Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Nights

I am procrastinating big time! I always do when I have finishing deadlines. Love stitching...mental block with finishing. I'll get over it. I should be working on my exchange but figured I would be better off working on that during the light of day. I'll be a day or two late getting it in the mail but I think my partner will forgive me! =)

I've been using my procrastinating time working on Carol's QFRR but am too lazy to take it off the qsnaps for a picture. I only have 1.25 motifs to do and will bust through that tomorrow. Woo! Will show it off once it's done and ready to be mailed to Wendy.

I promised to show off my stash. I put in an order with Sew and So in the UK because I decided to do Newton's Little Uns Sampler as the birth announcement for my friend Claire. Newton is a UK-based product and I figured Claire would love the little bear in the tub with the ducky and bath bubbles stuck on his nose. It seemed very "Claire". I will most likely switch out the aida for some linen at my upcoming LNS-shopping spree. Since I had to order from the UK already, I decided to splurge and buy that Elbesee embroidery hoop/seat frame that I mentioned after my RSN Intro to Embroidery Class. I *have* to finish the class project and it would be much easier to complete that and other future projects with this handy little device. Service from Sew and So was amazing! I ordered on a Friday evening and received the package by the following Wednesday! Fast! In the picture below is the Heart in Hand Little Angel in the Clouds chart. This was the chart I won from KarenV's recent chart giveaway. I was so excited to win it as I've seen it stitched up but haven't come across it in shops or online. It is *so* cute! Thanks Karen!
Oh yes, and there is even more stash. I put in an order with Drema because I saw that she had a chart that I was coveting and that led to more buying, or course. I have seen everyone stitching up BBD Beneath the Sunlit Sky and the more I saw it, the more I had to have it! Drema had it so that's what started this order. I also bought BBD Autumn Song, Cricket Collection Rest and Be Thankful and all the overdyed threads for Mary Wigham per The Daily Mel. I'm not sure I will completely stick to the conversion but it's a good start. Fabric for Mary wont be purchased til the aforementioned LNS-shopping spree.Well, I am off to finish that QFRR...that way I have no other excuse to keep procrastinating on my exchange finishing!! Vacation has officially started...loads and loads of stitching on the agenda. I am so excited. Hopefully I do a little road trip too but we'll see.

Until next time...

Nothing Exciting to Report

I wish I had exciting stuff to report. I had grand aspirations for the weekend. I would stitch my heart out and get my exchange done and start on the round robin. I would go check out cars in San Jose. I would drag *the boy* to the eye doctor and find him some new eyeglasses that didn't make him look like an old man (like his old glasses) and had some style.

But there were a couple of hang-ups with my plan.

#1. It was 95 degrees...where I live...which is unimaginable when you live in a 3rd floor walk-up apartment without air conditioning. Yep...95 degrees without air conditioning is not a cool thing. I barely had the energy to hold my q-snap to stitch. Not to mention the mind-splitting migraine I had most of Saturday. Saturday basically took a crapper. We managed to go to the eye doctor and have lunch before the jackhammering started in my head. We headed home and I laid on the futon for the rest of the day with ice on my neck and all the windows open and the fans going just trying to catch the breeze and cool off a little.

#2. Blasted frogs! The little bit I did stitch on the round robin and 2nd half of my exchange needed to be frogged from miscounting. I had really wanted to finish my exchange and make a decent start on the round robin but it was frustrating to get to a certain point and be all excited and then realize I had to frog the whole bit! Stitching was definitely not in my favor this weekend. I will be stitching and finishing a ton this week to catch up.

The only successful thing this weekend was finding *the boy* some cool glasses. And trust me...that took some doing!

So no pictures since there was no stitching and I felt like my head was going to fall off my body with all the jackhammering. I could insert a picture of the Centurion event in my neighborhood....had I taken my camera along with me yesterday. This event happens every year and my neighborhood becomes overrun with bicycling enthusiants. Here are a couple of pictures from last year. *The boy* managed to snag a curb-side table where we could sit and have breakfast and be entertained.

Nothing else new...will have a stash picture to show soon. Because apparently, the only thing that I'm managing to do all that well is shop for new stash!

I have the feeling Stitchy Tuesday will be all about finishing the stitching on my exchange and finishing it. But :::drumroll:::, I'm on vacation starting Wednesday and the plan is to stitch, stitch and stitch some more! Well...that's if all goes according to plan! Now I just need to queue up those chick flicks and my vacation will be just perfect!!

