Stitching Diva

well 2 pictures anyway.. lol..
first up is my tranq sampler.. i did the whole scanning in bits , cropping to the same dimensions, using the photostitch program, etc etc etc thing this week , sort of cropped a stitch or two off the bottom cos it was not quite straight but what the hey

next is my pretty in pink girl Love Notes.. she had been feeling neglected and leapt out at me when i opened the cupboard to take out a model to stitch on wednesday i actually did a fair bit.. it was my most productive stitching day wednesday …
cos it has been so long.. it is done 1×1 on Passione riccamo evenweave linen

a few new things that caught my eye on the web are
the new Long Dog called Scarlet Ribands i really like it , possibley with The token it is my favourite long Dog chart…
and for what ever reason i really think this new addition to the french country series by JBW is adorable.. i really have a soft spot for this series French Country ABC’s

but bestest of all is the Red letter ornaments from Blue Ribbon designs.. another series i love is the inscription samplers by them and this is a lovely extension of the idea

i am vwery eclectic in the things i pick out to highlight aren’t i!!
and before i go.. did you all click on the link Lindy left in the comments section of my last blog entry…if not.. go back and do so… it is for the mostest adorabubble little multilegged creature, and even if you are not into amigarumi crochet , the pic is precious..

thankyou lindy

just a quickie to show off my pretty mermie..
i was going to be able to show you pictures of my knitting as well, but paul forgot to bring the camera home , so the 4 ply wool cashmere diamond pattern scarf in the reds colourway has gone to its home without a photo..
he PROMISES they will take a picture … but i think they will be way too distracted with the memorial service and various dinner etc to remember … fingers crossed
so anyway here is my purple girl

i did not quite finish that eye the bottom eyelid only has the right corner , but you get the idea..
and now Ching Chou has painted Peachy silk mermaid and she is just awesome, she did a blue one , whom i like , but Peachy is breathe taking.. i need her to go beside my purple girl.. and as i said to nance if she does a pink one.. well i am really in trouble..
2 quick mentions one to Colours Down Under, i can not believe how quickly my Mary Anne chart arrived from WA must have been a strong tail wind there!!
and If you order the JCS ornie issue form Needle Little Love it is free shipping on the whole order and i know for Aussie girls that is an extra bonus as the AUD is very attractive against the Singapore dollar, and Jean is a Lovely lovely lady to deal with oh and to keep the mag company i ordereda little chart i have had sitting on my wish list there since she added it to her pages..  Bonne Peche by Isabelle Vautier ( whose work i adore)

oh and i am an orphan .. Paul left this morning ( wednesday) for the memorial service and numerous get togethers etc and i will not see him until Sunday Night.. i had to stay home and look after the animals and myself as i am not really well enough to travel atm with my muscles and new meds not cooperating all that well… but i am ok before anyone worries honest i am

next updaye will be of Love Notes.. who jumped up and grabbed me when i went to collect my Model out of the closet..

lol….
i can not fit tranquility sampler into the scanner anymore..
yes i can use my photostitch program and stitch it together but i am not doing that everyweek… too much hassle for this lazy person..
so i will only update every second or third week until it is done now, so no picture this week.. and whats more i had it done before 3 pm yesterday ( saturday) a new record the new motif was gorgeous

sorry

I am stitching Purple silk mermaid background so i will update that picture in the next few days… and hopefully i will have knitty pics on wednesday or thursday if Paul rememebrs the digital cmaera from work ( do not hold your breathe!!)
i had an attack of the clicky finger yesterday and accidentally ordered 2 charts.. one of which it would seem not many people knew had been released … it has caused a minor stir on the HDF message board as other people want it too..
it is called Mary Anne and it is by Monasterium designs, the designer who did cossima and clarissa the wierd thing is i found it on and Aussie ONS and i truly have not found it at any other ONS in cyber world
whilst i was at it i also ordered this chart from The Cats Whiskers a perfect chart to stitch as a gift IMO make sure you click on the make larger links as they are really good  big pics so you can see the details

oh and whilst typing this i cam across this ,Honour thy needle pyramid Etui, which will be released at the hershey Cats … how stunning, Ilove the stuff that Jo is helping distribute now, not just the Carts whiskers stuff, but all the dsigners she has on her site now

