Weekly Stitching and FINALLY relief!

After 10 long miserable days, by Friday afternoon I was FINALLY headache free. I'm not sure if it just gave up or if being back on Ritalin did it, and I'm not sure I care. It may have been the shock of finding out that our lot rent here at the trailer park is going up $50/mo starting next month! They have NEVER raised it THAT much! Plus, they haven't done anything to deserve it. My neighbors across the street have already moved out and more will follow. I've been here over 20+ years and it happens every rent increase...mass exodus. When I moved out here, the lot rent was $75 and now it's going to be $250 starting in March. My house payment was only $318. Just with the lot rent alone, I'd probably paid for a house already. It's kind of sad really. I still think I'm going to stay here and focus on the school path though (although I had my doubts for a while on Friday). I don't want to pay them this extra money, but I know a degree opens more doors, not just here, but elsewhere too. I can still build my house, but maybe I can do it somewhere else and not be stuck here anymore. I just hope I'm not too old. One step at a time though, get out of debt so I can get into more debt with school loans! Brilliant plan!

But enough of my whining, I left off here last week on Mal:
maleficent126
And ladies and gents...as of 5 pm on Saturday, I am able to give you row 5 in all its confetti hell, most of which I did finish Friday night!
maleficent132
And all together now for a total of 621.23 hrs:
maleficent133
Only a row and three-quarters of a row to go...but not right now. To be honest, I think I'm more proud of the background that actually Maleficent herself. It's going to be fabulous when it's finished and framed and I may spend more to get it done right with fancy double-matting and all!

I couldn't wait to start on DoNa's Rapunzel. It's been calling to me since I kitted it up. It's amazing how different charts stitch differently. I started immediately on Rapunzel after I finished Maleficent's row on Saturday, worked on her Sat and today, probably no faster or harder than usual, and I managed to finish a whole page and almost a full other one! All my fears about working on 18 projects in a year completely went away after this weekend...that is if I can keep up this pace. But anyway, from blank slate (which, FYI is the picture I always mean to take and never remember to do...yea Ritalin!):
Rapunzel-001
and I'd say I'm about two-thirds in page 2:
Rapunzel-003
Part of me feels like this should be outlined or something and, is it just me, or does the lantern in the middle look a bit like an IUD in a uterus? Have I been working in a lab too long? Funnily enough, these colors would have been great when I was 14, but I do feel like I'm stitching a birthday cake right now. Hopefully, once I get to the good stuff, it will work itself out, most projects do. At this pace, I could be done with the first row by next weekend, but I'm going to be conservative and say weekend after next just to be safe.

I am kicking myself for the cheap scroll rods and the even cheaper velcro strips I bought instead of my usual American Dreams frames. They are just SOOO expensive and I needed four of them! I'm having a hard time keeping tension in the fabric with these Hobby Lobby cheapies. What I wasted on the four I could have at least bought two AD's...maybe. Oh well, maybe I can slowly buy one at a time. Right now though, it's more important I buy one for Sleepy Hollow Mural and it's going to be expensive because it needs to be 36", then I'll worry about stocking up on 18"'ers.

Speaking of 18, it is VERY nice being able to stitch on 18ct again, even if it's just temporary. My contacts needed a break from me more than I needed a break from them...the joys of gas-perms. I still have to wear two pairs of readers on top of my glasses to see 18ct, but at least I can stitch on it without my contacts. There would be no way I could even begin to see 28ct triple glassed up. Why can't I get normal diseases? No, I have to get some mutated crazy astigmatism on steroids and eventually I'll need donor corneas and that fits the plot line of just about every horror movie ever!

I got some fabric for the glass project that was in the magazine...I'm still on the fence about doing it, but I do love the fabric! The picture doesn't do it justice...it's more purple and gray, but oh well.
Untitled
I'm still not sure it's going to be one of my other five, but I still have 11 months left in the year to decide, right Jo?

Comments

Maleficent is spectacular Keebles. I don't think I'd have the patience for those, I barely have it for the Dimensions kits I have on scrolls at the moment. Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon almost weekly in their online ad, that's how I got a couple of my American Dream scroll rods.
Happy Stitching
Sandy
Congratulations on the row finish (you're right, that background IS stunning!) but even more so on defeating your headache. You made a great start on Rapunzel - I've been in love with those designs for a while, but for me as a non-BAP-maniac they are somewhat huge. Compared to your HAEDs, however, they are positively tiny and it's no wonder you breeze through them with those blocks of colour after all the confetti on Maleficent!
Elaine said…
You know American Dreams went out of business, right? They are local to me, and I've been to their warehouse and I was so bummed to hear the news. I immediately went and bought a bunch of scroll rods off Amazon and a couple of other online stores. I won't stitch with anything else.
Unknown said…
Love your stitching as always, I see what you mean about the birthday cake colors, must be nice to stitch with bright colors after all the dark ones.
Maleficent looks so amazing!! She is definitely worth a double mat! And great start on Rapunzel. Glad I didn't have a drink in my mouth when I read the "IUD in a uterus" part. HAHA!!! I will never be able to look at that the same way again. And so glad to hear you're headache free, hope it stays that way for a long long time :)
Linda said…
I'm so happy to hear that your headache is gone Keiley. Congrats on the row finish. Amazing progress as always. It would take me months to stitch what did in a week. Great start on Rapunzel. You'll have that one done in no time at all.

Linda
Glad the headache has been given the boot. Sorry to hear about the new one with the rent increase though.

Storming work on both Malificient and the DonaStitch. They are much bigger than they look!

Maybe you could crowdfund the frames? If we all chipped in a couple of quid/dollars instead of a birthday card you might be able to buy a scroll rod or two!
Astrids dragon said…
Wow, she is stunning! I can't wait to see her finished and framed.
Nice start on Rapunzel. LOL to the IUD, I was thinking a fancy bug though!

Oh my, ten days with a headache?! I'm so glad you're feeling better.
Tiffstitch said…
Doubly fantastic post for relief from your headache and finished a row! Maleficent looks amazing! And I agree on the background, it is outstanding.
Bethan said…
I am so glad your headache has finally cleared! The background on Maleficent is amazing, I can see why you like it. And don't worry, now you have pointed it out, I agree with the IUD/uterus similarity on Rapunzel. I love the colours of the piece already x