Category: Blogging Memes

Possibly the last day or two before I’m picking up my needle again and getting back into my rotation … yippee! I’m officially on my weekend starting tonight, and certainly ready for it … dunno why, but I feel really exhausted tonight 😦

I went to see an Optometrist yesterday as they had a sale on selected frames – I chose something I didn’t mind, then sat down to make the order … it turns out the frames I chose couldn’t have ‘plain’ lenses in them, they had to have some sort of strengthener etc, which brought the total cost up to $448 … let’s just say I almost had to lay down after the shock, and no, I didn’t complete the order!! I’m off to The Warehouse tomorrow to see if they have some ‘stock standard’ cheapo glasses instore to tide me over, and I’ll keep an eye open for different frames that I don’t mind that don’t need all the ‘bells and whistles’ on the lenses. I was expecting to be able to get something cheap for around $200 – yeah, right!! 😦

I have some stash to report from back-orders and Ebay from the last few days, but that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I was very disappointed to see my Mystery Bits haven’t arrived yet from SB&B, after seeing what everyone else has been receiving, so now I have to wait until next Monday to find out what’s hiding in my PO Box, as I won’t be at work (at least while the PO is open) until Monday now … b*gger! Oh well, at least there’s more chance of it definitely being there 🙂

In the meantime, here’s another archival Stitching Meme:

“Have you ever …

1. stitched a sampler?

2. stitched the same pattern 2 times?

3. designed a project yourself and stitched it, or even had someone else stitch it?

4. managed to get anyone else hooked on cross stitch?”

1. I take this question to mean a ‘historical’ sampler, to which the answer is no, as I don’t like them – if we’re talking about ‘band’ samplers, then the answer would be yes, and I intend to stitch many many more 🙂

2. The only time I’ve stitched the same design twice is for my trial run for the Melanie’s Exchange on the SBEBB recently – I wanted to make sure my design would work out OK in real life rather than just on paper.

3. I can’t say I’ve ever designed a piece from scratch, but I have added elements of my own design to something else. The biggest one of my stitching career is probably this one – the farewell song in Fijian, that they always sing when you leave, and it always leaves a lump in my throat, it’s so beautiful. I even visited Fiji so often that I knew all the Fijian words off my heart, much to the amazement of the locals (the other Fijian I know shouldn’t be repeated in public … and let’s just say I’ve caught a local out on more than one occasion by ‘changing the lyrics’ of a song at a resort haha – and yes, Fijians do blush! haha). In this design, I played around with an existing chart for the top panel, then designed the side and bottom borders to be like the designs on local ‘tapa cloth’. I also designed the ‘kava bowl’ myself, which is stitched over one – I was very proud of that little effort at the time 🙂 I presented this all framed to our timeshare on one of our visits.

4. Dunno if I’d say I got anyone “hooked” on XS, but I did spend a few lunchtimes at College about 6-7 years ago teaching about 4 other students how to XS, and even got two of the Asian students along to some other embroidery classes as well. Not sure if they still stitch. The only downside was loaning some very good, and expensive, hardanger and whitework books to one of them, and never getting them back (including my Janice Love books mutter mutter mutter – let’s just say I’m loathe to lend books out anymore, as that’s not the first time).

… on blog reading, that is! I just have 5 more of my favourite blogs left to catch up on, which will take some time as I will be ploughing through the archives … I can’t believe how far behind I managed to get so quickly – and it just seemed so overwhelming every time I thought about catching up, so I ended up leaving it even longer … well, this week my mission was to catch up again before I’m allowed to pick a needle back up, and it’s been working so far – I’ve been on 3pm shifts, and still waking up relatively early, so I’ve had chance to read a few blogs each morning … one more day should see me caught up yippee!! 😀

So, no stitching yet again – which means it’s back to the Stitching Memes as a back-up to keep it in stitching mode … plus I’ve decided to answer some of the old archival SBQ questions from before I started subscribing. Here goes …

From the SBQ Arvhives:

“What are your thoughts on craft and/or needlework shows? Have you beento one or are you planning on going to one this year?”

I love them – I attended a Stitch & Craft one here in Melbourne the first year I moved here, which I had a bit of spare cash, and loved it – since then funds have been tighter, or shifts haven’t worked out, but I intend to return again. I also attended a Heart of Cross Stitch festival in Sacramento, CA and adored it – had some exceptional teachers, and bought LOADS of stuff to bring home (different job = bigger salary = huge spending spree, ah the good old days LOL). I’m very keen to attend CATS in Hershey next year, if I can get the funds together – it would be an awesome chance to meet some fellow bloggers, as well as soaking up that stitching atmosphere. Carol has invited me to come to another Retreat in May, but I’m not sure if I could get the $ together for it … Hershey’s timeframe could be more realistic … but if not next year, there’s always the year after, right? 😀

And from the Stitching Meme Archives:

“Do you visit other stitching blogs? If so how often and do you ever leave comments? Name anything you have seen on other blogs that you like or think is well-done.”

