Queen Stitch-a-Lot

felty owl

2011-12-08T21:27:00.002-06:00

Tried something new tonight and made this:

Turned out pretty good. The pattern can be found here: Felt Ornament Patterns

Breakfast

2011-12-06T07:28:00.001-06:00

Low carb tortilla, light cream cheese, sliced tomato, and fresh cilantro.

White chicken chili

2011-11-22T18:34:00.001-06:00

Made white chicken chili tonight for the first time. Came out really great.

Test posting from my iPhone

2011-11-21T09:08:00.001-06:00

Got blogger set up on my phone.

the last day

2011-11-17T21:49:00.005-06:00

Well, tomorrow is my last day at my current job. I tried the corporate life for two years but I think once you've worked for yourself it's difficult to work for someone else. I'll be going back to work with my husband doing IT work on a contract basis. I'll probably be working 12-15 hours per week. This means I'll have a lot more time for all sorts of things. I've decided that a big change like this is the perfect time to make some other changes. I've made a conscious decision to change my philosophy on life and make changes in how I live to institute this philosophy. I call it the "love" plan. Here is the manifesto:

I will love myself - to show this love I will commit to eating healthier and moving more

I will love my home - to show this love I will make my home the best it can be inside and out

I will love my family - to show this love I will be more patient, thoughtful, and kind

I will love my job - to show this I will not complain or procrastinate

I will love my community - to show this love I will donate time to a cause

I hope to make many positive changes in my life but I will not beat myself up if I cannot meet these high standards. They are simply something for me to strive for.

I'll be posting lots on what I'm doing specifically to meet the above goals especially some great projects I have planned for loving my home. I've already started with the project I posted about a few days ago.

Whew, that was deep, wasn't it. lol Don't worry, I'm not going to get all preachy or anything, I just want to be happier and not have so much anger and stress in my life.

Anyway, I've been hooking away the last couple of nights on these:

Just a little smile

2011-11-14T21:54:00.006-06:00

I saw something on the way to work today that made me smile. I actually had to do a double take to make sure what I thought I saw was really what I saw: A construction worker, all decked out in his fluorescent vest sitting on a pile of wood playing an accordion! I can only assume that this gentleman got to the job site a bit early and broke out his accordion to get in some practice. It made me smile! So wonderful to see someone who not only plays the accordion but brings it with them to work. Kudos to you Mr. Construction Worker Accordion Player Man!

I finally got accepted into the drug cartel known as Pinterest. Check it out if you don't know what it is, but be warned! This site is pure-d Internet crack! I'd love to make some friends on there so if you're already hooked follow me and I'll follow you. Sounds like a bad 80's song doesn't it? Anyways, I'm carefully adding my first pins and spending entirely too much time perusing the pins of others.

On the crafty front I've been hooking away on this:

I can't ever get the colors to come across as true when I take them at night with the flash. They're actually leftover yarn from other projects and are richer in real life. I'll try to get a daylight shot over the weekend. And thanks, I'm quite fond of my polka dotted thermal jammies. :) I'm also looking at new cameras. I like the idea of one that does good low light pics since my house is never full of sunlight like some people's is. This works ok in the summer in Florida since it keeps things cooler, but not all that great for picture taking. Here's something else that I enjoyed tonight:

This is Breyer's Carb Control Ice Cream with frozen blueberries. So yummy!

Bit of a headache so I'm off to bed!

last minute ta-dah

2011-11-13T22:59:00.006-06:00

I finally have a finish! I'm trying to get my crochet WIP's down to a more resonable number and finished this one tonight:

Very easy v-stitch and shells done in mint green. Not my usual color range but got the yarn on super clearance and it will tickle someone's fancy. Close up:

Hopefully I'll have another finish in the next few days.

The work begins

2011-11-13T15:36:00.005-06:00

Today I took care of a problem area by our garage door. My husband's hobby (well one of them) is hotrodding. He tends to make a big greasy mess in and around our garage. I've tried for years to keep this area clean and originally had plants in the bed by the garage door. I gave up on the plants since they were constantly getting trod upon. Here is the area in question:

Not very attactive! We use the garage entrace pretty much all the time so it is a very visable area. Here is the after shot:

I used .49 bricks from the local home store, they're not completely flat and even, but I still think it came out great. I found a bit of moss and broke it up and planted it between the bricks hoping that it will grow to fill all of the cracks. Easy and great result!

I know, I know

2011-11-02T18:48:00.004-05:00

The inevitable sorry I haven't posted post.

Anyways, started stitching again:

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom - C.C. Kuik copyright C.C. Kuik and Heaven and Earth Designs
18ct Aida 2 over 1, full cross

QS Spring Luna - C.C. Kuik copyright C.C. Kuik and Heaven and Earth Designs
25ct Laguna 1 over 1, full cross

SK Moon Fantasy - C.C. Kuik copyright C.C. Kuik and Heaven and Earth Designs
25ct Laguna 1 over 1, full cross

Not much to say... working on Life Force this round, I'm going to try to post a pic everytime I switch projects. This appears to be every three to five days. I may finish something someday, maybe. I haven't updated the website because I can't seem to log into the ftp on my laptop. I'll work on it though.

Sometimes that's the way things go

2011-03-29T19:49:00.003-05:00

Howdy!

Tonight's project (if I get done sanding on DH's car in time) will be:

This is a wedding gift for my coworker who is getting married at the end of May. Easy granny squares joined as you go. I also weave in the ends each time I work on it because it would drive me batty to have that many at the end.

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In other news... the variegated and black afghan just isn't working out. Here's a picture of the back:

I'm not happy at all with the way the "trough" stitches in the variegated look. I might play around with this to see what can be done to make it look more like the front. I really don't want someone to be able to tell which is the back and which is the front.

Later,

Cheryl

Song of the day:

Drive

Assemblage 23

Box Covering and What to do with those random varigateds?

2011-03-27T17:39:00.005-05:00

Happy Sunday!

Today brought two new projects. I know, I need to start something new like I need a hole in my head; but life's short and I have PADD (project ADD) so there you go. The first one is crafty in nature and involves an idea to cover the ugly boxes I use to store my WIP's in. I work in an office type environment (yes, I have a cubicle!) and we go through a lot of paper. The boxes that the reams of paper come in are perfect for large projects:

And you can see on my post yesterday how I use the lids. Well as useful and sturdy as these boxes are... they're downright ugly. So I got the idea to wallpaper them with some scrapbook paper. Here's what I've done so far:

Not beautiful, but surely a bit less ugly. I'm still working out the best way to cover these.

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The second thing I've done today is to figure out what I'm going to do with all those leftover and clearance skeins of varigated yarn I have.

