Home again - with a surprise!

Hi there! Thanks a lot for all the lovely comments on my stumpwork card.=) Sir loved it as well and it is now proudly displayed in our living room.

We got back from our holidays/vacation/break/whatever you wanna call it yesterday lunchtime. Had a nice time, although the weather was rotten for half the week. In fact, they say a month's worth of rain fell in about a day all over the country and there was widespread flooding. Both where we are at home and also the place we stayed on holiday are on high ground, so we had no problems.

I take it all back when I said to American friends that England isn't full of castles as it seems that the north (north of where we are even) is chocka block with them! We went to Bolton Castle last Monday and here's my (rotten) sketch of one of the towers. I'll add in the photo DH took when I can get it, (he's put the holiday snaps on his laptop or external hard-drive and I can't yet get at them), so you can see Bolton Castle as it really is too!

Now for the surprise. Well, it was a surprise to me! When I took the dog with me, I said that I would be happy if I just closed up one of the gaps. I never ever expected to get into it again and close them all up! Here he is:

He's not actually finished yet as I need to do some softening of the darker lines on the cheeks and then put in the whiskers, but he's 99% there. I honestly thought I'd do one ear at a push and get 'Child of Spring' done, but realised when said ear came on well and quickly that it was better just to press on with that and get it done as I seem more able to get on with it whilst away from home. I'll finish him completely over the next day or so. WOW!

Then it's on with 'Child of Spring', then the Brazilian piece, then..... Also have a LOT of lesson planning and course prep to do before September as well as more work around the home - getting things cleared up and helping to clean up during and after the decorating (DH hopes to get the hallway done over the next month or so, the last room - HUZZAH!) and then another great big, hard project to get back to. So, far from being restful, it's going to be a gruelling summer, but at least Mr Bow-wow is pretty much done! YEAH!

Woof woof!

Thanks SOOOO much for all the nice comments on the Cataflute.=) So glad you all liked him and his new 'mum' seemed pleased with him too. I'm just waiting for a photo of my friends with their gifts, then I can share it with you too.

So, I got the dog back into commision and here he is to date:

Last night I finished the nose end, (which had been started back in late November), and hope to get the rest of the nose done this week and an ear each week after that with an estimated finish date of the end of the month. That, along with all the cards that need doing (my own designs that I also want to try and interest a UK stitching mag in using.....), would be GREAT!

Two Animals

Look what my friend, Katy, stitched for me:

Isn't he fantastic? It's Margaret Sherry's 'Cat-a-cello', (although I reckon it's more of a double bass....), and I think he's absolutely delightful and am thrilled to bits with him.=)




Here's the latest on the dog too:

Hoping (probably against hope) to have him done in another 2 weeks. Might make it, might not, but as that will take me to the 10th and I need to have cards ready for 14th and 16th, I would like to be able to get one finished and then press on with the others.

It's only 09:20, but I've already blitzed around doing the cleaning and am just about to get some work stuff prepared for class tomorrow, then it's on with the bow-wow's nose. I started it last night, but took it out again as I don't think it would have worked well that way. Need to finish the entire nose part and close up that whole gap by Friday in order to be done on time.

Some Updates

And it's Monday again! Good-oh! I'm not very well today, but it seems to be only a 24 hour thing and I should be OK for my new Chinese classes 2nd session tomorrow tea-time. I've got loads of fun activities planned, so I'm quite looking forward to it. I would never have thought it, but perhaps teaching is for me after all.=)

So, here's the long over-due kitchen update photo. It still needs a window dressing (and the glosswork will be re-done when it's all done over the winter hols) and I plan to stitch that lovely blue tit and bird table design to go just above the cooker too. So, things to look out for the in the first half of next year, all being well. Hope you like progress thus far - it's certainly a lot brighter and less bottom heavy than it was, now that it's painted a nice lemon colour and has 2 shelves to house all my machinery.

Here's the doggie at present as well. I'm kinda enjoying doing him, but will be very pleased when he's done and I can get on with other things. Might do something on his this afternoon actually as I have an unexpected free afti owing to it being a good idea to rest up as much as poss. That's certainly true as I'm going to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate on Friday and it would be an awful shame to mess that up, no?

Streuth! The new beta Blogger version might be quicker etc, but it adds in even more blank lines with photos than the old one did! Heavy use of 'preview' function recommended, and it's about time that was adapted to actually reflect what will appear too!

I'm back!

Good morning one and each!!!

Here we are home again. We came home about 18 hours earlier than planned, but we were both ready for home and would have just stayed one more night for the sake of it, so I'm glad we went with our feelings and drove home yesterday tea time instead of this morning. Slept better and more comfortably in my own bed anyway.=)

Had a nice trip though. We saw some lovely scenery and met some nice people too. I also got quite a bit of my dog portrait done and here's the latest update shot of him:


Click on it to get a full sized version, which looks a bit better than always this shrunk photo. You can see the stitches much better etc, (if it works, of course, which it didn't for me when I tried it, grrrrr). Anyway, I got quite into it and found it much easier going when I was enjoying it more. I'd hoped to have the 2nd cheek completed by the time we got home, but as I didn't stitch any of it for the last 2 days and we're home early anyway, I'm not slapping myself about it. Good news is that I should indeed be able to have it completed this month and that feels GOOD!=)

Blue tit and a rethink.....

So, here's what the rebel blue tit looks like at the mo. I haven't had time to do any of it today and it was taken in non-natural light and adjusted this evening, (in case it looks a bit odd in any way, i.e. rather yellow).

