It seems I have a few gremlins in my blogger account at the moment - I am working my way through trying to sort them out so hapefully normal service will resume soon.
I have been stitching quite a bit recently too, so there is lots to report once I have got this working properly again.
happy stitching!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
A finish and a UFO
Well, it finally happened - I finished Jack's sampler! :D *happy dance* So here it is before the backstitch....
And after the backstitch...
I finished it last month, after taking a humungous 11 months to stitch it. Considering Megan's took me only a month, I am pretty disappointed with that length of time. However, I am pleased with the end result. I'm very glad that I took out the border that would have been of a different colour as it would have spoilt the whole thing. I would've posted pictures earlier but I've been having issues with blogger :(
Anyway, I have now resumed stitching on a long forgotten UFO. My aim is to work through my UFO's one at a time until they are eliminated and then never have any ever again LOL
The piece I have picked up is called Birds of a Feather and is a design by Dimensions. Once finished it will look like this:
This is the last progress shot I have taken, but there has been more stitching since then ;-)
It is a design I am stitching for my dad, and he'll be visiting with my mum in February so I'm hoping to have it done or at least mostly done by the time they get here. Thankfully he doesn't know anything about it yet, as it was one Mum originally bought for him and was unable to stitch it herself. It's done on 18 count Aida and Mum's eyes weren't up to it (this was in the early days of her stitching, before she got her magnifier light. I agreed to stitch it in her place but I started it 8 years ago! It's just been one of those projects that has been put to one side to get other things done first and then I completely forgot about it... Oh well, it's back now and I'm quite enjoying working on it. The cream part of the border is only half stitch so it's coming along quite easily. I did get a little bored by the border though so I have started working on the central design. Gotta vary it up a little :-D This design is also one that I am timing. I am using a stopwatch, but I am not seeing how fast I can stitch (evidently, as it's been 8 years!). Some designs I just like to see how much actual stitching time goes into it. I have a tendency to sometimes have the tv on whilst I am stitching and pay more attention to the tv so a possible 2 hour stitching session might only have about 30 minutes of actual stitching in it. I am simply starting the clock when I begin stitching and stopping it for loo breaks or when I make a cuppa, and then keeping a log of it. I don't do this for every design, mind you as it would completely take the enjoyment out of it. I'll let you know what the final tally is - I think it'll shock me more than anything :-P
In other news, I have changed jobs and moved to a childcare centre a little closer to home. I'm really enjoying it, and an added bonus is that I now get an hour for my lunch break instead of half an hour. It makes it a longer day but it also gives me the opportunity to do somethign with that time. I was contemplating taking some stitching with me but instead I decided to use the time to read and leave my stitching until the evenings when I am at home. I have begun re-reading the Elm Creek novels by Jennifer Chiaverini. They are an easy read, and I just pretend that I am reading about a group of cross-stitchers rather than a group of quilters. I do the same thing with Kate Jacobs' knitting books. I seem to get such a sense of belonging within their groups that I almost feel like I am part of the book. It also makes me feel even more lucky to have the group of stitchy friends that I do.
Anyway, better wrap it up for one night, Little Miss has gone off for the first time ever (at home with me, at least) without her dummy so I'm going to make the most of it. Before I go though, I'd like to welcome my newest followers - I'm now up to the dizzy heights of 20! I hope I haven't bored any of you too much and thanks for reading my little blog. I'll try to keep it a little more updated so you actually have something to follow :D
Happy stitching!
And after the backstitch...