i needed a break again for a while so i stitched purple silk mermaid this week for a while..
on top of the health stuff i posted about in my last post on sunday/monday ( can’t remember which it was)
My partners brother passed away unexpectedly last thursday and the house has been in a fair bit of upheaval and sadness in the past week.. he was 32 years old and living in japan and paul had not seen him for 4 years .. there is lots of details and stuff, but i won’t explain them all here, Emma, paul’s sister had only just left there after a holiday with him and she is now back there less than a week later  attending a service and collecting his ashes ( moving a body internationally was a nightmare proposition), and pauly is not coping very well…

so anyway i have had issues with concentration re stitching so went with non commissioned stuff for a while and stitching purple seemed the best bet..
i have also knitted a 1/4  of a pretty red lace scarf for Pauls mum i so need a digital camera as now i will have three knitted pieces to share by next week
anyways i am working on purple silk for the back ground SAl on the BB this weekend and thought i should take a scan of the before..

i ordered myself some 2 ply 50 % silk 50 % merino for the Knittery and oh boy it feels amazing.. not sure what to knit… but what ever it will be it will be soft! i am totally in love with it , i keep stroking it
my next stitching purchase will be the Xmas ornie issues on Just cross stitching but i am not sure where to order it from … as in which of my online stores to go with… i think it works out a little more expensive to order in aussie, but i would feel bad ordering something internationally i can easily get in aus..
dilemmas…..

a special thankyou to all my dear friends who have emailled and ecarded me in the past week , sorry i have not replied to most but massive hugs to you all and thankyou nancy for the flowers paul was blown away by your kindness

been a bit busy and distracted the last few days ..

i had time to do some scanning this afternoon so here are my latest pictures..

there is not as much done on Lady in the meadow as i would like, but she is slowly growing

such pretty non me colours lol…

next up is my weekly installment of tranquility.. another row done, we start the 6th row next week!!

i have made a booboo, and i am leaving it.. i decided if it was a real patchwork, there would be stitching errors… and i can’t really see it..
there is another error i will fix on the next row as well..
thinhgs like that do not realy bother me in samplers, but i know some people would not sleep until they fixed it.. lol

i finally have a diagnosis for my connective tissue disease!! it is nice for it to have a name instead of just being a generic CTD i have dermatomyositis..
i start weird meds next week and have a visit to a nueroligist sometime whe i can get an appointment to have muscle testing done.. blech and we all know how much i love blood tests… i will now have monthly ones… yayyy NOT
but i am fine.. as at least now i know what i have and have a clearer idea of how to manage my pain what sucks is the having a combo of the fibromyalgia and that as it means now the muscles and their attachments are inflamed….
i also knitted twohats in the car during the car trip, but i need a digital camera to take pictures of them… and can i say the posmerino wool was a joy to knit.. it felt incredible

well another month gone…
i had started to think i was close with her, but i am not really.. as i have to work out what to do about the background… sigh
do i try and make a circle, leave it as it is, or have no background at all..
who knows

i must stitch that cheek next… she looks funny with that gap there!
ummm trying to think if i have anything else to talk about..
i have been stitching lady in the meadow, but it looks like i have done nothing on her at all..
as i have been filling in the bodice with all the detail sttiches..

i have been playing on etsy buying pdf files of lovely knitted hats.. i am probably going to try and knit pauls dad a hat/beanie in the next few days as i am off on another trek to visit the rheumatologist… and i think my chilblain dispersement is such that where the needles and wool will rub is NOT where the chilblains are… guess i will find out
in case you are wondering i will be stitching in posmerino ( approx 10 ply) from the knittery in the ripple and natural.. just a basic beannie shaped hat with ear flaps and a simple stripe pattern 
but i also bought a wonderful collection of hats for me to choose from from this etsy seller
and i have to say i am tempted by these two colours at the knittery..
Merino cashmere in Dreamy  and Midnight though i should be good and knit my left over reds or my sea breeze
i am also tempted to buy this pattern   i love cables and lace type stuff

for some reason this weekend has been sampler weekend.. i will get to Sugar magnolia tomorrow for a day , but i guess there will not be much progress this month… oh well
i have two pictures to share and a bit of rambling about linen

