Field Mice Done - YAY!

I can't believe how long this piece has taken me to finally complete the stitching on! I started in in January, I think, and it's now almost the last day in May! The pattern estimates that it will take '15 evenings', but I sometimes wonder both how long those evenings are expected to last and whether the stitcher concerned is expected to have anything else going on in her life, such as making meals, doing dishes, dealing with other stuff and, of course, the small matter of family!! Anyway, whatever, it's done and I hope to get to the fabric market within the next week or so to get the material I need to make it into a sofa cushion/pillow. Anyway, click on the photo to get a better, larger view.

Whilst I'm there I also want to get something to back the hardanger needlecase with, although I may just use the doctor's flannel. Yes! Good news! I found out today, whilst looking out the stuff for my camera case, that I had actually brought the piece of cotton doctor's flannel needed for the pages of the needlebook/case, so I can finish it up after all. Margaret was so kind as to send me a piece of the woolen doctor's flannel, but it wasn't quite what I needed. However, it will come in for something and I've, at the very least, learned that there are two types of this particular cloth.

Here's the next project I want to start, a hardanger doily type thing. A local friend has been great recently, dropping in every so often with big bags of fruit. The funny thing is, she often seems to do this when we've run right down and I don't feel really up to lugging heavy bags around. So, I want to make her this little piece as a 'thank you'.


The next cross stitch I have in mind is this lovely narrowboat design I've had my eyes on doing for years. It's another 'Cross Stitch Crazy' magazine design that I copied out of my own mag before coming here, and, although the chart makes it look considerably larger than the field mice, it's as wide as they were high and so not so very big after all. The chart has larger squares. This one will be for me to put on the wall of my study/studio when we get our new home.=)

This is the book I plan to take most of the pattern for the camera case from and also some of the small pieces of fabric I brought with me for it. The shiny one is the outside and the other one the lining, which I bought here just over 2 years ago.

More on these soon, I hope!

The new blog is going well. Yesterday I did a short piece on blog design and how not to overdo it with fancy trimmings and today's posting contains 2 simple, but important, tips on how to avoid tooth decay!! Hop over to the Fluff and see for yourself.

New blog link now working=)

Thanks to Jules, Rachel and Dian for letting me know that the in-text link didn't work for the new blog. It does now, as I'd just input it wrongly!!! Told you I was an idiot!!!!!!!!!!!=) Some managed to find their way over having followed the RSS feed link on blog itself, but anyone trying to access via reader software would have come up against problems. Anyway, all up and working now on the last post and I've checked it to make sure too! Now then, let's see if I can get it right here too.....

PS Field mice almost finished! Just another hour's work needed on them and I'm ready to display.=)

Some changes on blog

Nothing directly craft related in this post, but just a notification really.

I've finally got my newest blog going, which is called Fluffy Little Idiot and is devoted to non-craft things, such as reading, learning, (will cover my studies other than art and needlework, so my music etc), human potential and intelligence and a fair few other things that interest me - including how I succeed in developing a good recipe or two for vegan ravioli! I've also got a blog outline in prep for if and when I'm able to start the Open College of Arts drawing and painting courses, but until that happens, art work will stay on this blog.

So, I've moved my CV and Goals pages to the new blog and added in a '2010 Goals' page which also includes what I want to do craft-wise. I've also moved the Reading List to there from the Google Sites page I've been using for a while. I've got feeds to all my other blogs active now here and on the new one and will put them on the other two later on.

Made in Taiwan will soon be re-named Brauns on Tour and kept for travel photos and notes in the future. There'll be pix from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and southern Germany, plus wherever we move to when we get back to look forward to during the rest of this year on that site. I hope to use the language one more as time goes on and I develop my interest in linguistics and creative language learning and teaching (possible research degree on the horizon....).

So, please visit me all over, add yourself as a follower on any and all sites that interest you even a little and leave comments when you have chance. It's lovely to know folk are reading along and it makes blogging extra worthwhile. An explanation of the new blog's name appears in the very first post there. Curious? Go over and see!=)

Oh, and yes, it's raining cats and dogs here at the mo!!

Finally.....

....term is over and we're on the first full day of 8 days off school. Hurrah! However, you can tell it's our school hols as the rain is due to start tomorrow and last until we go back. Happens every time....Grrr!

....I got to go around the other large bookshops looking for 'Inspirations 66', but it seems not to have arrived in Taiwan at all, so I've given up on it.

