Answers to Questions

Elisabeth (who does some fabulous embroidery - go check it out!) - I'm based in Sheffield, so I don't think I'm all that far from you :o) For less local readers of my blog, Sheffield is the famous 'steel city' and England's fourth largest city. It is very hilly, very green and overall, not a bad place to live and work, especially now it is beginning to recover from the collapse of manufacturing and mining.

Sheffield is full of culture - with two world class theatres, two world class universities, countless cinema screens, an annual literature festival, three art galleries, a museum, two football clubs - there's always something to find to do!

And culturally speaking - one mustn't forget The Full Monty - filmed on location in Sheffield, in some of the areas hardest hit my the end of the steel trade. I used to work next to the Jobcentre where the guys 'danced' in the queue in sign on - and I've had to visit there myself when I've been unemployed. No - they don't play music anymore!

Tammie asked who The Hermit is. It's my nickname for my partner, as I attempt some degree of anonymity for him. But here he is with Colin, one of our guinea pigs, having a snooze :o)


Thanks for your comments and questions, I'll always try and answer them, so do ask away!

Follow Your Heart - Lizzie*Kate

Design: Follow Your Heart
Designer: Lizzie*Kate
Threads: GAST
Fabric: 14 count aida, tea dyed by me

Another use for my tea dyed aida, this was a very quick stitch and will be a present for The Hermit, given that his heart led him over the Atlantic Ocean :o) I will finish this as a wall hanging, I have some fabric which co-ordinates nicely.

I changed the main colour from the charted blue to purple as I'm really not a 'blue' person at all! This disappoints The Hermit as it's his favourite colour, but it just doesn't appeal to me!

Happy Bunny Bunny Day - The Trilogy

Design: Happy Bunny Bunny Day
Designer: The Trilogy
Threads: GAST and DMC (own choices)
Fabric: 14 count aida, tea dyed by me

Ooops, I've just noticed I've still not stitched on the pink buttons for 'flowers' ...

This happy little bunny had some modifications made in terms of colours, and I picked out my initials in pink to personalise it - I was pleased with how that looked and I'll probably do something similar with Trilogy/Heart in Hand/Bent Creek charts with alphabets in future :o) The fabric is a 'one off' too - some boring cream aida in my stash got the tea treatment. Unlike others, I don't bake mine in the oven, but I 'set' the colour with a hot iron, and hope that the piece doesn't need washing!

I still haven't decided how to finish this (which is probably part of why the buttons haven't been added!) but I'm leaning towards a pillow, it's a little large for a pin keep :o)

Update

Our new computer is here, and it's working great - set up was so easy, we were offline for oooh, minutes!

Hopefully, over the next few days I'll be able to catch up with posting pictures of my recent projects, but I might have to wrestle The Hermit away from the PC... :o)

Update

I've not really been stitching since I finished Random Thoughts, but I have been knitting up a storm. Amber of the Stitch n Bitch group I go to pointed me in the direction of a monthly dishcloth KAL group, and I've been using the designs to make squares for a couple of blankets - with the cost of fuel rising so much, I can see a need for such things! With the dull, grey days and poor light we have, I'm finding knitting easier on my ageing eyes too! LOL

There will be pictures eventually, but I'm trying not to load anything to our computer at the moment, as we will be getting a new PC tower - hopefully this week, it is being built as I type :o) I don't want to upload stuff and then forget to copy it across - and anyway, the USB port I use for the camera cable is currently in use for the flash drive we're using to back up our hard disk. It's amazing - this computer is only (!) about nine years old, and it was upgraded about five years ago and we thought 8 Gb of memory wasn't bad - now 8Gb comes in a pen drive for about 20 quid, and the new PC will have 160Gb of space! It will also have Windows XP, so we can upgrade to Firefox 3.0 and I can back up my mobile phone and stuff - Win98 has served us well, but it's being left behind :o(

The new computer is primarily because The Hermit starts a degree course this month, in e-Communications and we needed a better system. A faster system will help with my studies too of course, but I can write essays on more or less anything as long as it lets me add footnotes :o) Heck, I can even use pencil and paper if I have too ... but having a new PC is exciting! It will be the first 'new to us' system we've ever had, but we're sticking with our second hand peripherals for now - no point in getting rid of things that are still working well :o) I do have 50% canny Scots blood after all ... LOL

I am back in the world of work from Thursday which is good news - the place I volunteered at last year have asked me to come in and do some paid work for them running a community based training project. Again, it's part time hours so I will still have some crafting time :o) Initially, it would only be for two months, but this could be extended, but it's dependent on funding and I know to my cost that that cannot be relied upon ... However, I also have an interview tomorrow for another part time position, this one is much more senior (and much better paid), is permanent and would be a good career move for me, although it would take me away from the arts field ... I'm lucky to be finding interesting positions to go for given the recession we're heading towards, but I always seem to land on my feet employment wise and I'm very grateful for that!

I've also been blessed with the most wonderful exchange from Joan but that deserves a post of its own, and I need to do a picture too ...

My Favorite Things - The Drawn Thread

Design: My Favorite Things
Designer: The Drawn Thread (Cynthia Zittel)
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count raw Cashel linen

Sorry about the fuzzy picture! Because it's quite long, it's hard to get a good picture of the whole thing, especially as I'm not a good photographer! This is the first 'full size' DT that I've stitched, and it's what got me hooked. I love the design, although that didn't stop me making a few alterations of my own...


