Confessions of a Floss Licker

January 31st

2012-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

Model Stitching Update
After only a couple of days I'm really happy with the progress I'm making on the model. There are 4 words on this model. Two in a large font and two small. I've finished the two small ones and one of the large ones. The rest of the design is basically a vase with flowers in it. As this piece is not solidly stitched it's going to go rather quickly. I'm guessing it's only going to take a couple of weeks if I can put as much time in on it as I already have.

January 2012

2012-01-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

Crochet:
I'm going to start with the crochet projects. I finished somewhere between 30-32 peppermint candy coasters and felted them all. I made 4 pair of fingerless gloves, 6 scarves, 2 hats, 2 cowls, 2 pair of baby shoes, a baby blanket and a neck warmer along with 6-8 washcloths. All for Christmas! And I got them all done in time too.

The projects currently in progress:
1. Adapting a slipper pattern to fit an adult male, then deciding how to make them 1/3 larger because I want to felt them.
2. Adapting a pair of mary jane slippers so that they can be felted.
3. Finding a crochet shrug pattern that I like that is somewhat short and lacy even with a medium to chunky yarn so I can make shrugs to go with the girls dresses for the wedding.
3. Finding a fingerless glove pattern that is either lacy or cables to make for me for the wedding.
4. Finish the amigurumi alligator for my granddaughter and start a different animal.
5. Work the crochet along from Bernat's blog when they start it in February.

Modelstitching:
I finished the model I received and sent it back last week. I have already received my next model. Everything is pretty much going to take a back seat to this since she wants it ASAP. It's not a huge design and it's basically white on white (my first) so I'm curious as to how long it's going to take me to get it finished.

Cross Stitch:
Challenge #1 ended last year with only one old WIP finished - Rose Arbor by Mirabilia. I'm going to carry this over into 2012 and try to get two old WIPs finished. The two oldest ones I have available are Castle Sampler (Teresa Wentzler) and Emerald Mermaid (Mirabilia). Unless I feel the need to go stash diving, these will most likely be the two I work on, however little time I will have. (Which I will mention in a moment.)
Challenge #2 ended last year with very few new ornaments made. Although I did get one done right around ringing in the new year. Jason wanted a snowflake ornament made in honor of his mother. I got it stitched and now it just needs to be stuffed in time to put on the tree when we decorate it this year. Just now, thinking about my circumstances, I've decided to let this challenge be over for this year and reactivate it for 2013. When I restart this again it will be to make ornaments for all the children in the family - my daughter and granddaughter, niece and nephews. I've already started the tradition of giving a Christmas ornament every year to my daughter and now granddaughter, might as well bring the others into it too.
Rotation - Blue Dragon Fairy, Harbor Vista, and the sheep one I can't remember the name of. These will be worked slowly, maybe once a week or so, and in between model stitching jobs. I have already picked up Harbor Vista again. After Christmas was great because I had lots of down time after finishing all the Christmas gifts. It was nice to have a project to work on without thinking of starting up something new. I've almost got page 2 complete!
As for my situation that I mentioned above: I'm getting married this year. I took out a loan (from my 401K) to pay for the wedding and honeymoon and we've had to live on some of it. My fiance has been unemployed for a solid 3 years now. (Since before we met. And yes, he's been constantly on the lookout for a job and applying anywhere and everywhere.) Anyway, short of getting a second job (which there is nothing out there) I'm doing all I can to make more $$ to put in our wedding fund. I'm lucky that I found a Designer that pays her modelstitchers in cash. (I've done some stitching for a Designer who pays in stash and she still owes me well over $300. It's difficult when you are only getting paid in their designs. I don't mind stitching them for her but I don't like them for me.) So I'm putting everything on the back burner and stitching up every model job I can get my hands on between now and October. The sooner I can get a job done the sooner I can get another one and have the potential to earn more money. So that's where my lack of time comes in. Always working a model job. Of course, that's just this year until October. Who knows what'll happen after that?

November 2011

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

Challenge #1 - Old WIPs has been shelved. At this point I know nothing else will get done on this for the rest of this year. As I only finished 1 old WIP in 2011 I will make it a goal for 2012.
Challenge #2 - ornaments - this one too has been shelved. I will not get any of these done for the rest of the year either. I will most likely try to pick this one up again next year as well.
Rotation - this too has been shelved. I have done a lot of work on Blue Dragon Fairy to say I put in a good effort this year. I still try to pick up Harbor Vista once every two weeks or so. View was going to wait until Harbor was done anyway.

Model stitching - I finished all 3 parts that was my last job. Then she sent me another one. This one is quite a bit larger and will take longer to finish.

Crochet - this is going well and fairly quickly. I'm able to finish at least one coaster per day. I need 4 more to make my minimum. Then I need 4 more washcloths, 2 hats, 2 scarves, and 2 pair of fingerless gloves. I'm also hoping to get at least 1 amigurumi done too. Blanket #2 is finished and blankets #1, & #3 are on hold as they take a long time to finish. All the coasters made up to last weekend have been felted. If I can finish the last 4 I need I will get them all felted this weekend.

I also found the cutest pattern for turkey coasters! I made two (they're somewhat more involved than the peppermint candies) and I decided that they needed two pumpkins to make the set. The turkeys are acrylic but the pumpkins are wool. Don't know if I want to felt the pumpkins yet or not.

August 2011

2011-08-31T15:44:00.000-07:00

Monthly update: Challenge #1 - Old Wips - little to nothing has been done on Emerald Mermaid this month. Explanation to follow below. Challenge #2 - ornaments - same as Challenge #1 Rotation - Blue Dragon Fairy, Harbor Vista, and View from the Veranda - same as above Explanation: I made a contract and received a new model stitching job that pays cash! With as strapped as we've been all year any extra $$ really helps. The designer that I'm working for really needed me to get part of the job finished and sent back to her in early September to use for a trunk show. I went a small step further by sending it back two days early! (Yes, I am rather proud of myself when I can beat a deadline.) Anyway, most things took a back seat while I was getting this first part done. However, I did manage to get some crochet and felting in the mix. Crochet Projects: Baby blanket #1 - pink and yellow baby Jacquard yarn, round/flower pattern that is my favorite - gift for boss' first granddaughter Baby blanket #2 - blue, green, yellow, pink/purple overdyed yarn, geometric pattern that I found and is super easy! - request from my daughter for her baby

Baby blanket #3 - blue and green, my favorite pattern, gift for my first grandbaby Baby bibs - easy and quick to make, having fun using cotton for the first time hobo bag - daughter's request, using Tunisian stitch hat - new fall/winter hat for me with felted flower on the side

felted skull - gift for my pirate

felted bowl - for halloween candy that I need to cross stitch skulls in glow-in-the-dark thread

felted coasters - Christmas gifts for my family and friends (this one's going to take a while) So I have two more parts to stitch on the model stitching job that I've already got one started. I have also contracted two consignment jobs because a stitcher can't do so much anymore but wants projects done. I'm good with that. It gives me something to stitch, I don't have to worry about how/when I have $$ to frame it or even where to hang it, and it brings in a little more $$. I see it as a win-win situation. I will do my best to post some pictures tonight.

July 2011

2011-07-19T13:27:00.001-07:00

Challenge #1 (finish old WIPs) - I picked up Castle Sampler as my old WIP but Emerald Mermaid was calling to me. I had much less work to do to have a finish so put Castle Sampler back. Her body and the seaweed below her are completely finished, except for a little backstitch on one arm. I need to finish her hair, her tail, and the seaweed above her body. Still a bit of work to do. However, I managed to get quite a bit of beading done around her head. She looks really good!

Challenge #2 (ornaments) - I'm working on an Ink Spot to make into an ornament.

Rotation:
Blue Dragon Fairy - I've slowed down on this one but still pick it up regularly. LOTS of work yet to do.
Harbor Vista - I'm still on page two but I'm closing on at least half the page completed. I hope to have page two completed and start on page three in August.
View from the Veranda - I've barely started on this one. It's taking a back seat until Harbor Vista is done.
Emerald Mermaid - She is coming along rather well as I said above.

Lots of crocheting baby items this month and probably will continue. I'm striving to split my time between cross stitch and crocheting.

May

2011-05-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

I had this idea that I wanted to consolidate my blogging and my modelstitching "business" into one webpage so I wouldn't have to go to so many places on the web. Then I looked at how long I've been blogging here and how long it actually takes me to make a post. I think for a while I will just continue doing what I'm doing.

So to update the year so far:

Challenge #1 - to pick up some of my older WIPs and work on them until they are finished. So far I've finished Rose Arbor by Mirabilia

Challenge #2 - to make ornaments. So far I've stitched a Halloween ornament.

I have to consult my daily log (at home) for any other finishes. I think there's one or two

Rotation:
Ink Circles - Ink Spot #7 (Challenge #2)
Kustom Krafts - Blue Dragon Fairy, Harbor Vista, View from the Veranda
TW - Castle Sampler (Challenge #1)
crochet project

This is going really well. I'm putting 1 strand of thread into the Ink Circles project daily, 1-2 strands into Castle Sampler, 1-4 into Harbor Vista, and as many as I can into Blue Dragon Fairy. I found that I made a counting error and I've been trying for about a month to get it all filled in and back to where I can follow the chart. I think that I made it to that point yesterday. Soon I will have a whole page fully stitched!

That's it for now. I will try to blog at least once a month

First Finish of January

2011-01-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

I think this is the first time I've had a finish so early in the year. Today I finished Letter J by M Designs. I made it for my fiance and he's pretty pleased. Now I just need to get it framed. Now I can move along with my rotation.

December update

2010-12-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

I finished all the hats and scarves on time! Great minds think alike I guess. My best friend decided to do the same thing, only by sewing fleece.

I'll be starting my Challenge soon. I'm going to get some finishes done this year. The only new things I'm going to allow myself are ornaments. I will be starting a new ornament on 1/1 - or at least that's the plan.

December 10, 2010

2010-12-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I'm most definitely going to run out of thread for my letter J. I'm hoping to go to the xs store when I have time off for the Holidays. I'm afraid it's looking like I'll only be able to go to Elegant Stitch because it's closer. (Someone told me that gas is going to be up around $4.00/gal. again at Christmas. I hope not!)

I sent the email about the model and yes, it did arrive. Please check out X's and Oh's website, the Children category - Fly Me to the Moon.

The Dragon is still mostly a blob and the fairy still doesn't have much to her. But I did pick it up recently.

I finished Mom's blanket. I decided I didn't want to make it huge so it's just a lap blanket. Still, I was told it looks very good and it's warm!

Hats & Scarves - I'm up to 10 full sets done out of 19 and a few other hats done. Hats are the easy part, scarves take longer to make.

The Crochet ALong (CAL) was a lot of fun! And I learned how to do "new" things. Now I just have to stitch the squares together and I'll have a blanket to give. Just need to figure out who to give it to!

I haven't started another blanket for my sister's birthday. I don't think I'll have the time. Maybe I'll have to try to make something else. ???

October 2010

2010-10-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since I last posted. I'm at 6 roses now. I'm still trying to figure out how to attach them to the stem so they can be real fakes. :)

I did a little bit on the letter J earlier this month. However, I'm worried that I'm going to run out of thread. Oh Darn! An excuse to go to the XS store. :) I've yet to go find them at the new location.

The model was finished at the end of September. I'm still waiting to see if it arrived. Guess I need to send an email.

The Dragon is still a blob. I think we've been given page 5 by now. However, I did work down and started stitching the fairy. I'm down to trying to pick this up twice a week. The crochet is taking up a lot of my time considering the deadline. But I'm happy with the time I'm getting for my hobbies so all is good.

I have torn out Mom's blanket several times as I was not happy on how it was progressing. I've finally settled on the pattern for the baby blanket that I always make and it's progressing well now.

My sweater has been taken out to reclaim the yarn because it wasn't going anywhere. Also, I wanted to use a charcoal color yarn for the accent and I ended up using it for a hat and scarf set.

