Final WIPocalypse post for 2012

Dec 29, 2012

Unfortunately I can’t show piccies of the latest stitching I’ve been working on, as I’m on holiday with my parents in NZ and didn’t bother bringing my laptop with me … and of course I left the cord for the camera … and Mum’s PC is so old it doesn’t have a memory card slot … so the only stitching I can show from the last month is an ornie that I quickly whipped up in my last weekend at home before I flew out that I’d uploaded to Facebook – it was a gift for a work colleague who had had us over for lunch the previous weekend – hopefully she likes it as I didn’t get to see her before I left, and I could only leave it on her desk for her on Xmas Eve. I also just realised that I never took a photo of it finish-finished, so I’ll have to get Pauline to do that for me!

“Joyeux Noel” by Monsterbubbles (I think)
stitched on 32ct white Belfast linen
with totally different Au Ver a Soie and Belle Soie silk threads from the design
(I wanted a more traditional look for Pauline)

The other stitching I’ve been doing is a little bit on a Bent Creek Easter design, and I am about 2/3 through Blossoms and Blackbirds by LHN (most of which was stitched last night). My Dad was taken into hospital 2 days after I arrived home and we’re just awaiting a surgery date for him now – it was supposed to be on this coming Monday, but now there is doubt that it will happen, and we were told to come pick him up from the hospital today and to take him back again tomorrow night. I’m glad I’m here as a support for both Mum and Dad even if it’s just for playing chauffeur service to/from the hospital and taking Mum shopping etc. At least he had a really great Christmas Day with our extended family before he went downhill again 🙂

And on that note I guess it’s time to head back into the lounge and pick up my stitching once again for some more family time – better make the most of it again before we head back to the hospital again tomorrow night!

Sorry for the missing photos everywhere! & WIPocalypse update

Dec 6, 2012

Really sorry that there are “Temporarily Unavailable” pictures everywhere on my blog … I forgot all my photos on here were hosted on Webshots which has just shut it’s doors … and I need to find the time to upload everything somewhere else and re-add them into the posts once again … that is obviously going to be a MASSIVE undertaking seeing as how long I’ve been blogging for 😦

Unfortunately I’m also working 12-14 hour days every day at the moment, so I don’t have the energy at night to fix the pages up just yet. I apologise for any inconvenience, but I’ll return to fix the blog as soon as I get some spare time, but that may be a couple of weeks away yet.

As for the WIPocalypse, I can also blame my woeful working hours that I’ve barely picked up a needle in the last month. The only stitching I’ve really done has been two ornie finishes for exchanges (which I can’t show yet), and half an ornie for myself that I started about 3 weeks ago and still haven’t finished! If nothing else, I guess I can show you my ‘half an ornie’ for the month … maybe that’s better than nothing, and proof that I did at least pick up a needle at some stage towards the beginning of this lunar cycle!

And here are two little snippets from the exchange ornies that I completed (which I’ll be able to share in the final post for the year I guess):

August WIPocalypse

Aug 8, 2012

Too late at night to put any words for now ‘cos I’m going cross-eyed from lack of sleep … will post my month’s progress piccie, though – I managed to finish this little Just Nan piece (stitching-wise anyway).

I also completed 2 biscornu pieces for an exchange, but yet undecided which one to use so I can’t show and tell those properly yet …

July WIPocalypse progress

Jul 5, 2012

Been a quiet month stitching-wise, with only a small section of stitching done of one of my WIPs that has been sadly neglected – I’m probably halfway on this one now, though, and while I’m not enjoying stitching the stems leaves on the flower very much, I’m enjoying the rest of it. Most people who know the design will be thinking “what is she talking about, she’s probably halfway? that is one big-ass design!” … basically I really don’t enjoy the ‘primitive’ samplers and style of stitching myself, and the whole design just isn’t “me” – but for some reason I really really fell in love with the bottom section with all the gold swirls after seeing someone else stitching it, so I’ve decided to just ignore the rest of the design and am stitching the bottom section only 🙂

I also had a new start and finish, which was one of the charts I bought when I was in Paris – I think I might stitch this one again in traditional red threads, but for some reason I had the sudden desire to stitch it with white silk on a blue linen, and it turned out pretty enough 🙂