A few Queen Stitches got the chop - I subbed in Smyrna crosses and eyelets instead, and after the alphabet, you can see that a bee appeared - also from a DT chart, to keep the style consistent, although I had to stitch it over one to fit the space. If a design is going to be called 'My Favorite Things' how can it not have a bee in it?


I like bunnies (which were on the original design) but I like sheep better! These were from DT's 'Generosity' design, and fitted in very well, although they are closer together than I would have really liked - but that's just me being very very picky! The vertical band on the left had its Queen Stitches subbed too. They are definitely not one of my favourite things! The initials belong to my partner and to my dearest friend.



The completed piece has been made into a bell pull and it is hanging in my hallway - which is too dark and small for me to get a decent picture. Just take my word for it, it looks really nice :o)

Make Much of Time - Historic Needlework Guild

Design: Make Much of Time
Designer: Historic Needlework Guild
Threads: Silks as charted
Fabric: 28 count linen

I finished the stitching for this early in the year, but it was only during my recent finishing frenzy that I constructed the final item! This was a kit I bought some time ago. The stitching was pretty straightforward, mostly over two with some over one lettering - I love the motto, I think it's one I try to live by :o) The construction was reasonably straightforward - the instructions were clear, but I backed the piece with lightweight iron-on interfacing before cutting, to reduce fraying. I'm glad I did, otherwise the gathering and stitching the strawberry 'hull' would have been trickier and even more messy than it was. I had to start it twice because the first attempt had bits of the stuffing caught in the spider web!

Om - Julie Hasler

Design: Om
Designer: Julie Hasler (from her book Fantasy Cross Stitch)
Threads: DMC Color Variations
Fabric: 28 count linen oddment

This was stitched over one in petit point to try out a DMC Color Variation thread. I'm not quite sure how to finish it - it was originally going to go in a card, but now I'm not so sure!

Bunny Hop - Brightneedle

Design: Bunny Hop Freebie
Designer: Brightneedle
Threads: DMC as charted
Fabric: 28 count evenweave, cream

I was going to make this into a scissor fob, but I decided to make it into a mini pinkeep, to co-ordinate with Tall Trees. The fabric you can see is the one I backed the pinkeep with.

August Update and September Goals

I had a pretty productive August, partly because of my contract at work ending (there's a silver lining to every cloud!) and partly because I was up in the early hours listening to the Olympics coverage ... it's amazing how much more can get done with a couple of hours extra each day!

Here's the final results - I think I'm going to give myself a medal ;o)

There's pictures to come, but I'm still having problems uploading. Hopefully, most of the issues will be solved when we get our new PC tower this week! We needed a new PC for The Hermit's course - and for mine too really, as the current one is old and slow and runs Win98 (!) so we decided to spend the money we'd saved for one and hope that I find work sooner rather than later :o) I do have an interview on Wednesday for a very good position (fingers crossed) and I've also been asked if I'd be interested in something else (nice job, not very good money, but acceptable) so the plan seems to be working :o) This week has definitely been an improvement on last - I was rather ill with the norovirus!

August Goals

• Quilt Block - Card Trick - done

• Quilt Block - Tumbling Blocks - umm, no. Oops!

• Card for The Hermit - done

• Gift for The Hermit - done - I made up the Ontario Heart into a pinkeep, as he is originally from there. I might re-do it though, I'm not entirely happy with it!

• Empty Mending Basket - not even looked at. It's just so much more fun to do decorative stuff than to take up a hem ...

• Birth Sampler - done - my sister loved it, and it's been framed and given to the proud mum.

• Monthly Finishing Challenge - Scissor Fob - done - although I didn't get my pic posted.

• Needleroll Exchange (HoE) - done - and it's been received.

• One Finish to Make Up - sixteen done - a trifle high on the 'over achieving' side, if I do say so myself! Mostly pinkeeps and floss tags from things I had in my stitched pile.

• One Framing Finish - this is sort of done. I've matched up some pieces with frames, but haven't done the mounting yet!

• One PIF Gift - done

• One UFO - three done - one was a large blackwork sampler, one a small cross stitch sampler and the other the crewel vase I've blogged about before.

• Random Thoughts - The Drawn Thread - done- this has to be my favourite finish of the year, I love it! I thought it would take me longer, but it really was simple to stitch, and a complete joy!

• Thread Fob (private exchange) - done

Goals for September

• Summer Into Autumn - The Drawn Thread - my next DT project. I've decided I'm always going to have one of these 'on the go' as they are so lovely to work on.

• Derbyshire - Heritage Stitchcraft - this is in danger of becoming a UFO again, and there's not a lot needed to finish it. Unfortunately, the stuff I have to do involves a lot of fractionals and back stitching, my two least favourite things.

• HoE Prairie Schooler Exchange - actually, most of this is done...

• Crazy Exchange Birthday Exchange
  

• Empty mending basket - I really should do this. It's embarassing...

• HoE Halloween Exchange - I have the chart, so just need to get going...

• One item 'finished' - yes, there's still plenty in the pile!
  

• One item framed - no excuses this month!
  

• One UFO - there's not exactly a shortage to choose from round here...