Month: September 2007

Cross Stitch, Rotation

A mini rotation of sorts

Anne S

OK, I think I have a plan … I’ve worked out a kind of mini rotation that will see me working on a few of my favourite ‘new’ projects – this is what I’ve come up with for now and the great thing is that none of them are truly “big” pieces, so there should be a couple of happy dances before the end of the year too … hopefully …

My stitching plan/rotation I’m considering is as follows:

  1. Finish the dratted Winnie the Pooh bookmark
  2. Nicki’s Friendship Quaker RR piece (better to get my commitments over with first)
  3. Blocks 1 and 2 of Snapperville (Bent Creek)
  4. It’s Halloween (through to completion) (The Drawn Thread)
  5. Side 1 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells) – need to make a start on this to get it finished in time for the next project arriving
  6. Block 1 of Sea Life (Lanarte)
  7. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie/SB Bee fob/needleroll etc)

Then back to the beginning again …

  1. Katrina’s Friendship Quaker RR piece (or earlier, depending on how quickly I stitch all the above list)
  2. Blocks 3 and 4 of Snapperville (Bent Creek)
  3. Autumn Arbor – through to completion (The Drawn Thread)
  4. Side 2 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells)
  5. Block 2 of Sea Life (Lanarte)
  6. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie etc)

Round 3 would then be:

  1. Blocks 5 and 6 of Snapperville (Bent Creek)
  2. Garden Recipe – through to completion (The Drawn Thread)
  3. Side 3 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells)
  4. Block 3 of Sea Life (Lanarte)
  5. Part 1 of Cottage Etui (CA Wells)
  6. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie etc)

And finally:

  1. Block 7 and the border of Snapperville (Bent Creek) (final part)
  2. Crimson Fire Sampler – through to completion (The Victoria Sampler)
  3. Side 4 of Sailor’s Valentine (CA Wells) (final part)
  4. Block 4 of Sea Life (Lanarte) (final part)
  5. Part 2 of Cottage Etui (CA Wells)
  6. Free choice of any small project (Xmas ornie etc)

That rotation would see all the major projects to completion – I would have to amend it, though, to give more time to the CA Wells pieces if I don’t seem to be stitching through the rotation quickly enough … if that’s the case the rotation will temporarily go on hold until I get those finished.  Only time will tell if this would work – but it’s something that could work well with housesitting, if I’m still doing it by then, as there are only a handful of projects that will be carried around at any one time.  I’ve been avoiding doing any over-one stitching so far while I’m trying to get my mojo back again.  Fingers crossed my new rotation, with some beloved projects, will help kick me back into gear again as I have many more projects in the wings waiting to be stitched – these ones will keep me out of trouble for a short while anyway, and they’re all relatively simple projects without too many challenges, which suits my slow brain at the moment!

I’ll soon be starting 5am shifts again, so sometimes that gives me chance to get some stitching time in the afternoons – and Muffy is very easy care and doesn’t crave attention all day (she’s hardly moved off her bed all day today – perhaps she’s missing Mum and Dad a bit today, hmmm).  I’ll probably take her for a quick walk as soon as I get home from work, then settle down with my stitching for the rest of the afternoon.  I don’t know the area here whatsoever, and probably won’t do a great deal of exploring … I’m looking forward to having 3 lazy weeks of nothing but reading and stitching (and definitely not in that order!!)

 Anyway, better head off for work now – I’ve repacked the boot with an ‘overnight bag’ or three to go to Ali’s for 4 nights, and left my suitcase and the rest of my stuff here.  Now all I have to do is to try to get Muffy outside – she was extremely reluctant to move 1/2 an hour earlier, hence the reason I thought I’d sit here for a while longer to give her more time inside … but sorry Muffy, it’s crunch time and “it’s time for you to leave the building” … 😉

Cross Stitch

Canvaswork lovers beware!!

