Making some progress on a Slow Sunday...

 Note: this is a chatty post... lots of fractured knee stuff...

Hello.. and Happy New Year!  My hope is that while 2025 is off to a slooooow start, I will pick up speed as the year progresses. 

And speaking of progress, some was made on a couple of fronts. 

The ramp got installed on the house and they didn't need to take off the door on the porch... and I am soooo grateful for that. It is too cold to sit out there now but I'm sure I will be able to get out there eventually and it is so good for my mental health to sit there in the sun and watch the birds. 

It is shorter than I thought it would be and while it does extend onto the sidewalk a  tiny bit, I don't think my neighbors will complain. Now the slope may be a bit steeper than the ADA guidelines, but again, we are gonna deal with it so I don't lose the porch. 

I rented a lift chair and it has been such a comfort. Makes getting up much much easier and while this one has a man cave kinda look I do enjoy the cushy-ness... I think when I am over this I will get one for me that looks a bit more stylish. I did some online shopping and saw a couple that I liked.

My hair stylist came and cut and colored my hair... she is a gem... I've been going to her for probably 12 years and she's heard all  my tales of woe... she insisted that I had to have it colored as I didn't need my gray roots getting me down... and she was right. It is a cute cut and it is much easier to deal with.

I went to the orthopedic doctor on Friday and was able to ditch the knee immobilizer and get a hinged knee brace... yeah... now I can bend my knee and I think this will allow me to sit at my sewing machine... gonna give it a try today or tomorrow. It has been 3 weeks since I fell...my mental attitude has improved but I'm still physically tired and all I'm doing is sitting... how I'd love to go for a walk! 

Now the hinged knee brace is an improvement but it still is annoying. As with the immobilizer these are "one size fits all" items, and we all know that is a false statement. I asked if there wasn't a child size version of the brace and was told they don't make them... which I don't believe... as I'm sure there are children who have to deal with this situation too. I'm going to make some inquiries on Monday to see if I can find something that fits better. The tech adjusted it as short as he could but the top is up into my lady parts and the bottom doesn't hit my ankle correctly IMHO... and I think I'll be dealing with this brace for waaaaay more than the 3 weeks I had the immobilizer. 

Now the ortho guy was impressed with the amount of healing he saw on the x-ray and the fact that I can bend my injured knee without pain... I suspect that when rehab starts that won't be the case...sigh... but I am all for as much physical therapy as I can get and as soon as I can get it. Luckily there is a rehab facility less than 10 minutes from my house. He said I could probably start weight bearing rehab in about 3 weeks. 

And perhaps the biggest event of the last 3 weeks... I was able to get a shower!!!  There are healing powers in hot water and soap!!  A dear friend who considers me family and is a nurse came over on Friday and helped me maneuver into my tiny shower ... she is an angel... she says she will come back and help me (as I'm not going to attempt this on my own for a while) and her daughter who is also a nurse said she would be happy to help me shower too... I hate my predicament but I feel so blessed with all the friends who have come to my aid.

Two of the quilty ladies came over on Tuesday and hemmed some pants for me to wear out to the doctor...I got these pants to wear as you can get them over a brace... it has gotten COLD and as of Sunday night we're bracing for a BIG dump of snow (5-8" is the last report I've seen) and then about 2 weeks of temperatures in the teens and single digits... my hope is that they are over hyping this... as they have in the past... but my fear is this time they may be right. We haven't had a bad winter in about 10 years... 

As for crafty stuff I did start a Blessing sampler on January 1... I chose this one by Jardin Prive called Ninon... and according to Google the word Ninon has multiple meanings in French, including a fabric, a name and a type of weave... it is the equivalent of the name Ann which is my middle name...

I picked this because it is fairly simple ... called for 3 flosses, I'm using 4... DMC  602, 726 931, 3346.. now my first thought was to stitch it on a light blue or light green but there was nothing in my stash big enough to do that and dyeing fabric right now wasn't in the cards... but there was this piece of pink and I think it is pretty and cheerful and I NEED cheerful in my life right now...and I like the mottling in this piece.