I found this pattern in my book 154 Wave Patterns. Ah-ha! Have the variegated bits show through the black! I think this will look awesome!

Happy hooking,
Cheryl

Song of the day:
Motherless Child
Martin L. Gore

Tumbleweeds and Mountain Streams

2011-03-26T11:57:00.004-05:00

Hello folks,

The project for last night and probably tonight is:

Pattern is No. 28 Tumbleweed from Liesure Arts' book 154 Crochet Wave Patterns. Done in Caron Simply Soft in Colors: Limelight, Ocean, Persimmon, Sunshine and Blue Mint using H hook.

This will go up on my Etsy site for sale when it's done so keep checking because this one is a beauty!
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I'm really, really, really, looking forward for our trip to the mountains next month. (I'm just a bit excited) Here's a picture of the stream that runs behind the cabin that we rent.

This was in July and it was soooo green compared to home. I just can't wait!

Song of the Day:
And I
Wolfsheim

Hexagons, and Memories

2011-03-24T19:22:00.003-05:00

Hello! Today's project is the hexagon blankey. Pattern comes from Lucy at Attic 24. You can find the link to her blog in my blogroll. The colors on this one are "different" lol. I wanted boy without blue and I think this does it. The colors in the picture are off a bit. The blue really isn't blue, it's a dark teal. So it has dark teal, burnt orange, olive green, and dark purple. I really need to get a new camera!

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When my aunt and uncle were here last weekend they brought a rocking chair that belonged to my grandmother. She passed away recently and I aquired several things from her estate. I've set up a sort of memorial for her in the living room. I specifically asked for the library table and the funky Japanese lamp. The rocking chair has been added along with a cross stitch I did for her and a small picture. It hurt to lose her. She was my Nana and she will be remembered and missed.

Everyone have a great night, I'm off to watch The First 48 and make some hexagons!

Song of the day:
Pipeline
Depeche Mode

Boy Time

2011-03-23T20:23:00.003-05:00

Tonight's project is the Super Boy granny square afghan. Very easy pattern, just granny squares, two rounds per color then one round of gray for the joining so that it actually ends up with two (one from each square).

In other news: I had a great visit from my aunt and uncle this past weekend. They were only here for one night, but we did a lot of catching up. Sunday was actually their 46th wedding annaversery. Congrats!

Also, things are looking good for our trip to the mountains next month. I can't wait. We've had Fall and Summer in the Smokies but this will be our first trip in the Spring. The owner of the cabin we rent says that everything will be a riot of bloom. I can't wait.

I found this growing in my semi-abandoned garden today. I planted these several years ago and this is the first year I've had a bloom. So lovely!

Here's tonight's dinner:

This is squash, zuccini, broccoli, green peppers, and beef sausage sauteed together. Then I made the sauce from scratch: dijon mustard, vinegar, and mayo. I eat low carb so for me it was just this in a bowl, for the other members of the household I made some pasta for them to have it over. I'm trying to cut down the amount of cheese I'm eating so I made the sauce instead of putting cheese on it. Turned out yummy!

Song of the day:
Extraordinary Machine
Fiona Apple

Sigh....

2010-03-25T18:11:00.004-05:00

Well, again I go for quite a while without posting. I've started a new job and so many other things have been going on I just kinda got distracted. I've been cross stitching mostly and have two new starts to share.

Here is Dandelion Fairy Kingdom on 18ct 2 over 1, full crosses:

And Spring Luna on 25ct 1 over 1, full crosses:

I'm working on SK Moon Fantasy right now and will try to post a picture tomorrow. The stitch a long at the HAED bulletin board is "water" this weekend. I think I will pull out Mermaid of the Deep and throw some stitches in her.

More Scarves and A Blanket

2009-11-12T09:24:00.002-06:00

I've been crocheting like a mad woman and have a bunch of finishes to share. First off are a few scarves:

This one is the ribbed SC pattern done in I Love This Yarn Stripes. One skein only makes a child size scarf.

This one is rows of alternating DC and SC done in I Love This Yarn Ombre Pink Camo.

Here we have a granny square scarf done in Red Heart Ombre "Melon Berry" and I Love This Yarn Solids "Hot Rose" and "Peach".

Now here's the exciting part... I finished a baby afghan!

This is done with all I Love That Yarn in Solids. I used a I hook and the square pattern comes from 99 Granny Sqares by Leisure Arts. This took me about 5 nights to finish. I love how it came out!

As usual, you can find all of these finishes for sale in my Etsy store.

Thanks for looking and happy hooking!

Busy Bee is Me

2009-11-03T12:02:00.003-06:00

I haven't had a chance to update in a few days, but I was able to finish a few things. First off, here is my first attempt at an amigurumi character. It's a hippo. I didn't give him eyes, it was just more of a test of the pattern, but I think he turned out quite cute nonetheless.

Next are a couple of scarves. The first is another striped and ribbed one in white and red. You'll either be mistaken for Waldo or a giant elf. Done with a I hook and I Love This Yarn brand yarn.

This next one is a granny square scarf. I've decided I really like doing granny squares! This one is again done with an I hook in I Love This Yarn. I'm not sure what the color is called. The pattern is from a book "99 Granny Squares to Crochet" by Leisure Arts.

I've now started my most ambitious project yet, an afghan! It's a granny square pattern, but they're actually hexagons. I'll post a pic of one square tomorrow.

As usual the scarves are for sale on Etsy so check it out.

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Twofer

2009-10-30T10:09:00.003-05:00

I finished two scarfs last night!

This one is a plum and black striped skinny scarf. The pattern is just single crochets in the back loop to get a ribbed effect. Worsted weight yarn with a J hook.

This one is what I call my "Manly Man" Scarf. The colors are navy, black, maroon, cream, and brown. The pattern is alternating singles and doubles across each row giving a bumpy kind of result. Done with a J hook.

Both of these are for sale in my Etsy store. Check it out by clicking in the banner on the right.

Happy Friday!

The Next Scarf

2009-10-28T09:14:00.003-05:00

Here's the scarf I was excited about. The pattern is the most difficult I've tackled so far and I think it came out beautifuly.

They're crossed triple crochets. The pattern is adapted from a book of dishcloths and is done in a sport weight yarn. The yarn is Baby Bee in "Sugar Plum Camo". Of course it is for sale on Etsy.

The next scarf..... its a striped purple and black number for my rocker daughter.

Cheryl

Scarf in Moss

2009-10-26T09:52:00.002-05:00

Surprise! It's another scarf. This one done in a solid moss green color. I used a worsted weight yarn and a size J hook. The pattern is rows of V stiches, DC, SC, DC, then V repeated. It was very quick to stitch up.

For sale in my Etsy store!

Tomorrow, I think I might post another scarf lol.