I finished it last month, after taking a humungous 11 months to stitch it. Considering Megan's took me only a month, I am pretty disappointed with that length of time. However, I am pleased with the end result. I'm very glad that I took out the border that would have been of a different colour as it would have spoilt the whole thing. I would've posted pictures earlier but I've been having issues with blogger :(
Anyway, I have now resumed stitching on a long forgotten UFO. My aim is to work through my UFO's one at a time until they are eliminated and then never have any ever again LOL
The piece I have picked up is called Birds of a Feather and is a design by Dimensions. Once finished it will look like this:
This is the last progress shot I have taken, but there has been more stitching since then ;-)
It is a design I am stitching for my dad, and he'll be visiting with my mum in February so I'm hoping to have it done or at least mostly done by the time they get here. Thankfully he doesn't know anything about it yet, as it was one Mum originally bought for him and was unable to stitch it herself. It's done on 18 count Aida and Mum's eyes weren't up to it (this was in the early days of her stitching, before she got her magnifier light. I agreed to stitch it in her place but I started it 8 years ago! It's just been one of those projects that has been put to one side to get other things done first and then I completely forgot about it... Oh well, it's back now and I'm quite enjoying working on it. The cream part of the border is only half stitch so it's coming along quite easily. I did get a little bored by the border though so I have started working on the central design. Gotta vary it up a little :-D This design is also one that I am timing. I am using a stopwatch, but I am not seeing how fast I can stitch (evidently, as it's been 8 years!). Some designs I just like to see how much actual stitching time goes into it. I have a tendency to sometimes have the tv on whilst I am stitching and pay more attention to the tv so a possible 2 hour stitching session might only have about 30 minutes of actual stitching in it. I am simply starting the clock when I begin stitching and stopping it for loo breaks or when I make a cuppa, and then keeping a log of it. I don't do this for every design, mind you as it would completely take the enjoyment out of it. I'll let you know what the final tally is - I think it'll shock me more than anything :-P
In other news, I have changed jobs and moved to a childcare centre a little closer to home. I'm really enjoying it, and an added bonus is that I now get an hour for my lunch break instead of half an hour. It makes it a longer day but it also gives me the opportunity to do somethign with that time. I was contemplating taking some stitching with me but instead I decided to use the time to read and leave my stitching until the evenings when I am at home. I have begun re-reading the Elm Creek novels by Jennifer Chiaverini. They are an easy read, and I just pretend that I am reading about a group of cross-stitchers rather than a group of quilters. I do the same thing with Kate Jacobs' knitting books. I seem to get such a sense of belonging within their groups that I almost feel like I am part of the book. It also makes me feel even more lucky to have the group of stitchy friends that I do.
Anyway, better wrap it up for one night, Little Miss has gone off for the first time ever (at home with me, at least) without her dummy so I'm going to make the most of it. Before I go though, I'd like to welcome my newest followers - I'm now up to the dizzy heights of 20! I hope I haven't bored any of you too much and thanks for reading my little blog. I'll try to keep it a little more updated so you actually have something to follow :D
Happy stitching!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Motivation
I've not really been very motivated to do any stitching for a while. I think the whole having-to-rip-half-my-work-out saga really put the kybosh on it for a while. That and a few issues at work and I really haven't been myself.
However, I have sorted things out at work now (to a point) and I finally got the motivation to pick up my stitching again at the weekend, when I had a stitchy meet with my lovely stitching friends (Belinda, Bek and Cassie). It was a fantastic few hours and as hubby was out watching the footie with his dad I had to take Little Miss with me. I was a bit dubious as to how it was going to go for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was right on her normal sleep time, which meant she was either going to sleep in the car and get grumpy, or she was going to get grumpy due to not having a sleep. Neither of those things happened and I ended up putting her to bed almost an hour early that night and she was straight to sleep! It did make her a bit more tired the next day though so she's not quite ready to come out of her daytime sleep yet :) The second reason was that she's never been around my stitchy stuff before (I've always made sure it was away before she got up so she didn't get attracted to the scissors or needles. Again, I needn't have worried - there were far too many toys to play with at Cassie's place for her to worry about what we were all doing. It was a great afternoon with lovely company, good conversation and of course some stitching!
So now, this is how far I have managed to get with Jack's sampler. Besides the backstitch, the border is complete so I only have to work on the inside picture. Hopefully it won't take too long now as I feel like I have been working on this one forever. I already have my next project lined up too - Ouroborus. It's a design of a dragon, stitched in purple and I'm doing it as a stitchalong with Bek. We got it at the same time and a good friend of ours (who used to be in the stitchy group before she upped and left us to move to Germany) sent us some lovely sparkly material which was just perfect to stitch him on. I would love to get back to stitching on him but won't pick it up again until I have finished Jack's sampler (or it'll never get finished!)
At our stitchy meet, we also floated the idea of going on a weekend away towards the middle of next year, as a kind of retreat. I'm pretty excited about the prospect and have already been looking on t'internet at places to stay. Three out of the four of us are mum's to young children (Little Miss is the oldest at just over 2 years) so we don't want to venture too far away in case we need to get back, but far enough to feel like we're having a complete break. There are a few places that look promising. It'll just be nice to get away from it all, have good company, lots of stitching time and hopefully lots of laughs. maybe even a stitchy shop or two!
