GUESS WHAT!

I finished page 9 of College! That was what I did during IHSW and I was so close to finishing that I just kept going instead of showing you guys. I keep doing that - sorry! But I was working, too, and Saturday I drove out to New Mexico to go to Carlsbad Caverns with Handsome Helpful Boyfriend. More on that later. For now, here's College.

Before:

After:

I think it looks AWESOME if I do say so myself. Granted I can't take credit for Michele's amazing charting skills. This puts me officially at 40% complete. Which isn't halfway. But it's closer to halfway than it was!

I was e-mailing the Fabulous Lesli, telling her about all my WIPs and who they are for. She insisted that I work on something for myself. I haven't worked on Greek in forever... and I really want to. Why not? I'll work on that for a bit and get back to do the next page of College. Hooray for progress!

I'm also late with my TUSAL post, so here it is:

Taken on our new coffee table (pictures to come soon) which we bought just for me, to be honest. It has a rolling top and drawers so I can get all my stitching stuff in there, take it out easily, and put it away to keep it clutter free. I'm a bit of a freak like that.

Went to Carlsbad Caverns on Saturday, which was AWESOME. It wasn't quite what we did in Iceland when we went into a lava tube:

It was a lot more tourist-y, with elevators up and down, hand rails and flat trails everywhere. But if you're in New  Mexico, I do recommend it because they're absolutely insanely gorgeous:

So yeah, insanely beautiful. We might do Slaughter Canyon Cave next if Handsome Helpful Boyfriend has to be in New Mexico for much longer.

In other news, I loathe FedEx. We ordered a bookcase for which I waited all day. No knock on the door and the tracking miraculously says "delivered." No note on my door either. So I go to the office and, of course, they left it there, not even bothering to check if anyone was home. I have to now lug all 80 pounds of this thing to my apartment and up the stairs by myself. The office let me borrow a dolly to get it to my apartment, but I still needed to get it up the stairs. Which I did. By myself. That thing was MORE THAN HALF my weight. I might be flexing at the screen right now. Ok, I totally am. HRRRR GRRRR ROWR!!!!

Happy stitching everyone!

Holy Crap, I'm an Idiot

Another non-stitchy update - sorry guys, I'm working on it!

This post is for two things: the first being that I'm an idiot. A while ago I setup an email account for blogging and set it up so that all emails that went to it were forwarded to my personal account. OR SO I THOUGHT. Turns out that since APRIL I've been getting emails to that account, including YOUR responses to my comments on your blog, but they haven't been getting forwarded. Only just now when the fabulous Lesli from Fabulous Frogger RAKed me a chart for my birthday and sent me a facebook message telling me to check that email address did I realize it. Now I feel like an idiot. So, if you responded to one of my comments and I never got back to you, it's because I'm an idiot. Now you know.

And on that note - Lesli RAKed me Thomas Cole's "Course of the Empire: Destruction" which has been on my wish list for FOREVER! Isn't she just the sweetest?

Now if only I could start it RIGHT NOW :)

Thanks Lesli! It came at the perfect time because literally seconds before I got your message I stabbed myself in the center of my palm when my knife fell after cutting open an avocado. Awesome.

All Moved In

Here I am! All moved in, just trying to clean up the giant mess. No stitchy update this time around (sorry!) but I wanted to thank EVERYONE who commented on my last post and weighed in on the fabric options. The lovely Crafty Princess and lesli from Fabulous Frogger have both been gracious enough to send me samples of 22- and 20-count fabric for me to test my little heart out and see which one I like better. Thank you, ladies! I'll let you all know what my choice is once I have made it.

As I'm writing this, a storm is brewing outside. It went from a fabulously sunny day to windy, dark, and stormy in a matter of minutes. At least it's not cold! Boyfriend and I moved into our place on Saturday. I have to tell you all, I am SO GLAD we got professional movers. We're on the second floor of the complex and I would not have wanted to carry all our furniture up those stairs, even if we didn't have much. As it stands, though, I literally did not have to lift a finger. They separated the boxes by room and even put our bed together. Worth every penny, which per our calculations actually cost us less than getting a U-Haul. Go figure.

The apartment is still in disarray and we just bought a bunch of new furniture which has yet to arrive, so I'll share a photo of the only room that is done so far - the dining room. I'll share more as I finish them (here comes the lightning and thunder!).

And Boyfriend's addition to the dining room, which I discovered hiding in our newly acquired Ponytail Palm:

The tablecloth needs ironing, but I put it on the table before we purchased an ironing board... so there.

