I Stitched!

...for approximately 20 minutes on Sunday afternoon, but hey, better than last week! I spent the better part of the first of the week trying to figure out what I was going to do to get my stitchy bug back and, in the end, I decided I was just going to have to start a new project. I decided that The Bride Dollmaker was the one to start:
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And I wasted the remainder of the week piddling through winding bobbins and gridding up fabric (I didn't want to use the 25ct Magic Guide that came with the kit...I prefer my 28ct Monaco). As many scroll rods as I have, I've reached the bottom of the barrel and had a hard time finding ones to fit this project. Probably should have just gone out and bought new ones, but I didn't want to. Alas, after another trip down to the coast on Saturday (more on that in a moment), I managed a whole 22.5 minutes worth of stitching on Sunday before I got too interested in the movie I was watching (which required three views) and then I ended up getting a headache and that was that. But here is where I left off:
Dollmaker_001
I did enjoy while I was stitching, I just got distracted. Maybe I can go home tonight and sink in properly, but I still have my headache, so we'll see.

I am having some trouble with the GeckoRouge kit. They are expensive considering. It's not a very big project and I went with the 1x1 because I knew I'd be switching out the fabric. I think I could have built the kit myself with a chart much cheaper. The paper they are printed on is just that, paper (although high quality). I prefer to use copy cover paper when I print my charts because it's much stronger (not as think as card stock, but can hold up to handling) and there isn't a digital version so, even though I scanned the chart in, I can't do my usual symbol search, only blow up sections. It's on that weird A whatever paper that isn't used much in the States, so that also takes a bit of getting used to (and didn't translate well when I tried to print it off on my beloved copy cover paper). There also isn't that grayed-out overage from page to page like most charts have, so I'm going to have to be careful and make sure I count properly or I'll wind up frogging a lot. The counts at the tops and sides of the pages don't go from 10 to 20 etc, they start at 140, go down to 0 in the middle and then go back up again to 140...that was a bit weird and then the same on the sides. The stitching edge doesn't start in the beginning of a block either, it starts on the 10th row of the first block. Weird.

I don't think any of these issues are difficult problems or deterrents, just weird for someone who's gotten used to things a certain way and has to learn to adjust. Aspers don't adjust well though, so it hasn't been easy. I'm trying to see it as more of a challenge rather than an adjustment...challenges trump adjustments any day! I am a bit worried that it's small size will affect the level of detail I'm kind of expecting. I do so love this design...I'd hate to see it not be the amazing project I was so hoping it would be!

Back to the gulf I went again on Saturday...this time with my Aunt in tow. I've got a bit of a project on at the moment. I want to collect enough shells and then a good section of sand to make "something" (although I'm not sure exactly what yet), but summer on the gulf just isn't good shell-hunting time. Plus, the water was pretty stirred up for some reason:
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So I decided to push it and see if we could make it to Orange Beach. Of course, I10 through Mobile was a total cluster-fudge and we ended up getting stuck in near dead traffic for about an hour, but once we got back on track, there was apparently a motorcycle/bike thing going on and after watching groups of them doing wheelies, standing on the tops of the their bikes, and flipping in and out of traffic very dangerously all the way down, I made the decision that if they turned left toward Orange Beach, we would go right toward Fort Morgan. Needless to say, we ended up here:
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Which is fine because, as Kate knows, I love a good fort! And, because I had my Aunt with me, I had the courage to ride the ferry back across instead of fighting that I10 traffic back and saved us over an hour of travel time! Sorry about the quality...any other time I would have taken a real camera.
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Makes me want to go "mine, mine, mine!". Speaking of which, holy crap did Disney World find a few hundred billion dollars lying around or something? My goodness! I think they went nuts with all the announcements at D23 for future projects at Disney World! Gondolas, Epcot gutting, Magic Kingdom theaters and rides, Mickey ride at DHS and new info on Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land! Geez! I don't know whether to be excited or scared, but that's the way Disney is...just because you've been once doesn't mean you've seen it. In a year or so it's like a whole new world (pardon the pun).

Oh, and since I'm in a fairly good mood despite my headache...here's a big F-you to the parents!
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Comments

It's so funny when I see such parallels in our posts...ferry rides...fascination with Disney World updates... As always, I am sure we share DNA somewhere down the line...

Great start on your new project. And, hey, if it helps you get your stitchy bug back to start something new, I will cheer you on. Sorry about the issues with your kit. Whenever possible, I much prefer to kit my own projects any more.

Have a magical day, my Disney friend! --Andrea
A new start should get you right out of that slump - I hope all of the challenges won't discourage you! Sounds like you had another great trip with your aunt.
A new start is a new start, no matter how small! Love the design, especially the little Monster climbing on her back, he's so cute!
I'm glad that you and your aunt had a good day out and I'm laughing so much at The Wisteria That Would Not Die.

The paper is called A4. It is half the size of A3 and twice the size of A5. It is the equivalent of a fat 1/8th of A1 paper!! It's just how we do things here!
Emma Louise said…
Looking forward to seeing this one grow! You can get the chart digitally with the kit, it knocks 5% off the price with the code GOGREEN. It is expensive but considering the price of threads on average are around 90p per skein - it's probably better for us in Europe rather than those in North America.

I'm hoping I can do a trip to Florida once the new stuff has been added. I'm most excited about Star Wars land.
Love the new start!! And yay to your little bush that could!!
Faith... said…
Oh Fort Morgan looks like an interesting place to explore! Sounds like you had a great day trip.

Love your new start; that chart is great! I do hope you get to stitch more on it SOON! I prefer to kit up my own projects and get charts digitally. I stitch directly off the pdf, marking it off as I go.
Linda said…
I love your new start Keiley. I'm so happy for you that your bush came back.

Linda
Heather said…
Ooo fort Morgan looks cool. Yeah all the announcements were interesting. Especially since wdw usually hates to spend money. I'm glad you can get the print because we didn't go in any stores and the jbg signing was the same time as a panel we had to go to. I'm glad your tree is doing well ;)