Anne S

Orna Willis has got a new class happening next weekend – and the chart is (in my eyes) to DIE FOR!!!  Here’s the two colourways for “Royal”, and I have to say I’m totally in LOVE with the turquoise and green version … oh man, I never should have got wireless internet, it was so much better to remain in ignorant bliss for a short while hahahaha.  And there’s a 15% off sale for it right now … gulp!  Even the kit isn’t a bad price at $65 on sale, as it normally costs an arm and a leg to kit one of these babies up from scratch (I know that from experience!).  Anyway, I just thought I’d share … 😉

ROYAL
royal-orna willis

As for my little stitching dilemma, thanks for all your input so far – I’ve found the solution … I’ll just have to stitch them all!!! LOL.  I have to admit I’ve had a MAJOR hankering to start stitching Snapperville for weeks now, and I’ve not let myself start it until I finished the dreaded plastic canvas piece, so I think that just might take precedence.  Thanks again to Cathy for sending me this project – every time I think of this project I think of you and your kindness, and always will.  The second good thing about stitching this one quickly is that it will then be going on to a new home to Barbara to stitch – Cathy offered the pack to anyone who wanted it, and both Barbara and I put our hands up … I was the lucky one to be drawn out of the hat, but I promised Barbara as soon as I stitched it, I would send her all the designs so we could both share in Cathy’s generosity 😀

I would, however, also love to get the Halloween project stitched this month, purely due to the time of the year and Halloween coming up quickly, so I thought I might do a couple of Snapperville squares, then switch to the Halloween piece, then back to Snapperville again … OR I could actually start that mini-rotation that I was thinking of doing … 10 hours on Snapperville, then 10 on It’s Halloween, then 10 on Autumn Arbor, then 10 on Sea Life … oooooh, so many choices hahaha.  These days I think it’s fantastic if I just put 10 STITCHES into a piece during one week, never mind 10 hours!! 😛

I’ll definitely have a think about a SAL with you for Sea Life, Susan, but I have to admit I’m not a very good SAL partner with my shifts etc – and probably worse now that I don’t have a permanent home anymore, it’s definitely making a huge impact on how much stitching (if any) I get done in a week.  It would be nice to stitch it at the same as someone else though (in fact it was seeing it on your blog that gave me the urge to pick it up out of storage and start stitching away on it!!).

Talking of which, time to start working out which items from my boot I’m going to leave here until Thursday – I thought I’d just leave everything here apart from an ‘overnight bag’ or two with my work clothes and toilet bag etc for the next 4 nights – seems dopey emptying the whole boot out then packing up again in 4 days time … I’m here for 3 full weeks from Thursday so it makes sense to just leave things here.  I might take Snapperville with me, though, ‘just in case’ I get the urge to stitch at Ali’s (although I don’t seem to feel comfortable stitching there, I don’t know why …).  Then I might sit and stitch for an hour or so before I have to leave for work – tomorrow is my day off this week, and I can’t wait (hence the perfect timing to catch up with Lisa for lunch etc).  I brought a DVD with me to watch (Eragon), so I just ‘might’ have chance to sit and watch the whole thing before I have to leave (3pm shift for me today, so a nice lazy start to the day).

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Um … stitching blog?

Anne S

I remember the good ole days when I was posting some stitching progress or finish every few days … it seems so very very long ago LOL.  These days there is very little stitching activity happening … and very sporadic posting too!  I must admit, though, since having my wireless access I’ve been doing a bit more blog reading than I have in the past … and … shock … horror … even the odd comment or two over the last 24 hours from me on a few blogs!! 😛

It’s going to take me forever to catch up, but having the wireless access means I can sit with the laptop on my knee in front of the TV and read to my hearts content in comfort (well, as much as my monthly allowance will allow anyway!).  Tonight I’m sharing the sofa and heater with an old pooch.  I have to admit I was a bit stressed about housesitting for a ‘bigger’ dog, but Muffy is a big old softie – I just adore doggies (even more than kitties), so it’s wonderful having some pooch company.  Here’s a photo of Muffy laying on her ‘bed’ 🙂

dsc_0400

Lisa eventually got home from Sydney, and we’re catching up on Monday so I can hand back the house keys … and she’s taking me out to lunch to say thanks for housesitting, plus give me some gifties she bought me in London and Hong Kong – spoilt or what? 😉

