It has started!

I have begun the newbies! I'm finding it hard to not do a little on one and then switch and work on the other. The original plan was to work on one, then the next day work on the other, but I feel guilty about ignoring the other, so right now they are getting equal face time!

So first off, progress on A Summer Ball - it's a little hard to see because the color is a very pale blue, but here it is:



And here is A Walk Through The Highlands - I'm finding the lugana a bit difficult, not because of the small size, but because it's way too soft...I definitely prefer aida. I started out using 1x1, but I just didn't like the coverage, so I switched to 2x1. I know it's a bit heavy, but I think that's one of the things I usually don't like about any of the other projects I've done on aida, the thread doesn't cover the material...not a problem here! Plus, because the lugana is so delicate, I'm stitching much slower than I normally would. But without further ado:



I'm still testing new techniques as well. The gridding on the lugana was a pain. I'm not going to use knots anymore for the thread either, so I first tried the loop tie method, but I don't like having the strings loose at the needle end, I'd prefer the loop at the needle, so I'm leaving string hanging. It's weird getting used to it. I learned stitching by tying the string in knots and it's hard breaking the habit of a lifetime! I'm also trying not "X"ing as I go along but //// then \\\\\\, also weird. I don't think I realized the size of either of these projects either! Both of them are huge!! We may be in for a long one guys!

The Three Musketeers - A Review

So T and I went to see The Three Musketeers on Friday night. Yes, I know it's bombing at the box office, but I have just two words that made it all worth while (at least for me)....Matthew MacFadyen. If those two didn't work, how about two more...Orlando Bloom? Luke Evans? Well then, how about the best two-worded surprise of the entire movie...James Corden! I knew James was in it, but I had no idea he would literally almost steal the entire movie away from Matthew!

But I'm jumping the gun here. As a child of the 80's, I have the "Brat Pack" running through my veins, so MY "Three Musketeers" is the '93 version with Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Oliver Platt, and a very very young Chris O'Donnell. Not one single version (in my eyes) has topped it since (as an added bonus it was a Disney production...although I'm sure those boys got up to very un-Disney like behavior on set). So, this new version had a lot to live up to!

For those that follow my blog, my feelings for Matthew is not unknown, I absolutely adore him as a spy and as a Darcy! But it seems like his American film career has been nothing but bad guy roles and frankly I just don't like it! It's like watching his other two spy counterparts, Rupert Penry-Jones or Richard Armitage in bad guy roles! Not that they don't do it well, but when you've come to love them as the good guys, watching them go bad just doesn't work (and I don't want to hear about Lucas North's trip down the "darkside"...I haven't seen series 10 of Spooks yet, and I know it's a snowball's chance in hell, but I'm still waiting for his "just kidding" speech!).

Back on topic, This version of The Three Musketeers was absolutely brilliant! It was action-packed, fast-paced, beautifully shot, and in case you haven't gotten the point yet, filled with totally hot guys sword-fighting left and right! I just don't understand the movie-going public nowadays! So, if you get the chance, before it gets pulled, go and see it! Or at least buy it when it comes out on DVD! It definitely is worth it!

On a side note, we were also the only ones in our theater (which was nice, we could talk at normal volume if we wanted to, but we were so caught up in the movie we didn't do much talking). Everyone else was seeing Paranormal Activity 3. If it was anything like 1 & 2, I just don't get the appeal...they are stupid with approximately 3 scary moments that last all of 2 seconds and then you have to wait another 30 minutes for more action and you get a stupid ending...think Blair Witch indoors with less in-fighting. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE horror, but I haven't seen in a good horror movie probably since the original Nightmare On Elm Street (I still have Freddy Krueger nightmares upon occasion). The original black and white The Haunting is 100x more scary than any crap they put on the screens now. The original Exorcist, the original Amityville Horror, the original second Halloween, the original April Fools Day, those are scary movies (notice the use of the word "original" in each one of those movies - why must Hollywood insist on remaking everything 10-20 years on? It's never as good)! Gore doesn't bother me in the least either...I work in a Path lab, I see the real thing...so throwing guts around and tons of fake blood is just, well, fake, and gets no reaction, at least from me anyway...most times it just get laughs (hey Am...remember the fun we had watching the remake of My Bloody Valentine? People kept staring at us because we were laughing so much everytime someone would get it! Great times!).

