Mystery XI

The topic for this BIG Mystery is a "Celtic Garden" -think of a maze perhaps - a forest, trees and plants, ferns.Celtic Symbols hidden in the green.The Moon...the Stars-gold and silver Metallics - silks in all greens the nature provides,beads, crystals and a certain mystic touch

Ungh...will not buy, will not buy, must resist!

I love all things celtic and ungh. I also love all things victorian so I'm going to enjoy this mystery but oh....

Maybe if I'm still feeling rich and adventurous this time next year?

Pay It Forward

Here's the basic idea:
First five people to comment on this entry, get a little present in the mail at some point in the next year with something stitched especially for them, and a few other surprises, and I'll try and personalise it.
The only catch is this - you post something like this in your blog, or offer it to people you know in other ways if you don't have a blog with much traffic.

So if you'd like to leave a comment, go for it!

SBQ - Waste Knots

How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically,
do you or have you ever used a waste knot?

no, I haven't. I find them rather useless, and much prefer the loop start method if I'm working with two threads, and if I'm not I weave my start end under the same way I weave the finish end under.

Froggy Frog World 5%

And here it is after this marathon amount of stitching recently. Over half this next row of blocks is done now (how's that for half a week - think I can get it all by friday? Yeah right but a girl can dream)

It's over 5% done now, which I'm very pleased with.

Me go fall over now.

*pokes rotation again*

Okay here's ANOTHER take on it...bad kyrie...
but I needed to make Froggy Frog World have more of a prominant position or Troy will go nuts (it's for him). Besides, I want to see the actual frog part of it!

ROTATION:
beginning of each month rotation is put aside and chatelaine part is done before any other stitching, then rotation recommences
Froggy Frog World is focus piece, and 3000 stitches on it (30 rows) is alternated with:

1. Medium sized - currently Hope angel, probably Faith next, then Love (50 rows across width)
   
2. non-HAED BAP - currently Noon Basking (needs more fabric), probably Midnight Hunting next (needs chart, fabric and kit - my one major expense) (amount to be finalised)
   
3. QS or similar - currently Periwinkle Fae, Red Witch next - maybe Geisha Fae after (1 page)

I tend to be a bit sneaky anyway and when I get too frustrated with a piece I put it down and move onto the next project, then come back to it and pick it up when I can face it again. It helps, and stops me getting in too much of a slump.

phew!

I just finished a stitching marathon - lost track of time.

500 stitches since I finished the 2nd row of blocks...over 1000 stitches since Friday. And I didn't get much stitching done over the weekend!

I stopped because my fingers were starting to protest insanely (my thumb has now gone numb) and I'll probably pay for it tomorrow but it's awesome to see it all come together. 10x10 blocks ARE the best way to tackle the glitter, which I hadn't figured out, but it's true. Especially when the glitter has colour mixed in, I just keep a single glitter thread threaded up for each row and work 10 stitches at a time, working down, then continue with the next block. It's a lot faster, and my tension is better too. I'm about 70 stitches off finishing this page worth of this row of 10x10 blocks but I can't keep stitching tonight, I'll fall asleep with my stitching in my lap. The frogs are looking lovely, or the background is anyway (no frogs to be seen at all in this rotation's worth - it sucks) and I'm glad to be working on them. The glitter/background part of it's almost done for this row (well, the first part - the last entire page is glitter) which is good, soon moving on to colour and flowers and prettyness.

*stumbles off to crash*

Threads for ornaments:

As it stands:
Belinda - rainforest (dinky dyes)
Kyrie - sapphire (dinky dyes)
Troy - topaz (dinky dyes)

Random stitchy things

I've been in the General HAED SAL this weekend, which has been fun though I haven't had as much time to stitch as usual, grr. I did (almost) finish the two little cutesy things for Caitlin (troy's niece) though, including a heckuva lot of backstitching, so I'm pleased with that. I'll try scanning them later, and show them off, when I've got the ? on one stitched (I forgot it) and figured out how to do french knots. Does anyone have a good guide on them? My mum can't do them and I can't figure them out! I need them for the . part of the ?s on the two pieces (they have verses to go with them) and it's bugging me. They're absolutely adorable though, so I'll be proud to give them to her for Christmas.

And we're getting name trees for our this year ornaments! Mum buys my sister and I an ornament each each year, so that we make the tree our own and also we have ornaments for our tree when we're first married and have no money to buy ornaments with. I tend muchly towards angels, of just about any kind (I have cloth ones, wire ones, crystals...) but name trees are just so awesome that I can't pass them up. Mum never got around to getting us one last year so we'll buy one to add this year, but we'll get the trees too and they'll give me a good "car project" for the 9 hour drives to&from my grandmother's place when it's a bit hard to work on a HAED or chatelaine etc. I thought I'd fork out for Troy's as well, so then he and I can have matching ones for our tree one day. Blue for mine (maybe a dinky dye? I'll be lucky...), green for Troys, probably a pale green for Bindi, it'll be her choice anyway. And I thought I'd put the 2006 tree on the back to make it that bit more special.

