The star-crossed stitcher

Off topic

2010-07-25T19:32:00.006+10:00

Okay, I realise it's been something like 2 years since I posted here. And if anyone is still following this, you might be surprised by this post as it is a little off topic for a stitching blog. I just needed a place to publish some email exchanges I've been involved in this evening. So if you're not interested feel free to ignore!!!

If you are interested, I'll explain:

I've been researching the vaccination issue, as my sister feels very strongly about this issue, and I wanted to be informed for little Lachlan's sake. (Also, I just love to play devil's advocate with her). So I've been following this website called the AVN, which stands for the Australian Vaccination Network. But don't let the name fool you. They should more accurately be called the Anti-Vaccination Network. They hide behind the front of an "information network" but the only information they provide is completely anti-vaccine. They don't even pretend to be balanced, until you ask them to pin down their position, then they start saying things about "informed choice" and "free speech". But anyway...

I've been subscribed to their newsletter for a few months, as well as those of a few other sites on the subject, including some on the other side of the fence, in support of vaccinations. But the AVN is the most entertaining as they always seem to be the centre of attention. They've been in some hot water with the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) recently, and are currently undertaking legal action to try and fight the HCCC's decision that they should have a disclaimer of their position on their website.

So in my inbox this evening there arrived an email from an American Vaccination Council, declaring their support for the AVN. That seemed odd, I thought, I'm sure I haven't visited any American sites in my searches over the last few months. You might (or might not) remember that I'm a bit paranoid about things like privacy, and sharing my email address, so I thought I'll just ask if I did sign up. So I replied to the email:

From: Tash ______ [mailto:HIDDEN]
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2010 3:44 AM
To: HIDDEN
Subject: Re: Media Release - International Medical Council on Vaccination Support for Australian Vaccination Network

Hi there,

I would like to know how you received my contact details, and I would also like to be removed from your mailing list.

Many thanks!

I received a reply almost immediately:

Hello Tash,

I received your contact information from AVN by my request. To unsubscribe, please click the link at the bottom of the e-mail you received from me.

Thank you.

Nick Haas
IMCV

Well when I received that email my suspicions were confirmed. I quickly wrote a reply:

Thanks Nick!

I'm disappointed the AVN have so little disregard for the privacy of their patrons, that they'll just share our addresses without our permission, and in breach of their privacy policy. I hope you won't treat our contact details with as little respect!

Thanks for your fast reply. I'll unsubscribe at the bottom of the email :)

-Tash Cooper

and then I dashed over to the AVN site to express my... um.... displeasure.

And I wrote a great email. It was really good. And I was all ready to click send, but I was too busy flicking back and forth between tabs, and my session expired. And I lost that lovely email *sigh*

So I wrote another one which isn't nearly as eloquent, but I think will do the job:

from .: The Australian Vaccination Network:.
to HIDDEN
date Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 8:23 PM
subject Copy of: Breach of privacy!
mailed-by web500.opentransfer.com
hide details 8:23 PM (0 minutes ago)
Copy of:

This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.avn.org.au/ from:
Tash ______

Hi there,

I've been receiving your email newsletter for a few months now, and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

However, I am disappointed to learn that you shared my email address, and those of the rest of your subscribers, with another organisation I have never approached, or even heard of. I received a email from the US organisation the "Vaccine Information Center" and when I asked how they got my address, they informed me that you had provided the mailing list to them at their request. They had also signed me up to their own mailing list without my consent, and who knows what else they may have done with my private details you provided them!

Nick was very friendly and polite when I corresponded with him and asked how he received my information. I have now unsubscribed, but do not feel that I or any one else should have been signed up in the first place without our permission.

When I subscribed to your email newsletter I agreed to your privacy policy, which contained this paragraph:

"Sharing and Usage
We will never share, sell, or rent individual personal information with anyone for their promotional use without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law. Information submitted to us is only available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information, and to contracted service providers for purposes of providing services relating to our communications with you."

I choose carefully who I share my private contact details with, and I am disappointed to discover that I should not have put my trust in the AVN. You breached your own privacy policy and disclosed our names, addresses, and who knows what other private details to people we haven't chosen to trust with our information.

As I mentioned at the start of my email, I enjoy receiving your email, and would like to continue to do so. I will not be unsubscribing at this time. But if the AVN continues to treat the privacy its supporters with so little respect, I will definitely be unsubscribing, and will be advising others to do the same.

I would suggest that perhaps you would like to apologise to your users for this breach. I feel it would also be appropriate for you to contact the Vaccine Information Center and ask them to "return" our private information, as they should never have been provided with it in the first place, and should not be exposed to this security risk through your breach of privacy policy.

Thanks for your time. I know you have a lot on your plate at the moment, and I'm sorry to bring up another problem for you! I'm sure you will be able to clear it up quickly and cleanly if it's done right :)

Many thanks!

-Tash _________

If you want to see the aforementioned privacy policy it can be found here. It's pretty standard. It basically says they promise not to do any of the things they just did *eyeroll!!!*

So I'll be interested to see what the response to that will be... if any. I'm just writing it here because I really want to document it in case it gets "lost". I've written comments on the AVN blog before which have never been published. And they weren't even an opposing view or anything, I was just defending myself against someone who said he thought I was a fictional character invented by someone in opposition against the group. I guess it's their right to censor comments on their own blog, but that was what really convinced me that they were being sly and disingenuous about things. If they can't even post the comments they receive that they don't want to hear, they obviously aren't going to be honest with the facts either.

I sound a bit cynical now, I know. But I really and truly do enjoy getting the newsletter. It's always good for a laugh ;)

I guess in the end I do agree with my sister. Bummer. I hate it when she's right!

p.s. I actually do have lots of stitching to show off. One is an online class on 55ct linen, another is a whole set of matching smalls, and the last is my first foray into embroidery (crewel and stumpwork!). But that will have to wait for later in the week, I'm meant to be doing my Java assignment now.

EDITED TO ADD: The only changes made the emails were to remove surnames and email addresses. Also, sorry about the wonky formatting.

Stitching visit

2008-11-30T10:45:00.005+11:00

On Monday night I went to my friend Tara's house for a stitching night. Well, we didn't actually get much stitching done... we were too busy going through her stash! I took my camera and got lots of photos of her stitching.

She has two WIPs:

A couple of old finishes:

And some really old longstitches (for those who like that kind of thing):

Strange but true

2008-11-23T20:20:00.005+11:00

I actually touched needle to thread this weekend! It was wonderful. I basically spent the whole of Saturday with my iPod catching up on podcasts and stitching. I didn't realise that I'd forgotten how much I enjoy stitching.

There have been some changes in my life in the last few months. I dropped out of uni about 2 months from the end (spare me the lecture, I know how stupid that is). Actually, I haven't dropped out, I have a leave of absence for up to two years so I can go back and complete my last semester in 2010 if I want, but I don't think I will. I made the decision that I just don't want to be a nurse... and it feels so good to just put it behind me. I feel free and happy :) I now have a regular full time nine-to-five job, no more night shifts, no more classes and assignments, no more poverty! I'm working in community health care as a "team leader", which sounds quite boring, but I'm enjoying it so far. The pay is decent, I get a phone, laptop and CAR! WOOHOO!! And I'm working with Tara and Suzi, two friends of mine I used to work with on night shifts a few years ago. It's almost perfect!

One advantage of having regular hours and no study is that I have so much free time! I have evenings! I have weekends! I can go out on Saturday nights! Amazing! So I took advantage of that and had a very productive stitching day on Saturday. I had two finishes in one day!

First of all I finished my little Snow Drop Fairy. I did a good deal of the half stitches in the background and then all the back stitching... and she was finished by 4pm.
Isn't she pretty? I think I'm in love with her. Then I was on such a role I wanted to start something new right away, so I ran to my draw and pulled out a kit called "Tree" from the Historic Needlework Guild and started and finished it by 10pm.
Hmm, unfortunately the picture is really dull and washed out. Wow, I think it takes exceptional photographic skill to get a photo to look dull and washed out at the same time. Oh well, I'll take a better shot when I've finished it. Actually all the stitching is finished, I'm going to finish it into a little pincushion and fill it with emery. I just have to photocopy the template and find some fabric that's tightly woven so that the emery doesn't leak out. I was really bummed that I couldn't finish it right away, because I was going strong and didn't want to stop!

I was meant to spend today cleaning the house, and then spend the evening stitching, but I made the mistake of turning on my computer. That's always a big mistake. The biggest timewaster in the world. But I did get to catch up on some blogs. My feed was up to almost 10,000 unread entries, so I'm pretty much just looking at pictures, but at least I'm catching up, and it's great inspiration! In future I'm going to stitch on Saturday, clean Sunday morning and then computer on Sunday afternoon, otherwise I'll never get anything done!

Gotta go to bed now. One of the drawbacks of a real job is that you have to be up early :( Oh well, I'm thinking it's a fair trade...

itchy fingers

2008-09-06T06:14:00.003+10:00

I'm being tempted.

I know I should be finishing my little Snowdrop Fairy. It really won't take me that long. I could probably finish it today if I wanted to. But I'm being tempted. I was organising all my stitching stuff (I hadn't touched it since we moved house back in May) and I've been looking at all my old WIPs. It's so easy to forget how gorgeous they are! I'm in love with them again, and I want to stitch on them all at once.

But I took one look at Lady of Lake and knew that I HAVE to do more of it.

(Click to embiggen, as always)
That's about 9,300 stitches which makes it about 5.4% complete (total 171500 stitches...yikes). WOO HOO! Oh, and by the way, it's tented, 2x1 on 32 ct white opalescent Lugana.
Here's a picture of the top half of the chart, which might give you an idea of where I'm up to. Also, it looks pretty cool. I love that you can make out the picture pretty well from just symbols.

And for those with short-term memory loss, here's what it will look like if when it's finished.
I'm definitely suffering from WIP guilt though. I didn't actually count how many I have going, I couldn't bear to, but I would guess there's about 10 or 12. I'm really glad I organised the WIPs before going through all the kits and charts, because I can guarantee I would have had at least two more new starts! I was also looking at one of my UFOs, and I'm considering reviving it. I won't say more about it, because I don't want to make a promise I might not keep... but it's a maybe. Anyway, I'm sure you'll hear about it if there's anything to hear.

Concerning blogging

2008-08-28T15:39:00.002+10:00

I have nothing to report. No stitching is happening, due to way too much uni work. And probably not much to come in the next few weeks as I'll be on clinical as well as trying to keep up with assignments. I didn't even go to she stitches and craft show on the weekend so I have no stash to share either :(

In the absence of any actual stitching updates, here's a meme I saw on Kathryn's blog

Why did you start your blog?
Well I'd been stitching for a while, but it's really hard to keep motivated when there's no one around to show off to. When I realised how huge and active the online stitching community is I was amazed, and I couldn't wait to jump right in! I love having a blog and being part all of this because it keeps me on track, up to date with all the new designers and stuff, and much more motivated to keep stitching!

How did you come up with your blog name?
Well it's really just that my sister and brother were watching Romeo and Juliet when I was making my blog, and I've always loved the prologue, and I was thinking about the words... Star-Crossed... cross stitch... star-crossed stitcher! It might be a bit misleading though, because I'm not star-crossed in any way at all, I don't believe in astrology or fate or anything, it just sounds cool to me :)

Do your friends and family know about your blog and if so, what do they think of it?
No. I have an LJ for my friends to read where I talk about my life, and don't bore them with all this stitching stuff. My family definitely wouldn't care about me having a blog, and they'd laugh at me if they read it anyway. They think this stuff is pretty pathetic... they're a very boring family. Actually, I did give my Nanna the link a few months ago because she was asking to see a bit of my stitching, but I wish I hadn't. I don't think she actually read anything, and I dont' think she's ever visited again, but I can't be sure. Now I can't talk about some things that have been going on for me in the past few months that I really want to get off my chest.

How do you write posts?
I used to update all the time when I had some stitching to show. Now I'm really not doing much stitching so I don't have much to share. I like to have a picture to show off when I post, so until I've made some progress I usually don't post unless I have some burning stitching issue I need to talk about to someone who understands.

Have you ever had a troll or had someone leave unkind comments?
No, no. I really don't write anything that anyone would care enough about to leave a negative comment. Plus, stitchers seem to generally be a very nice bunch :D I did get a lot of spam a while back though, but that seems to have stopped.

Do you check your stats?
No, actually, I just forget I have stats! I should do though. I use blogpatrol and I think they tell me the ip address of who visits, so maybe I can see if my nanna does visit...

Do you care how many people read your blog?
Um, not really, but I do love it when I get comments. I would hate to think that NO ONE read it though!

What kind of blogs/posts interest you?
I read a lot of science and skepticism blogs, as that is my other obsession. Of course I read TONS of stitching blogs, but mostly I just look at the pictures and read the stitchy parts, i kind of just skim over the non-stitching related stuff.. except for a few special stitchy friends. The only other blogs I read are those of my real life friends because I like to keep up to date with their dramas, as I don't get to spend that much time with them face-to-face.

What do you like and dislike about blogging?
Hahah, sometimes blogging is definitely a chore for me. Especially my stitching blog, when I don't have any real progress to talk about. And I always feel guilty when I haven't been stitching, and then I feel even more guilty because I don't update! But I do really love being able to share my stitching with someone who understands what I'm talking about!

SBQ 21/08/08

2008-08-22T11:56:00.003+10:00

If you had to choose, would you rather spend money on overdyed floss or hand-dyed fabric?

