How is it already almost the end of January??

Hiya peeps!! I hope you all had fabulous holidays and that your new year has gotten off to a great start.

I've been a stranger to blog-land lately, and I'm not going to be bashful about assigning blame. I wish I could say it's b/c I've been so busy stitching (and I have done some in the past week or so - pics later on in this post), or so busy reading & commenting on all your fabulous blogs that I haven't had time to update my own, but I can't say that... It's all Facebook's fault. Well... really Super Poke Pets on Facebook. Never fear, though. I've checked myself into SPP rehab and am happy to say I've been "clean" for over a week now. Wahoo.

So, here I am, back to spending my (oh so abundant) free time on what I really love - stitching! I hope to get caught up on reading and commenting on your posts shortly, and I have a bloggy request for you at the end of this post.

But the most amazing part of this post? I have finishes! Yes, plural!! I know, I know... it's rare, but true.

First up is the Olde World Santa ornament:


Umm... okay, so he's not really finished. I didn't remember that, lol!! I didn't have the pink thread for his cheeks, but got it a couple weeks ago, then forgot to finish him up. Oops! He's not finish finished either - I have a whole 11 months to tackle that fearsome task. Something tells me I won't do it until oh... November or so. :) .

Next up is the Sampler Girl's Emily Dickinson Sampler:




I think it turned out nicely, don't you? Now all she needs is a lovely frame and she'll be ready to go on the wall in Leah's room. I stitched her on 40 ct (not sure what brand and color - I really need to get better about noting that stuff) with DMC threads.

I also got the awesome thread keeper system that I first saw on one of your fabulous blogs - I'm sorry... I can't remember whose blog I saw it on! I really really love this. Admittedly, it takes a while to get the threads hooked up on the little tags, but it is definitely worth it to have all my thread organized and in one place - if nothing else it will keep me from buying duplicates. I haven't gotten all my thread done yet - I've got lots of DMC to put on the keepers. These are called Annie's Thread Keepers, and I got them from Nordic Needle. Here are a couple pics:



And I've begun a new start. It's the Sewing Clamp (Sampler Bits pattern) from the Heart's Content:


It was a Christmas gift from my DH. I chose it to be next because I thought "oh, it's nice and tiny, it should be a super quick finish", and because I looove it. Lo and behold I open up the kit only to discover - it's done over 1 on 40 ct. Ack! Never done that before! So, it won't be done quite as quickly as I anticipated, but I still am excited about it. I don't think I'm going to finish it the way the kit calls for it to be finished, though. I've seen another pincushion finishing technique on a couple of Homespun Elegance pincushions that is more to my taste, so I think I'll give that a shot. Here's where I am with it:


I worked on it for about 45 minutes last night (this gives you an idea why I finish things so slowly!), and am hoping to get quite a bit of stitchy time in this weekend, so you never know - this finish could come pretty quickly.

OK, I have a request - I know I'm missing out on a lot of fabulous blogs, so I was thinking "Self? Maybe your faithful blogging buddies could recommend their favorite 1 or 2 (or 3) stitchy blogs." If you'd like to help a sister out, just leave your recommendations in the comments on this post.

Thanks for reading ladies (& gents?)!! I'll be "seeing" you soon!
Robin