Traveling Adventures in the Outer Universe (aka On the Road with Missy)

Yes, I know.  I'm bad.  We shall stipulate that and move on.  Much has been going on that has kept me from you convivial society, but maybe today I can start to make inroads back into the fold.

First I was sort of not stitching, and yet sometimes stitching.  Frankly we have been through some weeks of it being too hot to contemplate threads.  But on my most recent adventure to Worldcon in Spokane (yay, Spokane!) I was invigorated by air conditioning and accomplished quite a bit.

Apparently there was a PS deer theme in my life for a bit.  Here's PS' Two-by-Two Deer (nope, not in the threads called for)--

... and PS' Christmas Eve Deer (also not as called for)

And a little Danji ornament to commemorate all the Sea World/San Diego vacation weekends my mom and I took -- I still clearly remember the stuffed dolphin I got at Sea World... and my annoyance, since I was my mother's daughter, that they put the grey fur on one side going from tail to nose so the nap was backwards when you petted it. In honor of the fur faux pas, I did the grey in Very Velvet.

Now, as for that traveling, as I said I headed off to Worldcon in Spokane, the nicest city I have ever convened in!   If you want to feel welcomed some where you need to go to Spokane.   Missy and I had a blast.

Let me explain Missy the polar bear.  A few years ago my sister and I took her oldest grandson (then aged 7) on a trip through SoCal-- Legoland, Seaworld, and the San Diego Zoo.  At the Zoo he bought a pair of polar bears and gave me one (how cute is that!?!).  He named his bear Matthew and my bear Missy.  Ever since then, Missy goes adventuring with me.  One trip she took with me was to the first North American Discworld Convention in Tempe where she got to meet Sir Terry Pratchett and she collected that fetching set of gold beads she proudly wears at the Seamstresses Guild Ball.

So off we go -- breakfast at the airport.....

a befuddlingly loud and sparkly layover in Las Vegas (no, she was not a winner).  For the record, you get some odd looks taking pictures of a stuffed bear in beads on a slot machine.

Spokane was obviously my kind of town.....

Missy and I could have hosted a small floatilla of friends in our hotel room.....

She especially liked the mod chair, which was surprisingly comfy

We dropped our stuff and went exploring and found.......

Wildlife

Art in the river (the Spokane River runs right next to the convention center where we spent the week)

Many flowers and bridges and a nice bell tower.

The famous (apparently so according to all the local maps which just say "the red wagon") Red Wagon which just makes me smile.  I mean how cool is that?????

There was a pretty (smoke induced) sunset sparkling on a cool fountain.

And there was the traditional convention center welcome.  I knew I had made it to my "family" reunion.

Back again soon....   happy stitching to all, and happy New Year to those celebrating today.

Up to some good for a change

Hello dear friends,  I know it may me hard to believe, but I have been up to some stitching.  I almost feel like I have to ramp up the action before it hits the height of summer when it always feels too hot to stitch once I get home in the evenings.  That little ompf moved my needle in a few different directions over the last week.

Mrs. (the giant penguin) came back out to play for a couple nights during which I:

1. finished the light pink band which had been languishing mostly done)
2. figured out what to stitch in the purple band (and got the whole band put in)
3. put in the bottom edge of the flipper (that was because I thought I knew what I was going to do with the gold bracelet and I needed the flipper part out of the way.  Turns out I didn't know.  Oh well.)
4. figured out what to stitch in the black band and got it partially put in.  

Also I have allegedly worked out what to do in the medium and dark pink bands, but until those sections actually start I have learned that I am prone to vacillation.

I don't think I had a picture of this last time -- this way my last finish.  A LK Flip It which was easy as pie.  Why did it take me forever to get around to it?????

Last weekend (I think) I had a flag marathon.  I just settled my fanny in and basketwove my little fingers off.  I got from here:

to here:

And, why yes, I am very proud of myself.   Just to put int in perspective -- that's probably 6-8 hours of stitching.  See!  I told you my needles were slow!

