The Musing Badger

Is it really only Tuesday?

2012-02-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

You know how weeks like to play with your mind? Wel this is one of those weeks for me. I could just swear it was Thursday, but nooooooo. Not only is it not Thursday, but it's not even Wednesday yet. [You should read that with a little whiney voice to simulate thevoice in my head as I type this. I swear that if keyboards had sounds, mine today would default to .]

When not whining about how slow the week is going (please note: we NEVER have this problem with weekends!--- must be some special physics corollary to the laws of time and space that speeds up time between Friday night and Monday morning, then slows it down Monday morning through Friday afternoon), I have made some small bits of progress.

My Prairie Moon start (aka Did-I-Really-Need-Another-WIP-in-2012 #1) has amde some small advance:

I would also like to take this opportunity to tell designers everywhere that if you feel somehow compelled to chart your latest and greatest in a thread not readily available in every corner LNS, then the Nice Thing is to give DMC/Anchor equivalents (and even nicer-- Anchor as well)/ At the very least, check to see if the Web has available some COMPLETE transfer charts for your stitchers to use. This Prairie Moon piece is charted entirely in NPI silks. I can find no online conversion that includes most (let alone all) of the NPI numbers. It took the better part of an entire day to try and wrestle out a conversion working from the picture alone. Please, designers, don't frustrate your stitchers like this.

I've also been doing a little masonry --

That there tower of gold-ish is a chimney on my Chessie and Me piece.--- oh how I love Belle Soies! It's like stitching with air.

And, check this, my Ladies Day by Tish as been progressing too --

That overdyed grey is by Thread Gatherer in their Silk n Colors line. The little "seam" in the middle of each diamond is going to get a smal ine of Kreinik #8 in gunmetal grey.

I keep thinking I've made it so far, but really after this lady is done, I have "Lady #4" (who is the biggest of the group), and the ground and sky behind them. If I focus, maybe they'll be done by June. .... I'm not saying June of what year though!

Now, a cautionary tale --- look out for those parking berms --

As one of the Country Club ladies left stitching the other night the parking space stop tried to go home with her. Literally, the rebar on one end of the berm got hooked under her bumper and brought the whole thing with her as she pulled out. All is fine -- car, person...... don't know how the parking berm is feeling, but I don't suppose I care all that much. Sorry parking structures everywhere.

Been bad. Been busy. Been grumpy. Been accomplishful... no, not so much.

2012-01-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

Hello world. I was going to be so much better in 2012. I was going to:
1. post at least once a week (and mostly twice)
2. adventurously (and against my better judgement) sally forth into the Crazy January Challenge
3. not care so much about stupidity in global corporations (well, one particular global corp)
4. read a lot
5. stitch a lot
6. finish a bunch of WIPs
7. become a better person
8. cure the common cold
9. stop buying so much stash

Progress thus far:
#4 -- going pretty well
#1-3 and 5-9 -- not so good

So now that we've covered my failures in brief. Maybe I ought to share some of my more picturesque downfalls. Let's talk WIPs, shall we? It's not like I lacked for them coming into 2012, afterall I had plenty going in to 2011 (and 2010, and 2009, and 2008, etc.), but apparently I thought I needed more therefore:

Lsat week I started:

and after spending a traditional evening switching colors I have made it this far:

Yes, I did pull all belle Soies for this. I can't help it; they're yummy!

I've been maing some progress on my Ladies Day --

That purple dress is alternating rows of Belle Soie "Princess" and DMC and I love it almost as much as I love that pot next to her.

Just this week I made startling progress on my VBeatrix Potter. She's all the way to here now --

See that bottom, central brown motif?

Yup, that one. Since before Christmas I have finished the left-hand side of that. No. Honest. Ok, you can stop laughing now. Yeah, yeah, with progress like that I'll never set the stitching world on fire. I know. I know. Two-three more years and I'll be done!

But hey, I've been sooooo busy on other things (not)...

This LHN ornie was goint great guns until about an hour into my flight to Washington, DC on December 17th and hasn't seen the light of day since.

This Prairie Schooler ornie got started before Christmas and also hasn't see the light of day since:

But, since I'm never one to be disuaded by undone projects, I simply had to start some more new things like this needlepoint ornie:

And this stocking which is for the lettest nephew -- it will primarily be done by his grandmother (my sister). I'm just getting it started and then I'll hop i nto finish the background:

My sister and I have this lovely arrangement. You know how I feel about "fiddly bits" (you know those patterns that require constant color changes and such? Well she like that. She says it keeps her from being bored. Well, she's putting in the penguins and I'll do the background -- works out just fine for me.

So let's see, if I start the Crazy January Challenge late I can already claim new starts of:
1. penguin stocking
2. cocoa needlepoint
3. Virtue's Ways
and I could swear there were a couple more. Then again, I could just be thinking of all the stash I've been hauling in. That will ahve to wait for another day.... sorry.

Happy stitching to all, and may your 2012 resolutions be going better than mine are!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2012-01-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Chief Head Honcho!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

May 2012 be good to all of us. Here's to peace, health, happiness, and joy..... and post more. I promise!! {hand on the "heart" of my keyboard}

Just call me "Lucky"

2011-11-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Happy mail is here again
The stash is all around again
So let's stich a piece of joy again
Happy mail is here again!!!!!!!!!

I receive this pack of joy from our friend Rahenna who I joined an ornament exchange with.
Just take a look at those goodies! -- Please note the baggie of really pretty beads -- Mr. Postman managed to change that from a lovely scissor fob into a loose collection of beads -- never fear! I can string beads!!!! But I don't know what to do first -- turn that Santa into an ornie or start that partridge. Oh wait. I know what to do first -- oggle my ornie!

You're turning green aren't you. lol I know I would if I weren't me.

And, gentle reader, not only did the post bring that happy package, but it also brought the following goodies from BluStitcher--

I've already picked out some "essential" pieces --

I ask you, dear friends, was that fair of Blu? Did I really need to be lead that far down the path of even more WIPs?

I wish you all as happy a mail delivery as I have had --- and to my American friends, a very, very peaceful and pleasant Thanksgiving!

If, perchance, anyone is going to be at LosCon this weekend, if you see someone frantically stitching away in the panels, drop by and say "hi" -- that'll be me!

Successful hermiting!

2011-11-21T14:45:00.000-08:00

Apparently hermiting agrees with my character. So much and yet so little happened this weekend -- and both aspects make me happy.

I was a slug -- a true slug and a happy one at that. Until dinner Sunday nite I did not exit Chez Hovel. And **all** I did was stitch and nap (and take breaks for hummus and feta. For all fine planning I did on Friday, barely one of them saw the light of day. Instead ......

....I stitched this:

......I stitched and finished this:

.....And I finished these (Sure, they've been waiting for a year... but what's a year in the larger world of my slow stitching?):

.....And I made progress on my Oldest UFO -- the only of my Friday Plans to make the cut --

Oh the joy of working with Silk and Colors! Such fun. I have to admit that it's rather slow going since age and a lot of scrubbing during frogging has made it rather essential to stitch based on the picture included in the kit. I consider myself lucky that it is a fairly clear picture so I can follow the more detailed sections without the help of canvas painting.

I have to admit that while I had great plans to hermit this weekend, I had also thought that I'd do some cleaning and sorting (of stash and the occaisional other pedestrian possession)-- I was going to get all my various threads sorted and put away. I was going to get my recent book purchases and gifts input into the computer and tucked away on shelves. I was going to sort out and tidy up all my misc UFOs and WIPs. I was going to sort and toss a bunch of drivel. I was going to make lemon soup. Did I ... no. I ran out of snack bags so the thread sorting stalled, I lacked eggs for the soup, and you can choose between entropy and laziness for excuses for the other non-activities.

How was your weekend? Any hermiting activities to report?

Are you ready to hermit?

2011-11-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

This weekend is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend

Will you be joining me? I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it! I dont have to work this weekend. So it'll be me stalwartly parked at Chez Hovel, listening to books or TV and stitching my little fingers off. Oh, ok. I suppose there will need to be cleaning and organizing too since it looks like my stash pile is close to reaching the critical mass required for it to apply for protected status from the UN.

Of course the big question now has to be: What will I hermit upon? Oh the choices!!!
Beatrix got out for a bit of an airing sometime late last week. Possibly she'll get out this weekend.

Or maybe it's time to start over on my Oldest UFO -- now that I have my Silk and Ivories to work with

Or perchance I'll uncover my Specialty Stitchers' Tree of Stitches--

I could probably get that done this weekend if I eschewed all else.

I've had a couple of these canvases underway and finishing more of them would be quick and staisfying--

But then again, just a couple weeks ago I put this on stretchers...

Ooo, Rose City Stitchers hasn't been out for a while--

And somehow I missed working on America for Veterans Day (what was I thinking?)--

Chances are though I'll haul out ornaments. I want to get a few in the mail just after Thanksgiving so that means me and the stuffing need to spending some quality time together.

So, will you hermit with me? Please? You know we'll have fun together.

Happy Stithcing!

***********
Barbara and Theoria -- regarding the Warrior Sheep -- I am fairly certian that most 10-ish year olds will be humored by their adventures. It's entertaining, but neither as fast as it could be or prettily-written enough to to be worthy of being slow. It's about this flock of "heirloom" sheep (each variously charactrerized -- one fancies itself a rapper, and one is concerned about her looks and fashion) who get hit by a falling cell phone which they think is a sacred item they need to take to the leader of sheepdom lest evil forces attack the sheep of the world. They are however supposed by a local farmer to have been kidnapped by aliens. In all actuality as they adventure across England (via the Underground, the Eye, boats on the Thames, a commuter jet, etc) they are pursued not only by their elderly, but sometimes spry owner and her gransdon, but also by the bank robbers whose cell phone got the whole story going. It's quirkly, but not wonderful. It's probably a fine investment for the proper age group given the general half-life of a kid's book. Book 2 in the series is out now too -- the warrior sheep do the Wild West. I do not believe I'll be reading that one.

News flash: Frogging causes stash

2011-11-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

I've decided. It is only logical that I join Evalina's Oldest UFO challenge. I'm hauling out my old "friend," the lighthouse needlepoint kit my sister gave me years ago.

As near as I can guess I think I started this in 2004. I believe I had to pause in working on it to do other projects with deadlines. When I came back to it I was annoyed that I hadn't thought to do specialty stitches (who cares that the instructions patiently teach the continental--- yeah, like that's happening). But I had this problem --

-- you see all I had done was the clouds and the tower. I couldn't bear the thought of ripping out the tower for certain, but I figured I could manage the clouds and those were really where I wanted to change the stitching. Well, it seems that it was well-nigh impossible to pull the clouds without the tower. The thought of pulling out that course wool was enough to put me off the plan.... for several years.

Now, spinning time forward, Evalina comes up with this brilliant UFO adventure, and blammo, the lighthouse is on the burner. So this last weekend I pulled ALL the stitching out. It took all bloomin' day. All day -- all SATURDAY. A fine weekend day shot straight to... errr... the trash can. Please believe me when I say that I could have made several small, decorate sheep sculptures from the wool clips I pulled, and pulled, and pulled. And pulled. And then pulled some more.
I had to take several breaks in frogging because my fingers kept developing dents and grooves in them from the needle and the scissors. On one break I tried to find out if the kit was still being made so I could just buy a new one and leave off with my forgging torture. On other breaks (somewhere passed the 4-hour frogging mark) I begun wandering about the store scouting. My scouting missions turned up the following ornaments (on congress cloth-- that's how much my brain was fogged by frogging -- I thought doing a pair of congress cloth ornaments sounded like a joy) which I taped and started the basic threading--

Somewhere aroud hour 6 I decided I DESERVED (!!!!!) the following:

Obviously I not only found it, but also taped, stretchered, and threaded it. I almost pulled down matting and frames to decide whether I was framing it or mounting it in a box. {So much for my plan to "earn" that mask canvas by finishing the lighthouse.}

Now, 4 days on, the grooves in my fingers have faded and I'm mostly over the aversion I have to wooly things. I still think I deserve the ornaments and the rose though!

I'm too lame to have brought the pic of the now frogged canvas and the replacment Silk and Ivory. Soon.....

Finally, on a "literary" front, the following is courtesy of Stitch Bitch who got me thinking....

The book that’s been on your shelves the longest.
My little red Bible which I got in the 3rd grade elevation ceremony at my church -- must be one of the mysteries of Methodism that when you start 3rd grade you're old enough for a real Bible [all the "real" words and only a few pictures (mostly maps) at the back].
After that it'd be the ratty ole copy of The Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny which I got probably as a junior or senior in high school.

A book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time).
Well there's the aforementioned little red Bible which I clearly remember standing on the marble steps in front of the altar clutching. I think I was wearing one of the dreaded choir robes at the time-- they were always too short because I was always too tall.
If I shouldn't be repeating then the Science Fiction Book Club edition of The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

It always reminds me of the old staff room at the library where I used to work and the afternoon my to-be friend snorted at me for rambling on with someone else about Star Trek (I was *not* rambling-- it wasn't like I was such a tremendous fan as that I would ramble) and told me he'd fix my problem. The next day in the same staff room he plopped the SFBC version of The Colour of Magic down in front of me and said, "there, read something worth talking about."

A book you acquired in some interesting way.

Ernest K Gann's Fate Is the Hunter which I picked up at a university donated books sale. It came with a letter inside from Gann thanking one of the big Hollywood studios for their interest in his work and their intentions to make another movie from one of his books, possibly Fate. I don't believe it ever got made, but the letter makes me smile.

The book that’s been with you to the most places.
This is kind of hard. I don't tend to repeatedly haul physical books on adventures. Lots of books I own went from home to college and then about college locations, but that's not very interesting. But once I joined Audible, it became a tradition that I'd avoid bad hotel TV by listening to Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun and/or Zombies of the Gene Pool at every con I went/will go to.

The most recent addition to your shelves.

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

Your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next.
Tough again since I have several in process and I'm such a mood reader that it's hard to predict what happens next.
Most recent finish:

Agatha Christie's The Big Four a triumph of the "little grey cells."
Currently Reading:

Going with the "very last thing I was reading" which still yields two answers -- on the way in to work I was listening to the continually fascinating Eiffel's Tower by Jill Jonnes (the fascinating story of the development of the Eiffel Tower and the Paris world's fair that featured it).
The last physical book I had my nose in was The Quest of the Warrior Sheep by the husband and wife team of the Russells.

(One look should tell you it's a gift I needed to be up on in advance... at least I hope that's apparent.) I'm almost done -- thank Heavens!

My next read/finish will hopefully be something else I have in process -- The Nitrogen Murder so I can return it to my booky friend Anita who hasn't goten a chance to read it yet because she's been kindly lending it to weasels like me.

And the winner is.....

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Margaret!!!!

Buuuuuuut actually, since only 19 of you responded, I decided that EVERYONE is a winner.

Margaret, as the official name-out-of-my-shopping-bag pull will get "the big prize," but all of you --
Jo
Susan
Shelleen
Ranae
Jill
Ellen
Teresa
Theresa
Elaine
Thoeria
Linda
Jenny
Cindy
Gillie
Barbara
Maureen
Valerie
Hazel
-- get a little something. You won't be able to retire your stash-collecting habit on it, but it will be better than junk mail.

I just need emails so I can contact you each for shipping info.

Thank you all so very much for playing along with me!

And in the most important news of the day -- a big thank you to our veterans, serving military personnel, and their families!!!! Bless you all --

Cool idea causing consternation! A giveaway! And a reminder....

2011-11-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Evalina has come up with a brilliant plan. She's hosting an Oldest UFO SAL. You did up that piece you've nearly forgotten about and stitch on it as faithfully as you want to. As you stitch you update Evalina and in January they'll be a prize for most accomplished. Cool, eh. I have one major stumbling block -- figuring out what my oldest UFO is. Anyone else have that problem or does your oldest project haunt you--lurking just at the edge of your vision, creeeping into your dreams/nightmares,.... Mine do that, but I have so many eldery pieces that it's hard to remember who has been languishing the longest. I know for certain which one is the biggest and the one I regret the languishing of the most -- my Vierlanden--

Jeez! The last time I took a progress pic of it was February of 2010. Oh how sad. I can even tell you what slows me down on this one--the motifs are do dense that they seem to take an eternity, and given that I am among the world's slowest stitchers.... you see the problem.

But Vierlanden doesn't win for oldest. I am pretty sure I started that in 2007 or 2008. But I know I started this lighthouse (a gift from my beloved sister) earlier than that:

It's problem is that I got ahead of myself and now I want to stitch the clouds and sky differently, but the thought of all that ripping makes me cringe. I really would like to finish that lighthouse though.
Hmmmm I wonder if I gave myself a prize for finishing hte lighthouse if it would help? I've been nearly overwhelmed with the *need* to but this one canvas at my shop --

I just love this piece. I see the black in the wallpaper in a velvet, possibly with some Neon Rays+ accents in it. The mask -- well the mask would probably be mostly Splendor. I have't worked out the feathers yet. But I simply covet this piece. Sure I have hundreds of canvases around Chez Hovel, but I *want* that one. What if I finish the lighthouse AND some other langishing piece? I'd deserve that Lani mask, right? You support me in this insanity, don't you?

BlueStitcher s hosting a giveaway for her first blogiversay. Drop in and congratulate her on making it through her first year in blogland.

And, taking advantage of that lead in -- Friday looms, so if you want to be part of my blogiversary draw drop a comment on the appropriate post below.

I've been lucky (and apparently busy too)

2011-11-08T15:18:00.000-08:00

... and I am grateful. Slow but grateful (it wouldn't in the least surprise me if that ended up on my tombstone -- I guess it's either that or something along the lines of "I suppose this means you're not going to finsh that project you promised to get done....").

I have receieved some awesome sqaures through Fair and Square in the last 2 rounds --
First, from Elaine this absoluely darling little Sweetheart Tree piece --

I wish you could see in person how lovely and dainty this piece is. The bees are little beads and the honeycomb is absolutely mesmerizing.

From Linda Four Fat Friends --

Linda is apparently channeling her inner Ruth since I've wanted to do this piece for a long time. I have for years pulled it out of my stash and looked longingly at it, only to put it back because something more pressing had to get done.

Some posts back I showed what I did for Elaine, but what I did for Linda has escaped my yammmeirng thus far. For the front I adjusted and Annie Beez pattern--

I changed the house she had to make it look like my favorite light house (Point Loma). I also switched out the lawn colors for aqua wave colors and added some extra motifs to the sky as clouds and, well, sky. The best I could do to make it stand out was switch the bird to medium grey and call him an adolescent gull.
For the back I found out what lighthouse was likely closest to Linda, modified another pattern to fit, and used it to decorate the salutation on the back

I did it all in Belle Soies because I was in a self-indulgent mood and decided I *needed* and *deserved* to stitch in silk just then.

Do you get like that? You just have to stitch in a certain tread because it makes you happy? Sometimes I get downright whine-y about it --- paryt of me floats away from myself and watches what seems like an over-sized toddle have an inner temper tantrum because she wants silks, or the perfect dove grey-brown (I'm in the midst of that one right now so I know it well), or to stitch on hand-dyed fabric regardless of the actual necessity or possibility.

Maybe there's some chemical in stash that builds up in the system as we amass our piles that makes us have these toddler-ish moments.

***********
I want to thank you all for your kind comments on my Aunt. I appreciate the thoughts. Thank you very much.
***********

There's still ample time to be in the blogiversary if you so choose.... see the appropriate post below.

*****
Humorous thought of the day -- from the 1604 Table Alphabeticall's (dictionary) dedication "for the benefit on Ladies, Gentlewomen, or any other unskillful person..."
(yes, I'm listening to Simon Winchester's history of the devlopment of the OED)

Events

2011-11-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

I mentioned yesterday the obvious -- that I owe much news. I'll start with a sad report.

My Aunt Anna Lou passed away last month. She was an avid gardener (a sheer magician with roses including the George Burns rose pictured above which graced her front garden), a collector of antique bottles (for which she and her family scoured dumps for years), a bird watcher, a lover of a good-quality chili dog (with fries), a Cher fan, and a woman for whom no drive was too far if there was a good dance band at the end of the road.

I got the call on my Aunt's passing while I was in San Francisco to cheer for my sister and BIL and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Team in Training folks in general at the Nike Women's Marathon.

After 13.1 or 26.2 miles would you be motivated?:

Nike weekend for us and the National Capitol TNT team always includes a delicious sojourn to the Ferry Terminal's farmers' market--

Those are my personal tradition -- a breakfast of misc smoked fish with yummy toppings.

Nope, I did not try the Tongues of Fire -- although they looked really cool.

There were beautiful flowers everywhere.

There was an awesome donut stand offering these temptations.

There was a spice merchant with a lovely science fiction sense of humor.

And beautiful tomatoes caught my eye.

It was a beautiful day and a perfect weekend. Aunt Anna Lou would have approved.

For today, that's it. I'll see you soon with much stitching.
Don't forget to toss your name in the blogiversary draw (from yesterday) if you are so inclined.

Blogiversary? Really. Wow.

2011-11-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

Fortuitously I looked down my sidebar today and noted it's actually my blogiversary. How'd that sneak up on me? Where'd ANOTHER year go?

At this juncture in my blogging year I should look back and consider my progress. Oh wait. What progress? I've been a baaaaad blogger. I've needed to chat with ya'll for a while, but carving out the time has been impossible. I'll be better.... soon. Probably. Thanks for being patient with me.

Anyway, back to blogiversary --- What to do. What to do. It'll be stashy, something thread-y, and overdyed. Cottons? Yes. Silks. Sure. You know, stash. We all have too little of that, right? If you want to be included in the draw for something along those lines, leave a comment on here. I'll pull a winner or winners next weekend so leave your comment by Friday, November 11.

Best wishes to you all and to all a good _______________.

A little finishing.... a lot of progress

2011-09-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

If you were lucky enough to have just had a three-day weekend, I hope it was as nice as mine. I enjoyed splendid adventures in:
1. pottery painting with a 7-year-old (I'll have to show pictures later because it's a secret from everybody in the whole world.... shhhhh. The only thing not covered by my confidentiality agreement with said 7-year-old is that we had lots and lots and lots of fun.);
2. stitching with the Country Club ladies (my little needlepoint society has decided we're a country club because we can't imagine a more perfect social day than one spent stitching. I would also say that the dues are far more reasonable than at a club with a golf course and tennis pros, but I'm not sure that's true by the time we thread up a canvas.);
3. game night with some old and some new friends -- much fun was had by all in several spirited rounds of Scattergories (Did you know that all you need to do to send an enitre room of reasonably responsible adults into gales of hysteria is to suggest that an appropriate answer to a "4-letter word starting with the letter 'A'" is "About"? Yes, we all had a field day on that one.) ; and last but not least,
4. a family pool-side fest to round out the weekend (which included me being humiliated by a 13-year-old in name the state capitols).

Ultimately this weekend lead to one big epiphany for me. Namely that Mondays, even when they are really Tuesdays are a real bummer.

