The new year is coming

I can't quite believe this year is nearly done. It seems like yesterday that I was toasting my first new year in my new flat. Christmas has now been and gone and I don't have to go back to work until the 3rd of January. Scotland pretty much still grinds to a halt at new year - no buses or shops open on the first of January. January 2nd is also a bank holiday up here so nothing will get back to normal until the Wednsday as Tuesday will be a holiday inlieu of Sunday being new years day. I'm not very fond of new year so I plan to make myself a nice meal on the 31st and then see the bells in at midnight with my stitching in my hands.
Speaking of stitching. I managed to get Christmas mystery 1 framed in time for Christmas. I'm hoping to get some more finishing done before I get back to work. I have decided to start something new on the 1st inspite of the huge amount of stuff I have already got in progress. They don't call it guilt free January for nothing.

Christmas frenzy

This time of year is one of my favourite times. I would prefer it even more of if it wasn't dark most of the time and if it was a little warmer but no matter. I do live in a fairly northerly bit of the world and summer days are very long here.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my Christmas elf fairy. I've posted a few Christmas tree photographs today. Apart from one or tow ornaments which were gifts, all the stuff on my tree is made by me or I have received it in an exchange over the past few years. I've taken part in the TWBB's ornament exchange every year recently so I have quite a few lovely ornaments that I have received from fellow stitchers. So if you've ever sent me an ornament in an exchange, you sould be able to see it.





Not much stitching has been going on around here for the past few weeks. I'm knitting a few gifts this year so they have had to take priority. I've just got one gift to finish and then I'm done. I've also been making lots of Christmas cards which are almost done too. I picked up the frame and mounts that I had made for Christmas mystery 1 today so I'm going to get that stretched and into its frame this week. I have to work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but after that I'm not back until the 26th so I'm going to be busy. I've got 5 days off over New year and I'm planning a serious stitchathon. In spite of being Scottish, I'm not found of New year so I have no plans at all except stitching

Busy time

Lifes been a bit busy lately. Mostly due to the preparations for Christmas. My tree is up and covered in covered in stitched ornament either made by me or received from various exchanges over the past few years. I've not really managed a lot of stitching due to Christmas preparations. I've made most of my Christmas cards. I have a few more to make and I need to get them done this week.
Most of my stitching time this week has gone to finishing my part of a secret project which is now ready to send to the person who it is for and has no idea it is coming. I can't share a picture for obvious reasons but once it is safely there, then I can share.
I have managed to make time to buy a frame and mount for Christmas elf fairy and you can see the evidence below. I also ordered a frame and mount for Christmas mystery 1 which has been sitting waiting to be framed for the past year. Hopefully it will be in by next weekend and I will have more photos to share.

More stitching stuff

I've finished a few things over the past week, mostly due to going to Harrogate for the stitching show.
The show started on Thursday. It wasn't as busy at the show as previous years and there were definately less cross stitch/needlework exhibitors from previous years. There was much more wool and yarn stalls instead which was good for me as my interest in knitting has grown greatly over the pasy year or so.
One of the big appeals of Harrogate for me is the opportunity to take the short classes that are staged during the show. The classes are on a wide range of techniques and are mostly demos of a technique or a small project of that technique. The first one on Thursday was to make a wire work bracelet.

The idea behind is pretty simple and pretty effective. I've bought some more beads and wire to try and make another.

The second class was with a Royal school of needlework trained embroider called Tracey Franklin. who has written a book about goldwork and also teaches across the UK. Each year, she takes a short class which is a goldwork taster session. I've done quite few of these now but I haven't quite plucked up the courage to stitch a bigger piece yet.


I'm going to gather together the previous ones I've done and try and figure out a way of framing them together. Tracey is a very good and patient teacher and even remembered me from previous years.

On Friday I did 2 more classes. The first one was on making small concertina notebooks using pelmet vilene ( its like Skirtex for the US stitchers). I haven't quite finished mine yet but a picture will follow. The second class of the day was possibly my favourite. It was a class to learn how to make dry needle felt animals. The teacher was a lovely woman called Ewa Kuniczak who is so very enthusatic about the whole technique. My creature decided to be a dog.

The materials for the class are more than enough to make at least a couple more creatures. Ewa was felting a lovely dragon at the show which looked amazing.

After all this other stuff, I've also got a cross stitch HD to share. I finished the Mirabilia Christmas elf fairy kit last night. The kit picture looks so dull compared to the finished item. She's stitched on the recommended fabric.