Boo!

2009-10-24T11:43:00.002-05:00

Here's the halloween scarf.

I really like how this one came out. It's a very simple single crochet that's done in the back loop only which makes a great ribbed texture. The yarn is "I Love This Yarn" worsted weight acrylic in color "Boo!" and I used a size J hook to get a chunkier feel. The size is 5" wide by 56" long (not including fringe).

It will be up for sale in my Etsy store which you can find links for on the right hand column.

Next project is another scarf done in sport weight with a great pattern. Hopefully done tomorrow!

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Off and Running

2009-10-23T08:18:00.003-05:00

Weeeeellll.......

I think I'm hooked (pun intended). I finished the latest scarf last night and I really love how it came out.

It's quite long, about 6ft and measures about 4" wide. It was made with Bernat Sox yarn which is a size 1 Super Fine. The color is camouflage. I don't think it looks camo-ish at all. The colors are a celery green, taupe, tan, and the brown looks a bit purply, so overall the effect is not very masculine at all. The pattern is rows in the following order: 3 rows SC, 2 rows DC, 1 row TC, 2 rows DC, then repeat. I used a size D hook. This one took a couple of days to finish mostly because the yarn is so thin that the rows are very small and it took a lot of rows to get to six feet.

If anyone is interested I will be posting this scarf for sale in my Etsy store.

Next project? Of all things.... another scarf! I might have found my niche already. It will be a Halloween scarf. Look for it tomorrow!

OMG She's a Hooker!

2009-10-22T07:45:00.004-05:00

Well the financial situation might be pretty bad, but it's not that kind of hooking! I've actually picked up crochet again. I've tried it a few times in the past, but never really got into it. This time it seems to be sticking. Also, I've developed a severe case of yarnitis. I can't stop buying the yarn in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. So without further ado here is my first finished project:

This is a simple scarf that was made by alternating rows of SC with DC. Very simple, but I think it came out pretty good. It was made with a skein of worsted weight Red Heart yarn in "Artist Print". I used a size J hook.

My next project is another scarf done in fingering weight yarn. I should be done with that one tonight, so look for a new post.

Oh, and as for Cross Stitch, look at the link on the right, I've consolidated the WIP links into a single page, check it out.

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Sorry!

2009-06-26T12:04:00.002-05:00

I know its been forever since I posted, but working the second job is about killing me! I like the job and the extra money, but time is way more precious than it has ever been for me and I really like to use what little time I have actually stitching, rather than blogging about what I'm stitching. Anyways, there's good news. I finished Butterflies Galore Storykeep. It took me almost exactly one month. Yay! Now if only I could finish a QS. I started the SK Moon Fantasy Freebie stitch-a-long over at the HAED bulletin board. I also started another CC Kuik QS: Nostalgia. So without further ado here are the pictures:

I know those are crappy pics of the two starts, I'll get some better ones over the weekend maybe. Also, check out the WIP page on the right column for Rainbow Mermaid updates!

Have a great weekend,
Cheryl

butterflies update

2009-05-20T10:38:00.003-05:00

The new job is going well, so far I really enjoy it. It's taking away from my stitching time but I've still been able to make good progress on Butterflies Galore Storykeep. Here is the latest picture:

Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend. (Memorial Day here in the US)

Mood: procrastinating

Song: Everything Counts - Depeche Mode

rainbow mermaid update

2009-05-15T15:53:00.003-05:00

Howdy,

I know I haven't been posting regularly. As is true for many out there our financial situation is not all that hot and I've ended up taking a second job. I'm working in the evenings now which doesn't leave a whole lot of stitching time. I've been able to get some more done on Rainbow Mermaid during slow periods at my day job (one of the reasons I had to take the night job, too many slow periods). Anywho, here's an update pic:

Mood: tired :(

Song: Melt With You - Modern English

no stitchy.. more kitteh

2009-04-30T09:51:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't stitch much over the last two days so I figured I would post a pic of the new kitty instead. He is a manx and he's about 8 weeks old. He doesn't have an official name yet. Here he is with the lab. (she's wearing pants because she's in heat)

Mood: sigh

Song: Lovesong - The Cure

butterflies update

2009-04-27T10:56:00.003-05:00

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I would have liked. We got a new kitten on Saturday and I spent a lot of time trying to get him comfortable and introduced to the other animals. He loves the dog, and the other cat hates him. LOL I'm sure it will take a few weeks to get it all sorted out. He's only 7 weeks old an quite tiny. Our labrador thinks he's the best thing ever! Our 2 year old calico female thinks he's lucifer. He keeps coming up to her trying to get her to play and all she does is hiss and growl then run away. Two minutes later she comes looking for him. I'm sure she'll settle down soon.

So my stitching time this weekend was interrupted quite frequently, but here's an update on Butterflies Galore Storykeep:

Mood: Sparkly

Song: Strangelove - Depeche Mode

update to butterflies galore storykeep

2009-04-23T10:01:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest update to Butterflies Galore Storykeep. I'm averaging 500 stitches per night. I WILL finish this one before I go back to one of the other 850,000 WIP's I have!

Mood: silly

Song: Long Line of Cars - Cake

sorry!

2009-04-21T10:36:00.002-05:00

I know it's been too long since I posted. We've been having some personal issues that were taking up a lot of my time. All better now!

Here's some updates:

Steam Punk Fairy - Finshed page 2 and started page 3:

Butterflies Galore Storykeep - Started - About 2,000 stitches in:

I plan to stitch on the storykeep until I finish it. I shouldn't have started another one, but I couldn't help it. LOL

Happy Stitching!

Mood: stitchy
Song: Once in a Lifetime - Wolfsheim

just call me ms. crankypants

2009-04-08T14:39:00.006-05:00

I haven't been stitching as much this week, just don't feel like it. I put in a few stitches, then get ADD and want to go do something else. I wonder if it has anything to do with PMS? I might track that and see, could be pretty interesting. Anyways, of course HAED is having their Easter sale, and of course I had to get a couple of things. Here's what I picked up:

QS Alice in Clockwork by Jasmine Beckett-Griffith

Butterflies Galore Storykeep by Jasmine Beckett-Griffith

I will probably not start these any time soon. I really need to get a finish some day!

Mood: cranky as all get out
Song: Lament - The Cure

rainbow mermaid page 4 done

2009-04-02T16:26:00.001-05:00

As promised, here is the picture of Rainbow Mermaid. I finished Page 4 today and started on Page 5. Page 5 is the las full size page. I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel LOL.

Mood: still pretty drenched

surprise!

