Unexpected Visitors

Hullo Everyone. I'm back again. Hope everyones weeks are going as well as can be expected. Daylight savings has started here so the air has a decidedly springlike feel to it make the week just that little bit brighter. The longer days certainly help with the brightness too. It never fails to amaze me, every year, just how much of a difference that little shift of an hour makes.

As the title of this post would dictate, I had a surprise visitor this weekend. My kid sister was in town at the South Island short course swim champs. I got to watch her race, and though she wasn't happy with her results (no medals, just a 4th placing) I thought she swam really well - especially since it was her first meet of this level and her first time really away from home by herself (shes 13 and I'm not counting school camps here).

It was a bit of a bitter sweet visit though. It was wonderful to see her, but the whole debacle (because thats whatt surprises always turn into) seems to have cememnted the shift/rift in mine and my fathers relationship. I wont get into all the ins and outs of the split, but it really has left me feeling like there has been a death, or like I am re living my parents divorce twenty years after the fact. 

But life goes on I suppose, and I really am happy with the stitching I got done this week. For the most part I am still sticking with my read during the week/work faithfully on one project at the weekend plan. There was just one little deviation from that this time round. Like I said above, daylight savings hearlds the start of spring in my little world, so when I got home from work on Friday morning I thought I would take advantage of both the sun and having the house to my self and work on my Chatelaine for a little. 

The little tree to the right there got done, plus the very start of the monogram. Retrospectivly, I may have bitten off a little more than I could chew when I started this one. While I am loving how it all looks on the black fabric - I always love how these things look on black - black 32 count linen for a peice that has a fair bit of one over one stitching may not have been my wisest decsion. It is death on my eyes. It has to be bright sunshine for me to be able to see it. Hopefully we will get a bright sunshiney summer and we can see more progress on this one. I really do love the design. 

Once my eyes got to sore for that - which admitably didn't take that long since I had early work starts over the weekend - I went back and did what I said I was going to last time. I started working on one of the Mirabila freebie cherubs. The Garland Cherub to be presise.

The Man has dubbed this one the naked fat man. Usually I would protest, but this is the first time since we started living together than he has come up with a name that is something other than 'the "insert colour here" blob', so we are just going to go with it really. Plus he is kinda naked I guess.

I'm not entirly sure about the green in the cloths at the bottom, but I'm following what the pattern says so I'll stick with it. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. Its also being done on (a far larger piece than I was originally expect) the 28 count antique white monacco that I have a few peices on at the moment. I got a heap of it cheap when I last did a 123 Stitch order to bump up the order postage wise. I am actually quite liking the monacco fabric I have to admit. Just wish I had bought it in pure white instead.

Ah well.

I think I shall leave it there for today. Not sure what the next week or so will bring. I have taken next week off work (nine whole days, I am so excited), so with any luck I will have more stitching time, or at least mtivation to stitch when I am no bone dead tired. That being said there is also a fair bit that I would like to get done around the house. Hopefully I can balance the two.

Until next time. xxx 

As Good As It Gets For Now

Good afternoon all (or morning or night) - maybe i should have stuck with hullo. Hope this past couple of weeks have seen everyone well. Mine has beenn busy, which seems to be the normal as of late. We had yet another staff member hand in thier notice, so the work load has increased once again.  Free time for reading and stitching suffers once again, but that  is being a grown up and all that I guess.

The single project approach that I mentioned in my last post is still in place. I seems to be really working for me so far. I see all you lovely people with your rotations and I always love the idea. I just always find it so hard to stick to. I either don`t feel like stitching that project, or I get obsessed with a project and don`t feel like changing them or doing anything else. I get demoralised and stitching becomes like work. Which it is not. It is a hobby, something that I do to de stress rather than to create stress.

Its something that I have been thinking on a little this week (again). With the added pressures that have been intrusted to me work wise, I am trying to minamise it in my personal life. There is so much that I am wanting to do and get done and I think for a while there, cross stitch was starting to overtake my life. Now, don`t get me wrong. I love cross stitch and I in no way feel any sense of guilt about enjoying that paricular hobby. But I do need more balance. Especially when coming home so exhasted.

So, and I promise I will get to progress pictures soon (though I think the rambling trend is becoming enough of a pattern that this doesnt surprise anyone anymore) - for the rest of the year I think I will try out a "new" plan for my self. I am going to re organise my WIP page, starting up a UFO section. This should hopefully elevate some of the guilt I have about those particular project. I just don't enjoy doing those full coverage projects. I might one day - I do love the patterns after all - but if I can get rid of the guilt I wont feel like I have to force my self to work on them. Which is step one of removing the stress.

