Liverpool Wins the Carling Cup - an Update

And no, I didn't watch the game ONLY because my boy Andy Carroll was playing - it was a really good game, right down to the PKs! Poor Cardiff - you boys couldn't have done anything more than what you did. And for the record, I don't actually care if Andy is a 30 million pound flop....



So anyway, moving on to the reason for updating...



As mentioned last week, I got Tuscany to a stopping point, with parts 2 & 3 both half done, minus beads. That was a good place to stop, and will keep me from being burnt out on all that blue :) I put the last bit in on Wednesday night, then packed it up for a while.


Tuesday night, I went to Stitch Night at the IHOP, and tried to work on my Ink Circle ornie - but it was too hard to see that purple fabric in there, so I only put a couple of lengths of thread into it before shifting to something else.


That something else was Rainforest Crunch, which I also worked on for a bit on Wednesday, after I stopped on Tuscany, and for a few minutes on Thursday night, as we had a band concert to go to, and got home late. And I also worked on Rainforest at the February PINS get together. It goes pretty quick, though I DO have to look at the chart more often than I have been, and stop assuming I know what I'm doing :)



And last but not least, Lady & Unicorn finally came back out - I discovered it's been over a year since I took an actual photo - the few hours I worked on it in 2011 weren't logged in any way, I just remember doing it. Sadly, Friday night I was realllyyyy tired, so I basically stared at it for 4 hours, put in MAYBE 10 stitches. And it doesn't really look like I did much more than that on Saturday or Sunday; I know now why I put it down - OMG this section is just confetti hell to the Nth degree! Damn pomegranate tree, why do you have to be so difficult??? Not to mention, I wasn't very accurate marking off where I worked the last time - so it's been a little brain-intensive trying to fill in some of the little gaps.


Since it looks pretty much the same as it did when I started, here's a pic of the chart - I did the ORANGE bits, which looks a LOT less in the photo than it felt getting them in there...


So this week, keep on with L&U, see if I can plow past this section without any bloodshed. Nothing else specifically planned - I plan to go to stitch night again, and still have Rainforest in the bag, so I assume that's what I'll work on. Because, you know, I'm pretty good at making & following plans lately :) Happy stitching this week to everyone!

FBHS Concert Band pre-LGPA perfromance, 2-23-12 - my trombone player is the 4th from the left - and he just turned 15 on 2-26...

President's Day - an Update

Yep, President's Day, again. For some, making a long weekend. For me, just another Monday, without even the chance of something cool in the mail :( At least I didn't have to get the grouch up this morning, which was good, since I didn't get up, either, not right away; barometer head did me in this morning, so I gave the Excedrin some time to work before making it upright. The jury's still out on whether moving at all was a good idea... At least the sun's out - a nice change after 2 1/2 days of what looks to me like Ohio weather :(



So on to the important stuff - stitching :)

I continued on on Tuscany, and am working parts 2 & 3 in conjunction (you know, all that pesky counting and such - not my strong suit, which is why I do so much COUNTED thread work) (). I really do think I need to get a set of scroll rods ready for this - there are a LOT of beads on this that I desperately want to put on, and where with MTM, I could position it in the Qs to avoid the majority of the middle parts that I beaded, and was just very, very careful with the ones I did put under the clamps, this one is just too big, and I know, as long as this one will take, I will break one or worse. So, after I get this right-hand section of Part 3 done, I'll be putting this away, and hopefully next time I work it, I'll have it on a scroll, and then I can BEAD these parts :) :) :)

Here is is as of right now:



I don't know if I'll be able to get this done tonight, or if it'll take a couple nights. But whatever, as soon as I get this section done, away it goes, for now. Time to make good on my promise to L&U :)



I also started a new small, an Ink Circles Halloween ornie chart from 2010, By The Full Moon. I am using fabric leftover from Murky Manor, and thread for the moon, as well, CC Baby Chick. Not much of a start, but I only had a few minutes on it.



And that's the progress for the week. As I said, as soon as I get to a stopping place on Tuscany, Lady & Unicorn is coming out for an extended visit, because I did not touch her at ALL last year, except for a few hours only at the very beginning of the year. Bad, huh? So, sometime this week, I'll be back in a sea of red confetti hell :) At least I'll get a break on Saturday - the February PINS meeting is Saturday afternoon, I can't wait :)

(the neighbor kids - how they taught their dogs to NOT bark, I have no idea...)

In other news, besides having a couple of great RAKs in my mail box, I stashed :) OOPS. I am now collecting Chatelaine Deep Blue Sea - and was THRILLED to find 7-8 of the silks already in the stash! Yay me! AND I have some of the beads already on order with About Beads :) And more in my cart at Beadies BeadWork. And some for this and Sparkly Hummingbird on my list for either Art Beads or Fusion Beads :) Because I don't have an order with FMG coming up any time soon, so... Oh, shiny!









