Threads of Desire

Stitching Blogger's Question for September

2010-10-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

Now that it is October, I thought it was well past the time to answer a question. But I think I will skip the October question about birth order and answer this one.

Is there anything that you do while you are stitching that is kind of weird or unusual? A quirky habit maybe? Or anything that you do that makes you think, Hey…I wonder if anyone else does this?

At first the only thing I could think of was that I always have a drink by my side. It's the desert, people. We need to carry water when we go to the grocery store, even in the winter. 9% humidity is no joking matter. I know most of you probably are yards away from the nearest edible. But I am not talking about greasy nachos here or melting chocolate (those both of those are great in their place). I just need something to drink while stitching, usually Coke, but sometimes iced tea. But then I took a look at this picture and saw a lot of habits that I don't ever think about. First, I always make a copy of the chart. Sometimes I increase the size to see the stitches better or copy two pages on one page. Then I always use a yellow highlighter to mark the parts I have stitched. Probably not that unusual, but it is what I do. I always have my iPhone or iPod by my side for podcasts and audio books. I stitch without my glasses, so watching movies or television is not possible.

The other things I noticed have to do with how I organize my threads. I don't put my threads on bobbins, since they are in Floss*A*Way plastic bags (for DMC) or on rings for everything else. But for DMC threads I do wind my extra thread around the part of the DMC label that does not have the number on it. And I face all my threads towards me so that I can read the labels without picking them up. I also organize the threads on the table in groups of threads that are stitched together. OK, that's probably not very quirky, but those are some of the things that I do.

For those of you looking carefully you can see that I am working on the Headless Dragon here. Yes, I have stitched more of him, but for those of you waiting for a head, you will probably be waiting a long time. I am stitching the pattern clockwise, so the part I am working on now are his rear feet. And after this picture was taken I cleared him away so that I could work on two Fair and Square exchanges. They have both been received, so I can tell you about them in my next post.

Travel, No Stitching

2010-09-12T20:57:00.001-07:00

If you are visiting Melbourne, Australia, there isn't a better hotel to stay in than The Langham. It is on the South Bank of the Yarra River connected to a huge restaurant and shopping mall. Since the weather was always cold and sometimes rainy, we appreciated not having to walk far to get amusement and sustenance. Not to mention that the service was superb (arranging a hire car left for us Friday night when usually there are no rentals that start on Saturday). Although the river itself is rather industrial and muddy, there are a bazillion restaurants situated a pleasant walk away, not to mention the museum and shopping areas on the other side of the river.

It also helps to have a room on the corner with stunning views down the river and into the Central Business District (CBD). And we certainly appreciated a nice room after a three grueling flights (from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to Sydney to Melbourne) and long and bitter fight with customs in Sydney.

Why they need to check your hand luggage again, when you had gone through security in the US, I don't know. But check it they did and decided that not only were they going to confiscate both pair of small scissors, but ALL of my needles. Since this was plainly ludicrous, I decided to stand my ground and demand an explanation. I spent 15 minutes jamming the blunt scissors into my palm before they gave up and let me keep them. I still lost 15 - 20 packages of John James needles as they only let me keep three packages, grumbling all the while that I could hurt someone with them, although my husband pointed out that his legal ball point pen was more dangerous. Somehow this depressed me enough that I never took out my stitching again during the entire trip.

Although Melbourne is a lovely city, we have been here before, so appreciated having a car to see some of the sites in the neighboring areas. On Saturday we toured a couple of wineries in the Yarra Valley to the northeast and had a terrific lunch at Mandala. On Sunday we headed west to travel the Great Ocean Road. It is similar to driving Highway One in California; small towns, steep cliffs, and hairpin turns. All a little more exciting because you are driving on the other side of the road. At one pull off this cheeky little Fairy Wren decided he loved our car and hopped from rear view mirror to door to windshield until we drove away. We did not see any kangaroos are koalas on this trip, but we did see (and hear) dozens of exotic birds.

My husband was in photographer's heaven as there were wonderful rock formations and beautiful cliffs to shoot. The picture of the lighthouse and me was taken by my husband, though I do have similar (not as good) pictures myself. We didn't drive the entire Road, but we did get as far as Cape Otway and headed down the potholed track to the lighthouse. There is a dairy farm on this peninsula with dozens of different breeds of cows. When they say Cattle Crossing, they really mean it. I was proud of myself for walking to the lighthouse and even climbed the stairs (slowly). It was almost closing time and the wind was whipping around furiously. Many, many ships ran aground here, even with the lighthouse as the shoals and rip currents are very dangerous here.

After hours of No Service, my phone rang when I was at the top of the lighthouse. It was strange to talk to a friend in Melbourne when we were miles away from any civilization. It took us hours to drive back to Melbourne and we were tired enough to just sleep most of Monday. Tuesday was gallery day. Previously we had bought a ton of lovely pottery in Melbourne, but the shop that carried it is now out of business. Instead, we found an amazing glass shop with some of the best glass artists in Australia. They shipped us four pieces that we will feature in our new house. But all tourism came to an end on Wednesday when we had to leave the lovely Langham and move about a mile and a half away to the Hilton South Wharf for the convention itself.

The hotel had a good view and was directly connected to the convention center, but because of the faltering economy, the planned restaurants were not built, so there were very few places to eat within walking distance. Still it was nice not to have wear a coat and gloves to get to the convention center. The Hugo Ceremony that I came to run was on Sunday and barely anything was in place. I spent a lot of time wrangling the tech crew, organizing and editing the slides and corralling the presenters and acceptors. Still the ceremony went off with hardly a hitch and some of the awards went to truly surprising candidates. By then I was so tired that I was glad to just have successfully navigated it all. I don't have any pictures from backstage, but there is one here of me holding the Hugo for Best Semiprozine (I know, we have odd categories) for my friend Cheryl Morgan, the redhead. I'm wearing the white jacket that sparkles.

After that it was saying our goodbyes, packing up (and wondering where we were going to put all our goodies), and heading to the airport. The plane left Melbourne for Sydney Tuesday morning (only one cursory security check in Melbourne) and landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning. We were home in Las Vegas by 2 pm and slept for the next two days.

Meanwhile the contractors had been busy laying the foundations for the new house while we were gone. We have a meeting with the window guys and the HVAC guys tomorrow. I start chemo infusions again on Tuesday and James leaves for Hawaii on Saturday. I know I will get some stitching done in the next couple of weeks, but I might not get to show it to you for a while. I have signed up for two Fair & Square rounds and have everything ready to stitch in the next week or two. I am excited about this since this gives me a chance to be really creative. I hope your summer trips were also pleasant and that you are all looking forward to the autumn weather to come.

One Quarter Finished

2010-08-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, almost. I was going to move the Q-snaps so that I could start on the lower right quadrant, but there is still a lot of backstitching to do on the upper right quadrant. Backstitch now or later? Sigh, I think the proper answer is backstitch now, then move the Q-snaps. The backstitching is complex enough that there is a entire separate page just for the backstitching. It is not over the entire picture, but there is a lot on the wings and body. I'll get back to cross stitching next week.

Other than stitching and sleeping, I am mostly working on the house. Last week we had a half dozen meetings with pool guys, plumbers, electricians, window and door guys, and the glass artist who is doing our front door and master bedroom shower. It's amazing how interconnected all these systems are. The plumbers need to know about the ice maker, the electricians need to know about the tankless hot water heaters, and the pool guys need to know where the gas lines can be. I am glad we have a general contractor as I would hate to co-ordinate and get bids for all this by myself. No pictures yet as they are just working on the foundation. Maybe I can post a picture when they finish the rough framing next month. Meanwhile, I wish you all swift stitches and beautiful threads.

Border to Border

2010-07-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Once I had moved the Q-snaps, I decided to go ahead and finish the upper right hand corner border. Of course, I couldn't just leave the threads as they were, but had to add some bling by putting Rainbow Galley Petite Treasure Braid Gold in the upper inner trefoil. It doesn't look like much bling in the picture, but there is a subtle sheen that I like a lot. I've been very schizophrenic about stitching. Some days I have spent hours moving along with this project. Then there are days that I ignore it completely to play Farmville or Godfinger and watch the new Starz series The Pillars of the Earth. Right now I have started filling in the blues, purples, and maroons of the background. This is not a cute dragon, but is actually rather mean looking, but fitting for his Celtic heritage.

Other than stitching, my main project is organizing the Hugo presentation for Aussiecon IV in Melbourne, Australia. We will be leaving for there in less than a month. Hooray! I had my first round of infusion chemotherapy last week. It went fairly well though I was nervous about sleeping with the infusion machine. It wasn't too bad. Just like a sad puppy that pulls on his leash a bit and whines softly every few minutes. Actually it sounds more like a camera shutter clicking. This week is all about the new house: the pool tomorrow and doors and windows on Wednesday. Much of the interior cabinetry is chosen and so is much of the plumbing fixtures. We still need to settle on flooring and countertops. So until the next time: I wish you swift stitches and beautiful threads.

The Headless Beast

2010-07-16T17:25:00.001-07:00

You can get a lot of stitching done when you are in San Francisco with no refrigerator and no television. No refrigerator, no cooking. We did have a refrigerator, but it lost its freon AGAIN. So it is no more than a big white box now. I would have even more of this done if I hadn't gotten involved with several iPad games. But I did move the Q-snaps to give me room to stitch the wing at the top right hand corner. Which means that if I continue around in a clockwise manner, I will finish the head last. I couldn't resist stitching a bit of the border to get over stitching all the blues and greens. Now I do love blues and greens, but a steady diet of any color will make you long for colors of a different value.

On the health front, my month of travel and recovery is almost over. On Wednesday I had minor surgery to put in an influsion port (a plastic valve that will eventually sit invisibly under the skin and allow access to a tube in my vein. It is safer than putting chemo directly into a vein in your arm.) It was very odd to have surgery while being totally awake. I have taken my Intro to Chemo class (required half hour video that they subjected me to at 8 in the morning). The first of nine infusions will start on Tuesday. I should be able to stitch (and type) for a while, but eventually my hand motor skills may degrade. I just hope the first three infusions go smoothly. Then I will have a break while we travel to Australia and finish the last six infusions after we get back. I hope everyone has a happy and productive weekend. I'm planning to do a lot this weekend.

By a Neck

2010-07-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Wow! I certainly did a lot of stitching in one day. The dragon himself is starting to take shape here, including his spiky parts. I didn't finish off the top of his wing because I was coming too close to the edge of the Q-Snaps. This pattern is just a little too big for the 8" Q-Snaps, so the wing could not be finished before I moved the fabric to expose more of the top right. There are actually lots of other colors in this design; purples and reds and blues, but they are mostly in the background, so I am stitching up most of the dragon before starting the background.

On Wednesday we left for San Francisco which has been a festival of food. Not just favorite restaurants like LuLu's and Chef's Chu's (where I got a lovely autographed cookbook from Chef Chu himself), but also favorite foods from Whole Foods (like their wonderful banana cream pie). I wish all Whole Foods had the same bakery recipes, as the desserts from the local Nevada ones are not near as good as the ones in San Francisco. And the piece de resistance was our visit to the Saturday farmer's market yesterday. I ate wonderful Mexican food and bought cheese and olive oil and jams and APRICOTS. Oh, my ghod, the Blenheim apricots from Frog Hollow are wonderful. And so are the HoneySnow white peaches. But today we head off for Nevada where I will have a port put in my chest on Wednesday for chemotherapy.

A Wing and A ...

2010-07-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

back and a leg? This is what I stitched during Westercon in Pasadena, a traveling science fiction convention over Fourth of July weekend. Next year it is in San Jose, California, then Seattle, Washington. I love stitching in public as usually some one has something nice to say. I will also remember this stitching as it was done during a talk by Larry Niven and Dr. Jerry Pournelle on the science in science fiction and during a concert by Seanan McGuire. I especially enjoyed her songs, Counting Crows and My Story Is Not Done. Besides songs, Seanan tells a great story. I love her recent book, Feed (written as Mira Grant). She's up for a Campbell award (best new writer) at Worldcon in Melbourne this September and I hope she wins. The convention was very nice for me as I saw tons of old friends I had not seen in months. But I also got tired more often than I would have liked. I was very happy to be home again and just collapsed all day Monday. Well, sort of collapsed. I actually sat in my stitching chair for hours and listened to podcasts while stitching. I'll show my progress in my next post.

This Could Be the Start of Something Small

2010-06-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

Yes, this is a dragon wing. In fact the wing from Peter Underhill's Mythical Beasts series, a British chart that I bought in Spokane, Washington, several years ago. I also have the Griffin pattern from the same company, Heritage Stitchcraft. I thought about switching out some of the DMC for metallics or overdyes, but there are a lot of colors in this pattern, so I think I will stick to the charted colors...so far. Some of this was stitched while flying and more of it was stitched in Lexington, Kentucky, while my husband was packing up things from his mother's estate. There was so much there we could have loaded two cars, but we were cautious and just took about a half a van full. None of this was stitched on our 2,000 mile road trip. After driving for 11 - 12 hours a day, all I did when we stopped was jump into a bath and fall into bed. The trip through Tulsa and Albuquerque was very nice. We ate a lot of great bar-b-que and New Mexican food. But our favorite ceramics shop in Albuquerque is no longer there. Finding good ceramics is getting harder and harder. I don't really want to take up pottery myself, but maybe I will have to.

When we got back I met with Anna for the first time In Real Life. She is just as delightful as her blog. If you aren't reading her blog, you really should. Like many people who have lived in California, but now live somewhere else, she was craving an In-N-Out burger and we were happy to oblige. They do make awesome burgers.

Now we are in the last throws of packing for a science fiction convention in Pasadena. Driving for only four hours should be easy. And there is more good food to look forward there, including Pie and Burger which has wonderful pies. But the real reason I am so stoked to be there is to see all of my SF friends who I missed at the last couple of conventions. I should have plenty of time to add lots of stitches to this dragon.

More Sheep

2010-06-25T10:39:00.001-07:00

I bet you thought I was talking about Bent Creek Sheep! Well, I wish I was stitching one of them, but when I went to find a kit to take on our road trip, I couldn't find one, though I know I have at least two left. I said that I would stitch something from the odd Portuguese cross stitch magazine, but that pattern is being stitched on 36 count over two. A little tiny for trying to stitch on an airplane. Instead I have started a different dragon. I was going to start Teresa Wentzler's Celestial Dragon this year, but I am intimidated by the incredible progress that Dani has made on hers. Instead I have chosen a smaller dragon to work on. I will post a picture as soon as I have more than 906 (DMC Green) stitched! It's on 26 count fabric, but is only a little over 7" x 7" square.

The cuties in the picture above are from Colin's Creatures who has the best animals I have seen. they are not too small and substantially heavy. The first creature to the left is a Nubian goat. I fell in love with these animals at the Lane County Fair in Eugene, Oregon. They are very friendly and make great goat cheese. The family grouping in the front are Cotswolds, who I fell in love with during a drive in one May on the back roads of England. There were lambs everywhere. The super curly one is a Devon found in the north of England and New Zealand. I love how their coats are naturally curly. The next horned one is a New Zealand breed called a Drysdale. We saw lots of these when we lived in New Zealand. The last brown sheep is a German Pomeranian, one of the monthly specials that Colin runs. I couldn't been more happy with my little tribe and now my husband has some idea what to get me on Christmas and birthdays. These animals were purchased with my mother-in-law in mind. Each year she gave us $100 to spend on something "we wouldn't buy ourselves". I always did and boxed it up for her to see. Although she is no longer alive to contribute the money, still I did this in her memory.

Right now we are in Lexington, Kentucky, gathering together the last of her things that we want to take back to Nevada. Tomorrow we will leave extra early and drive for three days (about 10 hours a day). We need to get back by Monday evening so that I can meet Anna on Tuesday. She is in Las Vegas to visit her parents. Hooray. I love meeting stitching bloggers In Real Life.

Book Meme

2010-06-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

I was challenged to answer these questions by a friend from Sweden. You can do it yourself, too.

1 – The book you are reading at the moment.
First, Ares Express by Ian McDonald. Normally I love McDonald's writing, but somehow, even though I started it last week, I can't seem to pick it up again. Then, Twelve Mile Limit by Randy Wayne White, a battered copy from the library book sale. Who doesn't like a little Florida mystery series? Then The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson, a nonfiction humor book about the American Midwest. My husband picked it up at the library book sale, but I started reading it.

2 – Next book you will read or want to read.
I have a bunch coming from Amazon on Tuesday, but I can't remember them all. I need to stock up for our three weeks of traveling. I do know I downloaded three Audible.com books for the road trip; Songs of Dying Earth, a compilation of short stories in honor of Jack Vance, Neverwhere, written and read by Neil Gaiman who is a marvelous reader, and The Map That Changed the World (nonfiction).

3 – Your favorite book.
This is a cruel question, leaving hundreds of books out in the cold, so I will pick Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Child, Bertholle, and Beck. One of the first cookbooks I ever bought. Every recipe comes out perfectly every time, but they can be maddeningly complex.

4 – Your most hated book.
Absurdistan: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart. There is nothing worse than an archly hip novel about a pathetic loser that is supposed to be humorous but Is Not. Second place, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, but this could be a number of books written by non-science fiction writers using science fiction tropes and getting them wrong every single time. Dan Brown comes to mind.

5 – A book you could read again and again.
I haven't read it in a while, but for a time in my teens and early twenties I read Julian by Gore Vidal over and over again.

6 – A book you have been able to read only once (whether you liked it or not).
I loved Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, but I would have to be stuck with only that book on a deserted island to read it again. It's 916 pages!

7 – A book that reminds you of someone.
I tend to read a lot of books in the science fiction/fantasy genre, but I have never met a werewolf, wizard or vampire. Or even a space ship captain. Most people I know are good and kind hearted, but dull. This is a good thing. I've met some exciting people in my time and they are dangerous.

8 – A book that reminds you of somewhere.
I love books about places I have been. Mystery writers tend to do that well, so I could choose any book by Julie Smith (New Orleans), Margaret Maron (North Carolina), Dana Stabenow (Alaska), or Marcia Muller (San Francisco).

