Tag Archives: cross-stitch

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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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:

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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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Who Me, Obsessed?

Posted on July 22, 2005 | 2 comments

This could be one of those “You know you’re addicted to stitching when…” kind of funny blogthings*. It isn’t. Firstly because I can only think of 3 things, and secondly because they’re not actually terribly funny (not that the blogthings are, mind you). But I just wanted to mention how stitching-distracted I seem to have become. Observe:

Item 1 – Occasionally I drive to pick OtherHalf up from work (or take him there). On the way is a house with a lovely set of black ironwork gates. Whenever I see them I am immediately taken with how lovely they would look done in blackwork (I don’t even do blackwork btw), or perhaps worked into one of Martina’s large Mandala Garden designs.

Item 2 – A few streets away from our home is a large warehouse with “Truswell Imports”. I have no idea what they import, but I am always immediately reminded of Summer Truswell, of Truswell Needlework Design.

Item 3 – On one of my many different routes home from uni, there is a tennis shop. The logo for this particular store kind of looks like a tennis ball cropped to be a square. Can’t envisage what I mean? Well, it looks exactly like the negative space between the knots in the border of TWs The Storyteller :giggle:

So… are there totally unrelated objects you come across in your day-to-day life that make you think of stitching? Or is it really just me?!

*As a total aside, this “You Know You’re From Australia When…” is 90% completely irrelevant to me and at least 50% seriously offensive. I do, however, say “no worries” quite a bit… enough in fact for Finn to have picked it up!

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, General Ramblings

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Seasonal Exchange HD

Posted on July 19, 2005 | 3 comments

Lilacs_lg

I can finally show this HD to you, since it has been safely received. This is Lilacs from Lavender Wings. It was my Seasonal Exchange piece for Annette. I really enjoyed stitching this – yes, even all those Colonial Knots! I finished it off as a cube-it, inspired by a couple of other stitching bloggers who had recently done the same. I was kind of winging it though, as I only had some vaguely remembered instructions to go by (I think they might have been from Summer Truswell’s stitching pages, but her articles are no longer available since they all went into her book, which I really must buy sometime). Anyway, it turned out quite beautifully, but being Miss Forgetful, I didn’t manage to take a picture of it finished before sending it off, duh! Annette has since supplied me with one though, which you can see here.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, Finished

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Posted on July 18, 2005 | Enter your password to view comments.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork

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The New Start

Posted on July 15, 2005 | Comments Off on The New Start

stbby01

A first glimpse of the new start I allowed myself while we were away. It’s Blackberry Jam from The Sweetheart Tree, and the kit was from my most excellent Seasonal Exchange Partner, Annette. It was great to take on a trip, because the kit came with everything except scissors, so I just threw my pair in the nifty little case, and off we went. I think OtherHalf was impressed that it was the only stitching I took with me :giggle: You can see the finished product here. I’m trying to start a few smaller things, to include in my (screaming) rotation. That way I can hopefully have another finish or two this year, fingers crossed.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, In Progress

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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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Just Call Me Smokey!

Posted on June 29, 2005 | 3 comments

Angels_lg
My needle is on fire! Another finish, and this time you get photos 🙂 This is Little Angel Birth Sampler by Sisters and Best Friends. It’s not something I’d usually stitch, and I kind of lost interest for a while, but I think the parents-to-be will like it. I stitched almost all the lettering today, plus 3 of the stars, half an angel, and attached all the charms. Obviously the baby’s name and birth details are yet to come, but that’s only a little bit of backstitching below the house. The babe is due in a month, so I’m pleased I’ve finished early. The image links to a closer look. But wait, there’s more! Check out who actually did the stitching. What a cutie!
finn-stitching-angel
There’s not likely to be much stitching going on in the next day or two. I’ll be doing the finishing on Annette’s gift, and then planning for our camping trip next week. I don’t think I’ll be taking WFS away, but I might treat myself to a new start – something small perhaps.

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Posted in Counted Stitchwork, Finished, Kid Crafts, The Kids

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