I originally stitched the flowers in a variegated DMC yellow but it wasn't making me happy ...

So I've picked out and re-stitched one blossom and I like this a whole lot better. 

I'd love to get a round frame to put this in when it is finished... and if memory serves me I have another small sampler kitted up with a pink linen... may play with that after I finish this one... or one of the many many many many WIPs I have...

I try to keep track of how many pieces I stitch and how many quilts I make each year.  According to my list (which may have left out some stuff)  I stitched 35 cross stitch  pieces... lots of smalls and 5 that were  bigger samplers. 

In no particular order - 

Prairie Schooler: Christmas Alphabet

The Drawn Thread: Sunnyside Sampler

With Thy Needle & Thread: Red Bird Sampler

Prairie Schooler: Garden Sampler

Summer House Stitche Works: Fragments in Time 2022

I did a lot of little pieces from Prairie Schooler and 6 houses from Melisa at Pinkernpunkin ... I did them all on 16 ct Aida I dyed and made all the house shades of yellow and gold... 

and  11 quilts were worked on... some are just tops waiting for quilting but several are complete projects...yeah me!!

I also finished one sock and started on its mate... 

So what other trouble can I get into as I am house bound for a while? Well, I want to tackle getting the Christmas stuff put away and get my snowmen out.  Since I have been sitting here looking at it practically non stop for 3 weeks I have had my fill and I'm plotting how to rework things. Normally I'd clear the shelves and start from scratch... this year I'm going to keep up all the trees and the greenery and work with that base. It is going to be smaller display than in the past but it will be something new to look at and I usually keep up the winter stuff till the beginning of March, at which time I hope to be waaaay more mobile. I'm going to see how much Nick can do but I suspect this is not his cup of tea and it will annoy him. I'm hoping to see if I can hire my handyman's wife (she does cleaning and other jobs) to come and assist me. I think she will be amenable  to being directed more than Nick and I will compensate her nicely for her time and patience. 

So I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... and hope I have something new to show you next week... I'm sure I'll be able to muster up some whining about my knee and the upcoming Snowmaggedon... my older son got a text message from a friend who had ventured to Kroger's on Saturday... he reported that all of humanity was in the Blue Ash location but he'd witnessed a miracle in that ALL the check out lanes were manned... a sight I've never seen....

Stay safe and warm if you are in the path of this snow storm and happy stitching...

carol fun 

 

Sock it to Me on a Slow Sunday...

Hello -- so did you have a good Christmas?  Ready for the New Year?  

We did a modified Christmas at my house instead of at my older son's place and it was nice. Elliott at 5 years old  has this Santa stuff all down pat  had a great  Christmas... lots of toys that he wanted were on Santa's list in the exact form he wanted... and it was so wonderful to see his joy!

As for the New Year... well like a lot of you I'll be "celebrating" in my living room dressed in something comfy...and with my fingers crossed that 2025 shows improvement each and every day....now it has been 2 weeks since  I fell and fractured my knee and I'm muddling along. The pain is not the issue, that is tolerable... it is the immobilizer that makes everything... and I do mean EVERYTHING more challenging. Yesterday I made arrangements for a temporary ramp to be put on the house. After much thought I ditched the least expensive idea that would have made  the porch off limits and actually went with the more expensive  configuration as it seems to be the safest... and at first conversation it wasn't going to involve taking off the storm door and losing the porch... but now that is still a possibility and  I do NOT want to give up the porch for even a brief time... it is my comfy cozy refuge and it feeds my soul. When I'm out of the immobilizer and in a knee brace I should be able to sit out there again and watch the birds and the squirrels and it will greatly improve my mental health... and you can't put a price on that!! Say a prayer and cross your fingers they can work out a ramp that doesn't involve taking off the storm door. 

And I also arranged to rent a lift chair that is a recliner and has heating function ... 2 weeks of pushing myself out of my recliner and pushing it back to a bit of an angle has worn me out. I'm doing everything I can to make this situation as palatable as possible... and it ain't easy...

