Parrot #13

This page of the parrot is super fun to stitch, I think because the parrot itself is emerging!

Before:

After 10 hours:

This is, in my opinion, the perfect kind of page to stitch. There's a great balance of background and confetti so I can switch off, and it goes pretty quickly. I imagine needing only about 15-20 more hours to finish the page, as I'm already over 1/3 of the way there. On top of that, seeing the colors blending and the parrot's face emerging is just really exciting. Every stitch I put into him (I've named him Felix in my mind) makes his face come out more and more. Generally, I am loving it.

H³ is narrowing down the choices of what pattern I'm going to stitch next. I may not have said, but it's more than just the BAPs I have listed on the left. On top of that are also the following:

- Alessandra Adelaide's Halloween Mystery SAL (not a mystery anymore since the SAL is long over but I still have the pattern on the go)
- Alessandra Adelaide's Elucubrazioni (Out of Print)
- Cloudsfactory's Doctor Who 12 Doctors Clock
- Cloudsfactory's Magical Creatures Calendar
- Joan Elliott's Celestial Dragon

They're all smaller projects I started at some point and became UFOs and now I'm taking the opportunity to put them into a rotation and finish them off. H³ has mentioned that he wants me to go with a Halloween themed pattern next, since October and Halloween are my favorite, and that leaves either AAN Halloween SAL or Spangler's Trick or Treat. We'll see which one will come out to play!

Until next time, happy stitching everyone!

Flapping Parrot page 4 finished!

It may not be a project finish (it will be a while before I get another one of those). Page 4 of the Flapping Parrot is done!

Before:

Now:

I think it looks amazing, if I do say so myself!

Also, I finally got College of Magical Knowledge framed, and it was worth every penny:

H³ chose the frame, the framer chose the mat, and I chose the thickness of the mat. There's museum glass installed but since we have windows on the facing wall so I had to angle the photo a bit.

Besides that life is good. I have a review at work on Monday which could either go very well or quite poorly. We'll see.

Other than that, our dog is crazy, I've been working a lot of hours, and H³ is as Handsome and Helpful as ever!

So I leave you with this last photo of Xena helping me work from home two nights ago:

Happy stitching!

College of Magical Knowledge - FINISHED!

Finally! Last night, just before midnight, I put the last stitch into College and stitched my initials and the date. A five-year labor of love (with other projects in between) finally finished.

Here it is when I first started this blog:

Here it is last time I posted:

And now:

I can't really believe it's done. But it's done! Now I will wash it, iron it, and frame it. I can't help but stare at it for extended periods of time. Is it perfect? No. But I am really, really proud of myself.

151,200 stitches. 5 years. On to the next.

Thank you all for being part of my journey in finishing College of Magical Knowledge.

Edited to add: I couldn't have done this without H³.

College 85, or, 3,658 stitches left

I didn't finish by Christmas and I didn't finish by the end of the year. But I've stopped stressing out avout it and am going to finish, wash it, get it framed, and still give it as a gift to my parents without the added stress.

So let's see where I was with this project at the beginning of the year, last time, and now.

Start of 2015:

last time:

And now, after another 10 hours of stitching, roughly:

Almost there!

Basically, I didn't make any of my goals for the year. And I don't care! 2015 was an absolutely CRAZY year! I got to meet Michael Fassbender (my favorite!) and Kate Winslet and my butt made it into the Steve Jobs movie, after which I got to work some more gigs until I got a corporate job I actually really like. Then H³ started grad school and we got a dog! All in all, a wonderful year, despite the lack of stitching finish.

With that I leave this year off with a picture of our little beastie, being a super snuggler.

Happy New Year! and Happy Stitching in 2016!

College 84, or 5,218 stitches left.

Will I make it to Christmas? Probably not. Am I going to try anyway? You better believe it.

Here's another 10 hours of stitching.

Before:

After:

I must admit I've been a little distracted from stitching because we adopted a furbaby yesterday.

Meet Xena:

She is a five month old Formosan Mountain Dog, Border Collie mix. She is also a terror. And the cutest little thing ever.

H³ has been training her practically every moment since we got her yesterday morning and she's already indicating when she needs to go outside, jumping up less, and starting to sit.

So I hope everyone is ready for furbaby photos regularly, along with stitching posts, of course.

