Stitching by the light of the silver moon

Actually, it was a bit foggy, but that just doesn't sound as poetic, does it?

I woke up around 1am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep until around five. Probably all the plotting, planning and preparing for the July Fourth Family Gathering at our house this coming Sunday. (I told you that we rarely celebrate holidays on the actual day, didn't I? :o) It's not a huge deal, just the usual suspects: Me, DH, my Mum and Dad, DSis and her boyfriend, just doing a cookout and maybe some lawn jarts, but I have to catch up on all of the house cleaning that I don't do because I stitch instead! Costco lists, WalMart lists, To Do lists and even some work related thoughts (how the heck did they slip in?) were swirling around in my head. I really need a pensieve!

During this time, I spent quality time spoiling the kitties with pets, scratches and rubbed ears, played one of my best games of Luxor ever, read a bit of The Long Winter, and even did a little stitching on Snaperville.

I've been working on the second square from the left and got most of the horse and barn done. Abner lay on my lap and purred while I stitched. (Mummy, can I sit up with you, can I?)



And these are my Fourth of July cards I sent out to both families this year. (No, I didn't whip those up last night too!) Copied from SplitCoastStampers:

Sheep in the 'burbs

The sheep are done (except for a few beads)! I even started on the left border for good measure before The Wool Gatherer led the sheep off to greener grasses.




Next up is a trip to Snapperville. ('Let's take a trip and sip on a drink' - Remember that from the theme song to In Living Color? That show was just too much! Remember Wanda?) I only did a little bit of stitching Sunday morning and not worth using up my monthly upload allotment on Flickr to show.

Also, we watched a very cute movie this weekend called Danny Deckchair. It's a happy movie. There were a few times when the laws of physics were defied, but it was such a cute movie that it didn't matter. (What do you expect from two engineers? ;o) We gave it a Netflix 4 stars.

A Summery Saturday

I'd like to update my previous SBQ post about my favorite stitching spot. In warm weather this is my favorite stitching spot.



Can you spot both kitties? Can you spot The Wool Gatherer?


The weather today couldn't have been more perfect! It was sunny, in the low 80's with very low humidity and a slight breeze. Usually, if the temp here is above 80, we have the humidity to go with it, so this was a real Weather Bonus Day.

And all that fresh air wore the Puddies out. Because as I type this post, they're recovering from their fresh air hangovers...





You know, it's been almost eight years since I walked down the aisle, but Saturdays here and there, I'll stop and think about brides getting married that day, and be glad for them if the weather is gorgeous (like today) or hope things work out alright if it's not. No matter how hard you try to plan, the weather on your wedding day is a total coin toss.

Stitch Blogger Question

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Vash and is:

Have you ever used a magnifying glass while stitching? If so, did you find it helpful?

Oh, Vash, you're making us admit we're not as young as we once were! :o) LOL!

I'm near-sighted, but now that my eyes have the wisdom of almost four decades, I find that when I work on linen, because the threads are not always uniform, I sometimes need to wear readers, particularly when my eyes are tired. I'm still OK with evenweave. Overall, I do need a higher wattage light than I did before!

I never fail to get a chuckle from DH when I'm wearing them (Yes, Dear, we're not those teenagers we were when we first met!).

My Mum has always needed readers, and wears them on a chain around her neck. My sister and I called them her 'Soup Laddles' because when she'd cook, they'd get splattered with some liquid or dunked into some sauce. She'd go to put them on and there would be dried spaghetti sauce or gravy splats on the glass! LOL!

A great big sloppy thankyou!

I wanted to send out a big thank you to everyone who regularly reads my blog.

Thank you

When I read a blog and see my blog's name listed as one of the blogs you read, I can't tell you enough how it just really makes my day. It's just the darn coolest thing! Just wanted to share that.

I've thoroughly enjoyed discovering all of your stitching blogs, too. (Which really got me back into cross stitching again!) A huge source of inspiration!




There was no stitching last night. My sinuses are so weather dependent, I'm pretty much a human barometer. We had a cold front breeze through yesterday, so I had a frightful headache and went to bed early last night. My stitching didn't even make it out of my tote bag!

After some badly needed yardwork this evening, I hope to get the needle going again. *Maybe* I'll get those sheep done!

Close. Very close.

This weekend was the SAT at the Friends Gather BB. I didn't quite meet my goal of completing all three sheep, but I did make great progress and qot quite close. Overall, I'm happy with what I did get done.