Apparently I was so busy having fun this weekend that I forgot how many updates I owe you! Silly me.

I can report some reecnt finishing--

This little guy had gone to meet the finisher. He's floss and Fyre Werks and downright adorable... imho.

The major push in my needles' lives has been the evolution of the sand dollar. From this on August 16th:

To this on the 27th:

To this on the 31st:

And finally this on the 4th:

Since I wanted to preserve the shape of the dollar, I added a little "dotted swiss" ocean around it in floss and Fyre Werks. Somehow over the course of the next 3 weeks I need to finish the ocean around both halves so it can go to finishing land. ... fingers crossed.

In between all the cream and blue, BBD's Summer has seen a little of the light of day --

Which is a good thing too since I think Amy's ready to send me the next part of the pattern..... must stitch faster.... much, much faster.

Happy stitching to all and to all a good day.

September's goals:
1. send the sand dollar off for finishing
2. send the Richland "Joy" ornie canvas off for finishing
3. F&S Round 26
4. Pumpkin Breast cancer fund ornament
5. BBD Summer completed and part 2 started
6. progress on Sundance's Ladies Day
7. progress on Tsunami Sampler
8. progress on Beatrix POtter (let's say 2 motifs, shall we)
9. progress on TOS (3 sections at least)
10. progress on Friendly ASAW (3 squares at least)
11. 4 books

Is it just me?

2011-08-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

I just noticed something about me and my stitching. I simply *have* to have the needle/thread on top of the fabric when I end a session of stitching.
e.g.--

See! Always with the strings streaking across the piece. The only time I don't have them is when I've finished a thread and it's so far passed my bedtime that I don't bother to get another started.

Now, I hear ya-- what's another quirk in my basket of insanity really going to cost me? Welllllllll, the corollary to Always Having the Needle on Top is Always Wanting to See Just One More Stitch. Sigh. See? I'm doomed.

I'd ask again why I wasn't born independently wealthy so I could stitch all day, but then I start to worry that if I was filthy rich, I'd think stitching was something I had "people" for. Vicious frickin circle.

Ultimately, the question of the day is: Do you have needle parking compulsions?

Happy stitching to all -- no matter where your needle ends up.

P.S. Siobahn--- I promise not to shuffle out of any shrubs and gnaw on The Fluffinator's ankles. lol

Jo -- LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the "hole in road" lol

Finishes, progress, and life as a badger (and life in Hollywood)

2011-08-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hello and a happy day unto you and yours. Why, yes, I am excessively perky. No real reason. I just am. It's a nice feeling to move from grousy and obstreperous to smile-y and perky. Don't worry; I'm sure it won't last.

For now, the sun is shinging, the breezes are blowing, and hte flowers (that I'm not allergic to) are in bloom --

Ok, loosing the perky fast. They are filming some show just downstairs of my office windows, and these apparently are not sound-blocking windows. Every 10 minutes the whole floor gets treated to squeeling tires. You know, the kind f squeeling that is usually followed by "CRASH" and the "whir-whir-whir" of a hubcap making its way down the street sans car. I don't suppose it's nearly as annoying to us as it is to all the people trying to drive in this very busy downtown section. Hmmm, maybe it's The Closer or some other somebody-got-murdered show which I actually watch. I'll see my building and the crosswalk leading the the best sandwiches in town on TV -- how cool. It's not like it's unusual for that to happen when you live in a film mecca -- once Monk wandered down an alley near Chez Hovel (he was an awfully long way from SF), campus was always in stuff, and just this season The Closer filmed scenes about 10 houses down from my friend's place. Ok, I admit, it's kinda cool to see your neighborhood on TV. (For the record, the camera only puts 10 pounds on people -- it doesn't work on landscaping -- just in case you thought it might make your azaleas look fluffier. That would be nice though.)

Anyway, I can report some progress. Actually let's start with the BIG news--- I FINISHED something!!!! Yes, you read that right. Little Miss Start-Something-New actually put the last stitches in a piece! Why, yes, I'm rather proud.

Ok, I don't care that it's a paltry little 4-5-inch ornament. It's done, right? A done project is a DONE project. I get credit. Sure it took me something liek 2 years, but I got bored. You go alternating basketweave in black Neon Rays on black and see how interested you stay in a piece. Currently it's off to the finishers to be flat backed and corded. Woo hooo! One Christmas present done!

My "big" finish spurred me on to other accomplishments.....
BBD Summer has made it to here--

Ok, so I only put in enough stitches to know I liked the 2nd new color I picked for the bird. So sue me.
BBD America has gotten to here --

Even the needlepoint sand dollar made a reappearance and after two nights work with three needles in process at once (memo to self: never pick a stitch no matter how cool that requires you keep three different threads in action at all times.)--

And you know what, there's even more to show, but you'll have to wait for the pics. Sorry.

I do have to leave you with my personal vote for news of the week -- Might be news of the year here:
From Monday's Clovis News Journal -- Officers Remove Badger From Outside 21st Street Restaurant
Honest, it's a good laugh. For the record, I'd be pissy too if you relocated me next to a dump.

Hmmm, maybe I need to start a badger-themed news feed.

Up to no good.. of course

2011-08-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hi there. My name's Ruth and I'm a startaholic. Need proof (really, if you've been here before you shouldn't lol)

My latest in-the-door aquistion is freshly under needles.....
I "finalized" the color selection on my Tree of Stitches (designed by Abi of the yahoo group, Stitch Specialists, and she's marvelous. You've probably seen a number of these trees sprinkled around blogland. I think I personally may create a small grove of them because I want to do them in all sorts of colors.). I narrowed it from this:

to this:

And I started stitching.......

The color adjustments started with the purple. I decided it needed something to set the corners of the rice stitch off, so they became Kreinik braid in a matching purple. (At the same time two other Krienik braids had to join other pending parts of the tree --- you wouldn't want it to be unbalanced would you?)

I've even made more progress on my BBD Summer --

Actually last night I made it over to the dove and got that started. Of course when I got to him I had to change color from the Belle Soie I'd picked. Sigh. Can't I leave well enough alone?

Two new starts. That should be enough for a person, right? Oh noooooo. I've joined Pumpkin Patch & Co.'s breast cancer fundraising/ornament stitching blog. It's a community of us obsessive stitching bloggers working on donations for The Attic's annual ornament silent auction. A great cause! No doubt about it -- but also a thinly-veiled excuse to START some new stitching. hee heee Ornament patterns, here I come. Come on, you know you want to do it! Stitch and happily tell your family and friends that you *had* to start a new piece because it's for breast cancer research!

Should I seek counseling about my startitis? Should I be cured? Do I really *need* to be cured? I doubt I *want* to be cured, but...

I guess, ultimately, the real question of the day is why can't I ever catch FINISHitis??????

The Good, the bad, and me

2011-08-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

Why do I make plans? I was going to have a peaceful and accomplishful day. I had a list of things to do. It was going to clean my desk and do some advanced Excel training. Instead I got a weird series of specialty projects including two that are still pending further input. I should have stayed home and stitched.

The Postman did his job, and delivered unto Elaine my Round 25 Fair and Square offerings:

I did a swan for Ireland (Elaine) and a squirrel for my college campus (where the squirrels will steal any food regardless of its appropriateness or the owner's vigilence). I was stitching Elaine's while I was at Discworld, and I liked how they turned out enough to do this:

My second square however is in honor of Discworld convention -- the quote (If you take thee top off, there's biscuits inside") is Sir Terry on what he thought of the Wisconsin statehouse. By the way, he's right; it looks like a cookie jar.

Now you know since it involved me, there had to be a saga with F&S 25, right? Poor Elaine. Her very first round and she gets stuck with El Idioto. I didn't check the assignment email below Elaine's address. Hence, I did not notice that *MY* address was wrong. The Post Office very kindly sent it back to her so she had to mail it twice.

Claiming to be celebrating this fine F&S accomplishment, but really I'd have done it anyway so why bother with the justification, I've begun the starting process for another new project --
The Stitch Specialists' Tree of Stitches:

That's the designated fabric (a baby blue lugana which I really wish were jobelan--- I might have to do more scouring of Chez Hovel this evening to see if I can scare up more fabric) and attempt 57.4 of the floss pull. I think I need something like 16 colors. Yes, Virginia, I do believe there's more than 16 colors there. Narrowing will be tonite's job.... and boy am I looking forward to it! No more urban agriculture questions, or requests for the economic impact of marinas in the Caribbean, or frantic calls that begin "I heard about this article......"

Happy stitching to all and to all a good weekend!

I should have just joined the Crazy January Challenge

2011-08-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, dear friends, I started something new. Annnnnd not only did I start another project, but I *ordered* the project just to start it. Did I think I lacked for potential projects??!!??! Sheesh

Here it is -- BBD's Summer with the fabric it apparently called for

I couldn't control myself. I had to have it. And I loved the fabric the model was stitched on so I had to order that as well. But do you see the problem, fair stitcher? The pictured fabric and the ordered fabric aren't even close. Ok, I get it, "hand dyed," but can't we at least get it remotely close?

Never fear! I strolled through the vat of fabric under the bed (and on the floor by the TV, and on top of the boxes of threads and misc stuff) and settled on a 28-count RR Creme Brulee. Then we had to contemplate threads... (mind you this is one day after it's arrived in the mail.... only 24 hours of restraint!). Let's face it, the Belle Soies called to me far louder than the Sampler Threads. So off I went a-foraging and came up with this:

I have to admit I wasn't happy with that bright green near the middle, but I was too lazy that night to go scouting for the other bags of silks. So off I sailed. The pic above shows Night 1's accomplishment.
By Night 3 I'd not only made good progress but also pulled some different greens--

I'm a little further along now and owe you a new picture, but that will have to wait for another day. Trust me, I'm loving this. I have other stuff that needs accomplishing and I'll miss this like all heck when I need to put it down--- it's hard enough to go to bed as it is!.... just one more stitch..... you know the drill.

By now I must have started nearly the full 15 new things required for the January Crazy Challenge. I might as well have joined it! I guess the benefit of starting them slowly throughout the year is that the UFO list doesn't get overwhelmed all at once. ..... like I need help with that. hmpf

And what about the ornament challenge that I *did* join? At this point I deserve to be asking "what's an ornament?" Yes, dear ones, it is that bad. Apparently I need to discover the folds in time that would allow me 9-12 hours of work time, 8-10 hours of stitching time, and 12-14 hours of misc stuff time per day. When I find it, I'll let you all kow how to get there.

I want a vacation again... now

2011-07-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I just got back from a vacation. But last night I was sitting around Chez Hovel realizing that across town my friend Jenn was packing for a conference-vacation, and I got all pouty because I want one too. And I want it now.

Sigh. Maybe I just need to bask in some former glory....

There he is, The Man Himself, Sir Terry Pratchett -- with his assitant, Rob meeting an upscale C.M.O.T. Dibbler with a lovely tray of sausages in buns. (For those of you versed in these things, they were prime Dibbler sausages -- made out of stucco I think) This was at one of the signings -- you got a signed bookplate and Sir Terry would stamp your con passport. It's a thing. Actually, it's a thing I should take pictures of. Hmmm.

The line for the signing was entertaining as well --

Yup-- the Death of Rats and probably Tiffany given that she's clutching a feegle.

Even the halls were festively entertaining --

Detritus posed for pictures with my bear, Missy.

And posters abounded -- this one from the Sunshine Santuary for Dragons.

Not only did I fictionally (is it still fiction if there are actual Deaths of Rats and feegles roaming the halls?) entertain myself, but I also started a new project --

That's the beginning of America by BBD. I've changed a number of the colors called for because when I pulled the collection they looked nothing like the colors in the picture. In this case I rally love this piece as pictured so I had to go color hunting. I think it has worked out for hte best. We'll just have to wait and see. Mind you, Since the plane ride to Wisconsin, I haven't worked on this at all. So much for the exhuberance of a new start.

You'll know if you watch the sidebar here that I've actually had a lot of new starts -- Not only have I recently started 3 surprises (sorry no pics), but I've even finished one. I also started and finished Round 25 of F&S for Elaine. Of course I can't show you that but I can show the floss toss --

I can say that the squares were fun to stich up until I was an idiot and had to pull out a bunch of over-1. That was a whiney, 3-day process. It could have been accomplished in a day, but I did mention the whining, right? I think what made it really annoying was that before I put in that particular over-1 part in I thought that the thread might not be dark enough for over-1ing. Then when I got part way through the stitching and thought that the thread was really too light to show. Did I stop at either point, hop over to the Belle Soie bag and pull out a darker color? Nooooo. I fished stitching, carefully ran the tail under in a couple directions so it wouldn't get loose, and then sat back waiting to be proud. I wasn't. It was too light. Drat frell drat. Why can't I think when in the grips of stitching?

Other than the things I can't show you, I did make progress on while away on some things you can see. For one, Rose City Stitchers--

I was enjoying this a lot in Madison, but I haven't worked on it much since I got back. Maybe this weekend when I should be cleaning and I probably will be napping.

And I did have a convention finish --

I did all but the gold ring in the airport and on the flights to Madison and finished the edge and the take-aways rows at the con. This is one of a set of 3 little ornaments I have from Richland Designs. I did the colored stripes in Fyre Werks and Silk Lame in the mosaic stitch. The white is Snow and the gold is Fyre Werks and both are basketweave.

I suppose I need to get back and check on my Microsoft search bot which is hunting a lost folder. A pox on all people who don't properly label their documents and folders!

Happy stitching to all----

P.S. For those of you familiar with Sir Terry and his world, the con was a success. About a thousand memberships and quite a number of single-day attendees made the trek to Madison. If you know his personal story, you will understand when I say it was 5 days of great joy tempered by sadness. He shouldn't have Alzheimers -- no one should. It's vicious and vile.

Discworld countdown and other Vitally Important Things

2011-07-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

Terry Pratchett in roughly 6 days!!!! Yes sirrie, Madison, Wisconsin here I come!

What? You didn't know that Madison was the vacation hotspot of 2011? Missed the memo, eh? Sorry about that. I'll have fun on your behalf. Dear friends, next Thursday I leave for Madison (I think I do anyway, I haven't checked when I made my flights for) for a lovely extended weekend of Terry Pratchett-affiliated happiness. There will be dressing up, quaffing, and general good times. If you haven't experienced the Discworld series of novels--- then go do so. Don't do it in public though because you won't be able to control the need to laugh out loud (seriously) and the outbursts might frighten people walking by.

Now you know me. You know that this impending adventure means there was to be packing plans. Sure, clothes, shoes, shampoo, blah, blah, blah. But more importantly -- what books are coming and what stitching will make the trip? Oh the choices!!!! All I can say on books is that a couple Pratchetts, 2-3 Baxters (that's Stephen Baxter who is attending as he's working on a series with Terry currently), and possibly a couple Esther Freisners will hit the case. But the stitching oportunities are so difficult to wrangle.

What to take, what to take? I could try finishing some things that are pretty darn close like --
Tilogy's "Gathering of Hearts"

or Sampler Girl's "Hope Perches"

or this little bookmark

or SB's Joy in the Journey

or even Quaker a la Six Mains

But then they are the things I really want to take like --
my sand dollar--

or GOS' "Jeanne d'Arc"

or A Mind Independent and Free

or Martina Dey's Tsunami Sampler

or good ole Beatrix

or Lanarte's Arabian Woman (which I have made such immense progress on-- snort)

or the red house (Ewe and Eye, I think)

or The Golden Gate

or my quail

If I could pack anything irrespective of reality what would come would be:
1. Beatrix (can't go becuase those dang beads end up weighing a lot)
2. the Tsunami piece (might go despite being huge and therfore hard to work on on my lap in a convention room)
3. Arabian Woman (too complx to balance not only the stitching and pattern but also to hold the highlighter for each and every stitch)
4. the quail (too big)
5. The red house (too big as well)
6. The Golden Gate Bridge (needs to be on a stand for neat stitching)

At the moment I think what's making the cut is:
1. the sand dollar (it's a small enough needlepoint and it doesn't require the use of my stand, but it is sometimes to balance it with 3 needles of varied threads in process at all times)
2-5. some of the surprise pieces
6. F&S Round 25 (hi Elaine!)
7. the Tsunami sampler -- because I love it so much right now
8. some Christmas ornies

But maybe, gentle reader I should start a couple whole new pieces in hour of the adventure? After all, you'd hate me to to bored, right?

Happy 4th (and Canadian national day) to all --

I need to 'fess up to something.

2011-06-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's an odd and overdue confession, but then again that might be the best description of me -- odd and overdue. Anyway, I'm confessing to a Christmas present from last year. My sister got me.....

Yup. A trip to Ireland (and affliated locales). Yes, I do have a very cool sister. No, she is not up for grabs.

The reason I haven't confessed to this totally wonderful gift is because I find it daunting -- it's just too much. You know what I mean, right? Anyway, now it's July and I sort of need to start figuring out where I'd like to go. Ok, I have to admit to smiling while I type this so maybe the "freaked out" stage has passed into the "excited" one.

So, dearest British Isles friends, do you have suggestions? I know I want to go to Giant's Causeway, and I'd like to go some museums. I do not care a single fig if I kiss the Blarney Stone.

On the stitchy front I haven't been up to much. I've been working on the first of a series of surprises. All I can show you for now is--

That's all for a few months. Sorry.

Part of why I haven't stitched much is it's turned warmer. It's hard to get enthused about extra bright lights and fabric all over your lap when your hovel ranges around 80 degrees when you get home. Another part which kept me from stitching all of last weekend was this lovely young lady --

That's Ari messing around with my camera and having a blast the day after her Bat Mitzvah. She rocked! I claim her as a niece even though she's really the niece of my best friend. So leading up to the Big Day there was dress shopping to do and then all weekend was out for celebrating. And, Ari, don't be offended, I'd give up a weekend's stitching for partying with you any time!

See ya'll later. Happy stitching -- here's hoping your staying cool.

Does it have to be summer?

2011-06-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

I don't want it to get hot. Hot interferes with my stitching. Then again so does work and yet I tolerate that. Hmmmm.

Before the heat sets in, I've been trying to be productive (and I have to catch up on pictures I owe you).....

First, I can belatedly show my most recent finish all framed up --

That's Ursula Michaels' We the People which I did for my shop owner because she fell in love with the one I did for my nephew. It's poofed in an old barn-wood-ish red frame. And just to show the sort of reverence with which we all hold our shop owner--- below is the framing ticket showing the charges owing on the piece ....

Yup, we work with smart aleks. Mind you the owner didn't even notice. lol

Here'e an out-of-date pic of SB Joy in the Journey:

I actually have pretty much everything in but the backstitching and the random specialty stitches. This may languish a while given my propensity to hate LFBs [Little Fiddly Bits].

Currently I'm enamoured of this Artists Collection summer quilt needlepoint--

This pic too is out of date, but you may get lucky later this week and see something more. Although, not much more because I've been stalled by the thread I picked to replace the one in the house. I pulled a Grandure but it's too think, which is a real bummer because I really like Grandure's red.

Papillon's Live Simply has stalled at this point:

No real reason. It's a little hard to hold on the bus and I got enamoured with other things I guess. Maybe next week it'll come back out to play. I do so love the Waterlillies feel though.

Sampler Girls' Hope is coming along well.

I have more words and even a couple birds in now, and I have to say, Bell Soie is lovely to work with.

Ladies Day has a couple more pots completed --

I have to say it's really cool to work on this canvas because pretty much every section is perfetly scaled to be big enough not to be fiddly, but not so big as to get boring.

Beatrix is also stalled....

She's made it this far and no farther. Maybe I'm scared to finish her because then I'll have to face the fact that I have nowhere to hang her.

Months ago I started on Balckbird's Joyeaux Noel

Yup. That is as far as I have gotten-- a tail feather outline and part of a leaf. I stitched one night and have left it lie ever since. Pathetic. I know. I'm doing it over one on a light green jobelan but switching the colors out for Bell Soie.

Well, back to the grindstone. It's been a busy day --- including hte lunch spent helping to engineering and build the office's entries in tomorrow's downtown paper boat race. We're entering a two-sailed pirate ship and a flaming cheese.... don't ask. I'm not even sure I understand and I was there when the concept was born.

I'm back! And I'm still bad.

2011-06-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Heavens, have you seen the latest from Heartsting Samplery? You must! Go on. Go check out Some Trust in Chariots. While you're looking, I'll be adjusting my wish list. See you in a moment. .....
See? Was I wrong? Do you need it too?

That right there, friends, is why I (and if I don't miss my guess, a lot of you too) are in trouble in the stash and starts departments. Really it's not our fault! If you designers didn't constnatly put out these things that we simply *must* have, we'd be fine. Ya'll get together and put out one thing a year I need and I might could make some progress. As it stands I'm doomed..... and I like it.

Ok, off stash soap box, and back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I found some of the lost pictures and got annoyed and retook others. {The things I do for you!} --

This is Ladies Day, a canvas by Sundance.

I got the stitch guide to go with it and began stitching on it years ago. I got the black pot in the far left corner done and realized that I had put the 3 rows of continental at the top of the pot in in the wrong direction. I entertained thoughts of just continuing along because I could just do the whole thing to match, but no, I really can't. It would drive me nuts. So, conservatively, she's spent 6 years sitting in a project bag with one pot done wrong.
Then magic happened ("magic" being defined as that moment when I really want to work on something other than what I'm working on). I pulled her back out, frogged my stupidity, spent a day picking all new threads (we'll get back to that), and started again. So far here's the progress:

My favorite thus far is the big red guy --

I have to admit that I wanted this to be an exploration in following a stitch guide. I've even mostly done that so far. Sometimes I can't control my urge to alter though. But the really cool thing and my big tip for needlepoint hoarders (errr, collectors) like myself is that if you let your canvases and stitch guides age for a few years, all sorts of new thread opportunities arise to enliven your work. I don't have to use Medici and perle cotton. I can use Belle Soie and Belle Lusso and Silk Lame. Ahhh the joy of thread!

Here's where I actually am on Live Simply --

I'm doing it on a Vintage patterned white. I think in the end the pattern on the fabric will lend a nice touch to the Peacock Waterlilies.

Here's the very miniscule progress I've made on Beatrix.

Her problem is she's too big to work on on the bus to/from work, and by the time I get home I'm mostly too tired to stitch, so she gets relatively few hours. Poor thing. I really like her.

This was a handy bus project, but it got left out of the bag one day so it's still not done:

This is ANOTHER new start. Yes, as a matter of fact I should have my head examined--

That's Sampler Girl's "Hope Perches" with threads switched to Belle Soie (Indigo and Noir, I think). She was what I worked on on the ride in this morning and I got most of "feathers" put in so already the pic is out of date.

Here's Rose City Stitchers--

It got some time under the needle last night. I really do like it, but I'm tired of lines and vines.

And for the prettiest pictures--

Meet Daniel. Who truly couldn't be any cuter.
I think he has a future in music since he loves to listen to music. And since he also loves to stick out his tongue I fear he may eventually lead a Kiss tribute band.