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

So Tuesday came and went and I did manage to get a little bit of stitching done but I can't show you what I've been stitching since it's for an exchange. No sneak peeks...sorry! I still have one more week to get this exchange in the mail and there is still so much I want to add. I have the front done. Still need to stitch a back and I wanted to stitch another little something before sending it far, far away. I really want to get the exchange done by this weekend so I can work on the QFRR before my so-called vacation next week.

Even though there are no stitchy pictures, I have other pictures to share. Over the weekend, *the boy* and I went to Costco. He has an unhealthy addiction to blueberries. Yes, I know blueberries are healthy but with as many as he eats, he should be a Boy Smurf by now! Jeezus! Costco is cheap...2 pounds of blueberries for $6. So we walked out with 8 pounds worth. Why? Because we are crazy!! To be honest, we froze about 5 pounds for baking throughout the year and the rest...*the boy* will probably eat without a problem. At Costco, I saw a bunch of bright pink peonies. I love peonies and have been inspired by bloggers who actually have real peonies growing in their garden. Living in a 3rd floor apartment, there is no such thing as "garden"! I bought a bunch and they opened up so fast! They are a bright splash of color in my living room. The next day, *the boy* crutched over to the farmers' market and bought be lilys. He came home with three abundant stems sticking out of his backpack. I decided to just arrange them with the peonies and ta-da! It's a lot of pink but it's a fun arrangement...If I only had some baby's breath or greens, it's be just perfect!
*The boy* had his birthday a few weeks ago and this tee shirt was part of his birthday present (along with a very nice leather wallet and dinner at his favorite restaurant). I bought the tee shirt as a joke because I call him "dorkasaurus" all the time! *The boy* is truly a dork and he sometimes frustrates me which leads me to exclaim "gawd, you are such a dorkasaurus. Shut up!" Well, lo and behold, they actually sell this tee shirt. *The boy* loves it and will sometimes wear it out in public! OMG, how embarrassing! I truly meant it as a jokey house shirt. I thought I'd show you guys the dorkasaurus.
And here is *the boy's* travel around accessories. Lovely crutches aren't they?! He's going on 5 months on crutches. We are hoping that he won't have to hit the 6-month mark on them. It makes doing fun summer stuff like concerts and festivals really, really difficult. And before I forget, the new moon was on Monday so I am reporting my TUSAL a couple of days late. The snips are still pretty low in my jar even though I feel like I was stitching up a storm (per my standards anyways)!Mostly what shows up on top are the red, white and green bits from the Christmas in July exchange I am working on. Below that are the browns from my ABC Lessons.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was mainly errands, resting, baking (unsuccessful recipe at that) and car shopping. I have my top 2 cars from a car make I wasn't even considering. Go figure! Still more looking around to though.

Have a wonderful week!

Until next time...

Curious

So in my blog surfing today, I noticed this type of stand on this blog. I've never seen this stand before but for some reason, it looks like a good solution for my "owww, my wrist is hurting from holding this q-snap so long and gee, I wonder if that's why my shoulder hurts" dilemma.
I can't really get a floor stand since I have the weird propensity to sit sideways on the couch instead of forwards like any normal person and that habit probably won't get fixed until I get a stitching chair which sadly, isn't anytime soon. I wonder if this will work. Problem is that I am used to stitching one handed so that I can hold the q-snap as close to my face as possible since I have these lovely coke-bottle nerdy glasses that grace my face. I don't really know if this type of a "clip frame" as it is called would work for me. As far as I can tell, they don't sell these clip frames in the US. Why do I love all things British?! They are so hard to get!

So my question to the readership is...have you seen these? What do you think? If you have one, do you like it? And general stuff like that.

Perhaps, I should take out my Z Frame again and give that another whirl now that I'm not trying to put 20" q-snaps in it like a dummie.

And better yet, I am curious what stitchy folk use for their stitching in terms of frames, stands and lamps/magnifiers...if any.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. The gloom and doom weather has lifted to give way to warm and sunny weather here in my area. Definitely an outdoor-type of weekend.

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Just a quick "hit and run" post today and I am itching to head off and stitch! I haven't put needle to fabric in a week and needless to say, I am jonesing for a fix! Definitely need to get cracking on some obligation stitching. Since I haven't stitched, I have no pictures other than the sad display below. Can you see what's wrong?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Did you see it? The "after" picture is after I frogged the entire bottom border I had stitched minus one lonely leaf. The only leaf I managed to stitch correctly. I know you folks all think I'm nuts! I'm well aware and ok with it!! This project is being shelved until after I finish my obligation stitching for the month and maybe even beyond. I have a birth sampler I need to fit into the rotation (what rotation but anyways!) to get done by October. I still haven't decided what sampler to stitch up though. I am having a major mental block making a decision for this project but I have it narrowed down to three choices...erm...maybe four. Ack!