Hmm, that is a very very tough choice. I have a real fetish for both. But at the moment I seem to have way more floss than fabric. Plus there is so much gorgous fabric out there! And it's really hard to get what you want on short notice, whereas it is quite easy to find the floss you want. So I'm going to have to vote for fabric.

Speaking of buying yummy fabbie, the Stitches and Craft show is on this weekend. Unfortunately I don't think I'm rich enough to go and indulge :(

Not much stitching is happening here, I'm still working on that assignment. It's due at 4pm today, but I'm really just making a start, so there's no way I'm going to finish in time. But there is hope. I decided to check the handbook for the late penalties. When I was at Sydney Uni, the late penalty was a level a day, so if you were one day late you'd drop from a distinction to a credit, two days late, a pass, and three days late, a fail. But the late penalty at UTS is only 5% per working day. So I can work on it all weekend and hand it in on Monday and only lose 5%! YAY!!!

i found my mojo!

2008-08-19T21:09:00.003+10:00

It was hiding from me, lurking in the shadows, waiting until I have a REALLY important assignment to procrastinate from. The best motivation to stitch seems to come when there's something else I should be doing. Typical!

I've been stitching up a storm over the weekend. Actually, that's a total overstatement, but compared to the last few months it's been a storm. I finished off all the crosses on Snow Drop Fairy. I'm really pleased that I've done so much. The background is going to take me ages, because it's tons of half-crosses... which I hate doing. But once that's done, I just have to backstitch and then a finish! YAY!

Of course I really do have to work on this assignment, because it's due on Friday. It's an article review on cannabis use and psychosis. Fun, fun, fun! I really feel like not doing it. I just hate uni at the moment. I have 6 weeks of clinical this semester, as well as lots of really annoying assignments. (I'd be okay if it was just essays, but I have to do things like a 'portfolio'... boring!!) I wish I could just wave my magic wand and this semester was all over. *sigh* I just have to keep telling myself to just stick it out. It's the last semester and in 15 weeks it'll all be over.

...but 15 weeks seems like such a long time...

What? Nine months?

2008-08-03T03:31:00.004+10:00

It's been nine months! I'm not going to explain. It's too complicated. I'm just going to apologise and start again.

Don't worry, you haven't missed much though. The last nine months haven't contained much stitching. Plenty of other junk, but almost no stitching. I do have a few photos though.

I've been shopping! Do you want to see what AU$100 of silk looks like?

Aren't they delicious? Unfortunately the picture is quite dark, so the colours aren't perfect, but not too bad. I got these at the Quilt and Craft show in June. They're from Kaalund Yarns, and I'd never heard of them before, but I'm glad now that I have. They mainly do knitting yarn, but these are proper stranded silks. How gorgeous! And they are SO soft and beautiful. I think they're even nicer than Gloriana! The colours are from left to right: Jacaranda, Lavender, Tropical Berries, Pacific, Wisteria, Waterlilly, Rainforest, Taipan, Wine, Bottle Brush, Poinsettia, Bushfire, Guava, Pawpaw, and Silky Oak. Good Aussie names, aren't they :) I also got the huge hank of natural silk at the top, which I may use for Cirques or something. Oh the possibilities!

I just checked the website and I saw that I only need 8 more then I have all the colours. I feel some more shopping in my near future...

Also at the show, I saw some scissors that I fell in love with, but unfortunately they were sold out. It was probably lucky though, because I thought that $120(!) was way too much for a pair of scissors. So I went home and bought them directly from the Sajou website, and for the same price ($120) I got a matching thread winder and thimble! I was so excited! Until they actually came in the mail. I was so disappointed with the quality of them. I was expecting them to be real mother of pearl, but they are just a kind of shiny plastic. I think the blades are good quality, but the plastic just ruins it. And they feel really light, and just plain fake :( But I guess they are still beautiful. I just probably wouldn't have paid that amount for them if I had known they were so crappy. So if you're considering buying them, I've warned you. (But they are very pretty!)

Okay, now for some actual stitching. Pretty much all I've done in the last nine months is in the picture below.
Anti-climax, huh. I just totally lost my mojo. But I think it's coming back. Today and yesterday I've spent about 6 hours on Tranquility Sampler, and I'm enjoying it! I'm having fun stitching again. YAY!
So watch this space. I think I'll definitely be stitching more. Time permitting. I'm in my last semester of uni, so I really should be prioritising that... hahaha!

Finishing... slowly

2007-11-16T07:29:00.000+11:00

The finishing process is taking me a lot longer than I thought. I've been finishing for two nights solid now, and I don't have much to show for it. Wednesday night was mainly measuring and cutting bits of skirtex, cardboard, and interfacing. Last night was making cording and tassels, and I actually managed to finish the scissor case and fob of Cherry Blossom Spring€ (and they look absolutely gorgous!) I'm having a little trouble with the needlebook, but I think I know how to solve it, I just need to be inventive.

I'm worried...

I don't know...

2007-11-14T17:04:00.000+11:00

Here's Monday's progress on JOB. I finished wll the stitching in the third panel, and added some gold to the lantern at the bottom. I didn't get too much done because I felt guilty and decided to study for my exam (it went okay by the way)Wow, the fabric colour came out quite well in this picture! I was going to do more... I was going to do more gold on the top and bottom, but I got stuck on a decision. I was looking at the way I had put the gold around the rhodes stitches. I followed the instructions which said to do it in two stitches (on the left) but I think It might look better if I just do it as one long stitch (on the right). I looked at other people's WIPs on webshots, I saw that Kyrie is doing it in two stitches, other on people have done it both ways, and some people have done it with four tiny stitches! I'm leaning towards the one long stitch on the right. Any one else have an opinion?
And lastly, I finished Cherry Blossom Spring yesterday. Yay! Now, I can get started on the finishing. Eeek! Actually, I'm tempted to stitch Fir Tree Mountain too so that I can finish them all at the same time. But I really should finish the other two as they were supposed to be birthday presents and they're already very late. *sigh* I just don't know.

Happy stitching :)

On the occupational hazards of night shift

2007-11-13T02:12:00.000+11:00

So.... here we are, it's 0215 hrs, and I'm still awake. I have a mental health practical exam in the morning, and I need to go to sleep. This is why I hate night shifts. GRRRR

I need to post a pic of today's progress on JOB, but I can't find my camera at the moment, so it'll have to wait for tomorrow. I didn't do much anyway, I decided that I probably should study a bit for my exam, although I don't know how much help it will be. There's not much preparation I can really do.

*sigh* I'm going to go back to bed and see if I can get to sleep yet. Goodnight

Cherry Blossom Spring WIP

2007-11-10T20:07:00.000+11:00

Ooh, it looks so sweet, doesn't it! I love the colours in this. I'm not usually a pink kind of girl, but this is just too pretty! I went to Spotlight (yuck!) at Birkenhead Point on Thursday and bought the silk I needed to line these with. It's white silk dupion, and it's just divine! I'd never heard of it before. It was very expensive, $40 per metre so I only bought 1/2 a metre, that should be plenty for this, but I'd love to go any buy a metre of each colour and use it for all my smalls. It's absolutely decadent.

I got the other equipment I needed (skirtex, fusible interfacing, cloisonne beads) from Dragonfly Dreams when I was there a couple of months ago. I have to say that Karen is the lovliest person! She was so helpful. I was asking her about skirtex, and she didn't know if what she had was appropriate, so she said "Just hold on for a few minutes and I'll phone the designer!" Wow. So she phoned Janie Hubble at work on her mobile phone! It was pretty cool. I can't wait until I have enough cash to make another trip up there!

The only other thing I need for finishing is "heavyweight cardboard". Does anyone know exactly how heavyweight is heavyweight? Should I be able to bend it? It's for the needlebook, so I guess I don't really want that bending, do I? Maybe I should just use skirtex for that too, or would it be too flexy? Oh I don't know. I'm such a dunce at finishing!

Okay, I have to go now because my yummy fish and chips dinner is here. I'm hoping to finish the second panel of the needle book at work tonight. Wish me luck!

Happy Happy Happy

2007-11-08T10:29:00.000+11:00

Free ice cream, even on a cold day, makes me happy.

It's my last day of uni today (besides exmas) and that makes me happy too.

I'm meant to be in a mental health tutorial at the moment, but the teacher gave us a half hour break --->happy

Plus, it's payday, and I'm going out for some S.E.X this afternoon!

And I got a HD on my assessment!

happy, happy, happy!

Running Rabbits

2007-11-07T15:20:00.000+11:00

Yay, a finish! Sorry for the blurry pic. This is Running Rabbits by Just Nan. It was my first Just Nan, and I enjoyed it. I think there'll be more Just Nan in my future. My stitches are very messy on this, because it was too small for a hoop or q-snap, I hate in hand stitching :(

But it does look very cute, doesn't it! I was thinking of putting it in one of those Whimzi frames, but it's too big. So I don't know what I'll do with it.

Now back to Cherry Blossom Spring.

A nice day off.

2007-11-06T23:16:00.000+11:00

Isn't it nice to have a rainy day? I love the rain. The only thing I like better is a thunderstorm, we usually get a few in November in Sydney. Unfortunately today was just rain. Not even any wind to speak of. Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I didn't go to uni today.... very naughty of me, I know, but it was the last class for Patho, and it's mainly revision, so I decided to stay home and generally lay about the house and stitch. I've finished all the crosses on Running Rabbits, and it's just been washed and is hanging up to dry now. Tomorrow I'll attach the beads and the charm to the centre and give you a picture. I'm thinking of framing this to give to the lady who gave me the kit. At least I know she'll like it! If I can't find a frame then I might finish it into a little cushion or something, or maybe a pinkeep if I'm feeling adventurous!

Mel helped me out with my blog problem. I think the problem is the way webshots hosts pictures, it seems to change the url of the photo every hour or so, so I stuck it on Flickr instead... fingers crossed it goes better this time.

Layout probs.

2007-11-05T18:01:00.000+11:00

Yaaay! I finaly spent a Monday on JOB! I've really missed this, and I had great fun stitching it today. Actually, I didn't do very much now I think about it. It took me over 3 hours to do the bird, the clouds, and some of the blue mountain. Hmmm, next week I'll have to spend a bit more time on it. So, anyone notice that I changed my layout? I like it, but for some reason the picture at the top won't show up. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. What have I done wrong? I'll never understand HTML!

Unplanned Start!

2007-11-04T19:19:00.000+11:00

I went to work last night, and Jan, who works the evening shift gave me a little Just Nan kit that she had picked up at a fete the day before. She said she had trid to start it, but the fabric was too small and she couldn't see it! (It's only 28 count! I'm glad I have good eyes). It was Running Rabbits. So I was very naughty and had a new start last night. Here's where I am so far. I'm going to work on it a bit tonight, then take a break tomorrow for JOB SAL, and then go back to this until it's finished. It shouldn't take me too long, probably be finished by tuesday, all things going well!

November Goals

2007-11-03T07:54:00.000+11:00

So, I'm a few days late, but better late than never, right?

Goals for November:
1. Finish Cherry Blossom Spring
2. Start the final square of my RR
3. Get back into JOB SAL with Kyrie (Mondays)
4. Do a few more green bits on Mystery X
5. Write a novel.

That's all... sound's do-able. Except for the last one maybe, it's not coming along too well. 4,207 words, but only about 300 of them are any good. *sigh*

decisions, decisions!!

2007-11-02T14:05:00.001+11:00

So... I'm working night shift tonight... shall I stitch on Cherry Blossom Spring, or Wri my No?

Oh, by the way, this is my 100th post. Hooray!

Long time, no post!

2007-11-01T22:56:00.000+11:00

So, I know it's been a while. August, September, and October have always been problem months for me. I don't know exactly why, but it seems to be the time of year when I've very unsettled. Among other things. I don't really want to go into it, but basically I'm an emotional write off during those months.

My other excuse is Uni. I've never worked so hard as I have this semester. I have to say though, thus far my marks have reflected that. I'm doing extremely well this semester. Hopefully that will continue. I may not be lucky though. November is going to be yet another month from Hell. First of all there's exams. Two written, which will be a breeze, and two prac, which will not. I hate prac exams, and I'm very worried about one of them. I'll be assessed on IV drug administration, blood transfusions, and catherterisation (only female, thankfully, they're not that cruel to us.

Also this month, I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the first time ever, and I'm not confident. I've already started, I'm about 3000 words in (that's not very much). I don't have a plot, I've just started off with some characters and a situation, I don't really know where it's going. It might be a very interesting adventure.

But I doubt it'll be much of anything, as I might be moving house this month. Catherine (my dear sister) will be moving down to Canberra in the near future, thereby leaving me stuck here paying two people's rent, which I simply cannot afford. So goodbye little house in Pennant Hills, goodbye my darling little puppy, I'll be moving into my Dad's weekday flat in Rhodes, and my puppy will be moving down to Canberra where there's a garden for her to live in :( So this month I'll be boxing up my life and moving the majority of it into a storage unit somewhere, and taking the bare essentials with me to Dad's place. It's tough to downscale everything you own, which at the moment fills my whole (small) house, and work out what I need to live out of one (small) bedroom. But that's life. It will at least be a financial relief. I've been struggling big time lately. But I don't want to go into that either.

I do have some interesting things to show you... lots and lots of lovely pictures! The days are getting warmern (yuck) and longer (yay) since daylight savings has commenced, so when I noticed an opportune ray of sunshine hitting one of my finished pieces on my piano this afternoon, I decided to whip out everything I've touched for the past few months and take a few snaps.