Yes, I do visit other stitching blogs – I find them an absolute inspiration, and very very bad for enabling! 🙂 After having a hiatus from reading, I’m getting back on top of it again, and do try to leave comments often, as I know how nice it is to receive comments. There are too many things to list of things I’ve loved on other blogs, as there is something on every single one I read … otherwise they wouldn’t be on my favourites list 🙂

Thanks to all my fellow bloggers for sharing your world with the rest of us – you truly are an inspiration, and it makes the world a cosier and nicer place to be in! 😀

Now I’m off to pop sliced mushrooms in the crockpot for dinner, and thinking of heading to work early to go shopping for some glasses – I tried someone’s glasses on yesterday to see the TV at work, and it made a huge difference, so I think I need to do it … might help with my headaches, and stop me squinting at everything when I’m driving/watching TV hmmm (my script is only 0.5 so I thought of getting some el-cheapo ones from the chemist to tide me over immediately, then I’ll see how much it will cost to get some new lenses put into my frames that I’ve had for a few years but don’t use … I got them for stitching, but they actually don’t help at all). That will also be one thing ticked off my 101 checklist 😉

Seeing as I still don’t have progress to post (and probably won’t for quite a few days yet, as I’m going to concentrate on catching up on my blogs this week), here’s another archival stitching meme:

1. Do you enjoy backstitching?

2. Do you do it as you go or at the very end?

3. Does the amount of backstitching in a project influence your decision to stitch a pattern?

1. I don’t mind backstitching – I like the fact that it brings a piece to life in many cases … I wouldn’t say it’s my ‘favourite’ thing to do, but it doesn’t really worry me too much.

2. Depending on the design, and the way I feel at the time – sometimes I’ll backstitch as I go, and sometimes I’ll leave it until the end … it really does depend on my mood on the day.

3. Backstitching would never influence my choice of design – if I love the design, but it has 20 million backstitches in it, I’d still stitch it … likewise, if it has no backstitching at all, I’d stitch it – backstitching is just ‘part of the package’ and no influence whatsoever.

Last night I sat reviewing my blog habits, and wondering whether I should change the way I post, or the way my blog is set up. What started this is that I received a request on my home email via this blog, for a work-related issue, asking for a favour to fix something for them … To be honest I felt quite shocked that this should happen, as it was an intrusion bringing work into my personal life … I mulled over whether I talk about my work too much, or do I give too much detail, perhaps I shouldn’t talk about work at all … but then again, it is a large part of my life – I didn’t think I give too many details, but perhaps the limited amount I do write is too much? I also considered removing my email address from my blog profile … and may still do this – but then again, part of me thinks I shouldn’t have to change things. I’m not sure why this small action has made me feel so uncomfortable … but after all, this is a personal blog, and I am a person just like everyone else, and I’m sharing all facets of my life for those who care to read – especially family that are offshore and interested in all aspects of my life. Like most people, I work for a living to pay my bills … but when I leave work at the end of the day, I don’t take it home with me, and I felt shocked to have it delivered to my doorstep. I still feel uncomfortable a day later … I don’t know why, but I do … It wouldn’t have been too bad if it was from someone I’d already built a rapport with via our mutual blogs … Perhaps I’m more sensitive to it due to being tired from my shifts … Anyway, moving on …

I’m on the homeward stretch of my ducks RR – I was hoping to get it finished today, but I ended up sleeping in until midday after not getting to sleep until 2am (I just love trying to get back into a routine after night shift haha), then lay in bed reading Dean Koontz until 2.30pm … oops, there went a big chunk of my stitching time today! I have about 2 hours left before I head out the door for a dinner near work … but hopefully I’ll have the final piccie to share some time tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s an archival Stitching Meme question to close:

1. What is your favorite count and type of fabric?
2. Do you use hand-dyed or tried them at all?
3. Any favorite fabric colors, hand-dyed or regular?
4. Have you tried opalescent fabrics and do you like them?

1. Favourite count is 32ct, and love linens, but also love Lugana evenweaves – not overly fond of Jobelan, although I have some in my stash to use up. Am stitching on 36ct for the first time with the Bordeaux Mystery Sampler, and enjoying it so far, so I might try some more of the higher count linens in the future.

