Enjoying a sense of peace one stitch at a time
I’ve been managing to get a few stitches into Winter Queen this week … I suppose any little bit is better than nothing! This is how she looked before I put her away in January 2007:
And this is how she looks now (minus her head, ‘cos that’s now hiding under my scroll bar!):
I’m glad to see the beading all done, but now I’m facing the eternal swirls of the skirt part of her dress … endless miles of white stitching on white linen – I’d better start stocking up on wine in readiness!!! 😉
Just a very very quick public service announcement that Sampler Cove have released the photos of the next design in the Rhapsody in Red series … yep, yet another design for the wishlist!!! 😀
Aside from that, not much happening in this neck of the woods that’s worth showing you – I’ve done about 3 hours worth of stitching on Mirabilia’s Winter Queen, including frogging an entire section of beads three whole times last night … hmmm. Hopefully by the end of the week there’ll be enough progress to warrant a photo. I can’t believe I haven’t touched this WIP/UFO since January 2007!!! That’s a crying shame, and one wrong that’s being put right – I am to get this one finished before the end of the year 🙂
No stitching at all tonight, as we went to the movies straight after work to see “Made of Honour” – personally not a movie I would have chosen to see (Lisa is a HUGE Patrick Dempsey fan, so that was her choice!), but I have to admit I really enjoyed it, and had a blast. It’s a bit stressful at work right now, so it was really good to chill out afterwards and have a good belly laugh 😀
I’m also a bit of a hermit at home right now while listening to an audiobook and stitching … poor Lisa will wonder if she has a flatmate this week – I’m listening to The Red Dahlia by Lynda la Plante, and really enjoying it 🙂
Well, the pumpkin soup is essentially finished, but not put through the blender yet … I ended up getting Lisa to heat up a can of soup for me to eat with some homemade damper fresh from the oven. It didn’t get finished because Lisa couldn’t stand the smell of the soup (it has a teaspoon of cumin in it, and she can’t bear the smell apparently!). Anyway, the reason I couldn’t get to finish it myself is because I had a small accident in the kitchen with the meat cleaver!
All limbs are still attached, but I did manage to slice right through the nail in the middle of my finger (the finger next to my little finger, thankfully on my left hand) … luckily my reflexes kicked in a bit so I managed to not take the top of my finger off! Needless to say there was a fair bit of blood, and I broke out in a nauseous sweat thinking I was going to pass out. But after I stopped the bleeding, I called out to Lisa to give me a hand with some Savlon and a large band-aid. She wanted to take me to see a doctor, but I figured the bleeding had stopped, and they could hardly stitch it, so there was no point. The nail itself seems to be sliced right through, but as long as I keep something covering it while it grows out, I figure it should be alright (although perhaps a tetanus shot may be worthwhile hmmm).
The pain was pretty intense for a while, but my nursemaid Lisa made me sit down and drink a soft drink to give me some sugar and fluids in my system (apparently I was as pale as a ghost). I then had something to eat and took a couple of Nurofen and eventually the pain eased off, and is so far OK as long as I don’t touch the nail with anything. I got stir-crazy and sat looking at my hand, and figured I just might be able to stitch (much to Lisa’s amazement as I’d been ordered to sit down and rest without doing anything … but I just couldn’t do it). Anyway, sure enough it was a bit uncomfortable at first getting used to holding the needle differently so I didn’t touch that finger, but I actually managed to get a fair bit stitched tonight! I think it helped to calm me and take my mind off my injury more than anything else!