And if you're wondering how the 10K in the Marin Headlands went, well, it didn't. I got the Plague. Missed worked, felt like death, and it's still clinging to me a bit. So I chose to skip it so I didn't get pneumonia, as it was also raining that day.

So that's that! Happy stitching!

College 83, or 6,886 stitches left.

This is what roughly ten hours of stitching looks like.

Before:

After:

6,886 stitches left!

Get ready for a whole lot more posts as I get closer and closer.

College, Page 22 finished!

I have been stitching until I went cross-eyed and blurry, and then stitching some more. But page 22 of College is done! I'm combining pages 23 and 24 into one, and hoping they go a bit faster as there are large blocks of color.

Before:

After:

All the wizards in the College are now in place and all that's left is a cliff, some sky, and some butterfly fishing.

H³ wants everyone to know how handsome he is, and ALSO how helpful he is. And to throw in that he's good looking, too.

I hope everyone has had a good Thanksgiving, and if you don't celebrate then that your week has been fantastic. We had First Thanksgiving yesterday, and tomorrow we have Second Thanksgiving. My pants are crying just thinking about me trying to button them next week.

And now that I'm starting the last page of College, I thought it would be appropriate to share this:

Happy stitching!

College 82

I am a terrible blogger!!! I feel like I start every blog post like that recently. Honestly, though, by the time I get home from work all I want to do is either stitch or play video games and I don't even think about blogging. I think another part of it is I am SO READY to be done with College that I just hunker down and stitch as much as I can on it without consideration for anything else.

Before:

After:

I'm about 1,400 stitches away from finishing the current page. Then just one more page to go and it's done. I don't know how I stand in finishing it in time for Christmas. It's still my goal, but I may have to let go of it. Either way, though, it's going to get finished as soon as I can and then I can at least have one BAP under my belt (and a million more to go).

I ran a 10k last week, which went well. Ran it with a friend of mine who has never run a 10k so it was more for fun than anything else. I have another 10k in two weeks but that one is a little more difficult. For anyone familiar with the Marin Headlands, that's where the run is. For those not familiar with the Marin Headlands, here's a link to a topographical map. So the views will be beautiful, but I may die.

Besides that it has just been work work work. I try to keep a good work/life balance with the knowledge that overtime is sometimes necessary, but I don't make it a habit. I do what needs to get done and make it clear that I don't live to work. I do love my job, at least so far, granted I've only been there three months. H³ seems to be enjoying grad school, and he takes every opportunity to help me relax. If I want to play video games, he builds me a video game throne out of pillows on top of the bed. We go for nightly walks and are generally trying to enjoy life.

So things are pretty good right now. And I hope all is well with everyone else. Once I finish College I will try to get back to posting regularly and stitching other things. I'm just in this final push and hope I can get this done in time. We shall see, though.

Until next time, happy stitching!

College 81

I'm a terrible blogger! I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted. But at least I have some stitching to show off!

Before:

After:

Getting every closer to finishing this one!

I finally went out with H³ to see "Steve Jobs." The good news? I made the cut! The bad news? It's my butt! Well, kind of. It's a scene where they had a bunch of us walk across this walkway, crossing each other's paths, etc. They didn't end up using any of the path crossing takes. They just used a shot of me. Walking away from the camera. A shot of me from behind. Of my behind. Haha! Honestly, I don't care. The experience was great. Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet were amazing. And I wouldn't trade my memories for anything. Although if this movie wins any sort of award, H³ will always say I have an award-winning butt.

Besides that I haven't been doing much besides working. I signed up for the running club at work and I'm running a race in November. Still have to sign up for the race with work in December. I keep going back and forth between signing up for the 5k or the 10k because the terrain is so difficult but spots are going to fill up fast so I need to make my decision quick.

I hope you all have been well. I really wish I had more stitchy time, but I think for someone who is almost never home anymore I'm not doing half bad. And can you believe H³ and I celebrated our one-year anniversary earlier this month? I can't...

Happy stitching, everyone!

College Page 21, finished!

I'm not entirely certain how I found the time to do this, but I finished page 21!

Before:

After:

Sorry for the picture quality, my mom is in Europe right now and I let her borrow my camera so I'm using my old one. It works, it's just not the best.