The other stitching I did was for an exchange – I truly love this one, and definitely have to stitch it again for myself!! I had a devil of a time deciding which “bird” ornament to stitch, hence there have been a few bird ornie finishes over the last 2 months and not much else, but in the end this is the one that I chose because it’s quite different to what others would have chosen I think, and I really love it! It was one of the Gift of Stitching issues, but I’ve just mislaid my working copy for now and can’t remember which issue it was in. I’ll try to update with the details later 🙂

The rest of my stitching time was taken up not doing actual stitching, but doing a whole big bunch of finishing over one long weekend, and I had a blast! Here were the results – most of them are waiting to be stuffed and have their ‘bottoms’ sewn up, and others need cords to be made and attached, or felt backings and hangers attached, but it’s still a great start to seeing them finished off properly:

I also started another couple of ornie tutorials while I was doing my finishing frenzy, and once I get the cords etc made up I’ll be able to finish those and publish them 🙂

The other non-stitching news is that my flatmate leaves tomorrow … so much to tell on that score, so I’ll leave that for another day … and Mum has offered to come over and help out with cleaning the place in case I need to move out (which is possible) and also be there for moral support. Our last visit here wasn’t perfect after my flatmate had a temper tantrum and was slamming doors etc so it will be really awesome to send a couple of weeks chilling out with no-one else around. And this could be a good opportunity to sit up in the lounge each evening getting some of those ornies finally stuffed and sewn up! 😀

I have other news as well, with photos of a couple of gifts/exchanges received, but I’ll leave that until another post as I need to head off to work now …

WIPocalypse update for June

Jun 4, 2012

Following is a summary of stitching completed over the last month:

Walking in a Winter Snapperland by Bent Creek – managed to 100% complete this one (insert happy dance here)
Into the Night by Shepherd’s Bush – managed to 100% complete this one too
Crimson Fire Sampler by The Victoria Sampler – managed to stitch on 3 more small bands
With My Needle by The Goode Huswife – commenced stitching her bodice

I also managed to stitch a few ‘extra’ small projects not on my original WIPocalypse list – the following were all started and finished:

Golden Partridge and Pears ornament – Needle Maid Designs, Inc
Partridge in a Pear Tree ornament – The Prairie Schooler
By the Full Moon ornament – Ink Circles
Peace Joy Love ornament – Lizzie*Kate
Coffee Break freebie – Cross Stitch Happy
Duck ornament from Fall Fields leaflet – The Prairie Schooler
Penguin Hugs ornament – Paw Printings

WIPocalypse update for May

May 3, 2012

Some reasonable stitching effort put in over the last month due to being off work with ongoing illness, what between a dreadful head cold/flu, followed by pneumonia, and finishing with a cortisone injection in my heel … I may have felt like crap for weeks, but it’s the most stitching I’ve managed to do in an awfully long time, and I loved every single second of it!!! The last month saw the following updates take place (the only exception is that I had a Prairie Schooler exchange ornie included at the beginning of last month, but can’t show it yet as it’s only just left here on the journey to its new home):

Tiger Reflection by Dimensions – this was 100% finished
Walking in a Winter Snapperland by Bent Creek – got halfway through another block, taking it to approx 60% completion

I also started some new projects, which have to be added to the WIP list until I receive some missing silk threads:

20 Flowers by Just Nan – 70% completed
Into the Night by Shepherd’s Bush – 90% completed

As a visual reminder, here are the projects I worked on during the last month, and their state as we go into the month of May:

During the next month I hope to get more stitching done on “Walking in a Winter Snapperland”, and also work on at least one more older WIP/UFO – I’m leaning towards Mirabilia’s “Enchanted Mermaid”, Ruth Schmuff’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” or Just Cross Stitch’s “Le Jardin Silk Sampler” … although I can’t guarantee what the final pieces will be ‘cos I change my mind 20 times a day! Seeing as I’ve mislaid my stitching mojo for a while, I just want to stitch whatever takes my fancy at the time, and whatever builds my stitching enthusiasm up once again 🙂

April WIPocalypse update

Apr 10, 2012

Just a really quick drive-by posting for my WIPocalypse update for April – sadly, due to illness, long working hours and our trip to the other side of the world my stitching was almost non-existent this month … I managed to put a few hours into this WIP, but that’s all (and it’s a really dreadful photo, sorry):

Since then, however, I’ve managed to do some more stitching on this one thanks to picking up a dreadful flu bug thing on the flight home, so at least I’ll have some more progress to show next month! 🙂

Other than my WIP pile, I did manage to start the following freebie on my 2nd to last night in Paris, and have managed to finish it off as soon as I got home while getting over the jetlag (and letting those flu bugs slowly fester and take hold).