As for the stitching, I haven’t touched a needle for a few days – so the bookmark is nowhere near getting finished.  This is as far as I’ve managed to get … quite pitiful really! LOL.

dsc_0403

As for my planned new start – the biggest struggle I have is working out which one to start first … I’m tempted to start a mini-rotation of three projects, but seeing how little time I have for stitching these days, maybe that wouldn’t be worthwhile.  Here are the main projects I’m trying to choose between … all are screaming REALLY loudly to be started … the question is “who will scream the loudest?” 😉

I’d offer a poll to see if you can help me decide, but WP won’t allow polls on their blogs (one of the few downsides to WP in my eyes) … I’m only here tonight (2 nights in total this visit), then back to Seaford, and I don’t feel comfortable stitching there, so I’ll probably be reading for the next 4 nights instead … we’ll just have to wait and see which project pops out of the project bag next week!  Heres the list of prime candidates so far (although, I reserve the right to add and subtract on a whim LOL) … I haven’t included the Friendship Quaker RR, as that’s a commitment I need to do, not a new project choice:

Bent Creek’s Snapperville
(photo taken from a fellow stitcher’s album)
Bent Creek Snapperville

The Drawn Thread’s Autumn Arbor
autumnarbor

Shepherd’s Bush Bee Scissor Fob
beefob

The Drawn Thread’s It’s Halloween
itshalloween

Lanarte’s Sea Life
(not actually this sampler, but a set of 4 designs using a lot of these elements plus a few more)
lanarte sea life

As for the Sydney job … it turns out I sent an email one day late – it closed for applications 27 Sep … BUT, they’ve said they’d be willing to extend the date and accept my application if I’m serious about applying (not sure what to read into that one hmmm – either they have few candidates that have applied and they’re desperate, or they think I’m a good candidate LOL). I’ll make a call on Tuesday and find out more about the details (starting date and pay etc). While it’s not exactly what I want to do, it’s an insight into higher roles that would be worth putting up with it for 12 months … maybe 😉

Rightio, time to start thinking about getting off to bed … after letting Muffy out for her evening garden walk and bladder relief 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Still here …

Anne S

Lisa is stuck in Hong Kong (the joys of staff travel when you work for an airline, you have to travel standby everywhere!) – she’s missed out on two flights today, but hoping to get on the final one tonight … or she’ll have to try again tomorrow. Which means I’m housesitting here for one more night – if she doesn’t get here tomorrow, then I’ll have to work out how to get Ally into her cat basket and take her to the local vets until Lisa can get home (I have a dog to look after tomorrow night, so it isn’t an option to stay on longer here).

Because I had the day off today (I swapped with a girl at work, so now I’m working her Sunday instead), I had a lovely relaxed day washing the bedding and headed off for a quick drive to the Edithvale Wetlands & Bird Hide. Unfortunately the Bird Hide was closed, and it was blowing a gale, so there wasn’t too much to see. I then drove down to the beach and sat in relative shelter and spoilt myself with a big cooked breakfast … even more special because they had HP Sauce!!! haha. You can take the girl out of Britain, but you can’t take Britain out of the girl! LOL. That’s about the only thing about me that’s British (aside from the pale freckly complexion maybe) … I’ve been brought up on HP sauce, Bovril, and Yorkshire puddings – and to me a cooked breakfast is without a doubt the best with HP sauce!! 😀

