I'm hoping that now I have an MP3 player I can actually get back to stitching a little more. I used to stitch every morning before work, on my breaks and usually a bit each evening as well. Lately I've been reading instead. Now I'm lucky if I stitch for an hour or two on weekends (usually while I'm watching movies). I'm a slow stitcher, so that means I don't get a lot done in an hour or two of work. Now that I am listening to podcasts and books I hope I can get back to stitching in the mornings before work at least (unless whatever I'm reading is so good I can't drag myself away...). I finally finished my first project of the year (it only took me two months!). It is a small design, measuring a mere 4" square. I am stitching it for someone who is going to give it to someone else as a gift. I'll be making it into a little cushion with a hanger, so I'll need to pull out my sewing machine sometime this week. Country Cottage Needleworks is the designer and it's called "Winter's Eve". I actually stitched this once before, but I was asked to make some color changes, so it looks a tad different this time around.
I am working on a project for myself, too. Since I am so tired of Winter and am so ready for Spring, I chose a 
design with nice, bright, pleasant colors. I started this ages ago, too, but I've finally gotten a burst of energy and have made enough progress, so it is starting to look like something. The design is by Trilogy and it is called "Secret Flower Bed". I'll be adding little bees and an inch worm and lots of vines and a few more flowers to it. It also has three tiny buttons, and I'll be making it into a little pillow (I think). Isn't the rabbit sort of cute? I'm not usually such a 'pink' sort of person, but it has been a nice contrast to dingy brown and gray, which is all I see out my windows these days.
One of my favorite designers is Carriage House Samplings. She is a very prolific designer, and I own 
loads of her charts. I only wish I could stitch them as fast as I have acquired them. Unlike books, however, I have slowed down considerably in buying needlework charts 
and other supplies in the last year or so. They can be very expensive and as I'm not stitching as much as I used to, I hate to keep adding to my stash. Anyway, Carriage House Samplings designs lots of samplers and folkish or primitive sorts of designs--with a very historical feeling to them. And I'm quite envious of 
where the designer lives! She has three very large designs out that are all in a similar vein. The first (top project in my photo) is "The Houses of hawk Run Hollow", a year or so later she came out with "The Village of Hawk Run Hollow" (bottom project in my photo), and just this year she's come out with "The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow". As you can see I started out pretty good, but I've not accomplished much on the second project. I am still waiting to get the chart in the mail for the newest design. Now I want to get back into the habit of working on these and try and finish at least one of them this year! They are all stitched on linen with a very high thread count, so it is slow going for me. I've never worn glasses, but I am actually happy to have some sort of magnifier when I am stitching, as it makes the work go smoother. I'll let you know how I progress.
I do have one bookish note to pass along. There's been a very good discussion of Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel going on here, and you can read some wonderful posts on the book here. I think most readers found Hagar Shipley to be a difficult character to like at times, but I think we've all agreed that Margaret Laurence did an excellent job of writing such a three dimensional character who could even elicit sympathy in her old age. For myself, I've found everyone's comments and posts very insightful. Everyone brings something different to the book and takes away something different as well. I was hoping that Kari Skogland, the director of the film adaptation, might be able to join us, but she might be too busy at the moment. She seemed enthusiastic about taking part in the discussion, and hopefully she'll still have a chance to share her thoughts. I've asked Iliana to choose our next book. I think she is going to put together a list of choices, so look for that soon.