Mum had periwinkle out to show someone and has misplaced it somewhere in the chaos that is our house currently (missing half our carpet/furniture in our living room does that) which is annoying (I was thinking of going back and finishing her off, then coming back to the frogs) but oh well, if I get too sick of the frogs before I finish this section on them (I've almost finished the 2nd row of blocks, yeah!! but I need 3 *sigh*) I'll just swap onto my angel then come back.

Troy's gone home now, so more time to stitch I suppose. I should really get back to it.

Froggy Frog World Week 4

Stats:
Started: 20 October 2006
Total Stitches: 141,300
Stitches Done:

• 23/10/06 - 1600
• 10/11/06 - 3008
• 17/11/06 - 4726
• 24/11/06 - 5613

Money? I have money?

Martina just published the materials list for Mystery X...and ECC now has the kit...

I bought it.

$220 American. I don't know what that is in $AU, I don't think I want to.

But I can't wait to see the kit...I'm going to be watching my postbox now!

Materials picture for Mystery X

Lookit THIS!!!! *drool*

all those lovely colours...and variegated threads and beads and metallics and...

can't wait!

Froggy Frog World Week 3

Here it is again, posting late because for some reason I've had no motivation to stitch all weekend. Which I don't understand, but oh well. Sometimes it's just like that. I've started a bit more on the big purple flower, and the fronds left of the middle are starting to be a bit more defined which is nice. It still looks like a lot of nothing though, so I'm going to be glad when I get a bit more in! This lot of rows of ten has a few fronds of that purple flower in it, so at least it will add a bit more colour, but it's still just glitter thread for the majority. Not that there's really anything wrong with that - except the expense!


And here's a closeup of the only really interesting part so far, all these soft colours that make up those fronds that you can see coming out. It takes a lot longer to really see anything on this than on a QS, but for the effect it creates it's very, very worth it. Hopefully there will really be something to see next time I post a picture of it!

It's a Froggy Frog World - (c) Jody Bergsma & HAED
Stats:
Started: 20 October 2006
Total Stitches: 141,300
Stitches Done:

• 23/10/06 - 1600
• 10/11/06 - 3008
• 17/11/06 - 4726
  

Next year & long term stitching plans

I was chatting to Bec tonight about what I was thinking about doing with stitching in the next year or so, and planning it out over the course of the conversation.

What I was thinking was that I've got the chatelaine to do next year, and that will cost me quite a bit kit-wise, so I can't afford to start many new pieces. I need to get my current ones done, but wasn't sure what to do afterwards. So here's the plan as of today (not including buying very many, if any, charts)

ROTATION:
beginning of each month rotation is put aside and chatelaine part is done before any other stitching, then rotation recommences

1. Medium sized - currently Hope angel, probably Faith next, then Love
   
2. non-HAED BAP - currently Noon Basking (needs more fabric), probably Midnight Hunting next (needs chart, fabric and kit - my one major expense)
3. QS or similar - currently Periwinkle Fae, Red Witch next - maybe Geisha Fae after
4. HAED BAP - currently Froggy Frog World, Flights of Fish Fancy next

My goals for next year would probably be to keep up with the chatelaine, finish at least two angels, finish restart of Noon Basking and seriously start Midnight Hunting, finish two QS charts and finish Froggy Frog World. I think I'm probably being overly ambitious, but I think if I try hard enough I could do it. We'll see.

SBQ for this week

Do you stitch Christmas ornaments? If so, how many do you stitch each
year and for whom? If not, why not?

No I don't, I think I've just never bothered. I'd rather buy ornaments, all different ones, and noone I know would really appreciate them I think! I'm thinking about doing the name trees for myself, bindi and troy next year though, but just because they're awesome.

Lookit what I did!

I just completely made over my blog, with a bit of sneaky use of the blogger click and drag tools and lots of use of photobucket.

And I'm very proud. Now to just sit back and enjoy it :)

Bad Kyrie (or, Kyrie bought a Chatelaine)

I finally caved, and last night I paid for the chart of Mystery X. Which I won't even get to see the first part of for another month and a half, but that might be half the fun of it I think.

It was the description that got me - I love the idea of a Victorian design, especially a garden-y one. So I'll be working on something beautiful and sparkly all of next year. Wonder if I can count it as backup for my Craft (school subject) work? Probably. I'll be learning specialty stitches and new techniques and all sorts of other good things won't I?

I'm thinking I'll do this one at least in the silks. I know I could do a DMC conversion version but the purist in me is willing to fork out the ridiculous amount for all the silks, and fork out for them I will. I am not going to be buying anything else with the money I get for Christmas this year am I? Nope didn't think so.

