Kit Review – Cross Stitcher Bunny

Posted in cross stitch, freebies by

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  • Source: Cross Stitcher Magazine, April 2016
  • Designer: Maria Diaz
  • Supplied: wooden shape, threads, needle, button, length of ribbon
  • Overall: yeah, OK

I must admit that I brought this one just because it was there. I was looking for the Summer issue as stitchtherapyblog is featured, but we’re so far behind it wasn’t on the shelf – this is issue 303 and she’s in 306! However there’s a couple of charts in this issue I will use, so it’s not a wasted trip.

I am avoiding the autumn side of my biscornu so I decided to stitch Bunny in my downtime yesterday. He’s cute, isn’t he?

But I do have a couple of issues with the packet & instructions.

 

  • If it’s a brooch, as the suggested finish, why wasn’t there felt or even interfacing to cover & protect the back during use?
  • The suggestion is to use the loop knot to start. Now, I consider myself an intermediate and experienced stitcher, but I’ve yet to work out how to loop start with an uneven number of threads! I did need to use the suggested 3 strands to get the full coverage – 4 was too much, 2 left gaps.
  • The thread lengths are far too small to loop start anyway. You’d only get 8-10 stitches completed at a time.
  • Beginner stitchers would benefit by having the number of thread lengths mentioned, as well as colour. There isn’t a huge difference between lt brown (422) & chestnut (3828) but it would make the finished piece look odd if you stitched them the wrong way around.
  • My wooden piece is cute and very evenly punched – but oddly smells liked smoked fish!

I’m not going to finish as a brooch. I’m planing on backing with felt and adding a large magnet so I can use as a needle minder or on the fridge.

 

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

well here we are! I missed last week so I have a wee bit to show.

We celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s birthday this past weekend, so there was an extra day away from the desk. Si has gone to Ohakea on Thursday at oh-dark-oclock as he refereed at an inter-base league tournament. He also came home at an equally it’s-dark-everywhere hour on Monday morning. This idiot had driven him too/fro from the base, so I had to get up reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal early to pick him up. But it was worth it to have him home 12 hours earlier than expected.

With no senior footy, B only had the one game to referee so we had a family quiet weekend planned. The bigger boys studied and played the weekend away, Mase whined. And whined. Then on Monday night he crashed big time. Turns out he had a virus. Someone will turn up and yank away my mother card soon. He’s on the mend now, but has binged watched an awful lot of Netflix.

I finished stitching & beading the Mill Hill fireflies kit (and beaded the back a couple of times, doh), and also stitched up a little piece from the JCS Christmas 2014 issue, but on plastic canvas and not quite as designed. I plan to string this up on a cream ribbon and set it into a frame.

I also put Persephone away for a wee while. I was losing heart with that skirt; so as much as I do love the colours that I’ve converted her to, it was time. My StitchMAYnia goal wasn’t the traditional 15 starts but to stitch every day in May, and I very nearly got there. Persephone alone was stitched 23 days of the month & on 3 days she wasn’t touched, I stitched a Small. I’m pretty happy with that.

On Sunday night I pulled out Mermaids again. I’m nearly at the half-way mark of the chart (one more colour to go) so here’s what they look like, as of 5.30am today:

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I also popped up on Instagram my version of parking. Most of the multi-page charts I have used have a greyed-out section, usually the bottom two lines of the chart. I simply DON’T stitch the top leg of the last cross, and then on the next page, I draw a box around the incomplete stitch. I don’t pretend to be an expert at parking, and this probably won’t work for everyone, so no offence if this doesn’t work for you.

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Sharing Is Caring: wanna own some Wentzler? I do.

Posted in cross stitch, Teresa Wentzler by

I’m kinda excited. Last year around this time, I finally finished the Seasonal Carousel Horse drawings I’d been working on for… well… too long. And, at that time I mentioned I would like to try to make the drawings available on note cards or greeting cards or the like eventually. I finally took the leap […]

via Do you Zazzle? — Teresa Wentzler’s Art Blog

May SMALLs & WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL by

So it turns out I’m very late posting! Sorry, but last week was a mess in our household. Mase went down on Saturday night, and everyone else fell like dominoes over the next few days. I was grateful that I have a laptop for work so could stay up-to-date while I was at home.

The Smalls 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 on her blog name for the current check-in page.

My May small is the spring side of my biscornu. I found what I think is the perfect thread for the autumnal leaves at my LNS the Friday before we got sick, but I didn’t stitch for a few days there (vomit doesn’t enhance much).

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I’ve made some really visible progress on Persephone’s dress. It’s so freaking huge! I was thinking of swapping out to another project for June but then I worry that I would get overwhelmed & not pull her out for ages. So I think I’ll keep moving on with her. I am using the chart grid and stitching in 10*10 blocks vertically – each night I can get between 200-400 stitches in. I’ve beaded the RHS jellyfish and confirmed my substitutions for the dress back-stitch and beads. So, progress!

