Stitching Daze

Oldest UFO (and Frogs!)

2012-01-31T11:07:00.000-08:00

I've been suffering - well, not too badly - from frog attacks this week. Only one project had what I felt was a major problem, but everything I worked on this week had to have a little repair.

First was my oldest UFO, which my mum told me was the carousel horse. I dunno how she remembered that, but she did. I took it out and did some gridding and discovered that there was a counting mistake, which is probably the reason I put it away all those years ago. So I frogged and restitched and it went from this

to this

which isn't exactly a lot. But since I haven't picked it up since the late 1990's or early 2000's, a little is still a good thing.

Fred had some improvement - all the dark red on his books is done. I've switched to working on the shelf beneath the books, then I'm going back to the light red & black to finish those books off.

I only had to frog about a row and a half of the last book. No biggie.

Then there was my Sunday stitching on my eagle. I decided to do an eagle color next - whatever was the first color in the top left corner, for the wings. Turned out to be the darkest color, and also, like the pale blue last time, there was very little of it.

Unfortunately, what little there was seemed to be all fractionals, which drive me right 'round the bend when they're like this, because I always seem to stitch them wrong and have to redo, and this time was no exception. But I got the color done with minimal frustration.

Then, there was Mudkip.

Oh, Mudkip...

Can you tell what's wrong with this picture?

If you guessed that he's THE WRONG FLIPPIN' COLOR, you're quite right. My only excuse for this mix up, since I know what color Mudkip is, is that I was engrossed in watching something absolutely riveting, meaningful, and important at the time.

Those are the right words for old episodes of 'Scooby Doo, Where Are You?', right?

Here's Mudkip after his frogging operation

Much better - and I have to admit I wasn't all that mad about this frogging. I laughed a whole lot, instead.

I'm off now - going to see if I can't finish up Mudkip this evening for three small January finishes. I would say it was totally do-able, but I have to go to the bank and the post office and then take my mother to a wake... so we'll see.

All Done with Starts

2012-01-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

My CJC list of starts is finally all wrapped up - I started #15 yesterday.

It's Arcade Alphabet from DorkStitch

And here's my start

In between all these starts, I've been working away at Fred, but now I'll really be focusing on him. The starts were a lot of fun, but it'll be nice to get back to a regular rotation.

IHSW - The Start of Something New (and TUSAL)

2012-01-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

Namely, my QS Lovers.

I didn't get much done, since Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days of the week for me, but here's the little bit I did get done:

Three shades of grey for the background/sky.

And the pattern pic, since it's been a tiny little while:

I think this will be my IHSW project all year long, just to see how that goes. Maybe I can actually finish one whole page, lol!

*EDIT*
Forgot to add my TUSAL pic, with my new (rather old) ort jar posing with some filled ort jars.

A Lot of Stuff

2012-01-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

I completely forgot about posting for awhile! Don't know where my brain went...

Here's the result of Sunday's stitching on 'God Bless America'

I got the first shade of blue done. There was surprisingly little of it, so it wasn't very hard.

I also finished up the poinsettia stocking:

And here's my next few starts for Crazy January

#12 - Home is Where the Cat Is

#13 - Emy from Hazel's Farm

#14 - Bunniez!, also from Hazel's Farm

I plan to stitch three or four of them in a row, instead of a square. I haven't decided what colors the others will be, yet, except that I'm leaning towards a grey one.

This leaves me with one more start for Crazy January; it will probably be started Monday unless I get a little more time to stitch than I think tomorrow. Over the weekend I will be doing IHSW! If you haven't signed up, you should!!! I plan to start and work on my HAED SAL project, QS Lovers.

Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven

2012-01-14T17:32:00.000-08:00

Start #8

Dimensions Gold Petite 'Voyage at Sea' sometimes just called 'Voyage'

It's hard to see but I did some of the lightest color of background half-cross. About two needlesfull, but it finished up all in the first 1/4 of the chart. Sometimes my fabric marker fades really fast and sometimes it shows up for days. It just depends on what kind of material it's on.

Start #9

The second half of my 30 Tiny Stockings Kit - the ones in the blue boxes are the ones I have left.

Almost finished this poinsetta! It needs 1 & 1/2 shades of red and the backstitching done.

Start #10

Prairie Schooler's 1985 Santa

Got some border done.

Start #11

Dimensions Gold Petite 'The Ugly Duckling'

I only spent about half an hour on this today. I had to work and now Fred is screaming my name. Four starts left to go! Tomorrow is Sunday and I've decided to work on 'God Bless America' on Sundays. I'm doing that one color by color, and I think I'll work on the lightest shade of blue next, just for the contrast. I've only finished the lightest shade of red so far. It's the project with the eagle and the flag.

Start #7 and a Sale

2012-01-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here is my start for Day Seven:

Cardinal Song, a HAED QS by Sara Butcher

I got a small bit of one feather done. This one is going on my rotation with Fred as soon as all my Crazy January starts are done.

Also, Witch Stitch & Bits is having a sale! 20% off their already really low prices :D It's only for another day or so, though. I went ahead and got three more off my wishlist, and the total for all three was less than $6. The charts I've already gotten look pretty good, so I think these will turn out well.

Sea of Love

The blue at top is a bit pixellated but I think I can smooth it.

Sioux Cheif

I have a piece of mottled brown evenweave I can stitch him on and not have to do all the background! Yay!

and Wolf of the Trees

which is just wickedly cool.

So three more for my bucket list. And now my #8 start is calling me! I'll be back soon!

Got my HAED Sal Rewards!

2012-01-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

I won't be starting any of these right away, but I'm so happy to get them! These are my reward charts for posting enough WIP pics during the freebie SALs - if you posted enough, you got the other charts that you didn't choose at the beginning.

For stitching Ice Wind, I got SKs of Phaun, Rapunzel, and Treasures:

For stitching Rapture, I got QSs of Terra, Little One Lost, Fragile Heart, Faerie Bride, Curl Up with a Good Book, and Blue Rose:

If I start any of these any time soon, it will probably be Blue Rose, but for now I just need to actually finish some more of my HAED SALs! And start the new 2012 one, too!

WIPocalypse and CJC

2012-01-09T18:55:00.001-08:00

Frederick the Literate is my first focus piece for the WIPocalypse. Here's the progress I've made in between Crazy January starts - some work on the Six Red Books ~~of Doom~~ .

I'm planning to finish all the dark red on them, then switch to another color somewhere else.

Here's my last three CJC starts -

Day Four did indeed turn out to be part of the conspiracy, as this is for the Goth Chick:

I got all of the first shade of brown done and a bit on the huge blue screen.

Day Five was the first that Gothy is not getting her mitts on! This is a chibi-style Severus Snape from Hazel's Farm and he's mine.

Well, someday when he's all grown up, he's mine! He'll go quick once all the starts are over.

And Day Six (I'm a few days behind) was this cute lil' kit:

I got a fair bit done for a workday.

It's a Conspiracy!

2012-01-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

On Day One, the Goth Chick drew 'Mudkip', which is for her.

On Day Two, there was nobody else around so I drew one myself, and it was 'Gothic Hello Kitty' from Hazel's Farm

Which is for the Goth Chick, who is very fond of Hello Kitty.

Not that much of a start, because I felt like working on Fred that day.

For Day Three, I got my Mum to draw one. She pulled out 'Cats Have Slaves'

This happens to be for the Goth Chick's husband, who is one of the few males I know who is unashamedly in love with cats. Three projects in a row for the Goth Chick's new house! (She's moving in May, probably). It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!

That's my progress. There were a lot more fractionals than I expected for a Janlynn kit, especially with that 'V' in 'have'. And the pic on the front of the kit was nothing like the chart. I hate that. My finger is sore, from shoving the needle through aida. But I like the way it came out. And my love affair with my marking pen continues. I love it so very much!!! My brain would have died if I'd had to count over for 'Dogs', and I would have had to frog several times, I know. I've done it before.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring? Another for the Goth Chick?

Starting the Year with a Start

2012-01-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

It's Crazy January time again!

Fifteen starts this month - I don't know if I'll do them all in the first fifteen days like I did last year or not - so it will be a fun, fun month!

Here is Day One's start. I put all the names of the projects in a hat and let the Goth Chick pull the first one out. She picked one that is for her... I'm kinda suspicious... lol!

It's Mudkip, from the DorkStitch blog. Here's how the finished project will look.

And here's my very cute start. He fits nicely in a 7 inch hoop.

I also had a finish yesterday - I saved it for January First because I wanted one on New Years Day since I want a lot of finishes this year. No, I'm not superstitious, why do you ask?

First Snow, a freebie by Drawn Thread. The specialty stitches were fun - three different types of Pine Stitch for the tree and all the snowflakes are Smyrna Crosses.

I also did this yesterday, which was heaps of fun! Literally!

Sorted out a huge pile of floss into its proper project container.

I got floss for QS Lovers

Which is my HAED stitch-a-long this year.

Snowing

Which will be my first start from Witch Stitch

and a lot of floss for Sprites from the above-mentioned Dork Stitch blog! There are soooooo many new ones I want to do :D

Those are some bright colors!

I got three nice-sized pieces of fabric, some needles, a skien of grey yarn, and more floss for some small projects. Surprisingly, there were no kits that I just had to have. That's a first for a JoAnn's trip!

So I had a really fun New Years. How about you guys?

I'll post my new rotation soon!

Finishing the Year with a Finish

2011-12-31T16:51:00.000-08:00

It is done!

