Close, but no cigar!

This is a late post because I spent the weekend at a family history conference indulging in my other hobby.  I went away at Friday lunchtime and came back yesterday evening.  I had a great time, learnt a lot and talked to people of a like mind.  However, despite having said great time, this did have an impact on the amount of time that I had available for stitching.

I nearly made it to the finish line with Carnation.  If you look closely at the bottom right hand corner, you will see that I am into the final square!  Unfortunately going away meant that I lost the Friday evening and time on Saturday that I would otherwise have spent finishing Page 1.  I'm not in the least upset - I still have more than a month before the first anniversary of this piece comes round, and they say a change is as good as a rest.

I'd bought a new frock (and the upholstery to go under it!) and dug out my high heeled dancing shoes to take away with me.  So on Saturday night, my friend and I were the first on the floor and the last off!  You have to let your hair down sometimes.

I did however take the Cat with me.  I got quite a bit done on Thursday night, which was Patchwork Night, although for some reason it got mistaken for a bird!  I also put some stitches in after lunch on Saturday, so that should make up for missing my normal Sunday morning slot.

Today I got up early and went to my parents to see my cousin and cuddle her baby.  I've also done my shopping for the week and caught up on the laundry.  Inspired by the conference and an email that I received today from a fellow researcher, I've also done some family history.  I've also signed up for the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend next weekend - this may be slightly hampered by an overnight stay by a small person, but I've signed up for it anyway.  And tomorrow I go back to work!

Late Easter post

I was too late home last night to do my usual post - we had family high tea and an Easter egg hunt at my parents, plus I was on taxi duty to take our guest home, so I'm posting tonight, having had a lazyish day, and the prospect of back to work in the morning.

I'm starting off with the Cat because I haven't done much on it recently.  I didn't get any more done on Saturday night because the light wasn't good enough in the house that I was babysitting in.  I did however get some done yesterday morning in between the four loads of laundry that I did before having lunch and going to pick up our guest.  It's coming on slowly and I'm quite enjoying it, but with it being my Sunday morning piece, I just don't get an uninterrupted run at it - I'm always up and down to the washing machine. 

Although I posted a pic of Carnation on my WIPocalypse post on Friday, I'm showing you another because not only did I finish the second block, I managed to complete a third block as well.  So now I only have three blocks to go before I finish Page 1 and claim my new book and the right to buy stash. 

The purchase of stash will be assisted by the money I earned babysitting on Saturday night - the kids were good as gold and I read my new book which I claimed for finishing the Fuschias.  Mum picked out "The Horn of Merlyns" by Violet Needham, published by Girls Gone By. For my Easter present to myself, Mum picked out "The Winter of Enchantment" by Victoria Walker, published by Fidra Books.  I already have a number of books by Violet Needham and this one was very enjoyable.  Victoria Walker is a new author to me, and I also enjoyed this book very much.

2012 WIPocalypse - April Full Moon

Well, doesn't time fly?  Where has the year gone?  How can it be April already?

However it is April and a Full Moon, so it must be WIPocalypse reporting time again.

I was determined to have the Fuschias finished for this report, so I put in three hours work this morning so that I could take this picture.  They still need to be washed and pressed, but they are finished and I didn't run out of thread, and nor did I have a problem with the wretched french knots!  I don't hate this piece, but I didn't enjoy doing it - the aida was very stiff and for some reason it was difficult to find the holes with the needle. 

Sounds daft, I know, but I'm glad that it is done and out of the way.  I'll claim my new book from Mum tomorrow (the other two that I ordered turned up the other day), but will leave choosing a new start for a couple of weeks as I have non-stitching things that I need to do first.

No pictures of the Cat today - however, I'm taking it babysitting tomorrow night so with that and my regular Sunday morning stint, I hope to have something to show in my next post.

Carnation has been a bit slower this week.  I said in my last post that I was only aiming to get two blocks done this week due to the Easter holiday and so on.  Well, I've nearly finished the second block, and hope to get it completed tomorrow. 