In other news I worked all of last week - 39 hours. I couldn't do 40 because I'm officially part time. I love it. I'm a floater so I work in all different parts of the library, wherever I'm needed and last week I was in circulation all week. It was great! (I think the storm just ripped one of our hanging plants out.... sad face). I have all of this week off due to the move and then I start back up again next week.

So all in all things are going great! I hope all of you are doing well - we just got Internet today so I've started perusing blogs again. I'll be back with a (hopefully) page finish soon so until then - happy stitching!

More College and STUFF

I really think there is going to be too much in this post to just have a title... so "stuff" is all-encompassing. I'll start with College, though, for those who are here only for stitching.

1. 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

Now here's the thing - I'm changing my rotation. Most of you know that I really want to finish College by Christmas. Of this year. Stop laughing. I even made myself a little schedule. By this Saturday, I should be finished with page 14. Hey, guess what, I'm on page 9. Hmmm... So what does that mean? A new rotation, of course! It will be such: one page of College, 10 hours of the next project on my list, one more page of college, 10 hours of another project, and so on. It is entirely possible that I will want to chuck College into a fiery pit with this rotation, and I'm totally willing to accept that.

2. Next item on the agenda, I have a problem and need your help! We all know I'm a little bit nutty when it comes to my stitching. Lately I've been inexplicably super fired up about it - probably because I've been ridiculously stressed out the last two months and stitching is kind of my safe place. Anyway, I have this tradition where I always buy myself something with my first paycheck. I don't blow the whole thing, but whenever I start a job I ALWAYS go out and treat myself. I've decided to treat myself to a chart and some fabric this time around. The chart has already been picked out: "The Present" by Thomas Cole from Golden Kite but I'm having a problem with the fabric. I usually stitch on 25 count and would LOVE to do that in this case. BUT they have blended threads, which means I would have to stitch with 2 threads and I just can't do that on 25 count because I know, from experience, that although the coverage of it is FANTASTIC it's very difficult for me to stitch and I just don't enjoy it. So I wanted to stitch it on 22 count Hardanger because I was thoroughly convinced that Mario was stitched on 22 count. Well, today I checked and I'm counting 17 stitches per inch on Mario. HUH?! I bought the fabric 6 years ago for that and I very well could be wrong but whoa. Personal shock. That means I've never stitched on 22 count and I don't know what the coverage will be like. I have to order the fabric online (probably from Cross Stitch Heaven) and I wanted to order for the accompanying piece ("The Past" by Thomas Cole from Golden Kite) at the same time since I plan to acquire that one soon, too and want to save on shipping costs. I'm really nervous that I'm going to order it and then HATE stitching 2 over 1 on 22 count and have to order 20 count and waste a ton of money. Anyone have any sort of solution to this? It's long and convoluted and if you're still here, you're a trooper.

3. A rant. My birthday is coming up. It's next month. My parents asked me what I wanted. I want a color laser printer with wireless networking capabilities. My inkjet printer was basically on its last legs, I start school soon, laser printing works better for highlighting cross stitching charts, and wireless because handsome helpful Boyfriend and I are now living together, so it'll be easier if we can both print to one printer from multiple devices. My parents had no problem with this, they picked out a printer, purchased it online, and are having it shipped to me. FedEx was the shipper. On their tracking page they said "out for delivery" on Saturday. Saturday, I stayed home. And waited. And waited. And waited. Most of the day went by, I checked tracking, and it said that FedEx knocked on the door and there was no answer. Rage ensued. NOBODY KNOCKED. No notes were left (as FedEx usually does when there is no answer). No notes were left on the landlord's house either (since she's on the same property). I call FedEx. They said they would send a message to the distribution center and someone would call me back. Nobody did. The tracking now says that delivery will be on the 10th. If I don't get my package on the 10th, I'm hands down filing a complaint. The landlord was home all day and she said that nobody knocked on her door either. So, basically, they lied.

4. I start work tomorrow. Yay! AND we move into our place on Saturday. The moving company already picked our stuff up from California and they should be here Saturday or Sunday with our things. I cannot express to you how excited I am. On the one hand, I'm glad we found a temporary living situation. On the other hand, this house is not my home. The things in it are not my own. The cat is an evil biting bastard. The dryer doesn't work. And it's 20 miles out of town. One way. Whine whine whine. This is such a whiny post.

5. Last, but not least, Anne tagged me in 11 questions! I won't pass it on because I'm certain practically everyone has already done this. BUT feel free to answer Anne's questions, too, and post your answers in the comments! I'm curious to see :)


1. What is your favourite season and why?
Spring, because everything seems like it's going to be alright. You just can't beat a beautiful day.


