Happy New Year

(Well, it will be in 1.75 hours)

Looking back, 2009 was good to me
- I got back into cross stitch in an obsessive and almost psychotic way
- I finally accepted that I couldn't just eat my mum's food and bum around. I'm now back in school with goals for the future!
- I started blogging and have met so many wonderful people *waves* *hugs* *sobs with gratitude*

I'm pretty sure 2010 will be good to me.

Usually for the New Year, I get a favourite old book, read while I wait for the hour, and then look up to see that it's 3 in the morning~ This year I'm going to listen to a good book and stitch the year in.

Happy New Year!

December Achievements & January Goals

Goals for December:
1. Finish the floss tag Done
2. Finish Christmas Angel Everything except some beads I'm still waiting for
3. Finish Bluebell Nope. Ran out of one colour so I have to go pick it up.
4. Stitch at least 20 hours on Ganesha Nope (Again!)
5. No new starts I was good until two days ago when I went insane and couldn't hold off for the last 3 days of the month

Other things I did that were unplanned:
1. Started Holly
2. Finished Think on These Things.

Goals for January:
1. Finish Holly
2. Start Legend of Dragons
3. Start Autumn Winds
4. Stitch a needlebook
5. Stitch a bag
6. Stitch at least 20 hours on Ganesha

Wrapping-up December worked pretty well. I didn't really finish anything other than Think on These Things. I got very close with Christmas Angel and Bluebell so I'm pretty happy with that.

Last HD of the year?

Possibly.



"Think on These Things" by My Big Toe.
Start date September 22, 2009
Finish date December 27, 2009
Fabric 28 count antique white something. It's stitched over one.
Total hours 30.75

This is just the right half. The left is your regular 123abc sampler and I don't care much for those.

That brown bit is some random dirt and not part of the design!

Actually this photo is just horrible. The green is not khaki-green. It's a very bright 369, and very subtle in person. I wanted the words to stand out, not the motifs around them.

I had everything except the top and bottom blue borders done. I didn't like what was charted and didn't really want to do it myself because I was convinced that I'd miscount it and muck it up horribly. Several pins, a pencil, an eraser, scrap paper, a calculator and lots and lots of counting later, I got the border to look symmetric and that itself is a mini dance!

I'm waffling between making a pinkeep or a bellpull...any suggestions?

Nearing Cloud Nine

Last progress on Christmas day~

Pre backstitch and beads:



And 17 hours of backstitch and beading later:



The green beads haven't arrived at my LNS and I ran out of the transparent ones so that will be later. I still have about 3 snowflakes to go.

I made quite a few changes
Some of the snowflakes are supposed to have grey centres but I didn't like it, so they're all transparent.
No halo because I think it looks better without.
No french knots because a)I hate them. b)It seems fine without.
No backstitch on the sleeves. I may go back and add that in.
I also used 002 instead of 102 for the inside of the wings.
Replaced the transparent beads in her earring with white ones.
Hmm, that's a lot more minor modifications than I thought!

Edit: I just realized that the white around her waist is missing it's beads. I'll just add those when I add the rest...

Other blogs

Now while I've tried to be good about stalking following folks that follow me I'm pretty sure that I've missed a few of you. Can't quite figure out how to find home blogs from the follower widget. So if you could take a quick peek to see if I do and if I don't, leave a comment and I'll get right on it.
Also if you have any that you really enjoy let me know. It's always fun to find new blogs. My future projects list is getting more ridiculous by the day.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

My last final was yesterday and I'm pretty sure that I aced them all. Admittedly almost everything was stuff I'd learnt previously, but still!

Anyway, I apparently left the light on when I borrowed my mum's car yesterday and the battery died. So today my dad and I used his car to jump start the other one. On the one hand I feel like a moron for forgetting the light. But on the positive side, I now have practical experience using jumper cables to boost a car!

Lastly a plug: Julie over at I'll Cross That Leg When I Get To It has posted pictures of her Christmas village. It's incredible! Go look.

Karyn's Giveaway

Karyn over at The Teakettle Corner is having an amazing New Year's Giveaway. Check it out

Angels weep

No, this title has nothing to do with carols, but it's probably quite true.

The most crushing part of my guilt:
I went from 18.5 hours to 50 hours on Christmas Angel.



All the cross stitching is done, except for that missing blue and a metallic where I managed to buy the completely wrong colour.

