Stitching Diva

Well i did some more of love notes i went back to the top and filled in single stitches and did some more of her hair I find her very soothing to stitch

the mystery sampler starts tomorrowish and i don’t have my silks until next week sometime..

i am going to pick through my HDF’s and hope i can find something that i can add in to the mix that actually fits the combo i went with.. i make life so hard for myself…
talking about HDF’s i got 2 more mystery hanks which are 50 yards one is a midish grey , very nice but just not something i will use.. if anyone thinks they will have a use for 50 yards of mid grey HDF sort of 414 dmc equivalent but a bit lighter , but not as light as 169… if that helps
My Silk weaver fabs turned up and i LOVE wandering Ivy, i am so glad i finally bought a piece i have coveted it for ages, apart from porcelain i would have to say it is my fav silkweaver fab so now i have the fabric for Birch fairy… but not the floss so i am still safe from temptation
a big to sonya for sending me mor echocolate.. but i am bad.. they are ALL gone i can resist wrapped up blocks ( hence most of Vikky’s stash is still in the cupboard ) but loose chocs sitting there smiling at me was fatal especially the one that came from the Alberto kitchen yummmmmm
the item i am resisting buying today is … well actually there are a few all at Volarium..
are the mini designs from a new finnish designer Periphaeria
I especially like Tribe and The Courtyard of Alambria, there are also 3 new mags on the site i am coveting but especially the new Blackwork edition of Mains and Merveilles
spose i should go and stitch Elenia.. been frogging her a lot… i seem to have had a brain fade on how to stitch more than a single stitch of colour i ghave frogged her sleevemore than any other part of her EXCEPT the bodice, which is also bigger blocks of the same colour.. go figure
and finally Belinda has a new bookmark in her Assissi bookmark series..all her freebies can be found here i love the new spring one, the flower silhouettes are perfect

I decided enough was enough this weekend and started my 1 ply on 0.75mm needles knitting using 1 ply of HDF silk… yes that is 1 of the six strands …
its fun.. truly i can see some sceptics or septics as my mum’s friend would say..
yes it is a challenge, but hey whats life without challenges, thats why we stitch haeds etc
the BIG challenge comes when you either
a) drop a stitch… it was at that moment when a stitch dropped down 4 rows i thanked hours i spent working in a knitting shop fixing knittinge errors.. i often had to unpick a stitch 10-15 rows down and fix a missed stitch then pick all the stitches up again, all without pulling back the rows…
fyi when knitting with 1 ply no 28 needles are a real help picking up  escaped stitches
b) mucking up the cream pattern is a bad bad deal … i had to unravel two rows, one stitch slipped over another stitch … one by one…. correct one stitch out of place ( yes it had to be done or the geometric pattern would not work)
but here is the sad picture to show you…
it took a while to work out how to scan oneish inch of curled up stitching and i apologise for how blurry it is but the needles were in the way ..

that is about 30-32 rows worth there…
don’t expect a finish any time soon..lol
now i am back to Elenia for the week i have not touched for about 8 days
I think i have chosen the colours for my mystery sampler the  conversion to silks collection of Just nans Mermaid heart from HDF with the additon of a yellow and a tangerine ( not sure about the tangerine it might get the flick) I decided after agonising for ages , trust me we are talking wasted hours here and making poor paul who did not give a rats…. comment on various collections of threads
I then wasted a ridiculous amount of time redoing my wish list.. it isn’t finished yet.. i have not done non sampler/haed/cc charts… there are a few that fall into that category, or fabs/fibres/accessories, i was giving myself a headache AND i figured i needed to have something done over the weekend except a new wishlist and some silks
the new link is in the blog roll thing on the side..
and i know i have missed some i was having problems getting images of some things.
I laughed at those of you who think that cos i gave pauly some of my chocolate stash that he might buy me the peacock chair…. ( there is an example of a nonsampler/haed/cc chart lol) he would want a lot more choc before he would do that… though i was thinking i could say pauly.. can i have the peacock chair OR..THIS
and now whilst i have it in my head.. beening meaning to post this link for a week.. Non aussie girls who have read my mentions of May Gibbs, snuggle pot and cuddlepie…
check these out this who i have been talkking about
 

look i am actually showing a stitching picture in my stitching blog… heavens above!!
I decided i needed girly pink stitching this week so i spent a day playing with her
the fab is PR’s white even weave 32ish count and it is 1×1 ( of course)

