Weekend Warrior

Y'all have to pop over to Christine's blog, The Alchymyst's Study, because by Sunday she had already posted things she had made with the denim links I posted on Saturday. People, this post took me three days to write! I hope more of you will find good new uses for your worn and outgrown denim. Don't forget to let me know if you make something. Also, check out the comments because there's already one thing I missed, pot holders. Made by Christine, of course. (Don't you hate overachievers.) {wink}

On Friday night, I pulled the flosses for St. Basils (Dimple Designs). Slooooow progress has been made on this one since I started it in 19dickety2. (Sometime before 2006.) This time around, I stuck it on the Q-snaps, xeroxed the page I was working on, and took out the highlighter. Things went a lot faster. Of course, I am still not happy with the stitches in the middle that were done with some Krienik. Though I did realize it calls for blending filament and I've been using cord. D'oh! So I'll be restitching that middle bit, but we'll all be a lot happier. (Stitched with DMC on the prescribed fabric.)

On Saturday night, I started an old (1997) pattern from Charland Designs. Of all the floss and fabric I ordered to kit up my new projects, this is the only one that had all the materials! (And it uses DMC flower thread which was discontinued in 2003.) (I am still waiting for three! orders.) (No wonder the industry is a shambles.) This will be a gift for my mother-in-law's significant birthday coming up in August. As I was stitching it, it reminded me of all the patterns from the late 90s that I stitched, especially at Spirit of Cross Stitch Festivals--all those interesting stitches and floss experiments. (Stitched on the prescribed fabric with the called-for flosses.)

On Sunday, I got back to Teresa Layman's Leave a Light on. When I started this as one of my Crazy January starts in 2012, I managed to only stitch that bit of navy blue frame, which you can see in this photo (surprisingly because you can hardly see it in real life). I started the secondary frame so there would be a bit more color. This is being stitched on a navy fabric probably 28-count over one. Another crazy over one piece! Ack.

I think I might dedicate this summer--when we have loads of natural light for stitching--to getting the over one pieces finished before my eyes age out.

La Neige

This morning dawned snowy even though they swore up and down we weren't getting snow until this evening. Guess what? It's raining now. So they were wrong and wronger. Of course, I also woke up with a sore throat and scratchy voice. I've done nothing all day and still had to take a nap at 2:00.

Thank you for all your kind words about the marquoir. As promised, I did turn to Dimple's Designs' St. Basil's Cathedral. Unfortunately, my neighbor came over to work on a project with the dude and I talked his ear off instead of stitching. (Don't look too closely. Those yucky stitches have some sort of blending thread in them. Which thus far only serves to make my stitches look like crap.)

Yesterday I turned my attentions to Watercolor Geraniums. This pattern appeared in an old (1999) Cross Stitch & Needlework magazine. It has 44 different colors (including blended needles). Let me tell you what a pita it is to pull the flosses for this one. I should pick a month to finish it and just get 'er done.* If you're wondering what, exactly, I got done last night, look in the left corner above the pot.

Today I am practicing my French...knots that is. I'm going back to Teresa Layman's mermaid which I haven't worked on since 2009.

*This is the dude's motto for 2011. Thus the neighbor helping on the project.

Burning Through the WIPs

My goal was to finish a page of the marquoir pattern. Despite the fact that stitch night was canceled on Friday, I accomplished that goal quickly. I hoped to finish another page on Saturday, and I almost did--the E and the first part of the F would have completed that page. Pretty close. I may yet get back to it before the month ends.

Instead of finishing that, I moved on to another WIP, a Janlynn kit Primitive Santa. This one hardly qualifies as a WIP. You've never seen if before because I had exactly 46 stitches in it which is fairly unimpressive. It's stitched on 14-count black aida which is unappealing in many ways. This one has about four colors of red--and lots of it. Sense a little fatigue?

Today I've moved on to St. Basil's Cathedral. Let's see how far I get...

Can I Even Call it a UFO?

My stock taking has led to offers of help. You readers are so good to me! Cheryl has offered to trade some UFOs. But I'm not sure I know how I feel about this. I mean, the ones I would really want to get rid of (coughfrickinchickencough) aren't ones people would want to adopt. Its bad enough having your own mistakes to take care of, you do not want to take on someone else's.

Lee said her UFOs made her sad so she "cut and run." I wish I had that kind of ability to let go. I feel like I've made my bed. And it's a bed of scratchy linen. Is it some kind of wacky Catholic guilt? I owe nothing to these pieces. Am I just a control freak? Mine, mine, mine? Is it that they are somehow part of me? Maybe that's getting closer, but I don't feel like I can give them away until they're finished.

I'm not sure I stitched enough of this one for it to be called a UFO. It's Saint Basil's Cathedral (can you even tell?) by Dimples Designs on the called-for linen. I started this when it was hot off the press--bought the fabric and pattern at a CATS show when it had just come out. I don't know why I abandoned this. So I could write a dissertation? That sounds about right.