ink circles – Page 2 – On Beads and Needles

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!

Wow, I skipped a whole month again! How did I ever have time to update weekly back in the old days? That must mean I am much busier now than I was then, though it’s hard to imagine, considering I had two soccer players on the road every weekend 11 months a year back when I had an update every week. Of course, I am a lot more tired, so maybe I am that much busier 🙂 At any rate, it’s time to get caught up, since Spring is more than half over already!

I forgot to post my 2nd Chatelaine mini bellpull finish, Mini Mystery J, which I finished back in January. It’s on the same linen banding the MMI was on:

Chatelaine Mini Mystery J, on 28ct linen banding, using DMC, silks, and RG PTB, with Sawrovski crystals and delica beads.

Okay, that’s taken care of… Now, when I left last time, I had just gotten the blackwork jellyfish out. I think I worked on it a bit over a week, and got a lot of the bell fill pattern in, as well as some bubbles:

Jellyfish by Ajisai Press. on 28ct Mystic from PTP. Using DMC Variations & Metallics – beads & sequins to come 🙂

When I put that away, I got out GP Plum Pudding; I worked on it for a couple of days, but it really wasn’t grabbing me. Fortunately, I was saved by an impulse start – Joan Elliott posted an Easter bunny freebie on her FB page, and I was compelled to start it instead of pretending to work on PP. Here’s a pic of the finished top – 28ct Silkweaver Dreamin’:

Bunny Biscornu by Joan Elliott. DMS & delicas on 28ct lugana.

I did not get a picture of the bottom side, since it only took me a couple of hours to stitch it, then I started assembling it. And just as a reminder to myself, I really don’t enjoy putting biscornus together – I always have a pucker of extra fabric left at the last corner (strategically hidden in this photo):

Biscornu done. Currently hiding on the craft table until a certain dog who thinks all toys are for her forgets it’s here…

And since Plum Pudding really wasn’t calling to me still, and because I got my Market Order:

Spring Market – Ink Circles releases, along with a piece of purple fabric and a new Milli Hill Laurel Burch kit.

I had yet another impulse start on that Saturday afternoon after returning from the March PINS with the Ink Circles charts above. I had just gotten a couple of cool greens from Thread Gatherer, so went stash diving, found 2 greens and a Gloriana orange that went together really well, and an opal Silkweaver called Spring Garden (which does not show up in the photo at all – it’s very Rainbow Sherbet colored, green & orange), and made this:

Green Damsel by Tracy Horner of Ink Circles. Thread Gatherer Tapestry Green & Irish Moor, Gloriana Bright Orange, on Spring Garden opal from Silkweaver.

I actually ran out of Tapestry Green before I finished the last corner dragonfly & corner motif; fortunately, I had just gotten it a month or so before I started this, so when I ordered another, the dye lot was a match. IF this fabric had been 32ct, I probably would have had enough.

At the March & April PINS, I worked on Stoney Creek Life is a Journey, and finished Block 4, and started the border on the fifth:

Stoney Creek pattern series Life is a Journey. On 28ct linen, using DMC, Gloriana, HDF, VMS and Glisson Gloss threads.

And then finally, Plum Pudding actually wanted to be worked on. I will continue on through tomorrow, probably, but am happy that I will be about 1/3 done when I put it up again:

Plum Pudding by Glendon Place. On 28ct Sprite from PTP, using my conversion to Carries Silks & delica beads.

I will probably get a Chat out next – Hummingbird has been screaming, though I may need a break from purple for a week or two, so IC Anatolia might actually come out first. We’ll see. I could finish Celtic Banner with another rotation, and my travel piece Field of Sunflowers would be a quick finish, too, I think, so maybe one of those will come out instead….

The INDIGO BUNTING* came back 🙂 The rufous-sided towhee did too, but I haven’t gotten a picture of him yet. Yes, this is a weird angle – hard to hang out the bathroom window and not scare off the bunting….

