Category Archives: cross stitch

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, me, Project Life, travel by

Wow. After six nights of the N drug I am feeling so much better. It’s amazing how productive I can be without that constant drag feeling & mental fog. The humid weather may have disappeared for a while too, which is adding to my overall feeling of goodness.

The Project Life app is FINALLY available on android. Finally. I had my first page in minutes of downloading the app, true to the promise. As I don’t have any games on my phone (I’m so disciplined, lol) I can see that this might be my “what shall I do for the next five minutes” app. This is using the Kraft kit, one of the freebies:
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Stitching-wise I am still working on Afternoon in London. I’ve finalised the threads I am using & that makes it faster. There’s been a couple of days where I didn’t do any work on it, but the last two mornings I’ve woken refreshed at five so snuck in half an hour before leaving for work (I do bring it to work but don’t often stitch at lunch, as Sarah & I walk usually) & as usual on any project, some visible progress enables more progress 🙂  plus I also want to do Paris.
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Si & I are going away this weekend – five days! – & I hope to finish while we’re driving. I may have to pack a second project just in case. I will more-than-likely be social media free for that time, so have fun everyone! See you in a week!

February Smalls SAL

Posted in cross stitch, round robin, Smalls SAL by

This SAL is a free choice SAL hosted by Heather over at Stitching Lotus. You can click on the button in my sidebar and it’ll take you there, or Feb’s page is HERE.

This month I’ve been really productive Smalls wise. I have Rahenna’s pixie, the Noel Mini Sampler (three specialty stitches I’m proud of, and it’s even laced up, ready for backing) and Up in the Treetops, a much-converted Lizzie*Kate design. I’ve also decided that the March Joyful World SAL piece will be perfect for our September, so that’s planned for then.

Plans! Ah! Those things I break…notice there’s no Mira update? That’s because I hate that fabric. I see a big frog session in my future…

February WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, me, WIPocalypse by

WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/ – or you can click on the icon on the right 🙂

Question of the Month: If you have any of your pieces on display in your home which attracts the most plaudits?

I don’t actually have anything of my own on permanent display at home, just the ones I pull out at Christmas for the tree. I have lots waiting to be framed, and ornies made for me in exchanges, but the pieces I have had framed are displayed in other people’s houses. All anyone can see in my house is whichever WIP is currently on the scroll frames! Right now, that’s Persephone and my new start, Afternoon in London by Country Cottage Needleworks. This is after two evenings:

363e59ad9083b6f297924642bd6ec158At work I am teaching Kimberley to stitch! Her grandma loves pigs, but is sadly very ill and heading to hospice soon. Kim wanted to do something to honour her grandma – learn a craft her grandma loves to make something very personal. She chose this wee design  & I kitted it up for her. We had a session on Tuesday and I had multiple people tell me how cute it was to see her working away during her breaks! Love sharing life skills.

 

As for myself, I had a follow up with the GP yesterday, as I’m in week 3 of this low level headache. Something to *woot!* about – my iron levels are 36. That’s thirty-freaking-six, peeps. It’s not been that high since I was a newbie teenager working at MedLab. And I am now trialling Nortriptyline on a half-dose as a preventer. Apparently it’s an anti-depressant/stop-smoking agent in full dose 25mg – but I’m on the baby 10mg. I took it at 8pm and was snoring by 9pm. This morning I woke at 2, went to the bathroom then straight back to sleep. No anxious dreams. I do feel a little hung-over which apparently is a side-effect for a week or so but even that is less than the headache. Things look good, today!

I have lots and lots of smalls to share later on in the week too. Happy today.

WIP Wednesday

Posted in 16 in 2016, cross stitch, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

One really good thing about regular posts is that the pressure is off to create witty titles. I’ll leave that one up to Maia, eh?

This week hasn’t been great. This fortnight, really. I am dependant on meds to keep the headaches at bay and continue functioning. I am nowhere near as bad as some people (and freakily there is a shortage of Sumatriptin right now here in NZ, so I am hoarding the 10 tablets I have left and using the other stuff) but I am going to have to have a serious conversation with my boss when he returns from Ambiente next week. Ideally I’d like to work from home Wednesday and use that to catch up on sleep and slide my working day by a few hours. I’m fairly disciplined and there are no regular scheduled meetings for me that day, apart from his catch-up. Say a prayer for me, please?

