Happy Dancing!!

Cirque des Triangles - Completed

Cirque des Triangles – Ink Circles

Started on 24th January 2009 – Finished on 28th June 2009

Stitched on “Butterfly Wings” by Dyeing 4 U

Thread:  Cherry Vanilla by Threadworx

Totally Useless SAL

Last month I completely forgot to post a pic of my collecting jar as part of the Totally Useless SAL, this month I am a little bit late but I least I rememberd eventually!

Lots and lots of red in there again, thanks to a slight miscalculation on Grand Marquoir SAL on Sunday

I managed to get another two squares done, so three more left to stitch on this part of the SAL but the next part is almost here, hopefully I will be able to squeeze in enough stitching time before the next part to get me up to date.

Sorry for the dark pictures today, I took this VERY early this morning thanks to a hungry Ginger thinking that he had a chance of being fed at 5.30am this morning LOL .  He started off purring quietly, then got a bit louder, then decided to move on to my pillow and purr in my ear and when I kept ignoring him he decided to nibble my nose until I actually got up.   Needless to say he was back in bed, fast asleep with a full stomach by 5.45am – it’s a cat’s life!  I have a feeling I may fall asleep at my desk later on as it is so warm here at the moment it’s making us all sleepy.

I have made a little progress on Cirque des Triangle,  maybe not as much as I had hoped to achieve but with a bit of luck (and a couple of late nights) a happy dance is still achievable by the end of the week.

Again, a really terrible picture which looks like it was taken during a total eclipse LOL, I’m not sure what was going with my flash this morning.

I’m itching to finish Cirque because Claire and I are starting another SAL when Cirque is done.  It was a choice between The Bramble and The Rose or South Seas Lace, both from the Gift of Stitching magazine.  South Seas Lace was the winner, mainly as it’s smaller and we can both stitch it using supplies from our stash whereas Bramble takes 12 skeins of thread so will take a little longer to kit up.    Everyone is welcome to join in with our SAL – the more the merrier.

A tail of two kitties

Is that all?

As you can see, my fat cat now has a fat tail.  Check out Claire’s blog for her latest pic of our SAL, (and alsos some great news about a new book from Isa Vautier) .  We seem to be stitching in more or less the same direction on this design and her cat has a tail too!

I haven’t posted a pic of Cirques des Triangles for a while now, but I am really quite close to finishing this one.  A few more evenings should do it I reckon, so look out for a happy dance later this week.

As much as I want to keep working on this today, I will put it aside for now to carry on working on Grand Marquior.  I have fallen behind a bit in this SAL and as the next part is due out at the end of this month I really need to give myself a kick up the backside and get the current part finished.

Maggie and Claire – I see you’ve been tempted into subscribing to The Gift of Stitching LOL.  I really enjoy this magazine, even if not all of the designs are to my taste it’s so much better than the UK cross stitch magazines you buy in shops with their endless supply of Disney characters and repeat designs which have been printed previously.    If any of you fancy doing a SAL of the Bramble and the Rose leave a comment.

If you liked the Ink Circles design, have a look at this one too (May 2009 issue) – South Seas Lace by Debbie Draper Designs.  There are just too many designs I want to stitch at the moment!

South Seas Lace

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend.  Thank you all for the comments you leave – they are very much appreciated.

Gift of Stitching

For anyone who loves Ink Circles designs take a look at this months Gift of Stitching online magazine…

Gift of Stitching June 2009

Here’s a better picture of the design….

The Bramble and the Rose

It’s called The Bramble and the Rose.  Isn’t it beautiful?  This one has already been printed out and has been added to my “To Do” drawer,  soon to be renamed “To Do” cupboard

To answer a couple of questions left in the comments on my last post:-

For Claire:-  Ribbon Sampler is stitched over 2 using 1 strand of floss.  I really don’t think my eyes are capable of stitching over 1 at 40 count, in fact I’d probably struggle stitching over 1 on 28 count!

For Christine:  There are two colours in the design, although they look very similar in the photograph.  In real life one is quite a lot darker than the other.  I do have a magnifier/lamp like the one below but find it difficult to use the magnifier for long stretches as it makes me feel dizzy.    This will be my first project on 40 count so if I find myself struggling I will try the magnifier to see if I can get used to it, but I’m hoping that I will be able to stitch as I usually do.

