Creative Slumping

It's pretty sad that only the question of the week has encouraged me to post lately. I have been busy with work, and getting adjusted to Dave's new schedule at his new job, but it's also due to a creative slump. Oddly enough, the slump is not related to the projects that I'm working on, I still am making time every day to knit a few rows, or stitch a block of stitches, I'm having trouble coming up with the energy to write about and photograph them. Probably because nothing much has changed. Unfortunately everything I'm working on is a "big-ass" project, and while I know there has been growth and change and I'm inching closer to being finished, I can't document it since there isn't much to show. I want to start something new, but that's just asking for trouble, then I'll just have one more partially finished item that is "blog-boring".

I guess I'm a turtle, and I want to be a hare.

I did start a new cross stitch project with The Sampler Life yahoogroup, called the Marquoir Story, its a nine part sampler. I'm stitching it on 32 count linen, with a Needle Necessities overdyed thread. I'm not doing anything special with the thread, just stitching it as it comes.


Oh, yeah, this week's question:
What are your favourite cross stitching websites and why?

Country Cottage
My favorite online shop, where I buy most of my stitching goodies.
Chartswappers
Trading group on yahoo, trash into treasure!
Chatelaine - Martina Weber
Absolutely gorgeous designs, my current obsession.
Hoffman's
My monthly drool spot for all the new releases
Eye of the Needle - Mineola TX
This is my LNS and framer. Even though there are two LNS's closer, I'm willing to drive 80 miles to leave my finished pieces with Sherry.

I'm sure there are tons more, but I'll just leave it at five for now.

Just Finished:

Stitcher's Question of the Week

Would you consider yourself ‘addicted to stitching’? Why or why not?

I wouldn't consider myself addicted. I enjoy stitching as a hobby, but I can put the needle down without suffering withdrawal pangs. There are periods in my life in which I don't stitch or knit for months at a stretch because of time constraints, or because I've found something else that occupies my time more.

Frankly, I think calling something like stitching an addiction is a little insulting to people who have real addictions. I must say though, some of the behavior I see discussed on the xstitch and knitting groups does sound like an addiction:

Using the grocery money to buy stash, lying to your partner about how much stash you have or have just bought, hiding your stash in the trunk so your partner won't find it, hiding your stash in random places throughout the house (like inside the piano) so your partner won't find it, spending mega-bucks on ebay to buy that magazine back issue or leaflet just so you "have them all", spending so much time with your projects that your kids put themselves into foster homes, not caring that dinner is covered in a light dusting of pet hair.

Just Finished:

Political Funny

funny or offensive no matter what side you're for

Just finished:

Stitcher's Question of the Week

How do you choose a project? What “calls” to you the most?

Usually I see something that I just "have" to stitch. I fall in love with the photo and have to add the chart to my stash. When stash diving to pick out my next project, sometimes I have something in mind that I've been waiting to work on (I only allow myself three knit or crochet and three stitching projects at a time) and sometimes I have to pull out all my charts and pick the one that tugs at my creative urges the hardest. This inevitbly leads to me pulling out charts and asking myself exactly what I was thinking when I bought them. My tastes have changed drastically in the nearly 20 years that I've been stitching. Which is why I belong to Chartswappers. My trash is someone else's treasure.

Just Finished:

Dave proposed this morning! I said yes, of course. I was not expecting it. I can't believe he was able to keep his plans a secret, and go buy a ring without me figuring out something was up.



I was going to post a Hawaii progress picture, but Zedd decided he wanted to wear the sweater which made it incredibly hard to knit.

Busy

Busy, busy, busy. Too busy to write a coherent blog post, too busy to take photos of works in progress. Or maybe too lazy? I'll go with busy.

Got the new Interweave Knits. Yawn. Not one single thing of interest in there for me. Am I becoming jaded? Maybe. I'm disappointed, usually Interweave is the magazine that has at least one thing I might want to make someday.

Finished part 1a of Mini-Mystery F.


Worked some on the rest of my current projects. Am almost done with the back of Hawaii, still have to do the matching front and sleeves. Still am not finished with part 5 of Mystery 6. Somehow feel that I never will be, since I miscounted and had to take out about three hours worth of work. That sucked!

The Stither's Five has been changed to the Stitcher's One:
Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why.

I thought we answered this one recently, or maybe that was most favorite? I still think it has to be English Elegance. It was one of the first things I stitched on linen, way back in 1993 I had only made a few things on Aida, and maybe a very small linen ornament. I had no idea it was supposed to be too advanced for my skills at the time, I just followed Maureen's directions (I took a class at SOCS), stitched like crazy for close to a year and ended up with an absolutely gorgeous finished piece. Its all over one for those who aren't familiar with Maureen's designs. I finally got it framed last year, and it occupies a place of honor in the dining room. It's my "if you can make this, you can make anything" piece.

what, me evil?

The new summer Knitty is out.

Joan McGowan-Michael outdid herself with this pattern. This is going to be my new staple for folks that ask for a freebie pattern for Fixation.

I didn't see anything that I'm interested in making but you have to admire the creativity. Besides I only read it for the articles, I swear...