Stitchery and books

Hi! I hope everyone is staying warm tonight. It's quite cold in the South right now. We are definitely not used to extreme cold weather for such long periods of time!

I made some progress on my WIP 4 Saisons last Saturday. I didn't have a chance to show you a picture until now.


Design: 4 Saisons by Anagram Diffusion
Fabric: 32 ct olive green Belfast
Threads: DMC 5200 and 498
Start: Block 2 - January 2, 2010

Not too bad for a half a day of stitching while watching Christy on dvd ;) I usually always watch some sort of period drama while stitching.

In addition to my stitching, I've been reading during the evenings after work. I've read the following books so far this month:

1. Steampunk by Ann VanderMeer - a collection of short stories under the literary genre of steampunk. My favorite was Victoria by Paul Di Filippo. It is a shame that the story wasn't a full-scale novel. I love the author's wit and humor.

2. Hana Kimi manga volumes 1-23 by Hisaya Nakajo - a cute story following the adventures of Mizuki Ashiya, a girl who has disguised herself in order to enroll in an all-boys school to be friends with her favorite high-jumper, Izumi Sano. I borrowed this series from one of my friends. I've heard from my friends that there are two TV drama adaptations of this series, one Japanese and the other Taiwanese. I can't wait to watch them after reading this delightful story!

3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Coyle Donan - When I was growing up, I always meant to read Sherlock Holmes, but I never got around to it. I read this collection in about two days.

Currently reading:

1. Spice and Wolf by Isuna Hasekura - the story of Kraft Lawrence, a traveling merchant and his (mis)adventures with the wolf-goddess Holo.

Future reading:

1. The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - a collection of all the short stories and one novel that were published by the British magazine The Strand from 1891 to 1905. I picked up this book from the library after work today. I was hoping that it would have the first Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet, but no luck there. After I'm finished reading this collection, I'll have to hunt down a copy of A Study in Scarlet.

Aside from books, I am on the hunt for Valentine's designs to cross stitch for the SAL that I belong too. I haven't come across anything yet. I had stopped by my LNS last Saturday, but I didn't see anything that caught my eye. I did buy some lovely pink shades of Anchor thread while I was there though ;)

Hopefully, I'll have better luck this weekend finding some nice designs to stitch. I hope to work on my WIP too!

Until next time ^____^ Happy reading/stiching!!