On vacation

My best friend Brea came into town yesterday, so I have not been stitching. I am on vacation. I have had a really lovely two days. Yesterday, after I picked them up from the airport, we went to Chesapeake Beach for lunch, and then to Breezy Point beach. That is where this photo was taken. I happen to think it is a really cute photo of me. Perhaps it's the sand, perhaps it's that, as a Scorpio, the presence of water improves my mood and thus I look my naturally prettiest, or else I am actually becoming photogenic as I age, but I take really good pictures at the beach. Anyway, so you at least have some reference of how I look right now.

Anyway, we went to the beach and drove around Washington. I used to be more able to drive downtown. I hate to sound peevishly juvenile, but it really cheeses me that, as part of the increased security measures after 9/11, it is really difficult to drive around down there. And then add in the Saturday night partying and it was bad to get around.

Today we went to church at the National Cathedral. It was lovely. My pictures don't do it justice. It was really lovely. They had beautiful needlepoint kneelers in the pews. There were some opportunities for S.E.X, but I wasn't really impressed with the qualities of the kits and I wasn't paying $21.95 for a kit I wasn't that impressed with.

And then we went to the Holocaust museum. That makes me so angry and it breaks my heart to see the people who were killed. Who knows what contribution they or their children could have made to the world if they hadn't been killed. If the Holocaust hadn't happened, maybe we would have a cure for cancer, or figured out how to stop global warming. So much potential destroyed by hate.

Updated Emma's Garden

Battling the Frog

The frog visited this week. I had to frog out so much, I was so frustrated, but it was my own stupid fault.

I was blithely stitching along on my upper alphabet, when I realized that the alphabet on the left didn't match the alphabet on the left. I had messed up one of my viney mabobs, and that threw EVERYTHING off. The bird, the alphabet. And I had already had to pick out a bunch because I screwed up the bird tulips. Now I am sure that I could have left it wrong. No one would have noticed. My daddy's mother would have left it wrong and said it was a family original. But I am not all my daddy's family and I prefer to do things right, and I would know it was wrong. So I've picked it all out. I should still have enough floss to do the picture, but it annoys me when I throw off my rhythm by screwing up. Plus, it was not easy to pick it out of 40 count fabric. But I did, and now I am fixing it.

I was so peeved at myself over the whole situation that I put it aside and picked up Ghost Wind, by Kustom Krafts. I am not far enough along on it to really show pictures, but I've got about 500 stitches in. It's not a bad stitch, I am just finally using a highlighter. But somehow, I managed to not buy all the floss I needed. Kills me. I have an extremely large stash, and I don't have two of the skeins I needed.

More Lunch stitching

I stitched again at lunch today. I am making really great progress on this sampler. I did have to pick out the flowers after I took this photo last night, but I think the new flowers look better. I was having issues with the way the one on the right under the left bird looked, but it's all purple now. So it looks better.

Anyway, it was a bad morning in the land of flood insurance today. They were getting on us about how loud we were when other people were on the phone. I try really hard to be quiet, but, please remember I am a trained stage actress, I have three tone levels, backstage, stage whisper and project across the theatre. And, Lord, do I want to tell a story. Anyway, I didn't get talked to about it, but I was having one of those days where I wanted to tell people, "Why don't you call back when you feel like LISTENING to what I have to tell you?" And it was a really nice day outside, so I went and sat outside in the car and stitched. My deer friends were crashing around back behind the building, so I watched them while I worked. I didn't want to go back in.

But my boss told me that my phone calls that they monitored yesterday were EXCELLENT. I am stoked about that. I really try not to give crappy service, so whenever my efforts get acknowledged, that is GOOD. I am trying really really hard to be good and get noticed. It was very empowering to get that dude last week calmed down. I let him go through the obligatory, "My agent sucks, you suck, FEMA sucks," rant, and then, cause it was time to go home, and I can think of much more interesting things to do after 6 than hear how much we suck, I was like, "Sir, I hate to cut you off, but can I get your policy number?" in my Southern Belle voice And it was like it broke him off out of his rant. Anyway, since I figured out the power of stepping into the middle of their rant, I am able to take control of the conversation. And that fixes things

So now you see why I stitch at lunch

How I Spent Lunch today

Instead of stitching I bought shoes. But I needed new shoes, whereas I have been stitching a lot lately. So it's OK. And I updated my 50 list on my computer at work. I have an intricate color-coded system on the computer, which I acknowledge I will full on forget what it means in a week or so. But that is life. And it does allow me to keep up to date on an important job skill I learned this summer, color-coding spread sheets. That has to be an important skill, because I actually was paid for 3 weeks to do this: input and color-code data. Of course, that was the job I walked out on, because it sucked, but anyway, this is a life skill that I can use for cross stitch.

The Updated 50!