I will start with Tranquility Sampler..
i think after all my worrying i can actually space my colours out with out having to restitch any n a new colour.. this last page for some unknown reason gave me hope that all was ok…
strangely i really had to slog at these two bigger motifs.. i had trouble finding a logical path or rhythm ) i hate spelling that word i get a twitch everytime i go to type it.. i get lost in the consonants
so here is my Update after page 24 one more page and row five is done, then there is one more full size row and a really really short row

next picture is of my serenity sampler, i have not been finishing motifs as i am trying to get all the colours i will use on there to make sure it is all working…
tto recap.. 1×1 on 32 ct pale pink belfast linen with HDF regular silks in the rose quartz and luteous green collections with the darker of the Imperial green range added in for a darker tone.. the motif that is a big dark green cross atm is the imperial green 3337

the colour is not quite right the linen is paler than that IRL…
my thoughts on linen.. until 12 months ago i thought belfast was fine… i liked it..
but now i have to say the amount of fibre that comes off it and the slubby bits are annoying me … legacy linen, especially dower quality 30 ct and the 34 ct are sooo much smoother an dless slubby and i do not spend more time pulling off fibres than stitching.. honestly i would have that two tone green motif and that darker pink band across the top done if i had not spent so much time with my tweezers…
so if you have always disliked line cos youhave only tried Belfast , go out and get some Legacy linen and check out the difference, especially if you can getthe dower quality ( heavier, thicker, lovely feel)  Lakeside linen is pretty nice too . there is also a german linen a number of people are raving about, Weddigen ?? i think it is called yes it is.. here is the link.. Lekker threads people who have used it say it handles like the dower legacy linen but is wider so is a better value product.. it will have to be damn good to be better than the dower quality linen IMO…

i am tired, it is 11.45 pm.. i must sleep

thought i should post something incase people started worrying about me again..
not that i have anything of any interest or importance to say really, i am just going to ramble for a bit … trail off into the sunset and press publish…

so be warned the following will be weird no doubt

i have finally found the perfect mascra for highly active people … i know no one knew i was searching for one, but i was.. being of stark white skin and body hair.. my eyelashes are long whit things and as i am so allergy ridden atm i have been avoiding tinting my eyelashes i do not need to potential irritation around my eyes .. and i can not bear to look at myself with a white blank stare SO i need a heavy duty mascara that can survive a step class without making me look like alice cooper.. and i finally found one that left me with not one smudge, or flake or anything so i just spent money buying a full size one to replace the trial size i won off ebay..
Mirenesse.. lovely stuff.. one thing though.. if there are any aussie girls who use black eyeliner.. email me .. cos i spent over $50 dollars they are sending me a free fullsize eyeliner.. something i have never used, and will never use and nor does my sister

I did some more of my serenity sampler , i love the rose quartz, i want to stich them all to see how they look in itty bitty x’s, but i have not scanned it.. i have this big aim that i will fly through my tranq page when it is released and get a few more hours on on serenity on my weekly sampler saturday gig..
torture today was the rest of the Plum Streeet Samplers  ( you need to click next to see the last of the charts) Quaker calender arrived.. which means i have the set, which means i want to stitch them.. but i CAN NOT START SOMETHING ELSE.. do you hear me .. lol

it helps i have no colour ideas so it will help me get past the crucial 24 hour initial urge and back onto things that scream for days not just 24 hours ( unless of course these little charts are really persisitent then we have a problem)
now for some enabling ( you all knew it would come to this)
I ordered some hat/beanie patterns from etsy, from a wonderful seller i bought four.. i love knitted hats and she had some cool ones as you can see from the link
i ordered Strawberry Joe, whirley rib, sloppy joe and scrappy flapper ( for Paul) i also want pixie flapper and cabled cap..
thing is wi was looking for something to knit for Pauls dad for his birthday, and none of them were suitable so i ordered THIS one for him and i apologise if the link does not work cos i guess if the chart sells it will disappear.. i am knitting it in blue and natural aran weight posmerino from The Knittery

and to finish a link to a lovley way of finishing little things..
Pendibulle

how cute and how easy!!