First is the round robin catch up. I finished the first one back in... um... September? Yeah, that sounds right. This is Sheri's and it's a fragmented version of Vacher's Sacred Hour. I did the bit in the bottom left. It was really easy because there were only about 8 colours. I can't wait to see how it turns out when everyone's stitched on it. (don't forget to click on all the pictures to see them nice and huuuuge, if you like)

Next up: Wanda's RR, a fragmented version of Verdure by Linda Ravenscroft. Her art has been discontinued at HAED, so I can't give you a link. This kind of art isn't really my kind of thing... there's something about her face that creeps me out a bit, but I have to say that even so, she is absolutely stunning in real life, and she is so much fun to stitch!
But the most exciting thing is that my RR came home to me! Everyone has stitched on it, and it looks amazing! Now I have to decide what to put in my last square, then finish the border, and it's all done!
I did manage a finish during my absence. Actually more than one, but some of them are secret (PIFs are due out soon, and I'm not finished all of them... nevermind!) Anyway, I think I can show this because the recipient is blissfully unaware of the world of blogs, let alone the fact that I have one. It's for my friend Veronica, who is also a stitcher, and stitches on night shifts with me. This is Shades of Blue Willow by The Cat's Whiskers. I've finished the stitching, but I still need to do the actual finishing into accessories. I'm absolutely terrified of this bit!

I also started one if it's companions Cherry Blossom Spring for my other stitchy work friend, Tara. And I'm planning on doing the final one in the trilogy, Fir Tree Mountain for myself. When I've finished stitching on all three of them, I'll tackle the finishing. (Even though Tara and Veronica's birthdays were over a month ago.)
I've also made a small amount of progress on Mystery X. I will be SO happy when I've finished part 2. Nearly there now. My goal is to finish this bit by the end of the year. Fingers crossed. I also started adding some of the beads and treasures from part 1. Alternating beading and monotonous stitching with honeydew keeps me sane.
That photo was a bit washed out by the sun, but the next one is a much better picture of the colours. I love taking relief photos, they always look stunning. I had about six, and it was really hard to pick just one to share!
I also put a small amount of work into tranquility sampler. I still have a looong way to go on this one too, but I've put it away for a while. It'll come out again next year I suspect.
Oh, yes, I was also very naughty whilst I was away. I had not one, but two (2) new starts! And both of them were full size HAEDs! Oh, lord, just strike me down now. I know I have no self discipline and am therefore destined for Hell. (I've been craving a few more new starts too, there are just more and more stunning artworks coming out every week!) Anyway, the first is Lady of Lake by Sara Butcher. I'm doing it in tent stitch (eeek!) 2 x1 on 32 ct white opalescent lugana. Actually, the coverage is perfect, and stitching is going very fast, I just hope that when I get to the lovely lady herself, she doesn't look slanty!

And this one is Princess Asleep by Yvonne Gilbert. I love this picture, it looks like it has come straight out of a fairytale. It's 1x1 full crosses on 28 (or maybe 27)ct cream Linda (I think.) This one is much slower going, due to the fact that there's just so many colours, but it will hopefully be worth the hard work.
Wow, it really has been a long time since my last post. I've had a trip to Dragonfly Dreams, and got some lovely stash, and finishing materials... but I'll have to save those pictures for later I guess. I also went to the quilting and craft show in Darling Harbour, and bought myself a lovely treat.
Yes, it's a box to put all my bits and pieces in. I've needed one of these for a long time. And it was only $60! I think that's a bargain!
Awww, look at my pretty girl, I'm going to miss her when she moves away :(

Anyway, last, and least, I'm going to leave you with a picture of the world's smallest sewing machine. I haven't used it yet, except for on a test piece of fabbie, and it seems to work fine. But for $15, I certainly can't complain!

Phew, okay, that's all for now. I'll post again when I have something of significance to show.

Goodnight!

Toccata II Finished!

2007-07-26T01:56:00.000+10:00

Yay!! I actually finished it last week, but haven't got around to uploading the photos until now. Laaaazy, that's me. I have to say that I LOVED this piece. It was so fun to do. Stitching a little bit each week was a great way of getting it done (fairly) quickly without getting bored of it. Thanks so much to Nicki for stitching-a-long with me :D So is proof (with some relief photos for your viewing pleasure!)

Don't forget to click on the pics to see them much MUUUCH bigger.

Sorry if the pictures are dark, it was late at night when I took them.

So, I was going to start Noah's Sampler Reborn by Just Nan, but I decided to wait for a while before I do, see if I can knock off another WIP first. I did start my HAED RR, and I'm hoping to get it finished before I go back to uni on Monday!

Toccata II-sday

2007-07-12T00:14:00.000+10:00

Area 7 and 8 - Vertical and Horizontal pattern couching.

101 Things

2007-07-06T15:25:00.002+10:00

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie represent some amount of work on your part).

Start Date: 5 July 2007
End Date: 1 April 2010 (My 27th birthday!)

Finish Firefly Fairies and start Rose of Sharon
Finish Toccata II DONE!!! 26/07/07
Finish Japanese Octagon Box
Finish Snowdrop Fairy DONE!!! 22/11/08
Finish Tranquility Sampler
Finish Mystery X
Finish the first row of pages of Boreas
Post my PIFs
Get at least one thing professionally framed and hung on my wall
Buy a sewing machine DONE! it cost me $15, and I don't know how to use it yet, but I did it! July '07
Make a bourse
Try at least 5 other finishing techniques
Join the SBEBB
Do at least one Charity Quilt square
Buy the materials for and start Nova by Genny Morrow
Start either Queene Besse's Chesse Board or Medieval Majesty by Leon Conrad (or another large piece of blackwork)
Make a hardanger doily for my bedside table
Design x-stitch covering for my stitching box
Stitch something for Dad Started TW ship thingy
Stitch something for Mum Started Sarah Elliott Sewing Box - Christmas 2009
Organise my fabbies
Make an online stash catalog
Set up my 'stitching corner' in my bedroom
Chuck out my desk and buy a stitching chair DONE! Got a chair for my birthday April '08
Keep my webshots album updated monthly
Keep my blog updated twice a week
(Re)Start setting monthly and yearly goals for stitching
Join a fabric/floss of the month club
Switch to 100% Green Energy
Take the train to the city instead of driving NO!!! I DROVE ALL THE TIME :(
Make a conscious effort to reduce energy usage at home
Continue my sponsor child program
Do the 40 hour famine every year
Find other ways to make the world a better place
Encourage others to do the same
Aim for at least 3.0 GPA at uni
Finish my degree and become a registered nurse Not done. Dropped out.
Join the union no
Do a year of rotation no
Sit the GAMSAT no
Figure out what I want to do with my life
Make concrete plans for moving to England
Become a British citizen
Improve my French
Buy a proper guitar
Get piano/violin/guitar lessons
Play piano more often
Drive to Melbourne
See Phantom, Miss Saigon or Les Mis live DONE! Saw Miss Saigon in October '07 DONE AGAIN! Saw Phantom July '08
Go to the Opera
See a play
Go to RHPS night UPDATE. It's cancelled!!! But, I did go to the Rocky Horror Show in April '08 so I'm ticking it off as DONE!
Join a choir Done! Joined Macquarie Uni Choir in beginning of 2009, but only went for a few weeks
Read 101 books
At least 25 of these must be classics
One of these must be the Bible DONE! I listened to the 1 year daily audio Bible podcast which finished December 31st '07
Get over Harry Potter by the end of the 2007 DONE! I am over it.
Expand my vocabulary, and improve my grammar
Buy a book of quotes
Write more (eg. 1 x 15 minute drabble a week)
Take part in NaNoWriMo DONE! wrote an extraordinarly bad 12,000 word story in November '07 DONE AGAIN 2009, but didn't finish again.
Draw more, just for fun Done! using DS Semester 1
Resurrect my journal
Keep up with science news (either magazine or podcast) In Progress - Listening to Science Friday, Scientific American, and Skeptic's Guide Podcasts
Watch the news
Do the 3 unit maths text books
Eat less chocolate
Eat more fruit and veg
Lose wight (aim for 90 kg)
Go to the gyno DONE! well, actually, it was the endocrinologist, but same thing! April '08
Get my eyes checked DONE! got glasses in March '08
Get private health insurance DONE! April '08
Keep up the mortgage
Have $5000 saved
Do not get Foxtel
Sell/donate all of my unwanted books, CDs, and DVDs
Make an online catalog for all of my books, CDs and DVDs
Clean my room!
Learn to chuck stuff away, and not keep things just for emotional value
Have a party at my place DONE! on Phantom Night July '08
Be a better friend
Be better at making friends
Scan in all of my photos
Write to my brothers regularly when they're away
Walk Chess every day, take her to the park once a week
Finish Kingdom Hearts
Finish KH: Chain of Memories
Finish Kingdom Hearts 2
No more car accidents!
Get a tattoo
Get a brazilian wax DONE! July '08
Learn to cook a few meals for Dad In progress - so far bangers and mash, stir fry, honey mustard chicken, spaghetti, shepherd's pie, chicken kievs,
Buy 3 more decent bras
Regularly backup everything on my computer to my megaHD
Subscribe to Norton Antivirus
Get absolutely soaking wet in the rain
Try to do the right thing every day
Stop wasting time!
***My very special secret one***
Keep this list updated
Set another 101 things to start on July 4, 2010, and finish on my 30th birthday!

Toccata II-sday

2007-07-03T11:15:00.000+10:00

"B" and Area 1 - Broad diagonal, tied ray stitch, satin stitch and cross stitch

July Goals

2007-07-02T01:41:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since I made any goals, but I really wanted to start this up again, as I like to have some way to measure my progress.

Finish Toccata II
Finish a PIF gift
Start another PIF
Plan the other two PIFs
Start the next round of HAED RR when I get it
Finish part 2 of Mystery X
Finish up to page 8 of Tranquility
DO NOT START ANYTHING NEW

I also want to make some non stitching goals

Clean my room
Organise my bookshelves
Toss my horrible desk
Look for a chair
No sickies from work!

hmmm, I know there are lots more, but I think that'll do for now :)

Catching up

2007-06-30T12:50:00.000+10:00

It's so nice to be home :) I spent a lovely few days in Jarvis Bay this week. We went down to watch my littlest brother, Jamie, "pass out" from his Naval Officer training. It's not the first time I've seen it all of course, my other little brother, Carl, went through the same thing three years ago, and both of my parents were in the Navy, in fact they met at HMAS Creswell, and spent the whole weekend reminiscing and being very romantic with each other. So the week was filled with getting dressed up, sitting through boring ceremonies, and then schmoozing with people my parents knew, and I had to pretend to remember meeting when I was knee-high. I hate that kind of social function, where you have to pretend to be charming and witty with people you don't know. But it was quite exciting to meet and chat with some very important people, including the Chief of Navy, Chief of Police, etc. It was a bit intimidating, I felt like such a no-one, but all these men came up to shake my Dad's hand so I was also introduced. I think my Dad is quite an important person too.. or at least well known and liked. I also met my sister's boyfriend, and his family, and had a chance to catch up with some old family friends. Having grown up in a Navy family, and moving all over the country and the world, we met so many people when we were in one place or another, every time we catch up with them it's like a big reunion. But all in all it was an interesting and lovely week.

So of course, we were so busy with cocktail parties, receptions, parades, and the ball, that I had no time at all to get any stitching done, until the train trip home. I've done a little more on tranquility, but I spent most of my time frogging. I decided to take out the green motif on the first row and replace it with blue, and I'm considering taking out the light green one next to it, but I'll decide on that later, after I see the blue.

At the beginning of the week I was very good with my SALs. I put about 4 hours into JOB on Monday, and felt very proud of myself, and just as I popped online to upload the picture, I realised that the internet wasn't working, and neither was the phone! So I spent an extra hour and a half stitching whilst on hold with Optus trying to get it fixed. Well, they finally fixed it yesterday, as I discovered when I got home last night. So now I can post my SAL pics.
For Toccata II this week I did 'A' and Area 2. I was going to do Area 1, but I couldn't be bothered getting up off my bum to go and fetch my beading thread. *sigh* laziness is a curse.

Okay, next post I'll talk about Wednesday's trip to The Craft and Quilt Fair, and I'll show you all the lovely stash I bought :)

SALs!

2007-06-19T21:42:00.000+10:00

Yay! I've finished my exams! Now I have no uni or study or anything until August :) It's such a nice feeling. The exam this morning was good. Not great, but oh well. I only studied on the train on the way in, so what do I expect. I'm sure I'll still get a credit though, which I'm satisfied with.

I left my exam 2 hours early, decided to wait around until Catherine (my sister) had finished her exam, so wandered up to the main campus and went to the Beautiful Minds exhibition. It was a collection of Nobel Prize winners, the people and the discoveries and inventions. It was fantastic. It's quite awesome to see the actual petri dish and culture that Alexander Fleming used when he discovered Penicillin, Marie Curie's equipment, Watson and Crick's models of the double helix, and the first ever X-Ray tube, and so many more things that I've learnt about over the years. I came home feeling all inspired.... and promptly sat down to stitch.

So, here are this week's motifs for my Toccata II SAL with Nicki. Area 10 - Ringed back stitch band and Area 11 - Satin stitch and tied cross.
I also attempted to take a photo of the whole thing in the sunshine, but it didn't turn out so well. Probably because there was only five minutes of sunshine to be had this week, the rest of the week has just been wind and rain and more wind... just the way I like it :) And I'm even more excited because there's a big storm coming tonight. I love storms, they're so.... dynamic. You can just feel that every molecule in the air is charged! But anyway, here's the dodgy pic.
I actually stitched some time last week, but tonight I finished stitching the last panel frame on JOB , although I could barely see through my tears... I was watching the most tragic episode of NCIS (actually, you can see it on the telly in the photo... hahaha! And you can see my lovely warm socks) It's such a relief to finally finish all those black frames. I find that kind of stitching really boring, and that was the part that was majorly slowing me down last time. Once I finish all the repetitive lanterns and details on the frames, it'll be a breeze :)
So... tomorrow is my first day with no uni or study hanging over my head! I wish I didn't have to work...lol!

