A Very Merry Belated TUSAL to You!

It's been, shall we say, insanity at work the last month or so.  Too many projects, not near enough people.  I think I missed last months's TUSAL completely, so today's picture is 2 month's worth of orts.

 

All that black is from my latest start: Ink Circle's BoINK.  I started with the black outlines and I've used up most of a brand new skene already and I'm only through the top third of the pattern.  You can also see some sparkly #4 braid from the latest step of Shenandoah Spring.

Kinda Sad Today

Yesterday I went to my LNS, only to discover that it was their last day.  :(  The owner was closing down and wouldn't sell for some reason.  (That's what I heard from other customers, so take that with a pinch or two of salt)

I really liked that shop, and not only because it was the closest one to me that I know of.  The ladies in the shop were always so helpful and friendly.  They also, and this is very important, knew me by name.  As in, I would be greeted with "Hi Amie!" when I came in the door.  I'm going to miss all of them.

They were having a massive sale, so I bought what I could remember I wanted/needed that was still in stock.  And here's a bonus for being a known loyal customer: after the regular discounts were applied (10% frequent customer club-thingy and 60% store closing discount) I got an extra 10% because the lady ringing me up knew me as an actual regular and not someone who heard they were closing and decended like a vulture to pick over the remains.

*ahem*  Sorry, got a little off tangent there.

I made out like a bandit, and I'm feeling a little bit conflicted by that at the moment.  On the one hand, score! and on the other, wah-my-store-is-gone!  But I guess mostly I'm going to miss them.

Quick TUSAL Post Today!



I can't beleive it's already TUSAL time again! Where do the days go?  I'm having to work a lot of extra time right now*, so I've only got the photo of my Oorts today.  When things calm down later next week I'll post the projects that contributed to the jar.



Le Pile d'Oorts added to Jar

 

Le Pile d'Oorts

 

*Which is probably where the days are going.

288 Squares of 604



Shenandoah Spring DebBee's Designs

I am so over DMC 604.  Seriously.  Our time together was special, but now we must both accept that it is time to move on. 

Well, hello there, Kreinik #4 Braid.  Come here often?

C'est fini!

Just in time to bring up to work for March, I have finished Lizzie*Kate's Spring Alphabet.  Yay!

Spring Alphabet by Lizzie*Kate
2 over 1 on 16 18 ct Oatmeal Aida
Finished 2012-02-26

That's a standard 8x10 frame to give you an idea of size.

I made a few tweaks here and there per my own personal preference--but nothing radical.  It's stitched using the DMC colors called for except for a different light green.  I thought the one on the list was too close to the dark green and didn't look enough like the overdyed used in the model.

I really like this series.  They are easy to stitch (no fractionals, specials, or back stitching) and you don't have to invest in a bunch of specialty threads to get almost the same look as the model.  Although it does help to not start too far down on your fabric.  *eyeroll*  I think I will be diving right in to the next one (Summer) and keep these as my Friday night Ghost Adventures stitch.

ETA:  Oopsie!  That's 18 ct Oatmeal Aida.  Sorry about that!

Lots and none at all

O hai!  It's TUSAL Time!  Here's where we stand as of last night:


Cat Inserted For Scale

That sad little pile is all I've collected in the past month.  The thing is, I've actually done quite a lot of stitching.  I just seem to have ends long enough to continue stitching with most of the time so they get wound back on the bobbins.
The projects contributing to that sad little pile:



Shenandoah Spring - DebBee's Designs

Where the squares stop is where my skein of DMC604 ran out.  The brand new, just for this project and no other skein.  Since these stitches used 3 plies, that means there's 16+ yards of pink in those squares.  I won't lie--I eagerly anticipate the end of the DMC604 squares.

Spring Alphabet - Lizzie*Kate

This one is coming along nicely.  I'm still loving the bright colors!  I was mistaken last time in that I have changed one of the colors.  I am stitching this in the DMC substitutions and the two greens were too close for my liking.  So I changed the lighter one to another color that looked (to me) more like the one in the picture.



Cross Stitch Clock - The World of Cross Stitching #177

Blue!  That blue circle is where the clock bits go when this is finished.



Alphabet Blocks - Carriage House Samplings
1 over 1 on 28 ct Tan Linen

Yep, you read that right--1 over 1 on 28 ct.  This is the smallest count I can stitch without magnification.  Still need a hella bright light to do it.  I'm stitching it in the DMC colors, but I'm totally copying the cover model and using WDW Whiskey for the backgrounds of the words.

I'm still dithering over whether or not to restart America Land That I Love.  I did purchase a new piece of fabric for it.  But I haven't taken the old one off the scroll rods yet.  So...I dunno.

It's helpul when my brain works

I figured out today that the DFWCG Steampunk Tea is actually after All-Con, as opposed to the previously held belief that it is before.

That sound you hear?  That's the grinding of costuming gears as they make the abrupt and slightly painful change from Tea to Apocalypse.  I now have to get serious about Minerva's new outfit and accoutrecrap.