9 – First book you ever read.
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. My mother started reading it to me, but couldn't read it fast enough to suit me, so I learned to read so I could do it by myself. I was four.

10 – A book by your favorite writer.
George R. R. Martin, both personally and professionally. You could start with Game of Thrones (soon to be an HBO mini series), but I warn you, the series is not finished. It needs three more books!

11 – A book you loved the first time you read it but you can’t stand now.
Gateway by Fredrick Pohl. What a cowardly, whiny protagonist! How did I ever get through it the first time? Same with Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

12 – A book you have been recommended by a friend or acquaintance.
I recommend books to other people way more than they recommend them to us. My husband has started me reading some graphic novels, the one I like best so far is Y: The Last Man, beautiful and exciting.

13 – A book that makes you laugh.
I grew up with a book of cartoons by Charles Addams. Dark, but funny. James Thurber is also laugh out loud funny. On drinking a wine from a neighbor's backyard he exclaims, "It doesn't travel well, does it?"

14 – A book from your childhood.
Anything by Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons, etc. Although I read (and own) all the Oz books, I also own most of the Ransome books in first edition. It helped to have a grandfather who worked for Macmillan Books.

15 – The fourth book counting from the left in your shelf.
Which shelf on which of forty or more bookshelves? Well, it's not going to be the top shelf in the bedroom, since I need a ladder to get up there, let's go with the fourth shelf down. And the answer is...Earth by David Brin, signed, first edition.

16 – The ninth book counting from the right in your shelf.
I'm going back to the cookbooks. After all there are 700 of them. The Rituals of Dinner by Margaret Visser. You can only have so many books with recipes. Right now I collect more books about the history of food, eating, and culture.

17 – Close your eyes and pick up a random book from your shelf.
I'm going with the mystery shelves. By a Spider's Thread by Laura Lippman. I could also use this for question number 8. I love how Lippman evokes Baltimore and makes you love every stop light and cracked sidewalk.

18 – The book with the prettiest cover you own.
I'm sure there are prettier covers somewhere in the house, but right now I love Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. Pictures do not do it justice, but the shimmery copper is lovely. It helps that I am a sucker for copper.

19 – A book you have always wanted to read.
I really can't answer this one, because if I want to read a book, I do. My husband might count Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch since it has been sitting in my small To Be Read pile for years.

20 – The best book of all the compulsory readings you had to do at school.
Dickens. All of it. I took a course in Victorian Literature at university and started with The Pickwick Papers and found it hard going. Half way through I found his voice and never looked back. I think I read six books by Dickens in that quarter.

21 – The worst book of all the compulsory readings you had to do at school.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. One of the very few books that I Did Not Finish. I might even like it now, but I am not going to chance it.

22 – The book in your shelf with the highest number of pages.
I thought it would be Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, which took me a month to read, but it has a wimpy 916 pages. The winner is Under The Dome by Stephen King at 1074 pages, which only took me a weekend to read.

23 – The book in your shelf with the smallest number of pages.
Do graphic novels count? Do comic books? I have a couple of photography books that have only 10 or so prints tipped in.

24 – A book no one would think you’ve read.
The Bible and they would be correct.

25 – A book which main character defines you.
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein. One of the protagonists is female, a real shocker in the male dominated science fiction field in the '50s.

26 – A book you’d read to your kids.
Oz books, Ransome books and YA science fiction by Heinlein.

27 – A book which main character fits your “ideal”.
Ideal what? Friend, lover, person to call on when you need someone killed? I have read plenty of books with characters I enjoy, but most interesting characters are flawed enough that they are dangerous to be around.

28 – Thank God they made a film from this book!
I think books make terrible movies. They are too long and complex. But short stories and novellas are the perfect length for a movie. I'd choose AI from Brian Aldiss' short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" or A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison.

29 – Why on Earth did they have to make a film from this book?
Almost anything by Jane Austen or Dickens with the exception of Great Expectations, one of his shorter books made great by some of the most fantastic acting ever.

Stitching Blogger's Question

2010-06-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

"Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life. Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children’s father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life. Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching? Tell us the story behind it."

Originally I wasn't going to answer this question, but my first needlepoint that I designed myself as a teenager was for my father. My father was born on July 4th, so for the longest time I thought all the fireworks were for him. I designed a needlepoint American flag, all in wool in tent stitch. As I recall it was rather large (over 12 inches high and over 18 inches long in 14 or 18 count canvas) and took me several months to stitch. The stripes were red and white, but instead of stars, I put his initials, CEP, in gold Kreinik in the blue field. When I gave it to him he was less than impressed, which is probably why I hesitate to stitch for others. Maybe I should have stitched a Confederate flag to match his favorite lighter, which also played Dixie when opened. I never stitched anything for my lovely father-in-law because his wife was a much better stitcher than I was at the time.

"Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women. It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models. Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads. Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers? For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!” So tell us about it."

I have inherited my father's genetics; thin straight hair, good teeth, and fair coloring. We are both introverted, but spent most of our working life traveling. Other than that, I really can't say much about him. I haven't seen him in over 30 years, even when I went to see my mother in Florida, he made sure that I wasn't around when he was visiting.

On a more productive note, I am almost, almost finished with Angel Cat. I have finished all the picky details and just have the background and the border to finish. I should have it done this week. Then I have mostly kitted up (need to iron the fabric) a strange pattern from one of the Portuguese cross stitch magazines I bought in Lisbon. It will fit in well with my other kitchen cross stitches.

It's A Fish

2010-06-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

I've been very schizophrenic about stitching lately. Some days I will sit down for hours merrily stitching away. Then other days I ignore my stitching chair altogether. Yesterday I even started going through cross stitch magazines looking for a small project to start. I'm supposed to be working on UFOs, this year but a new start here or there can't hurt. This project is very close to being done. I just have the lower right quadrant to finish, but it has a lot of picky background stitches and I just can't get the motivation to do it. I am glad that I bought another skein of Gloriana Perle Granny Smith (the main background color) as this shows the last stitches of the two skeins that I thought would cover all the background. Maybe it would have if I was a more frugal stitcher. But every since I began needlepoint, I was taught to be sure and cover the back as densely as the front. That is especially true for working with wools that might get some wear, but it really is a good idea for most canvas work. The canvas won't hide a skimpy thread like a linen might.

On the health front, the fun part is over. Although my chemo oncologist says that the Xeloda pills I am taking are not "serious" chemotherapy, I seem to be having several of the side effects that the pills can cause, including nausea and diarrhea. The good news is that my radiation oncologist has just shortened my radiation sessions from 30 to 28. If the machine doesn't break down, my last session could be next Thursday! Hooray! No more chemo or radiation for a month. Of course after that comes the serious infusion chemotherapy, but in the meantime I can travel for the first time in three months (visiting an oncologist in Pasadena does not count as traveling).

First we are flying to Lexington, Kentucky, to drive home some of the larger items in my mother-in-law's estate. The question remains do we drive back through Denver (better scenery) or Albuquerque (wonderful food)? Then we are going to my first science fiction convention in almost a year. I missed the last three conventions I usually go to, so I am excited to be able see many of my friends. And possibly I can sneak a small trip to San Francisco in there, too. I really miss the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. I hope apricots are still in season when I get there. Although treatment for cancer is Not Fun, I still have great oncologists and support staff and am grateful for the help I am getting.

More Than Halfway

2010-05-22T11:25:00.001-07:00

Once I picked up Angel Cat again, I really went to town. I have been stitching it pretty steadily this week. So more than half of the background is now stitched including the borders. The entire process of stitching the piece (and switching from cross stitch to needlepoint) has made me think a lot about the their differences. Way back in the misty depths of time I started stitching needlepoint. I can't even remember there being much available in cross stitch patterns, though there were some stamped cross stitch pillows available. There certainly wasn't anything available in counted linen. When I started cross stitch much later I was thrilled that I didn't have to stitch the whole darn background. I know I have some needlepoint UFOs with miles of background left to do and all of that background charted for tent stitch. The cross stitch linens, especially the hand dyed ones, were just so beautiful, I didn't think I would ever go back to needlepoint. But over time needlepoint canvases began to be sold in colors other than white or ecru. Needlepoint patterns started to leave some of the canvas open. Backgrounds were now in hundreds of different stitch patterns, so tent stitch was not your only option. And the variety of needlepoint threads beyond wool exploded. But cross stitch patterns were also expanding with stitches beyond the simple cross and threads beyond DMC.

Here is a closeup of the Petite Very Velvet that I wrote about in my last post. It demonstrates some of the qualities I think that differentiate needlepoint from cross stitch. Most cross stitch patterns are pretty rigidly defined. There might be a choice of threads in some patterns, but usually the colors are the same, just the composition of the thread changes. The overall cross stitch design does not change. The only decisions are sometimes the gauge of the linen or whether to stitch small motifs as one large piece or separately. Although there are needlepoint stitch guides (even with thread recommendations), most painted canvases leave the threads and the stitches up to the stitcher. It takes a lot of confidence to choose the threads and colors for a canvas among the thousands available. And that included the confidence to change your decisions in midstitch. Originally this border was going to be stitched in the red Caron Snow thread that I used for the heart. The gray was a gorgeous Gloriana silk called Cobblestone. But once I started stitching the ribbon for the fish in Petite Very Velvet, I decided that the border would look better in this thread, too. Petite Very Velvet also has better coverage than a stranded thread would in a satin stitch. I also needed the courage to rip out parts of the design (like the aqua rayon thread in the fish's head) and replace it with a thread that would work better (Neon Rays ribbon). Overall my color choices for this design are much more muted than the "hot" colors shown in the original canvas. I know I will go back to simple cross stitch pattern, especially those with interesting variegated threads, but for right now I am more drawn to the creativity of modern needlepoint.

Easy As Pie FINISHED

2010-05-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

I actually finished this on Sunday. But on Monday when I tried to take a photograph the sky was full of low, dark clouds. Anywhere else would have had torrential rains, but here it was just windy and cool. The last stitching bits were rather boring as there are two different colors of green in the bottom border, but it is hard to see any difference between the two of them. Still it is lovely to have five of the six Mill Hill kits finished. I need to finish at least one more UFO before I start the last kit, I'm Jammin'. I have only two finishes this year and both are Mill Hill kits.

I have been working on Angel Cat. In fact I should have a picture to show in the next day or two. I am using a satin stitch with Petite Very Velvet for the border and it looks fantastic. I don't know if the luscious fuzziness of the thread will show up very well in a photograph.

Stitching Blogger's Question for May

2010-05-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't started Hawaiian Mandala back up again, but I wanted to use this picture to illustrate the answer to the May Stitching Blogger's Question.

"Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.
There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.
Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.
If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you have decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life."

There is no question, but I am a Process Stitcher. I love the specialty stitches (even the difficult Jessicas seen as red-orange flowers at the bottom of this picture) and the colors of this pattern. The real question is whether I stitch so that I can listen to podcasts or listen to podcasts to keep my mind occupied while I stitch? There are two weekly podcasts (MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Tech) and two Monday through Friday podcasts (Marketplace and Buzz Out Loud) that I listen to regularly and several other odd podcasts that I used to listen to. But with my stitching hiatus I am woefully behind listening -- I'm only now listening to podcasts broadcast in early March! It sort of gives listening a historical flavor. My husband says I should skip the last two months and just start up again, but I keep telling myself that I have so much stitching to catch up with that eventually I will run out of podcasts to listen to. But the real reason that I know I am a process stitcher is that have a drawer full of stitched pieces with very, very few finishes. About the only things I have finished are those things that I have given away. Even the pieces where I have definite finish in mind aren't framed much less hung on a wall. Someday Warm Water Wash will hang in the laundry room in Maui, but not someday soon.

As far as Process or Projects in my life, I am definitely a Project Person. I really enjoy seeing a tidy room, a drawer full of organized papers and a bookshelf in alphabetical order. But the actual process of said projects does not fill my heart with joy. Neither does laundry or ironing, which I am going to tackle today. About the only Process that I enjoy more than the end result is cooking. When I was less tired, I loved the process of researching recipes, gathering ingredients, following the instructions, and tasting as I went along. For the most part I didn't gobble up all the finished product, but was happy if other people did. Now I feel successful if I make a piece of toast and eat it. LOL.

On the health front, I am doing well. My bloodwork on Monday (after only a few days of radiation and chemo) came back with good values. I will know even more this Monday after a full week of radiation and chemo. I am even driving myself back and forth to radiation while James is on Maui dealing with a legal issue with a supposedly illegal pedestal that holds up the electrical meters for four houses at the edge of our property. Maui Electric Company demanded it be seven feet tall when the house was built, but the county now says that all "walls" within 25 feet of the property line can only be a maximum of four feet. If we lower the pedestal it will make it difficult to read the meters and a flash flood could destroy the meters altogether. Bureaucrats! James will be back tomorrow morning, so I better get busy processing the clutter around here.

It's A Pie

2010-05-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

I've had a hard time trying to get back to stitching this piece. It might be because of all the beads or it might be the confetti nature of all the stitching (there are two different kinds of red beads). Or maybe it is because I am not stitching much at all. I thought about going back to Angel Cat, but in the end, I think I will finish this. Then there is only one Mill Hill kit left to have all six stitched. Once they are all done, I can have them all framed at once in compatible frames. Although we have started construction on the new house, these should all be done well before there is a wall to hang them on.

I do have a more serious problem though. My beloved mother-in-law passed away two weeks ago. My husband flew back in time to say goodbye, though I almost had to kick him out. He wasn't sure that I was healthy enough to be on my own, but I managed just fine. Unfortunately my doctor did not think I was healthy enough to fly, so I couldn't go with him. He stayed to help his sister with the estate and to attend the funeral and burial. I am glad that he went and also glad that he is home again before my chemo and radiation started. But I have been stitching Tranquilty (The Shells) specifically for my mother-in-law. I look at it in my To Do pile and don't know if I will pick it up again. Have any of you started a project but not finished it for someone who is no longer here? I hate to abandon it, but it also makes me sad to look at it. My husband did bring back several stitched items that I had given my mother-in-law over the years and some items she had stitched. None of his family would really appreciate them the way my excellent needlepointing mother-in-law did. I have plenty of other projects to work on, so I will just let Tranquilty (The Shells) sit for a while.

More Pie, More Beads

2010-04-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

First I want to thank all the commenters and readers for their kind thoughts. They must have worked, since I am feeling better than I have in six months. I am just about back to normal as far as flexibility (you have no idea how hard simply sitting up can be with dozens of staples in your abdomen). But I still have a bit to go in the strength department and get tired too easily. I even survived a car trip to southern California last Monday to meet with an oncologist from USC Norris Cancer Center. She was very encouraging, claiming that my cancer was not as dire as I previously had been told. She also said that I should have chemo and radiation in Las Vegas and stay close to home. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a local oncologist and should be starting chemo early in May. I will probably have chemo for six months (with a break at the end of August and the beginning of September to go to Australia). I will know a lot more after tomorrow's doctor's appointment. But on to stitching!

It may not be much, but I did finish all of the gray in the pie plate and started the green band under the pie. I was stitching in my favorite stitching chair rather than at the dining room table as I often do when beading, but only lost one bead to the chair cushion. I still am not stitching every day, but I did stitch some yesterday and started to fill in all the red on the right side of the pie. I am going to finish this before I go on to other projects. I checked my list of 2010 Goals -- oh, my, I was rather ambitious. I doubt I will get half of these projects finished, but I hope to start up again on one or two UFOs. I really want to get a few UFOs finished before starting on a new project. Some of these UFOs are so old that I am sure they will feel like a new project.

This Is IT.

2010-04-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is where I stopped stitching on March 10. For some time now I have been having digestive problems, but that week it came to a sharp (and unpleasant) pain, so I made an appointment to see a doctor. On Friday, after a few blood tests she confirmed that I was dehydrated, anemic and running a raging infection. To find out what was going on, I went into the hospital for a CT scan . . . and didn't leave for six days. During that time they filled me up with blood transfusions and IV antibiotics. They also continued scanning and testing, but the results were inconclusive. Unlike the television medical shows where the doctors love to dive right in to exploratory surgery, no one wanted to open me up unless they knew exactly what they would find. Eventually they scheduled surgery with two surgeons (general and ob/gyn) for Tuesday, March 23. I went home for the weekend and came back Tuesday morning.

The surgery went well, but they did find colorectal cancer. It was not the cancer that was making me ill, but the fact that it perforated my bowel which resulted in peritonitis (infection). After another six days in the hospital with more IV antibiotics and TPN (nutrition from a tube) I was released; wobbly, groggy, and with painful staples that made my abdomen look like something attacked by an axe murderer. I would never have made it through without the constant care of my beloved husband, who certainly went beyond the traditional marriage vows of love and cherish. Two and a half weeks after surgery, I am walking around and starting to resume some of my family duties, especially tech support. I installed a new color printer/scanner and fixed the wonky DSL. Now I just have to setup the new computer I ordered before all this happened.

I thought that all this hospital time would make for plenty of stitching, but when you have IVs in both arms/hands attached to a seven foot tall silver pole with four drip monitors, holding the needle, Q-snap, and chart was a little beyond me. I did stitch one thread of gray on the pie plate for Easy As Pie, but that was it. Mostly I watched bad television or slept. I couldn't even concentrate on reading. I am starting to THINK about stitching. Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow.

Turning a Corner

2010-03-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

This is where I stopped stitching last Monday. Although there isn't a stitch in the very bottom left hand corner, I've stitched almost enough to move the Q-Snaps again to stitch the right hand side. Although I am not enjoying this as much as I did last December, I have made this the only stitching I am working on, so each time I sit down to stitch, a little more gets added. I've actually stitched a bunch more water at the bottom and finished the backstitching on the large shell on the left hand center.

Other than some stitching, I have mostly been reading; sometimes a book a day. In the evenings we are catching up on NCIS. Right now we are in the middle of Season 3. We had one meeting with our contractors, but still no start date for the house. When we do get started, it could take as long as 18 months. Maybe that is why I am so unmotivated right now. It seems that nothing has happened for a long time, though I know that things are getting done, even though the progress seems minimal. I should have another picture of my progress this week. Next weekend my husband will be in San Francisco, so there will probably be some concentrated stitching days ahead.