Here’s the result of my stitching efforts tonight … I’m now hitting the hay after taking another couple of Nurofen to help me rest during the night. Fingers crossed tomorrow it will still be relatively painfree, otherwise I just might have to make a visit to the local medical centre …
French Monogram III by Twisted Oaks Designs
Tuffet – front
stitched in DMC 115, on 32ct cream Belfast linen
(as usual at 1.30am the colours are not true to life)
I haven’t decided whether or not to take my laptop with me to Perth … I guess it depends on how much other luggage I end up taking. Anyway, I’ve almost finished my CA Wells projects apart from the fusing of the interfacing and remaining eyelets and miniscule bits of stitching. I have to admit I’ve really detested stitching the Sailor’s Valentine piece and these last few days have been spent doing squillions of over-one stitching … even less enjoyable when it’s a project you’re not enjoying anyway! Every single stitch has been painful, and definitely NOT a labour of love!
Well, I’ve finally managed to finish them anyway … although I noticed I was two threads out on part of the ship panel – seeing as that panel has given me major grief over the last 2-3 days I was sure as heck not unpicking all that over-one stitching and re-doing it, so fingers crossed those two fabric threads on each won’t make any difference! It’s my own fault, I regraphed the whole panel onto my XS computer program and copied them into the wrong place! I must say, though, it was sooooo much easier stitching it from my own chart than from CA’s … much much easier in colour and nice and large on the screen 🙂
I think the thing I really hate about this piece is the dreadful pink thread … the photos don’t actually show the colours up truthfully – in real life it looks more brown and rusty looking – it just looks like ‘dead flowers’ to me, particularly on the Roses panel … oh well, c’est la vie – I’ll probably choose to put this panel on the back so I don’t have to look at it if I have a choice 😉
And don’t get me started on the thread colour for the ship! The model photo shows nice variegated browns and a hit of blue … not pink, green and gold!!! Unfortunately we were given the teeniest skimpiest strand of this silk so I couldn’t even cut it to a preferred blend of colours … by this stage I was so ‘over’ the whole design I couldn’t be bothered hunting through my thread stash for a replacement and just stitched it ‘as is’ … but it really is a bizarre colour choice 😦
Here are piccies of the finished sides (all apart from those final ‘fused’ bits of stitching) – I changed the longitude and latitude coordinates to be from the suburb where I’m now living. There are a couple of photos of the over-one stitching as well (those are clickable, not that you’d really want to see them any more ‘up close and personal’ than what they already are, but the others are non-clickable as a courtesy to the designer.
Tomorrow morning I will be sitting on a plane for 5 hours heading to Perth, then on Wed/Thu this week I will be in the classroom with CA Wells and other luvverly ladies (including one lady who is flying all the way from Japan to be there!). Hopefully the next time you see these projects they’ll be finished (well, the Sailor’s Valentine one anyway – I still have to stitch the rooftop of the cottage, so that one will take a bit longer!).
Now it’s time to start contemplating what I need to pack to take with me … something super simple to stitch on the plane, me thinks, and my iPod loaded up with a talking book – I can’t remember whether they show a movie on the flight or not, so I want to be prepared ‘just in case’ … actually I’d better pack a normal book just in case I’m now allowed to stitch! Rightio, time is a wastin’ … time to get my A into G!!
… or at least they DID arrive, but alas they had to be destroyed due to possible cross-breeding with the local bunnies. The destruction was quick and painless, as I chomped them to death throughout the day at work! 😉
Thanks so much to Monique for this little act of kindness – I’d mentioned to Monique on her blog that I’d never seen what a peep looked like, so it was great to see her photo of them after hearing so much about them for years … Monique took pity on me and sent me this wonderful sample! People must have thought I was bonkers leaving the Post Office, as I changed from being very perplexed at a strange parcel arriving, to cackling like a banshee with a huge grin on my face after opening it up and seeing the contents. Thanks again Monique for making my week! 😀
As for my stitching, I’ve done really well over the weekend and the last couple of nights – I have finished all my Cottage Etui pieces, except for the rooftop, and except for tiny bits of stitching that are done after the interfacing is fused on (eyelets and satin stitches). Now I’ve moved on to the Sailor’s Valentine, and I’ve managed to complete one more side (once again, except for the backstitching of the word “Love” once the interfacing is fused on) – now I’m concentrating on the smallest side of the lot (not much stitching, although a bit of over one) which has a whale’s tail on it and compass markings. That then just leaves me with the boat side to be done (oodles of over-one so it will take me forever!) and the ribbon bands, plus the personalisation (again over-one) on the Roses side … then I can attempt to get the Cottage rooftop started.