Catching up again

I've been away for the past week on holiday where I just happened to spend 3 days at the Harrogate knitting and stitching show. Well it wasn't really a coincidence as you might have guessed.
On Saturday, I got to meet up with a few of the UK based stitchers - Karoline, Scully, Rach, Amanda, Kate and Pat plus Karoline's MIL and Amanda's DH and her two children. It was great to see everyone again. More show stuff to follow as I took a couple of classes and have some finished stuff to share.

When I got back, I had a package waiting for me from Jo with a lovely Christmas ornament from the Stitching Bloggers exchange.


She also sent some chocolate which I've been munching through this evening whilst uploading some photographs.

Redwork exchange

My redwork exchange piece has arrived all the way from Singapore. Its from Zohrah and I really like it.

Catching up

Since my last post here, I have mostly been stuck in the house with the cold from hell and I made it back to work for one whole day last weekend. The wedding fair went well and I now have a fairly good idea what sort of invitations my sister wants.

As I've been stuck in the house, I've been card making and I have made about 20 or so Christmas cards. I've also knitted 2 scarves for my mum and finished stitching a few things which I can't share just now as they are exchanges or gifts.
I can share some pictures of the scarves though




Last night was Guy Fawkes night in the UK which means lots of fireworks. I forgot that the local council uses the playing fields behind my building to have the council run display. The photographs show the view from the window on the landing on my floor of the building. All my windows face the other direction so I stood at the stair landing window to get a good view.




It was pretty close by so it was really noisy but some of the fireworks were very pretty.
Stitching wise, I have stitching quite a few Christmas ornaments. I've also started Chatelaine Japanese garden on black belfast linen. I'll post a progress picture once I've got a bit more to show.

Bits and bobs

This week started out fairly promisingly. Saturday was the Craft show in Glasgow. Not much stitching to be found and for the first time at a show with stitching stalls, I didn't buy anything stitchy. I did buy more card making stuff - a pack to make for Christmas cards and some ribbons for cards. As I am going to making all my sister wedding stationery, I was trying to get some ideas of what sort of thing she might like. I just need to get my head down and make up some samples.
My mum was really inspired by the knitting stalls and fell in love with two lots of yarn for scarves. So I have just acquired two more knitting projects to do as although she can knit much better than me, she can't knit at all at the moment due to her hand and neck problems. It will be good to make stuff for her as she has made me so many clothes and other stuff over the years and finished off a few projects into cushions for me.

Monday didn't really go too well though. I ended up getting sent home from work as otherwise I would have been sick over the patients, which isn't really what nurses are supposed to do...

I felt better yesterday and even managed to finish off some ornaments for the ornament exchange on the TW BB. I can't share any pictures yet as they need to be a surprise for the receivers. I even managed to sort though some other ornaments that I want to stitch too.

Today I seem have developed the cold from hell. So I have spent most of the day lying on the sofa, watching trashy TV and sleeping. As today is one of my days off for this week, I am not best pleased by this. Also I am supposed to be going to a Wedding fair with my sister, my mum and my sister's future mother in law on Saturday and my sister needs me there to protect her from motherly insanity from both mum and the future MIL, who are both already too overexcited about this wedding. So I need to be better for then or my position as Chief Bridesmaid may be gone due to my sister being driven insane.

Stash and stitching

My stash seems to be getting larger again at the moment. Partly because designers keep releasing things that I love and also because of a bit of lack of stitching time lately combined with a few obilgation bits and pieces. I'm in 2 round robins at the moment and behind in both. Thankfully I seem toi be catching up as I hate to be behind.

I'm also a lot of parts behind in the Chatelaine mysteries that I'm stitching. I'm only on part 3 of Mystery 8 and I haven't even started Christmas mystery 2. Normally I would feel pressured by this but I've decided that the journey is the important thing rather than the time taken.

I've done a bit of stash aquiring today. Mirabilia have released a Christmas elf kit which was a must have for me. Mirabilia plus Christmas equals my perfect project. Tomorrow I'm off to a local stitching and craft show so I think I might be spending some money. I'm going with my mum who is a dressmaker and machine sewer who loves the look of cross stitch but hasn't got the patience. She's a bit down just now as she has a problem with her right hand which has stopped her doing most things. She's worried that it won't improve soon as she is making all the dresses for my sister's wedding in mid 2007. Worrying enough for me is if things don't improve soon, I will be getting a major crash course in machine sewing. The last time I used a machine was over 10 years ago.

Edited to add Yay this post took without having to switch to Firefox so it would seem that Safari and blogger are starting to get along

Framed stuff and gifts

Okay so it appears that blogger doesn't like the version of the Safari browser that I use so I have had to download firefox to use with blogger.