'Nautical'
A sampler (those flags are the alphabet & numbers) by ColorCharts
Stitched with DMC on light blue 14ct
Appx 14x14 inches
Started a LONG time ago.

Isn't it pretty?

And my tradition is still going strong - finishing up the year by finishing up a project.

Tomorrow I have to be very good; family tradition is that what you do on New Year's Day is what you'll do all year long. So I'll be starting something (Crazy January starts tomorrow, after all!), possbily finishing something, doing some self-improving, and spending some time with family.

And posting some stitching resolutions here :D

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

Two More Colors for Nautical

2011-12-29T14:01:00.001-08:00

I have stitched all the blue and all the white. The white is a little tough to see but the backstitching will show it.

Only red and black to go!

More Goodies

2011-12-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

I got two gift cards for Christmas - one is reserved for a trip to JoAnns for floss.
The other I was specifically told to get patterns :D
I'm very obedient - yes, I am!
So I got those HAEDs in the last post, and I've spent the last on these:

Julie posted about this site, and I decided to try them out and see how good their patterns are, because they are beautifully cheap! They're all shown in virtual stitches so as long as the color blends turn out, most of them should be very nice. Some are a little too patchy and pixellated for me, but I liked these (and put about eight more on a wishlist)

Snowing

This looks exactly like my cat Audio!

Night Hunter

The Goth Chick will try to steal this one

Looking West

I love these colors!

Then patternsonline.com was having a sale, so I got the last four of the EMS Animal Babies that I ~~wanted~~ needed. Now I have the whole collection of the animals, but I still need two of the Snowbabies. I got most of them when they used to be free; I've had to buy very few.
I got Snail Baby, Moose Baby, Parrot Baby, and Catepillar Baby.

I'm in a very happy-stash place right now! I need to get some fabric, but I'm hoping for a little Christmas bonus from work for that. JoAnn's doesn't have very much of the smaller counts, which is what I want, but I will be getting a lot of floss on my trip!

I also made a small payment on the HAED layaway I had... now my gift card is allllll gone.

I'll show you my progress on Nautical tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Christmas Presents & TUSAL

2011-12-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

The Goth Chick bought me a HAED!

Disarmed by Sessler

And my brother got me this:

And I used a gift card to get these:

Captive Heart and Bluebird Masquerade, both by Sessler. It's possible that she's my favorite :D

Hope everyone got exactly what they were hoping for this holiday!!!

PS - Almost forgot the TUSAL! Already late XD

One jar full to the brim thanks to a final total of 11 hats!

The Juliet Dress (almost done)

2011-12-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

I still didn't get a very good picture of the Juliet dress - my house is just not bright enough, even in daytime with the lights on. And there was no way I was taking it outside!

Anyway, this is the original Juliet dress - remember?

My sister, The Goth Chick, fell in love with those sleeves. She just wanted the dress 'a little longer'.

Which eventually became floor length.

I was almost done when she asked how difficult it would be to make it flare out... sort of like this:

No problem, not really. Just some increases, I thought. Then I realized regular increases wouldn't work with the stitch pattern, so I made it into five evenly-spaced sort-of flares? I don't know how to describe it. Here's what they look like:

Then Goth-y asked me about adding a bit of a train, like this:

I told her I could, but not that long because it would get filthy and torn unless I made some sort of lining for it, and the stitch pattern for Juliet is not sturdy enough to attach a lining. So as of early this morning Juliet looked like this:

The Goth Chick wants it to flare out below her knees, which it does because I made her try it on so I could see where to start the train. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but it was too dim in my mum's house for pics, anyway. As of right now, I need two more rows to finish the train, then two more rows around the bottom of the whole skirt for the trim. Then...

It's done. And I will be so very happy.

And the Goth Chick will look like she's wearing this:

a la Morticia Addams.

And she'll be so very happy. I promise pics!

More Hats

2011-12-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

I waited until too late in the day to get a good picture of the Juliet dress, so it'll have to be tomorrow for that post.

In the meantime, here are some more hats.

Another for my SIL (sister in law)

This one is for the Goth Chick

And this one is for the Goth Chick's Husband

(I apparently deleted the front view of this one, and it's already wrapped. But it's very cute. In a, um, manly way. Really.)

IHSW

2011-12-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

Right - it's been a loooooooooong time since I posted!
I've been working extra hours at my job and this month - I have barely cross-stitched at all.
All my extra time has been taken up with the Juliet dress and the HATS! that my family must have :D

So for IHSW I made sure I had exactly enough time to sit and stitch all the yellow that was left on my Nautical sampler.

Not much, I know, but at least some!
I'll be able to get this done as soon as my presents are finished and they alllmost are.

I did this for the weekend, too - turned this stack:

Into this:

I made a hat earlier this week:

So here's the set. This is for my SIL

I'll be showing more hats and stuff as the week goes on! Don't want too many pics in one post! Tomorrow I'll show you what's going on with Juliet.

The Oldest UFO SAL

2011-11-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

EvalinaMaria is hosting an SAL for stitching your oldest UFO - you can get info here. I am very much joining this one, although I may not be able to start until 2012. I really want to get Fred done so he's going to take up most of my stitching time after I wrap up the few presents I have left.

I have a problem with this SAL, though - I don't remember which of my UFO's is the oldest! I was sure it was this one:

Then I went rummaging through my craft room while looking for something else and pulled out this one:

And I distinctly remember that they were bought at the same store, somewhere in the same time period, and therefore were probably started about the same time.

So now I have to pick - which horse? I don't know if I should take a wild guess, let someone else pick, pull a name out of a hat, or what? But either would be fun to work on, though that Gentleman & His Lady is a heck of a lot more complicated. Which one would you guys pick to do first?

Shelves and Sailors

2011-11-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

That's what I've been working on all week - well, except for holidays!

Fred has much more shelving done - last time the boring shelves were what made me put him away - actually, both times that he's been put away, it was because of the shelves. So I'm pretty happy that they're getting much closer to being done! The middle shelf is completely finished.

And I stitched tiny sailor men for my Nautical Sampler

Four of 'em. I also backstitched the ropes on the anchors and I like it a lot better. Since I knew the white wouldn't show up well, I backstitched the sailors' hats and the edges of the collars after I put the little black thingie on the top. (What would you call those things, anyway? I think they are a tab or a loop to hang up the hat? Or just for show?)

I am so in the home stretch with this one! Just some flags and border left! And a lot of black backstitching. But it has to go aside for a day or two since I need a November update pic of Rapture for the HAED BB and I actually haven't touched it this month. Oops.

TUSAL

2011-11-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

This would have made a better pic closer to Halloween - if I had thought of it. I guess... is Lizzie Borden macabre enough for Halloween?

Here's my collection of orts in front of part of my more morbid collection.

I'm determined to someday have every book about Lizzie Borden that there is. Some of them are old and/or hard to find.

IHSW for November

2011-11-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

I decided to keep working on Fred for the weekend - I still have hopes of finishing him off this year.
*crosses fingers*
Anyway - Fred now has a complete bum!

And I've started the work on those six red books in the bottom corner. I'll be going back and forth between them and the dreaded shelves for a while, possibly with a bit of the bird thrown in to keep my interest. We'll see how it goes!

I also finished two crocheted hats. These are for my dad for Christmas. He's bald, and on blood thinners, so his poor head gets very cold. I usually make him one of these, at least, every year, and by the next Christmas he's needing a new one. Last year, however, I made him a balaclava, so now he really needs a new hat! His old one has shrunk so much from being washed that it's halfway up his forehead, lol!

Here's the first - a slightly loose stitch with a nice ridge pattern to make it fit snugly. This is for when the weather is a little warmer or he wants to wear it during the day. I put a crab-stitch edging on it which looks like picots in the pic, but won't when he's wearing it. The finished hat was a little loose at the edge, so I added the crab-stitch to make sure it would stay on snugly.

The second one is a much thicker, plain double-crochet stitch. It's for cold days or to sleep in at night - yes, he sleeps in them at night. He used to have a quilted one that originally went under a helmet or was for hunting - I don't know - but it wouldn't stay on his head at night and he'd wake up with a head cold. So these are much better!

And that's two more prezzies off the list, which is lovely! On to my nephew's much more complicated hat!

How to Join the HAED freebie SAL

2011-11-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

**Edit**
I completely missed the info that the HAED board is not accepting new members right now. Sorry about that! Thanks for the info, Rachel! So I guess no one new to the board can sign up. But there's always the next one!

**Edit Again**
I think sign-ups will be accepted again after the first or the third of December... I'll have to check but Yuku isn't letting me sign back in right now.

If you're already a member of the HAED BB, the post with sign-up info is in the General Discussion. It's tagged to stay at the top.

Rachel - good choice! I think that's the prettiest, though the tiger came a very, very close second!

PS - I found this pic in some vacation photos - it's a little road in the country where a huge, ancient willow tree has been trimmed so that you can drive under it - we thought it was really pretty. Most people would have cut it much further back or even down altogether. I'm glad to see this lovely old tree only got a bit of a haircut!

2012 HAED freebie SAL - yay!

2011-11-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

The lady who usually does the Freebie SALs has retired, and won't be doing them any more. I was really worried that there wouldn't be one for 2012 but the pics were up yesterday!

I was really undecided between two of them, but I finally settled on this one just because of the rarity of there being a guy in the pic :D

QS Lovers

Also I really, really like his hair. He looks very elvish to me, and I love that.

These were the other choices, which I will earn if I post six different WIP pics in 2012.

The tiger is the other one I almost chose. But I want to work on one of my tiger kits for the WIPcolypse, and two tigers might have befuddled my barely-working brain. Or my nonexistent patience. So I will earn that lovely thing, and start it in 2013.