Hat and Scarf sets - I've gotten 4 sets done! I've got a spare scarf (that doesn't go with a hat) that was wanted which I have started to make. Hats are easy and I can usually get them done in one night. Scarves on the other hand take a lot longer.

I've started teaching myself how to crochet socks. I bought a sock book at the store and some sock yarn and I've got the cuff started. I work on it every now and then (lots of rows to make!) in between the hats and scarves.

At faire I was given the challenge of crocheting with wire. I've done it and it's rather cool. I need the steel hooks because the aluminum are just a bit flimsy with 28 gauge wire. The steel hooks feel more sturdy. Probably not something I'm going to do every day because the wire hurts my fingers after a while. It's definitely not as pliable as yarn!

And last but not least, I've joined a Crochet Along. There's an afghan CAL on the Bernat website. It's a Mystery CAL. They've put out 5 parts of the pattern, or Clues as they call them, so far. Each Clue (every Wednesday) is a pattern for a 8x8" square, and they tell you how many to make. I came upon it just before Clue #4 was released so I'm a little behind. I've finished through Clue #3 and am working on Clue #4. So far I've been able to take these to work and work on them while I'm relieving the receptionist at the switchboard. But Clue #4 is a lot of changing color and I think it would be too much of a pain to try to do that at work. Besides the fact that I would have to take 4 different skeins of yarn with me. Anyway, it's been lots of fun and a bit of a challenge. I've never done a granny square before and Clue #5 is a mitered square which I have never done before either. Here's the sad part. I'm thinking of starting a second one before I even get the first one finished. Why you ask? Because my sister's birthday is in January and it's always difficult to figure out what to get her.

September

2010-09-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

As of yet I have not done another rose. But maybe tonight - I still have time!

Everything is going the same as last month. I haven't picked up the letter J but the model is still moving along fantastically and the Dragon is still a blob. But I now have the second page of the chart! I'm trying to find time to work on it every day. As long as I steadily work on it it'll be good.

Crochet-wise Mom's blanket, my sweater, and everything else is still at a standstill. However, I've made a decision! Everyone is getting a hat and scarf set for Christmas with a Disney ornament thrown in there too. Normally I give a couple's gift to the adults (brother and sister) and individual gifts to the kids and the parents. But if I can swing it I'm going to make hats and scarves for everyone. And because the yarn for each person is going to cost less than $10 I thought I'd throw in something small from Disneyland. (We're going there in November.)

So far I've got one hat made and the rest of the skein has been started into that matching scarf. I'm on the second hat now. Wish me luck to get this all done. (I'm looking at possibly 15 sets!)

August 2010 - Update

2010-08-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have found 3 different patterns for crochet roses so the bouquet isn't going to be all the same. I'm thinking this is gonna be kinda cool! Ooooh, maybe I'll use it for the handfasting! That gives me about 13 months to get 2 dozen roses crocheted and tied into a bouquet. That makes it just about two a month. (As long as I have the yarn I can do 2 a day so I think I'm giving myself plenty of time.)

Mom's blanket is moving slowly as I keep tearing it out. I didn't like how the first pattern was going. Then I didn't like how long the second pattern was taking. This one is familiar and I know it won't take anything at all to get it done.

I finished the first bottle cozy! I can't take a picture of it just in case the person it's going to gets a hold of the pic. Don't want to ruin the surprise though. The basket is pretty much at a stand-still. As summer moves into fall and (I hope) the calendar slows down a little I can get a feel for how much I need to finish and buckle down and get it done. My sweater is at a stand-still as well and that goes for the other fun/scrap yarn projects too. (Again, the finding time thing.)

On the cross stitch front - the Model is going fantastically! I would really love to get this one done early and surprise the Designer. Blue Dragon Fairy is in the blob stage. (Just some stitches thrown on the fabric. Doesn't look like anything.) Of course, the first page that we were given is mostly background anyway. I'm taking my time because I know this one's going to take a while. The letter J has stalled. I think I'll pick it back up again after the model is done.

I picked up the Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch and immediately started an ornament. Couldn't resist! So my rotation consists of Model, Blue Dragon, and Halloween ornament.

Now to wait and see what September brings!

August 2010

2010-08-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, I just had a marvelous idea! I need to get 1 more skein of yarn in a dark red color and I can make my own rose bouquet! Something fun and hey, maybe I'll throw that one at the wedding. (Not likely. I'd probably set it on the dessert table or somehow tie it into the hands of my bride dragon!)

Anyway, I've got a blanket that I'm making for my Mom for Christmas and a sweater for me to wear to work. The Caron Simply Soft is some nice stuff to work with! I want to seek out some of the "Country" to try. (It has some Merino wool in it - sounds nice.) I also have a basket (that will be felted) that I've started for a friend. And a bottle cozy for another friend. So that's three Christmas presents in the works so far. I have patterns for others that I think I can use some scrap yarn to make. This will be kinda cool.

On the cross stitch front, I've finished my Summer Exchange project and the bookmark that I posted for the GOS July contest. (Still waiting to hear the results on that one.) I'm still working on M Designs letter J. And to get inspired again I signed up for Kustom Krafts Blue Dragon Fairy. It's a SAL that will start Aug. 15th. I'm looking forward to that. I also accepted a new model. I probably shouldn't have but I think it'll be fun. So that's the update. Note to self: don't forget to turn in the form for the local festival!

A New Finish!

2010-07-30T07:49:00.001-07:00

I made this bookmark for the Gift of Stitching's July Challenge.

June 2010

2010-06-16T19:48:00.001-07:00

The crochet is moving right along and not only did I start 3 hats last month, I've finished them and I've started and finished 3 more! I've also done something else that I've not before been able to do - crochet roses. The flowers are quick and fun. I could make a whole bouquet if I wanted to. I'm actually contemplating making a crochet rose hairpin/barrette for the wedding. Not completely sure yet. But the crochet is raging on. I want to make some toys next. I think I may make hats for the family this year for Christmas.

I started cross stitching again. I joined a summer exchange and it's moving along nicely. Now I just have to make time for both crafts, DF, DD, wedding planning, and to have a life. Hah, easy as pie - NOT!

May 2010

2010-06-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Cross Stitch - I finished a bookmark and worked on M Designs letter J.
Knitting - crochet hook holder. I'm using wool and will be felting this project.
Crochet - I started 3 crazy hats!

DF and I went to Maker Faire and I spent most of the weekend teaching people (male and female, young and old) how to crochet. Seeing their excitement gave me this great motivation. Not to mention the fact that DF and I pooled our $$ and bought me this really silly hat that actually looks kinda good on me. He found one that he liked and I said I'd try to make him one. When I started looking for more "crazy hat" patterns I found few "crazy hats" but so many other patterns. Now, at this point I think I should say that I've never tried to make anything before about a month ago. The only things I've done were scarves and blankets. My daughter's top was the first I dared try and the hats are going so well! Also note, my daughter has yet to try her top to see if it even fits. (roll eyes here)

April 2010

2010-04-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe so much time has passed! I finished the model and the blanket and changed the second blanket to a top which is also finished. I'm still working on the accessory to the basket though. As for cross stitch, I've decided to cut back on the models so I can finish a few things that I'm already working on. Still haven't gotten back to my rotation. Not sure how long that's going to take...

2010 Stitching

2010-01-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

Back in October I said I was going back to a rotation. Well, either plans went awry or I was wrong! Anyway, I'm still working on a model and I've picked up some knit/crochet projects so I'm pretty busy regardless. I've made two scarves, a basket and I'm working on a blanket and an accessory for the basket with another blanket waiting in the wings.

October Stitching

2009-11-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

I got a reasonable amount of time to stitch during October. For most of the month I was concentrating on making my ornament for the TW Christmas ornament exchange. I also started something new. It was a fairly small design for Halloween. I picked up a silk called "All Hallows Eve" the last time I was at the lns and it was killing me not to use it! So I found an appropriate (to my thought) design to use it and I rather like how it turned out. I stitched "By the Light of the Moon" by The Primitive Needle. I picked a piece of sparkly fabric that I got in a grab bag at the lns, and I used a combination of silk and cotton.

And now, to get back to my mostly regular rotation. Which means, I need to create it again. So, first and foremost, I'm bringing TW's Castle Sampler out of the UFO pile and am determined to finish it. The second slot will be my Papillon Creations Castles in the Air. Third slot is last year's Advent Kalendar from Chatelaine. Fourth slot will be Rose Arbor from Mirabilia, and the Fifth slot will be a Christmas ornament that has already been started.

A Tribute to Teresa Wentzler

2009-11-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

I found out a day or two ago that my favorite cross stitch designer is closing her business and will no longer be churning out incredible cross stitch designs. I can only say that I'm heartbroken.
I taught myself to stitch around the time I turned 16. I didn't get passionate about my new hobby until I found TW's designs. I first saw Castle and bought the chart without thinking. It wasn't until 1998 (when I finally had access to the internet) when I put Fantasy Tryptych, Castle Sampler, and Castle together to find out they were from the same designer. I looked her name up (one of my first things to do ever on the internet) to see if she had a website. Not only did she have one but she also had a bulletin board which I joined immediately! I'm happy to say that through the TW website and bulletin board that I made some good (stitching) friends that I've now kept for years. I was also fortunate to meet Teresa at a CATS show. That is one thing I will never forget.

So Thank You Teresa for your fabulous designs. My life would be less colorful without them. I have only finished 6 of them, but I have a lot more started and plan to see them through to framing so I can hang them on my walls.

I wish you luck in your future endeavors and please know that your true fans will be here forever. (If you so choose to ever create some designs for us again.)

September Stitching

2009-09-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have good news. I finished the model! And it's back to the designer too. She wants to have it finished for the October Online Needlework Show. (It's an ornament.) She has two weeks to get it done. I sure hope to see it there. Once it's released then I can add a pic to my modelstitching website. www.freewebs.com/ArcheryGirl/

I have also been doing very well with my Challenge. (Not starting anything new for the rest of the year.) I posted that personal challenge on June 19 and other than the model (somebody else's project) I have been sticking to it. That's going to be a little more difficult in the next 3 months as Christmas is looming and ornaments make great gifts. They don't cost anything (because I already have the supplies) just the time to make them. And when you're already on a tight budget it makes sense to make gifts for Christmas because to buy everyone something can be right costly. But like I said, so far I'm doing well. And I'm going to look in my stash and see if there are any other ornaments that I've started that I can finish up for this year.

More big news. I'm on the last box of my Book of Ink Circles! I finished the last fishtail last night and started on the last box. I'm going to make some adjustments to the chart because I'm just not happy with how this one looks. I'm going to make changes as I go along. The last fishtail looks great. Note to self: need to get a pic of that and post it soon.

Still no activity on Mickey Mouse. I got a little bit done on Tuscany scissors fob two weekends ago when we were at my girlfriend's house for her birthday. We were watching the Cal football game and I needed to have something to do with my hands. That project has been living in the truck and the truck hasn't been driven much lately.

Castles in the Air is getting a little more work. I am a little overwhelmed with this one. All the specialty stitches is a bit daunting. So I just keep concentrating on the cross stitch in the border. I'm taking this one slowly, step by step. There's no hurry. Yes, it's a mystery so I can only get so far before I run out of chart as we're only up to part 5. But this is for me, and besides, it's the journey that counts more than the destination.

I've picked up an ornament that I've started. It fits in with the Challenge and it can also be one for the ornament exchange that I like to participate in every year.

August stitching

2009-08-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

Life has evened out a bit and my stitching got (somewhat) back to normal. I was stitching a couple of hours most nights which is a good thing.

I have an exemption to my challenge. A model. I was contacted by a designer that I've worked for previously who needed something stitched. I figured it would take a week or so to get the kit so I agreed. Otherwise, I've not started anything new for myself.

Book of Ink Circles was going along great! Even after I received the model, because they usually start out a bit slow. But then I get into the groove and the model becomes the focus piece. So I must admit that I have, for the majority of the last week, been ignoring my Book of Ink Circles in favor of the model. However, the designer wants it done "quickly" so I do need to focus on the model for the time being.