The best thing that happened this week is that I got the most beautiful gift from Elisabeth as part of the Stitching bloggers exchange.






I am very impressed at Elisabeth's finishing skills. My finishing skills at the moment don't really extend much beyond pillow type ornaments and the odd bellpull.

I updated my webshots album today with a few finishes and some newly framed stuff. My latest finish ( or at least the latest one I can share) is Buddha from a kit by Pinn designs. Its going to be a gift for my parents. Hopefully it will be the last project that I take on as a obligation gift on behalf of some else. Perhaps that will be after I finish the 4 or 5 things I have decided that should stitch for other people that they don't even know about.

A stitchy day

I'm still on my holidays as yet so my time is all my own at the moment. So far, I haven't got as much done while I've been off than I thought I would.
I spent a good part of yesterday stitching on the Buddha that I am stitching for my dad's meditation teacher. Its looking fab but its only about half done and I have only 2 weeks left. Argghh and its stitched in a variety of white, cream and browns. I may go blind stitching it.
For a bit of variety today, I decided to trying and finish off some of the huge pile of finished stuff that I have. I managed to finish off my Halloween exchange piece which I can't share a picture of as yet. I'm really pleased with how it looks. I've going to get it all parcelled up over the weekend and do a big post office run on Monday. I'm going to try out some new finishing ideas over the weekend so hopefully I will have a few pictures to share over the weekend.
My kit for Chatelaine Japanese Garden arrived today too. I just need to get the black belfast linen and I'm all set for November.
The main distraction this week however has been the new computer. My shiny new Imac arrived on Wednesday and I spent most of the day on Wednesday copying files across to the new computer and trying to get used to the differences between XP and OS X. So far I'm loving it and the transition hasn't been as bad as I thought it might been. So far being the operative word - I'm hoping that saying that doesn't come back to haunt me.

Why is it that..

as soon as you finish work for a holiday, your body decides to rebel and make you ill. I've been fighting a sore throat, coughing and a swinging temperature for nearly 4 days now and I'm fed up of it. Luckily it seems to be fairly low grade but its lingering and after having a severe viral throat thing at the start of the year that might have been Mumps, I'm not really keen on a repeat performance. Added to the fact that Scotland has been having daytime temperatures of 23-28 celsius over the past week doesn't really help.

I've decided to try and not feel sorry for myself as things are much worse elsewhere in the world and life is otherwise pretty good.

2 good things that happened this week were firstly my cousin Nadine had a baby girl on Tuesday and all is well. The second thing is that today is my birthday. My parents gave me some money which will either go towards some stitching stash or some thing for the new computer. My aunt bought me the DVD of the movie of Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy so I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

GTG sampler HD

To get the holiday off to a good start, I've got a stitching HD to share. Its a sampler designed by Kate who hosted the GTG and surprised us all with the design and the materials to stitch it with.
This weekend. I'm planning to try and get some completed pieces finished off or framed. I have a gift piece in progress for my dad's mediation teacher who is leaving their group to run a group in Edinburgh. I've also picked out 2 designs for the exchanges I'm taking part in as part of the Stitching bloggers exchange board.
On other news, I ordered a new computer yesterday. I'm getting a imac. I've been thinking about getting it for a while but the time is finally right. My current computer is going to be put to good use by my parents. Their computer is about to give up so the timing is good.

I really don't know where the time goes

Nearly another 2 weeks with out a post. I have been busy though. 2 weekends ago, I was at a UK GTG which was very enjoyable. We were all given some fabric and threads to stitch a GTG sampler designed by Kate. Mine should be finished this weekend so hopefully I will have a HD or two by the end of the weekend.
Tomorrow is my last day at work for 3 whole weeks. I have taken 2 weeks off work for holidays and with my strange shift patterns, that turns into 3 weeks. So there will a lot of stitching and knitting being done over the next few weeks. I don't have any plans to go away anywhere as yet.
On a non stitching note, my sister has booked her wedding date for 2nd June 2007. I've promised to make the invitations and favours and all that sort of stuff. My mum is making the bride and bridemaids dresses. I'm Chief Bridesmaid so I get to boss the other 3 about. There was only supposed to be 3 of us but one of her friends "invited" herself to be bridesmaid and my sister didn't have the heart to say no. Of coure there will be a wedding sampler. I'm not sure what yet as my sister isn't really a floral type person. I've stitched a Scooby doo design for her which she absolutely loves. I'm not sure that scooby doo is right for a wedding sampler.