I hope everyone else is going well with their stitching - I'm going to attempt some catching up on blog reading, but I may be some time!
Happy stitching xx
However, I have sorted things out at work now (to a point) and I finally got the motivation to pick up my stitching again at the weekend, when I had a stitchy meet with my lovely stitching friends (Belinda, Bek and Cassie). It was a fantastic few hours and as hubby was out watching the footie with his dad I had to take Little Miss with me. I was a bit dubious as to how it was going to go for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was right on her normal sleep time, which meant she was either going to sleep in the car and get grumpy, or she was going to get grumpy due to not having a sleep. Neither of those things happened and I ended up putting her to bed almost an hour early that night and she was straight to sleep! It did make her a bit more tired the next day though so she's not quite ready to come out of her daytime sleep yet :) The second reason was that she's never been around my stitchy stuff before (I've always made sure it was away before she got up so she didn't get attracted to the scissors or needles. Again, I needn't have worried - there were far too many toys to play with at Cassie's place for her to worry about what we were all doing. It was a great afternoon with lovely company, good conversation and of course some stitching!
So now, this is how far I have managed to get with Jack's sampler. Besides the backstitch, the border is complete so I only have to work on the inside picture. Hopefully it won't take too long now as I feel like I have been working on this one forever. I already have my next project lined up too - Ouroborus. It's a design of a dragon, stitched in purple and I'm doing it as a stitchalong with Bek. We got it at the same time and a good friend of ours (who used to be in the stitchy group before she upped and left us to move to Germany) sent us some lovely sparkly material which was just perfect to stitch him on. I would love to get back to stitching on him but won't pick it up again until I have finished Jack's sampler (or it'll never get finished!)
At our stitchy meet, we also floated the idea of going on a weekend away towards the middle of next year, as a kind of retreat. I'm pretty excited about the prospect and have already been looking on t'internet at places to stay. Three out of the four of us are mum's to young children (Little Miss is the oldest at just over 2 years) so we don't want to venture too far away in case we need to get back, but far enough to feel like we're having a complete break. There are a few places that look promising. It'll just be nice to get away from it all, have good company, lots of stitching time and hopefully lots of laughs. maybe even a stitchy shop or two!
I hope everyone else is going well with their stitching - I'm going to attempt some catching up on blog reading, but I may be some time!
Happy stitching xx
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The drought is almost over
It seems my bug may have begun to creep back - yay! It's been a long while since I've even wanted to stitch, and I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get back into it. "What am I going to do with all that stash?" was one of the things going through my mind... I think part of me stopping was that I had had a long run of stitching all the time, which tends to happen - I'll stitch heaps and then nothing at all. But this time I think it was also partly triggered by a mistake with the stitching. I was sooo frustrated that I just couldn't bring myself to pick it up and look at it again. The mistake wasn't my fault either, so that made it even more frustrating. I found that when I changed to the second skein of blue for the border, there was a change in the colour. I had bought all the thread at my LNS, but a few months apart and I went back there to get some more, hoping that it would match what I had already done. Unfortunately it seemed I had bought a rogue thread the first time so there was no getting around the fact that I had to rip out an entire skein's worth of border :( That meant I went from this:
to this:
(The stitching along the bottom is in the new thread)
Last week, I asked hubby if there was anything he wanted me to do on my day off (we each have a day where Little Miss is at day care and we have time at home whilst the other is at work. I usually give hubby a list of jobs to keep him busy as I do housework on my day). He told me that I should do nothing and have a break for a change. Who am I to resist that? It was the day before my birthday (when I would be working) and I'd just had a week at home with Little Miss due to the extra long weeknd with public holidays everywhere... I love her to bits, but I just needed some time out :) So, what was I to do with my free time? I spent part of it on the computer (paying bills then getting distracted) and part of it watching tv, and then a thought crossed my mind - maybe I should get some stitching out! So that's what I did and got a few lines accomplished. :D That evening, hubby suggested I could do some more if I wished. I got him to move my daylight lamp from the lounge into the sitting area in the dining room and away I went for a little bit. The light is able to be closer to me there so it makes for better stitching, and that might give me more incentive to keep going with it. :)
So now here we are, and a week later I am still doing odd bits on my stitching and it is adding up to some visible progress! I think I might also be in danger of enjoying it again :P This picture was taken under my daylight lamp at night so the colours may appear different to the other pictures.
I must say I am pretty pleased with my progress now - the sides of the border definitely grow faster than the top/bottom. And now I'll try and get some more stitching done before I get too distracted on the computer!
