Celestial Dragon 1

I finished the first ten hours on Celestial Dragon last week, but then was caught up in Halloween costume-making and didn't get a chance to post. But, the costume is done, the Halloween party at work was a success, and now I can go back to stitching.

So here it is, the first ten hours on Joan Elliott's "Celestial Dragon"

Some things you can't tell from the photo:
- It's stitched on Picture This Plus "Meditate" (28 count, 2 over 2)
- SPARKLY THREADS
- There will be lots and lots of beads

It's a fun and easy quick stitch, divided up into four pages so I'll keep going until I have the first quarter page done. There's four or five different colors of Kreinik in the whole pattern so I'm hoping those will show up eventually. There will also be two different colors of beads, but I'll stitch those in at the end along with the french knots and backstitching.

I mentioned working on my Halloween costume. Well, here it is. The great reveal (for those who haven't seen it on Facebook):

That's me in there. And if you don't get the reference, click here for a hint. The costume was H³'s idea, but I didn't get started making it until about three days before the work party. Whoops. The robes and gauntlets are made from scratch and underneath, to black out my face, I'm wearing a black morph suit. Suffice it to say I freaked the hell out of everyone at work, made them quite uncomfortable, and had a great time doing it. Most people didn't know it was me.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween. And happy stitching!

Parrot #14

By the end of the 10 hours I was so close to finishing this page, I decided to just go for it.

Before:

Now:

H³ has picked the next pattern in the rotation and it is (drum roll) Joan Elliott's "Celestial Dragon"!!! I was quite surprised by the choice - I thought it would be a Halloween-themed choice, but it will be a really fun stitch full of sparklies on hand-dyed fabric (by PTP).

Now, I do want to briefly discuss something that has happened recently. It's not a sob story, but a public service announcement. In early September I found that a mole on my arm had changed. Being the paranoid person I am, I went to the doctor. The doctor photographed all my moles and sent them to a dermatologist, who called me less than an hour later to have me come in. A few days later, I went in and together with the dermatologist we determined that two moles needed to be removed - the one I originally came in for and another one on my chest that I have had since birth.

September 21st I had the surgery, and then waited for the results. And waited. And then I found out - the one on my arm I originally went in for was benign. The one on my chest was pre-cancerous. Both have been removed, and I'm fine, but my point is this: pay attention to your body, listen to it, and if something is out of the ordinary then check it out. It could just save your life.

With that, on to Celestial Dragon - happy stitching, everyone!