Fob

Here are pics of my fob. I'm so glad it's finished. It's like this weight has been lifted and I can now really enjoy all my other projects. The fob is stitched over two using one strand of floss on 36ct lambswool linen.






I hope the recipient likes it. I have decided that cording is not my friend. I need to take a finishing class if I can find one locally. My finishing has improved a lot but not as much as I would like. DH told me it looked nice but all I see is that it's a little wonky on the lower right corner. He says I'm way to anal about it.



Next Project

I haven't decided what's up next. Today I'll work a little on my gemstone/black afghan and maybe L'Ete, I ought to work on Fairy Grandmother, it's the right thing to do, but I don't want too. I'd love to start my Pieced Throw from Simple Crochet but really need to finish a few things before I do that. The 63 Squares afghan is also calling out to me. Decisions, decisions.

I also need to sit down and plan the huswife or sewing roll for my June Swap. Since the loop is a Lizzie Kate Loop I want to pick various L*K designs to decorate the outside of the roll. Not sure if I want to go with friendship related pieces or stitching related designs or maybe a few of each. The stitching always goes fast once I get it planned out, it's the finishing that usually holds me up because I agonize over it and never think it's good enough. I'm also pondering seasonal designs. There's a lot to choose from, I have several different layouts running around in my head.



Weekend Plans

Saturday I'll work for 10 hours straight, so Sunday will be spent recuperating. Not sure if I'll get any stitching in over the weekend.

Yesterday's Progress Report

While watching Cold Creek Farm(not the best movie but wasn't bad) I crocheted 10 rows on my Red Heart Gemstone and Black afghan. I love using a Q hook. It's huge but the crocheting goes so fast. This afghan would be finished if I hadn't created a way too long foundation chain. Somehow it didn't look that long when it was just a harmless foundation chain. I also love working with three strands of yarn. The single crochet and the thickness of the three strands together is creating a very soft fabric. I love working on this project and am already trying to come up with the next afghan I can use a Q hook on and the right colors of yarn to blend together. I'm comtemplating two strands of Red Heart's Ocean and a strand of maybe Navy for contrast. not sure how that will look. Maybe I'll just go with three strands of Ocean. I love the colors in that yarn. I tried it using two strands of red and one strand of black and viceversa neither one really grabbed me. DS#2 wants a red and black afghan and I've been trying to be creative it with it but guess I'll just do a basic black and red ripple. Boring I know. Maybe I'll hold two strands together to make it a little more exciting. Ok, I'm reaching.



Fob

The fob is sewed together but not stuffed because I can't find the doll pellets I purchased to stuff it with or my brand new huge bag of polyfill. I'm beginning to determine I'm not the most organized person in the world. Ok, I know that I'm not organized but I've never been this scatterbrained. Usually the one area where things are organized is my stitching. These days I can't find anything. I must blame it on company. I go into a last minute cleaning frenzy and toss things in Rubbermaid buckets and then can't remember where anything is. Finding something is an all day event.

Other Projects

An email loop I've been with for 6 yrs is having an anniversary swap so I'm trying to decide what to stitch for my swap partner. I'm hoping to attempt a sewing roll or "huswife". I've seen several finished ones on some stitcher's sites and want to attempt a simple version.

Here's one that I love but way beyond my skill level, Sampler Cover. Here are a few more examples, Sampler Cove. As I mentioned before these are way beyond my sewing skill level but I think I can come up with something equally pretty but with not as elaborate finishing requirements.

On My Mind

Recently there have been discussions on various blogs regarding cheap acrylic yarn vs the good stuff. What I've discovered is that these discussions come up in all areas of crafting. With scrapbooking it's the difference in papers and in cross stitch there's occaisionally a discussion of overdyed threads vs DMC and handdyed fabrics vs readily available linens.

I think that most people work with what they have or can easily find locally. There was a time when I was in a frenzy to use all overdyed threads and pricey fabric because I thought it made me more dedicated to my stitching, I was really creating an heirloom. What I've discovered is that it only makes me more broke. Don't get me wrong. I love, love,
love expensive fabric, BOAF's linens are the best. I adore the overdyed threads, but what I've learned about myself is that it's the process of the stitching, the creation of my needleart that is important to me, not what thread or fabric I use. I've been cross stitching for 30 years and while I love linen and GAST and WDWs I'm just as happy with aida( as long as there are not a gazillion fractional stitches, then linen/evenweave is a necessity) and DMC.