In other news, the Younger Sailor has graduated his school and is now at his first permanent station in Virginia, not too far from DC. The Older Sailor still has a few months of school, but hopefully we’ll know his first assignment before too long. We miss our boys! But we don’t miss all the vehicles all over the place, since DH talked me into getting a Jeep for our weekend car; we have to get the Miata and the VW out of here! Too many cars, too much shuffling out in the driveway!

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

* EDITED to note that my blue grosbeak – at least what I have seen this year – is definitely an Indigo Bunting instead. I am sure I have also had a blue grosbeak (it has brown spots in the blue & black on its sides), as well, but the blue bird pictured here ain’t it.

March? Oops – I Guess I missed February

Yeah, well, in my defense, I have been working my ass off since I got back from medical leave – which probably is not what the doctor ordered, but it’s my life, so…. And my Baby Sailor turned 20 in February – his first birthday away from home 🙁 It was weird trying to figure out how to get birthday food to him – I ended up sending Cheryl’s Cookies, which I was told he ate 🙂 The Big Sailor turns 24 next week. Time flies….

We’ve been having spring here since the first of the year, for the most part; a lot of the blooms have already fallen off the trees to be replaced by leaves, and daffodils have been out for weeks. So of course, winter shows up this week; there’s snow north of us, and we are supposed to get down to the 20s the next couple of nights. I have to figure out how to cover my Dutch iris – the bed is huge and next to the road, so if I do manage to cover it, all the cars blowing the speed limit will blow my cover off. so – do I bother? We’ll see. In the meantime, we have all kinds of avian activity going on in the backyard, including this pair of red-tailed hawks:

Last time I posted, I had worked on From Nancy’s Needle’s Field of Sunflowers a bit, and I worked on it once more, at the January PINS get together – finally broke into the blue:

Field of Sunflowers, by From Nancy’s Needle. On deluxe mono canvas, using all called-for threads.

I haven’t been going to the IHOP on Thursdays for the last several weeks – trying to eat a cancer- and heart-friendly diet, which IHOP is NOT – so haven’t had much progress in the travel bag aside from PINS monthly meetings. But I did also make a bit of progress on my Stoney Creek Life’s a Journey series, starting the 4th block and completing the moon potion; I should finish this block at the March PINS:

Stoney Creek’s Life’s a Journey, on 28ct Clay linen, using DMC and a few converted colors, as well as GG Blending Filament.

I worked on Deep Blue Sea for 3 weeks, and managed to complete 3 parts in that time! This is probably the smallest “Big” Chatelaine I have, actually – each of the next 8 parts look pretty simple to complete in a single rotation (unlike Tuscany, which one I get to 11 & 12, will take FOREVER). And Part 4 of DBS included the oysters, which will contain actual pearls when done:

Chatelaine Deep Blue Sea, parts 1-4 done, 8 to go. On 28ct jobelan in Surf, from Sunny Dyes, using DMC, silks (some converted to HDF), RG and lots of beads 🙂

And when I put DBS away, JE Autumn Fairy really yelled at me, even though there were things that didn’t get touched last year, and I was going to keep working from the Project Randomizer. She yelled at me so much, I finished her! What a great project, though I was surprised to see she is MUCH taller than Iris Fairy; I was hoping to order some basic metal frames in a few colors for the Seasons and Flowers series, but I guess I need to wait to get more done; the Elemental Goddesses will probably need to have one started next, so I’ve got one of each series done 🙂 Here she is – on 28ct jobelan in Melody from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie, using DMC, miles of Kreinik, and icky Mill Hill beads:

Joan Elliott’s Autumn Fairy – done 3-12-17.

I haven’t decided what to work on next, so while I decide, I’ve pulled out the Jellyfish again, since he’s not “officially” part of the rotation. Yet. Since I have 3 new Ink Circles charts coming my way, thanks to the new market releases – Green Damsel, Dragons of Sumatra and Dark Shards – Anatolia & Growth Rings are both hollering at me 🙂 If you need stash, too, check out my local online shop, Cross Stitch Felicity – good sales, frequently, and if you don’t see it and it can be had, it can be added to the website 🙂 Sign up for the newsletter to be informed of all the sales – the newsletter comes out every Monday like clockwork.

