Ethel Makes an Appearance (or I Couldn't Face the Stars)

Happy Valentine's Day!  In honor of the day I had this sudden inspiration just now to give you hearts, but someone's photo files are inaccessible.  But I muddled around and found these offerings, and you know I think they are perfect reminders of looking for little bits of happiness where you can --

That's my shop's laying tool collection in the beautiful, hand-made wooden heart that the owner's son (a custom carpenter) made.

And this is fond proof that some of my co-workers love me.....

.... and shouldn't be left alone with glitter paints.   And, yes, that banana was part of my lunch I'd left on my desk.  You should have seen what they did to my monitor!  hee heee   It *is* fun to work with these folks.

Ok, back to today's title.  I couldn't face the stars of doom on the flag.  So I hauled out Ethel and completed ... a duck!   See, So Many Books, I am making progress on your Ethel.

Now for a little thinking, I have a face dilemma.  Here are the faces without stitching:

Here's a face fully stitched with one threads:

And here's a face partially stitched with 2 threads (the stitched part is on an angle from the upper right of the face down to the nose-- it doesn't cover the end of the nose of the mouth.):

I am leaning to the one-thread version.  The 2-thread one seems to obscure a lot.  I'm worried that it will make the mouth disappear and the nose just look like dirty thread.  The one-thread canvas is less stripey than it seems in the picture because it isn't so enlarged when you just look at the canvas.  So, what do you think?

Ok, I promise to do stars AND stripes this weekend.  I should have a nice, long time to stitch since the powers that be are closing my local freeway which really eliminates traveling to the shop or Auxiliary Family events this weekend. Now if I can just focus and actually stitch rather than piling everything on the bed and staring at it.   I will keep chanting Olympics-stitching-Olympics-stitching........   maybe I'll get the idea.

Have a wonderful Valentine's and a great weekend!

{Edited note:  Oh crud.  I've been blog visiting and now I'm obsessed with the "need" to stitch a heart.  Anyone want to lay odds on the likelihood of me holding out against a new start????}

Stitchless Sunday

While I enjoyed a fairly sumptuous weekend of Olympics fun, but I have not much to show for it.  My flag got some more stars (why in the world does it take me an eternity to stitch those blooming stars?!).  

The Blue is a Sampler Thread, the Red a Threadworx, and the off-white is Splendor.

My stitching plans to be prudently good and focused on long tern things may have some challenges -- I signed up for Janet Perry's notebook course of building stitches.  So far only the front matter and and lesson one have arrived.....

.....but that cause me to pick up the following for stitching sample squares for the notebook.  Let's see how many hours I can distract myself from those long-term projects.

I also got a collection of Whimsey and Grace ornies in that I ordered at TNNA.  I just love them and I love the little swirly holder things that they include with them.

I have done what I could to keep myself focused -- I didn't tape and stretcher the new ornies.  And I firmly forced myself to NOT open any other projects from the piles I have laying around Chez Hovel.  But still, you know what I did all Sunday?  Not a darned thing!  Sure, I did some cleaning and even managed taking the trash out.  Oh, and I changed channels from one Olympics station to another--- with great style and assurance I might add!  But NOT ONE SINGLE SOLITARY STITCH happened on Sunday.  Not one.  An entire day dedicated to sloth-ness, and not one stitch!  I am so embarrassed.

Perchance I will have better news later this week.  Certainly I can be better than zero!

Good luck with your own stitching games!

Olympic plans and scattered movement

Anyone else extremely pleased when they wake up and realize it is Thursday?  It makes me so happy!  I think I transfer all the usual person's elation of a Friday to Thursday because on Friday, while I am happy and all, I cannot help thinking, It's not quite Saturday.  But on Thursday I wake and (and pretty much spend the day thinking, "wow, tomorrow is Friday!"  Ok, that is way too much rumination on my silly proclivities.

So on to my resuscitated stitching.  I seem to have seem small level of enthusiasm for needles back.  Let us hope the trend continues to grow!  I mean what with the Olympics coming I need to be primed for hours of seated stitching/cheering revelry.   Are you ready??????  I believe my primary Olympics stitching piece will be Ellen's flag.  Though I am further along than this picture indicates, I really need to make massive progress on this.  Those stars seem to take me forever, but the words fly along.  Two weeks on concentrated non-channel-changing evenings should do wonders for this piece.

Anyone else doing "an Olympic project?"

For a while now I had been plopping this little darling, Martina Dey's Tsunami Sampler, on to my bed and planning to make progress on her.  I mean I *really* wanted to, but somehow she'd tumble out of the bag and I'd look at the giant pile of threads and never actually get stitching.  I think the problem was that when I first envisioned her I was doing it all in shades of pinks, roses, maroons, and greens with a little grey.  And now I am leaning to a full rainbow of colors.

The dark diamond is a Vicki Clayton premier silk, the bright pink crown is a Vicki regular silk, and the varigated, light pink, partial motif is a Thread Gatherer Silk n Colors.  For the record, I think I'm going with the change to the rainbow plan, and I don't think it is too late to pull back from the pink edge.  Cross your fingers for me!  Please, let me not change my mind on that again!!!!!

Next up is my baseball flag.  It is a tres easy stitch with it being just basketweave, but it proves very handy for moments where I just have to get needling.

And, because it is so hard from the front to see how far I have gotten --

Here is Mrs. who got the bottom edge of her bib or the top band of her dress, and she also got half a flipper edge.

 Oh and that is my new magnet courtesy of my shop owner and our teacher -- Thanks!!!!   She reminds me of sculptures by that long lost uncle/cousin of mine .

Now I know this one will be hard to believe!   But look who came out to play this week -- the golden Gate bridge ornie!!!!  He had his red heart pulled out and I put in the TNT for Team in Training (the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's fundraising body) and 11 for 2011, the first time I went to the Nike Women's Marathon in SF to cheer for my sister and BIL's TNT team.  I even put in part of a row of the sky.  Another 6 years of progress on this scale and I will be done!

For the record, that is a Princess and Me canvas.

To round out the day a little stash.  At the TNNA vendor showcase night I picked up this pattern and silk/wool combo yarn from Sweet Georgia.  Isn't it pretty?  I don't think I could get much use out of it as a shawl, but I'm thinking it would be a yummy scarf.

Here is to your day being peacefully productive... and to me not thumping a co-worker (I have so many in need of thumping it is getting downright hysterical!)  Happy stitching!