Also, one night another star appeared in my sky --

While I know that is rather pathetic.  It was actually quite amazing given that I was too tired to really start stitching when I pulled it out, but I powered through..... and then collapsed into my pillow.

On a bookish front, I went with our friend So Many Books to The Last Bookstore -- an amazing space for books (mostly used) in L.A.  It really is a neat space --

 with cool book art -- (I think this is a security cam picture of what my bookshelves do when I'm not home)

Now, while I loved the book art, I am a bibliophile at heart.  Book art is all well and good, but I need to be able to get to books and I kept getting stymied in my progress by people trying to get the perfect pic for instagram or facebook.  I swear this one pair of 20-something women took a dozen pictures each of themselves posed in a book "window."  There was a certain undercurrent to their repeats of "people in the background"-- well, duh, Buffy -- it's a store. We're here to shop.  Take your blooming picture and get out of the way!

Another annoyance was that I found it hard to come away with a pile.  It seems that my authors are just too awesome in general for people to give them up.  So I came away with this small collection of goodies:

Happy Stitching and Reading to you all -- may your needles be faster and trendsetters not be in your book shopping way!

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Pratchett thought of the day:

Nothing-to-see is what most of the universe consists of.

Going Postal – Terry Pratchett

And We Have a WinnerI

Hello World, drum roll, please........  The winner of Chessie and Me's In virtue's Ways is.......

Gillie!

Congrats, Gillie.  I'll contact you about arranging delivery.  I hope she brings you a few hours of stitching fun.

Speaking of stitching fun, look who got several stars done on Ellen's flag (By Gone Stitching's One Nation)!

And I celebrated finishing Big Tree by starting another ornie -- one of the Lizzie Kate's that I've been saying I am going to do for years.  Sharp eyes will notice I'm changing the colors.  Why do I make my life so difficult?

I spent my Saturday being swamped with customers at the shop, but after they all left I managed to get another basket done on Ethel-- I;m really quite fond of this one.

The complete joy of the weekend however was getting to spend all day Sunday at the UCLA Powwow.  I used to go every year but for the last few years I've been in DC celebrating my sister's birthday at this time.  This year The Sister took herself to Europe for a marathon river cruise (cruise the river and do a segmented marathon at the various port stops) so I could indulge myself in my traditional spring event,

I particularly love the little ones --

Here's my total fan-girl moment of the day -- "front row" at the Midnight Express drum (one of my very favorite drum groups)

Some of you may recollect that I do a lot of shopping at powwow-- especially for beads.  Usually a few pounds (I think of them in poundage because they get pretty darn heavy as the day wears on and on and on.).  But this year the bead vendor didn't come.  Never fear!   I consoled myself with jewelry shopping...  lots of jewelry shopping.  Pics to come!

Hopefully I'll be productive tonight and have more to share this week-- both shopping and stitching.  I'm looking for May to be PRODUCTIVE.... who am I kidding, I look for that in every month, and in every month I don't seem to make my line in the sand.  lol



Pratchett thought of the day:

There’s nothing like laughter for undermining authority.

Making Money  –  Terry Pratchett

[Must be why I chuckle so much here at the Fortune 500]

SFS Success!!!! (Want a pattern?)

The April SFS Report:
Month:  April
Spent:  $0.00   -- (I know -- I'm as shocked as you are.)
Allotted:  $25
Earned:  $12.00 
Subtotal of April's accumulated earnings:  $37.00  
Holdover from last month:  -$39.40
Ultimate March total: -$2.40  (Look at me make up the Red Zone.)

And here is my proud moment of the month/weekend-- aka, what I spent my ENTIRE weekend doing (while watching hockey, hockey documentaries, and listening to audio books.... in between naps.  Why, yes, it was a glorious weekend, thank you!):

That's Chessie and Me's "In Virtue's Ways."  I sort of kept some of the colors while changing them all to silks, and I completely changed the words and the embellishments.  I wanted to do something with this piece because though I loved it, I just couldn't "love"it if you know what I mean.  Suddenly it hit me when I realized it reminded me of my favorite book growing up.  And in that moment the redo began.  I had to change the color of the cabin since it is grey in the book and the perfect words had to be found and the dates had to be picked (LIW's birthday and the publication date of the original LHitBW).