I noticed that I have a couple of new followers too - I'd like to say welcome and thanks for popping by. Thanks also to everyone else for reading, even though it's been a while between posts. I'll try and get around to catching up with your postings soon :)
Happy stitching!
to this:
(The stitching along the bottom is in the new thread)
Last week, I asked hubby if there was anything he wanted me to do on my day off (we each have a day where Little Miss is at day care and we have time at home whilst the other is at work. I usually give hubby a list of jobs to keep him busy as I do housework on my day). He told me that I should do nothing and have a break for a change. Who am I to resist that? It was the day before my birthday (when I would be working) and I'd just had a week at home with Little Miss due to the extra long weeknd with public holidays everywhere... I love her to bits, but I just needed some time out :) So, what was I to do with my free time? I spent part of it on the computer (paying bills then getting distracted) and part of it watching tv, and then a thought crossed my mind - maybe I should get some stitching out! So that's what I did and got a few lines accomplished. :D That evening, hubby suggested I could do some more if I wished. I got him to move my daylight lamp from the lounge into the sitting area in the dining room and away I went for a little bit. The light is able to be closer to me there so it makes for better stitching, and that might give me more incentive to keep going with it. :)
So now here we are, and a week later I am still doing odd bits on my stitching and it is adding up to some visible progress! I think I might also be in danger of enjoying it again :P This picture was taken under my daylight lamp at night so the colours may appear different to the other pictures.
I must say I am pretty pleased with my progress now - the sides of the border definitely grow faster than the top/bottom. And now I'll try and get some more stitching done before I get too distracted on the computer!
I noticed that I have a couple of new followers too - I'd like to say welcome and thanks for popping by. Thanks also to everyone else for reading, even though it's been a while between posts. I'll try and get around to catching up with your postings soon :)
Happy stitching!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
It's been a while...
... since I've posted or stitched. Some of you *might* have noticed! :P To be honest, not posting has been due to not stitching, and not stitching has been due to not posting - a vicious circle. :( However, I have now done a few stitches, and have been reminded by my good friend Belinda that it's high time I put up a post. So here I am :)
I have also been working 4 days a week at my new job for the past couple of months so I am trying to work out where during the week I can fit in all the things I used to take my time over (housework) as well as being able to spend some time with hubby and Little Miss. Then the stitching might get a thought, if I am not too tired from work! Hopefully soon I will adjust to the extra demand on my time and my body will become less tired whilst working a day week, as that is not going to change. I have found a job I love, at a small childcare centre (40 place) and even though it's a 20 minute drive when I'm not taking Little Miss to her day care - and an hour round trip to work when I am - I am not prepared to work somewhere closer that I might not like so much. So, I guess I'm stuck with long days for a while. I'm sure I'll "man up" soon and it'll all work out anyway. :) It's just lovely to be back in work, with some lovely girls, and enjoy some adult conversation. Don't get me wrong, I adore spending time with Little Miss, she's my world, but I was starting to go round the twist there for a while :P
Little Miss is doing well though. She's walking properly now, although a lot of the time she prefers to "walk" on her knees - I don't know how she does it, I'm sure it hurts... And the big one in the past couple of weeks is that she has started to spoon feed herself - YAY! For such a long time she totally refused the spoon but would finger feed herself no problem It only became an issue with Weetbix or yoghurt. Now she's becoming Little Miss Independent... Our little girl is growing up! :D
Stitching-wise, I am still working on Jack's sampler. Working on is a term that needs to be used very loosely though! Looking back at the last update I can see progress, so maybe it's not all that bad. I'm hoping to work on it maybe one or two nights a week if I can. That'll help it move along in no time. ;)
I've also decided that that this year, I would love to keep track of the books I read, in case I manage to get through more than two! So far, I have finished reading Nothing to Lose by Lee Child. It was one I started reading last year and it ended up getting put to one side. I love reading the Jack Reacher novels, but was less taken with this one than previous ones. It seemed a little more slow-going but maybe that was due to me picking up and putting down frequently rather than reading in a shorter space of time. Hope the next one is the Jack Reacher I know and love. :D I usually likje to intersperse his books with something a little gentler, so I am loving the fact that my good friend Belinda has lent me The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. I haven't got too far into it yet, but I already love it, and I just apply the relationships and love of knitting to that of stitching, much like I do with quilting and stitching when reading the Elm Creek novels. It's such a lovely warm feeling to know that you have a close group of friends who love the same thing you do.