Just Because!

I just realized that it's been a while since I posted a video, and I've been in a nostalgic mood lately, so here's a classic Take That:



It's funny to watch how young they were, but at the same time, I've always had a weakness for a boy band and Mark was so cute (as he still is today)! If you'd told me then that I'd fancy Howard now as well, I'd called you crazy (but then again, I only fancy Howard now because of a series of dreams I had about him after using a specific Scentsy scent next to my bed - which I have no clue why it caused Howie dreams, but it did...My Dear Watson in case you were wondering, or wanted to have Howard dreams too, and if you happen to know of a Mark scent-causing dream...please let me know)! And I've always wondered if you didn't see Gary much in this video because he was pissed because Robbie was singing! Guess we'll never know! Enjoy!

Stash storage

I've read numerous threads about floss storage and people questioning what is the best way to store floss. I don't have that problem, they are all in order, labeled, and contained...I'm completely organized on that front:


What I have a problem with is stash storage and I have yet to come across one single discussion about stash storage:

Kits, printouts, leaflets, magazines, all piled willy-nilly and it DRIVES ME NUTS!!! I want to find a way to organize it in one convenient location and in something attractive to look at. But as of yet, I have found nothing. I've looked at plastic bins (but I hate plastic), I've looked at hinged boxes, I've looked at baskets, wicker drawers, and just about every other storage system in my price range (which is not very high). I don't have room to put something too large either, another hurtle!

I'm sure eventually I'll find something to appease me, but you'd think with all the merchandise out there for floss, somebody, somewhere would have thought of something for stash storage!! Most of us have enough of it, probably more stash than floss!

Change of plans

First off, thanks to everyone for your congratulations on my finishing Mickey And Friends! I've been taking a well deserved break from stitching for the past couple of days, getting ready for the next projects.

But I did decide not to do the intended three I had planned to do. I am going to still do A Walk Through The Highlands:

But instead of the other two, I'm going to do this one I just recently ran across:

I just bought the chart, but it was so Jane Austen, I just couldn't pass it up and I'm dying to start it!! I do really have a problem with the simplicity of the faces, but I'll worry about that when the time comes. Maybe I can adjust the backstitching enough to not make them seem so simplistic.

If things get too dull and I find myself start to get bored, I'll start a Disney one just to keep my motivation up.

Upcoming ideas

I have purchased a lot of stash, but I also have stitch software. I have actually charted quite a few patterns, but have not actually ever stitched one of them. The biggest project that's on the table for me is, of course, the one I've been hinting about and I've finally perfected it!

It's big because they are 22ct aida, 11x32 with 200 colors per pic! They are huge, but they are pretty realistic which is what I wanted. I am a Disney freak, as I think I may have mentioned a couple of times, and the Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride at Disney World. I am a Disney purest as well, and as much as I love Marc Davis, I don't think his original Stretching Room portraits would translate well to stitches because they are line heavy.

On another Disney front, I've also charted another Mickey and Friends pic, but right now I can't stand to look at another Mickey and Friends!:

What I may not have mentioned is the first I went to college when I was 17, I majored in art. There was a time, a million years ago mind you, I did have a smidge of talent. It is long gone now and I've got no desire to try to get it back (even though I do get asked and it really pissed me off...what part of "no" don't people understand?). It's way too long a story and I still can't really explain why I was able to just completely give up such a large part of my soul so easily and never look back. Another blog for another day. But I do still appreciate art and I still have my favorites. Like with literature, I prefer the classics (a good source of "heated" debates between me and my beloved Sister too...LYMI Am), so I'd love to translate a couple of those into stitches, so I picked my favorites:

Firstly, my absolutely favorite piece of art is not a painting, but an etching: Albrecht Durer's Melencolia I. This is my favorite because it feels like the embodiment of me...a lonely angel sitting in her cluttered attic with her dog and the world just outside her window. Even her cherub is bored with her life! (Might just be my interpretation tho). I have charted it and even though it's an etching, it does translate well to stitches (plus it's only 10 colors!).