During all this marathon stitching, we watched part 2 of the first series installment in the latest Britcom we've found, A Fine Romance (with Judi Dench). Funny, with a similar humor as As Time Goes By. Judi was a young chick in this series. We also watched a couple episodes of The Last Detective, which is a Brittish crime drama with Peter Davidson (in the version we're watching), whom we really liked in All Creatures Great and Small and At Home with the Braithwaites. We also watched a very odd thriller called The Hour of the Wolf. I'll let you just read the synopsis on imdb. (Netflix really needs a rating for 'Liked it, but it was wierd') We also watched A Good Woman with Helen Hunt. This is based on an Oscar Wilde play, and has that wonderful Oscar Wilde wit. Very good.


DH and I met up with my parents, DSis and her boyfriend this weekend to celebrate Fathers' Day/Dad's Birthday. (Hope everyone had a lovely one...Father or Fathers' Day, whichever! :o)

From previous posts, regular readers know my dad is quite handy with wood and power tools, so he's used to getting the phone call now and again that begins, "Dad, can you make me..."

Now, in my dad's heyday, he was very athletically inclined (and is still in excellent shape), has always been a runner (and even ran marathons into his late 50's) until he had problems with his hip that made him slow down and walk. He would walk/run the steps at the highschool stadium until, finally, his hip made *any* walking almost impossible. So, he got a shiny, new hip in September 2004, and he's back to running (not walking) the highschool steps. He's a bit of an icon there, and was featured in a local newspaper for having run up 1,000,000 steps in a few years (if you count the down steps, that's 2M). He started counting before his hip slowed him down and finished up after he got the new hip. He's well on his way to completing 2,000,000 steps up. Go, Dad!

So, anyway, because Dad has heard so many Dad-Can-You-Make-Me's, he cashed in a favor for me to sew him up some (really obnoxiously printed) running pants (he'll even cut them out!). So, part of this weekend was spent sewing up a test pair to see how it fits and once we get a good prototype, I'll be making him a running wardrobe.

Here's Itchey, on my sewing table, supervising my progress. You can see the top of the pants in the green fabric with palm trees and the pattern we're using. Since he cut them out, it took all of maybe 10 minutes to sew up all the seams except the hem and waistband. I'll do those this evening and mail them out to him tomorrow. (DH is excited, he gets to use my grommit maker to put the grommit in for the drawstring - and I'll have to hear Wallace and Grommit quotes the whole time, I'm sure!)



Dad's been on the lookout for frog material for a pair of running pants for years. Mum made him a pair of frog running shorts back in the 80's that, to dad's dismay, wore out after many, many wearings) So, if any one has some 100% cotton frog material, not kiddish or feminine (about 3 yards) that you no longer want, please let me know!

Aaaaah. A Cat's Life...

Yup. They even have it in writing...




Today, I'm working from home, and as I sit at the dining room table, slaving away at my laptop, this is the motivation that surrounds me...



At least they give it all they've got.


Oh, and by the way, there are my cross stitch books, just below Abner. They're nestled in the middle, to the right of my knitting books and to the left of my Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. If you can count them, you have the answer to yesterdays SBQ! :o)


In stitching news, I alluded to the new (stitched) man in my life. Here's the latest progress on The Wool Gatherer. I've been working on the sheep. I'm participating in the Stitch-a-Thon this weekend at the Friends Gather BB. My goal is to complete all three sheep. Baaaaa!

SBQ Day!

Hello, folks! It that time again when we play 'Stitch Bloggers Question'

*Applause*

OK, players, hands on your buzzers....

Today's SBQ was suggested by Angela and is:
How many cross stitch books do you own?

BUZZZZZZZ!

Singular Stitches, what's your answer?

I don't know.

*Booos & Hisses*

Now, wait! Our judges are reviewing that answer to see if it's an acceptable response...

*Anticipatory Silence*

Yes! Yes, they said it's acceptable, but only if you answer the next question.

OK, Wink, shoot.

How often do you use them?

I tend to look through them more than do projects from them.

*Applause*

I used to collect Leisure Arts series books (when I was young, single and living with my parents). I still love looking through them, but I haven't really made much from them. For me, I find that buying a single pattern is far more practical than buying a book (or even a magazine). I rarely find that I like enough to buy it.

Now that the internet is there, even instructional books aren't the necessity that they once were.

Well, thank you, Singular Stitches for your answers. You didn't win the grand prize, but we will send you home with some lovely parting gifts. Congratulations!

*Applause*

*Fade*

Santa of the Forest

Santa and I have been visiting for the last week or so. I've enjoyed giving Santa a left sleeve so that he can keep warm in that cold North Pole air.




I am really liking this new "Work on What I Feel Like" rotation. I wanted to work on SotF, and got into it, making great progress, but now I can feel the excitement of the moment wearing off (Sorry, Santa, nothing personal) so I'll be moving onto another project in my rotation. I think The Wool Gatherer (another week, another man in cross-stitch... ;o) will be the next project.

SBQ Question...

I'm really bad about remembering to answer these, but since part of this week's question set was requested by yours truly, I figured that this is as good of time as any to start. Here goes...