Since I finished Jane Austen and Wondow Spots, there are only 49 projects on the board!

2. Finish Stunning Irises
3. Miribilia Halloween Fairy
4. Bent Creek Patriotic Row
5. Bent Creek Winter Snapperland
6. AOY A Moment’s Rest
7. Like Feathered Wings
8. Summer Ball
9 . Ghost Wind
10. Cat Lovers Too
11. Will Work for Freezer Space
12. Woodland Sampler
13 Halloween Bellpull
14 Stranger in the Woods
15 Raise the Roof-Happy Camper
16 I Like Winter Best of All
17 Is it Spring yet?
18. The Perfect Man
19 A Cat’s a Cat
20 Christmas Village
21 Villages of Hawks Run Hollow
22 Cat for All Seasons
23. Calico Cat
24 Hummingbird Trellis Afghan
25 Winter Quilt
26 Autumn Quilt
27 Spring Quilt
28 Summer Quilt
29 All Hallows Eve
30. Summers To Come (Cricket Collection)
31. Nativity-Mary Hickmott
32. Beachcombin—Salty Yarns
33 Country French Cat
34. Winter Gathering
35 Kitty Cat Row
36 Lost Spirits
37. Winter Sampler—Just Cross Stitch
38. Janlynn Summer Sampler
39 Barnyard Kittens
40. Sandy Orton Autumn Sampler
41 Blossom Harvest
42 To the Sea (pine Mountain Pillow)
43. 4 Season House
44. Bent Creek- Snowman Row
45—WWS The Arab
46—Kit and Boxby—Winter Wool
47—Kit and Bixby—Summer Wool
48—Kit and Bixby—Spring Wool
49—Kit and Bixby Autumn Wool
50—New fallen Snow-Glendon Place

Not much stitch-worthy to discuss today

I am still working diligently on Emma's Garden. It has been much easier with the Daylight bulb. But it seems like the floss is being used up fast. But thats OK, I wasn't planning on using it for anything else. It's really pretty, though. Very spring-y.
But other than that, not much going on. I delved into the money I had put aside for vacation to buy floss for the two Bent Creek rows. Just $7, though. I will be sorta glad when my two little vacations are over. Two in two weeks is a lot to deal with, financially. Oh, my order from Sewandso came yesterday. I was pretty stoked about that, but they aren't on the 50, so have to wait. But then again, Emma's Garden wasn't on the 50 either. CRAP!
One more thing, we ordered the porch furniture this weekend. I plan to use it as a SSfS (Special Spot for Stitching), so this is important. It's really comfortable furniture. Once I finish fixing the screen door, I plan on spending a lot of time out on that porch. Can you think of a more perfect way to spend a Saturday than on the side porch with a glass of iced tea, my stitching and the dog?

Stuck with no access to the boards

Well, at least I still have my blog. I can post to 123, read my Yahoo at work at lunch, just can't access it til Luke gets back from Colorado. Woo hoo.

Anyway, Mom came home last night with a bag o stuff from the Episcopal Church rummage sale. She got me 6 old Stoney Creek mags from the late 80s--I had 4, but still 2 new ones!--, three Kate Greenaway kits from Permin, a book of flowers and two national park kits. The National Park kits are super-cute. She got all that for the immense cost of $4.25. She said she didn't want to write a check for it so she was going through the car for money. Obviously my mom has never shopped on E-bay or been a college student.

I am working on a really beautiful Monochrome sampler right now. It's called Emma's Garden. Because I am AWESOME (awesomely what I am not sure right now, but I am awesome), I chose 40-count fabric. This is NOT a good choice if one is simultaneously far-sighted and near-sighted. It's pretty, but my poor eyes. I think this is a sign that I need to see the doctor, as it has been 4 years since I had my eyes examined, and I am too young at 30 to be squinting. I am using Mom's Daylight lamp, which is great, but has an abysmal magnifier (or else my eyes just don't function correctly with it, a realistic idea since my eyes do not function to back a car up either). It's making slow progress, but I chose a beautiful Needle Necessities floss to do it in, all purples and greens, and it's gorgeous. I chose the chart and thread on St. Patrick's Day, and, considering what was happening and the fact that I was crushed, I did a strikingly great job picking a combo. Hopefully I will get this situation with the computer straightened out to show it off. I am not big on the monochromatic samplers, but this is just really pretty!

I am having problems with the computer

The computer will not log onto 123, my Yahoo mail, or anything important other than this blog. This is great. I think some is all those emails I have been getting because I joined a Yahoo group. I normally sign up as a digest subscriber, but I wasn't paying attention so I get 50000 emails a day. I guess I have to unsubscribe before work tomorrow.

Jane Austen is DONE

And it just took a week and a half. And it looks great.

On a more important note, even though I am not a Virginia Tech graduate, we are all Virginia Tech tonight.