Like I said last week I'm still wrapping my head around this situation... and there has been some improvement. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos... got hooked on a channel with a young couple, Matt and Julia... you can find their channel here... he's British, she's Russian and they are traveling all over the world. The latest videos have them living in Beijing and studying Chinese.  They have been to many places that are off the beaten path like Turkmenistan, Siberia, Turkey, Malaysia... they aren't slick or influencers, just 2 young people out exploring the world... and I've enjoyed seeing their travels. I will never venture to these locales but it is fun to explore them from the comfort of my recliner. 

A friend suggested a new cozy mystery series to me by the author Jana DeLeon  The Miss Fortune series... I've already finished volume 1, Louisiana Longshot and downloaded volume 2 Lethal Bayou Beauty.  There are 28 books in the series so that should keep me busy for a while... 

I'm considering  purchasing an Ancestry.com membership again ... I had one years ago and did some research on my Father's side of the family, but I never looked into my Mother's side... this is something I've thought about doing before but always felt like I didn't have time to do it... I definitely have time to do this at the moment...

Note - the pics are gonna be wonky for a while... I took all of these with the items either sitting on my lap or on my little tray table... not great angles... but better than nothing...right?

And I stitched a little... this Soapbox Winter by Bent Creek...

a mere 34 stitches wide by 312 stitches long...  

I'm using DMC and when I started this about a month ago I had thought about changing some of the flosses... but right now that's not in the cards... just gonna go with what I already pulled. I'll fill in the snowman last so that white stays as clean as possible.

If I want to do a Blessing Sampler in January I need to get my butt in gear and make up my mind. I need to have Nick go unearth the chart I want... I think it is next to the printer in the craft room but I can't get the wheelchair in that room unless we move the bookcase... the chart I'm thinking of only uses 3 flosses ... I think I'll use a combo of DMC and an overdyed...I'll have to use  whatever linen I can find that I've already dyed... a project for Monday... 

The activity I've engaged in the most in the last two weeks (other than being annoyed at myself for getting into this situation) has been sock knitting... Sock it to Me... and if you remember that phrase you are as old as me... Judy Carne... 1967... I was a freshman in high school...when dinosaurs roamed the earth...

So far I've got 3 new pairs of socks to show for my time... now to be clear I didn't knit all 6 socks... 2 pairs were part way done and the one pair was a new start...

This pair had one sock finished and the 2nd sock was past the heel and half way to the toe...

I think this one some kind of Opal hand dyed... it came in two pre-wound cakes... I love the pooling on the leg part but I don't know why it didn't continue on the foot when I got down to the same stitch count... or why the foot on one is more blue than the other...oh well ... they are very interesting.

This pair had one sock done and the second sock was down around the heel when I picked it back up. 

I used two different Opal yarns each in a turquoise color way, alternating each round... LOVE the color of these!

This pair is a a mish mash of different Opal yarns that kinda read purple... I only had about 2" of one sock done when I picked it up and then I did the second sock too...

I like the scrappy ones and I don't mind weaving in a bajillion ends... 

So with those 3 pairs complete I cast on a 4th pair... now again this pair is 2 different Opal yarns. One was from the Claude Monet series and the other I have no clue... I think it might be a leftover from a friend as there was only 31 grams ... which will work...

now I expected lots of stripey-ness all the way down... but it started out kinda blotchy and so far I've gotten thin stripes and some thicker stripes... so I'm definitely getting tons of variety.  I can't wait to get that solid purple heel done and get back to the patterned yarns. I like knitting these kinds of socks because you have no idea what is going to happen... nothing repetitive about this patterning... and when I start the second sock I will reverse the direction of one of the yarns so I should have no chance of anything matchy matchy... it definitely keeps my interest.