Will probably mean re-jigging my rotation, but I'm going to have to do that when I go back to school anyway so I don't think that will be too much of a hardship. Will be nice to have a project all 'time managed' for me anyway - a part a month, so if I get the chatelaine done before I work on anything else then I'll be making a serious goal each month, and that will make me feel good.

Anyway...it will be beautiful...so who cares!

Thinking of restarting Noon Basking

Yes...you did actually hear me right. The BAP that I'm 3/4 of the way through...I'm thinking of restarting.

When I cut the fabric originally, I left 1&1/2 inch allowance around the thing...and it's frayed...and it's going to be impossible to frame. On top of this, it's got a chocolate stain that I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to get out, I didn't start it in the middle like I should have, and the tension's funky.

Hence I'm thinking of restarting. It's piece no. 2 in my rotation and I'm currently still working on 3&4 so it'll take a while to get to it and have to make my decision, but I'm getting more and more sure that I need to. Which is a shame but I'm not sure that he'll ever make me happy in the state he's in.

*sigh*

Froggy Frog World - 10 rows

I just had to post a picture - It's now 10 rows across the entire piece, as well as a few extra 10x10 squares and assorted bits and pieces. The important thing is the 10 row bit, as I'm now determined to be a bit more logical about my 'plan of attack'.

This next row is the beginning of a huge flower that takes up most of two pages, so it should be fun to have a bit of variety. Lots of lovely purples, and glitter thread on the flower too! which seems a little odd, but I'm sure it will look gorgeous.

One final note - I think I need to take out shares in DMC's light effects...10 rows in and I've already used more than half a skein of it!

Froggy Frog World week 2

Here are the frogs - there's actually a bit more to the glitter on the right but there isn't much there and it got cut off in the photo. See all the glitter?? I'm actually vaguely enjoying the glitter on this, I think because it's in large slabs rather than annoying bits and pieces (a la Periwinkle)
I love these pictures because they make me stand back properly and look at the picture rather than the stitches - you can see the bits and pieces of the colour coming together.


And here's a closeup of that corner section that's 3 10x10 blocks deep

It's a Froggy Frog World - (c) Jody Bergsma & HAED
Stats:
Started: 20 October 2006
Total Stitches: 141,300
Stitches Done:

• 23/10/06 - 1600
• 10/11/06 - 3008
  

Periwinkle Fae Week 5

After consulting the HAED BB I ended up putting her down and moving on to working on my frogs instead, and I figure I'll come back to her and finish the page when it's time to move on from my frogs or when I get sick of working on my frogs, whichever comes first. She has a face and some eye now! So pretty... And that bud on the left is starting to show properly, which is kind of nice. It's good looking at the pictures in here because they make me take that step back from my work and see just how much I've got done. All the fairy's done for this page, just a half open flower (that's what the right stem is for), the rest of that bud, and a very slightly open bud to go on this page. And waaaay too much glitter, but that's okay. It wil get done. I'm actually sort of missing my dragon, so it will be good to get through the rotation to him again. Weird to think I'd miss him, given I worked on him for 11 months straight and almost went nuts!




Periwinkle Fae - (c) Nadia Tate & HAED
Stats:
Started: 29 September 2006
Total Stitches: 31,350
Stitches Done:

• 6/10/06 - 1503
• 13/10/06 - 2655
• 20/10/06 - 3688
• 27/10/06 - 4315
• 3/11/06 - 5310
  

Why do I keep picking glittery charts?

5,300 stitches of 8000 (roughly) for this page in, but the rest is confetti, which is alright with a few nice block-ey bits as well to even it out - no such luck, or worse yet GLITTER! I think I need to take out shares in DMC's metallics or kreinik, given I keep buying (and starting) charts with masses of the stuff in them. Why oh why oh why...

In happier news I bought the few threads I was missing and filled in all those holes, so it's a much more polished and rich look and the leaves look beautiful. And I worked down that side that I'd been leaving for goodness knows what reason and gave her some cheek, more hair and a bit of an eye! And that eye just gives me hope.

I'll post a picture tomorrow, showing that I've got all of the fairy done for this page (yay!) and a little more for the next page, due to my obsession with not breaking rows of colour that continue over the page.

Weirdly enough I'm starting to miss my angel, and all the solid colour dmc and lack of expanses of glitter. And I've got another glittery project to get through before I get to her...maybe I should rethink my rotation. Just kidding, but I'll be glad to get through the big blocks of glitter on the frogs too. At least they have more colour than glitter.

Speaking of glitter and frogs, I'm thinking of "frogging" (ha, ha) the glitter on them...I don't like the tension that I got with it and I'm thinking I might use kreinik after all, it's less "white" than the dmc I'm using. The picture I took after the SAL is down the page...anyone that reads this (if there is anyone!) what do you think?