2009-04-02T09:47:00.003-05:00

Well, I told you I started a new big non-HAED project and here it is:

Can you guess what it is?? LOL

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Yep, it's Harry Potter! Well part of his head anyways. I charted this one myself and its going to be huge and very detailed. There are 100 colors and lots of confetti. The part that is stitched is the edge of Hedwig's wing and the beginning of the highlights in Harry's hair. I've wanted to stitch this for a long time. I love the Harry Potter books.

I'm almost finished with page 4 on Rainbow Mermaid. I should finish it today so I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Mood: drenched (torrential rain and flooding here)
Song: How Soon is Now - The Smiths

Some updates and pics

2009-03-31T10:38:00.002-05:00

I have been stitching on several projects lately and here are some pics to prove it!

Rainbow Mermaid:

Speckled Fairy:

ACEO Air:

I also started a huge non-HAED project, but I will post about that some other time.

Mood: anti-social
Song: Bio-Vital - Decoded Feedback

i'm here.... kinda

2009-03-27T14:57:00.004-05:00

Well,

I just haven't felt like posting. I have been stitching though. I have worked on Steam Punk Fairy, Rainbow Mermaid, and Speckled Fairy over the past few days. I will take some pictures and hopefully post them over the weekend.

DH got his echo results back and everything looks ok. We're eating differently to try to lower his cholesterol, and we've both lost a bit of weight. Hopefully that will continue as I have quite a bit I need to lose.

Prayers to all those up there in the floods!

Mood: Modge Podge (sticky, you know lol)
Song: If You Leave - OMD

Spring is in the air

2009-03-23T10:47:00.004-05:00

Howdy!

This past weekend I stitched on Rainbow Mermaid:

I also finished the third column of ten on the first page of Shannon. Sorry no pic of that one.

Mood: Steak
Song: No Phone - Cake

Determined

2009-03-20T09:42:00.002-05:00

I'm determined to finish something! I worked again on Steam Punk Fairy last night. I also stitched a bit on Rainbow Mermaid at work yesterday. (Don't tell the boss LOL)

Here's the latest pic of Steam Punk:

I'll probably work on one of the full size charts over the weekend, most likely Shannon or Life Force.

Still waiting on DH's echo results. I think not knowing what's going on is more stressful than anything.

Mood: determined
Song: Wrong - Depeche Mode

No Pics Today :(

2009-03-19T14:12:00.003-05:00

I worked on Steam Punk Fairy last night and got almost another column of 10 done on page two. I decided that I didn't like the way the parking was making my stitches come out on the 18ct. It seems bunchy and like the stitches weren't as neat. So from now on, no parking on 18ct with two threads. I didn't have time this morning to take a picture so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, and on Tues night I hardly stitched at all. I just wasn't feeling very well.

Today is DH's echocardiogram so any prayers are well appreciated.

Mood: wiggly
Song: Check in the Mail - General Public

Blah

2009-03-17T09:58:00.001-05:00

Still feeling sick. I'm sure not going to let that stop me from stitching though! I worked on Steam Punk Fairy last night, starting to incorporate the parking method. It went pretty well. Because I didn't have the surface area that the scroll frame provides I didn't leave the needle threaded. I just threaded each needle as I went. This took a little more time than I wanted. I'm looking into the spiral eye needles that you can thread quickly. Here's a link to their site: Spiral Eye Needles. I'll let you know what I find out about where to get them and such. Without further ado here's my progress on Steam Punk:

Mood: Snuffley
Song: Shame - Nitzer Ebb

Sick :(

2009-03-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

I've picked up quite the bug. Bad sinus and ear infection. Yuck.

I started Shannon by Hannah Disney this weekend and I think I finally understand the whole parking thing. Last time I tried parking I was trying to do all the stitches of one color within the 10x10 block. This caused problems with the threads that were already parked lower in the block. This time I went row by row doing across each row then parking. I was able to stitch much faster for several reasons:

1. I wasn't spending time deciding which color to do next.
2. I wasn't highlighting before I stitched.
3. No threading of needles and changing colors so frequently.

Here's the progress I've made over three days of stitching:

The strings to the right are my waste knots. That worked out very well. I was able to start and stop my threads for the whole column without ever turning the frame to the back side. I only had one knot for the whole weekend. My only issue is that the lap frame I have doesn't fit into my stitching chair.

Plans are to look at floor frames, try the parking on one of my existing WIP's to see if I don't need the frame to do it efficiently. Oh, and get better quick!

Mood: green around the gills
Song: Stripped - Depeche Mode

Sniffle....

2009-03-13T16:37:00.000-05:00

I tried to stitch on Steam Punk Fairy last night, but my back was hurting too bad. I had DH crack it (it gets all stiff right between my shoulder blades) but since it had been knotted up all day it was still quite achey. So I just watched some show on the science channel about bugs. Very interesting. Then I woke up with a raw throat and ear drainage, lovely!

Of course HAED's St. Patrick's Day sale started today and I caved. I bought:

Kuik - QS Spring Moony Night
Ravenscroft - Blue Moon
Disney - Shannon

Oh my, like I really need new WIP's!!! I'm going to do the QS on 18ct. I'm going to wait to start that one until I've finished one of the QS's I have already going.

As for the others.... I don't think I have enough fabric to start both of them so one will have to wait. Shannon is calling to me first. I want to try stitching her on my frame and parking. As of right now I stitch everything on a 6" Q-Snap cross country style (well, I finish a small area at a time, but not in measured blocks). I have small hands and I can't hold the 8" ones very easily. I would love to be able to stitch two handed as I'm much faster that way, but I CANNOT STAND to turn the work over to start and stop threads. I plan to work in 10x10 squares downward, park, and use the waste knot method of starting and ending threads.

I'm really not that into the Gustafson's I have started. I love the artwork, but I just can't seem to get into stitching them anymore. I figure that cross stitch is supposed to be fun and not like work, so if I want to ditch something, I can. Besides, no one will yell at me except myself. I really want to stitch on something with some bright colors and Disney's certainly have that!

We'll see how it goes.

Happy Stitching!

Mood - Blue Suede Mittens (figure that one out lol)
Song - Blue Monday - New Order

Steaming Right Along

2009-03-12T09:57:00.001-05:00

Got a bunch done on Steam Punk Fairy last night. It really seems to go faster when I'm stitching on the 18ct vs. the 28ct over one. I'm probably doing the same amount of stitches, just the result covers such a bigger area that it feels like more.

Here is my progress as of last night:

I need to work on one of my full size charts tonight, probably one of the Alice ones. We'll see.

Have a great day!

Mood: Pudding Pop
Song: Headhunter - Front 242

No New Tale to Tell

2009-03-11T14:06:00.000-05:00

Stitched just for a bit last night on ACEO Air - Butcher. I'm actually doing all four of the elements side by side.