College is now 90.12% done! There's technically three pages left but the last page is just a sliver so I'm going to tack it on to page 23 and do them at the same time. But I'm almost there!!

I started my new job September 1st. Basically put, I'm now a corporate practice assistant for a top tier law firm. It's not easy and the hours are long but I'm making it work. The plus side is I'm actually enjoying it and I really like my co workers. The biggest downsides are the commute and the fact thta I have no idea what I'm doing yet. But I'll learn in time and it will get better.

I hope.

But, since I have to be up at 5, this post is short and boring. Happy stitching, everyone!

College #79

Despite the long hours and the long commute, I put in another 2,000 stitches!

Before:

After:

I will try to have a page finish with the next update. That still doesn't guarantee that I will have a finish by the end of this year, particularly with the newest life update. Even if I don't finish it in time for Christmas, though, it will still make a great gift.

Last week was my birthday and I entered the last year of my 20's. The day itself was pretty uneventful. I went to work, I came home, and we ate so much sushi I could barely move. All in all a good day. Gifts were lovely, of course, and The Crafty Princess did it again and sent me a lovely little dragon from Charting Creations to add to my dragon-obsessed collection:

Isn't he lovely? I still need to name him. I already have a dragon named Benedict, and my friend has a little dragon named Henry, so he needs a good name.

So in regards to my last post, the good things I've been keeping close to the chest: I've been going through a fairly extensive interview process for a great position in a top-tier law firm. Long story short I signed the offer letter on Wednesday. :) We're still waiting on some paperwork to go through before I find out when my first day will be, but I'm really excited. This will be a great step for us especially since H³ left work to go to grad school, which is also a very important step. The job itself is great, although I may be working even longer hours. But you take some you give some and ultimately this is a wonderful thing.

All in all, life is good. I don't know when I find time for anything anymore, stitching inclusive, but apparently I do so I'm not complaining. Just taking life one day at a time and hoping for the best, always.

With that, I wish you all a fantastic weekend, and happy stitching!

College #78

So I guess I haven't posted since July. I'm a bad blogger! To be fair, work has been incredibly exhausting, I ran a half marathon, and I recently started weight lifting again, which requires a 5am wake up. So things have been busy. I haven't had a huge amount of time to stitch, but I did manage to get just over 2,000 stitches in on the next page of College. The end is near!

Before:

After:

I am just itching to finish this. So much so that I have pretty much abandoned all other projects in favor of getting as much done as I possibly can.

My post tonight is going to be super boring. Between work and the gym I don't have much time for anything else. There's something potentially happening right now, but I'm keeping it really close to the chest until I hear more and/or some definite things happen. All good things, though, I hope!

Until next time (which I hope will be sooner than this post was), happy stitching!

College page 20 finished!!

My eagerness to finish this page showed when between Friday and Saturday I put in 1,044 stitches. I'm not quite sure how I did it, to be honest, but I did, and page 20 is done!

Before:

After:

This puts me at 85% done with College of Magical Knowledge! It's exciting knowing that I'm in the last legs of the journey. There are four pages left and I hope I can still finish this project in time to have it framed for Christmas. I guess we'll find out, but I'm gridding up the next page today and diving right in.

In other news, I got my car back and it looks like nothing ever happened to it. I guess I should have expected that but since I've never had to get extensive body work done, I found it surprising.

Next Saturday I'm running my half marathon. It has been really hot out here lately, but it is a moonlight run so I hope that will make it better. I've been trying to run at dusk to get used to it, and so far so good. I actually prefer running at dusk.

On a more personal note, I feel like I'm in a constant state of flux. Usually, that would be a bad thing. But I'm taking the time to get to know myself and improve myself every step of the way and I think it's working. Or, at least, I feel a lot better than I have in years. About myself, about my situation, about the future. I'm choosing to be positive and despite some people's best efforts, it's my choice to focus on the good and not worry about things I can't change.

This is my 200th post. Here's to at least another 200.

Happy stitching, everyone!

College #76

Oh my gosh has it really been almost a month since my last post? Time flies when you're ridiculously busy with stuff you don't want to be busy with!

Before I go into the craziness of the last month (I feel like 2015 has been a really weird year so far...) here's my stitching progress.