This will make my fifth freebie SAL and my third year of joining the freebie SALs.

Surprise Stash!

2011-11-16T23:53:00.000-08:00

Look what my mailperson brought me :D

I had no idea these were coming - they were found at an auction house by a relative and mailed to me O__O

I didn't even know this particular relative knew I stitched! Or that I loved these kits! I am in happy-stash-shock!!!

Two Trees

2011-11-15T19:58:00.000-08:00

I really, really, really wasn't going to start anything else this year, and I think I lasted an amazingly long time (for me, anyway) in sticking to that.

But it couldn't last forever.

I love a SAL, and I've been wanting to expand a little into specialty stitches, so I decided to try out the Tree of Stitches I've seen on so many blogs, and Julie's showing pics. Luckily I made it in to the group before it was removed. It's supposed to be for sale soon. I'll be honest, at first I didn't like it much when the pics started showing up, but I think I was affected by the fact that the first two I saw were in really, really icky color combinations. Or at least, icky combos to me. Someone must have liked them, obviously!

But then I started thinking about cherry trees. I love a cherry tree in full bloom. I love eating the cherries later, too, but that pink-white-red against a blue sky - or better yet, a stormy sky - is one of my favorite things. Odd, since pink is not nearly my favorite color. So anyway, I thought I'd try out ToS as a cherry tree.

Here's my inspiration: a cherry tree rumored to be 400 years old!

Here's my fabric - it was an experiment to see what tie-dyeing would do to cross stitch fabric. The Goth Chick says it looks 'violent'. I liked it but never had any idea what to do with it until now. I think it makes a fairly decent disaster-storm sky.

Here's my basic floss toss - there's an owl, a bunny, and some flowers to be decided on later. I'm using DMC varigated since I'm poor right now XD

And here's my start; one dark-wood cherry tree trunk.

I'll be stitching this on Tuesday only, and I don't expect to finish it until next year.

My other tree was started out of the vast need I have to carry some sort of stitching with me. I only have two projects left that I'm determined to finish this year, Nautical and Frederick, and they are both fairly big, so I wanted something small to take around with me.

I chose The Drawn Threads freebie 'First Snow'

This is my start. I changed the colors a bit and also how many threads I'm using. The wee white stitches are Smyrna crosses, and I didn't think about how they would need to be stitched when I started on aida, but they've been surprisingly easy even if I am having to poke through threads. This one I plan to finish this year, just it will be slow since I don't always have much time out and about!

I really like that little Cardinal!

One Flag, Two Anchors, Three Knots

2011-11-13T20:29:00.001-08:00

That's what I've finished on my Nautical sampler.

I'm not so sure about the anchors - they have white ropes which you totally cannot see in this picture. No backstitching is on the chart, but I don't think it shows up wonderfully well in real life, either. It's not bad, exactly, but it could be better. But nothing else in this row has backstitching, so would it look odd? I am undecided. Oh well. Four wee sailors are next, then finishing up the flags!

Some Crochet and a Tiny Finish

2011-11-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

I snapped a quick pic of the Juliet dress - the length is coming along nicely. I didn't arrange the dress for the pic, it was just a spur of the moment thing while I was measuring, so do forgive that it's laying a bit lumpy!

And here's a pic of my makeshift blocking board with some white granny squares (and two granny triangles). They are very brilliantly white in real life, and I'm being very, very cruel to my sister-in-law with them... she's getting a white scarf for Christmas. She'll love it BUT I would hate to be her trying to keep makeup off of it! The squares will be stitched together and then edged with a glittery blue yarn, and there will be tassels! Normally I wouldn't block granny squares as they usually shape themselves quite nicely, but I want the scarf to look really good so I'm not taking chances.

While cleaning up some cluttered closets (how's that for alliteration?) I found this little tiny kit in an old purse...

So... I don't remember buying or starting this... but there was no WAY I was adding something this small to my WIP list. So I finished it up, and had the devil's own time getting that little monster into the frame. I could NOT get it centered. This was the best I could do. But it'll look cute on Mum's stocking at Christmas.

I'll have a progress pic of my Nautical Sampler soon! I was watching TV with my Dad and trying to get a bit of backstitching done on the flags and I left it at my parents' house. So I have to pick it up tomorrow. But I've finished the knots and the anchors.

Halp, I've Been Framed!

2011-11-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

Severus Snape, professionally framed (ain't that the truth, lol!)

It's only the angle that makes the one side seem bowed out, promise! Cost $12

Mom by Bent Creek, professionally framed

cost $15

Dad by Bent Creek, professionally framed last year but I never posted a pic

also cost $15

Loon, framed by me

cost $2 - frame & mat from a yard sale and a wee bit for materials.

Santa

2011-11-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

1984 Santa by Prairie Schooler

I finished him on the 2nd but I'm only now getting around to posting XD

Fred's October Progress

2011-11-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

Fred got a new book - the blue one on the bottom - and more of his bum filled in. I meant to post this last night, but between trick-or-treaters and naps, I kinda forgot.

I'd like to get him to the 3/4 point this month.

It's HOW Many Days 'Til Christmas?!

2011-10-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

Back in July, when I was working on the little stocking ornaments at work, a co-worker commented that it was 'awfully early to be doing things like that'.

This week, when I was working on a Santa during breaks, the same co-worker commented 'it's getting about that time, isn't it?'

And yikes! Is it ever! Where did this year go?!

Here's the progress on Santa, by the way.

A few more lunch breaks and he'll be done.

By the way, thanks for the comments on my last post! Can't get signed in to blogger (it'll let me post, but if I'm on an actual blog, it says I'm not signed in) so I can't reply. I do plan to have the HAED framed - I know a little bitty place that does plain, simple framing, which is what I want for her, at ridiculously cheap prices. I have Bent Creek's 'Mom' and the chibi-Snape I stitched there right now, and it's gonna be $27 plus tax. For both, not each. I'll be taking the mermaid in next week.

October TUSAL

2011-10-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of finishes laid out while deciding how to really finish them, so I couldn't resist the photo op!

Juliet Again

2011-10-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

It took me 13 tries to get a half-decent pic... I don't know what's going on with my camera. Low light is not usually this much trouble.

Anyway, the Juliet dress is now just above knee-length.

Looks very 'hourglass', doesn't it?

I had a pic of the Goth Chick holding it up to her, but it was hopelessly blurry. I'll have to try again the next time she comes around.

Here's a close-up of the pattern stitch - I hope you can see it. It's shell-stitch, which usually makes me think of granny squares, but Miss Goth will not look even slightly 'granny' in this XD

AAUUUGGHHH!!!

2011-10-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

It's a ALIEN!!!

Run for your lives!

Or, sail away on a finished boat?

My IHSW Report

2011-10-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

'What I did during IHSW'

This:

15 Stockings done, which was my goal for this year! I was going to keep on going, but then I realized just how close to Christmas it is and I need to work on presents! So that's prolly it for the stockings this year.

And I worked a tiny bit on my Prairie Schooler Santa:

From this:

To this:

And I worked a little bit on Ice Wind. I don't know what it is with my current HAEDs... Rapture has mange and now Ice Wind...

...well, she could prolly use a visit to a dermatologist. Poor wee projects XD

The rest of the weekend I worked on getting all the pics onto my WIP page (one of those buttons up top). It was little bit fun and a little bit depressing at the same time. I really do have a problem with little bitty starts, more than I realized! It's amusing. Also, I found three projects I had forgotten existed, so in spite of finishing off the Loon, my numbers went up and not down.

Oh well. Good thing there aren't any real stitching police. I'm off to check out everyone's progress!

Words to Live By

2011-10-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

So very, very true.

(I couldn't resist, sorry!)

I finished the Loon!

One more off my WIP list, and a present finished. Just needs framing now :D

In a Stash Daze

2011-10-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

I saved my quarters in a jar for an entire year, just for the fun of it. I decided that when the year was up (end of September) I'd count it, even if the jar wasn't full, and then blow it all on stash or computer games (that's the other driving passion of my life. I really need a games console NO I DON'T so I can start buying those games).

Anyway, even though the jar was only about half full, it turned out to be a nice little chunk of, um, change.

I got several Sims 2 expansion packs off eBay, a few time-management games, a few mystery games...

...and then it was stash time.

I got the last package today. By using eBay, JoAnn's coupons, and those socked-away quarters, I've knocked quite a few things off my wishlist. I won't show the pile of floss for HAEDs, but here's my luffly, luffly new kits :D

The Sebastian the Cat kit is actually two kits in one - here's the other pic, on the back.

Some littler kits

Now if I can just keep myself from starting every last darn one of them RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, I'll be doing okay :D

Candy and a UFO

2011-10-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, the Goth Chick and I were making candy.

Well, okay, she was making the candy, I was taking pictures. She didn't like the pics of her actually stirring the stuff, but I thought the candy itself was beautiful.

It's very golden and glowing. It's glass candy, but she poured it thicker and scored it when it was slightly set, so that it broke into beautiful squares. When Mum used to make it, she would pour it out in a big sheet and then break it once it was set, so that it shattered - like, well, glass. The odd shapes were fun, but I like this, too.

Tea-flavored. Our mum and the Goth Chick's Husband ate most of it :D

I didn't plan very well for Christmas presents this year - so the other day I went through all my UFOs and dug this one out.

It's in thread, which is why it became a UFO, but after all those ornaments last year I've become much better at working with the hateful, twisty stuff. So I think this could be a quick finish. It's always been intended for my brother.

