A New Start

The first installment of the Just Cross Stitch '06 Ornament RR arrived in the mail today. So what did I do tonight? I started it! The first selection is Jeannette Douglass's Hope Needleroll Ornament. I've got the first two sections completed.

I also worked on Noah's Sub at lunchtime today.

Castle and Sub Progress

I'm being bad at blogging again. Honestly, I have a good excuse, I've been staying offline to get in stitching time! Its just so tempting sometimes to spend a couple of hours surfing the net.

This week I decided to start taking Noah's Sub with me to work. I've been getting in about 30 minutes each day at lunch, and it really shows in my progress picture!

Friday night through this evening I've been working on The Castle. I've almost finished all the rocks on the current page!

HD #4 For 2007

Tonight I didn't want to give myself anything to work on that I really had to focus on or strain my eyes. I've had a rough day with my head. The headache I had by 10am today turned into a migraine with the nausea that sometimes go with it. I had hoped to go to TKD to train tonight, but the last time I did that with a migraine was not good for the person I was partnered up with. My perceptions were slightly off and well I kept hitting the poor teen.

So I pulled out First Snow and I've just finished it off. I made some fibre changes from the original pattern. I used a bigger fabric, 28 count. When I had the recommended WDW threads I used them but if I didn't I substituted with either DMC or some of the GAST "Loose Threads" I have. Also instead of the snowflakes being smyrna crosses I used Mill Hill Beads.

This isn't the best picture but its too late at night to try to do better.

First Snow
c2003 C.Z. Zittel - The Drawn Thread
28ct Summer Sky Lugana
Various Fibers

Progress Pictures

Well despite various TKD things I had to go to on both Saturday and Sunday I was quite industrious and stitched.

So right to business... here's progress on The Castle

Progress on Noah's Sub

Bad Blogger... Again

Can't you tell that life is back into the full swing of things again? LOL I'm not blogging! It was a very long and tiring week for me, I barely stitched! I did get in a few thread lengths on Noah' Sub when I had the energy. Last night I also started a freebie, as I do like to try to stitch one each month.

This month I picked First Snow by The Drawn Thread. I chose it in hopes that it could be another ornament for this year. However with the fabric I chose out of my scraps bag, the count is too big so it won't be an ornament. Perhaps I'll finish it as a flat fold to put it on display during the winter on my counter at work.

Today I have a tournament planning meeting at TKD, and once that's done the rest of my day and evening will be free to work on The Castle SAL!

Oh yeah, I also never got around to posting last Sunday's progress on Tour Des Marques! I actually finished page one!

HD #3 & Castle Progress

I know, I'm bad not posting for several days again! I have to admit I've been spending a lot of my time surfing the net on info for my San Diego/Yuma trip! I'm still very excited about it. I only have one thing left to do, and that's choose a hotel... which I'm having a hard time doing as a lot of the ones in the price range I'd like to pay have a lot of negative comments on Expedia. Should I really be worried about reviews I really won't be spending time in the room besides sleeping!

On Saturday I finished my first ornament for the year, which is finish #3 for 2007. I'm giving myself a little challenge, seeing how many items I can finish before I break down and buy new stash. Now I do have two conditions on my little project challenge. First of all I'm allowed to buy stuff to work on projects I already have, be it fabric, fibres, beads, etc. Also when I do go away in March, any stash bought on my trip doesn't count! Whenever I travel I always try to hit needlework/craft shops in the area.

Charmed Santa Faces

MHCSF14 - Father Christmas

c1999 Mill Hill

Stitched on : perforated paper using DMC cotton floss, Mill Hill Beads & Charm

Of course, yesterday being Saturday also meant it was time for The Castle SAL! Boy do I wish this was my focus project (but I am determined to finish Noah's Sub before the summer!). It stitches up so smoothly so far and I'm really enjoying it. Here's my progress from January 13th.


