My plan for February

View to a Spring Garden
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Hello all, First let me show you my progress over the weekend on View to a Spring Garden -Black Swan. I had finished the top part (that you can't see here) last year. The stitching instructions said to do the border of the center window after the cross stitch of the garden was completed, but I knew I was going to mess something up inside the box if I didn't outline it first. This has a lot of confetti stitches in it...like you are lucky if you can stitch 10 stitches in a row anywhere in this thing, so it is a bit slow going

OK people here is the deal, I am having trouble focusing on my paper. I need to finish the discussion and instead i am posting her and stitching and reading blogs. This must stop. I am the world's worst procrastinator (ok not the worst since i can admit my problem) but the moral is that I have to stay offline for at least the next 2 to 3 weeks...and I have to stop stitching. Yes I know, you can wipe the tears away, I will be back. I do have a weekend with the Tarheel stitchers where I will be stitching, and I will allow myself to stitch on Saturdays. Saturday will also be the only day i will blog and read your blogs. I only ask that you do not abandon me for lack of posts...I hope to finish this damn paper so my life can begin....

I will check on you all again and update you as too my progress on Saturday February 4th.

Santa on hold now

The damn bear is killing me...there is 2 hours on him already...all those browns suck

Santa as of 1/22/06
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

A Photo a Day keeps the Blog Readers (and commenters) Happy

I Saw Three ships by Fancy Work
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

I am also spreading them out cause it is a pain to put more than one picture in one blog entry. Anywho, here is I Saw Three Ships by Fancy Work from the 2004 JCS ornament issue. I had some trouble with my initials cause when I did HMR it ended up looking too big, like it was the next word. so I took out the M, and added another wave just for the halibut. I know it is no longer the season but I have to mention that this is my favorite christmas carol (along with Carol of the Bells). One of the main reasons that i like it (besides the fact that it has a rocking beat and you can dance to it) is that it is one of the few that is not played to death. I think I will wait to finish this in to a full fledged ornament till later this year.
I have Heaven and Nature Sing by Fancy Work from this year's magazine already kitted up but it will have to wait a while.

I have been working on Santa of the Forest and View to a Spring Garden consistantly. I will have to start stitching on my St. Patty Day exchange soon...maybe this weekend. I only have 1 month to do it, which is shorter than usual for an exchange.

Snowman in the drifts

Snowman in the drifts
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Here is is all pressed and waiting for ....hmm I don't know a frame that fits!!. While I was stitching I notices that the pattern and the picture differed by a bird. Note here the bird sitting on the scarf (yes the scarf...blowing in the wind, that is a strong bird). Yet in the pattern he is not here. I guess the model stitcher took some extra creative license. I ordered the 36ct linen to redo this frosty gentleman yesterday online. I HATE ordering fabric online...cause I had to guess the difference between flax, sand, and light sand....the pictures were no help. I hope i guessed correctly. When it arrives I think I will do Angel in the Clouds before redoing the snowman again. just to break things up a bit. Oh and I also ordered The Littles- Bunny- BC and Lavender Hill by Little House Needleworks.

Now, Let's talk Theresa Wentzler: See years ago I saw a lady's finished floral bellpull by TW and I observed that the work while beautiful was obviously for only the very crazy or the very talented. A fact confirmed by the stitcher of the bellpull swearing off TW for life. I very much admire those who stitch her designs (both for their craziness and talent) and luckily for me I have not ever seen one of her designs I HAD to have. I got my Nordic Needle catalog yesterday saw a TW design that i like (damn it). I like the sampler style, it looks smaller and doable...on to the wishlist it goes.

Garden exchange

Garden exchange
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

It came yesterday!!! I got two stitched things from Mercedes in Spain. the pillow has the Top of the Garden Sampler by DT (Drawn Thread? I think.) and the scissor fob came complete with scissors too! One can never have too many scissors.

The finishing is perfect...I especially like the daisys along the outer edge.
I really like these exchanges, It is really tough to stitch for others (well for me it is...I end up loving the finished product so much) but it really makes up for it when you get something equally or even more beautiful than what you sent out. I signed up for 2 more exchanges...one that is international on the stitching bloggers board and one in the new exhange place board for US exchanges.
Stay tuned for more photos...my camera is working again.

ONE FOR THE THUMB!!!

Steelers rule! did we kick some bronco butt or what! Holy crap I don't think I have ever seen those boys play so aggressive. Now lets all pray that the Superbowl is anything but a repeat of XXX where the cowboys (booo hisss) kicked our butts.