I was never a Kiss fan, but I might see my way clear for such an adorable great nephew.
For the record, he's a really good baby, but his favorite Aunt Ruth trick is to wrap his fingers in my hair and scream. This is not what you call relaxing.

Have a great weekend to all and to all happy stitching!

Bad blogger. Baaad, baaaaaaad blogger.

2011-06-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been bad. And it's even worse than just being MIA. Not only did I go missing from Blogland, but I went on vacation too! --hanging head in shame and shuffling feet in a tone of penitence-- Will you forgive me? I suppose you realize that's just silly -- regardless of your forgiveness, I will have gone on vacation.

In my defense, I did think of ya'll while I was away --

That there in Martha Washington on her front porch at Mount Vernon with her stitching in the basket by her side. I was so pleased that she was happily spending a day stitching with company dropping in. I'm sure she did it for us.

There has been stitching going on my in neck of the woods. However, much to my shame, what primarily has taken over my life/needles has been New Starts. I ssimply can't keep myself from starting new projects. What gives??!! I *want* to finish things. Really, I do! But instread of working my way through any of the several dozen WIPs I have, I go and start something else. Sigh. Maybe it's in the water? Does late-Spring pollen cause startitis?

Anyway, here are some of the recent adventures:
Beatrix Potter is underway occasionally --

I even got anohter beaded bit in --

I must say that as mush as I enjoy beading and like the effect, I have to admit that it's damned annoying when you're trying to allign your hoop for the next motif over.

Joy in the Journey is a lot more complete than this...

I'm at the point that I always get to in a SB piece though -- the point at which it's all really little fiddly bits and back stitching. You know how well that goes over with me.

Here's one of the new starts--

I'm doing it over one in misc silks and loving it. I'm a lot further along than this, but someone's mislayed her pics again.

And another new start is Martina's Tsunami Sampler which I have wanted to do for a while. So in honor of our Japanese friends I hauled it out and decided to do it primarily in pinks (for the cherry blossoms).

Since this pic was taken I've picked up some more colors, got them all arranged as substitutes for the colors called for, and gotten going on the stitching.

Another new start -- Papillon's Live Simply in Waterlillies Peacock

Here's the ultimate proof on how bad the photo collection is... this piece is actually done-- Ursula Michaels "We the People"

I think we're missing another 2-3 starts too. Sigh. And you know what I want to do more than anything right now? Yup, start another project.

I went holidaying in DC as usual. 'Twas my sister's birthday and a chance to play with my new great nephew. And yes, I owe many pictures, but.. can you guess what's coming?.... I seem to have misplaced the downloads. Sigh. They'll come eventually. There was as usual much art. There was also much beer, but I don't think I bothered with pictures of the beer.

For the record it's mostly the dreaded Work that has kept me away from you all. It seems to be a never ending series of "emergencies." Always someone else's emergencies, mind you. All things considered, I suppose that's all work really is--- a long series of other people's emergencies interrupting your day. Ocassionaly a day has highlights -- yesterday we had a spirited debate about the kosherness of my usage of the word "explicate" instead of "explain." I agrued that if I had to do the damned report, it was my language choice. I also held that it didn't matter whether I chose a 19th Century word or not, since the foriegn-language translator is probably going to write it as "to use ducks excessively in a heat wave" anyway (no, I don't have much faith in the translator).

See you tomorrow! --she says being hopeful--

I'm trying.....

2011-03-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

... to be of good cheer. Really I am. So far today the plan seems to be working. We'll get back to that, because on more important fronts, I've been kinda accomlpishful. I'd liek to focus on the accomplishful for a change.....

Joy in the Journey as made it all the way to here:

I have gotten this far on Beatrix:

I just love that Vicky Clayton overdye!

And the beads went in the new motif pretty well....

And then bad, bad me started soemthing new -- Rose City Stitchers from Ewe and Eye/Trilogy:

For a change I'm even using the called for threads. lol I know, it's practically a miracle.
Considering how many new things I've started so far this year I might as well have joined the January new projects challenge. lol

And I picked up more stash of sorts -- one of Danji's ginger jars-- It's only "of sorts" because a friend and I are doing it for another friend. It's not stash if it's a gift, right?

This would be what it looks like if we weren't ... say it with me.... changing most of the threads.....

This will be our pallatte:

With the primary overdyes being these Waterlilies (the really purpley one will be the dark color on the base of hte vase and the other color will be the big diamonds in the wall behind the jar):

Mostly the threads had to change because I hate perle (the green in the wall and under the jar is all perle... ick!) and the main overdye in the wall behind the jar we don't carry. What can I say, it's not a brand spanking new stitch guide. Now we have all sorts of wonderous thread opportunities. I do believe all the stitches will stay because otherwise, what's the purpose of a stitch guide? (I'm trying to experience different combos of stitches because, when left up to me, I tend to use only diagonals and pretty much the same 12-30 stitches because I like them.)

RE: that cheer thing. Work's been kind of kicking my butt. One step forward. Four steps back. I have learned ove rthe last couple weeks something very important: never admit to knowing something or recognizing something. If you admit to recognizing a given topic or job, it becomes your problem. I really should take a picture of my computer moitor at the office now. I go tso mad one day that I took those neon pink post-its and wrote "No. No. No. No....." on the top sticky band, trimmed only that off several sheets of the post-its and ringed the bottom of my monitor edge with them. A constant reminder to myself just to say "no" to helping people. I cannot begin to tell you how angry and depressed it makes me to feel the need to tell myself not to be helpful.

But having a job, and not being under a tsunami is a good thing. Also, yesterday I could eat lunch in t-shirt sleeves around the fountain at the office patio. That's good, right? Focussing on the positive..... maybe I need to sign up for yoga classes or some self-realization workshop? Dear Lord, could I get any more la-la land?

ta ta -- happy stitching and see you soon!

Stash and POSSIBIL(I)TIES

2011-02-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

I owe you stash. I know that. I'm behind. What can I say it's just one darn thing after another. This week I've run the gamut from the fashion industry to field research stations, from stadiums to space tourism, and it's not even Friday yet!

Anyway, on to the stash I promised. And I'll fess up now -- I probably don't have time for all the stash because I've got a billion things to do this morning.... Sorry!
These fabrics came in from my shop's Zweigart distributor last month (yes, I know I'm slow)

That's a light natural, a vintage dark cream on white "overdye," and a white -- all are 32 count.

Remember the star tree topper I ordered at TNNA?--

Well it arrived --

Grin -- grin -- grin. It's not on bars so that I won't start it.... Must finish some already on bars needlepoints first! Sheesh it's getting to be like a kindling factory at Chez Hovel.

I also "rescued" this little lovely from the 70% off bin at my shop:

It's a Danji gate and I see great potential for textured fun..... once I finsih the 6 dozen canvases in line in front of it.

Last weekend I pulled this off the boards at my shop --

The person who got the Catherine Sampler is going to do this with me for another friend. Currently the posey bucket is in my life. I'll be putting the sparkly bits in the flowers and stems --- wooo hoo basketweave here I come! [That's faux enthusiasm in case you were unsure.]

Finally, I picked up these at JoAnns the other day --

Because I *had* to have these:

"American Sampler"

Spring Morning Sampler from Rosewood Manor

Beacon House by Praiseworthy Stitches
I just *had* to have them. Now I just *have* to keep myself from starting them. Hmmm, maybe that's the way to cut down on the stash hoard -- just think of each pattern I reach for as "just another UFO." Would that be enough to scare me into stoppping? Nah, probably not. Would it work on you?

And, yes, dear reader, I have actually gotten some finishing done! I know, I know. It seems miraculous, but I promise you that no photoshop tricks are involved in the following.

Blackbird Designs "Quaker House" stitched in 2007 and finally framed in 2011 in a medium smokey blue frame.

Mirabilla's "Halloween Fairy" which got its final stitches in 2007 or 2008 and finally found a frame in 2011. Now, I must say it wasn't for lack of trying on this one. This piece was a pain to frame-- a big ole stinky pain. The brown's odd, the metallic is odd, the beads are odd, the orange is odd, and the, yes, the green is odd. In short, what frame went with one or two aspets of the piece clashed with others. But lo and behold with a new frame delivery to my shop came this lovely little number --

I just adore this frame. Finally something that didn't clash with anything and yet wasn't boring.
And I even had the bonus that this time the framer did the spacers in black to match the frame --

See? Cool, eh? I always plexi or glass my pieces which annoys him because since I tend to bead he's forever having to put spaces in for me.

Any credit you feel I might deserve for acutally getting around to having something done with these pieces should go not to me but to the crew at POSSIBIL(I)TIES. They deserve the raves for actually prodding me into action--for their encouragement to face up to the piles of stuff I (and let's face it, *WE* all) have of completed stitching just waiting for us to do something with it.

Happy Valentine's!

2011-02-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

A Happy Valentine's to all !Do yo uhave big plans for the day/night? Me? I'm working then going fabric shopping for the back of a tallis bag and the lining of a yarmulke. Woo hoo. I sure do know how to party!

Well, party or not, I was quite accomplishful over the weekend. I was little miss xs. First out of the bag was Beatrix Potter:

A whole motif got finished (beaded flower bunch)and another one (little varigated patch under the flower bunch) got started--

I figure Beatrix could get done this year. Since she's on the list of things I really, really want to finish this year, that's a good thing.

Also out of the collection of in process came my newest start (I think it's the newest anyway-- it's either this or the next item), SB's Joy in the Journey

I was working on this at a friend's family house and getting kibitzing help from a 6-year old. You see the heart in the sheep is supposed to be left unstitched but she and I agreed that it could use a little pink. She colored a stunning image of her house and kept an eagle eye on what I was up to lest I needed some more input on pattern adjustments. Gotta love little helpers!

Last week bought a new ornie and a little progress. I must be in a real brid mood. The week before last I finished the stitching on Miss Crescent's Red Bird:

I'm not sure it shows well, but the cranberries in the garland are a burgundy Kreinik and the popcorn is EdMar Boucle. I think she's really quite cute, and since she's destined for that mytical tree of mine my cute-rating is crucial.
Anyway, I finish the red bird to pick up Theron's Berry Bird

Yup, if you remember you JCS issues well you will note that I changed the colors on this. I guess I just can't leave well enough alone.

Also making an appearance in the light of day the end of last week was my Quaker a la Six Mains:

Can't see the Major Work? Well, let's get closer in ---

Yup, That bird head floating there -- I started that motif. Hey, at least I got his little eye showing so he can look around.

And last but certainly not least in the accomplishment round up, Ursula Michaels We the People--

I do so love stitching this! There's something so wonderful about seeing words appear.

Oh, I have to ask. Do you overpack for stitching adventures? I go to the LNS for the day and I look like I'm packing for a year in the Arctic. The stuffed bag below was for an afternoon od stitching with a friend--

Beatrix, Joy in the Journey, 6 Mains, We the People, Berry Bird, and new stash are all in there. Memo to Self: 3 hours of stitching does NOT require you to denude your hovel of WIPs.

Oh wait, you caught that reference to new stash. Welllllllll..... I gotta go. Catch you later with a report. Hee hee.

It's a MIRACLE !!!!!

2011-02-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Yessiree, a genuine miracle. I finished an antique UFO --

This was, as you can clearly read, a 2006 RR. While ignoring the Lakers on Saturday night I accomplished the backstitching in the flowers at the top. Yes, I sent it off to be RRed without even finishing *my* part on *my RR. Be that sorry story as it may be, now it's looking pretty dran nice, imho--

To any Sassies who may be reading --- thanks!

To celebrate this grand accomplishment I promptly hauled out a new start. Behold my progress on SB's Joy in the Journey:

Are you overwhelmed with how far I've gotten? lol Me too.

Oh and last week I started another "new" piece --

Erica Michael's We the People
I haven't decided which blue to use so my 3 options are all present. And, yes, if that looks familiar to you from these fair pages it is becaiuse I have stitched it once already. I did it for my nephew and when my shop owner saw it she wanted one. A year later, off I go! Hey, the woman keeps me in stash--- I can stitch a little (especially when it's such a fun piece to stitch).

I'd have much more to show on those last two but instead of stitching yesterday I let myself fall into "organizing" my charts. They had been organized, then they weren't. They were mostly living in conglomerations on the floor or piled high on one shelf. I flipped though pulling out some categories of like things. The process will have to be repeated 4-5 times to get everything into categories, and then repeated (for instance a foot-deep pile of "samplers" need more fine sorting. Aside from wanting to be organized, this started because I had the bright idea that if I went though and truly got everything sorted that I would be able to ditch a bunch of duplicates. So far I've "sorted" about 2 feet of patterns and been able to ditch maybe 24 pages. Really? Was that profitable? Not even an inch gone. Sigh.

Awww... Yahooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

Awww:

Big Brother David meets new Little Brother Daniel born early today. Great Aunt appreciates it from the non-snowy coast...... ain't they they cutest?!

How can anybody top that? I mean really. What I should do is leave everything for another day and bask in happy Great Auntness, but I've ogt a couple seconds so I'm going for the extra happy dances--

Yahooooo!!!!:
Catherine is done!!!!

I added a couple spare rows towads the end. Silly me! I could have been done even sooner. What was I thinking?

Woo hooooooo She's done! Let the partying begin.

Sorry-- gotta go-- must continuing researching the fashion industry in Tokyo. I suppose I can't ever claim my work is boring.

Happy stitching!

Been stitching? (and Hyperbolic Crocet Reef)

2011-01-26T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hello. I was going to call this post "Pathetic," but somehow I think that could sum up most of my stitching days so I'd have to use it all the time. Better I should save it for a really worthy occasion..... like say, oh, tomorrow.

I have been stitching, but apparently I've also been brain dead since I have only tken pics of part of what I worked on and then I only downloaded part of those pictures. What gives? Usually I'm all over thei picture thing. My money is on my new 5:30am wake-ups. I need to really need to commit to the pillows by 10pm.

Anyway, here's some of what I've been up to....

In case you remember back to the last time you saw this I can say I have done some stuff. I have filled in a penguin tummy, worked out where I went wrong compensating over a penguin head, and put in part of the secondary stitch (Silk Lame) in the background (ok, it's only a couple tiny rows, but it's something.

I also have made slow, small progress on Katherine--

I futzed with the gold and dark green stitches in the center of the light green medallions because I thought the called for version ended up wimpy.

I have to say I hated those two rows of pulled sqaure stitches. I kept breaking my thread. I resorted to using absurdly short cuts to make it work.... so annoying.

I joined Carol's Christmas Challenge this year in hopes of having myself 12 FINISHED ornies by the end of the year. Mind you, it might be a good plan to have a tree to put them on, but one thing at a time. Anyway, my January ornie is Miss Crescent's red bird from a reecnt JCS (I think 2009):

She's actually a lot farther along, but I lack a picture for the last 3 days. She's become my morning commuter bus piece -- I get some stitching done which makes the miles go faster, but I gotta say that smoother roads would improve my productivity no end! Eventually she's to hold a string of cranberries and popcorn in her beak. They are called for in floss, but I'm thinking of using a Kreink for the cranberries and possibly some Boucle or thin, stripped silk and wool for the popcorn.... stay tuned!

As for DC reporting I am going to limit myself to a photo montage of the Hyperbolic Crocet Reef that is currently on display at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Our croceting friends from around the world made a reef and it's stunning. No pictures can do it just, but I tried....

Pretty darn cool, eh?!

Stash and stuff and continuing Christmas adventures

2011-01-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Gentle Reader. How are you this crisp morning? Fine you say? Well I'm glad to hear it. I am a miserable loon.

We'll leave aside the miserable... that comes with working in the Fortune 500 aparently, and skip straight to the loon part. This weekend (aka tomorrow) I propose to start work on a new needlepoint. And not just any needlepoint. I'm probably putting on stretchers this lovely:

Beautiful, isn't he? I think he's beautiful. I pulled a bunch of Very Velvets, Ftyre Works, Neon Rays+, and Silk Lame for him last week. I'm sure some more fun stuff like Sprinkles and fur will join the party. But really, Gentle Reader, what am I thinking. I didn't finish the dreaded stocking for my sister all that monay months ago. Have I forgotten what a pin in the assets it is to stitch on a giant canvas? Do I not already have enough things on needles? Shouldn't I finish a few things before I forget what stitches I was using in them before I tackle roughly an acre of blank canvas? Apparently not. Sigh. When you see my right mind, please give it directions home.

Also on the needlpoint front, last weekend was the first weekend of my LNS' annual post-TNNA sale. I picked up this gem--

A Sandy Gilmore Santa which I love. The argument I used with myself was that I had no canzases for standing-weighted Christmas decorations, and I certainly had not Santa pieces. Obviously said argument was successful since now he lives in the hovel with me and 7 million other to-be-done projects. To continue the loon theme with this piece, please remember I had just come back from TNNA. Sure, no problem, you say. You have faith that I exercised discretion and restraint while surrounded by all the best needlepoint opportunities in Christendom. Well, you would be wrong. I was bad, Gentle Reader. Baaaaad. As they come in I shall happily share pictures of my haul, but suffice it to say there is a lot of canvas and a fair bit of linen coming my way.

For those of you looking for a detailed TNNA report, you may be disappointed. There was little in the xs realm there. Usually the xs people seem to stick to the TNNA events later in the year. I can say I saw a lot of really cool yarns-- enough to make me want to pick up my hooks and needles again. Shoot me now. There were certainly some lovey canvases out for needlepointers everywhere. Sew Much Fun has released a 3-D parrot who's too cute for words; Canvas Candy has a great line of canvases and matching blown glass ornaments (I succomb to a cardinal and what I call the "gold bird circle"-- you'll have to wait and see); Kirk and Hamilton had this really great gingham and floral flag which I must have; Labors of Love was there with its awesome bird tree clamps (if you flip through Needlepoint Now they were featured a few months back) and a line of Christmas Carol themed pieces; Little Shoppe has a totally adorable line of dimensional tea cups.

One thing I can show you is the tree topper I got from Whimsey and Grace--

Yes, that stunning gold and white beauty will be mine! heee heeee. Now I just need a decent paying job and an apartment bigger than a closet. Those will allow me to have a Chrismtas tree which will allow me to place this stunning topper. Sigh.
Oh I also got this darling from Associated Talents--

I think he'll sparkle a treat on said wishful thinking tree.

As for Christmas, I think we left of with traditions and number 23...

23. Here's to new traditions! This year I, with great trepidation, approached the 9-year-old great nephew with a plan to make ornaments for his grandma. As I explained the plan and my thinking behind it (ie. while his mommy isn't hot on non-standard ornies, his grandma loves them and cherishes all the differences and especially honors the ones his daddy made for her when he was little) he just looked at me blankly. But when I stopped (thinking I was going to get shot down in favor of computer games) he grinned from ear to ear, said excitedly "cool," and began a laundry list of things he thought would be cool to make. Whew! So we spent about 5 hours one day secreted on the ground floor of my sister's house (on a plastic tarp becaues my BIL is a former Boy Scout leder and knows what crafting with small children can be like) making these gems:

Pertty cool, huh? There's also a tree, but somehow it missed its photo op.

24. We went up to the Mormon temple for their great light display-- what can I say, I'm a sucker for Christmas lights.

For all the traffic the show draws I can imagine the neighbors are sometimes annoyed, but they do get one seasonal break -- they definitley don't have to put out their own light displays.
They also do a series of Christmas trees in their main lobby. and right there I got a nice chuckle:

Yup, that would be a lovely pair of Israeli dolls decoating a Christmas tree.

25. will wait for another day....

Here's wishing you all a beautiful rest of your day!

A Suggestion, Stitching, and the Continuation of Christmas

2011-01-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

First things first -- do you have stitched pieces waiting to become something? Did you have barren tree branches this holiday because you have a showbox of ornaments waiting for finishing? Got a hanger/drawer/box of pieces waiting to be framed, boxed, or pillowed? Join the brilliant Diane and her growing legion of stitching friends who has started a finishing society at the POSSIBILITIES blog. Come on, you know you want to join the fun. Besides, all you folks in the Crazy January Challenge and the UFO stitching challenge will really need the support of the get-it-the-heck-out-of-the-dresser/closet/box bunch. Aw, come on. You know you want to.

After a day spent working at my LNS, I can happily report that I have my first finish of 2011--

I still need to work out sewing the suede up, but at least I have completed the stitching bit on my little needlepoint bookmark. I started it last year and it stalled at the cone stage because I couldn't decide the perfect color. The ice cream is Flair with brown beads. The cone and background are DMC floss. My mom was a big fan of mint-chocolate chip ice cream (except at Christmas when there would be peppermint stick ice cream) and so this bookmark just called to me. I'm not sure what books a beaded bookmark would be good in, but there it is.

After getting over the rush of finishing something yesterday, I picked back up another little needlpoint that had been waiting for me to remember it --

Mr. Moose is in Fabulous Fur, his antlers are Petit Very Velvet, the background so far is DMC floss.

I even got the courage up to tackle a little more on ny NYC cube ornie--

I finished the flames, but got bored before moving on to the background and/or outlining the bases of the flames.

Once home from the shop I pulled out Catherine -

Some over-1 and another row got completed. If I didn't need sleep I would have made it through the rest of that green row before I gave in, but instead I downloaded pics and worked on transferring them to a flash drive for you. Just for you. No one else. Feeling honored yet? lol

Oh, and despite my great regard for you, in the rush of craziness at Christmas, not only did I never did finish any ornies for hanging/gifting, but I didn't even show you. Here's what I managed in the last week before Christmas --

Now, back to D.C. and the belated coverage of the Christmas Adventures of a lazy stitcher. I believe we left off on #12...

12. I learned that some dogs are very polite --

Princess worked out exactly where her present was and waited patiently for someone to unwrap it for her. Honest to pete. And for at least a week after she'd check that exact spot periodically to see if the tree had grown another bone for her.

13. I also learned over the course of two very long afternoons that a 9-year-old boy can be VERY patient when he wants to be.

That's a very big pottery project and a very small brush... and we had to put on 3-4 coats of pait with that very small brush. Six hours in and my dear sister can expect another 6-9 hours of pottery painting adventures before it will be declared complete.

14. Christopher was the absolutely perfect tree -- great chape, great hanging braches, and even without putting all the usual ornies on him, he still looks lovely--

15. It is sooooo cool to be the aunt who passes on the joy of reading --

That's in the midst of present opening -- we had to stop and review our new books one by one. Heee heee.

16. Every geek needs a Star Trek Enterprise pizza cutter--

I got one too. and I'm damn proud of it.

17. The National Christmas Tree was especially pretty this year

Yup, that's the White House in the background.

18. The Udvar-Hazy is amazing!

19. Arlington is forever awe-inspiring. [We went to visit our Great Uncle Ellis.]

They go on forever ...

Possibly my favorite picture of the entire holiday --

20. My BIL can be very creative--

He took out left-over star fruit and decorated a tree for my lunch plate. Cute, eh?

21. Old traditions are wonderful -- this is the BIL's family gum drop tree

I did my best to defloiate it over the holidays.