And because I'm lazy and want to get back to my audiobook, today's angel fact is a link to the insanity that is angel hierarchy.

A win

Adding to my guilt is the fact that I completely forgot to mention that I had won Nita's giveaway when I won it. It arrived on Friday.



Dimension's kit "Palm" which my mum has already demanded for her kitchen (why? no idea). And G.P.Taylor's "Shadowmancer" and "Wormwood".

My guilt is slightly lessened by the fact that I haven't started reading them yet. I have self-control. *pats shoulder smugly*

Crippling guilt

For the last few days I've been reading and commenting on blogs, but studiously avoiding my own because of a horrible sense of guilt.
Why?
I mentioned having finals (week of December 14).
I also have several assignments etc. due right before.
I have not been working on them.
Guess what I've been doing instead?

When I stitch I sometimes listen to music but usually listen to an audiobook. This is perfect because I feel doubly productive. Currently it just doubles my guilt.

I started listening to Jim Butcher's Codex Alera. Fantasy-stuff. Lots of cliches, but still so entertaining! It's a series of 6. I'm on book 3 right now. It's very gripping and I'm putting off studying to listen.

As a bonus I get a lot of stitching done. On the downside I can't do much else.

Item one: my first floss tag
Dragonfly fob from Cross Stitch Happy.
I used my own choice of bright blue and pale yellow to come up with this truly mutant insect.

Don't look at the edges too closely if you're obsessive-compulsive. There are little bits of fabric sticking out.
It was fun to make. But I don't like finishing small finicky things. I kept dropping it and had trouble getting the edges lined up and I think I went though the wrong backstitchs a few times and...wait, why am I saying that I had fun?

Success at last!

Actually, success was last week, but after dancing like a madman around my sofa I put it away carefully and forgot to take pictures.

What am I babbling about? Why this:



Ages ago (October to be precise) I mentioned that I was trying to make a patchwork bag which wasn't working out too well. Meari demanded pictures, I nodded my head, and ... didn't follow through (I'm sorry, but it's all done now~~~)

A short while ago, I whined about my Space Invaders having problems. A lot of people told me to buck up and take it like a man. (OK, no. They said that 3rd time's the charm and they were right!)

I went back to my patchwork and finished it~



The "S" in the middle is from Passione Ricamo's free Arabesque alphabet. It's on 18 count aida with two strands of black. The dimensions of the bag are 10.5" x 11/5" x 2.5"

It has a layer of heavy sew-in interfacing so it stands up by itself, even with the heavier-than-they-look handles. It has one pocket inside, which I placed a bit too low. I also cut the inside and the outside to the exact same dimensions, but when finished the lining is actually a tiny bit bigger, so it's a little loose on the inside. Next time I'm going to make the lining smaller, so that it fits properly. I forgot to take a picture of the inside, but it's the same fabric as the handle loops.The handles can be slid out of the loops so I can switch them onto another bag.

I haven't actually taken this out of the house. It's getting colder here, and I like to keep my gloved hands in my jacket pockets, so no handbags in winter. But when summer comes this will be going places!

November Achievements & December Goals

Goals for November:
1. Stitch Space Invader Sampler and finish as a bag Sort of...I finished the pattern, but messed up the fabric cut, so I have to pick up extra to work around the mistake
2. Finish "S" bag Yes! And I love it. (I can't believe I haven't posted pictures yet... Tomorrow!
3. Finish Shamrock Biscornu Finished all the stitching, but I had put all the beads in a "safe" place. And can't find them. .
4. Stitch at least 20 hours on Ganesha Nope. Why do I keep listing this as a goal? A sad pathetic hope...
5. Stitch and finish a few floss tags I got started on one but got nervous about the eyelets and went off to eat muffins. (Honestly, it's a two inch piece that took an hour to stitch! You'd think I'd realize that if I muck it up I can just try again!)

Other things I did that were unplanned:
1. Finished When Witches Go Riding
1. Started Minx
2. Started Christmas Angel

Goals for December:
1. Finish the floss tag
2. Finish Christmas Angel
3. Finish Bluebell
4. Stitch at least 20 hours on Ganesha (Hey, one of these months it's going to happen!)
5. No new starts

I'll be done finals by the second week, and then I'm free to stitch, stitch, stitch! I'm going to try to make December a wrapping-up month.

