Hello from another new member

Hi.  I'm Carole and am excited to be here.  This is not just my first post on this blog but my first post ever in a blog.  I've been stitching for a long time, but discovered HAED just a little over 2 years ago through another forum and became addicted in nanoseconds.  I was a one piece at a time stitcher then.  Now I have 8 HAED WIPs (and a few non HAEDs) going and have never loved stitching more.

Thought I would start by showing my 2 finishes.  I did this one last year for my sister's birthday.

This is mini Amethyst by Rachel Anderson.  Tent stitched on 25 ct lugana or jobelan.  It's her birthstone and I loved stitching it.
It wasn't my first HAED, but my first finish.  I discovered with this one that I love mini's and have several going on now.  Generally if I am stitching a piece meant to be a gift, if its a mini there is a chance I might finish it in this lifetime.


                    Bookend Kitties from the 2012 Freebie SAL
                    Stitched 1 over 1 on 22ct Hardanger













My first HAED was Burden by Krystal Camprubi.  Stitched initially on 25 ct evenweave 2 over 1.  I learned soooooo much from this one.  After spending a year stitching 6 1/2 pages of almost completely black background I found that when I got to the confetti heavy gold chain in the chart I could not get the needle through the fabric.  Two strands was clearly 1 strand to many for the way I stitched.  I had only tested it with the DMC black and didn't check what confetti would mean for me.  Rather than just put it in the back of a drawer.  I decided to start over.  I had been doing several others at 1 over 1 on 25 ct by now I had invested in a magnilight and opted for 28 ct lugana 2 over 1 tent stitch.  Perfect for me.  I am now up to pages 4 and 5 (both are almost all black).  The pic is through page 3.

My newest start is Annya Kai's Giraffe Silhouette started on 8/30/13 in the new Starts SAL.  Not much to see as I didn't get to stitch as much as I wanted last week, but am still working on it and should have more to show in my next post.

As I work on my rotation, I will post those pictures then. Thank you all for letting me share my work with you all.  Now if I can figure out how to end with my signature, I will post this one.  If not signature shows up, I'll be sending Louanne an email.