Also completed this month was the little guy from the last post..... he's still making me laugh with that very perturbed expression of his.

Now I have an offer for those interested.  I have done my effort on In Virtue's Ways.  I'm not going to do it again.  If you'd like the pattern (including the rose colored ceramic button since it did not work with the space I had when I redid the pattern), just leave a comment saying that on this post and I will draw a winner on Friday.  [Note: In this first picture, I put the button on the bottom of the page next to the cat logo so you can see how cute it is-- it really is nice it just didn't work where I had room for it.]

Pratchettism of the Day:

The world’s turned upside down.  It’s a bit more important than you right now.Jackram – Monstrous Regiment – Terry Pratchett

(A bit of a reminder to myself, as I whine about it being Monday in my little corner of the Fortune 500 that there are people in Nepal who need my prayers.)

Yippie! Progress AND a Finish!

I know it doesn't seem possible, but I've made progress.. just remember:  Baby Steps!   [Some day I will attend the seminar that teaches me to be a speedy stitcher, or teaches my needles to stitch while I nap.]

Here is the corduroy stitch in place in Mr. Engineer's overalls -- it has worked out far better than the t-stitch in my humble opinion:

Please note, just because I love you all, I *forced* myself to put in several rows of the corduroy so you could really see how it looked in place.  No, of course it wasn't because I was obsessing about stitching it... noooooooo---- not me.  It was all for you, gentle reader.

And lookie here -- Massachusetts has arrived in Ellen's flag!   All the letters AND the little bobble at the end!  I was so overjoyed that I actually started the border on the next stripe.  I tell you it's the little things.   I should not that I was *not* overjoyed enough to start more of the stars in the blue field.  There are limits to my enthusiasm.   But I do know I need to get them done -- this weekend... yeah, that'll work.  I have a weekend of "peaceful" hockey viewing and audiobook listening time scheduled -- that should give me ample time to ignore the stars err, I mean crank out several stars.

And here is my glorious finish!   Done done done!   He just cracks me up.

The fabric is an overdyed jobelan from Wichelt and the threads are all DMC save for the black which is Splendor.

On behalf of Sir Terry Pratchett and Lady Vimes, please enjoy your St. George's Day responsibly:

Howdy, Monday!

Good Morning, World!   Why, yes, you do detect a whiff of perky in my tone, which is most unusual for a Monday.  And said whiff was quite absent until just a half hour ago.  But on the way back from caffeinating myself I ran into my buddy Ye (yes, I know you don't know her, but just stay with me here), and she announced that she got engaged this weekend!   I am so happy for her.  She's awesome and deserves the best.  That guy of hers better be good enough for her or he's in for a world of hurt from me!   Anyway, you can all thank Ye for the big, doofy smile on my face and my reinvigorated outlook on the week.

Certainly my showing on my list of hopefulness for the weekend just past does not warrant a perky outlook on the week.   But let's start with the sunshine --

Now you can see why I call the Vee and Co ornie pattern "big tree"--

I'm just bordering shy of completion.  Mind you we almost came to a squawking halt last night when I ended up a mere stitch away from that bottom line of text -- it's supposed to he 3 stitches away.  I swear on stacks of stash that I counted several times before stitching.   Regardless I just love his expression.

Ethel got one of the three baskets I was hoping for--   this one in alpaca and velvet -- very upscale for dumping on the grass on the way to market, but I like how it turned out.  Well, I like all but the rim, but I  figure that will get covered over a lot when I put the greenery and flowers/fruit in.

And Ethel also got a decent amount of sky.  I have committed to filling in all of the sky and stitching the clouds over the top in Whisper -- I think it will help with a more whispy, ethereal effect.

And look what arrived in the shop all shiny and new---- several locale ornies from Kirk and Bradley!

Thus far I have refrained, but I've  been to Paris and NY so I think I will eventually need those.  And I definitely *need* to go to London so I can earn the right to get that ornie -- the pigeon is just too cute!

