Olympic Progress

Anna asks how I'm doing with the Olympic stitching? Well this weekend I was Michelle Kwan. Out for the count, due to kids with too many commitments, and one unexpected basketball game so Sunday was a rain out. But today call me Emily Hughes. I'm back in, put in several lengths of floss. Unfortunately the progress doesn't show, the stitched piece still resembles the pic in the sidebar but hopefully by this weekend I'll be able to take a progress pic that will actually show some progress.

Lessons learned over the years I've spent with Fairy Grandmother:

1) Never ever tell anyone you are stitching something for them. NEVER EVER!

2) Sometimes doing the majority of the background stitching in the beginning because the stitcher believes it will lend itself to boredom during the last leg of stitching is a mistake. God help me but I'd love me a big block of the same color right now.

3) Always, always make a working copy of the chart for a long term project and make it at the start of the project. To someone who can't see shades worth anything and the chart is falling apart, a working copy at this point doesn't offer much of anything but confusion and wasted time trying to mark out what has already been stitched. My time is better spent stitching and working it out as I go. But I will never again start a project without a working copy.

4) Try not to get emotionally attached to the project. This project is kicking my ass. I can't stress enough that it will be one of the prettiest things I've stitched in my lifetime of stitching but I truly, hate the Grandhag. When I started it for my grandmother it represented to me who my grandmother has always been in my life, a fairy grandmother, the stitched fairy even reminds me of my mamaw in her younger days. She is everything a fairy grandmother should be, my mamaw saved me, she always made me feel valued and loved. Living in a home with a revolving door and I won't go into it but use your imagination, revolving, someone going in and out, my grandmother kept things stable. She was a constant in a dysfunctional family. She offered unconditional love, support and always believed that I was somebody special. So this piece is just an emotional mess where I'm concerned. There's so much more tied to this piece of cross stitch than some thread and fabric. A lot of baggage if you know what I mean.

So while going is slow, uphill all the way, if I can get the cross stitch finished by the end of the Olympics the beading should be a breeze. Truthfully I enjoyed stitching on her this afternoon. It felt right. It's the first time working on the grandhag has felt right. I hope to put in a few more stitches tonight, and get right back on it first thing in the morning. I believe I've found a rythmn and think I can keep it up. Then again I could have just jinxed myself.

In other news, I've been listening nonstop to Cat Power The Greatest and Lucinda Williams World Without Tears. Do I need to say how much I *heart* Lucinda Williams?

From Righteously:

You don't have to prove
Your manhood to me constantly
I know you're the man can't you see
I love you Righteously

Why you wanna dis me
After the way you been kissin' me
After those pretty things you say
And the love we made today

When you run your hand
All up and run it back down my leg
Get excited and bite my neck
Get me all worked up like that

Here's a little taste of Ventura:

I wanna watch the ocean bend
The edges of the sun then
I wanna get swallowed up in
an ocean of love

From Cat Power The Greatest -Islands:

The captain has a treasure
Says I hold the key
But old mangroves
And sweet winds blow
Songs of you and me

I haven't had time to read lately, but if anyone has read Stephen King's Cell leave me a note about your thoughts on this book. It's the first book I've wanted to run out and buy in a long time. I read some reviews on Amazon and can't determine if people liked it or not. I came very close to buying it last weekend but decided that even with 40% off I shouldn't spend the money right now, but I sure wanted to curl up with a good Stephen King novel last weekend.