Goodbye Cross Stitch...

Hello Punch Needle!!!!

I bought these all in the past week and am currently on the poppies... Fun fun fun!!!! :)

Let's Do The Time Warp!!!

I have been lacking in writing... I find when I'm stressed beyond all belief I avoid doing things that other people can see and appreciate... My writing and my stitching being two of those things... Until last Saturday I had not done any stitching on my Brguiling Tiger since the last time I posted... Now I'll remind you all why...

I told my boss my plans for school sometime in early June... I then told her she was not to tell anybody about these plans until July... For some reason, having this a secret just felt right for awhile... July 1st the cat was out of the bag... I am done at my job on the 19th of August... I fly to NL on the 22nd of August... I move into my boarding house room on the 1st of September... I start school on the 9th of September... For the past week, I have been stressed about my school schedule, because for one reason or another I could not get into the classes I need for the Pre-Pharmacy... That has finally been settled to my extreme relief... I have about three weeks of employment left, and yes, that does scare the crap out of me...

Wish me luck...

Beguiling Tiger # 3...

"Beguiling Tiger" designed by Tracy Somerville... The Gold Collection Petites... Dimensions... As of May 17th, 2009...

Beguiling Tiger # 2...

"Beguiling Tiger" designed by Tracy Somerville... The Gold Collection Petites... Dimensions... As of May 11th, 2009...

"Call of the Wilderness" designed by Michael Adams... Dimensions... As of May 11th, 2009...

I didn't actually do any stitching on this lately, but I did fix it up a little... This has been a WIP for about... um... five years... I washed it and ironed it to get rid of the filth and (some of the) skew and the wrinkles... I starting working on this before I understood that a hoop (bars) was (were) a must... Also, that washing my hands before touching the cloth was a good idea... Seriously, the wash water was this cloudy murky gross mess...

Goals for the Month of May...

1. Work on "Beguiling Tiger"...
2. (If I finish the previous) Start "Unicorn Mystique"...
3. Start one of my Peonies designs...

A Finish (Coffee Addict) And A WIP (Beguiling Tiger # 1)...

"Coffee Addict"... From the Margaret Sherry CrossStitcher 2009 Calendar, August Pattern... Finished May 3rd, 2009...

"Beguiling Tiger" designed by Tracy Somerville... The Gold Collection Petites... Dimensions... As of May 3rd, 2009...

I found this in Wal-Mart yesterday... My "SQUUUEEEEEEEE!" of happiness was loud and amusing to many who heard it... It will go nicely with this which I picked up in Port Huron a couple of months ago... I sense a theme...

Exotic Orchid Finished...

I have a story to tell... It's mostly a tale of frustration... Not much action, unless you call me glowering at things action...

I started this piece in January... Well, really it was December... I had decided after a false-start to stitch it with three strands instead of two because there were major coverage issues with two... I had the same threads I had previously bought, which was approximately a year before... They were Anchor... They were purchased so far in advance because I had always planned on doing this as a companion piece for the Stargazer flower I had stitched... I got so far, and ran out of thread... The second darkest purple... I ran to the local Wal-Mart to pick up some more, and they didn't have any!!! Well, okay, I had other stuff to stitch on it, and hopefully they would restock it soon... Well, no... Over a month after I finished everything else, they finally got the colour I needed... And it was the wrong dye lot!!! Seriously, I was going to cry... I was expecting this pretty blue-purple thread and it was this pink-tinged thing... So, I gave up... I put the cross stitch away for awhile, because I didn't know what I was going to do... Yesterday, I was looking for new threads for a new project, and I looked, and there were two different colours in the slot for 109... One, the unneeded pink-tinged thing, and the other my pretty blue-purple thread...

I bought three skiens...

I think I'm gonna switch to DMC...

April Showers...

I have been sadly negligent (sp?) in my blogging duties... Sorry... Here's what I've been up to... Which isn't much, to be truthful... My activities have not included stitching lately...

"Rudbeckia"...From CrossStitch Collection # 161...Finished April 11th, 2009...

"Agapanthus"...From CrossStitch Collection # 163...Finished April 12th, 2009...

Spring Break # 1...