22. New traditions are cool too --

My BIL turned into Martha Stewart one day. He made sticky buns from scratch, toffee sauce for said buns, and the above -- peppermint marshmallows. I have declared (not that anyone listens) that he should always make these marshmallows for one of his offerings at the annual Bake-Off. I hope that next year I can report again on their subtle yumminess.

23.... another day.

Happy stitching to you all.

and the Adventure Continues.....

2011-01-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

to follow on the list of things I've done while holidaying "this" year which yesterday's post stopped in the middle of... :

6. Went on the Christmas tree hunt to Snickers Gap Tree Farm (if you are in Northern VA and need a tree, I highly recommend the folks at Snicker Gap. Beautiful trees and nice cider too!). We were successful --

That's the BIL and Christopher (we named the tree) off to have our freshly cut prize bundled for the car. (That's also my current wallpaper because I just love that picture. It makes me smile.)
It was a hard decision though. I mean look at this--

How do you choose from those beauties? But, in the end we picked a winner and Christopher was ensconsed in the living room (frankly he just took it over) and the BIL did his lighting magic

For the record, apparently there's a rule that lawyers must take calls while decorating Christmas trees so the blue tooth was essential to the lighting process.

7. I got to help decorate the tree. No biggie, right? I mean everyone whose family decs trees does this, right? Oh, you poor soul. You have never experienced my sister's tree.

The 7 trays of ornaments in this picture are only one-half of day one decorating (and that's starting with the really big ornaments). We did 3 days on the tree this year. And we only made it out in 3 days because we skipped 2 boxes of ornaments. Eventually I'll have a finished ornie count and decorated pictures for you, but not today.

8. I entertained my little nephew --

That's a shot of complete concentration while we attempted to set the record for largest yellow pyramid built entirely from Legos at the National Building Museum's Lego play room. We did have some minor discussion about two-thirds of the way through because Aunt Ruth who was the official "Yellow Block Finder" for the development could not find another two block yellow to save her life. There was much consternation and arguing and cajoling (all from him at me), but finally education prevailed. You see I put my social science degree to work and explained the functions and design of Egyptian pyramids and opined that the tan-colored two space block I had found for the far interior of the pyramid would be the perfect "Pharoh's Treasure." That was agreed upon and work continued. Ultimately this solid-- completely solid piece was produced:

It weighs more than my laptop I think. LOL Some poor museum volunteer was going to have to take that all apart later in the day. I wonder what they thought of Phoroh's Treasure. lol
While The Little One completed his grand design, his aunt made towers and played with color concepts

Yup, those are close-ups of my fine work. Impressive, eh?

9. Got stash! Yes, stash! My sister and I hunted down In Stitches (not an easy task if you follow the google directions either. But we made it and she *forced* me to buy:

Yes, Virginia, apparently I needed more stash.... NOT. Hey, should I make these 4 of the requisite 15 Crazy January starts?

10. I saw the Wise Men's way to the baby Jesus illuminated by the light of a giant menorah

Sorry, this made me giggle. In between the cold and the giggling I got a blurry pic.

11. I spent a totally "traditional" Christmas Eve day going to The Copper Fox Distillery, a small Northern Virginia distillery, and learning how they made their single malt scotch. Honest and true, that's what we did for Christmas Eve day--

The Copper Fox in his Christmas best.

The distillery is a small 3 person operation (well 7 if you count the cat, 2 dogs, and the baby) that is producing some absolutely marvelous single malt under the name Wasmund's (the owner). We brought some bottles home and they are absolutely yummy! Go, explore their site, visit the family, and have a lovely libation. And, if you are contemplating a visit but you are thinking to yourself, "Ruth, it sure would be more compelling if there were more attractions in the area.. maybe a museum or something..." I can set you mind at ease. Not only is the countryside the next best thing to a landscape painting, but the Distillery backyard his home to The Decoy Museum--

lol Sorry, I didn't ask for a tour. It was Christmas Eve afternoon and I thought I ought to let them finish wrapping their presents.

12. .... to follow .......

Continuing happy New Year!

P.S. Diane is brilliant! Go check out her take on a theme for 2011 and see if you agree. I left her a comment saying if she started a challenge, I'd be in!!!

Galavanting to 2011

2011-01-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

Anyone know how it got to be 2011? Where did 2007 go?--- I so can't even get to worrying about '08, '09, and '10 yet! Sheesh.

Let's hit the needled highlights and then go back for some leisurely touring shall we?

I am Christmasing in DC and thus delivered The Dreaded Stockings:
First, the BIL's. You've seen it before, but it has been a while --

Now the Sister's (aka The Truly Dreaded)--

You have to understand that I learned something very, very important about myself while doing this particular stocking: I don't do random well. The whole *#(&$#$^&#@ tree is random long and short stitches. I hated and therefore dreaded every bit of working on those long-and-shorts. I have this thing about wanting it to look authentic (ie. tree-like) so it seemed to me that every stitch of Silk and Ivory (the only saving grace about the tree is it is all in Silk and Ivory) seemed somehow to be untree-ish. I even ***looked forward*** to stitching Santa's suit in Very Velvet more than working on the tree, and that's saying a lot! All things considered though, with the passage of a couple months since completion, it was a fun project. I got a decent amount of different stitches in (and some old faves like the hesitation stitch) and used a lot of fibers I liked -- the aforementioned Silk and Ivory, a really nice fine merino wool that was the entirity of the carpet, lots of Fyre Works (they really need a better texture for their hologram ones -- that's stuff is nasty to work with), and Sprinkles (which everyone in my shop hates but me.... good! It's mine, all mine!) to name a few.

Originally I thought the walls would be a pale peach, but the muse (and color realities) took a mint green (Splendor Silk) turn --

And, yes, Virginia, those are French knots in Santa's beard. Lovely aren't they? Their loveliness is due to the simple fact that I did not do them. My dear friend, Jennifer, finally allowed herself to be pestered into it. And despite the pestering, they are absolutely wonderful. I keep telling her she could lease herself out for French knotting and she keeps replying... well, I can't actually say what she tells me to do. Sorry, I don't know what it is; usually Jenn's such a nice, amenable person.

I did my own French knots in the mane and tail. Let me tell you, if you want to feel smugly proud of your French knotting and you have a place where you need randomized, irregular, shinny knots, I highly recommend Flair. Oh I just loved knotting in Flair.

My other current stitching affair is a group gift with my stitching buddy Judy which we hope to have finished up soon:

That's Sampler House's "Catherine's Sampler." Whie I have enjoyed working on this thus far I have a caveat for those who have it in their stash or are thinking about getting it: That picture on the pattern of the finished piece bears no resemblance whatsoever color-wise to the actual colors called for. I actually took a few years to buy this pattern because the colors as pictured were so hideious as to hide the piece as a whole. Turns out the colors called for as so drastically different that I actually pulled all new colors for this version. Most of what you see in the picture is DMC or Anchor, the gold fluer de lis-ish flowers are Sampler Threads (Gold something-or-other) and the pomegranates are Belle Soie (Cranberry, I think).

Aside from a certain lack of stitching, on the holiday front I have:
1. Had a white Christmas

2. Been extremely frustrated developing into downright pissy

This was when the computers were (I considered at the time) 50% working (I should have thoght of it as 75% working). They went through a brief period of full workability and then crashed back to 50% when the office machine decided it had a hard drive fault and IT and I couldn't see eye-to-eye on long-distance assistance.

3. Gotten to attend my first ever Greater Capitol Region Bake-Off. A tradition at my sister's house. The first two offerings are her work --

Her new try for this year a peppermint-flavored sugar cookie with a white chocolate and pepermint candy dip. In a word, fiddily. But, very popular with the squirrel on the balcony where the cut cookies had to sit on sheets to freeze.

Her traditional cranberry bread with gum drop decoration.
I did my balls. My goal was to stay out of the oven on bake-off day so I did a range of "rum" balls.

The darkest are Bailey's with dark cholocate cocoa and chocolate shortbread as a base rolled in dark cocoa and pecans.
The medium colored ones are also with a base of chocolate shortbread, but are kalua with milk chocolate cocoa rolled in powdered sugar and cocoa.
The light ones are regular shortbread with orange liquer rolled in powdered sugar.
I have to say that overall last year's lemoncello version of balls are still my favorite.

4. Had the opportunity to meet the Alexandria Fire Department--

Seems the neighbor was making cinnamon-sugared pita chips for a party the next day and her oven caught fire. All was fine. The oven sensed the fire and sealed itself. But we had 5 fire trucks of personnel milling about the street. No one's exactly certain how the fire got started since there was nothing in the oven at the time, and I failed to get the story on how it actually got put out. Sorry.

5. Froze while watching the lunar eclipse --

BIL doing his best to capture an image.

Sister and the corner of yours truly trying our best to stay warm on the windy 4th floor deck at 3am. Yeah, it was really, really cold.

6. wll have to be later because I'm going to be late for this mornings art lectures at the National Gallery ---- I love educational vacationing.

Happy 2011 to all and to all a good morning!

2010 Stitching Accomplishments

2011-01-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

Even though I know I'm missing some, it's still paltry --

1. beaded backstitched tree ornie
2. ST 2010 JCS ornie
3. Scandanavian deer ornie
4. LK tiny tree ornie
5. Christmas tree needlepoint stocking
6. Indian Christmas needlepoint ornie?
7. Diane's beaded butterfly 5/20
8. Montreal fleur de lis needlepoint 6/8
9. F&S round 18 for LennaV -- 4/17
10. stocking mouse ornie -- 1/24
11. SB Fa La La 1/22
12. SB Tiny America (the dang button) 1/22
13. needlepoint whiskey belt -- 1/16
14. Calder Triceratops -- 1/11

That's it? How sad! Here's to 2011 being much more accomplishful !!!

2010 Reading

2011-01-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here's the pathetic list for 2010:

Books:
1. Terry Pratchett -- Monstrous Regiment (1/11)
2. Jeffrey Toobin -- The Nie: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court (1/31)
3. Poul Anderson -- Three Hearts Three Lions (1/31)
4. Jim Murphy -- Blizzard: The Storm that Changed America (2/4)
5. Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes volume 1 (2/15)
6. Neil Gaiman -- Odd and the Frost Giants (2/16)
7. James Gleick -- Isaac Newton (3/3)
8. Lois McMaster Bujold -- The Curse of Chalion (3/21)
9. Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Crooked Man (4/14)
10. Arthur Conan Doyle -- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes v.2 (4/17)
11. Lois McMaster Bujold -- Paladin of Souls
12. Charles Cerami -- Dinner at Mr. Jefferson's: Three Men, five Great Wines, and the Evening that Changed America (6/12)
13. Brian Jacques -- Redwall
14. Arthur Conan Doyle -- Adventures of Sherlock Homes v.3 (6/12)
15. Lois McMaster Bujold -- The Hallowed Hunt 6/23
16. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman -- Good Omens (7/3)
17. Jasper Fforde -- Shades of Grey (7/15)
18. 39 Clues book 1
19. Lois McMaster Bujold -- Mirror Dance
20. Lois McMaster Bujold -- Komarr
21. Neil Gaiman -- The Graveyard Book
22. Lois McMaster Bujold -- The Vor Game
23. Lois McMaster Bujold -- A Civil Campaign

Shorts:

• 24. Paul Di Filippo -- "Providence" in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction v.3
• 23. John Meaney -- "Necroflux Day" in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction v.3
• 22. Stephen Baxter -- "Artifacts" in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction v.3
• 21. Alastair Reynolds -- "The Fixation" in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction v.3
• 20. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "Silver Blaze" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II (4/17)
• 19. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Five Orange Pips" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II (4/17)
• 18. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" in The Advetures of Sherlock Holmes II (4/16)
• 17. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Scandal in Bohemia" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II (4/15)
• 16. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Read-Headed League" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes v.1 (2/15)
• 15. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Copper Beeches" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes v.1 (2/15)
• 14. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Stock-Broker's Clerk" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes v.1 (2/15)
• 13. Arthur Conan Doyle -- "The Speckled Band" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holms v.1 (2/12)
• 12. Alastair Reynolds -- "The Fixation" in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction v.3 (2/9)
• 11. Jack Skillingstead -- "Rescue Mission" in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction v.3 (2/3)
• 10. Ken MacLeod -- "Undead Again" in Futures from Nature (2/2)
• 9. Syne Mitchell -- "Oscar Night, 2054" in Futures from Nature (2/2)
• 8. Vernor Vinge -- "Win a Nobel Prize!" in Futures from Nature (2/2)
• 7. Stephen Baxter -- "People Came from Earth" in Moon Shots (2/2)
• 6. J. Casti, et al -- "A Concrete Example" in Futures from Nature (2/1)
• 5. Tobias S. Buckell -- "Toy Planes" in Futures from Nature (2/1)
• 4. David Berreby -- "The Punishment Fits the Crime" in Futures from Nature (2/1)
• 3. Lucy Bergman -- "Damned If You Don't" in Futures from Nature (2/1)
• 2. Lord Dunsany -- "How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles" in The Wizards of Odd (1/31)
• 1. Terry Pratchett -- "Theatre of Cruelty" in The Wizards of Odd (1/31)

Hereby resolved: In 2011, I shall do better!

I might be nuts

2010-12-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am safely arrived in DC. But I am not abed yet and I will be getting up in 3.5 hous for the lunar eclipse, I can't promise to be on the live chat because I'm not certain how lively I'll be. Regardless, I WILL see you all soon.

Best wishes wherever you are,
Waiting-for-Promised-Christmas-Eve Snow in VA.

P.S. The Alexandria fire department has a good response time for house fires even on tiny, private streets. It was too cold to report how handsome they might have been, but hopefully the pictures of their group prayer huddle will turn out well enough for me to share.

Greetings from LosCon 37

2010-11-28T00:28:00.000-08:00

Originally this post was going to be called "If you're my sister, Bugger off!" but I can't find the pictures I was going to post so that title will have to visit at a later date. I like it though so I'm certain you will see it eventually.

What have I been up to? Ahh, so very much. Mostly related to the two "B"s: bitching and boxes. We got 28 days notice that our office would be moved *before* a month was out. It was... barely. I've never seen such large dust bunnies! And I've never handled so much cardboard. Be that as it may, I (and a lot of helpers) got the entire contents of the headquarters of a 52-year-old company sorted, boxed, and stored or moved by the deadline. [It's amazing what 4 weeks straight of never less than 12 hours a day (please note: overtime is a mythical beast-- rumored, but never actually sighted in the company) can get accomplished.] Not everything is unboxed, but that's what happens when your new corporate holding company moves you from offices and support space to cubes. Nice cubes, but cubes nonetheless. Oh and they came with a warning-- the corners and edges can cut through clothes and have left a significant number of scars on office folks -- thanks! There's some happy news to begin your new corp life with.

In the face of the move and all its side trajectories, I have been sooooo looking forward to LosCon! I must say, while I have enjoyed my time I have, at the very best, been underwhelmed by this year's effort. No a single panel even close to offering cool new books/authors in the field. Usually there are a couple varients of this that are so well attended that people have to sit on the floor and stand along the walls (possibly because the room assigners must have some strange notion that a convention system built initially on a written genre doesn't read--- clue to room assigners: That crowd of people huddled in the door means YOU NEED A BIGGER ROOM, MORON!)

Anyway, no new/cool books panels. No really entertaining panels on arcane but strangely humorous topics. Only 10 entries in the maskerade.

Sure there have been nice moments -- the JPL panels today and yesterday were very good. The panel today on whether or not steampunk is anachronistic was good. I'm sure tomorrow will bring all happiness and sunshine!

Oh and funny of the day. This morning I was up at 7am (it's my HOLIDAY people) because between 8 and 10 am my corporate wellness program rep had an appointment to call me and review my health survey (a way for me to save a bundle on my insurance for next year). I'm up. I'm ready. No blooming call ! I didn't have a panel until 10am and I was up at 7! Oh someone is hearing about this!!!!!!

At least the panels I have attended have allowed me stitching time -- This was my progress as of last night:

I nominated it Ornament Weekend so that's all you get.

Mostly the last few months have been needlepoint months for me. I concentrated primarily on my sister's Christmas stocking (someday I'll find that picture), but lots of other canvases snuck in because I hated working the tree on her stocking. Among the pieces that got attention lately are:

An ornament for me to commemorate ConFrancisco (the first WorldCon I attended -- I've decided I need to stitch an ornament for all my major cons):

I totally fell in love with this piece at TNNA last year. Hopefully I can do justice to it--

The roof is Thread Gatherer wool and the house outines and walls are Belle Soie.

I started this little bookmark because it was going to be "so fast." Yeah Right. Little miss color princess came out and I'm stalled on the cone.

My Zuni bear has a butt-

I still have no idea how I'm going to have him finished.

I simply had to start this guy--

I even made some progress on my shawl dancer

It's gotten way nicer to work on since I quit with the Kreinik and moved on to Neon Rays Plus and Highlights.

And this little ornament which just makes me giggle. It won't make it for this year's tree, but....

Just for the record, though I haven't xsed in forever there is some progress on my Beatrix Potter sampler since I last showed you --

And I even got a dozen stitches in on Lanarte's Arabian Woman:

Yeah, I know, you can really see it coming together. lol

One last thought before I go -- Happy belated Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of the season, I am thankful for:
Cons, even without cool book panels.
Having a job even though I hate most days.
My friends -- virtual and otherwise.
My family who doesn't read my blog as a rule, and that might be a very good thing.

Dead? No not really.

2010-11-24T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, fair friends. I was not done in my a lamp post in the night. Nor did I win the lottery and retire to peaceful climes.

So what have I been up to? Work. Just work -- Doing work. Sharing work. Throwing work. Swearing about work. Being depressed about work. Bitching about work. Volunteering for (IDIOT) more work. Being lumbered with more work.

Stitching much? No not really.

Reading much? No not really.

Been pissy? Oh yeah, often.

Missing all of you: DEFINITELY!

Currently: Being perky -- because on Friday by 11am I shall happily be ensconsed at LosCon from whence I shall (allegedly be able to update ya'll on recent life.

In the words of my soon-to-be-former governor: I'll be back.

P.S. The happiest of Thanksgivings to those of you of an American persuasion.

Yes, I know.

2010-05-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've been missing. In all its infinite wisdom, my office has decided it's moving again. And sooner rather than later. This means I am the very frazzled head of why my manager is calling "Ruth's Army" (that would be the temps hired to help as fast as possible). I don't want to move. That aside, I can't even take time for breathing what with running from one "soldier" to another finding out what's wrong and what they need help with.

More soon... really. I hope.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there! We love you!!!!!!!

Almost a party......

2010-03-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday tomorrow and I'm momentarily pleased with that. Yesterday I was nonplussed about it. Last week I was depressed about it. Today, kinda excited. My sister and BIL arrive tonight for a whirlwind couple days of festing. Plans are still formulating, but I'll be sure to catch you up on stuff (possibilities are narrowed down to: Anzo Borrego flower fields, Mission San Juan Capistrano, and the Huntington Library). Probably today's perkiness stems from the arrival of guest, but some it is no doubt due the the fact that I finally have clear-cut the area in front of my TV and now have ground in which to work. This means I can (or someone can) install the new TV a couple friends got me for Christmas. Yippie! No more occasional mystery flips to black-and-white viewing for me. Annnnd, I may even be able to connect both the cable AND the DVD (and maybe even the VCR) to the TV. It'll be a wondrous thing!

Anyway, I have a couple minutes here to try and catch up. Hmm.. I seem to be having to do that a lot. Wonder what that's about... oh wait! We're talking about me. lol silly girl

During and immediately post Olympics I was in a stitch anything phase. I was especially obsessed with my sister's Christmas stocking. First I struggled through the packages (note of warning to needlepointers: Fyre Werks' "hologram" line is not at all like its regular or soft sheen lines. The hologram stuff is stiff as a board, and therefore not in the least bit fun to work with. Sorry, Fyre Werks, you know I love you, but that holo stuff is a pain!) The Fyre Werks are the entirety of the green bow. The red bows are in Sprinkles (by Renaissance):

Once the packages were in I moved on to the carpet and that became a complete compulsion for me--

I'm doing it in a pair of Bella-something-or-others (sorry, I'll get back to you on that). They are thin merino wools that are absolutely yummy to work with. This pic doesn't show it, but the whole bottom of the foot is done and I've turned the corner up the back of the heel ... yippie!

When no obsessed with the stocking, I was obsessed with my Friendly Stitcher's ASAW. I got tired of putting in grid lines so I started filling in squares:

It's a garden-themed piece that in its original incarnation is absolutely lovely, but a number of the squares have no connection to gardens I have known. No offense folks, but I'm a West Coast girl. I can see the beach from my office. I never experienced gardens with snowflakes until my sister moved east. So I've been making some adjustments. This upper left corner that I started with is going to be my grandparents' garden-- so I started with the most prominent memory I have of their yard-- the GIANT apricot tree. Then there's the HUGE swing (well, it was really, really big when I was little. Maybe now it'd only be 10 or 12 feet tall but then I was certain it reached the sky). the square under the half done apricot tree (I kept leaving my beading threader at the office so I had to start something else instead of finishing the tree) is going to be a blue-purple bowl (like the one grandma and grandpa got for their 50th wedding anniversary) filled with elysiums.

Dang, how'd it get so late? Ok, I have to scoot. Go have a happy day for me, ok? A personal favor just for me. lol

Sure I've been stitching....

2010-03-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

.. It's like I'm a girl obsessed. Not holding a needle? Well than I'm not happy. I must admit my progress has slowed with the absence of the Olympics-- afterall, I didn't have to keep changing channels in hopes of findign something entertaining. I never really realized how much time channel changing took up. Sheesh.

Anyway, my biggest problem of late is trying to decide which project to pick up. I want to stitch all of them at once. That neevr happens to me. Never! Usually there's one (not the one I'm supposed to be working on) that calls frantically to me. But these dys if it involves a needle then I want to work on it. I wonder if this is something I should wish will continue? Could be bad for all other aspects of life. Lord knows it's been really detrimental for those towels that are waiting for me to fold them and put them away. The laundry basket even fell over last night and all I did was shovel the towels back in and balance it back on the pile so I could get back to stitching. Bad girl. Bad girl!

Anyway, with all that stitching I should have much to show, and I do! But have I been uploading photos? Oh no. That would be too handy. At least this affords me the oportunity to work with some of the backlog of stuff I kept meaning to getting around to showing you.

We had out big, annual sale at my needlepoint shop and yours truly did her part. First, the frame collection--
From the Ewe and Eye frame collection-- I figure they will be perfect for some samplers:

And a few from the framers of LCN and CCN:

And you knew there's be canvases, right?
A dimensional swam from TS:

Some really cool tea cups with canvases:

A canvas of the Point Loma lighthouse (a personal fav of mine):

And my pieces from the TNNA show this year have started arriving--
First, my find of the show--a shell that your piece gets inserted into. Way cool, trust me--

Some ornies:

And think, this is the tip of the catch-up iceberg.

