College 26

I didn't stitch as much as I wanted to but I still got a decent amount done. I backed off stitching for a bit to give my hand time to heal completely, and I think it's good now. Still going to be careful but for the most part, I think I'm good to go! Lots of Boyfriend foot rubs while I was stitching, too, which was awesome. Heading back home today and as it's a gloomy, cold, and dismal day I look forward to stitching some more when I get back. Now, for the progress photo.

Before:

After:

Next time maybe I'll have two page finishes as the next one is a very tiny partial.

Now let me tell you about my amazing Boyfriend... who reads over my shoulder and drives me crazy. Currently, he is trying to pretend that he's snuggling up to me, when in reality he is sticking his head under my arm in order to read what I'm typing. "No I'm not!" he just squeaked out, mid-laugh. I may have to kill him. "No, don't! Please!" Ok maybe I won't kill him. But only because today is our 9 month and if he has stood me this long, he's worth keeping around.

And now for the end of the month round-up goal-check-in:

1. Get back down to 135 pounds. Started the month at 150.6, now at 144. Woo!

2. Move out of my parent's place. Sigh.

3. Get a job I actually like. Not yet.

4. Finish a few WIPs. Working on it!

5. No more stash buying. I've been good!

6. Walking. 26.1 miles last month. 29 miles this month!

Still catching up on blogs. Slowly but surely! 

Happy stitching everyone!

Greek Mandala 4

I forgot to mention that with this new rotation schedule there's going to be more frequent updates. I hope you guys don't mind!

Thanks for all the well wishes about my hand. It's doing much better, though still not 100%. I figured out that I hold my ring finger at a very awkward and unnatural angle when I stitch, which causes it to hurt. BUT - if I tape my ring finger to my middle finger, it helps and doesn't hurt. So, I just use some medical tape and tape my fingers together, which causes my mother to freak out and ask how I hurt myself. Oh well. Sacrifices for stitching!

It was rather difficult to tear myself away from Greek tonight once I reached the end of my rotation. But I did! Here's my progress.

Before:

After:

I love the variegated silk around the edge there. It's also going to go all the way around that whole motif in a Greek pattern. There's going to be so many beads and specialty stitches in this thing I'm still trying to wrap my head around the crazy amount of algerian eyelets. There's over 100 just in part one. Yikes.

Heading over to  Boyfriend's tomorrow for a week where I will be stitching on College and catching up on all of your blogs. See you all next week and happy stitching!

IHSW fail, TUSAL, and a baby rant

I'll just go in order of post title.

IHSW was a bit of a bust for me this month. I was really excited and eager to stitch, especially since I implemented that new rotation schedule (more on that later). So Saturday evening I sat down to stitch and my right hand started to hurt. Really really hurt. To the point where I just couldn't stitch anymore. I was also a little wary to stitch Sunday because my hand still hurt so basically, not much stitching happened. I finished my first rotation on Middle Earth and started on Greek Mandala but didn't get enough done on Greek to show anything, but I'll show Middle Earth!

Before:

After:

I have FINALLY figured out why Middle Earth is so hard to stitch. In projects like College and Medieval Shelf, etc., you have areas of color. If you're working on trees, it will be mostly tree colors. If you're working on buildings or rooftops, etc., there's a set of colors you're working in so despite the fact that there are 90 colors in a project, you're only working within a set palette at any given time. Middle Earth is different, because practically all the colors are on each page. Just means that it's a little slower - but looks awesome!

I'm enjoying the rotation so far. Everything is getting a little bit of love and despite it being SUPER difficult to put down a project after only 10 hours, I feel really good about picking up another one that had been neglected for a while and giving it some love, knowing full well that I'll get back to what I really want to be stitching soon.

TUSAL!

Lots of blues from College, browns from Middle Earth and sparklies from Greek - guarded by my dragon incense burner (the smoke comes out of the different dragon mouths!).

Baby Rant

Not a small rant but a rant about babies (and I'll keep it short). Boyfriend and I went to the movies on Sunday. We decided to catch the matinee because tickets are cheaper and we didn't think the movie would be all that good so we didn't want to pay full price. Everything was fine until halfway through the movie someone's baby started crying.