Today I'm going to work on Tour Des Marques for a few hours. I'm finding now that I'm back to work I'm not accomplishing as much on it during an evening... and well even with my Ott Lite, over one at night is not the easiest. After I get sick of over one I'll switch over to Noah's Sub. I also need to pick a new travel project, most likely a freebie since I finished that Mill Hill Santa.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today its my Mum's birthday! I was a good girl and called and wished Mum a Happy B-day from work... and I pretty much invited myself over for dinner. Mum was making roast chicken with all the fixings... my goodness it was awesome!

Before going to Mum's ... I booked my flight for my March Break trip! Wow for the first time I'm going to the West Coast! I'll be in San Diego for two nights and in Yuma, AZ. for the rest of my visit. I'm still looking for somewhere to stay in San Diego. Its a challenge when you're not familiar with a city. I'd like somewhere near the tourist areas so that I can either walk or take public transport. Also my time is limited so I'll have to carefully plan what I want/must see.

Any needlework shops?

I didn't stitch at all today, I've been surfing the net for San Diego info since I got home!

Round Robin Finish

I bet after my regular blogging over the Christmas holidays you were probably thinking that I dropped off of the Blogging Planet. Well I honestly didn't mean to, but back to the real world (work) can be a little busy. Actually my main problem has been headaches and migraines. I've been swinging between the two since Monday.

Monday's headache turned into a migraine, so needless to say nothing really happened in terms of progress. I tried to work on Tour Des Marques but that was a futile attempt.

Last night (Tuesday) I got together for dinner with my friend Kathy (who I met through stitching friends), she was in town. Also it was a great way to fill my time between work and my Guild Executive meeting last night. Unfortunately our time together wasn't long enough (it never is with good friends you don't see often enough). I won't be seeing Kathy again for 3-4 months unless I go down to Arizona for March Break. Incredibly tempting I tell you, I've never been to the Southwest. Needless to say stitching didn't really happen.

Tonight after teaching at TKD I had some stitching time! Yay! Also despite having a headache during the day at work and my eyes burning, also a few hives. By the time I got home I even felt well enough to stitch! Soooo... I finished Misty's Sweetheart Tree Round Robin!

Summer Sunflowers heart

c1996 Snadra Cox Vanosdall/Sweetheart Tree

Stitched on : Waterfall 28ct Jubilee by Silkweavers using DMC, NN, Kreinik, MH Beads

So, that's finish #2 for the year. My next finish will probably be a Mill Hill Ornament I'm working on.

Round Robin Progress

Today I started and worked on the next round of the Sweetheart Tree Round Robin. The piece I'm working on belongs to a good friend of mine, Misty. In this round she has provided charts, a layout and specialty fibres (gosh you ladies are making me feel cheap... I just sent out fabric no charts no fibres, but then it wasn't a rule that we provide them either), and a layout. So out of what was left I selected Summer Sunflowers Heart... as I LOVE sunflowers.

Funny I didn't get a lot done visually. Those flowers took quite awhile (and quite a few shades) and so did the backstitch. I also had to go lie down at one point today with a nasty headache.

Here's what I got done today.

I'm back to the real world tomorrow.... work. On the upsdie tomorrow is the Tour Des Marques SAL.

Castle SAL progress!

I can't believe I forgot to do this, this morning when I posted my photo over at Needle and Thread!!! So here it is... I lost about three hours of stitching time when I was called to a last minute meeting for organizing the Friendship Tournament we'll be putting on at Taekwon-Do in March. I'm in charge of the obstacle course competition for the 4-6 year olds.

Now That's Progress!

I've done almost nothing but stitch all day Friday (since its now early Saturday) on Noah's Sub. I've completed a major section of the page I was working on, the lower half of the submarine! I'm not sure how soon I'll be picking the Sub back up again. Saturday is the Castle SAL and I'm looking forward to working on that after some sleep! Sunday I'm going to start the next round in the Sweetheart Tree Round Robin that arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. I'm looking forward to working on this one, its for my dear friend Misty!

A Special Thank You

I just wanted to say a very public thank you to a dear online friend of mine... she goes by the name of Moosie.

Moosie, you know what you've done and its something I hope that someday you'll allow me to pay you back for someday in some form... you only have to ask.