I can't wait for the weekend

I really can't wait for this weekend as I'm heading off to a UK stitching GTG. I''m looking forward to catching up with some stitching friends and get to drool over some HDs and WIPs. And to cap it all, some of us are heading to Wye needlecraft on the Sunday for some stitching shopping therapy.
Not really sure that I should been spending anything though. I've spent a bit recently on various things including some cotton tape yarn for a jumper and other wool for a couple of different projects. I also went a bit mad last Saturday and bought a load of card making stuff on QVC. I've not been doing much card making of late and I really miss it. Quite a bit of the stuff is for making Christmas cards. I am a big fan of Christmas stuff and a lot of my stitching is Christmas related also. The first thing I ordered arrived yesterday and I'm very impressed at the quality of the card and embellishments I received. Now I just need to find some time to make some cards.
I've decided roughly what I want to stitch for the Stitching blogger's redwork exchange after getting the name of the person I am sending to. This weekend I need to pick up a couple of things so I can get started. I've also signed up for the Halloween exchange. So far I've decide what I'm going to finish the item as but I've not quite narrowed down the exact design.

Tired day

I've been trying to keep myself busy today. I finished night shift this morning at 8 and due to some really crap planning by my boss, I am back on day shift tomorrow morning. So today has been a exercise in keeping awake so I will sleep tonight. I only nodded off at two points though. The first time was in mid converstion with my aunt whilst she was driving us back from a local shopping centre and then again at about 7 when I was trying to watch the TV. The next thing I knew it was 9 o clock and the phone was ringing.

Stitching wise, I've signed up for a few exchanges on the stitching bloggers exchange board. I used to take part in a lot of exchanges in the past on various yahoogroups that I belonged to and I've organised quite a few too. Lately most of the groups I'm on aren't having exchanges so when I saw the posts for the exchange board, I decided to take the plunge. The first one is the redwork exchange. I have a fairly good idea what I'm going to stitch for it after reading the recipents blog. I've ordered some supplies so once they arrive, I will get started.

I'm off work after Thursday until Tuesday so the plan for the weekend is to stitch, stitch and stitch some more. I also need to sort my stash area as its a bit of a state plus I want to go through my stash and sort some stuff for trading at the UKGTG and possibly to sell some stuff off on ebay. I know I have a few things that I know I won't stitch.

MIA again

I can't believe its nearly a month since I posted here. Life has been very busy. My aunt is finally out of hospital and my other aunt is recovering well from her knee replacement surgery. Both of them are back in their own houses so the pressure on my parents and myself is reduced finally. I'm very tired after it all especially as work has been so busy.
Stitching wise, my progress in July has been fairly non existent due to very little stitching time. I've finished a couple of small christmas cards and another christmas piece. Pictures to follow. The knitting bug has continued to bite. I've knitted a scarf for my sisters birthday and I've also almost finished another knitted bag for my sister.
At the moment I really need to be kicked up the backside. I've got 4 different things that needed posted off to various people and a mountain of ironing that will over take the house. However all I really want to do is sleep, surf the net and stitching or knit. Still its only 1 month till I have a fortnight off work and only 2 weeks to the UKGTG. I really can't wait, especially for the GTG. I have no stitching friends locally other than my aunt (who I am gradually enabling with lots of different stuff) and its great to talk to other people who get the stitching thing rather than think it strange.

Holiday weekend

Its a holiday weekend in a large part of Scotland this weekend. The holiday marks the start of the traditional Glasgow Fair holiday fortnight. It dates back to when this area was mostly industrial and all the factories and ship yards closed for the annual summer holidays. Each area of Scotland had its own Fair fortnight and it coincided with local fairs and gala weeks. The factories and ship yards are mostly long gone but the holiday remains. So this weekend the airport at Glasgow has its busiest time. Today is called Fair Friday and almost always the weather is dreadfully today and it usually rains. Its not raining and it is warm today but the weather is muggy and not nice at all.

This week, the weather gods got a bit confused and the West of Scotland had temperatures of 80-90 degrees during the day. Not really typically Scottish weather especially when you are a very fair skinned Celt like me. I only have to look at the sun to get sunburn. Added to that is the fact that we don't have air conditioning like those in USA and Canada. Sleeping has been a bit tricky to say the least.

Stitching wise, I haven't done much at all this week. Mostly I've been at work or up visiting my aunt in hospital or sleeping. Added to this is the fact that we changed soap at work a while back and its not agreeing with my hands. The skin on one of my fingers has split at the knuckles and the rest of my hands feel like sandpaper. Not ideal for stitching with silks. I've got an appointment to see someone at the Occupational Health department to sort it out and I've been given some cream until then. Meanwhile I still have to wash my hands 30+ times a day at work and use masses of hand cream.