Okay, on that note, Happy Stitching this week to everyone!

Stalking the Mailman Pays Off

While I was expecting one package, my Mini Fabric of the Month from PTP, I was pleasntly surprised not one, but two days in a row by a couple of great RAKs!!!

Pictured from the bottom up - a DMC chart from Kay, then 3 Camus International charts in the Celtic Gilt Pillow series from Mel, topped off by my two piece of PTP fabric in Fathom (l) and Discord (r). Thank you so much, Kay and Mel, they are all much welcome surprises! Here's hoping the USPS doesn't go completely under :)

Winter Rears Its Ugly Head - an Update

Well, not too ugly - just freaking cold. None of the white stuff, though there is a chance for it in our area tonight, but since it's supposed to be 62 on Wednesday, it shouldn't cause too much panic. I have to say I have gotten spoiled having the last few weeks in the 50s and 60s; yesterday's 18 was AWFUL, and the wind on Saturday was brutal. Yes, I will admit I am a wimp - I did move south for a reason... And since everything was blooming here, we HAD to have a cold snap; poor trees & daffy-dils...



Saturday, we combed the area for a box to put Fireweed on; the music boxes I found last fall were a bust; they had no square ones, only oval and rectangles, which I didn't want to "make work". So I may be forced to order something from Sudberry House; wonder if anyone ever has them on sale? I just want something a little nicer than the do-it-yourself boxes I get from HL or Michaels, I don't feel like finishing a box for it, I want one already finished. So back to the waiting-to-be-finish-finished pile it goes...


So, got a little caught up last week in the latest craze, and came up with this little number:



Because, you know, have spreadsheet, will create :) Though I must admit, my iPhone had a little trouble with this over-1 on 28ct - might need to do 2 strands on 22ct for the next one. Because yes, there will be more :)

Of course, the main focus of the week was Tuscany Town Mandala, which I started on Monday, and worked throughout the week. Here is Part 1 completed, except beads:


And here is where I stopped last night, working parts 2 & 3 in conjunction:


I did some color changes to the blues on Friday night; since I am not using the NPIs, I took the DMC equivalents given, and didn't like the grouping of blues. I did NOT like the 3844 light border (not even close to the NPI it was listed for, which just so happens to be in MTM, and which I have a bit left over - but I wasn't going to use it and then run out, because I know they differ from dye lot to dye lot). So I picked a dark blue, 823, for the border, and worked that series of colors in - 820 was one of the other conversions which I left. So I have 823, 824, 826, and then 517 for the "peacock blue" one. Hopefully this darker border will work with the overall. I like it, I think, so far, everything works together okay. I just knew as soon as I picked that 3844 up that I couldn't use that - too bright for me! It goes in my World Tree, but I don't think so here...



And that was it for the week. About the same planned for this week - continue on TTM, and I'm not sure what for a travel piece, depending on if I go to stitch night tomorrow, or if I have to do something with DH for stupid Hallmark Holiday #1 :( On that happy note, good stitching to everyone this week - and bring on that spring!

What a Letdown - an Update

Yep, was really pulling for the Patriots yesterday, because, well, they are the Patriots. And, well, if they had won, my Cecilia's order woulda been 40% off - but since they lost, I'll have to be content with my 25% discount :) And no, I didn't watch the game - after the yelling at the TV that went on yesterday during the Chelsea-ManU game, I was definitely done with sports. So I caught up on Downton Abbey :)


While Chelsea was getting no love from the ref yesterday (it's all for ManU, as usual), I was finishing the dome on St. Paul's Cathedral :) I have to say, this is one design that the backstitching looks better from a distance, it gives the proper illusion to the work that you just don't get up close...


Last week, I finished Fireweed - such great colors in this, even if they don't really photograph well. Now, to go find a box it will fit in - there's a local shop that has music boxes that were designed to have something mounted in the lid - I just can't recall if any of them were square. I'll get up there in the next few weeks to find out...


And since that was almost done on 2/1, and because I got my serged fabric back from Jackie C. at the Tuesday night at the IHOP, I was compelled to start Rainforest Crunch. I wasn't sure I was going to like the 18ct linen for this, instead of the mono canvas, but so far, I am liking it - and it's easier on the threads! I put it on stretcher bars like canvas - not sure that thrills me; as loose as the fabric is, I hope it isn't all warped when I'm done. It may come off and go on Qs at some point, or it might not :) Here's the start on the center block:



While I was NOT watching the game last night, I WAS winding bobbins - for Tuscany Town! So you know what I'll be doing tonight, right? STARTING TUSCANY!!! So we'll see if I have to skip this week's Tuesday night, because I'm too busy with TTM :) Check back next week to see!


Happy Stitching this week to everyone!