2. Yes, I’ve recently started using hand-dyed fabbies – again, I prefer linens though as I find the Lugana hand-dyeds tend to be harder to stitch on as the holes appear smaller to me. I bought a custom piece of Lugana for Egyptian Garden Mandala, but I just couldn’t find the holes easily, got fed up and ended up ordering another piece in linen instead.

3. Favourite colours, hmmmm … not yet – I like the more neutral colours, as I guess they’re more versatile, but I don’t really have one clear favourite yet.

4. I tried an opalescent fabric for the Love needleroll ornament by Jeannette Douglas, and I love it – I’m also stitching Egyptian Garden Mandala on an opalescent Belfast, and like that too.

Just a quick note for Leslie – the duck square I’m stitching is from the Stoney Creek afghan series called “Wings of the Wild” … you can still buy the back issues from Stoney Creek – here’s the link to the right page, so you can see the details of the aghan. I’m also duck crazy, so I could just about tell you every duck design ever made (and probably have at least half of them in my stash haha).

Nothing else to report, except that I’m very very grateful my shift has finished (it’s now 5.55am and I’ve just walked in the door … so I’m waiting 10 minutes for my blanket to warm up a bit). I usually love the night shift, but I’ve really struggled with these ones – I’ve only just started coming right after my cold/virus, and after a really stressful first shift my throat has been killing me, with a dry cough, and what feels like the onset of an infection … hence the reason I’ve struggled for the next two nights. Fingers crossed it won’t escalate any further, and I can nip it in the bud during my days off 🙂

And just to keep my fingers moving for a couple more minutes, here’s an ‘old’ stitchers meme to fill in a gap …

1. What types of stitching and design styles appeal to you most?
2. What types and styles don’t appeal?

1. I like designers with bright and vibrant colours, and those with extra accents such as beading and metallics. I also love designs with different stitches that add a nice variety to the stitching. I’m not overly keen on pastels for stitching myself (especially pinks), but like to see the finished articles stitched in them. I’m taking more of a liking to quaker designs, and stitching smalls. To be honest I have a pretty eclectic taste in designs and designers – it’s easier to answer the next question …
2. I dislike country or folk designs, and really don’t like historical samplers at all. There you go, that was easy! 😀

OK, my bed should be warmed up a bit by now, so off to beddy-byes again for another night … um, I mean “day” ;P

Seeing as I have nothing to post today (lost for words, that’s unusual for me!) – so I’ll do a couple of meme answers instead, then I’m off to put a few stitches into my ducks …

“What “rules” do you make for yourself regarding your stitching? (These can include finishes, starts, purchases, rotations, hours, fabrics, flosses, etc, etc..) “

Um … none really … unless outside influences come into play. As for finishes, I like to have them, but don’t stress if I don’t – I don’t limit myself to starting something new only if I finish “X” number of pieces first … I start what I want whenever I want, generally. I have been trying to stick to a rotation, and really love it, and manage to get a lot of progress done when I do stick to it … but again, if life gets in the way, I don’t stress too much (mind you, I’ve been physically aching to get back into it again). I try to stick to a 10-hour rotation. The only ‘outside’ influence to my stash enhancing would be lack of funds – otherwise I generally enjoy increasing my stash, even if I’ll never stitch it all … I get just as much fun from fondling my stash than the actual stitching 😀

“1. Have you ever participated in a SAL on one of the BB’s or with people in RL? How did it go?
2. If no, why not? and would you ever consider do so?”

Yes, I’ve signed up for a couple of SAL’s on the StitchingSmalls Yahoo group, but only participated properly for one of them … I was going great and really loving it until I fell behind, and could never find the time to catch up, so I kinda lost interest in it. This was my Marine Elegance piece – and to be honest, I tried picking it up again during my last Guild visit, but kept having to frog as I couldn’t see the fabric threads properly … it’s still laying down in disgrace in my bedroom … one day it’ll get done, though … Aside from that, I’m just starting an informal personal SAL with Carol for Bordeaux (Mystery) Sampler, and also about to start Strawberries So Faire with StitchingSmalls group … I really want to keep up with this one though! 😀

One SAL I did enjoy was a mystery sampler in Wessex stitchery that I did with the Counties Guild in Auckland … it was the first time I’d attempted a ‘mystery’ sampler (and a lot of specialty stitches), and the first time I’d ever attempted to choose my own threads – each month we were given about 3 different band choices, and we had to choose which band we wanted, then chose our own threads etc, and stitched our own samplers … I went a bit overboard and stitched almost every band, as I was really proud of the end result. Mum’s hopefully bringing it over with her on the next visit, as I really want it here with me 🙂 I chose the sayings to match some personal growth I was going through at the time – you can probably see the details if you click on each piccie 🙂 And it got top points for the night at show and tell that week yippee 😀