More Than Halfway

2010-02-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

Finally. I have started back on Tranquility (The Shells). I remember how involved I was when I was stitching this in December. I simply couldn't put it down. But now it's pretty hard to pick it up. Maybe it's all the backstitching I had to do so that I could rotate the cloth in the Q-Snaps to reach the very bottom of the pattern. Maybe it is because so much of the shells that are left are confetti stitching (with an immense amount of quarter stitches. How in the heck did the designers ever think that this could be stitched on Aida?) Maybe it is because I am moving from the very easy to see 18 count needlepoint on Angel Cat to all this 28 count quarter stitches. At least there are no beads! But slowly I am moving back into the rhythm of the piece and it is getting easier to decide where to stitch next. Now that I have finished all the backstitching on the top of the pattern, I can get back to stitching long rows of the same color in the border when I want to tear my hair out over the confetti stitching on the shells themselves.

Being in Maui has been very relaxing. No timetable. No meetings. No decisions other than where we want to go to eat. That will change on Thursday when we get back to Nevada. (At least I hope it will change and we will be ready to break ground and start building). So I am going to enjoy these last few days here and try to spend some time in the sun.

Confetti Beading

2010-02-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

This is the fifth in Debbie Mumm's Kitchen Collection from Mill Hill, Easy As Pie. HA! If I had started with this kit rather than the ones I have already done, I might not have ever finished any of them. There are six different colors of beads (two reds). Although it will look like a lovely pie when it is done, stitching the almost random beads and stitches is daunting. I am trying to stitch up the first four colors of beads so that I will have only stitching (not beading) left on the pie. Then I can work on stitching only on our flight back to the mainland next Wednesday. I should be working on Tranquility (The Shells), but I am not. I hope this is not turning into a UFO.

The broken things around the house are now fixed: new cable box, new modem, spa fixed. Though at 60 degrees outside (and windy) last night, a soak in the hot tub was not recommended. The winds should die down over the weekend, but there may be some rain. We really don't mind rain while we are in Hawaii. Green is always better than brown.

Threadification

2010-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Although my favorite LNS, The Status Thimble, does not carry Gloriana Princess Perle, Edgar's favorite LNS, Needle in a Haystack in Alameda, does carry it and had two skeins of #053, Granny Apple Green. I will probably need only one more skein, but better to be be safe than sorry. There might be a very slight different in the new skeins (on the left) than the old (on the right), but with such a busy background, I don't think anyone will notice. I managed to avoid the hundreds of appealing needlepoint canvases and the thousands of great cross stitch charts, but I did go for some different threads to finish Angel Cat. First, although I stitched the head of the fish in DMC Rayon, I hated the lumpy way it turned out (even with a laying tool), so I am going to rip it out and replace it with Neon Rays. Then for the border, which I had considered satin stitching in Caron's Snow like the heart, it was suggested that Petite Very Velvet would be a better choice. So I got Petite Very Velvet in red and gray for the border. And even better than that, they had some Dovo black scissors, so now I have new scissors to replace the ones confiscated by Canada TSA in August. It was a wonderful stop and I am sure we will be back. Especially since my husband and I pay cash for most things and track our cash with Where's George. Someone from Alameda hit (entered) almost all the bills we spend there. So even my husband wants to go back! :-)

The flight to Maui was on time and uneventful. Uneventful even for stitching unless you want to see three pale yellow crosses that are the start of Easy As Pie. But although the weather is glorious here, inanimate objects are really giving us a hard time. First, the new modem from Clearwire is overheating, so we will have to return it tomorrow when the local store is open. We can have internet for 30 minutes or so, then I have to turn it off and let it cool down. At least the Time Warner Oceanic cable store was open today. First the television had no guide, then trying to reset it left the box dark and blank. Off to the cable store to replace it. Now we have cable, though since our projector remote died, we have to get up on a ladder and turn on the projector manually. Of course our home theater installer moved and who knows when we will be able to get another remote. The only other home theater installer on Maui has never returned our phone calls. It's Maui. If it's not on island, it might as well not exist. And our hot tub, which only works every fifth time is once again emptying the water instead of heating it up when we turn it on. It's lovely to sit in the hot tub and watch the stars here, but not tonight. All of this is to say that no stitching was done today and maybe just a little tomorrow depending on how long it takes to replace the modem. I hope those who had long weekend had a wonderful one.

Halfway

2010-02-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

I suppose that this piece is about halfway done. But more importantly, I have used half of the two skeins of Gloriana Princess Perle Granny Smith Green that I am using for the background. Although the fish does take up a lot of the background on the right side, I think I will run our of this thread before I finish the background. So this means a thread hunt. I'd like to go to my favorite needlework store, The Status Thimble, in Burlingame, but I don't think they carry Glorianna threads. I can call them in the morning. Needle in a Haystack in Alameda carries the these threads, but I don't know if they have this color in stock. I can call them, too. It's just easier to drive to Burlingame from the City than it is to drive across the Bay Bridge to Alameda. And Burlingame has better restaurants and an Apple store. I seem to have left my earphones in Nevada, so I'd like to get a new pair before we fly to Hawaii on Sunday. Not much chance of getting threads or good iPhone earphones in Maui. I'll probably stitch a couple more hours on this tonight, but tomorrow I need to start the fifth Kitchen Collection piece so that I can stitch it more on the long plane flight over the Pacific Ocean. Once I get to Maui, it's Tranquility (The Shells) all the way until that piece is done.

Heads and Tails

2010-02-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

and arms and the bottom left background are done. That leaves a halo, a wing, a fish and most of the background to go. I finished up the last part of the face while watching Northwestern (my alma mater) beat Indiana in basketball. Now Northwestern is great school, but it's not much known for athletics. If they were in a league they should play the University of Chicago, MIT, and Princeton. So when they are on a roll (every ten years or so), I will cheer them on. They even went to the Rose Bowl in 1996. Once every 50 years is about their average. After watching the University of Kentucky play basketball this year (we do not talk about last year), Northwestern looks like a high school basketball team. I'm glad they won, but I have no illusions about them all of a sudden reaching the Sweet Sixteen (or even winning one game) in the NCAA tournament.

One of the delights of needlepoint, as opposed to cross stitch, is the immense number of different threads that one can use. I have been using this canvas to experiment with a lot of different colors, textures, thicknesses and reflections. When I bought threads for this project there were so many different colors that I assumed that I would use the same thread for all the small pieces of color. I especially planned to use the Caron Snow in Red for ALL of the red, including the ribbon and the border. But seeing how my eye is drawn to the shiny red heart, I rethought the use of Snow for the ribbon and even for the border. For the ribbon I am using RG Petite Very Velvet, which I love. That is as long as you cut the pieces short, are not put off by the fact that it does shed, and that the velvet will wear down to the nylon core at the needle's eye. The soft and fuzzy effect may be hard to see in a picture, but it is very obvious in Real Life.

On the other hand, I am using three different blacks in this project. RG Tweedie 18 (100% wool) for the cat's outline, Gloriana silk for the wings outline and the interior details on the face, and RG Neon Rays for the cat's nose and the fish. There are also two matte black beads for the eyes. Frankly, even in Real Life, it would be hard to tell the difference. The Neon Rays is not as shiny in black as it is in pink (the paws) and maroon (bottom of the heart and tail). I will be using RG Neon Rays for most of the rest of the fish. I couldn't find a turquoise, so I am using DMC Rayon for the part around the fish eye. Probably the biggest difference, though, is the fact that I muted many of the colors drawn on the canvas -- soft silk pink for the cheeks and ears, softer shades of browns for the stripes. The only change I would make so far is the use of RG Splendor Ecru for the light parts of the cat's paws and face. I would rather have used a wool like the rest of the cat, but I couldn't find a wool that was darker than white, but not tan. The Splendor is just the tiniest bit shiny instead of the fuzzy texture of the wool on the rest of the cat. Overall, I am greatly pleased. Now I just have to get cracking on the background. Have a good week everyone.

Do You Ever Feel Guilty

2010-02-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

about a project you promised to stitch, but didn't? I felt guilty about Angel Cat. I brought her all the way to southern California last weekend and didn't add a single stitch. Admittedly we drove for over eight hours (over four hours there and back), went to two meetings, and did a hotel tour. But really, couldn't I have snuck in a few stitches instead of surfing the net and finishing a book? OK, I finished the book by reading it in the bathtub -- not the best environment for stitching. But I was feeling guilty, so I spent the last couple of days stitching poor Angel Cat, mostly yesterday.

While stitching, I realized two things. First, this is going to take me a lot longer to finish than I thought it would. The cat was relatively easy to stitch; lots of blocks of similar colors and easy to stitch wool thread. The background is all Gloriana Princess Perle. Lots of confetti stitching and the thread is harder to pull when there is a lot of thread on the back of the canvas. Second, even though I bought two skeins of Granny Smith perle for the medium green of the background, I am going to run out of thread. I guess I wasn't thinking about how much 10 yards of perle would cover. I am so used to using stranded cotton or silk that I forgot that perle isn't separable. Ten yard is just ten yards. At least it is a variable thread, so even if I can't match the dye lot exactly, I hope other skeins will still come close.

For all the kind people who left comments on my blogoversary post, THANK YOU! I've added some new blogs to my Google Reader. I am feeling better over the past two days, but I have a bunch of things that I need to catch up with. Should I put Angel Cat away for a while and bring back Tranquility (The Shells) as I promised myself I would do? Or will I just continue with Angel Cat and wait until I have plenty of stitching time in Maui starting the 14th for Tranquility (The Shells). (I think the cat is going to stay in rotation until we leave.)

Yes, It's Been Three Years

2010-02-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

And I am quite pleased that I have kept up this blog and my stitching. Sorry, there is no giveaway, just my sincere gratitude to anyone who reads this blog and gives me such positive comments that I stitch even more furiously to get projects done. I have learned so much from other bloggers that I feel quite blessed to have started this internet endeavor.

I should have a little stitching progress to show tomorrow, but the past two days have been spent mostly in bed, shot down by some sort of stomach flu. I'm going to sit down in my stitching chair tonight and forget everything but stitching. I couldn't have done it without all of you kind readers. Thank you.

Is It Stash...

2010-01-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

if you already have patterns and are just buying the fabric and threads? ;-) I've been looking all over for this 32 count Belfast in Thundercloud for the new Prairie Moon patterns Crypt Club and Merry Cryptmas. I finally ordered it from Stitchin' Bits and Bobs. I know they can take a while to fulfill an order, but it does get here eventually in good shape. The actual fabric is a bit more gray and less blue than the photograph, but lots of the photos I've seen of these projects make the fabric look blue. Even though I now have both of these projects kitted up, I don't intend to stitch them right away. I have too many WiPs as it is and they will take first priority. But it certainly is nice to have these to look forward to. I guess I just am not drawn to any tiny projects. :-) Everything I have is medium sized or massive!

We had our first meeting since the building permit was granted with our contractors this morning. Everything seems to be moving along. They are lining up subcontractors and should be ready to start the retaining walls on February 25 when we get back from Hawaii. Meanwhile we are going to settle down tonight and watch my latest purchase -- the first six years of NCIS. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

First Finish for 2010 (and A New Start)

2010-01-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, I finished Lil' Cupcake on Tuesday night. Yesterday was so rainy, I had to take this picture using my Ott light. This makes four of the six Mill Hill Kitchen Collection designs finished. I will probably have the other two finished by the end of the year. I'll will look for more Mill Hill kits as I do like beading. It gives such dimension and sparkle to these projects.

I mentioned a new start, but it's not what you might have expected. After eight months in building permit hell (and an ultimatum to the new contractors), we now have all our building permits to start our new house. I had certainly given up thinking about the project. I will have to get back my enthusiasm because it really is going to happen. We have our next meeting with the contractors tomorrow morning and we will know more then about when we actually break ground. It will take about three months to build the retaining walls before we can start on the actual house itself. The entire project will probably take 13 - 15 months, though I can always hope that it is finished sooner.

It's A Cupcake

2010-01-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

This is what I finished stitching on the ship. It turns out that the pebbled surface of the card tables work just fine for keeping beads from falling off the table, even when the ship is rocking quite a bit. We had heavy swells from Cabo to Los Angeles as we sailed through the storms that were leaving inches of rain all over the Southwest. I'm not affected by pitching and yawing, so I was fine. Actually I have most of this project done. There are just a few backstitches to do. Therefore a happy dance is in the future, probably tomorrow. Then I will return to Tranquility (The Shells), which certainly has a lot more to stitch than just some backstitching. We are going to make a short trip to Los Angeles this weekend for two meetings. I think I will take Angel Cat along with me. There should be some mindless background stitches I can do during the first board of directors meeting. The second meeting is a hotel walkthrough for a convention this summer. I am doing the programming and need to see what the spaces look like.

This is a picture of the double helix staircases on the Seabourn Odyssey. All the Seabourn ships have these lovely staircases (and elevators). This is looking down from the ninth deck (The Spa) to the fourth deck (The Restaurant). Our cabin was on the sixth deck, so very convenient to stairs and all the other decks. Carolyn McNeal suggested that I might miss the ship once I had gotten home. Well, actually, no. We took just the minimal amount of clothes, so I was quite tired of wearing the same things over and over. Not to mention that there is much more space in our house than in our cabin, no matter how well appointed. It was a nice trip, but I am really glad to be home where I can spread out and not have to pack up my needlework after every session.

Back to Cross Stitch

2010-01-20T14:07:00.000-08:00

It's been fun working on Angel Cat, but it's also fun to move on to another project. While the seas were calm I started back on Lil' Cupcake, the fourth Mill Hill Kitchen Design from Debbie Mumm. I must have been particularly motivated to stitch so much of the white frosting as stitching in white is my least favorite stitching. This was my progress as of Monday. Now I have both the chocolate and vanilla frosting done and most of the cupcake holder. This design is much smaller than the toaster or the mixer, so they make it up in a deeper band of random green and white at the bottom. That's going to take me a while.

Monday was my favorite day on the cruise. We stopped at Cabo San Lucas. The weather was perfect, sunny with a gentle breeze. The Sea of Cortez was smooth as glass. We got up and got on a snorkeling boat to see the fish at Santa Maria Bay. I even had my special mask with the lens inserts for my prescription, so I could see the fish. While we were motoring to the snorkeling spot we saw several whales (and their babies), some as close as 15 yards. The water was a bit chilly for me (who likes my bathwater lobster boiling temperature), but I got used to it pretty quickly. There were a lot of fish I recognized from Hawaii and some that were quite different. Lots of people (passengers and crew) remarked how much they liked Cabo and were looking to come back again.

Now we are back on the Pacific Ocean headed for Los Angeles and the seas are full of giant swells. No real white caps, but you can feel the motion of the ocean. Our suitcases are laid out on the bed and have to be outside our door tonight by 11 pm. It's been a restful cruise, but I will be glad to be home. Even though I can get tasty food 24/7 on the boat, it's always the small things I miss, like potato chips and Mexican food. The cooks are all Europeans, so the Weinerschnitzel is delicious as is the Saltimbocca, but don't ask for peanut butter and jelly. Though I would gladly take our cabin stewardess home with me. Fresh towels twice a day (and fresh sheets on the bed) are truly heavenly.

A Wing and A ... Leg?

2010-01-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well, that's what I have been stitching over the past few days. There is also a good part of the tail done and I have started on the green background. The dark green swirls are Glorianna Perle Silk in Forest. It's quite variegated. The dark bits are almost black, but overall I love the colors. I was going to stitch the fish in the same Glorianna Perle Silks of the background colors with the ribbon in Fiesta Snow as the heart is, but when Cyn asked about how I was going to stitch the fish, all of a sudden I realized that I'd much rather have a slightly shiny fish and a fuzzy ribbon. I know I have some red RG Very Velvet at home, but I don't know if it will fit in 18 count or whether I need to get some Very Velvet Petite. I think I have some RG Neon Rays (the same slightly shiny ribbon used on the paw pads) that will work for the fish. But it will be quite a while before I get to the fish. Although I brought Tranquility (The Shells), it is really too large and complex to stitch on the ship. When we get home, that will get my full attention...at least for a while.

When the ship was in port in Guatemala, I took out Lil' Cupcake and started on the beading. It was OK to stitch it in the comfy chairs and low tables of the library, but now that we are gently rolling on the Sea of Cortez on our way to Los Cabos, I tried out the Card Room. The chairs weren't very comfy, but the textured leather table is perfect for keeping the beads from rolling around and the height is just right for setting out all the threads and scissors for an easy reach. I'll go back there and stitch after this post (assuming the bridge players haven't taken all the tables.) We are going snorkeling in Cabo tomorrow, but then there are two days at sea before we land in Los Angeles on Thursday. It might be Angel Cat all the way home if the heavy seas off the coast of California continue. Overall our weather has been almost perfect. Sunshine and a few puffy clouds, but not too hot. Yesterday in Acapulco was the only day we have had any rain.

An Arm And A Leg

2010-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

The left arm and leg are done. I am quite happy with the colors and textures that I chose for this cat, even though they do not exactly match the colors painted on the canvas. In several spots I went for a softer shade (especially the bright pink paws). This is actually my stitching done by Sunday. I have since started on the other leg and the left wing. Since I spent more time concentrating on the color of the thread rather than the weight, I am happy to find that the pearl silks I chose actually fit on 18 count mesh. I'd like to start on some of the green background, but want to finish the brown (which I changed to brown gray) shading around the cat first before starting the green. I've been pretty careful to stitch from an empty hole to a filled one in most cases.

This is a picture of our ship, Seabourn Odyssey, docked in Cartagena, Columbia. It's a pretty big boat, but only carries 450 passengers. The previous Seabourn ships we have sailed on only carry 210 passengers with about as many crew as passengers. I can't say that bigger is better. On the smaller ships the crew knows your name and preferences in about a day. There might not be a coffee bar with a gigantic espresso machine, but the food was much better. Still there is everything from caviar to lobster to steak at every meal. The alcohol is endless, the staterooms are large with a tub and a shower in the bathroom. Still there are no comfy chairs with good lighting to stitch. Even the upper bar area where I stitched on other ships is glassed with dark, dark glass here. I haven't stitched near as much as I thought I would, but on the other hand I have been getting plenty of sleep and reading. Tomorrow we land in Guatemala, then two ports in Mexico and finally Los Angeles.