Meanwhile, I finished WIP #7, I Saw Three Ships ornament, and #4 Snowman in the Drifts. Unfortunately, my computer is not recognizing my camera today so I have no photos for you. I was working on the bear in the Santa of the Forest during the Steelers game, but got bored with all the browns, and set up View to a Spring Garden to work on again for about an hour last night. I think I will be alternating these for the final week of the month.

So this means...ahem, I have only 2 WIPs and they are medium to big sized (for me). It is getting tough now though I have about 7 projects kitted up and waiting for me. but if I do what I plan to do in February...it may be another month before any of them see a stitch. Stay tuned

A vasospasm? Sounds sexual...

Seek and ye shall find....on the internet (a follow up to yesterdays post)
my thoughts in green

"Ophthalmic migraine is quite common. Patients usually experience visual symptoms of seeing bright zig-zag type lines in their central or peripheral (side) vision. Yep that what I saw. These bright lines may have associated flashing light sensations Exactly! and sometimes can interfere with vision. Hence the unable to stitch part... There are many variations of symptoms. These symptoms usually resolve spontaneously after several minutes but usually less than one hour. Often, rest in a darkened room can be helpful during a migraine attack. Medical treatment isusually not necessary." Sweet.
"Sometimes, there can be a headache after the visual symptoms resolve. Ummmm no This is called migraine headache with visual prodrome. Some people get migraine headaches without the visual symptoms. like my sister Some people get the visual symptoms without the headache. This is called Ophthalmic Migraine. The cause is due to a temporary spasm in the blood vessels behind the eye called "vasospasm" sounds sexual similar to a spasm or cramp that you may have once experienced in one of your leg muscles (Charlie-Horse). I would hazard that this could be brought on my strenous exercise eh? Usually, this resolves without treatment and many people never have another episode. well i know i have had 2 before Some people may continue to have them. oh An examination of the eye is important to rule out any other causes for these symptoms." ok. ok, I might mention it at my next exam.

And that is your science lesson for the day.

Oh My Stars...

SBQ: Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it!
(Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you
predict it will be?

As my loyal readers know I have finished 5 WIPs so far in the past 19 days. See previous posts. Of course, it does feel like cheating cause none were very big and all were started in 05 or earlier.

But back to my sore body...my legs are stiff but not too bad..I can sit down with out crying. Weird thing happened last night though, After the leg workout I couldn't stitch cause there was a wiggle in my visual field. It has happened before (but i can't remember when) It is like a light spot that won't go away. I could see it when I closed my eyes too. Eventually it got longer and dissapated after about an hour or two, but by then I was in no mood to stitch. I wonder what causes such a thing. My triceps and pecs are still a bit sore from monday...I work them again tomorrow so let us all pray.

Speaking of weird...we saw The Piano for the first time last night. Very strange, not what i had expected at all. and Ian just about left the room at the sight of Harvey Kitel's manhood....I had forgotten to warn him about the full frontal . I was in disbelief about the climax (the ax scene). It was unique story but leaves me feeling like i must have missed why it was considered fabulous.

I would hug you...but I can't move my arms

I have known for a while now that if i don't have a job by the summer I may be going to Alaska to do some work for my advisor. And when I mean work I mean hiking-miles-carrying-heavy-equipment-and-quarts-of-water-samples-for-18-hours-every-day work. Scientists like to call this summer fun extravaganza 'Field season', but to tell you the truth they aren't out there, they send their grad students and other lab monkeys. Short story is, if i do go (chance 80%) I will get my ass handed to me, cause i have not been "working out" for 3 years. The solution is to get in shape...starting now. So I, in my infinite wisdom, have put my training into my husbands hands, cause I know I will slack off with out a trainer and can't afford one without an emotional connection to my looking "stacked". So monday was my first day and we did upper body. Hence the title......Tonight it is lower body...dear lord help me.

I could however move my wrists enough mon night to stitch and worked on Snowman in the Drifts till i got bored with the white, and then the ornament till I ran out of the color i need, and then Santa till it was time to sleep.
I went to pick up my missing color for the ornament yesterday(BTW it is Three ships by Fancy Work)I got 3826 and got home i realized i needed 3829. CRAP. since tonight is workout night I will have to go get the correct color tomorrow.

I am dying to get my Garden exchange from the SBEBB...I think Ian is scared as I hit him everyday with "What came in the mail?" instead of "Hi honey" . As far as I know my reciever has not gotten hers yet either.