Beware!

2011-10-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

I should steal this off of my parents' porch and put it in my stitching room.

I was working on Nautical, but something just didn't look right. I don't know if you can see it or not - I didn't save the 'big' picture I took, just the trimmed down version, but it turned out that when I bought floss to replace the long-lost floss for this project, the blues didn't quite match up.

See it in those two half-finished flags on the right? The top two-thirds of the plus-sign one is darker. It looked almost the same in real life. I couldn't figure it out. It was the right color number. I thought maybe it had faded, or that DMC had changed their dyeing process, or that it was just regular dye-lot variance. But no, because I went and pulled every single skein of that color I own (which was oddly a lot) and they were all the same.

So I went and got my handy-dandy DMC floss color fold-out thingie (I'm pretty sure that's its official name) and checked. Yup, it matched - and I got the one with real floss samples, not the printed pictures. So I took the project off the q-snaps, held it up to the colors, and it turned out that ages ago, when I bought the floss, they must have been out of the color I needed so I bought one number off. 796 instead of 797. Luckily I had one skein of the first color, so I've been restitching. Looks much better.

This is my favorite page of my Floss Card Thingie. I love all the blues. The pink/red page is pretty, too, but I like this one best. I lucked out finding the Thingie on eBay - I don't think you can buy the real-floss cards anymore, and the ones I used to see were with little loose ends of floss, not smooth floss like this. I use it a lot.

So anyway, I frogged what turned out to be quite a bit more than just those two flags, restitched and it looks much better, yes? Though I'm not quite done.

My goal for this in October is to finish the boat and all the backstitching to this point, then possibly stitch the knots and little sailors that go below the boat.

42 Degrees

2011-10-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

It's very cold here today, so I broke my no-furnace streak and turned on the heat.

Hope it doesn't melt my snowman :D

Lots to Talk About

2011-10-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have lots of things going on with my stitching - but it would be a really pic-heavy post if I wrote about all of it today. So I'll spread it out, but I did want to post something on the first day of October :D

I chose Rapture. I've been working on filling in the top row of 10x10 squares - it's almost all confetti - and adding stitches to the second row if I happen to have that thread in my needle.

The strategy is working. Well, a little. I have goals for October, and one of them is to finish off the top two rows of this page. Little goals are easier to meet XD

The Juliet dress is continuing on very well. The Goth Chick tried it on a few days ago, when we were both at our parents' house and I needed to see if the waist was long enough for her. She immediately pulled the shoulders down too far, but says she prefers it that way when I offered to tighten it a bit by adding another row or two. It looks good on her.

Do you guys like her dreads? They're not 100% years-to-grow real, but it takes her hours and hours and hours upon hours to do this to her hair.

She cut them all off yesterday! It was a little bit shocking to see her with shoulder-length hair. She said she was cold without them - I think she was wearing two shirts and a jacket.

I'll finish off this post with a bit more stitching - my experiment with green fabric for a stocking ornament.

So far, so good.

September TUSAL

2011-09-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Juliet Dress

2011-09-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

It's almost the end of September.

I'm not sure how that happened.

Or when that happened...

It is getting disturbingly close to the holidays, so I'm having to reconsider my projects, as much as I'd like to keep going the way I am (only sped up a bit).

This is the first WIP-present I've hauled out. It was too hot to work on over the summer, but since the weather has cooled down, it's doable again.

This is the Juliet Dress.

My sister wants this dress badly. Only with modifications.

Since I usually call her Goth Chick on here (she says she reads this blog, but since she has yet to howl about that, I'm not so sure) the first modification should be no surprise.

The dress is black.

The second modification is that it has to be a lot longer. She wants it floor-length.

Since she's almost six feet tall, that's a lot of dress! But it'll make a great prezzie.

The third mod will be the drawstring - I have to find some pretty, slightly-stretchy cording or something that won't tear up the yarn. She doesn't want a yarn drawstring and neither do I . They're kind of ugly in real life and have no elasticity at all.

Here's it's beginnings - the worst is actually over. The rest is just pattern rounds, with only a few increases as I go. The sleeves are gorgeous when she's tried it on - it's a vintage pattern, so since she knows she's getting it, we've been trying it for size as we go along to make sure the old measurements work. Excuse the wee loop at the end of that one sleeve; I haven't woven the ends in yet.

The sleeves need a wee bit of blocking to smooth their lines properly but there's no use doing that until I'm done, since they get twisted around constantly while I'm stitching.

If this one works out well, I'm going to pick up some more vintage dress patterns to make for her.

Now, I just have to decide what to make her husband. I doubt if he wants any more hats!

IHSW with finishes!

2011-09-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the results of my small amount of stitching time this weekend!

I dusted off a Crazy January start - Bent Creek's 'Mom' - and took it on vacation with me. I got this far:

And then finished it up during IHSW (please pardon the hoop marks)

I love the colors and my mum will flip. I stitched the matching 'Dad' back in... huh, 2004? So she's been waiting on her's for awhile! I plan to have it professionally framed to match Da's, and then give it to her on her birthday in October.

I also finished up the second ornament kit:

So yay! Two more off the ever-growing, never-shrinking list!

Two of Four

2011-09-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my little trip, so here's my little progress!

I did all the light red on the eagle - two shades of red left to go. I did all this on 9-11, which made me happy.

Last year, I stitched a bunch of wee one-dollar Christmas ornament kits. While going through my stash to sort out things for WIPocalypse (which if you haven't joined, you should, 'cause it sounds like major fun) I found two little kits flat against the back of a drawer. So I took both of them with me and finished one:

The other one I almost finished but I ran out of a color, which surprised me because despite the cheapness of these kits, that had never happened before. Then, this morning as we left, I found the extra strand of that color under the coffee table. I only had about ten-fifteen stitches of that color left to do, so I'll finish it up before I start my IHSW stitching (also something you should join if you haven't. Lots of fun!)

Speaking of IHSW, I will probably work on my boat, which I took with me but didn't stitch on. XD I worked on something else which I don't have a pic of yet, because it's still packed in my luggage.

More pics later!

Sailing On

2011-09-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

I dunno if you can see it too well, because it could really use its backstitching,

but my boat's sails are almost done.

I was going to wait until they were completely done before I posted a pic, but I'm gonna be gone a few days so I won't be posting.

I haven't decided if I'll take the boat or Rapture with me - I only really want to take two projects but I already have two... so it's gonna be three. I know, I know - stitching ADD.

I actually have Sunday off (wooooot!) and I have seen a few American stitcher's blogs posting about working on something patriotic for 9-11's anniversary. So I remembered something and went stash diving.

My father bought me this kit around the one year anniversary of 9-11, and at that time I would always open a new kit and do a few stitches so that it couldn't be returned (long story). Anyway, here's what was done

(ooo, amazing!)

I'm going to work on it this Sunday and see how much more I can get. I'd like to give it to Da someday, so it may go on my finish list for 2012.

Girls with Guantlets

2011-08-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

I stitched two!

She-Ra and Rinoa

She-Ra is quite sparkly; I used gold metallic in her costume for the fun of it. Well, the fun of the results. Stitching with that stuff is not fun. As always, Sprite patterns are by Missy.

I joined a short SAL for HAED designs, and finished up the 310 on my current page of Rapture. I started on the 902, but didn't get all that far. I also did some stitches of the more random colors, like the barely-visible pinkish stitches at the top. Still looks like it has some sort of skin disease. This is the most confetti-ed HAED I've started yet.

Messy TUSAL Jar

2011-08-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Really needs squished down.

Little Bits of Fred

2011-08-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

I did a little bit of Frederick the Literate.
A small gold book, a smaller amount of shelving, a little bit of cat-bum (mostly black) and thirteen stitches on a bird's head.
Oooooooooooh, amazing!

I also finished up the red-fabric stocking experiment.

I think it looks okay, and I do want to try another on red, but I'm going to try and find one with no burgundy on it, or at least not burgundy backstitching against the red.

I'll be working on Rapture for the next few days, starting this evening. It's a HAED SAL on this board.

Um... does anyone know why my followers don't show up any more? I tried deleting and replacing the gadget, or whatever it's called, but it didn't work. I have more followers now and I don't even know who you guys are. If the list ever shows up again, I'll check your blogs out!
*edit*
Apparently moving the 'Followers' to the top of the page made you guys show up... go figure...

IHSW

2011-08-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

I had a really busy weekend, since I always work on Saturday & Sunday.
I didn't get much done, but for some reason I feel like I did. Go figure.

Here's Ice Wind's progress; the orange highlighted bits are what I did for IHSW.

I finished all the blue except for some confetti around the edges. All the blue on page one, that is. I did get a few stitches down onto page two. I also finished up the white in her hair and moved on to... pink. I love HAEDs. The colors are so weird, yet they look so good.

I tried out a stocking on red. It looks pretty good in real life. The white and green stand out very brightly, but the burgundy backstitch at the top looks brown.

I can live with that.

Remember a few posts back I said I thought I remembered an old kit with a carousel horse? Well, I did remember one. Found it, too!

And the sad wee bit I had done.

This is now my oldest WIP/UFO since I finished up the Daily Bread one.

Oh, I almost forgot! Here's what I bought at the HAED sale :D

Cardinal Song

Divide the Sky

Guardian Angel

I spent all the money I had saved for bidding on another Hawk Run Hollow pattern, but I don't mind. I've actually started some HAEDs; Hawk Run, not so much. Ah well, someday!

...y'know, I just realized all of these are guys with wings (and one girl... I don't think she has wings, though.)