Soooo... I am occupying my time a little bit  better than last week... still have a looooong way to  go.  Having troubles sleeping and still waiting on getting a shower instead of a sponge bath... if the ramp gets installed soon, my son proposed going to a local hotel with handicap accessible bathrooms and booking a room for a night... his treat... and I'd like to take him up on that. It would be safer than trying to maneuver in my tiny bathroom with 71 year old tub... I also hope that a lift chair recliner would be more comfortable and perhaps I could get some sleep in it too. My current recliner is ok... meant to be a sitting chair, not a sleeping chair...

Obviously I don't have a lot of plans for the upcoming week...no babysitting Elliott, no meeting up with friends for lunch... but I have had lots of nice visits from friends and I truly appreciate that ... it does make the day go faster. I've gone from a life where I used to look at the clock and think where did the day go to? To sitting in the recliner and looking at the clock and thinking sheesh, only an hour has passed since I last checked ... time is definitely moving slooooooooow.....

My normal New Year's Day routine is to indulge in all the activities that I want to do every day for the rest of the year... knit a little, cross stitch a little, sew a little on my Juki and go out to eat... right now the first 2 are doable but the last 2 aren't...sigh.... 

I do have an ortho appointment on January 3rd... wish me luck that maybe I can ditch the immobilizer for a knee brace... that would be great... but realistically I doubt it is going to happen ...but a gal can dream, right?

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... I have plenty  of time to check out all the posts there... 

Hope your upcoming week is a good one and that you have a safe NYE and a happy and healthy 2025!!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

Some Christmas and a Break on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - well are you ready for Christmas?  I have some decor to show you and then we'll talk about the Break...

This is the big shelf unit...

from the top I have the No "L" Sampler from Bent Creek... punny ... NO" L", Noel... 

then my 39 year old needlepoint Nativity scene... the designer was Polly Carbonari... I love this set...

next right to left... Feliz Navidad by Blackbird Designs, Christmas Bird by With Thy Needle and Thread, and Merry Christmas from Blackbird Designs.

A few close ups...

Now another  chunk... sorry for this arrangement but I was having difficulties taking pics and if you read to the end of this post you'll figure out why... 

Oh Christmas Tree by All Through the Night which is holding up 2 small pillows, Up on the Housetop Prairie Schooler No. 25 and a snippet from Prairie Schooler No. 135... The deer are also Prairie Schooler... as I remember a freebie from a magazine...

Below that, there are a couple of ladies strolling by the silver trees... They are both from Pineberry Lane, A Sprig of Holly and Merry Littles ...

Then there is more Prairie Schooler ... The 12 Days of Christmas, PS No. 74 and the Angels PS  No. 42 

and the angel on the end is from With Thy Needle & Thread Peppermint and Holly...

and at the very bottom In Santa Claus Land  by With thy Needle and Thread.

So upcoming plans have changed radically because of the Break... as in I  have a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau of my left knee...

This happened last Saturday evening. I went out the sunroom porch to check on some Christmas lights that weren't working ( and still aren't...grr....)  I hit the first step but not the other two and smacked the concrete sidewalk. It happened so fast I didn't even put my hands out (which was probably a good thing). I have a small abrasion on my face on the bridge of my nose but I didn't break my glasses.  Got a ride in the ambulance to the ER ... x-rays and CT scan... it is considered a non-displaced fracture so they don't operate on it... at least 6 weeks of non-weight bearing ... right now I have the knee immobilizer till at least January 3rd when I see the orthopedic doctor. Hope to trade this for a knee brace... outlook: will take 3, 4 or maybe even more months to recover from this. 

SOOOOOO... I'm in a better mood today than earlier this week. It is taking a lot to wrap my head around being incapacitated... my normal routine was I walked 3 miles a day ... every day... for the last couple of years. Nick and I went out for at least one meal a day, every day.  And if you've read this blog for any time at all you know I do NOT sit still... and that is driving me nuts!!  I'm using a wheelchair and hopping on one foot with a walker... I am too old and too fat to be hopping... that is a young person's game... investigating other mobility options.