New technology and other stuff

I don't think I've mentioned this before but I love new gadgets. I like the whole process of learning something new. So I've been having fun today learning how to use my new mobile phone. Somehow, at some point on Monday, I managed to lose my mobile phone. Luckily it was a old one which I inherited for no money from my sister so I didn't particularly lose out.

The new one has a few more bells and whistles - a camera, bluetooth and WAP. And is easier to use. I did feel a bit patronised by the sales guy. I knew exactly what I wanted and told him that. The salesman seemed surprised that I had heard of bluetooth and knew how to set up a phone. Obviously women can't know these things. The other irritating thing was that he kept going on about their land line phone services inspite of the fact I told him four times that I wasn't interested and not to tell me any more about it.

On another note, the G8 summit is really getting on my nerves. Half the police from the west of Scotland are over in the East dealing with the violent element. I had to phone the local police to have a very suspicious and intoxicated man removed from just outside the ward I work in. The Police were great when they came but they took ages because they are very shorthanded. All their leave is cancelled too. Combined with that is the fact that the Police are advising against travel at all to Edinburgh unless you have to as its bursting at the seams. The ironic thing being that the summit isn't even there, its at Gleneagles in Perthshire. My aunt was supposed to be visiting my other aunt in hospital today but she didn't make it as she has to come through Edinburgh and the traffic and transport is a bit of a nightmare right now. I really, really want things to change during this summit but the nightmare element has arrived on the scene as usual to wreck a good campaign with fanastic aims. I don't know what the violent element hope to achieve but I don't see them influencing George Bush or anyone else by those methods.

Catching up

Life has been a bit busy over the past few weeks. My parents went away on holiday 2 weeks ago and just after they left on holiday, my mum's youngest sister phoned me at work to let me know that she was in hospital with an exacerbation of her Colitis. My mum has a big family (4 brothers and 5 sisters) but quite a few of them don't stay nearby and the other one who does is nursing her husband just now. So for the past two weeks, I have either been working or at the other hospital that my aunt is in. My parents came back today and my aunt is better but facing further treatment so the stress should reduce.
Work has been ultra stressful too. I started nights on Thursday and each night was worse than the night before. I've been shouted at, sworn at and had to convince a variety of people that 2am is time when everyone should be asleep (apart from the staff obviously). I also had to deal with a trumatic emergency situation that did not turn out positively and has left all the staff shocked and upset. Still the lovely words of another patient who has said he is coming back to give us presents because of all we did and would give us all a reference, cheered us up and made it easier to carry on.

Stitching time has been sparse over the past few weeks. I'm up to date with 2 of my 3 round robins and I should get the other one sorted soon. I have some other obligation stuff to get finished also. Various wools and patterns to knit are still catching my eye and I'm thinking of knitting a blanket from the new issue of Simply knitting also

The knitting bug bites

Knitted bag
Posted by Hello

After all the talk about knitting on all the BBs lately, I thought I should tackle something more complicated than a scarf. I learnt to knit as a child but was very bad at it and couldn't do purl. There's a new knitting magazine thats been on sale over here (Simply knitting) and it caught my eye when the first issue was published. I finally took the plunge last week and bought some needles and yarn to make this bag and at last my brain seems to get how to knit.

Unseasonal stitching

Chatelaine Christmas
Posted by Hello

I've finished Chatelaine Christmas which isn't a really logical finish whilst the UK is going through a heat wave but at least it will be finished for this Christmas. Its been a fairly jinxed project. I started it originally on what was supposed to be 32 ct Lambswool linen but after stitching it for a few hours, I realised that it wasn't 32ct and was probably 36 ct or something. So I restarted on 32ct Belfast linen and all went well until I finished the stitching on the tree and started on the box around the Christmas ribbon. I had a moment of misreading and instead of going down 3 centimetres, I went down 3 inches and I didn't realise until the box stitching was finished. I've decided I am not changing though. The other annoyance was beading the garlands. The red mill hill beads that are suggested have central holes that are too big and let the gold beads slip inside them. Luckily I had some 7/0 red beads that were suitable so thank goodness I have a bit of a stash of beads now.

Not much happening around here apart from this afternoon when there seemed to be someone important being driven down the street. I'm guessing because I couldn't see who was in the car but the 4 police motorcycle outriders and 2 police cars accompanying the car suggested that it might be someone important.

Still on holiday

I'm still off work for my holidays. 5 days left till I go back. I was in work on Wednesday as one of the other nurses is leaving to go travelling for the next year and we had a leaving tea party for her. A couple of the staff brought in their children and I got to meet my collegues new baby for the first time as he is only 7 weeks old. He's absolutely gorgeous and his mum seems to have adapted to motherhood really well inspite of her pre birth doubts.