Secondly, my favorite type of painting style is impressionistic, so of course, Monet is my favorite on that front. His London series is one of favorites, so I chose The Thames Below Westminster:

I'd also like to do the portrait of my favorite author, so I charted the standard pic of her:

I do have a couple of other ideas on the table...I still haven't done any work on my Captain Wentworth letter. And, of course, everytime I see a Disney pic I wanna chart it (and typically do to see how it looks)! Whether I ever get around to doing these projects, who knows. The Haunted Mansion Stretching Portraits are the only ones that WILL get done...no question. The others, I just don't know, but more added to the stash, that's for sure!

EUREKA!!!

It's done! I feel like I've finally given birth or something!! I'm just more glad it's over than feel like I've accomplished something....at least for now. That will change eventually.


and here's it in it's whole:


Now I just have to wash it and get it framed! And it's time to move on to the next!

Didn't finish, but getting there!

I didn't really work too hard this weekend... I slept a lot and I started re-watching the Vicar of Dibley and I'm about to get to the Holy Wholly Happy Ending and that pretty much guarantees that I won't be taking my eyes off the screen!! Anyone who's seen it knows why! But anyhoo...here's the progress (which also means I can take my time to finish and don't have to rush through it):

I can see the end!

I have four colors left! I knew I'd jinx myself by saying I'd have plenty of time this week to work on it, so I'm definitely keeping my mouth shut for the weekend!! Then there will be the fun task of sorting the threads and winding the bobbins and labeling the thread boxes and scrolling and gridding the fabric before the new projects can even be started!!

I got a new stand but I don't know how it's gonna work out. It doesn't look as good in person as it did online. What made this one exciting was the fact that you can spin the scroll bar around, it has an attachment for using your own scroll bars that also spins, and it has a built in pattern stand. No more chip clips or weird internet quick-fixes for holding patterns.

Plus, I can't stop buying stash! Only I'm buying patterns, which means I'll also eventually have to buy thread, and fabric and needles! And it's not like I can pop over to the local stitching shop and pick up those things...we have no local stitching shop! We only have a Hobby Lobby and they have approximately one-half an isle of cross-stitching stuff and no fabric above a 14ct aida. So I have to purchase everything online. You can't judge fabric colors online! I've been looking for the recommended fabrics for the patterns, but on a couple of them I just can't find it or they just don't look right.

For example, I finally bought Thine Is The Trick And The Treat by Prairie Moon which I have been wanting forever. But I think the recommended fabric for that is just way too dark and I'd like to choose something different, but without looking at actual fabric instead of online pictures, how can I do that? Here is the pattern:

And I got Bat Banner by Alessandra Adelaide but I can't find the material for it!

But then again, I'm just obsessing as usual...by the time I actually get around to these projects, I'm sure I'll be able to find everything I need. Impatience is my greatest virtue!!!

Decision made!

Not much progress on Mickey and Friends tonight, so not much to show, but thanks to everyone for the encouraging words...I was really bummed that I hadn't gotten very far at all and now I ain't feelin so bad! Now, if my stupid head would just cooperate and stop being cantankerous!!

But on the decision front, I have made my three choices. My HAED has already been chosen, I discussed a while back why I selected this particular stitch and how it pretty much personified me to a tee, which is why I picked it. It's not my tartan, but it's pretty close (well, minus the yellow, but if the pattern doesn't look too bad, I could change it to white and it could almost be my dress tartan), ...so project #1 and main project will be A Walk Through The Highlands by Jasmine Becket-Griffith.