20160215_215159On the Finish front, I have #3 – Crafty Rahenna’s round robin is done, and will be off in the post today. I think that is actually ahead of schedule! There are no beads, as she will add these post a wash (Poppy’s wings need it, they aren’t as white as they could be) and no thread conversions on my part.

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Mase has begun to stitch again – he is already converting the baseball from this chart to a red cricket ball and made the decision to swap around the two colours in the gridiron ball.  Okay, then. I might have started a monster! This is at about an hour of work, and he’s actually done more. Apparently he “needs” his own Instagram as he doesn’t want to continue to use mind. Hmm, really? Need?

WIP I’m so late it’s Thursday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

Due to yet another migraine, I’ve managed only two thread lengths since the last photo. I feel like I’ve lost the better part of two days, and that’s not fun at all.

But here’s my minimal progress on Lily:

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I do like the colours and I find it interesting that I chose almost the same tone of fabric for my RR. I think plain fabbies are best for displaying such a big variety of designs. 

The Cousins are Over

Posted in 16 in 2016, conversion details, cross stitch, family, freebies, friends, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

And if you’re a FB friend, you’ll have seen that we have been very, very busy each evening. Combined with the fiscal year end here at work, I’ve barely had any space to stitch. However, we do have a finish! My second for #16in2016. This is the Mirabilia 2004 Cherub with Tree freebie, with lots of conversions:

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The changes are:

Original Used Notes Original Used Notes
310 823   500 319  
356/758   1/2 strands 502 320  
356/434   2/1 strands 598 932  
839 938   926 931  
3052 3022   3756/3811 3753  
3768 930   Kreinik 009 2 strands

Backstitch: 2 strands 844 for border & wings, 356 for skin & 310 for lashes.

Beads: N in the border 02026 to 03050; O in the border/hair + collar went from 02010 to 00161; tree is all 03050 except the star is 03016; O in the dress is all 02026.

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Orewa beachfront

On Saturday we escaped the mugginess of the city and went for a tour north of the city. We did Waiwera pools to relax (I want this place, but Ben says 650-700K and I just about choked, so that’s a no https://www.barfoot.co.nz/562286 ) and ended up at Orewa for dinner. There’s a good takeaways on the edge opposite Hillary Square, and we trudged across the road to the beachfront. We drove home via Riverhead (which is where I wanted to live, but now I’m thinking the village vibe is going to disappear in the new subdivisions that are spreading out).

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the boys at Arataki, looking out towards Manukau Heads

Sunday was a bit easier – Sharon’s place, then Arataki, down across town to Devonport (proper lager at the pub, apparently) and home for dinner.

 

20160208_201656_011.jpgYesterday was recovery day, so Si & his dad chain-sawed pine trees for the gf & grandma to last them a couple of winters, then BBQ at Grandad’s – and no summer Barbie is complete without a game of cricket. See Mase in the front left, in blue? From that spot he threw the ball to the far wicket and ran Zac out. Amazing arm on that kid.

Today is the first day all three boys are at school – hallelujah! –  so of course I’m celebrating this by being at work. Hmm. Something is wrong with this picture. At least I have Rahenna’s piece to stitch on. By default I’ve ended up with Lily of the Valley, which I haven’t stitched before.

Poppy reminds me of Anne, as it was one of her finishes last year. Hey, Anne!

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January Smalls SAL

Posted in cross stitch, Smalls SAL by

This SAL is a free choice SAL hosted by Heather over at Stitching Lotus. You can click on the button in my sidebar and it’ll take you there.

20160113_053605January’s choice was the Chinese New Year symbol for our local. It’s on 14ct white aida, DMC 347 with Mill Hill 0557 beads. I still have to make it a #FFO, but that’s on the plans for this weekend. I haven’t touched the Joyful World pieces but still plan to.

Hope your weekend is wonderful! Happy Anniversary Auckland! 