Hiccups!

2007-06-18T20:32:00.000+10:00

Aargh, I have the hiccups! The painful ones. I hate hiccups.

I'm only blogging because I should be studying... hahaha :) My exam today was great, despite the fact that I only spent about 2 hourse studying. But tomorrow's will be a lot harder. I just can't be bothered studying. I want someone to do it for me and then just pour it all into my head. Ah well, I'll study on the train on the way in in the morning.

I didn't stitch on JOB today. I know, I'm so naughty. I think I might do it after my exam tomorrow instead, I hope you don't mind Kyrie :(

Aargh, I still have the hiccups! And Desperate Housewives is on now so bye :)

a meme.

2007-06-17T10:42:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post today, as I should be studying. I had the paediatric nursing exam on Friday and I'm pretty sure I did okay *phew* but on Monday I have Pathophysiology: Neuroendocrine, and I'm sure you can imagine how much fun that is. Acutally, I do really enjoy Patho, and I always do well in it. Then I have my final exam on Tuesday. Hooray!

I'm very pleased to say that I've *finally* begun some of my Pay it Forward stitching. I think the 12 month deadline is coming closer, and I decided that I just had to make some decisions on what to stitch for each of my recipients. I've been working on someone's at work over the weekend, and I'm loving it so much that I've been trying to figure out an excuse for me to keep it for myself.. hmmm. I just hope the recipient likes it as much as I do :)

I should be sharing wip pictures. I do actually have a couple to share... I've been sitting on pics of Mystery X and Tranquility sampler for a while now, but I can't be bothered waiting for blogger to upload them at the moment. So instead, I'll give you this:

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant.
Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle.
You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs.

For you, comfort and calm are very important.
You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection.
You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Oh, bugger study. I worked night shift last night, and I'm too tired. I'll do it when I wake up this evening. Goodnight!

a finish :)

2007-06-14T09:38:00.000+10:00

Yay! A finish! This is Leigh's square for the HAED RR. Her theme was Ian Daniels, and I stitched from "A Rose Among Thorns". I think this is a lovely picture, and I can just imagine the kind of romantic story that led up to this scene. Plus he's very handsome. He's my boyfriend, and I've christened him Phillip :D

I decided to try cross-country stitching on him, rather than parking as I usually do for HAEDs, and I'm surprised to say that I think it was actually faster. Not to mention the back is a bit neater (but not much neater, my backs are always atrocious, but I figure, that it's the front that matters, isn't it?!)

So here's the whole thing after me. Looks gorgeous, doesn't it. Only one more person to stitch on this one! It would be lovely to see all of these robins in person after they're finished. In fact, it would be lovely to see everyone's stitching in person, but it's just not going to happen, is it? click for nice big pictures :)

I was rudely awoken at 7:30 this morning by Mum calling from her car, as she was stuck in 8 inches of snow! I'm jealous. I haven't seen snow for years! It doesn't happen a lot here in Sydney. Actually it doesn't happen often down in Canberra either, but today must be Mum's lucky day :)

Okay, now I'm off to study. *sigh* I have an exam tomorrow, and I haven't even started studying. It's a content heavy subject: childrens nursing. At least it's mildly interesting, that usually helps to motivate me. Well, hopefully studying will keep me from making a very naughty new start. Probably not. I have her as my desktop picture, just to tempt me a bit more. I even got out the fabbie to admire last night. Must....not....start....

Startitis

2007-06-13T19:58:00.000+10:00

I'm busting to have a new start! I'm very close finishing my HAED RR, only about 200 stitches to go, and I've got itching fingers. I'm dying to start this:

It's not helped by the fact that I have the perfect piece of 32ct white opalescent lugana sitting there in my stash, and by the fact that HAED just released a lovely companion for her :)

However, I really don't need a new start. I've already got Boreas that I should be working on...QUICK SOMEONE, TALK ME OUT OF IT!

Convalescing

2007-06-12T19:25:00.000+10:00

I'm back! I'm soooo sorry for being gone for so long. I had a lovely trip down to Canberra, followed by a horrible week of clinical, at Ryde hospital (I swear, no matter how sick I am, I'm never going there!) And after that, my back went out again. I have two prolapsed discs, which usually don't cause me any problems, but occasionally, it just goes. So I was on my back (literally) for eight days. It hurt to sit up and stitch, so I only got a few hours done. I could hardly even use the computer. And even now I'm still still on horrible pain killers that make me so sick and drowsy that I can't concentrate on stitching or reading or anything. At least I've got a couple of weeks off work, which I can't complain about. But I will be complaining at the end of the month when my mortgage payment is due.. eeek!

In other news, my brother Carl, who's in the Navy, got on his ship and sailed away to Iraq. My little brother is going to war :( Actually, it's quite funny, my father served in the first Gulf war, and now Carl is going off to the second. He acutally sailed from Perth, so I didn't get to see him off, but it sounds like it was just a giant sob-fest. He'll be back at Christmas time, only 7 months, not very long really. But he left his girlfriend, my old school friend Naomi behind, and she's been messaging me constantly, she misses him terribly.

So, back to stitching. I am aware that I owe three weeks of SAL updates, and I must confess that I haven't even been stitching on JOB. Yesterday was the first time I touched it in weeks, and the little I did wasn't even worth photographing, just the top half of the border of the last panel. Next Monday I'll definitely finish that one, and that'll be a big milestone for me. The repitive borders were the biggest thing that slowed me down last time. But I have been doing Toccata II. The first picture shows two weeks worth of stitching, I did very simple motifs because I was so doped up, and it took me a couple of days to do even one!

The next two pictures are the motifs I did for this week. I had trouble with the butterfly, it took me the whole weekend to do! I should have stuck to simple ones. But I did finish it in the end.

I haven't labeled any of the areas because it's too painful to stand up and fetch the chart. I can't wait until I'm back to normal again.

I do have more photos, but I'll share them tomorrow.

Okay, I'm really tired, so I'm going to sleep. Goodnight :)

2007-05-19T18:17:00.000+10:00

Just a quick note. I will be off to Canberra tomorrow to visit my Mummy for the whole week! This is to celebrate having a week off uni (half the class is at clinical, mine will be the week after) and not having to go to work at that horrible job. Yes, I have done my last shift there, and left with a great big smile on my face. I feel so wonderful and free, despite the fact that I've been working double shifts at the nursing home, due to an outbreak of "The Dreaded D&V" (gastroenteritis).

It seems to be a horrible strain, so many staff are off sick with it too. I'm just praying that my immune system holds up, as I've been ill for the past week or so with a horrible cold, and all I need now is this!

An interesting side-effect of this outbreak is that due to a recent outbreak in Victorian nursing home where a few people actually died, a few reporters have been hanging around trying to get a story, so there are memos everywhere making sure we don't talk to the press! Quite exciting for a little old us. (Don't worry, no one is going to die here!)

Anyway, just wanted to show a couple of pictures before I go, as I probably won't have a chance to update all week. First is my progress on Leigh's HAED RR. The skin colours look really dark, so I hope it turns out okay.

And since I'm going t be away on Tuesday I thought I'd better share Toccata II early. I did OPQ and Area 20. I loved this one, it had so many stitches in it :) queen stitch, satin stitch, alternating double back stitch, elongated smyrna cross, and tied trellis stitch! Phew!

Unfortunately, I won't be able to stitch on JOB this Monday, as I'm going to Canberra on the train and won't be able to carry it. I'll be taking Mystery X instead which is collapsible (hooray for Q-Snaps!) so hopefully by the time I return I'll have made some headway. Maybe I'll even have finished part 2! But don't get your hopes up ;)

See you on Friday!

Toccata II-sday

2007-05-15T17:44:00.000+10:00

Wow, two posts in two days! yay!

M and Area 21 - Tied Herringbone

Only three more nights to go at work! Yay!

Wow! An update!

2007-05-14T01:24:00.000+10:00

A thousand apologies for not updating for so long. How long has it been? It feels like about a month. My life has been absolutely hectic lately, I spent a week doing clinical at pre-school (so much fun, the children were so adorable!), and I've had two major assignments due in the last week, so I've been working hard on those. And exams are just around the corner, plus working hard on top of all of that... I've been exhausted!

So it's for that reason that I've been so slack with my SALs, as well as all my other stitching in the last few weeks. I have to confess that I didn't get a single stitch in Japanese Octagon Box for the past two weeks, until today. I worked on it for 8 hours today, and got the outline for the seventh panel finished. Only one more to go!

Actually, that photo shows the fabbie colour very well, but the stitching looks a bit dark. *Sigh* one day I will learn to take photos properly! Anyway, next up is a very overdue photo of last weeks contribution to Toccata II. This is Area 17 - Cross and Upright Cross Filling, and Area 18 - Interlaced Diagonal Cross, which is small and simple but very pretty indeed! I'm really happy to be working on this one again, I love it so much!

Next up is Tranquility Mystery, and of course I'm waaay behind. I'm still on part 4, and part 7 came out last friday. I know I won't possible catch up, but I'm still having great fun with this one, especially with picking out the colours!
Hmmm, looking at that photo, I just noticed a mistake I made at the bottom of that purple one. Oh well, easily fixed!

So, even though I've been busy, I still managed a Happy Dance at work on Friday night (yay!). This little cutie is Popcorn. He was for the other Round Robin I'm in. Actually, I'd nearly forgotten about that robin, it's so disorganized, I haven't had a rotation from that one for about four months. But now I seem to be back in the loop! Teddy bears aren't really my kind of thing, but he is very sweet, and he only took 10 hours of stitching!

It was Mother's Day yesterday, and I had great fun buying Mum' presents. I usually buy her fabric for quilting. But she used to cross stitch all the time, and I really miss that, so I decided that if I bought her something that I know she'd like she might be forced to have to stitch again. I got her two kits, Fruitful 1 and Splendor from The Heart's Content, because I know she's been eyeing them for a long time. And of course, since I was buying online, I thought I'd better make the most of the postage, so I bought myself a silk gauze kit: Gaze Awhile. When I got it in the mail, I was going to start it right away, but my WIPs are really getting out of control as it is, so I'm saving it for a bit later ;)

Well, Mum was very pleased with her Mothers day present, so she bought me a present to say thankyou (I told her that's not how it works, but I didn't argue with her too hard.) A gorgeous overdyed silk (Grape by Caron Waterlilies) and a beautiful pair of scissors I can wear around my neck whilst stitching, and a pincushion kit, with my very favourite (NOT) stitch all over it. Mum said she forgot that I hate Queen stitch, but I know that she was giggling the whole time, sneaky Mummy. So, I haven't been around, but life is still moving on. I do have some good news which I've been bursting to tell, and that is that I quit my sleep over job, and I couldn't be happier about it. I was really unhappy there, and I was doing 4 nights a week, which was just too much for me to handle with full time uni and the other two jobs. I've just had a horrible few months there. Plus I wasn't getting paid enough... $100 for 12 hours work is criminal! However, now that I have quit I will be absolutely broke! I think after I pay the mortgage and bills I will have $100 a fortnight for everything else. So there will be another job in the near future, but I'm definitely going to enjoy a few weeks of having more stitching time.

2007-04-24T18:11:00.000+10:00

I have a finish!! This is Michelle's RR after me. I'm very glad to have something to show for April.

I haven't been working on Toccata II for the last two weeks, because Nicki needed a few weeks off to settle in at home, and I decided that a few weeks off would definitely do me some good, as I have assignments galore to work on and clinical starting next week.

I have been working on JOB though. Kyrie and I are working on this on Mondays, and I didn't post a picture last week, so there are two new panels to show off. I will be very pleased when I've finished all of this black! Two more Mondays should do it (yay).

Aanyway, back to watching The Office. Actually, off to work in about half an hour :(

2007-04-15T22:09:00.000+10:00

Here's week two of Tranquility Mystery Sampler. I'm loving this so far. 1x1 stitching is so lovely, and it's so much fun choosing what colour to use next. I managed to get to Victoria House on my way down to Canberra last Sunday, and bought threads, (all GAST and WDW), and got thoroughly ripped off. 13 threads cost me $71.50!!! At the Crewel Gobelin it would only have cost me about $50 and online it would have cost me even less, including postage! But I am too impatient, so I paid the $71 and got over it! The colours I've used so far are GAST Cherub (LE), Cherry wine, and Bayberry (simply shaker), and WDW Curry and Purple Haze. The chart for week three is up, and I'm already deciding what colours I'm going to use.

I had a week off uni last week, but I still managed to get no stitching done whatsoever. Only a few hours on Mystery X, a few more hours on Michelle's RR, and page 2 of Tranquility Sampler. I haven't even done my motifs for Toccata II yet. I was hoping to get so much done this week. And back to uni next week *sigh*. But, I've decided that Tranquility is the perfect size to do at uni during lectures, so at least I'll be sure to keep up with it :)

So... tomorrow I was hoping to get a lot of stitching done, but I was asked to do a shopping service for a couple tomorrow morning, and I have to go and clean Dad's house in the afternoon. What a bummer :( Maybe I can do a quick job of the cleaning and be finished by about 4ish, then I can stitch until I have to go to work at 8. Here's hoping!

SAL day.