The weekend was great and busy! I eliminated my front running car because the rear window was too small and the side windows may as well have not been there. Cute design and sporty looking car but not very functional where you need it...you know...like windows and a good seat. Lots more looking around for me to do.

For those of you who stopped by yesterday, my blog was f'd! It had weird techie problems I couldn't even begin to understand but it all came down to how my blog designer had a credit card snafu with her photo-supporting account or whatever. I don't understand this stuff. All I know was that I was relieved to see my browns, blues and foggy Transamerica shot this morning. Whew! It seemingly resolved itself and I didn't have to do anything! Wow, I love that!

Thanks to everyone...new and otherwise who have been visiting and commenting. I love meeting new people and appreciate you taking the time to say hi. Hi!

That's it for me...time to work on my exchange.

Until next time...

Goldilocks and the Threaded Needles

I'm not Goldilocks nor do I have golden hair but I did feel like Goldilocks the other night. I finally sat down to start my exchange piece and grabbed a needle off my little magnet...stitched a few stitches and deemed the needle too thick. "This needle is too thick!" Then I grabbed another needle and threaded it and realized it was more like a sewing needle and too bendy with too small an eye. "This needle is too bendy!" That just wouldn't do! So off goes Goldilocks...errrr...I mean off I go to the big ol' craft cabinet to grab a size 28 Bohin needle and then everything was just right! "This needle is just right!" *sigh*

Except it was late by that point and I didn't continue stitching!

I have been incredibly scattered this week and haven't stitched much of anything. I have frogged a lot though. I will have to show you that sad, sad picture comparison soon.

I feel exhausted! I try to go to sleep early but my brain is always a buzzing to begin with but now it's buzzing with interest rates and financing options and the internal debate as to why all the colors I like for a car come with cream interior and I **don't** want cream interior!! Argh! I'm pretty confident with my financing now since I've pre-qualified for two loans at very good rates. But since I have very good credit (woo!! that was a fab realization yesterday), I can probably score better financing through the dealership through one of those purchasing incentive deals provided they have those sales going on. I feel pretty confident that financially...I can do it! Woohoo! I'm still scared to deal with the salepeople so I told *the boy*, it's his job to be the bulldog.

So this weekend, I think I will start hitting the car lots just to sit and see if I like the dash and take a test drive or two. That will be in-between the housesitting, hitting my neighborhood's "Art in the Park" Festival which is one of my favorites and the usual errands, tv, stitching and baking juggle.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Today was just that type of day...the one where you get up, think it will be great and it ends up being crappy. It started with me forgetting my cell phone at home and ended with me forgetting my purse at work. Apparently, I wasn't all together!?! I guess not...Plus, I felt like people beat me up all day. It was a whirlwind and by the time I got home, I needed a glass of wine and a cuddle but had to go back to work due to forgotten purse! *The boy* was very nice and had my glass of wine, cuddle and snack waiting for me when I got back and dutifully listened to me vent about the bad day and all the *stupid people*!

Since I was obviously out of sorts, I didn't get much stitching done. I tidied a bit and got my stitching stuff together but really...no stitching. But I did finish Wishful Sheep by Shepherd's Bush! Woo! Happy Dance! It came as a kit so I used the materials provided in the kit but stitched it 2 over 2 as I didn't like the coverage of 1 over 2. That meant that I ran out of two colors doing it this way and had to order more silk in order to finish off the birthday cake. I left off the pink backstitch *frosting* as I liked it better without. Sorry for the poor picture but it has been rather dreary here the last couple of days...gloom, fog and mist. Should I be surprised...these are the type of summer days that Mark Twain wrote about.
*The boy* kept complaining that the sheepie didn't have any eyes. I had to keep reminding him that people close their eyes when they wish upon a birthday cake! How could he forget...his birthday was barely two weeks ago!

I have plenty to be stitching on. Since I was out of sorts, I pulled out my Bent Creek Snappers and frogged another 3 months length of bottom border *sob*! Well, it has to be done if I want to finish it the way I want. The rest of the week will be QFRR and exchange stitching. I am hoping to make decent progress!

Oh yea, my dear friend Claire is pregnant. I mentioned it before I think and she is due in October. I am having a really hard time finding a birth announcement I would like to stitch that would suit her. She isn't traditional and neither am I really...but I also don't want over the top cutsie. I have some old Dimension kits in my stash from way back when but I think they are rather large. I'm just in flux about this. Maybe someone has a suggestion...something not mainstream that isn't all over the standard cross stitch sites. I definitely should make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

Hope everyone is having a happy week!

Until next time...

Great Weekend!