I hadn't crocheted in ages until back in the fall I had the urge to make a ripple afghan, I didn't want to use Red Heart, I thought I was above that now. I had been using pricey overdyed threads for my cross stitch, how could I use anything less for crocheting? Since at the time it was all that was easily obtainable in my area, I wandered Walmart's yarn isle and picked some colors that I loved and went home and started crocheting. I couldn't get over how much I missed hooking. I had kept myself from doing something I enjoy because I had become a fiber snob. Yes, I drool over the Patternworks catalog and somewhere down the line when I crochet or finally figure the whole knitting thing out I'll invest in more expensive yarns and ribbon for clothing when I can but I will never allow myself to not crochet just because Red Heart is my only option. I must admit it's easy to work with, I can see my stitches and instantly spot an error. I find that comforting, especially when working on new to me stitches.

I had another epiphany regarding my quilting when I ran across a book titled, That Dorky Homemade Look. I found that I was avoiding quilting and piecing because my quilts weren't fabulous. They were dorky. They would never end up in Quilters Newsletter Magazine. My quilt tops are "primitive" and that's being kind. I thought I was less of a quilter because I didn't piece by machine, I don't use a rotary cutter. No, and don't fall off of your chairs, I do it the slow, time consuming way our ancestors and their ancestors and probably even the ancient Egyptians used. I trace every piece. I trace a sewing line on every piece(although Jinny Beyer in Quiltmaking by Hand has given me permission to just eyeball the sewing line). Yes, it's tedious at times, I do get frustrated when I read on RCTQ about people banging out quilts in a day or a weekend when I can't even get all my pieces cut out in a week. But what I have once again discovered about myself is it's not about finishing the quilt, it's about the process, going through the motions, it's about creating. Would I love for my kids and all the people I love to have quilts I've made? Sure. Will it happen? Well maybe for my kids but not anyone else and I'm so OK with that now. If I finish a quilt and it tells me it must go to so and so, then of course I will send it where it needs to be, but it's all about the process, not the finished project, not who it's for, it's all about me. My love for cutting out those little pieces of fabric and sewing them together by hand. If I get it finished in a timely manner, wahoo! If I don't, still wahoo! What ever happens to it in the end doesn't matter. It's the joy that the creation of it brought me. That's pretty selfish isn't it? But I have realized this with my cross stitching and crocheting too. It's the process. The joy, the comfort, the rythmn of the hook or needle(s), the feel of the fabric. It's not about how much the fabric cost, the yarn, the quilting fabric, it's not about what threads I use. It's the process. The creation. The love that goes into every stitch, not for who it might be for, but the love of the process.

In yesterday's blog I mentioned that I didn't want to go to work, I just wasn't in the mood. I shouldn't have gone in, I should have called in, said I was sick. Why you may ask? Well fortunately this didn't happen until about two pm, only an hour before time to go home. I'm in the dining area, cleaning up tables, checking on the ketchup bottles, they need refilling. So I go to the fridge, and reach up, I'm short ok, the shelf is above my head. I pull down the ketchup bowl, the last person to use the ketchup bowl did not put the top back on correctly, it slipped through my fingers and hit me right at the bottom of my throat. Ketchup ran down the inside of my shirt and into my bra, it ran down the front of my shirt in between my apron and shirt and it ran down the front of my apron. There was one customer eating in the dining area, she heard me say, "Oh no, oh crap!" She calls out, "Everything all right hon?" I walk around the corner and say, "Uh does this look alright?" She said, "Don't you dare walk out that door, they'll think I attacked you." I ran into the bathroom and started trying to rinse out all the ketchup. I looked like someone out of "Scream" or "I Know What You Did Last Summer". There was ketchup all over me. I rinsed out my shirt as best I could and got the ketchup out of my hair and bra. What a mess! Then I walked back out to the area where we take orders and serve the food and the high school kid I work with says, "Uh what happened to you, it doesn't look good?" I go and stand in front of the fan and vow to never, ever touch the ketchup bowl or refill the ketchup bottles ever again.