2007-04-11T10:53:00.000+10:00

So here's Monday's progress on JOB. I finished the whole black border on part 4. I decided that the borders are what takes me so long, because I get bored, so I think I'm going to do all of the borders first. I am a very slow stitcher, it took me over 4 hours to do that, even with the top already done!

Next up is Toccata II. I'm absolutely loving this more and more every week. I don't know if Nicki has been stitching on this whilst she's been travelling, but I couldn't resist, so I kept going :)
Area 33 - Elongated Smyrna Cross

Area 15 - Darning Pattern

Updates :)

2007-04-07T08:14:00.000+10:00

I have a week off uni this week, yay! I can't believe I've made it through half a semester already! All I can say is thank god it's behind me! So this week will be stitching catch up week (I've been suffering withdrawl symptoms).

First, and most excitingly, I got RAK'd! Anne sent me one of my favourite charts from my wishlist that I've been admiring for years, but never actually got around to buying: Ice Angel (L&L)Thank you SO much Anne. I was so confused when I saw that I had a parcel in the mailbox, because I wasn't expecting anything. It's amazing how something like that can brighten your whole week!!!

Although I've been so busy, especially with writing horrible assignments, I've still managed to get a few hours a week in for stitching. I'm halfway finished with Michelle's RR. I'm doing Angel of Joy, and she's so lovely. It's just amazing how all of those strange colours work together perfectly to make such a perfect, detailed picture. I would love to stitch all of these up, if I was sure I was going to live forever, that is.

And, the exciting news is that I decided to join Tranquility Mystery sampler along with everyone else in the world. After a false start, I ended up choosing 1 over 1 on 32 count opalescent lugana in Cashmere Glitz from Silkweaver(I got it in a trick or treat bag last year). It's a nice sort of beige colour. I wish it wasn't opalescent, but oh well. I've decided not to use the recommended colours, but to choose overdyed cottons from my stash. I got a few together that I think will work, but I need to go and get a few more GAST from The Crewel Gobelin or some Stitches and Spice threads from Stitchabout (my two LNSs). But I don't know what sorts of colours I need. I was thinking of a dark goldish colour, and definitely a purple or two, and another green...and maybe a brown, I don't know. Any suggestions will definitely be welcomed (hint hint). Anyway, this is what I did at work last night. I think I'll finish part 1 tonight, (exciting!), and then work on part 2 in the car tomorrow on the way to Canberra. Hey, maybe I can stop at Victoria House on the way... oh, the possibilities! So exciting! Oh, the colours there are Cherub (GAST LE), Cherry Wine (GAST), Sugar Cane Crunch (Stitches and Spice, I'm not sure how well this one goes with the other colours...), Gecko (GAST LE), Cornflower (GAST), Midnight (GAST), and Moonlight (GAST. I'm not sure about this one either...)

Toccata II-sday (I've lost count) Plus JOB SAL!

2007-04-03T18:05:00.000+10:00

Area 35 - Satin Stitch; LTD; Area 34 - Four-sided Stitch; LTD

This week I began my Japanese Octagon Box SAL with Kyrie. I worked on the bottom of part 3, but didn't have a lot of time because I was madly writing an assessment that was due yesterday afternoon. Yuck.

In other news, I had a birthday, and I got RAK'd! More tomorrow, or the day after :)

A Double Toccata II-sday

2007-03-27T11:01:00.000+10:00

I'm really sorry about missing last week's post. It was another bad week involving a late uni assessment, trying to quit one of my jobs, a fight with a friend, and a huge car crash. *sigh* I can't wait until life is normal again!

Anyway, here is what I should have posted last week. I'm working on the very bottom row of Toccata, and Nicki and I decided a couple of things. 1) that those strange animals, despite their extremely long tails and striking resemblace to dogs are actually deer, and 2) that we're far too impatient to call each one of those Long-Tailed Deer (LTD) a separate motif, so they count as part of the tree next to it.

Area 39 - Broad diagonal Cross and cross stitch, LTD, Area 38 - Leviathan Stitch, and LTD

Then, yesterday I woke up at 4:30 am (God only knows why, on my one night a week off, I'm physically unable to sleep in) and stitched this next part.

Area 37 - Queen Stitch, LTD, Area 36 - backstitch, LTD

And then, just for fun, I took some 'relief' pictures

oooh, so pretty! (I'm easily amused).

Working hard this week on another huge assessment, which is due on Monday. (btw, does anyone have any thoughts on the psychosocial response to diagnosis of type II diabetes?) I'm just praying that I'll get this one in on time, but it'll be difficult as I have a very busy weekend. Wish me luck!

Toccata Wednesday

2007-03-14T13:34:00.000+11:00

A thousand apologies for my tardiness. And for my lack of updates. I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing how busy I am these days... but hopefully it'll all be more organised in the near future.

Anyway, down to business. I stitched the alphabet this week and Nicki and I decided that it counts as two motifs, because it's quite humungous.

In other news, I've barely touched a needle, except to put a few more stitches into Mystery X. Part 2 is just so huge, I just feel like I'm stitching and stitching and nothing's changing. Well luckily I got the next round of the HAED RR in the mail this morning, so I'll have a new start to rev me up :)

Toccata Monday

2007-03-05T17:46:00.000+11:00

I have to post my Toccata II update early this week because I'm going to work in a couple of hours and won't be home again until Thursday evening! I'll be going straight from one job to another job to uni to work again until Thursday night! It's awful! I can't wait for life to just settle down a bit, I'm going crazy!

Anyway, down to business:

This week is Area 27 - Rounded sheaf stitch and 28 - Satin stitch couching.

Next I'm going to head downwards, so I get to say goodbye to the stupid Japan thread for a while. And good riddance too. The next problem is that it's hard to find two areas down the bottom, so we'll have to ponder that for a while.

I'm starting another SAL, Japanese Octagon Box with Kyrie. So exciting. I've wanted to pick this up for a while. Don't ask me when I'm going to fit it all in *sigh*

See you on Thursday evening!

The week from Hell!

2007-03-04T17:15:00.000+11:00

I've had the week from hell.

I can't be bothered going over it in detail, it'll probably just make me grumpy, but let's just say that it included uni every afternoon, orientation for the new job every morning, four night shifts, missing classes because I had to stay late at work because the person who was relieving me was an hour and a half(!) late, one blown up car, and walking out the front door without my keys or phone!

Needless to say that by the time I got home on Friday evening I was stressed, exhausted and generally miserable. So I decided I deserved Friday night off work, and enjoyed some well-earned stitching time.

I treated myself to a new start: Boreas. And she's lovely. I'm doing her 2x1 on 18 count ivory aida. I've only done 500 stitches, but it took me all of Friday evening and most of Saturday to do. It's very slow moving, because there are SO MANY colours and most of them are blended. Ack! I will never whinge about a HAED again! But it does look stunning. The picture doesn't really show the subtlety of the colours, but it's lovely in real life trust me.

I've had to really stop myself from starting Silken Spells the last couple of weeks. She's been calling to me. She's on my desktop at the moment, because I usually get sick of things when they're on my desktop, but that's not working at the moment, I just love her. Almost as much as Boreas! But how silly would it be to start her now, I've already got Boreas on the go, not to mention the HAED RR. I would never have any time to spend on her, and any time I did would be much better spent on one of my other many WIPs! I must resist!!!!!

I managed to do a little more on Mystery X yesterday and today. I'm still on Part 2 even though Part 3 came out the other day. But remember, I was over a month late starting, so I don't mind. Part 3 is smaller (but still lovely) so I'm sure I'll catch up. (I'm an optimist...)

I'm going to do some March goals because I haven't done goals for a while now.
1. Finish Part 2 of Mystery X
2. Get at least halfway through Michelle's RR
3. Decide on and collect materials for one PIF gift
4. DO NOT START Silken Spells.

Hmm, it doesn't look like much, but I know that I'm going to struggle to meet those goals. Stupid uni :( Full time is horrible. Plus having the third job is taking up all my spare time. Not to mention all the assignments I have due at the end of the month. Oh how I miss the holidays!

Toccata II-sday (9)

2007-02-27T17:06:00.000+11:00

Area 25 - Couching and are 26 - Brighton with cross.

RR Finish

2007-02-26T00:42:00.000+11:00

Yay, I finish! It's been a pretty dry month for me... lots of stitching but this is the first finish. I wanted to make the most of my holidays, Uni starts tomorrow. (Well, actually today, seeing as it's after midnight)... but I don't want to talk about Uni. Yuck.

Aaanyway, this is a part of Bridge Where She Waits QS by SPML and I stitched it on Terri's dragon RR. And I hate to say it, but I hated this one. Don't get me wrong, I love the artist and the picture, and that was my favourite dragon, I've been wanting to stitch him forever, but ergh... there were so many colours! It just took forever, and I never felt like I was getting anywhere with it. Luckily it looks lovely at the end, but I will never ever stitch that particular dragon again as long as I live! I'll post that one off this week some time, and then next week I'll probably get Michelle's, which is Selina Fenech Nouveau Angels, and I'm so looking forward to it. I love Selina's designs. I haven't decided which one I'm going to do yet. So many possibilities!

I went to the post office this morning

2007-02-21T10:53:00.000+11:00

And got a lovely surprise in the mail from Mel. Look at those gorgeous colours! I have no idea what I'm going to do with the fabbie yet, but I know that those threads will make some fantastic biscornus for me and my mum. Especially that purpley-red one. I'm just bursting with exciting possibilities :) Thank you SO much to the very talented and generous Mel! (by the way, the chocolate was fine, not melted, amazingly! But I couldn't take a photo of that because It's already opened and half gone!)

This also reminds me that I've got to get going on my own PIF packages. I've got them all planned... hehehehehe

Toccata II-sday (8)

2007-02-20T17:42:00.000+11:00

Sorry I'm late this week, I've just walked in the door from spending a few days in Canberra with my poor lonely Mummy. Since my little brother joined the Navy a few weeks ago, and with Dad working in Sydney and only going home for the weekends she's got an empty nest, and has been begging me to come and visit. But I had a lovely time, just sitting and stitching, watching Foxtel, and admiring her quilts.

Aaanyway, down to business, here's this week's update on Toccata II.

This is Area 29 - Nun Stitch and Threaded Herringbone and Area 30 - Guilloche Stitch.

ETA: Oh, Mel, I have a parcel waiting for me at the post office, unfortunately I was back too late to pick it up, so I'll go and get it tomorrow.

See... I really have been stitching!

2007-02-15T17:16:00.000+11:00

This is Terri's Dragon RR. I'm doing Bridge Where She Waits by SPML. There's so many colours in this (ie. 3 pages), it feels like it's taking forever! But it does look lovely :) Hopefully I'll finish it before uni starts on the 26th!

This is Chatelaine Mystery X. I'm doing it on Sugar Maple Fabrics 'Serendipity' 32 count opalescent lugana. I can't find a picture of it anywhere to link to, but it's lovely, kind of purpley and green mottled, the yellowish bit isn't so visible in real life. This is just a bit of part 1. Hopefully I'll also get to finish this part before the end of February. Which just reminded me that I haven't set any goals for this month either... *sigh* I just can't concentrate on anything these days!

This is how far I've got with Snowdrop Fairy. Not very far, I admit. But I'm just working on it when I get bored with all the others, or when I'm at work with nothing else to do.

See, I told you I've been stitching!

Remus/Luna Lovechild

2007-02-13T10:41:00.000+11:00

I saw this on Nicki's blog:

You scored as Remus Lupin. You're a calm, cool, optimistic person who doesn't dwell on the bad but looks more deeply into the good. You're wise and know much about the world, and though you teach your lessons to others, react humbly when complimented on your intelligence. You've suffered a lot in your life but are extremely accepting and suffer inwardly. You're a great friend to have as you're gentle but strong-minded.

Remus Lupin

75%

Luna Lovegood

75%

Neville Longbottom

59%

Albus Dumbledore

56%

Severus Snape

53%

Hermione Granger

53%

Harry Potter

53%

Ron Weasley

50%

Bellatrix Lestrange

44%

Lord Voldemort

44%

Draco Malfoy

44%

Oliver Wood

41%

Sirius Black

41%

Percy Weasley

25%

Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test
created with QuizFarm.com

hehehe, imagine the love child of Luna and Lupin, and that's me! Hahahahahahahaha!

Toccata II-sday (7)

2007-02-13T09:10:00.000+11:00

This week is Area 24 which is a Florentine Pattern, and WXYZ. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to frog those stupid huge letters... but I love doing satin stitch, because it's so fast and easy, and it always looks so shiny and lovely.

Fudgey wanted to see a pic of the whole thing so far... so you can click on the WIP picture on the right of the page and the whole thing nice and big :)

I'm sorry about the lack of updates lately. Working 62 hours a week is really cutting into my spare time. And I'm still having trouble meeting my mortgage payments! I'm getting very stressed. I've got another job interview tomorrow morning, but I'm not really sure if I want it. I also spent the whole weekend at a venepuncture course, and am now qualified to take blood and perform ECGs, so I'll probably be looking for a pathology job in the next couple of weeks. I wish someone would just pay me to sit and stitch all day!

Okay, I promise that tomorrow or Thursday I will post some WIP pictures, to prove that I actually have been stitching. I promise, I have!

Toccata II-sday (6)

2007-02-06T09:43:00.000+11:00

RSTUV and Area 23 - Pulled double four-sided stitch and cross

w00t

2007-02-05T10:47:00.000+11:00

So, long time no blog, hey?

Well, I was all ready to blog when I came home from work on Friday morning, but I received some news that prevented me from doing anything constructive all weekend:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released 21/07/07!!