January WIPocalypse

Posted in 16 in 2016, conversion details, cross stitch, freebies, goals, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

WIPocalypse is into year 5! I’ve only been participating for one of these, but it’s a monthly check-in I want to make time for. WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/

Question of the Month: Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!

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Me & the Moon at Mission Bay

Well, nothing much has changed since last January. I’m still in the same house, same job, same everything really – only the projects have moved on. We are very nearly done with the SIL’s house reno so that will open up more free time. The Screaming Teen turned 16 on Saturday and has passed the first year of his major exams; Zachary Quack is about to turn 13 & start high school (he has a scholarship, I was so proud I nearly burst) and Mase the Ace is posting his own Lego creations on my Instagram account. This is what you get when you have gifted kids and are stupid enough to use hubby’s new extension number as your cell pin.

I am up to the very last panel of a Mirabilia Round Robin – this one belongs to Crafty Rahenna. Then mine will come home! I’m pretty excited as I haven’t even seen an update for nearly a year now.

IMG_20160124_214031.jpgBut before I move onto the RR, I want to finish one piece so I have something completed on my #16in2016 list. Cherub with Tree is an older freebie by Nora Corbett, and I started her as a coverage experiment in June or July 2014, before putting her away and focussing on the Audubon St birds that are on the same fabric. She is on 25ct white Lugana, stitched 3 over 2, with 2 strands as the backstitch. I found that the darker threads don’t have as much coverage as the lighter (lots of others have commented the same with DMC) but overall I’m pretty happy with the result. Lots and lots of conversions (hubby chose the dress colours & is really pleased with the outcome). I think maybe another week and this will be done!

One thing I am doing for 2016 is keeping a separate portion of my diary for stitching goals AND keeping my WIP blog page updated with pics as I rotate. I have a page in my planner with my #16in2016 rotation goals – I am determined to be an adult about things this year. My trial isn’t time-based but section based. I didn’t think week about would work for me. So here we go:

  1. Mirabilia Mermaids of the Deep. First goal in December was to start the top mermaid and stitch the skin & hair. That took 11 days (altho some days I only put in a couple of threads!) and the next goal will be to complete the DMC in her tail.

I had a couple of days in between this one and my #newyearnewmira so I threw Roses of Provence up onto the stand to see if I wanted to add her to the rotation. And yes – she is back in.

  1. Mirabilia Raven Queen. My #newyearnewmira start in the FB group. My goal was to complete the border for the top half & get the architecture on the LHS done. I am doing the beads & Kreinik as I go. Next goal is the architecture on the RHS, including the Raven.
  2. Nora Corbett Cherub with Tree. The goal was to complete the LHS background and her hair – and that took 3 days so she stayed on the frame. This one will be my second finish for the year! My first is saved for the Smalls check-in later on this week.
  3. Mirabilia Roses of Provence. There’s a couple of others doing her as well in their rotations. Next goal is to get the tree and roses done. Beading as I go.
  4. Nora Corbett Blitzen. Goal is to get his body and the ribbons that connect him to Rudolph completed.
  5. Mirabilia Persephone. Next goal is to get her left arm and the “jellyfish” on the LHS finished. Then it’s onto her dress conversion!
  6. Nora Corbett Arezzo. This is my over 1 conversion. Goal is to get the lower pink roses done. I’m toying with using petite beads for the last lot of roses – talk about a glutton for punishment!
  7. Semco Toy Story sampler. Next goal is to get the dinosaur done.
  8. Teresa Wentzler Tapestry Cat. Next goal is to get the cat body done.

In addition I want to do a Small each month and drop in another couple of things – Simon has his eye on the Satsuma St “Pretty Little” series. He’s English, so London is perfect; he’s been to Paris, so that’s an obvious choice and we both love Sydney, so there’s 3. Smalls apart from this month will likely be the Joyful World SAL that I linked to the other week & the Tuscan Garden will replace Cherub as a Mini (my thought pattern is Small (Ornament)/Mini/Medium (a Nora Corbett size)/Large (a proper Mira size)/Yep That’s Big (Teresa Wentzler)/Absolutely Freaking Not No Way (HAED equivalent)).

Looking forward to reading some of the other WIPocalypse posts – jump on in!