Crafts – Needlework – Page 34

What can I say? I don’t think I feel well at all … over the last two days I’ve been counting down the hours of my current rotation on Winter Queen, as I can’t wait for my next rotation slot – which is for those Dratted Dolphins! What the …??!!! That’s a first – me actually looking forward to stitching them … maybe that last migraine unsettled me more than I thought! 😉 Anyway, today I put the final stitches of my 10 hour rotation for WQ, and she’s about to be taken off the floor stand, to be replaced with the Dratteds for another 10 hours – I’m sure after 10 hours the novelty and joy of stitching them will have worn off LOL. Actually, I think I just really really want to get them finished so I can replace them with another piece on my rotation … and there are so MANY screaming to take their place (high up on the list is Angel of Love by L&L).

Sorry I’ve been a bit slack commenting on everyones blogs – I’ve been avoiding the computer a bit since Sunday, other than just checking emails every day, to try and make sure I helped to keep the migraines away. Hopefully now I’m all up to date with everyone again, and regular programming can be resumed!

I’ve also chased up some outstanding mail orders from months ago, when I had my huge stash-fest … there are still 3 orders yet to arrive 😦 It looks like my order from Wyndham Needleworks was mailed on 16 Nov, so hopefully it won’t be too far away from arriving. I’m still waiting for some needles to arrive for my Nordic Needle order, and a back-ordered chart and Gloriana silk from Stitching Bits & Bobs – I’ve asked them both if they could send what they have already and send the other items afterwards … I’m getting worried that closer to Christmas they’ll get lost in the postal system, and it’s too precious a cargo to go missing! Maybe I should just shove the parcels unopened under the Christmas tree this year for gifts to myself – what a treat … anybody want to take bets as to whether I’ll be able to keep from opening them? Nah, it’d never happen!! LOL.

And I can’t believe that Christmas is so close around the corner – this year for me will be an extra special one – my Mum is flying over to spend Christmas with me, for a 6-week holiday. It’ll be the first time since I moved here 2 1/2 years ago that I’ve had a family member to spend Christmas with, and I’m actually rostered off on Christmas Day too, for an even better bonus!! Mum gets to have a holiday here, and I get to have one too … Mum will not sit down for the life of her – or if she does, she’s usually doing something like knitting or mending something! She has the housework all done while I’m at work, so I don’t have to do anything when I come home … she’s the best! I wish sometimes she’d take the time to rest herself, but she’s happiest when she’s doing things for other people … she’s one of the most kind hearted and generous people I know!! And she’ll be here in only 3 weeks time – yippee!! I always joke I’ve saved a pile of ironing for her for when she comes, ‘cos I detest ironing with a passion – and she loves it! LOL.

Next week it’ll be time to start putting my little Christmas tree up – in our last flat I made sure we had a tree and trimmings up to make it feel like Christmas … Mum always had the best tree in the world (boy, I miss that tree!!!), and she’s instilled in me a love for Christmas with all its trimmings etc. It will be nice to share that joy with her again this year – and she’ll also be here in time to see the Christmas displays in the shops … she’ll be in her element!

Anyway, time to get ready for work, I guess – need to head off early to take library books (on tape) back … then only 3 days of work left (including today) before my next 2 days off. Really looking forward to 2 Dec, when I get 5 days off in a row … ah, heaven!!!

For those of you in the US … Happy Thanksgiving! :))

Finishes, Works in Progress

Winter Queen finally started…

22 November, 200525 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve been trying to start this project as a SAL with the StitchNZ yahoo group for a while now, but kept putting it off for different reasons – firstly I thought I wanted to use a hand-dyed fabric instead, but then opted for the plain white again, then I pulled the floss together to start kitting up, and realised I didn’t have enough skeins of some of the colours, or 3 colours of the MH beads. Well, I finally popped into Spotlight yesterday and picked up the skeins and beads I needed, and made a small inroad into starting her last night. She was just what I needed yesterday, but there’s not much progress to show just yet …

Sunday started off well, and saw me reorganising my threads while trying to work out what to use for my Apricot Elegance SAL in January – I had a slight headache, but nothing more … by the afternoon it had developed into a full-blown migraine that was so bad I ended up throwing up with it, and sleeping for about 14 hours all-up yuk!! I know what triggered this one – the messy shifts, jumping from one timeframe to another, and not getting a proper 8 hours sleep on any of them … Anyway, by late yesterday afternoon I finally started feeling a bit more ‘human’ – I wandered around the shopping mall for a couple of hours, getting a few things I needed (like painkiller tablets!), and it was really nice to just ‘potter’ with no timeframe or deadlines. By 7pm I was ready to start thinking of getting a bit of stitching done. And last night I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had all week – I feel so much better today. Luckily this week’s shifts are all relatively similar, with only 1 x 3pm-11pm today, followed by 4 x 1pm-9pm … hallelujah!!!