There are some really nice people out there in the world who will give you a helping hand and not ask for anything in return, no matter how often you offer. Moosie is one of those people, it seems to be a trait often found in stitchers.

Thanks a bunch Moosie!

Well yesterday I didn't get in as much stitching as I had thought I would the last time I blogged. I had kinda forgotten (but not really) that I had to go downtown to pick up poor Christin from the dentist, she was in rough shape afterwards. Since I was in town I decided to do my grocery run, instead of doing it today.

The morning I decided to spend updating my website. I've not got all my 2006 finishes catalogued and started a 2007 page. I also updated my WIPs... it had been too long since I had done that.

I did work a little on Noah's Sub last night, but not enough really worth sharing a scan since its a huge piece. Today, once I'm done online I'll pull the sub back out and hopefully make good progress.

I am looking forward to Saturday... Castle SAL day!!!

Photo : Hunter sleeping.

Answering A Question From The Comments

I received this question yesterday from Sue :

How many other WIP's do you have going?

If I think about it I have a total of 4 WIP's. Noah's Sub, Tour Des Marques, The Castle, and one Mill Hill ornament.

Cuddles doing what he does best.

The Sub Has Come Up For Air!

Finally I ran out of excuses and got Noah's Sub back out of dry dock today. I didn't get in a full day's stitching as my Mum wanted to take me out for lunch while I was off work... something we don't get to do often. Which turned into a shopping trip. I probably spent more than I should of but I got a Calvary jacket... been wanting one for months, two pairs of slacks for work, a blouse and a great deal on a wool coat! Oh yeah and a new purse... real leather to replace my very old pleather one!

So I did manage to put in a few hours on the Sub and here's Wednesday's progress.

Tomorrow there's no obligations anywhere so hopefully lots of stitching and I may attempt one of the designs in my new chain book I got at Christmas.

Tour Des Marques Progress

Ahhh a day at home! I put in quite a few hours (probably too many according to the headache I had earlier) on Tour Des Marques! I did finally have to give in my eyes just couldn't do THAT many hours of over one (I think I stitched for about 6-7 hours on it today).

To go easy on my eyes I started a Mill Hill ornament today on perforated paper. Oooh that seems so simple after stitching over one on 28ct all day!

So now I will tuck Tour away until Monday.

Happy New Year = Castle SAL!!

New Year's Eve I hopped into my car (again) and this time went the opposite direction on the 401 to Cornwall. For the last few years Chrisanne and I have gotten together for stitching in the New Year! To me its the perfect way to start a New Year, a little stitching with a friend. Some of you may ask... but what about Todd? Well we've been together a long time (too long some would say not to be married), and there have been too many New Year's Eves where I've been sitting up by myself because he's sound asleep. I asked Todd to call me at midnight if he was awake... my cell never rang... as usual he slept in the New Year. So that's the "so what about Todd".

I started out my evening with Moon Dragon by Dragon Dreams. I was really hoping to squeak in one last Happy Dance before the New Year but alas at midnight the backstitching wasn't finished. So I put the wee dragon away and pulled out the big dragon, Teresa Wentzler's The Castle! It was officially New Year's Day so I wanted to start! I probably shouldn't have, it felt like my eyelids were sticking to my eyeballs. This morning, I ended up ripping out what I had put in. In the daylight I could see that the horizon of the piece would not line up with the colour change in my fabric. So for my second start I stitched the mountains/hills in the background first so they would sit on the colour change. Here is my progress after New Year's Day.

Before I really put in any time on The Castle today (oops I should say yesterday, its after midnight), I decided to finish up Moon Dragon! As usual the backstitching took longer than I thought, I had a couple more hours to put in on it. However I get to celebrate my first Happy Dance of the year on New Year's Day! I'm pleased with how Moon Dragon turned out and she looks great on the natural linen (that I stole from my Mirabilia Christmas Fairy kit). I'll be putting Teresa Wentzler's Sun Dragon on the same fabric sometime in the future.

Moon Dragon

c2006 Dragon Dreams - 2006 Fall Creativ Festival Progressive Workshop Bonus Design

32ct Natural Linen using DMC cotton and Kreinik #4 Braid