Here's what my problem was. The movie was not a kid's movie. Small children should not have been there. Second of all, if you HAVE to bring your kid to a movie, and the kid starts crying - leave the theater. Don't sit there because you absolutely can't miss the movie while your baby is crying, ruining the movie for everyone. I call it a "baby rant" but honestly, it wasn't the fault of the baby. It was the parent.

The movie was pretty bad. Crying baby just made it worse.

I'm really behind on blogs right now. Slowly working my way through them. Also, I went the way of Joyce from Random Ramblings and disabled the word verification on my comments because they were super annoying and difficult to read. I might enable comment approval if spam becomes a problem but until then - enjoy!

Thanks for looking and happy stitching, everyone!

Boyfriend Stitches!

That's right! Boyfriend stitches! I was sitting on the couch, stitching away on College, when I got up to go to the bathroom. I came back to Boyfriend's glowing face, obviously very proud. And then he said, "I stitched!" He had put a stitch in while I had gone. So we sat down together and he decided he wanted to stitch a whole symbol himself. So he did! And now my Boyfriend stitches. We're looking for a small project for him to have of his very own (partly so he has one of his own, and partly so he stops commandeering my projects). I'm thinking something that comes kitted would be best. All the threads are there, clear chart, symbols, fabric, everything. He wants a little ornament to hang from his rear-view mirror (I have a small rubber ducky stitched ornament hanging from mine). So we're looking at little doggie or dinosaur ornaments. He's super excited and truth be told, so am I.

I'm still at Boyfriend's, but I'm all stitched out and leaving tomorrow, so I figured I'd just post this tonight. A fair decent amount of progress and I might even be able to have a page finish next time I'm here!

Before:

After:

Except for that small corner to the lower left, it's all sky. Which is both great and annoying. Great, of course, because it stitches up faster. Annoying because I'm stuck in a seemingly endless sea of blue. BUT - the next page is only about 12 or so stitches across and I'll be done with the first row (of four). Then on to the exciting bits!

I've been reading through blogs but blogger has decided to be fickle and not let me comment on all of them. So if I haven't commented on yours then know that I wanted to!

On one blog I recently read about a rotation schedule that, although I secretly scoffed at at first, I find rather intriguing the more I think about it. I can't recall for the life of me where I read about this rotation - so if it was on your blog - please tell me so I can give credit where credit is due! The rotation schedule is a 10-hour based rotation. You work on one project for 10 hours, then move on to the next for another 10 hours. At the end of every cycle, you add one of your existing WIPs or UFOs. You keep doing this rotation until one of your projects is complete, then you replace that project with another one. In the end you work on every one of your WIPs an equal amount, without the guilty feeling that you're neglecting one, and eventually all your WIPs get finished.

After a lot of consideration and thought, I realize that this is rather ingenious. My previous rotation was based on, honestly, days of the week, the lunar cycle, whether or not there was currently a drought somewhere in the world, etc. Honestly, nothing. And nothing is getting done! Perhaps implementing a structured program would help. Or it could just drive me crazy. Either way, it doesn't hurt to try it, so why not? The only catch is College will remain a Boyfriend's house project. And since Medieval Shelf is also a parental gift, it will have to go on hold until College is finished (or I move out). Other than that, though, I'm going to try this and report on my progress. It might speak for itself. Or, like I said, it might drive me crazy.

Now, on the subject of Valentine's Day, we didn't do anything. I really dislike Valentine's Day. A lot. And you can't say, "well that's because you're single" because I'm not. In high school Valentine's Day was always a nightmare and that kind of stuck. Other crappy stuff happened afterwards, which I just don't want to get into, and the end result is I just don't like making a fuss. Boyfriend shows me he loves me everyday and that's more than enough for me. So we went out for Indian buffet at lunch and he didn't go to his volleyball game tonight to stay and hang out with me. Quite a perfect day, if you ask me.

Hope you guys are having a wonderful week! Hello to all my new followers. Hopefully I'll keep you all entertained. I have a pseudo job now. Very pseudo and not much job, but I'm happy so that's all I'll say about it. As such I'm brimming with ideas for a giveaway possibility so as soon as things are more definite on that front - I'll let you know. Until then, happy stitching everyone - whoever is still reading this monster post, anyway. :)

Greek Mandala, part 1 - continued

Well, I'm off to Boyfriend's tomorrow morning which, of course, means College. But before I go I just wanted to show you where I'm leaving off with Greek Mandala.