However I know that there is a mistake in this second block because the stitch count is off.  I can't see the mistake, I don't know exactly where it is and the thread colours are all so similar that I'm just going to fudge it, rather than frog all the work that I've done since, most of which I know is right, cos I've counted from the other side of the block. 

In the grand scheme of things, i.e. a piece of work that will be 18.4" wide and 21.9" long on 16 count aida, an invisible mistake somewhere in the top left hand corner is not going to make a big difference. 

Right, it's nearly 10pm UK time, so I'm going to check in with Measi and then call it a day.   I'll save looking at other people's WIPocalypse reports for another day.

It's gone cold again :-(

Well, so much for the nice warm weather that we were having!  The temperature has fallen about 10 degrees and we are due for a heavy shower of rain on Tuesday.  The rain is not necessarily a bad thing - they keep threatening us with a drought - but it was a bit chilly last night.

Just a couple of pics to show you today - I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights and so I had a lie-in this morning instead of working on the Cat.

I've done some more on the Fuschias - that bottom flower is now finished cross stitch wise.  Once I've got the flower in the top left done, that will just leave the backstitch and the dreaded French knots.  My main concern is that I appear to be running low on thread.  The kit doesn't refer to any thread numbers, just colours, so I haven't got a clue what I'm using.  I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that if I do run out, I can find something to match amongst my DMC threads.

Things are going very well on Carnation.  I finished the last block on the right hand side, and then got two done on the bottom row, so another three blocks down and only six to go before I've finished Page 1.

Life is about to get a little busy with Easter coming up and a couple of other things in the diary, so I'm going to lower my sights a little.  If I can manage two blocks a week for the next three weeks, then that will bring Page 1 in under the wire a month ahead of this piece's first anniversary.  I think that it is do-able, and if I can get more than two blocks done, so much the better, and if I can't, well I still have a month or so in hand.

Mum's taken delivery of three of the books I ordered and it's WIPocalypse on Friday.  If I put my mind to it and stop reading other people's blogs at lunchtime, maybe I can claim a finish on the Fuschias and a new book!

Right, I'm bone tired so I'm going to love you and leave you.  I'll see you Friday with my WIPocalypse report.

Spring is in the air!

Instead of posting this last night (although I had already taken the photos), I went to my sister's for the first barbecue of the year! It's ridiculous - it's not even April and the weather was so nice yesterday that my brother in law decided that it was time to get the barbie out - I still wore a coat!

Saturday morning was very chilly and by the time that I had spent two hours (9-11am) collecting for the Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal, I seriously needed to defrost.  Once defrosted, I went to the framers to pick up this up.  This is John Clayton's Fuchsias which I finished on 12 May 2011 and have only just got round to having framed.  It's actually a pale ivory mount and a navy blue aluminium frame - the wooden frames were all too wide.  I think that it's come out very nicely and all I have to do now is cajole Dad into coming round and putting it up for me.

I haven't made much progress on my other fuchsia - I keep getting sidetracked by other people's blogs at lunchtime.  However, as I have now ordered my reward books (5 of them), I really need to get this finished in order to be able to read one of them at least.

The Cat is coming on, although the fabric is still not taking a good photo (this was taken indoors, but with the sunlight pouring through the window).  The problem with this one, as with the Beetle in its early stages, is that I get distracted by the laundry and by the books in my bedroom.  However, I have four months to work on it before my aunt's birthday - it might have to become my travel piece though.

And the piece de resistance - Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.  I am so pleased with myself!  I got another three blocks done this week on the right hand side, which only leaves nine to go before I finish Page 1 (and get to read another book!).  It looks better from a distance or in a photo - when you're up close and personal with it, it's harder to see the picture coming through.