Project #2 is the oldest of my stash and has been crying to get out of the bottom of the stash box for well over 20 years now and I think it's time to let it out. It's on 18ct aida and only calls for 1 thread (which I don't think is enough for 18ct, so I may beef it up to 2...have to see how it goes)...but it's The English Garden by Lynn Hollyn (sorry, scanner didn't get the whole pic of it and it's so old I couldn't find an adequate picture online).

The Disney project was the hardest decision to make. Most all of my stash is Disney so it's not like I don't have tons to choose from. But there is one project I've been "dying" to do for years that's been eating away at me. I've tested them on numerous cross stitch software programs and they will be my first project I've actually done myself. I thought I had it all ready to go, I have the material, I've gotten the thread for at least one ready, but the OCD is getting the better of me and it just isn't good enough...I want to try one more stitch software program before I commit. And what a commitment these will be. I figure each one will take a couple of years a piece and there are four of them in the set. I want them to look like the real thing and if it means making them 11x30 on 22ct and using 240 colors, then so be it. What are they you ask? HA! That's for me to know and you to eventually find out when I've perfected them to my satisfaction! But I will give you a hint and the most geekiest of Disney nerds should pick up on this in a heartbeat...I'm gonna start with Abigail and finish with Alexander.

Until then, I've opted for an easy one, also older than proverbial dirt...project #3:

Some of the colors in this one bother me a bit, but a child could do this one, so it will be a nice break from the other two and it's on 14ct...I might go blind switching from 25 to 18 to 14 and back again!!

But gotta finish Mickey and Friends first. If I have a good week (and I hope I didn't just jinx myself), I'm looking at a weekend finish! I've learned a lot from this one...never buy homemade kits from ebay, copy the pattern pages first before you start marking all over them with a highlighter, gridding is now a way of life and I'll never not do it again, and first and foremost, pay attention to your symbols! There is a big difference between a ' and a ` (and since I type for a living, you'd think I'd know that fact!).

IHSW over and no dice!

So, I tried really hard to meet my goal, but my stupid head wouldn't cooperate. I came home with a migraine Friday night, so Friday was screwed. I ended up sleeping through most of Saturday, but when I did finally get up, I did get a lot accomplished:


But today was a bit of a relapse, and I couldn't focus enough on the project to work on it, plus I got the news that I have to work a double shift tomorrow, so today got cut short anyway, so this is as far as I made it:


I will say that the ton of same color stuff wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I actually couldn't wait to get back to the confetti! I may have been stitching for years, but this is my first 18ct and it feels like I'm stitching a bloody poster!!

But I did make a decision about what project to do next. I'm gonna give multi-managing a go. I am definitely gonna start my HAED, but anytime in the past when I haven't done a Disney project, I end up putting the non-Dis aside for years at a time. Disney stitches are the only ones I work on constantly until they are finished, so I figured if I work on a Disney at the same time, it might satiate my Disney demon enough to keep the ball rolling.

But I couldn't just leave it at two, oh no, not me! As I was digging through the stash, I ran across a project that I actually bought in high school, the only one of the old stash I haven't given away and I've decided to work on that one as well! Hopefully I'll get pics up in the next couple of days of my choices. I must have lost my friggin mind!!

Hope everyone else had a good IHSW, maybe your progress was better than mine!!

Ready for the IHSW!!

So this is where I am:

Wednesday night:


and tonight:


Page 1 is done! Only two more pages to go!! I fully intended to start my HAED next, but I've been thinking about it today, and maybe I should do a few "smaller" ones between this one and the HAED. This one has about 40,000 stitches and I'm just not sure I want to jump right into another one so massive. Overall, I've really only spent a few months doing this one (counting actual work time), but it's been pretty intense (ah, the power of OCD!!). I have all the elements for Tanglewood. But then again, maybe I'm just scared of the HAED...it has over 165,000 stitches on 25ct! I do have numerous kits I could choose from as well. Guess it gives me something to dwell on while I stitch this weekend!!