Yes, I know, insert giant eyeroll here. You didn't know I was a Harry Potter fan, did you? Actually, I think that's an understatement, I'm far more than a fan. My sister often uses the phrase "unhealthy obsession," among others which are much ruder. So since Friday I've been alternately trembling with excitement and on the verge of tears. I can't wait to read it and find out what happens, but I also don't want it to be over. HP has been a big part of my life for over 5 years now, and I will be devastated when it's all over. But I'm going to make the most of it while I can, I'm currently planning a trip to the UK for the release. Even though I'm only just meeting my mortgage repayments, I'm going to get there somehow. There's no way I'm going to miss the biggest party of the decade with all of my potterpals!

*sigh* I know, I'm pathetic, I've accepted that. I'll talk about stitching tomorrow, I promise :)

Toccata II-sday (5)

2007-01-30T10:05:00.000+11:00

I've been wanting to do that peacock for weeks, but I couldn't resist any longer. It's just lovely. Those stitches are called double broad diagonal crosses. Because the peacock was so large I wanted a small motif for the second one. I love the mauve colours, they bring out the pinky bits in the fabric perfectly. I wish I were a better photographer so I could show you what I mean.

Travel memories dried out, and most of the stitches are okay now, but the gold metallic is still all funny. I think I'll just restitch them.

I'm Superwoman!

2007-01-29T14:35:00.000+11:00

Yay! I finished it! That's 5 for 2007!

I figured out what it is about the backstitching that I hated. It's the fact that they're all like long stitches rather than backstitches, and I think they look messy and don't really sit right. But, on the up side, they are much quicker then normal backstitches, which is how I managed to finish so quickly.

AAAAARGH! DISASTER!!! I just went to wash it (after I scanned it and started writing this entry..thank goodness) and all the back stitches have stretched and moved... especially the gold ones! EEEK! I don't know why it happened!? It's kind of like maybe the aida shrunk, but the thread didn't. Look: (Click to see it bigger and clearly)
help?

a WIP

2007-01-28T07:40:00.000+11:00

Just wanted to share another WIP. This is Travel Memories and Dimensions Gold Petite kit. I started it about 10 months ago, but haven't touched it for aaages. All those stupid half stitches were really annoying me. Honestly, the whole thing is half stitches! But now that I've finished with them it does look pretty good. Now I only have the backstitching to go. As a rule I like backstitch, but I'm not looking forward to this one. There's something about the backstitching in Dimensions kits that I hate. I don't really know what it is.. maybe that there's so much of it, maybe that there's six different colours to backstitch with. But I just really want to get through it.

Actually, I just realised I didn't set goals for this month, as I was too busy setting goals for the year. Bummer, shame I didn't, as it's been my most productive stitching month ever! Well, I'm making myself a goal to finish this by the end of the month. I've got three days... that should be plenty (I hope)

Let's boogaloo 'till we puke!

2007-01-23T17:13:00.000+11:00

Another finish! That makes 4 for 2007! This is Personal Scissors Keep by Olde Colonial Designs. The best thing about this one was that I got a chance to practice some more sewing! I'm getting more confident... I think I'm ready to try some more complicated things!

Toccata II-sday (4)

2007-01-23T09:31:00.000+11:00

Week 4: Nicki and I decided that one motif a week wasn't enough... so from now on we'll be doing two. It should move along much faster now, and there won't be so many 'boring' weeks with just plain crosses. So this week I did 'N' and Area 22, which has half rhodes stitches and beads :) I took the photo this morning with the sun just coming in the window, but then my stupid shadow got in the way. Oh well, better luck next week!

I've been working on Terri's dragon RR, and on something else for myself that should be finished today or tomorrow! (fingers crossed)

Bits and Pieces

2007-01-18T10:52:00.000+11:00

I just spent a lovely morning re-arranging my stash. I've got a fabric drawer, a floss drawer, a kit drawer, and a chart shelf. It was so much fun because I found all these things I forgot that I had!

This was a pair of jeans that my friend made into a bag for me. I remember that it was my favourite bag for the looongest time. I called it, creatively, my jeans bag. But unfortunately there are too many holes in it, so I'm going to have to chuck it out :( But I thought I'd take a picture, to preserve the memory.

I really had forgotten about this! I don't even remember where or when I got it, but now that I look at it, I'm getting an idea. It's the pattern and template to make the box, and you're meant to go out and find your own fabric. But, I thought, instead of using fabric, could you cover it with cross stitch? I mean, if you measured how big the panels were, you could take a bit of linen and stitch up something and cover the box with that. Does anyone have any thoughts? Would that even work? I'm really excited about this idea, but it will take a lot of planning and fine tuning. And I don't actually know if it's possible!

I realised that I haven't taken a WIP pic of Japanese Octagon Box for a while. I feel guilty because I haven't worked on it for so long... but it was just that awful border! Aaargh! No, awful is wrong, it's lovely, but it's just so repetitive, so repetitive.

In other news: I *finally* got the pics from my trip to Perth off my camera. It was the first time in 4 years that we had the WHOLE family there. Well, almost the whole family. It would have been the whole family, except for my bro Carl. So I had to add his picture into this photo of all the Grandchildren. There's 14 of us, from 6 different families, the oldest (Me) is 23, and the youngest (Jack) is 8 months.

And here are the Grandparents. They're both 67 :)

Toccata II-sday (3)

2007-01-16T13:22:00.000+11:00

Another Toccata II-sday already! For those playing at home, this is area 12, with more couched goldwork, and some gorgeous Gloriana silk.

And look, Cynthia has just brought out Toccata III! But I like this and this better :)

Scent of Enchantment

2007-01-15T14:53:00.000+11:00

I finally finished Scent of Enchantment QS. I started this waaay back in June (or something), and got about 3/4 of the way through, and then didn't touch it again until about a week ago. Don't ask me why, usually when I get so close to finishing something I can't put it down. I think I just got too busy with other things. But I finished it this morning and I'm really happy :D

ETA: 1 over 1 full crosses, DMC threads on white 25 ct Jobelan.

Next up will be Boreas by Golden Kite, I'm just waiting for delivery of fabric and threads... I'll have to think of something else to do in the meantime.

2nd finish for Monday

2007-01-10T03:23:00.000+11:00

Tiny litte RR piece I stitched on Monday night at work. It took me about two hours, and I finished it just after 11pm, making two finishes in one day! 2 finishes already this year! Now I'm getting out Scent of Enchantment QS, so here's hoping for another finish later this week :D

Toccata II-sday (2)

2007-01-09T15:24:00.000+11:00

I thought that I'd better do a boring motif this week, because I don't want to be stuck with all the straight cross stitches at the end. How's that for discipline!

However, boring doesn't necessarily mean easy... Stupid me had to frog twice. Don't ask me how it happened, my excuse is night shift.

In other news, yesterday became the day of two finishes! I'll tell you about it tomorrow :)

First finish of 2007

2007-01-08T11:59:00.000+11:00

Well, it was a close call, but I managed to finish my square on Nicki's RR by the mailing date. Her theme was faces, so I chose Bella Luna by Brigid Ashwood. I finished it about 10 minutes ago, and now I'm about to trot down to the post office and send it off to America :) This is my first 2007 finish, but it would have been finished last year if it weren't for that interlude in Perth... *sigh* ah well... bygones. Now onto the next RR before that mailing date. Luckily it's only little!

Yippeee! Rotation!

2007-01-05T22:20:00.000+11:00

It's really interesting reading everyone's rotations, and I've been meaning to make one for myself for aaages. So here goes. I hope I do this right!

First of all I list all my current projects, and for each project I list what I'm going to start when I finish it. I like to have a variety, so each slot has a theme.

1) Chatelaine: Mystery X -> Japanese Octagon Box
2) HAED/GK: Scent of Enchantment QS -> Boreas
3) L&L/Mirabilia/TW: Firefly Fairies -> Tradewinds -> Rose of Sharon
4) Sampler: Toccata II SAL -> ?
5) Round Robins: Aussie RR and HAED RR on alternate months.
6) Small project: Travel Memories -> Snowdrop Fairy

Then I listed all the times I'm able to stitch (there's not that much time in between full time uni and two jobs) and decideed which project I wanted to do on each day! Easy :)

Tuesday morning: 4
Wednesday: 3
Friday: 1
Friday night: 5/6
Saturday night: 5/6
Sunday: 2

Now let's see if I can stick to it! Hahahaha.

Toccata II-sday

2007-01-02T17:13:00.000+11:00

This is the first week of the Toccata II SAL with Nicki. We're doing one motif a week and posting on a Tuesday, so henceforth, the day after Monday shall be known as Toccata II-sday (hehehehe). Is it sad that such a bad joke amuses me so very much?

So here's my first motif. I started in the centre and the closest one there was Area 14 which is couched goldwork (or something like that)

Stitched with recommended threads on 36 count Celtic blend by Stitches and Spice.

One of the fun things about starting in the middle is that I have so many choices for where to go next. But given my indecisiveness, I'll probably spend more time deciding that each week than actually stitching the motif! *sigh*

Happy New 2007!

2007-01-01T21:39:00.000+11:00

So 2006 is over, and I've finished 17 things this year. That's 17 happydances! This has been my most productive stitching year by far. In the past two years I only managed to finish one thing! Pathetic!

December's goals:

Start and finish Nicki's HAED RR - Started, but not finished

Start and finish Beryl's Birds (Aussie RR) - Done!

Start and finish next round of Aussie RR (If it comes. I think I'm going to have two at once, but I could be wrong. I have no idea what's going on with this RR, the mailings are all over the place) - Nope. It did come though.

Finish 'S' by M Designs - Done!

Put at least one thread in Firefly Fairies - Nope

Prepare myself as far as possible to start Mystery X on January 1 (ie. choose a fabric! This depends on when the kit arrives here from ECC so I can do a floss toss) - Still haven't chosen my fabbie, and still waiting for the kit :(

Choose what count to do Boreas on, but DO NOT START HER (at least, not unless I finish Scent of Enchantment QS, which isn't likely) -Haven't even thought about it! I must get hold of some 20 count lugana to have a go on.

So, now there's a new year and I have to make some big goals. The idea is to reduce my WIPs, because I hate having too many, I never feel like I'm getting any finishes.

Current WIPs:

Snow Drop Fairy - If I finish this and Travel Memories I can start the Snowman or Dartha. But I doubt it will happen.
Scent of Enchantment QS - When I finish this I will be starting Boreas.
Japanese Octagon Box - I don't actually expect to finish this, because I'll be doing Mystery X. If I do it's a bonus!
Firefly Fairies - I REALLY want to finish this one. And if I do then I can start either Rose of Sharon (for me) or Tradewinds (for Dad)
Travel Memories - I really should finish this, because the only thing stopping me is laziness! This will be replaced by Snowdrop Fairy (see above).
Fire and Ice - Will most likely be retired to UFO status.
Aussie RR89 - This should be finishing in July. I'm not going to replace it with anything, just enjoy the extra stitching time. In future I'm only going to participate in one robin at a time, because I miss out on too much 'me' stitching time.
HAED RR - This won't finish until around December (I think) so I'll wait until 2008 to start a new Robin. Maybe a UFO RR for Fire and Ice?

New Year Starts:

I'm allowed one free new start to celebrate the beginning of the year, and that is Mystery X (pending materials and fabric choice)
I'm also allowed a new start just for fun, and that is Toccata II SAL.
(I was going to have a third start, Boreas, but I decided to make myself finish Scent of Enchantement QS, because it's sooo close)

Financial Goals:

To meet my mortgage repayments.
To save $1000 by April for my trip to see DMB at Bluesfest.
To have $5000 in my savings account by December (Paris? America? UK? who knows?)
No new patterns or kits!!!!!! I have all the ones I need for next year, and I really do need to save money somehow! The exception to this will be 2 full size HAED patterns, which I haven't yet decided on, but one of them will probably be Silken Spells. But I'm waiting for a sale, and I'm waiting for a few more new releases ;)
On the subject of flossies and fabbies, I haven't really decided yet. I'm going to continue collecting Stitches and Spice (very slowly), and I may sign up for a FOTM club (if I can decide on one), but other than that, I'm going to try and keep purchases to only what is needed for a current or immediately next project. (The exceptions to stash restrictions are sales of 50% or more, limited editions etc, and purchases for other people)

Other Goals:

To keep up with Mystery X (as soon as I've chosen a fabric).
To meet all my mailing dates for robins.
To keep up with Toccata II SAL.
To get as much practice as possible with Finishing Techniques. I would love to join the SBEBB, but I really can't before I perfect a few methods. I can't finish everything as a biscornu. I might have to start saving up for a sewing machine!
To limit my net time (I haven't decided to what though) and spend more time stitching.
To devise and at least attempt a rotation. I don't know if it'll work for me, but I'm going to have a go at it. Some more structure might be just what I need to actually get something done!
To keep this blog going! That means posting at least twice a week, updating the sidebars regularly, and finally spending the time to find a perfect layout.
To weigh no more than 95kg by Christmas *fingers crossed*

Biscornu revealed

2006-12-31T21:01:00.000+11:00

I just heard that Kit received her biscornu that I made for the exchange, so now I can FINALLY post pictures !
I'm really pleased to hear that she likes it :)

Happy New Year to everybody!

Quilts

2006-12-30T16:01:00.000+11:00

I finished 'S' on time to give to my Grandmother yesterday. It was a mad rush at the end, as I knew it would be. I finished it as a hanging ornament kind of thing, but I sort of made it up as I went along. It turned out very nicely actually, and I'm very proud of myself, because I did it with no instructions and no sewing machine, all hand stitched. I hate hand stitching, it's very fiddly. But I really can't afford a sewing machine. Plus I have no room for one anyway. (Then there's the small matter of having no idea how to use one!) Deary me. Anyway... I've decided that I need more practice 'finishing' ornaments, bags, cushions, etc, because it's great fun to finish something and not have to put it straight into a drawer!