....I got around to going to the 2nd nearest library and borrowed 3 books - 2 stories and 1 guidebook on Japan, where we go in just about 2 months.

....I've got around to starting revising and developing my Japanese language in earnest. I even bought the CDs for the course I've had hanging around for the past 6 months!

....I got on with the backstitching on the Field Mice, but I'm not showing that off until it's totally finished. I've done all the blackberries now and also about two thirds of the rose leaves.

....I bought two of the 'local' stitchcraft books. I put 'local' in inverted commas as they're not Taiwanese at all, but translated from Japanese books. There's an enormous collection of patchwork and quilting titles in several series', many of which are the muted 'country' style, which doesn't float my boat much, but seems rather big in Japan! Anyway, these are the two I bought, one on simple Japanese embroidery and designs and one on patchwork items decorated with embroidery and ribbon work.

Below are some spreads from the Japanese-style embroidery book, which I thought were rather nice, although I know they'll seem terribly over-simplified to those who've been taking the specialist JE courses!!=)

And here are some spreads from the patchwork/ribbonwork book. There are some really lovely things in this book and, despite the instructions all being in Chinese, the diagrams look pretty clear and I should be able to make good use of it - in good time!!

Aren't they all lovely?

No focus, no stitching

I've been wondering why I seem to do next to no needlework these days and also thinking about why, if I'm interested in a subject and have lots of books etc on it, do I just leave them on the shelf when I have some free time and just read an easy novel etc instead? Also, since I've been out here, I've done only one piece of artwork (the butterfly you can see at the top of the blog), despite having brought lots of art pencils and a quantity of new, artists' quality watercolours and 2 of my favourite art books. I've come to the conclusion that, without a definite focus, I don't do stuff.

I think it's safe to say that many of us do more when we have a reason to, or a deadline for something, and I seem to have an outsized case of this. I remember saying on-blog some months (even years) ago, that there was to be no more 'obligation stitching', ie that I wasn't going to make something for everyone's event etc anymore, but since that came into force, so to speak, I simply haven't stitched much! What I have done has been mostly for other people anyway, or for things I've got planned for our new home later this year. Although I have lots of ideas, unless I have a reason to do them, they'll go no further.

I realise this may sound like 'not doing anything for myself', or something like that, but it isn't that at all. I just don't have the desire or motivation to do something I don't see a final destination or purpose for. So, whilst I'm interested in lots of languages, I only get on with learning one if I'm either going to classes, or have an up-coming trip where I need that language. When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I had lots of penpals and I would write in their language wherever possible, so that provided another motivation.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to take City & Guilds courses again and/or start stitching gifts and cards en masse again in order to produce any work!!! I wondered if I was actually losing interest in the art and craft of embroidery etc, but I don't think I am. I've just nothing to focus it on - no brief to work to (as with C&G samples and pieces), or no person to create for (as with gift pieces). Ditto the artwork. I did some encouraging stuff for my C&G, but have only done one piece in the year since. So, I really do want to do those Open College of the Arts courses as I know it's the only thing that will provide sufficient of both instruction and focus for me to develop as an artist. I was thinking about a stitched piece I planned to work for my mum the other day and, yes, I was interested in doing that and I can see myself getting down to it, but finishing the goldwork, which has no end purpose other than I like the design, is going to be harder to achieve.

Language and other interests-wise, there's the wonderful Open University and it's BA(Hons) in Modern Language Studies (German & Spanish, I think for me) and their BSc(Hons) in Environmental Studies for the budding scientist and eco-warrier in me!!

All in all, a very useful piece of information I've gained about myself. All that remains now is to put it to good use.=)

DH and I have decided that, owing to my continuing health problems here (I keep getting bug after cold after virus and am remaining badly run down because of it) and my being rather homesick as well, we will be going back home after the scholarship period is up in August - as originally planned. We're going to Japan in July for a break and then home in late August via Korea (for more tourism - so 2 languages to have a purpose for!!), then DH's mum's in southern Germany (to catch up with her and recover from jet-lag in the lovely high, clean air where she lives), then back to normal life. So, before we leave, I'd better get this field mouse design finished and sewn up into a cushion/pillow cover!! At least that one is for someone, so there is motivation to get on with it, even if the deadline is more than 3 months away....

