Lo How a Rose - Week 4: Letters Only

As you can see, it was letters only that were stitched in LHAR ... with no boo boos ... or none that I've found yet. Since it worked so well, I may have to continue with letters for another day and then have a flowers-only stitch day. Whew! Thank goodness there's a plan in place for the next two weeks! ;)

I'll bet I don't even have to report that I'm back in Eden, in the last section of ATS. I've been discussing the filling-in of the grass with my sister, and I think I have myself settled on what I'd like to try. Siobhan also told me what she did, and I've seen a couple of other finished pieces online. If you have some experience with that last section you wanna share, please feel free.

It's one of those cold, cloudy, breezy Saturdays. Since it's Valentine's Day, I'm baking the man I hang around with an apple-blackberry pie. We're gonna have some tasty chile, cornbread (of course) and some of that too-yummy-for-words pie with ice cream. It'll be nice to sit in front of the fireplace on a cold night and maybe watch a movie ... or not.

Thank you to everyone who leaves kind comments. They're fun to read, informative and much appreciated.

Happy Valentine's Day

Final Phase

I couldn't resist a quick update. All day yesterday, I could think only about finishing that next-to-last section of ATS. So I got home as soon as possible (gee ... almost 7 o'clock), put my ass to the purple chair and finished the pretty little scene (woo hoo!).


Just to give it a little perspective, here's the whole Garden so far ...

Sorry for the blurry pic ... I think I have a problem standing still enough while clicking. But you get the idea. And don't you love the wrinkles and the tangle of threads and needles on the left? Stitching in-hand creates wrinkles, and keeping fibers ready to stitch on needles stuck into my work is my version of convenience. Prettier, wrinkle-free, uncluttered pictures will come at the end. So on to the last section! People have been telling me the ways they've chosen to fill in the last section, and they've caused me to start plotting my own fill-in plan. Before sharing I'll try a little to see how it looks.

Last night was supposed to be Lo How a Rose SAL night, but Adam and Eve and friends tempted me away. Now I'm off to spend some hours on LHAR, take a break from Eden, and think about the upcoming long weekend. My hopes for a blizzard with accompanying snow days will remain unrealized for the near future ... dang it.

Here, Kitty Kitty

While I was stitching that cute lion with the monkey face, I kept thinking, "here, kitty kitty", and eventually he appeared. The only things missing from this lovely little among-the-flora-and-fauna scene is the lady, a ginger-colored sheep and a blue bird sitting on the lion's butt. I like it, and I won't subject you to a long-winded explanation about what I did (or unsuccessfully tried to do) to the moon. Let's just say that I have a left-brain issue concerning symmetry. But then you know this because I've already told you how I readjusted the whole damn border. This pic shows my progress on page three of the four-page chart. My mom, who is retired and has become Super Stitcher (I think she's secretly stitched SS on her undies), is quickly moving through page two. And she just started the sampler at Thanksgiving!!! Can you believe that? I'm working to keep ahead of her in an attempt not to be the slowest stitcher in the family ... even though I am (sniff ... I feel so genetically cheated). My sister is on the last section but we haven't had a progress report lately. Maybe we can eventually do a three-way finish pic.


See the grassy area at the bottom? That's eight out of ten rows of dull fill-in. I've read about how many of the stitchy bloggers hate to fill in, and I'm right there. So, in an effort to make it not-so-dull, I've been stitching a few cute little fun-to-stitch things and then filling in a needleful of grass. Then I go back to the fun stuff for a little while. I'm the queen of deal-making with myself, so that's the deal. I'm not sure what will be arranged when I get to the last section pretty soon. It has lots of cute little things to stitch, but it's completely filled in with two colors of green. I've seen one completed piece with just the cute stuff and no filling. Anyway, thinking about all the filling-in to come got me to thinking about these two stinkers ...

They're both solidly stitched on 36-count linen over one, and that was more filling (yawn) than I've had to do on anything else. In fact, these two little samplers turned out to be true BAP's. So if I finished these two, certainly I can get through one section of ATS, right? By the way, I have another one of these ready to go but other things have cut into the projects-in-waiting queue.


And to you experienced (or just younger) bloggers: I really wanted to put these two pictures next to each other, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I continue to be technologically challenged, so it's not as cool as I wanted it to be.

I'm off ... school tomorrow, and not a snow day in sight! We really need a good blizzard around here.

Lo How a Rose - Week 3: Can I Count?

Here we are after my third week of stitching with the Lo How a Rose SAL, and I still can't count! I had to unstitch and restitch two separate areas, and then I decided to just leave one boo boo in because I'd gone to far to make going back worthwhile (to me, anyway). Even though counting seems to be a challenge, I'm loving the colors.

As I was thinking of Brightneedle and counting, I remembered the difficulties I had with this piece called Sunshine and Shadow ...

I got cocky while stitching this one and decided to work from two different corners (you can see where this is going, can't you?). Because I had made too many of the little checkerboard-type border squares, I found that the two parts I was stitching were gonna miss each other by about ten threads. Bummer. So reverse stitching became the task of several days, because about a third of those cute little over-one motifs had to be removed. Can you say "frustration"? I knew you could. Frustration wasn't the only f-word used during that time. Deep breaths help sometimes, as does vodka. Cocktail, anyone?

