Evening all! Hope all is well with you and yours, and that your stitching progressed nicely this weekend.
Right, I have a new (to me) car. It is an 03 plate Fiat Punto which I collected on Tuesday lunchtime. On Thursday morning, the battery was flat owing to me accidentally turning the interior light on (probably with my head) when I got out of the car on Wednesday night. On Friday morning, I was stood in the office car park reading the manual to work out how to lock the petrol cap. Talk about a steep learning curve! Other than that, it drives very nicely and I am quite happy with it. And best of all, I am no longer dependent on anyone else to get around. I now need to invest in flowers and chocolate for my colleagues who made my life easier when I was without transport.
Stitching progress has been good this week. I took Teddy to my blood donation appointment on Monday amongst other things. He himself is finished apart from the backstitch. This week's plan is to stitch the stick of rock that he is holding in his arms and the sweet which is at the bottom left in the foot of the stocking. That will leave the background stripes, the backstitch and Little Miss Gorgeous' name between the red lines. Then I just have to wash it, make it up and decide whether to send it before Christmas to put on the tree or with her Christmas present.
Train has also come on nicely this morning. In another block completing session, I got five blocks completed and put a dent in some fresh ones. You can now see a green book spine starting to come through next to the red one. Slow but subtle progress. However I do think that I might do my next HAED (whichever one that is) on a slightly lower count - 18 count perhaps?
Another three blocks completed on Carnation and if you look closely in the right hand corner, quite a few stitches in the next block. This next week will see me complete the top row and move into row 2. A rough and ready calculation at three blocks a week should see me completing page 3 by or before this piece's second anniversary next May. There is however still my littlest niece's birthday piece to locate and stitch before next June - the problem is that I want something that she will both enjoy now and that will grow with her.
I have Friday off this week and there is another sewing day coming up towards the end of next month, so hopefully things should be looking good by Christmas.
Today I'll start with the good news and then go on to the stitching.
Firstly Dad went back to the hospital last week and they have discharged him back to his doctor. The biopsies that they took during the endoscopy came back clear and any thickening of the stomach wall is probably due to the aspirin he takes. They told him to have some coronary function tests because they now think that taking up smoking again (boo, hiss!) may have altered his metabolism and caused him to lose the worrying amount of weight. Since he has started eating more, it appears that his weight has stabilised. He has had the tests done and is now waiting for his doctor to come back off holiday. Basically they have tested everything and found nothing wrong with him that is not normal for a man of his age and general state of health. So we are breathing a sigh of relief and looking forward.
On the car front, Dad and I went car hunting on Saturday and I have put a deposit down on a car. I won't say that I have a new (to me) car until I actually have the keys in my hands. However, it is an 03 plate Fiat Punto in silver with less than 50,000 miles on the clock. I got a bit of a discount and it is costing me just slightly more than I got back from the various insurers. I can't wait to be properly independent again and not have to rely on family and colleagues for transport!
Last week was slightly traumatic at work as we have had a new computer system installed. We have moved to Windows 2010 and have had new PCs and larger monitors. So I went back to work last Monday straight into a training session. For the next couple of days, the air was ever so slightly blue as I tried to work out how to do all the things that I was used to doing on the new system. Things are a little calmer now as the IT folk work through getting everyone up and running and people get more accustomed to the way the new system works. But it was fun for a while, not!
In my last post I promised you a new start this week and here it is. This is a teddy bear Christmas stocking ornament from Cross My Heart Inc. which will be a first Christmas gift for my cousin's baby. I have had this chart for a very long time, along with similar ones showing a toy soldier and Father Christmas. It should be stitched on ivory aida but I don't have any, so am doing it on 14 count white aida. It's coming along nicely and is my current traveling piece.
I was determined to complete a few blocks on Train of Dreams this Sunday in the hope of showing at least 1% completed in the side bar. So I worked on the black section towards the top right and completed a block there. I also worked on the left hand side and completed a block there. I probably would have got more done, had I been able to stick to my usual Sunday routine. Unfortunately because of needing to borrow Mum's car to go shopping, I had to go in the morning instead of the afternoon, and as a consequence lost the best stitching light.
On to Carnation. I've reduced my target to 3 blocks per week for this page. There is a lot of confetti and also the festive season looms ahead. Furthermore I also have youngest niece's birthday chart still to find - she wants to be like big sister which makes it hard to find out what she really likes and dislikes. I am still enjoying Carnation very much - the charting is so cleverly done that when you see it at a proper distance, it looks almost like the real thing.