Hope you all had a great weekend; I'm off to check out blogs!

Chivalry is Dead

2011-08-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

I had run out of patterns for Missy's cute Sprites, but she helped me out by posting four that I had to stitch - two girls and two guys.

The guys insisted on going first. Hence the name of this post.

He-Man and Squall . They may be small, but they were huge amounts of fun to stitch :D

IHSW is this weekend! Yay! I plan to get Ice Wind out and work on her, since the new page came out and I haven't even finished the first yet. If you haven't signed up for International Hermit & Stitch Weekend, you should!

Did anyone have a blackout and wake up to find they had spent money at the HAED sale? It wasn't just me... was it? I only bought a little! I'll show you which next post.

#12

2011-08-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

Stocking #12 is done.

It's a lovely wee cardinal.
I changed only one thing on this one (yes, the weird claw is all the pattern's fault) The berries were supposed to be outlined in dark green; I decided this was a printing error since it looked hideous. So I redid them in blue.

I also worked on my boat sampler a little; the red floss hasn't been used in a very long time, as you can see from when I unwound it. I used to always wind the leftover lengths around the skien paper before I discovered bobbins. Sometimes I still do. Anyway, it was very curly.

Please pardon the messy bookshelves and the fireplace missing a tile. I never said I was neat. Or that I knew how to glue tile. :D
'Cause I ain't.
And I don't.
And yes, there is a stuffed penguin on my mantle. It's not supposed to be there, but it has been for several weeks.

Here's the progress, such as it is. A little bit of sails, some backstitching, some flags.

I thought, after using Rustico for a couple of my stockings, that it would be intersting to stitch some on red and green. I had some red, but no green. A quick trip to eBay netted me these:

All for $1.29. Eight pieces, 12x18, and an extra dark brown as a bonus.

It's been a good mail week. I got this for free from a book-swap site... A project for January, when it will be cold and I will need some :D

And since this post could have been titled 'Everything but the Kitchen Sink', I'll add a note that I had more fun with blog pages and made a Wishlist page. It's up top.

Now, since my actual Kitchen Sink is full of dishes, I really must be going. I have to find some other way of avoiding washing them!

Not a Lot of Progress

2011-08-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

I finished another stocking

This is #11, which means I have 4 left to finish this year's goal of half the kit, though if I get those done, I plan to keep plowing through them.

Rapture, however, did not get nearly as much time as I had hoped to give it. It looks like it has mange.

I did finish up all of the 3371 and a lot of the black, but there's plenty to go, and this is still the first page...

As a side note, have I mentioned how much I love, love, love my fabric marker?

'Cause I do.

Two Pretty Little Sprites

2011-08-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

I stitched Selphie and Tifa.

Both are by Missy.

Now I am sad, because I am out of Sprite patterns. I'm sure it will just be temporary! I'm going to work on another of Missy's patterns, some tiny Mudkips, for now.

TUSAL and a Finish

2011-07-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

Man, time has just flown by! I haven't added much floss, but here is my TUSAL jar posing next to a pretty shell:

I've been working on Rapture, but most of the work has been turning this:

into this:

Much better! Now maybe I can get back to the stitching - I really, REALLY want to work on Ice Wind but I need some progress on Rapture first.

I have a love/hate relationship with two things in cross stitching
1. French Knots
2. Rustico Fabric
So that made this little ornament really, really ...interesting.

I do like the way the Rustico fabric breaks up the monotony of all that antique white. I'm not using the big piece of fabric that came with the kit; I started to cut it up per the kit instructions, then I remembered that once upon I time I had bought someone's abandoned stitching at a yard sale. In the bag were a lot of little squares of antique white, all backstitched with the word 'His' or 'Hers'. I have no idea what they were supposed to be for - maybe coasters? Anyway, I've been frogging out the backstitching and using the squares for ornaments and Sprites.

There were a few squares of Rustico among the white, all of them with very badly stitched little hearts, like so:

I feel a little guilty for frogging out someone else's work, even if the stitches do go in all directions, but not guilty enough not to do it. And now I have the big piece of kit fabric left to play with, so, bonus!

Hopefully I'll have a pic of Rapture later this week - happy stitching!

A Sock and a Boat

2011-07-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Stocking #9

and the progress I made last week on my Nautical Sampler. I had to frog and restitch part of it; I kept looking at it and I knew something was wrong but I just couldn't figure out what. All the counting was coming out right. Turned out I had stitched some of it with three strands of floss instead of two. So this is after restitching. It's still on the q-snaps. All of the boat has been stitched twice, except for one of the sails, or I could have gotten so much more done.

IHSW

2011-07-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely, picture-full post planned, but my camera betrayed me by eating its batteries far, far too quickly.
So although I got a bit done on my Nautical sampler, I'll have to show it off later.
I did get pics of two smaller projects:

Aerith

x2

I also got two pretty patterns from the HAED sale!
I um... I'll admit I really don't like the 'Faces of Faerie' series. At all. Little girls with big eyes and cupid mouths are just not my thing.
Yet somehow, this wound up in my basket.
I'm still blinking.
I think it was the egg. I'll admit I like Faberge eggs. That it was a fundraiser for Japan helped, too.

Faces #150

Anything by Sessler, however, I love. I'm determined to get almost all of them... I especially like the fact that she creates males. There are so few patterns of guys in the stitching world.

Sunset Fire

On Vacation

2011-07-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have been there!
On vacation, that is.
I'll show you guys some pics later - it was a very quiet little trip to a very pretty little farm. I really needed it.
I got some stitching done while I was there!

Finished this:

Worked on this:

Started & finished this:

Bought these:

Good vacation! Now to catch up on a WHOLE LOT of blog posts!!!

My TUSAL Jar is Surrounded by Owls

2011-07-02T11:36:00.001-07:00

A Small Start on Ice Wind

2011-06-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

This is what I have done on Ice Wind so far:

I included the pattern page in the pic because I think the white is hard to see. I'm pleased with the progress so far even though it seems very weird to have that many solid 'blocks' done on a HAED and yet have only used 2 colors so far.

I also got some nice stash from Nicole's sale page:

It's Little House Needleworks 'Neighborhood' and 'The Counting House' (that one has the blue linen with it, too) Bent Creek's adorable 'Cold Snowman' and Country Cottage Needleworks' 'Ladybugs and Bumblebees'. Niiiiice :D

Almost Halfway

2011-06-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

This kit sort of divides itself up into five parts - Four sections in the main part and then the border.
I'm two sections down and have half the border done, so I would say I'm halfway done, except that the last section has more stitching than the others. So almost halfway. Next I will be stitching three identical pink roses. Outlined in black :D

My visiting kitty has finally made it up to the porch to nibble out of the cats' outside dish, but it still runs if I get too close. But isn't it a pretty visitor? It has a meow like an old, creaky gate.

I've started 'Ice Wind' - I thought I was supposed to wait until the 24th, which is what the original post said, so I did, but apparently everyone else started as soon as they got the pattern, so I missed something, somewhere. Now I'm way behind. I'll post a pic tomorrow, maybe. Right now it's just blue and white blocks, which is prolly what it will be tomorrow, too, only bigger.

Gotta Love Those 80's Designs!

2011-06-23T19:00:00.001-07:00

Almost everything is outlined in one strand of black.

The chart has hand-written (drawn?) symbols, which is weird. And occasionally hard to decipher.

I stitched another of Missy's Sprites:

This is Genesis from Final Fantasy

Today I scrubbed out my parent's grill - my brother put it away greasy last fall, ick!!! - and then worked a bit on their storage shed. The cats came along, and Grizabella decided to be cute.

"So much cuter than you'll ever be!"

She was playing baby in an old-fashioned buggy.

After working for awhile, my sis and I decided to take the plunge:

Our parents' pool looks incredible on a hot day. It's not that big, but it's pretty deep.

No worries, though...

We had lifeguards.

Bread, A Kitty, and a Mystery. Oh, and Sprites!

2011-06-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

I had a very busy weekend - I had to work every day, except Sunday which I spent with my Dad. We had a family-only pool party. Which meant five people, since my brother couldn't come up from Georgia for just one day. He's planning a longer trip later this summer.

Anyway, I didn't have time to really search for my UFO - I didn't find it until late last night, so this is all I have done:

However, I did want to do something for IHSW, so I stitched some Sprites:

Cloud in a different outfit

and Zach, both from Final Fantasy VII

Both patterns are by Missy

While searching for my old UFO, I found this:

I have no idea what this is. After wracking my poor lil' brain for several hours, I vaguely remembered another kit bought at the same time I bought the Daily Bread kit. I don't ever remember starting it though, but this one is exactly the same size with the same type of fabric. So I'm guessing it's that one. Problem is, I couldn't find the floss or the pattern. I'm going to keep searching, but if it doesn't turn up within a week, I'm going to try and match the border color, finish it, and find some quote about either memory or mysteries, and stitch that in the middle.

During the above-mentioned brain wracking, I also remembered a carousel horse kit that I bought around that time (this is early 90's, I think) and I'm pretty sure I started it. So that's also on my to-find list. I hope this doesn't continue - I have enough UFO's!!!

In the past week, there's been a very pretty, very skinny kitty hanging about my house. The neighbors say (s)he is not theirs, so I'm trying to get her calm enough to catch. She'll come up to the porch, but no further until I go inside. I'm pretty sure she's a girl, because Audio is fairly calm about her, but Grizabella hates her. So I started calling her Lorelei, but my sister insists she looks more like an Iris. If I can catch her, it's off to the vet for a checkup and if she's healthy, to be spayed and I'm keeping her. I like her.