I set a new goal today. I am going to finish my Book of Ink Circles before the end of the year. I'll let you know how that's going when I get another week's worth of work into the model. I'm hoping that a total of 3.5 weeks worth of work will see it finished.

Other than that, everything else that I've mentioned in the last month or so has been temporarily put aside. Mickey Mouse, Castles in the Air and my Tuscany scissors fob have not seen a needle.

July update Part 2

2009-07-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

I'm still doing well on my challenge. I've not started anything new. I haven't had the time! Which really helps.

I did finally pick up my Book of Ink Circles last night. I made some good progress on the frame and started the next part which I believe is part 12.

Castles in the Air has had no progress on it as well as Mickey Mouse. I worked on my Tuscany scissors fob about a week ago when I was getting my brakes done on my truck. Hopefully life will even out soon and I will be able to pick my stitching back up on a regular basis.

July update

2009-07-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

It's still early in the month but I thought I would put something out here anyway. So far I've managed to stick with my challenge. I have not started anything new since I posted last. I've been strictly working on a couple of projects. First is Book of Ink Circles. I really want to get this done. I would love to enter it into the State Fair. I missed the deadline for the county fair so I only have the State and local festival to make the entry deadline.

The second project is Castles in the Air by Papillon creations. Lots of color changes, whew! Lots of beads as well. It's going to be gorgeous when it's done, but I'm having a hard time picking it up lately. (It doesn't help that I feel the need to concentrate on it and don't have much time at the moment.)

The third project is my Tuscany scissors fob. There's a bit of color changes on this one too. However it is really cute and I put a needle's worth of thread in it here and there.

The reason I don't have a lot of time lately is that I have someone "new" calling pretty much on a daily basis. Because it's new we talk a lot and are learning about each other. Then there are lots of events happening because it's summer. I don't mind so much setting my stitching down for a little bit while something new and exciting is happening. I know it'll always be there for me to pick up when I feel the need to put the needle through the fabric.

Sad News and Personal Challenges

2009-06-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

I am saddened by the news that we've lost yet another Designer. Marc Davis of Needlemania passed away yesterday. He was at home, in his chair with his stitching and his dogs. My condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.

I really dislike reminders of my mortality. It makes me think of what will happen to all my projects that are in various states of being worked on. So this is a wake up call to me. I'm setting a personal challenge to myself. I'm going to try to not start anything new for the rest of the year and just work on already started projects. Wish me luck! (Of course the exception is if I finish Book of Ink Circles so I can start Brambles and the Rose.)

The second challenge is to not buy any new charts for the rest of the year. I subscribed to the Gift of Stitching magazine and have the latest two issues of Just Cross Stitch. (Of course the exception there is the Christmas ornament issue of JCS.) This should help me concentrate better on the first challenge. I'll try to remember to post progress here more often.

June Update Part II

2009-06-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

I went to Needle in a Haystack on Sunday. I got the French grape monogram book. Yay! Even better, it was an older copy marked at only $25.00. I got the beads to continue Castles in the Air. I got two packs of needles (one pack of beading needles that I'm continuously losing!) and a new nail file. The last thing I got was a skein of Silk N Colors - Camouflage for the new Ink Circles Brambles and the Rose. The sheen of the silk will give the two shades of green the rose bush look and the small bits of brown will give it an extra little dimension. I'm looking forward to starting this one.

Now, onto the disappointment! I am a self-proclaimed scissors nut. I am collecting scissors and cutting instruments. I have 30 pair of scissors, a pair of nippers and two Clover cutters. That being said, I posted previously that I was hunting the the grape bunch scissors from Uncommon Scissors. Needle in a Haystack had the entire line! I was able to pick up and feel each and every one I was interested in. Unfortunately for me, the grape bunch scissors finger holes were so small that I could only fit my fingernails into them! (I would honestly think they were made for children if I didn't know better. Or maybe they were?) I may be a nut but I'm a practical nut. If I'm spending over $25 for a pair of scissors I want them to be usable. Therefore I was very disappointed that the grape bunch scissors were not usable for me. I then tried the sheep scissors. Nope, the legs stuck out at an angle that hit my fingers when trying to use them. (Scratch those off the list.) Then the primrose scissors. Those too had too tiny fingerholes. Then the clinging vine. Their fingerholes are not round. They feel weird on your fingers. I couldn't see using them because they weren't exactly comfortable for me. So all the scissors came off my list and I left the shop without buying scissors. Sigh I was very disappointed and out of sorts that I couldn't buy scissors! But after looking at my list I found a pair of Ginghers that I don't have and they're on sale at Joann's. Maybe I'll pick them up this weekend...

June update

2009-06-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

Castles in the air is going slowly. There's lots of changes of color so lots of starting and stopping.

Book of Ink Circles is moving along well. I've finished a couple of parts. http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/570412802fykkas (I hope that link takes you to my album.)

Tuscany scissors fob is going slowly.

Mickey Mouse is going even slower.

I've at least kept myself from starting anything (else) new.

Plan on going to Needle in a Haystack this weekend. I'm looking for more beads for Castles in the Air, variegated green-something (fiber) for the new Ink Circles - Brambles and the Rose, the French grape Monogram book I've seen the last couple of times I was there and hopefully a new pair of scissors - grape bunch by Uncommon Scissors. (I believe they were released that the online Needlework show. I hope the store has them.)

Done!

2009-04-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

I finished How Does Your Garden Grow last night.

Tonight I started Castles in the Sky.

Getting closer!

2009-03-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

How Does Your Garden Grow - Part 11 - Finished 3/31/09

I made a goal of finishing How Does Your Garden Grow before starting the next Papillon Creations mystery Castles in the Sky. I have only part 12 left of HDYGG and I'll be starting that tonight as well. It's very hard to not start the new one but I'm going to use it as a treat for getting something finished. So I'm on track!

March update

2009-03-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

I finished the model the day I last posted. I took pics and sent it back to the designer the next day. A little over a week later I got a good reference with a "we will definitely use Susan again"! Woohoo! I'm really happy about that. I like knowing there are people to work for when I feel the need to stitch a model.

I've kitted up the new Papillon Creations mystery and I want to start it, but I want to get How Does Your Garden Grow finished first. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold out but I'm doing good as I just finished Part 10 and started Part 11.

I finally got the credit card thing corrected and received the order. However, the new bf is no longer so I have no reason (at this time) to stitch anything out of that booklet. I would feel really bad to send it back after all I went through to get it. And it's not their fault where I ordered it. So it'll go into the file.

I also picked up a Mickey Mouse kit. (It's all about the Mouse!) And I started it. I don't consider this a "serious" design, it's strictly for fun so I went ahead and used the aida that came in the kit. I honestly don't have any idea where I could hang it in my house when it's finished. But I want to stitch it!

I think that's pretty much it for at least a week. :)

Surprising even myself...

2009-03-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

In the last post I talked about the model stitching and how far along I was. I posted that I had 6 weeks to finish. Well, at a little less than 3 weeks later I can report that I should be done today. Last night I estimated a little over two hours of work left to do. But I didn't want to stay up until midnight to get that accomplished. (I had already put in over 5 hours of work last night.) So I'm going to do my best to get it done tonight. (At last conversation, the new bf wants to come over and take me to dinner. That usually takes most of the night.) I really want to get it done and send it back as soon as possible. Not only will it benefit the designer by having it back early for photos and getting the design ready for publishing, but it makes me look good for finishing before the deadline. It's a win-win all the way around! I would so love to put it in the mail tomorrow and have a "free" weekend!

And, speaking of the new bf, the lns didn't have the Stoney Creek design booklet so I had to order it online. No problem except I was a bit dyslexic when entering the credit card number which put off the order being in the mail for about a week. That's ok, it's something I can look forward to as a reward for finishing the model. (I'm hoping to get it in tomorrow's mail.)

Other than that, nothing new happening stitching-wise since all of my time has been spent on the model. I will go back to the bookmarks soon because I want to get a couple more stitched before the May deadline.

Something to be excited about - part 2

2009-02-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

This is my Ink Spot.

If you're interested in the Yahoo group search for "InkCirclesSALs" and click "Join this Group". It's been lovely to get the newest parts for BoInk from the group when sometimes the website is too crowded. Plus all the progress pics of everyone's BoInk's is wonderful!

New stuff to be excited about:
Model stitching - over the weekend I was able to hit a milestone in the model that I'm stitching! Of course I can't give specific details away, let's just say there are 6 creatures and a saying. I finished the 4th creature yesterday. There are 2 creatures and 6 words left to go. Think I can finish in 6 weeks? Yes, my deadline is the beginning of April. I'm putting most of my other projects on hold, for the most part, until I get this finished. Which means I put most of my time in on this project and when I get a certain amount completed and need a break I switch to something else.

New project - the "new guy" had asked me if I would stitch something for him. I asked him what he was interested in and he said tall ships. So I did a little research and found the booklet of 4 ships by Stoney Creek. I'll be checking the lns for it next weekend. Then I showed him the Subversive Cross Stitch book. He had a good chuckle and picked one out! I got home last night and kitted it up right away. Thank goodness for small cuts of fabric and plenty of DMC! lol I changed up a few of the colors but I think it's going to look great.

Bookmark - I'm on my second bookmark for Literacy. This one is a very simple dragonfly design with no border. I'm stitching it on fabric and finishing it myself and I'm not sure yet how I'm going to do that. I guess I'll figure it out when I get done with the dragonflies.

And speaking of bookmarks, there's a contest at Nordic Needle to design your own bookmark. I think I'm going to hop onto that bandwagon. I've got a couple of ideas brewing. We'll see how it goes.

Something to be excited about!

2009-02-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Tracy of Ink Circles released a freebie to the members of her Yahoo Group. It's called Ink Spot #1. She said she gave it to us as a somewhat "sample" to work before getting started on her new design "Growth Rings" which was featured in the Mar/Apr issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

As soon as I saw a picture of "Growth Rings" I knew I wanted to stitch it. But I wasn't thrilled with the earthy colors that were used. (Brown/tan, peach/orange/yellow, green was what I saw in the pic.) I immediately thought "dramatic" and wanted to use red and black. I also thought of where I would hang it in my house and thought blues and greens.

Then Tracy offered the Ink Spot freebie. I've started stitching it in red and black and it looks terrific! Now I get to look through my stash to find the blues and greens that I want to try out.

February update

2009-02-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

I'm doing really well on the model that I'm working on. Let's see, I'm more than half done with it. I guess I could say I'm nearly 2/3 done with it. I need at least one or two more days to be definitely 2/3 done with it.

I've also been working on the latest round robin piece, How Does Your Garden Grow and Book of Ink Circles.

I just finished a bookmark for Literacy. I'm hoping to complete one a month until it's time to send - the 1st of May. We'll see how well that goes but I'm going to try. It's a really good cause and not a lot of stitching! I'm going to be taking the patterns out of my new medieval blackwork book and probably using silks. I love using silk!

Anyway, I want to get the model done so I can get some work done for myself. I want to have something to enter into the fairs this year. I think it's important to keep the categories active in local and state fairs - it's important for others to see. I'm hoping to have at least 3 - 1 for each event. (I have a City, County, and State available to me.) If I get two done minimum I already have one to enter. I'm going to use the Sampler-ette that I finished last year. I'm hoping for How Does Your Garden Grow as well. Whatever else I'm probably going to have to pick up out of the WIP pile.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-19T09:45:00.001-08:00

I happily ushered in 2009 with the hope that it'll be a better year (all around) than the last.

To update from my last post - December was a very busy month with little time to stitch. I managed to put the most time into the model that I'm working on even as little as that was. January is not looking much better, but I've succeeded in disciplining myself to make more time for the model. I only have two months left to work on it. Thank goodness I work best when it comes to a deadline!