The Beautiful Vikky sent me a stash of chocolate yesterday.. which should last until i get to haigh after easter.. given easter is in the way …
Vikky… paul looked so sad i gave him the choc orange ones had to be them he doesn’t like dk choc.
I am going to devote some of my time this weekend to redoing my wishlist it is messy scrappy and i don’t like it at all.. not sure what i am doing about it but it will be new … lol
and thats it.. nothing interesting or uninteresting or vaguely interesting to talk about..
goodness i am boring today!!

didn’t blog yesterday cos i didn’t have anything to say…
don’t have anything to say today either really, so heavens knows where this one will ramble to
I don’t even have any pictures, been stitching a CC model, and there are no pictures of those as you know…
Not sure what to stitch for my SAL today… sort of tossing up between continuing for another week on alien cat or doing Love Notes.. i guiess when i sit down to start one of them will be in my hand
can you tell i am in a mood??lol
I signed myself up and Nancy for her birthday tomorrow ( i hope it is tomorrow … not doing well on remembering birthdays atm… more about that later) for the new Martina Day Sampler Mystery.. and it would seem i have enabled a few on the BB as well now..
I could not go past it for 11 euros especially as there is no postage as it is a download class, most of her samplers with postage converted from euros to AUD would make my hair stand on end.
so anyway the mystery sampler is a companion to the tsunami mystery she did, which i missed and of course is no longer available, but thats ok, like i will ever get this one done anyway…lol… and the link is HERE i have been playing around with colour assortments from HDF this morning i have a disease where by i can’t do what the colour charts says for samplers… its a strange debilitating, expensive disease..lol… sort of been thinking about going out of my pink/purple/blue  comfort zone and heaven forbid trying the other side of the colour spectrum…. is that like scary or what.. bet i can’t do it… bet i go back to safe familiar ground… me stitching autumn tones for a sampler seems a bit out there …

I missed my friends Vix’s birthday.. i thouight it was the 28/29th emailled her to say damn it i can’t remember which it is.. she replied..18th…..
I felt so awful , it will be the first time i have not stitched her a gift.. and gone with a store bought present..
i will give her my last secretly hoarded piece of HAEE coffee bean soap i had been saving for emergencies when i needed a mega boost and 2 hanks of the Knittery Plum 8 ply, should be enough for her to knit a nice scarf, she is a real knitter along with designing and making the most amazing bags and quilts, but i still feel bad….
which leads to the question whose birthday is on the 28th/29th Asa and kerry are the 31st but  I knew that it is on my list…
i also lost my address book… that reminds me.. anyone i should have the address of , ie i have sent you stuff or you have sent me stuff, can you email me your addy’s.. no joke i looked every known place, had to email sharon to ask for nancy’s address again… second time i have done it .
Needle in a Haystack is having a sale from the 22nd.. i really want to order some more legacy linen, i am meant to be saving for my melbourne football extravaganza in April.. where i finally get to buy some more chocolate from haigh ( been having withdrawals from dark choc caramels), but …. the desire for more 30 ct dower quality legacy linen, and a desire to check the 34 ct out is eating away at me slightly..
lets face it i will cave i have no discipline, and as i am out bid on every ACEO i want these days i have extra money anyway… could you hear the pout in my voice… i find artists, can afford their originals then POOF they take off and i am left behind, good for them, sad for me
CCKuik is finally back home she has sent me the most wonderful pictures of her mum cooking all the traditional Chinese new year foods and the food they ate etc.. she went home for 6 ish weeks for the new year celebrations and to see her family, she says she wil start painting again next week ( that bit was for you nance if you are reading my blog i know you have been wondering)
talking of food, I love cooking mnags, i thinki have mentioned that before, I get a subscription to delicious… which has a great tassie food feature this month if any one is interested… plus occasionally grab others at the supermarket .. anyway pretty much all my fav Aussie mags have gotten together and now have a website, and now all the recipes from the mags are there… i can totally voucjh for the recipes, our diet is based mainly on recipes from these mags and even paul can follow them..here is the link TASTE
look for the Spring Minestrone recipe… we love it.. i wrote a review… lol
and on that note i will bid you farewell as i have rambled long enough

ok onto the serious stuff at hand..
My CC SAL pic and a link.
I only got about 5 hours of stiching in yesterday between everything else, i am feel ing the pinch of the RR due date coming soon and i need to get some more stitches in that , plus a gift for my friend Vix for her birthday, i did some more hair, and some more background, i need 2 colours to fill in gaps in the hair… It is Hearts Choice Macro from Character Creations stitched on 1×1 PR linen in case anyone needs reminding

i am sure Becky is waaaaaay further ahead than me…
now next is a lin to some blackwork and canvas work to die for..
if you love cats enter at your own risk..
Dakota Always in Stitches
now go to the products page…
i love just about everything…
but my favs are Lacey Ladies, Chorus Line, Circle of friends and Brahms
i am a bit disappointed that there are charts exclusive to the classes, i seriously doubt she is going to jet to tassie and hold a class with me… pout like check out Strawberries and cream on the classes page… !!!!
anyway that is the end of show and tell  did i do good today??