While I was out shopping yesterday I also finally picked up some scrapbooking paper to make an album page in honour of my best friend’s Mum who’s turning 70 in January. She lost her husband, Ross, just over a year ago, and it’s hit her hard, and she’s starting to lose her confidence and been starting to ask questions like “was I a good mother?” etc … anyway Vicki thought it would be lovely to put an album together with everyone donating one page of ‘memories’ – things about Doreen that you love and happy occasions with her etc … I think it’s the most wonderful idea! So, never having scrapbooked in my life, I’m going to put a page together – with possibly another one for my Mum, as she has some memories of her own to include – in fact, I’d better get cracking, as they need to be posted at the start of December. It’s a bit hard in that almost all my photos are back in NZ, but I think I’ve managed to find a couple that I can use, as well as some stickers etc. Hopefully it will cheer Doreen up, and help to give her a sense of purpose again 🙂 She’s been like my adopted second Mum, and the whole family has had such a huge influence in my life – part of who I am today is in direct tribute to Doreen and her family … love you Doreen, you’ve impacted on my life more than you could ever know! :))

And seeing as I didn’t get my finishing done on my pansy pin pillow, I thought I’d better post a piccie now – I certainly wasn’t in the mood to finish it this weekend, so I’ll put it to one side until my ‘finishing’ spot in my rotation, which isn’t too far away …

Also thanks for all your kind comments about the new look blog, everyone – your comments are always greatly appreciated 🙂

And last, but certainly far from least (!), a HUGE thanks go to Jenna, the computer guru herself, for creating my progress bars so you can actually see them again … your blood is worth bottling, and while I may not be able to name my first-born after you, I’m extremely grateful to you {{hugs}} :)))

Works in Progress

Progress bars

28 October, 200525 February, 2012 Anne S

Andie, and anyone else who’s interested, I got the progress bar .gif’s from another blog site called Million Stitchers. I’ve hyperlinked it with the correct page in her archives for you 🙂

Haven’t done any stitching for a couple of days – been busy playing in my template here, doing housework (yuk), and writing the 2005 family Christmas newsletter in Publisher. At least my draft copy will be winging its way across the ocean today to Mum and Dad to see if they want anything adding … then it’s time to start writing Christmas cards ready to post them off overseas hmmm. I get the feeling the next month’s stitching time will be curtailed somewhat …

Anyway, I’ve only managed to get 5 hours stitching into my Egyptian Garden rotation piece – I’m leaving the dratted over-one fishies in the centre until a bit later … I didn’t enjoy them the first time round (hated the fabric), so thought I’d get a few more stitches into it before trying again.

Works in Progress

What is a Huswif/Hussif?

14 October, 200525 February, 2012 Anne S

As I commented on Nicole’s blog, I have a huswif (my first attempt) which has been sitting as a UFO ever since I finished the class … it is oh-so-close to being finished, and it really is a lovely piece that I’m relatively proud of. I mentioned earlier when discussing my change of blog name, that feather stitching isn’t my ‘forte’ … well, that’s why this UFO became a UFO. I’m sure when I get back into the swing of it, and force myself to pick it back up again, it’ll be fine – I did a reasonably good job of the initial feather stitching, but for some reason I’m a bit nervous of doing it round the outside edges, to hold everything together. Bit daft, really … I think 2006 is the year where this thing finally gets finished and used!! (but don’t hold me to that hahaha). So, here’s the piccie of my UFO huswife to date:

This one is designed by Monica Hunt, and the instructions were printed in the publication called Anne’s Glory Box, Book Nine. A photo of the completed piece in the book is here. As you can see from the example, I’m more into the bright colours, so I chose pretty different fabrics and Monica said it’s the first time she’d seen one stitched on black and that it might be a bit difficult … oh well, always one to accept a challenge haha.

Nicole, there are loads of styles of huswifs – the only thing I can think of that is common is that there are basically different pockets on the inside of them to hold a stitcher’s tools of trade, and they all seem to roll up for storage etc. I’ve just ordered the Flame Stitch huswif by Sampler Cove (haven’t tried that sort of stitching before, so I thought it would be fun to try something different), and another one called Strawberries So Faire by With My Needle that I’m really keen to try too – another Yahoo group I belong to is thinking of maybe having a SAL for Strawberries So Faire, so it would be a good time to stitch it, I think 🙂

No current stitching updates to post – I’ve finished the last big border on my canvaswork Dena, and just in the middle of finishing the final satin stitch border in the Rainbow Gallery Patina thread (aaaaarghhhhh, is all I have to say about that thread!!!) – then it’s just a case of adding the beads in the corners, and I’ll be happy dancing yippee. I figure there’s no point posting a piccie until it’s finished, seeing as it’s now so close. Didn’t get much done yesterday, other than having a kip in the afternoon – swapped with someone at work and did the “doggo” shift (9pm-5am), so didn’t get to bed until almost 7am this morning. It was amazing driving home – now we’re heading into summer, the days are getting longer, and it was like driving home at about 8am … it shocked me a bit when I was leaving work, as it was so light outside. I almost went for a walk on the beach when I got home, but thought better of it, as it was only 5.40am – even though it was light, I figured it was probably not the safest thing for a single female to be doing! Today I’m just popping out to do some errands – then going into work early, as there is a ‘parcel’ waiting for me my PO Box … fingers crossed it’s the JCS 2004 ornie issue I’ve been expecting from my Ebay trader – that would be just wonderful! Tonight I’m back to my final 6pm-2am shift, then I have the weekend off … yippee :-)))