I’m just about to leave work and fight through the enormous traffic jams caused by all the roadworks going on in Swansea at the moment to accomodate the new “bendy bus” they are introducing.  Last night I was stuck in a traffic jam, not moving at all, for nearly half an hour because the bendy bus, which is doing trial runs at the moment,  got stuck turning off  a roundabout and blocked both lanes of the roundabout.  I think I may try a different way home tonight

I will definitely be stitching tonight, on Cirque des Triangles, as I’m quite close to finishing this one (and I can’t wait to start Ribbon Sampler, of course!!)

Have a good evening!

Some stitching at last!

At last I have some stitching pics for you!  I’ve been working on Grand Marquoir and Cirque des Triangles.  Not huge amounts of progress but I have been spending some time this week in my craft room, organising threads/fabric and generally playing with my stash LOL

 

I’ve also been trying to get more exercise than usual for the last couple of weeks, as on 19th July myself and my workmates are taking part in the Race for Life, a 5km walk along the seafront at Swansea.  If anyone would like to sponsor me there is a link on the top right of my blog where you can donate directly to the charity.  It’s completely safe to use.  There are 7 of us taking part altogether from our office, all ages from early twenties to early sixties so we will be taking it at a brisk walk, no running involved LOL.     Keep your fingers crossed for fine weather on 19th July as this event takes place along the promenade in Swansea so any wind/rain will definitely hit us full on.

Moonlight Garden

Not much stitching for me this week (again!),  it’s been extra extra busy in work trying to catch up with the work that wasn’t done when I was off last week.  Also, when I got to work on Tuesday something made me check the firm’s holiday spreadsheet where details of days taken, days left to take etc are stored.  I discovered that the two days I was off work last week for the colonoscopy had been taken away from my holiday entitlement for this year.   I appreciate that my employer is not legally obligated to “give” me those days off however, I have worked for this small firm for 22 years and in fact for the same person within that firm for the last 18 of those years, the same person in fact who is in control of entering information into the holiday spreadsheet.  I have also worked far above and beyond the call of duty on numerous occasions and without trying to sound big-headed the place (and in particular my boss) would probably run to a standstill if I was not there for a prolonged length of time.   I would guestimate that I have probably worked at least two weeks worth of unpaid overtime so far this year.  To be honest, this made me feel horrible (again) about my employment situation.  I wish I could afford to give up work or at least find another job, but jobs are scarce and at the moment Phill’s business is going through a quiet patch and he may have to lay his apprentice off if things don’t pick up soon so we really do need every penny I can earn, and the only good thing about my job is that I am very well paid.   Anyway, I immediately confronted my boss, who despite being a successful businessman, and a lawyer to boot, hates confrontation and gave him a couple of home truths – I now have my two days back.   Phew, if you’re still reading, thanks for listening and sorry for boring you all with my ranting!

On to prettier things altogether now.  If you have a look at Claire’s blog you will see a little suprise I made for her a little while ago – a mattress pinkeep.  She has named him Quills and has far nicer pictures over there!  The chart is a freebie from The Workbasket.

I stitched a bit more on Growth Rings and I also stitched on Moonlight Garden by Drawn Thread.  

Phill has just left to go to an open mic night, where he plays guitar so I”m going to find a good film to listen to and get some more done on Is That All?

A thank you and an update

I’d like to thank everyone who left a comment last week wishing me well for the Colonoscopy on Thursday.  The procedure itself wasn’t too bad, but it has taken until today for me to start feeling back to normal.  The diagnosis at the end of it is Crohn’s Colitis, but luckily only moderately active.  I have to wait for an appointment to see the Consultant at the Hospital in the next few weeks to discuss any treatment/management, but as I’ve been symptom free for a while now I think that it wil probably be a case of carrying on with a sensible diet and just waiting to see how things go.  You know the old saying “every cloud has a silver lining” – well the one good thing to come out of the last week is I’ve lost half a stone in weight LOL.  I’m sure it won’t stay off for long as I get back to eating normally but it’s good to see those scales moving in the right direction for a change!

I have been stitching this week, but not really sticking much to my rotation, apart from my SAL days, I’ve just been working on whatever takes my fancy.  It did take ALL of my willpower not to start the new Passione Ricamo chart I bought at Polstitches to cheer myself up a bit,  and if it wasn’t for the fact that I haven’t made a working copy of the chart yet I don’t think I could have resisted.

First up, my SAL with Claire – Is That All?  This is coming along well, Claire is still ahead of me though – you can see her progress here.

Next up, Growth Rings and Grand Marquoir SAL.  

And finally, Cirque des Triangles.  I got loads done on this yesterday and finished page 4, which is bottom left.  I wish a could get a decent picture of this, it looks so much better in real life.