Before:

After:

Getting closer and closer to that elusive page finish! Which means closer and closer to finishing the whole thing!!

On to life stuff. I started the temp job June 1 and had the worst week in the history of first weeks at work (for me, anyway). In fact, it has been kind of a crappy three weeks of work. Allow me to elaborate.

Day 1, I got food poisoning. Day 2, I had a full-on wardrobe malfunction that nobody saw fit to tell me about until I got home. I'm hoping nobody told me because nobody noticed. It was pretty awful. Day 3, I had another bad health-related day that was different than day 1 but I don't want to talk about in detail. Suffice it to say I wasn't having fun, but was better off than day 1. Day 5 H³ got sick at work. And day 11 I had my first accident ever on the way to work. I don't want to talk about the details of the accident because the insurance agencies are taking care of it right now but I'm okay, the other driver is okay, and my car is in the shop getting some body work done.

The highlight has been that for some unknown reason that I will not argue with, the insurance agency set me up with a crazy sports car rental while my car is getting fixed. Check this ridiculous thing out!

Since I've been hyper stressed out and haven't had much alone time AND I have a ridiculous car I would never actually buy I've decided to take some me time today and go to Carmel and enjoy myself. Then I'll probably stop by a stitching store on my way home. BECAUSE WHY NOT. H³ is very supportive of this idea and is practically pushing me out the door. We'll ignore the part where if I leave he gets garage space to work on his bike for a while (that's bicycle, not motorcycle. H³ is also quite talented and builds bicycles from scratch).

So that's my last couple of weeks in a nutshell. I hope it gets better from here.

Either way, happy stitching!

College #75 and News on the Job Front

First things first, of course - the stitching!

Before:

After:

I'm about 2,000 stitches into page 20 right now and I feel like I'm tantalizingly close to finishing this project. As it stands, I'm just over 82% done, but that still feels really close! I also feel like I'm stitching faster (when I get the chance to stitch these days).  Either way, I'm getting there! And I'm excited about getting there! It will feel really great to get a BAP out of the way, even if I do have a million more to go.

On the job front some interesting things have happened. A few weeks ago I signed on with a temp agency thinking that it would be good to get some income while I was still looking for full time work. I've been placed on yet another eligibility list with a public library, but truth be told I'm not super excited about public library work. Yeah, it's a library, but it's not something I truly enjoy. I'd much rather go into records management. The temp agency tried to get me to do paralegal work, and I just wasn't having any of it. So they set me up with a temp receptionist position for a few days and kept scoping around for work.

In the meantime, I accepted a PA job with the BattleBots TV show, thinking it would be a fun way to pass the time.

While at the temp job, the agency set me up with an interview with a top tier law firm that needs help with their records management department. I ended up getting the job! So, basically, I have a job now, although it's temporary. However, if they like me enough, if their budget allows, if I'm awesome, there is potential for a permanent hire. So I guess that isn't too bad.

The only thing is that I was still signed on for BattleBots. I went to work the set Monday and quickly realized that this was not a feasible thing for me to do. I felt like I could do more good being at home, I had pre-employment paperwork and testing I needed to take care of, the drive was 4 hours roundtrip, and I was getting home at 1:15am only to have to get up early and do it all over again. It just wasn't going to work out. So I let production know, and they were really understanding about it. I hate flaking out on work like that, but sometimes you have to do what's right by you.There was some miscommunication, too, and the call lists weren't being sent out until 10:30pm the night before, which is really, really late. That being said, if you're in the states you should watch BattleBots on ABC June 21st.

In other news, I've taken up the nearly impossible task of taking care of my parent's yards. The backyard is half vegetable garden and half dead wilderness. I have a complete understanding of the fact that we're in a drought, but that doesn't mean the yard has to be full of weeds and dead grass. There are plenty of drought resistant native plants that can go in that would definitely be an upgrade to the hot mess out there right now. The front yard needs some work too. So I'm taking on that challenge full force.

With that, happy stitching, everyone!

College page 19 done, and WOAH, life... woah

I don't know what got into me but I managed to stitch about 400 stitches per night, thus finishing Page 19 of College!

Before:

After:

Getting closer and closer each day! 4 whole and 1 partial page left, and I'm excited to be done!