Grrr. I hate this new version of Blogger. I can't seem to get the second pictures and text to line up next to each other no matter what I do. Maybe it is time to check out another blogging platform. OK, modified the HTML to make it work, but I really shouldn't have to do this.

Why I Don't Stitch More

2010-01-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

Because I read 125 books in 2009. OK, there are plenty of times that I can't stitch -- when the airplane I am in is taking off or landing, when I am eating or when I am taking a bath. (I love to read for a couple of minutes in a warm bath before I go to bed.) But I also listened to 6 audiobooks this year while I was stitching, so books and stitching are not completely incompatible.

Of the 125 books I read, 106 were fiction and 19 were nonfiction. I thought I read more nonfiction this year, but many of these books were dense (and several are still WiPs). Of the 106 Fiction books I read; 43 were science fiction, 30 were mysteries, 21 were fantasy, 12 were graphic novels, 11 were anthologies, 7 were Advanced Reading Copies, 6 were audiobooks, and 4 were thrillers. This doesn't add up to 106 as there are several overlapping categories One of my favorite books was John Birmingham's Without Warning, a post apocalyptic, military, political novel. I'm not a fan of military science fiction in general, but there is something about John Birmingham's pedal to the medal writing style and sociological insights that just resonates with me. I also enjoyed George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones read by Roy Dotrice. Although I had read this book when it first was published, listening to it was another entertaining experience. My favorite anthology was Cyberabad Days by Ian MacDonald, a group of short stories of a future India that add up to a better story than most novels. My favorite mysteries were the Kate Shugak novels of a native Alaskan woman who is a private eye in the Bush by Dana Stabenow. The interlocking family stories are even better than the convoluted mysteries. My favorite graphic novels were Y: The Last Man, which had both a great story and beautiful illustrations. My favorite nonfiction book was How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell got more press, but it was a confused and illogical attempt to talk about decision making compared to the infinitely better How We Decide.

The worst books I read last year? In nonfiction, Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story by Evan I. Schwartz. I learned to read using the Oz books when I was only four. To say they are close to my heart is faint praise. So I was excited to learn more about the author and how these books came to be. Instead of a reasoned biography, this book is a apologetic, revisionist history about how L. Frank Baum couldn't have possibly hated American Indians. There isn't much about how the stories came to be or much history about what happened after the first book was published. I was truly disappointed. In fiction, it's a tie between The Copper Bracelet, a collaborative novel started by Jeffery Deaver and We Are Now Beginning Our Descent, a contemporary novel of a journalist in Afghanistan, by James Meek. Collaborative novels are a bad idea. Each chapter changes the tone and emphasis of the story. In this book, I assumed that each author tried to kill off an important character so that the following authors would have a harder time continuing the story. Only Lisa Scottoline's chapter was written with any skill or grace. We Are Now Beginning Our Descent is a book at reminds me why I don't read much contemporary fiction. The narrator is a whiny, over privileged hack whose life is falling apart because he is a jerk. Overall, nothing much happens. Unfortunately, I find this description is true of most modern novels. I guess I just like Dickens and other authors who actually have a plot and characters I can care about.

This will probably be my last post for a while. Today I am starting to lay out my clothes and stitching that I will taking on the cruise. We leave for the boat late Monday night. Although internet access is available on the boat, I don't don't know how much I am willing to pay for it, though there should be a lot of stitching (and a lot of reading) while I am sailing. May January treat you well and may you enjoy your friends, family, and stitching.

A New Start, New Goals

2010-01-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

It's appropriate that I start the new year with a canvas project. I have a number of canvas projects that I totally ignored last year, so this is the Year of Canvas. This is a lovely project with great colors and exact painting. No guessing whether a stitch is one color or another. It took me a lot longer to decide what thread to use where, than it did to stitch the middle part that I did stitch. That is one of the joys of canvas -- there are so many threads to choose from. So far I have used Appleton wool, Caron's Snow (the sparkly red heart), RG Cashmere, RG Neon Rays, RG Splendor, and RG Tweedie. The green background will be all Gloriana.

Which is not to say that I am abandoning cross stitch altogether. I still have several WiPs to finish, especially Tranquilty (The Shells) and the Under the Sea applique project for my nephew's son. I need to finish that blanket before he is too big to use it. I also want to concentrate on some recent purchases like Prairie Moon's Crypt Club patterns. As Renée said, goals are just that. Something to focus on, but not something to beat yourself over the head with. So here are my goals for 2010.

Start and Finish Angel Cat.
Finish Bucilla’s Tranquility (The Shells).
Finish Under the Sea.
Finish Pineapple Fish.
Finish Red and Black Box needlepoint.
Finish Lil' Cupcake.
Start and finish I'm Jammin'.
Start and finish Easy As Pie.
Finish Michael Powell’s Cottage Garden.
Finish Bothy's Cut Thru Rocket.
Finish Parts 3, 4, and 5 of Hawaiian Mandala.
Start Ink Circle’s Beautie Spotte. (I have the threads for it, just need to order some fabric.)
Sewing:
   One apron for my mother-in-law.
   Piece the top of Zig Zag quilt for the guest room
   One purse from my collection of bag patterns.
   Finish my husband's flamingo shirt.
   One piece of clothing for me.
   Make something with the pig cloth I collected for my sister-in-law.
   Make something with the cow cloth I collected for my niece.

Extra credit:

Start Crypt Club.
Start Merry Cryptmas.
Start Hang Ten.
Start Teresa Wentzler’s Celestial Dragon. (This should only take four or five years! LOL!)

There are no really small projects, no Christmas ornaments, no flatfolds. I guess I will never stitch 50 projects in one year. I might do a couple of more Bent Creek sheep, especially if we fly a lot next year. My husband and I got married because we wanted to drive his VW van from Timbuktu to Morocco. We never did that, but we do have a strong case of wanderlust, even living in New Zealand for two years.

Yes, I am waiting to finish all the Kitchen Collection before I frame them in matching (or contrasting) frames. I'm also going to frame Rouge comme... similarly. They will be all be hung in the hallway between the garage and the kitchen in the new house. I have a few other food related cross stitch projects that I might hang there eventually.

Last 2009 Finish and 2009 Goals

2010-01-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

I started Three Gables on January 1, 2009 and finished it on December 31, 2009. It was almost done last October, but all the confetti colors on the ground and in the sky slowed me down. Finishing this took longer than I thought it would. The stitching, backstitching and French knots weren't too bad, but it took several tries to get the wreath to fit in the space given. It was a fun piece and I enjoyed stitching it.

I wanted to concentrate on several WiPs this year, but didn't get as many done as I thought that I would. Some of them will continue on my 2010 Goals list and some of them will become UFOs. I finished three and a quarter of my goals, one extra credit item, and six unscheduled designs.

Finish A Gift of Love. 
Stitch another bib for Amy’s new baby boy.
Start and finish Cross Eyed Cricket’s Three Gables. 
Finish Michael Powell’s Cottage Garden.
Finish Rouge ... comme. 
Finish Flower Fairy.
Finish Bothy's Cut Thru Rocket.
Finish Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5 of Hawaiian Mandala. 
Start and finish one Kit & Bixby sheep.
Start Ink Circle’s Beautie Spotte.
Sewing:
One apron for my mother-in-law.
Piece the top of Zig Zag quilt for the guest room.
One purse from my collection of bag patterns.
Finish my husband's flamingo shirt.
One piece of clothing for me.
Make something with the pig cloth I collected for my sister-in-law.
Make something with the cow cloth I collected for my niece.

Extra credit:

Start Me, Myself and I Round Robin.
Finish French Noel. 
Finish Pineapple Fish.
Finish Red and Black Box needlepoint.

New Starts :

Started and finished Life Is Good. 
Started Under the Sea.
Started and finished Winter Ewe. 
Started and finished Postcard from Paradise. 
Started and finished Bowled Over. 
Started and finished Toasty. 
Started and finished Mix It Up.
Started Bucilla’s Tranquility (The Shells).

Even though I finished less than half of my 2009 Goals, I don't feel badly about that. If I hadn't had this list, even more of these projects could have become UFOs. I need some goals so that I can focus. I never got out my sewing machine this year, but I intend to change that in 2010 and get some of these sewing projects finished.

A Finish for 2009

2009-12-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, Mix It Up, is finished. I didn't finish it in Kentucky, but I did finish it this morning. This also means that three of the six Kitchen Collection kits are stitched. I love how all their colors blend together without having all the same colors in every piece. It also is handy that the beads are similar. I can separate them all and put them in tiny baggies together rather than hunting through a pile of beads to find just the right one.

I also started the next kit in the Kitchen Collection series, Lil' Cupcake. It's better to start a design before you get on a plane. I had hoped to get more of this stitched on our long flight, but as it turned out the Delta flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas really didn't have sufficient light to stitch. There almost wasn't enough light to read!

Delta? Atlanta? Yes, we had gotten to the airport on Tuesday evening for a United flight to Chicago with plenty of time and then we sat and sat while the mechanics tried to fix a problem on our plane. We even got an upgrade phone call for our Chicago to Las Vegas flight. You know this story is not going to have a good ending. They canceled our flight, the last one from Lexington to Chicago, because the Public Address system wasn't working! This is a very small plane. If the flight attendants stood in the front and whispered you could probably hear them in the back of the plane. Luckily as a Million Mile Flyer I have some standing with United. So when they told me that the next flight out of Lexington that we could get on was 6 pm on the 31st, I told them to start looking for anything from Louisville or Cincinnati. Heck, we would even drive to Chicago and get a plane home from there. After a long time on hold they got us on a 6am Delta flight from Lexington to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Las Vegas. It meant we got very little sleep that night and lost almost a entire day (yesterday), but as each plane actually took off and left the ground, I could only say "Hooray! We are finally going home."

I probably wouldn't be so frantic about getting back to Nevada if we were not leaving again at 1am on Tuesday morning. We would usually get there the day before and spend the night, but we really need every day we can have in Nevada. We have to be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by 1:30 pm on Tuesday, January 5th, to board the new Seabourn Odyssey. We are taking a 16 day cruise from Florida to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal. So away goes all the sweaters and coats and I'll start digging out the t-shorts, shorts, and swimsuit again. I will have a round up of my finishes for 2009 tomorrow (after all I have 14 hours to finish one more project, lol) and some posts on 2010 plans after that. I don't know how much I can post from the boat. They have internet, but it is rather pricey. May all of you have a Happy New Year and lots of stitching in 2010!

I Can Almost Taste It

2009-12-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

Yes! The mixer is stitched. Half the backstitching is done. Another heart is added. A quarter of the red border is done. I should have this finished by tonight or tomorrow. I already started kitting up the next design in the series, Lil' Cupcake, and decided what colors I can stitch on a plane without using beads. I may have done a lot of this week's beading sitting on a sofa, but I am not crazy enough to bead on a moving airplane!

We head back to Nevada late tomorrow. I can not wait to be home! I love my in-laws and have enjoyed all our conversations, but physically this has been a tough trip. My mother-in-law's guest room is just big enough for a double bed. Two large grownups in a double bed means not much sleep unless we take turns. Instead of being almost too warm, my mother-in-law has turned the heater down to almost cold enough to see your breath. And the hot water heater is hardly up to the task of a short shower. When I get home I am taking a long, hot, deep bath and curling up in our king bed under our feather comforter. It really doesn't take much, just space and hot water [OK, OK, and WiFi], to make me happy.

Working

2009-12-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest picture of Mix It Up. The mixer itself is almost finished. Then I need to finish the tedious red band at the bottom, two more hearts, some lettering, and backstitching all around. I should get a lot of this done this evening while the family is watching the Kentucky - Clemson football game.

Football is not a sport that interests me, but I can stitch while the others watch. Since my father-in-law taught at UK, my niece and nephew went there and Lexington is really just a college town, UK sports of all kinds are really big here. I am fond of UK basketball, where there is a lot more action than football, but I don't follow SEC sports that way everyone else does. My sister-in-law and niece even have tickets for the SEC finals in Nashville in March. When the kids were growing up, every day was sports day for them. I'll stick to indoor pursuits of reading and stitching.

Not Finished

2009-12-26T13:47:00.000-08:00

This is as far I got with Tranquility before we left for the holidays Back East. If I had gotten the shells themselves finished, I would have taken it with me and would have presented it anyway. But with just the suggestion of shells in the bottom half, I decided to wait, finish and frame it before send I it off to my mother-in-law. The two stitched and framed items that I gave my nephew's wife and my niece for Christmas were very well received. My niece even gave me a gift certificate to The Stitch Niche. So although I certainly do not need any more stash, I did get a couple more patterns.

Although I did not bring Tranquility with me to Kentucky, I have been stitching on Mix It Up. Comparatively it is so small that I should have it completely finished before we leave on Tuesday. That will mean that three of the six Kitchen Collection designs will be finished. I brought two others with me and will probably start one of them. I also brought the canvas piece that I bought in Austin, Texas, Angel Cat. My mother-in-law always gives us money for Christmas and asks us to buy something. We always have something to show her that we bought with her money, so I showed her Angel Cat. I am eager to start it, but I also think that it would be the perfect start for January 1, 2010. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to the new year as much as I am.

Finished!!

2009-12-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Like many of you, I am pretty good about finishing a piece of stitching, but less enthusiastic about finishing finished stitching into something useful. Case in point is this cow which I stitched for my niece. I finished stitching it in 2000? 1995? earlier? So it feels particularly good to have this framed and packed for our trip back east. I've been looking for a bright pink frame for it for a long time, but have finally just settled for this bright red frame. Actually, I think it looks good.

I would have never tried framing a stitched piece myself if I hadn't seen a tutorial on framing using stainless steel pins and acid-free foam core rather than lacing. I've always been a bit intimidated by lacing. I was sure the fabric would fall apart when I gave the lacing a final tug. And I knew I would never get the picture straight with only lacing. But with pins, I lined everything up and measured it before and after placing the center and edge pins. When things weren't exactly even, I could always unpin and repin. Success! I just hope all these pins don't set off the TSA metal detectors!

I am now so jazzed about framing like this, I want to frame up all of my stitched pieces. The only problem, of course, is that I have particular ideas about the frames I want for each piece, but I don't have the frames in hand. I least I know I can do framing when I get the frames. And even better we now have two gifts for people who had no gifts before.

Christmas is always a really big holiday for my husband's family. When we all were younger we had lists that we gave each other and we shopped for the perfect things. Now that we are all much older, none of us can think of things that we truly want or need. James told his mother that he was going to wear a bow in his hair and that would be her Christmas gift. Believe me, she would be perfectly fine with that. We can get some things for the kids, but they are only one and three. Not quite old enough for the traditional toys of dolls, trains, and books. Usually we just land in Lexington and spend the next two or three days shopping. We will probably do that again, but if my brother-in-law gets a stuffed iguana, then it serves him right for not giving us any suggestions. Of course, I am equally bad. I couldn't think of a single thing that I could get for my husband or that he could get for me. Maybe I'll be the one getting the stuffed iguana.

Today is the day of traditional Chores That Need To Be Done Before We Leave: cleaning the cat room and washing their bedding, shopping for cat food, cleaning up the kitchen, packing, and picking up the See's candy that we bring back east for the Christmas morning feast. If we don't bring my sister-in-law some Key Lime Truffles, we will hear about it. She has convinced her children and husband that they are "spoiled". More for her! It's good to have these family traditions. I hope you are all enjoying traditions of your own.

Progress and A Problem

2009-12-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

I was very pleased to finish the upper left hand quadrant a week ago Friday. This project seemed to be moving along smartly. But then I looked at the calendar. There were less than two weeks until we left for Back East. There certainly wasn't enough time to get this framed, even if I did it myself. Usually, in these cases, I just wait until next year and promise myself I would get it finished by then. But James' mother is 89 year old and frail. She might not be around next Christmas. Maybe I could wrap up the finished stitching and frame it later.

But as the week went by, I realized that even with dedicated stitching, I wouldn't be able to finish the stitching before we left. This was even more apparent when I miscounted one row on the inner frame and had to unstitch all the bottom inner frame and several shells along the bottom. Still, I couldn't just abandon the project, so I have been soldiering along, stitching as much as I can each day. Much of the inner lower left quadrant is finished, but that leaves a lot of water below the inner frame and all of the lower right quadrant. It is apparent that I won't finish this before Christmas, but I should be able to finish and frame this before the end of January. I've heard of belated birthday presents. I guess this will be a belated Christmas present.

Austin Stash

2009-12-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

It is nice to find patterns you don't already have. The clerk that was helping me at Ginger's also loves sheep and pointed out Sophie's Sheep. The other two sheep I found on my own.

But it is not all sheep. I particularly liked the Three Stockings model I saw right by the front door. They had done the pine needles in Artic Rays rather than regular thread. It gave the piece a wonderful three dimensional look. Besides sheep, I do love pumpkins. This small pattern should be good to take as a traveling piece.

But I have to say that my favorite purchase of the trip was this 18 count canvas from The Needle Works. I had a ton of fun ransacking all their luscious threads looking for just the right ones for this project. I started doing needlepoint and only came to cross stitch late in my stitching life. Cross stitch probably makes more sense for me as I am drawn to intricate patterns on small count canvas. Although I have a ton of needlepoint stitch pattern books, I find myself doing basketweave and continental with lots of different threads rather than patterns with a lot of background stitches. Right now all I want to do is start this project, but I am being good and working on my shells. If I put in some hours today, I should have another quarter of the pattern done. But I can tell that 2010 will be the year of needlepoint. I have a stash of canvases that are crying out for some attention. I am very tempted to take this canvas with me back east for Christmas, but I can't do that unless I have some stitchy presents finished first. Back to stitching!

Yes, Things Are BIGGER in Texas

2009-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

I have to thank Anna and Jane for pointing me to these two fabulous needlework shops. First I hunted down Ginger's Needlarts, Quilts & Framing.