Tonight of course is Ghost Hunters night. I don't watch much TV, this is really the only show I actually plan to watch. Plus it gives me some uninterupted stitching time as no one else will sit with me while I watch.

I don't know what I'll be working on tonight, whatever screams at me when I get home.

Welcome to my new followers! I hope you guys aren't too bored here. I mostly post about stitching as I like to keep my life fairly private.

Mood: still pretty anxious (DH scheduled for echocardiogram for next week)
Song: No New Tale to Tell - Love and Rockets

Bringing Winter Back Out

2009-03-10T11:22:00.000-05:00

I worked on ACEO Winter last night. I had started this one a long time ago and was stitching a bit different then. Now I work in smaller areas and make sure I finish all the stitches in that area before I move on. I hate going back in to finish a single stitch. So what I'm doing on Winter is going back and filling in all the areas that I had stitched on before. It also makes it easier to track how many stitches I've done if there aren't any missing stitches.

Mood: anxious (don't want to share with the world why)
Song: Gold Dust - Tori Amos

New Laptop

2009-03-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I got a "new" laptop for the office. It's one that a customer didn't want to fix (had a broken screen and a bad hard drive). We fixed it up and now I'm on Vista for the first time. I hate Vista but, I have to learn the ins and outs of it to be able to help customers with it. I expect lots of crashes and cusing.

Anyways,

I stitched on Mermaid of the Deep for the HAED SWIP/UFO stitch-a-long this weekend and here are the results:

This chart is either confetti or LARGE areas of the same color. The result is striking though.

Mood: Vistatic (NOT!)
Song: Smokey Joe - Tori Amos

Friday YAY!

2009-03-06T09:47:00.000-06:00

Last night I stitched on Rapture of Psyche for a little while. Not too much done. Tonight starts the UFO/SWIP stitch along at the HAED bulletin board. I will be working on Mermaid of the Deep. Hopefully I will get some stitching time. Here's the list of other things that have to get done this weekend:

Haircut for DH
Find tuxedo shirt and black lace up shoes for DD's band uniform
Take DD's clarinet to music shop for them to look at cork problem
Build and paint the new sign for the new store
Finish clearing out and cleaning the old store
General Housework and laundry
Repair my small bookcase and get all the books back in it

Stitching time? Yeah right.

Mood: Gooey
Song: Six Different Ways - The Cure

They just don't get it

2009-03-05T12:16:00.000-06:00

My whole family thinks I'm nuts because I like to watch Ghost Hunters. My DH can't even be in the room. LOL

Stitching last night was on Rapture of Psyche:

Coming along good now. If you step back from this one a few feet it looks amazing. Somehow the colors are never right on the pictures I take. Oh Well, you get the idea.

I signed up on the HAED bulletin board to do a UFO/Slow WIP stitchalong this weekend. I chose to work on Mermaid of the Deep. Its been a while since I worked on her and I'd love to get a little closer to being done.

Mood: Broke again
Song: A Mistake - Fiona Apple

Oh, The Rapture... Not

2009-03-04T11:04:00.000-06:00

Well, as is my usual way of doing things, I totally went off course again. I actually sat down and fixed my Rapture of Psyche. I had an incident a couple of months ago where I discovered that my 613 was actually 612. Not fun. I could have cried when I found out. At that point I put away this WIP to be fixed when I wasn't so upset. I guess that ended up being last night. I frogged all the 613 and re-stitched it with the right color. I absoluetly love this painting and I really want to finish this cart. Here's a picture of the original painting call "The Rapture of Psyche" by Bourguereau:

Isn't that stunning?

I'll have to upload my progress pics and get a WIP page for it since I'll be putting it into my rotation.

Mood: Goober
Song: One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx

Nope

2009-03-03T13:43:00.001-06:00

I didn't do any stitching last night. First day at the store went very well, then DH and I went out to dinner, then I went to Target, then I put away all the laundry. After all that I just didn't have any time to stitch.

Tonight I plan to put away Life Force and pull out another of the full size HAEDs to work on. Haven't decided which one yet.

I did set some goals for myself for this year. My focus pieces will be:

FULL SIZE
1. Advice From a Caterpillar - Gustafson - HAED - 0 Pages done
2. Life Force - Ravenscroft - HAED - 1 Page Done
3. Mad Tea Party - Gustafson - HAED - 1 Page Done
4. Queen's Croquet Ground - Gustafson - HAED - 1 Page Done
5. Mermaid of the Deep - JBG - HAED - 1 Page Done

SMALLER
1. Rainbow Mermaid - Kuik - HAED - 3 Pages Done
2. Steam Punk Fairy - Dillman - HAED - 1 Page Done
3. Speckled Fairy - Vinson - HAED - 2 Pages Done

Goals:
Finish 3 pages on each of the full size charts
Finish 2 of the smaller charts

Well I'm sure it's possible to do this, but probable? Who knows. I really want a finish!

Mood: Chinese Food
Song: Some Girls are Bigger Than Others - The Smiths

Yay! New Office!

2009-03-02T11:39:00.000-06:00

I'm so happy that we've completed the move and are open at the new location. It's so much nicer and more comfortable.

I did have some time for stitching this weekend and here is my progress on Rainbow Mermaid:

Mood: giddy
Song: Private Life - Oingo Boingo

Cutest Pain in the Butt

2009-02-26T16:33:00.000-06:00

I was browsing the blog backgrounds at Cutest Blog on the Block and I have just one question:

How much money are you guys getting from Microsoft to promote Internet Explorer 8?????

There is absolutely no reason why someone using an older browser (which I do by choice) should have to be subjected to horrendous ads and then not be able to copy and paste the code without downloading a newer browser.

On principle, I will not be using one of their blog templates.

BTW, we never download any update to Windows or IE when it first comes out. We know there is a period of time where MS uses the general public as beta testers. I will eventually go to IE 8, but surely not now!

Mood: quite aggravated

Ghost Hunting

2009-02-26T11:36:00.000-06:00

Howdy! Last night was Ghost Hunters night again and this time I stitched on Steam Punk Fairy. I don't know how much stitching I'll be able to do over the weekend as we are moving the store tomorrow! I'm quite excited to get started. It's so much nicer than where we are now. I'm suffering from more and more frequent headaches and upset tummy and I think it's due to spending too much time at the old store. There were/are rats in the attic and if you lift the ceiling tile its just full of rat and roach poo up there. I know breathing that in all day is not good for me. If you're wondering, there are good reasons why we didn't go to the landlord. I'm not going to go into it here, but we did what we could.

Anywhatever, we'll be closed tomorrow to begin the move and will open on Monday morning at the new location. I'll try to sneek in some stitching over the weekend and maybe some progress pics as well.

Mood: Eager Beaver
Song: Bitter Apple - Dave Gahan

Pictures!

