Tag: Ink Circles

Busy Times – Catching Up

December already, and like this time last year, we are awaiting white stuff to fall from the sky – you know, January weather. I am not sure I can handle two winters in a row 🙁 That’s why I moved south, to get away from all that. We are also a foot above average for rainfall this year, already, so I’ll be curious what the grand total is come 12/31. And California can’t get a drop to save them…

In health news, I am down to my last 4 chemo treatments (out of 16) – so ready to be done with this. All things considered, I’m getting through it with a minimum of complications – lots of fatigue, neuropathy in hands and feet, and needing my hair to come back in because I’m cold, but it could have been a lot worse than it’s been. Cancer sucks – it sucks more when you are perfectly healthy except, you have cancer. Surgery, I assume, will be sometime in January. So very over it. Working from home part time, to keep my exposure to germs as limited as possible, has lowered my blood pressure quite a bit – not having to drive through hell on I-85 every day is probably the best part of this whole experience; not really looking too forward to getting back to that part of my life, to be quite honest. Maybe I can work out a more accommodating work-from-home schedule for my new normal in a couple of months – it clearly has at least 1 benefit. DH has a new gig, too, and is on the other side of town now, so he’s enjoying not having the stress he’s had for the last 25 years AND a short drive. He comes home for lunch every day – just long enough to spin up the zoo, who are also going to hate the day I have to go back to the office. Meh, it is what it is…

Exciting local news – and hoping to not put a whammy on it – but our MLS team, Atlanta United, is in the final for the MLS Cup today! I have no idea why it took so long to get an MLS team in this town, or why they thought it wouldn’t be popular; 70K crowds when they open up all the seats at the Benz, in a town where a large percentage of the population is not from the US. Hint: American “football” isn’t popular many places outside of America, but you know what is popular almost EVERYWHERE besides America? Football, or soccer. So with a large foreign population, wouldn’t it stand to reason an MLS team might be a good investment?

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL!

So I have been doing some stitching as part of my stress reduction during my treatments, though as I posted last time, some of the meds I was on affected my vision for a while, so I resigned myself to working on some easy-on-the-eyes projects, and blew through a few canvas work pieces during the fall. I had started the Terracotta Celtic Knot Quilt by From Nancy’s Needle when I posted last, and I finished it shortly after that post:

Terracotta Celtic Knot Quilt by From Nancy’s Needle, using all called-for threads on 18ct deluxe mono canvas.

When that was done, I broke out another FNN kit, Two Haunted Houses, which ended up being a lot smaller than I thought – there sure were a lot of threads in this piece:

Two Haunted Houses by From Nancy’s Needle, using all called for threads on 18ct deluxe mono canvas.

After this one was done, I decided to switch gears a tiny bit and broke out a Laura J Perin design, Fluorite Fantasy. Her designs are a couple of degrees harder than the quilt-block-style designs from FNN, so I had to put in more brain power. I also changed out the bling a bit – the chart came with a few items that were supposed to be glued-on gems; ummm, no, we’ll replace those with actual Swarovski sew-on beads, I’m not gluing anything to the front of my stitching. This was the first time using YLI Ribbon floss, which was interesting, and a couple of new-to-me Rainbow Gallery threads, and lots of Caron fibers. While it was more brain-intensive than the previous 2 pieces, it came out really cool:

Fluorite Fantasy by Laura J Perin, using all called for threads on 18ct deluxe mono canvas.

When my chemo drugs changed (after 4 treatments of 2 drugs, one being the “red devil”), I felt I was able to get back to the AAN pumpkin and finish up that last little corner, so I did:

AAN Pumpkin from a fall Just Cross Stitch – all 11/0 Czech beads on 28ct Dense Fog.
Ewww, shiny!

That might have been a stretch for my brain, so I went back to the FNN kits and pulled out one more easier piece, Patriotic Stars, and went through that fairly quickly:

Patriotic Stars by From Nancy’s Needle, using all called for threads on 18ct deluxe mono canvas.

These kits have been so helpful as I work through this treatment; not sleeping right, needing distraction – this must have been that rainy day that I’ve been saving up for…

I needed a break from canvas – my thumb was actually getting sore from the big-ass size 24 needle I use for these, and the rougher canvas, so I pulled the top thing off a pile, which happened to be a Liz de-stash, Pumpkin Patch Farm by Victoria Sampler. I dug out a piece of Cocoa from Silkweaver, and after sorting the silks in the kit, dug right in. I really liked all the herringbone stitches in this piece – it was a fun little band sampler, though I think the over-1 leaves was a bit more than I needed at the time, but I powered through them:

Pumpkin Patch Farm, from Victoria Sampler. I think it’s 32ct Cocoa from Silkweaver, using all charted silks.

My WIPs were all feeling severely neglected since all of these new starts/finishes left them languishing in the drawers, so I decided to work on Ink Circles’ Anatolia for a bit, and did several rows across all pages including borders – LOVE these Carrie’s Threads colors!

Anatolia, by Ink Circles – Carrie’s Threads on some 32ct cream linen.

And lastly, I dug in my travel bag and pulled out Halloween Resurrection from Lone Elm Lane, and finished it, too. I looked up the Shaker box they sell that this design is intended to go on – $160 for a box! I guess I will figure out some other way to finish this – I can probably get a round frame at half the price of what I am sure is a really nice box, since I don’t really have a table surface big enough to hold that box:

Halloween Resurrection, on 32ct Vint. Stormy Night, using all called for threads.

Since I cleared out some room in the stash, I had to buy myself a new Chatelaine for my birthday present to myself – I caved and bought Gardens of London Mandala, which will have a TARDIS as one of the phone boxes, and the Night Bus might make an appearance, too, if I can work it out 🙂 I’ll be kitting this up after I get done with all this health stuff, as a little reward for surviving 🙂

Chatelaine Gardens of London – future project 🙂

That’s the news for now. Assuming I do not post again in the next few weeks, Happy Holidays to all, and Happy Stitching!

 

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!