First Bonjour Jolie Box

I received my very first Bonjour Jolie period box yesterday.  I was really excited about getting this.  I'm of an age where I won't need to worry about periods much longer, but figured until I do, may as well make them more comfortable.  For those of you who don't know what it is, Bonjour Jolie is a subscription service that sends you a box filled with the protection of your choice, some pampering items, yummy edibles, and a gift each month.  So what did I get in my first box?

The gift is a cute heart locket necklace.  I won't be able to put anything in the locket because it's a bit too fragile, but it's cute and I will wear it.

 The edibles are Hershey's kiss chocolates, Tootsie Rolls, a Russell Stover heart, a Moon Pie, and some chocolate teas.  Paul and I tried the Moon Pie.  I'm not a huge fan of marshmallow, but thought I'd give it a go anyway.  Is the graham cracker supposed to be soggy? Ewww, not a fan at all!  The tea that I tried last night was fabulous and I think I can get this brand in the grocery store here (supposed to be sold at Target too so I'll look there).  Teas and chocolates, thumbs up.  Moon Pie, gag.

The pampering products I got are some chocolate scented candles, chocolate scented hand soaps, chocolate scented bath salts, and a chocolate lip balm.  Also included in the box were some Advil packets and feminine wipes, which went straight into my purse.

And, of course, the protection products in the brands and types that I chose (you get to pick 25).

All in all, the box was nice, but I am a bit ambivalent about it.  Why?  Well, because it shipped in March to be delivered in March, but it was obviously the February box (proven by the card that was on top of it describing the contents that clearly stated February).  Shouldn't I have received the March box?  I kind of feel like I was shipped the leftovers from February.  Will I get the April box in April or will I always be a month behind?  I'm seriously considering canceling my subscription to Bonjour Jolie and trying Madame Ladybug next month.  Am I just being cranky because PMS has kicked in?  LOL

Anyway, back to craft content.  Finished some more puffs last night.

And, yesterday afternoon I finished another filler pattern.  Not sure I can get the other two done today since I'm about to head out the door for a massage appointment and mall visit, but next week should see this month's patterns completed.

Worked on the Chrysanthemum mittens last night until I got to the end of the thumb gusset.

I'm really liking these mittens.  They will keep my hands super warm.  They are knit at a really tight gauge and have a long cuff that will tuck nicely into the sleeve of my coat and stay there.  No more bit of wrist/arm that gets cold when you reach for something and the sleeve of your coat slides up.

Motifs and Mittens

Got another motif done, and added the metallic accents to all of the completed areas of blocks 4 & 5 yesterday.  Today I'll likely work on more of the filler patterns since they take longer than the motifs.  That will keep me busy until next week, when I'll finish the outlining for this row and complete the last 4 motifs

Got my puffs done last night.  I think I'm going to continue with 3 puffs per day for awhile and see if it becomes habit like making just one did.  I really want this blanket, but I'm not sure I can work on nothing but puffs during all my knitting time for months on end to get it, so concentrating on just this isn't the answer.

Pulled out the Chrysanthemum mitten last night and worked on it a bit too.  I haven't gotten quite as much done as I had before, but I do like this look much better.  No harsh line between cuff and hand anymore.  Now if I can just remember that on the chart, white blocks are red yarn, and dark blocks are white yarn lol.

Puffs and Filler Patterns

Three more puffs completed.  These seem to take up quite a bit more of my crafting time than I originally thought they would, but I don't really want to go back to just one per day.  Not sure what I'm thinking here.  Should I concentrate on this project exclusively?  Just bite the bullet, buckle down and get her done?  I'm kind of leaning that direction, but I'm afraid I'll get bored, set it aside, and not look at it for two years again.

I got 2 motifs and one filler pattern completed yesterday, with the exception of the metallic threads, which I'll probably get done today.  I think this month's patterns are going to go quickly.  That will leave me plenty of time to work on the other stitching projects I have going.

I will work on the Chrysanthemum mittens tonight.  Yesterday I took out the work I had done after the cuff so it's ready to be redone.  Thought about working on it last night, but I just never seem to be able to bring myself to work on something that I've had to take apart the same day as I've taken it apart.  Strange, but there you have it.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Yesterday I mentioned that it seemed to take forever to get my puffs done.  I think it seemed that way because I'm used to blogging early, and I was trying to get puffs done in between doing housework, laundry, and exercising.  So, I decided that I will make my puffs in the evening while watching TV and post photos in the morning.  So, yesterday I actually made 6 puffs instead of just 3!  I'm ready to start sewing them together, but I need to do that when Digit is napping somewhere.  I tried to lay some out to take a picture of what the start will look like, but he kept running up, grabbing a puff, and darting away.  Little brat.