Also have discovered that my lovely little home is little in ways that make this difficult... tiny bathroom with a tub upstairs.... have a walk in shower but it is in the basement and inaccessible at the moment. Also there is no way out that doesn't involve stairs. I've had 3 people come to give me a quote for a portable ramp... each one is a different configuration ... and a different price.  The one so far that is the least pricey will involve taking off the storm door off the sunroom porch and removing the furniture from it... big sigh... now I know that realistically I won't be able to use it for a while but... I'd like to think I could... and I hate giving up my favorite spot in the house... more thinking must be done.

As for plans for 2025...not sure yet... I only picked up my cross stitch today (Saturday) ... I haven't been able to focus, so I've been mindless scrolling on the internet and watching youtube videos. I have done some sock knitting, but that's it. Prior to this I had thought about a blessing sampler for January and I still may do that. It's all DMC and I think I can find some linen in my stash. Then I could turn my attention to one or two or three of the many samplers I started in 2024. I'm hoping when I get a knee brace and can bend my knee I could do a bit of sewing....I have projects that were started and I have a sewing machine on this floor and a little ironing mat. Doing steps is going to be a while... sigh... 

That said  I don't know if I'll be posting every Sunday or not... not sure what I'll have to show or talk about other than being annoyed at the situation I find myself in... remember the other week when I complained about feeling OLD... well now I really feel  OLD OLD OLD... with this knee immobilizer on dressing has become a new task... wearing pants as I normally did make it hard to go to the bathroom... so I went on Amazon and bought some house dresses like my Grandma use to wear... and they are nice... snap down the front... pockets ... pretty cotton prints ... but the the last line of the description did me in... "House Dress Snap Front Old Lady Nightgown" ... really?? really??? Talk about adding insult to injury... 

With that I will link up with Kathy's Quilts today... I have lots of time to spend looking at pretty blogs these days...

I hope that your holidays will be Merry and Bright and there will be no Breaks...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

A sleigh of Santas for a Slow Sunday..,

Hello  - well as I suspected  it would, last week filled up fast with places to go and things to do but I did make a little progress on the Christmas decor I want done for this year...and in the process I learned what you call a group of Santas... you call it a sleigh... and I certainly have a sleigh  load of Santas going on this year. 

Monday was my most productive day as I  kinda FFO'd  5 little pillows...

and in the spirit of total transparency... they aren't totally FFO'd...

but they are tucked into displays and perhaps I'll get them sealed up this week.  I'm thinking of doing a bunch of candy canes like I did with the PS Santas last year... a festive touch!

I thought about changing up the wall quilt in the living room but just went with the GIANT  Ho Ho Ho Santa... he's such a friendly guy...

this started life as a quilt kit from Moda where you were suppose to make a bajillion log cabin blocks for the background and then cover up 75% of them with Santa... which I thought was a waste of time. So I ditched the log cabin blocks and then just machine appliqued Santa to a background of minty green Grunge....the Ho Ho Ho's came from the pattern Jingle Jangle by Seamed to Be... and in searching the blog I realize I made this in 2018... time flies... 

Now the tier tray is loaded up with Santa's... 

Up top, the needlepoint one is going on 35 years old... damn time flies... I made a bunch of these but he's my favorite because he reminds me of the costumes in the finale of the  movie White Christmas... which is my FAVORITE movie... the 3 Santas from Prairie Schooler No. 135 Good Saint Nick... and you can't even tell they aren't totally finished...LOL

and below I have some Debbie Mumm Santas and a freebie from With Thy Needle & Thread called Merry & Minty... 

and then there is little  boy holding a train needlepoint tree topper I made 39 years ago ... again time flies... and a sleigh of Debbie Mumm Santas... this is the result of that foray over to eBay last month where almost  vintage Debbie Mumm salt & pepper shakers and cream and sugar pieces kept jumping into the cart... for chubby guys they are quite agile, dontcha know...LOL   

and on a stack of Christmas quilts I have the LARGE Debbie Mumm Santa in a Sleigh... I got him several years ago and I don't remember what I paid but I checked him out over on eBay and he's going for anywhere from $20 to $63, yikes... you gotta watch those prices on ebay... and if I knew what was good for me (and I do but I ignore it) I 'd stay off of eBay... but it sure is fun!