You do have to do a bit of searching to find them. They are in Cameron Village just north of 51st Street, but I passed them the first time and had to swing around again to find them.

Yes, they do have a bit of quilting materials, but mostly they have dozens and dozens of models and hundreds and hundreds of patterns. I have to admit I bought several patterns just because I saw their lovely models. They don't have a website yet, but they do ship via mail order if you call them and ask them if they have a particular pattern in stock. The clerks there are quite knowledgeable and can probably tell you if they have a pattern right over the phone. If they don't have it at the moment they are quite willing to tell customers where they could check for the pattern or supply online. They also have a good selection of fabric and threads and hundreds of buttons and beads. In the back is a huge classroom where they also have open stitching nights.

But I couldn't leave Austin without checking out The Needle Works. Again it is huge, but tucked away in back of a funky southwestern mall. (Look for the Frost ATM sign with the 1206 address.) It is a truly fabulous needlepoint store. They might not have as many canvases as I've seen in other stores (but then again they were also having a 35% off sale, so many canvases could have gone home with someone else before I got there.) However, they have the most complete collection of threads I have ever seen. Needlepoint Inc. and Gloriana silks, all the Rainbow Gallery lines, Renaissance and Dinky Dyes, and of course, hundreds of colors of wool. I really wish that I lived closer so that I could take a class in their fabulous classroom where there is plenty of room to spread out and daylight lamps for all.

So what did I buy? Ah, you will have to wait until next week to see that.

Corner #2

2009-12-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, the top left hand corner is finished. In fact I think about the top third of the entire design is finished. But finishing the top is important because the entire design is just a little too big to fit on 11" x 11" Q-snaps. Now I can reposition the fabric to work more on the center and the bottom.

I am feeling better and looking forward to going to Austin, Texas, tomorrow. We leave at o'dark o'clock when the temperature here is supposed to be below freezing (though no snow!) So do I take my bulky down jacket, which is probably too warm for Austin, or something lighter? I don't think a sweater will be quite enough, but since I don't have to wear coats that often, I don't have a lot to choose from. I hear there is a great needlepoint store in Austin, where I just might have to stop. But mostly I want to get some Texas things for my nephew's children (girl, 2 1/2 and boy, 1). Not that they don't have a hundred stuffed toys, but wouldn't a plushy armadillo be fun? Yes, I am taking this stitching with me, but probably will not stitch on the two flights (both short). There should be time to stitch while listening to people talk.

More Shells

2009-12-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't post this before Thursday and I didn't drive to Los Angeles either. On Thursday morning I not only felt awful, but I hadn't gotten much sleep at all the night before. So I sent my husband off to LA and decided to stay home and rest up. It did give me plenty of time to stitch, so some more shells in the upper left quadrant are done. Actually there are less shells to do in this quadrant than any of the others. Most of the upper left area is blank. Also some of the shells have only three or four colors rather than twenty, so they are stitching up much faster. However, it is time to go back to the water on the left side. When I just can't face another confetti stitch, I can always go back to the rows and rows of water. After all there is much more water than shells.

This week is resting up to make sure I am up to the trip to Austin, Texas this weekend. We leave very early on Friday morning, but will be back on Sunday. All I have to do is go and eat BBQ (and talk to my friends who I missed seeing in LA). I should be up for that.

Turning the Corner

2009-11-22T15:23:00.000-08:00

It's not the upper right hand corner, but I did get to the edge (and down the left side) on the inner frame. I actually got there Thursday, but was too cranky to create a blog post. I seem to have picked up an annoying cold that makes me want to sleep for 12 - 15 hours a day. But unfortunately going to bed does not result in sleep, but merely in tossing and turning. I am a bit better now and so is this project. I have stitched to the upper edge and added another shell. I should have another project picture before we drive to Los Angeles on Thursday.

Confetti Everywhere

2009-11-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

One reason I abandoned Three Gables and moved on to this project was because the confetti stitching that was left on Three Gables was driving me crazy. So instead I had the confetti stitching on the two top shells on the right side to drive me crazy. There are over twenty different colors in them and most only five or six stitches. I haven't stitched every single stitch in the top right quarter of this pattern, but I have certainly done more than a quarter of the stitching needed overall. I'm going to move the fabric on my Q-snaps and start stitching the upper left quadrant. I need to go back to the long boring water stitches.

Still no final permits for the new house, but as they say, Real Soon Now. Mostly we are planning our travel for the next couple of months. We always go to a convention in Los Angeles (Loscon) over Thanksgiving. The following weekend is SMOFcon, which is in Austin, Texas this year. Hooray, bar-be-que!!! Of course, we will be in Lexington, Kentucky, for Christmas. We thought about taking a cruise just before Christmas, but waited too long and all the lower price cabins were sold out. So instead we are taking the same ship (Seabourn Odyssey, their new ship) on January 5 (leaving from Fort Lauderdale), sailing the Panama Canal, to Los Angeles. That does mean we will miss CES (Consumer Electronics Show) again (went MacWorld last year and was too sick to attend the year before that). MacWorld is in San Francisco in February, so we will be there then. I am glad that I have been in one place for the past couple of months. It's been very relaxing.

Top Right Hand Corner

2009-11-08T09:05:00.001-08:00

You know how good it feels to stitch to an edge of a pattern, especially if you start in the center. Although the corner is a row of half stitches in a pale color, I have reached the top right hand corner. In fact, I think I have a good chance of reaching my weekend goal of finishing all the stitching in the top right hand quarter. There is just a bit of stitching for the shells, but a lot more backstitching. The water area has quite a few blank spots, so there is not a lot to stitch there either. Then I'll move over to the left hand top quarter. That quadrant has a lot more water, but the shell area is relatively blank. I can tell that I must have been stitching a lot because I have caught up with all my podcasts. I'll have to start listening to some of my audiobooks.

I have all this time for stitching because my husband has been gone since Tuesday and won't be back until next Sunday. And there isn't much to do on the new house until the retaining wall permits are granted. The only serious project I have to do this week is figuring out how to eat and dress for two days while they are resurfacing our flooring in master bathroom (the only access to my closet) and the kitchen. Time to get out the coolers and fill them up with drinks.

The Blue Green Sea

2009-11-04T15:23:00.001-08:00

I considered participating in NaBloPoMo as I did two years ago. I even had this picture ready for a post on Sunday, but as has happened a lot this year, life intervened. Sunday was spent "cleaning up for the cleaners". Getting all the papers picked up, the kitchen counters cleared, and our closets picked up, so that the cleaners could actually clean in those rooms. It's been a long time since they have been here. They only clean half the house (not the office or our studios), so there are places to dump stuff. It was a good thing we did a throrough job on Sunday because although we left some time for a final sweep, the cleaners had not gotten the message about the time change and showed up at 8:30 am on Monday rather than 9:30 am. It was amazing that we were up and dressed. Unfortunately they used some caustic chemicals on the marble floor in the master bath which will have to be repaired. The cleaning company was quick to get it looked at. A floor restorer came by on Tuesday and will have the job started and completed next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tuesday was an early day because we left the house at 4:30 am to drop James off at the airport for a 6:00 am flight. He is taking an unplanned trip to Maui because we are once again being asked for more money and more paperwork about an "illegal" wall on our property that was requested by the local electric company to support the meters for four houses. Some of our neighbors have gotten these threatening letters about illegal walls and some have not. Some are being fined $300 per day, some have lowered the wall from seven feet to four feet (certainly making it more difficult for the meters to be read), and some are just ignoring the whole thing.

I stayed here in Nevada to take care of anything that might come up with the new contractors. Things are working out GREAT! These guys want the job, they keep us up to date with email and phone calls, and are straightening out the problems that the old contractor let pile up. We are very happy with them.

Now I can back to stitching!

Some Backstitching

2009-10-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was going to backstitch at least three shells, but you have to not only finish the shells, but also finish stitching parts of the nearby shells that are next to the back stitching. I do have three more shells stitched, but not their neighbors. I also thought I would stop stitching this and go back to Three Gables and finish it in October, but I haven't. Instead I frogged about a third of the right hand border and restitched it. I also moved the stitching on the Q-snaps so that I could stitch all of the upper right hand corner. I've finished the upper right border and started on the top border. There is a lot of water, so I will be stitching that for a while before I go back to the shells.

Mostly we have been spending time deciding what to do about building the new house. It seems to be in a state of permanent uncertainty, so on Monday we fired our general contractor and yesterday talked to another contractor who we had liked before (and who certainly has more experience dealing with the City of Henderson if they are the problem). It has been very depressing to think that we are another month or two from starting this project. We thought we would be breaking ground in August!

More Xs and /s

2009-10-23T14:10:00.001-07:00

This is the middle part of stitching. Progress, but nothing really finished. I am wandering all over the chart as I stitch a needle full of one color. And there are some holes because there are colors that aren't stitched again until I get to the top, bottom, or the extreme left of the chart. I think I am going to stitch a bit of the upper portion of the chart for a while because it has less quarter stitches and more bands of the same color.

Meanwhile I am behind in reporting my Ten Book Reading Challenge.

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff
A lovely urban fantasy by a Canadian writer who I have been reading for a long time.
The Defector by Daniel Silva
A spy thriller about Israeli agents working in Russia. Very well written and thoughtful.
Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story by Evan I. Schwartz
A biography of L. Frank Baum. I learned to read by using the Wizard of Oz books, so I had hoped to learn a little about the author. There is some biography here, but there is more modern psychobabble that is completely annoying. I really dislike when current writers insist on subscribing contemporary motives to people who lived hundreds of years ago.
Darker Angels (The Black Sun's Daughter, Book 2) by M.L.N. Hanover
I loved this author's science fiction quartet. The first book of this dark urban fantasy was choppy and confusing, but this one was quite good. I read it in a day.
Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2006 Edition, Editor, Rich Horton
A short story anthology with many wonderful stories that I had read before and several weak stories that are better off buried.
A Better Angel: Stories by Chris Adrian
An advanced reading copy of a short story collection by a pediatric surgeon. Some stories take place in hospitals, some feature damaged children. Well written, but a bit repetitive.
Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
An old favorite that I took down from the bookshelf while waiting for an Amazon order to arrive.
Transition by Iain M. Banks
A weak and confusing effort by my once favorite science fiction author.
Julian Comstock : a story of 22nd-century America by Robert Charles Wilson
A post apocalyptic novel of politics and war. Unexpectedly charming.
The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
I am not quite finished with this dense philosophical treaty on the basis of American thought and culture. Very interesting, but not for the faint of intellect.

2009-10-20T12:58:00.001-07:00

Possibly this picture will make the subjects more evident. They are a group of seashells floating over a shallow ripple of waves. My mother-in-law is crazy about seashells and loves the ocean. She used to spend weeks every summer near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she owns ten acres of pine forest entailed from King George III. Whenever my husband's family took a vacation, it was either to South Carolina or Sanibel Island, Florida. Hunting for shells was their favorite pastime.

I picked up this kit to start, because I thought it would be easier than searching for fabric and threads for a pattern. Well, not so much. First I replaced the Aida in the kit with a piece of Monaco. OK, that was simple. I can't imagine how anyone stitched this pattern on Aida as there are hundreds of quarter stitches. Then I spread out the threads under my Ott-Light and started putting them in the kit's included thread holders. Oops, only two six hole holders for 18 threads. OK, I can make another one. It was easy to separate out the 20 lengths of Pale Dusty Teal and the 6 lengths of Mint Green. But a lot of the colors had only one length and most of them are in the Tan, Beige, or Terra Cotta family. One length of Pink (818). Check! One length of Lt. Yellow-Orange (6121). WTF? That is not a DMC color number. That isn't even a DMC color name! Maybe it is Anchor? Maderia? And what about Rose Beige (2560) or Lt Orange (3722)? I spent what seemed like an age trying to find a conversion chart that mentioned those color numbers or names. Nothing, unless I wanted Rose Beige makeup or underwear. Finally I found a Bucilla-DMC chart that pointed me in the right direction. Mostly. Translating the Bucilla numbers to DMC numbers and checking my DMC threads under the Ott-Light with the kit threads only gave me a vague color equivalence. When it came down to the last few threads, I simply declared, "THIS is Light Orange and THIS is Light Rust." If they aren't, at least they will be consistent. I haven't figured out exactly what to do about the flower symbol in the chart that is not seen anywhere in the list of threads, though I have already substituted an orange tan for the pink called for in the upper shell, but not seen in the finished picture.

Someday the finished stitching should look like this. There are lots of half crosses, so I hope that parts of this go very quickly. So far the part of the inner frame I stitched in half cross was done in a flash. I hope to have this finished by Christmas. Yes, this Christmas. Though that means that most of the goals on my 2009 List will have to wait until 2010.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

2009-10-19T12:11:00.001-07:00

You know that I must be going crazy when I would rather backstitch than cross stitch. But the only parts left to cross stitch are all those darn confetti leaves. Not just the leaves sitting around the bottom on the house and garage, but the ones floating down in the middle of nowhere. There are still dozens of them to stitch. Finally last night I couldn't take it any more. I couldn't look at another WiP. I didn't even care if I finished Three Gables, even if I am oh, so close.

So, of course, I had to start a new project. It is an old and out of print kit that I am stitching for my elderly mother-in-law. She used to needlepoint (even finished covering eight dining room chairs), but doesn't see well enough now to stitch. You are welcome to guess what it is, but it won't look like much until much more of it is stitched and backstitched.

Meanwhile I did take Mix It Up to Pasadena and back on Saturday, but didn't have a chance to add even one stitch. The living room where we held the meeting was rather crowded and there really wasn't enough room to swing a needle, much less safely keep my scissors and needlethreader close at hand. It was an interesting meeting and I am glad that I went, but I have to say that I was equally glad for the shopping we did. I love Crate & Barrel, but there are none of their stores in Nevada. I often stop by their store in Pasadena when I am in southern California. This time we bought a huge black glass vase and some tiny handblown juice glasses. We also had a chance to shop at the Bath & Beyond Outlet and the Williams Sonoma Outlet in Primm. I tell myself that I don't need anything from these stores, but I always walk out with some things. I'm a sucker for bath products that will help me sleep.

I'm going to go back and stitch on my new project while I am still excited by it. I hope everyone has a happy and productive week.

Back to Square Two

2009-10-14T17:13:00.001-07:00

Not all the way back to square one as there was a lot of this design that I did not have to frog. But I did finish the entire mixing bowl. I think it looks so much better with the correct threads stitched in the right places. I even went ahead and stitched a bit on the mixer tower stand, but now I am moving back to Three Gables. I thought I might have Three Gables finished last week, but since it is not, I would still like to finish it in October. We are driving to Pasadena for a meeting on Saturday, so I will take Mix It Up there and work on it some more.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

2009-10-11T13:37:00.001-07:00

I wasn't feeling well. I wasn't sleeping. There were too many new shows on television to watch. I spent too much time reading. We had to go out and interview a pool dude and a hardware flooring guy for the new house. It was my week to cook. I had to drop off my husband at the airport and pick him up. I had to take the car in the shop for an oil change and Smog Check. I finished my audiobooks and don't want to listen to my podcasts. Sure there are lots of excuses why I am not stitching, but the truth is that frogging that amount of stitching makes your mojo run away and hide under the bed. And since our bed is only six inches off the floor, it's hard to crawl under it and go get that mojo back. I have stitched about half of the mixing bowl. I had hoped to post a picture of the bowl completely done, but that will have to wait.

Probably a better excuse about why I am not stitching is right here. I was in JoAnne's last week and found these bead boxes on sale. I got two to start with to see if they would work and then went back and bought five more. I have three of them filled up and have enough Mill Hill beads to fill two more. Then I need to decide if I want to put some of my other brands of beads in these boxes or not. The small boxes are 2" x "1" x 1/2". Twenty four of the smaller boxes fit in a hinged larger box. I really like that my 1/2" label maker makes perfect labels for these boxes and that I can see all the different colors through the larger clear box. (The A stands for Antique Beads, the F stands for Frosted, and the M stands for Magnifica.) The boxes can also hold more than one package of Mill Hill beads. I need to finish this project by the end of the week so that I can get all of this off the dining room table and back in the sewing room where it belongs.

Stepping Into Darkness

2009-10-04T19:51:00.001-07:00

Thought for the future: Don't try to separate threads from a kit under bad fluroescent lighting, especially the lighting in the Red Carpet Club at LAX. As I was working on the mixing bowl, I was confused by how dark it was compared to the picture on the front of the package. There also seemed to be only two shades of grey, rather than the three I was expecting. Did they pack the wrong threads in the kit? Were the shades of grey too close?

In search of the answers, I pulled out the three DMC colors called for in the kit and compared them with what I was sewing with. Oops. I misidentified all three colors. First I thought the Light Grey (762) was actually a thread of white. They are pretty close in value except under strong sunlight. Then I picked a random thread of Medium Grey (415) and decided that must be Light Grey. I even started stitching with it for my first 22 stitches. That left me with Dark Grey (318) as both Medium Grey and Dark Grey. And it left me with a duotone mixer. Sigh. To frog or not? It's not as if this is for a competition or EGA Guild Challenge. But like most of you, I had to fix it. Even if I am the only one who ever sees it, I still couldn't live with having it this far wrong. But it has slowed down my stitching mojo. Only today do I have all the wrong threads (most of the mixer except the real Dark Grey) frogged. Luckily all the grey beads were stitched with Dark Grey, so I did not have to frog them. And I did not even attempt to separate the red threads until I did have good sunlight to do it in, so all of the rest of the stitching is good.

I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to stitch this week. We met with our contractor last Thursday and we will be back talking to vendors this week; the pool guys tomorrow and the hardwood flooring people on Wednesday. It is also my week to cook and I am completely uninspired. Wednesday evening James flies to San Francisco until Saturday evening. Maybe stitching will occur at the end of the week.

Rouge comme... FINISHED

2009-09-28T11:56:00.001-07:00

It seemed longer to finish the mushroom than I thought it should. There are a lot of different reds and the motif is split badly over two pages. Actually all of this pattern is split very badly from page to page without any overlap. I did have to fold and photocopy some of the pattern in order to get any of it stitched when a single motif was split over four pages.