Here’s just a wee taste of the “Love” side (CA isn’t keen on full-screen progress photos online as far as I understand it, so I’m trying to be considerate but still share a little bit!):
I’m really looking forward to heading over to Perth again next week for the class – I’m staying with one of the organiser’s lady friends for the two nights of the class, then I’m off to spend 3 nights with Hayley, a good friend of mine. Apparently we’re getting up on Thursday for the dawn service on ANZAC Day, then we have 3 full days to potter around and actually see a bit of Perth this time – it’s going to be great to have some quality time with Hayles and Pete, as they have a long weekend off work yay!
Of GREAT note is the fact that as of late last night we have ADSL BROADBAND AT HOME!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I AM screaming … with sheer joy!!!!! We’ve managed to get my modem set up with Lisa’s wireless router, and we can both connect – in a couple of weeks time you actually might get to see me more online again (and maybe even answering emails, unlike having a humungous backlog like I do now)!! 😀
Well, true to form, I’ve been lounging around in my PJ equivalent all day – trackpants and PJ top … and I’ve been stitching merrily away on my Cottage Etui. Here’s a sneak preview of how far along I am so far … I’m pretty confident that I’ll get all the pieces finished by the end of tomorrow that I want to (I’m not bothering about getting the rooftop stitched yet – but if I get time before I fly out, I’ll try to start).
While stitching the Etui, it also reminded me that I haven’t shown you my latest stash purchases yet either – as soon as I took them out of the envelope, my Cottage Etui threads went straight onto one of them. Monique makes the most gorgeous threadholders, and I truly adore them! Small enough to be super portable, and no thread snags … plus they look so darned cute!!! 😀 What’s betting a certain senior citizen who will be visiting in May will try to snaffle one of them for herself??? haha.
I also forgot to show your healthy spoils from a morning trip to Paddy’s Market in Flemington last weekend (before my friends arrived). Lisa has bought a juicer and we’ve been having fresh fruit and vege juices every morning this last week … this is just a small sample of what is residing in our kitchen right now … boxes and boxes and lovely fruit and vege (some will be juiced and frozen).
Lovely peaches, with a tray of nectarines hiding underneath … plus boxes of pears, apples and oranges.
There is also a box full of Tahitian limes (just perfect for the bottles of Corona in the fridge), and melons galore, not to mention the pile of pumpkins and butternuts hiding underneath!
And this one is for Mum … a box of Australian feijoas (which I’m sorry to say are really tiny and picked well before they are ripe, so they’re a bit disappointing … I really miss our feijoa tree from home – poor Mum has so many she doesn’t know what to do with them, and she keeps making me jealous talking about them!).
Rightio, my dinner has finished nuking in the microwave, so it’s time to head back to my stitching position for the evening stitch-a-thon 🙂
I can’t believe how much I managed to cram into one day yesterday … it’s most unlike me, as I’m the Queen of time wasting at the weekends!! First up I decided to get the garage tidied up and out of the way, and I was surprised I managed to complete the entire thing in less than 2 hours woohoo (well, apart from Lisa’s futon mattress that I can’t move on my own)! That means we can finally park one of the cars in there, and we won’t get told off for hogging more than one carspace!
Next up, my downstairs neighbour (70 yr old Barbara) hollered out that she had finished with the laundry, so I could get my washing done early yay – once I’d filled the machine to capacity and set it going, I came back upstairs and spoke to Mum on the phone for 2 hours … minus 15 minutes when I ran back downstairs to put the washing out on the line and put the last few towels in to wash.