On a positive note my getting off for my second grader's farewell party wasn't a problem. I don't know why I worry about stuff like that but I do. I feel like I'm letting people down when I ask off.

Let's see, on the stitching/crafty front:

I'm finally finishing up the fob. YEA!!! Shouldn't be a problem, if I can find my beige sewing thread. I borrowed some blue thread from my neighbor to attach the cording with but can't find my beige sewing thread to sew the sides of the fob together. Nothing seems easy these days. I'm obsessing over crocheting the Wavy Ribbon Tank from Interweave Knits Spring issue. I've read the pattern through several times and I think I'm up to the challenge. I'm going to look for some ribbon this weekend. I thought I read somewhere that LionBrand might be coming out with a ribbon, but I now have a LYS(it's small but they have a pretty decent variety of yarns and ribbon) so I ought to be able to find something I like. Hopefully it won't cost a lot. The pattern for my size calls for 4 balls of ribbon but I think I will buy 5 or 6 just to make sure I have enough. I also may have to add to the foundation chain since I'm not 100% sure the largest size will fit me. I haven't measured myself yet. I'm working from open to close this Saturday so the high school kids can all go the prom so my reward will be buying the ribbon for this tank.

I have ordered Cold Creek Manor on PPV and plan to either crochet on my gemstone/black afghan or if I find the thread before the movie starts I'll get my fob finished.

I've been in such a stitching slump lately. I'm not sure what the problem is. Could it be not enough hours in the day? I've overwhelmed myself with all these projects I want to start? I can't decide. So I'm going to take things one project at a time, work on what feels "right" and just enjoy creating again.

I may work on block 5 of the 63 Blocks CrochetAlong. I have everything sitting out for it. I think I need more discipline in my creative endeavors. But I find trying to set up a rotation or a schedule for stitching, it makes me avoid it even more because I never seem to want to work on what I'm supposed to be working on. I always find something more interesting and then I get annoyed or even angry at the scheduled project for intruding on my free time. So as much as I'd like a rotation, I don't think it'll ever work for me. I'm just a rebel at heart, even to the point of rebelling against my own rules and schedule. Sick isn't it?


I'm trying hard to stick the South Beach Diet. I would really, really
really love a coke. I'd love to feel that nice burn going down my throat. Ahhhh......to dream. I must be good so I'll just have to visualize the glass of ice, coke being poured over it, the little bubbles rising up from the rim of the glass, that first refreshing sip......that nice little fizzy burn.

Friday Happenings

I spent yesterday hanging out at the hotel with my SILs. Lots of sun. Too much sun. My nose, let's just say I could play Rudolph in a Christmas play. My fault, I should have put my nosekote on. But no, I was lazy. I was reading 1st to Die and couldn't put it down. Very good story. Patterson writes well from the woman's view point. I also have the new issue of Interweave Knits and there's a special crochet section and also an article on learning to knit and purl six ways.

Picked up Book 2: The Purl Stitch by Sally Melville using a coupon at JoAnn's. Hopefully with the demo on the computer, the book and help from ladies at the LYS, I can figure out if I'm purling correctly or not.

I haven't picked up a needle or hook of any kind in the last 48 hours. I miss my projects. Things should quieten down tomorrow when the SILS leave. We all went to dinner last night. Their treat. The boys couldn't agree on a place to eat so we just ended up doing the tourist thing and eating at Fudpuckers. Fine with me. I love the food there. Great burgers and I had a grouper sandwich and it was good. They've changed the way they do their fish and it's a definite improvement.

Hopefully I'll run across shelves at a yard sale today. I have got to get my bedroom and house and stash organized. Stash includes everything from cross stitch to scrapbooking to yarn. I'd love to get a wall in my bedroom all organized so I can see what I have on hand. Look at it and dream about it. What a geek I am. Right now I have to dig through Rubbermaid totes in various places in the house or garage. Nightmare. The house is wreck, clutter everywhere. Not the comforting kind of clutter either, the kind of clutter that makes you grind your teeth when you walk in the front door. I have managed to get almost all the laundry caught up after our washing machine fiasco last weekend. The dining table is almost cleaned off. Now I can see my winter themed tablecloth. Should have changed that out a month ago. But until now you couldn't see it so who would notice?