Recap of 2008

I finished my 50 Project challenge! It would have drug on much longer if I hadn't counted each part seperately of the two mysteries I was spending a lot of time on. I didn't start a new challenge, but instead created a plan to allow myself to work on older projects and yet start new ones as well. Time will tell how this works.

My 2008 challenge died a quick death. Just too many things going on at once and I couldn't keep this in focus. Granted, it was quite ambitious as well. Maybe I'll pick it up again sometime when I have a bit more time to stitch.

"More time to stitch" - what an interesting thing to look at. You know, the most time I had for stitching came when I was miserable in a bad relationship. Generally I'm much happier now, in the years since that was finally over. But being single I find that I don't have as much time to stitch. I went from driving my DD everywhere to her driving her own car and yet I still don't have more time. I'm still attending Renaissance Faires, but I'm dating now as well. Still, no more time. Everything adjusts accordingly I guess.

Projects Finished in 2008: (in no particular order)
Model (on black fabric)
Autumn Pinkeep Exchange
Ink Circles, Book of Ink Circles - Part 1, 2, 3
Fantasy/Magic Exchange
TW Christmas Ornament Exchange (ornamentafied only, project was stitched previously)
Scarf - knitted
Brooke's Books, Stitchy Witchie #1
Papillon Creations, How Does Your Garden Grow - Part 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Eventide Designs, A Sampler-ette
TW, Futurecast
TW, Castle Ridge
TW, First Day of Christmas ornament
Enchanting Lair, Realm of Wishes
Subversive Cross Stitch, Official Pain in the Neck

The only projects not started in 2008 that were finished in 2008 were the model, Futurecast, Realm of Wishes, and the TW ornament. But 24 finishes for the year - not bad!

Last but not least - 2009 Goals!

I want to continue to be happy.
Stitch!
Be happy with my stitching.
Stitch what I want.
And get a few of the larger projects finished!

November progress/December goals

2008-12-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

I stitched something like 26 days out of 30 in November. Although I only put in 17.75 hours in on the model. My goal was 30 hours (one hour per day). All the weekend activity really cut into my stitching time. Not to mention the fact that I started knitting a scarf and that's cutting into stitching time as well. (Even though it is a form of needlework.)

December goals:
I would still like to get an hour a day on the model and I'm already behind! But there's a stitching get together on Saturday and I plan on taking it with me. Hopefully I can catch up. There are no other gifts planned to be finished for this year and I've already sent out the one ornament that I needed for the exchange. I have 3 parts left to stitch on How Does Your Garden Grow and many more on my Book of Ink Circles. Of course, both of those will go along with me as well. Of course, I also have my UFO RR piece that needs to be stitched on this weekend before I send it back out again on Monday.
And that is the bare minimum that I'm trying to reach this month.

I'm Done!!! WooHoo!!!!!

2008-10-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

I finished my 50 Project Challenge! My 50th Project finish was Stitchie Witchie from Brooke's Books. I finished her after 10pm so took the pic and then went to bed. I'll get the pic uploaded to my Webshots album tonight.

To finish-finish this project I'm going to take someone else's idea and attach the fabric to a tote-bag. And I'm sure it'll be used more for a stitching bag than a Halloween treat bag. :) I was thinking about stitching the recipient's name on it too - if I can find the appropriate lettering. But that's over and above the design and not necessary to wait and see if I can find the right one to call this finished.

So happy dance with me! I finished 50 Projects in 2 years and 50 days!

I've got a plan!

2008-10-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

New starts are fun and there's always lots of new things to do - especially with all those freebies out there! I've got to come up with something workable in order to get some older/started projects finished and still allow me to start new ones - and finish them as well!

So I came up with this plan. With every finish I will alternate new starts with older WIP's (works in progress).

For example when I finished A Sampler-ette - Eventide Designs (finished 9/4/08) I picked up TW's Futurecast - something I started some time ago. I had TW's Castle Ridge in rotation and when I finished that I started Stitchie Witchie - a new project. When I finished Futurecast I picked up Realm of Wishes - Enchanting Lair - a WIP. I just finished Realm of Wishes so now I can pick up another new start. It should be a Christmas ornament of gift considering the date. I do have something kitted up, it'll depend on how much time I have to spend on my rotation tonight.

Hopefully this will work!

WIP's - Running list

2008-10-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

It was great that I listed my Works In Progress/"things I've started" but I need a place to add more and delete the finished ones, or maybe put them in their own list. I can also keep track of their status this way. So this is where I'm going to do that.
So here we go!

Works in Progress as of 1/19/09:
knitting - hockey scarf (on hold)
How Does Your Garden Grow - Papillon Creations (working)
Book of Ink Circles Celtic Mystery - Ink Circles (working)
2nd Day Christmas ornament - TW (on hold)
Carnation Mystery Sampler - Wiehenburg (on hold)
Rose Tree Wool Cross - TW
Kaleidoscope Hearts - Sweetheart Tree
French Heart design
Christmas Mystery 2003 - Pam Kellogg (My UFO RR project)
A Bountiful Harvest - Pam Kellogg
Snowflake ornament - JCS Dec. '97
Fairies in Shoeland - Stitch World
Hedgehog - Countryside Miniatures
A Tug of Flowers - Needle & Frame
Celtic Hearts Scissors Keep - Stitcher's World Mar '05
Castle Sampler - TW
Celtic Inspiration Band Sampler - TW
Emerald Mermaid - Mirabilia
Rose Arbor - Mirabilia
Medieval Tiles - Dracolair
Dragon Rampant - TW
Rhodes Butterfly Fob - Sweetheart Tree
Violets - Silver Lining
Fairies - Needle Magic
Bacchus Bear - Vermillion
Egyptian Sampler - TW
Stretch - TW
Snowball Fight - Dragon Dreams
Mary Queen of Scots bookmark - Textile Heritage
Fairytale bookmark - Textile Heritage
Mickey Mouse (Janlynn kit)

Finished Projects (in chronological order):
A Sampler-ette - Eventide Designs - finished 9/4/08
Castle Ridge - Teresa Wentzler - finished 9/30/08
Futurecast - TW - finished 10/17/08
Realm of Wishes - Enchanting Lair - finished 10/19/08
Wine a Bit - Sue Hillis - finished 1/25/09
Stitchie Witchie #2 - Brooke's Books - finished 1/25/09
Model - X's & Oh's - finished 3/5/09
Bay Area TW RR - finished and returned 3/09

Another Finish!

2008-10-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Last night I finished Realm of Wishes by Enchanting Lair. Laura was releasing one part during each of the last 3 CATS shows (2006?). I made it to Las Vegas and got the first one - the Castle. Laura said there was also going to be a Dragon and a Fairy, and if you didn't make it to all the CATS shows then she would be releasing them at a later date. I checked her website and I haven't been able to find any of the ones I don't have available. So I decided it was time to finish this one. I had done the Castle and the lettering and even attached the celtic knot. All I had left was the border. It took me two different days (and moving the knot) to finish this one.

This makes #49 out of my 50 Project Challenge. The next/last finish looks like it'll probably be Stitchie Witchie as she is stitching up really quickly!

Stay tuned. :)

Newest Finish

2008-10-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Futurecast by Teresa Wentzler, finished Friday 10/17/08.

Progress

2008-10-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

Futurecast is coming along. I've got him backstitched and have started the beading. Beading goes slow for me so this may take a couple of days. All I have left is the beading in the border. He should be done this week. Yay!!!

How Does Your Garden Grow is up to date. I finished Part 9 today. In about 3 days time the next part will be out. But for at least 3 days I'm up to date.

(One blogger issue - I can't seem to place pics where I want them. I either just fixed that or screwed up the whole thing.)

The last finishes for September

2008-10-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

I previously posted that I finished A Sampler-ette. I also finished part 8 of How Does Your Garden Grow. And lastly, on 9/30 I finished TW's Castle Ridge. There are a couple of pics in my webshots album. As soon as I find some time I will post the pics. In the meantime I'm scrambling like mad to make up for the mistake I made while making my pinkeep exchange so I can get it mailed out.

A new finish!

2008-09-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished A Sampler-ette by Eventide Designs. I have a pic of it in my webshots album. As soon as I get some time I will post a pic here.

WIP's - aka Works in Progress

2008-08-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, I must have finished more than I thought! At one time I could have sworn that I had at least 50 projects if not more, started. Tonight I was curious enough to go to the places where I keep my stitching and take an inventory on just what exactly I've got started. At least, what I intend to finish. And here we go:

Castle Ridge - Teresa Wentzler - finished 9/30/08
2nd Day Christmas ornament - TW
How Does Your Garden Grow - Papillon Creations
Book of Ink Circles Celtic Mystery - Ink Circles
A Sampler-ette - Eventide Designs - finished 9/4/08
Model - X's & Oh's
Carnation Mystery Sampler - Wiehenburg
Futurecast - TW - finished 10/17/08
Rose Tree Wool Cross - TW
Kaleidoscope Hearts - Sweetheart Tree
French Heart design
Christmas Mystery 2003 - Pam Kellogg
A Bountiful Harvest - Pam Kellogg
Snowflake ornament - JCS Dec. '97
Realm of Wishes - Enchanting Lair
Fairies in Shoeland - Stitch World
Hedgehog - Countryside Miniatures
A Tug of Flowers - Needle & Frame
Celtic Hearts Scissors Keep - Stitcher's World Mar '05
Castle Sampler - TW
Celtic Inspiration Band Sampler - TW
Emerald Mermaid - Mirabilia
Rose Arbor - Mirabilia
Medieval Tiles - Dracolair
Dragon Rampant - TW
Rhodes Butterfly Fob - Sweetheart Tree
Violets - Silver Lining
Fairies - Needle Magic
Bacchus Bear - Vermillion
Bay Area TW RR
Egyptian Sampler - TW
Stretch - TW
Snowball Fight - Dragon Dreams
Mary Queen of Scots bookmark - Textile Heritage
Fairytale bookmark - Textile Heritage

That makes 36. Like I said above, I must have finished more than I thought as I could have sworn that I had started at least 50. Or maybe that's how many projects to stitch I could think of off the top of my head. Now that I think about it, I seem to remember a time about a year or year and a half ago that I cleaned up my stash a bit and reclaimed some fabric from projects I knew I wasn't going to work on any time soon. That and getting in a few finishes would probably be why this number is so low.

Since I was taking inventory (of a sort) I decided to log the following to keep an idea of what I have in my stash.

Kits or Kitted Projects:
Dear Santa - JBW
Baseball - JBW
Garden Wisdom - JBW
Hardanger (kit) - Kraftie Kits
Japanese Quilting Sashiko - Needle & Frame
Wine a bit - Sue Hillis
Medieval Herb Garden bookmark (kit) - Textile Heritage
Whitework Ornament - TW
Enchanter (kit) - TW
Guardian (kit) - TW
Lorri's Needlecase (kit) - Lorri Birmingham
One Who Plants A Garden (kit) - Lorri Birmingham
Sweetheart tin cover (kit) - Lorri Birmingham
Celtic card (kit) - Musgrave designs

And a list of partially kitted projects:
Winter Garden Sampler - Victoria Sampler
A Mother's Heart Sampler - Victoria Sampler
Hope Tree Ornament - M Designs
Love Tree Ornament - M Designs
Butterfly Fairy - Mirabilia
Enchanted Mermaid - Mirabilia
All You Need Is Love - The Drawn Thread
Mystic - Enchanting Lair
Wine Queen - Enchanting Lair
July Sings - Bent Creek
Thanksgiving Medley - Heart in Hand
Queen Mary's Garden - Liz Turner Diehl
Treasured Trio - Sweetheart Tree
Grape Gatherer - Solaria
Dragon by the Fire stocking - Black Swan

Well, that's a good enough start. I have an idea that the charts would take me forever to catalog and sort. Ah, that can wait for another time - preferrably when I have money so that I can pay the kids to do it! lol

Update 8-20-08

2008-08-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of months. I had 3 Renaissance Faires/Highland Games within a 4 week time period which means no stitching for at least 4 days each time. The last one was a whole week! There's been birthdays and wedding receptions, visits with friends, my daughter starting her senior year in high school, and car repairs. I was also found by a friend from high school that I haven't seen in over 20 years. Wow!

