Flapping Parrot 16

Christmas break provided me a lot of unprecedented stitching time! I turned my computer off Friday night and didn't turn it back on or check my work e-mail until Wednesday morning. Things had been pretty quiet - I only had 200 e-mails! The result is 10 more hours of stitching!

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These pages of the flapping parrot are pretty easy and go pretty quick - it's just background. But! There will be a page finish soon and then H³ will have to pick another pattern. However, my best friend (of over 20 years) just had her first baby so I have a baby blanket to finish. It's kind of mind blowing to me. I'm at that age where all my friends are making tiny humans of their own. Mind blowing.

Another thing I didn't mention (shame on me) is the lovely gift from The Craft Princess! Cliffhanger by Aimee Stewart found its way into my inbox:

This is the Supersize Master Color version. Can't wait! Thank you, Crafty Princess!

Well, that's it from me for 2017. I hope 2018 is a far better year for everyone, including myself. Stay safe this New Year's Eve, keep your pets safe especially if they're easily spooked, and enjoy yourselves responsibly. Wishing you all the best in the New Year, and, of course, plenty of stitching!

Flapping Parrot 15

Stitched my first 10 hours of page 7 of the Flapping Parrot!

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It feels good to stitch again, although I'm still working a lot. Christmas is the busiest time of year for us at work. Either way, I still try to get some stitching in on the weekends and I took the day after Christmas off so I have an extra day to be lazy.

I also signed up for the Cloudsfactory 2018 Legendary Creatures Alphabet SAL! It's a Christmas gift from my mom. First part is released January 10 and then the first of the month thereafter. Very excited! Hopefully I can keep up with the SAL. They had a sneak peek with Medusa and I love it so we'll see!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas (for those who celebrate it) and a peaceful New Year - hoping it's better than 2017.

Happy Stitching!

Greek Mandala #18 (Parts 1-4 done)

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I finished part 4 of the Greek Mandala! H³ has chosen the flapping parrot as the next stitch. Not sure if I mentioned this but together we have worked my WIP list down to 6 active stitches. Whenever I finish one, I'll rotate another one I've started, and so on. We'll see how this whole thing works out but probably better in terms of seeing measurable progress but on fewer projects. So stay tuned for the flapping parrot.

If you're wondering if I worked over the Thanksgiving holidays the answer is, of course, yes. I was told not to log on by the partners. Then we realized (at 9:30 on Wednesday night) that there was a filing that was due Wednesday that I didn't make on time (that's the official story, whatever). So I have to make it on Friday. I log on Friday and immediately get "I need this today!" e-mails (not filing related). I respond with "It's a holiday, I'll do it Monday." To which I get the classic, "okay, tell me who's working today and I'll ask them because I don't know how to _____." When I was done with all the things I passive aggressively shut down my computer before more e-mails could come in. I've been playing video games and stitching since. NO REGRETS. Until I come in on Monday.

Funny story, though, as I was taking the progress photos I had closed to door so the dog wouldn't come in and step on the stitching. She noses the door open anyway and waltzes in. I protected the stitching and made her sit/stay until I was done. This is the result:

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us over here, even our furry little monster (it's her favorite day of the year, after all), and happy stitching!

Greek Mandala #17

So, first of all, NOT DEAD! Still blogging! Things have just taken an unexpected turn. Work has been busy, as always, but I also "noped" out on vacation out of the country for 2.5 weeks. Since I have the kind of job that requires people to cover for me, I felt compelled to line things up as well as I could so I wouldn't be dumping on people, which meant long hours finishing things up. I went dark for the 2.5 weeks I was in Poland, vacationing and having a great time (check out my Instagram for photos), and when I came back it was to a total $h!7storm at work. I've been working every night and weekend since.

On top of that pretty much everyone I know is pregnant so I've been ass-deep in baby blanket knitting.

But, there will always be work, and I just can't look at another knit-stitch right now, and this weekend I'm TIRED. So I stitched. For the first time in a long time. And guess what! I finished the third corner of Greek Mandala.

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Slowly but surely the Mandala grows! One more corner and it will be time to rotate to the next stitching piece.

Life in general has been interesting. I turned 31 in August. I'm becoming a bit disenchanted with work. Not sure how to really handle that. H³ and I are starting to look into buying a house but the market in the Bay Area is insane, to say the least. Vacation was magnificent, but I'm all stressed out again.

I do have a new project going, which has taken up a lot of my time recently. I've been writing fiction since I was about 9 years old. I'm not good. I just enjoy it. Then I met some other people who enjoy it. Then we created a blog where we decided to serialize our writing and publish it. I write under a pen name, but you can find our work here. I hope you enjoy it. And if you don't then... I don't know. Don't keep reading, I guess.

With that, I'm going to go do some stuff. Stitching. Or knitting. Or writing. Definitely not working.

Happy stitching, everyone!

Greek Mandala #16

This part took me a little longer than the previous, but I think it's looking fantastic! And since I had to take it off the scrolls to get to the next corner, here's a photo!

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On the work front, however, I had to quit my promotion. Things hit the fan about two weeks ago and I decided that it wasn't worth it. Three months of the hardest work I've ever done and pulling the craziest hours I've ever pulled. Two 200+ billed months in a row and I was on track for July being the same. Then some things happened and H³ asked me to quit. So I did. And now I'm back to doing what I did before, and what I do best. And I'm so much happier for it.

We have also booked a vacation to Poland - 2.5 weeks of no work and fun travel. Can't wait.

On that note, I'm going to go play some video games (Witcher III!). Happy stitching, everyone!

Greek Mandala #15

Another blog post less than a week after my last one? It's true! I had a four day weekend last weekend and even though I have to work this weekend, I took today off. It has been a while since Greek Mandala has come out and the part I'm working on is to be repeated on all four corners of the center, but I finished the first one just about 30 minutes ago. So here it is!

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There are some really fantastic silks used in this part, which made it so interesting and fun to stitch.

In terms of work, things are not exactly getting better. I've cut back on my hours and although it's helping my health, I'm completely backlogged. As I said above, I took today off, but will have to get some stuff done tomorrow. In addition, I have another half marathon towards the end of July and haven't been able to train nearly enough. I'm concerned, but will deal.

And with that, I go back to Greek Mandala and the next corner motif. Happy stitching!

Snow Bears Stocking

I've been stitching lately, but primarily on the weekends and knitting on week nights if I'm not working. Still working a lot, but I started having stress and anxiety-related health problems and the moment that happened I cut back on my hours. Sometimes, things just have to get left undone.

I've been stitching on something new for a few weeks. H³ has always been troubled by the fact that I don't have a Christmas stocking. It was just never a thing in my family to have them. So he is insisting I have one. Of course, it has to be stitched so of course, I have to stitch it.

I picked the Dimensions "Snow Bears Stocking" and as of today have finished the top half of it:

A little tired of stitching white so I'm switching to Greek Mandala for a bit, but the stocking as a pretty quick stitch at least so there's some small hope I can finish it by Christmas!

Happy stitching and for those of you in the U.S., Happy Fourth!