Finally finished gridding my fabric for the RR. Whew! Glad to have that finished. I didn't stitch my block, but I can do that when it's returned to me.

Ran by JoAnn's after taking my SILS to their hotel and picked up the cording for the fob I made for a swap. It's late but it should be going out in the mail first thing tomorrow morning. YEA!!!! Also picked up an eyelet starter kit for scrapbooking. I had a 50% off coupon so I got it for $5.

I feel like this huge weight has been lifted. I hate getting off schedule with swaps and stuff. Once I miss that deadline, I just don't want to look at it because I feel so guilty for being late.

Now I can pursue some other projects with a clear conscience.

I'm really enjoying James Patterson's 1st to Die. It's the first book I've read by him and it's the first book I've managed to stick with for longer than a couple of pages in a long time. With this one, you know who the killer is from the beginning so it's not like I'm trying to figure it out, just the characters are. I like being let in on the secret. This way I can enjoy the characters' journey and not spend my time reading trying to figure it out before they do. Yes, reading a mystery novel is a competitive sport for me. I like to think I know more than the characters. Yes, I'm a geek.

Now that I'm caught up on my stitching with deadlines I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to work on. I would love to get L'Ete by Birds of a Feather finished by the end of the month so I can get it in to be framed before my framer leaves for the summer or possibly retires for good.

I need to finish Fairy Grandmother. My mamaw isn't getting any younger. I've missed several deadlines with that piece. It's a priority.

DS#2's Dragon Isle is also a priority. This has been a WIP for 6 years. I only have a little left to finish. He even mentioned it not too long ago.

I'm not going to start any new cross stitch projects until at least one of the above is finished. Really, I'm not. Seriously, no new projects until one of these is completed.

I didn't say I wasn't going to keep stashing, just not start anything new.

I want to start several crochet projects and get back into a good routine with my 63 Sqaures afghan. I have my gemstone/black afghan, I have a crocheted box from Simple Crochet started and have all the Sugar & Cream ready to go for Erika Knight's Pieced Throw, also from Simple Crochet. I want to also pick up the Cotton Ease for a skirt from Family Circle's Easy Knitting plus Crochet Spring/Summer 2004 issue. It's a beach skirt to wear over my bathing suit. I'd post a pic from the magazine but I'm not sure about the copyright issues. It's the skirt on page 57. That Candy Blue Cotton Ease from Lionbrand will exactly match my bathing suit, not to mention it will cover up my big behind and my thighs. That's definitely a positive.

Also need to finish DS#3's quilt. The top is almost finished, then it's just adding the borders and then the batting and backing fabric. I plan to tie this quilt so it's not another year before he gets it. He's been pretty patient.

Great stitching days ahead and dreams of new projects floating around in my brain. I love planning projects and stashing for projects and kitting projects up almost as much as I enjoy actually working on the project.

Knitting Update

I still can't purl.

Cross Stitch Update

Believe it or not I managed to get my fabric for an upcoming RR just about ready for the first mailing. Should get it finished this evening.

I need to focus on L'Ete(can be viewed at www.hoffmandis.com and look under designer- Birds of a Feather-could never get my link to work) and Fairy Grandmother over the next couple of weeks. These are two projects that I want to finish soon.

Do I need to list all the cross stitch projects I want to do? I'm steadily buying charts and slowly kitting them up. I had been feeling a little bit of cross stitch burnout because for a while I was literally stitching 8 hours a day. I really needed to stop stitching cold turkey for a few weeks so I could once again enjoy picking up the needle. It felt good last night to stitch again.

Crochet Update

63 Squares-I'm up to block #5 but haven't started it yet. Once my fabric is finished for the RR, I'll start on Block #5. Maybe even tonight. It and some dishcloths will be my hotel projects for the weekend. When family is here and they stay at a hotel we spend a lot of time there. My kids enjoy the pool and I enjoy the view of the water. Yes, I have lost my aversion to water now. I'm ready to sit on their hotel balcony and enjoy the gorgeous view and crochet.