So let's review Friday's hopeful list (come on, you know you could use a laugh):

• Ethel progress -- those 3 small baskets and some sky
• 1 basket and some sky....  reasonable all things considered
• Mr. Engineer -- figure out new stitch for the pants
• Yes!   Sorry I lack for picture on this.  I don't know where my brain was.  4 books and a half-hour of flipping and debating had me settling on the corduroy stitch.....duh!   Why didn't I find that earlier???? 
• progress on Boothy -- this should not be so difficult dang it
• Got it out.  Looked at it.  Put in back in the back and shoved it to the end of the bed.
• a finish
• Ha!  Don't make me laugh.  Somewhere after Father Brown and in the midst of the ACMs I hauled out the Big Tree with finishing in my mind... yeah, like that was going to happen at that time of night.  
• 2 books completed
• Uh, no.  Someone forgot that not only did she have F1 in Bahrain (her personal fav track) but she also had an entire day of NHL playoffs and a non-existent Saturday due to working at the shop followed by an entire evening birthday fest for a friend (which involved a significant quantity of negrones and a dirty martini and, consequently, a difficultly waking up on Sunday) 
• something actually cooked... in my kitchen!  
• Oh that's a real howler.  
• the dang pots back in the one cupboard I have in Maison d'Hovel's kitchen (the stovetop is looking like the leaning tower of cookware)
• Maybe Wednesday  (not tonight or tomorrow -- those are The Voice/Top Gear nights)
• winter clothes tucked away (rather than blocking my path to the closet of spring-appropriate choices)
• Kinda.  I hung up or dumped into the laundry everything on the top of the pile.  Taht's a step, right?
• progress on putting stash in some reasonably "away" place (Much as I love my stash I really don't need immediate access to it so it ought to get out of the way!)
• Uh, no.
• books on shelves ( love them too.... and don't have nearly enough shelf space, but they too need to be out of the way and where I can actually ind them)
• Nope.  Looked at them thoughtfully though.  

Yes, I'd say my hopeful list worked about as well as it always does.  LOL

Go have yourself a beautiful day!

*****************

Pratchett thought of the day:

The Universe is a lot more complicated than it looks from the outside.Rob Anybody -- Wee Free Men

Admissions, or How Success Can Be Deceptive

Dearest Reader, it is confession/realization Friday.  

Being ever so shamed by my dismal SFS campaigning thus far, I was about to crow with delight at announcing that I had not spent any stashing money this week.  Only after a moment's pause I realized that it wasn't that I exercised backbone or anything even resembling restrain;  it is just that I wasn't at the shop last weekend.  Sigh.  So much for my glorious "accomplishment."  Maybe I get half a kudo for not doing anything untoward online this week?

What I *have* done since last Friday is some stitching!   I know, a miracle, right?  Two more and someone will have to cal the College of Cardinals.

First off, there's one of Ethel's flock of sheep.   One of my stitching Country Club sisters suggested that I ought to vary my flock's colors so I made this guy a little darker.  I'm not certain I'm sold, but So Many Books, who Ethel is for, likes him so that will have to do.

Hi fellow flock mates look like this--

Since I finished Ho Ho Ho (sorry some idiot forgot to take a finished pic--- I can't imagine who could be that lame!), I started another ornie.  This little guy is called Golden Manse I think.  He's from one of those 365 really cool seasonal things to stitch in a hurry.... I my world that means I'll get it done in under a month provided I don't lose it.

Santa got a red velvet coat in brick stitch and stain stitched red velvet cuffs --

The Engineer got his trousers partially outlined and his eyes put in --

And I completed nearly a whole row of baseballs.  Why is it that basketweave goes so danged slowly?????????

I know it isn't a patch on what I aimed to get done and what I ought to have gotten done, but I'm reasonably pleased that I accomplished this much what with the naps and laundry that interrupted me last weekend.... what's a girl to do?   [Note:  What I didn't do was work on Ellen's flag or Serenity Harbor at all, and they really need attention.  Maybe this weekend!]