I should run. I have friends that want dining experiences, and frankly my brain is 35% engaged in noodling out a work problem. I'm the go-to girl for weird questions.... today's: calculating the economic and potential fiscal impact of over-freeway construction of varying types on both the construction site and on surrounding properties. Sure, I'll just find oodles already done on that. Uh huh.

A happy and productive stitching to you all! And to all a good night.

Belts and beads. Beads and belts.

2010-02-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hi there. Anyone want a friend? My former buddy Judy just called and asked me if I knew that so-and-so beat so-and-so in today's Olympic hockey game. The game I'm watching when I get home. She's up for grabs .... she stitches fast, but spoils all exciting moments by previewing the ending.

I downloaded pictures! Are you impressed? First a little current WIP. I've hauled out Beatrix Potter for the last couple days and finished off one small motif and started another.

At least stitching every-other square in beads is less annoying than EVERY square. And I must say that I'm really liking the cream beads on cream. I might just have to pull out that big cream motif and put it in in some beads. Then again, why prove I'm completely insane?

And I am finally capable of showing you The Belt!

Ostensibly, the BIL is happy, but..... the funniest bit of it all (once I got over the fainting spell) is that the BIL called and announced it didn't fit. After much fussing it turned out he hadn't tried it on yet and it was only 1 hole off from the designed-to-fit-at hole which meant it was only about an inch off. My sister pointed out that that inch could have less to do with belt-making choices than with the foodstuffs on the Caribbean cruise they'd just returned from.

Happy Olympic viewing to you all -- I will not tell you who won what... despite already knowing. Sigh

***************
Ruth's new nomination for dumbest TV announcer:
One of the guys announcing the aerials competition in ski jumping -- when discussing the American team member who was in the hospital having had his appendix removed in emergency surgery, the announcer said "He has an appendix so he can't ski." I'm now using the I-have-an-appendix excuse for everything I can't do.

The same announcer is double nominated in the stupid category for his statement: "Minsk used to be part of the Soviet Union but now it's its own country"... about 2 sentences after explaining Minsk was a city in Belarus.

Olympic excitement brings out the worst (possibly best) in me

2010-02-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

I love the Winter Games. It's the skiing. What more could you want -- scenic vistas and the divine swishing sound. Sigh. As far as the indoor stuff it's all about curling.... Go Norway! [Certainly you have been following the saga of the Norwegian Curling team's pants. If you have somehow missed this great moment in sports, just google "Norwegian curling team" -- you can even add pants as a separate term if you want but pretty much all your initial hits will get you The Pants.]

Under the influence of these lovely Olympics (thank you, Vancouver!!!!!), I have been stitching indiscriminately. And, strangely enough I am loving EVERYTHING I stitch and everything I'm not stitching at a given moment calls desperately to me. My worst problem is getting started because that involves putting all but one pile of threads and fabric aside. Yeah, I don't know what's gotten into me either. Usually I'm obsessed with one thing at a time.... and usually that obsession is NOT the thing I am/should be stitching on.

The Games has made me give in to startitis.... again. It should be simple, but there's a saga. You knew there ha to be. I have started Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow.

OMG what was I thinking. Annnnd, yes, dear firends, to add insult to injury, I'm doing it over 1! Ok, to the saga. First I look at the chart, which I love and think, "it's perfect if you don't consider all the mustard toning." I like mustard as well as the next hot dog fan, but oxidized mustard is not an attractive color and I don't get the use of it as a tonal element in charts willy nilly. You feel the saga coming now, right? What's an anti-oxidized mustard girl to do but start changing colors.

So, one square at a time I started pulling threads and replacing them with actually "attractive" (to me) colors. I don't change all that much, just enough to ease my tortured eyes. -- so, 12 times I did this:
Their colors:

My colors:

Their colors:

My colors:

12 times! Do you know how long that took? 6 hours! 6 fricken hours. And, then for another whole week I tweaked some more and some more. I'm finally all tweaked out I think. I hope so since I have started stitching. lol

Ok, I have to run to a bday party part 2 of 3, but I also need to get some other pics in because my BIL has "gotten a good belt"--
Damn! Sorry some idiot didn't upload those photos.... wonder who that could be???? hee hee

Sorry... another time.

Remember, GO NORWAY CURLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

......................... Lookie what I did

2010-02-09T17:48:00.000-08:00

First off-- the belt is here! Yahooooo But I am lame! Boooooo. I neglected to get a picture of it. Tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow... unless of course my county washes away overnight..... which could happen.

But, in other news -- the stocking is done-ish -- the stocking is done-ish!

All I need is a couple more nights of take-away stitching and I'm done! Woo hooooooo
{for all you non-needlepointers, take-away rows are the rows of stitching you have to do around the outer edges of a piece so that the finisher has something to sew into or mat to. They always come last and always seem to take for bloody ever.... and they are so annoying because you get all excited about being done and then you get that big "but....... now I have to do the take-away rows" sigh.

I'm loving the stitch for the name section and I can at least live with what I made up for the upper cuff.

Now I need to finish those rows and get backing fabric ready. tee heee! I'm so excited!

In my exuberance [since I didn't feel like take-away stitching] I hauled out another old friend and made GREAT progress:

What? You can't see my oodles of stitching?

I did the eye in the rocking horse. lol Hey, it was 2am. I needed to go to bed.

Then last night, also in honor of the stocking accomplishment, I hauled out another UFO --

I got all of the central chest put in and the head and neck bands --

Oh, and also a little of the bordering color --

Exciting, isn't it?

Today I even hauled out another languishing piece --

my Quaker a la Six Mains, and I got a whole quarter inch of peacock put in!.... That tells you more about how short my lunch was rather than how slow I stitch --

Ok, I've been sooo bad. I owe many DC scenes, so let me start with one of my adventures this time. In between my last trip and this one I discovered a famous American sculptor in our family tree, one Hiram Powers. So I did a little Hiram Hunt while in the city. Here are some examples of Hiram's work --

Oh, to have that much talent!

Ok, I can't resist, one recent funny. I'm at my LNS and a frequent customer asks worriedly if we have more than one piece working at a time. We laugh and say of course. She says oh so you have 2. We say no, we have many. I explain that just the night before I had started a stitching book based on one a fellow shop maven uses. She makes a page for each piece as she starts it and notes the threads she gets for it, the ideas for stitches, and what she eventually has it finished with. I think this is pretty handy so I start one by making a list of everything I can find that I have started. So I explain this to the lady who is worried about having too many projects, and a little while later when I'm helping another customer she asks if she can look at my book. Sure. No problem. Well, as I keep helping people she occasionally calls out a question, and I one point I hear another shop regular explaining to her that she can make up her own words. I eventually finish the covey of customers to find that my little lady is ... are you ready... copying down MY to-do list. lol Honest! She eventually left and everyone in the shop is laughing and wondering if she wrote down my list of stuff to do, does this mean she is going to finish everything for me? Now what I really want to know if I put my list of household chores in there, will she do them for me?

....................................................... Kathryn got me thinking.....

2010-02-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

You know our friend Kathryn, well she blogged about feeeling guilty for leaving a project to sit, alone and unfinished, despite "promising" to finish it. She got me ruminating, and I think the guilt (at least mine) relating to a given project is determined by the interaction of two sliding scales-- one for interest/passion for the project as it will be when completed and one for time since purchase (aka The Aging Factor). Of all the things I have hanging around partially stitched I feel most guilty about ones I have been working on for a long-ish time AND still really want to have done. Next on the guilt-o-meter are the ones that I've had around a long time, but don't quite want/need as much as I did when the needle first met canvas. Bringing up the rear are the ones which I started for a given purpose which is now completely passed but that I could use them in another form/for another purpose -- I feel no guilt on those whatsoever. I finally liberated myself to the point that those items that languish unworked for a long time and which I can't fathom a use for any longer go straight into yon trash can when I unearth them at the bottom of a stitching bag. Don't gasp! You know you wish you did that too!

Speaking of guilty projects-- wanna see what I've been up to?
Beatrix got an airing and not only did I finish the jumbo beaded flower (what was I thinking?????), but I even got another motif (blissfully bead-free) done:

On the stocking I settled on a stitch for around the name. Here's the first stage partially done:

And here it is with stage 2 begun -- the Silk and Ivory base stitch is getting a cross angle in a white, opalescent Tiara braid

You can't really see it so well in the pic. I'm sorry. Trust me, it's really, really cool.

And I finally have a shot of a finish for you --

Ok, so it's not the biggest piece ever--- at least it's DONE!

I have to leave you for now. I need to get ready to go off to a ...err... talk? Neil Gaiman is having an evening of conversation on campus so I am off to be entertained. -- Don't forget to wear red tomorrow for the American Heart Association's awareness campaign on heart disease in women!

One final thought that Kathryn spurred with her guilty discussion. Given the "faithfulness" of all stitchers for their projects [oh come on, you know you leave one lay when another looks better/prettier seems more fascinating/important, etc.], if we were spouses we'd all be paying huge alimony settlements for well, "stitching-around." Bunch of fickle, undependable, and unpardonably loose women and men -- that's what we are. Nathaniel Hawthorne would certainly have made us wear a scarlet letter.... of course if we had to stitch it ourselves it could be a year or two before we got it done.

........................ a belt -- a belt. My kingdom for a belt.

2010-02-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's not nearly so dire as that, but no, gentle reader, there was no belt delivery this weekend. Sigh. The lack of a "new" finishing rush may be credited by some with keeping me from starting ANOTHER new project, but really it was mere stubborness. You see I threaded up probably 5 needlepoint canvases, and put one on stretchers, but I didn't start a single one because I was obsessed with working on the nutcracker stocking. I would show you my startlingly wonderful progress, but some lame-brain left her camera at home. Ninny.

I can show off some progress from last week --
I have made it this far on my Vierlanden:

I'm thinking of making this a regular weekly feature. Ok, who am I kidding? I'm going to TRY and impose some structure on my chaotic, mood-driven stitching, and force myself from whatever has obessed me at the time. I would really like to finish this some day! Honest I would.

I even made some progress on Beatrix Potter--

Why did I think that beading was a bright idea????

I do like it, and I like beading, but I liek finishing even more.

And finally, for now, over Christmas I started the Friendly Stitcher's SAL from last year, "A Stitch A Week." You may have seen it around on blogs. It is garden themed and quite lovely.

My progress thus far is part of the gridding. I'm doing it on Wichelt's hand-dyed "summer sky" jobelan with the gridding of Thread Gatherer's Silk and Colors "Pearled Blue."

Sorry, gotta run -- after all, lunch is calling. I always answer lunch's call. lol It would be ruse not to.

*******
I finished up Toobin's The Nine yesterday. It really has no thread. I love the Court so I was able to enjoy it despite that failing. If you are not as enamored of the Court as I, I would suggest you save yourself for other options. And yesterday I finished Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions. Now I know why it always appears on the must-read lists at cons. It was a lot of fun, and it was interesting to see the changes in genre fiction over the decades.

................ gotta dash, but....

2010-01-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

... I know I need to get updating because there is so much to catch you up on.

First, I feel compelled to note that last night I almost started 2 new somethings. OMG help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For today I shall limit my updating to what I've finished in 2010 (besides the belt... sorry I was too excited to wait on that)--

This I know is unusual so it has a story. My BIL owned a Calder painting which he decided to sell last year. That there is my version of it. It's called Triceratops and in painting form it is huge. When I first met what I called The Banana Slug (sorry, I still see a slug before I see a dinosaur) I was not entranced, but over the years I grew quite fond of the ole girl. I was going to miss her at Christmas. So somehow it came to me, I'd stitch an ornament for him in honor of her. So I searched through all my photos from their house and printed out the 30 with parts of the painting in it-- of course I couldn't find a shot of the whole thing... no! That would have been too easy. Once I'd worked out my own line sketch of it, the problem became transferring it to graph paper. I couldn't see to trace it. I tried etching it which worked real well up until the tape gave about half-way through the process. I tried tracing with sharpies so the ink would bleed through -- of course when you want to bleed through your paper, you NEVER do. Ultimately I flipped my (at the time) nonfunctioning laptop on it's lid and used the screen as a light table to trace my drawing onto graph paper. It worked! So there, now you know the saga behind the ornament. And possibly you know why it takes me forever to get anything done.

That's SB's little America sampler which I finally sewed the *&#$@(#*^ button on. Yup, it's been stitched for something like a year and just waiting for me to iron it and put the flag button on. Did I mention I have slowness issues that possibly could be easily solved? By the way, I seek suggestions -- this came with the beautiful Jill mat, but the mat is not cut wide enough to look good in a frame by the time you loose the part of the mat under the rabbit. I've run into this with these mats before and it really annoys me. I don't want to have to pay the exorbitant costs to have my framer cut mat fillers to go under the frame. I was thinking of having it galled and the edges copper wrapped. What do you think? I'm game for ideas.

And finally, SB's Fa La La. At least this one didn't take me a year to get the dang button on!

ttfn -- Happy stitching to all and to all a nice dinner.

...............................part one of many I owe.....

2010-01-26T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I know. I owe you much. I have been MIA. I know that too. It’s been, well, interesting in a word. Short list: computer issues, work issues, Photoshop issues (OMG, why isn’t that dang program working???? It’s supposed to make my picture life EASIER not bollocks it all up), my two functional OTT Lites burned out 24-hours apart, kitchen sink issues (actual kitchen sink issues, not as in everything-but-the-kitchen-sink), etc. Still don’t really have time (the sink’s still broken, only one OTT Lite works, and don’t even start me on the *#@(&@$)@&#( Photoshop), but I need to share some lovely goodies I received BEFORE Christmas. Yes, I know. I know. I’m incredibly lame. So take away all my DCM 310 as punishment (hee hee – I hate the stuff – side question: Dear DMC, why is it that you make the worst black floss? It’s fuzzy not smooth, it tends to pill, and it shreds for no reason … well, no reason other than it’s your black floss. Honest, it does not happen with any of your other flosses and it does not happen with any other company’s black floss. What gives?).

Side bars… well… aside. Allow me to share some goodies:

From dear Linda in the Christmas round of Fair and Square I received these lovelies—note the beading! I got beads and luscious Gloriana Silks (which she had to buy TWICE (See note below):

Linda would like you to know that even though you NEVER put anything in the pocket of your robe, that’s where any floss that’s gone missing on you will end up. Lol Just ask her.

Linda and I did our F&Ss as a SAL. She received the following adaptation of an Elizabeth’s Designs ornament from one of the JCS issues from me (since she loves houses) and for the back I played on another love of Linda’s, samplers–

Our dear Mylene surprised me with this –

Look how pretty that is! I’m a lucky ole stitcher, and that’s the truth!

For the record, I may be lucky, but I’m also bad. Baaaad, baaaaaaad stitcher. If there were stitchers houses (a la dog houses) I’d permanently be in one. When getting ready for the flight to DC I “needed” something easy for the plane (yeah, like one of a dozen things I already had wouldn’t have worked just fine) and I was itching to start the Friendly Stitchers A Stitch A Week SAL (after all, everyone else was on week 49, why rush these things) so I did. Thus far I have gotten here:

Nice outer border, eh? Someday, there will be inner grid lines then, look out!

Then I came back from DC and I was focused on The Belt. And, it is DONE – Yes, my friends, D-O-N-E! As in woo hoo call the media!

It’s off being made into a belt now and if I’m very lucky it will be in my hands this weekend. Cross them fingers if you don’t need them to stitch!

Post belt, I was euphoric (you know the feeling). I could do anything. I had scaled Mount Scotch Whiskey Belt and I was ready for anything. New projects beckoned me – I would finish them all. Yeah, apparently stitching a whiskey belt impairs your cognition as much as drinking the Scotch in the first place. So instead of working on any number of languishing projects, I pulled out:

Kreinik and Ewe and Eye’s Silk Mori kit of a flower vase.

Then yesterday I started something new. I can’t show you. Sorry. I have wanted to stitch it for years, but never made time. I started it for me pending a decision on whether someone else might like it. So you just have to wait. Anyway, I started it, and then it happened. Suddenly all my stitching seemed boring. Yes, dear stitchers, I may have hit the dreaded Wall. I tried to cure it by merely putting the Secret Thing aside and started something else. Honest! I didn’t even put the first stitching back in its bag. I just shoved it over on the bed and hauled out a new thing. OMG I started Lanarte’s Arabian Woman:

Do you see that? Do you see it? See how big it is? Do you see how far I got? OMG I’ve lost my mind. And today at lunch I still didn’t stitch. What do I need to do, start stitching an over-1, room-sized rug to overcome my stitching blahs? Save me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

..........................Yes, I know I owe you a real post.....

2010-01-25T12:37:00.001-08:00

.... cross your fingers for later today.

2010 Reading Challenge

2010-01-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

Flushed with success from the 10 Book Challenge at the end of last year, I'm hopping into Vickie's Olympic Reading Challenge for this year. We'll just have to see if I rate any metallic substance at all.

We've discussed the whole mood reader/stitcher thing. Given that, it's nuts to set out a list of things I "will" read this year. (Witness the differences between this list and the one I just realized I have on the sidebar which I did maybe 2 weeks ago.... lol) But for humor value, at this very minute the things that pop into my head as likely 2010 reads are:

1. Poul Anderson -- Three Hearts and Three Lions
2. a book about Switzerland
3. Roger Zelazny -- Nine Princes in Amber (and hopefully the rest of the 1st set of Amber)
4. Jasper Fforde -- Eyre Affair (and hopefully the next Tuesday Next)
5. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro -- Hotel Transylvania
6. Rachel Caine -- Heat Stroke (and maybe the next in the series)
7. Charlaine Harris -- Club Dead (and possibly the next in the series)
8. Neil Gaiman -- Odd and the Ice Giants
9. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman -- Good Omens
10. Simon Green -- several Nightside and several Secret History
11. something by Tony Hillerman
12. something by Arthur Conan Doyle
13. several Rex Stouts
14. several anthologies (leading the pack: Mean Streets; Solaris 1,2, and 3; The Starry Rift; Pump Six; Unusual Suspects; Wild Cards 1,2; Space, Inc.; .....)
15. something Patricia McKillip
16. something Jack McDevitt
17. a couple James White's
18. several nonfictions (see below)
19. an art book
20. Ken Grimwood -- Rewind
21. Zakour -- Plutonium Blonde
22. several of Glen Cook's Garretts
23. Roger Zelazny -- My Name is Legion
24. Sharon Shinn -- The Shape Changer's Wife
25. a couple Laurell K. Hamiltons
26. Jim Butcher -- Fool Moon (and hopefully another)
27. Sharyn McCrumb -- St. Dale
28. something Supreme Court ... or 2 somethings
29. several Terry Pratchetts (well, duh!)

Nonfiction:
1. Blechman -- Pigeons
2. Gordon --The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction
3. Weidensaul -- Of a Feather: A History of American Birding
4. Gilbertson -- American Cut
5. Burleigh -- Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt
6. something about Switzerland
7. Something by McPhee
8. Vogel -- The Pentagon: A History
9. Vise -- The Bureau and the Mole
10. Zoellner -- Uranium
11. White -- A. Lincoln
12. Rinella -- American Buffalo
13. Ellis -- American Creation
14. Blum -- American Lightning
15. Meacham -- American Lion
16. Bird -- American Prometheus
17. Sun Tzu -- The Art of War
18. Hawking -- A Brief History of Time
19. Brown -- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
20. Stiles -- The First Tycoon
21. Rolt -- Victorian Engineering
22. Florence -- The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope
23. Goldstone -- Four Queens
24. Sobel -- Galileo's Daughter
25. Winchester -- Krakatoa
26. Lankford -- American Astronomy
27. Baer -- See No Evil
28. Guide to Smithsonian Architecture
29. White -- Lincoln's Greatest Speech

Finishes 2009

2010-01-25T12:33:00.001-08:00

The XS finishes for 2009:

40. fiddly finishing bits on 3 graduation commemoratives for a friend 12/16

39. wreath paper ornie -- 12/8

38. ornie -- snowman and tree -- 11/30

37. ornie -- reindeer face -- 11/28

36. F&S for Linda -- 11/27

35. paper Santa ornie -- 11/24

34. Nicole's Ho Ho exchange ornie -- 11/17

33. Friendly Stitcher's exchange ornie -- 11/12

32. PS reindeer ornie -- 11/12

31. snowflakes on blue ornie -- 11/12

30. over-1 toy soldier -- 11/11

29. RWG stocking with candy canes ornie -- 11/10

28. tree ornie on green -- 11/9

27. Erica Michaels-- We the People -- 11/6

26. surprise (10/14)

25. surprise (10/14)

24. LHN blog exchange (10/13)

23. Ho3 exchange for Shelleen!!! (10/13)

22. Society RR for Karen NY (round 2) 8/15

21. Society RR for Karen AZ (round 2) 8/15

20. F&S 4th of July 6/25

19. Taking the 5th needlepoint 6/1

18. F&S Round 13 for Lynda 5/13

17. Verna BBD sampler 4/28

16. WOO HOOO at long last!!!!! Bride's Tree SAL house ornie -- Dragon Dreams castle

15. BBD floral thingy 4/19

14. BBD sampler 4/18

13. RAK Square 2 4/16

12. rose Bride's Tree ornie 4/12

11. RAK "square" 1 4/11

10. 2 surprises 4/9

9. GCGC commemorative piece 4/3

8. GCGC floss tag piece 4/3

7. Ho Ho Ho exchange ornie for Karen (3/28)

5. 6 surprises (3/23)

4. Ho Ho Ho exchange ornie for Chris (3/22)

3. F&S Easter exchange for Gillie (2/12)

2. Blackbird Designs bouquet (2/7)

1. needlepoint summer clock face (2/6)

Here's to 44 in 2010!

Reading 2009

2010-01-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

The list of finishes for 2009:

Beowolf (10/24)
Melbourne Brindle and Phil May -- Twenty Silver Ghosts: The Incomparable Pre-World War I Motorcar 1907-1914 (12/27)
Agatha Christie -- Dead Man's Folly (3/20)
Dinae Duane -- "Out of the Frying Pan" in Enchantment Place (10/15)
P.N. Elrod -- Bloodlist (12/6)
Melanie Fletcher -- "Think Small" in Enchantment PlaceJ.A. Jance -- Desert Heat (3/31)
Esther Freisner -- "The Face Is Familiar" in Enchantment Place (9/3)
Charlaine Harris -- Living Dead in Dallas (8/12)
Laura Hayden -- "Steel Crazy" in Enchantment Place
Sarah A. Hoyt -- "Heart's Fire" in Enchantment Place (11/1)
Rachael Lanicci -- Wisdom of Meerkats (12/29)
Pamela Luzier "Make-A-Mortal" in Enchantment Place
Sharyn McCrumb -- Bimbos of the Death Sun (12/29)
Larry McMurtry -- Books: A Memoir (11/16)
Peter Morwood -- "... And Into the Fire" in Enchantment Place (10/25)
Jody Lynn Nye -- "Altar Ego" in Enchantment Place
Terry Pratchett -- Carpe Jugulum (9/16)
Terry Pratchett -- Going Postal (5/22)
Terry Pratchett -- Making Money (8/30)
Terry Pratchett -- Pyramids (2/26)
Terry Pratchett -- Thud! (12/2)
Terry Pratchett -- Wee Free Men (10/4)
Mary Jo Putney "Shining On" in Enchantment Place
Laura Resnik -- "Fang Fest" in Enchantment Place
Kristine Kathryn Rusch -- "The Poop Thief" in Enchantment Place (11/30)
Jeremy Scahill -- Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (11/21)
Mary Shelley -- Frankenstein
Susan Sizemore -- "The Devil You Know" in Enchantment Place (11/2)
Neal Stephenson -- The Diamond Age (1/25)
Deb Stover -- "Witch Stitchery" in Enchantment PlaceCharles Tasewell -- The Littlest Angel (12/26)
Diane A.S. Stuckart -- "Fire and Sweet Music" in Enchantment Place
Stephen Tanner -- Afghanistan: A MIlitary History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban (10/24)
Elizabeth A. Vaughan -- "Answers" in Enchantment Place
Jules Verne -- 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (2/1)
Phaedra M. Weldon -- "Mirror, Mirror" in Enchantment PlaceJames White -- The Secret Visitors (12/17)
Simon Winchester -- Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire (11/23)
Nero Wolfe -- Before Midnight (9/12)
Christina F. York -- "Cupid's Crib" in Enchantment Place

A paltry showing. I must do better in 2010!

