So, I haven't posted in ages. I haven't done a whole lot, that's why. It was a crazy and not so great year for the first couple months. Now things are finally getting better. I'm stuck on the head of the second monkey I'm crocheting. I've come to the conclusion I don't terribly like crochet and so it's taking a lot to want to do anything on it. But it's a gift that's way late so I need to get back to it and hopefully will soon. I did knit a little cat stuffie from Ysolda's free patterns. I want to make more of them since it knit up really easy. I also have a pattern for a stuffed elephant I got from Ysolda too that I really want to do but can't even figure out the different sort of cast on she's using... I'm nearly finished with the cross stitch that's been occupying my time. It's of Ferruzzi's Mother and Child and the kit was missing a color or it would be done already. It's a late birthday gift for my aunt since it's one of the pictures from my grandma's holy cards and I didn't think my dad would appreciate it so much. I want to make him something like it though since she was his mom too... I started this little crewel kit but it's not going so well really. The count of the fabric is too big I think and so curves aren't terribly curved. I just finished The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin and started The Monsters by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. It's about the writing of Frankenstein and The Vampyre and the night that started it all. So far it's been interesting, but I'm not even a chapter into it yet. I need to get back to Persuasion though. I started it after watching the Masterpiece version (which I then rushed out and bought) but stalled with it after my grandma's death and haven't gotten back to it. I want to read all 6 Austen novels in the order Masterpiece ran them (my own quirk...), but have yet to really start. I'm not sure that I'll include Pride & Prejudice since I read it recently and I didn't watch it on Masterpiece since I own it. They were all so good though, but I'm a sucker for Austen... I adored the new version of Sense & Sensibility...