After chatting to Mum I cooked up a pot of Hearty Minestrone Soup from a recent Weight Watchers cookbook ready for lunches, followed by the making of a low-calorie orange and mango jelly, and a vanilla blancmange … just that word “blancmange” makes me go weak at the knees and start salivating!! You can tell I’m actually a Brit by birth, as you can’t buy blancmange over here (although come to think of it, you can probably get it in the UK import shops, I’ll have to check it out!) … this batch is from a previous donation from my Aunt in the UK, and I’ve never got around to making it. Well, yesterday I made my very first blancmange, and couldn’t wait to sink my spoon into it after it set … yummo! The great thing about WW is that I can still eat these things in moderation if I get the urge, and just work it into the daily points total … although that’s also one reason for making the soup, ‘cos it’s very very low in points but very filling – blancmange and soup, the perfect balance! As of yesterday it’s ‘that time of the month’ when I get some serious sweet cravings, so I also figure eating blancmange is better than eating a big block of chocolate or packet of Tim Tams!! 😉
Here’s a photo of the soup simmering (dunno why I took a photo really) – but no photo of the blancmange, as it didn’t sit still long enough in one piece to get one haha.
I can’t believe what a fantastic day I had yesterday – I’m LOVING this weekend, and LOVING having energy again after feeling so crappy for so long … I feel as though I had a new lease of life yesterday 🙂
The next job I tackled was to glue together 5 Christmas ornies just sitting ready to be finished (they were already laced onto the mattboard etc) – they’re currently sitting under a pile of books after drying overnight and just have to have cording added (which might be a while yet before I do that). Then I cut up strips of calico and neatened the edges with the overlocker, ready to stitch onto the edges of my CA Wells project (there is only about 1-2 cm space at each edge, and I can’t stitch in hand), plus I made quite a few more strips ready for other kitted up projects that I can’t wait to start.
Before I started my stitching for the night, though, I finally did the finishing of two needlerolls that were just waiting to be ribboned and stuffed … and they are now sitting here in all their finished glory 🙂
“Summer Solstice Needleroll” by Eventide Designs
Stitched on 28ct hand-dyed Dried Thyme Jobelan with recommended threads
but changed the months to be Dec-Jan-Feb to be in line with the southern hemisphere seasons
“Snow Fall Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush (kit)
Feeling the best I’ve felt in months, I also brought out a teeny tiny pinkeep (about 2″ in width) that I meant to finish for Becky last year (!!), and finally did the finishing … originally this was designed to be a scissor fob, but then I changed my mind once I read Becky adores pinkeeps. Even if I say so myself, it looks really cute! I still have a needlebook to finish yet to go with it, so it won’t be posted for a while yet … but at least I can see it happening this year!! 😉
After all that activity, I finally sat down in my stitching chair, switched off the goggle box, and cranked open a talking book for a couple of hours (The Twelfth Card by Jeffery Deaver – love his books!) … and FINALLY put the first stitches into my Cottage Etui piece for the CA Wells class. OK, I have to admit, it’s not much so far, but at least I’ll have one thing that can be finish-finished in class if nothing else haha. This will eventually either be a scissor fob, or if I manage to get some more stitching done, it will be the pincushion/thimble pip ends. I must say I really do like the choice of Gloriana silk for this pice – very rich and scrummy colours in there, with even a hint of yummy blues 😉
And that concludes my wonderful day yesterday – today I’ve woken up quite tired, but still positive, and I’ve decided to sit and stitch a short while this morning on some more CA Wells before tackling any housework … on the first day of my cycle I always feel ‘blah’ so that seems like a perfect day to me yet again!
As promised a few days ago, here are my photos of recent finishes:
Winter Wonderland by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 32ct Golden Harvest linen by Silkweaver
with recommended threads
Blueberries by Little House Needleworks & Crescent Colours
Stitched on 32ct cream Belfast linen
with recommended threads
Also, here is LHN’s Sampler Lady in all her topless work-in-progress glory … she’s still waiting for her blouse to be finished, the poor love – it’s a good job the weather’s still warm down here in Sydney!!! 😉
Next up is a photo for Mum of my wee $9.95 Frangipani tree in its pot on the balcony – as you can see it has some company in the form of fresh herbs … I just adore those blue pots!! No flowers on the frangipani yet, but a new leaf has grown, plus it’s a wee bit taller than when we first arrived. My other (first) Frangipani plant isn’t doing too well since having its top knocked off by Nigel and Brenda’s dog, but I live in hope it might perk up a bit more by next summer before I replace it with something else.