Anyone else have this kind of situation, with needing focus and distinct motivation, by the way? I'd be interested to know your thoughts and experiences. There are few things more interesting than the human being.=)

Added in later on after first 3 comments: Please don't think that I'm upset, anxious or feeling guilty about any of the above, as I'm not at all! I'm just interested in finding how I work best.=)

Free-IQTest.net

Free-IQTest.net - Free IQ Test

(Got 134 first time) I often have to guess the number sequence things, so I suppose, if I knew how they worked, I might have got a slightly higher score - assuming I didn't guess them correctly,that is!!=)

Try the test, it only takes less than 5 minutes and is quite fun.

EDIT: 13 May - test re-taken after I learned a bit more about how some of the number sequence things worked. Actually, I felt it only helped with one question, I still had to make guesses at the other 2, but I know I was now able to get that one right and got 144! Well chuffed! I've up-dated the above graphic to reflect this, with a small adjustment for the fact that I remembered one of the pattern questions and one of the number sequences and was able to do them faster than I would have done had it been fresh. I always did think there was a distinct element of education/experience in IQ tests as opposed to 'raw' intellectual potential. This experiment kinda proves it...

The Ebbs and the Flows

Well, it seems like I'm far from the being the only one whose finding their stitching motivation a bit slack at the moment. In fact, quite a number of bloggers I follow have been quiet of late or are finding that life is getting in the way of their arts and aren't producing much to blog. I've only done the outlining on two of the blackberries since I last posted. Sometimes it's lack of time, sometimes lack of umph and sometimes that I'd just plain rather watch a YouTube film!!!

School is quite a lot of work trying to keep up with everything and keep head above water with the tests that are fired at us on a three times fortnightly basis - two sentence dictations (quite a challenge in Chinese characters at times as it's so easy to forget how to write them, even though you can read them fine) and a written paper. Still, they make one learn and, with someone like me, that really is needed, so on the whole I don't mind. However, it does leave one a bit drained at times - mentally, if nothing else. So, not a very productive time creatively just now. Having said that, I did manage to get the next issue of 'Creative Embroidery and Cross Stitch' at the Eslite bookstore nearest to school (they're great for foreign magazines - including titles I can't get at home, so that's something I really like here!), and so I now have full instructions for that fantastic little house you saw on the cover of the last mag show.=) I don't think I'd make it exactly as it is in there, but the idea is great and I hope to do one one day. Perhaps a timbered house. You know, those white ones with the black timbers on, Elizabethan styling. I want to have a go at an embroidered garden one day too, so that super book, 'Embroidered Knot Gardens' is going to the top of my wish list.

We've decided to get a place with an extra room when we go home. Said extra room will be my studio, which will double as the guest room (i.e. the sofa bed will be put in there and we'll get a new suite for the living room). So, guess who's all excited and has the whole thing almost all planned out in her head? Just what I've been wanting for years, I'm so pleased about it. All I need now is for it to come to fruition.=) Look out for more on that early next year...

So, I think things will be fairly slow stitch and arts wise during the rest of our time out here, but I will be keeping up as best I can, so please don't give up and unsubscribe/delete your RSSs or links etc. In fact, the more readers there are, the more I feel duty bound to entertain you, so don't leave, but join up en masse instead, and let me know you're there.

Here are a few nice photos of places we've been in Taiwan for you to enjoy in the meantime. Some of the hundreds of pix I've accumulated so far will no doubt end up as inspiration for later work. (The photo above is an 'old' stumpwork piece I enjoyed doing 5 years ago.)

Stitching again

So, I had a couple of weeks off! I just lost interest in my needlework, but I think that, like Carol-Anne with her recently illness related stitch lethargy, mine was caused my viruses and the general tiredness inside and out that accompanies them. Added to that that I'm sick of Chinese classes and really keenly looking forward to going home to a sane country where I don't have to fear there are roaches in my kitchen cupboards, I can get food I can relate to as food and things in general are just a tad more 'with it'. I've been reading an ex-pat forum thread about some of the dumb traditional health beliefs that people around here have, and they really do believe them quite passionately! There are married couples disputing regularly over whether or not one should drink cold water.....