2009-02-25T10:29:00.000-06:00

I finally got some pictures taken this morning.

Here is my progress on Life Force:

Here is my progress on Steam Punk Fairy:

I also got the WIP page updated for Steam Punk Fairy.

Mood: Willy Wonka is my Hero
Song: Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos

Stitch-Capades

2009-02-23T20:00:00.000-06:00

Crazy day at the office.

Worked on Steam Punk Fairy last night. Got in 300 more stitches.

Don't feel like typing right now.

Mood: Oodles of Noodles
Song: Comfort Eagle - Cake

Time is one thing I don't have enough of

2009-02-22T14:10:00.000-06:00

Not getting much stitching done, we've been busting butt to get the new store ready to be opened a week from tomorrow. Painting Painting Painting

Anyway, I did get a bit of a break last night and stitched on Rainbow Mermaid for a while. I also took the time today to update the Alice WIP pages and put them into the WIP links on the RIGHT side. I keep switching up the blog layout and they keep switchig sides. I still am not 100% happy with the blog look. I plan on tweakig a bit when I get the content all finished. I want the 425 pixel preview from Webshots to fit nicely in the column and right now it doesn't. Oh well.

I feel like I'm finally learing that it's ok to sit down and just stitch for an hour. I always feel like I'm not getting enough done when I don't stitch for several hours straight. I'd love to be able to stitch all day but that independently wealthy gene seemed to skip my whole dang family tree.

Til Tomorrow!

Mood - Leggo my Eggo
Song - Cuts You Deep - Peter Murphy

Surprise Update :)

2009-02-19T18:16:00.000-06:00

Here is the picture I erased from Webshots earlier:

Also, I updated and added the Rainbow Mermaid WIP page to the list on the left.

Nighty Night

A Pot of Gold?

2009-02-19T16:03:00.000-06:00

So last night was Ghost Hunters night and of course I had to hog the TV from my son who wanted to play rock band. I stitched on Rainbow Mermaid while I watched and got quite a bit done.

Here is my progress on Rainbow Mermaid:

I did have a picture of Life Force, but stupid me accidently deleted the album from Webshots. Of course I'm at work and don't have to pictures on this computer to upload them. So... you can just use your imagination.

Tonight? Hmm... we'll probably be at the new store painting. I am the trim and cut-in specialist. My job always takes so much longer than DH's. sigh

For anyone who gives a hoot we own a small computer repair company. We handle IT services for small businesses and walk in customers. Not exactly my dream job; my degree is in Accounting and Finance, but at least we'll be in demand even in the worst economy. And yes, I do work on the computers. I've finally been promoted from apprentice to level 1 technician after almost 4 years. Actually I handle most of the walk in work for the store.

That's all for now

Mood: Where's my Happy Pills Dammit!
Song: The Well - Axoe

Ta-Daaaaa!

2009-02-18T14:36:00.000-06:00

Yay! I got one of my WIP pages changed over to new hosting. You can find the link in the sidebar. Now to get an updated picture of the progress and we'll be good to go.

I didn't get any stitching done last night. We were at the new store painting until 9pm. I was quite tired as I started the day by getting up and taking the everfight twins to the eye doctor before school. Sometimes I just want to knock their heads together. I wish I could get across to them that in this world (and especially in the world to come) they're going to have to help each other out to make it. sigh...
They've been at each other's throats since the second one was born, so I don't know why I expect anything to change.

I don't think we're going to paint tonight so maybe I'll get some more done on Life Force, or possibly something else.

Mood: Bit part in someone else's dream.
Song: Mouth's Cradle - Bjork

Life and Life Force

2009-02-17T10:44:00.000-06:00

I finally worked on my WIP images last night. You can find them all in my Webshots now. I want to redo the WIP pages that I had to reflect the new location of the pictures, but I think I'll do them one at a time as I work on each project. It may be a while though as we're quite busy with moving to the new office and all.

Stitched for a while on Life Force again. I'll try to get a picture soon, although what I've done of the second page is mostly just background.

Found this on Hannah Disney's site:

WANT! She's got brown curly hair and blue eyes just like me!

I put in a request at HAED to have her charted. I don't know if they'll listen to little ole me though. I know a lot of other people like the steam punk faireys so maybe....

Anywho, like I need to have another chart.

Mood: upside down

Song: King Volcano - Bauhaus

Life Force and Other Things

2009-02-16T11:12:00.000-06:00

I started the second page of life force a few days ago. I forgot how much I loved the art work for this one. Its going well considering how frantic everything else is in my life right now.

I really wish I could find a rotation that would work for me. I'd love to get more stitching done or at least be able to see some progress on something. I just get so bored working on the same thing for more than a few days. I think I will force myself to do pages again. At least that way there is visible progress before moving on to another project.

I plan to work on getting my pictures organized tonight. The computer with all the pics on it is at home now which makes it a bit more difficult to access. (My daughter is addicted to Second Life and wants to be on there all the time) For now I'll just have to go with Webshots for the pictures and possible host the WIP pages on the backside of one of my husbands domains. I just don't have the cash right now to set up hosting for myself.

Mood: Slightly Irritated
Song: Bounce - The CAB

Baby Steps, Right?

2009-02-13T16:21:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been stitching just a bit. I've worked on Queen's Croquet Ground and Mad Tea Party. I started the second page on MTP and I am about to finish the second page of QCG. I'm not pushing myself to stitch right now, I don't want to burn out again. Things are quite stressful and busy in my life right now and I need just a bit of escape through stitching.

I promise to get the WIP pages back up soon. I'm still trying to work out hosting. I closed down my pattern store and I had been hosting my WIP pages and pictures on the backside of that site. I'm going to try to set up just basic hosting using the same domain name, unfortunately I spent the money on a new iPod Touch. LOL I'm enjoying the crap out of that thing though. It's like my Nintendo DS Lite and my iPod had an affair and this is their love child. Portable gaming, music, wifi, and all kinds of other goodies in one little package. No more lugging around the iPod and the DS when I have to go out.

Mood: Friday
Song: The Darkest Star - Depeche Mode

And other stuff

2009-01-22T15:23:00.000-06:00

I just noticed that all of my layout and pictures were on the site that I shut down. I don't have access to that stuff from work so I'll try to fix it when I get home.

So Umm.... Yeah

2009-01-22T15:15:00.001-06:00

You know, I kinda knew that this would happen. I fall in and out of cross stitch sometimes and this time I fell out for a few months. The holidays, the business, the economy, and worst of all: Rockband. My son bought Rockband 2 for the Wii with his Christmas money and I just can't seem to quit playing it. I'm pretty darn good on bass for someone's mom!