Jenna and Anna, you are totally right about fixing the h's on the name plate, I swear I thought of it, but dismissed it out of hand. I shall review what needs to be done to fix it and maybe do it without too much whining.

Happy Dance x3

Leo- Margaret Sherry
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Yes I have had a very productive weekend. I was able to finish 3 (yes three) WIPs. Yes, they were all small and yes, they were all almost done. So it only took 2-4 hours to finish what I officially called WIP #3 #5 and #6. I even worked 2 hours on Santa of the Forest while at the Tarheel get together this Sat. I was unable to find any 36 ct. fabric at the LNS so it looks like an online order and that may not happen in the near future with taxes rapidly approaching.

First up is Leo, he is a Margaret Sherry Zodiac Cat that is from the UK Cross stitchers in 2004. I have also done Cancer (my sign) but he is sitting in a drawer. Leo is a gift to a friend, Now I just have to decide how to finish him.

Heather Name plate
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Next is a name...OK it is mine, I had originally put this together from an alphabet I found in a magazine and stitched all but some of the border before I decided I hated it. It wasn't centered correctly and it looks like neatner. this was back in 1999 when I wanted it for my desk (which was the last time I had one). Well while cleaning out my craft junk last year I came across it, having completely forgotten about it, and I figured it might as well sit in a dark drawer finished rather than sit in the dark drawer unfinished.

Winter Fob
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Finally the Winter Scissor Fob freebie by Drawn Thread, I decided in the end that it wasn't too big for a fob even though it is on 25? ct Laguna. It came out pretty well for my first fob (I think).

I am down to four WIP's... Snowman in the drifts (#4), an ornament I started before christmas (#7), Santa of the Forest (#8), and View to a Spring Garden (#9).

And finally I remembered that this weekend marks the five year anniversary of moving to Greensboro. It does't sound like much but this is the first time I have lived in a place for this long since I was 18.

My PDA crashed

Gack, I am soo careful never to let it run down, I learned early on that I loose everything. I fully charged it one day, the next day it was dead. Maybe the battery is gone after 2 years? When we had to wipe the computer at home about 6 months ago, I lost the ability to back it up. So after assessing the situation I found that most of the things I needed were recoverable but that what I am most mad about is my cross stitch Wishlist. When I found something on the boards or in a blog I diligently wrote it into my PDA. A lot of them were OOP charts. I tried brainstorming last night and could only come up with about 6, I know I had about 25 listed. damn.

Stitching along

Well, as for my previous dilemma...I think you all are right and I will do Little Snowman in the Drifts on 36 count. I determined his exact size on a design size calculator and I think it will work out well. I thought about shortening him by 6 squares, but I would rather have him whole as the designer intended. Same treatment for Little Angel in the Clouds (she is to big by 4 squares). Problem is I don't have any 36 ct fabric so it will have to wait till the weekend when I can go pick some up, or if my LNS doesn't have any I'll have to order it.

In the meantime I have been working on WIP#4 which is a gift for a friend that has been on hold. It is another small one but I can't show it here.

As for the pet saga...Max (dog) went to the vet monday and is in good health, there was no damage to his eyes that she could see, but there was probably a infection due to the discharge, so we were sent home with some ointment. The vet said that it might not be Sam (cat) causing the allergic reaction but the christmas tree! Although Max avoided the tree initially Sam did not and may have exposed Max to the pine sap/oil. Either way Max's eyes are 100% better now and we are hoping it was the tree...althought that could put a damper on future trees. Sam is really getting rambunctious and starting to bite harder. We will have to schedule the neutering soon, meanwhile...where did I put that spray bottle?

Christmas is over

Towel
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Hello all, How do you like the new design? I think it is much cleaner, and easier to read. I like the script to the left rather than on the right. All the pretty extras are gone and the links were erased, I will slowly bring some of that stuff back as I figure it out.

I cleaned and put all the christmas stuff away yesterday... now everything looks normal again, and boring.

Here is my second WIP of the year, I finished my towel on Saturday. I did finish it from end to end so here you are only seeing 6 of the 13 snowflake motifs I did. It matched my bathroom nicely.
My third WIP was supposed to be a scissor fob freebie by the Drawn Thread but I didn't like how big it was going to be (over 2 on 32), So I thought no problem I'll do it over one on 25 ct. and it will be small, right? Wrong it ended up looking really stupid due to some speciality stitches that didn't come out well, so instead of throwing it out, I was able to redo it over 2 on the 25ct, and I will make it an ornament. I worked on it yesterday and just have to sew it up to be done.