Sunday I was helping my brother move... Well, it was more like helping his girlfriend... Don't get me wrong... I love the girl to death, but she has way too much shit... I am not kidding... There were two storage units worth of boxes, and we moved the vast majority of them into the basement of a townhouse on the south side of the city that day... As well as a heavy-ass sectional couch, the kitchen table (*CRIES!!!!!*), and various large bookcases... Not fun!

So, safe to say I was sleepy Sunday night... And of course, I ignored the fact that I had an early shift at work the next day... What did I then do at 10 pm-ish? Pull out Summer Break, organize the whole bloody thing and stitch a quick 10 X 10 block to see what it looked like on the fabric... Yes, I never said I was smart...

This is not that 10 x 10 block... This is more like 1200 stitches... It's sad to say that so much work produces such a little thing... And to think I still have about 41,000 stitches to go? At least there's no backstitch or specialties... I think that would break me... Much like many boxes broke my back on Sunday... But I do like it's smudgy quality... Like watercolouring painting...

By the way... "Teardrop" by Massive Attack... Yes, it's the House theme song, but it's a bloody good track... Go download it now...

A Star Danced...

I stitched this today... It's going to be for Jenn for her birthday, which is the Ides of March... Figured I would get a headstart on her presents this year...

It's called "A Star Danced" and it's designed by Sharon (Daffycat)... She offered it as a free chart on her blog (http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/) and it was quite lovely to stitch... Well, I ended up frogging the 'you' because I messed up the placement... But other then that it was great... A very good afternoon stitch... This was also my first attempt on an evenweave fabric and I quite liked it... I used a piece of 28-count tea coloured monaco... My picture taking skills could use a bit of practice though, because this shot does not do the stitching any justice...

Exotic Orchid # 4...

Still waiting for that one colour of thread... But it's the last thing I need to do with this... Until then I'm just gonna wait... Well, and start something else that is... Heh heh heh...

Exotic Orchid # 3...

So, here is my orchid as of today, January 18th, 2009... It's getting there, but there really isn't much hope of it actually being done this month... That one colour of thread is still MIA... You can see in the bottom left petal where it should be... I have other projects to be done if I end up having to wait for the thread to come in... I will not be detered from my objectives...

I sent in my passport application... I don't know why I felt like mentioning it, but I do...

My knee feels like something is catching in my kneecap... I'll be walking around, and it's like my kneecap comes out of joint and back into joint within a step... When I kneel there is great pain... I've spent this past weekend avoiding doing anything to irritate my knee... I hope that this helps... Rest may be all that it needs... *crosses fingers*...

And, to end on a good note... Below is a picture of Archie... No, he does not live in a box on a regular basis... But this was just too cute of a picture to pass up... He's usually orange, but I changed the settings on my camera...

Sea Kittens?

PETA, why are you mocking yourself? Sea Kittens? Seriously? Be ashamed... Really... Hang your head...

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Okay, now that's out of my system, on to stitchy news... I've been unable to find a specific colour of the threads I need to finish my Exotic Orchid... Not that I'm waiting on that thread alone to work on this thing... I still have other stitching to do on it... But I'm depressed that I can't get the thread, and that the DMC equivalent doesn't match at all... It's more a pink-purple then the blue-purple that I need... *pout*...

However, I did get about a thousand stitches put in today... And we'll see how much I get done tomorrow... I'll post a picture then... Nite... :)

Exotic Orchid # 2...

I'm more then half-way done this thing! Yay me! Isn't it just so purty? ;)

Exotic Orchid # 1...

Well, here's a picture of what I did a few months ago... I frogged the whole thing in a snit because I didn't like the way the coverage was in two strands...

And here's what I started a couple of days ago... It looks so much better... But it's using so much thread with the three strands... I've already gone through one skein of white, and I know I'm going to need another couple of the lightest purple... A trip to the Wal-Mart craft section will be required tomorrow or Saturday...

And here's something that was finished a few years ago and is dragged out at Christmas on an annual basis... Okay, it's not quite finished... Technically, it should be pointed, and tasseled, but I was too lazy at the time, and I quite like it this way, anyway...