OMG OMG OMG

2009-12-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

I leave for D.C. when did you say???? TOMORROW??!?!?!?!?! I'm doomed. That's all there is to it. I'm doomed.

It's 24.5 hours to take off and I need to:
figure out for once and for all what needs to be packed
pack
make the patterns and get all the stuff together to stitch and finish two ornies
pack
do 412 hours of office work
pack
remember to take the office laptop when I leave tonight
pack
decide what I'm making for a cookie baking festival 2 days after I land and report said ingredients to my sister for pre-shopping
pack
do another 412 hours of office work
pack
figure out what is plane-stitchable
pack
[Can you tell what's weighing heavily on my mind?]

See? I'm doomed!

Ok, breathing ..... in .. out... in ... out.... in .... out ... in......

I have several things I owe showing, but for right now here are the 2 I have pics loaded of --

From our friend, Shelleen I received this lovely packet as part of a small group exchange--

Look at that pengy. Isn't he just the cutest?!

Thanks, my Social Butterfly! For everyone else not in the know, Shelleen was my very first ever secret pal. I never had one in school so when I joined Cross Stitch Pals and found my way to their Secret Stitcher page, I "met" Shelleen. All I knew about her for the 4 months that she was surprising me with packages was that she was also on the go -- bar-b-ques, pool parties, dinner events, .... I logically took to calling her a social butterfly.

From Lynda as part of the Friendly Stitchers Christmas ornament exchange I got this beauty--

Bless you Lynda, it is absolutely beautiful, but then again we all know that you are one of the world's great stitchers! At the moment it's here on my desk leaned against my Star Trek (TNG) clock (an essential desk item for when I need an alarm) and balanced precariously on piles of paper that people keep thinking I simply must have. Lynda, thanks for beautifying my office!

I'll talk to you all post landing... just keep your fingers crossed for me and my packing!

Being thankful

2009-11-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

Hi there. Lookie what I have to be thankful for:

Our miracle stitcher, Nicole graced me with this lovely package as part of the Ho Ho Ho exchange. I do so love this Prairie Schooler. Thanks, Nicole!

I even managed a little stitching myself --

This first item has arrived in its new home so it's safe to share --

That's my piece for Shelleen in the Ho ho exchange. Shelleen has a fondness for old-fashioned Santas so this one seemed perfect. However it also spawned my desire to do no more backstitching for a month or so. lol

Ornament season may have started late for me this year, but here's hoping it goes fast now. That star Santa on paper gave me fits for a while (I kept trying to add a row to the side of his beard and then getting all frustrated because his hat didn't fit), but eventually I worked out why I was a lame bunny.

Here's my annual Thanksgiving poll -- turkey or ham? Where do you come down on the great holiday debate? Also, it there some thing your family always makes or does for Thanksgiving that it "wouldn't be Thanksgiving without?"

Me? I'm a turkey girl all the way. We never were a ham family. And Thanksgiving's were never Thanksgiving without mom's cornucopia pilgrim candles on the kitchen counter, those big paper dinner napkins with turkeys on them, and black olives in half the relish boat (I never knew why we wasted half the divided dish on pickles). I just realized this year that we had one family weirdness (ok, we had lots, but that's besides the point)-- we never had mashed potatoes. We'd boil red potatoes and we all had forks -- you want them mashed? mash them yourself was the rule. This means I never had proper mashed potatoes until sometime late in my college career.

I wish you all a peaceful and happy day. For those of you Thanksgivinging I hope you have the perfect holiday. I'll be having excessive amounts of turkey with friends and then waddling my way through LosCon-- yes it's time for another weekend of scifi happiness. I'll say hello to the other worlds for you.

Titles, I don't need no stinkin' titles

2009-11-21T18:28:00.000-08:00

Actually, I just can't think of a title. I bet you figured that out already though. You're smart like that. That's why I like you.

I'm at work. I have to be at work, right? After all, it's a weekend, therefore I must be working. Want me to tell you my secret for getting your desk cleaned on the weekend? Well, if you promise not to tell...

You get some boxes and hold them to the edge of the counter and shovel stuff in. It's very effective... and very temporary. Hey, I got a dozen boxes of other stuff dealt with so far just by giving myself 2+ feet of level counter top (Oh, you didn't think 2 boxes clear my WHOLE desk did you? lol Silly you!).

I am being very careful though. No more a** over tea kettle tumbles with boxes. Aside from the fact that it hurts, it causes paperwork like you cannot believe (well, unless you'd ever done an a**-over-tea-kettle adventure of your own). Paperwork and annoyance. I went to my doctor. But my doctor's not a "real" doctor (aka Workers Comp doctor). So I get sent a list of doctor's to choose from. I pick the first closest one to me that says he does knees. I go to my appointment only to find my doctor's actual practice is a little removed from injured knees. he specializes in cosmetic dermatology. So, I'd have been perfectly located if I need a tattoo removed or my lips outlined. I was still just humored until he asked me what I was taking and I told him Advil. He left the room and came back in under a moment and handed me these:

Yup, just handed me pills with no instructions, no warning labels, no nothing. Yeah, like I'm taking those. He wanted me to come back for therapy at his office -- wanna know what his therapy facilities were?--- a single, recumbent exercise bike pushed up against the wall in a hallway. Yeah, not going back there. Now, nearly a month after said tea kettle incident, I have another "initial" appointment with a new, "real" doctor on December 1st. The Worker's Comp insurance company assures me this one knows about knees. I'll keep you posted.

On happier, if not nearly as an amusing notes, I have gotten some stitching in the camera to share. Some of it much belated too. I apologize.

First of all I've been terribly lucky in the mail department lately. From Midge as part of the Ho Ho Ho Exchange --

Jealous? You should be! If you aren't now you will be......

... because from Faye as part of the LHN Exchange Group I received the following lovely --

Look how perfect she is--

And she came with this lovely sentiment--

Yup, told you you'd be jealous, but I'm sooo not done yet.....

... because from my dear buddy Janaina I got this stunner--

Sure, it's pretty, but check out her back --

Ridiculous, isn't it? How does she do that??????

Me, yes, Virginia, I have been stitching. There's nothing much wonderful to show, but I'll show you anyway. First is the floss toss for my Christmas F&S round for Linda

I'm having an awful lot of fun wit it thus far. Linda and I are doing the round as a SAL. So far we've both stressed over picking the "proper" pattern and then losing the floss. Funny how that happens to all of us, eh?

I was home with a vicious attack of allergies and the flu for a week so a very minor bit of stitching got done a couple weeks ago. Much more progress was made during that time in my training for the napping olympics.

Yup, I caught the ornie bug. You can tell how nappy I was given that in 4.5 days I did just those paltry examples and nothing, absolutely nothing else.

Before the advent of the allergy/flu adventure, I also spent a couple weekends early this month working at the shop. while there,, because we all have that blissful strain of wishfulness, I pulled out the framing opps for the Vierlanden though it is still only about 30% done.

The mat, which isn't showing up well, is maroon suede. Some day I'll finish, and if I'm lucky they won't have stopped making maroon suede mats.

Mostly what I did at the shop was dust frames. Remember we had that wooden floor put in, well nobody was dusting and it was driving me nuts so I took to the framing wall with damp paper towels and determination. And I did this:

And my organizational tendencies (hey-- stop laughing so loud!!!) came out--

It really was terribly fun. Yup, I might just be a sick puppy. But I discovered all sorts of new frames and now I feel compelled to go find things to stitch for them. Have you ever done that? Stitched something because you liked the frame? I fear I actually shall do that some day.

Well, I'd best go. Do promise me that you will have a lovely rest of your day. At least do your best.

And the Winner is........

2009-11-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

..... Mayte (Magic XStitch)!

and the Honorable Mentions are:
Linda (Litla Skvis)
Edgar (Blacksheep's Bit of the Web)
Mylene (Mylene's Blog)
Valerie (Fog City Dweller)

If you could each shoot me an email with your addy to rbe hling 1916 at ya hoo . com (you now how to format that) I'll get the mailing underway.

Once again, thank you all for your encouragement over the years.... except for your encouragement to stash more. Sheesh! Stop it already. I'm going to have to reinforce the floor soon!

Love ya all !

We have a winner!!!!!!!

2009-11-16T18:17:00.000-08:00

... Thank you all for your kind wishes. I have a winner (and a desk for of little slips of folded paper-- lol). But I have to hold off announcing because I decided to have one Winner, but also to have a series of Honorable Mentions. My problem is that I can't remember how many Honorable Mention prizes I made up. I'm sorry. I know. It's really lame of me.

Here's to tomorrow and me having my brain engaged.

No way, really? Another year!

2009-11-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem possible but another year has slipped by in my blogging life.

I guess that means it's time to

[celebrate].

There should definitely be

[presents]!

Someone who comments on this post will get a package. I was feeling Fall-ish when I started collecting for this. Of course now the weather has turned again and it's summer again, but hey, it's Fall in lots of other places right now so we'll stick with the original plan. The pack will primarily be:

Those are mostly Sampler Threads with some Belle Soies and Threadworxs. Some fabric will probably get involved too, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

So, if you'd like to be in the draw for this year's blogiversay prize here in Badgerland, just leave a comment. I'll draw a name next err, I was going to say next Saturday, but I'm out of pocket then so it will have to be next Sunday (Nov 15).

Good luck and I would like to very sincerely thank every one of you for a year of adventures. You never cease to make me smile.

P.S. For those of you who won last year's blogiversary RAKs, I hang my head in shame, I know I'm ridiculously slow. I have NOT forgotten. And you shouldn't give up. Actually there are things that will be arriving for folks soon..... real soon. Honest.

Hi there (Haphhazard Post 247.8)

2009-11-04T17:24:00.001-08:00

Well, have you been busy? Have you had fun? Have you refrained from strangling coworkers? Hey! Me too!!!!!!

So far, so one of "those" weeks... err... months .... err.... years.

The Big Plan for me recently has been to finish my Constitution (Ursula Michaels "We the People") by this weekend--

Surprisingly enough I am on target. I know, I know. A miracle and the week is still young.... plenty of time for me to muck it up. And yet I think I can make it. I have the row with the bannery-flag thingy and the final row of text and I'm done. It doesn't seem possible, but this is what you can do if no backstitching is involved!

Since I have absorbed myself in The Big Plan for the last week plus, I have been merely analyzing my other projects. I have come to the conclusion that I vacillate too much on what to stitch, but then again I might be wrong (wink). Even if I had made great strides on my other main projects of the moment I couldn't show you because they might just be for you. No spoilers here. Well, not when I'm sober anyway.

Aside from general work (to support my stash) and The Big Plan, the thing that's taken up a lot of my time recently has been dealing with the bureaucracy on my office fall. I fall, I go boom. I hurt myself. I see doctor. Oh, no, my benefits coordinator (which it took me a week to find) tells me, you must see a different doctor, your doc is not our doctor. But she's on your health plan -- oh but not *that* health plan. So you (I) need to go see these other guys benefits person says... "they are close to your office." ... why can't I see the guys on the next corner rather than the ones 2 miles away? Oh, wait, the guys on the next corner only do workers comp poisoning issues. Sigh. It's like a big black hole -- my time keeps falling into it--- swirling slowly so I can watch it dwindle into nothingness. The upshot is that tomorrow I have an appointment to see one of their "real doctors" who had better dang well agree with my doc and had better not have been lying to me about me being able to use the referral my doc gave me for therapy down the street from my hovel. Sigh..... anyone willing to wager a quarter that they were NOT lying? Yeah, me neither.

For a little humor, since you lived through the above whine -- I finally got the picture of my ice "shin guard" uploaded--

There it is in all its book-taped glory; sliding down my leg instead of unwinding nicely so it could be replaced. For your edification: do not expect to be able to unwind several feet of booktape from your knee. There must be scissors involved. If you don't have scissors you will end up with a very chilly shin guard.

On a cooler (nifitier) front, I would like to introduce you to my LNS' new floor--

Neat, eh? It really is lovely, and I can't help but think it will be much easier to keep clean. Mind you all the dust from the install seems to still be in the shop. I spent a goodly part of my day there this weekend wiping down frame samples. Annoying since I hate dusting, yes, but great because I get to put all the frame samples I hate the most on the bottom of the display wall ... lol Hey, I dust, I should get some perks, right?

I need to warn you I shall probably be a very bad stitcher soon. You see, I'm having this compulsion to do a sampler in greys and red. It's terrible. I just feel like I HAVE to start it. See --

It would look cool. Mind you, I only have those little skeins of Olde Willows that are in the picture, so the colors will have to change, but I can make that happen. Oh no, I feel another WIP coming on! Save me!!!!!!!!!

Toodles for now -- behave yourself (in any manner you so choose)!

Ouch, or Lessons in Things You Shouldn't Do

2009-10-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

This would be one of those "educational" posts.

I would recommend that if you have a choice you should not fall on slab flooring while holding a box of paper. Now my gimpy self sits before you with a bag of ice taped to one knee with 2-inch wide book tape. Hey, if it's good enough for books, it's good enough for my knee! I suppose this is the joy I reap for working on the weekend.

Anyway, enough whining. Let's talk needling. Oh wait, there will still be whining because here too we shall have lessons. Mostly about starting new projects and really thinking about what you start before you get going.

I *was* making great progress for 2 days on a stocking--

The tiny squares are alternating Scotch in Fyre Werks (black) and Shimmer Ribbon (gold). The name is in a lovely Frosty Rays. Yours truly, aka The Moron, began the name by centering the "O" on the stocking. She put the "O" in. She was smugly proud. ... right up until the point as she was basking in it's glory, that she realized that if you center the "O" the name is off-center because an "M" is much wider than a "T." Sigh. Out came the pretty "O." I got the only as far as the "TO" this time before I ran out of thread. Oh well, next week.

I simply *had* to do something new a couple weeks ago so I spent an hour fascinated with:

my NYC trip ornie. But now I can't figure out where I put the card of Fyre Werks and stitching faces doesn't sound fun right now.

And here's what I really want to be needlepointing on:

My sand dollar. But it's just not right.

The floss is wrong for that section. I need to go get perle for that and I think I need some Flair for the white bits. So much for that new start.

I bet you are thinking: "Ruth, with all those XS UFOs and WIPs of yours, certainly you are safe there!" Ahh, but you are wrong there. The evil monster "New Project Demon" followed me to the linen as well. So, while I should have been getting further along on:

... Ursula Michaels We the People, instead I needed, absolutely needed to start something new. Sigh. Yet again, it all went south from there.

First, I started an ornie for an exchange. That should be safe, right? Oh noooooo. You see, I started an ornie I really wanted, but I only figured it "likely" to be good for the person in question. It was a little big so I made it over one.... I could have saved myself the time:

you see, I started it once, messed up. I thought I had a fix worked out, but nooooo. I also messed up the fix. No problem says my start-something-new-addled brain; I just restarted the pattern on another corner of the fabric. Yup, I messed that up too. You could have phoned that one in, right?

So I decided that was God's way of saying I should choose more wisely. So I analyzed my JCSes. I picked 5 possibilities. I checked said person's likes and dislikes. I chose a pattern. I copied it and set out to work. I looked at the copy and felt not compelled. I thought, "no, not this one." I picked another. I changed my mind. I picked again. I changed again. After 2 days of petty vacillating, I went back to the first choice (after the two F'ed up stitched ones), but it was now day 3 at something like 2am so it was left to the next night to have the sacred joy of Beginning the New Pattern! Oh the excitement! The next night I settled in, took one look at the pattern, and thought, those are the ugliest _____ (can't give it away) I've really ever seen (well, save for the ones I stitched one time that really looked like a pair of poodles). So I picked again and I started.

Surely now, all would be well. But, say it with me, nooooooooo. Little Miss Ooo Look There's an Overdye pulled all regular DMCs. I got 50 stitches (which is like 3 days of Ruth Stitching Time) into one section and went, "why or why is my needle bereft of overdyes?" I pulled the section all out and started over with Sampler Threads. Here is the official floss toss (so for those of you in exchanges with me, these might be your colors... lol).... for now:

Frankly, if I get the urge to change anything again on this after having stitched it, ya'll are just up that smelly creek!

So, what we have learned is that working on weekends is bad (I've never had my stitching cause me to need n ice pack!) and I should really hold out against the New Project Demon.

************
Reading Challenge report:
1. I just finished listening to Stephen Tanner's Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban. It's ok. It's not as bad as a military history can be. What did I learn-- tribesmen with antiquated weapons who know their hills and valleys are hard to beat. Under the Taliban women could be stoned for wearing white socks. bad socks! Evil, bad socks!!!! Authors can be very dumb-- allow me to summarize -- every country in the world should fight terrorists and not allow their acts to go unanswered; Israel should stop fussing after the Palestinians when they sniper soldiers or suicide bomb holiday parties.

2. I'm just about to finish listening to Beowolf. Yeah, I read it in Western Civ with every other undergrad, but that was then. My Heavens it's boring. I will say there is great language and turns of phrase-- quite lovely ones as a matter of fact. But sheesh. Did we get assigned this because it was a way to get gamer guys to actually do their reading assignments?????

Have you ever wondered .....

2009-10-20T19:39:00.001-07:00

.... how fabric and threads can be so addictive? I mean we have plenty, right? And yet we buy more. Then once we have them in our clutches we MUST start them. (Small counter fact: once started we do not feel compelled to finish them with any alacrity.) Once started, we tend to get on a roll and the next thing we know it's dawn and we've stitched all night. It's not like dinner isn't my friend and last week I caught myself putting it off for "one more stitch" for round about an hour... despite the fact that I really wanted dinner.

So, you can probably tell I'm in one of my stitchy-phases. I almost skipped dinner. I pick foods based on what I can eat quickly and get back to stitching. Heck I even get grumpy about things like trips to the bathroom interrupting my needle! You'd think for all my obsessed phase, you'd think I'd get more stuff done. Sigh. It's just not the case.

So here's what I can show you of what I've been up to lately --

That's Ursula Michaels' We the People -- I've actually made it further than this picture, but I haven't got that picture yet. It's remarkably fast to stitch, but I gotta say that that long blue line was really boring.

I finished up a group of things I can't show you, so to celebrate those finishes and my progress on WE the People, I started.... say it with me ... something new!'

Heart in Hand's Spooky which our friend Kathryn gave this to me and I've been itching to start it. I've changed it up for Belle Soies and over one --

So far so good. I'm really enjoying working on it. Thanks, Kathryn!

Oh and I finally found the picture for my 4th of July squares for Susan P:

It's a modified version of an LHN pattern.

You'd think I could settle in to stitching and not feel compelled for more stash, but nooooo. You see we had this trunk show at the shop...

Aren't they cool. On weekend one of the sale I fell for this little darling--

So, that's on stretcher bars in my bag as we speak.

I also almost fell for this series:

But then I looked at the whole set and some of them were too weird -- the lords a leaping were Santa's boots in the chimney. Thus I was saved from that pile of stash. Alas, on weekend two I fell for this:

I was just really fond of it -- after all, what did I need with a pear? Anyway, I was fine with just commenting to everyone how cool it was and how there was a whole set of pears and apples and strawberries and citrus fruit. Then someone mentioned the term "fruit bowl" and it was all over but the shouting. I inherited a large Steuben glass fruit bowl... you see it now right? I plan to order over time 2 pears (the one above and a red one with paisley patterns),

2 apples (red and golden),

2 strawberries (just plain ole strawberries),

a lemon,

a lime,

and an orange

It may take me years, but I'm sooo looking forward to my fruit bowl.

Ok, before I go I have to share a recent humor with you. I came home one night to find out that my manager had had all the hall doors painted (no wet paint signs though -- those would have been handy) and had even had the numbers removed from the doors. A few days later I'm home to hear hammering moving around the halls. I think, "A ha! We're getting our new numbers." After they finish my hall I go out, check, and fall out laughing.

Yes, they carefully removed the old numbers to avoid getting paint n them, then reinstalled them. Only they are the same number plates they've used for probably 20 years and they've been painted over repeatedly already. lol My pretty fresh door with it's antique paint-encrusted number plate! Such a sight!

I've been a baaaaad stitcher

2009-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

.... I stashed. Why? Why? Why? Why? I need no stash. Not a bit -- well maybe the occasional floss, but no patterns. So, in the face of needing NOTHING, I got:

Midsummer Nights Designs -- A Patriot's Sampler (I will have to change that top verse.)

I just love this -- I love violets so it had to be mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. All mine.

Possibly I'm attracted to this because it looks so darn peaceful.

I don't exactly know why, but I love this.

As long as I'm doing winter, I may as well do summer, right? Besides, those are sheep in them thar hills!

Midsummer Nights Designs -- Memorial Sampler

Then there had to be:

Of which I have picked my immediate favorites (do you have favorites? What are they? I simply have to know!!!)--

(the Santa and polar bear)

(I absolutely adore the snow globe idea!)

(the bird and the tree)

OMG -- What was I thinking???? How am I ever going to get all this stitching done? Wait a minute. Is it really our intent to get it all done? What do you think? Do you think you'll stitch most of your stash some day?

Also, do you have this problem -- you buy charts (you don't need) and then you are *compelled* to buy fabric for said charts. It's stash begatting stash. Oooo, self perpetuating hobbies are pretty cool don't you think?

I wish you all a pleasant evening/day. I'm about to finish my work week--- unless you count my week by when they stopped paying me for my time -- that was Wednesday evening. That aside, I'm heading out a bit early tonight for Club Sookie. Three of us get together to watch True Blood on TiVo. We're down to the last 3 episodes of the season. There will be bar-b-que and possibly salads and corn on the cob. There will also be dog-bonding time. Our hostess has a new furry friend -- drat I thought I had a picture of Luke, but it'll have to wait for next time.