There was a 25% off Columbus Day sale at Heaven and Earth Designs last week and I succumbed to another Randal Spangler chart. This one is called Home is Where the Magic is. Just when I will get round to it, I do not know as I still have to get to grips with the Just Nan angels that Mum wants as well as everything else on my to do list.
However, I do think that I can say (fingers firmly crossed) that things are generally On the Up! My best wishes and Zen hugs to all who want or need them.
There's nothing much to report this time because I went away for a few days as I normally do to celebrate my birthday. So there has been no progress on Carnation or Train of Dreams. However I do have a finish to show.
I took the train to visit my cousin and took Delft 4 with me to pass the time. While I was away, I completed the inner border and stitched the second flower head. The outer border and the last of the back stitching got done when I came home. Now all I have to do is wash all four pieces and make them up into cards.
I spent a lot of daylight hours last week cuddling and playing with Little Miss Gorgeous, and spending time with my aunt and my cousin. It was wonderful to see them and to get caught up with family news. I'm hoping to see my cousin again soon as they are planning to come up next month to stay with my parents.
Nothing new to report on Dad at the moment - he has an appointment with the consultant this week so hopefully there will be an update in my next post. On the car front, I've settled with the garage so have a date with Dad to go car hunting on Saturday.
There will be a new start to show you as I am planning a Christmas ornament for Little Miss Gorgeous' first tree. I also have to start planning for my nieces' Christmas 2012 ornaments, so I really do now need to use my lunch hours more profitably than I have been doing recently.
This is likely to be short and sweet as I have been somewhat occupied this week and will be out tonight.
Due to having been out nearly every night this week, there is not a lot of stitching to report. There has been a very little progress on Delft - a bit more work on the border, but nothing else. I have nothing to report on Train as it has not seen a needle this week.
However I am delighted to announce that page 2 of Carnation Lily Lily Rose is now complete!! I didn't manage to get it done for my birthday, but put the last stitches in this morning. I'm really pleased with myself and looking forward to what page 3 will bring.
I have also worked out how to put progress markers on my blog. I'm only counting completed blocks, which is why I'm showing no progress on Train - there are only about 6 completed blocks and lots of partial blocks. I just can't face counting all the odd stitches.
In other news, Dad went for his endoscopy yesterday. They found a little irritation at the base of his stomach which they reckon is due to him taking his aspirin before meals rather than after. They also removed a couple of small areas for testing where they thought that the stomach wall looked thicker than normal. So we are now back to wait and see. He has an appointment booked in already which means that we don't have to wait for that to come through.
I find that I'm really struggling without a car. I have to think twice about everything I do because I can't just hop in the car. I've become so much more reliant on other people's good nature as well as on public transport. For example, we had our Marie Curie ceilidh last night. In order to help with the setting up, I had to cadge a lift to the location, and then a lift home to get dressed, another lift back to the location and a lift home at the end of the night. The ceilidh went very well, people thoroughly enjoyed themselves, it looks like we made quite a bit of money and learned some valuable tips for future events. But it would have been so much easier and much less stressful if I had still had a car. I've had the money from the insurance but am still trying to sort out with the garage, so it will be a little longer before I can go car hunting.
Wishing all of you the very best - keep calm and keep stitching!
It is coming down heavy outside and now that the courtesy car has gone back to the garage, I am going to be getting up close and personal with the weather for the time being.
Taking the car back took up the whole of yesterday morning. It took over half an hour to get to the garage, including a slight detour at the end due to bad signposting. Then I had to be taken to the compound to remove all my belongings from my now ex-car - I had forgotten quite how much stuff I had been carrying around. Next the garage guy drove me into the town centre to catch a bus back to my town - the bus journey took about an hour. I got off the bus, hauled the bag full of car stuff into the theatre booking office, bought Mum's Christmas present, and then hauled the bag several hundred yards down the main road to catch the bus home.
When I got back to my suburb, I hauled the bag into a local bakery to buy some lunch and then continued hauling the bag the rest of the way home. When I say "haul", this means frequently putting the wretched thing down, changing hands and moving on until my carrying hand objected too much. Fortunately I met my sister's young lodger in the car park and he carried the bag up the stairs for me, for which I was very grateful. Having set out at 8.45am, I got in about 12 noon. I had my lunch and then vegetated for the rest of the day. I now have no car and no prospect of being able to sort out a new (to me) car for at least the next couple of weeks - and all this due to an accident that was not my fault!
In brighter news, Dad has his appointment for his endoscopy later this week - if this comes back clear as well, I haven't got a clue what else they can possibly do to find out what is wrong with him.
On to stitching. There has been very little progress on Delft - a bit of backstitch and a start on the bottom border. I just can't seem to get motivated to work on it in my lunch hour when I do have some free time. Gotta get a grip!
