Category Archives: In Progress

My Mermaid, She Grows

Posted on July 14, 2005 | 1 comment

mdwfs04
You have no idea what I had to go through to bring you this simple image. I quite forgot that my laptop was recently rejiggered, and was therefore missing all crucial software. Dagnammit. Anyway, feast your eyes. As usual, image links to a closer look. (Hmmm… gotta tweak my javascript that does that though – the windows aren’t opening up exactly as they should…)

Have sorted out the beads to my liking. The best pale blue delica I could find in my stash is still a little bit too close to the fabric colour, but the better size means they don’t disappear quite so much. The substitute I have for the cool darker peacock-blue beads is not quite as nice, but should still work really well. Now I just have to hope I have enough beads! A-beading-I-will-go…

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, In Progress

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Can’t Talk – Stitching

Posted on July 13, 2005 | Comments Off on Can’t Talk – Stitching

So I know you’re all on the edge of your seats waiting for that picture I promised! But to tell the truth, that ‘little bit of braid’ I had to stitch was almost the whole darn lot of the emerald #4 braid. I decided to wait until I’d finished it to get a picture, and, well, it took a whole darn lot of time. I don’t normally have an issue with stitching braid, but I’ve never stitched so much at one time (except on Celtic Christmas, where I used Petite Treasure Braid, which is a dream compared with Kreinik). Thank goodness for Thread Heaven and my needle threader, or I would have cursed more than I did! Anyway, the braid is finished now, but I’m too tired to get a picture, and besides, it will look better taken in daylight. So you’ll just have to wait some more… meanwhile, you can go check out Mindy’s HD of the same design, if you like 🙂

Oh, I also started the beading – I attached 30 or so beads before I decided they’re all coming off and being substituted. The petites are too small on my 28 count fabric, and in addition, the pale blue beads totally disappear on the colour. I’ve got a sizeable Delica stash, so I’m going to have a dig in that, and hopefully come up with some substitutes tomorrow, and begin beading in earnest. Fingers crossed I can still get this finished before next Thursday (back-to-uni).

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, In Progress

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Good Riddance to SeC

Posted on June 12, 2005 | Comments Off on Good Riddance to SeC

Exam number one went better than could be expected, considering my lack of motivation to study for this one. I expect around 80-85 overall for the unit… better than I expected, but sadly a bit of a blemish on my overall program results (I would have been in raptures with an 80 in my undergraduate degree – I was far less conscientious back then :giggle: ). It’s a public holiday here tomorrow, so OtherHalf is home. I’m planning to head off to the library for a while to start reading up for exam number two.

But tonight, way hey, I’ve stitched! I think my goal of finishing WFS during my month off school is achievable, I really do. Last weekend I managed to sneak enough stitching around my exam revision (told you I wasn’t motivated 🙁 ) to finish off her arms, and tonight I’ve stitched her face and neck. I toned down the “Adam’s apple” she seems to have. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t like this design at first. Added to the fact she has a fairly prominent chin, I felt it made her quite masculine. Come to think of it, she’s fairly flat chested as well. Hmmm… perhaps she’s a merman in drag?! Well, you’ve got to admit, it would explain that rather lurid shade of pink lipstick 😉 !

I’m teasing. Really, she’s very attractive. And now, with a smoother neckline (I didn’t alter the chin), I’m really glad I’m stitching her. The only thing bugging me now is that I’ve left all the beads for last, even though I swore I wouldn’t do that again after Celtic Christmas. I’m considering an alternative to YLI Invisible thread for stitching the beads on this time… I hate wrangling that stuff. I know some stitchers use blending filament, which is a bit more visible, and it gives a nice extra sparkle too. Perhaps I’ll try that.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, In Progress, Postgrad Study

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Spring Dragon

Posted on June 5, 2005 | 1 comment

PAllison_Spring_2

Another WIP to show off. This is Spring Dragon, by Patricia Allison (image links to larger pic). I bought this design in October 2003, not long after my birthday. I hadn’t really discovered online fabric sources at that stage, and fabric options in Australia are much more limited. Finally, I found a nice piece of Quaker cloth (now my favourite fabric) in Rue Green which looked right, and started stitching on December 11th. I stitched most of what you see here in a few weeks (there is actually a little more done than this). Then I stopped.

I don’t know why exactly, and I certainly don’t count this as a UFO. I think what happened is I grew tired of never having anything finished, and decided to spend 2004 finishing small items (mostly Christmas ornaments). Since then, I’ve also managed to start a bunch of other large designs, and somehow, Spring Dragon always gets pushed to the end of the line. Could be something to do with that high lustre blending filament – yuck! My love for this design was recently rekindled, when I found Patricia Allison’s blog, where she is documenting the transformation of this design into a detailed drawing. Just beautiful :love: So expect to see some more progress on this once this semester’s exams are over (June 20, la la la!)

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, In Progress

Yes, this is a stitching blog!

Posted on May 31, 2005 | 6 comments

And to prove it, here’s a glimpse of my current favourite WIP… which is somewhat like a parent saying they have a favourite child (although in my case, the latter would be less contentious 🙂 ) At any rate, this lovely, albeit headless, mermaid is Mirabilia’s “Waiting For Ships”. No beads attached yet, but I’m nearing the end of the regular stitching. Part of the reason she is so special to me is because she is the first piece I’ve stitched on one of my own hand-dyes. Also, I think she goes very nicely with the Ocadia blog theme I’m currently featuring 🙂 Image links to a closer look.
mdwfs03

And just in case you thought I was done singing the praises of WordPress… wrong 😆 This post illustrates the use of categories. Categories filter the posts by topic. Select the Stitching category to see only stitching-related chatter. Further, select the Works in progress, or Finished sub-categories, to see only those posts. (Though there are no HD’s yet – perhaps I’ll post some retrospective finishes in the near future).

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Posted in Blog Blather, Counted Stitchwork, In Progress

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