Another Day

Real life always seems to get in the way of our hobbies, doesn't it? Now, don't get me wrong - I love my man and my friends, my job and work mates are wonderful, my course work I'm ambivalent to but it's for my job so we will claim that for a win. I just wish it left more time for hobbies. Maybe if we had more hours in a day or didn't need to sleep. Maybe if I was a twilight vampire.

Jeeze, did I just admit to knowledge about Twilight vampires? Lets maybe move on shall we?

Last time I posted - which was far too long ago - I mentioned that I was sick. I still am, surprise surprise. This cold that has been going around the city is kicking me (and everyone else that has had it by all accounts) around pretty hard. The extra infections have cleared up and the antibiotics have been finished, but still the hacking cough continues a month later. Oh joy. That's no excuse for a late post however. Although I guess "lateness"  is a relative term when I haven't really set "rules" on these things.

That is something I have  been thinking about over the last week or so. I was thinking about my stitchy bug and my reading bug and how they seem to come and go. Both are back now, incidentally and I will get into my progress soon, but I was thinking about these things while trawling through Facebook and YouTube and I realized that social media affects my desire to do things, but not in the way that I had previously thought. 

I knew that social medias enabled me more in my purchasing and my willingness to start new projects - a slight fear of missing out that was awakened in a way far stronger than I ever got from reading blogs. Perhaps because interactions are not as seemingly instantaneous on a blog, perhaps for some other reason entirely, I'm not sure, but on blogs I seem to be able to admire someones hard work and the piece of art that they are creating without feeling... obliged, I guess... to do something similar or to join in a SAL or whatever. Getting to know people still happens, just slower and more gradual - more natural in a way.

Social medias breed pettyness and social cliques however than I have never come across in the blogging word. And that makes me sad. That there is snobbery and people citing opinions as fact and feeling like you (or at least I feel like) are being force into choosing this side or that side of a ever raging battle between the right way and the wrong way. And the stress of that makes me not want to read or not want to stitch or not want to knit.

Of course maybe I have just been fortunate enough to avoid such things in the blog-o-verse, which would render my point useless I guess, but I can only speak from what I have experienced. Nor am I blaming social media. Petty social cliques are endemic, I have noticed, in any group of people - just look at any high school in the world. 

But when I am at home, I want to be able to be me with out fear of reprimand. 

By day, I essentially run a store. There are other people around - the bakers and the owner doing baking and owner type things, but over the last three years, I have become one of the main faces associated with the store. Its a small city, so consequently, I can rarely go anywhere without bumping into at least one customer that recognizes me. So you see, home really is the only place I can truly be me. Where I don't have to be happy or civil or tippy toe around the politically correct environments. 

At home I can be human.

I'm not saying that I'm going to ditch social media altogether - I do like it. But stepping back from it a little bit has done wonders for my productivity. Which we should probably get onto - I have rambled on for far too long and if you have made it this far without skipping, I applaud and thank you.

I have been a little ADD this last couple of weeks, trying to kick start my stitchy bug - but it worked, so we shall just deal with a lot of photos. We've just dealt with a lot of words so why not right?

First up is my Steam Punk Sea Serpant by Samsarah that I was working on in Kakanui. I have only done maybe another 20 stitches or so since coming home, but I never put any pictures in my last post so here you go - 

He still needs a head, but we will get to that eventually. I am doing the DMC conversion for this one for all bar one colour. Its a Weeks Dye Works and I'm still not entirely convinced on the thread. I know I have said before that I am boring with my fabric choices because I think that hand dyes are too busy and I think my thread preferences may be heading the same way. We'll see.

Next up I put Once Upon a Time back on the frame, but that didn't last long either.

I love how these always look so much better once I take a photo. It's like the action of stepping back and viewing it through a lens forces me to see it as a whole rather than as pixel stitches.

Then, as I said in my last post, I started Joan Elliot's The Reader.

This is about where I started the thinking of the thoughts that have been spewed out above. I got a decent chunk of it done but lost a bit of momentum because work and what not and didn't really feel like picking it up again. So when in doubt, start something knew - I am coming to terms with being a serial starter.

Just looks like random purple at the moment, but it will become Eleni of Troy by Cross Stitching Art. I am just doing her on an antique white 32 count even weave, and while I would have loved to do her all in beads, I am just doing the DMC conversion because that would have been a whole lot of money on a WHOLE lot of beads. And that money I need for house renovations right this minute. And tea. I always need tea.

Side note, this progress on Eleni was fueled by tea - t leaf T banana caramel to be specific. Its my current favourite and if you love tea - you should try this brand. I love them all - even their earl greys which until now I have never been particularly fond of.

Finally I gave my mosaic a bit of love

Not a huge amount, but I definitely think it would be a lot easier if I had a table or desk to work on, but alas, they are in storage at the moment so we make do without. Progress is happening on it though.

Hopefully I can get back on track this week. I still have one work book to finish for my course. I want it in by next Friday and then I am up to date with that. But my man goes over to Australia for a couple of weeks this weekend so at least I will have no distractions stopping me from getting that done and moving back onto getting all the pages on here updates and back only my stitching and reading. And knitting. I am going to have to go shopping (oh no what a shame). After the success of my pompom hats I have had half a dozen people ask me to make them one too. 

Practice makes perfect I guess.