I am very happy with my choice of beads on this project. The spots on the mushroom were just charted for DMC Blanc. Instead I used these pale beige beads (Mill Hill 2001) and I think they look great. Now for the harder thing; how to frame this when I have only about two inches of fabric outside of the design. I will also have to find more audio books (or go back to podcasts) as I have finished all 600,000 hours (approximately) of George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. Onward to Three Gables.

Addiction

2009-09-27T16:16:00.001-07:00

I know I said that I would work on Rouge ... comme or Three Gables, but I can't seem to stop working on Mix It Up. Maybe it's the bright colors or the beautiful beads, but I keep telling myself that I will work on something else after just a few stitches here. If I was as enchanted by all my WiPs, I wouldn't have any UFOs! Well, at least I know that if I do put this down, I will have no trouble picking it up again. And no trouble finishing the next three kits in this series.

Travel Stitching

2009-09-26T12:54:00.001-07:00

Rather than continue on with Three Gables, I decided to do some beading on Mix It Up while I was on Maui. I did stitch 22 pale gray stitches just under the top line of beads on the plane from Los Angeles to Honolulu, but I didn't stitch a bit in Honolulu. The rest of this stitching was done in Maui. And it looked exactly the same when I landed in Las Vegas. Again I wasn't very motivated to stitch on the flight, though I have stitched quite a bit more since I got back to Nevada. I am about to switch back to finishing Rouge...comme. Apparently that is where my skeins of DMC 3045/3046 went to. When Rouge...comme is finished, I'll finish up Three Gables. Even after both of them are finished I will have accomplished only three of my ten stitching goals for this year. I'm going to have to decide if any of the other stitching goals are even possible in the next three months. I also have some sewing goals that I haven't even started.

Almost, But Can't Be Finished

2009-09-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've finished all the leaves on the ground on the left side. I've finished most of the garage. But when I reached for DMC 3045/3046 to stitch the broom straw, they weren't on my floss bag ring! Did I forget to pull them? Did I borrow them for another project? (This project has been kitted up for a long, long time.) So though I can finish the rest of the garage, finish the leaves on the right side and do most of the backstitching, I can't finish all the stitching until I get back to Nevada and track down the missing threads. No running to the local LNS here in Maui.

And speaking of DMC colors, I don't know if you can see the single blue stitch at the collar of the broom. That is DMC 3807. It is the only place that color is used. Since I have all the DMC colors, I don't mind using a color for one stitch, but I wonder why the designer didn't choose DMC 333 used at the bottom of the door and in the windows? I probably could swap DMC 832/834 for DMC 3045/3046 in the broom, but I will wait until I can stitch with the charted color. I guess I have my work cut out for me back in Nevada; finish Three Gables and finish Rouge...comme. Both are so close.

Ten Book Reading Challenge: Finished book two a couple of days ago, The Defector by Daniel Silva and 80% finished with book three.

The Fence Is Finished

2009-09-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished fence and most of the leaves on the left hand side. Not only are there more leaves left to be stitched on the bottom, but there are dozens of leaves floating though the air that need to be stitched one at a time. My only complaint about this part of the pattern is that there is supposed to be a big, fat pumpkin button stitched right over the dozens of confetti stitches that I did below the fence. I will probably move it more towards the steps, so it doesn't cover up too many of the leaves.

I also gave the birds legs and added posts to the two smaller gables. There is just the garage, more leaves, and more back stitching to go. Drea asked if I was trying to finish this before Halloween. Not really. Even if it is finished, it probably won't get framed for a while. The reason I am working on this so strongly is that right now I have the time to do it. I have less than half of my yearly stitching goals done and I really want this to be one of the goals I finish. For the past three days my husband has taken our only car on Maui and attended the Maui Photo Festival and Workshops. That means I am either stitching or reading (or watching NCIS on Video On Demand). When he is finished we will have to start working on a couple of projects that we need to finish here on Maui.

When we get back to Nevada after Wednesday, we will jump right back into working on building the new house. We have been depressed about the months and months that our plans have spent in the City of Henderson Permit department. They had one small, picky change after another. I swear that they change the building rules weekly! But we have an almost complete permit now, with the question of the fireplace [installed in dozens of venues in Clark County, but apparently not good enough for City of Henderson] left to a committee to decide. I'll put in bookshelves before I will buy the only fireplace approved in the City of Henderson (and sold by one of the city commissioners!) So we might even get to break ground next week. We will start with the retaining walls and pool footings for a couple of months, but will eventually get to the house foundation. Soon the walls and roof will be up, but then the majority of the time will be taken with the interior finishing. I will get excited about the house again when they scoop that first shovelful of dirt.

The House Is Finished

2009-09-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, the middle gable is finally finished, also the steps and the foundation. Just the fence, leaves, and garage to do. Plus some back stitching and a bunch of small french knots for eyes in all the windows. I'll have to wait until I get back to Nevada to attach the buttons as I did not bring them with me. But even if I finish before I leave Maui, I have several Mill Hill Kitchen Collection kits that I can work on. This will definitely be done this month.

The Crows Have Beaks

2009-09-15T17:29:00.001-07:00

When there are only a few stitches of a certain color thread, I usually leave them until I can finish them all up at once. In this case the broom handle and the birds' beaks are the only places that use DMC 435. So I waited until I was ready to stitch the broom handle to finish up the birds' beaks.

I have also started on the last skein (of three) of Bark, added some chimney pots, and started the roof of the broom garage. After the garage and house is finished there is a riot of confetti stitches at the base of the house that look like fall leaves.

One Week and One Day

2009-09-14T13:44:00.002-07:00

That's how much longer we will be in Maui. We leave for the mainland again a week from Wednesday. Is it enough time to finish all the cross stitch on Three Gables? Possibly. Especially considering that my husband is involved in the Maui Photo Festival and will be gone with our only car for at least two days. I might drop him off and pick him up one of the three days, but not the morning he is planning to leave for a shoot at Haleakela at 3 a.m.! I did work on some Bark on the middle gable and on the right side of the door last night. I wanted to save the trickier bits for better lighting.

I got absolutely no stitching done in Oahu. If we were not tromping around Lyon Arboretum in Manoa Valley we were eating tasty food from the high (Chef's Mavro's incredible 15 course tasting menu) to the low (Giovanni's Shrimp Truck in Kahuku). Literally the highest point in this vacation came via a Stearman Biplane out of Dillingham Field. It's an open cockpit plane with room for only one passenger and the pilot. My husband wanted to try this for his birthday, even though he doesn't have the best stomach for flying. At least he didn't go for the acrobatic tour! Instead we separately took the Sacred Falls tour that travels the North Shore coast, inland to Sacred Falls, over the Polynesian Village at Laie, the shrimp farms at Kahuku and Turtle Bay Resort.

Yes, the scenery below was wonderful, but I can't begin to describe how amazing it is to fly in an open cockpit plane. You feel just like a bird. I spent as much time looking at clouds and the horizon as I did the land and sea below.

Ten Book Reading Challenge: I have finished my first book, The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff. Yes, I read quickly and didn't spend much time doing anything else but reading yesterday. I hope everyone has a productive and interesting week.

Reading, Listening, Stitching

2009-09-11T23:46:00.001-07:00

This is the current audible.com book that I have been listening to while I have been stitching. It is actually the fourth book in the series (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R. R. Martin. I have actually read/listened to 90 books so far this year, so this Ten Book Reading Challenge by Vickie is just perfect for me. I can't tell all of the books that I will read by the end of the year, but I will start with The Defector By Daniel Silva, Finding Oz by Evan I. Schwartz, and Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson, which are the three books that I brought with me to Hawaii. I also have Transitions by Iain M. Banks waiting for me when I get back to Nevada. All stitchers who are readers, should check out Vickie's blog.

Not Quite...

2009-09-09T22:31:00.001-07:00

This is as much as I could finish before I left Nevada for Hawaii. There are still a couple of letters to finish
and the top of the larger mushroom. Rather than stitch a scattering of white stitches on the mushroom tops, I will add more light tan beads there. But I really didn't want to pack all this up (including the beads) and take it to Hawaii for just a bit of stitching, so I left it in Nevada. Three Gables was packed and ready to go, so I will work on that when we get settled back in Maui on Sunday.

Now we are in Honolulu for James' birthday. I started Debbie Mumm's Mix It Up from the Mill Hill Kitchen Collection, but I only have a line of 22 pale gray stitches on a bright white fabric that I stitched on the flight from Los Angeles to Maui. Not enough for a picture. Undoubtedly there will be more to show you by the time we leave for Maui on Saturday. I picked this kit because there is quite a lot of gray without beads to be stitched.

I did finish up the citron background beads on the ladybug. I can see stitching next year a lot of the Miribilia charts with the tons of beading that I have been dreading. There is also a Wentzler dragon I want to do next year, but it is almost all made up of forty different pairs of two blended threads. Ouch. But for this year, I think I have a good handle on Rouge...comme and Three Gables. If I can finish both of those, I will have about half of my goals for this year finished.

Poppy Finished

2009-09-06T15:49:00.001-07:00

Not only is the poppy finished, but I particularly like the frosted black beads that I used for the center. Although the rest of the beads are shiny, the black beads look much more like a real poppy. I couldn't have done this without the extra fast shipping from 123Stitch. I got my extra beads (and the last two Kitchen Collection kits) in seemingly no time at all.

As long as I was beading, I decided to finish off the background beading on the two bottom corners. That just leaves the mushrooms on the top center, the last of the border, and the beading around the ladybug. I may have time to finish this before Wednesday, but I am not going to rush it.

One More Motif

2009-09-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

Another motif is finished along with the start of the last two. When I finish the cross stitch on the poppy, I'm going to use black beads for the center. There are also random Crystal Honey beads in the background. The last motif is two red mushrooms.

My Fondness For Beading

2009-09-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

My new found fondness for beading will save this project from heading straight for the trash. I started this project last year during Project Spectrum, a creative art project where we were to concentrate on working with three colors for six months with colors changing every two months. Now this might work for people who are knitting socks or scarves or people working on Art Trading Cards, but even a moderate stitching project is going to take more than two months. A lot of my UFOs from last year are failed Project Spectrum projects which I am trying to finish up this year.

Every since Winter, I know I am not a one color (or even two color) stitcher. Give me a rainbow! There are a lot of other problems with this project. First, the pattern is in French. Maybe I mistranslated the size of the stitching or am stitching this on larger count fabric than called for (this is 30 count), but I cut the fabric way, way too small for the pattern. There is supposed to be text entirely around the main box, but I will be lucky to have enough fabric to finish the top of the pattern. It barely fits in Q-snaps now. I also hate this fabric because it is lacy and see through. Great for getting the threads through the holes, but not so great when you need need to cross behind even one thread. Everything on the back shows through. And there are supposed to be random stitches in the background of all four corner motifs. Please don't take these as complaints. These are learning experiences. I will know not to make the same mistakes again and I have found some creative ways around my problems.

First, I noticed how similar the colors and subjects in this project are to the Kitchen Collection's Toasty and Bowled Over that I just finished. Lots of red and green; tomatoes, jam, and cherries that fit a kitchen theme. All I needed to do was to add some beads to tie these two projects together. And so I did, starting with the heart. The pattern called for a coral thread (the lightest part of the tomato, DMC 3801) that I think clashes with the other two reds already in the heart. I had already changed out the too contrasty White in the highlights of the tomato and cherries for DMC 353. I didn't take me long to find a Mill Hill bead in an orangey-red (3043) that looks perfect. And beads also solve the second problem with the see through fabric. I will change the single random stitches to beads and sew them with invisible thread. There is nothing I can do with the missing text around the box, but when I frame this in a similar frame to the rest of the Kitchen Collection, I think they will all look good together.

How did I decide which beads to use? The Mill Hill website has a handy chart that matches their bead colors with DMC colors. Unfortunately that only worked for one bead needed, DMC 3047 (the same color used for the boxes). It translates to Mill Hill 2019 Crystal Honey. I even have some of those left over from the Kitchen Collection. The rest of the colors I picked from using the pull down menus on the Mill Hill site that separate out beads by type and color family. The only problem with my master plan is that although I do have lots of beads, most of them are in my favorite colors (blue, purple, and dark greens). I didn't have any beads that were light green. So I have several candidates on order. Which means that though I can finish up the cross stitching in the next week, I'll have to wait until we get back from Hawaii at the end of the month to finish the last of the stitching. It's worth the wait to have saved this project.

Bowled Over Finished

2009-08-31T13:38:00.001-07:00

It really didn't take me that long to finish this small project. I guess I couldn't resist the chance to finish two projects in one month. I even spent some time (not nearly enough, but some) putting away some Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Art of Sampler threads.

I do like the beading on this project and want to do a lot more projects with beads. I might even put beads around the edges of some of the Christmas ornaments I have stitched, but not finished. In looking for some bead storage system, I think I may have found the one I want here (set #15 at the bottom of the page). But in checking my database, I saw that I have 135 (!!!) different kinds of Mill Hill beads (not to mention other beads). I had no idea I had collected so many, but I do tend to buy them when I see them on sale.

I even had some time to start stitching again on a very slow WiP. The last time I stitched Rouge...comme was May, 2008. There are many reasons why this became almost a UFO. But now I am restarted and should get one or two more motifs done before we leave for Hawaii on the 9th. I hope everyone has a productive week.

OK, I Stitched

2009-08-30T12:45:00.001-07:00

I know I promised myself I would organize yesterday, but it's so much easier to listen to my audiobooks while sitting and stitching than wandering around my sewing room. And one more good day of stitching and I could have this finished, too. Of course, this is not getting the threads, fabrics, and patterns put away. Maybe I would be more motivated to organize if I tell myself about all the fabulous patterns that I have forgotten that I have that I would discover if I would only do a little organizing. And maybe I will just tell myself it's the weekend and I can always get organized on Monday.

Paradise FINISHED

2009-08-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

I finished stitching this last night, but waited until this morning to photograph it in daylight. The last stitches I took were the backstitches on the umbrella and chair next to the 5. I am very happy with my thread changes and I suggest that others do the same. Change the threads to colors that make you happy (or that better reflect the model). I am not as happy with the octopus next to the S and the umbrella drink next to the U because the Frosted Sage just doesn't show up against the white, but I am not going to frog them and restitch. They will just have to look slightly mysterious. Even my husband likes it (but then again he likes most things with mermaids).

What's next? Well, no stitching today! In completing this (and working on a couple of other projects), I have left the sewing room looking like a large dog had been digging around looking for a bone. There are threads, fabrics, and patterns everywhere. I really need to put away the threads from the last couple of projects, make sure I have all the threads for the WiPs I need to work on, and put away some of the stash I have bought in the last couple of months. Then I need to really think about what needs stitching. I have Bowled Over on the dining room table. Under the Sea is on the table next to my stitching chair. I am thinking about trying to finish Rouge...comme because it is probably the closest to being finished WiP goal for this year. Then there is always Hawaiian Mandala. I could also clean up the kitchen. Nah. I don't have to clean it up until tomorrow, so that I can turn it over bright and shiny for my husband's cooking week on Monday. And since he is cooking next week, that means more time for stitching for me! I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Bottom Finished

2009-08-27T12:13:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why I am obsessively documenting this project, but I guess every little square seems like a mini-finish. I finished three more squares; the shell, the mermaid, and the lighthouse. Now I can move the Q-snaps and finish the top right hand border. I just have three more squares to finish; the personalization (between W and X), the brown shell (under the X), and the beach chair and umbrella (next to the 5).

Turning the Corner

2009-08-26T11:10:00.001-07:00

Hooray for DMC 4030! If I was stitching the boring Crescent Colours Blue Beatrice for the inner border, I know I would have given up by now. But I love, love, love the variegations in DMC 4030 so much that even though the stitch is tedious, the result never is. I also want to give a shout out to Rainbow Gallery's Petite Treasure Braids -- PH02 (Silver High Gloss) for the sunglasses and camera, PB09 for the waves and the ocean near the lighthouse, PB27 for the anchor (a little darker than PH02), and PB57 for the palm tree fronds in the corners. These little bits of shiny have made this a much more fun piece. If you think you hate stitching with metallics because you have only tried that too stiff DMC, you really should try Rainbow Gallery. You still have to loop it through your needle eye so that it won't slip off, but other than that I think it stitches just like cotton. I was asked what I would do with this once it was finished. It's certainly too big for a flatfold or ornament. It's way too fragile for a pillow, so I plan on framing it with some sort of rough white washed frame and hang it in the Maui house. Although I have been trying to stitch more border than inner squares, I need to finish the shell and the lighthouse on the bottom row so that I can move the Q-Snaps and finish the border on the top right hand side. I guess it looks like I will finish this and not let it become a UFO.

Progress...But No Finish

2009-08-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

I might have slightly burnt myself out on this project. Yes, I stitched like a wild woman, but I'm not sure I want to see it again for a while. I started out with over twenty unfinished boxes and have only twelve left to finish. Some of them could be finished with just a couple of stitches (the sea horse between 4 and 5 and the palm tree at the bottom left corner). Others (the personalization box between W and X) will take a lot longer.

And it is not the boxes that are slowing me down, but the border. Yes, it is lovely. Yes, I have stitched over half of it. But it takes over a half hour just to stitch one length of thread and that barely crosses two boxes. I have part of the bottom border to finish, part of the top border, and ALL of the right border. I'm being good about stitching in the boxes and then in the border, but I will finish the boxes long before the border is stitched.

Thank you for your comments on Bowled Over. Maybe I'll go back to that and stitch a few more beads. No, I have never had problems with the paper tearing. Paper is stronger than cloth. I guess I am just careful to pull on a single thread and hold the paper. No, I wouldn't try this with a lot of threads or a chart where I couldn't put all the threads in the margin right next to the symbol. But I have used this technique with dozens of small projects (all the plastic Christmas ornaments), so I know it works for me. I'm so jazzed about stitching with beads, I even went to Michael's today looking for a box to store the leftover beads and bought some more Mill Hills on sale. Unfortunately I didn't find any boxes small enough for Mill Hill seed beads. I have a wonderful set of teeny, tiny interlocking boxes called a Bead Nest (I thought), but I can't find anything like that on the interwebs. I might have to settle for something larger.

