Wowser, what a day for mail! First, my long-lost Silkweaver order arrived. Hooray! It contained a nice cut of Days Gone By, Light Sand, Black Forest (this is so gorgeous IRL), and my long-anticipated R&R Hog Wild. Which was such a huge disappointment that I contacted Silkweaver - can you see those nasty rust-brown streaks and patches? I have other R&R fabrics and I'm familiar with the distressed appearance, but this just looked dirty and damaged. Silkweaver has said that all the recent Hog Wild has come in this way, but they're willing to refund it if I return it. What do you think? I could do A Pennsylvania German Stocking (CHS) on it. Or is this rusty brown mottling just too much?

Secondly, and even better, a lovely packet from Cathy arrived. I was expecting something from her, as she'd said she would pick up a tin pin for me for the Miss Mary Mack SAL we're doing. However, when I opened the package, I nearly fell over from surprise at goodies inside! Cathy, you are just so sweet! She sent us some cocoa for the kids (who've reluctantly agreed to wait till tomorrow for it), a delightful Sheepish Designs chart that will look perfect in the nursery, a DT freebie and the fabric so we can do a SAL (I am really going to learn some new stitches for this piece!), and the tin pin. I'm speechless. It was so unexpected and such a kindness! Thank you, Cathy!

And speaking of the Miss Mary Mack SAL, I did not start yesterday due to worn out eyes - I wore my new contacts for far too long - but I did get started today. After reading in Chelle's blog that she was stitching it petit point, I decided to do the same. I'm doing another project over one on 36 (or 38?) ct linen and the full cross stitches are a bit bulky. I'm not too thrilled with her shoes - I think they may need full crosses, but the dress has reasonable coverage. I'm doing this on a Silkweaver Solo, 40 ct Newcastle, using the bluest "Black Crow" skein I have. for reference, I've left in my size 28 petite needle. It's a fun stitch, but not one I'll be able to do at night. I need a magnifying lens!



We are back to our version of normalcy, so life is loud and busy and chaotic. It is very strange to think that someday these wee beasties of ours will be busy individuals with their own lives.