I started my Serenity Sampler …

after all that planning i still made a change about 2 hours in.. yes that would be after 100 plus  stitches 1×1 on 40 count… yes i am insane i THOUGHT you all knew that by now
so i went with The Luteous Green / Rose Quartz  with a few of the darkest imperial green having been ordered as the darkest Luteous green is not as dark as it looks on the screen.. i will probably also add in a few patches of the black iris for colur depth as well..
what changed?? not that i hated stitching 1×1 on 40 ct, that was fine, i love the legacy Alba Maxima 40 ct linen it is awesome , it just looked too stark somehow… so i rumaged around like a crazy woman and found a piece of pale pink Belfast linen and made Apul pay attention to me for a few minutes and he agreed the pink was not bad, it actually complimented the silks , so i went with it… Is it ok?? or is the pink too much?

.. and even then i had to do a major frog as it really does seem my ability to count beyond four has left me lol..
i am having the first few pages enlarged today on the copier I( assuming paul remembers ) … the draw back of a bound booklet style chart is reading it, so i tried scanning the first page and it was  a small disaster one of the symbols does not scan well… hence the frogging incident

the official specs are 1×1 on 32 ct using HDF regular silks
now back to Lady in the Meadow for the week
a chart caught my eye yesterday  i sweet simple stitching themed one.. actually two did but i am having trouble getting a reasonable link for one
Thimble Abundance 
isn’t it cute.. if i had a reaosn to order some stuff i would order it.. like i have time to stitch it… NOT
and here is the other one that has made me smile in the last day or so .. so far i can only find her on the hoffmandis site and they do pop up pics ,so hopefully this will work
My Heart Belongs To the Sea… Sue Hollis  a little stitchy mermaid.. not my usuual style, BUT one does not see a little stitchy mermie everyday, and i am after all a stitchy mermaid

so anyway back to LITM qs…

bye

….

more specifically purple seaweed!! I started Purple Silk mermaid last week
the temptation to start at purple silk’s face was enormous, but i was very disciplined and started top left corner … which was not really a hardship as the purple seaweed background was one of the reasons i love the chart so much..
but purple seaweed is not fast to stitch lol..
anyway the specs on her are

1×1 on 32ct PR evenweave linen

next in line for a showing is my weekly pic of tranquillity sampler
getting close to the end now!! well it feels like it..
and bizarrely i am hoping she starts another mystery sampler.. i know i have like 4 waiting for when i finish this one and i want am hoping for another mystery one.. loopy = fudgey

Talking about samplers and starting i think i am close to a start on the serenity sampler.. i am just waiting to check the new release pinks against the luteous green silkseries, to make sure neither looks as good as the Rose quartz series does, and then find soem linen that the pinks and greens actually work with..
can you believe i have heaps of high count linen… 34 ct -50 ct and none is the right colour match for those silks… the creams are too dark , or i have 40 ct cornsilk, which is too yellow or patina which is the wrong pale green and light exampler ( all from lakeside) which is too dark and 34 ct cafe au lait from legacy which is too dark..
i have plain white 40 ct from legacy linen, but technically that is for tsunami sampler to go with Tranquillity yes i know it will be smaller i like that idea..
so … i am having one last search today through all my stash and if no devonshire cream 34 ct pops out and says nah nah anh i was hiding , i guess i will need to order some linen..

hmmm everytime i say right no more stash for a while something happens and i have to buy more…
In super cool news..

I won pauls and my Afl footy competition again this year.. by a clear margin and have about $80 to use to pick the prize of my choice.. n ot sure what to get though have lits of ideas, need to narrow it down..
they include..
a wooden box from the Cat’s whiskers .. for me to stitch a piece onto the top of
more scissors.. really nice ones .. i love looking at scissors HERE
or a seat frame… so i have a frame i can use when i am at mum’s, in the car or if we do ever go on pauls longservice leave .. there are road trip plans ( but not for at least another 2 years)
plus stuff like shoes which i need and boring stuff like that
finally another big friend thankkyou, Nic and nancy both did watermarks of my aceo i had comissioned which i am charting with permission from the artist for personal use.. and here she is in all her beauty! i used nics cos it covered a bit of the face ( i am paranoid about someone stealing the image)
Dawn’s Rose

i encourage you to go to Michele lee’s website and treat yourself to her lovley art

and one more finally.. giggle..Kerry is having a sale at Character Creations this month…

i need a lay down now after this epic posting and linking fest!