Good luck to everyone and enjoy being a hermit for the weekend! There's nothing I'd rather be (and typically am anyway!).

Persuade Me Review

Most of you know I'm an Janeite. Well, I also tend to gobble up any fan-fiction type books as well. Variations on theme, re-tellings, etc., etc. Most Austen fandoms tend to center around Pride and Prejudice, so a Persuasion one is a real rarity! But they also scare me. Persuasion is my absolute favorite Austen novel and I'm extremely protective of it. I relate to Anne Elliot in more ways than one (other than having a gorgeous, rich, Naval Captain who looks like Rupert Penry-Jones totally in love with me...but we can't have everything).

Persuade Me by Juliet Archer is a modern re-telling of Persuasion and it's pretty much spot on with storyline and characters, just brought up-to-date. But there was one addition that should have made me cringe, but didn't...the one thing that happens in every modern romance novel when the girl and the guy finally get together...the sex scene (although it was pretty tame by romance novel standards)! To tell you the truth, I'd absolutely love to see this in film (not for the actual sex mind you, but to see some actual passion between Anne and Frederick (or Rick as he's known in this version).

I've always felt that aside from Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland (my 2nd fave BTW), Anne and Frederick had the most passion between them, even if it was kept "on the down-low". Most people would probably say that Darcy and Elizabeth were the most passionate, but I think their passion would probably be fueled more from their arguments and head-butting than from their actual love (I'm not saying there isn't love there, but I'd bet they fight alot...can't see Anne and Fred doing that). I love Fanny Price, but I always felt sorry for her book-wise...she was just an afterthought to Edmund IMO. If it could have only been like the Jonny Lee Miller version...gosh, what a movie proposal that was! Edward and Elinor were always more like brother and sister to me and Marianne and Colonial Brandon, well, I'm sure she's like and spoiled child and he gives her whatever she wants...little to no passion there either. I don't want to even think about Emma and Knightley...ugh. I'm digressing as per usual.

All in all, it was a good book, but like I said, it was pretty much a complete update of Persuasion, so there wasn't much not to love. The letter that Rick writes to Anne couldn't even come close to comparing to the original, but modern man doesn't have the capacity to write with feelings like that (at least none that I know anyway).

This was the second in the series. I also have the first, The Importance Of Being Emma, but I started with this one first because Emma is my LEAST favorite Austen and I really wasn't looking forward to it, but I think I'll go for it next since this one was pretty well put together. Who knows, maybe Juliet Archer can change my mind about Emma and keep me from seeing her as the spoiled, stuck-up, cheerleader-type, rich girl who gets the great guy that she SO does not deserve (but that's just my humble opinion as always!).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY!!

My baby son is eleven!! I can hardly believe it! It seems like only yesterday he looked like this:

It's been two and a half years since his brother Zander passed now. Zach loved his big bro and Zan was the love of my life. These are my favorite shots of the two of them:

But, now it's just the two of us. I thought the loss of Zander would kill me. He was sick for so long, but Zachary is the reason why I pulled through. He was the strong one and he needed me to be strong for him, so I did. So to my little baby boy, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and as many hugs and kisses as you can stand!

Taken tonight (he can't stand the camera, so I had to trick him with food!)

Time for IHSW again!!

I can't believe it's time for the International Hermit and Stitch weekend again! It doesn't seem like it's been a month! My goal is going to be CRAZY! I'm planning on finishing page 1 this week and it shouldn't be hard, but the goal for the weekend is to finish both page 4 and page 7, the last two pages! I think it's possible because other than Mickey's ears, it's all background and should be easy. There is only about four color changes. But this is how far I've come:







I probably would have gotten further tonight, but I was at work to late. But what little time I did stitch was all background and it did go really quick which is way I think I can really do two pages in two days. I am so glad I got little-bit's hair cut last weekend! (I left his demon-eyes in the pic because he's been giving me the demon eyes ever since I gave him the hair cut!).