I've not been doing a great deal this past week. Tuesday my dad and I put up some shelves in my spare room and I spent Tuesday night arranging stuff on them. The spare room is really a spare room/stitching room and its looking pretty good. I've got a few more framed cross stitch pictures to put up and some stitching books to get from my parents house still but its nearly organised. This weekend I'm going to try and get the bathroom painted and go around patching up the bits that are needing done elsewhere in the flat.

The thing I am most looking forward to this weekend is the final episode of Doctor Who. I have really loved watching it since it came back. Christopher Ecclestone has been fabulous in the part and I will miss him in it when hes gone but David Tennant is from here in Paisley and that will be very cool. He's also a fab actor and rather attractive. Last weeks reality TV theme episode was the best especially the Trinny and Susannah bit with Captain Jack. The DVD box set is definately going on my wish list.

Stitching wise I have almost finished Chatelaine Christmas. I've made a mistake though and instead of a 3cm gap between the tree and the ribbon section, there is a 2 inch gap. I got my inches and centimetres mixed up. I'm not frogging it though as it looks okay. My fairy roses chart and the 3 dimples charts I ordered, have arrived and I've started Fairy roses on a piece of SMF dyed blue metallic lugana that I bought on ebay. I'm hoping to finish Christmas tonight or tomorrow so I'm off to stitch now.

Stitching progress

Mystery 7 finished
Posted by Hello

Mystery 7 is done. I finished it earlier in the week but I've only just got around to posting a picture. I struggled stitching it for quite a while as I really lost interest after part 2. Now its finished, I'm pretty happy with it. I need to find the right bell pull hanger which might take a while.
Recently I've also been trying to do some finishing off as the pile of stitched stuff waiting to be framed or finished was getting huge. The mini mysteries have now been turned into bell pulls and hanging on some of my doors in the flat. I've also finished off a pile of Christmas ornaments, some of which had been waiting for 2 years. I had a bit of a stitching slump last month and finishing off the ornaments has really helped to get my stitching juices flowing again.

This month aim is to finish at least 2 more WIPs. As well as mystery 7, I've finished a Winnie the pooh cover kit from a magazine. Chatelaine Christmas is probably near to finishing and I have another couple of things that if I don't let myself get distracted, I might finish this month. I've got lots of stitching time because of my holidays which should mean a few more finishes. However I've ordered the new Nora Corbett/Mirabilia chart Fairy Roses and its on its way. I think I might have to start it once it gets here...

2 weeks of freedom

2 weeks without having to go to work began today. The past weekend has been pretty busy with a big party at my parents' for my dad's 60th birthday. It was a great but very long day. My sister and her DBF stayed at my house which made them my first overnight guests. It was good to see lots of relatives who I haven't seen for a while and took some lovely photographs. Later this summer, my aunt and uncle from Ontario are coming over for a visit. I haven't seen them for 10 years so it will be good catching up.

Stitching wise, I'm almost done with Mystery 7. I think I will finish tonight. Last month I did the finishing for a load of ornaments. I stll need to get some photographs of them. I also stitched and framed some of the country companions cover kits from the recent stitching magazines. I had previously searched for some cheap frames for these cover kits design without success. Finally I was in Ikea about 2 weeks ago and they have frames that are £2 for a pack of two which fit perfectly. They only sell them in dark blue and white but fortunately that suited me.

I'm away to try and finish mystery 7 now. The chatelaine WIPs are a bit out of control at present so I need to get some of them done.

Still around

I've been neglecting this blog again. I tried to post about 2 weeks ago but blogger ate my post so I decided it might be an omen.

The last couple of weeks has been pretty busy. Work has been horribly busy with patients that shouldn't have been in my ward but because of bed shortages elsewhere, we have been left to deal with it...
I go back to work tomorrow for 3 shifts and then I have 2 weeks of holidays which will be sheer bliss. I plan to spend the time organising the flat amongst other things.
This weekend, there's going to be a massive party at my parents. My dad is sixty on Thursday and we are having a party for around 30-40 (or more) relatives at my parents fairly small house. It should be an interesting day as I haven't seen some of my relatives for a while.

I had a bit of image change today. I had shoulder length hair this morning when I left the house. By this afternoon, I had my hair cropped very short. Its a bit of a change but I have had my hair this sort before and I think it looks better. At least the little bit of grey hair I have doesn't look as obvious.