Quick note

2009-10-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Like Quakers? Like rustic pieces? Then you must go see a new designer I just stumbled across. She's just come out with her second design called "Quaker Silence." for the record, I am totally smitten.

Must see. Go see...

Tree of Life Samplings

be back later..... must commune with research on plastic bag levies and bans.... whopee!

I need some help

2009-10-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

While working at the shop this weekend I took along some potential framing, but one of them has stymied me -- Mirabilia's Halloween fairy. No color actually in the piece looks good as a mat. Trust me, I tried them all. Sigh. So I cam e to a camel suede mat and a bronzed frame. Now I can't decide between single and double matting -- see that you think:

or

Who knows, I may switch formats all together. Any other ideas?

I recently joined the LHN Exchange group for their second round. This means I'm about to start an LHN ornie. Wanna see the floss toss? Why do I ask? I'm going to show it whether you nod enthusiastically or not! lol

I so do love Belle Soies! They are like stitching with air.

Oh! I did get some great news while at the shop -- the "belt lady" (ie. the finisher we use for belts, collars, and shoes) arrived and Helped me work out how much of the belt canvas I had to stitch for the finished size I wanted. Turns out I can stop at 33 inches. Yippie-- that's 3 inches off the length it's painted. And this means I'm nearly half done! Hee hee. Here's a shot of it while waiting to have its frame moved --

gotta run -- but finished the 1st book for the 10 Book Challenge-- Pratchett's Wee Free Men. Yes, I love all Pratchett. That said, the Tiffany series isn't my favorite. Although I do so love the Nac Mac Feegle. Some days I could really use a few Feegle. Anyway, it's fun, but as Pratchett says, you can be more overt and do more with young adult novels than with others.

Take care all !

************
Ok, here's my P.S. on the Fairy -- I changed the color of the wings because the dandelion stem that came in my kit was a hideous murky grey-ish color. And I used actual black for the black bits not the overdyed. The upshot of all that is that black looks awful, that chocolate brown on its own looks bad, no orange works, all the greens are too blue, any brown I get that matches a brown in the piece (say the dress) looks awful because it clashes with the other browns (the hair). Ieven tried some peaches for the skin. Yuck. I tried a bunch of gold frames -- urp. The only other frame I liked was a weird antiqued green one, but absolutely no mats went with that. Sigh. Maybe I should look for fabric and make her a box or something. One thing for sure, she's going back on the to-be-finished aging hanger.

Joining in and other things

2009-10-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here's what I should be doing--

My sister and BIL's stockings. My sister go the "fiddly bits" done and now it's my turn. In case you've looked closely at how much is left to do on the tree/Santa stocking (the sister's) you can probably guess that that one won't be ready for 2009. The BIL's might. I have to do the top and order the fabric for the finishing. That might work out. Cross your fingers!

What I have been obsessed with instead:

the belt.... I'm actually more done than this, but I haven't uploaded those pics. I have become completely obsessed with this. It apparently has the perfect balance of color changes and color blocks so nothing ever gets too tedious. I like that in a canvas! I like it a lot!
Oh and I got needlepoint startitis and bought and started this:

I rationalized this as my trip to NYC momento. The ability to rationalize stash and starts is a talent all stitchers should have.... right?

I've even done some xs instead of working on the stockings --
Beatrix Potter got some time--

in case you were wondering, that's a lot of beads in that there flower....

Because I got xs startitis one afternoon, I began work on Ursula Michaels We the People--

Now, about the joining -- which is kinda like startitis, just not with needles. I am joining Vickie's 10 Book Challenge! The idea is that you make a list of 10 books you want to read by the end of the year. You don't have to stick to the list, but it gives you some place to aim. I mean, you know me. I'm even more of a "mood reader" than I am a "mood stitcher." One of my happiest moments is finishing a book because what I do next is pull down a whole bunch of books I think I want/need to read and surround myself with them on the bed. Then I start picking them up one by one and reading the beginning. When I get to the one I am reluctant to put down, that's the winner. This kind of joy-in-choosing pattern does no bode well for lists (witness the fact that what's it been? 2 years that there's been a reminder on the side bar of this blog that I want to read Smilla's Sense of Snow? lol).

Anyway, I'm joining. I was wanting too sign up even before our friend, Shelleen chided me for not talking about reading even though I torture you all with pictures of authors at scifi cons. But I might not have gotten around to formalizing the joining if it weren't for Shelleen's prodding -- thanks, Social Butterfly!

So here goes. My "list:" [in no particular order and, because I'm me, in pictures]

1. Sharyn McCrumb's St. Dale
2. Marilyn Robinson's award-winning Gilead (Afterall, I should read something that won something other than a Hugo occasionally. lol)

3. Sean McMullen's Souls in the Great Machine
4. James White's The Watch Below

5. the anthology Mean Streets (how can I resist Simon R. Green and Jim Butcher in one volume?!)
6. Barbara Hambly's Redfield

7. the anthology Enchantment Place (I love short stories.)
8. the anthology The Wizards of Odd

9. Zakour and Ganems' The Plutonium Blonde
10. Simon R. Green's Nightside -- the first is Something from the Nightside which I have already read, but I should probably re-read to get started on the 6-10 subsequent volumes (yeah, I'm behind.)

10.1. the anthology Night's Edge Charlaine and Barbara Hambly vampire stories, yeah, I could like that!
10.2 George R.R. Martin's Wildcards

10.3 Florence's The Perfect Machine
10.4 Rolt's Victorian Engineering

10.5 an old fav -- Steve Perry's The Man Who Never Missed -- a re-read so I can get on to the other volumes in the series.
10.6 Yarbro's -- A Flame in Byzantium or any of the many St. Germain's I haven't gotten to.

10.7 Vaughn's Kitty and the Midnight Hour
10.8 the anthology Space, Inc (did I mention I really, really Love short stories?)

Lest you think I'm spoiled for choice:

there's the McDevitt and McKillip collections

and the Shinn collection
And still, those are the merely the snowball on the tip of the iceberg. Heck maybe I'll actually read Smilla's! lol

Here's to finishing.... SOMETHING!

So many things...... (and Time Warner still sucks)

2009-09-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

... and so little time. Sigh.

Here it is Saturday night, 8:37pm and I'm at my office having just finished my ***first*** goal for today, namely paying office bills. Another 12 hours and maybe I'll feel good about what I "accomplished" today. I was really planning on spending tomorrow at ***home*** ... working, but at home. Sigh.

Anyway, enough whinging for now. I owe so many updates. Where to start. Where to start....

Just this week I joined a yahoo group, the Friendly Stitchers, and my heavens they are friendly! They are also very inspirational. They have a Thursday night UFO SAL so I joined in and got some progress in two long-dead UFOs and one minorly ignored UFO:
First I bring you My M Designs Bourse from Mary's class at Cross Stitch Pals in 2007!

that there is the little needle pillow for the middle of the bourse. It had been lacking 3 flowers and 5 flower centers since fall 2007. How sad is that?

Then here's my progress on a 2006 RR. Say, Sassies-- remember this???? lol

All it has been waiting for for probably 2 years is the backstitching on my section. Kudos to the Friendly Stitchers, now I've begun--

I got 2 flowers, some berries, 3 leaves, and the basket outlines so far. Woo hoo! It's a verifiable miracle!!!

I also picked up a Shepherd's Bush (Adore, I think) that had been hanging out next to the bed for a few weeks now and he got the rest of his vest, his sleeve, his bloomers, and part of his head piece --

******
I interrupt this stitching progress to report on the continual suckishness of Time Warner.

Ok, possibly you remember my battle with Time Warner over the installation of digital cable which disabled my VCR, and ended up with the installation guy saying look, lady (a real presumption on his part I must say!) we don't promise it will work, we just promise to install it. Anyway, the corollary story is about my friend Jennifer. I call her Lucky Jennifer. Everything just seems to work out to her benefit. She calls Time Warner to add the Internet to her cable package. When Mr. Salesman wants to know why she doesn't switch her phone service to them as well she tells him how they once disconnected her cable because there wasn't a tag on her wire in the basement of her building so they figured it wasn't supposed to be connected and when they sent out someone to connect her cable he came (in his cable company van) without the tool to connect the cable to the main cable box in the building (sooooo brilliant). Anyway, so she tells the salesman this and he says he's so sorry he's going to give her a free movie channel for 2 years. Me? I get told they don't promise the system will work. Lucky Jennifer gets free movie channels.

At my mom's house when the cable went out I needed up fighting and waiting on hold for forever while they worked out what they could do and wondered how I could have the temerity to have a cable box so old that it didn't have a serial number on it. Eventually we get told we must present ourselves and our certified power of attorney documents and duplicates of the death certificates for my mom which they already had but couldn't find at the cable office to get a new box (at the cable office they wanted to see nothing but still marveled at how old the cable box was). Lucky Jennifer arranges to pick up the internet install kit from their storefront, goes there, puts 23 minutes on the meter and gets back to her car with 19 minutes still on the meter.
Sigh. See. Lucky Jennifer.
*********

Ok, back to the stitching --

There's been some progress on the whiskey piece:

It's just a little progress, but it's working so much better on the frames. BTW, have I mentioned how much I love Splendor as opposed to floss?

And some progress on Vierlanden:

Actually there is more progress on this, but the pics are lagging. Sorry.

********
Finally, let me bring you a few more moments of the first North American Discowrld Convention where I:
bought books (and this isn't all of them)--

Had Sir Terry sign Nation and Once More with Footnotes (yup, that's my fat...err... posterior):

Got Missy up-close-and-personal with the Death of Rats and the Raven:

Did NOT eat rat-on-a-stick:

Had dinner with Twoflower and a wizard from Unseen University:

Had the honor of taking Twoflower and Miss Tick's family photo:

And watched Holy Wood Squares (staring Miss tick) with Harpo:

If you don't understand, go read Terry Pratchett. You will eventually get it all, and in the meantime you will laugh and laugh.

**********************************************
Quotes of the week:
"Do I need a button that says 'Tyrant'?" Lord Vetinari -- Making Money by Terry Pratchett

"If you trust in yourself... and believe in your dreams... and follow your star... you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy." Miss Tick -- Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Greetings from the wet West

2009-09-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks! It's lovely if damp here in Tempe. But never fear! I lived (and walked everywhere) through El Nino, therefore these lil ole thunderstorms are nothing.

In the midst of this morning's downpour I hauled myself over to the convention center with my books and suede purse protected by plastic shopping bags. I had to. My Terry signing appointment was this morning at 10.... rain or shine, so to speak. I also went to Esther Friesner's signing, a panel on Discworld cover art, and a reading by Terry assistant with commentary by The Knight himself. Finally I ended the day with the maskerade. It was a nice enough day. I would call it a lovely day, but I spent 3/4ths of it sitting in one room and one spell was 3 hours in the same chair. There's only so much sitting still a body can take.

Ok, since so far I haven't downloaded today's pics, let's catch up on yesterday's.... err and even the day before.

When Karen and I met up, she brought me my Ho Ho HO Exchange ornie --

Check it out -- over-1 no less!

and look at the cool fabric she picked for the back--

The finishing is by Karen -- and she's opened a little finishing business. I'd recommend her fine work any day!

Thanks, Karen! You made my weekend.

As for day one of the convention ....
Here's Sir Terry (apparently knights are entitled to a car with curtains-- he had to settle for a turtle and a Seamstress Guild escort:

And here's Terry and the S.G. members "at ease" (that's Esther Friesner whispering sweet nothings into the mic)--

On behalf of The Guild, Esther presented Terry with a small "ergonomically-correctly handled" sword.

Here's Esther later in the day getting ready to start her reading--

I missed the making of this Discworld balloon sculpture, but I still find it amazing!

Of course, you know I'm traveling with Missy (the polar bear). So I introduced her to Rincewind:

and the Luggage

(Yes, the Luggage has teeth and feet -- if you don't get it, go read The Color of Magic.)

From the Seamstress Guild Affair --
Here's what happens when you put fans near food:

(food courtesy of the Seamstresses Guild and Terry)
Me and 900 of my best friends at the Guild party:

Terry:

The Death of Rats:

Lady Sybil

Anoia--

Classy entertainment:

Missy met Death:

Terry:

a wizard (or wizzard) reunion:

Witches group shot:

Nanny and Greebo took costume awards--

as did Cheery Littlebottom and a splendid nac mac feegle

all the costume winners:

***********

Ok, now that I've gotten all that happiness out of the way.... In case you had a bet on my second tech service call appointment with Dell, no, they did not call. Two strikes Dell you *#)(@)#*%Y#&^#@#*(&%^^#&^@#)(*#(#)^%#^$#* losers!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh so much fun

2009-09-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

But that'll have to wait til tomorrow. I'm too tired and Dell is supposed to call tomorrow morning at 7am. They were supposed to call this morning. They did not. They are vaguely sorry. They won't be able to help tomorrow either even if they do manage to call since the fix they told me to do I can't even get the machine to run the first stage of. Sigh. Soooo helpful. Thanks guys!

Anyway, I'll leave you tonight, err this morning with a starting status report for the weekend. Among other things I brought Vierlanden and Beatrix with me and here's where they started yesterday:

We'll see how far I get.

nite nite

P.S. A quote of the day -- Terry to a pirate amidst the Seamstresses -- "I said 'corsets' not 'corsairs'."

Made it -- Discworld here we come

2009-09-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

It's official. Missy and I have left the jurisdiction....

I met up with Karen and her daughter and had great fun (and food)......

Say, Karen, enjoy your lunch!

And I got to enjoy a cool thunderstorm--

Of course, not everything can work smoothly -- I was up for my 7am tech call appointment with Dell's service people. You guessed it, no call. #*(%()#$*@#&@($^#$*(#@@#*@ Dell. After waiting 40 minutes in the tech service chat queue again, they said sorry, and promised to call tomorrow. Definitely NOT holding my breath.

But hey, I'm doing to go live on a nice little flat planet for a few hours.... no worries.

See ya'll later!

computer "logic" lol

2009-09-01T18:17:00.001-07:00

So today in prep for my Tempe/Discworld adventure I asked google for "cross stitch shop" and "tempe." Here's what topped the page of results:

Local business results for cross stitch shop near Tempe, AZ

Old Town Needlework & Framing
- www.oldtownneedlework.com
7128 E 5th Ave, Scottsdale - (480) 990-2270
1 review, directions, and more »

Meso Tattoo & Body Art Supplies
- maps.google.com
4002 S Wendler Dr, Tempe - (480) 234-1272
1 review, directions, and more »

Family Arts Needlework Shop
- www.familyartsneedlework.com
5555 N 7th St # 144, Phoenix - (602) 277-0694
3 reviews, directions, and more »

Isn't #2 priceless? Do you think they heard about the Grand Canyon Girls Club's trip to the tattoo parlor? rotflol

I should point out I have no time for stashing while in Tempe, but I couldn't stop myself from looking nonetheless. Also, remember how I kinda headed off half cocked to Montreal--- you know little miss never-last-minute .... Well I ended up in Montreal only to realize I only had 2 needles with me! 2!!! That's all. And I only happened to have 2 because I'd packed a kit I shouldn't have and it came with 1. Can you imagine -- 9 days with no stash shop and only 1 (heck, 2) needles!!?!??!?! OMG, I was soooo careful with those needles. I think that might have been why I looked for shops on google. The back of my brain is saying "what if you're a ninny again......"

Ok, you've been very patient. Here's one measly update -- my Beatrix Potter:

Two whole motifs and one of them tiny have gotten done in the last month. Sigh.

For this paltry progress I deserve NOTHING, but I almost bought this canvas this weekend:

He's HUGE, but I just love him. I have no reason to do him though. Hmmm.

Ooo, and lookie what was waiting for me on my desk this morning:

I just love the Vera Bradley microfiber backpacks. Love 'em. Love 'em. Love 'em. Check out the cool lime lining the turquoise one has --

gotta run -- must find out the ins and outs of plastic grocery bags and the American economy -- I get all the most interesting questions!

Happy bday, Dad !

2009-08-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry, Dad, no picture. I really should scan one soon. So instead, how about this--

Lord knows your birds would never need a map!
********

I should be able to show you something of what I've been up to, but I'm an idiot. I was working away on my surprise only to end up with a tragic miscount that I couldn't figure out. So, into the trash with that one. To console myself I moved back to Beatrix Potter and I even took pics, but I haven't downloaded them yet. For the record, I have restarted the surprise, and so far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed.

I can however drag out pictures of one of my quail needlepoints that I recently (in the last couple months) started working on--

I the stitched bit is in Splendor. Overall the piece will be a mix of Splendor, Silk and Ivory, Bermalana, and Sampler Threads.

For you booky people-- [it's so comforting to know there are so many of us out there!] the library cataloging program I have is BookCat. It has issues (or at least it has issues I haven't figured out yet), but I like it overall. If I bought a barcode scanner and installed the Web at home I could wand in the coding from the cover and fly through the cataloging like a colt. As it is I am without those and I suffer from extreme persnickiness. I want all contents of anthologies included. I want notes on signatures and inscriptions. I want to know if it was a special gift. There are fields for all of those, but I'll always have to add those myself. Anyway, BookCat lets you put in the usual bookish info and things like purchase price, cover price, condition, purchase location, even fields for checking out material, etc. If you use it in conjunction to the Web you can pull info from numerous locations so you don't have to do all your own typing (for instance, the Library of Congress, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc). It'll pull in images, heck, it'll even pull in descriptions and reviews from the Web if you want it too. There are fields for your own notes and for a star rating of your very own. I'm still working out how to best manipulate it, but there is supposed to be a fair amount of customizability. That I need to work out because it's how I need to fix some of their "issues."

Among the issues I have so far (and I'm willing at this point to say they are my issues o work out the reprogramming on, not theirs for being lame... only time will tell) are things like their not so terribly helpful (to me) genre radials -- if you have a normal sort of bock collection, or you think of your books in a more normal way, you'll be fine with the standard offerings. I however, do not need things like "family" and "crime" but I do not understand at all their lack of a field of "art" (they have one for music-- what's wrong with art? A big part of publishing is art books. Sigh.). Also, they have a radial for "history," but anyone with any significant interest in history will tell you that having only "history" as a search function is useless. In that respect I want radials for Indian, Ireland, Europe, U.S., Irish America, and Canada as well as immigration, military, etc.

Beyond the radials, I need to work out a way to make it search and return what I'm looking for. If I give it an author search, it returns all books with that name listed in the author fields. I want it to return all things, including short stories, with that person as the author---- I am not going spending all this time to input every short story and have the info not be searchable.

Anyway BookCat's company also has a DVD version and other program options. They seem, overall, quite handy.

Speaking of this book stuff... I'm prepping for this week's adventure to Tempe for North American Discworld. Yes, the daily low temperature in Tempe is still hovering in the mid 80s. I expect I'll be moving around very early and very late and other than that staying in the hotel conference center. What with all the Pratchett fun and frivolity I don't imagine I will get bored. I wonder what sort of things Missy and I can get up to?

ttfn.....

Wanna see some stitching? .....

2009-08-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

.... for a change?

No, I get no credit. This lovely piece was done by my needlepointing buddy, Jennifer for her youngest nephew.
Isn't it cool? It's an honor piece -- her grandfather owned a Phillips 66 station so she adjusted the canvas to include that for little Ezra. Aren't the tires cool? They are O-rings and the hub caps are metal washers. (I know, I know. not "washers" but that's the word that's stuck in my brain right now.)

My stitching, you ask? well, I can't show you. It's a gift. Sorry. I'm hoping you'll get to see it in a couple weeks. Cross your fingers -- it's one of those 6 million color changes pieces. Sigh. You know how I feel about color changes, but the piece is absolutely perfect for the person who is going to get it so I'll just have to suck it up and deal.

I must admit that I have yet another new obsession. I bought a cataloging program for my own books. I've been working fairly assiduously with it most evening for a couple weeks now and so far I've only managed to get about 300 items input. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to tell catalogers everywhere that while I still think they are nuts, they have my deep respect. Sheesh this is a pain. Ok, I admit I make this harder because I input every short story in anthologies rather than just the volume title, but I do love my short fiction so I can't really help myself there. At this rate this cataloging "fun" could take me 20 years-- with only one author exception, everything I've put in has come from the shelves next to my bed in The Hovel. And those are just the tip of The Hovel iceberg. And, in turn, The Hovel iceberg is merely a snowflake in the ice age of volumes I have boxed in storage. Sigh. At least I know if I get quarantined for something I can have plenty to do while I sit at home.

Gotta run -- wishing you well.... as usual.

Dear West Publishing Group:

2009-08-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Go to Hell.

[Note: memo to West continues below explanatory interruption]

*************
As to why they should go there, here is an excerpt from an email they recently sent out to lawyers:

"Are you on a first name basis with the librarian?
If so, chances are, you're spending too much time at the library. What you need is fast, reliable research you can access right in your office. And all it takes is West®."
************

Why would anyone trust you? I can't even get you to stop calling and pestering me about the new Black's Law edition when I've told you 6 times so far that it was a gift and we would never be ordering another one. You repeatedly tell me you're making a note, only to call me a week later. Yeah, sounds real reliable and helpful to me.

Apologize all you want, but librarians remember things.... forever. So, may I respectfully suggest that you should pack light because I hear it's hot in Hell.

More on Montreal ..... the pretty city

2009-08-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

.... filled with a mixed bag of museums.

In our continuing efforts to get through my Montreal pictures, let me take you on a museum tour.

I'll admit it. I like museums. They usually are peaceful, designed for you to be in for long periods, and well-air conditioned/heated. What's not to like, right? I think my own lists of conditions for a great museum include art, lighting, relative quite, a nice cafe (preferred, but not required), strategic benches, and collections and physical sizing that can keep me occupied for most of a day. I did not always get that in Montreal.

First of the museum adventures was The Montreal Museum of Archaeology:

Admission is $14CND for adults and the whatever-were-they-thinking value was there, but not the museum value. They do a lovely tour that is quite long and informative, but if you can't stand for long periods on hard surfaces (no leaning allowed) and aren't fascinated by the sight of the remains of basement walls, then the tour is not so much for you. Of course, if you don't do the tour you might wander through in 15 minutes and wonder why you paid a looney a minute for your time. Of course, you might have paid that ticket fee as an alternative to joining a gym because the most frequent sight in the museum is stairs:

lots and lots of stairs

There are exhibits of artifacts:

But there aren't very many.
There are also great views from the 3rd and 4th floors of the tower:

All-in-all, even with reading and staring a lot on my own, the 45 minute tour, and wandering through the 3rd floor gift shop twice, I was still out of there in less than 2 hours. Sad. Very sad.