I feel like life has exploded recently. H³ got into grad school and received an offer to be a TA. He also got two job offers besides the TA offer. He declined one that wasn't in his field and accepted a geology position. First day of work was yesterday, so good changes are in the works. The commute is kind of rough but we're taking it one step at a time.

I also have a job interview today, so if you have any positive vibes to spare, I would very much appreciate them. Life would get significantly better if we were both working, so if I were to get this job (which is a rather good job) that would be a really big step in our lives. We'd be able to move out, get a dog, etc. So please, cross your fingers, send a prayer, positive energy, whatever you can spare!

Thank you, and happy stitching, everyone!

College #73

I'm getting so excited about possibly finishing College this year that it has been hard to stitch on anything else. Each stitch I put in has a sort of finality to it. I get extra excited to stitch on it and extra motivated and I feel like my needle has just been flying. I find myself putting two or three hundred stitches in each night, which is not my usual stitching speed (usually I get about 150).

Before:

After:

I might have a page finish the next time I post!

Not a single person was interested in the sock yarn, so I added a "free yarn" tab to the top of the page and I'll just post it there, and any future yarn there may be.

Besides working on College I have been knitting a baby blanket for a friend (due in July) and crocheting a blanket for H³. Some of you may know that H³ is really, really tall.

Photo for reference:

I'm 5'6" and wearing flat shoes in that photo. So there you go. He is tall. (6'3"-6'4"). This is inconvenient only in the sense that people who were previously tall to me are no longer tall. I've had men try to impress me with their height, verbally bringing my attention to it, and they are just not tall to me. I guess it's a matter of perspective.

Anyway, the throw blanket we have for him basically doesn't cover him. If his feet are covered, the rest of him isn't. If the rest of him is covered, his feet stick out. Sadness happens. So I'm making him a gigantic blanket so he can snuggle up like a giant burrito and stay warm. Yes, summer is coming, but we've had some cool weather lately, especially in the evenings, so it's fine. I crochet really fast so I anticipate having it finished in a week or two, at my current pace.

On top of all that I have started reading the Outlander books. I finished the first one a few days ago and got my hands on the second one yesterday. I'm surprised I can get anything done!

That's all I've got for now. I've been pretty down lately, but hopefully my spirits will lift soon. We'll see.

Happy stitching, everyone!

College #72, movie news, and a teeny tiny giveaway

Hello!

So first, College. I feel like I'm in the home stretch! My stitching bug is working in full force and I'm so excited. Every stitch feels like the last! So close! I mean, not really - I still have the entire row to stitch, but it just feels so close!

Before:

After:

Crazy, right? Those are the beginnings of the very last row! I'm confident that College will be finished this year, particularly if I'm resolute in working on it - which I am! Every day a little bit closer!

Next up, the much promised movie news. I'm sorry to say that I can't divulge much, but I can divulge that my part of filming has ended. It was absolutely the best time of my working life and I will likely seek out more projects in the future, particularly while steady full-time work evades me. The film is as of yet untitled, but IMDB refers to it as "Steve Jobs" and the cast includes Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, and Seth Rogen. That's pretty much all I can say about it. Not sure when the release date will be, but I will keep you all posted on it and once a trailer gets released I'll link that. It really was an absolutely incredible experience. I got to talk to some amazing people I never thought I'd get to meet. And Michael Fassbender is one of my absolute favorite actors (along with Cumberbatch and Hiddleston) so it was an honor to be working alongside him, as well as such an accomplished and amazing woman as Kate Winslet. She is truly inspiring. So that's my brief "acting" career. It's not much, but it's a start!

Finally, I have a teeny tiny giveaway for my knitting friends. I'm working on downgrading my stash. When I was learning to knit I bought some yarn that I have since found no use for. So, instead of taking up space in my things, I've decided to throw it up here as a giveaway!

They are both mystery sock yarns. The dark one on the left is 49 grams and the light one on the right is 47 grams. I'll leave this tiny giveaway open until 11:59pm PST March 31. Just leave a comment stating which one you'd like (dark, light, both) and your e-mail address. If more than one person wants a certain one then I'll draw a name randomly. Also, if you have a friend you think might be interested in free sock yarn, let them know! I'm not trying to get more followers, I'm just trying to get rid of stash and clean up a little bit. Spring cleaning I guess. And yes, I WILL ship international.