Lucky last is my ‘new’ smalls display in the new flat – complete with my Wessex sampler on the wall – this place is fantastic for all the wall hooks!!
And I’ll finish my post there. Since being sick I haven’t had chance to do housework for two weeks, but once caught up I’ll take piccies of the new abode now we’re almost 100% unpacked (aside from the boxes in my bedroom of ‘unimportant stuff’).
Talking of which, I ended up leaving work early yesterday ‘cos I felt grotty (I survived an entire 1 1/2 hours!), and am now on antibiotics for about 13 days compliments of a local GP … fingers crossed it does the trick! 🙂
The other thing I haven’t spoken about is the excruciating heel pain I’ve been having over the last few months – it’s good to know my self-diagnosis was correct, and I have likely got plantar fascitis (spelling?). I’ve been applying ice packs and anti-inflammatories when it’s been really bad, and have since bought some orthotics for padding the heel that’ve been working a treat. Fingers crossed that my heel pains will soon be a thing of the past (or at least I won’t be woken up in the middle of the night from the throbbing pain!!).
Rightio, time to go chill out again … I’m doing my online things in short bursts …
Sorry I haven’t been online much but quite frankly I just haven’t felt like posting at all – the move was quite exhausting, both physically and mentally … I can’t believe that even my knuckles felt bruised and aching after all the lifting!!! Yesterday was the first day I could lift a box up off the floor again without groaning – geez it felt good 😉
Anyway, today I had an early morning start – my car is finally off to the mechanics on the other side of town. I really need my car, and to finally have a decent and fair mechanic looking at it is a blessing in itself. Brenda and Nigel have recommended their mechanic to me, and he seems like a really nice bloke so far. I’ve documented the entire history of what’s been going wrong with my car over the last 2 years, which will hopefully help shed some light on what’s wrong … if nothing else hopefully he can get the car windows to open again, which will be a bonus in the Sydney heat! And most importantly I hope he can get the dashboard light working again!! I upgraded my RACV membership to the “total care” package, which gives unlimited towing and breakdown assistance … but unfortunately it doesn’t exactly copy over to the NRMA in Sydney (which I didn’t realise) – I only get 8km free towing, and have to pay $4.40 per km over that … considering the mechanic is possibly just over 50km away, that’s gonna be a hefty towing bill!! Supposedly I can claim that money back from the RACV though, so that’d better be true, or I’ll be spewing big time!!
I have to admit I feel quite nauseous and ill thinking of all the money that’s being incurred lately – it’s all going on a credit card, but it’s still extra money I have to fork out every month in repayments. Our dramas with the removalists haven’t finished either – it turns out they delivered the wrong bike to us (I had no idea, as it was Lisa’s and she didn’t see it until she arrived) … and I’m missing one entire box, so I’m trying to make a list of all the things I can think of that were in it hmmm. Lisa’s away this weekend, but next week we’re probably going to write down a time line of everything that’s happened and send it to all and sundry, including possibly the TV show Today Tonight!
All this hassle and drama has seriously impacted on my stitching – I looked back at what I’d achieved in January stitching-wise and the only thing was that paltry little Xmas ornie stocking that I finished in one day! That’s very very unlike me!! The only other thing I started was Sweetheart Tree’s Wildflower Needleroll … the photo is basically the sum total of 3 days stitching (2 days from when I was sitting in an empty apartment, and 1 from a couple of nights ago) … it’s all quite pathetic really!
