Uncategorized – On Beads and Needles

Earth Day – an Update

In honor of Earth Day, some photos of things I have planted in the earth:

The first iris of the season... — The first iris of the season…

The only tulip I have left of the 100 or so bulbs I planted many years ago... — The only tulip I have left of the 100 or so bulbs I planted many years ago…

And, it would seem that of all those irises that I divided and re-planted last fall, I seem to have managed to only get one color to bloom this year, though I do still have some that are just starting up, so maybe some others will make an appearance eventually…

Another iris of the same color... — Another iris of the same color…

So, on to the stitching bits… I only worked 2 days on Beaded Dragonfly, and then my eyes needed to look at something different 🙂 I finished the buds and got the right dragonfly outline fixed, and decided to put it away for now 🙂

Beaded Dragonfly Tile as of 4/16 - just DMC, PTB and beads so far... — Beaded Dragonfly Tile as of 4/16 – just DMC, PTB and beads so far…

On Thursday, I wasn’t feeling Halloween-y, so I was bad and started Amethyst Snowflake 🙂 For the record, I am not a big fan of XS with perle, especially white perle – I just don’t like the end result. I don’t mind it for specialty stitches, because they have other detail, but for regular XS, it’s kind of boring and if your linen isn’t real even, it becomes more obvious with the perle. But that’s just my personal preference. Anyway, I have a good bit of the outline started – hope color comes in soon 🙂

Just Nan Amethyst Snowflake - so far #8 white perle on 28ct Lilac linen... — Just Nan Amethyst Snowflake – so far #8 white perle on 28ct Lilac linen… No, really, it IS Lilac, not grey…

So when I decided to give my eyes a break from the black Dragonfly, I had to decide between Halloween Quaker & Samplar 4 Saisons, the other two pieces that I MUST FINISH this year. Halloween, I think, is closer to done, while 4 Saisons wasn’t even half done yet the last time I worked on it. Well, Halloween might not be half-done yet, either, but it’s smaller, so therefore, closer to done 🙂 Trust me, the math works in my head 🙂 Anywho, Saisons won out, so I spent the weekend doing the Summer side – this part of the tree has the most stitching on it, because, well, a tree’s fullest in the summer, right? I am very close to completing 2 pages, and darn close to having this to the halfway point, which I expect to get to this week, with luck.

Anagram Diffusion's Samplar 4 Saisons, done on 35ct ecru linen from HDF, using HDF silks. Colors shown so far: Spring - Ex. Mud Brick;Tree & Border - Ex. Wattle N Daub; Summer - Ex. Milligrubs. — Anagram Diffusion’s Samplar 4 Saisons, done on 35ct ecru linen from HDF, using HDF silks. Colors shown so far: Spring – Ex. Mud Brick;Tree & Border – Ex. Wattle N Daub; Summer – Ex. Milligrubs.

For reference, here’s where I left this last May:

Where I left 4 Saisons last May... — Where I left 4 Saisons last May…

So, the plan for the week – keep on with 4 Saisons, finish those 2 pages, hopefully get it to the halfway mark. See the border on the left that cuts in to the tree? When I get to that on the right, that’s halfway. And who knows, maybe I will get to start one of the other two colors 🙂 Though I can’t decide if I go to the left & work on WInter, or stay on the right and work Autumn? Or work across the pages and do both as I come to them? We’ll see when I get there 🙂

Happy Stitching this week to everyone!

Well, Monday, We Meet Again – an Update

Anyone else watching Ripper Street on BBC? Great show, if you haven’t seen it and have access to it 🙂 Though, Mr Macfadyen will always be my Mr Darcy (yes, I like that version of P&P better than the Colin Firth one, though I do need to watch the CF one again sometime, IF I ever happen to stumble across it). I am liking this so much better than Copper, which started out good, but I don’t know, I just couldn’t stay with it. And I can’t watch Sherlock, that Benedict Cumberbatch, besides having a ridiculously cumbersome name (see what I did there?), just gives me the willies- his eyes are too close together or something, yoiks – and yeah, HATED his character in Atonement, which of course, you should…. AND – wow, Downton Abbey! I can’t believe it’s over for another season ALREADY, and I can’t believe the WAY it ended 🙁 I won’t post any spoilers, but wow, hmmmm, wonder what happens next season? I hope they didn’t set the bar too high, too early…

And then, there’s the Oscars last night, with the 50th anniversary of Bond, James Bond, none of which I saw, because, ummm, Walking Dead was on 🙂 BUT I did watch Skyfall over the weekend, which was really good. I am glad Adele won for her song for that, I really do enjoy her voice – everything Amy Winehouse could have been… And of course, it’s also the 50th anniversary of Dr Who this year, too, though I have to admit, watching the original few seasons of that is a lot harder than watching the first Bond films 🙂

All of this is to say, man, what a busy week last week, about all I managed to do is give the DVR a workout! I won’t even mention the CSIs and NCISs and all that that I managed to fit in here & there. I didn’t sit down one night last week before 8, with getting new furniture into place and trying to find places for all of the old junk 🙁 And man do we need to paint! Hopefully I can start looking at colors for that soon, though who knows if it will get done before summer or not?

