Devils Darning Needle indeed.

Green Darner as of 4/27
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

So I was really worried about this thing, it was seeming to take forever, and I had hoped that moving on to the wings would be faster. But of course they are done in all krenick threads so I was swearing every third stitch (thats even with using Thread Heaven). I as of yesterday I was thinking I may not finish this on time. I only have two weeks to go. But last night I had a brilliant (and totally anti rules) idea. I would outline the wings...I know it is usually a bad Idea since there is the potential (read garanteed) to stitch over the outline. So I tried it with the upper right wing and the filling in went much faster, and since the iridesent white thread is very subtle visually (hence the previous bout of swearing), the outline was not obsured at all. I was able to finish one wing tonight and have hope hat with 4-5 more nights (20-25 hours more)I might finish this b***h. I hope my advisor likes it.

Speaking of school, I handed in my final, 2 copies of my thesis, to the grad school (along with $60 "binding and shelving fee"). I have to take three more copies over to another binder for my own copies (cheaper).
But technically as of 1 pm tomorrow my Graduate school career is over...after my last office hour to hand out final grades

In other news I called my wedding photographer, only to find out that he has moved to Charleston and is no longer in Savannah. Figures...but I am planning on finally buying my wedding album within the next month or two, I don't care if he is on Mars.

Our anniversary(3 yrs) was yesterday but we didn't do anything special...we are planning to celebrate it next week in Savannah

Stitchin away

Damselfly progress as of 4/23/06
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

this weekend was a bit rainy so I finished up an exchange piece due in 3 weeks, so no picture there. But I did make some progress on the damselfly... I have several of these charts, but after this one I am not sure I will be doing anymore. It has got a ton of confetti stitching and 3/4 stitches and just well...irritates me. We shall see if there is a verdict by the time I am done. I will be working on nothing but this chart till graduation (since it is a gift for my advisor). Oh and as you can tell I did not go to Savannah this week, Ian and I bumped it to next week. THis means I have to finish up revisions and turn in my final thesis copies to the graduate school by friday, so off I go.

SBQx2

Last week: For those of you that stitch while riding in the car or on the train, how do you cope with the bumps and the motion? Do you have any tips for others?
Actually this is one of the main reasons why i don't stitch in the car. I hate the bumps, I do much better reading. I save the stitching for the hotel room.

THis week: Do you do obligation or deadline-based stitching? Why or why not? If you do, do you tend to get in over your head and why? I only started doing this with the a exchange ornament exchange board, bloggers exchange board, and the US exchange board. I limit myself to 2 at a time (and right now I am just working on one). I have found that it's been really fun, and I have learned alot about finishing. I still have not gotten up the guts to do a round robin. I know alot of bloggers (that i read) participate in these often, maybe someday I'll sign up for one.

Back to stitching

EM freebie, A is for acorn
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

I has been pretty nice not having to worry about my thesis this weekend. I was able to go out to a the NC herb society herb sale (they have it every year at the local greek orthodox church), and bought a few plants. I cleaned up the backyard on friday and contracted to have a fence put in. yesterday I cleaned the house, and did all the laundry. There is still a big list of stuff to get done before everyone comes down before graduation but it actually looks like it might all get done.

Meanwhile I was asked by Brenda the owner of the Dye is Cast, at the last tarheel get together if I would stitch up a few of the Erica Micheals freebies using The Dye is Cast fibers.

EM freebie< B is for butterfly
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

I chose to do the first four letters of Erica Micheals alphabet. and Brenda picked out fabric and fibers for the conversions. I loved how A came out. B I think could of been better on darker fabric. I would love to do the whole alphabet some day, these stitch up very quickly.

However I have to get back to work on the damselfly for my advisor in order to have it done by graduation. So C amd D will have to wait.
Ill be blogging more often now..so check back soon.

All Done!!!

They signed me off. (of course there are a few things i have to edit...and then there is the manuscript to write for publication) but none of those things can stop me from graduating!
Gotta go teach but just wanted to say thanks for the encouraging words.

Thesis Defense

Thesis Defense
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

The end of the world as I know it is less than 15 hours away. I would love for you to send me your prayers/thoughts/energy/mojo tomorrow at 11 eastern standard time.

One good thing that my life has taught me (and helps me breathe) is no matter what happens time will move on and this time tomorow I will be done, and then I can get back to blogging and stitching normally.

5 days to go

my anniversary gift from mom
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

So I have 5 days to go till my defense. I am currently working on questions that my committee may ask and writing all the answers I can find. No matter how well I prepare I am sure I'll miss something.

Needless to say I have not stitched at all over the weekend or during this week. I did find a replacement fiber (GAST cornflower) for the tropical ocean color on Seaology, but I haven't ripped it out yet.

But to keep you from going into stitchers withdrawal I posted this picture of my early anniversary gift from mom. It is a wedding sampler that we modified a bit to reflect Tybee Island lighthouse. (Ian and I were married on Tybee Island beach within site of the lighthouse). See the original pattern here. and a close up...

close up of sampler
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Speaking of weddings, I don't have any photos taken by the photographer at my wedding...thats right 3 years later I don't have a wedding album. Here is the thing. We had our photos taken by a digital photographer and have disks of the photos (can't print off those), but never ordered any. A combination of distance from the photographer (6 hours away in Savannah) and lack of $$ has caused this long delay. Well Ian told me the other day that for our anniversary later this month we are going back to Savannah and can meet with the photographer and order pictures and albums. Yeah! The one benefit of the time passing is I am sure what photos I want and what is not as important in an album...that might of been tougher right after the wedding.

And finally the SBQ:

Do you stitch “on the go?” (On the commute to and from work, during your lunch break, waiting for the kids, etc.) If so, do you have a specific “travel” project or do you just grab whatever you happen to be working on and take it with you? When I was working on the Flip-it's last year, I kept them in my car, but I rarely had a minute or two to work on them. I ended up bringing them home to finish then by the end of the month. I am almost never waiting for anything (I only go to the Dr. once a year, never wait at the dentist, travel maybe once a year) When I pack to go on the vacation, I of course take something, but I can't stitch in the car when someone is driving...motion sickness. So to make a long story short (Too Late!) No.

after

after
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

we repainted the walls, the cabinets and trim. knocked out the wood over the sink and replaced the light. new shower curtian too.

before

before
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

please note, this is a picture of a picture. we took this shortly after we moved in 3 years ago. I forgot to take one before we actually started tearing wallpaper down, but it had not changed much.

things to see: the wallpaper (that had flowers on it upside down),
the light over the sink is floresent and covered with a piece of wood, and the home made shower curtian that doesn't match.