Slightly more progress to report on Train of Dreams. After yesterday morning's excursion and knowing that I was going to have to walk to my parents today to borrow the car to take Dad shopping, and then walk home again afterwards, I wasn't really in the mood for confetti stitching, so I worked on the black in-fill at the top middle. Coming along slowly!
Having said last week that I needed to try and put in extra time on Carnation in order to have a happy dance for my birthday, I am pleased to report that I completed five blocks this week and put several stitches into block six. This means that I only have three blocks to do this week. As I am going to be busy, busy, busy, every spare second will have to be put into Carnation, so no reading, no surfing and much stitching as can be fitted in. The next update is also September's WIPocalypse and I would be over the (full) moon to be able to announce a page finish!
I'm finishing here because its getting late, I've got to walk to work tomorrow, and its feeling chilly and damp tonight so I need to make a hot water bottle to take to bed.
Happy stitching, folks!
Well here we are after another weekend of hermitting and stitching. I'll start with the stitching and then go on to the other news.
Starting with Delft 4, some nice progress on this courtesy of Patchwork Group on Thursday and babysitting last night. I had hoped to get a bit more done but was hampered by the onset of earache in small person. There is one more flower head to do, plus the backstitch on that and the stems, and then the border. After that, I need to buy the appropriate cards to put them in and make up all four cards.
A bit less progress on Train this week, but that is also down to last night's babysitting stint which was a late one and required a lie-in this morning. We have some leaves coming in on the left hand side and I have also done a bit more of the solid black at the top, just to make a change from the confetti on the left. I took this piece to Patchwork with me and passed it round - the general consensus of opinion was that I am stark staring mad!
Work on Carnation saw the completion of the week's four blocks and also the beginnings of the first block on the top row. Basically I have a few things in the diary over the next couple of weeks which mean that I may be pushing it to have a happy dance on my birthday unless I move this on as much as I can when I can. So I did all the confetti in the first block and only have one colour left to stitch to complete it, which I hope to do tomorrow morning before work.
In other news, Dad's CT scan came back clear, for which we are most truly grateful. However, we are still none the wiser as to the cause of his weight loss so they are now going to do an endoscopy to see if there are any bacteria in his guts which might be responsible. After that, who knows?
On the car front, the insurers have written off my car. I have not had this in writing yet, just a phone call from the engineers, so I am waiting until I get a letter before I make up my mind what to do next. However as my car has required a lot of work this year, I am veering towards taking the money and running, rather than having it back and getting it repaired myself. I still have the courtesy car so am not without transport at the moment.
One step forward, two steps back. Keep calm and carry on stitching.
Shall I say that this last week was marginally better than the previous one?
I still have no idea what is happening with my own car and am still driving the courtesy car. However my old garage has made an offer in relation to the fuel leak but wants further information regarding the excess oil issue.
Dad went for his CT scan on Wednesday and now has to wait three weeks for the follow-up appointment - keep calm and carry on!
Things went better on the stitching front.
I finally finished Delft 3. The corners of the border were slightly fiddly, but it is now done. However I still have no idea what sort of flower it is.
On the same evening I started Delft 4. I know that this is a snakeshead fritillary because they grow in Mum's bog garden and come in both purple with white splotches and white with purple splotches. I'd like to get this done quite quickly and then all four made up into cards, so that I can then start on Christmas pieces, either cards for Marie Curie or ornaments for my nieces.
Nice progress on Train of Dreams. You can see the top of the spine of the first book on the left. There's quite a lot of confetti to contend with as well as the 25 count fabric, so it is stitching up quite slowly. As I am doing this using the English method (one x at a time), the back is solid, even more so than Carnation because of being 25 count rather than 16. I am now using both thimble and tweezers to finish off my threads on the back. This has not stopped me jabbing myself hard in the left thumb, although I did manage not to get any blood on my work.
Carnation is still going to plan. I am hoping to have a serious happy dance in three weeks time. I have started looking at page 3 already and there seems to be a lot more confetti and a lot less blocks of colour than on page 2. As the only deadlines on this piece are the ones that I set myself, and as at some point I am going to need to find time to stitch for my younger niece, I am considering cutting back to three blocks a week on page 3.
Finally, someone wrote on their blog last week that they had put some of their stash on Ebay, so I thought that I would take a look. While I was looking, I noticed that I hadn't actually bought anything since May. For some strange reason this meant that I had to go mad and bid on loads of vintage cross stitch magazines. My stash has now increased by assorted older copies of Cross Stitch Gold and Cross Stitch Collection, not all of which have arrived yet. Next time someone mentions Ebay on their blog, I am going to turn and run the other way!