i admit i belly laughed when he said this the other day.
Saturday Morning the New Ravenscrofts were released, i was doing the chart detail thing when Paul was waiting for us to go do the shopping so he came in to look at what i was doing…
I showed him the new Ravenscroft images…

He said , and this is a direct quote..
“cool.. they look like nymphomaniacs”
i paused… turned and looked at him and said…WHAT????
and he said they look like nymphomaniacs…
long pause from me… quizzical expression ummmm do you know what nymphomaniac means?? What makes them look like nymphomamiacs..

about now he twigged he might have gotten the word wrong, he meant nymphs , minus the omaniac bit.. he just thought they looked like cute little girl fae without much clothing and stuff ( his words again) …
so there you go .. linda ravenscroft paints nymphomaniacs…. sigh

double sigh i spose he is a mathamatician by training…
i sometimes wonder what words he gets wrong whe i am not around..
but is still isn’t as bad as my collegue who taught sex education at my school he took the one class i didn’t take for the subject.. who thought flaccid was another word for erect.. i will leave you to
A ) ponder the implications in a sex ed class of that piece of misinformation, and
B) wonder how long it took us at the dinner party where we discovered his misunderstanding of the meaning of the word before any one was able to breathe normally again from the hysterical laughter…

 i will post a stitching entry later today with my CCSAL picture

It is that time of the Month again…

sal people wondering why they can not access the CC Message board please read kerry’s comment in the comment section of this post
Despite much campaigning by a group of norty pixies, lead by Sonya/Sue ( interchangeable) trying to get me to stitch Birch Fairy i am stitching my Curly red head again this month… though i do admit if my Wandering Ivy fab i ordered to see if i liked it as a back ground had arrived and i had worked out a floss fairy ( yes Sue i know i need to sort myself out asap) i would have been tempted.. i know i am fickle…

just in case anyone needed a memory jog of the pitiful amount i did
I had a brain stornm yesterday and ordered the AMAP Victoria Quaker as soon as it appeared on the HDF site.. i did only order the chart, not the silks for it as i like quakers in a single colour or the shades of one colour.. and also cos my chances of starting it in the next 5 years seem zero.. did anyone mention Purple Sampler…
i also ordered Caribbean Splash for the Cheryl’s Bouquet tribute sampler… like i will ever have time to stitch it… sigh i used up some of my posting points too and bought two miscellaneous hanks of whatever silk … thats how i got the lovely red shade for Nicki for her Birthday

the end of the week seems to be a bad tie for me resistance wise..

oh and are Paula and i the only two who can not get on to the CC message board??

so i was easily swayed by peer pressure and started Alien Cat SK for Amos for the wednesday SAL.. i have about 16 months to finish it for his 5th birthday…

let me just say, 905,906,907 are not colours i would normally stitch.. it was a shock to the eyes! stitched on 32 ct jobelan solo 1×1

 I am joining us up for Austar today i think…our tv reception is so bad most of the time and talking to some people with similar problems they do better watching austar so i think we are going for it today.. paul has been hard to sway as he just lives on sci fi DVD’s and cricket updates on the computer.. though i think the appeal of being able to watch big series like england vs whomever on austar in the future has been a major factor of bringing him around..

interesting links..
i knew about this site but had forgotten.. easy to do there are so many, it is a blackwork site Berlin Embroidery Designs well it has other stuff but the blackwork is the highlight imo.. check out the blackwork etui!
also anyone who likes eterna silks they are having 10 % off until the end of the weekend.. i stillhave my voucher i need to commit to a silk project.. and one that is easy to convert.. neither HDF or Eterna can convert the Kaleidoscope chart completely yet.. grump.. so i will put it back on the back burner until vikki finishes her HDF to DMC list.. so now i am on the prowl for another one i can convert

a link for redwork sampler fans is next… Labrinth by Mariska The french Needle is a cool site to play on .. some interesting samplers
i have another sampler but i am not linking it and hoping one of you doesn’t come across it as i want to stitch it for you and i am sure if i link it you will have to go buy it….
lol i love obscure clues like that