And I hung my Wonky Christmas Trees quilt over the back of the couch...

and yes it quite a vivid olive green which I am totally infatuated with...even though some of my family and friends think I'm nuts... but if I didn't do it now, when would I do it?  I ain't getting any younger because time flies...sigh

On the front door I have my Christmas ornament wreath... and I LOVE  LOVE  LOVE this wreath... 

it wasn't as hard to make as I thought and this video by Retro Renovation was super helpful...it takes a ton of glue sticks... I went through 20 of the long ones but in the 7 years since I made this wreath only 2 small ornaments have fallen off and I glued them back on.  I keep thinking I'll make another one. I have a stash of gold and silver ornaments in the basement... someday... and then I saw this today on IG on the account magpieethel...OMG... she has SO MUCH STUFF!!!  She makes you feel okay with however much you have...

That garland of vintage ornaments over the door has me entranced. She explained that she starts with some vintage white fake pine garland and hangs each ornament individually... and it has me walking around my house thinking where could I do this... definitely something for next year... need to start looking for white fake pine garland 

Next to the wreath on the front door I have my Lizzie Kate Jingles...

this another one of my long samplers which got truncated because I mis-counted how long the linen should be (a mistake I have made several times in my stitching life... sigh ) ... but I'm happy with it as if it was any longer it wouldn't have fit that wood back from Hobby Lobby. 

Outside on the sunroom porch everything is in the pink... and it all started with this wreath ...

hard to take a pic as the sun is coming through the storm door but while it is white it gives off a pink-ish glow....

And here the little green shelf ...

Up top I have Lizzie Kate's Christmas ABC's and the needlepoint tree topper angel I made 40 years ago... OMG  how could it have been that long ago??? Time, time, time...what has become of me??? Sorry for that little fit, but this year I am feeling OLD... and when I realize how long ago I made a lot of these things it really hits home... sigh.... okay let's move on...

Middle shelf has Barbara Ana's Christmas Joy and the tree from Emily Call's Quilted Christmas... and on the bottom Lizzie Kate's Tiny Tidings XXI...

I like to cover my chair out here with a quilt and this one is Quilty Stars ... I've made this pattern twice...once for Nick in greens and blues... you can see it here... and once in Christmas fabrics for me which you can see on my bed here. 

On the wall by the front door on the porch is the Twas the Night Before Christmas from Prairie Schooler No. 63 Christmas Samplers... 

As I sit here out on the sunroom porch typing this and looking at this piece it occurs to be that the bottom portion of this with Santa and the reindeer would make a cute pillow... I'm happy with the one I made this year and I have another little pillow with Santa and the reindeer flying over a yellow house... so a third would make a collection and I'm ALL into collections!!

And I had a handful of stuff left over when I was decorating the porch... and it was cold that day... so I just tucked them up here on the window ledge... the crosstitch is a Lizzie Kate but I don't remember the name of it...

So it is now Saturday afternoon... and I'm thinking about the week ahead... not a lot scheduled yet but I'm sure it will fill up.. I need to do Christmas cards, which I think about starting in July but always drag my feet about in December... and I did start a snowman cross stitch piece ... I'll show a pic next week... and I want to do some sewing... but it is so nice to just sit here on the sunroom porch  and watch the birds at my feeders and knit... I'm working on a scrappy sock and that is mindless knitting... 

This is the week in December where I always wish I had more time... but then there's a good chance I'd fritter it away... oh well...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts ... I hope that your week ahead has plenty of time to get done what needs to be done... gotta pick up a gift card or two ... and some fixing for appetizers at Costco for our Christmas Day celebration... and drop off a couple of gifts... oh and make the pillow cases for Elliott's presents... I found some Transformers fabric and he LOVES Transformers... he's so excited about Christmas this year... he's driving his parents bonkers... he knows exactly what he wants... and he is going to get those gifts... lucky boy...

happy stitching-

carol fun