The main BIG news is that today after stuffing myself with breakfast, I went shopping … and I surprised myself by coming home with a wireless internet modem! One of the girls at work yesterday was telling me about an offer for existing 3 customers that gives half price internet access for the first 6 months, with a free modem (worth $299-$399) – while it means having to sign up for a 24 month contract, I chatted with the guy today about the price of cancelling out earlier than that – and as long as I stay for 9 months, even with having to buy out the contract, I’ll have recouped the cost of the modem etc, so it works out quite do-able. The offer ends this Sunday, so it was a make-or-break decision today, as I’m working all weekend. While I still won’t have the same amount of uploads/downloads as I used to have with iinet, at least it means I can access my own emails and check the internet occasionally without having to go to a cafe etc on a regular basis. And the best thing about the modem (as opposed to using my mobile phone, which I was originally planning to do), aside from the fact that it’s super fast, is that it’s automatically set not to pick up roaming signals – meaning there’s no chance of accidentally slipping into roaming and getting charged big bucks for the access (which you can’t do with the phone option) … that in itself could potentially save heaps of money anyway! I’m basically getting 3GB for an extra $5 a month I was thinking of paying with my mobile phone for only 1GB … at least it means I’m more portable, and contactable wherever I go now!!  And the USB modem I opted to get (as opposed to the PCI card) is minute compared to the stupid brick Unwired give you!  It truly IS portable!! 😀

I’m also considering checking out the possibility of a secondment to Sydney with work for 12 months – it’s a more senior appointment, although it’s pretty hard and gruelling work, but would give me the opportunity to work in the main ‘hub’ of the business which would give me a great grounding if I wanted to go further within the company down the track … and it almost makes sense to try it while my household items are in storage. Anyway, I might check it out tomorrow to see if I’ve missed the deadline yet and see if it would be an option … hmmm …

Rightio, time to get back to packing the place up … I’m going to try to squeeze some more winter clothes into my storage locker on the way to work tomorrow, as well as some items I haven’t touched over the last 3 months, which will hopefully free up some space in the car boot/trunk. Then I might be able to squeeze in those extra stitching projects I brought from the storage unit last week when I was craving a new project! 😉

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to keep in regular contact again now … yippee!! 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Going offline for about a month

Anne S

This is just a really rushed post before I lost access either tonight or tomorrow.  Depending on what the flights are looking like, Lisa will be returning home either late tonight or tomorrow.  I went out to meet the dog and house I’ll be looking after next last night, and I won’t have internet access there – I’m there for two nights Fri/Sat this weekend, then back out to Seaford for 4 nights, then back out to the same house again for 3 weeks.  It turns out it’s not in Balwyn, but in Pascoe Vale South … groan … will be a pain in the neck getting to work ho-hum.  Oh well, c’est la vie …

Hopefully by the time I get back online again I’ll have another finish (or two) – if anyone needs to contact me, just drop me an email to work if you need a relatively quick response … otherwise I might see about hitting an internet cafe in a fortnight to clear out emails (or borrow a supervisor’s internet access at work to sneak a peek via the webmail page).  If you want my work email address, try contacting Carol (Garden of Stitches blog), Nicki (Plush blog) or Barbara (Mainely Stitching blog), as they have it handy (I’d rather not post it on here for privacy reasons).  Sorry, but I don’t have time to add the links, as I’m racing to get this done, get ready for work, and do a quick spot of packing/cleaning all in half an hour!

Rightio, off I go again – it’s gonna be a loooooong day today with yet more overtime and sitting next to my buddy in training – she’s struggling a bit with her confidence, so I’ve asked them to let me have another day sitting with her … hopefully it’ll help …

Have a great few weeks … 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Just a quickie …

Anne S

To say I’m going to sign up for housesitting with a proper agency until February (if I can find somewhere) … if I could find something more long-term it would be absolutely perfect, but in the meantime I’m on the hunt for more housesitting jobs again. It’ll cost me about $200 to sign up, but hopefully it’ll be worth it in the long run …

On another note, I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can get some annual leave approved – if that all pans out, I’ll be heading back over the pond to have a visit home to see Mum & Dad, and my closest family friends, in November. With any luck I’ll get the chance to have a full two weeks over there, which would be great (even though Dad will probably have me going through my stuff in the garage for a full week … groan … LOL). Just imagine, two whole weeks of being pampered at home, with no pets to look after, or driving to be done … two weeks with plenty of time to stitch, and stitch, and stitch … of course, I just have to get the leave approved first! 😉

At work I’ve been asked to be a ‘mentor’ to new people wanting to do relief Hotline work, and take another 4 people under my wing as a kind of buddy/trainer … plus another big project I’ve taken on for 3 months … who says life is boring? LOL.

