Category: Cross Stitch

I’m hitting the floor running this morning … I’ve just fallen out of bed, checked my emails very briefly, and now I’m heading straight over to my stitching corner to get cracking on that 2nd NASCAR – won’t be moving much over the next 48 hours as the deadline is upon me and I only have 1 square inch stitched of the 2nd car yet hmmm. Lack of sleep severely threw out my stitching plans over the last couple of days … b*gger!

But before I do, here’s the latest SBQ which suggested by Carol and is:

“Since you started blogging, have you noticed any difference in your stitching habits? Tell us about them.”

The answer is “definitely” … I’ve bought more stitching items than I have in years (you enablers, you), and I’ve found my tastes changing in that I’ll drool over someone else’s finish then want to stitch it too – it’s definitely broadening my horizon stitching-wise. I also notice that I’m stitching more regularly, as it’s nice to see the WIP piccies in progress – it’s also nice to get encouragement from my fellow stitching bloggers when I hit the wall, as well as being nice to cheer them on too through their own blogs. Thanks ladies, you’re all an inspiration to me! 😀 It’s great to see some pieces getting finished for a change … blogging rocks!!

Yep, the weather will be changing all around the globe, because today I’m answering the SBQ on the actual day it has been received in my inbox!! Will miracles never cease?!!!

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Vash and is:

“What is the biggest mishap you have had with your stitching material (ie spillages)?”

In actual fact I’ve been really lucky so far and have had no major spillages – the worst thing is not having quite enough fabric to have the borders as wide as I’d like them, but I still haven’t actually run out of fabric at all, and it’s all been workable … so nope, no major disasters to date (… touch wood!). Actually, I take that back … I just thought of one … when I was first learning to stitch I had Graham Ross’ Tiger chart on a tapestry frame for ages, and went overseas for a while, and when I finally moved it off the frame I noticed there were not-so-lovely stripes on it … Dad had been smoking in the lounge back in those days, and it was covered in nicotine stains … then to top it off when it was off the frame I left a needle in it, and it all rusted – that piece was a testament very early on to learning what “not to do” with your projects! 😉 I never did get all the rust marks off – it will always serve as a reminder of those learning days …

I was just reading online last night, that you can buy cheap optical goods (ie glasses) in Hong Kong, so I might wait a month to see what I could buy some from over there … it looks like we’re off on holiday! This is Mum’s 70th birthday treat from me – I’m paying for the airfare (using my staff discount) for us both (compliments of my debt consolidation), and we’re sharing the cost of the hotel. Probably heading off for 4 nights, which should be plenty of time to wander around and see the sights. Neither of us have money to burn, so we’ll just be walking around everywhere and soaking up the cultural differences – but I’ll definitely check out some optical places over there, as it says most can grind the glass for the lenses in approx 24 hours, so it could be do-able at the right price 🙂

Well, my little ducks are now flapping their wings across the Pacific Ocean on their way to Canada. I got a shock at the Post Office today – I understood I could insure my parcels so that they’re ‘trackable’, and it costs an extra $7.50 to do that … today, though, I find that Canada is one of the very few countries (along with Germany) that you can’t insurance parcels to … the only option for tracking purposes is to send it as a courier parcel … for $43.00 aaaarghhhh!!!!!!! I wish I’d been told that earlier, as we could have jiggled the mailing list somehow so I was posting either to the USA or UK, as they’re both insurance option countries … bl**dy hell, is all I can say – definitely takes the shine off the RR in a way, as I’ll potentially be up for almost $150 in postage throughout the RR postings {{picture forlorn face here LOL}}. I’m looking at other options, to see if it’s worthwhile for a friend in the USA to receive them, then forward on over the border … but time will tell whether that’s an option or not. Today, however, my little ducks are winging their way over the pond uninsured and definitely not in a courier bag … I figure if they go missing, it’s just my work that’s been lost – I wouldn’t dare do that with someone else’s masterpiece, though …

Mum also has a parcel of DMC on its way to her, seeing as she’s now officially addicted to stitching Christmas ornaments … I told her to make a list of colours she needed for her entire wishlist, and I’ve managed to fill her request with about 60-70 skeins of DMC from my stash – that should keep her out of trouble for a while!! 😀

Now because I have no stitching to present, here are the last three SBQ’s (oops, didn’t realise I was so far behind – story of my life where blogging’s concerned just lately!!) …

14 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Angela and is:

“How many cross stitch books do you own and how often do you use them?”

If we’re just specifying “cross stitch” books, I have a few that have been bought in various bookstore sales, but I don’t honestly use them at all, as they’re too simplistic. I do have quite a large number of embroidery books, some of which I drool over regularly, and some I’ll eventually make a project out of … one day 😉 I regularly use some of the books that have stitch instructions, eg A-Z of Embroidery Stitches etc … there are waaaay too many to list here, though …

21 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Vash and is:

“Have you ever used a magnifying glass while stitching? If so, did you find it helpful?”

Nope, not yet – I haven’t had a great deal of difficulty to see while stitching yet, although my best stitching tool is my daylight lamp. The small desktop version one I have has a magnifying glass on top of it, but I don’t use it.

29 June – Today’s SBQ was suggested by Cheryl and is:

“What do you do with your charts once you’ve stitched them? Do you keep them or dispose of them? If you keep them, do you organize them in a way that is different from the way you keep your unstitched charts?”

I used to have a separate folder for “stitched” charts, so they were quick to lay my hands on if anyone asked for details from them, or I decided to put them up for trade/give away … now everything is just lumped in together.

Well, I still haven’t picked up a needle today, but I’ve done really exciting things like scrubbing the toilet and unpotting 3 of my dead plants out on the balcony, and getting a load of washing done – after all that excitement I think I need a lie down ;P

I also finally managed to get a host of photos taken to show my ‘stitching nest’ … of course by doing that, you get to see half of my entire flat! LOL. So, here goes for the SBQ’s: (actually, it seems that Blogger is only being half accommodating tonight – it’s amazingly let me upload six stitching piccies, but no stitching NEST piccies, so I’ll try again in a separate post for them …

The first request comes from Vash who is requesting pictures of
the back of your stitching … are you brave enough to give this one a shot?

Here’s the front and back of one of my very first XS attempts years ago … um, things have improved just slightly since then ;P The Tiger design is by Ross Originals.

Here’s the front (on the left) and back (on the right) of one corner of my Chess Anyone piece … if you think they look similar, you’re right, as it’s stitched using reversible blackwork ;P

And my final ones – my Prairie Schooler ornament, and my Zebra (aka my Giraffe LOL).