Lots of progress on Jane Austen

I got a good bit of time to work on my At Home with Jane Austen yesterday afternoon and this morning. I am liking the way that it looks, just wondering if it might be a good idea to tea-dye the fabric, since it's very yellow. They didn't have anything else in the store when I was looking, though, and I didn't want to order fabric or wait. So maybe I should do it with tea. That would make it not so glaring. I love the colors.

Cruisin the Web

I found a couple more really cool sites today as I was cruising the information superhighway. Far more easier, and more fuel-efficient than cruising the real highway--I got flipped off by some a-hole in a mini-van/SUV thingy because they wouldn't merge. You CAN NOT sit in the merge lane for 15 minutes waiting for traffic to die down on my road. It's one of the major roads into NW DC. It is not going to happen. And he flipped me off. I should have turned around and flipped him off, but I wouldn't want to use one of my nakey-manicure nails in so vile a way. So, for the a-hole who just had to wait 15 minutes for the lanes to clear so you could make the turn into the street by the Y, I surf the net to find new things for people who know how to use their fingers for something other than the bird to look at. I have added the links to the left.

I did have S.E.X (had to go back and fix that, otherwise this was going to be TMI and Noneyabidness--thank goodness I checked this) today. I was trying to be good. I only bought a couple extra charts, other than that, I bought fabric for Bent Creek Winter and Summer Rows, which are on my 50 list, a skein of NN for a Ruby Slipper Designs that I have in my stash and a Midnight Stitching Halloween Chart. Oh, and the new Loose Feathers Club. I did not commit to buy all of them, because I do not like stitching Blackbird Designs that much. And I also got a duplicate of a chart Mom lost. And I tried to sit down and stitch on Jane Austen. I can't move on if I can't finish this one.

Had to succomb to urge for S.E.X

I ordered this. I looked at it all afternoon at work. Karen said it looked like me. I was thinking of making her hair a darker brown and changing the dress to blue and it would look a little more like me:

Cuddling Cat

May have time to stitch due to the Nor'easter

I am hoping to get some major work in on this project this week. I went out at lunch on a magazine quest, but got a couple stitches done. At Home with Jane Austen is not a hard stitch, such a pleasure after all the hard times with Santa's Journey.

I am going to Nashville in May. Hopefully Brea and I will get to Hobby Lobby. Becky said it was not good anymore, but I think the novelty of it will be a change from AC Moore. I hate AC Moore for stitching supplies. It used to be I wouldn't go to Michael's, but Michael's has fabric. I don't really have time to run to the LNS all the time, and I am not that big on ordering on line. It was nice to be able to go to AC Moore and get what I need. Now it's down to an aisle and a half of stitching.

Finally some stitching for me this week!

I picked At Home With Jane Austen again at lunch today. I went to Bloom and got a salad, then came back and got 15 minutes of good stitching. I opted to swap out one of the colors. I am stitching it with DMC instead of Crescent Colors because I have to save money for vacation and well, I am trying to get out of debt, so the colors don't always pleasantly convert (note to self: if I ever become a designer, I need to make sure my DMC conversion is pretty) and the step is stitched with 807 in the directions, but I thought 932 is prettier and I think it's right.

Stitching with Naked nails tonight

My nails, which are usually some exotic color, are now Malaysian Mist. I sorta felt like being pale for a while. I've noticed, the women I try to model myself after do not stroll around with brightly colored acrylic nails. I have been looking like Anna Nicole Smith lately, and I don't want that. I also had my eyebrows done. Kelly was a little bewildered by the $12 tip. I told her I felt like spending money to be beautful today--two years ago today I stayed off work and met the bastard. I probably should have gone to work. Anyway, I don't want to be depressed today, so now I have pretty eyebrows. I may actually iron a shirt tonight, slap on that really good Maybelline mascara tomorrow, and do flirty eyes. I feel like flirting.

Anyway, back to stitchy for now. I think I have now set a new record for my own personal number of trips to Michaels on consecutive days. I have been twice, yesterday and today. Yesterday was buying for Mom's Fanci That Summer Window Spots, and today I bought for the Easter Sanman freebies. I think I am going to do Spring Planting on Blue, and the little Easter on just plain white.

