A Few Setbacks

Well, it's been one of those weeks again, where things just don't go as planned. (I have a lot of those, I know.) Haven't been feeling well since Wednesday. Don't know if it's the weather or stress at work, but it really affected my stitching Thursday and Friday, so Scale didn't get as much attention as I would have liked.

As for drama this week, lets see: First there was the mouse in my kitchen Wednesday night (second time this year); Second, my neighbor's apartment caught fire early Saturday morning, and while I was very fortunate in not getting any damage to my unit, I did get an apartment full of smoke. That was not cool, since my apartment is full of fabric, but it could have been a lot worse. Thankfully, it was a fairly small fire, and the firemen got here really quick.

So I guess I should get to the stitching, right? Okay. Last week I pulled out my R2 Silhouette, which I did work on last year but never posted any progress pics here. In fact, it appears I didn't take any pics of this at all last year, and of course, I forgot to take one before I started. So, here's a pic taken after Monday's session, and the final pic for the week:

I started this week working on the satellite and the foliage around it. My goal was to get the middle scene done, and I think I got most of it in. Now I can focus on getting the legs finished next time. I'm looking forward to the shape of trees forming as I go. :)

Since there wasn't much progress on Scale, I'll save her for next time and show you another of my wips that hasn't seen the light of day in a while.

Two years ago, my mother bought me a Riolis kit I just had to have for my birthday. I really love the scene, but I've barely worked on it at all. Partly because of the fabric (stiff aida), but mostly because of the chart. It's a large full color chart with lots of similar symbols, and the result is like some psychedelic painting that hurts my eyes. Recently, I've put the fabric onto a new frame (an Elbesee Easy Clip frame, great for stiff aida) so I decided to have another go at the chart. It's still difficult, but since I've resigned myself to not highlighting (it just blends right in) and am now using black marker to blot out what I've stitched, I actually made some decent progress today. Again, I don't have a "before" photo, but I worked mainly on the gentleman's cravat and shirt sleeve:

This was only my 5th day on this project, which is really shameful, but I think I've worked out my blockages with this pattern. I would have stitched more, but my right arm is bothering me quite a bit. (It's always something.) I guess what I really need is a bionic arm! Then I could get some decent stitching done. ;) Until then, progress is really slow on this one, but seeing part of the pattern take shape is really galvanizing. I can't say I'll be working on this all the time, but it's not going to sit in a corner and collect dust without getting touched, so I'll call that a win. :)

And on my Temperature charts, I now have three months done!

I was really bummed to have to break out the dark blue for the first of April. It hasn't been this cold in April in a really long time, and it's snowing again today! Hopefully that will change soon. Until then, I'm still waiting to use my orange. :)

Never enough time

Hi again! Can't believe it's June already!

Well, things are slowly calming down at work (at least for now) so my stitching is starting to pick up again. I've dabbled on a few projects this week with decent progress, though I hate to put any of these away (but other projects are beginning to scream!).

First, I pulled out my Tigers for some early morning stitching. I had hoped to have all the greenery done by now, but I've had to share stitching time with other things recently. I am tantalizingly close though.

I did manage to finish the bottom corner, and I'm starting to see the outline for the paw.

I was too tired/busy to switch to another project, so I continued a bit with Cass, though I only managed three more days on her. I did roll her up though, so now it's really hard to put her down as I just want to keep filling in those big blocks of color. It's a lot of simple stitching (which helps when your brain feels like mush from overwork) but it takes a lot of time, so I didn't get very far.

I stitched almost entirely in that same shade of light blue-green. (I call it the toothpaste color, as it's actually a blend that reminds me precisely of Colgate toothpaste. Ahh, minty freshness.)

I also got a couple more columns done on Ginger, who is coming along fabulously.

Just starting to define a couple of those light waves in the background, and it's so cool! I am a total astronomy buff, so I love that I'm actually stitching space, and the colors are so awesome. I'm also happy all those "stars" are turning out so well. There's a lot of color in those, and they're pretty fun to stitch.

Lastly, I did finally cave in and put a few stitches on Pastoral, though it doesn't look like much yet.

This is the river, just left of the woman's shoulder. This is a three strand blend, with two of the same blue plus a mid green, which I think gives the color a nice undertone. It'll be interesting to watch the textures in this one, as there are 1, 2, and 3 strand colors, with various blends and half stitches thrown in for good measure.

Also, about the floss: I looked at the box again, and it plainly said this was Anchor floss! I've only ever stitched with Anchor black, but it does not feel or look like what the kit came with. But it is really satiny and smooth and lays well, although the ends tended to fray and thin quite a bit with stitching. Also, this is a Premium Riolis kit, which may be why it is not their typical wool blend floss. I will try to post more about that later, perhaps next weekend if I can find some time to play with my new lovelies. :)

That's all I got for now. Hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is enjoying the warmer weather. :) Until next time!