Also, in the future, once I finish a knitting project if I have a decent amount of yarn left over and I have no plan for it, I will likely do this again. Spread the yarn, right?

In completely other unrelated to anything news, I am trying to learn German. Right now I am fairly elementary ("Ich bin eine Frau" & "Eine Biene" being my most impressive sentences) but once I get a little bit better I will probably be asking for a German pen pal! Yes, that's right! Someone I can write ridiculous letters to in German who is willing to not only mail a corrected version back to me but also write me back in German to see if I can decipher and understand the letter and respond appropriately. Probably a dumb idea but there you go. I'm nowhere near there yet.

So, with that, happy stitching everyone!

College pages 17 and 18 finished!

It took me long enough but I have FINALLY finished pages 17 and 18, and consequently row 3, of College of Magical Knowledge.

Before:

After:

I'm really quite happy with it, and have one more row and exactly 36,000 stitches left. I have a feeling that finishing this project will be much akin to finishing grad school: after I put my last stitch in and pull out the gridding I will stare at a wall for two hours, not knowing what to do with myself. I'll grid up page 19 today and put in the first stitches. Hopefully, it will all go smoothly.

I received some questions in the comments in recent weeks. One was asking what movie I'm working on. Last day of filming is next Monday and after that date I'll let you guys know what it is and who's in it. Also when it comes out to the best of my knowledge. They keep putting me in scenes with the main actor (not complaining) so there's a good chance you'll actually be able to see me, if you're not too busy staring at him on screen. Wouldn't blame you if you missed me because of that, though.

The other question I got is how I calculate anticipated date of completion in my sidebar under each project. This one is a bit more complicated to answer. Basically, I'm crazy. I have a tally app on my phone that I use when I'm stitching, and every stitch I do I mark it off on the tally. Then, at the end of my stitching night, I put it into a spreadsheet I've created. This spreadsheet calculates my average number of stitches a night, how many days it would take me to complete the project at the current stitching average, and then spits out a date based on today's date of when I can anticipate to finish it based on all those numbers. So yes. I'm utterly insane. If, however, this sounds like the kind of obsessive compulsive that's right up your alley then let me know in the comments, along with your email address, and I'll send you a blank copy of the spreadsheet for you to fill in. Some basic Excel skills required (like knowing to click the corner of a cell and drag it down for the formula to continue) but it's not difficult and I'm willing to help anyone out who needs help.

Back to filming, I'm having the best time of my life. I'm learning a lot of new things about myself. I'm happier and I'm more confident. I'm starting to be more comfortable in my own skin. And I don't want any of it to end. Also, in four days of filming, I have already earned 2 of the 3 required SAG vouchers to join SAG. Will I join? I don't know. Probably not. The investment is huge and I'm not entirely certain it's something I want to pursue as a career just because there's so much luck involved. But, in the meantime, I made some fantastic memories, got to meet some absolutely incredible stars, and had the time of my life. One more day of filming left!

I also signed up for another half marathon. It's the moonlight run in July in Davis. My goal is to beat my previous half- time, so here's hoping for the best (and training my butt off).

Today I will grid up the next page of College and get started on it. I'm also working on part 3 of the AAN Halloween SAL so I hope to have that done soon.

As always, happy stitching!

Greek Mandala part 3 done, College #70

It's amazing how busy life can get when you're unemployed, but I guess it's a good thing I can find things to fill up my time with. The filming schedule I'm involved with is a little all over the place so my sleep schedule is a little all over the place as well. I have to report tonight at 10pm for an all night shoot so I, naturally, stayed up all night stitching and slept this morning (though I'm pretty sure I'm going to go take a nap soon). As a result, though, I finished part 3 of Greek Mandala!

Before:

After:

Backstitching from 3 until 5am is probably not ideal but oh well. It's done and I think it looks fabulous (if I do say so myself).

But College of Magical Knowledge has not been neglected either! I'm disappointed by how little it looks like I stitched on it, but I put in over 2,500 stitches since I last posted it.

Before:

After:

I hope that the next time I post it will be with a College page finish!

Besides filming and stitching, I've been playing a lot of Diablo III and reading. So not much else to report on the life front, I suppose.

Short post today, I guess, but I think I'm going to go take that nap now...

Happy stitching!