Kate's Hotter or Notter Question

So Kate, I've tried and tried to post comments on your blog and I just can't get it to work, so I'm gonna answer you question on my own blog!

My three hotters actually show my age because they are all in their late 30's early 40's...Richard Armitage, Michael Fassbender, and Rupert Penry-Jones. If I bumped the list to five, I'd add Max Beesley and Jamie Draven (wow...large quantity of Mancunians on this list!). Bumping up to ten - David Tennant, Mark Owen, Jonny Lee Miller, JJ Feild, and Colin Firth (wow, I could do this all day!).

Popular hotters that I think are total notters are Brad Pitt, Patrick Dempsey, and my total least favorite is Tom Cruise. I've never understood any of their appeals.

Different strokes for different folks! Hope this helps you!

Updated progress

My my, time flies when you're not posting! I haven't really been stitching alot, but what I have been doing hasn't been showing much progress because of the confetti, but finally, through the confetti, a Goofy is appearing!







I also finally got my magnifying light I've been drooling over at Hobby Lobby. I was disappointed at the amount of light it put off at first, but it being a true whitish light really ended up helping in the end. I still have to use my lamp as well, but, you do what you have to, right?

I also got the thread for both Tanglewood and the Bramble and The Rose. I've never seen silk thread before....considering the expense, I'm really not impressed. I just hope it stitches well.

But on the Mickey and Friends front...I'm ready to be done with it. I don't necessarily think I'm bored with it, I just think I'm ready to do all the other projects I've got lined up. Even if I could manage to allow myself to work on two projects at once, all that would manage to do would be to slow both projects down. Better to keep my focus on one!

From Notting Hill With Love Actually Review

I'll try to summarize without giving away the ending...basically it's the story of Scarlett whose over-protective dad and over-bearing finance think she's wasting her life because she's obsessed with movies. She gets an opportunity to flat-sit in Notting Hill for a month and decides to prove to everyone that life can be like a movie. She meets new friends including super-hot neighbor Sean who is a bit too much like a cross between Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy! Scarlett and neighbor Sean find themselves on the hunt for the mom that deserted Scarlett as a child, trying to obtain the goal of four weddings (but hopefully not a funeral), and along the way ends up running into Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and the real Daniel Cleaver himself! But in the end does she end up choosing her fiance or the neighbor and will she finally prove that real life and the movies go hand in hand!

It's been a while since I've had a chance to actually read anything. This one has been in my periphery for a while and the mood struck me, so I thought "what the heck!". I definitely was not disappointed! I literally could not put this down! I definitely understood Scarlett because I'm also obsessed with the movies as well and I too have heard numerous times that I live in a fantasy world and life isn't like a movie (a fact which I know, but how I wish it was!).

Midsomer Murders Finish

Well, they are done!

After spending weeks watching 13 series of a single show, you become attached to the characters, and the locations, and everything. When it's all over, it's almost like a loss! I miss it!

I spent Sunday watching Kingdom Hospital that my sister lent me, but about halfway through, I remembered why I quit watching it when it originally aired...I got bored. I finished it this time, but no need to watch it again or buy it for myself. At least there wasn't a clown that turned into a giant spider (always a good thing in a Stephen King ending). Maybe I just don't like spontaneous Glee moments in my horror. Then again, even after the explanation of the ant-eater, I still thought it was stupid (sorry Am, but true).

So after that I got back to what I know and started the Complete series for Gavin and Stacey. I've only watched the first couple of episodes, so it's early to tell, but so far it's great!!