The Grandmother that I gave this to gave me a doll that she made for Christmas, but she's still in the car, and Cat has taken the car to Dad's house so no pictures today. But my other Nanna (the one who I visited in Perth a few weeks ago) made me a (huge!) quilt! And it's lovely:

I know, it's a terrible photo, but it's really hard to take a nice picture of such a huge quilt when you're home alone. I don't have any floor big enough to fit it on! It's big enough for a king size bed, and since I only have a king single, I guess it'll have to stay on the couch :( I actually have another quilt that my Mum made me that does fit on my bed, but it's getting washed at the moment so I can't take a photo of that one. So here's a photo of the one that's on my bed at the moment (made by Mum)

And the one that's on my sofa (also by mum). I love this one. It's chenille (whatever that means). All I know is that it's lovely and warm and cozy :)Mum and I have a bet. She's convinced that one day I will make a quilt. Personally, I don't agree. It's too freeform for me. I need a very strict pattern. Even my attempts at embroidery have gone awry. I always manage to make a disaster of it. Plus, the idea of choosing fabrics terrifies me. I mean, they're great fun, and I love looking at them, but I could never choose co-ordinating fabrics. I would always manage to bugger it up. I had enough grief choosing the backing fabric for 'S'!

Aaanyway... tomorrow (hopefully) I'm going to review my year and try and decide on some goals for next year.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T00:01:00.001+11:00

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Best wishes to everyone who reads my blog, and I hope you have a fantastic day :)

< 3 Tash

Biscornu Exchange

2006-12-22T14:39:00.000+11:00

I received my very pretty biscornu from Hania:

This whole side was done with DMC Metallics... that girl sure is crazy! :)
Isn't the pattern gorgeous? It can be found here. She also sent me a whole pile of floss and tons of bobbins. Yay! I like exchanges... hopefully I'll have time to practice some more finishing techniques, then I can participate in more :)

In other news, Nicki and I have arranged our Toccata II SAL to begin next year... yay! Now I have to decide where to start!

I'm Baaaack!

2006-12-21T15:14:00.000+11:00

Finally back from Perth. My 'holiday' ended up being mostly babysitting bratty little cousins, tagging around behind Aunts in shopping centres, and being ignored by the other rellies. Lovely.

And to make it even worse, I didn't get to touch a needle the whole trip! But now that I'm home I'm going to make up for that. I've got a few nights off over the next couple of weeks, so hopefully I'll have time to catch up on some stitching. I've got a lot of deadlines to meet in the next few weeks... eek!

Bye for a while

2006-12-10T23:28:00.000+11:00

I fly out for Perth in the morning. I'm so excited!! I'm going to visit friends and family, both in Perth and at my Grandparents' farm in Kojonup.
So there will probably be no blogging for a while. I'm coming back on Wednesday next week, and hopefully by then I'll have a HAED WIP to show you. Be good in my absence ;)

RR Finish

2006-12-07T18:29:00.000+11:00

Another happydance! I'm on a roll! This is for my Aussie RR. The theme was birds. Birds aren't really my thing, but they did turn out quite cute. It's on 14 count cream aida.

Next up is Nicki's HAED RR, and then Joyce's Coasters.

Another Finish!

2006-12-04T14:18:00.000+11:00

Yay, I finished cookie. And it's only 8 years late! hehehe. It looks a little bare underneath the name and dat, does anyone have any ideas what I could put there? It's going into the framers tomorrow (hopefully), so it will have to be something quick!

p.s. Fudgey, he's on 32 count white linen :)

November-December Goals

2006-12-04T13:51:00.000+11:00

Last month's goals:

Finish Jaxon's birth sampler - Done. Well, I didn't actually finish until 2nd December, but whatever, I'm still counting it. (Picture coming next post)

Start and hopefully finish round 2 of HAED RR - Nope, still haven't started.

Have a biscornu ready for mailing by 20 November - Finished and mailed. It still hasn't been received yet :( and I still haven't received mine yet either!

Do some more of Firefly Fairies - Nope!

Finish my Green Hardanger Cushion into a cushion - Nope!

Spend no more than $200 on stash - Nope! Golden Kite charted Boreas, Flaming June, and Starry Night (aka my three favourite paintings ever) all in the same month so I way exploded the budget, but it was sooo worth it :)

Hmmm, it doesn't actually look so good when I look at it like that. I felt so productive this month. *sigh* But I did have an extra finish in there (sleep tight)

December Goals:

Start and finish Nicki's HAED RR

Start and finish Beryl's Birds (Aussie RR)

Start and finish next round of Aussie RR (If it comes. I think I'm going to have two at once, but I could be wrong. I have no idea what's going on with this RR, the mailings are all over the place)

Finish 'S' by M Designs

Put at least one thread in Firefly Fairies

Prepare myself as far as possible to start Mystery X on January 1 (ie. choose a fabric! This depends on when the kit arrives here from ECC so I can do a floss toss)

Choose what count to do Boreas on, but DO NOT START HER (at least, not unless I finish Scent of Enchantment QS, which isn't likely)

Wow. That's a lot. Especially considering I'm jetting off to Perth to visit the rellies next week, and I'm really not counting on much stitching time whilst I'm there. Ah well, it'll still be fun :) After all, these are only goals. They're not set in stone, and if I don't reach them there's always next month :)

Sleep Tight

2006-11-30T20:00:00.000+11:00

Here's a little thingy I made for my work friend Mary. She's having a baby, and it's due next week! I started this on Monday, and finished it today. It's cute, except for the scarily huge french knot eyes. They're the undead toys from the toybox beyond the grave... It was one of those Dimensions daydreams kits that comes with the mat and glass and everything so you can frame it yourself. I think it actually came out very nicely.

ATTN: Pay it forward recipients, please read the previous post!

SBQ and Pay-it-forward news

2006-11-30T12:11:00.000+11:00

Firstly, Fudgey wanted to know about Cookie's fabric. He's 2 over 2 on 32 count white linen. I'm doing the writing 1 over 1.

For this week:
How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically, do you or have you ever used a waste knot?
I usually do a loop start, because it's dead easy, and I'm laaaazy. I hate waste knots. If I'm only stitching with one strand, I sometimes do a waste knot, but more often, I just take the needle down leaving a tail about 7 or 8 stitches ahead of where I start, and then come up and stitch over the tail at the back. It's the same kind of thing as a waste knot, but you don't have to snip the knot and rethread the needle and weave it under yourself. Does that make any sense at all? This page kind of describes what I mean.

For all my pay it forward recipients, a couple of things:
I had to remove a couple of people from the list because it appears that they're already receiving from other people, so I'm very sorry to them :(
For the people who are still on the list (Nicki, Kyrie, Virpi, and Ann) I need each of you to email me (tashage@hotmail.com) with the following things:
-Postal address,
-date of birth,
-favourite colour(s),
-favourite styles of stitching,
-a link to your wishlist (if you have one),
-and anything else you want to tell me about yourself.

And lastly, I still have one more place left on the list. If you're interested please please please comment and email me :)

That's all for today, I'm off to stitch, but hopefully tomorrow I'll have a finish for you, and another one the next day! (yay)

Cookie

2006-11-25T12:54:00.000+11:00

Isn't he a handsome boy? I scanned this a few days ago. Since then I've done the backstitching and I've started on the words. I think I'm actually going to have this done on time! Yay!

Yay!

2006-11-18T22:19:00.000+11:00

Guess what my mummy is buying me for Christmas?

She came up yesterday. I was telling her about it, and she said she'd buy me the chart AND materials. What a lovely mummy she is :)

Wantie :(

2006-11-17T15:47:00.000+11:00

I'm so totally and completely in lust with Mystery X. Listen to this:

The topic is a "Secret Victorian Garden" -think of brittle old walls,ivy and roses -lush greens and delicate shades of flower colors...gold,beads, crystals and a Victorian feeling all over....
You will be able to "wander" around in this garden as if it were your own! Touch the old trees and sit in the green grass...and dream of gentler times...

It sounds so utterly delicious... but I'm not meant to be spending money. Not that the chart is that expensive, I think only $30AU-ish. But then there's the materials. I think that when the materials picture is up I won't be able to resist. I just know it's going to be too good to pass up. *sigh*

I signed my mortgage papers today. I now own my house. Yay! I now owe the bank $334,974. That's 334,974 reasons not to buy this chart. I must grit my teeth and resist!!! I'm going to need all the help I can get for this :(

The invisible finish!

2006-11-13T00:36:00.000+11:00

I finished my biscornu for the biscornu exchange on Friday evening... but unfortunately, I can't show you pics yet :( That's so frustrating!!! I'm really proud of it, because I've never finished anything before, not even a pincushion. I don't know how you guys who do tons of exchanges can do it all the time. Oh well, hopefully it won't be too long until I can show off pics.

So instead, I'll show you some stash pics :)
The first pic is $350 worth of stuff, that I only paid $100 for at Stitched From the Heart.

The next picture is just some random stash I've accumulated over the past couple of months. I've developed an obsession with hand dyed fabrics and threads... but sooo expensive.

As you notice, my little bubba has to get in on the act, in both photos! I swear, she thinks she's a model. She has to get in every shot!

8,621

2006-11-07T22:17:00.000+11:00

I am 8,621 days old! That sounds like a lot... I can't really think what I've done with them all.

Just a couple of items of business:

for this week
How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random,or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?
Uuuum... well, first of all I tried to think of something witty, then I tried to think of something funny, but not being born naturally witty or funny, I decided to go and eat chocolate for inspiration. (I do that a lot... eat chocolate... not always for inspiration, sometimes just for fun...) Anyway, as I walked past the living room, I went to see what my brother was watching, and it turned out to be Romeo + Juliet (the Baz Luhrmann version). I've always loved that bit in the prologue that says "A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives." It's just so... dramatic! So, even though, I'm certainly don't consider myself literally star-crossed, it still sounds pretty :)

And: a note to all those naughty rascals who think they can leave comments for me without receiving goodies... you know who you are. Don't give me that rubbish "I don't want you spending your money on me" excuse... you're not fooling anyone. I've gotta pay it forward to someone, it might as well be you. Give me your addresses, at least so that I can send you Christmas presents! And also, it's really hard to stalk people if you don't know where they live!

Paying it Forward

2006-11-05T10:04:00.000+11:00

Guess who?

So yesterday, I said goodbye to my lovely RR, before it winged its way to America, and I won't have it back again for a whole year!! But when it does come back it'll be filled with lovely pictures stitched by me new friends :) This is how it looked when I sent it. Unfortunately I didn't have time to finish the border, which I feel terrible about, but I really wanted to get it out on time. I also left a black 'square' for me to stitch when it comes home, because hopefully I'll be able to choose another favourite by then. The theme is black and white by the way, and all of the designs are from HAED.

I'm just in love with this whole idea of round robins and exchanges and everything. It's wonderful to be able to have stitchy friends all over the world... especially when most people I know around here think I'm a bit mad. I started my biscornu for the exchange. I wish I could show you pics, because I love it. The colours are so gorgeous! I've had fun shopping for extra little bits to put in with it too :) I keep finding such lovely goodies , and I just want to send them to everyone!!

In the same vein, I was seriously tempted by the Pay It Forward idea I saw on Mel's Blog. I wasn't going to do it at first, thinking I've already got enough on my plate, but then I saw that someone mentioned a one year time allowance, and in the end I caved. I'm such a sucker! So here we go:

I'm going to put together a cross stitch 'care package' for the first five people to respond to this post in the comments below. I'll stitch you something small, and include some little fabbies, threads, charts, whatever I can find that I think you'd like. Hopefully I'll be able to make it personal; things that I think you'd appreciate from what I read on your blog. Also, I'm giving myself a one year allowance to make and put together all five packages. So if you’re interested, comment away. Next, email me (tashage@hotmail.com) letting me know your snail mail address and you blog URL, and I'll be in touch :) Psst... and even if there is already five comments, you should email me anyway... you'll probably get lucky. The catch? You need to blog this too, and 'pay it forward' in your own way. Go on… it'll be fun :D

October-November Goals

2006-11-02T19:47:00.000+11:00

So... here are last month's goals, I didn't do very well. Oops!

Finish 'S' (M Designs) - Nope! Didn't do it. I'm still only about halfway done. I have other things to do now, because this doesn't have to be done for a couple of months.

Finish the HAED RR border - Nope! I did as much as I could, but I just ran out of steam :( Anyway, I'll be posting it off tomorrow. Yay!

Start and finish Aussie RR square (if it arrives in time) - Nope! I never received the robin for this round! I don't know what I'm meant to do, I emailed the co-ordinator and the girl who it belongs to and the girl who was meant to send it to me, and no one seems to care!?!

Do some more of Firefly Fairies - Nope! I forgot. Oops!

Start SOMETHING for Jaxon. No more putting it off!!!! - Yes!! I did do it! I started cookie monster. True, I have not yet provided proof, but I will.

Spend no more than $150 on stash - Nope! Damn 70% off at Stitched From the Heart. I blew my limit by $100. But I'm going to get a lovely stash parcel in the mail :)

So, I only completed one of my goals! Pathetic!

November:

Finish Jaxon's birth sampler

Start and hopefully finish round 2 of HAED RR

Have a biscornu ready for mailing by 20 November

Do some more of Firefly Fairies

Finish my Green Hardanger Cushion into a cushion

Spend no more than $200 on stash

hopefully I'll have better luck this month!

