My First Start of the New Year

I picked started Winter Woodland today from p68 of the 2023 Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornament issue. 

The fabric is a 34ct linen from my stash. I didn't have either of the green colours and didn't want to do the deer with Kreinik metallic thread so I substituted an antique gold DMC floss and two other greens (DMC 3362 and 3363)  as suggested by the Cody Hoover floss tool.  This is my attempt to 'shop from my stash' and I have no trouble making substitutions for floss colours for something small like this ornament. I did have DMC 898 which will be used to outline the tree.

I also picked up my scrappy Excavation blanket that I hadn't touched in a couple of months. This blanket is knit with odd lots of primarily worsted weight acrylic yarn with some wool and even DK weight yarns. I guess I've really got my knitting mojo back. Half of it is done and I'm well into the other half. When it's completed, I'll graft the two halves together. It's to be a blanket for the car. Right now I have my hexagon blanket knit with Noro Silk Garden yarn in there and I don't want it to get dirty or wrecked.

It's too nice to be kicking around in the car.

I tend to do stitching in the daytime at the dining room table. The light is pretty good there and I set up my iPad so I can watch Netflix or YouTube videos or listen to audiobooks while Skip is hogging in the family room watching TV during the day. The knitting has been great at night because I can watch TV easier and my eyes don't get as tired.

My lunch with Lorna yesterday was very nice. We sat for a couple of hours after we finished eating and got a good gab in. Coincidentally another friend I hadn't seen in ages was having a family lunch two tables over with two of her sisters, their spouses, and her two daughters and one of her grandchildren. Sheila lives even farther east of The Big City than I do. Of all the restaurants in The Big City, what are the odds that we'd both be at the same one at the same time on the same day??? Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket - LOL. 

Today Skip and I had a good day. I took Skip to a non-hospital appointment and afterwards he suggested getting something to eat with some coffee. We tried Coffee Culture but it was packed so we exited and went to our local Tim Horton's where there were lots of empty tables to choose from. Skip is feeling a lot better since not having cancer treatment since December 12 or cancer-killing drugs pumped into him since mid-November. And when we got home, he didn't automatically pass out on the couch from exhaustion. It's so nice to see these improvements in his energy level and quality of life. 

He's leery about being out in crowded places in public due to his immune compromised situation so there are still some restrictions that way but he's game for some modest outings - especially since we haven't yet been hit with an Arctic blast or piles of snowfall.

We'll take all the positives we can get.