i hope everyone is ready for the Character Creations SAL this weekend… I am and NO i am not starting Birch fairy i need my fab to arrive and to get off my butt and organise a floss fairy i am starting to run out of colours

just incase anyone was starting to wonder..
i just had to regroup after the trip and i really didn’t have much to say..
it rained… no surprise it always rains when Paul and i even look at our tent..
the scenery was beautiful, a bandicoot sat beside pauls foot at the campsite one night snacking on the bits and pieces of “stuff” that paul had eaten and dropped .. it was so cute he had no idea it was there and i could not tell him till it moved away a bit as paul is one of those people if you say something moves all of his body to turn and reply and he would have kicked it for sure.. bandicoots are very cute

 i stitched another ornie and a bit so now i am ahead on that SAL and started the next shawl using the gorgeous kelim from The Knittery ( scroll down a few posts to see the colour of the yarn). The Ornie i completed the stitching on is a Gift of Stitching freebie, french sampler inspired heart 1×1 on 32 ct oyster belfast ( thankyou Jan) from Country stitch using the yummy pomegranite silk from Gloriana, the one i then started was another freebie from Gift of stitching, again it will be a heart but with peacocks on it, i am using grapevine HDF silk 1×1 for that one. The pretty slight orange/pink varigation through the red in the pomegranite dos not show up really … sigh
I also have update pics of Sugar Magnolia after the SAL  on the BB, i stitched her on friday before i left, and i have a pathetic update pic of Elenia, i finished off her skin and the pink/purple lace trim and started the sleeve of her dress and the bit of background betwixt bodice and sleeve, so back to either background or the final jewel trim next time i guess…

so lots of pics below….

have weeks when you should just stay in bed and try again the next monday??
don’t read if you don’t want to put up with my self pity

well actually Monday was ok i shouldn’t dis monday, the only thing that day was the headache that would not go away..
Tuesday i went to put my shoe on to go play tennis and my pathetic back went and i spent the day in a neurofen plus induced haze and doing stupid back exercises endlessly, i had to miss the gym which i hate and muffy and my walk was not the worlds most wonderful walk, poor puppy. Then when paul got home he announced that the dates we had been planning to go to melbourne were not on ( we had planned them for like 2 weeks) because he just remembered it was the start of Golf pennant for the year… of course my holiday should be put on hold for his dumb golf.. thing is i had bee in the process of booking during the day when the computer threw a tantrum, so if i had booked HE would have sooked like it was all my fault… and whined the whole trip about how he was missing out on golf…

Wednesday back started to improve thank goodness but the headache was back and my bad ankle was so swollen i could not bend it ( eye roll why i ask , when i had done no exercise the day before would it swell….)
the holiday issue  meant paul had to change his holiday request details which of course he forgot to do… (MEN)..
then i have the BB thing… of course heaven forbid i should mention that …
And then paul sulked all night cos i got a  tetchy about him not changing his holiday dates, which meant i ended up crying cos a tetchy paul is a mean paul
this morning my back is sore again , i fell over walking the dog, landedin a heap in the gutter crying with the dog jumping on me thinking i was playing then worried cos i was crying  and now my left ankle is as swollen as my right ankle ( spose i am balanced now) and we have missed out on the discount flights because the world stops for golf.. and now he will sulk cos we have to stay in a cheaper hotel…
hence my medicating with shopping…
i need to sort my body out i am going to Strahan ( chose this link for the yummy food pics lol, but if you click on the left links there are some lovely pics) on saturday for two nights in the tent.. also strahan villiage link i will be hopeless if my back hurts and my ankles don’t work, the sooner i get to see the specialist the better ( it will be a long 5 months i think)

ok sook over i just needed to whine for a bit…. Paul doesn’t like to think about my body falling to pieces this way so he tends to ignore it or say childish things about me being soft… he comes from the osterich in the sand school of dealing with stuff

My Rainbow band sampler chart turned up yesterday , it looks wonderful it is LONG
111 x 761 stitches so on 32 ct it would be  3 1/2 ish inches by 24ish inches  so more than a FQ but that is ok as i have some wonderful cream sienna linen i have been hoarding from Sue.. or i could do it on 36 ct whcih would make the length about 21 inches.. BUT i am not starting it so stop even thinking about it…
Ina is a wonder though i can’t believe how quickly it came
i think i might redo my wishlist.. thing is i thought i would try the notefish thing others on th BB had done and … SIGH… i can not for the life of me work out how to do it, usually i can work these things out, but not this one.. i have tried everything my blonde brain can think of and no luck so far…
well sorry if you made it this far… i promise i will go back to more interesting things like stash next post