Dreaming of sheep

I finished Quaker Impressions by Smitten by Stitches on February 4, so I'm going to call it a blessings sampler because I could really use some good vibes these days!

This was my first time working with threads from Cottage Garden Threads, and while I love the colors and the rapid color changes in the variegated skeins, I do wish they would cut the threads longer than they currently do. They come pre-cut at about 20" long and I usually use lengths of at least 30", so it feels like a lot of extra starting and ending threads. But I'm very happy with the finished piece, as it's like a little bit of spring in the midst of a cold, snowy winter.

I also finally got around to adding a beaded hanger to The Giving Season by Val's Stuff, so it will be ready for my Christmas tree this year:

I would love to be working on Merry Merry by Mirabilia but my Murphy hurt his back on February 7 and is supposed to be resting, so he can't do the stairs to my craft room (and absolutely HATES to be carried!) and I don't really have a good spot upstairs for working on a design the size of a Mirabilia. I spent a couple of days just snuggling with him and not stitching at all, but as he started to feel better I brought out Amy Bruecken's 365 Days of Warm Wooly Welcomes, which I can work on while sitting at my kitchen counter. This is where I had left off last September:

This is a difficult one to work on, as I spent a lot of time with it while sitting with my mom in ERs and during her procedures last year; she even said how it would have a lot of "stuff" stitched into it, so it was hard to start on it again now. But it really made me happy last year, and I'm hoping that it will again as I get closer to a finish. Here are some progress photos from the past week:

The fabric looks weird in the last five photos, because they were taken in my kitchen instead of under my OttLite, which gives a truer color. I should be able to finish this one this week, which will be a bittersweet accomplishment. Murphy is on the doggy equivalent of bed rest for another week and a half, so I'll have to find another project I can work on upstairs after this one. Here's my little guy following doctor's orders:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!