using your knuckles

i did a small rendition of the "30 days have September" sing-song to my Mom last month. i only say the first 3 lines. then i showed her that thing i do with my knuckles. i don't remember who showed this to me. but i was really young. and i am guessing that it was not my Mom. have you done this. make a fist. and use your finger to point to the first knuckle. then the space between your next knuckle. and so on. while saying the months starting with January. all the months that land on a knuckle have 31 days. and all the months that land on the space between have 30 days. except February. which everyone knows has 28 or 29. when you get to your last knuckle. July. 31. you go back to your first knuckle. August. 31.

just signed up for Mollie's stitch swap. it closes later today. so not too late. you stitch something in a 4 in. hoop and send it ready to hang. tomorrow i should be receiving the March design for The Dessert of the Month Club for March. i'm guessing that it will include something green. my start on the January cottage was posted yesterday for The Cottage Stitch-A-Long. i am in The Cottage Stitch-A-Long 2. and i am absolutely in love with another design that has a stitch-a-long. which you can see better here. holding back for now. because i am considering joining the Garden Steps Quilt Along. what are you doing on your extra day.

Hoop Travel Bag

since starting The Dessert of the Month Club it was obvious i would make a Hoop Travel Bag. both patterns come from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery store. and i saw this one first. i paired a brand new modern oval with a retro sheet. not sure i like my "k" embroidery. not sure it needs it. or why i don't like it. so i may take it off. a bit puffy because i used 2 layers of batting. it does feel good. but next i will use 1 layer of batting or a woven interfacing. i say next because you really can't have too many of these.yeah to me. doing the happy dance to have come up with this awesome-zipper-pull on my own. that is until someone tells me i did not. if you want to do this. take 3 strands of 26 in. cotton knitting yarn. or not so much if you want it smaller. thread thru hole in zipper pull. and straighten until you have 6 ends together. separate yarns so that you have the 2 ends that belong to each other. braid until you like the length. place a knot in the end. snip the tassel even across. or if you are a free-spirit. leave it be. all raggedy.

The Dessert of the Month Club

meet The Champagne Truffle and Devil's Food Cupcake. aren't they cute!! i haven't done cross stitch for years. but sure had been thinking about it. i found luscious linens at my local thread shop. but since i was never good at counting threads. i'm using Aida. picked the 18 to keep it really small. for info see Amanda on her hey porkchop! blog or Amanda and Ashleigh of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery store.