Welcome to Brownie's Chair, my blog about all things cross stitch. Feel free to have a look around, and email me if you have any questions or suggestions!

Friday, October 16, 2015

Progress: Mostly Round Robin stitching

Well, it's been almost another month since I posted, so I guess it's time for another update.  I haven't been getting too much stitching done lately, mostly round robin stuff.  Actually, now that I think about it, all round robin stuff.  Although I have my stitchy bug pretty much back all the way, I have had some health problems that have really slowed me down. 

If you don't enjoy reading about personal issues, you can skip down a few paragraphs.  But for anyone interested, I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease about a year and a half ago.  Graves is a form of hyperthyroidism, which means my body makes too much thyroid hormone.  It's sort of like my body's thermostat is permanently set too high. 

Anyway, long story short, I've tried a few different treatments, gone through a lot of tests, and my doctor and I came to the conclusion that either my thyroid needed to come out, or it needed to be killed.  So at the beginning of the month I took a large dose of radioactive Iodine 131 isotope, which left me in quarantine for 5 days.  I'm still kind of dealing with the after effects of that, which is why things have been slow in the stitching front. 

So personal issues over. 

In other (more happy) news, our little kitten is getting so big.  Her official name is Bitty (as in itty bitty) because she was so tiny when we found her and we decided that it will be ironic when she's full grown.  She and Brownie have finally decided they kind of like each other.  I snapped this pic of them being all sneaky and sleeping together in the same cat bed when I was in my 5 day isolation. 


On the stitching front, I finished my portion of the Gingerbread Lane project for the second to last round of the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin group on Facebook:


Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing as it looks so far before sending it off, but it was a super cute project that I might stitch myself one day. 

I also started on Autumn Sampler, which will be my last project for the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin (except finishing my own project, of course).  This pattern was temporarily discontinued, although the designers brought it back after popular demand.  I bought the winter version of this in February or March, and I'm liking this one so much that if they also decide to re-release the spring version, I might just also purchase autumn, spring, and summer so I have a full set. 

For my piece I'm stitching 2 of the 25 boxes the sampler is divided into.  I've finished one, a night forest landscape with a big harvest moon, and have started on the second, an acorn with oak leaves.  Here's what the forest looked like when I finished with it:


I also finished my first project for the Sampler Round Robin that started in September.  This is what my portion of the Jane Austen sampler I showed last time looked like when done:


And here's what it looked like as a whole before sending it off.  It's really cute, I bet it will look great when it's all done. 


Next I need to start my second sampler project which I just got in the mail.  That one will be a quilt block style sampler if I remember correctly (still need to pull it out of the envelope).  The sad thing is, I still haven't started up my Christmas gift stitching, and I really need to get that done if I want to finish in time.  Hmmmm...


post signature

11 comments:

  1. Everything looks great! That's pretty scary being in isolation for 5 days I would have had to have a lot of books lol. I hope it helps!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, my Kindle was my friend, that's for sure. There was also lots of sleeping, since it really made me feel worn out and tired. Glad to be on the other side of it.

      Delete
  2. Miss Alyss.........................well, I'm hoping this oh-so scary treatment helps!! I'm so very sorry that health issues have been keeping you down. I think a change in climate might do you a world of good.............say the warm & sunny weather in California? I'm just sayin'!! Your stitching accomplishments look GREAT - Bitty and Brownie are looking lovely together.....glad they've decided to LIKE each!! Yikes - now you've reinforced the panic of gift-making time dwindling at an oh-so alarming rate!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, California does sound like a nice break. There's just the whole dust bowl thing... haha

      Delete
  3. Lovely work and great the cats are hanging out. I hope your medical issues calm down soon. I have hypothyroid, so it's no fun, but here we are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, thyroid buddies! Once my thyroid dies from the I131 treatment I will be hypo too for the rest of my life.

      Delete
  4. I'm sorry you're feeling so icky, Alyssa! :( I'm sending you tons of good vibes to feel better. I'm glad the kitties are buds. All of your finishes look really good! Is the autumn sampler the one with the pie? I love that one b/c it's so cute and you know, PIE!! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Pumpkin Pie from my finishes page is part of the Dessert Club pattern (http://www.thefrostedpumpkinstitchery.com/collections/all-pdf-patterns/products/dessert-of-the-month-pdf-cross-stitch-pattern), although the Autumn Sampler does have an almost identical pumpkin pie motif on it too (just smaller). That's this pattern: http://www.thefrostedpumpkinstitchery.com/collections/seasonal/products/autumn-sampler-pdf-cross-stitch-pattern
      I love the pie too. Cute and good to eat, LOL. You know, out here most people do Sweet Potato pie instead of pumpkin pie. Just not the same...

      Delete
  5. Oh my, that thyroid business does sound scary...I hope it will work the way it was intended so you will end up with way less issues than before!

    Great stitching, I love all the Frosted Pumpkin ones and I'm crossing my figners that you'll be able to get back to your own stitching and christmas stuff soonish :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh Alyssa I hope you will be well soon! Wonderful stitching as well. Hope your furry friends are helping you going through everything.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So sorry to read about your health issues - life can be soo tough sometimes...
    I adore the pic of your furbabies - don't they just light up our days:) Your WIPs look gorgeous:)

    ReplyDelete