And now I’m heading back to the comfort of my stitching chair with my Nurofen and Ribena – will post an update about my whirlwind trip at some stage soon! 🙂

WIPocalypse Update for February

Feb 7, 2012

We are currently experiencing a hideous turn in weather with grey skies and rain forecast for at least another month – I think it’s my fault because I’ve been stitching the last two weekends! This last Sunday is the first time in over 2 months that I’ve been driven by a burning desire to stitch … and it felt really good!

It also means some decent progress on two of my WIPs for this month’s WIPocalypse update. First up is Bent Creek’s Winter Snapperland … taking the progress up to about 40% completion.

And next is Jardin Prive’s Christmas … taking the progress up to about 70% completion (I’m hoping to see this one finished by the end of the month – although that’s only if the stitching bug stays!)

Other than that nothing else to write about really – still working hard and still loving my new car … Same old, same old really … Except for one thing, that one of my resolutions for this year was to treat Sydney as if I was on holiday. When I was younger I would go traveling all the time on my own and eat out at restaurants etc on my own, either taking a book to read or my trip diary to write. I have missed out a lot over the last few years by not going to places because I don’t have people around me that share same interests – or I have made assumptions that way. This year I am putting my confident traveling mind back in place and going to things on my own if I really want to go 🙂

My first experience was about 2 weeks ago when I bought a ticket to see Ronan Keating in concert, along with Sharon Corr as support act … Oh boy am I glad I did, it was a superb night out!! Then next week I’m taking myself off to see Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera … Watch out world the confident Anne is slowly returning!!!

Later in the year I also have tickets to see the Australian Chamber Orchestra perform a baroque concert but Mum is flying over to join me for that one 🙂 Who knows what else the year will bring? Whatever it is I’m definitely open to all possibilities 😀

And on that note, it’s time to sign off for the day and I’m off to put another strand of thread into another WIP … wow, maybe we’ll starting getting snow in Sydney!! 😛

WIPocalypse update

Jan 8, 2012

It seems that the first update post is due tomorrow, but it’s unlikely I’ll have much time when I get home from work – instead I’ve taken a quick photo tonight in advance … I didn’t get a huge deal of stitching done tonight, but it’s an awful lot more than I’ve done over the last month in total!!

Hopefully this will be finished by the end of next weekend … if I manage to stay home much … because this coming weekend I’ll be picking up this little beauty as my HUGE treat to myself at the start of 2012! This has been my dream car for quite a number of years now, and finally I’m biting the bullet and getting rid of that old stupid burgundy lemon that I detest and putting myself into further debt to buy this little dream. The only thing that isn’t my dream part is that it’s the hatchback version instead of the sedan, but in fact I’ve been tossing up whether to get a hatchback recently anyway …

We went to a car sales yard just to get an idea of prices when I was visiting friends on the other side of Sydney last weekend. When we were asked what we were looking for, I said “not negotiable is Mazda, and a preference of a Mazda 3 or smaller” – when asked whether I have a preference for auto or manual, I said I didn’t really care, although I prefer a manual to drive … he said “sorry, but we only have one car on the lot at the moment as a used car – which is that BLUE Mazda 3 hatchback over there, which is a manual” … after about an hour or so dickering around and having a general chat about finance etc, I ended up signing a contract and I’ll be picking it up this coming Friday. The only changes I made to it were having iPod connectivity installed and have protection sprayed on the upholstery and paintwork etc … as I intend this car to be with me for many many years, I want it to continue looking good for as long as possible, so hopefully that will prove to be a good investment.

And on that note, I suppose I really should sign off for the night and get some sleep – I spent the day cleaning out our garage so that I don’t have to park it in the driveway, so I’m a little bit tired … I only managed to get some stitching done because the update deadline for the WIPocalypse was tomorrow!!

2012 WIPocalypse

Jan 6, 2012

Time to drag out all those WIP/UFO photos from the archives and dust them off ready for the 2012 WIPocalypse. I’m not entirely sure which ones I want to focus on with 100% certainly, although I’ve listed my top 5 at the top of the list … but I reserve the right to change my mind on a whim!!

These are all projects that have been started prior to 2012 commencing – a couple won’t take long to finish off, but others will take substantially longer. The first series of piccies has got some of the actual chart designs shown as well as the progress to date, but the 2nd set of piccies is purely WIP progress only. Details of the actual designs themselves follow in a list format, with approximate percentage of completion done.