WIP #4 is Little snowman in the drifts...and here I have to vent LOUDLY. OK so I have all 4 of the "Little" wee ones from HIH. ALL 4 were listed as approx. design size of 4.5 by 2.25 inches (note the approximate notation...this is important later) I have done Pumpkin in the patch and Cabin in the woods, and have the perfect frame for them (the opening is about 2.5 by 5 , I found it at a thrift store, do you know how rare that is?) Perfect, now I can swap all four throughout the year depending on season. well I am looking at my snowman and he seems a bit big,so I check my fabric yep it is 32 ct. so i check his height he is 2.75 inches tall. Gak it won't fit in my frame now! I check the finished designs I have already done yep they are 2.25 inches tall. Finally I look at the stitch count the other 3 are all 36 stitches while Mr. Snowman is 42 stiches. While I realize this is only 6 stitches difference it means .5 inches which throws my whole frame swapping plan off. I was so mad I didn't even look at the width but I have a feeling it will be too big too. So now I can 1) finish it as is and it will look like crap in the frame or 2) re adjust the pattern eliminating 6 rows and god knows how many columns, rip and redo the stitching so it will fit but still look like crap. hmmm. I love choosing between crap.

1st WIP done in 2006

DSC00655
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Here is that quilt square I was talking about. See the green guy should be moved about 2 squares to the right. Sigh, well that is what I get for not charting the thing. These are from a old Just Cross Stitch mag...there was a chart of about 10 butterflies..and I pulled 4 that were similar in size, and threw them down. Now I just have to iron it and send it to the quilt assembler.

I haven't stitched on Aida since the PS village sampler last year and I really dislike the stiffness of it.

I got started immediately on the next WIP which is the towel that I was trying to do two sided (remember that one loyal blog readers?). I have abandoned that idea due to some advanced confetti stitching that I didn't take into account origionally so now it shouldn't need more than another 4-6 hours to finish...there is alot of back stitching.

And finally, If this weekend you find my blog missing and/or down..it is cause I am reformatting it, back to a blogger template. I know I paid for this lovely looking blog but I have 2 main issues now, 1) I feel that it is difficult to read and 2) I have hell of a time making any changes to anything , and don't want to pay another $25 to change it again. I wish I knew a computer genius but I am the best i got. I've been learning by trial and error since 92. maybe Ill buy a html book or something.

Die Leaves Die

Ian and I FINALLY finished raking the yard yesterday, stupid warm weather.

SBQ:

• Do you do your stash shopping at your LNS, ONS, or both? Which do you like better? Why?

Well. I don't buy online as much as I could, because I operate in cash for my fun stuff. My bank account is used only for essentials. Shelter, clothing, food, gas, car...etc. So I tend only to buy online when I really can't find it locally or can't substitute anything else. I have also been avoiding the hand dyed fabric like the plague which is the only thing I can't get locally. And when I do purchase online I prefer to buy from a store that also operates a storefront somewhere, because I never want to live in a world where the LNS is extinct.

I have 2 LNS "near" me. The one closest to me is really a needlepoint/knitting/and a wee bit of XS store, but she does (by some fluke) carry all the GAST, WDW, NN, CC, Caron, and RG. So that is where I go for fibers. She will also order anything I want. The other LNS, 30 min away, is the one that just opened (with a ton of older stuff) , and as soon as she gets more newer stuff in I am sure I will frequent it more often. She does have a wide selection of fabrics though which is good. I also am blessed (or cursed) to have a Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and ACMoore all within 10 min of my house, so most of my DMC, Mill Hill, and fabric (generic colors) I can find there.

Wow, that was a longer answer than I thought it would be. anyway on to my life. Sam (now 8 weeks old today) is doing just fine. However my dog Max is probably allergic to him, Max eyes are red and irritated and constantly draining. Although that is the only reaction we can see, we are taking him to the vet on monday to see if there is anything we can do for him or if the cat may have to go (Sigh). Sam is a rambunctious little thing, and is a huge instigator (sp?) of trouble, attacking Max and then crying like he is hurt (I'm sitting there watching and can clearly see that he is not hurt). He reminds me of my sister.

I finished my garden exchange yesterday and am so proud of it, although I realized it is more sping in theme than gardening..oh well. I will be able to show it to you as soon as my exhange partner gets it. I will be in the mail on mon, and has to cross several oceans. Meanwhile I am also working on a XS quilt square for one of the Tarheels, I am not exactly happy with it as the spacing came out all funny...I should be done tonight and will post a pic tomorrow.