Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

Finished!

... and it's nowhere near midnight!

Sorry, I haven't ironed it yet.  Here 'tis, hot off the hoop:

Freshwater Fish
designed by Mike Vickery for Kreinik
Mint Green Belfast (32ct) Linen
DMC thread and Kreinik #4 & #8 Braids.

*big sigh* Oh it feels good to finally have another happy dance.  It's been too long.  Tomorrow night I'm going for two in a row - only one rose, some backstitch and some beading left on Mum's sampler.

Yay.  Happy me!

Happy stitching everyone.

xxx K

Soon...Soon!

I"m *this* close to finished on the Freshwater Fish!

I know I've been dragging the chain on this but I put in a few hours last night.  Got lots of braid in so provided there are no unexpected events tonight, I'll be finished around midnight!

New Blogs to Stalk...

I've realised that I no longer feel like a "newbie" in the blogosphere!  I recognise names and pieces of work and when I'm playing with my stash or drooling over new stash on-line, I see things and think "Oo, **** is working on that/has finished that.  I want to do that too!"

So, seeing as I'm not such a newbie anymore, I thought I'd post links to a couple of blogs who are new or newish members of our community...

My dear "Stitchy Sister" Minnie, who stitches the most exquisite pieces - she's a huge Joan Elliott fan - and has a photo album full of treasures.  Check out her new blog All XX's

Emma at XXXStitching has been stitching since she was a wee thing.

Then there's Chris, the Cross Stitch Dude.  He's new to cross stitching and blogging but has jumped right on in the deep end.  Hop on over and give him some encouragement.

We were all newbies once - poke your noses in and say "Hi" - 'cause we all know it's definitely a case of the more the merrier around these here parts!

Happy Stitching!

xxx
K

M.I.A.

Sorry gang, I've been AWOL since the IHSW.

First of all:  A huge WELCOME to my new followers.  It was lovely to check in and see new names and faces!

Second - My excuses:  I've spent the week nursing my cat, Fred.  Just under two weeks ago, he disappeared for a couple of days.  When he turned up, he could barely walk.  A few days, x-rays and surgery later, I have a puddy-tat with two broken front paws.

*Insert Sad Face Here*

Poor Freddy... All his Metatarsals had been fractured and badly displaced.  I was horrified when I saw the x-rays.  In fact, the Vet was so horrified, that she ended up taking x-rays of his entire body!  We've got no idea what happened but the most likely scenario seems to be someone stomping on his front paws... 

So, he's had surgery.  The bones have all been set and pinned.  He's stitched, splinted and bandaged and confined to our shower cubicle for the next six weeks.  He's got a cone collar on to stop him ripping off the splints - one of which he managed to get off within an hour of coming home from the Vet.  Off we trotted to the All Night Emergency Vet... yeah, yeah, just add it to the bill *gulp*

All this for a cat...

There's been a little stitching going on but nothing worth showing. I'm hoping to put in a bit of time tonight and tomorrow night. Of course, I'm yet to stalk all the post-IHSW blogs, so I may not stitch after all!

If you're of a praying mind, would you send up a few for my Freddy? For a speedy, clean, full recovery? He's not ten yet. Still got a good seven or eight years left at least!

xxx
K

Oooo... Sparkly Bits!

Not the best photos, but I tried to take pics on an angle that show the sparkles!  The Kreinik effect has definitely been worth the wait. I should get the second fish backstitched tomorrow.  

Spent a little more time on the ABC tonight.  Would be very easy to stitch all night on this one but I have a flute student at 8:30 tomorrow morning and I won't be much use if I don't get at least some sleep!

I hope everyone is getting in some serious stitchy time.  Don't forget to post your IHSW updates - I can't wait to see everyone's progress.

If you don't know about the IHSW, click on the cute little Hermie in my side bar - He'll take you to Joyce's blog where you can sign up and join in the fun of the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend.

Happy Stitching!

xxx

K

Updates...

Almost, almost, almost done on the June Sampler.  One flower and beading to go!

Dad's fish - the Kreiniks have finally arrived so here's the "before sparkly bits" photo:


















...and Lizzie Kate got a teeny bit of attention too:

I haven't achieved anywhere near the amount of progress I intended.  Life has a habit of getting in the way.  But any progress is better than none and I have enjoyed every stitch, which I believe is the whole point of this addiction of ours.

IHSW this weekend and the end of about.com's SWAT.  Hopefully some stitchy time there somewhere.

 Happy Stitching Everyone

xxx

K

Grrr!

Photobucket and my phone appear to be having a breakdown in communication.

It's taking forever for the photos I've sent to show up in my PB account.

Cranky me!

I have updates to share but can't get at them.

Pooh.

So I guess all I can say is:

*Watch This Space*

October SWAT at about.com

Today (Saturday) marks the beginning of the October Stitch-Week-A-Thon at the about.com cross stitch forum

So far, no stitching.