Look, SHINY!

2009-08-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Please don't worry. I haven't given up on Postcard from Paradise, but I finally got the four different colors of red sorted out on Bowled Over and I have all the beads in neat little color coordinated piles on the dining room table, so I just couldn't resist putting in a few stitches. Doesn't this look better with the band of red beads? This is no longer a traveling project as all that I have left is beading.

Yes, there are some cross stitches between the beads, but all the thread colors left are used for beading. This pattern does have another band of red underneath the bowls. You probably won't be able to tell the difference between the two reds used in the band, but I will stitch it as charted.

As I was stitching this I wondered if anyone else used the color code chart to sort their threads? I have been doing this for decades with kits that have a limited number of threads and a chart with room to park the threads on the side. I use a large needle to "thread" the paper. I make sure that the thread is anchored in the middle with the same amount of thread on the front and back. This technique works with stitches that are two ply. Since these are not variegated threads, all I have to do is pull a single threads from the paper (pulling on the middle of the thread) and I end up with a doubled thread that is approximately ready to be put in a stitching needle and started with a loop start. I no longer have to guess which red is which or if this thread is medium yellow or light yellow. You do have to be sure to keep these long tails untangled from time to time. But I can coil them up and put them between the folded paper and stick them in their project bag.

Boxes Done

2009-08-21T15:49:00.001-07:00

And so is the Crescent Colours Caribbean Waters thread done. I managed to use the last of it on the mermaid's tail and the two sides of the outer border. Most of the bottom border is stitched in DMC. It's such a good color match that I don't think that anyone will notice. There are still some bits of Caribbean Waters called for in a few of the empty boxes, but the DMC should do fine there.

But here I am on the horns of a common dilemma. Since I am in Nevada with all my resources, I should be stitching on Hawaiian Mandala. This is the one project that just can't travel. But I am still happy enough stitching away on Postcard in Paradise. I could probably even finish it by next week. But the year is half over and I have very few of my 2009 Goals done. This isn't one of them. I should be working on Three Gables, Cottage Garden, Rouge ... comme, Bothy's Cut Thru Rocket, or one of many sewing projects. But if I leave Postcard now, it will only become a WiP for next year. Then there is the Under The Sea baby blanket. If I don't work on it again soon, it won't even be ready for Christmas. Chances are I will just keep working on this until it is done, but there are a lot of other WiPs calling.

Fastest Finish Ever

2009-08-20T08:33:00.001-07:00

Especially considering that I did not work on this Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday was our wedding anniversary. I spent the day with my husband remembering old adventures and sharing a wonderful dinner at Bouchon at the Venetian. Nothing like French food for a romantic dinner.

I dropped my husband off at the airport yesterday afternoon and sat down to finish this small project. I even put some stitches in Postcard from Paradise. Right now I am mostly finishing the boxes as I am about to run out of the Crescent Colours Caribbean Waters. Luckily the DMC equivalent, 3849, even if not variegated, seems close enough in shade that if I substitute that on the bottom border, it shouldn't stand out. Today will be a stitching day, so much will be accomplished. Tomorrow I better buckle down and go through paperwork. I have to admit that I am woefully behind.

Almost

2009-08-16T13:22:00.001-07:00

This is actually quite an easy piece to stitch, even the back stitching. But I do have to stitch it at the dining room table because of all the beads. After a while the dining room chair is not as comfortable as my stitching chair, so I have to get up every so often and walk around. The directions say to stitch the crosses and then the beads, but I find it easier to stitch them all at once. The beads are stitched with the same thread as the crosses in each color, so they just get stitched inline. I've gotten this much done because I haven't felt my best after returning from Montreal. With all our travels we do pick up various minor flus and colds. So mostly I have been stitching, watching movies, and sleeping.

Actually the only difficult part to stitch is that rectangle at the bottom. Not only are there semi-random beads, but there are actually two different burgundies there which makes for a lot of counting, though after all that stitching it still looks like only one color. It looks like I might be able to finish this today, but I have a lot of family business to take care of, so stitching will only be done after everything else is taken care of. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

A Fast Start

2009-08-13T14:56:00.001-07:00

I have been taking Bowled Over as my plane stitching small piece, but I am about to the point now that only beaded parts are left. I did stitch some beading on it in Montreal, but not enough to take another picture. Bowled Over is part of the Kitchen Collection from Mill Hill. There are six different designs and I have four of them so far that I intend to stitch for the hallway into our new kitchen. I ironed the linen for the next kit, Toasty, and started that. I stitched in the Air Canada lounge before our first plane took off and for the entire three plus hour flight from Chicago to Las Vegas. I got most of the plain yellow and light green done then. When we got home I stitched the orange letters and all the beaded parts. It's about half way done! I have to admit that I am stitching this so furiously because I am almost to the end of George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. Even though I read it in book form, Roy Dotrice's narration is so exciting that listening to this audiobook is almost all I want to do. At least I am stitching while I listen.

At this pace I think I will try to finish this piece, then go back to Bowled Over and finish that, too. Even if I finish listening to A Game of Thrones, I have the next book, A Storm of Swords, to listen to next. There I was almost completely caught up on my podcasts and now I am behind again. ;-) After I finish these two pieces, I may go back to Postcard from Paradise, but since I am going to be here in Nevada for a few weeks, I really should take up Hawaiian Mandala again if I have any hope at all at finishing a few more parts before the end of the year. I can take Postcard and Three Gables to Hawaii when we go there in September, but not Mandala.

Although I enjoyed our trip to Montreal, there was one unfortunate experience. After we had cleared US Customs and put our large bags on the cargo belt, we had to pass through security. The agents seemed very annoyed for some reason that I didn't have a plastic bag full of gels and liquids. They asked about this three times. I stopped carrying them in carry on because they are just one more thing to deal with besides my laptop and shoes. So they kept my carry on bag in their X-ray scanner for several minutes looking for non-existent liquids. What they did decide to confiscate was my lovely pair of small black scissors that went with my Halloween fob. They were less than three inches in length in total with blades less than an inch. Although I have carried them in carry on overseas flights and to hundreds of places in the US, they gleefully took them and tossed them, even though they did let me take the fob off before they grabbed them. Technically I was on US territory once we had passed Customs, but no amount of discussion made any difference to these goons. And unlike normal US Customs, there was no option to allow you mail an offending item to your home. They were not expensive, but it will take me some time to replace them. At least they never recognized my blunt cats claw scissors, so I had them on my Chicago to Las Vegas flight to use when stitching Toasty.

Stitchy Talk

2009-08-10T10:46:00.001-07:00

It seems like I haven't been stitching much, but I do get a thread in here in there. Actually the best part of the past week has been spending time with stitching friends. First, Ruth and I spent nearly three hours talking about life, the universe and everything. It was glorious. We didn't stitch, but we did talk about stitching. I wish she would take a weekend off and come up to Las Vegas. We could have a gloriously decadent weekend. Then Dani dropped by my hotel room after a very long day walking around the Montreal Botanical Garden with her mother. I would have offered to meet her halfway, but I did something unfortunate to my right knee, which left me hobbling around. At least I got to see Todd's Stocking which is really magnificent. And Dani got to see Three Gables in Real Life. The colors are so subtle that no picture can do it justice. Another friend, Judith, got to see Bowled Over, and commented that the beads didn't show up in my previous pictures. I hope this one shows them off a bit more. They make the piece so much fun.

The rest of the World Science Fiction Convention for me has been busy, busy, busy. I've spent a lot of time talking to friends, getting books signed, and helping sell memberships for Melbourne, Australia, the site of next year's Worldcon. It is going to be in a remarkable new convention center. I will be working that convention, but it looks like a lot of fun. The people running the convention ran one in 1999, so have plenty of experience. Today is the last day of the convention. I'll be going to a reading by George R. R. Martin, then heading back to the hotel to start to pack. We leave tomorrow and should be home not too late tomorrow evening. And amazingly enough, I won't be traveling again until we go to Hawaii in September.

Why This May Become A UFO

2009-08-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

I feel a little self conscious saying this because the designer of this piece left a comment on my last post. Is she upset that I changed out the threads or made negative comments about the threads she chose? I hope not, since this is a lovely design and I see other designs on her blog (especially a new Halloween one) that I want to stitch. Well, once again I have changed out a thread. The Fishbone Stitch between the two cross stitched borders is done in my current favorite thread, DMC 4030 (Monet's Garden Colour Variations) which I also used on Quaker Flower Sampler. I think it picks up the colors in the rest of design very well. I usually like different stitches on a cross stitch piece. However, the Fishbone Stitch itself is rather fiddly on such a small count linen. I already made a couple of errors in the border by stitching it over four threads rather then three. I am starting to try to compensate by adding a few more over four chevron legs so that it will end with an "up" leg at the other corner. I have been more careful stitching it on the left side and so far have kept the count. But the Fishbone Stitch is not fun or easy to stitch, so I can see myself setting Postcard from Paradise aside in favor of other more straight forward cross stitch. With just two days left before we leave, I want to finish all the boxes, but if I do that, I'll only have the Fishbone Stitch left. I've been trying to stitch some Fishbone Stitches between boxes, but if I keep doing that I won't have the boxes done before we leave. Do you stitch the parts of a design that you don't like first (color or pattern or thread)? Or do you do some less happy stitching between all the other stitching? Or do you leave unhappy stitching for last? (And if you do leave it for last, do you finish it or set it aside?) I seem to get tired of a pattern and just put it down rather than quitting at a difficult part, but I am sure there are some projects that I did put down when I ran out of a thread or got tired of Jessica Stitches.

Alphabet Finished

2009-08-01T14:22:00.001-07:00

The letters are pretty easy to do on this sampler. No color changes and no flourishes. There are also a couple of other boxes finished such as both palm trees in the top corners. I have a few days before we leave for Montreal, so I will just keep working on this, but take Three Gables and Bowled Over to Montreal with me. My friend Ruth is going there also. I might even get to meet up with Dani, who was planning a short trip there with her mother. James is on several panels, but I was not feeling very talkative when the call came for panelists, so I'm just going to see my friends and eat good Quebecois food.

My stitching time here in Nevada depends on how many meetings we have, if we have any interesting Netflix (I can't watch and stitch) and whether or not I have interesting things to listen to on my iPod. I finished an audio book, The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry, that was a little slow, but interesting. I am now revisiting The Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin in audio book format. The reader is British and has a number of different accents for the various characters. We've been waiting over a year for George's next book in the series. I might even have heard the first four books before the next one comes out. Here's wishing all of you a pleasant and relaxing weekend.

Why Floss Tosses Don't Always Work

2009-07-29T19:19:00.001-07:00

One of the first things I learned in Home Ec Garment Sewing was that you always picked a sewing thread that was just slightly darker than the fabric you were sewing on. The reason is that when you get down to a single thread, the color of a single thread will seem much, much lighter than the spool of color altogether. This is also true for stitching. I'm sure Crescent Colours 12 Grain seen in a hank seemed dark enough for a sand color, but in actually using it to stitch 1 over 2 on 36 count fabric, it is much lighter than the hank of thread on the card. This is why I changed this thread for Weeks Dye Works Oak. I was at first worried that it was too dark. I am already using Crescent Colours Old Oak Tree for the palm tree trunks and the starfish in the picture below. But you can see when I pull out a single thread from the hank, it is actually not a dark tan at all.

I also used this technique for changing out Crescent Colours Frosted Sage for a darker grey to use to stitch a sea shell. In this case I substituted Weeks Dye Works Tin Roof. I did look at several Weeks and several Gentle Art threads, but this is the one I decided on.

You can see the result in the castle (Weeks Dye Works Oak) and the sea shell (Weeks Dye Works Tin Roof). I also like the fact that Tin Roof has a tiny bit of green in it, much as a natural shell would. I still have some stitching to do in each of these boxes, but I wanted to show the change in colors without the backstitching getting in the way. So the next time you do a floss toss and find that you really don't like the colors once they are stitched, don't beat yourself up. Just consider that the thinner the thread and the lower the fabric count, the lighter the thread will seem when you stitch it on the fabric, especially white fabrics.

Over Halfway

2009-07-27T13:06:00.001-07:00

Yes, there are now 46 finished squares (and two started, but not completed). But I can feel my interest waning. Maybe it's because I really don't like stitching 1 over 2. Maybe it's the too pale colors. If you look at the island next to the T you will see that the "sand" is really more pale pinky beige than sand colored. That's 12 Grain from Crescent Colours. I'm supposed to stitch two sand castles in that color, but I'm going to substitute a deeper tan. So after this post, I'm off to my stash to find a darker grey (for a seashell) and a darker tan for the castles.

I'll try to stick with this stitching this week, but we do have several interviews with vendors. We are seeing two different cabinet makers on Tuesday and Thursday. Generally it's better to have plenty of vendors to choose from, but I like both of these guys a lot. So it is going to be difficult for me to tell one of them that they did not get the job. But in between meetings, I will get in what stitching I can.

Obsession

2009-07-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

If I had spent as much time on Bowled Over as I have on Postcard from Paradise, Bowled Over would be finished. But from the minute I got home, I have been working on Postcard from Paradise. Maybe it is all the small motifs. It is so easy to say, "Just one more letter. Just one more fish". Although the design is supposed to be 8" by 8 1/2", it is probably just a hair bigger as it doesn't quite fit in my 11" by 11" Q-Snaps. So next I am going to try to finish off the top row and the left hand side before moving on to the bottom right hand corner. My goal for this weekend is to get half of the 90 boxes filled. I'm glad I am substituting some of the threads. There is an octopus stitched in Frosted Sage below the N, but the threads looks white to me. No Frost, no Sage. I used Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in silver instead of Frosted Sage for the middle of the sunglasses and I'm going to use it again for an anchor at the bottom. I think I will change to a light gray DMC for the shell to be stitched in Frosted Sage, though I am not going to frog the octopus. He will remain a ghost octopus.

The trip back from Maui was uneventful. I did stitch some on Bowled Over, which I will probably get back to when Postcard is finished. Our niece had a memorable trip including a drive around the island past Hana and jumping into the ocean off Black Rock. She snorkeled and saw a lot of fish. Her family is not very adventurous. I don't think she would have thought to come on her own without us asking her to come. And she certainly wouldn't have come on her own without family. My husband and I had hitched hiked around the US and lived in New Zealand for two years by the time we were her age. We took every opportunity for adventure, though we never managed to hitch a ride on a cargo ship as we had planned before we got married.

We are still waiting for our building permit. Meanwhile we are meeting with vendors and making lots of decisions. We had a great meeting with a flooring company on Thursday and are zeroing in on the design of the master bedroom and bathroom. Although I wanted a slightly bluer theme, it looks like once again the master bedroom and bath will be mostly green, including glass countertops on the vanities. On Tuesday we will talk to a cabinet vendor. Before we leave for Montreal, we really should get a pool subcontrator, too. The first thing that will be built will be the retaining walls and foundations. We need to be sure that the pool has all the underground piping put in. But it is only Saturday now, so back to stitching.

Enough?

2009-07-21T21:32:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more squares in Postcard from Paradise. It is interesting that I was going to say that I wished I had stitched a few more interiors. There is a lovely wave pattern next to the unfinished A that I want to stitch in Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid. And speaking of that A, yup, it is unfinished.

But then I started to think about how much is enough? Why should I be disappointed in what I didn't stitch, when four years ago I hadn't stitched much of anything for decades? I understand these are not great works of art, but what are they? Why am I stitching at all? Well part of it is the gentle repetition of the needle through the fabric. Especially in a piece like this with lots of straight repetitive stitches, you can stitch for hours while barely glancing at the chart. Then there is the feel of the fabric and the colors of the thread. Not to mention the pattern that develops under your fingers. All of these actions are soothing, especially for someone who loves color and pattern. And with every piece I learn something. I learn what I like about certain threads and fabrics and stitching techniques. I learn about composition and white space and backgrounds and color values. Maybe it is just a hobby and I will continue to refreshed and relaxed by stitching. And maybe I will someday take off in other artistic directions, but buoyed by these explorations in color and pattern.

It's All My Fault

2009-07-20T19:43:00.001-07:00

I thank the people who have commiserated with me over bad kits and bad patterns, but even if I have pointed out these anomalies, most of the kits I stitch with are generous with their threads and fabric and I thank most designers for their beautiful patterns. There has been nothing so bad about a pattern or kit that I has made me stop stitching it. See? I have started the beading on Bowled Over and have left a lot of Light Green (without beads) to stitch on the plane going back to the mainland tomorrow. I would be even farther along if I had not completely spaced out. I should know better than to stitch in the car (even a non moving car) or to stitch while ill (which I was this weekend). I managed to stitch all of the called for Medium Yellow with Medium Green. It is now all frogged out and Medium Green is only stitched in the places that it is supposed to be. Now that I have gotten this far, I have returned to stitching Postcard from Paradise and have a few more boxes finished. I should have a picture of my progress tomorrow. Have a great week everyone!

Unsatisfactory

2009-07-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

Buying kits can be fraught with complications. Maybe you won't like working with the fabric. Maybe the threads are a poor quality. Maybe there is not enough fabric or thread. Maybe the pattern doesn't match the model. But I ran into a problem with Mill Hill's Kitchen Collection Bowled Over that I have never seen before. Can anyone tell me which of these threads are Dark Rose, which are Light Red, which are Dark Red, and which are Light Rose? I didn't think so. Sometimes kits have the threads in labeled bags (Bent Creek). Sometimes kits have threads that are obviously different colors (and with the number of lengths noted so that you can tell the 3 lengths of Dark Rose from the 5 lengths of Dark Red, such as Dimensions kits). Sometimes the kits even attach the threads to a numbered chart (Bothy and Michael Powell). This kit does not tell you how many lengths you should have or how to distinguish one reddish thread from another. Now there are DMC color numbers listed for the threads, but all of my DMC is back in Nevada. I hope they do match what I have when I check them under my daylight lamp.