This is the best pic I could get - sorry, it was foggy. She's at the far end of my driveway. If she does turn out to be a boy... I don't think I can resist calling him Quaxo. (S)he has a white tuxedo down the front.

Last, but certainly not least, a lady in our choir (I run the sound system, I DO NOT sing and everyone should be grateful!) saw me stitching and said she'd give me some old floss she had. This isn't the first time someone's offered me old floss, but it's usually some generic brand and/or a tangled mess. So I said thank you, but I really didn't expect much. This evening she gave me this:

It's almost full. I am a happy stitcher tonight!

.

My Oldest UFO

2011-06-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

If I can find this, it's what I'm going to work on for ISHW. I saw on several different blogs lately that people were showing off old finishes and old UFOs - after careful calculation, this is my oldest one. I don't even have the pic of what it's supposed to look like, but it's a very 80's little sampler with a bread loaf and the words 'Our Daily Bread' (I think). It doesn't really appeal to me at all anymore, but I can give it as a gift to a relative that will love it.

It will also feel really nice to knock this one off of my Projects list. It's not actually one of my goals for this year, but I don't really care :D

This is all that is done so far, but it should be a quick finish. I think it was only a little bigger than a 5x7. I started it years ago, just a week or two after I learned to stitch the first time. (I took a break of several years, and had to re-teach myself later)

Now I just have to find it. My craft room is totaled at the moment.

If you're not signed up for ISHW, you should! It's really fun!!!
.

Little Deformed Animals

2011-06-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

I stitched another!

Actually, this kitty is not as bad as she could be - I changed her face (and I'm considering frogging it and changing it again).
I just think it could be better, but the original chart had her mouth and nose firmly positioned beneath the left-side eye.

I added a book to Fred's shelf, all except for the blending-filaments bit. I save those up until I have several books in need of it. It's too annoying to waste my patience on just a few stitches.

The blue one is on his top shelf - one more small book and I'll be ready to start stitching Fred's back-half.
I'm going to stitch some of his top border shelf first, though, then go back to Rapture for a while - after I stitch a Sprite! I'm going into withdrawal :D

.

An Update on Rapture

2011-06-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

This week is the Freebie SAL on the HAED Bulletin Board, so I'm working on Rapture.
Since I haven't posted about this one in a loooong time, here's what it will look like:

What sad wee bit I had done:

What sad wee bit more I've gotten done so far:

I've got a long way to go!

The Great 2011 Frog Rescue

2011-06-06T19:35:00.001-07:00

**This post is PICTURE HEAVY and only slightly stitching related!**

My parents have a pool that is usually covered all winter & spring.
This winter, however, the cover ripped and had to be removed.
When spring rolled around, this resulted in the pool being completely taken over by frogs and toads until it resembled a pond.
Today, we started pumping the nasty water out and cleaning up the pool. My sister and I decided we needed to do a frog rescue... which was easier said than done and these pics should show you exactly why.

There were Mama Toads, Daddy Toads, Green Frogs, Tree Frogs, Tadpoles and literally hundreds of baby Toads. The entire half-full pool looked like this:

See those wee little dots on the pool edge around Mama Toad? Those are baby Toads.

Lots of baby Toads!

The tadpoles were easy enough to net out, but the baby Toads were a little tricky. We got a lot of them out, though.

And Mama Toads and Frogs...

This Mama we named 'Bertha' - she was huge!

Daddy Toads

and several tiny, adorable Tree Frogs with very wise expressions...

Since there were plenty of people around to help keep an eye on them, I let my furry babies come along for some air. Audio, my 'retired gentleman cat', slept most of the time. He is a bit elderly, of course. He'll be 16 this year.

Grizabella, who has not yet reached her first birthday (it's in August) wanted to be involved with everything! She was fascinated by it all.

But eventually she succumbed to the lure of resting in the sunshine.

While we continued to rescue wee, perfect babies until it got dark.

I couldn't resist, and hope this pic doesn't come back to haunt me :D

Everyone was happily relocated to a nearby pond. Except us and the kits, of course!

So how was your day?

Puppy V/S Bow

2011-06-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

I have finished another stocking from the kit of 30 stockings...

A wee (destructive) puppy!

I haven't quite figured out the random green stitches... perhaps they are from paper he has already shredded? I started to leave them off but then decided 'why not'? and stitched them.

I think his eyes look a bit odd, though it could just be me, but I'm relieved that they don't look even stranger - in the pattern, he looks positively demented!

I think this is number 6 out of 30. I really need to get a move on!

Things In Jars, or June's TUSAL

2011-06-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

TUSAL is hosted by Daffycat!

Fred's Shelf

2011-05-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

I worked on Frederick the Literate this week, and got his bottom shelf even to the amount of books I've finished.
I really hate working on the shelves; it's why this project has continually been put away for years. This time, though, I'm determined to get him done. I at least want one of the big projects in the Challenges done!
I also started another book on the top shelf but very little is done on it so far. The shelves are not really wavy, of course, he just needs some serious ironing.

...and now that I have posted that picture, I can see some not-quite finished stitches on that bottom shelf...
*headdesk*

Here's another little finish; I can't remember which number this stocking is but I like it :D
It looks very old-world to me.

Is blogger having issues for anyone else? I can't post comments on blogs unless they are set to the pop-up window option, unless I'm willing to be called 'annonymous' and I can't edit posts without going the long way 'round on the dashboard. It's highly annoying.

De-Stashing

2011-05-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to cleaning out my craft room.
I put up a de-stashing blog if anyone is interested.
There's not much in it yet but later there will be more, including yarn, fabric, floss and beads... I just haven't got to that stuff yet.
The link is at top right!

ISHW

2011-05-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to post today!
I kept wandering around, knowing there was something I was supposed to do...

Anyway, for Hermit Weekend I finished a motif on Mary Wigham

and here's all of Miss Mary currently, looking pretty while basking in the afternoon sunshine.

I'm only one set of initials away from finishing the top row.

I also stitched up Loz

and Cthulhu

er, I mean Yazoo!

Mary Wigham is from Needleprint I think you can still download her for free but I'm not sure.
Loz & Yazoo are from Dork Stitch I know they are free :D

.

One Shiny Potion

2011-05-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Chibi-Sev is finished!

I think. I may go back and make the grey pupil on his left eye one stitch longer. It looks sort of odd to me... I can't make up my mind.

The potion is a lot darker than it was originally charted; I could only find three shades of green in that satin-floss. It was not fun to work with, but the result is very shiny IRL and that's what I wanted. So yay!

I forgot to measure him, but he's about seven inches tall, stitched with two strands of DMC on 18ct ivory fabric. He makes number 4 out of 30 done for my stiching challenges!

After Sev was done, I decided to work on a small project before leaping into Frederick - I tried my Prairie Schooler Santa (1984) and got this far:

Before I said 'forget it'. I'm just not in a Christmas-stichy mood. I'll see what else strikes my fancy tonight :D I may just go on to Frederick and forget the small project for now.

More Progress! (and maybe setbacks?)

2011-05-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

I don't have Chibi-Sev quite finished - the silky floss for his potion is a bugger to work with, so I'm taking it slow. But here's how he looked when I had all the regular floss done:

I have also finished two more of Missy's wee Sprites! I know I said I was going to stitch Loz and Yazoo next but instead I finished off the Saiyuki boys:

Hakkai

and Goku

And the setback... I found myself unable to resist the new HAED freebie SAL. This is the pattern I chose:

Ice Wind SK by Linda Tso

Like I needed another project, especially another HAED! XD

Another Shade of Grey

2011-05-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have added another shade of grey to my Chibi-pic of Severus Snape. He looked like this:

And now he looks like this:

My flash wasn't working, so the pic is a little dark. Only one shade of grey to go - then two skin tones, a wee bit of white, and the green potion. I'm looking forward to the potion; it'll be the first time I use Rayon threads. Or whatever they're called now. They look very shiny and slick, so I think they're potion-perfect :D

With so little left to do, he should be a finish this week! And that will be four of my challenge pieces done. Next I'm going to work on my Rapture SK, and some more of Fred.

Dolphin Play

2011-05-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

Finished!

Started this kit at a laundromat in 2000 or 2001 - promptly lost it. But it's done now! Except for, obviously, ironing!

This is one of my 'Up for a Challenge' finishes - actually, I think it's the first of that particular challenge.

TUSAL the... fifth?

2011-05-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

I think it is the fifth TUSAL pic!

The level hasn't gone up much as my Mum had surgery last month, but here's the jar - hosted by two of my handsome fishy boys :D

That's Rasputin on the left and Horatio on the right. They are male Veil-fin Bettas.

Some Pics I Forgot

2011-05-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post these:

One finished Stocking:

And stash I got for my Birthday back in March:

A Place in the Sun, from my brother (this cat looks just like my cat Audio)

Frog Pile, from my sister

and Equus Caballus by Steven Paul Carlson

and Awakening by Adele Lorienne Sessler (both are HAEDs) from my Mum

I'm finding it very, very difficult not to start one of these. The thrill of all those starts in January is wearing off. I haven't given in yet, though - I'm trying to hold out! Getting out a 'new' WIP will help, and I'm almost ready to do so. I've got a bit of backstitch to do on a certain dolphin kit, and then I'm picking up Chibi-Sev.