Be afraid.... Be very afraid!

2006-10-26T10:57:00.000+10:00

This is a very important announcement!

Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak!

2006-10-24T15:56:00.000+10:00

One of my favourite little ladies at work died yesterday. She was such a sweet little thing, everyone loved her... but, she was 104 years old, she was probably ready to go. It was so heartbreaking looking after her for the last few nights and hours. She was really suffering, because her doctor wouldn't give her any pain relief... it's terrible to see someone so distressed and to be so powerless to do anything to help them. I always feel sad when someone dies, but you do get attatched to some of them more than others.

So when I came home from work yesterday, I didn't feel like writing about Liechhardt. So instead, I put in a very large order at Stitched From The Heart. I read on Mel's blog that they are having a closing down sale, and 70% off everything(!) is just too good to miss. So I've been spending money that I don't have. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately.

The good news is that I think I've finally found a suitable piece of fabric for Toccata 2! It's only taken me 3 months or so. *sigh* The first two pieces I tried were just awful... that's the problem with ordering online... you never get to see exactly what you're buying until it arrives! I finally settled on 36 ct Stitches and Spice Celtic Blend. I did order it online again, but I'm not worried, because I've actually stitched on it before, for my Celtic Banner, and I know it will be lovely. Not so pinky in real life though.

So... I'll be starting that SAL soon, and I'll be posting off my HAED RR in a couple of days (still plugging away at that horrible border...), and receiving (I think) Nicki's to stitch on. Plus, I've signed up for a biscornu exchange at LJ XstitchXchange (link fixed), so I have to find an appropriate pattern and learn how to make one for my recepient. AND I had a new start today! I made myself get started on Jaxon's birth sampler. (No pic yet, so far it's only a blue blobby.) So my fingers are very busy!!

And don't get me started on a week of clinicals, my major assignment (which, of course, I haven't started) due next week, OSCAs coming up, the mortgage being approved (or more likely, rejected) this week, and changing jobs (which further complicates the mortgage stuff)... I'm a very busy little vegemite! (And a bit of a stressed one too!)

Actually, speaking of vegemite, did you hear that they've banned vegemite in the USA?!

Before work ramblings

2006-10-22T22:15:00.000+10:00

I was really sick this week. I had a horrible cold. I caught it last weekend from the lady in dementia unit who pinched me on the arm and made me bleed. Horrid old thing. But luckily I'm better now.

The weather this month has been... sporadic. We have a couple 33 degree days in a row, and I pack away my winter blankets and jumpers. And then, like today, all of a sudden it's freezing again. I froze my skin off at work last night because I didn't take my jumper, as it ha been such a hot day. You never know what to expect. My room gets so hot in the afternoon that I can't even sleep in there, and then at night I freeze! I hate the weather like this. It's very strange weather, it's kind of putting me on edge.

Hmm... in other news I'm starting my new job with Tara on November 9th!
HOORAY!!!!
I haven't told my manager that yet. I'm dreading that. She's not going to be a very happy vegemite.

Okay, I'm off to work now, but when I get home in the morning I'm going to write something lovely about Leichhardt :)

2006-10-12T13:11:00.000+10:00

Hmmm.... blogrolling wasn't working all day yesterday for me. Thank goodness it's back up now. It's such a pain to try and remember everyone's blog addresses.

The Needlework Show is on. My wishlist is going to double in size by tomorrow!

Anyway, gtg to work for a fire lecture and a medication assessment. As though I don't have enough assessments to bother with at uni too! *sigh* fingers crossed I can get some stitching done this evening.

A couple of things

2006-10-10T09:18:00.000+10:00

I know, it's been a long time since I last updated. I haven't been doing much stitching lately. Too busy with Uni and job interviews and stuff. Oh, btw, the job interview went excellently! It's in an aged care respite centre, but it's really small, only five clients at a time, and my best friend (Tara) is the manager! Tara said that the other interviews were a disaster, so they're pretty desperate. Her boss phoned me this morning and told me that I have the job and can basically pick whatever shifts I like. I'm so relieved! I can't wait to get out of where I work now. I hate that job. And I hate the people I work with. Well, some of the people. But I've been reluctant to leave because they pay above award wages. That's how they trap you, see? They give us an extra dollar an hour so we can NEVER leave (insert evil laugh here). It's cruel!
I have an appointment with our mortgage broker on Friday. My brother, Carl, and I are buying a house. This house actually. I'm going to own my own little apartment! Well, half of it at least. I'm very worried, especially with changing jobs and stuff. Plus...I'm too young to have a mortgage!
So because of all that stuff, I haven't been doing any stitching lately. I've been too tired at work to do anything. Staying awake is hard enough sometimes, and if I try and stitch I usually make too many mistakes. But I have managed to get a bit more done on 'S' (M Designs)

Also, my big little brother has been visiting us on weekends, because he's back in Sydney. But trying to get a decent photo of him is... *cough* well, you get it.

September-October Goals

2006-10-04T18:21:00.000+10:00

Plan, start and finish my HAED RR. - yep... still working on the border though...

Plan and start Jaxon's birth sampler. - well, I have planned it, but still haven't found the right font... I'm thinking of just stitching Noah's Baby.

Get out an old UFO to see if I can rescue it for Jack's birth sampler. - Well, I did have a look, but the aida is covered with rust, and I just don't like the pattern any more. Or, I could restart it and make it for Jaxon... hmmm, there's a thought!

Put at least one thread in Firefly Fairies. - check! :)

DO NOT buy any more stash!!!!!(This is the most important goal) - yes! I did it! aren't you proud of me!

Goals for October:

Finish 'S' (M Designs)

Finish the HAED RR border

Start and finish Aussie RR square (if it arrives in time)

Do some more of Firefly Fairies

Start SOMETHING for Jaxon. No more putting it off!!!!

Spend no more than $150 on stash

What I've been up to

2006-09-30T08:23:00.000+10:00

I know, it's been a long time between updates... that seems to be a trend with me. But I promise that I have been stitching, a little bit. Actually, I'm having problems with my right shoulder; I never knew there were such things as stitching injuries, but now I do. It's just so sore and tight! I took a week off stitching, which did help, but only temporarily. Ah well. I'm just going to have to invest in a massage once a month. What a shame!

I've been working on 'S' (M Designs), and I'm about 1/3 done... it's lovely. My friend Veronica is actually doing the exact same chart at the moment, so next week I'll ask her if I can take a picture of hers and post it. Hers is even more gorgeous than mine! (d'oh!)

My first ever foray into hardanger embroidery, and I really enjoyed it! It was a kit that Mum gave me when I was down in Canberra visiting her last week. It only took me a few hours. (I did it whilst watching the first season of the Golden Girls, I love them!)

I really want to make a doily or a table cloth... but that might be a bit adventurous. I've been looking for patterns, but haven't found many that I really love. I'm kind of becoming obsessed with the idea though. I'm dreaming about hardanger!

I think it's a bit naughty to call this a finish, because I'm meant to make it into a cushion, but I don't have a sewing machine, and I'm too scared to hand sew it. I'll have to ask Mummy dearest to do it for me :D

And look! I've been stitching on Firefly Fairies. My thread heaven arrived in the mail, and I decided to test it out with the Kreiniks in this chart... and I have to say, it's pretty good. Not perfect, but a vast improvement.

I've rediscovered my love for this chart. Actually, I've really been enjoying all of my cross stitching lately, but there is (always) one exception. I've been trying to do the border on my HAED RR, and it's driving me insane! Insane I say! I wish to god that I hadn't chosen such a complicated border. I'll have to show you a picture some other time. I can't even bear to think about it long enough to get it out and photograph it. Aaaargh!

In other news, I've applied for a cushy job in another village, which I'm sure to get (since my best friend is the manager... hehehe, friends in high places) and I'm so excited! I keep imagining the interview, and thinking about the work and everything, and I'm thinking about it so much that I'm actually losing sleep over it! I'm off to bed now though; hopefully I can get thoughts of lovely new jobs and hardanger out of my head long enough for a few hours sleep!

HAED RR HD!

2006-09-14T07:01:00.000+10:00

I just finished my HAED RR square. I'm so pleased with her, she looks lovely.

I actually wouldn't mind stitching the whole thing of her. It would be quite fast, probably because she's quite small, and she only has 22 colours. I finished her in two weeks, and I think that's a record for me :) She's so tiny too!

Now all I have to do is the border. I'm still planning that. I would love to add another square on, to make it an even 8. Then I could make it into an octagon box... but I don't think my fabric is wide enough. I don't know. I'll have to get out my trusty calculator and tape measure.

Madness of Hatred

2006-09-10T21:12:00.000+10:00

Madness of Hatred by Selina Fenech, from Heaven and Earth Designs. This WIP is actually from a few days ago, I've done more since then, but I'm far too lazy to take another picture. I'm just doing a little section for my HAED RR, the new theme I've chosen is black and white. There are so many lovely b&w charts, that I would never have time to stitch myself, so this is a nice way to do it!

I also have lots of new stash that I must share with you. Soon, I promise.

September Goals:

2006-09-02T08:05:00.000+10:00

So now time for the dreaded goal rundown.
August Goals
DEFINITELY:

Finish Aussie RR square - Done, but one day late

Finish Scent of Enchantment - nope!

Plan the birth sampler for Jaxon - nope!

Put at least one thread in Firefly Fairies - nope!

HOPEFULLY:

Plan layout for HAED RR - yes, but then it was trashed, so I have to come up with a new one, hopefully just a modification of the old one.

Start housewarming gift for Kim - nope. I've decided to leave that for a Christmas present.

Finish 'S' - nope, still waiting for the chart to actually get here!

Not a very successful month, you see. Hopefully this month will be better:

Plan, start and finish my HAED RR.

Plan and start Jaxon's birth sampler.

Get out an old UFO to see if I can rescue it for Jack's birth sampler.

Put at least one thread in Firefly Fairies.

DO NOT buy any more stash!!!!!(This is the most important goal)

I hope this month's goals are a bit more realistic. I think it's going to take me a while for me to be able to estimate my goals correctly. They were so high last month that I was disheartened and didn't feel like stitching at all, so hopefully by lowering my expectations this month I'll do better. Well, here's hoping!

HD!

2006-09-02T07:49:00.000+10:00

Yay! A finish! It's a day late, so I didn't make my goal, but hey, better late than never. (sorry about the hideous blurry picture, my scanner is on the blink). Carnivorous Cat by Cattitudes. Stitched on white 14 count aida with 1/2 strands of Anchor thread.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to finish this, it was so yucky to stitch, but it doesn't matter. It's done now, and I can put it in an envelope and send it to Denmark, and I never have to look at or think about it again. Thank God.

My first SBQ

2006-08-31T11:43:00.000+10:00

for this week:

How do you share your finished pieces with others? Do you frame them, scan and/or photograph them, or do you have another method that you would like to share?

Well, I wish I could frame them, but I have no money because I keep buying stash. I take my finishes to work to show my stitching friends, and I always show them to my mum. Then I scan or photograph them and post them on my Webshots album, and I also share them with the girls over at the Livejournal cross stitch community, and get lots of lovely oohs and aahs. And of course now that I have a stitching blog, I will be posting them here, if I ever have another finish again!

My beautiful babies

2006-08-30T15:56:00.000+10:00

My bubba Chess
Chess with my little sister Catherine

stitcher's block averted

2006-08-29T19:03:00.000+10:00

Long time, no update! Well, it's kind of hard to update when you have no internet. Luckily, now I do. And broadband at that! Now I can look at the pictures on the HAED page! Yay!

Last week, I desperately wanted to write a whingey (sp?) entry about stitcher's block. I was feeling horrible about the slow progress on my Cattitudes. not being a big fan of cats, or the colour orange, or stitching big blocks of one colour, I was feeling kind of bogged down. I've been working on this for nearly a month now, and I was hoping to have it finished by the end of the month, but I don't know if I'll make it.

...and because I was trying so hard to stitch on that, I've been ignoring Scent of Enchantment, so that's not moving along fast either, and I was getting more upset, beacause I knew I wouldn't finish it by the end of the month.

So to make myself feel better, I thought I'd start something new: my HAED RR. But it just didn't work. The colours were all wrong, so I had to ditch that one, find a new theme, new fabric, and a new layout, and I was so in love with the old one... le sigh.

But now it's all okay. I've thought of a lovely (secret) new theme for my RR, and found a lovely (secret) new chart, and I've come up with a way to adapt the layout to fit the theme... so it's all good. Aaaand, I've finally finished all of that damn orange on the carnivorous cat. I've just got the belly and the background and the backstitch to go. Thank God!

With 2 days left to go, I'm going to try for a finish before the end of the month :) *crosses fingers* I'd better get offline and get some stitching done.

The long awaited stash post (finally)

2006-08-19T16:12:00.000+10:00

-Teresa Wentzler's Noah's Ark Kit

-Noah's Ark by Ginger & Spice
-Wee Darlings Miniature Stockings
-A freebie from The Sweetheart Tree

-The remaining 150 DMC threads I needed to complete the collection
-YLI invisible thread (for beading)
-Mirabilia: The Rose of Sharon, which I'm planning to do after Firefly Fairies.

From Dragonfly Dreams:
-Wind by Sheila Wolk (HAED)
-D, E, I and P by The World of S's Ruritania alphabet (I want to do them for my RL friends Daula, Elisa, Iz, and Prue)
-Soie Perlee for Toccata II (my silk pack came with the DMC perles, but I decided I wanted the pretty shinies :)

-Queen Anne's Lace kit by Lavender and Lace. There's so many lovely kreiniks in it :)