I also did the "big replacement" and ordered series 1-8 of Spooks to replace my MI-5's. That's been bothering me for years (but if I would have started buying them when it started bothering me, I would have only had to replace the first 2 or 3). Funny thing was, Buying them from Amazon UK got me all 8 series cheaper than I paid for the first series of MI-5! I didn't get series 9 because the price for it was still too high, but I'll reorder it when I order 10, so I'm not worried about it. Once 10 comes out, I'm gonna watch them all in order. I've seen watched various series several times a piece, but never all in a row. It will be hard watching the Rupert eps again and even the Richard eps knowing what I do now, but maybe I can see it through new eyes! Maybe that should be my next post review!

Facebook Fraud

I've been offline for a few days out of sheer terror! Friday night I went to make a payment on my credit card when I noticed that the balance was WAY too high. So I started looking at the purchases (I rarely ever use it) and sure enough, there were two $250 charges and another $250 pending charge from Facebook! I completely panicked! I called the credit card company immediately and reported it as fraud and they cancelled the card and then I went to Facebook.

Now, I don't use my Facebook account for much of anything. Birthday wishes or the occasional messages from someone, but other than that, it's completely useless to me. Facebook is for social people...of which I am not! I don't play games or most messages like everyone else..."going to the bathroom every five minutes". I just don't get it! Plus, the one that really gets me, is all the people who post all the religious comments and I know for a fact that most of those people don't have a single religious bone in their body! It's all for show!! I'm digressing.

So, after talking to the credit card company, I went onto my Facebook account and started looking seriously at my settings. I've always kept up with the privacy settings and made sure mine were at the highest level, but I needed to check. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. There was no credit card on file, no evidence I had ever made a purchase, nothing. So I also reported it as fraud to them as well.

I got word from Facebook today that they verified that it was indeed fraud and they are reimbursing my account (mute point because the credit card company has already written it off as fraud). Then I made a final decision. My Facebook account is going buh-bye. I went online today and posted a good-bye notice to my so-called Facebook "friends". In 24 hrs, bon voyage to FB! I don't need it anyway.

This blog is what I wanted Facebook to be...me being able to express my opinions and sharing my life, but not in a way that shoves it down everyone's throat. If people aren't interested, they don't have to visit the blog, whereas on FB it would be in their face. And in the same vain, I don't have to worry about looking at everyone else's crap on FB like I have to now.

So, here I go being even more anti-social...I shall no longer have a Facebook account! That almost makes me not part of the human race! Yea me!

Slow progress and hole fix

I tried everything to fix the hole. I tried to stitch over it but there was no way that was going to work. I pulled the patch out and was hoping the threads would hold it together, but they wouldn't even come close. Then I tried the stupidest idea of all, I tried a band-aid, one on each side! But the needle kept getting gummy from the band-aid sticky. In the end, I cut a section from another piece of 18ct, larger than the hole, and lined it up evenly and went to town and it worked! If you look close (it's where the ocre and black humps meet), it's really ugly stitching, but you can't tell there are two pieces of aida together, so that's good at least.



So here's Sunday night:


And here's tonight:


Not much progress, but there is a lot of confetti here for some reason! I figured once I got to the top where there wasn't a lot of design, it would get easier. But, I guess that's what I get for thinking!!

I ordered the thread for both Tanglewood and The Bramble And The Rose from Ink Circles and got the material for Tanglewood (but I went with Lugana instead of linen, I'm still terrified of linen). I think I need to see the thread for Bramble before I get the material. I tried to look online and see what others did, but I am apparently the only person on the planet that is using the recommended thread! The thread is called "Mostly Deadly Nightshade" and it's like a gorgeous blacky-purple hand-dyed silk thread. But the recommended material is called vintage lentil and it's this weird greenish color and I'm not jazzed about it. So I'll have to see.

I also got all the thread for A Walk In The Highlands so I'm all set for the next several projects!! Now I just have to hope I don't run out of steam! It makes me want to be able to work on several projects at the same time, but there is no way my OCD will let me! I'd go nuts!!