Hermit Weekend

2011-04-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

I tried the International Stitch & Hermit (Hermit & Stitch?) Weekend.
I ended up having to work, so I didn't get much accomplished.
I got my Dolphin kit a little closer to being done:

I'm hoping it will be my next Challenge finish.
And I got a Stocking almost done; it only needs some more backstitching:

Here are two Sprites that I stitched a couple weeks ago - I just forgot to post them. They're by Missy!
Cloud from Final Fantasy

and Gojyo from Saiyuki

I plan to stitch Loz and Yazoo next.
I have added a page with pics of all thirty of my 'Challenge' pieces. It's to keep me organized :D

TUSAL the Fourth!

2011-04-04T21:40:00.001-07:00

With the floss squashed down and some yarn orts added:

What I've Been Doing.

2011-03-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

Backstitching. - Lots of backstitching. - A whole lot of backstitching, really... - And more backstitching on Fred, though I don't have a pic of that yet. I kind of like backstitching - especially on that little stocking. It was like a surprise, I didn't realize the orange lump was a cat; I thought it was maybe a footstool? The kit pictures are too small to see. And I had no idea that there was a wee mouse on the table. . The flower buttons on 'God's Grace' are not sewn down; I'm still playing with color and placement. The original has little heart buttons inside almost every large letter, but I didn't really like that. The original also had a lot more backstitching, but I think I like this one as it is. What do you guys think? Do the flowers need backstitching? I am not going to backstitching the big letters. . **EDIT** I forgot to add that 'Eeyore' and 'God's Grace' are the first two finishes in the Crazy January Challenge!

The Perils of Neglecting Blogs

2011-03-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

When I got home from work, I logged into Google Reader for the first time in days.

There are six hundred and sixty-six unread blog posts in there.

I don't know what to think about that...

Now my cross stitch will all be possessed by frogs or something.

...

I shouldn't have said that, should I?

*runs off to find wood to knock on*

lol

TUSAL Time :D

2011-03-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Here's for February - won't be as much when I squish them down. Pretty bits of pink, though... I don't actually remember stitching anything pink Oo

TUSAL is hosted by Daffycat!

Hmm...

2011-02-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted!
I have had work, and a really nasty virus.
I have been stitching though - I'll show some pics of big projects in a day or two, but first here are my latest Sprites from DorkStitch patterns:

Finishing up the Gundam pilots:

Heero

I'm not sure that color is the Prussian blue his eyes are supposed to be - but oh well! I like it.

Trowa

In his fancy-pants outfit :D

Quatre

He's such a little preppie boy XD

and here's Ramona! This is the other Sprite my sister wanted:

Also stitched Sanzo

More Saiyuki boys to come!

And Kadaj!

Cloud and Gojyo from Saiyuki are next on my Sprite list!

Tusal the Second!

2011-02-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

My wee TUSAL jar, next to a bird-light-house.

Not much more, and it'll be even less when I squish it flat later.

February Goals

2011-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

First, here's my Duo Sprite:

I noticed that Missy made Quatre's eyes blue, to match his 'real' eyes, so I decided to be all artistic and mess up her patterns by making all the Gundam pilots have eyes the color they are in the anime/fan sites. I went with the fangirl-popular Violet for Duo's eyes, though they really should be a more blue-violet color. (I just didn't have floss that matched XD ) Now I have to figure out which shade of DMC blue will match Heero's 'Prussian Blue' eyes... hmm...

and here's how far I got on 'God's Grace' before the subject of crocheted necklace pieces came up:

I'll show pics of the necklace pieces once they're off my shaping board.

I did start another stocking and stitch on Mary Wigham, but I'll show those when 1. The stocking is done, and 2. Mary's motif for this month is done - 'cause all I did was two little letters.

February Goals:

1. Finish 'God's Grace'
2. Finish Bent Creek's 'Mom'
3. Finish the shelf at the bottom of 'Frederick the Literate' over to where the books finish
4. Stitch another book if I have time.
5. Finish a stocking
6. Finish the Gundam pilot Sprites
7. Finish two necklaces for my sister

Well, I Kinda Could!

2011-01-31T20:23:00.000-08:00

I got three out of four done - Duo is stitched, Mary Wigham has a new set of initals, and I started another stocking.
'God's Grace' isn't done, though. My sister (who can and does wrap me around her finger) wanted some crocheted jewelry pieces, so I spent quite a bit of time on those.
My camera batteries are dead, so I'll pick some up tomorrow and show some pics, along with Finish-It February goals.

I Think I Can! (In Five Days)

2011-01-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, January is going by so fast! I've not got anything finished except little things!

So I'd like to wrap up January with this:

1. Stitch a Duo Sprite
2. Finish 'God's Grace'
3. Do something on Mary Wigham, even if it's just initials
4. At least start another stocking, maybe finish one?

I have to work four of those five days, so we'll see how it goes!

IthinkIcanIthinkIcanIthinkIcan... but I could be wrong :D

Tree VS Shotgun. Also, Art!

2011-01-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

I started stitching a little tree, and soon it looked like it had been blasted with a shotgun:

I felt the need to take a picture of this. I don't know why.

I took the tree to work with me after I took this pic, and was ready to start filling in the other colors, only to find I had forgotten my pattern. So I started the Sprite of Wufei instead

That evening I had to take my Mum to a meeting, so I picked up the little box that has the stocking material in it, made sure I got the pattern, and left. While I was waiting for Mum, I was going to work on the tree. Only... once I got there, I found I had apparently taken the stocking floss out of the box at some point. And since I hadn't got far enough to figure that out at work, I didn't get it when I got the pattern. So I finished Wufei:

Then the next day I made sure I had everything for the tree. Only it turned into a monster with six different backstitch colors and every time I thought the little bugger was done, there was more to stitch. I don't usually mind backstitching but this time... that tree came close to being blasted with a shotgun for real.

But I perservered, and the tree is done now! Two stocking ornaments finished!

I showed my sister the Sprite of Wufei and got yelled at... so next I stitched this:

It's one of the two Sprites I promised her. It's of Knives from Scott Pilgrim. She gets the other after I stitch Duo.

I also discovered that Missy, who designs these patterns, has secret art hidden in them. See, my sis and I discovered this while I paused after just starting Knives:

We call it 'Extremely Sad Man Walking Down Lonely Road'. Ah, art...

I Think I Have Decided

2011-01-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

I think I've picked out the projects for my rotation, but they may get changed.

'Cause I do that sort of thing.

Anyhow, I picked two new starts and two WIPs, with one open slot for whatever I want.

1. God's Grace - since it was my first start this year.
2. Rapture - since it's an SAL
3. Frederick the Literate - since it's also in a sort-of SAL here
4. Chang Wufei - since I really want him done this year
5. Open for now but I'm thinking maybe Erestor?

And I'll be taking Sprites & Christmas Stockings to work with me. I finished up Cid today

so I'll be working on my next Christmas Stocking tomorrow. As soon as it's done, I'm starting a Sprite of Wufei.

I worked on 'God's Grace' today, and got this far:

It's not a complicated pattern, so it should be done fairly quickly, despite the large amount of backstitching in it - everything is backstitched. I may leave it off the letters as I kind of like them as they are, but I haven't decided yet.

Post again in a few days! I'm having a blast reading everyone's blogs - these challenges have really added to my 'blogs I follow' in Google Reader. I've got a lot of reading to do now that the craziest bit of the challenge is over!

~Tama

All Over But The Stitching (Pic Heavy!)

2011-01-16T14:25:00.001-08:00

The Crazy January Challenge is over... well, except for now I'm supposed to try and finish the 15 projects I started.

...

*crickets chirping*

Yeah, right.

Anyway, here's my Day 14 start -

Little Red Hen by SaySews
This is my first non-cross-stitch start - I used to do lots of crewel and embroidery work but it's been a really long time and I don't remember how to do most of the stitches.

Here's my start - does this split stitch look like feathers to you guys? It's the stitch recommended by the kit but I don't know...

Yesterday I had only a half day at work - yay! - so I went on my tri-annual actual-store stitching stash trip. I live in a very rural area as some of you guys know, so three times a year is about all I make it to a store with actual floss & material. And it's JoAnn's Fabrics even then because I'd have to drive another two or three hours to find a true Needlework Store.

Anyway - I had nothing at all for Day 15's start so I bought:

floss for 'Rapture' - they had all but three colors, guess I'll have to figure out how to get those

fabric for 'Rapture' and another project whose fabric I stole for 'Erestor'

Needles 'cause I lost my needle holder with all my spare needles in it and couldn't find the new packs I had stashed back, either

floss to finish kitting up my 'Nautical' WIP - I lost the other floss. They didn't have the yellow but I had half a skein in stash; I'll have to hope it holds out until I can get more

floss for Sprites

because Reno was bald:

But now he's got hair!:

I did make a mistake and forget to stitch the full crosses for his eye tattoo-mark-thingies, so I cheated and backstitched because I hate to frog. I'll be stitching him again, though, as a gift, so next time I won't forget.

And Irvine was naked:

But now he is clothed:

(these Sprite patterns, as always, are from the fount of pattern-talent Dork Stitch blog)

and some extra things kinda hopped into my cart, I dunno how:

kits (half off and I had two 40% off coupons to make it even sweeter)

and buttons that I like better than the ones I already had for 'God's Grace'

and extra floss of colors that I run out of a lot

and some cake stencils to make my goth sister twitch on her birthday

And after I got home, I wrapped up the first part of the Challenge by starting 'RaptureQS' for the HAED freebie SAL - my final, Day 15 start:

So - now the only problem is figuring out exactly which of all these projects gets put into the first rotation of 2011! Because - I kind of want to work on them all but I'd never finish anything and prolly go insane, too. And there's always that other challenge's 15 WIPs to tackle...