As soon as I was done with the puffs last night, I pulled out the Save the Stitches piece and started on the next row(s) of outlining.  I may dedicate Mondays to working on the outlines until all of them are done.  It will be much more fun to just work on filler patterns and motifs when the new blocks are released.  Today I will start working on filler patterns and motifs.  I think I have enough outlining complete to keep me busy the rest of this week.

After stewing over the mitten situation yesterday, I've decided that I do want to take out the part where I reversed the colors.  I just don't like how it looks this way as much as I do the way it should be.  I will probably take it apart to the cuff tonight and start working on it again tomorrow.  I'll either work on the Save the Stitches piece or maybe start that Cat Cocoon tonight.

Bling!

I worked a bit more on the Chrysanthemum mittens last night.  I inadvertently switched my main and contrast colors when I was done with the cuff.  An understandable mistake when you consider that the main color, in my case red, is pictured in white boxes on the chart; and the contrast color, in my case white, is pictured in dark boxes.  Oops.  I don't think it looks horrible, so I'm considering just going with it, but part of me (the part that knows that this is a mistake) wants me to rip out what I've done on the body of the mitten and do it over.  I'll ruminate on it for the day and decide tomorrow what's to be done.

I got my 3 puffs done today, but it took the better part of the morning to get them done.  It just seemed like it took so long to do them.  I may switch to working on these in the evenings while watching tv.  I won't be stressed over what housework I'm not getting done that way.

I got a fair amount of work done on the mermaid cross stitch this weekend.  I'd say the chandelier is about 1/3 done now, and I was able to add quite a bit of bling to it before putting it up last night.

So I noticed that Amanda went searching around on the Needles & Thread blog checking out my next big project, and found one for herself.  Now I get to be the tagalong and copy her.  The piece she found (Crewel Rooster) is fabulous!  My kitchen, and part of my dining room, is done in chickens and roosters, so this will make a great piece for me to display in either room.  Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to get all these knit/crochet projects finished along with completing work on all these embroidery projects.

More Mittens

Three more puffs for today.

I finally got a good portion of the first Chrysanthemum mitten done.  Almost finished with the cuff.  I had a heck of a time with needles for this but eventually wound up using Knitpicks harmony dpns in size 1.  I was originally going to do these in 3 colors, but decided I really like the look of just two.

Now back to my mermaid cross stitch.  I need to work on her more on the weekends or I'm never going to have her done.  I'm starting to have a list of wips for stitching that is as long, or longer, than my list of wips for knitting/crocheting.  Not a good thing.  Sigh.

A Three Puff Kind Of Day

Today is March 1, and that marks my first day of making 3 puffs instead of 1 per day.  I should be able to start sewing these together soon.  Instead of a rectangle, I'm considering making this a hexagon blanket.  Starting in the center with one puff, then adding rounds of puffs around it.  I think I'll start it off that way, and just change it if I don't like it later by adding puffs in the right places to make it rectangular.

Last night I started on the Quilty Stitches Sampler.  Didn't get a lot done, but did get the first square done with the exception of the border.  This isn't going to get worked on very much in the near future.  The next 2 blocks have been released for the Save the Stitches piece.  I don't want to fall behind on that, so I will work on it during the day until it's done, then I can pull this out again.

I started working on my Chrysanthemum mittens today, but the needles I was using were way too big.  Had to take it apart and will start over on size 0's.  I haven't been too much in the mood to knit or crochet lately.  It's been all about the embroidery and I've been hard pressed to make sure I work on some of my knitting projects too.  There are 2 projects this month that I want to get done, 3 if the crochet mood strikes me.  The Chrysanthemum mittens (Ravelry Link) are the first, and a Cat Cocoon (Ravelry Link) is the second.  If I get those done and think I still have time in the month to get something else done, I'll make a couple of Crochet Spring Bunnies (Ravelry Link) as gifts.

I've started ordering supplies to join in on the Secret Garden embroidery project that is on the Needles & Thread blog.  The coloring book and some stretcher bars are on their way to my house soon.  This will be the most in depth embroidery piece I've made so I want to take it nice and slow.  I'll probably get the rest of the supplies needed towards the end of the month and start this in April.  That way, I'll be a bit behind the blog and can take advantage of questions asked by other participants.