Speaking of which, I went to Belinda's on Sunday for our regular stitchy meet and it was fab as always. We managed to do some stitching (which is always a bonus!) as well as munching on some lovely snacks and cooing over a 4 week old baby and being entertained by a 15 month old little girl discovering stairs, much to her mum's horror! :P The added plus was that Steph was there. Steph was part of our stitchy group a couple of years ago but had to leave to return home to the good ol' USA. We all really miss her, and it was like she had never been away. She's only in Australia for 3 weeks (and only 1 week in Melbourne) so it was lovely that she found time to meet up with us. We're trying to get her to come back for good too ;)
I noticed that I have a couple of new followers. I'd just like to say welcome to my blog. I hope you like what you see, and please feel free to comment any time. :) I'll try to update a bit more regularly too. And I will makemy way through reading all your blogs as soon as I can. If you have got to the end of this without losing the will to live, I do believe you deserve a medal (or at the very least, a cup of tea!)
Happy stitching everyone!
I have also been working 4 days a week at my new job for the past couple of months so I am trying to work out where during the week I can fit in all the things I used to take my time over (housework) as well as being able to spend some time with hubby and Little Miss. Then the stitching might get a thought, if I am not too tired from work! Hopefully soon I will adjust to the extra demand on my time and my body will become less tired whilst working a day week, as that is not going to change. I have found a job I love, at a small childcare centre (40 place) and even though it's a 20 minute drive when I'm not taking Little Miss to her day care - and an hour round trip to work when I am - I am not prepared to work somewhere closer that I might not like so much. So, I guess I'm stuck with long days for a while. I'm sure I'll "man up" soon and it'll all work out anyway. :) It's just lovely to be back in work, with some lovely girls, and enjoy some adult conversation. Don't get me wrong, I adore spending time with Little Miss, she's my world, but I was starting to go round the twist there for a while :P
Little Miss is doing well though. She's walking properly now, although a lot of the time she prefers to "walk" on her knees - I don't know how she does it, I'm sure it hurts... And the big one in the past couple of weeks is that she has started to spoon feed herself - YAY! For such a long time she totally refused the spoon but would finger feed herself no problem It only became an issue with Weetbix or yoghurt. Now she's becoming Little Miss Independent... Our little girl is growing up! :D
Stitching-wise, I am still working on Jack's sampler. Working on is a term that needs to be used very loosely though! Looking back at the last update I can see progress, so maybe it's not all that bad. I'm hoping to work on it maybe one or two nights a week if I can. That'll help it move along in no time. ;)
I've also decided that that this year, I would love to keep track of the books I read, in case I manage to get through more than two! So far, I have finished reading Nothing to Lose by Lee Child. It was one I started reading last year and it ended up getting put to one side. I love reading the Jack Reacher novels, but was less taken with this one than previous ones. It seemed a little more slow-going but maybe that was due to me picking up and putting down frequently rather than reading in a shorter space of time. Hope the next one is the Jack Reacher I know and love. :D I usually likje to intersperse his books with something a little gentler, so I am loving the fact that my good friend Belinda has lent me The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. I haven't got too far into it yet, but I already love it, and I just apply the relationships and love of knitting to that of stitching, much like I do with quilting and stitching when reading the Elm Creek novels. It's such a lovely warm feeling to know that you have a close group of friends who love the same thing you do.
Speaking of which, I went to Belinda's on Sunday for our regular stitchy meet and it was fab as always. We managed to do some stitching (which is always a bonus!) as well as munching on some lovely snacks and cooing over a 4 week old baby and being entertained by a 15 month old little girl discovering stairs, much to her mum's horror! :P The added plus was that Steph was there. Steph was part of our stitchy group a couple of years ago but had to leave to return home to the good ol' USA. We all really miss her, and it was like she had never been away. She's only in Australia for 3 weeks (and only 1 week in Melbourne) so it was lovely that she found time to meet up with us. We're trying to get her to come back for good too ;)
I noticed that I have a couple of new followers. I'd just like to say welcome to my blog. I hope you like what you see, and please feel free to comment any time. :) I'll try to update a bit more regularly too. And I will makemy way through reading all your blogs as soon as I can. If you have got to the end of this without losing the will to live, I do believe you deserve a medal (or at the very least, a cup of tea!)
Happy stitching everyone!
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