The 50

This may be updated to 100

1. Finish At Home with Jane Austen
2. Finish Stunning Irises
3. Miribilia Halloween Fairy
4. Bent Creek Patriotic Row
5. Bent Creek Winter Snapperland
6. AOY A Moment’s Rest
7. Like Feathered Wings
8. Summer Ball
9 . Ghost Wind
10. Cat Lovers Too
11. Will Work for Freezer Space
12. Woodland Sampler
13 Halloween Bellpull
14 Stranger in the Woods
15 Raise the Roof-Happy Camper
16 I Like Winter Best of All
17 Is it Spring yet?
18. The Perfect Man
19 A Cat’s a Cat
20 Christmas Village
21 Villages of Hawks Run Hollow
22 Cat for All Seasons
23. Calico Cat
24 Hummingbird Trellis Afghan
25 Winter Quilt
26 Autumn Quilt
27 Spring Quilt
28 Summer Quilt
29 All Hallows Eve
30. Summers To Come (Cricket Collection)
31. Nativity-Mary Hickmott
32. Beachcombin—Salty Yarns
33 Country French Cat
34. Winter Gathering
35 Kitty Cat Row
36 Lost Spirits
37. Winter Sampler—Just Cross Stitch
38. Janlynn Summer Sampler
39 Barnyard Kittens
40. Sandy Orton Autumn Sampler
41 Blossom Harvest
42 To the Sea (pine Mountain Pillow)
43. 4 Season House
44. Bent Creek- Snowman Row
45—WWS The Arab
46—Kit and Boxby—Winter Wool
47—Kit and Bixby—Summer Wool
48—Kit and Bixby—Spring Wool
49—Kit and Bixby Autumn Wool






50—New fallen Snow-Glendon Place
51 Summer Window Spots—Fanci That

My 50

I am working on a list of the next 50 projects I want to do. It is really hard to pick 50. Not because I don't have 50 projects, but because I gotta narrow it down to 50. I am not sure why I am doing this, other than I need to focus, and the fact that I have so much in the pipeline ought to show me just what I need to be buying . Not that this is a realistic or practical list--I mean I have Hummingbird Trellis Afghan on there and it's been two years and I have one square done. BECAUSE I ROCK! One of these daysI will get that out again and work on it. but I want to do that Mary Hickmott Nativity, and Ghost Wind and Winter Stack.

Oh I got photos of the finished Santa's journey.

Finished Santa's Journey

Woo hoo. I finished it last night. I have to take photos, but I worked on it pretty much all day yesterday, other than going to a play. The play was excellent, but I was so wanting to get that project done. Now it just has to be finished.

I started At Home with Jane Austen, from The Gift of Stitching magazine. The chart is a little wonky. I don't understand why designers, especially sampler designers, don't put center on their charts. Since there is no "right" place to start, shouldn't they err on the side of caution and mark center? Just a thought . . . But it's a pretty chart. Maybe to finish as a bellpull.

If I could just get off the computer

I could probably finish this afghan this evening. There aren't a lot of colors. Well, we have to run to Kmart now, so that should waste a couple hours, but I could get it done. But I have been fooling around all day long. I have a headache, too, and that does not help my stitching mojo.

On the Final Square

I did not work on my afghan at lunch. We went to the Pennsylvania Dutch market. I haven't been since before the loser bastard left me, so it was nice to go back, but it cut into my stitching time.

Anyway, I worked on the last square yesterday. I finished last night and made some good progress on the square with Santa on it. Hopefully, I can work on it during CSI tonight. I got new Joanne mail and I just want to play with my new goodies. The fabric I ordered is not the right color, but I can still use it.

I have been toying with the idea of starting a 10/25/50 list. Maybe not so much as a way to keep from buying stash, but just to get things finished. I don't know. I need to get all these envelopes of WIPs worked on.

1.5 squares to go

Today I am working on the last square of Santa's Journey, and I am ready to get that booger done. I stitched through lunch and got a lot of the word "Christmas" done, complete with the French knots, and then realized I had miscounted one of the letters. So I had to pick out those bleepin' French knots. And I thought this would be easier. But at least it's one square closer to being finished. I only have the one with Santa by the bed left to do. And then I am doing something simple, with minimal backstitch if I can help it.

I did stop in at Michael's last night. They were having a 4/$1 sale and I needed floss for some smaller projects. So I got that, and some fabric. I hate digging through my fabric stash, and since a certain small man of the feline persuasion has decided my hand-dyeds are perfect to sleep in--fortunately they are mine, so I can wash them--I am not looking forward to digging in there to look for natural linen.

I lasted 21/2 weeks on the wagon

I was trying not to buy stash, but I can't find the purple braid that I know I have in this house (and I know I have it, because I stitched a chart with it and didn't use the whole spool) and I need for Waxing Moon's Hallween Bell Pull. And I need some tea-dyed monaco to stitch something from a Cross Stitch Gold, and I can't find it now that AC Moore has basically gotten rid of the useful cross stitch supplies. So I ordered it from Joanne, and of course I had to get the Mystic Stitch pattern that I fell in love with at Woodlawn. The lady that stitched it got back to me, which was super-cool of her.

I am one step closer to starting Tail of the Tabby. I brought the rice steamer in the house, LOL. We need to get space to work. But the electrician came in so we will have air conditioning in the summer.