Lily wanted stories. Jacob had a meltdown. Played alphabet games with Lily. Had to figure out what the good guys in Transformers are called for Jacob (Incidentally, they're the Autobots, in case it's the winning question for Trivial Pursuit one day. He's never seen the Transformers, btw, so if anyone can figure out why he wants to know this, would you let me know, LOL)

Not to worry, it's not 1pm yet, so I'll get started in a little while I suppose.

Planning on putting in the last of the DMC on Dad's Freshwater Fish. There's only a little bit left though, maybe an hour.

I was expecting the Kreiniks in the post a week ago but they haven't arrived yet. First time I've ever had a delay with a 123 delivery. I blame Australia Post though, not Joanne. She posted them on the 17th of Sept.

Next up will be Mum's June Sampler. I know, I know, I've been procrastinating over this for almost six months.

Seriously, I think I can get this finished by the end of the weekend. There's very little to go, I'm just an expert at faffing around.





During the week, I'm back at work. School holidays are over. I do have Monday off but the kids are going to be home too and I should be a good Mama and make sure all their school gear is sorted for Tuesday - it's that procrastination issue again, all the things I should have done in the last two weeks while they're off school, I'll do on Monday.

Monday and weeknight stitching will be Lily's L - yet another WIP I should have finished months ago.

Weekday stitching - I'll take my Christmas exchange piece with me to work. No photos though, it's another mystery exchange.

If I find myself on a roll and that lot actually get done, I'll spend some more time on the advent calendar...

Next weekend, I'll be working most of both Saturday and Sunday but I assume the kreinik #4's will have arrived and I will finish Dad's fish completely.

Well, there's the plan... will be interesting to see if I achieve ANY of it! LOL... Gotta start somewhere!

So if you need a bit of motivation in your mojo this week, why don't you visit us at about.com and join in the SWAT.  No rules other than: Have fun and get some stitching done.  Stitch as much or as little as you're able.

Well, I hope to have some progress photos soon... fingers crossed!

Happy stitching everyone.

xxx

K

Stoooopid Mistake!

We all make them, I know.

But this one was just plain dumb.

Was sailing along backstitching.  So easy.  Just straight lines...  except I forgot I had to leave a gap in the top left corner for the holly leaves.  Ok, easy mistake...  except I made the exact same mistake on the other side, only last night!  Then, to compound my stupidity, I decided to trim a messy tail and managed to cut the line of backstitch that I'd just fixed.  D'oh! *smacks forehead with palm*

Ahh well, lesson learned... pay attention to my chart and pay close attention to what you're snipping!

I cut out a couple of the little plastic canvas pieces and pinned them in place to get an idea of how it will look...

So tell me... What's the silliest mistake you've made with your stitching?  I've made way worse mistakes than this but I like to hear about the silly mistakes, not the "I'm going to cry" horrific stitching mistakes - we can save those for another night :)

Go on - 'fess up!  Let's hear the silly stories... Please... *insert best puppy dog pleading eyes*

xxx

Kirstin

'Tis the Season...

for a give away at Eglantine Stitchery.  A lovely Christmassy package.

Last night, I had twitchy fingers - they really wanted to do something new but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Sooooo, I rigged up the scroll frame and made a new start on an old WIP!  The Advent Calendar Calendar part, is underway!

Another Give Away... and a Quick Update.

Not mine, sadly...

but Kay, at Kay's Random World is having a lovely Lizzie Kate Christmas Give Away...

Haven't stitched much this week but put in a couple of hours last night on Dad's piece.  Did some backstitching on the weeds - the chart asked for Grey 3799 for backstitch.  I started, didn't like it at all.  Pulled it out and went rummaging for a dark green instead.  Much better.  They grey will probably be fine on the fishies themselves, it just didn't look right on the plants.

Still waiting on the Kreinik #4's to arrive so I can fill in the gaps...

A Non-Stitchy Meme...

You get to answer with one word. (One word was harder than I thought - I always feel a need to explain myself!)

1. Where is your Cellphone?  Kitchen
2. Relationship? Married
3. Your Hair? Blonde
4. Work? Everyday
5. Your sister? Bestest
6. Your favorite thing? JacobandLily (That counts as one word right? LOL)
7. Your dream last night? Good
8. Your favorite drink? Coke
9. Your dream car? F1 
10. The room you’re in? Lounge
11. Your shoes? Jandals (thongs/flip-flops)
12. Your fears? Earthquakes
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Happy
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Kids
15. What are you not good at? Sport
16. Muffin? Chocolate
17. One of your wish list items? This
18. Where you grew up? Kaiapoi (New Zealand)
19. Last thing you did? Read
20. What are you wearing? Jeans
21. What aren’t you wearing? Makeup
22. Your pet? Cat
23. Your computer? Netbook
24. Your life? Crazy
25. Your mood? Blah
26. Missing? Chocolate
27. What are you thinking about right now? Chocolate
28. Your car? Tarago
29. Your kitchen? Blah
30. Your summer? HOT
31. Your favorite color? Blue
32. Last time you laughed? Today
33. Last time you cried? Yesterday
34. School? Montessori
35. Love? Mykids (it's that one word thing again, ok?)

