A couple of photo updates.

Almost done with the fourth section, this one is moving along pretty quick. I'm getting a section done with each rotation.


Mystery 6 has become my focus piece. I'm trying to get it finished up by the end of the year, or close to it, so that I can have a chance of keeping up with Mystery 8 which starts in Jan.

How cute is this?


That is a baby White Throated Monitor Lizard hatching. Even if you don't like lizards, you have to admit they're adorable as infants.

No? Ok, how about this?

That's the baby born to one of our females that we have on loan to Disney. We don't have the capability to manage bull elephants, so we have to send our girls to visit with the boys.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week:

"Whatcha doing? What are you working on right now?"

In Cross Stitch, my current rotation contains:

Chatelaine Mystery 6
Olde Willow Manuscript Sampler
Marqouir Story
Tudor Rose Sampler Guild 2004 Ornament
Honeybee Creations Leapin' Lizards
Bent Creek Holly Berry Sampler
Needle's Prayse Berlin Woolwork Sampler

In Knitting and Crocheting:
Hawaii Sweater
Moiebus Scarf
Socks
Cowlneck Sweater
63 Square Afghan

With so much to do I suppose I should get to work. At least I can't claim to be bored. I need to take progress photos, my progress pages are out of date. Dave is working on building me some new webpages, that look updated and spiffy. He knows how to work style sheets, and Perl, I'm pretty hopeless with anything but basic HTML. My project link page is completed, now he's working on building me a template for individual project pages, in the same theme that I can just plug information into and go.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas came out on the 26th, so it's cut down on the amount of time he's been willing to work on my website. Go figure. The parts I've watched him play have been interesting, some of the costume choices are absolutely hilarious. For instance, the leopard print cowboy hat is not to be missed. Some Interesting additions and omissions. You get fat if you eat too much, get slim if you exercise, build muscle by lifting weights, and have a choice of tattoos and haircuts. There don't appear to be hidden packages, or rampages. Or if there are, we haven't come across any yet.

Janice asked how I was enjoying Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell: I thought is was a great book, even if not for everyone. I saw a lot of negative comments on Amazon, and I think people were expecting high fantasy. It's very Dickensian, and there isn't a whole bunch of action. It's definately more like The English Patient than Rambo First Blood.

Just Finished:

Figured out where I had gone wrong with the sock, have about half of the top completed. I don't want to post a picture yet, I think I'm going to wait until it is finished. That way, there are no unpleasant surprises.

Dave built me some blog buttons. I really love the scrolly one.



Isn't he clever? That and the cooking is why I keep him around.

The sock top I'm working on is not going well. Back to the drawing board for a couple of small adjustments. My finger is feeling a little better, so I can knit in small doses, if I remember to hold it out of the way.

I worked on the Berlin Woolwork Sampler some last night, I finished motif one, and then hit a snag with the other motifs. The instructions call for tent stitch. I tried it with one strand and then with two. I just don't like the way it looks, so I think I'm going to pull out what I did with two strands and do it in cross stitch. Remember this is over one on 36 count, and the thing is about 44" long. I must be freaking crazy!

This is what I've been doing while waiting for them to finish updating my webserver:

I love these little charts, they remind me so much of Zedd. I wonder why I've never stitched any of them before. The one I have to do next is called Meoow.com, and it shows a cat on top of a computer wreaking havoc. Just a normal day at our house.

I also reorganized some of my craft room, and have discovered that I have about 100 cross stitch charts that just don't interest me anymore. I know I must have liked them at the time I bought them, but now they do nothing for me. I'm really hoping the folks at Chartswappers" will take some of them off my hands. Especially if I can trade for some of the things I do want.

Commenting

Bliss asked me in the comments if I could tell her where I got the pattern for Barb's socks. It was from Fiber Nooks and Crannys SOMC. I can't find it right now to tell you what month, Sept I think. They do sell the patterns, and I bet they'd know which one it was if you described it. The free pattern at Elann is pretty similar.

Who woulda thunk it?
I'm actually sorta, kinda designing a sock top. I didn't invent anything, but I am adjusting a lacey pattern so that it works in the round. I always told myself that I couldn't be bothered, there are so many patterns available why go through all that trouble.