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Flosstube & Know Your Needleworker tag

Posted in me, You Can Quote ME by

I’ve made a Flosstube video! It’s very short, around 10 minutes so very easy to watch. They take a while to upload, tho! Click here & get ready to mock my accent 🙂

I’ve covered the Tag and also my current WIPs. Here’s the tag details, but I didn’t read this verbatim so there’s a little difference:

Where do you live?

I live in Auckland, New Zealand. It’s the major city of the North Island.

What do you do for a living?

I am the Vendor Manager for a large retail network – we sell homewares in two chains and sporting goods in the other.

Do you have any other hobbies other than cross stitch?

I love reading – my gran introduced me to books at a very young age. Sometimes it’s a struggle to put the book down, but I haven’t got into the habit of being able to process an audio book & stitch at the same time. I can get away with multi-tasking with podcasts tho.

Do you have any kids?

Yes, we have four, ranging from our beautiful girl who is 21 down to the three boys, 16, 13 & lastly anyone following me on Instagram will know Mase-the-Ace, who is 6.

Do you have any pets?

Several tropical fish. My favourites are my two Port Hoplo catfish; Tubbs used to be in the tank behind me when I worked in the Animates support office, and I was luckily able to take him when he needed rehoming. There was a chiclid incident. I’m never getting those things, but Tubbs does party tricks for food and loves to rest on my hand when I’m doing the tank maintenance.

What is your favourite movie?

I still love Sixteen Candles, and Ten Things I Hate About You (I’m a sucker for clever Shakespeare adaptations). Recently I’ve gone onto meds for frequent headaches so I have been avoiding the movies.

What are your favourite tv shows?

Always NCIS (the original, not the spin offs). Banshee – I know, completely not me but I started watching as a Kiwi is the main actor & got hooked. I like BBC dramas & get very, very annoyed with sitcoms that have a laugh track – Big Bang would be the exception to that rule. Family-wise we watch quiz shows together and yell the answers at the TV.

What is your favourite music genre?

I listen to pretty much anything except hair/heavy metal & classical. My iPod in my office has all sorts of stuff from the last 20 years so when I throw it on shuffle it can surprise – or embarrass me. Note to self: take The Exponents “Erotic” off shuffle…

What is your favourite book?

I am a book slut. I’ll read just about anything and will go thru 4-6 books a week. Re-read favourites are Sandra Boynton (poetry & humour for the little ones), Jane Austen, JRR Tolkien, Elizabeth Goudge (think Little White Horse but she has far more range than just that one), CS Lewis, JK Rowling, etc etc. It’s a long list. And I would totally recommend Mary S Lovell if you’re into biographies.

What one word describes you best?

Eclectic, I guess.

Sharing is Caring: How Emma can teach us

Posted in books, growing by

image: ©BBC In Mansfield Park the charming Mary Crawford claims, “Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope for a cure.” But she’s dead wrong. Jane Austen shows us in another novel, Emma, that there is indeed a cure for selfishness: love. And no I don’t mean just falling in love or…

via Emma Woodhouse and the Cure for Selfishness — Carrots for Michaelmas

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

I’m not enjoying this skirt! It’s so freaking huge that I’m forcing myself to sit down. Luckily I had plenty of flosstube to watch last night. I had to scroll last night to find my comfort point, so I took the opportunity to take a full length shot as motivation:

That’s probably 1000+ stitches in a week – so at this rate I would finish before I’m 50!

Book Review: The Obsession

Posted in books by

Nora Roberts, 2016, Penguin Random House.

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I haven’t read a Nora for a while. TBH, they were feeling all same-same and I couldn’t be bothered. But I downloaded this one on Thursday and finished Saturday night and could go back and happily read it all over again right now.

The basic plot is that Naomi discovered  something awful in her father, revealed it, and was strong enough to start creating her new life. As an adult she moves to a remote-ish house on the Washington coast, starts reno and starts living properly. In comes Xander, the hero, and the sub-hero, Tag.

Some things hit close to the bones for me (the mother’s way of checking out was the main) but on the whole I enjoyed this one. The book is divided up into sections (exposure, depth of field, panorama, light and shadow, focus, & balance) and I like the way the writing is subtly changing in each section to highlight the heading. The character development is vintage Nora and the second quotes are perfect.
4 1/2 ⭐

Sharing is Caring: Tapestry Cat — TW’s Needlework Blog

Posted in cross stitch, Teresa Wentzler by

Just a quick note to let you know that Tapestry Cat has been re-charted and is now available at PatternsOnLine.com

via Tapestry Cat — TW’s Needlework Blog

This is my second-oldest WIP; I have the original kit edition! Maybe I should get it on the large frame as soon as I finish Persephone…and NOT start another Mira!