And you know, the best thing about it - my Mum is so impressed with it - she thinks my work is excellent, and as a textile artist herself, she wouldn't lie about that sort of thing, not even to make me feel good.  And knowing that she admires the quality of my work makes me feel like I'm walking on air!  I really hope that someone who matters to you makes you feel the same way too about your work!

IHSW Report - March 2012

Not much hermitting but quite a bit of stitching this weekend.  Among other things, I collected the framed Beetle, wrapped it and finally managed to hand it over to my friend just under two weeks past her 40th birthday. She loved it and is going to hang it in a place of honour.

This is the best of the photos that I took - still some glare but what can you do?  My photography skills are a bit hit and miss as you will see from the rest of the photos in this post.

While collecting the Beetle, I took my John Clayton Fuschias in to be framed as well, about a year after finishing them, so will show you the framed version next Sunday.

Updates for this week and for this IHSW session are as follows:

This is my current travelling piece, Fuschia by Serendipity Designs, one of my WIPocalypse pieces.  I've promised myself that when it's finished, I can have a new book and a new start.  I'm currently working it on a 4" hoop but think that I am going to have to carry on 'in hand' because of the size of the fabric (which is very stiff).

 This is an indoor photo of the Cat because we have had everything but the kitchen sink in the way of weather today.  I woke up to a heavy fall of large wet snowflakes which became rain which became a sharp hailstorm which was followed by sunshine which turned into a heavy rainstorm followed by sunshine again.  I wasn't running the risk of taking my stitching outside in such uncertain weather.

And finally, and I apologise for the fuzzy photo, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.  I have made good progress on this piece this week, completing three blocks on the right hand side.  There are another 12 blocks to go to complete page 1, which at an average of 2 blocks a week means that I should hopefully fingers crossed be able to show you a completed page 1 by the last Sunday in April.  On this one, I've promised myself that once page 1 is finished, I can have a new book and buy stash.  



I shall have to buy the books in advance and get them sent to my parents because the price is going up in April, and I haven't decided what the stash will be yet - possibly a Randal Spangler HAED or a Chatelaine or .. or .. - the possibilities are endless.

I have also booked a day off this week - I plan to spend some quality time with my Mum on Wednesday and possibly with my Dad if he wants to come out with us.  I just need a break, a bit of downtime. I'm sure that you know what I mean!

Getting back to normal?

I promised you a picture of the Beetle in its final format, so here you go.  When it comes back from the framers, I'll take another picture - I've gone for a natural wood frame and a pale ivory mount, as close to the cream on the right side of the bonnet as I could get.

Now that the Beetle is done, the plan was to try and get back to normal.  However since completing the Beetle, I've had a thought which has set me another deadline.

The initial idea was to stitch the Cat for my friend who is currently in the States.  But while I was doing some work on my family history, I was reminded that my aunt, nanna of the Noah's Ark baby, will be 70 in August, just a fortnight after my father, and she also loves cats.  So the new plan is to stitch the Cat for my aunt by the beginning of August.

I've been working on the Cat today in between loads of laundry.  If you remember, the first picture that I took didn't show the fabric very well so I said that I would take the next picture outside.  So I did, and this is how it came out.  Unfortunately the sun was going down so you still don't get a really good idea of the colour of the fabric, although it is slightly better than pictures taken inside with flash.

However, regardless of the new deadline that I have now inflicted on myself, I am going back to work on Carnation as of tomorrow morning.  It will seem strange to be working on the floor frame again.  

This is how it looked when I stopped work on it in order to get the Noah's Ark done.  I need to finish the column on the right and then do the bottom row in order to complete Page 1.  I would like to do that before the first anniversary of this piece on 25 May.  What are my chances?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Just a couple of catch-ups - nothing to say about the wool and as for the job, well, I chased earlier this week, only to get an email response that they've now frozen recruitment for this post!  It is over 3 months since I first applied and was asked to come for interview.  Ok, so the initial delay was understandable under the circumstances, but I am more than a little narked about being messed about like this.