Category Archives: Counted Stitchwork

My Blog Should Be Purple

Posted on September 22, 2005 | Comments Off on My Blog Should Be Purple

According to Blogthings. Just in case you were wondering 🙂

And…

“You’re an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you’re the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you – not what anyone else has to say.”

Well damn straight. Who else is it going to be about?!

Don’t know about that setting blogging trends bit though. It took me until 2005 to even start this thing, so I’d say I’m pretty far behind in trendset-iness.

I’m not really interested in making my blog purple, so nyah, Blogthings. I have many ideas running through my head for my perpetually delayed template re-jig, not one of them is purple.

Dum de dum…

This post is rather full of good nothing-ness, isn’t it? I need more nothing-ness in my life. I would rather be stitching, but in the 10 minutes I’m taking a study break for, I would get next to nothing done, and would want to stitch for the next 2 hours, instead of slaving away on a Web Databases assignment.

Speaking of stitching, I received goodies yesterday! So happy – Laura sent me a wonderful chart, (which Finn promptly decided I should start stitching for him, but since he deleted a vital chunk of my Usability Engineering assignment on Tuesday, he’s not in line to be demanding anything of the sort :grr: ). Sorry, I digress. It’s Unicorn, by Peter Underhill. Finn does have a point, it would be pretty funky for a boy’s bedroom 😆 Then Mum arrived, and forced new fabric on me! A beautiful bluey-purpley solo from Silkweaver – and a huge piece, too. I’m envisioning a Mirabilia Fairy on it. Can’t wait to stitch again.

Before I disappear, here’s the 5 second update on the Grrr things in my life (in case you care):

    ~ Auto-pinging: I think not working. Let’s see how it goes this time. Will manually ping if necessary. Update: nope, it IS working. Yippee!
    ~ Car: fully repaired as of today – ask me again on Sunday! 😛
    ~ Washing Machine: not working, but problem finally diagnosed.
    ~ Washing Machine Company: won’t replace, will repair.
    ~ Stupid motorist who hit my car and denied it: Hmmm, I actually don’t know. Must find out what’s going on with that. I’m kind of curious to know what story she’s going to come up with :giggle:

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Posted in Blog Blather, Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings, Postgrad Study

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On The Upswing

Posted on September 9, 2005 | 4 comments

Didn’t I tell you I’d post an all GoodThings post someday soon? Well, things are not quite all good, but are definitely back on the upswing.

The washing machine finally stayed dead long enough for TheGuy to see what was wrong, and hoo-boy was it nasty. The control board had burned out badly enough to have charcoal on it! I don’t want to know what one of those things costs, I’m just super glad the machine was still under warranty.

The car is fully repaired and happy to be home again. The liability issue is ongoing. Let’s not talk about that :giggle:

Then, good things arrived in my mailbox on Tuesday and Wednesday. First, official notice of unconditional approval on our home loan application. There had been some delay in that, for reasons beyond our control. Second, a lovely stitched piece by Annette arrived. This was the final mailing in the seasonal exchange we took part in last year, and I just love it, it’s a great design. And thirdly…stash! For me! New Stash! I’m sure you can tell how happy I was about that – I bounced around the room for a good half an hour :giggle: Kati from The Wagon sent me these great Paw Printings charts which have been on my wishlist for a good long while:

rak

I think I have enough black perle cotton in my stash to stitch the ornament on the Onyx chart, and suitable substitute beads, so after I finish my red piece, I might treat myself to a new start. I can do that right? It’s only small, after all…!

Thanks Annette and Kati. It’s so nice to share a hobby with such a great bunch of people. Kati’s gift was a RAK (Random Act of Kindness), which have just been introduced on The Wagon. I RAK’d someone this week too, but shhh, it’s a secret!

Oh, and the final GoodThing I have to report? I’m not going to turn this into a weight loss journal. But. I’ve lost 5.5kg in the last 6 weeks. Happy Dance!

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings

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Of Zen, and Frogs, and Dingoes

Posted on September 2, 2005 | Comments Off on Of Zen, and Frogs, and Dingoes

The washing machine picked itself up off the floor and behaved like a perfect angel when TheGuy came. I gritted my teeth, and of course after he had left, it blew me a raspberry and resumed its former position on the matter. Grrr. There’s a laundromat around the corner where I expect to be spending some time studying over the next week or however long.

After last night’s post, I decided I needed more Zen in my life. Went looking for something I just knew would be on the www. Yes, you too can play with your very own Zen garden. I taught Finn how to do it, he had a ball :giggle:

So I stitched a bit more while he had fun on that this morning. Sadly, while stitching in monochrome is somewhat easier, and almost meditative itself, it is not exempt from the froggies. Three separate frogs visited me in a short space of time, so I put it down for the rest of today. I think I’m about 25% done in these few days though, so it shouldn’t be too long before another happy dance.