To Do:
- Order pattern for outfit
- Acquire fabric for outfit
- Make outfit
- Draft pattern for yardstick/ruler/quiver thingy
- Find pattern for pencil/bracer thingy (I think it's in storage)
- Make thingies
- Find and/or acquire doohickeys to live in/on the thingies

And then I have to figure out what I'm wearing the rest of the con.

TUSAL and WIP Report

It's the first TUSAL report of 2012!  Not a lot so far, but I've not been stitching much. 

TUSAL - January 2012

Mostly reds and pinks from my Needlepoint project.

And now for the WIPs which contributed to the ORT jar:


Shenandoah Spring by DebBee's Designs - Red Colorway

I confess, when I first saw this pattern in the blue/green colorway I did not care for it (and I am so very much a blue/green person).  I think maybe because with the teal-ish canvas I couldn't see the stitches very well--it all kind of blended together.  But when I saw the red colorway at my LNS I was all over it.  The contrasting canvas makes the stitches pop (at least to my eyes).  This is my first "real" needlework project and I was a bit intimidated by it at first.  Her instructions are really easy to follow, though.  I'm enjoying it immensely despite the monotony of the current stitch.  There are 4 rows of that pink stitch all the way around the center square.  I will be a Laying Queen by the time I'm finished with it.  :)



Cross Stitch Clock - The World of Cross Stitching #177
2 over 2 on white 28ct evenweave

I started this one last year, got a little way in and then put it down.  I'm not sure why because it's a really pretty design--bright and happy!  I guess I was waiting for the dreary days to return or something.  Now I'm really digging it again.  Because it's bright and happy!



Spring Alphabet - Lizzie*Kate
2 over 1 on 16ct oatmeal Aida

After the fiasco with the Winter Alphabet, I decided to move on to the next season.  Again, bright and happy, yay!  I don't think I've made any color changes this time.  This is my Ghost Adventures stitch project.  The Friday night marathon is long enough that I can get 3-4 letters done. 




 And here is my first finish of the year.  This is from a British cross stitch magazine, but I forgot to write down which one and which issue (and it's at home).  Sometime this week I need to put it in it's frame so I can bring it up to work for February.

I'm not sure if I need talking down or not

One of my long-term WIPs is 'America Land That I Love' by Jean Farish (I got it when it was a free project on her no-longer-in-existence web site).  I've been working on it off and on for almost a decade.  I just recently finished Michigan. 

'America Land That I Love' - Jean Farish
2-over-1 on antique white 16 ct aida

It looks nice and all, but I'd be lying if I said I was completely happy with it.  When I started this I was limited to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and JoAnns for supplies.  The antique white 16 ct was, like, soooo kewl! from the viewpoint of only-ever-used-white-14-ct younger me.

Lately I've been seriously considering starting over.  That's right--I'm thinking of chucking ten years' worth of work.  I think it could be so much nicer on better fabric (like 32 or 36 ct hand-dyed evenweave).  And some of those squares could use a tweaking of the design.  Not much tweaking, mind you.  Mostly some color changes.

Am I crazy to even be considering this?  I do want to finish it because it is a great pattern; but it's getting really difficult to make myself work on it.  And I do have to force myself--it never gets picked up otherwise.  Isn't that at least as big a cross stitching sin as starting over?

My other stitchy habit

In addition to certain embroidery habits that shall remain nameless, I also make and wear costumes.  My current favorite is Steampunk, but I have been seen in Belle Epoch, Victorian(ish), Renaissance/RenFair, and Original Character.  I am a not-paid-up-member of DFWCG (Dallas-Ft. Worth Costumers Guild).  A week or so ago, a group of us met up at the Lewesville Studio Movie Grill to see Sherlock Holmes.  Most of us did Steampunk.  Here is what I wore:


SkyPirate! Minerva

 Please to be noting, I didn't actually make any of those clothing bits.  All out of my closet.  It's less stressful that way.  But I promise, I do sew my own stuff, too.  :)

There's a dfwcg flickr stream here if you'd like to see more talented people than I playing dress-up.

Anyone know where I can get a deal on some professional mourners?

I discovered last Friday night that the WIP I showed you can not be completed.  I was rolling the piece up to start the next row and the fabric stuck to itself.  Hmm...it shouldn't do that unless it's getting close to the end.  No.  Oh no.  Please no.  Take apart the frame and unroll it completely:

Winter Alphabet by Lizzie*Kate

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!  There are three more rows to this pattern!  The third row would end right about at the velcro on the bottom.  Ooo, I almost cried.  I was so enjoying this one.  I don't know how I managed it, but I started it about 2 inches too far down on the fabric.  It also didn't help that the evenweave fabric wasn't.  Each of those blocks should be square.  As you can see, they're stitching up rectangular.  That I could have lived with.  The finishing at the edge of the fabric?  Not so much.