OK, moan over and I'll show you the first half of the back-stitching that I've been doing over the past few days on the field mice. I've done all the dark red (on the flower and rose hips) and the brown on the mice and stems, and just have the white outlining on the berries and the greens around the leaves and leaf veins to do. I did pick up my goldwork the other day only to find that the copper Jap thread went bad again. The metallic wrapping stuff keeps coming off on the very short length I need for that back part. Well, I'll just have to keep trying until I succeed, but, as failing with that makes me put the project straight back down in annoyance, I think I'd better stitch a new bit first and then have a go at re-doing that copper Jap!=)

I finally joined the local library and read a new US teen book called 'Viola in Reel Life' by Adriana Trigiani, who some of you may know from her novels (which I haven't read). It was an interesting excursion into the world of US teen-dom, but I rather doubt that a 14 year old really knows as much as Viola sometimes seems to and I wonder if the author really remembered the time zone differences when she has Viola video-conferencing with her parents in Afghanistan and old chums in NYC at times that seem to be me to be very antisocial for the other party. She also seems to me to be marvellously logical and to reason things through in a way many adults couldn't manage. Anyway, it made an entertaining read and, as it'd free, who can complain!? I also got Oscar Wilde's Complete Short Fiction, but the other classics they had at the local branch were all things I knew well already. Might do for light reading sometime, but I feel ready for something fresh and I'm not really into contemporary things, by and large.

And I really want to get a viola.....

Background stitching done

Here's the current field mice photo. I finished the background half stitching a little while ago and so am now ready for all the backstitch outlining there is to do, and there's quite a lot! Still, it won't take long once it's started - as with most things - especially homework and ironing!!!

No more done on the goldwork, I'm afraid, I just don't feel like doing anything that intricate and fiddly at the mo as I'm down with a bout of tonsillitis, but on the mend.=) Actually, once I've got started on a goldowrk piece, i usually find it hard to keep going with it. I guess it's really not my thing, although I admire the look of it tremendously! How Mary Corbet has the patience to do the lucious pomegranate she's working in silk shading and goldwork, I can't imagine! Maybe I should take 'The A-Z of Goldwork' off my Amazon wishlist after all.....

I won a give-away recently (possibly by virtue of there only being 4 participants and 3 prizes!!) and here it is. It's the needles really, but she kindly included the DMC floss as well.=)

I also got these 2 magazines at one of the big bookshops here in Taipei, neither of which are available in the UK. Well, one of them is, but only in London, I think. Just look at the cottage on the cover of the Aussie mag! Talk about wow! Daresay I'll never make it up, but I'd like to do something like that at some point. I was thinking of a cottage style jewelry case as a C&G assessment piece, but that kind of pre-supposes I'll ever get around to taking C&G!!=) I'm bacl to thinking about language based studies again now, but there's no need to decide for a long time and, as I've been reading all the Wiki How Tos on not worrying about the future, being patient and so on today, I will not fret about what I may or may not do in a year or more's time! There's a dictation tomorrow and I will work on that instead!!!=)LOL

I now have 65 followers, many thanks to all and also to the other almost as many who follow through Google Reader and anyone still tuning in via Bloglines (don't! It looks rotten on there!!)

Field mice cross stitching finished

Yay! I've finally finished the cross stitching on this piece. Next up is the half-stitched background colour (a paler green), and then I make a start on all the back stitch top-stitching of which there is quite an amount. Still, it'll bring the piece to life, even though it's very cute already, don't you think?=) I hope to have the background done over the weekend and get the back stitching done over the following week or so.

I did a tiny bit on the goldwork yesterday in that I took out the offending piece of copper Jap thread on the left hand side and cit another piece ready to 'fit'. I'm afraid it will 'fray' again, but I'll just have to keep on re-doing it until I'm happy with it, then I'll move on to the f-holes in gold Jap.

I'm not sure if many of you know about it yet, but there's a new ning stitching community that was started just last December called Stitchaholics. It caters for all forms of stitchery, but is more chatty than Stitching Fingers (which I enjoy as a more serious forum for needlearts), and the creator, Caroline from London, is looking to expand the community in the future. It's a 'by invitation only' group, so if you'd like to join in, please leave me a comment with your e-mail addy if your comments don't normally send it (ie if you have no e-mail addy available on your public profile here), and I'll send you an invitation.

The weather has gone mad here again recently and, although it was in the early 30sC at the weekend, it's now in single figures again - but, set to start to rise back to late 20sC+ from Friday. Then, of course, back down to about 12C middle of next week! As soon as the cold and rain started, so did my cough, and I took a day off school to rest today. We've been back a week and my new term enthusiasm is flagging somewhat already!!