Category: Cross Stitch

Oops, forgot last week’s question, so you get a 2-for-1 deal this week 😉

The 28 December’s SBQ was suggested by Nancy and is:

“How do you balance your stitching time with your other obligations such as work, household chores, etc?”

What do you mean? Are we supposed to still do chores as WELL as stitching?? Oops … haha. I have to admit, work always comes first – but as a shift worker my hours are pretty erratic, and affects my energy levels (both mental and physical) which affects how much stitching I get done, which can be negative or positive depending on the shifts. As for housework etc, now I live on my own I’m much more lax with housework than I used to be – I don’t cook every night, and can easily ignore the dust, which helps to allow more free time haha. My biggest downfall for stitching time has, to be honest, been my blogging/computer time – I can lose track of hours at a time, and sometimes look at my stitching and think about how much progress I could have made if I hadn’t been looking at that computer screen 🙂 But if I hadn’t been blogging or sat here, I wouldn’t have met such wonderful online friends – so it all balances out :))

The 4 January’s SBQ was suggested by Renee and is:

“Do you do your stash shopping at your LNS, ONS, or both? Which do you like better? Why?”

Aha, an easy one to answer – I shop from both, but predominantly from offshore ONS. The reason for both is easy – I prefer to shop from my LNS where I can see first-hand the colours of the threads etc before making a decision, but the only problem is for imported threads (which is 90% of them) we pay almost double what people pay in the US … so I tend to buy most of my supplies (except DMC, only because it’s easier, and I usually need that ‘now’ – DMC is still a lot more expensive too at up to AU$1.00 a skein) from ONS such as Stitching Bits & Bobs. I buy when they have their 25% off sales, which then offsets the postage costs, and I still save money overall. I would much rather support my LNS and keep them in business, but can’t justify the extra cost (especially now my finances have changed dramatically, and every cent saved is a good one!).

OK, a bit of a strange title – but my buttons arrived today that I needed to finish off my Stars and Brightly Shining Christmas piece … and it’s too big! B*gger!! The one I ordered from SB&B months ago was obviously a different brand than the one I ordered from NZ (which was too small – so I ordered a ‘large’ one) – so I’ll have to place a very small order for one whole ‘medium’ carrot nose 😉

I just received two very lovely gifts of money for Christmas from close family friends in NZ, and from my parents – NZ$100 and AU$100 respectively – and I’m thinking of the lovely things I can buy myself … especially stitching stash 😉 Mum wasn’t too impressed with that, saying I need a new iron and some new underwear – which is quite true – but they seem so ‘practical’ and not a treat at all. I have to admit I really don’t need any new charts for a while now, but I wouldn’t mind using it for some threads I’m going to be needing for some of that latest stash haul. Threads here in Aussie are exceptionally expensive, so I’ve decided to save up each year and have a USA splurge with SB&B for threads – things like Weeks Dye Works and GAST, for example, we pay pretty much double what the US price is … just crazy! Seeing as I’m on a tough budget now I’m on my own, I figure if I put $5 to one side each week, I could have a decent blow-out every now and then on things I need for specific projects. I feel pretty positive about things at the moment, so 2006 won’t be seeing me doing any ‘comfort spending’ that I can’t afford! LOL.

I also received a CD from my best friend in NZ, but I’m being very very good, and it’s going straight under the tree until Christmas Day … even though the curiosity is killing me!

Tonight will be spent writing the final Christmas cards for work colleagues, so the Dratteds may not get any stitching done on them … but the great news is that my gift beast … um, sorry … gift PIECE is on its way to its recipient – fingers crossed it won’t get lost in the Christmas rush, as that would be the final icing on the cake!! Mum saw it before it was made up and stuffed, and she reckons it’s so beautiful that I need to stitch one for myself 🙂 I have to admit, it looks lovely in person, even if it’s not my best ever stitching effort – and I might be tempted to stitch it again … one day in the far distant future LOL.

Ooh, before I forget … this week’s SBQ:

Today’s SBQ isn’t about stitching: It is about blogging and was suggested by AngelSan:

Take a minute to reflect on your blog reading habits and preferences. What do you prefer to read in stitching blogs? (Progress, tips, family life, experiences, etc.) How much do you think you are influenced by other stitching bloggers?