I have been a bit slack on my blog reading/commenting this week.  I will definitely try and catch up this weekend, a lovely long Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, but as the weather is fantastic today, blue skies and not even a breeze, I think I shall sit in the garden for a while today and watch Phill working LOL.

Quick Cirque update and Giveaway!

A very quick post this evening as I’ve had a really rubbish day at work and need to get away from the computer and put my feet up with Is That All?, my Thursday SAL with Claire.

I’ve only worked on two WIPs this week, both Ink Circles designs, Cirque des Triangles and Cirque des Carreaux.  I’m actually toying with the idea of concentrating on Carreaux to get it finished, apart from my SAL days (currently Saturday, Sunday and Thursday).  I’m probably about a third done at the moment –  I’m still giving it some thought.

Good progress made on both these this week..

To cheer myself up I have decided to have a giveaway.  I have a piece of fabric from Dyeing4U (sadly no longer around, they did some fabulous colours), it’s Belfast linen, so 32 count, 13×18,  the colour is Butter Cream and it’s an opalescent so has a beautiful sparkle running through it.  There’s a picture below but the colour doesn’t show well at all, it’s such a dark gloomy day here.  In real life the colour is very pale creamy yellow.  I’ll try and get a better picture of it tomorrow.  Just leave a comment saying you want to take part on this post with your name and email address and I’ll pick a winner on Monday.  Feel free to link to this post in your blogs to spread the word around.

Moonlight Garden

Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, I spent most of the day stitching.  I may have go up once or twice to make a cup of tea, or to make us some food, but the rest of the time was spent on the sofa, catching up on all the TV we’ve recorded and watching some DVD’s we hadn’t seen.  All in all, a great day!

I made massive progresse on my new WIP, Moonlight Garden.  

And also spent some time re-stitching the part of Cirque des Carreaux that I’d had to frog last week.

Tonight I’m firmly back on track with my rotation, and will work on Growth Rings.

I had some lovely mail last week, an order I’d placed with Vikki Clayton of Hand Dyed Fibers.  I ordered some linen, a d-bag (which is basically skeins of mis-dyed, mis-labelled thread), and also a set of sample tags, which is an 18 inch piece of every solid colour in the Hand Dyed Fibers silks range.  HDF are beautiful threads, so lovely to work with and the conversions from DMC are very very good.  They are also very reasonably priced.  

 

Sample Tags

 

Fabric

D-bag

The last picture also shows some spools of thread which I bought from someone on the HDF forum, some beautiful colours.  The dbags are a complete surprise, you never know what colours you are going to get, but I am very pleased with the ones I have received so far, some very useful colours in there.

The new love of my life

My new waterbed!  It was delivered on Monday and just seems to become more comfortable every night.  Phill’s been wearing the nose strips which have helped, and he’s also stopped having a nightcap of Southern Comfort, which has helped even more!  I’m almost ashamed to admit that this morning I woke up at 10.22am, which has to be the latest I’ve slept in for about ten years    I was surprised how many of you ladies also suffer with husbands/partners who snore, it’s a much more common problem than I thought.    Phill handmade all the wardrobes and units in our bedroom himself, you can see pics here of it being made.

I have done some stitching this week, but also had a visit from the frogs and had to pull out quite a lot of Cirque des Carreaux because of one tiny miscount, but it would have looked odd if I had left it there because the design is so symetrical.    Yesterday I made quite good progress on Cirque des Triangles

And today I stitched one block of part 3 of Grand Marquoir.

I’ve also been very naughty and started a new design this week, which is Moonlight Garden by The Drawn Thread.   I bought the chart, threads and recommended fabric a while ago, and even sneakily put a few stitches in, but the fabric, Wichelet linen, which looked quite blue on the cover picture, turned out to be very green and the fabric itself was very stiff and quite unpleasant to stitch on.    I was very disappointed as I really really like the design.  But then I saw a picture of a WIP stitched on a Belfast Linen called Misty Blue, where the threads had been coverted to Hand Dyed Fibers silks.  It looked amazing!  So I bought a piece Misty Blue, used Vikki’s conversion to Hand Dyed Fibers and am really pleased with the way it looks so far.  There are lots and lots of speciality stitches in this one so it’s going to be quite a challenge.

For the rest of today I think I’ll carry on with Cirque des Carreaux and replace the stitches that I pulled out earlier this week.  I’m also getting ready to start a my new SAL with Claire this week, as she has finished her backstitching on Who’s Watching Whom, which looks absolutely stunning – you can see it here.