Gemstone/Black Afghan-Moving along rather nicely. I'm on skein three of the Red Heart Gemstone and skeins 3 & 4 of the black. I have 4 more skeins of black here but I think I may need at least two more to be able to make the afghan the size I want.


Knitting Update

I still can't flippin' purl.


Life Update

I have to work today. I need to thaw out something for dinner. I need to continue cleaning. Pretty boring. I've determined that boring can sometimes be a very good thing.

Reading

Went to the library yesterday because nothing I had in the house appealed to me. I picked up several James Patterson books. 1st to Die, 2nd Chance, & Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and Jill Churchill's Bell, Book and Scandal. Also grabbed Laurell Hamilton's Seduced by Moonlight and Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice. Hopefully something in these selections will hold my attention. I miss reading, but lately I've gotten so picky about what I want to read that I either start a book and then just decide it's a waste of time or I just don't read at all.

Water, Water, Everywhere

I love water. It's why I live as close to the coast as I can afford here in the Sunshine State. I love water so much that chances are I was a fish in a previous life if there is a previous life. I love water so much that at the age of 40 I still love to wade barefoot through mudpuddles. I love to walk along the edge of the shore, wading in the waves breaking on the beach. I love looking at water and drinking water. But the one place I don't like water is when it's flooding my laundry room, my kitchen and my garage. I seriously begin to dislike water and definitely don't receive any comfort from being in it's close proximity. My kitchen and laundry room and then the garage were flooded, not once, not twice but three, three times this weekend. It's a glorious day, one for sitting on the beach and reading and I have absolutely no desire to go sit anywhere near water. I could use a bath, but I really don't want to go anywhere near water. It means I'll be wet. I'm tired of being wet. My feet have been wet all weekend. I'm so sick of being wet that if I see water on the floor one more time, I'll puke.

On a positive note, we bought a washer at a yard sale and it works, now. I won't bore anyone with the details....just don't ever, ever lay a washer on it's side to move it as everything shifts, the gasket comes off and things begin to flood. The thrice flooding is another story and since I tried not to get mad at the DH I won't even begin to go into the details here because I have a mountian of wet cat litter still to clean up and it makes me mad that I have to because someone doesn't listen to me and then floods the laundry room. Do you know how funky wet cat litter smells? ICK!

I'd love to be at the beach. This is a picture postcard day but we found out over the weekend that three of DH's sisters are coming down for a long weekend and just as sure as I don't clean they'll want to visit us at the house. Normally they don't but I always worry they will. So some deep cleaning will commence in a little while. Maybe. I hate cleaning.

Right now I hate doing just about anything. I don't like it when I get this way. I want to lay on the couch and not move. I want stare at the tv and not do one blessed thing. It's a beautiful day and I just want to hide in the house. So not like me.

I've been working on a crochet afghan, two black strands of yarn and one strand of Red Heart Gemstone, using a Q hook. It's working up so fast. I don't have to think when I work on it. The motion is habit now and I don't have to worry about changing colors. It's seriously heavy. I want to get it finished before it gets too much warmer around here. It's going to be a great winter blanket. Many thanks again to Krissy at Crafty Blog for the inspiration. It's been christened "very cool" by all the kids in the neighborhood.

We made a Hobby Lobby run on Sunday. My but I do love that store. Mine was very low on cross stitch supplies which made me sad because I have heard from others that Hobby Lobby has a great cross stitch dept. This one really didn't have a whole lot, at least that interested me. The yarn isle though was great! Lots of variety in the yarns. I want to get some of the Lion Brand Fun Fur and do a couple of crochet purses for my nieces. If I had known the SILs were coming I'd have gotten some this weekend so that I could crochet a couple of purses this weekend for the girls and let them take them back to them. But now I have ideas for birthdays and Christmas.

At Hobby Lobby I picked up 12 balls of Sugar & Cream Soft Ecru, and 9 each of pumpkin and rose pink. I plan to use these to crochet a throw from Erika Knight's Simple Crochet. Dh said it's going to be pretty girlie. Being the only girl in the house, I think that's a good thing every once in a while.