Well, that’s it for me for today – I’m off to do some stitching while watching Rove … 3pm start tomorrow, so I get a sleep in yippee 🙂

Yep, that’s me this morning … didn’t get to bed until after midnight, but was out like a light almost immediately, then semi woke up at 4am … only to have a spider dream where the damn thing was dropping down from the ceiling with it’s huge hairy legs wiggling right by my head – my heart was pounding, and the sheer terror had me bolting upright from bed and hastily running to the door and lightswitch … only problem is that I’d piled up a whole lot of ‘stuff’ to clear out today and ended up falling over it and ploughing into the corner of the wooden bed frame – I now have a nice graze and simmering bruise on my left knee, that was throbbing most of the night. I was tossing and turning the rest of the ‘night’. Bloody spiders … mutter mutter mutter …

An answer for Heather – reversible blackwork isn’t at all hard, but you do have to concentrate really hard to make sure you follow the directions correctly. The class I did was a correspondence class through the Embroiderers Guild of America, and the teaching notes are awesome – every block is mapped out step by step with numerical sequences … I managed to stuff up three blocks, but the rest look pretty good, and it’s a piece I’m really proud of. Took me a looooong time to stitch it, and eventually it’ll be turned into a draughts board. I’d definitely do it again – and I have the teaching notes as a great reference for life now 🙂

Rightio, on to an archive question from Memes for Stitchers, seeing as there is no stitching again today (“yet” anyway – that might be what I need to cheer me up LOL):

What do you think of Chatelaine designs? have you ever stitched one or do you want to? What do you like/dislike about them? And finally how do you feel about projects that cost over $150 in supplies?

I adore Chatelaine almost all of the mandala designs, and would dearly love to stitch a few of them, but I have to admit the price of supplies keeps me from doing as many as I’d like to. Egyptian Garden is sitting on my old tapestry frame Mum brought from NZ for me on her last visit (it’s the only one I owned that had scroll bars long enough, and I didn’t see the point of buying another set) – I have to really know I’m going to stitch it before going to the expense of buying everything … and the price makes it a priority for stitching. Can’t wait to get this back into my rotation again soon 🙂 I also have the Stitching Leporello ready for starting now, as my supplies arrived while I was away in NZ yippee … just have to find time to fit it in again now. Would have been nice to keep up with the SAL, but now I’m three months behind, I don’t feel very motivated to catch up 😦

I was in a bit of a ‘funk’ yesterday – spent some time catching up on three of my favourite blog archives, but I couldn’t really say what I did for the rest of the day – I think, though, that I got through the worst of my illness yesterday, and today I feel quite a bit better. My ears are still a bit ‘funny’, but my voice is coming back, and I’m not too bunged up. Saw a GP this morning and we agree I didn’t need antibiotics just yet, so we’re going to see if I can kick it in the butt naturally over the next couple of days – if not, we’ll take more action. So, I now have the next three days off yippee, so plenty of time to get over these nasty bugs 🙂

I was just in the middle of reading Jenna’s archives, and came across details about the Stitcher’s Meme blog … I think that’s going to be a great thing to fill in the gaps when I don’t have any stitching progress to report – and it’s fun to read everyone’s answers. I love all the different memes – it makes things much more personal, and you get to find out so much about people. Anyway, I decided seeing as I’m going to try to get back into blogging more often again, this would be a good way to help start … by using some of the ‘archive’ questions each day, as well as answering the current ones … and seeing as I don’t have any stitching progress today, here’s my opportunity to start the ball rolling with the June memes …

Floss Storage meme:
1. How do you store your floss?
2. Do you keep a complete set of DMC?
3. Do you buy new floss to “kit” up new projects or do you use out of a master set?

1. In floss-away bags – I’ve tried just about every storage method, including bobbins, stitchbows, and plastic sleeves in ringbinders, and bags definitely work the best for me so far.
2. Yes, I have the complete set of DMC.
3. I use what I have on hand, and only replace when I run out. A lot of colours I have duplicates of, so I’ll only buy extras when I have a large project such as a Mirabilia, and I know I need multiple skeins of one colour.

Monthly goals:
1. How did you go with your May goals?
2. What are your June goals?