The first request comes from Vash
who is requesting pictures ofthe back of your stitching… are you brave enough to give this one a shot?

Great question, Vash!

I really don't give the back of my work a lot of thought, other than making sure that tails are securely fastened, the working thread hasn't knotted up, etc. I'm a very methodical stitcher, and a big part of why I enjoy cross stitching is the challenge of plotting out the most efficient path with a the particular color I'm currently using. I can sit for maybe 10 minutes before actually making a stitc, just deciding which color to start with, which path of stitches to take, etc.

Now, you must realize, the basis for all of this plotting and scheming isn't because I'm some fantastic scientific mind. (Well. OK. I am, but that's not the point I'm making ;o) It's to make future stitching easier to do in relation to stitches I've already completed which (hopefully) will minimize ripping out. I can be incredibly lazy and taking some extra time to make my stitching easier is for me!

The Front...


And the Back...



The second request comes from Singular Stitches (me!), and she is asking for "a pictorial tour of the special place that you go to create your
wonderful stitched creations."

In my previous post, I introduced you to my Craftatorioum. That’s where I sew, bead, scrapbook and rubber stamp - my messier crafty pursuits. When I cross stitch and knit, I prefer the feminine setting of the Ladies’ Parlour.

When we were furniture shopping for our new home, I knew that the living room would be my stitching room, and of course, DH (in his infinite cleverness) dubbed my stitching room the Ladies’ Parlour. To live up to such a name, I decided on a more Victorian décor.



I don’t have great flair for interior decoration, but I try to make my rooms comfortable and inviting. I also don’t like to decorate with a lot of accessories, but those that I do have meaning to me. For example, the picture that hangs above my couch used to hang over my parents’ fireplace in the living room since I was very young. In the winter, I would lie on the floor in front of the heat register in the living room and just look up at the picture coming up with possible story lines and looking around the picture to see if I could see something new that I haven’t seen before. My parents gave me that picture as a Christmas gift the first year we were in our home. It’s very sentimental.

Usually, when I decide to sit on the couch to stitch, Abner perches on the couch arm and Itchey either curls up on the top of the back of the couch directly behind me, or she sits on my lap. And, to further accommodate Itchey (the only one with front claws), notice the scratching post.



The above is my absolute favorite place to sit and stitch. This chair and ottoman were chosen for the sole purpose of comfortable stitching with room for the puddies to observe. On, the subject of the kitties, from this vantage, you can see the front windows. The table in front of the window was placed there so that they can sit in the front windows in warm weather with the windows open. They do their little head bobbing thing when they sniff the air, and I’m always hearing someone comment on 'the cute kitties' in the window as people pass the house on their walks.

It’s interesting how things work out. Both of the end tables in my Ladies’ Parlour are actually sewing cabinets. They were just extra furniture that MIL didn't want any more, so I took them. The one by the couch could actually house a sewing machine and the other is made for holding sewing accessories. Perfect for a seamstress.

Have you seen those ‘safe place’ placards stores put in their windows so kids can go there as a safe place if they’re in trouble? My Ladies’ Parlour is considered a ‘safe place’ for moms. My crafty mom friends love to gather at my house because it’s a certified ‘kid-free zone’, where they can listen to classical music and sip tea (or something a little stronger) while they craft in peace.

It is funny, because DH has Microsoft Flight Simulator on his computer in his office directly above my room. When I have my crafty-girly gatherings, he hides upstairs and sometimes plays his flight simulator. When they first heard the noise, they were really confused, but now when they hear it, they just ask, “Where’s he flying tonight?”

Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy! We have fan-age in the Craftatorioum!

After much colorful language (DH), a large glass of wine (me) and much sweat (both), I now have a ceiling fan in my Craftatorioum.

I am thrilled!




When we first viewed our house-to-be, DH graciously let me have the largest of the extra bedrooms because I needed more room for my craft stuff. Not only does it have two closets (which someday might get a Closet Maid looking configuration), but a glorious view of our back yard. The really cool part is that the wallpaper, border, blinds and valance were all here courtesy of the previous owners.

For my Christmas present the year we moved in, I got a set of home office furniture: L-shaped desk (for my sewing machines and laptop), lateral file (for my cardstock) and bookcase (for all of my rubber stamp sets).

According to Dream Sewing Spaces (which I feverishly studied before we moved into our house), the sewing table height should be the standing measurement from the floor to the underside of the elbow when bending the arm at a right angle. So, my dad made me a custom 41" high sewing table that measures 4' X 7'. It's amazing how working at that height makes cutting out patterns easy on the back and arms. It beats the heck out of crawling around on the floor. That worked in my late teens and 20's, but my late 30's body frowns upon such a practice!

This is what my room looked like right after originally putting it together and before I was let loose to craft. I wish it was this neat and tidy right now.