Meanwhile I am going to continue on with the colors I can differentiate. I've stitched all the Blue, Dark Green and the Light Yellow that need to be stitched. I wanted to stitch more of this on the plane, but the reading lights were broken and most of the shades were down. I stitched just the bottom row of the Light Yellow, then put it away for a brighter day. There are also a lot of beads in these kits. I like the way that they make the pattern sparkle, but I wasn't sure if I could stitch them at all. The provided beading needle had an eye so slender that my needle threader wouldn't even go through it. And I certainly couldn't get two strands of DMC through the eye either. Luckily my John James Petite 26 needle is handling the job beautifully. John James FTW!!! (For The Win) I will be better prepared for the next three kits. After I stitch all the Medium Green (and the matching beads), I will have a large area of unbeaded Light Green to stitch on the plane. Meanwhile I will go back to stitching Postcard from Paradise.

I haven't had a lot of stitching time this week because the Guest Room has gone from an almost empty room of junk to this. We bought curtains and curtain rods, finally taking down the very faded Martha Stewart bedsheets that were thumbtacked to the window frames. We bought a new king sized bed for the Master Bedroom and moved the queen sized bedroom set into the Guest Room. I washed all the sheets and towels and generally cleaned the house more than it has ever been (even the Office and the Library).

This was all in preparation for our niece Laura to visit us from Lexington, Kentucky. We took her out to lunch/dinner at Mama's Fish House (seen in the background here) and then back to the house. She promptly crashed, as would I after traveling for 12 hours. Right now she and James are out renting her some snorkel gear while I have a bit of quiet and stitch. We will probably have an early dinner then get up at dawn to drive the road to Hana (and around the back of the island). The waterfalls are always better early in the morning.

No Television, No Internet, No Problem

2009-07-12T11:09:00.001-07:00

Yes, we spend so little time in San Francisco that we decided not to hook up to the building’s cable television. And the DVD player broke several years ago and hasn’t been replaced. Even the wireless router is giving us problems, so it’s either read or stitch. I decided to stitch and now have 13 squares (out of 90) finished. Barbara made a suggestion of using Thread Heaven to control the knotting of the Crescent Colours threads. Of course, I have Thread Heaven . . . back in Henderson. But this gave me a great excuse to go to the Status Thimble in Burlingame. Not only did I get Thread Heaven, but you can see the first of my planned thread substitutions. Instead of the inside of the sunglasses being a muddy gray green (CC Frosted Sage), they are now a wonderful Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid shiny silver. I also have some shiny green and shiny blue that will find their way into this piece also. I love Petite Treasure Braid. Did the Thread Heaven help? Help, yes, solve the problem, NO! It still knots, but at least I haven’t had to cut any more of the knots out. The Status Thimble was having their yearly July sale (20% off everything except sale items). So a few magazines, a chart, a canvas and some threads made their way into my basket. I haven’t stitched a single Christmas ornament this year. That will soon change.

But lest you think that I did nothing but stitch, yesterday we went to the Ferry Plaza Market and tried to be good about not buying too much tasty fruit (we can’t take any of it to Hawaii). We also shopped for king sized sheets for Maui. Even though the king bedroom set we ordered last year will not be here before the end of September (first promised for April), we are going to get a king bed mattress and simple frame so that we can move the queen bed into the guest room for our niece who will be joining us in Maui on Wednesday, We also attended a galley opening for an artist who is one of James’ friends and had a tasty sushi dinner from our favorite Japanese restaurant, Main Street Sushi in Half Moon Bay. Then I went a little overboard buying bread (which we can take to Hawaii) at Whole Foods. There is not any artisan bread on Maui, so if you want sourdough, sourdough walnut, or brioche hamburger buns, you have to bring your own.

I'm sitting in the Red Carpet Club at SFO waiting for our flight to Maui. It will be good to get out of the cod, cold SF Bay Area. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Start-itis

2009-07-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

I started out looking for something small to stitch on the planes. I decided on several Mill Hill Kitchen Collection kits, but they come with 14 count Aida and I hate Aida. So looking through my fabric drawers I picked out a white 28 count Monaco with enough fabric for four kits. While I was looking for the 28 count fabric I ran across the 36 count antique white Edinburgh and the threads that I got a couple of months ago for Blue Ribbon Designs Postcards from Paradise. I had the fabric, I had the threads, but I could not find the pattern. That led to a lot of rummaging around in various boxes. By the time I found it (and picked out some fabric for Raise the Roof's Hang Ten), there was nothing left but for me to start the pattern I had spent all that time searching for. Besides stitching this in Maui seems so appropriate. I washed and ironed the Postcards from Paradise fabric and "borrowed" the Q-snaps from Three Gables. I was ready to stitch.

I have never stitched on fabric as small as 36 count. The model was done on 40 count one strand over two threads, but I saw a model done on 36 count and thought that was small enough. I have never stitched one over two. I really wasn't sure there would be enough coverage. And the problem I was really worried about is that the threads are all from Crescent Colours. I hated, hated, hated those threads when I was stitching Raise The Roof's Warm Water Wash. But when I was buying the threads I could only find two Weeks Dye Works colors that were close enough to the Crescent Colours threads to actually substitute. I'll use DMC 3371 for CC Black Coffee. So I started stitching. I do love the colors, but for the first 20 crosses during every single cross, the thread knotted, just as it had on Warm Water Wash. I don't stitch quickly. I don't pull my threads tightly. This is just inferior thread. On the twentieth cross I spent almost 20 minutes trying to pry the knot apart before giving up in disgust and cutting out the knot. I did keep going and got two boxes and two motifs done. I just hope that I don't give up on this altogether, but it could happen. I do know that I will NEVER, EVER buy Crescent Colours threads again. If I can't find a color match, I will just go with different colors.

I do like the pattern and I do feel like a mini-finish after every motif is finished. I even enjoyed starting in the middle with K and P since my maiden name started with P, so I used KP as my initials until I was married. But I am bringing Three Gables with me as a backup project, if I decide that these Crescent Colours threads cannot be used. I leave for San Francisco in a couple of hours. I probably won't have reliable photo uploading until we get to Maui on Sunday. I hope everyone has a splendid weekend.

Christmas in July

2009-07-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, another Bent Creek Sheep is finished. Hooray! I finished most of the cross stitch in Tempe, Arizona, at Westercon, but needed a bit of time yesterday after we drove back to Nevada to finish the french knots and the arms. The convention was fun, but small. As long as my friends from Los Angeles (and elsewhere) were there, I was happy.

We drove back at almost one in the morning on Sunday morning. The road between here and Phoenix is so boring, that we didn't really need to see the scenery. We had taken naps in the afternoon and had a George R. R. Martin audiobook to listen to, so we were set to go. There was really no traffic, so we made the trip in five rather than six hours. The best part was crossing the Hoover Dam at dawn. It was very beautiful, including the new suspension bridge that they are building. Once we were back home we crashed out for a couple of hours.

James has a gallery show this month in the San Francisco Bay Area and will be going there on Wednesday to hang the show. I will join him on Friday for the reception and on Sunday we will head over to Maui for ten days. Our niece, Laura, will be joining us on the 15th. She has never been to Hawaii. I'm just worrying about how we are going to move the queen bed to the guest room and what we are going to sleep on until our much delayed king bed set arrives via container (no, it was not in the containers in April). You can't count on any delivery times in Hawaii unless it is "on island" already.

I'll probably take Three Gables to stitch, but I will need something smaller for the plane. At this rate I may never get back to Under the Sea. There are also a few other WiPs that are almost UFOs. When I get Three Gables finished, I need to spend some time with Bothy's Cut Thru Rocket and Michael Powell's Cottage Garden I. That is if I am not seduced by some of the stash I have accumulated lately. Blue Ribbon Design's Postcards from Paradise is kitted up. I just need some appropriate fabric for Ink Circles' Beautie Spotte. I recharted those threads into Vickie Clayton silks. I also got a few Mill Hill beaded smalls in kitchen motifs. Maybe I will take one of those to Maui. And there are always sheep. Maybe I can fill the guest room walls with sheep. It's always nice to think about a new start. Have a great week everyone!

Head and Feet

2009-06-30T19:19:00.001-07:00

This is how much I can stitch while waiting an hour and a half for an oil change for the car. There isn't that much left to do: two more snowmen and a flag. Oh, yes, and finishing those last bits of snowflakes at the bottom. I'm taking this and Three Gables to Arizona tomorrow, but I have no idea how much stitching I'll get to do.

Tonight I'm rereading the Hugo nominated short fiction in preparation for my panel on Thursday. I have a panel on the Hugo nominated novels on Friday. Friday midnight (EDT) is the deadline for voting. At least we can vote online and aren't at the mercy of snail mail, though mailing in a ballot is still possible.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has made so many kind comments about my progress on Three Gables. I have had this kitted up for years and I am just so thrilled about seeing this being stitched up. I really am enjoying every stitch, even the Bark.

Good Progress!

2009-06-29T09:53:00.001-07:00

Yes, I have stitched all the WDW Basil. But there is still more WDW Bark. Another whole skein of it. Still, most of the pattern is at least outlined. There is a broom garage at the side to finish, lots and lots of confetti leaves around the bottom and an iron fence that the bird on the left is sitting on. I'll take this pattern to Arizona, but I don't think I will get much stitched on it. I am on several panels and I promised to organize next year's Westercon's programming. So I will sit their table during the day when I am not on panels. Maybe I will finish the sheep I started on the way out. I didn't stitch at all on the flights back. Instead I finished the one Hugo nominated novel I hadn't read. I knew I wouldn't like it much, but now I have a basis to criticize it properly for my Hugo panel.

The next two days are simply a whirlwind of getting to all those things mounting up in the past week (snail mail, laundry, groceries) plus packing again for the driving trip to Arizona. At least we won't have to weigh our suitcases. We can just dump as much stuff in the car as we can. A decade ago I would be visiting AAA for maps, but now I just have the address in my iPhone and GPS will get us there. It doesn't stop there though. James has a group show in the San Francisco Bay Area next week. He is flying to SFO a week from Wednesday. I will join him on Friday for the reception and we will both fly to Maui on Sunday. There are a number of issues there: the wall, the cottage which is still not sold, and now the landscaping, which according to our property manager is looking rather sad. One thing at a time: first Phoenix, then San Francisco, then Maui. I hope everyone in the United States has a good Fourth of July weekend.

Roof, Roof!

2009-06-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed a small bit of roof on the right hand side that had not been filled in. I knew there was more WDW Basil (the roof thread) used on the garage to the right side of the house, so I was waiting to get to that part before I finished the main roof. I finally got close enough to the garage to finish up the rest of the roof. Here you just see the right window and most of the door finished, but I have actually stitched all of the Basil in the chart and a lot more Bark, too. I will post a further picture tomorrow when I am back in Nevada. Right now we are going to head off to the airport to see if we can catch an earlier flight out of Cincinnati through O'Hare and back to Las Vegas. We can use all the time we can get at home before we have to drive to Phoenix on Wednesday. I am very pleased at how much I stitched on this pattern this week. I wish I had as much stitching time every week.

LNS: Sharonville, Ohio

2009-06-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

I like going to a convention called Midwestcon in Cincinnati. It is a small convention (just over 100) without programming (a relaxacon). Many people play cards (Wizards) or talk or plan future SF conventions, but there are a small group of us who cross stitch (and more knitters all the time). On Saturday many of us head over to this charming framing and cross stitch store called Keepsakes. It is in an old house that is floor to ceiling filled with beautifully framed cross stitch. Most of it is traditional cross stitch, so there are tons (and I do mean tons) of samplers and primitives. I never manage to just look, but always find something that I just have to buy.

This is the stairway to the second floor. You have to step carefully as there are charts on the steps and in the hallway. Three rooms upstairs are filled with charts and more framed pieces and the fourth room is filled with every color of every brand of thread (and accessory) that you might want or need. Because the stitched pieces are so charming, I always see things I want that I might not have noticed by only seeing the chart. This time I was particularly taken with a chart from Raise the Roof called Charmed Sampler which lets you attach as many charms as you want. Now I can get my lovely charms out of their boxes and show them off. I also got Hooked on Tea from Handblessings, a chart I had not seen before. Since I don't drink coffee, I was glad to see something about my favorite drink. I couldn't resist a Homespun Elegance pattern called Witches Stitch, Too!!

Although I was taken by these charts, don't worry. I have been working away on Three Gables. One of the non-stitchers in the group was admiring it and thought that I was almost done. I wish I was, but there is a ton of confetti stitching at the bottom that will take a long time. Still I have stitched more this last week that I have the previous month. It's good to see one of my goals on the way to completion.

LNS: Lexington, Kentucky

2009-06-25T11:34:00.001-07:00

One of the pleasant parts of our visits to my husband's family in Lexington, Kentucky, has always been shopping at The Stitch Niche. It's even better that it is not too far from my mother-in-law's house. I've always found things that I fall in love with here, including the full button kit for Three Gables that I bought many years ago. This is where I bought my first Kit & Bixby sheep. They carry an impressive amount of cross stitch patterns from every major designer and also some from small designers you may never have heard of. Several of their designs feature the University of Kentucky logo (and basketballs!) I think of them as carrying mostly traditional designs, but they did have a good selection of Monsterbubbles and other non-traditional designs. Their selection does not stop at cross stitch. They also have DMC, Rainbow Gallery and Caron threads, hardanger, needlepoint, frames, Sudberry boxes, and a ton of yarn for crochet and knitting. There is a huge backroom that has space for two simultaneous classes. If I lived here, I would certainly take several. This time I limited my purchases, but I still walked out with some gorgeous 32 count evenweave fabric in a very light grey green, a Shepard's Bush kit, and a card of glass buttons in purple and green. You could spend a day just looking through all their gorgeous fabrics. Of course they also frame cross stitch and block needle point. A women brought in a fabulous wool needlepoint pillowtop with more bullion stitches than I would ever attempt for blocking. There are also walls and walls full of finished cross stitch, especially one wall of trains. If you are ever close by, you should certainly browse and drool here.

Bark, Bark, Bark!

2009-06-24T13:53:00.001-07:00

Since all four generations of the family were having dinner at my sister-in-laws house, I decided to take Three Gables along and just stitch on the parts needing Weeks Dye Works Bark. Not much counting and certainly no color changes. I finished the right part of the bottom gable and filled in another row in the middle. I also started on the left side of the house. After I got back from dinner I stitched the right door frame.

To treat myself (from the endless Bark), I finished the right bottom window and the door window this morning. I'd like to finish most of the bottom of the house this evening, but that might be a little ambitious. Again most of the family is going out to dinner together except for my nephew and his wife and children. They get to endure, I mean enjoy, a birthday party for a 3 year old at Chuck E. Cheese. Meanwhile we will be eating good New Orleans fish at The Ketch.

Presents FAIL!

2009-06-23T02:47:00.000-07:00

I was overly optimistic. Although I did stitch most of the turtle, I didn't finish him. I didn't finish the border and I didn't frame the baby announcement. Technology got in the way. My husband's very old G3 MacBook has about given up the ghost. Since I use a laptop much more than he does (he edits his photography on a 30" screen), it was time for me to get an updated MacBook Pro and to give him my older MacBook Pro. Here is the old machine (on the left) being cloned into the new machine (on the right). Although I don't like the keyboard quite as well on the new machine, I do have to say that the new machine is blazingly fast and has tremendous battery life. So between working on odds and ends of the new house, tidying up the old house, and packing for our trip back east, nothing was stitched last week. I'll just have to send them the finished stitching after I get back.

Which is not to say that I have given up on stitching altogether. On the contrary, since I have no computer access at my mother-in-law's 19th century home (wired telephones, no computers or internet), I don't have much to do except stitch. I stitched this much of Bent Creek Winter Sheep on our two flights to Lexington, Kentucky. This was remarkably wonderful trip. I was worried about racing from Gate B16 to Gate B92 at Denver airport. It's about a mile and a half. But we had just started out when a great tram driver apparently saw my exhaustion (I do not do well at high altitudes) and offered both of us a tram ride to the other end of the terminal. He could only take us to B60 as the rest of the gates are down an escalator, but after riding for a mile, the quarter mile walk was a breeze. We also were upgraded to first class on both flights. I guess being a million mile traveler on United does have some status. And the best miracle of all was getting our luggage. The last three trips here all resulting in delayed (but not lost) luggage.

After a small start on Saturday, I stitched quite a lot on Sunday and got this much done. I could have trundled right through to the end, but I had to remind myself to save a bit for the trip back. I have brought Three Gables with me, so I will work on that Real Soon Now.

Yeah, I guess I really couldn't stop at that. Last night I did this much more, but really, I did stop! This morning I took out Three Gables and stitched more Bark, Bark, Bark! We have dinner at my sister-in-law's this evening; eight adults and two children (my nephew's). I'll bring Three Gables to work on while everyone is talking. This will probably be my last post until possibly Friday or Saturday. We will drive up to Sharonville, Ohio (near Cincinnati) for a convention in a hotel with internet access (FINALLY). Every time I stay at my mother-in-law's I swear that next time I will stay in a hotel instead, but I really do like her and wouldn't want to make her unhappy. I haven't had enough access to post comments from my iPhone, but I have been reading everyone's blog postings, so keep stitching everyone. I really love your projects.

Another Fish

2009-06-10T11:27:00.001-07:00

I said I had most of the fish ready to go and I did. I just had to stitch him to the blanket and add his bottom fin. I have even made quite a bit of progress on the last applique, the turtle. Most of his lumpy satin circles are done, though there are a lot of bits and pieces that will need to be stitched down and outlined. Then the blanket stitching around the entire blanket. Luckily it is a baby blanket and not one for a king sized bed. If I'm not being too optimistic, I might have this finished by this weekend. That would give me a week to work more on Hawaiian Mandala before we leave for back east on the 20th.

I will have more free time this next week because my husband is leaving for San Francisco tonight for a week. I will miss him, but we do talk on the phone several times a day. Hooray for unlimited long distance. I hope you didn't find the last post too silly, but I do want to mention that most of the house is very tasteful and uncluttered. Just don't look in my sewing studio!