I don’t tend to make monthly goals, but perhaps if I did it would help me to get a few more things done, as it would help me to focus. So, even though it’s halfway through June, perhaps I’ll start and give it a try …

My June goals are:

• Kit up my racing car charity quilt square
• Ducks RR stitched up ready for posting on 1 July
• Start Bordeaux Mystery Sampler SAL with Carol
• Re-start my rotation again

And the last question from May:

1. Do you have an online gallery somewhere with your cross-stitch?
2. How often do you take WIP pics?
3. Do you ever spend time looking at other stitcher’s galleries? If so how often do you look at them?

1. Yes, I have a Webshots album here (there’s also a link in my sidebar).
2. I take WIP pics regularly – usually at the end of each stitching day if I’m blogging about it, otherwise I just wait until it’s finished (eg for exchanges, as I’m not posting progress piccies anywhere).
3. Yes, I enjoy looking at other stitchers online albums – it gives me great inspiration to see others finished works, and their WIP’s … I love to see other stitchers work 🙂

Mr Obnoxious is still with me this morning, as I knew he would be, so I’ve decided to take some time out to catch up on blogs to take my mind off it, before I start concentrating on my interview information. Thanks for your supportive comments – I am going to take it further, and take the time after my interview to speak to both the Manager of the area concerned, and also our own call centre manager. Mr O is the sort of guy who twists one comment you make 50 different ways and turns it back as an accusation and keeps harping on about the same thing then making it personal. He doesn’t swear at all at you, unlike some others – if he does, then we have the full management back-up to terminate the call after telling him we don’t have to put up with that sort of language etc … I’ve threatened that twice before, and both times they’ve calmed down – this guy is just in a league of his own! I wish I could give you an example of what was said, but that’d be unprofessional. His main personality is to take one word or sentence that was said, out of context, especially loving to stop you mid-sentence and start a tirade, and harp on about it for 15 minutes to turn it into a personal attack.

Anyway, enough of that vile pig (as someone else called him last night) … on to clearing my mind of clutter, by doing some ‘fun stuff’ 🙂 I just noticed that Chiara tagged me ages ago to do this meme – for some reason her blog wasn’t showing on my updated list, then all of a sudden there were 36 posts there today, including my ‘tag’ … so apologies for the delay (and thanks for tagging me Chiara!), but here goes:

The Meme of Fives

Here are the rules: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone else up a notch. Then add yours to the bottom spot. Like this:
Recent Runes
BOO
Zohrah
Chiara’s Loft
Feather Stitching

Then select 5 people to be tagged:
Um, I’m pretty sure that by now everyone in the universe has been tagged, and it would take me too long to wade through the unread posts to find who hasn’t … but if you read my blog, and you haven’t been tagged yet, feel free to join in 🙂

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Turning 30, working for a major international pharmaceutical company in Auckland, NZ, organising medical conferences for a living … wondering “what am I doing here?” and dreaming of working in the travel industry.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Milk chocolate
2. Salt & vinegar flavour potato chips/crisps
3. Dips and with sliced turkish bread (eg hommus, tzatziki etc)
4. Watermelon
5. Chocolate-dipped strawberries

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics off the top of your head right now:

1. Superman by Five for Fighting
2. Superman by Five for Fighting
3. Superman by Five for Fighting
4. Superman by Five for Fighting
5. … let’s just say, song lyrics are definitely NOT my forte! LOL – but I can hum along to all the tunes!

Five things you would do if you had one million dollars:

1. Buy loads of aida so I can make more charity quilts, along with buying the charts and threads I’d need
2. Buy a house near the beach
3. Buy a new car for both myself (Mazda 323, blue, sporty model with rear spoiler shaped boot – not being specific, or anything LOL) and my Dad
4. Take a long holiday to the places I’m still dying to see yet (Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, as well as many other places), and take Mum on a holiday too
5. Share my spoils with others – give some of the money to my best friend and her family, some to Mum & Dad, and buy a car for Fraze

Five bad habits:

1. Too soft, and easily taken for granted
2. Swear like a trooper
3. Don’t finish what I start
4. Can be very untidy
5. Great procrastinator sometimes

Five things you like doing:

1. Stitching
2. Watching DVD’s/going to the movies
3. Having dinner with friends
4. Walking on the beach
5. Helping others

Five things you would never buy, wear or get new again:

1. A car (it devalues so much as soon as you drive it off the lot)
2. Uncomfortable shoes
3. Clothes in pastel colours
4. New DVD’s (would rather wait until the price comes down)
5. ‘Label’ clothes/goods

Five favourite toys:

1. My computer
2. Mahjong
3. Solitaire (pack of cards)
4. Uno
5. My stitching stash (spend more time playing in that than anything else! LOL)