That covers the Zen and Frogs of my title, but what about the Dingoes, you may ask? Well, since TheGuy got in and out before our regularly scheduled story time at the library, we were able to make it there after all. And… who knew… it’s the 21st birthday of Wombat Stew today: Happy Birthday WS! Total coincidence that we were at the library for the 11am National Simultaneous Storytime. I love this book, we have it at home, and Finn thinks my singing voice is hilarious as I emulate the dopey dingo and his “Wombat Stew, Wombat Stew – Gooey, Chewy, Crunchy, Munchy, Wombat Stew”. And of course, I’m not one to give away endings, but let me tell you that the Wombat comes to no harm in the end!

So that was my Friday. Sadly, tomorrow is Saturday. While for some (OtherHalf, Finn) that means sleeping in, indulgent breakfast at home, and pottering about the house and garden, for me it means 4, maybe more, hours at uni. Blech! Looking forward to Sunday.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings, In Progress

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A Spring Shower

Posted on September 1, 2005 | Comments Off on A Spring Shower

Well, the stitching drought may not have completely broken, but there has been the equivalent of a light shower’s worth of stitching in this house over the last three days. There was linen, and there was silk (red), and for a little while, all the NotGood things in my life receded into the background. Stitching is Good, and I should never not do it again!

The NotGood things in my life at the moment are mostly some variation on crap customer service. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s me. In the last week, or thereabouts, I’ve had NotGood interactions with our bank, our insurance company, one of my tutors, and the girl at the copy centre. Oh, and our washing machine decided to die a horrible (and stinky) death. What’s going on? It must be me. I must be giving off “piss-me-off-today-coz-I’ve-got-nothing-better-to-do” vibes! Or perhaps it’s a full moon*. Whatever it is, I wish it would just go away :grr:

So I will continue putting a few stitches into my new (top secret) project each day, keeping the NotGood things at bay. And hopefully sometime soon I’ll be able to make an entirely GoodThings post 🙂 Meanwhile, think good washing machine thoughts, coz TheGuy comes tomorrow, and I’m really hoping this death thing is just temporary!

*Nope, nuh-uh, not a full moon. Therefore it’s the vibes. QED.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings, In Progress

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Sulking

Posted on August 23, 2005 | Comments Off on Sulking

One hundred and thirty one days until I can buy stash again, announces my sidebar cheerfully. And I pout, and grumble some more 😥 Everyone who is anyone on the stitching BBs has just returned from Nashville CATS (= big stitching show in the US) bearing mountains of new stash. And I want some.

This always happens when I’m not stitching. Pre-Wagon, I would indulge my slump-induced desire for new stash and shop all my favourite ONSs until my credit card begged for mercy. Well, perhaps I exaggerate just a wee bit, but that’s the general idea. Nowadays, however, my blog tells me I cannot, and the serious size of the mortgage we are about to become intimate with tells me I cannot. So my clicky-finger is itching, and I just can’t take reading about the Nashville stash-orgy any more, dagnammit!

I really need to be stitching again, and I’ll get over the yearning to shop. But I’m not stitching, because if I do, I’ll get the guilts because I should be studying. But I’m not studying either, because… well, there is no because. Simply that I am the World’s Best Procrastinator. Aaargh!

I’m also very antsy and impatient to settle on our house, so that it all starts feeling a little more tangible and a lot less like a dream. I want to paint walls… and tear down a different wall… and plant vegetables… and hang out in my own backyard watching Finn ride his trike…

Off to put our settlement date into my sidebar countdown, to distract myself from the not-allowed-to-shop situation. I so deserve to win the Queen of the Wagon challenge, with all the pain this is causing me!

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings

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Good Things, Bad Things

Posted on August 6, 2005 | 2 comments

Good Thing: Lending Manager has approved our request to borrow more $$$ 🙂
Bad Thing: Bit scary, that! :blank:

Good Thing: There are 4 or 5 houses on the market in our desired area which may be in our price range 🙂
Bad Thing: One of which sold at auction today for more than we expected 🙁

Good Thing: Played in my stash the other day, found a design to stitch for the Red Exchange 🙂
Bad Thing: Still no actual desire to stitch, no time either 🙁

Good Thing: Have formed a group with 3 other apparently competent people for major assignment in Web Database Applications 🙂
Bad Thing: We all got stuck in an elevator at uni together 😮

Good Thing: Got to see the wee babe again today, and a cuddle too 🙂
Bad Thing: Fatherinlaw is in hospital awaiting eye surgery after a construction incident 😥