And yet, I've been doing my best to find time to stitch out of all this, between it, despite it all - whatever. So here are my updates.

Castle Ridge - stitching this for my sister. I would say it's about 95% done. At this point it's all confetti and backstitch. I don't mind the backstitch, it's the confetti that's driving me nuts. (N V T S - nuts!) I need to make myself pick it up at least once a week to finally get it finished.

Book of Ink Circles - last night I finished part 3 or the May 27 square. Yes, I'm a little behind but I think it's going to stay that way.

How Does Your Garden Grow - I finished part 7 and started part 8. Something is off and I need to go in another direction on this one in order to find out if I need to frog or if I can just fudge it.

A Sampler-ette - I'm loving this little sampler! I started it last week while sitting in the hospital waiting to see my daughter's boyfriend. (Car accident)

Carnation Sampler - This thing is huge! And only two colors. There's lots to stitch and it's going very slowly.

TW Days of Christmas ornaments - nothing has been done on this since last month. I'm having a hard time getting excited about this even though I WANT to stitch them. They will all get done eventually.

New Things:
Model - I said I wasn't going to accept a model for a while, well, I was wrong. This one is from X's and Oh's and is fairly large though not solid stitching. It's going to take me some time to do so I will be reporting on this for months.

Contest - There's a contest through Country Woman magazine for original cross stitch designs on any medium you can come up with. I've been thinking about a drawing I did as a teenager and I'm working it out to see if it's something that can be adapted to cross stitch. I've got it started and have some ideas on what else I want to do with it. I have until (I think) the end of September to get it entered. First prize is $300. That would come in handy.

Autumn Pinkeep - I thought I knew what I wanted to stitch and then I changed my mind. I may be using part of the design for the contest (above) if it turns out like I want it to. But I have to design it first. The mailing date for this is the same as the contest so I have some time to work on this. I think I found the backing fabric that I want to use regardless of which design I choose to stitch, just need to pick that up from the store.

And that's what I've got going on right now.

New Finish!

2008-06-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

I finished the model that I was working on. It was pastel colors on black fabric. I will post a pic after the designer has released this design. I'm just really happy that I've finished this. Now I no longer have any deadline projects and can work on something for me!

(Since my sister's wedding has passed I no longer consider this a "deadline" project. I'm not far from finishing it and will give it to her when it's ready.)

I'm the new owner of a bulletin board!

2008-06-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

As anyone who knows me and my habits at all, you would know that I'm a Rotation Stitcher. I have a hard time sticking with one project and one project only all the way through. I just get bored. With the design, the colors, whether there are lots of fractional stitches, confetti, or even large blocks of just one color. I get bored. So I move on to something that's totally different. I thrive on variety!

So when I saw the notice on the Rotation Stitchers bulletin board that the owner wanted to step down I thought this would be a great fit for me.

I'm passionate about my stitching. It's the second love of my life - my daughter is the first. :) I do believe that this is something I'll happily be doing until I leave this earth. It's very calming to me to put a needle and thread through fabric. There's anticipation and excitement starting a new project and the satisfaction in getting a project done. Not to mention giving a stitched gift and feeling the joy and appreciation from the recipient. (Especially giving something to someone you haven't gifted before. I gifted a friend for his birthday and he was quite appreciative of the time and effort I put into his project. He told me he thinks I'm quite talented and couldn't believe I did everything by hand including doing the framing myself.) :)

I also appreciate the historical aspect of it as well. It's a craft that's been handed down from generation to generation. I have taught my daughter how to stitch and my "2nd" daughter (child of best friends) stitches as well. I try to encourage them both as much as possible.

Honestly, I was very surprised when I got the response from the previous board owner telling me that I was the only one who "raised my hand" for lack of a better term. There are many in the stitching community and quite a few who are "chatting" on these bulletin boards. But I understand that everyone doesn't always have enough time to devote to something like this. If you're passionate then you make time. Which I guess is what I'm doing.

So if there's anyone out there who hasn't been there or is interested enough to check it out - I'm the new owner of the Rotation Stitchers bulletin board at Yuku.com. Our focus is our stitching and we use the Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. And I hope everyone continues to contribute to the overall stitching community.

Working steady

2008-06-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have been making slow progress on a couple of projects. I finished my fantasy/magic exchange piece on 6/1 and mailed it out the next day. After that I decided to make the model my focus piece to concentrate on getting it done and gone. I've had some great communication from the designer and I think I know where I'm going at least.

Book of Ink Circles is moving right along. The silk replacing metallic change has been so wonderful! The gold fill-in stitches are much more enjoyable. After frogging the entire knot at the top I only shredded two strands of color that I had to toss and the re-stitching of the knot is going fine. Once I get that done I can move on to the filling of the boxes of which I'm behind on.

I'm also moving forward on Castle Ridge. I've started doing some of the backstitching so as to not leave it completely for the end. It keeps looking better and better. I'm almost to the point where I only have rocks to do. I do want to get it done so I can finally give it to my sister.

Other than that, I'm waiting for the next part of How Does Your Garden Grow to be released. (Early next week?) And I pulled Dracolair's Medieval Tiles out of my WIP pile to work on that one for a while. LOTS of fractional stitches on that one!

I'm trying to be good and not start a new freebie - the new one from Sampler Cove Designs. I just received a new skein of Waterlilies (12 ply silk) Williamsburg and think it would be a great fiber to use for that design. I already have Williamsburg in what I think is Watercolors (3 ply cotton). I know they are basically the same shade but the medium is quite different. I wonder if I could somehow find a way to use both for this pattern. It calls for 2 skeins variegated and 2 skeins solid. If I decide to try this I think it's going to make an interesting project.

A Shopping Spree!

2008-06-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

There was a get together on Saturday at Elegant Stitch and I did a little shopping. I got: Summer 2008 Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly, a pack of beading needles, Crescent Colors Belle Soie - 2 skeins of Scarecrow and 1 skein of fern frond, Crescent Colors - Blacksmith Blue, Chili Pepper, and Weeping Willow, Gloriana Black Cherry, and Northern Lights Sea Blue. I also got a little freebie called Peeps.

Hanging in there...

2008-05-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much stitching lately. I had a dinner date on Friday night then I drove to my friend's house. We visited until the wee hours. Saturday I had the opportunity, but had left my stitching behind. Oh well, I did a little when I got to the house, after dinner, before leaving to meet up with a friend. After I got back to my friend's house I stayed up with my "2nd daughter" and we girl-talked/vented until the wee hours. Sunday I did a lot of traveling and read instead of stitched. On Monday I had a friend come over and we cuddled on the couch and watched tv. That was so much nicer than stitching!

But it's a good thing that I waited because the next section to the Book of Ink Circles - Celtic Mystery was released. Next week we should get the next installment of How Does Your Garden Grow and the Spanish Sampler. (I'm waiting for the next part of the Spanish Sampler to come out before I decide to start it. If I do, I know I'm going to do the monochromatic version and I'll need to choose the fabric and thread, etc.)

I did the cutting of one section of the model that I still have. I need to start doing the wrapping. This is going to be interesting!

I also did more on an exchange that I've signed up for. It's looking really good and it's coming along. I'm very happy with it so far.

I haven't touched Castle Ridge since last week. I really need to get that done soon. I've started the backstitching on the roofs and I'm happy with that progress. If that's the only thing I have to do! Nope, I've still got lots of confetti to do for the rocks below the castle. I give it another month. Hopefully I'll be done with it then.

No progress on my ornament lately. Everything else has been more exciting and easier to stitch.

I've got to do some other things tonight, but I'll try to pick up as many as I can.

Another Finish

2008-04-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

I finished part 4 of How Does Your Garden Grow - today 4/26/08.

Part 3 finish

2008-04-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

I finished part 3 of How Does Your Garden Grow on wednesday night. Part 4 came out after that but I didn't have access to a printer so I haven't worked on it since then.

I've been working on the first "fish" box in the Book of Ink Circles Celtic Mystery.

Progress

2008-04-14T14:38:00.001-07:00

I stitched more on Castle Ridge, How Does Your Garden Grow, Book of Ink Circles, Fantasy/Magic exchange and TW 2nd day ornament.

Let's start with TW 2nd day ornament - I finished up the inner border and put one color in of the over 1.
Fantasy/Magic exchange - the border is complete. I still have to find a couple of the colors that I need, but I'm stitching with what I have. It's a little difficult using a chart from a hard-bound book, not to mention a color chart.
Book of Ink Circles - the black border is complete around the first box. The black border is complete around the first (top middle) knot. I worked the green over to the knot and put in the red there too. I can't wait until the next part is released tomorrow. I'm considering putting this on a smaller set of q-snaps and taking this with me to work on in Hawaii.
How Does Your Garden Grow - I'm almost done with part 3. I had to frog a bit to get this part right. The first way I chose to do this didn't work so I fixed it. I think it looks really good. I'm waiting for Part 4 to take to Hawaii. (I want to take at least two projects.) Note to self: Get out the Clover cutter for the trip!
Castle Ridge - a little more done on the castle and a little more done in the rocks area. Also did a little in the clouds. Taking my time with it now that it's at least 75% complete. Also started the backstitching.

I'm happy with the progress and there won't be much more done this week. There may be some tonight, but first I have to pick up my truck from the shop then I will test it out by going to run an errand. I need to do a framing job for a friend that I'm putting off only because of this trip and because the frame I bought was munched, but I didn't see it when I initially bought it. I also need to get the foam core for that too. Tomorrow I'm taking my daughter and getting our nails done. I also need to go get some cash out of the savings and finish packing.

2 Finishes

2008-04-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday I stitched for 10 hours to finish a model that I was working on. Then last night I finished Part 2 of How Does Your Garden Grow. I'll post pics when I can.

A finish - of sorts...

2008-04-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

I have recently chosen to stitch two mysteries that have been released here on the 'net. (Possibly 3, that one is as yet undecided.) I've decided that I'm going to count each part as a finish toward my 50 Project Challenge. Each person following the challenge makes up her/his own rules. I hadn't considered this when I started the challenge, but I wasn't doing these mysteries then either. Parts are going to be released monthly and if I keep up then there should be some lag time between each part. So it's practically starting a new project each time even though I already have the fabric and threads. So why not count each part as a finish?

All of this is to say that I've finished part 1 of How Does Your Garden Grow.

Another new start

2008-03-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

I must confess to another new start yesterday. Through my wanderings through my Yahoo! Groups I saw a post stating that Ink Circles was starting a new mystery. A Celtic mystery! I went over to look and was completely lost. I immediately printed it out and went home and kitted it up. Well, partially kitted.

Being that it is supposed to look like the book of Kells, I decided that rich colors were indeed called for. It was suggested to use gold metallic for the yellow/gold portion of the chart and I do have two partial spools of Kreinik 002 HL, so I pulled those. There's a large amount of black called for so I decided to use DMC for that. I was going to use Rayon for the orange and purple but I found two colors by The Dye Is Cast that would work just as well. (Unfortunately, I'm afraid this company is no longer in business. I looked at several online stores to find that they do not carry this line of thread. I also tried using the website stated on the skeincards and the website had nothing to do with cross stitch thread.) I don't have quite enough of the orange that the design calls for. But it's close enough to a DMC color that I will blend the two and I will have plenty. I'm sure I have enough of the purple. If it turns out that I do not then I have a Weeks Dye Works color that is almost exactly the same thing and I will use that if I have to. Next is red. I have LOTS of reds as that is a fun color to stitch with. I was going to use my Louisiana Hot Sauce (WDW if I'm not mistaken) but I only have one skein and I'm sure I'll need two. I decided that I would use a much richer red and chose In The Burgundy by Thread Gatherer. I used it on another project and I'm sure I have plenty.