I did have the urge to stitch while at work today; hence the post here. I think I may try to work on Steam Punk Fairy tonight. Maybe just ease back into it. I need to give my hand a rest from Rockband anyways. Playing the guitar/bass on there is terrible for my left hand. It doesn't help that I broke (smashed) my pinky and ring finger when I was a kid. All those years of stitching with my right hand didn't do much for the strength or flexibility of my left hand. (but it sure can hold a Q-snap)

Also, I let the Bright Stitch site close down. It wasn't generating enough income to pay for the hosting and with things being so tight I'm not able to swing it. I'm eventually going to re-upload the progress pages to another server so that they'll work again, but it's a pain in the tush to fix all the links to point to the new location so that may take a while.

Rainbow Mermaid Correction

2008-10-15T10:52:00.001-05:00

I worked on fixing the wrong color in Rainbow Mermaid last night. Here is a picture:

I think it looks a lot better! Hopefully I will make some progress on the fourth page tonight.

Funny thing happened this morning. I noticed something odd going on on the dresser in our guest bedroom/hangout room. We keep a lot of junk (and some stitching stash) in the dresser in there. Looks like the kitty got bored last night and wanted a hit.

PICS NO LONGER AVAILBLE lol

Yes, that's catnip, not anything illegal!

I guess kitty was jonesing!

Mood: Somewhat OK
Song: Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven - Love and Rockets

Rainbow Mermaid Update

2008-10-14T10:46:00.000-05:00

I have now finished the first row (3 pages) of Rainbow Mermaid. She is stitched on 28ct evenweave 1 over 1, full crosses.

There's only one problem, a while back I noticed that my 613 was really 612. Don't know how it happened, probably mislabled the bobbin when I wound it. Anyways, there's a section of background that was stitched in the wrong color. I was scared to frog on such a small count over one, but it came out ok. I spent about 2 hours last night painstakingly removing the "wrong" 613. I will stitch the correct color tonight. Here's a pic to explain the problem: PIC NOT AVAILABLE
I have two more projects that were affected by the incorrect color that I will eventually correct. I was just so mad when I found out that I had to put them aside to cool off for a while. I also went through my entire DMC collection on bobbins and compared to both the color chart and unwound skiens to make sure there weren't any more mistakes in my jammer box. Luckily, none were found!

Mood: Dammit
Song: Headhunter - Front 242

Didn't Quite Make It

2008-10-09T10:37:00.000-05:00

I didn't quite finish the second page of Rainbow Mermaid last night. We went out to dinner so I didn't get to stitch quite as much. I WILL finish it tonight. Here is an updated pic:

PIC NOT AVAILABLE

I wasn't too sure about the lightest parts on her face, they seem to have too much contrast with the surrounding colors, but when I get it away from stitching light it looks ok. Most of what is missing on the bottom left is sparkly. I can't wait to see what that looks like.

Mood: Broke...
Song: Faults and All - General Public

Stitching

2008-10-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

I've been working on Rainbow Mermaid for a few days now, if I work on it again tonight, I should be able to finish page 2. Yay! Then page three is just two hundred stitches wide, so that shouldn't take me much time at all. There's no telling what will scream at me when I get home though.

On other fronts... um.... are there any other fronts than stitching?

I refuse to talk about anything else, and you can't make me.

Mood: Hummy
Song: Programable Soda - Tori Amos

BAP Stitchers YUKU Forum

2008-10-03T10:06:00.000-05:00

HaHa! I did it! LOL, not that anyone will come, but there is now a Yuku message board for BAP Stitchers. You can find it here http://bapstitchers.yuku.com/. Haed, Golden Kite, Cross Stitch Pattern Gallery, Bright Stitch, Scarlet Quince, and where ever else I forgot. Come one, come all, share your love for those huge projects.

Cheryl

Rainbow Mermaid

2008-10-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

Good Friday morning!

I stitched on Rainbow Mermaid last night, got in another 600 stitches. I'm more than 25% done on this one... maybe I'll finish it before the end of the year. The problem with doing BAP's is that it never feels like you're getting anywhere. I just have to stop sometimes and imagine all of those stitches, and how many smalls I would have finished in the same amount of time. I know I'm lucky that I'm able to stitch every night, and I'm a pretty fast stitcher.

I went looking through the stitcher's blogs listed here. I'm apparently in the minority in terms of what I like to stitch. I'm just not that into primitive or quaker or smalls. Makes me feel sort of alone in the world! I know that there's plenty of BAP stitchers out there. Maybe I should start a BAP web ring or message forum. Hmmm... might be interesting.

Plans for the weekend? I'm going to stitch. Not much else to do, we're pretty broke right now. What am I going to stitch on? What ever screams the loudest. I'd like to finish page two of Rainbow Mermaid, and maybe page one of Advice From a Caterpillar. Elements had been calling to me again too. So many choices, LOL.

Happy Stitching!

Mood: Migraine
Song: Shame - Nitzer Ebb

She's Back!

2008-10-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

Finally got a good bit of stitching done last night. I worked on Rainbow Mermaid and got about 600 stitches in. I thought I'd post some pictures for you viewing pleasure.

Here is the progress on Rainbow Mermaid:

Here is the progress on Steam Punk Fairy:

Here is the progress on Queen's Croquet Ground:

Shelby:

Lucy:

My new Disney Pin collection: (yes they're all Alice in Wonderland Pins)

Happy Stitching!

Mood: Surprisingly Good Considering
Song: Mad World - Tears for Fears

Stitching Slump

2008-09-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

I seem to be in a bit of a slump. Stitched just a bit last weekend on Queen's Croquet Ground and Steam Punk Fairy. I just can't seem to sit down and get "in" to it.

I've been spending a lot of time playing games on www.pogo.com I really like their new Monopoly game. We actually played Monopoly IRL a few times over the weekend. My husband was the big winner. We've been thinking about getting rid of the cable tv for quite a while now, and it was nice to know that we can do something as a family without being plugged into the net or the cable lines.

I plan to stitch some tonight (even if just for a few minutes) and maybe I'll have a pic for tomorrow.

Mood: Somewhat Stressed
Song: It's Coming Down - Cake

Well, I felt like I was dead.

2008-09-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

No, I didn't die, but I sure felt like i was going to. I've been sick for a week. Haven't felt like stitching at all. I did stitch a bit last weekend, in fact, I finished the first page of Mad Tea Party. I feel the itch today though and hope to stitch some tonight. I want to finish the first page of Advice From a Caterpillar before I work on anything else.

Usually when I stop stitching for a while it makes me have the urge to start something new, bad! I plan on resisting the temptation this time. I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE STARTS! Although, I do need to start something from my site (or restart Rapture of Psyche). Still breaks my heart that I had almost finished three pages of that before I found that I was stitching with the wrong color for 613. Frogging on 28ct over one is not really possible.