I get really enthusiastic and excited about all the designs I could be stitching, then feel exhausted about 5 seconds later and don’t end up doing anything – perhaps once the boxes etc are all entirely unpacked and I can move in my bedroom easily, then I’ll feel more settled and can get into a normal routine again. The lounge is a bomb site at the moment as well, as Lisa’s things are all piled up there, as well as some of my stuff that needs to be sorted out, so the clutter everywhere is probably affecting me. Lisa put her back out last weekend, and she’s been in agony all week, so we haven’t been able to do much around the place … but hopefully she’ll be back to normal again by the end of next week and we can make a concerted effort to get the place tidied up and organised.
The main challenge for me this weekend is trying to set up the video to Lisa’s TV … and get the legs onto the dining table, so the dining area can get uncluttered. I’m going to try and make an effort to take a couple of hours out to do some stitching – and need something quite ‘easy’ to stitch to help get me back into the swing of things (which won’t be the ST needleroll … that backstitching of all the leaves is doing my head in at the moment!! – mind you, once that’s finished there’s not much left before it’s totally stitched). It’s likely that I’ll either choose a small freebie or Xmas ornie, or start a new LHN or CCN design … but I must stitch “something”, or I’m going to kick myself hard!!!
Once the place is fully de-cluttered we need to invite our elderly neighbours up for morning or afternoon tea … I’d guess they’re both in their 70’s to 80’s, and seem really lovely old dears (Norma on the ground floor, and Barbara in the middle of us on the 2nd). We’re also setting up a calendar in the kitchen where we can keep track of all our house guests that will be coming over the coming year, so we don’t double-book … it’s going to be quite a social year if everyone comes that says they will be! 😀
Anyway, time to sign off for the day as I need to head to the Post Office before it closes … I’ve found out there is a tiny local branch just up the road at the shops, which is open on Saturday mornings – I haven’t been able to get to the PO since my car has been broken down, since moving here, to post some changes of address etc, so it’s great to find I can do all that on Saturdays now! I can still clear my mail in the mornings at Mascot before work, but the actual shop for postage etc isn’t open then.
Rightio, time to ‘shake a tail feather’ and do the morning duties … with luck Lisa’s bike will be returning this afternoon from Dodgey Brothers R Us, and I need to make sure I’m home all afternoon for their arrival … geez, they’re the last people I want to see today!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day – here in Sydney I spent a lovely day with Brenda & Nigel, and Brenda’s sisters, nieces and cousin. As always Nigel did an awesome job with the food, and we all ate like Kings. The rest of the day was spent, in my case, stitching in front of the TV while we watched Scrooged and the final episodes of the Vicar of Dibley. I’m glad I went prepared and took a wee LHN design to start – it gave me something to do while everyone else was snoozing at odd times during the afternoon. And if I’d got all the DMC threads to hand, I would have almost finished it!! My needles were definitely smoking yesterday (and until 3am when I got back ‘home’ as I still couldn’t put it down). Here’s my progress so far – I just need to buy some more DMC (3371, 739 and 3011) then I can get it finished. Unfortunately I took a drive out to the shops today, forgetting that everything is still closed for Boxing Day, so it will be sitting unfinished for a wee while now as I’m back to work tomorrow.
Necessities Sampler by Little House Needleworks
Seeing as I can’t finish my LHN piece, I have no choice but to start one of my CA Wells pieces … which means I have to start concentrating on my stitching again yikes!!
On Christmas Eve I managed to finally put the finishing touches to a couple of ornies that were stitched during the first part of last year. I really really need to get back into my stitching routine so I can stitch a few more for next year! Anyway, here are the latest ornies in their finished state (I forgot to take a photo of one, which I gave to Kerrie at the weekend).
And here are two that Mum stitched for me, that I’ve also finally finished into ornies:
I’ll finish this post with photos of my friendly flatmates right now – they’re both so incredibly friendly and cuddly … the photos were taken from their visit onto my bed this morning 🙂
Feather Stitching 