Next on my museum tour was the Montreal Museum of Modern Art. The $8CND admission is perfectly acceptable for a half-day museum adventure (that would be for the slow museum goer-- if you don't linger, don't plan on a half-day for this one).
Through October 4th you can visit a special exhibit by Christine Davis-- the only bit of the museum that really held my interest. I highly recommend spending at least a half hour watching her "Pas moi" piece.
You can go here to see a half decent picture. At least it gives you an idea of the piece.
It's a pair of boards covered-- literally from stem to stern in all sorts of buttons, kept in a dark room, that have phrases in French and English from Samuel Beckett shot on them from slide projectors (yes, I have to admit that I couldn't help contemplating how many really cool biscornu all those buttons could adorn). Maybe I was meant to be a magpie, but watching the sparkles change as the lightening/words changed on the piece thoroughly entranced me. At the end of each cycle of words, the boards are completely lit and trust me, you too will start thinking hard about making biscornu! I also have to admit that it warmed my heart to see antique buttons I have in a jar by my bed up there in the museum.
There's another pair of pieces in the Davis exhibit I'd recommend watching for a while. First, there's Did I Love a Dream?, which is an old film dance segment (Loie Fuller's serpentine dances in L'Apres-midi d'un faune) shown on/through drapes of copper screening-- very cool, trust me. And finally, there is "Euclid/Orchid" which is a transparency of a mathematical text shown on a live orchid plant. I know it sounds weird, but the effect is really neat.

Also worth the time at the museum is Robert Polidori installation of several rooms of large-scale photographs of distressed buildings, cities, etc. Ok, so maybe I really liked it because I tend to take those pictures too, but the exhibit is nice (and quite expansive) nonetheless. Usually i go through an exhibit and then go back to the pieces that I thought really talked to me. While there were several in this one that I thought really had my number, they didn't keep talking upon a second visit. Maybe the scale lends itself to an amazing first impression only. You can see some of the images in the collection and read a bit about it here.

Sorry to say there is no photography in the museum, but I can show you it's lovely outdoor fountain and sculptures:

Rainbow by Allard and Duchesneau:

sorry, I didn't get the name of this one:

Only one museum to go, but I simply have to quit. Sorry, I've been sitting in one spot too long and my fanny wants a wander. Oh, I'd also like lunch now that it's time for dinner. Hmmmm wonder if the fish taco place is open.

One last question-- anyone out there going to the North American Discworld Con next month in AZ? Wanna meet up? hee hee, yes, 2 scifi cons in 2 months--- what's not to love?!!?

Home and mostly .....

2009-08-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

... over being peevish.

Our scenic tour of Montreal is going to be temporarily interrupted so I can bring you the "joys" of travel through O'Hare International Airport.

First of all, if I ruled the world:
1. every airport security checkpoint would be run as efficiently and orderly as Montreal's
2. every airport would be required to have enough seats at each gate to accommodate all the fannies potentially able to fly on the largest plane serviced by that gate +20%
3. all airports would be banned from trying to go green by shutting off their air conditioning systems
4. United Airlines would learn, to their shock, that Canada is not a U.S. state. (Their website says all international flights but Brazil don't have luggage fees. And two of their employees very patiently explained to me that Canada is not an international country. Dear dip sticks -- you have 2 choices, it's part of the U.S. or it's not. Here's a hint, it's NOT!)

I arrived at my departure gate at O'Hare to find 2 planes worth of people milling about in an area only half big enough for 1 plane-load of people. Seems like they were having a hard time getting flights to NYC so hundreds of people were stacked up directly across from the TSA entrance gates -- can you say walkway choke point?

The only places with air conditioning in O'Hare are the enclosed shops. Seems that in an effort to go green they've shut off the HVAC to the terminals. Great plan guys! Let's get lots of stressed people together, run them shoeless through security, have their planes habitually leave really late, and THEN let's turn off the air conditioning so it's at least 85 in the cramped corners you've shoved them into. Good thing you probably got most of their firearms during the security check.

I had 3 hours to "enjoy" O'Hare. It really is quite scenic, but it was too hot to notice much and it was a couple hours before there was anywhere for me to sit down so I was a little peevish even with the aesthetics. So I had plenty of time to work out an open letter to the powers that be---

Dear O'Hare Airport:
You have one of the world's 4th busiest airport. Congratulations. Given that you have this huge quantity to people walking through your terminal all day long every day of the year, whatever possessed you to buy the extra-wide motorized carts for transporting the handicapped about the airport?

If you had measured your aisles you would find that they are only wide enough for 2 skinny people to walk down them and still have room for your carts. And those skinny people only fit if they have no children with them, no rolling luggage following them, and they can't be walking together because then you'd have to allow room between the 2 of them.

And, I'm also wondering if you have extra maintenance fees on those carts or did you get extra-long warranties on the horns? Your drivers seem to find the most effective means of movement to be pushing the pedal tot he floor and honking continuously. Given that I watched one of your drivers purposely hit a woman because she didn't move fast enough in response to his honks, you might want to rethink your driver-training program. One of these days the odds are going to catch up with you and that "nudge-them-til-they-run" protocol is going to run smack dab (literally) into an attorney. Won't that be fun to watch?!

Finally on the O'Hare front, once I finally got a seat at my gate I was able to indulge in some prime time people watching. I'd like to share a few insights (please bear in mind I was in a very peevish state by this point)--
1. How do you choose to partner a shiny, plastic, tiger-fur print large tote with gold metallic trim with a small Burberry purse?
2. If you get a rolly cart the size of my purse (medium-ish -- say 12 inches high and wide and 4 inches thick) and a purse the size of a large bed pillow, aren't you getting things a little backwards?
3. Don't buy a rolly bag if you can't zip it closed on your laptop (honest, I saw several of them go by looking like pregnant accordion files with laptops and DVD players waving out the top).

Finally, Chicago changed my language of choice. There I was waiting for my plane and cataloging in my head all the things I thought O'Hare should fix. I got to like the 10th one in 10 minutes, and completely unbidden my brain giggled and said "manish tanah" (pardon my spelling). Yup, once in Chicago I seamlessly switched from Frussian to Friddish. [manish tanah -- why should this be any different]

Ok, you've been very patient with my rants, here's some Montreal scenery for you --

I loved this one:

There are lots of building shadows like this one which just make me smile:

They must really hate messengers:

A WorldCon-friendly doorfront in the old city--

Dear anonymous office person, I like you!:

If you're going to do construction, the least you can do is make your site look good:

Those are the cobblestones that didn't play nice with sandals.

Please not the distance from meter to parked car. It made me smile at least--

What I might have learned

2009-08-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

It was WorldCon after all. I should have learned many things. I think I did.

1.I learned that sometimes a con with 4 million program offerings has maybe 3 million too many.
2. I learned enough about star maps and their history to find them even more fascinating despite them not being really what I expected. Ok, I am Hollywood, but I can't help it -- the first thing I thought (for about a minute when I read the panel title) was, well, you know, ***star*** maps -- here's where Paris Hilton parties, here's where George Clooney gets his coffee, etc.
3. I learned that Yarbro has a new St. Germaine coming out (yea)
4. I relearned that Fans are different. Sure we scare normal people (frankly, we kinda like that), but we are also pretty cool. For example, something like 200 of us were on the roof patio of the Palais to watch the fireworks and at the end of the show people (lots of them) started spontaneously putting chairs away. Not just putting them remotely near where they kind of went, but actually dividing the chairs between indoor and outdoor and distributing them evenly around the approproate tables. I was very proud. [Heck, there's at lesat one person in my office who if they open a kitchen cabinet or drawer to get a cup or spoon they just leave it open. I don't for the life of me know why.] So when we come to your town, don't be afraid. We'll probably leave it better than we found it.
5. I learned that Chicago's is not the only convention center suffering from you-can't-get-there-from-here-itis.
6. I learned that terribly serious economists can be quite funny. You'd think I'd have learned that by now, but no. How sad.
7. I learned that a sure way to get people talking about your hotel is to line the walls with fur. [more on that later... well, tomorrow probably]
8. I learned that it's really essential to hang with your tribe regularly.

*******

On the non-Con front I've learned a couple things already:
1. Cobblestones and sandlas are not the best of friends.
2. People almost always run from rain as if somehow it's going to hurt them.
3. Montreal is a pretty place filled with mostly nice people. [The grumpy ones are probably just visiting.]
4. They lie about that damn fountain! [I gave it 45 minuted tonight and still nothing-- liars!]
5. They have ridiculously small museums. [I say this now hoping to "jinx" myself tomorrow when I head tot he Musee des Beaux-Arts.]
6. I speak Frussian. The French is growing daily, but I'll probably always speak Frussian.
7. Sure they say the city bird is the American Goldfinch, but I've seen not a one. And I really, really like them too. Dang it.

Let's visit a little bit on Montreal before I go to bed. How can I be tired when I had a mini nap this evening?
Welcome to the Notre Dame Basilica, its stunning interior, its beautiful windows, and its wedding chapel:

That's St. Joan -- my personal favorite. hmmmm it's ben a long time since I've read anything about her.... hmmm....

And here's the convention stitching I **can** show you--
Quaker a la Six Mains has had roughly 8 motifs added to it, going from this:

to this:

And I started Shepherd's Bush "Adore" and got all the way to here:

nite nite --

Sigh

2009-08-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Can it really be over? Somewhere I must have missed a day. Surely someone stole Friday. Really? WorldCon is -gasp- done? Well, that was fast.

Let me try and catch you up on everything I was too tired for....

I have no pic to prove it, but the true highlight of the con for me was getting in a nice long chat with Kathryn. Go over and check out the cool Mill Hill she's working on. I also got a hug from Dani... via Kathryn -- Dani was visiting while I was watching Coraline. Thanks for the hug Dani!

I took my traditional picture of The Banner:

and of the "welcome sign" (usually this is a marquis outside, but the Palias does not do marquis so we got multiple tv screens instead)--

For those of you who might have experienced hideous confernece registration lines at your own conventions, allow me to show you how a well-handled reg area looks:

Good show, guys!

The Opening Ceremonies included a Cirque-training acrobat:

I went to reading by Nancy Kress:

(For the record neither Nancy nor any of the other folks are demons, it's just I'm not dealing with red-eye yet.)
and Walter Jon Williams

Jo Walton:

(who I think is my "find of the convention" -- I'd never read her before or gone to a reading, but after this reading I went trotting right off to pick up her book Farthing. She didn't read from it, but what she did read thoroughly captured me. Can't wait til that book comes out!)
and James Morrow:

Connie Willis:

who read from a new historians novel... back to the Blitz-- oh goodie!
Cory Doctorow:

I also went to a reading and a number of panels including S.M.Stirling and Charles Stross, but somehow those pictures are avoiding me right now. And I went to a reading By George R.R. Martin too. When asked by an audience member what he likes doing for fun, Martin replied: "Uhh, drinking and chasing women, but years ago I caught one."

There were the panels including the likes of:
Michelle (Sagara) West, Robert Silverberg, and Nick DiChario

Sean McMullen:

Nobel Prize economist, Paul Krugman:

Publisher Guest of Honor, Tom Doherty and fellow Tor editor, Beth Meacham:

I went to talks by Editor Guest of Honor, David G. Hartwell

and checked out his tie exhibit:

These two "cubes" are only 30-40% of his tie collection.

Missy and I fawned over the Hugo for this year-- it's absolutely beautiful!!!

Check out the cool base:

There were more Neil panels including this one where he was semi-camoflagued for a bit:

I'd like to share some Neil wisdom from his interview on "Finding Fandom"--
"The scifi book fairy always looked after me."
"People here know shit. People here know cool shit, and they know cool shit I don't know."

A panel of "elders" who didn't really discuss being a long-time sf author

That's Joe Haldeman, Elisabeth Vonarburg. Robert Charles Wilson, Connie Willis, and Pat Cadigan. [I did especially like Pat Cadigan on this panel who as she arrived huffed: "What's this?! You got me out of bed to tell me I'm old? Get off my lawn!!!"

I spent an evening with a significant number of fellow fen on the 7th floor balcony of the Palais watching the South African entry in the Montreal international fireworks contest:

The South African show is to be commended --

My favorites were the yellow and purple ones:

But then again I liked the close ups of these that make me think of galaxies far, far away:

I tried to experience the "alleged" flame show that the Palais fountain was supposed to provide hourly after 9pm. Here's what over an hour of waiting got me:

Yup, cool night-time fountain shots and smoke. No flames. I think that it's a trick by Canadians on tourists .... that picture of it I saw with its fire was probably just Photoshopped.
I did enjoy the beauty of the windows some more though:

I checked out the art inside the Palias too --
There's the pink forest:

and this really, really cool hanging piece:

The final pic of the con is, well, truly the final pic of the con. I made it back to my hotel today, turned the corner on my floor for my room and spotted this littel guy in the hall.

Ya gotta smile, right?

More, tomorrow, err later today on the continuing adventures in Montreal and, if we're both lucky, updates on my Con stitching.

Bonne nuit!

Wanna be jealous?

2009-08-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

I just got back to the hotel from a screening of Coraline with Neil Gaiman. hee heee

Sorry, je suis fatigue. [The longer I'm here trying to be as native-friendly and polite as I can, the less Russian is popping up.] Tomorrow, maybe I'll be awake enough to chat more.

Consider the damn bottle moved!

2009-08-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

That's my WorldCon quote of the day from Neil Gaiman. Trust me, it was really, really funny.

Let's see, con-wise today the successes for me were:
1. Ningen-Senkan Sensuikan (aka human battleship)-- think of a cross between battleship and wizard's chess with blindfolds and lots of laughter
The weapons of the battleships--

The "battleships" is process:

2. "Ask Neil (Gaiman) a Question" which was a really nice panel, but then again with Neil along anything's fun, right?

3. Conversation: Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize for Economics in 2008) and Charles Stross

Ok/fine:
1. "Evolution of Storytelling Values in Graphic Novels" mostly because I don't really get them. It was relatively interesting sans French advertising (if you were there, you know, if you weren't it doesn't really matter).
2. "That was the Noughties" -- discussion of hte best books of the first decade of the 21st century
3. Opening ceremonies

Waste of time:
1. "Handicapping the Hugos"

Wanna see how cool the conference center is again? Here's it from the outside on the front--

And the pretty fountain in its square--

Other quotes of the day:
Neil Gaiman -- "Terry [Pratchett] could say to me: 'I'll tell you that if you do this to that paragraph you'll make it 17% funnier.'"

Neil Gaiman on what he and Terry were thinking when Good Omens was getting ready for release: "We thought we'd have to hunt up Salman Rushdie and see if we could borrow his back bedroom. .... But what we got was nominations for religious fiction awards."

Neil Gaiman when asked what else he'd like to create: "I'd like to create a haunted house" -- can you just imagine the haunted house he'd create???

Charles Stross-- "It's well known that the first use of any successful technology is pornography."

Charles Stross -- "Back before the internet we had a special term for people who would buy one copy of a book and allow all their friends to read it. We called them 'librarians.'"

Paul Krugman -- "In the U.S. today there are fewer farmers than there are people playing World of Warcraft."

Here we go

2009-08-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

WorldCon starts in a few hours and I'm ready..... I think.

Here's how I got here.
There was frantic packing

I'm still wondering why I packed mascara. I don't wear it day-to-day so who am I kidding thinking I'm wearing it around the convention? And if I do put it on I'm most likely to do the ole "bunny rub" on my eyes and end up looking like a failed Goth.
I did have some help packing:

That's Missy (I think she used to be a he and his name was Matthew). She was a gift from my grand nephew and he has her twin. Missy made the trip with me, and she's very excited about her first SF convention.

Leg one was the "jaunt" to Chicago. Since I slept through the vast majority of it, I'd have to say it went quite well. And O'Hare has this cool tunnel sculpture--

I feel quite lame that I didn't take a picture of the ironing board, but I can share my hotel door with you --

Now this is significant in and of itself, but allow me to quote from the hotel's in room directory when it is explainging how the hotel is designed on Feng Sui principles: "Doors symbolize the human voice. Doors that are broken... suggest you will be ignored." I guess that explains why when I called the front desk the first time about the ironing board no one answered, when I went down to the front desk about it what I got was a second iron to go with the broken ironing board.... and my chocolate stolen. lol

Also, if you book your trip at the last minute, here's the view from my room:

Love the laundry!

But just next door here's where I'm heading in a couple minutes:

The other side of the building is considerably more attractive, but I don't have an overall exterior view of that yet. Wanna see it from the inside?

Well folks, I'm going to get wandering. Must see what I can see! Talk to you later.......

Ok, I made it

2009-08-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

I'm in Montreal. I need to go pick up my woo hoo WorldCon reg pack, but in brief:

1. Flights lovely (slept through the vast majority of them).
2. Hotel basically sucks -- Should every hotel room door open into an fully extended ironing board that's stuck in the open position? Seriously, is that a feature? And when you call for its removal should you give up after a half hour, arrange for the removal with the front desk, and yet come back to the same broken ironing board, a new iron, and a missing bag of chocolates? Honestly? I guess it might be God's way of saying I didn't need that chocolate after all.
3. Learning experience: When you book at the last minute you get what you get.
4. Corollary to learning experience: There's a reason I usually book Hilton/Hyatt/Sheraton.
5. Bed: Scratchy and stiff, but I was too tired to care, and the thumping of the air conditioner wasn't so loud that it kept me awake.

More on the "joys" of the hotel later. Must go register and experience the city now!

Talk to you all later.

Not dead!

2009-08-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Not dead. thought about it-- seemed kinda drastic for a reaction to corporate headquarters move. {more on that later}

I have been:
not stitching much
working a lot
not getting paid a lot
moping
to Legoland
to Sea World
to the San Diego Zoo
cleaning-- kinda
obsessed with my re-installed family tree software
trying not to throttle people (successful thusfar)
missing all of you!!!!!!!!

I am:
LEAVING FOR WORLDCON ...... TOMORROW!!!!!! OMG!!!!!! Bought the tickets Friday--- what was I thinking???????? ACK! So, so, so utterly not ready. Nonetheless, Montreal, here I come. Oh, and Montreal, please forgive me-- I can't help that I randomly speak a mix of French and Russian. It just happens. Sorry in advance. If you want to be peevish, try and remind yourself that you are currently suffering from your lowest numbers of American tourist in history.

More from the hotel in Montreal... provided I work out the wireless.

hugs and kisses and the promise of stories to come!

People are morons

2009-06-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

Morons-- I tell you. So, picture in your mind's eye and intersection --- 5 lanes going North-South, 4 lanes going East-West. It's 5:30pm, the height of rush hour and my friend and I are the second car in the E-W direction waiting our turn at a fairly busy light (4-8 cars in each lane in all directions). The light changes in our favor, the cars in front of us and across from us head out east and west..... then suddenly, from the curbside-lane of the North-South traffic (which now has a completely dark red light-- not one of the hazy orange ones that some folks think mean "go really fast") a silver sedan pulls out into the middle of the intersection for a u-turn across all the on-coming traffic (who have the frickin green light). When the cross traffic who came screeching to a halt just shy of crashing her passenger into oblivion start honking up a storm, the u-turn bimbo looks at them like they are some sort of idiots.

Honest, I swear on all my stash, she did a u-turn against a red light from the curbside line across 5 lanes into oncoming traffic! Honest. And what did she do this for??? A parking space in front of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Never in my life have I so wanted one of the Wild Animal Kingdom tracking collars that could track the path of Utter Morons!!!!!!!!!!!

End of rant.

Hello all! It's a blissfully beautiful day here in the Far West. Am I out enjoying it? Nooooo. I'm at work. I've been moved back to 32 hours, but that's little consolation when I have 60 hours a week of work to do on average. Ok, enough whining!

Let's catch up shall we? I recently sent out some of my blogiversary RAKS. Yes, a miracle! Can you hear the choirs singing in amazement? Well, I can. Anyway, Vonna got her package:

Since we all owe Vonna a deep debt of gratitude for Fair and Square I thought I'd make her some squares. It's a part of a Victoria Sampler pattern from Gift of Stitching magazine with the colors changed.

LindaMA also received her RAk, but I can't find the picture right now. Please, Lord, let me have remembered the picture. lol

Lynda has returned from her vacation to find my offerings of squares for F&S round 13:

Lynda said she liked jewel tones and spot samplers, so I hauled out the rainbow and made up a spot sampler for her.
In trade, Lynda made me these lovelies:

Aren't they pretty? Me and my floral penchant are very grateful!

I also lately received F&S 4th of July squares from Susan:

Susan knew I love flags so she did the absolutely perfect squares-- bless her.

All I can show you of what I've accomplished for Susan is this:

I feel it appropriate that at least part of the 4th of July piece will be stitched in Sampler Threads "Liberty."

Other stitching fronts... hmmmm. Oh yeah! The 100th birthday party pillow is back from the finisher--

I'm quite pleased. I can hardly wait to surprise my buddy Judy with it!

I've also finally finished the 5th needlepoint:

The picture sucks, sorry. The green and the black border is Silk and Ivory, the bottles are Flair, the labels and caps are Neon Rays, and the writing is Fyre Works. It really was pretty darn fun to stitch, but I must say I'm itching for a canvas that requires all sorts of specialty stitching. Hmmmm I wonder what new canvas will need to be started? lol

The only in process pic I can share is my little Shepherd's Bush Fa La La sheep:

You'll have to trust me that the white Splendor is a vast improvement over the silk they gave me that matched exactly the color of the fabric.

Back to work for now. Have yourself a lovely day!

P.S. Time Warner still sucks, but I can't give up BBC America and the Sleuth Channel--- a whole channel dedicated to mayhem and murder! Oh the joy!!!!

Help me before I succumb to startitis

2009-05-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Argh... I'm itching to start something new. It's practically making me twitch. [No, I have not had any caffeine in weeks!] To combat my startitis I've pulled out a herd of stuff in progress. In the last week or so I've worked on more stuff than, well I generally work on in an entire season.

Here's where all my avoiding-the-new has gotten me-- sagas included -- you knew there had to be a saga or two, right?:

On my Quaker a la Six Mains:

I was all wiggly with excitement to start this back in 2006. And I love it. I love the colors. I'm having fun with it. Now, here's the problem. What I had planned to edit it to include doesn't "work" for me in these colors anymore. I look at it and can't believe I ever thought it would work in these shades. I don't want to not finish this, but now I have to find something to do with it when I'm done. Crap! I'm thinking about seeing if the George Washington house charity I mentioned a while back (Yes, I know I owe you info on it, but I don't have it yet) would be able to frame it if I personalized it to go with his family. Then again-- for Washington it should be red, white, and blue, right? Sigh.

On my HiH snowman:

The only saga is while I love stitching in Silk and Ivory I really wish I weren't xsing in it. I hate the jumbo canvas.

Oh my Beatrix Potter:

Somehow this month this piece just behaved so well. Even the beads went in smoothly! Beatrix must have known I was peevish with her. Possibly it also moved quickly because I really, really wanted to get to a big patch of stitching in the Vikki Clayton color --

I love it. I just love that color!

And finally the dragon.

He's made it passed this point -- I've yanked out the wrong stitches and replaced them, but trust me getting here was a love-hate battle. If you want to see the whole thing play out you can visit it at the Fantasy Stitch-along wanna join us? Just let me know. We're always happy to have new friends.

ttfn -- here's wishing all of us a very peaceful and happily productive weekend!

Thank you

2009-05-25T18:44:00.000-07:00