Before:

After:

I have to say, it's filling in nicely. A lot of those blank areas are going to be either specialty stitches or beads. I'll go through and do all the specialties (including the ridiculous amount of algerian eyelets) once I've got all the cross stitches done. Next step is to tackle the bottom of this motif and then start all the outer stuff bit by bit.

But first College at Boyfriend's and when I come back I'm going to try to finish up that page of Middle Earth. Ambitious? Yes.

Happy stitching!

WIPocalypse, the second coming

It is a cold, wet, dark, windy, generally dreary day here in California. Of course this is perfect stitching weather. I've got a pork butt marinating in the fridge (to be turned into home-made pulled pork in a few hours) and tonight I'm going to go see "One for the Money" with my mom. So not complaining and not too bad.

Also, with Boyfriend's steady and unfailing support, I'm losing weight! On that front, Mangogirl (Caitlin) from Naughts & Cross Stitches and I are forming a little supportive Internet walking club. We're going to be walking and tracking together, as a motivating factor for each other. So yay to that as well! Super excited!

Now for the WIPocalypse. *WARNING* Picture heavy! (especially since I like before and afters)

College of Magical Knowledge before WIPocalypse:

Latest Update:

College of Magical Knowledge by James Christensen from Heaven and Earth Designs

Stitching on 25 count antique white Evenweave

1 thread over 1 with DMC

Mario before WIPocalypse:

Latest Update:

Mario - darklilac.com self made chart

Stitching on 22 count white Aida

2 threads over 1 with DMC

Riding the Wave before WIPocalypse:

NO CHANGE.

Tiny Rose Garden Mandala before WIPocalypse:

Tiny Rose Garden Mandala last update:

Tiny Rose Garden Mandala current:

A Tiny Rose Garden Mandala by Chatelaine Designs (freebie)

Stitching on 32 count Hardanger

2 threads over 2

DMC, Thread Gatherer Silk n'Colors, and Mill Hill Seed Beads

Medieval Shelf before WIPocalypse:

Medieval Shelf by Randal Spangler from Heaven and Earth Designs

Stitching on 24 count antique white Evenweave

1 thread over 1 with DMC

NO CHANGE

Middle Earth before WIPocalypse:

Last Update:

Current:

Middle Earth from Heaven and Earth Designs

Stitching on 25 count antique white Evenweave

1 over 1 with DMC

And finally, Greek Mandala was not started before WIPocalypse

Last Update:

Current:

Greek Mandala by Chatelaine Designs

Stitching on 32-count antique white Belfast

2 over 2 with DMC, various silks, petite treasure braid, delica beads, and Swarovski crystals

WHEW! Long post! I'm really liking this WIPocalypse! It's fun to focus on a few projects and try to get as much done as possible. I'm going to keep going with Middle Earth until the page is done, and then I'll see what project Boyfriend chooses next for me to work on. Meanwhile, I'll keep working on Greek Mandala as that is REALLY motivating since I see progress a lot easier. And, of course, while at Boyfriend's, College comes out! 

Now I'm off to shower and then stitch the day away until movie time. Have a great day, everyone!

College Update!

I've been at Boyfriend's since Thursday, working on College. Didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but that's probably because I was playing Assassin's Creed... a lot.... Anyway, here goes.

Before:

After:

College of Magical Knowledge by James Christensen from Heaven and Earth Designs

Stitching on 25 count antique white Evenweave

1 thread over 1 with DMC

Lots of sky on this page and a little bit of tree. Next page to the right is a partial - completely sky. Today I'm heading home and working on Greek again. 

Since it's now February, time to recap my January.

1. Get back down to 135 pounds. Not yet - but going down!

2. Move out of m y parent's place. Not yet.

3. Get a job I actually like. Not yet.

4. Finish a few WIPs. Working on it!

5. No more stash buying. I've been good!

I've also been doing my "walking thing." The goal was 50 miles a month. Well that was a little ambitious - particularly since I just started. I did a total of 26.1 miles. So for February, I want to do at least 26.1 with an ultimate goal of 50. 

Be back next week with another update. Until then, happy stitching!