A new window-mounted bird feeder – so far, just one chickadee and this LBJ (little brown jobbie) have discovered it way up high. Guaranteed to be squirrel-proof that far off the ground 🙂

That’s the news. I am hoping spring comes back later this week and sticks around until summer (and equally hoping, since we didn’t have winter, that that doesn’t mean we have 6 months of summer!). Until next time, Happy Stitching!

October 21st? ALREADY? Jeez….

This month has FLOWN by – and in some respects, I have NOTHING to show for it. In others:

This was just the first big pick - I've still got 30-40 out there, trying to survive the frosts (weeks early this year) to ripen... — This was just the first big pick – I’ve still got 30-40 out there, trying to survive the frosts (weeks early this year) to ripen…

Work is chaos, as usual; lots of moving parts, lots and lots of e-mails that no one can keep up with, and very little forward progress. But it is what it is, I guess. I just wish I had some help; it seems that a lot of people have decided that they don’t have to worry about being accurate because I can fix anything they mess up. But that seems to be ALL I am doing, to the detriment of my actual work, which I can’t get to at all some days. My frustration level continues to grow – and no relief whatsoever in sight. The more I ask people to step up, the greater they slack. At some point, it’s really not going to be worth my time anymore – life is too short to spend 10 hours a day herding squirrels….

Hot Air Balloon Festival this past weekend :) — Hot Air Balloon Festival this past weekend 🙂

In stitching news, there’s not a lot to show this time, as I spent a week working on my Christmas exchange piece – the stitching is done, now I can spend a couple of weeks thinking about finishing. Before I started that, though, I did complete another week on Ink Circles’ Anatolia, and completed the row I was on the last update:

Anatolia on 32ct cream linen, using Carrie's cottons. — Anatolia on 32ct cream linen, using Carrie’s cottons.

I’ve seen this done on several rather striking fabrics – a red, a burnt orange, and a dark blue. But I am quite happy with my “plain” fabric, so you can really see the colors in Carrie’s Threads shift and change. And as some of these colors have multiple skeins (one of them has 32 yards!), there’s going to be a LOT of thread in it some day 🙂

My By the Bay Summer Cove didn’t see any action last week, but I did make a bit more progress on the Giant Green 734 leaves the week before – getting closer to those sheep:

Please ignore wrinkles & shadows - and I fixed a tiny leaf that apparently I didn't bother to notice was the wrong color last time... — Please ignore wrinkles & shadows – and I fixed a tiny leaf that apparently I didn’t bother to notice was the wrong color last time…

And, because, you know, sometimes I can’t help myself, I was FORCED to get out my pile of Prairie Schooler kits and start a small one, one night when I was too tired to think about the other projects I was supposed to be working on. In my defense, I did finally poke holes in my walls (been 2 years since I painted, I guess they aren’t “new” anymore), and hung all of my Halloween things up. And every night at dinner, I look over at the 3 PS pieces I have framed, and well, the 3371 called my name, and I started the extra piece on the back of When Witches Go Riding:

When Witches Go Riding back cover piece - on 28 ct Lambswool jobelan, using 3371! — When Witches Go Riding back cover piece – on 28 ct Lambswool jobelan, using 3371!

Since it’s square, I think it’ll be a flat fold one day… And that’s all I can show for the last couple of weeks. The next pick from Ye Old Project Randomizer, which I got out last night, is:

ProjectRandomizer_pic15

So check back in a couple of weeks (or, whenever I get around to posting again), and see if I manage to get anywhere on this one! I did pretty well the few days I had this out at the beginning of the year, but I wasn’t as tired then as I am right now 🙂 Until then, Happy Stitching!