Yay! I had a great weekend! It was busy and I had to drag myself out of bed with a crane to get to work this morning but it was a fun and productive weekend. A lot of the events revolved around food.

Friday night, *the boy* took me out for pizza nearby and then I spent the rest of the evening in this ADD circle of stitching, watching tv, looking on the computer for god knows what and trying not to succumb to a food coma since I ate one breadstick too many at dinner. Don't you hate when you do that?!

Saturday, I did a ton of errands and then dragged *the boy* to the farmers' market one town over from me. Let me tell you, it's amazing the number of people who have complete lack of consideration for a person on crutches. They don't move out of the way, people push, they are too busy yapping on their cell phones and don't pay attention where they are going and then there are the kids going in all different directions including crashing straight into his leg. We saw that one coming through and the kid was like a little runaway toddler. Luckily his mom caught him/her right at impact so it softened the blow. At the market, we bought a truckload of stuff...apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, tomatoes, shallots and green onions. We were crushed to see the *sold out* sign at the blueberries stand! We absolutely love farmers' market!! After that, I took a nap from all the running around and being in the sun and *the boy* went on a neighborhood adventure. After my *you need to exercise and get out!* and *no, I'm not driving you the two blocks to Safeway* rants of the past couple of weeks, the boy is much more adventurous. It's good...he has to get his heart pumping to improve circulation so that hopefully that bone of his heals. After our respective jaunts to dreamland and the hardware store, we got ready to head out for dinner. I had told *the boy* on Friday, I wanted to have a nice dinner out and then I remembered this Cuban restaurant that I have been wanting to try for at least the last three years! So we headed to La Bodeguita del Medio. Let me tell you, it was fantastic! We decided to hit the appetizers and just share everything. We had croquettas, empanadas, mussells, greycliff conch/shrimp chowder and the cuban sandwich. How we finished everything is beyond me. We were stuffed to the gills. I probably should have run a few laps just to work all that food off! Everything was amazing! My only complaint was that the drinks were done with a light pour instead of an average or heavy pour. I'll probably just get wine next time. And there will definitely be a next time. YUM! OMG, drooling just thinking about it...

Sunday, I treated myself to a lovely massage and then dragged *the boy* to the farmer's market on my street. Yes, we are crazy farmers' market people! We got fresh prawns for dinner and a blueberry muffin for *the boy* and I got a much needed coffee. Again, they were out of blueberries! *The boy* and I had made a barter. He would make me lobster ravioli with prawns if I made blueberry muffins. Since the farmers' markets' were out of blueberries, I had to head to the much dreaded Costco. So more errands, blueberry shopping and quick housesitting stop before dashing back home so I could get *the boy* and we could go see UP. It was a great movie and we saw it in 3-D. I like 3-D but I didn't notice very many 3-D scenes in the movie. Maybe it's just me. I'd recommend it. It had some really funny parts, and sad parts and scary parts and parts that were heartwarming. Go see it! But if you have kids that are scared of dogs, they might get scared in the movie. After that, he made me dinner and I made him muffins...both which turned out great! And that was the end of the weekend!

Wow, I've rambled...hope I didn't bore you to tears! As for stitching, this is all I can show for it. I finished the ABC row!

Five rows down...four more to go!I finished that first row on my Lizzie*Kate ABC Lessons and that's about it! I always have such grand stitching goals! But I only have about 20 stitches left in my sheepie and the button to sew on! I'll have abother HD before you know it. Now to decide what to do with it. After that, the week and weekend will be devoted to RR and exchange stitching.

Time to bring my rambling post to an end. Hope you all had a grand weekend too. :D

Until next time...

Weekend Events

So what's on your agenda for the weekend? Mine? Stitching, stitching and more stitching. It has not been a very good week so I definitely need some stitch therapy and hopefully all the frogs will stay in the pond.

Yesterday, I called out sick (of working) and slept almost the entire day. I woke up about 4pm (yup) and watched some tv, read a bit and indulged myself in some ABC Lessons stitching. No picture though since I barely made it through the saying for *A*. In the mail, I received Carol's QFRR awaiting me to stitch a section. This is the last one I will stitch on and the rotation is over! I think I will claim that bottom left corner.
Also, I received the necessary silk from Drema to finish my Wishful Sheep. Wow, talk about fast. I just put in the order on Tuesday night and received the silk plus Mirabilia Lilac with embellishments that I treated myself to last night! From order to in hand in two days! Awesome. I have no idea whan I will get to Lilac but I could not resist her...she is too beautiful to not stitch in my lifetime!