~Insane Person aka Tama

I Progress!

2011-01-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

Day #11:

I started 'Bitter Flower'

Here's my huge start:

I'm stitching it on a piece of linen that I tried dyeing a while ago. It came out kind of odd, but I like it for this project.

Day #12, I started my pattern 'Erestor' made with a computer program. This is the exported pattern pic:

And my start:

I'm trying out gridding with him - I've only ever tried it twice before and I liked it then.

Day #13 - Chibi Sheep! This kit has no actual name, just a code:

But the sheep are adorable! And Anime-Chibi-Style. I'm thinking of calling them 'Karate Sheep', actually - they look like they are doing little karate poses. It's hilarious. Here's my start:

In my other challenge, I broke down and took Wufei out to work on him (it wasn't much of a breakdown, trust me) and I'm working my way down his arm to the bottom of the pattern. Once I reach the bottom, I'm taking a break from all the big chunks of color and rewarding myself by stitching his other eye.

I'm also working on Sprites and another Christmas Stocking - not far enough along for pics yet; I'll prolly wait until those are done.

Only two days of the Crazy January Challenge left! Two new starts! This has been lots of FUN!!!

~Tama

Missing Days

2011-01-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

Three days of starts - although they are small starts!

I did lose power; luckily not for too long as it was very, very cold!

We got a fair amount of snow but not a huge amount. Unfortunately, bad roads and no power do not excuse me from going to work - I'm supposed to be part time, but due to a supervisor being on medical leave, I'm currently working full-time. Only without full-time benefits. Bleh. And at half the pay of the 'real' full-time people. But at least it is pay - my electric bill for this month is ridiculous.

Good thing all these lovelies are from stash, then, yes? I'm much more fond of evenweave and linen now, but at the time I kitted most of these, I was only used to Aida. So that's what they are. No new fabric for me for a while... wah!

Day #8 - Lo, How a Rose

This is what it will look like:

And what I got done so far, stitched on 'Heartstone' colored fabric:

Day #9 - Prairie Schooler '1984 Santa'

one needleful of floss:

Day #10 - 'Mom' by Bent Creek. I stitched 'Dad' a few years ago. Sorry for the lousy pic; there's low light in here so I went online looking for one. Didn't do much better.

Again, one needle of floss:

These new starts are fun, but I'm not getting a lot done on them. I guess that's not the point, though. And these three I'm pretty sure I can get done this year :D

On the Flippin' Crazy Challenge side, I have finished another book on Frederick the Literate, the tall skinny book next to the owl. Not a big book, but one more toward the end! Someday, backstitching will turn the weird black Morse-code-like squiggles into the title 'Sardines'.

Well, I'm off to dig out another WIP! I can't decide though if I'll work on The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat or if I'll pull out the next WIP my Mum chose from my hat o'names - it's Chang Wufei and I wantwantwant to work on him, but last time I did I ended up getting all wrapped up in making patterns from pictures and it wasn't a good thing. I spent a lot of money on printer ink and floss...

Later, luvs!

~Tama

Uh-Oh

2011-01-08T06:36:00.001-08:00

Not supposed to be posting at work, but I just looked out the window and big fat snowflakes that look like they are falling up... anyone who gets snowy weather knows what that means... possible blizzard!
YIKES!
so if you don't hear from me for a few days, the power went off. (it usually does in blizzards)

~tama

Oops!

2011-01-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

I was having so much fun with ornaments yesterday that I completely forgot to post my day-6 start.

I worked on this handsome fellow:

He's the Brave that matches the Maiden in my sidebar; she is also one of my challenge pieces this year, in the WIP challenge. Both have been languishing in my stash for a very long time. Sorry I don't have a better pic; the kit is out of print and has been for years. I only have the pattern, which I got from a lovely lady who had already stitched her kit but still had the pattern left. She didn't have any floss or the color pic, though. Luckily, Janlynn prints the DMC color codes. I got the pic online.

I'm not going to show a stitching start, I didn't get that much done.

I didn't get much done on today's, either - not because of ornaments (although my Irvine Sprite has all the black stitched) but because I had to go grocery shopping. This is what I started, though:

It has also been waiting patiently in my stash for years. I split my new starts between recently bought patterns and old ones I always meant to get around to. This one is huge and I really don't expect to get it done this year but I don't care. Anyone who has ever looked at my WIP pile will tell you that! HA!

I'm off to get some more progress done on Fred's book!

~Tama

Warning: Finishes Make Me Silly

2011-01-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

Today, I have my very first finish of 2011!

Behold - Sephiroth!

...y'know, the Sprite :D

After I finished him, I realized he looked very, very lonely.

But not to fear! For I have a second finish!

Wee Snowman! Snowman can keep Sephiroth company!

But wait - I forgot! Sephiroth is EEEEBIL!

Run, little Snowman! Run!!!

...oh, wait. No legs.

But wait! (again) I have another finish today!

A Stocking! The day is saved! The snowman is saved! The...

...er, is a stocking going to help my Snowman at all?

Hmm... a question to boggle the intellect:

Can a Snowman Defeat Sephiroth With a Sock?

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna be up all night now...

.

Stockings & Stash!

2011-01-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hullo, all!

Here is my start for today - my Mum drew my Christmas Stockings kit!

There are 30 of them - I'd like to say I want all of them done by December, but I'll settle for half. Half would be excellent.

Here's the first one I'm working on - once again I got home late, and tired, and blah - I wanted to finish the white squares but I made a mistake on the toe and I'm going to have to pull three squares out. Making a mistake on a pattern this simple is a pretty sure sign I need to go to bed, you think? I'm taking this to work with me tomorrow, so tomorrow evening I may have my first finish of 2011! Cross your fingers for me?

This stocking was the first one I saw when I opened the pattern pages, so it got chosen to be stitched. It's the second from the left in the bottom row.

I didn't get out a new WIP today, either. I decided to work on Frederick a little more. Another book is coming along nicely and I'm also slowly adding to the bottom bookshelf line. I'll have a pic soon!

I got stash! HAED was having their annual 30% off sale, so although I don't need more HAED's, I decided to get these two while they were cheap :D

Selena Fenech's 'Treasures'

and Christensen's 'Ten Lepers'. I adore that last Leper (never thought I'd type that!) and I couldn't resist him. He has such a gorgeously perfect look on his face - it matches the story beautifully. I was surprised by how few pages this pattern has - I hope the detail shows up.

And this is for Lyssa - who loves dolphins (me too!) - 'Dolphin Play' has a big-brother kit; this is 'Dolphin's Domain'. It's pretty much the same pic, with more detail and much bigger! Both kits are no longer made, I think - I got both of mine on eBay for ridiculously low prices. I haven't started this one yet but I think I will next year. Too many WIPs for this year!

Hope you are all having a lovely New Year!

~Tama

PS - I forgot to link to the TUSAL blog/exclamation yesterday. Go here. You can still sign up.

Day Four & the TUSAL

2011-01-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

Wow - I'm barely making it!

Here's my first TUSAL pic -

Not much in that jar just yet.

I've always saved my orts, so the jar is nothing new. Here are two of my older jars, sitting prettily on a shelf. They're very sparkly in real life.

The TUSAL should be fun if I can keep up with it - and it will add to my jar collection, right? I do need to scrub the sticker residue off!

Today's start was 'Amish Quilted WallHanging' from a Cross Stitcher magazine. I don't remember the date. I won't be making it into a wallhanging - maybe a pillow, though. I love the colors, they're actually very bright.

I still have a cold, so after work I slept and then had dinner at my parents. This made stitching time non-existant and I only got two lengths of floss into the project. But here it is, such as it is!

I'll work on a WIP for the 'Up for a Challenge' tomorrow - I didn't have time today.

Later, dears!

~Tama

Day Three is for Eeyore

2011-01-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I started stitching a set of little Winnie-the-Pooh pics for my baby sister.

(By a while ago, I mean when she was small and interested in Pooh. She is now married.)

Anyway, I stitched the Pooh and Piglet from this set - please excuse the blurry pic.

I lost interest in cross stitch for awhile. Now I'm finally starting Eeyore... he should be a quick stitch, provided I have time to stitch him. The third of the month is deadly at my job... too busy to breathe!

But here is his start:

And here is the WIP challenge piece for today:

And how it looks after this evening. I couldn't find the previous pic, but there's a very small one on my sidebar. I had a bit more than that done - the dolphins were finished except for backstitching, and I had started the coral. But I'm happy with my progress:

This 5x7 kit has been in progress for an embarrasingly long time. Since 2000, to be exact. Yikes. It's had a lot of mistakes, frogging, frustration, and being lost for several years. But this year, it's going down!

Until tomorrow!

~Tama

A Wee Blue Cottage

2011-01-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

This is my second start for the Crazy Challenge!

'Blue House Sampler' by The Sampler Girl

I didn't get very far. I have a cold. I hate my cold; anyone want it?

Apparently, I live in a cott. Appropriate, since I've spent most of the day in bed. The top border is charted differently than the pic - I didn't notice at first, but eh, it looks okay. I'm not taking it out to match the pic!

'Frederick the Literate' was my WIP project for today. He got a few stitches, not enough for a pic.

Tomorrow the start will be a little bitty Eeyore stitch that matches a set I started a long time ago, and the WIP will be my little 5x7 kit of dolphins that has been in progress for an extremely long time. I have to work, and I feel lousy, so I don't expect much progress. Hopefully, enough for at least one pic!

Until then - hope your New Year is fun so far!

~Tama