Hear, Hear!

Had to post a link to this blog entry at An Eye for Threads  - in light of what has happened this week to Heather of Stitch in Thyme...

Stop over at Heather's blog, leave her a message.  Let her know that the vast majority of stitchers really are the nicest people in the world!

A Shout-Out for Tangled Threads On-Line Launch.

Hop over and check out Rhona's latest blog post.

She has just launched her business Tangled Threads on-line.  Beautiful charts - check out her gallery and why not give her a shout out on your blog.

Fast Cars and Stitches...

Sat up late last night - or rather early this morning - as is my weekend habit, watching the Singapore Grand Prix.  Two hour race, lots of excitement and importantly, lots of (mostly) uninterrupted stitching time...

Thus, here is my LK ABC:

I realised not long after I started, that I had miscounted the stitches between the basket and the 'n' to the right.  I'd decided to leave it and bluff my way around it but the more time has passed, the more it annoyed me.  Part of yesterday's stitching effort inevitably became a frog session.  The basket is now correctly placed and I am much happier.  Frogging is always a worry when the project is purchased in kit form but this time, I managed to unpick the thread without damage and restitch the basket without thread wastage.  I'm a bit of a stinge when it comes to my threads.  I regularly stitch with an "empty needle" and use my needle threader to catch the tails at the end, so I shouldn't run out but I didn't want to take the risk.

Are you a Thread Stinge?  What about fabric?  I like to keep my scraps, you never know when they might come in handy!

xxx K

Abeeceedee!

Got a little bored with my fishies.  Felt like something different, so out came Lizzie Kate's ABC's for Parents.

I am loving stitching this!  It's so easy but not so easy that it's a no brainer.  I keep forgetting that I'm using the variegated Crescent Colours and end up having to frog a half dozen stitches each time I pick it up.  LOL.

I'm definitely going to be asking for  LK's in my letter to Santa!

The fish will be finished in another week I think, then I'll finish Mum's June sampler and probably do bits here and there on LK - Did I mention how much I'm enjoying stitching it?  LOL.

xxx K

Another Week has Flown...

Alive without breath,

As cold as death; 

Never thirsty, ever drinking,

All in mail never clinking.

For those of you who guessed, yes, they are fish.  My Dad has been a mad keen angler all his life and I just could not resist stitching this piece for him.  The fabric, as you would have seen in my previous posts, is a soft mint green Belfast.  Weird how in the photo, it looks off white or creamy...

The empty spaces on the two top fish will be filled with Kreinik #4 and #8 Braid.  I had to order the braid from 123stitch and lucky for me, I got in a few days before our soaring Aussie dollar dropped dramatically.  I'm guessing the package will arrive by the end of this week, so if I can get the rest of the stitching done before then, I'll be done by the end of next weekend!  A two week stitch - that's a record for me!

Oh, the chart can be found here.  It's a Kreinik freebie. "Freshwater Fish."  The chart calls for braid but you could just as easily substitute plain DMC.  I'm loving the realistic look of the scales that comes from using the braid.  I already had the pearl #4 but there are four others too.

And the quote?  

Gollum's fish riddle from The Hobbit.

Happy weekend stitching everyone.

xxx K

More Hermitting...

Sunday's progress on my IHSW piece...

(Saturday's progress can be found here)

Very happy that this is stitching up so quickly.

I hope you have all had a successful IHSW weekend.  Enjoy the coming week.

xxx K

Hermitting...

Progress photo for Saturday...

Started the day with a floss toss (see previous post). Almost went with a 32ct wedgewood lugana but decided the mint green Belfast suited the piece much better.

Ed to add:  Oooo, have just spotted I have some new followers!  Welcome!  It's lovely to have you here.

xxx K

September IHSW.

Can you believe a month rolled around that fast?

I can't!

If you don't know about IHSW, click on the cute little "Hermie the Crab" button on the side bar, down a little to the right hand side.
You'll find yourself at Joyce's blog where you'll find all the information you'll need.

I've got another new start for this weekend.  Yes, yes, I know.  I'm not supposed to do that but this time it's for my Dad.  You can't hold that against me, surely?

Dad's turning 70 in November.  Seeing as I'm stitching the Sweetheart Tree Sampler for Mother, I figured Father might be somewhat upset (and rightly so) if his darling oldest daughter (That would be me) didn't do something special for him, too.

Ok, here's the floss toss... I wonder if anyone can figure out what might be going on here?

Oh, and I've suddenly realised I didn't update my progress on the LK ABC  earlier in the week, so here's a pic of that one too:

Alright, I'm off.  Time to stitch!

Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress over the weekend.

Happy Stitching :D

x K