Update

No stitching done over the weekend as I didn't take any with me. However, I probably could have because I had a bit of time on my hands that I didn't know I would have. I did get some stitching done on Thursday night because I got done with my packing sooner than I normally do.

This weekend is going to be the same. I'm going to take some crochet projects along so I can work on them when I have free time. I got a couple started last night so I can continue them as I go along.

I worked on the model a bit last night. I was hoping the supplies would show up over the weekend but they weren't in the mail when it was checked. So I wait. I'm almost done with a couple of the other colors but I'm going to keep going for as long as I can.

I only put two colors into Castle last night. DD's boyfriend broke up with her on Monday and that's why there was no stitching on Monday night. Having a brokenhearted teenager will do that. She's getting better but it still bites.

And even more progress...

I mentioned that I made some progress on my Castle. Well, I finished all the backstitching on the rocks under the castle! Yay, now I still need to backstitch the base of the spines on the dragon but I also need to cross stitch the rest. I decided to concentrate on the foot of the dragon and his tail. And every now and then I'll move around to the rocks around the bottom of the tail. Eventually I'll be done. October is so busy - every weekend is planned for and I'm mostly out of town! But I'm hoping to finish it in November sometime so I can get it framed for myself for Christmas. I have a more current pic up in my album and one more close up of the backstitch on the rocks.

As for the old model, I took it out and finished everything I had instructions for. I emailed the designer and she responded. However, there's still more work to be done on the designing end so I have to wait. If she's not in a hurry to get this design published then I can hold onto it for as long as I need to.

As for the new model, it turned out that the piece of fabric that the designer sent was too small for the design size. Then she decided that the design size was too large and adjusted it to fit down onto the size fabric that she sent. A couple of days after this discussion (via email) I got to meet her in person. What a lovely lady! It was great talking to her about this design and other things. She gave me a whole new packet of this design and she included 3 packs of needles. (How generous!) And I love the fact that she wanted the model on linen with silk thread used. She started me with 1/2 skeins of Kreinik silk and there was one color missing. (She didn't have it in stock.) She's definitely going to send me more and I need to keep track of how much I'm using so hopefully she will state that on the design specs. (It's useful information for when you're kitting up a design.) I also asked about a deadline and she'd like it to be done early/mid November for a show. Well, I've got a really good start on it in just 4/5 days and I've already run out of the first color! She's already got more silk in the mail to me but this design is going amazingly fast. I've increased my evening stitching time by an hour or two this week and I can see it increasing by another hour in the coming weeks. If this design continues to move quickly, I can see it being finished by the end of October!

Progress at last!

I mentioned in my last post that I was broke and would be working on my focus project (Castle) over the weekend. Well, I made some good progress and I finally got a new picture on my photo album of it. I took a really good look at it the other day and realized how close I actually was to finishing him. (Castle is otherwise known as Percival the Dragon.) He's going to remain my focus piece, out of my own personal projects, until he's finished. Then if I don't flake, I'll pull out my Castle Sampler to replace him in my rotation and choose another focus piece.

And speaking of my album, I put up a few other new photos. I hadn't realized how old the pic of my mermaid was. I definitely made a lot of progress on her in the year since I took/posted that last pic. I also put up one of my M Designs "letter B", and I have one of my Futurecast. My photo album is acting kind of wonky so I need to do some research and hopefully move things around.

A New Model
To be honest and entirely truthful, I have an old model that I'm just sitting on because I'm waiting for the designer to come up with the rest of the directions. Note to self: take that one out and finish anything remaining - tonight! Then tomorrow take a pic and email it to that designer with a reminder that I'm waiting for the finishing touches.

Yes! A new model arrived in the mail last night. From what I can see it's a band sampler type of project with solid stitching on linen with silk! At least I've been given some good materials to work with. I was also given a piece of colored Aida cloth to work with. A "play with this and tell me what you think" kind of thing. I decided that I would do a "mini" project on the Aida - stitch the bands only through about 30 stitches just to get the pattern established to see how it's going to look. (I wasn't given the right size piece of fabric to do the entire model on.) It will look a bit bookmarkish when I'm done with that part but the designer will get and idea of what it's going to look like on that color Aida.

I will be getting more materials in the mail for this model as I don't think I've been given enough for what it's eventually going to turn out to be. I'm going to have to measure more than once to make sure I get this design in the middle of the fabric that I've been given. I also need to find out if the designer has a deadline for this project. This weekend will be good for me to get a good start on it, but with faire the next weekend and another one the week after that gives me two weeks with little stitching time. Then there's another faire though I will only be doing walk-about for one day - if it doesn't rain! Then CATS and Halloween which starts the holiday season. Hopefully I'll get lots of stitching time for the holidays.

Oh my...

I'm a little behind. I hadn't realized how long it's been since I last posted.

Not a whole lot of stitching going on. I had lots of time last night because I managed to stay awake, but it wasn't to be. You see, DD said there were a bunch of ants around my window (next to my stitching chair) that she was trying to get rid of for me while I was gone on Friday. What happened was that my little junk tray/basket got dumped. (Honestly, I think it was her friends messing around that dumped it and not because of ants.) But I had to put my stuff back together again. Then I put the tv on. I got my nails done right after work because DD was off to a friend's house and well, I had the time and they needed to be done. While I was getting my nails done they had their tv on and it was on the Maury show. This episode was on makeovers. These people were unbelievable - had they not ever heard of a hairdresser? So I wanted to finish watching the transformations. Then the news came on and it was nearly a whole show on the damage Hurricane Katrina had brought to New Orleans. It is a tragedy and those people need help.

Anyway, the point being that I was glued to the tv for most of the night and not a whole lot of stitching got done. I did manage to put two threads lengths into the backstitching though. (Castle) I can't wait until this weekend. I'm seriously low on funds so I won't be going anywhere and I have no plans so I'm going to try to stitch most of the weekend. (Around household chores and the yard work I need to do.)