been?

Whew, where have I been?  Well, still stitching - but I have some wonderful good news that explains why I've been MIA.  We found out around the time of my last post that we were expecting our first child in November!  We now know that it's a baby boy, and we've decided on a Star Wars nursery theme - so expect lots of Star Wars stitching in the next few months!  The first trimester I suffered from terrible morning sickness, so I pretty much did no stitching whatsoever.


In addition to my own kid, I have several friends who are also expecting in the next few months.  The current project I'm working on is for one of those couples who are expecting this month.  It's "Mother Nature" by Lesley Teare from Cross Stitcher issue 418.  I've never stitched one of her designs before, though I've admired her various ladies in the British magazines over the years.

I just started it yesterday, and am using the called-for DMC on 28 count white evenweave, though I'm using three strands instead of two.  They're doing the nursery in a woodland theme and aren't finding out the gender beforehand, so I figured this was a nice neutral sampler without being too cutesy.  It's a little more floral, so perhaps a little more girly, but I think it'll also work out if they have a boy.  I'm going to attempt to finish the stitching and beading before the baby is born, pick out a mat and frame, and then all I'll have to do is personalize it once the baby is here.  That's a lot better than the baby sampler I've done for my other friend - the baby was born in May and I've just managed to finish stitching that one!

My first night's work is below. Apologies for the wonky picture.  My scanner has been acting up, so I've been taking photos with my cell phone. If you look closely, you can see that I actually miscounted the "P" and had to rip and restitch it.  Well, technically, I miscounted the little 4-stitch flower below the "P" and then mis-stitched the letter based on that.  Let me just say that I don't recommend taking Tylenol PM and then stitching!  So far it's been a quick and easy stitch (when I'm actually able to count correctly!), so I'm hoping this'll work up quickly and I can move on to the next baby sampler.  My SIL is expecting a baby girl in September, and she hasn't chosen a baby nursery theme, so I'm still mulling my various options.

Here's hoping for lots of stitching in the next few months!