Le sigh.  I will restart this one, probably next winter.  I planned to stitch the entire series, so I will dig out the one for Spring and get going on it.  I think, since I am starting over, I will go ahead and get the proper fabric (the patterns call for 32 ct).  And make Absolutely Sure that I start in the correct place.  Even if that means I have to grid the darn thing.  Blerg.

Here's a closer shot:

2 over 2 on 28 ct "mushroom" monoco

I may salvage some of those to make fobs or ornaments.  Astute observers may notice that I have changed the colors on some of these.  I'm still using the called for DMCs (except for the "white"--I didn't like how the listed one looked with the fabric), but I am substituting where some of them are used.

After some hair-pulling and teeth-gnashing and eye-tearing, I worked some more on Jean Farish's America Land That I Love to help ease the pain.  I finished another state block, which did make me feel slightly better.  I should take pictures of that.

Holy fancakes, Batman!

There are people reading my blog!  Hello people who think I am marginally interesting enough to add me to your blogroll!

You realize what this means, don't you?  This means I have to actually post stuff here.  Curses.  :)

I'm thinking about joining WIPocalypse.  I mean, it's not like I won't be stitching anyway.  I might as well show off my progress to the world (since the cat is not generally impressed with, well, just about anything I do).

Speaking of progress, why don't I throw some finishes out there?

This is a freebie from the DMC website.  It was in their DMC Club Members area, under the patterns for Light Effects.  Technically, every thread was substituted (because there was No Way In Hell I was stitching that entire thing in Light Effects).  I did do some actual substitution for a few weird color choices, but it is mostly a direct conversion to the regular thread.  I really like how it turned out.  I had this on display at work for October and got several compliments.

2 over 1 on 18 ct "Light Oatmeal" aida

This is from a pamphlet (Leisure Arts?) with several seasonal designs.  It looks nice, but I am not loving it at the moment.  Mainly because I decided to have a new design up at work every month and this was the one for November.  I had to force myself to work on it to finish it time and that kinda soured me on it.  I think, given time, I will enjoy it again.

2 over 1 on 18 ct "Beige" aida

This is a Dimensions kit.  It's in a floating frame becuase when Dimensions says a pattern is 5x7, they don't necessarily mean it fits a 5x7 frame.  A regular 5x7 cuts off the stitches, but I didn't discover this until after I had trimmed the fabric.  Despite the crappiness of the materials, I used what came in the kit.  It's so bright and happy!  :)

2 over 1 on 14 ct aida

You've seen this one before, but I thought I'd show what inspired me to stitch it.  A coworker gave me the card for my birthday in February.  When I saw the pattern in Just Cross Stitch, I had to stitch it.  My mom has claimed this one, but I brought it up to work to show to the lady who gave me the card.

And here's a sneek peek of a WIP.  It was orignally going to be the display for December, but I decided not to force it.  I may finish it in time for January, but we'll see.

I will not have Sign-Up-er Regret

So, How ya been?

I've been procrastinating, myself.  (No surprises there)  I actually have a few finishes since the last post.  Alas, I do not have pictures at the moment.  Place your bets now on how many months it takes me to get them.

I have made a big leap in blogging and signed up for the 2012 TUSAL being hosted by the always entertaining Daffycat.  So next year there will ideally be at least one whole post every month!  How spiffy will that be?  :)

My First and My Latest

So I thought my first post with actual content would be a nice place to show My Very First Cross Stitch Project Ever and my latest finish.  There's only about a quarter of a century between them...and now I feel old.

My Very First Cross Stitch Project Ever was for my junior high home ec class (I believe I got an A on this).  I have no idea where the pattern came from, or who the designer is.  My mother, bless her, still has this on her wall.

My latest finish is from the May/June 2011 edition of Just Cross Stitch magazine.  It is the May installment of the Fresh Threads Medley series.  I did not use the Weeks Dye Works wool felt that was called for in the pattern.  I used DMC variegated floss to fill in the fish and DMC Color Variations to fill in the flower centers.  I like how the fish turned out stripey.  :)

What the hey, here's my latest start, too.  This is part one of the Tree of Stitches SAL at TheStitchSpecialists Yahoo group.  This part is straight up cross stitch, so I finished it pretty quick.  It is Weeks Dye Works 'Rust', stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct white Monaco.  (Although this is the loosest weave Monaco I've ever seen)

Now, let's see if I can keep up the posting in a timely manner thing.

Post of Slightly More Purpose

So two years and some change later, I'm updating ye old blog.

Biggest change? New name! There's a long, rambly, not-very-interesting story behind the name, so I won't bore you with it. Just smile and nod. :)

Other change? New look! There's no story behind it, other than this was one of the pre-fab layouts Blogger provides (although I tweaked some of the fonts).

I have this grand idea that I will make this my stitching blog. I'm not sure I should anounce that.... Oh well, we'll see. Maybe telling people that will actually encourage me to post something every so often.

Post of no purpose

Hello! I'm a placeholder! :)

Honestly, I set up this blog as an experiment (since it came with the google account). For now I am still journaling over at livejournal (user name: ashnimehal).

This post is just so there is something here.