About a year ago, I finally found a source for a gridded rotary mat large enough to cover the entire table top and DH and my dad put wood edging around the perimeter of the table top to keep the mat from shifting. DH also added some hooks on the sides of legs for me to hang my scissors and tape measures. I also bought a drafter's chair high enough so that I can sit at the one end of my table and rubber stamp. After six years, the only thing left to be done to the table is stain it. It's almost always in use, so who knows when we'll actually get around to doing that.


And, of course, no room of mine would be complete without a place for a kitty to comfortably snuggle up. This is Abner chilling while I made my blog entry this evening. (Mummy, can I help, can I?)



And a little stitching progress was made. The project du jour is Santa of the Forest. I did a little more of the red in the lower right corner, the red around the purple of Santa's mitten and started some of the checkerboard print.

If you forget about stitching something, did you really stitch it?

Kind of like a tree falling in a forest...

I was going through my craft room closet this past weekend looking for some fabric when I came across the Mother Lode of my old chart stash (which is considerable) and a couple of stitched projects from years ago that I totally forgot I ever stitched.

(I always seem to be writing about stitching in a place far, far away and a time long, long ago)

One of the pieces, which I intended to make into a pillow, is from The Cat by Cross Eyed Cricket. As you can see, it's from 1999. I totally forgot about ever doing this piece.

I added the extra 's' to make it 'Cats' and added the cats' names. Would you expect anything different? :o)




Onto the other piece I found...

I don't have much cross stitch done by Mum. She doesn't finish much. That's not to say she doesn't cross stitch a lot. She does. She'll start a project, work on it for a while, almost complete it, put it down and start another. It didn't make sense to me to start a projet then just abandon it when so close to completion. Now that I'm older and wiser, I do understand and appreciate her reasoning. She is a process stitcher and her enjoyment and satisfaction is in the act of cross stitching, not in the completion.

I can understand this because I would have to say that I'm more of a process knitter. I really don't finish a high volume of projects, but I love the act of knitting. Give me some good feeling yarn, comfy needles and I could just knit on and on, not making anything other than an ovesized swatch. (Which is probably why I enjoy making kitty snuggles - mindless knitting/crochet but for a good cause)

Anyways, I saw the following design in one of Mum's issues of Cross Country Stitching and asked her to make it for me. I notice she didn't sign it, so I'll have to get her to, but it must be from the very late 90's.



In current stitching news, no stitching was completed last night.

A new family moved in a couple weeks ago catty-corner to us and the wife scrapbooks and is starting to get into rubberstamping! Yes!!! She had a Stampin' Up! party last night (having a home show party a mere two weeks after moving in was enough to impress everyone in attendance alone, not to mention how nice she - and her family - are). Most of us who attended already belong to a stamp group with our SU! demonstrator (who also did last night's show), but it was a really fun way for her to meet some of us on the street. I even won the door prize!

After I get home from a "girly gathering" (crafty, stamping, bunco) I have to, as DH calls it, detox. I can't just come home and get ready for bed. I have to do something to take the activity and excitement level down a couple notches. So, I worked on getting the knitting blogs I follow subscribed to in Bloglines. We also watched The Prize Winner from Defiance, Ohio. A must watch. Julianne Moore was so good as the lead. I believe this movie is based on a real family's story. I recommend it.

Happy Birthday, Itchey

Today is Itchey's birthday! Our little ro-dent has turned 10 today! Sushi all around! (Actually, she and Abner will be splitting a can of soft food, which, I think, in their opinion, is just as acceptable)



She's at home probably celebrating by sleeping in some quiet, soft spot.

Subbing to my blog feed via Bloglines

For some reason, if you tried to subscribe to my blog's feed from the Bloglines splash page, it would never find my blog (unless you used the direct subscription link I put in my right sidebar to subscribe to my blog's feed). I've found this to be true for a number of blogs created through Blogger. Not sure why, but I've submitted a few incident reports about it, but Bloglines could only respond that they knew of the problem, but did not have a solution.

I admit that I'm generally a lazy person and really have come to rely on Blogline's subscription service to read blogs, and those that I could not subscribe to I added to my IE favorites list, but being the creature of habit that I am, I would read the updates via Bloglines but forget to look at the blogs in my favorites list. And, of course, my favorites list at work is different from my list at home.

So, I overcame inertia, and began to add that list of Non-Bloglines blogs to my sidebar at right. No sooner did I do this for the majority of my cross stitch blogs (I was going to tackle my knitting blog list next), Bloglines seems to have figured it out.

This means that my blog (and a bunch of other Blogger blogs) can now be subscribed to from the Blogspot website directly.

Yay technology!



And, on a cross stitch note, my RR Lizzie Kate Autumn Sampler is completed!