Steps two and three are simpler. I am going to carry one how 've been going. Week nights are for reading, weekends are for stitching. Time off and long weekends are the exception but we will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Enough of that- on with the stitching.

I carried on wiith Eleni, as per the one project at a time tactic...

Sorry, it is still all creased, but technically it is not finished yet. I have done as much as I can. I need to order some more Krienik so that I can finish the back stitch. And between buying bans and not being able to find the shiney stuff any where, poor Elin is going on hold until after christmas. She is going to take a while to bead me-thinks, but I do really love her. Even better is that by sheer chance she matches the colour that me and the Man decided to to the feature wall in the bedroom.

Next I decided I wanted something small so I brought back out my Steam Punk Seaserpant by Samsara.

And looky looky, he is finished - buttons and everything.  Just as a reminder, he is stitched on 32 count winter sky linen, with all but one DMC conversion.

I am thinking that I might make a start on one of the Mirabila free cherubs next. I am still feeling the small sized projects. But we shall see.

Reading wise, I seem to be back on track - for the first time ever I am two books ahead on my GoodReads reading challenge for 2015. YAY! I finished SevenEves - much to the Mans horror - apparently reading a book that size in ten days is unnatural. But I'm okay with that.  I will update the reading page too, while I'm on my updating kick, if anyone wants my thoughts and opinions on that behemoth.

The buying ban also go a little bit broken in regards to books. Part of my job is to man a stall at the local farmers market - either for the bakery or helping out various other vendors as the seasons dictate. I was there onn Saturday, and what do you know, the stall next to us was some girl scouts trying to raise money.... buy selling second hand books. How could I resist. So $14 later I was putting 10 books into the car. Not a complete blow out - and it was for a good cause. But this time, I really really swear, no more buying until after christmas.

I will leave it there this time I think. It is getting dark so I better go rescue washing and those other adult type things.

Until next time...

Manogamy

Hullo hullo everyone - we all doing okay today? Please forgive any typos that might occur from here on out. Just got a bluetooth keyboard for my shiney new tablet today. I will admit that even though I have had a tablet in the past, it is certainly taking some getting used to not having a laptop to fall back on. Like I said in my very brief update, I caved and broke my buyng ban and bought new technology. It wasnt in the form of a new lap top though.  I went with the option of updating both my laptop and my tablet in one foul swoop and got a fancier tablet.

I love it, dont get me wrong, and I certainly dont regret my decision. Its just that usual learning curve that comes with all these things.

And it wasn't just on tech that I broke my ban. I went into Spotlight on my way home from work yesterday to get another couple of DMC skiens for Eleni and what do you know, they had 50% off all their clearance stock. It would be rude to turn down such offerings would it not?  I didnt get too much, I am still trying to stick with my plan of not buying anything until after christmas

Like I said, not too to much.The travel cases were only $7.50, so I figured i would give them a go - I got two. After all these years  still havn't ever settled on a way of kitting up my wips that I truely love. I've tried the boxes and I've tied zip lock bags and project enelopes and baskets.... all the different ways have had good aspects but nothing has really screamed at me. Plus I'm pretty sure the Man Thing is getting sick of my bobbins perminantly streen across the couch. There is also a couple of key chain blanks thrown in there that were nly a couple of dollars. Might come in handy one day (the cry of stashers and hoarders everywhere).

As the title of this post would indicate and as i iluded to just above, I have only been woring on Eleni these last couple of weeks. Work still hasn't really slowed down, and I dont think that it will now until after the new (as yet to be employed) staff are trained and christmas has been and gone and left us in its dusty wake.  When I get home in the evening, my brain cant really handle much more counting, so I have been settliing down with this behemoth -

- all 880 pages of it, and not really moving until I fall asleep.

A such, only really stitching on the weekends, I havn't really got the fatigue that I usually end up with of working on the same peice constantly. So Eleni has ended up my one love it would seem...

Not the best photo I'm afraid, but like I said, still getting used to the shiney new toy.  Hardley seems as exciting when I'm only working on one thing I'm afraid, but I guess thats just what happens sometimes.

We shall see what happens this weeked with here. I NEED to sit down and finish my course work. The facilitator is coming tto visit next week and I hope to have it all done and handed to hime then. No, not hope, I WILL have it done and handed to him. I'm sick of having it hanging over my head. It'll cut into my stitching time this weekend but it should (in theory) free me up a bit once its done.

Thats the plan anyway, no doubt I will keep you in the loop.

Till next time.