As far as preferences go – I love everything, as long as there is a fair amount of stitching chat in it. I especially love to see WIP and happy dance piccies, as well as tips and links to things of interest. I also enjoy reading about life in general, triumphs and tribulations etc – it’s all what makes each of us who we are 🙂 As far as influences go – I’m not at all influenced by other blogs … except when I saw Summer into Autumn on Karen’s blog and had to buy it … and the Sweetheart Tree banner on Jenna’s blog and had to track it down … and … and … OK, so I have to admit it – I am HUGELY influenced by other blogs 😉 I have bought more stash this last year that is directly related to blog surfing than I have in the last 3 years in total.

To me blogging has opened many doors in many different ways – I have been influenced to try new designers, new finishing techniques, and join other associated groups. It’s also opened doors to new friendships, and given me personal comfort and camaraderie at a time when I needed it recently. It’s allowed me to open my heart again to new ideas and new friends, and helped me to regain a passion for what I do – to all the friends and visitors here, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! 🙂

Well, after such a stunningly beautiful 33 degrees Celsius day in Melbourne yesterday, today the heavens have opened and it’s bucketing with rain … which strange as it seems, I’m really enjoying … Didn’t get to sleep until 4am after work, as I was creating a new ‘stitching diary’ for 2006 in Microsoft Word – that’s the only problem I have with shift work, I find it harder to get to sleep as the shifts get on. The first night finishing at 1am I’m shattered, and fall asleep almost immediately … but a few days later I’m acclimatising to the change in times, and find it harder to wind down. I still woke up at 8am though (yikes!!) but refused to get up, and managed to doze off again for another couple of hours … so, no stitching today.

My diary is just a one-page sheet per month, that has a calendar down the left-hand side of the page, with reminders on certain days for BB things, like posting UFO reports, posting of ornament deadlines etc – then on the right-hand side I’ve got separate little sections for SAL’s for the month, my rotation completions, and any general stitching plans (BB forums etc), plus a general ‘to-do’ list, like “organise supplies for next month’s SAL”. Hopefully it will be a worthwhile project to keep me organised, as I find when I come home from work my brain goes into non-functioning mode! LOL. If nothing else, it was fun to create it 🙂

From the comments I’ve been receiving about hardanger projects, I’m seriously contemplating adding a hardanger slot into my rotation once Dolphins Domain is finished (if not sooner) – I have loads of projects that include hardanger, and it’d be nice to learn a bit more. I have to admit, Jenna, I saw the Janice Love books at Spotlight a few weeks back, and was seriously tempted to buy them again … but I’ve got the basic and advanced ones by Nordic Needle, plus another soft-cover hardanger book by Jill Carter, so hopefully I’ll muddle my way through with the help of them. I originally bought the Janice Love ones because everyone seemed to think they were the ‘ultimate’ hardanger reference books – I never managed to read them before they were ‘stolen’, although what I did read looked really good!

Got some good news at work yesterday … we’re allowed to wear casual clothes from 12 Dec to 15 Jan – if you thought they were thunderclaps last night all round the world, it was just the sound of my heavy feet happy dancing! 😉

Anyway, nearly time to go to work again – just enough time to post this:

Today’s Stitching Blogger’s Question was suggested by AngelSan and is:

“Do you have any rules in the way you stitch? (ie Do you start in the middle? Do you determine which blocks to stitch first? Do you always start from the top or the bottom? Do you have special paths to prevent wasting thread?)”

Hmmm, pretty much 99% of the time I start in the middle … mainly because I’m hopeless at counting and don’t trust myself to start elsewhere – that being said, though, there are certain projects that I prefer to stitch from the top down, such as band samplers. I’ve also just started stitching Mirabilia’s Winter Queen, and for the first time have started stitching from the top, which is unusual for me! As far as choosing which blocks to stitch first, again it depends on the design – I usually just finish one area first, moving from one colour to another. I always stitch my stitches the same way, and prefer to start from the left and stitch to the right /// and return \\\ for the top stitch, with my needle coming up from the bottom of the stitch – but if the block demands it, I’ll stitch from right to left, with my needle coming up at the top of the stitch (that’s probably as clear as mud!!).