The final colors are green, light blue and dark blue. I do not have the amounts that these colors call for so I'm going to have to purchase them. (Oh darn! But really 18, 8, and 10 yards is a lot and I only buy 1 skein at a time usually which is only around 5 yards.) When I go shopping (either this friday/saturday or next friday/saturday) I will be taking the whole thing with me so I can make sure the colors all go together. I really don't want to pick the wrong shade.

I need to go print out another copy because I want a good one to keep and one working copy (which I started on last night). I started the top left hand corner last night. I worked in one length of black/border just to be fair. I didn't want to leave out my obligation stitching and I had spent enough time trying to pick out colors that I wanted to use.

I have a month to get as far along as I care to get before the next installment is released. I can't wait!

Update

2008-03-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

I have been procrastinating the starting of the 2nd Day of Christmas ornament. Well, no longer. I have started it and hope to rotate it into/through the rotation every other day or so. I would like to get the models done and sent back so I can concentrate on my own stuff - so I'm focusing on them.

I'm also not beating myself up over my sister's wedding gift. She's getting married in Hawaii and I'm not taking a framed piece on the plane. She can wait until she gets home.

Things are moving slowly lately. Reason: handsome man. I got a call on Weds. of last week that made a dinner date for Thurs. So on Thurs. I only had about an hour for stitching once he left. Then at work on Fri. I got another call. He got high-speed wireless internet installed at home and wanted to share. So I went to his place and ended up spending the weekend. I had a little time to pick up my stitching while I was baking on Sat. afternoon and then again after dinner while he was on the phone. I also picked it up on Sun. while he was doing his taxes. And then again once I got home. However, that was cut a little short by DD's car troubles - which will also be affecting my stitching time tonight. I have another friend who works on cars who said he'd come over and take a look. I said I would cook dinner for his trouble.

I should take some more progress pics soon.

First Confession of 2008

2008-02-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

This all revolves mostly around last night. For starters I was working on a model. No problem there, putting time into an obligation piece.

Then I decided to look around to see if I had an appropriate piece of fabric to start a new project. Of course, I had to find the first part of the chart in order to find the finished size of the design so I know what size piece of fabric I'm looking for.

In the middle of this I get distracted and decide that I need to inventory my scissors once again, and, with the names of the Gingher Designer Series ones that I own. As I search, I know that I'm not seeing a pair or two that are probably stored with projects that are somewhere in my stash. I know I've taken a picture of them at one point so I can use that as a reference when I get online. I looked today and have determined that I own 24 pair of embroidery scissors plus 2 Clover cutters! Yes, I am nuts about scissors. Yes, I can only use one pair at a time. And yes, I still have one pair still in the package that I've never used! One thing I need to research. Are all Dovos marked Dovos? I have two pair that I think are Dovos that have the same round stamp on them (declaring Solingen?) but they do not say Dovos. Of course I do not keep track where I purchase them so there's really no looking it up that way. I'll have to check my other source.

Back to the fabric search. I find the first part of the chart (it's a mystery that's being released in 13 parts) and determine what size piece of fabric that I need. I open my fabric drawer and look at just about everything I own. I find a piece that is too large but was purchased only for the sale price so I have no problem cutting it down.

The next part of this mission is choosing my own colors. It's part of the mystery to pick what you want. And one does have to be careful that the thread colors don't clash with or get lost in the color of fabric that you choose. I went into my thread drawer and pulled out a couple of colors that I thought I might like. But I didn't have all that I needed. Out to the thread box to sift through everything in there. I found everything I needed there and even changed some of my earlier decisions. Mostly everything I picked (the flower colors) is silk. I'm glad I have a nice supply to use. The design that I started is from Papillion Creations "How Does Your Garden Grow". I picked: red/Kayla's Rose - Dinky-Dyes, blue/Blue Lavender - Waterlilies, pink/Sophie's Strawberry and yellow/Lemon Souffle - Thread Gatherer, light green/English Ivy - Olde Willow Stitchery, darker green/Olivia - The Dye Is Cast. I haven't chosen the beads yet. I figured that I would see how it looked first and where they would be placed to make the right color choice.

Long story short - I started a new project last night. I feel guilty about it as I have a passel of other projects that have already been started and just need some attention. (Which is why I started the 50 Project Challenge.) But here's what I'm going to do. I'm easing up on myself as I have finished over half of the 50 Projects (an accomplishment) and a lot of the ones that have already been started are large projects. This one is fairly small and all of it has not been released yet. I will be stitching this one in spurts and hopefully once my obligation stitching is finished I will be able to pick back up on my challenges again.

Finish #27 of 50

2008-02-18T10:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend I finished project #27 out of 50. I modified a design out of the Subversive Cross Stitch book to say "Official Pain in the Neck" for a friend of mine who had surgery on his neck on Friday. I stitched it in the hospital while being the support network for his wife and daughter. (My best friends.) Of course I forgot to take a pic of it. So when they get home from the hospital - hopefully today - they will take a pic for me and send it to me.

It was nice to have an excuse to stitch something easy and quick. I haven't had a finish on this challenge this year and I've got lots to get done.

2008 Challenge

2008-02-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a seperate Challenge for myself. I want to stitch Teresa Wentzler's 12 Days of Christmas ornaments and finish them all in 2008 to hang on my tree. I'm guessing there will be two parts to this challenge. The first is to get them stitched. (There's a lot of over-one stitching.) And the second part is to actually make them into ornaments. I will post here and update as my work progresses.

1st Day ornament - finished 2/8/08

2008-02-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

On Jan 1 I picked up 1st Day of Christmas ornament by TW. I had already started it but was seriously going to try to get the set stitched this year. Who knows when I'll actually make them into ornaments! Anyway, it's now February but I'm hoping to finish this one tonight.

I have a gift to stitch but will be starting (and hopefully finishing) next weekend. It's for someone who's going in for surgery.

I'm still working on Castle Ridge for my sister's wedding. It's coming along well enough but needs to be done within 2 months. I'm not going to take it to Hawaii - she'll just have to wait until she gets home.

Still working on two models. I took one on because it sounded like the Designer was not getting responses to her request for stitchers. I get paid in stash up front so it's not a horrible thing. The other one is the old one on black that I'm really close to finishing. I'm on the last two bands and either by the end of the weekend (depending on how much time I get for stitching) or by the end of next week I'll have one band finished and really be on the LAST one. I've had this for too long and am really looking forward to sending this one back!

Three new finishes!

2007-12-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, December 30, I finished 3 projects. The first one I finished was a model that I was working on. I can't post a pic or give details yet. But I'll put them up here as soon as I get the "go-ahead".

The second finish was the Hinzeit WINE design that I made for my office. Now to get it framed so I can hang it up there.

The third finish was a Christmas ornament from the JCS 2000 Christmas ornament issue - Moss Creek Designs "A 16th-Century Celtic Christmas". I had picked this one up and put it down several times. It's going to look lovely on my tree next year.

That brings me up to 26 projects finished on my 50 Project Challenge! I can't believe it took just over a year for me to finish that many. If it works out, I'll have at least 12 finishes next year with my TW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments challenge. But I don't want to just stitch strictly on those. I have a lot of larger projects that I want to get finished and some have progressed quite a ways. I guess I will have to wait and see what I can accomplish next year.

In the meantime, today is the last day of 2007. (Thank the Gods!) I'm hoping for a better year next year. Today I'm going to clean the house a bit to get ready to have friends over to spend the last of this year and the first of next year together. In and around that I'm going to pick up whatever stitching project that suits my fancy at the moment. Right now it's the TW cloisonne grape ornament. I've been wanting to do that one for myself ever since I first saw it. Why I've waited so long I don't know. Although I actually started it - over one on 32 count - and finally ripped it out earlier this year. It'll be one of those pick up/put down things but that's ok. Everything will get done eventually - I hope! :)

Ornament exchange Part 2

2007-12-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

I received a lovely ornament from Zoe Taylor.

Christmas ornament exchange

2007-12-05T16:55:00.001-08:00

This is the ornament I received from Terry. This is the first one. There should be one more. I'll post again when that one comes.

A new/old finish

2007-11-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

This week I ornamentified a TW cloisonne ornament that I stitched in 2001. I was having a really hard time trying to figure out just how to finish this one. I had something that I tried and didn't like - so then ripped it out. I finally decided on a 4-sided stitch (is that the actual name of it?) that is almost like a kloster block in that it holds the weave of the fabric together so that you can fringe the outside.

I just finished ornamentifying two ornaments for the exchange. Now to address the envelopes so I can get them in the mail tomorrow.

A visit

2007-11-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

Stasha from the TWBB and The Wagon has been in CA for about a week and she's been visiting. I was lucky enough to be between two destinations and she was able to drop by for dinner and a visit. I got to show off a little more of my cross stitch then I usually take to get-togethers. We also talked about her 100 project challenge and she showed me some of her quilting and the projects that she brought to travel with. I was really sorry to see her go. DD was grateful that I had somebody to go crazy over cross stitch with! It was a wonderful visit, including the dinner. Thanks again!

New camera and update

2007-11-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday (11/6) I bought myself a new Canon A570IS digital camera. The price was lower than advertised, came with a (free) 1 GB memory card (which will hold over 400 pictures - I have never taken that many pictures at once!) and I also had about $20 worth of coupons (Staples) that I was able to use to buy this camera. I'm VERY happy with this! I can now take up-close ultra clear pictures of my stitching! I also think it's going to have a positive effect on the rest of the pictures I take too. If I remember, tonight I will take a new progress pic of Castle Ridge and Castle Sampler. I still can't post pictures here of the model I'm working on.

And speaking of the Model - I did get an extension of my deadline. I have another month to finish it! I took a look at my work last night and I have completed 1/3 of the project. The second 1/3 is mostly stitched except for some of the border. That shouldn't take long - maybe a week I think. The bottom 1/3 of the project doesn't have any stitching done on it whatsoever. Although I think it should only take about 2 weeks to stitch. If the border on the middle 1/3 doesn't take a whole week then I can get started on the bottom even sooner.

Another finish!

2007-11-05T08:13:00.001-08:00

Finally! It's been two months since I've finished anything and I've been feeling it. This one was great though. I started it the Monday before Halloween and finished it on Saturday so it only took 5 days to stitch. (Of course there was no stitching on Halloween, I was having too much fun!) Of course I took a pic of "Frankie" but it's really blurry. No matter how I change the settings on my camera the pics still don't turn out clear! I think tonight I'll put him on the scanner and see if I can get something a little more clear from that.

But I've been so busy working on the model! My deadline is next Friday and I really don't want to miss it. However, I'm hoping that the designer will extend the deadline as I found a pretty large error and I haven't received my new copy of the chart yet. I had lots of time this weekend to stitch and yet had company over so I'm a happy girl.

Stash Haul

2007-11-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

From Needle in a Haystack last weekend: (a pic) http://http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2983993240054475653zQATsf

Subversive Cross Stitch book

M Designs letters E & F

The Sweetheart Tree - Celtic Cross

Tokens and Trifles rectangular stitching shapes

3 pieces (small cuts) linen - green, yellow, brown

1 skein wool/silk

4 skeins Weeks Dye Works

1 pair fish scissors

1 pair 100 years anniversary Dovos in the "brushed" finish

I've had a couple of people say they like the designs in the Subversive Cross Stitch book so I may stitch those as gifts. The M Designs letters are for a gift. The Tokens and Trifles shapes are probably going to become bookmarks or Christmas ornaments. I'm not real good with stitching on paper (I pull too hard) but I thought I'd like to try these. The linen is for small designs or Christmas ornaments. I like having small pieces handy. The wool/silk thread was a "just because". Two of the Weeks Dye Works are going into projects already in progress and two were "just because". And I know I didn't "need" two pair of scissors but I wanted to add to my shaped scissors collection. I have storks, chicken, bunny, lion tail, Santa, "Mickey Mouse" (it's a cut-out that just happens to look like the silhouette of Mickey Mouse) and now fish. I understand there are also swans (but they're really tiny) and a butterfly. The Dovos I got because they're a 100 year Anniversary pair and I didn't have a pair in that "color". Besides, Dovos cut so nicely!