Election and voting

Its election time in the UK so a non stitching topic for me. I've decided how I'm going to vote but I took an online test that I saw on Lorna's blog

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Labour

Your actual outcome:

	Labour 56
Conservative -60
	Liberal Democrat 62
UK Independence Party -41
	Green 6

You should vote: Liberal Democrat

The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

It wasn't quite accurate as I have decide that I'm going to vote Labour. I do agree with quite a few of the policies of the Liberal Democrats but on balance I find I agree with more Labour policies. I could never see myself voting Conservative ever unless they change pretty much every policy that they have.

March stitching progress and April aims

And so on to March.

At the start of March I had 26 WIPs/UFOs plus 2 Round robins in progress. I felt like I got quite a lot of stitching time in March. I had a week off work so that helped.

March starts were
Tom mouse butterfly chase (country companions design)
Mini mystery H tryout
ornament 3 for Ornament RR group 8
TW you were hatched
Michael Powell Venice Windows 2

March finishes were
Tom mouse butterfly chase
Mini mystery H
Mini mystery H tryout
Legends of the Spellcasters
Ornament 3 for Ornament RR
TW You were hatched

So I ended the month with 25 WIPs/UFOs plus 2 Round robins.

My aims for April are to
start and finish ornament 4 for the Ornament RR
finish Mystery 7
get organised for the UK RR I'm joining that mails out at the end of the month
finish at least one other project.
I would like to end the month with 24 or less WIPs/UFOs. My kit for Chatelaine Eqyptian garden is on its way and I know I won't be able to resist starting it when it arrives (hopefully tomorrow)

2005 Stitching progress

Okay so I am a little late with this. I have a tendency to procastinate and put things off and this was supposed to be a blog entry in January. My excuse was to be that I didn't have internet access for most of January but that doesn't really excuse February or March does it ?

Anyway as of the 1st of January 2005 I had the following projects started

TW The Storyteller
TW The Ministrel
TW Paisley Corner
TW Night
Legends of the Spellcastes
Mirabilia Autumn Queen
Mirabilia Emerald Mermaid
Dimples Le Epoch Nouveau
Chatelaine Taj Mahal garden
Chatelaine Mystery 7
Chatelaine Christmas (aka Weinachten)
Country companions bag
Pinn Chinese Goddess of Mercy
JN Barnabee's quest
LK Needle Nick
Jungle babies pillowcase
Jungle babies birth sampler
Balinese Dancer
LK Love keeps us warm
Merry stitches stocking
Newton's law The future's so bright
Geisha Bride
Quilt Afghan
WB Yeats Verse
LK Official Snow guide
3 Round robins (Wee beasties, RR 25.2, Ornament Group 8)

In total that makes 25 WIPs/UFOs plus 3 RRs. The main aim this year is to get the amount of WIPs/UFOs to below 20 by the end of the year. I'd like to finish Taj Mahal garden, the Storyteller, Autumn Queen and Le Epoch Nouveau. I would also like to finish 4 mirabilias and stitch 6 country companions designs. I would also like to have more finishes than last year (I had 65 last year).

In January I started Mystery 8 and Mini mystery H. I started and finished one ornament for the ornament RR and started a second on. I also started Dimples Viceroy butterfly for Carleen's Dimples RR. So I ended the month with 27 WIPs/UFOs plus 3 RRs. Not a good start.

February was better. I started 4 things: a Dragonfly scissor fob by CJ Lucas designs, Dimples Californian ladybug (for Caroline's Dimples RR), Mill hill holly feather tree ornament and a springtime pooh cover kit. The finishing rate was better: Dimples Viceroy butterfly and Californian lady bug were both finished (completing my involvement in the Wee Beasties RR). I also finished the Dragonfly scissorfob, the holly feather tree ornament and the Ornament RR piece that I started in January. Two other WIPs bit the dust - Mirabilia Emerald mermaid and the WB yeats verse. So I ended February with 26 WIPs/UFOs plus 2 RRs.

A lazy weekend

I've been off all this weekend which has been strange. I've been working a lot of weekends lately. My boss seems to think that if you reliable, then you should work lots of weekends and holiday weekends. Boo hiss to her. Anyway I don't have to work again until Friday so woo hoo.

Last night I had my parents and one of my aunts over for a meal. It was a pretty good evening. Today I've been stitching away on Taj mahal garden and watching lots of TV.

A happy dance or two..

I finished Legends of the spellcasters finally. Oh and mini mystery H too. I did try to post this picture 4 times yesterday but for some reason the hello application that I used didn't want to work


Legends of the spellcasters
Posted by Hello

I'm finally starting to feel better although the coughing is still there and I sound like I have been smoking lots of cigarettes. Back to work Wednesday night, what deep joy.