Unfortunately I won't be doing any more knitting for the next couple of days. I poked a hole through the callus of my finger and it makes it very painful to manipulate the needles. Fortunately I don't use that finger while stitching, so I was able to start on the Berlin Woolwork Sampler. I'm doing it in DMC on 36 count cream linen.

Just Finished:

My webhost has been upgrading their servers this week, so my site has been running hot and cold. I thought I'd better post quick while I could.

Question of the Week: Stash enhancement

You've just been given a $100 gift certificate to buy anything cross stitch or needlework related - what would you spend it on right now?

Right now I'd be buying Permin's Adam and Eve Sampler, which is only available as a kit, and possibly one of the Anagram or Long Dog Sampler charts. I love that Adam and Eve, but it only comes as a kit, so I keep putting off adding it to the stash.

Yesterday I drove out to Mineola to pick up my framing from Sherry at Eye of the Needle. I also bought a ton of stuff, and ended up spending over $200. She was nice enough to give me my birthday discount, even though my birthday was two weeks ago.

I even knit this week. I finished a pair of socks I was making for a friend from the Chartswappers group. She offered to pay for the yarn and get me something from my wishlist in return for the handknit socks. The yarn she chose was Opal Brasil 5001


Abe was sleeping on the loveseat in our room when Dave snuck up on him and snapped this photo. The little green blob behind his head, is his stuffed iguana toy.


Just Finished:

I've been stitching more than knitting lately. I'm stalled out on the Hawaii sweater. I will finish it someday, just not right now. I've only got small projects going. A scarf in Baby Silk that I got from Elann, a couple of pairs of socks, and I'm thinking about doing one of the sweaters from Stitch & Bitch.

Mostly I've been stitching, which is my first crafty love. I finished Mini Mystery F, in fact I even made it into a bellpull complete with leftover thread tassel. Dave is kindly helping me model.


I also started another project, Olde Willow Designs Manuscript Sampler. This is another mystery project, I seem to be doing a lot of those this year. One band is released a month. We're up to month four, and I'm all caught up on this one.


Dave was playing around with Elmo, and found out that he fits exactly in the dog's water bowl (empty, of course)


Just Finished:

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Thread organization

plastic bobbins, yes or no? How do you organize your threads?

No, to bobbins, plastic or otherwise. Yes, to baggies. I keep my DMC in 2" x 2" baggies in a case that I got at the Container Store. I have almost a whole collection of the solid colors and it fits pretty well.

My Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works, Silks and other special threads are in plastic three drawer cases that I found at Walmart. They fit 5" X 3" bags perfectly. I get my baggies on Ebay in boxes of 1000, which means I don't have to worry about running out any time soon!

Balls of perle cotton live in a plastic shoe box in a big pile, I don't have too many, so it isn't very hard to find the one I need. I bought a thread case for my Kreiniks at my LNS when they had them on sale for $10 to get rid of them.

First, the cute new kitty pictures:





Wednesday was my birthday. It's been a tradition since I moved to Texas, that we go to the State Fair for my birthday. This year was no different. I enjoy seeing the animals, especially the fancy chickens, and there is an exotic animal farm from Kansas that brings a selection of different things every year. They also run a bed and breakfast which I'm seriously considering for our next vacation.

I did manage to sucessfully avoid eating anything "on a stick" while at the fair. I've never seen so many different foods slapped onto small slivers of wood, everything from the ubiquitous "corny dog" to key lime pie dipped in chocolate. Blech to both. I also avoided the fried twinkies, I'm not sure if they were on sticks but I wouldn't doubt it. I had to say at the fair, because for dinner we went to Joe's Crab Shack (where we met), and I had a platter that contained a skewer of shrimp.

The Creative Arts judging was as lame as last year. I have no idea where they get their judges, but it is really obvious that none of them knit or cross stitch. I admit I've never seen the guidelines for entering, just the category breakdown but when the category is Holiday Corner Original, seeing a piece that I know is from a purchased pattern ('cause I own it), win a ribbon over something that looks completely original just doesn't make sense. In knitting, the gorgeous FI took a 4th, while a much plainer sweater took 1st. The woman who did the FI is a guild member, and I've seen her work, I know it wasn't the finishing that lost her the points.

Again this year, afghans tended to be used as backdrops for other items, nothing as bad as last years scrap metal sculpture, but still not given the respect they deserve. C'mon people, you do realize it took someone hours of their time to knit or crochet this item, don't you think they might not want to see it displayed under something else.

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