Today I was given a great illustration to think seriously about when it comes to stuff like getting that pesky mutt (the dog portrait) finished. I was told it was like 'sitting on a pin'. Suppose that just before you sat down, someone put a drawing pin on the chair and you sat right on it. You have 2 choices, you can either get up, remove the pin and sit back down in relative comfort, (supposing you haven't damaged your behind too grievously, that is!!!!), or you can stay on it, pretending the discomfort isn't there, you're not really squirming away from the pin and so on. When we put things off, knowing that they're bugging us, but we just won't get on with them anyway, it's like sitting on this pin and staying there. We know what to do to remove the discomfort, but we choose to say 'I don't mind' and keep on letting it jab at us. I suppose that we can get kinda used to the pricking sensation and even grow a bit numb to it over time.

So, I must get on with that dog, even if a little at a time and then I might actually begin to feel the tension I suffer from release a bit. Seems a bit too simple to be the root of the tension, but it's worth a try and, if it doesn't actually work to get rid of all of it, then it will at least be one irritation out of the way. I'll feel able to get on with other projects that I'm looking forward to without feeling that I shouldn't do them as I haven't finished the dog yet, and that's just got to be great. Von, what you said about taking care of one's sanity is just too true. It was pointed out to me that I needed to get this project that was bugging my big style off my mind and thus free up my hobby for genuine relaxation. This is what doggy looks like just now:

The weekend's WIPs

Eye-eye! Here's a close-up of the dog's eyes, (although I hope that was obvious!!) I'd done the eyes proper back in July, but put in the lids and the lower surrounds over the weekend. It's getting very crowded stitch-wise in that area! I'm glad to say that the next bit of the dog is to fill in the gaps in the forehead more or less down to the eyes and that is less intense. I can even do it in artificial light, as long as I make sure the colours are selected first.

I wanted to get all the satin stitching finished on the cushion and might have done so, but that I met the frog again! I put one element one line too far over and had to take it and the three that had been measured from it out. Not as bad as having to remove about three quarters of your work, like last time with this one, but a shame just the same. Hope to get it done today as well as the cable stitching around the four large white diamonds. The green back-stitching will take a while as there's a lot of it and I dread to think about the beading....

Oh, for the day these 2 are FINISHED! 'Happy dance' won't be in it! It'll be champagne breakfasts all around and a major street party!

Quick Update Before Hitting the Road

Just want to post a quick update on the current WIPs before I head off to Germany for the week, (would rather stay home though, I must confess.....)

Dog looks kinda surreal, doesn't he??? The left hand eye is a bit too round and needs elongating, but other than that, I'm quite pleased with them.

#3 - The Dog

The final one is the infamous dog portrait which I've snapped here complete with the photo from the book. I really wish this one was completed and off my conscience, (as indeed it should have been more than 2 years ago......aaaaarrrrrghhhh!!!!), but hope it soon will be. I've done next to nothing on it since it's first mention back on the very first posting on this blog. SHAME on me!=( Well, let's hope for better things in the near future. If I can make myself do half an hour in the morning of most days, then I should soon see real progress on him and have him out of the way! I'd enjoy it a lot more if it were colourful....

I tried to post an update on the wiring business the other day, but no joy as Blogger was experiencing serious difficulties. (I know it still is as I can only put in one photo per post (thus 3 posts instead of one) and you can normally add 5 medium sized pix per post....) Anyway, the people came out and we now have a letter confirming that we just need to replace the special coving in the hall, (Sir's already started on this job), and get a safety certificate from someone who can do testing, (most sparkies can't), and we're OK, they'll accept it and leave us alone. Will post the carol when, and only when we have the letter from then confirming that they have accepted the cert and signed the job off as complete and will be giving us no more hassle about it.

Stash'n'dog

Here are the goodies I got from Stitch Direct the other day. They are reliable, Shell, I've never had anything go astray, but they are nothing like as quick as the likes of SewandSo, (I use Tandem Cottage - cheaper and free P&P over £20, but take a day or two). This order took around 10 days. So, order well ahead of the time you need the stuff. Using the website gets you free P&P too....=)

These are the kits that I've bought of late. I'm going to do the 3 musical cats separately rather than all together, but it was cheaper to get it this 'chart only' version from a US on-line store as and I have more than enough fabric and thread!!!) The birds one is one of 5 things I plan to do for our bedroom to frame and hang when it's redecorated after our imminent complete re-wire! Dunno who's gonna get the blackwork design, but I couldn't resist bagging the bargain on E-bay. The bookmarks are already designated for friends. It's the 'Victorian Pansies' (bottom one on the pic) that is to be done in the next couple of weeks. There's rather a lot of stitching on both of them though.

Lili, here are the Anchor patterns I was referring to, for ring cushion designs. The bookmarks aren't by Anchor, they're from Donna M Olsen's Satin Stitches range, which really aren't suitable unless a stitcher has a fair amount of experience with hardanger. Even then I needed to find out how to do the complex filling stitch on the white one from The Anchor Book of Hardanger. I've never seen the Olsen patterns anywhere either, they were sent from the US in exchange games. Anchor ones from SewandSo.

The dog. Yes, it's rather a colourless piece and, I'm a child, I love bright, colourful things. Also, it's a tricky project, esp. as I'm about to do the eyes...... If I mess this up, (I've already stitched and un-picked them once), then I lose the whole thing. The eyes are always the main focus with an animal or person. It's thread painting/silk shading, so no comfortable chart to refer to, just the photo in The Royal School of Needlework's Embroidery Techniques. So, those are the reasons why this one has been avoided so long. Need to get it done and off my conscience though as it's long been promised and is already more than 2 years over-due. Eeek! Disgraceful!