WIP #2

Originally uploaded by polyrhythmic

This is Pastel Hearts Bellpull by the Kreinik company from the April 1998 issue of Just Cross Stitch. There's DMC cotton floss, satin floss, and perle cotton, as well as Kreinik gold braid and filament, pluss some white Mill Hill beads.. The original is in pinks and silvery filaments. I changed the colors to green and gold after the colors in the invitation to a coworker's wedding and I added their initials and wedding date. By the time the wedding happened, I had just left the company and that was the last time I saw those coworkers.

I intended to finish it as an oval box. I have the green satin box and the insert for the lid, as well as some dark green backing fabric to show off the cutwork. It wasn't done for the wedding. Eventually it got packed away. I wasn't particularly close to the couple, but it made a good excuse to stitch this cute little piece. I could still finish it.
I wonder if I could even find the couple it was meant for "Hey, long time no see! Still married? Good. Here's the present I meant to give you back then. Ta!"

Or I could pick out the initials and date and make it for myself or someone else. I notice that while the initials fill out the oval shape at the bottom, the top is very flat. and might be a bit nicer with something added just over the dark green line at the top.

WIP #1

Originally uploaded by polyrhythmic

This is Labrador Retriever (Yellow) by Stephanie Seabrook Hedgepath, in the book Dogs, Collection 5. The stitching is complete, but it awaits the circular frame I bought for it. I notice that the sample on the cover of the book is framed exactly that way. Not very creative on my part. I think I planned this as a gift for my roommate at the time who liked dogs. He eventually got a German Shepherd.

WIPs and Stash

I've pulled out all of my cross stitch stash.  I haven't seen this stuff since around 2001.  There are more WIPs than I thought.  I'll document them in up coming posts.

As for stash, most of my stuff is for particular WIPs but I have floss of all DMC colors available then, 208 through 3830, a few from Coats and a smattering of braid and blending filament.  Not much fabric: some leftover Aida, a couple of tubes of  CharlesCraft Monaco.  Magazines are my weakness.  I've got boxes of them.  And they all have at least one pattern I like enough to consider I might stitch it.

I have a decent collection of Teresa Wentzler and Paula Vaughn leaflets and a smattering of other designers.  I don't know what I'll get to in this lifetime.

A week in review

Since it's been a week since I posted and since not talking about it will probably lead to falling off the life improvement wagon less than 2 weeks into a new year...

Crafting:  no cross stitch yet, but I'm about 4 rows (of 400 stitches) from the finish of the hat I've been knitting for a while. Also failed to visit the dedicated cross stitch store that is nearest to me.  The website said they were open M-F, but the sign on the door said closed Mondays.  Ah well. There was an interesting consignment shop there (clothes and household goods)  Maybe a place for getting rid of stuff?  Still, 30 minute drive, so not that convenient.

Cleaning: You wouldn't know it, but yes.  The forces of chaos gave me a flooding bathroom over the weekend, so there's been a lot of mopping, laundry, etc. to clean.  Unfortunately the rest of the house has suffered and all the boxes and things that had to be moved to vacuum the water out of the carpet makes the place look horrible.

Exercising: Snow shoveling counts, but I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't had to move my car for the plow guy.  I'd still be staying inside, with 18 inches giving me the excuse never to leave again. I may do something crazy this weekend.

Money: Mad scramble to keep all the bills paid this week.  But the most I did toward maybe getting a job was browse the same websites I've browsed before.  I need to look at my resume and see if there is any way to turn 15 years of programming into something that says I don't want to be a programmer anymore.

Watching: Three Hugh Grant movies that were in the queue have been seen.  I'm apparently in the mood for witty romance.

People: I went to see the play my friend stars in.  That's a plus.  But I mostly didn't talk to anyone else, not even the other friends of his who I sort of know.

Total: mixed, somewhat positive review. Didn't break a lot of habits, but did include some things I wanted to include.

TUSAL January

I'll be using the Totally Useless StitchALong to give some public accountability to my new commitment to more stitching and knitting this year.  The idea is to save the orts (various scraps) from your stitching in a glass container and take a picture each new moon.  I've no scraps yet this year, so this is the empty cut (pressed?) glass bowl I'll be using.


I don't even know what projects I will stitch this year.  I've got a few unfinished from the last time I did cross stitch, probably more than 10 years ago.   I'm more excited by the new patterns I see online these days.  Maybe I'll become excited by my stash when I look into it.

New Year, new blog

We won't call these resolutions.  I've been thinking that my life needs more:

• Crafting. Cross stitch and knitting, maybe sewing, probably other things
• Exercise.  Completely out of shape since my year of monthly half marathons ended in 2009.
• Cleaning.  I live alone, and don't like visitors in my space.  But I am happier when stuff doesn't pile up too much.  This includes sorting my stuff and getting rid of things.
• Reading, Watching, Playing.  I have piles of boos to read, movies to watch, Wii and DS games to play.  I've spent the money to get them, I should get the enjoyment of using them 
• People.  This may mean dating.  It may just mean talking to friends and family.  I'm too hermity right now.
• Cooking.  Again with the live alone.  Too much frozen food an restaurants.  Cooking is fun and usually cheaper than the aforementioned approaches to food.  
• Money.  Getting a job in biology with or without computers.  Or getting a student loan fast.  Probably the first. Probably not marrying rich or engineering an inheritance.

This probably means having less:

• Internet doodling. Farmville and random blog refreshing can be replaced with crafting and cleaning etc.
• Sleep. Not having a fixed schedule and not interacting with many people means I go to sleep whenever I feel like it.  It seems like a lot.
• Reruns. TV, movies, books, games I've already done will probably not get watched, read, played again.  Unless I really want to.

This blog is public.  It has to be for some of the accountability I will be signing up for.  I'm sort of worried about that.  If it becomes a problem, then I'll take a new approach.