Anyways, not much planned for the weekend, some house work, maybe some weed pulling if the weather is nice.

Mood: Better
Song: Strangelove - Depeche Mode

Hah! I told you I would post it.

2008-09-16T16:31:00.000-05:00

You must have thought I wasn't going to do it... it is getting pretty late, but here it is:

I'm quite pleased with how this one is coming out.

Mood: Sick... Sore throat
Song: Stigmata - Ministry

Yah, Yah, I know, no posts last week

2008-09-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

Anywho,

I found a new hobby! Just what I need right? I'm still stitching, so don't worry about that.

I was looking for some Alice decor to go with my Scott Gustafson Alice's (I know, I'm quite opptimistic that I might actually finish them) and I came across some Dinsey trading pins. Uh-Oh, this could get addictive. So I spent the weekend on Ebay picking up some Alice trading pins. So fun, and at just a few bucks each, a nice way to treat myself occaisionally.

So, stitching wise, I sat down to work on Queen's Croquet Ground and put in a couple hundred stitches in the wrong color, doh! Ended up frogging them all, then going to work on something else. I've been stitching on Life Force for a few days. I love how this one is coming out. I'll post a pic tomorrow, I promise!

Mood: Only half Mondayish
Song: Cowboy - The Sugarcubes

Its a Mad, Mad Party

2008-09-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

Howdy,

Stitched a bunch on MTP this weekend. Didn't finish a page though.
Here's my progress:

Mood: Gloomy
Song: Gold Dust - Tori Amos

Alice, Alice, Alice!

2008-09-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

Stiched Wed night on Advice From a Caterpillar and last night on Mad Tea Party. Plans for this weekend are to try to get a page done on one or the other of these.

More later maybe... not feeling very wordy today.

Mood: umm...
Song: Frankly, Mr. Shankly - The Smiths

Back to Wonderland

2008-09-03T09:55:00.002-05:00

I've been doing some thinking about the ginormous amount of WIP's I have. They're almost all HAED's and I just keep adding them, not finishing anything. Well, I really, really want to finish something. I've also been thinking about what I really wanted in the first place, which is to do the three Alice in Wonderland pieces by Scott Gustafson. These were my first HAED purchases. I think I'm going to concentrate on getting these done. I'd like to see all three of them hanging together in my stitching room. So... that being said, the three Alice's will become my focal pieces from now on. I don't know exactly what this means, I've never been able to stick to a strict rotation.

I worked on Advice From a Caterpiller last night. Will probably work on Mad Tea Party tonight. We'll see :)

Here is my progress on AFAC last night:

I've been thinking also about my weird attraction to things that come in sets. I shy away from cross stitch charts that don't have companion pieces. I can't imagine hanging just a single piece without something to "go" with it. Even if there were, let's say, elephants. If the elephants were all different, at least they have a theme. It's really hard to explain. Even when I fall in love with a piece (like I did with Steam Punk Fairy), I have to force myself to get over the fact that there aren't companion pieces in order to buy it. Sheesh, is this some vestage of OCD or something? Who knows. Anyway, my next "set" I'm thinking of would be to do Moonstones, Mask of Colors (one of them), and Viva. Talk about a life sentence... those would probably take forever to finish. First I have finish SOMETHING!

Mood: Resolved
Song: A Question of Time - Depeche Mode

Labor Day Stitch-A-Thon Results

2008-09-02T09:48:00.001-05:00

Howdy...

Well, Gustav passed us by... just a bit of wind and some rain. I spent the whole weekend stitching and listening to Stephen King's "Lisey's Story" on CD. Wow! What a great story and what a wonderful performance by Mare Winningham. I could not stop listening. I listened to "Cell" a couple of weeks ago and was not happy with it at all. There were many points where they had gone back a dubbed in the reader, I guess to fix mistakes, but his voice sounded so different it was very distracting. On top of that, the ending just SUCKED! I want to know who, and why, and did it work? Very unsatisfying. Extremely well written (of course, as it was Mr. King), but not for the curious because you're left with more questions than answers.

Anywho, I stitched and stitched and stitched. And here are the results:

Queen's Croquet Ground:

Rainbow Mermaid:

Steam Punk Fairy:

We've got a new camera (well, new to us) and I think it takes much better pictures of the stitching. :)

Be sure to check the links on the left side to see all of my WIP's.

Mood: Giddy
Song: Thin Man - Suzanne Vega

Friday!

2008-08-29T10:36:00.000-05:00

Hey there, not much to post. Worked on Rainbow Mermaid last night, but no pictues! Got the hot water heater fixed, went out to dinner. Umm... slept?

Exciting life, eh?

Don't have any big plans for the weekend. Just going to try to get some housework done. Hopefully my Pako needle organizers will get here today and I can get them set up for use this weekend.

Mood: Three Day Weekend (if this isn't a mood, it should be)
Song: Where is the Line - Bjork

Fruit and Fire

2008-08-28T09:44:00.001-05:00

Well, I stitched on Fruit Cocktail last night, got quite a bit done considering that our hot water heater caught on fire! The "challenged" people that built our house put a small hot water heater in the air conditioning closet UNDER the a/c unit. Everyone knows that a/c units occasionally leak. The leak (small drip, drip, drip) got the element units on the hot water heater wet and shorted them out. First there was the smell of ozone... then "huh, something is burning"... then a mad rush to shut off the breaker to the hot water heater, turn off the fire alarm, and grab the fire extinguisher. My DH did the first, I did the second, and DD did the third. What a mess! The whole house stinks. Luckily this is a secondary hot water heater that serves to make it so the bathrooms on the far side of the house don't have to wait two or three hundred years to get hot water from the main unit (which is in the garage). DH is investigating what needs to be done to fix the element that burned up, and how to keep this from occurring again. I'm so glad he's a great handy-man (tee hee, in more ways than one). We're just so thankful that we were home when this happened. If we hadn't been there..... who knows.

Back to stitching:

Here is my progress on Fruit Cocktail from last night, and on Queen's Croquet Ground from the night before.

Mood: Relieved
Song: Star 69 - R.E.M.

If All Else Fails.... Just Start Over

2008-08-27T10:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I gave up on my other blog... I couldn't get the damn thing to let me edit the layout or customize anything. So here's my solution: Make a new one!

I'm mad that I'll lose the posts from the other blog, but excited that I can finally put the WIP links up.

I stitched on Queen's Croquet Ground again last night, got in a few hundred stitches. No pic today, maybe tomorrow.

Mood: Like a one armed armadillo (no clue what this means, but sounds better than PMSy)
Song: Little Rough Rhinestone - Soft Cell