2. Do you like to stitch seasonal pieces?
No. It has never been my thing, and I haven't really found one I want to completely devote myself to. Christmas is great but I would only want to stitch something Christmas-y at Christmas. I'd start to resent it if I stitched it in the summer.


3. Favourite kind of music or musician?
I like all kinds but my favorite groups are Muse and The Strokes. I like a lot of classical, too, and movie scores are probably my favorite things to listen to when I'm driving.


4. Favourite folktale or fairytale?
Norse mythology - hands down. Especially now that I've been to Iceland.


5. How many languages do you speak and what are they?
Fluently - 2: Polish and English (Polish being my first language). Not so fluently (aka not so well at all) - 2: French and Japanese. I took four years of French in high school and 5 levels of Japanese in College.


6. Who would you rather have: Aragorn or Legolas?
Aragorn. I like them rugged. That's why I'm dating a geologist.


7. Dream vacation?
Iceland. FOREVER.


8. A favourite saying and why?
Not really a saying, but something I say a lot, "I know, right?"


9. Your most prized possession?
Hmmm... probably my stitching stuff. Just because I can't claim Boyfriend as a possession, strictly speaking.


10. Who you look up to and why?
Liz Sterling because she's GORGEOUS and SUPER sweet. But seriously, I don't know. I just strive to be the best person I can be. 


11. What is the hardest thing you have ever done in your life?
Moved to Texas, because I've never lived this far away from my family, on my own. Also, I'm a pansy.


There you go, folks. If you're still here, congratulations! Until next time! Not sure when that will be, of course, as the Internet here goes out quite often.

WIPocalypse, the Seventh Coming (and lots of news!)

I'll start with the WIPocalypse and share the news at the bottom of the post for those who are only looking for the WIPocalypse.

"College of Magical Knowledge" before WIPocalypse:

Last WIPocalypse:

Now:

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:

Last WIPocalypse and Now:

Mario - darklilac.com self-made chart
Stitching on 22 count white Aida
2 threads over 1 with DMC


"Riding the Wave" before WIPocalypse:

Last WIPocalypse and Now:

"Tiny Rose Garden Mandala" before WIPocalypse:

Last WIPocalypse:

Now (FINISHED!):

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


"Middle Earth" before WIPocalypse:

Last WIPocalypse:

Now:

Middle Earth from Heaven and Earth Designs
Stitching on 25 count antique white evenweave
1 over 1 with DMC


"Greek Mandala" was not started before WIPocalypse.

Last WIPocalypse and now:

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


The moral of the story is that moving across the country is not conducive to getting stitching done. I can't wait to get the rest of my projects here. I've been itching to stitch like crazy. I think I finally realized why I love stitching so much - it gets my imagination going. I get put in whatever landscape or project I'm stitching. It's wonderful and magical.

I've got two pieces of news. The first is that the bathroom is finished! I'll show you guys the before and afters. I'm pretty proud of myself since I designed most of it, and I think it looks good!

Before:

Yeah, I know, I have a lot of stuff on the vanity... oh well.

Now:

I think it looks pretty nice! We went with a beige tile on the wall and a gray tile on the floor (which you can sort of see in the last picture - it's also the same tile we used for the baseboard). Anyway, mission accomplished. Too bad I'm not there to see it.

The other piece of news is that I got a job! I sent an email to the Midland County Public Library a week or two ago and they said they were interested in having me volunteer. Yay! So I went over there last week to meet everyone I would be working with, the director of the library walked by, we got to talking and he hired me. Right there. It was actually kind of bizarre. I then had to apply for the position that  I was just hired for. And I start Monday. Crazy. It's kind of perfect, though, since I'll be getting experience in that for which I'm going to school (what a convoluted sentence that I probably messed up).

In other news, Handsome Helpful Boyfriend has been working 12 hour shifts and I've been missing him. The Internet went down about a week ago and only got fixed today (and we don't know for how long, either) so it's been kind of boring around here without a Boyfriend to bother and with a cat who bites at every opportunity.

I added a "Wish List" tab at the top of the page because I'm an evil enabler and like to share pretty things. So, if it strikes your fancy, feel free to drool over what I've been drooling over. The Thomas Cole pieces from Golden Kite are going to be my next acquisitions. Sometime....

Also, because the Internet has been down I haven't been able to read blogs. So here I go again, catching up with all your beautiful work.

Stalk stalk stalk...