Get Together!

2007-10-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to be able to finally make a get-together! And it's at Needle in a Haystack which is a terrific store. I have a gift card to spend there and am hoping to pick up some really nice stuff. I'll post my stash haul sometime next week. :)

No finishes for a month...

2007-10-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's almost been a month since I finished the last model. I feel like I've somehow fallen behind on the current model and work on it almost constantly (when I'm home) in order to still finish by the deadline. (Which I believe is somewhere around the 15th of November.)

Somehow, ornaments have fallen by the wayside in favor of the TW Oct SAL. I have been working on Castle Sampler, Celtic Inspiration Band Sampler, and Castle Ridge. Castle Sampler has been getting the most amount of work because it is the easiest to work on at this moment. I have been concentrating on the outside border - it has large areas of the same color which makes it extremely easy to stitch a length of thread.

In the past few weeks I haven't had an entire evening to devote to stitching due to other projects and circumstances. So out of the three hours or so that I end up with I feel like I need to devote at least 2 hours to the model (because I don't want to miss the deadline) which only leaves 1 hour for everything else. Everything else is: 3 TW's for the TW Oct Sal - which includes my sister's wedding gift, Christmas ornaments for gifts and the ornament exchange, my 50 Project Challenge, and just things in general that I want to stitch.

Another thing that gets in the way is taking photos of my projects and the time it takes to get them from the camera to the computer, and photo editing, then the amount of time it takes to upload them to my online photo album. I also need to do laundry and finish dyeing the fabric to make the new shirt I need for my Halloween costume.

I definitely need to find more time in the day to get things done!

A weekend of finishes!

2007-09-26T09:38:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you stay home on a rainy weekend. Last weekend I finished the following Christmas ornaments from various issues of the JCS Christmas Ornaments. The first one is Three Wisemen. Note to Suz: I had to make one or two substitutes for thread on this design. The symbol color was missing on the chart and all attempts to obtain the correct information gained nothing, so I had to just pick something to make it work.
The second one is Ho Ho Santa. I decided that I didn't want to backstitch all the Ho Ho Ho's around him so this is how he turned out.

The third one is Christmas Rose. I believe this one was the quickest to stitch so far.

I'm very pleased. Christmas Rose will go to a friend this year. Ho Ho Santa will probably be the one I use for the ornament exchange. And I think I'll be giving my Mom the Three Wisemen. I have some others that have been started and a new issue of the JCS Christmas Ornaments to choose some new ones from.

But Yay! I finished 3 more toward my 50 Project Challenge - #'s 19-21.

Another mini shopping spree...

2007-09-19T15:38:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I had planned on staying home and just stitching and doing yardwork. I was woken on Saturday by the neighbors doing their yardwork so I thought it was a good time to get it done - while it was still cool. So I got up and mowed the lawn and trimmed a couple of bushes before I got tired. I went in and took my shower then once clad in comfy clothes I started cooking some food. I got a call from a friend who wanted me to come over. Which I did and once at my friend's, ended up in Placerville.

Of course I couldn't go to Placerville without stopping in at Kelsey's! And yes I managed to make a purchase. I bought:
JCS Christmas Ornament issue
the chart for "Wine a bit"
two colors of Weeks Dye Works
and a piece of fabric

The JCS issue is part of my exceptions but the rest is not-exactly. However - my exceptions state that no charts are to be bought with the "I'll get to it eventually" mindset and stuck in my stash. The fabric and thread can be used for both the chart I just purchased and the one trip previous. Also, because I work at a winery these are work related and I will stitch both and put them up in my office. So they both are going onto my 50 project challenge and I will start them as soon as I get a Christmas ornament started for the exchange.

Another finish!

2007-09-19T10:48:00.001-07:00

We'll call this a second finish in two weeks. This is what I call Two Horses. I was making this for a friend's birthday. The black backstitching (mostly on the tan horse) is actually horse hair from my friend's horse's mane. (As I was petting her I took the loose hair off of her, it wasn't cut for this purpose.) I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out even though horse hair is not very easy to work with. Think metallic or blending filament. If you've ever worked with either of those two I just mentioned then you know what I mean. Anyway, I have a frame and now I have a mat and it'll be completely finished tonight and I can wrap it up.

Mini shopping sprees...

2007-09-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've gone on a few mini shopping sprees lately. One trip to WalMart garnered 50 skeins of DMC and the next, 100 skeins. (Just in case anyone didn't know, they were marked down to 10 cents a skein!) Apparently WalMart is no longer going to carry DMC so stock up!

Also, over the weekend I ended up at Kelsey's in Placerville. I purchased the October '07 issue of JCS, Hinzeit's Wine design with charms, and a set of Q-Snaps 17x17. The Q-snaps are a gift for my "2nd daughter" for Christmas. (I don't think she reads this, but if she does it's not a big deal. I already told her that that's what she was getting.)

That's it for now until I get my gift certificate for finishing the large model and then it'll be a trip to Needle in a Haystack!

A New Finish!

2007-09-12T10:21:00.001-07:00

This is a reproduction of an antique sampler. (Obviously as you can see it says 1825.) This project took me 10 months to complete. I do have to admit that there was a month during the summer that I didn't work on it at all. It was the whole frustration of being in the middle of the project and bored using the same colors (green, brown, gold, and beige) over and over again. Also, my life got awfully busy and I was having some physical problems, mostly lack of energy. But that seems to have abated. Anyway, I'm very pleased that this project is done and on it's way back to the designer. For one, it's a finish and we all know how important that is. (Beside the fact that I get to check another project off on my 50 project challenge!) For two, I get paid! I'm looking forward to spending the gift certificate that I will receive. I think I need to update my wishlist!

I'm working on the next model and it's going quite well. This one has only 3 colors to work with, but I have other projects to rotate in when the colors bother me. Now I need to choose a Christmas ornament to start stitching for the ornament exchange. I just bought the October issue of Just Cross Stitch that has a really cool Celtic knotwork tree in it and a preview of the ornaments in the ornament issue. I think I'll choose one out of there.

Update and New Challenge!

2007-08-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

I decided that I needed to take another look at my 50 Project Challenge. I filled it up and there was no room to add more. I really didn't want to deviate so this is the change that I made:

I took the TW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments off the 50 Project Challenge and made them their own challenge.

This way I now have room for 12 more projects in the 50 challenge (new models, new gifts and exchanges) and yet I'm not giving up the ornaments. I will continue stitching "a partridge in a pear tree" on 1/1/08 and hopefully be able to finish one a month through the year - while also working on other projects.

I feel really good about this decision and it takes a bit of weight off as the new challenge won't start for another 4 months. Does anyone want to stith ornaments along with me next year?

Progress!

2007-08-06T10:42:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend I made a really good dent in my Mary Queen of Scots bookmark. Also on Thursday night I finished the over-one lettering on the large Sampler! That was certainly a job. Just like backstitch on Castle. (Those of you who know Teresa Wentzler's designs and leave their backstitch until the end really know what I'm talking about.) So this week I'm going to concentrate on the sampler and see just how much I can get done. I think I'm going to skip out on faire again this weekend. I believe this is the weekend that my daughter's boyfriend is coming up to visit. He's going to meet her friends and hang out and if I'm not mistaken, some of Dad's family too. I don't think they'll be at the house much, but I should probably be home.

And now I have a designing job to do. I have a picture that I want to turn into a cross stitch chart. I just need to decide if I need to do a lot of detail or not. This is going to be interesting!

A finish - finally!

2007-07-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight I worked all evening on Rose Heart, a freebie I got off the internet. I was stitching it for a contest on the I Love Cross Stitch Yahoo group. The contest was for variegated thread. I used Dinky Dyes silk Ruby. I'm so excited I finally finished something! It seems like it's been forever. Yay!

So now I'm happy to work on the models that I need to complete and the project for tall, dark and handsome's birthday. :)

I went shopping!

2007-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went shopping. I realized that I hadn't been to a lns since February and I had a little money in my account. Here's how it went:

Beverly fabrics - small kit of two horses (I have a friend who loves horses and I think will like this - besides, it was on sale.)
Needle in a Haystack - a skein of Dinky Dyes Silk in Ruby (for a competition piece), two tiny Disney kits for my daughter, a piece of fabric for the horses, and a new pair of Ginghers (glory).

I did ask about Vintage Stitches by Jeannette Douglas but was told they were sold out. I will check again the next time I go.

I had to buy the Ginghers though. No, I didn't *need* a new pair of scissors, but I did manage to forget to bring a pair with me. (Hmmm...) But these are part of the Designer series and the handles are red, white, and blue and yes, stars and stripes. Yes, they look like the flag. They were so cute that I *had* to buy them. Besides, my birthday is in just over two weeks and I really can't say I want anything for my birthday so they were a present for me.

I think I did pretty well. I didn't go overboard in the shopping and I started the new kit right away. Before posting this I exchanged the horses for a crochet project on my 50 Project Challenge. I probably won't get back to that crochet project for some time and it can go on my next project challenge. (Yes, that's me rationalizing it out.)

Little progress to report

2007-06-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

I finished section 1 of the new model. I'm still contemplating where to go next as my choices are floss or metallic.

I finished section 6 of the sampler model, minus the over-one lettering. I still have to work on that but being so tired lately I'm afraid that my eyes just won't be able to do it for long. Hopefully when I'm not so tired anymore I can get that done.

I haven't done any work on the contest piece in almost a month. I have to go back and find the rules but I think I only have another two weeks to get it done. I'm not sure I'm going to make it.

I want to stitch tonight as I didn't get anything done last night. I had a friend take me out to dinner and a movie. Which was right after work and when I came home I went straight to bed. But tonight I think I have to go pick up my daughter. I'm ready for her to come home, I think...

Not much news to report

2007-06-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have accepted a new model and work has begun on that. I'm almost done with one section and I'm wondering where I should progress to next.

Everything other than the main sampler model has been put on hold. I'm getting near the completion of the current section. I still need to do more over-one lettering but I'm getting close to be able to move the fabric again.

And that's it. No shopping, nothing else new to report. (I took two weeks off from stitching, though not intentionally, and I'm getting a really good start back on it.)

I've been RAK'd!

2007-05-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have been sent more than one Random Act of Kindness. Jillbeartoo sent me the next set of letters that I wanted from the M Designs Alphabet series. (Celtic knots) She sent the I/J set of which I wanted the J to make for my Mother. I want to do it in her favorite color (orange) and I've chosen Phoenix Rising by Thread Gatherer (silk 'n colors). Now I have to decide what color fabric I want to stitch it on. I have an abundance of white fabric but wouldn't it be striking on black? What goes with orange?

My second Random Act of Kindness came from Mtrl Girl. She sent a Victoria Sampler learning kit (I love those!) and my very first skein of Stranded by the Sea. After a very challenging weekend it sure put a smile on my tired face to see what was in my mailbox.

Thanks to two wonderful/generous ladies!

Making progress

2007-05-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished "row 1" on the new model. I was happy to have the time since I had already cooked dinner, talked on the phone with 3 people, and been on the computer. (Tonight I have to see about getting a car smogged and loading my camera driver onto the new laptop so I can download the pictures off my camera.)

The crochet projects have taken a back seat to the models.

I'm still working on the contest piece although I think I'm going to run out of silk before I'm finished. I need to order another skein just in case but I don't recall if the shop I want to order from (Needle in a Haystack) has a limit as to the minimum order they will take. It won't be a hardship to order more, it's just that (1) I'm on a project challenge and have bought very little for a long time now and (2) I'd rather go to the store and pick it up myself. But my schedule has been so busy that I don't have time to make the trip. Makes being on the challenge much easier!

Working on...

2007-05-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

I actually did some work on the baby blanket over the weekend. I had time on Friday and Saturday to get a few more stitches done. I think I turned a row.