So I think there will be ABC stitching and QFRR stitching and Sheepie stitching and there should be some exchange stitching. My tushie is so being planted on the futon most of the weekend. There is responsibility stuff I should do too like housesitting stuff and errands and looking at new cars. I am very, very nervous about car shopping. I just want to look around and not be pressured and car salesmen have this reputation of being sharks. I don't want to be bullied into something I don't want. We'll see how things go. Plus, I think I need to squeeze in some fun outside stuff too. It will be one busy weekend but after such a crappy week, I am determined to have a great weekend.

I hope you all have a great weekend too!

Until next time...

When You Have Carrots...

You grab bags, throw in some potatoes and pears and hand them off to your co-workers!

Yup, I took the easy way out, asked my co-workers if they wanted carrots and they all said YES! After cleaning out my parents cupboards and fridge, I found potatoes and pears and my co-workers reaped the benefits of my dad being crazy and shopping at Costco for a 2-person household! He is *so* getting his Costco card revoked!

I did keep enough carrots to make a yummy carrot cake by the end of the week.

I have no stitching to show and frankly, it's been a rather difficult start to the week. It's not pleasant being in the role of caretaker girlfriend on what seems an indefinite basis and I'm quite fed up and ready to walk.

But enough unpleasantness...onto something exciting! All of stitchy blogland is talking about the Mary Wigham SAL.
I think this is a great idea and for this being an incredibly traditional sampler, which I'm usually not into, this calls to me for some reason. My plate is quite full at the moment so I think I'll sit back and see how everyone comes along and what ends up looking pretty neat. You can read more about Mary Wigham and the plight that these old samplers are going through on Needleprint. For the USA, Shari is the ringleader and she's created a Mary Wigham USA blog...go sign up if you want to participate in the SAL. All Needleprint asks for is a small donation for the free downloads. It goes towards a good cause...housing for the 219 year old Mary Wigham sampler and many others like hers that need special conditions to be displayed and cared for properly after so many years of age.

And I have a calling to techie bloggers out in blogland. How in the world do you get your blog list to come up with people's updated posts and the little pictures?! That looks cool and I searched and couldn't find out how you do it. Help! My blogroll needs a makeover and some major editing too! :)

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Well, it was a very busy weekend with lots of activity! The birthdaying and bon-voyaging all went well but it didn't leave very much time to stitch.

*The boy* turned the big 3-8 on Sunday. To celebrate, we headed to his beloved Franchino in North Beach for an awesome Italian dinner. Since he's a regular at this little family owned establishment, he was treated to a yummy dessert by the owner after the *entire* restaurant sang Happy Birthday to him! It was hysterical! *The boy* was very happy and as a bonus, he enjoyed the birthday presents I gifted to him. It seemed like everywhere we went, people were throwing free desserts at him. While incredibly yummy...I think I need to fast for the next week! I was supposed to take a picture of his birthday cake slice with candle but won't you know, I got all frazzled and forgot after said slice fell over onto the table twice! Ugh! Finally just had to lay the slice down on a bigger plate and slam the candle in it. At least it didn't fall on the table with a lit candle on it. There is always something to be thankful for! =)

The parentals made it to their destination with no problems other than forgetting their spending money! A daughter's job is never done! They had just gone through security when this discovery came to light so my stitchy Tuesday will be busy with taking care of that, laundry, cleaning out their fridge and taking out the garbage. I thought I could enjoy the week before the true housesitting duties kicked in but forgetful 80 year olds will always create more work for you, won't you know it!

With all the activity...very little stitching got done but I have finished as much of my Wishful Sheep as I could. I ran out of two colors so I cannot finish the cake. So there are missing stitches of Old Lace and Soft Black on the cake with a little rose backstitching and the birthday hat button still needs to be sewn on. So close!
I'm carting around the supplies to start my Christmas in July exchange. I am hoping to get to it sooner than later since it has a far distance to travel. Hopefully by the weekend, I can get a good amount of it done but you know what that means...Yup! No stitchy pictures for a bit unless I sneak some time on my ABCs. We'll see.

This week proves to be a busy one between work, housesitting and car research. I hope to stitch...my list of to-stitch's keeps getting longer and longer but not as long as my list of to-dos. I hope everyone had a happy weekend and you all have a nice week!

Until next time...

Edited: I started the refrigerator cleanout at my parent's on Saturday where I took home about 8lbs of carrots. How many carrots do two 80-year olds eat?! Jeezus! I am taking my dad's Costco card away!! Even after giving 10 carrots to my apartment manager...I still have a ton. If anyone can lead me to some good carrot recipes...help! I'm looking for a lowfat(ish) carrot cake recipe. I keep coming across many that call for over a cup of oil! Ick...Anybody want some carrots?! ;-)