Talking of which … time to see if that darned cat has returned home to roost yet, as she’s been out for ages, and I’m soooooo keen to get into bed before midnight for a change – it’ll be a welcome change to the 3am’s I’ve been doing so far for the last week or so! 😀

See, I told ya it was just a quickie!! 😉

Cross Stitch

Oops, I forgot … more enabling! (updated)

Anne S

You can blame this little bit of enabling on Cindy – thanks for bringing it to my attention, Cindy … one more for the wishlist!! 😉

This is actually a slightly different design than the previous one by Maryse – and I have to say I think it would look exquisite in other monochrome colours as well (DMC 115 would be especially gorgeous in that rich red) … me thinks I’m going to have to cave in for this one at some stage as well – even though I’ve already bought the first one! One can never have too many trays, right?? LOL 😀

le plateau de la brodeuse monochrome

 

(Updated to add:)

*** Amy if you want to order it, there is a previous post I made about her last design, that has the ordering info on it here.
(https://shakatak66.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/le-plateau
-de-la-brodeuse-ordering-details/)
You just send a PayPal payment to Maryse (I think this one is also EUR10.00) and she emails you the chart .pdf files (they’re in French, but easy to follow).  Just don’t forget to tell her exactly which chart it is you’re wanting, as they’re both a “plateau de la brodeuse” chart … this one is the monochrome one.
Cheers,
Anne ***

Cross Stitch, Finishes

One down, one to go!

Anne S

I’m referring to my revolting commitment stitching … yes, that does indeed mean that poxy plastic canvas piece is finished, done and dusted, and out of my hair forever – woohoo!!! I’ve decided that Lisa can make it up herself into the little hanger, I’ve done the stitching on it and that will suffice … if you want to see what it will look like when finished, I’ve taken a photo of the kit cover for you. The only scissors I have on me are my Gingher’s and they sure as heck aren’t going to be used to cut plastic canvas!

Wire Welcome by Dimensions
Wire Welcome by Dimensions

welcome 1

I finished it quite late last night, and didn’t have the energy to start stitching the Winnie the Pooh bookmark straightaway – instead I figured if I’m already stitching projects I hate, I might as well keep the ball rolling … and put the final touches into a wee kit project that I started when I went into hospital to have my gallbladder removed two years ago. I only managed to stitch just under 1/2 of it at the hospital, and I finished it off in a couple of hours last night while sat up watching The Incredibles and Wallace & Gromit movies on DVD. The colours on this are quite odd, and I’m sure they put the wrong dark blue in the kit – which is one reason it’s taken so long for me to finish this … the blended stitches are really ‘obvious’.  Goodness knows what I’ll do with it … make it into a pinkeep maybe?

Morning Glory by Serendipity Designs

Morning Glory – Carolyn’s Garden, by Serendipity Designs

Today I picked up the final piece of revolting commitment stitching, and have stitched about 1/4 of the Winnie the Pooh bookmark – the shifts I’m working this week won’t give me much free time so I won’t have chance to get it stitched before I leave here in a couple of days, but at least it will go nicely into an envelope so it can be posted to Lisa down the track if necessary … no piccies of that one until it’s all finished.

Then I can move onto some “fun” commitment stitching – next up is Nicki’s Quaker Friendship RR piece … plus I’m going to start a new project to cheer me up after doing a few projects that certainly were not fun … the only question is “which one will it be??” 😉

And that’s pretty much all I have for you tonight – only two more nights left before I lose my internet access again … I still have over 600 unread feeds to plough through, but unfortunately that won’t be happening either – every time I catch up on some reading, another 50+ feeds update again 😉

Hopefully I’ll get chance for one final post before I head off into the wide blue yonder … although I’ll have to do all the housework over the next two nights quite late, as I have overtime both days for 2 hours.