Still on:

Model #2 (Still waiting on instructions for Model #1. The designer is moving and doesn't have the time. Totally understandable.)

Baby blanket

Blue blanket

contest piece

Again, this week I'll be going to faire. I will take my basket again (blankets) but don't know how much time I'll actually spend working on anything.

Still...

2007-04-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Still working on Model #2. (Model #1 is waiting for instructions.)

Still working on the baby blanket.

Still working on the blue blanket.

Still working on the "variegated" contest piece.

I don't know how much progress I will make this week as I will be packing to go to faire this weekend. I will take my crochet with me and possibly the contest piece. But I will be working this weekend and don't know how much time I'll have to work on my projects.

Update

2007-04-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

The last post was talking about the baby blanket I was making. I ripped it out and started over because I didn't like how it was going. It's hard to explain but in the blanket there are 3 rows of 3 squares each that hold a different stitch. I was going to make those squares a different color. Way too much cutting and splicing of yarn. So I tore out what I had done and changed my mind. I will do one row (including the squares) of one color, then the second row will be the second color and the third row will go back to the first color. I think it's going to look good. I'm getting very close to finishing the first color and moving to the second.

I got my yarn basket! I'm just thrilled with it and it holds everything I need. It's going to be wonderful to take to faire!

I finished my new tam. I was working with yarn called "Angel Hair" by Joann's. It is kind of a combination of regular yarn with a twist of "fun fur" around it. The yarn is white and the furry stuff around it is shades of gray and black. I ran out of that a few rows too short so I bought the black yarn that the furry stuff around it was white. I think it looks cool. Now, to find somewhere to where it. :)

The Model is progressing and I'm nearly to the 2/3 complete mark. Probably not by the end of the month but I'm doing real good with working on it regularly.

I started a new project for a contest. The fabric and thread were in my stash (hopefully it doesn't use more than a full skein!) and the chart was a freebie. I've added it to my challenge list.

That's about it for now. Not a whole lot of new or exciting stuff. I've been sewing a costume for faire so I've had less time for the stitching. Oh and I've been reading too, that takes time away as well.

New Project Excitement...

2007-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

I started a new project last night. I started a baby blanket for my boss' next grandbaby. It's crochet (I did buy a new pattern for it - but I should note that it's only cross stitch patterns/charts that I'm NOT buying during the challenge) and it's on the larger side because I started with a larger hook. Eh, I do that kind of thing regularly. Still, I think it's going to look nice. I'm using two colors instead of the single color the chart called for and so far it's really easy. It may take me a while to finish, but it's portable and I can take it with me. And if somebody else is driving I can do it in the car! Now I really can't wait until I get my new "yarn" basket. It's going to be bigger than the one I have now so I can fit more in it - patterns, hooks and everything!

Progress: I nearly finished my new tam, except for running out of yarn. The skein I was using had less on it than I was expecting. But I also found out that my tam is a little bigger than the last one. So I'm going to frog out about 7 rows and then start my "finishing" rows from there. I think that that's still not going to give me enough yarn to finish so I need to go buy another skein. But I think I'm going to do something a little different with this one. I have to go to the store to see if I can find what I want and I will post if it works.

On the cross stitch front: I put a few more stitches into Castle Sampler and Rose Arbor this week. And the models are coming along slowly.

That's it for today.

Making slow progress

2007-03-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

Not much is getting done on the models lately as I'm not finding much time to stitch. I managed though to get some time in last night on Model #2, Castle Sampler (TW Mondays), and Rose Arbor. I guess a little is better than nothing.

Oh, and I finished the scarf that I was knitting for my daughter's friend. One more to tick off on my 50 Project Challenge!

Progress

2007-02-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

Little was made last night because I was getting interrupted and my mind just wasn't really on stitching. But I did manage to put two needles-worth of thread into the model. Otherwise I was being Mom's taxi and finishing my book. (Yes, I actually picked up a book again and read.) I just hope that was enough of a break that I can now get back to my stitching.

Stitching

2007-01-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

I got some bad news on Wednesday and some worse news on Thursday night, so I did no stitching on Thursday or Friday. (The party went well on Friday night.) I stitched a little on Saturday and I got a few hours in on Sunday. Most of the stitching time went into the model but a little went into Fairytale bookmark. It's one of my projects in the 50 project challenge so I was pretty happy to get some work in on it. I think that will be my pick-up project for when I need to put down the model.

Finishes

2007-01-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

Two new finishes for this month and a partial:

I finished knitting the scarf for my sister for her birthday.
I finished stitching the Dragon Dreams 2003 Valentine Dragon.
I finished stitching page 2 of Model #3 and am quite a ways into page 3.
(Note to self: must take pictures!)

I am continuing with my plan to stitch every day if possible. I'm having a party this friday so I doubt I'll be stitching that day, but plan to pick it up the next. My daughter is going to be away from home and I have no plans to go anywhere.

Stitching and Shopping!

2007-01-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'm getting closer to my goal of stitching regularly. Since my last post on Tuesday I stitched except for Thursday which I had to attend an e-meeting. I skipped Saturday because I left town to attend a birthday party (with the new guy I'm seeing) and stay overnight with my Sissie. When I came home on Sunday I stitched and have stitched every night since then. I may not be getting mega-hours of stitching done but I'm making progress. (I am a day or two away from finishing page 2 on Model #3!) My daughter is going to be home this weekend so I have no plans to go out - other than Mom's taxi service running. So that should leave plenty of time for stitching.

Now for the shopping portion. On Saturday I said that I left town, basically to kill two birds with one stone. Well, make that 3. Before heading to my Sissie's to visit (and the birthday party shortly thereafter) I went to Needle in a Haystack. I hadn't been there in months and I was still hoping somehow to get my 2006 JCS ornament issue. Wasn't I surprised and thrilled to see that YES! they actually still had a couple of copies. So here was my haul:

2006 JCS ornament issue
Disney Tinkerbell kit (for my daughter)
Disney Princess Jasmine kit (also for my daughter)
2 small cuts of blue (light/dark) fabric
2 packs of needles, one gold and one platinum
3 cards of Rainbow Gallery silk for Enchanting Lair's Wine Queen
a new pair of Dovo's - the cut outs on the handle look like the silhouette of Mickey Mouse!

The magazine is one of the exceptions in my 50 Project Challenge. So are the silks for Wine Queen as I have recently added her to the 50 Project Challenge. I've already got the fabric for her, just needed the silks and I have a couple more colors to get. But she's not slated to be started immediately so I have time to acquire the rest.

And yes, I know I just got a pair of scissors just before Christmas (which I was good and had my daughter wrap up for me so I had to wait to have them). Those were the Ginghers Designer's Series, the blue retro/swirl handled scissors. But they were so pretty I couldn't pass them up - and I had a 40% off coupon! And how could I pass up those Dovo's? I'm always looking for something unique but they combined my love of stitching and Mickey Mouse! Ok, when I have more scissors than how old I am I will go on the wagon to not buy scissors. (heh heh, that gives me a lot of leeway!) lol

Progress Made

2007-01-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays I had 10 days off work. I did manage to use that time to do some cross stitching. I worked on Model #3 (sampler). It was a little difficult because I use magnifiers (glasses) to work on this one. It's on 40 ct fabric and is just like stitching over 1. Anyway, it was difficult because I've been ill with a nasty head cold/allergies for about a month now and my sinuses have been killing me. (As some know very well, it's hard to wear glasses for long when your sinuses hurt.)

So when I needed a break from the small work I managed to pick up Rose Arbor again. She's getting real close to being done. I'll be very excited when I've finished all the stitching on her skirt. I've nearly got the metallic work done which then leaves the beading.

I've been very good in sticking to the challenge. The only thing I've purchased in the last month in regards to cross stitch has been a new pair of scissors. (And that should be part of the challenge too! But it's not. hehehe)

A Little Progress

2006-12-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

I have done nothing on the 3 wisemen ornament since the last time I posted. (You will see why below.)

I have finished the first page of Model #3. Very little has been done on that in a couple of weeks. (Again, reason below.)

And last but not least, I have an anniversary gift that I'm making for some friends. I have gotten a little further on that because the deadline is looming and I want it to be finished and framed when I give them the gift.

Reason: This year I decided to do something different for Thanksgiving. We went to Disneyland! It was a terribly long drive both there and home and every minute was spent at the park or sleeping - so no stitching was done. Once back home again I've been going to many dr. appt's and trying to do some Christmas shopping not to mention the decorating and normal household chores. So I'm running behind where I'd like to be. This is going to be a busy month and I'm hoping that the days off I'm going to get for the holiday will bring some down time so I can get some stitching done.

No more progress

2006-11-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Than when I last posted. Have started on the backstitch for the 3 wisemen ornament and have most of the border done but no other progress this week.

I've been trying to put 3 strands of silk into Model #3 each time I pick it up. Right now there are only 3 colors that are being used in the area where I'm stitching. However, I'm fairly close to finishing the first page.

No news on anything else.

Progress

2006-10-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

I've been working on the Three Wisement Ornament that was in the JCS Christmas Ornament issue a couple of years back. This has been a bit of a pain to stitch and an ornament shouldn't take that many years to finish! But I've been forcing myself to work on it and now I'm down to the backstitch and border. Once those are done I'm thinking about whether or not I have the time and energy to finish it into an ornament.

And I really would like to finish it because I try to make at least an ornament a year if not more. I'm not ready again this year so I won't be participating in the ornament exchange. But luckily I have at least two or three more ornaments started so if I can dig them up I will have a couple more to work on that I won't have to completely kit up.

Other than that, Model #1 is still in limbo and Model #3 is moving right along. I didn't get as much done this weekend as I thought I would because I had a surprise visitor. I had a very nice day yesterday. :)

More progress

2006-10-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've gotten quite a bit done on Model #3 as I try to pick it up every day or at least every other day when I have the energy. (My life and those around me have turned into a Soap Opera and it's been taking a lot of mental energy to deal with. Therefore I sometimes sit at night and just veg on the couch and get nothing done.) Also, there's a lot of one color to stitch in an area so I get one needle's worth of silk into it and after about 2 or 3 I need to put it down. But I am making regular progress on this and need to report to the designer soon.

On everything else progress is slow. Model #1 is at a stand-still until I get more instruction from the designer. Others like my dragon-cow freebie and Emerald mermaid only get 2 or 3 needle's worth of thread before I'm either bored (cow - large areas of one color) or overwhelmed (mermaid - still lots of areas to stitch and beads to attach. Where to go first?) and I have to put them down. But at least that's one more length of thread into that project and eventually they will be done. I'm certainly looking forward to another finish.

And speaking of finishes, I should probably talk about the 50 Project challenge. I think for me the challenge should be NOT starting any more projects! I have all these starts and some of them are UFO's and yet I'm starting to get antsy about starting a new project. So I think I should amend my challenge to not starting anything new instead of not buying any stash. (I have a pretty good handle on that since my favorite store closed! And the next good one is 1.5 hours away.) But maybe too hard for a serial starter like me. I need to think this over a little more.

Oh yeah, I started a new journal too. I decided I had a really good way of using this cute little book I got last Christmas. I decided that I would write down the date and which projects I worked on that day. At this time I'm not writing down anything else like how long I worked on each particular project, but I thought it would help me to remember what exactly I worked on. I've got at least a week's worth so far.

Progress

2006-10-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

I worked on Model #1 last night and finished what I could on band #4. I plan on starting band #5 tonight. (Band #4 is not complete but I'm waiting for instructions. In the meantime I can move forward.)

I started Model #3 last night. The stitches are small so I can only do a couple of needle's worth of thread before I have to put it down and stitch something a little larger. Either that or get to one of the 3 books that I have sitting waiting for me. And that's amazing because I'm an avid reader and have not ever had that many books sitting and waiting before!

I added my DragonCow freebie to the 50 Projects list as I picked it up last night and put in a couple of needle's worth of thread. It's small and more than 1/2 way done and if I keep picking it up then I'll have another project done. More finishes - yay!