When Surfin' the 'Net gets dangerous.

I really need to stay away from a certain website.  I came into work a bit early and after getting all my "paperwork" out of the way I had some time to browse the internet.  I found myself at the HAED website and immediately found two beauties that I can't stop thinking about.

The first is this one:

Stunning, am I right?  I just love the reflection of the cat in the window by the candle light.  So, so beautiful! 

But then I saw this one:

I love the colors and all the different cats!!!  While the first one is beautiful, I think I might get tired of all the dark colors.  I think I need more color in my life.  Perhaps I'll have to choose the bookshelf. 

Oh dear. 

Another Project Begins!

I finally got all the supplies I needed for The Witching Hour this past weekend, including a new Q-Snap.  Since this one is smaller than the Hermit and I really don't like having to mess with the fabric too much, I decided it was better to get a smaller Q-Snap, so it was recommended to me to use the 11x11 square design.  And so I did.

I also decided to start this project a bit differently.  Normally I start all my projects from the center of the image, but this time I wanted a change, so I meticulously figured out where to start the first stitch  on the very first page in the top left corner.

I did this by finding the center square of the fabric and counted out and up.  Yep, I counted all those tiny little squares on my 22 ct Hardanger fabric.  114 squares across from the middle, then 164 squares up.  I counted three times.  Husband always says, "Measure twice, cut once."  After I was certain of my count, I placed the first stitch.

 

Just for fun, I figured out how many stitches this baby has -- 74, 328.  Yikesl

And since you all wondered, cuz I know I certainly did, this is what 400+ stitches looks like. 

New Project??

I don't know why, but I am thisclose to buying a new HAED chart.  EEEK!  Someone talk me out of it!!!  I'm not bored or tired of the Hermit anymore, I just saw this chart and it screamed at me to buy it.

I have always wanted to do a special chart for each of our cats.  The Hermit is a dead-ringer for my cat, Scully.  I have another cat, Fizzy.  He's an orange tabby (I think) and recently he got sick and my husband and I were worried that he wasn't going to be with us for much longer.  But it turned out he just had a virus and perked up after a week or so and is back to his lovely self.  When I saw this particular chart, I just thought of him.

Here's the design, it's called Winter Friend.

And here is mister Fizzy.

It's a no-brainer, right????

I miss the Hermit.

If you've been reading along, you know that I have taken a break from the Hermit to work on a very special birth record for my friends' son.  It is a labor of love, but I am ashamed to admit that it's kind of boring to work on.  It's a very easy cross stitch.  There are lots of stitches in blocks of color.  The colors are bright and cheerful so that's a nice change from the darker colors of the Hermit.

I am flying through it and am also done the principle stitching (what I call "principle photography" -
Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production.)  Post-production should start in the next day or two (ie, the detailing and finishing touches), then it's off to the framing store.  

I've never missed a project before.  I am such a nerd. :-) 

Stitching like Mad!

I have been working furiously on Farm Friends since I last posted.  I must have it done by the end of the month so I can get it framed in time for the little guy's first birthday in mid-November.

FF is an easy project - 14 ct Aida fabric.  It's an easy design and while it is a bit boring to stitch, it's kinda nice to have blocks of colors to stitch rather than changing threads after only a few stitches.  I do miss the Hermit, though.  I miss it's complexity.  Still, FF is a labour of love for some good friends of mine, so I am happy to do it.

Daughter is enjoying the progress of this one.  "Look," I tell her, "I finished the piggy!"  Well, sort-of.  The detailing comes last, but its nice to see the look of delight on her face when I show her my work. I also started working on the border (lower left side).  From the bottom up - cow, pig, doggy and duck.

New Project - Farm Friends

So, I now have 3 cross-stitch projects on the go.  I've never had this many in-progress projects.  It's a bit daunting.  Since getting the Hermit started, I have completely abandoned that beautiful little kitten in the shadows. Well, I shouldn't say "abandoned"; it's just taken a backseat for now.

The other day I received a package in the mail.  My daughter saw it when she came home from preschool and said, "Mommy, is this your new craft?"  Oh my goodness, how sweet!!

I couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed so I could open up the new project and prepare it.  The first thing I do is organize the floss.  Dimensions kits now provide the floss already pre-organized in a strip but I find it's cumbersome, so I designed my own way of keeping the floss organized for a small project like this.

The next thing I do is prepare the fabric.  I use some left-over floss from finished projects and stitch the periphery of the fabric so it doesn't fray.  If I had a sewing machine it would take about 10 seconds to do, but since I don't this part takes about 15-20 minutes.

And... finally I can start stitching.  The first thing I noticed with this project is how freaking big the squares seem now compared to the Hermit project.  This fabric is 14 ct (14 squares per inch).  The Hermit fabric is 22 ct!  Doesn't sound like a lot but trust me, it makes a huge difference.

I started in the middle, like I always do.  Here's the first progress photo. It's the body of the little pig.

Here's what it should look like when it's done.  My target end date is early November 2012 as it is for a very special little boy's first birthday.