It’s been quite the few days. Not feeling particularly chatty right now.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, Family, General Ramblings

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Break Out The Bubbly

Posted on August 3, 2005 | 3 comments

I’m an Aunt! Well, by marriage, anyway, but it’s just as good. OtherHalf’s first nephew was born late last night. Finn’s first cousin on any side of the family, young Aidan reluctantly made his appearance after a torturous list of obstetrical interventions (his mum is looking astonishingly well and active, doesn’t resemble at all the medicated zombie I was for 36 hours after my own caesarian). He’s a lovely baby, with his dad’s nose and his mum’s lips – no eyes to be seen, he was a tired little tacker this evening. I finished off this tonight before we went to visit – with name and birthdate below the house, it looks lovely. I have tentatively picked out a mount colour and some frame moulding, and I’ll be framing it sometime next week, if all goes according to plan.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, Family, Finished

Grumpy McSlumpy

Posted on August 1, 2005 | 2 comments

I’ve been in somewhat of a stitching funk since finishing WFS. In fact, to be honest, I haven’t placed a single stitch in anything! For almost a week now! It’s getting kind of depressing:sad:. The main problem is, I can’t seem to decide what I feel like stitching, at all. I really want to start another Mirabilia, but not any of the ones I have kitted up right now! Being on the wagon means I can’t kit another. But a little birdie told me I may be getting one for my birthday (ok, ok, it’s Enchanted Mermaid, from my wonderful mum!) and I think I would like to stitch that, so I thought instead that I should work on the WIPs I have. No inspiration there though. Everything seems too difficult to work on for short periods of time, which is really all I have during semester, especially now that Finn is no longer sleeping in the afternoons (and to that can I just say… aaaaaaargh! :yell: ) So instead, I thought perhaps a small piece, like Blackberry Jam which I started not long ago. But no, it isn’t itching my stitching fingers either, so I’m just grumpy and slumpy!

But… never fear – this story may yet have a happy ending. I have, in the last few days, joined the Stitching Bloggers Exchange BB, and signed up for two of the exchanges. I will have to stitch from my stash, but I think that will be possible in both cases, and they will both be quite small projects. I’m quite excited about the prospect now, and off to rummage in my stash tonight 😆 Hopefully it will be enough to break the drought, and with any luck, I might just get inspired by one of my WIPs in the process.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork

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Cha Cha Cha

Posted on July 27, 2005 | 10 comments

mdwfsfn

At last! 😆 The curse of the Winter Queen is broken, and I have finished a Mirabilia design, almost 8 years after buying my first two charts. Finn was pretty insistent I finish it this morning, which was nice. I discovered he had ulterior motives though. As soon as the last bead was in, he decided I had to do ‘a yellow mermaid’ next :yuk: lol. Think I’ll distract him with his Noah’s Journey piece instead.

I’m pretty chuffed with this achievement. Not only is it my first finished Mirabila, but my first finished piece on my own hand-dyed fabric. I couldn’t get the sparkly picture I promised (how hard is sparkle to photograph?!), but hopefully the tweaking I did brings out the colours reasonably well, although the fabric has quite subtle patterning, and is also tricky to photograph well. Rest assured, she looks wonderful, and I will hopefully go in and choose some framing materials early next week. In the meanwhile, I’m just going to continue cha-cha-chaing around the room :giggle:

10 Comments

Posted in Counted Stitchwork, Finished

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So Close, Yet…

Posted on July 25, 2005 | 1 comment

Aaaargh, beading! I reneged on my decision not to use the invisible YLI thread again, which is not helping. You may notice I didn’t achieve my goal of finishing WFS in my school break – I returned on this Thursday just gone, to acquaint myself with my new units, Usability Engineering and Web Database Applications. (The latter requires a large group assignment, to which I say :yuk:, but otherwise it should be a more pleasant semester than last.)

But back to WFS – a HD is definitely nigh. By the end of the week, all things being equal (read: “if I ignore studying for the rest of the week” :giggle: ). I finished all of the beading on the top half tonight, and some of the tail fin is already done. I must say, despite my frustration with it, the beading on this is a lot more enjoyable than that on Celtic Christmas, which just got plain tedious after a while.

Really, really glad I switched out the Mill Hill beads for delicas, they look great. They have a squarish profile compared to the rounder MH beads, but I prefer to stitch them at an angle, which gives them the illusion of being curvier – it works for the strings of ‘pearls’, anyway.

After I finished tonight’s effort, I sat Her Gorgeousness in the light for a while and just gazed upon her glory. I really can’t wait to show her off… I’m going to have to try and get some photos that show off the sparklies.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, In Progress

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