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, life is good. I've decided to stitch tonight and have a little show and tell tomorrow. I had the day off on Tuesday after a little torture session (painkiller required) with the nose doc, so I got to stitch for a few hours (my reward). It felt like playing hooky, and I love that feeling.

I'm gonna refrain from commenting on the lady with 14 kids, counting the eight new babies. Everything I have to say, including my many questions, would sound hideously judgmental. And as my mom told me when I was a bitchy, know-it-all 14-year-old, "It's not necessary that everyone knows what you think." I think of that advice before opening my mouth during a potentially controversial discussion, and I'm certain that it's saved me from tasting my toes on more than one occasion. Isn't my mom smart?

Happy Friday!

Too Much Info

Before I get into the too-much-info portion of my blah-blah-blog today, I have to fill you in on Super Sunday. First, I kinda wanted those Cardinals to win ... they were the underdogs and the team from out west. They put up a good fight, huh? Then there was stitching during the Super Bowl. It was a complete non-issue! Isn't that great? Of course, there was so much going on (two men, two dogs, food, beer, game, commercials, etc) that I had to unstitch and restitch more than once ... duh ... because I was rather distracted. But the point is, it was no big deal. Fabulous!

And now for TMI. I rarely answer lists of questions, but as I was visiting Anna one day, this looked interesting. So here goes ...

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to: leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyworld – Hell, I didn’t make it to Disneyland until I was 41!
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis – and a tarantula named Rosie
10. sang a solo – not what you’re thinking … junior high choir class
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea – complete with a waterspout!
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked – Sorry, Mom, but it was that bitchy know-it-all 14-year-old who used to live at your house.
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill - Do people not do this?
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language – I’m not counting the Spanish I learned in junior high and high school.
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied – Having it doesn't guarantee satisfaction.
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing – not really high rocks
40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person – I wish everyone could hear my mom talk about the time she saw David!
41. sung karaoke – not a chance
42. seen Old Faithful (geyser) erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance – my poor mom
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater – source of many a story …
55. been in a movie - only Grandpa’s home movies
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia

CADD

Thanks to Staci for coming up with the name of this mind-paralyzing disability, and to Erynne for designing the badge, I have become a card-carrying sufferer of CADD ... Crafters Attention Deficit Disorder. I reckon it's self-explanatory, but I'd like to tell you about my most recent bout. Since work began on ATS (and now Lo How a Rose because Staci made me want it), I've been thinking about all of my Adam and Eve charts ... slightly scary. I couldn't stop thinking about them, especially since I've been drooling over Siobhan's A&E wall (oh, baby), so I've dragged out all the ones I could find ... moderately scary. Now I have this idea in my pea brain that I'm gonna stitch all of the A&E's (plus one or two more I have to have because Siobhan made me want them) as soon as I finish ATS, even though I already have a plan to finish an ongoing project and then begin Shores of HRH ... help, I'm scaring myself. I need to be six people, at least.

If you're also a sufferer of CADD, and you'd like to have your own badge, go see Erynne. Then everyone will know, but no one will expect you to complete 12 steps toward recovery! Isn't it good to be accepted into a community? And don't you also love how I've tried to shift some of the blame for my CADD to others in the community (I thought that was rather clever)?

In an effort to spend time stitching and also hang out with the man I hang out with, I'm gonna do something I've never done before. I'm taking my stitching with me to watch the Super Bowl (gasp ... I know!!!). Can't wait to see how this one turns out. I'm not sure about what to take ... something small from the ongoing projects pile I suppose, even though I really wanna work on ATS, but it's so long now. I would absolutely sit and stitch if I were watching the football-game-of-all-football-games at home, so I'm just becoming more at home. Right? Am I right, girls? Besides, he sorta knows how I am. He just doesn't realize how serious my habit is.

Happy Weekend!

Lo - Week 2

Yesterday was Lo How a Rose SAL day, so I had a little break from the Garden. Here's a pic of my progress after replacing the L and then stitching, unstitching, restitching, unstitching and restitching some of the other letters. Having seen Staci's, Vonna's (who is finished ... holy cow) and Laura's progress, I believe I'm (again) the slowpoke and (apparently) numerically challenged (who, me? count?).

I like the new floss color (the name of which escapes me, but I'll tell you later) better ... I think. It shows up much better than the London Fog (just look two posts back), and it blends pretty well with the other colors. It'll do. Maybe next week I'll be able to count. I know! I could blame it on my old man cat Merlin. He wanted to sit in my lap, as he usually does when I stitch, but he can't fit up there because of the book the Lo chart is in. Without the book, he takes up my whole lap all the way to my knees. He fussed a lot (he's very old and very whiny) and made multiple attempts at sneaking up (not too old to jump into the chair). In fact, we had kind of a spat over it, and he was still a little cranky this morning. That's it. It's all Merlin's fault I couldn't count to 5 or 7 last night. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I know I said this last Thursday, but here it comes again ... ahhhh, tomorrow is Friday. I'm so happy to be employed, but I need three-day weekends to happen every week. OK, time to get to stitchin' in the Garden.