I wish you all happy stitching and extra-special-sale shopping!  And a special thank you for your kind (and laughing) comments.  It is heck on wheels at work and it's good to be reminded that there are nice people out there...... probably stuck in a snowbank.

SFS and Smalls Stitching (aka as Smalls to the Rescue)

Here we are -- it is both the final day for reporting January Stitching from Stash "accomplishments" and the January reporting check-in day for the Smalls SAL.  And, as luck would have it they go hand-in-hand for me this month.

SFS Report:

Month:   January

Spent:    $59   ( I CAN EXPLAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Earned:  $12

January Financial Summation:  -$47

Overall January Summation:  Sigh.

So, gentle readers, here were my shopping downfalls-- explanations will follow......  

You see my needlepoint store does one sale a year.  Just one.  365 days in a year and we have only 14 of them where we have merchandise discounted.  It is always just after TNNA, the big needlepoint/needlework tradeshow in January.  What's a girl to do??????   Usually I go to TNNA with the shop crew, but this year they moved the show up two weeks and I was still back east while they were glorying in the wonders of new stuff in Phoenix (apparently a lot of the wonder was that there was not a lynching of the guy who *had* to smoke in the men's room at the conference center, got caught, and threw his lit cigarette into the trash can thus catching the trash on fire and forcing the evac of the center and the extreme ire of the vendors who were in the middle of taking many orders).
So, usually I'm at the show and getting in PLENTY of trouble while I'm there, but this year I got in trouble in the shop at the sale.   All the above canvases were freshly dumped in the 80%-off bin!   Can you believe it?  I couldn't help myself!   Oh, come on!  You know you couldn't resist either.   Heck, that Ewe and Eye reindeer I actually already have as an XS pattern and still I couldn't leave it be!.... the stitch and thread options will be way cooler for it as a needlepoint anyway.

All that means that by the middle of January I had ONLY spent $34 on three needlepoint canvases (yes, $34 for all three canvases!!!!!), and I was already over budget.  Those of you with keen eyes will note that the Thanksgiving canvas has an array of threads on it.  Wellllllll, there I was $34 already spent, and then I remembered that my friend, Jean, was working at the shop last weekend and she'd done this amazing Fall rooster, so I grabbed my new Thanksgiving piece and trotted it off to have her help pick threads because the ones on the stitch guide that came with the piece were just not going to cut it.   Cha-ching.... another $25 in threads for a canvas that I won't even start anytime soon (at least I think I won't, but I taped it so maybe.....).

I will fess up now that it would be even worse for me if it weren't for the fact that I pay wholesale for those threads.   Can you imagine how shamed-faced I would have to be at full retail?????

Now for the Smalls SAL Report -- Also known as:  Smalls to the Rescue!

 After the ramifications of my two week's of shopping adventures really dawned on me, I began a frantic (and doomed) rescue campaign of trying to get some stitching done to help counteract my spending.  In the last 10-12 days I have started and finished these darlings which will all become ornies for Christmas this year.:

The pair of bells is for me and my sister in honor of our mom who was in the church bell choir for years (so was I --- I miss those bells!).  The pattern is from one of those 365 patterns books... I'll look it up for you later.  They are done in Belle Soie save for the light red which is a Sampler Thread.  For the record this is Bell #2--

I think we probably all recognize the glorious fun that is a JBW tree.  In Belle Soies and it's all mine!   At least for right now I think I get to keep it.

Bell #1

That is what I have been up to.   I am now going in search of either Shopping Blinders or a spine to help me be more balanced in February.

Oh, on the reading front, I have to say that I am really liking King.  I'm shocked I tell you.  Shocked.  I was a fan of his stance in support of genre fiction (in the face of "literary" fiction snobs), but I was always certain he was not for me -- I have a very willing suspension of disbelief which makes me exceedingly prone to getting freaked by books/TV.  Mind you, it's early pages yet since I've been stitching nonstop, but I am happily impressed. 

Sally forth and have a great day!