Mini mystery H
Posted by Hello

Cough cough

The title says it all. I've spent the past few days when I should have been at work, in bed with a cold. Usually I only get one of these cold type bugs each winter but thats now two since the start of the year and both so bad that they knocked me off my feet for a day or two.
Finally though I am starting to stop coughing and I can get some stuff down around the house before I am back at work on Wednesday.

One of the things I found to cheer me up today was buying the new issue of SFX magazine and finding pictures from the Hitchhikers movie along with links to trailers. I have had my doubts about the adaptation and some of the cast but the trailers look very cool. I've even changed my computer wallpaper to a picture of Marvin. After many years of trying to persuade my dad to read the Hitchhikers books, I've persuaded him to read them and he is really enjoying them (as I thought he would).

My sister has set the date for her wedding. Much against many predictions by mum and myself, she has gone for 2nd June 2007. It happens to be my dads birthday too so that's good too. I've committed myself to making all the stationery including the invites and favours so that gives me plently time..

End of month report and plans for next month

February seems to have flown by this year. I guess because I've been really busy. I'm off work this week which I badly need as I'm so tired. This weekend sees the Biannual Creative stitches show in Glasgow so I get to go stash shopping in person rather than via the net. The LNSs near here are few and far between and don't really stock the stuff I like.

Stitching wise I did well this month. I finished 7 things and only started 3. Of the three starts, two are already done and one will be done this week.
I finished
Dimples Viceroy butterfly
Dimples Californian lady bug
Dragon fly scissor fob by CJ Lucas
An ornament RR project (I can't say what it is just in case)
Mill hill Holly feather tree ornament
Mirabilia Emerald Mermaid
A WB Yeats verse that I charted myself

I'm rather pleased with this progress. I was hoping to finish Legends of the Spellcasters but it wasn't to be.

For this coming month I would like to
Catch up with Mystery 8 ( I'm still stitching part 1)
Complete 2 of my WIPs/UFOs
Do the finishing for 2 ornaments

I would specificially like to finish Legends of the spell casters and Mini mystery H. I'm going to go bell pull hardware shopping at the weekend show as I've decided that I would like to finish the mini mysteries as individual bell pulls and hang them on the room doors in the flat.
A further thing I need to do this month is go to my parents' house and decide what framed stitching is staying with them and what is coming to me. They really apppreciate my stitching so I know it is going to be in good hands. They have already asked if they can keep two of my completed Shepherds bush samplers as they want to hang them in their bedroom. Strangely they have moved into my old bedroom already and redecorated it to make it their bedroom. Both the samplers they picked will look perfect.

Very tired

I'm so tired just now. I've been doing two weeks of day shift and then 2 weeks of night shift and it gets so tiring after a while. I finished night shift Monday morning and I then have 3 further night shifts this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. After that I have a weeks holiday which will include a stitching show visit. I will be going with my mum who doesn't cross stitch but does dress making and my aunt who does cross stitch after I started her stitch during a previous show visit.
The stash room organisation has begun. I bought some drawer units during the Ikea trip and I've put all my kits, WIPs, fabric and so on in them. It was a little scary to see it all but it definately got me stitching more. I'm in a finish it mood at the moment and hopefully I should have Emerald mermaid finished this weekend and may be Legends of the spellcasters. I have a Nashville order on its way plus some silks so the postman is eagerly awaited everyday.

I had some happy family news on Monday - my sister got engaged to her boyfriend. She's asked me to be a bridesmaid when the wedding happens in a year or so. I think we are all going out for a family meal this weekend to celebrate.

To answer Faith's question Paisley is in the West of Scotland. Its about 10 miles from Glasgow near the River Clyde. Greenock is about 20 minutes down the motorway. The main claim to fame for Paisley is that it is the home of the Paisley Pattern. Where I stay in Paisley is close to the Anchor mills where they used to make Anchor threads so its an appropriate town for a stitcher. Its just a pity we don't have an LNS.

I'm back

Well I was away slightly longer than planned.........
Basically what happened was that I moved into my new flat then the telephone company decided that they were very hopeless and I couldn't get a phone line from them for 2 months. I would have been quicker learning how to connect the cables myself.

Anyway I now have a phone line and 1mb broadband which is very lovely and fast. So hopefully I will be posting more here.

At the moment I'm trying to get organised. I'm lucky enough that I have a spare bedroom which I am planning to have a sofabed in but mostly to use as a stash/sewing room. I'm looking around for storage ideas at the moment and so tomorrow I am planning a trip to the hell that is Ikea. I feel like I have been living in furniture shops for the past two months and if I never have to assemble flat pack furniture from barely understandable instructions with holes that don't line up, it will be brilliant.