Nothing like a cold day to inspire a post

I've been meaning to post about my fun new craft project, crewel needlework! I can't remember how I found out about it, but I was so impressed with all of the projects featured on Wool & Hoop's site that I bought the book, "The New Crewel" for my Mom as a birthday present. Little did I know that just a few days later I'd be getting a copy of my own for Christmas! When the fam was here, we women bought the supplies needed (although, I'll warn you, it is nearly impossible to find crewel wool, the thread that is supposed to be used for these projects, at least around here!). I did find some great online sites, but my sister and I actually ended up using regular embroidery thread for our projects. We had actually bought an entire kit for my Mom, so she had the right stuff. Still, I think ours looked pretty dang good for being first attempts! Here's how mine turned out:

The colors are a little bit more bold in person. An apple-y green, turquoise blue, and deep chocolate brown. I'm thinking I might do a few different versions of the same pattern but playing around with the color scheme and frame them all together. Might be fun decorations for the nursery!

Speaking of nursery and all things baby, I'm officially in the second trimester now at 15 weeks! It's AMAZING the difference in morning sickness between "then" and now. I actually cooked dinner last night! I think it was the first time in three months! And yes, this is a lot for the girl who usually loves to cook and bake. Here's a shot of the Garbanzo so far, or at least how it looks on the outside:

One of the really strange things I've noticed lately? My belly button! No, it hasn't popped, but it's OVAL! Not only that but it's a horizontal oval, as in stretches left to right, not up and down. So crazy...