When I was able to stitch, the only thing I had time for was Knock! Knock! – L&U wasn’t even close to getting any work done that late in the day. And it took all week, but I did FINISH Knock! Knock!

PS Knock! Knock!, completed 2-22-13, on 32ct Lambswool jobelan, using DMC. Next up: Whoo's There? — PS Knock! Knock!, completed 2-22-13, on 32ct Lambswool jobelan, using DMC. Next up: Whoo’s There?

And, because I finished this late on Friday, and had the February PINS on Saturday, I decided to start that Desert Sands Sampler, which ought to go relatively quickly. And is, since I have completed 7 of the 17 bands already, just on the weekend 🙂

Desert Sand Sampler, on 32ct Dirty linen, using Caron & Threadworx fibers; not shown - MH Frosted beads, which I plan to increase from the original design because, hey, it just needs more :) And NO, these are NOT my normal colors.... — Earth Threads Desert Sand Sampler, on 32ct Dirty linen, using Caron & Threadworx fibers; not shown – MH Frosted beads, which I plan to increase from the original design because, hey, it just needs more 🙂 And NO, these are NOT my normal colors….

Now – the plan for this week is… I have no idea. I need to work on L&U some more before I put it up again, but am just not feeling it. I think I really am ready to get cracking on Mary Wigham, I’m ready to get her DONE. Tonight, I have band stuff to do, so if I stitch any at all, it’ll probably be the next quickie band on Desert Sand, by the time we get home and I get people fed. Tomorrow, my baby turns 16, but his big brother is taking him to the mall after school, so we’ll celebrate the day when they get home. Wednesday is open at the moment, so maybe I’ll get something out then to work on 🙂 IF I can find all of my WIPs, since some are upstairs, some are downstairs 🙁 The organization process goes on, and on, and … Happy Stitching this week to everyone!

Year of the Snake – an Update

I liked Year of the Dragon, just on general principles 🙂 Don’t mind snakes, though, so long as it’s the no-leg variety and not the ones seeking public office – about had my fill of those… And the Year of the Snake comes in under a snowpocolypse covering points north – wow does all that white stuff disagree with me. I hope everyone up there gets shoveled out and that spring is right around the corner! We’ve been getting rain in place of it, and hopefully we can avoid storms like the one that produced tornadoes in Mississippi yesterday. We need the rain, even though technically, my immediate area is supposedly out of the drought, for now – that doesn’t help south of here, so when they let our lake out to help downstream in a couple of months, we’ll be right back in it. Weather – what are you gonna do?

February Sunrise over Flowery Branch... — February Sunrise over Flowery Branch…

Well, since the weather is conducive to staying in and stitching, I did 🙂 First off, a bit of progress on my PS Knock! Knock! piece, which only came out at IHOP on Thursday – it’s coming along pretty well, though I am hoping the house goes quickly, because the rest will be nothing compared to it. Here’s where it is right now – I need to get the owls’ eyes on!

PS Knock! Knock! as of 2/7/13... — PS Knock! Knock! as of 2/7/13…

And I continued on with Iris Fairy to complete her wings; and was too lazy to clean off my table to get L&U out, so also got the top of her dress and her sleeve done 🙂 Page 1 is now done, except for beads, and Page 2 is close.

JE Iris Fairy, as of 2/10/13. Can't WAIT to get those beads on... — JE Iris Fairy, as of 2/10/13. Can’t WAIT to get those beads on…

That’s all I managed for the week, stitching-wise. Stashing-wise, I finally made a decision as to what to get from Scarlet Quince with my gift certificate from Chris Wilson – I got their version of Starry Night, and just to make the set complete, to keep the Unicorn company, I also got what I am sure will become my damn rabbit:

Clunt tapestry rabbit from Scarlet Quince — Cluny tapestry rabbit from Scarlet Quince

I also see some new scissor fobs in my future – I made the mistake of walking through the beads at HL on Saturday, and found some stuff for 50% off that just jumped into my hand:

WANTED: Scissors in need of adornment :) — WANTED: Scissors in need of adornment 🙂

And that’s the news for the week. Lady & Unicorn will come out tonight, and will hopefully keep up the pace of progress I’ve made on it the last few times. And hopefully I will get a start on the house on Knock! Knock!, as I’m anxious to get a finish sometime this year! Happy Stitching this week to everyone, and no more of that white stuff!