Jennifer's Giveaway

Why do I post giveaways? Because I love winning stuff and it's always nice to know about giveaways. Plus I enjoy reading the owners' blogs and think more people should read them~

Anyway, Jennifer is having a lovely giveaway for Christmas.

From the Realm of Glory

I haven't been stitching much this week because of too many assignments and I'll probably stitch even less the next 3 weeks because of finals. *Sigh*

I did get a bit more of Christmas Angel done.



This is at 18.5 hours. I didn't feel like stitching the white, and I can't find one of the blues, so there are some giant patches.

For the curious, and the gatherers of useless trivia:
So last time I mentioned that angels are asexual, only to be informed by Annie, that no, Jewish angels are usually males.

Today's angel fact: there are only 5 angels named in the Bible: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Apollyon or Abaddon (the keeper of the abyss) and Satan. Yes, Apollyon and Satan are devils, but technically they're fallen angels.

And if you're really obsessed about trivia: Apollyon is mentioned in Revelations 9:11.

Nike loves me!

No, no. Not the shoe people! The Greek goddess of victory!

Lindsay has just informed me that I've won one of her really cute beaded ornaments~ Yay! I love winning stuff!

A while ago, Annie (who appears to be reading every stitching blog under the sun!) finished off a beautiful Altoids tin. I commented that I've never seen one IRL, and she sent me one! Isn't that just wonderful of her? She sent me cinnamon flavoured ones. I ripped it open in a mad frenzy, popped one in my mouth, and almost died! They're very spicy! I was going to gobble them all up, but apparently I can't indulge my piggish self...

On a really random note: I was drooling over Autumn Winds (my new start for 2010) and it occurred to me why I like this so much! My subconscious tells me that it's Snape as a girl, or a very effeminate boy! Can you tell that I watch far too much anime with pretty boys who look like girls! Now I'm even more anxious to start!

Mail!

What seems like ages ago, I won day 12 of Missy's giveaway. International post has seen fit to drop it on my doorstep today.



Isn't Bunnicula just awesome? Note the bat-pin that tops the pinkeep. He's on a lovely white-with-white-swils fabric, and the back is a lovely black velvet-like fabric. As of typing the candy corn is gone, but the gummyball eyeball is staring at me. I'm a little nervous to bite into it...

The black bit is the bag everything was in, and the purple mess is the really cute wrapping paper. I'm one of those people that rips apart wrapping, no reusing for me!

This was my first stitchy mail, and it was so much fun finding it inside my front door!

Stage Two Failed...Try Again.

Today I dragged out my sewing machine and got everything together to assemble my Space Invaders bag. As I was cheerfully threading my needle I glanced at my cut fabric and came to a sad realization:

When you square the bottom of a bag, the width of the bag decreases as part of the width becomes the sides. I had not accounted for this decrease. Which means that my bag doesn't have sides. I thought about the logistics of using my strap as the side, and this seemed to be a good idea until I got my tape measure, did a bit of pretzel-like twisting and figured out that the resulting strap would be too short for my purposes.

Since I have no fabric left, it's off to Fabricland on Monday.

This is the second bag I've attempted and the second one with "issues". I think the universe is trying to tell me something...

Hark Now!

First, thanks for
a) the spatula advice
b) letting me know that brownies from boxes are not punishable by death.

So when I said I wanted to stitch Joan Elliot's Christmas Angel I had a whole bunch of people encourage me (*tears of joy*). So I started her...on Tuesday and here's where I'm at.

She's on 32 count Pewter lugana. I was looking for a pale grey to stitch her on and I really like this one.



She's at 9 hours and I'm done the purple part of her skirt! Well, the photo makes it look blue, it's purple. And such a lovely deep purple!

Angel fact of the day: Traditionally angels are asexual. So all this female angel business is...questionable.

Erynne's Giveaway

Erynne over at Be-Stitched is having her giveaway. And it's a doozy. A GC worth $75.

Enter! (or don't, and increase my chances! *grin*)

Baking brownies

The only "domestic" art I'm master of is the needle.
Self-acknowledged failure in the kitchen, I can boil noodles, make a grilled cheese sandwich and microwave any number of things. In a fit of madness I decided to make brownies. Before folks get excited this is brownies from a box (which I'm sure is some kind of sacrilege).
Anyway, the brownies are currently in the oven. Having followed the instructions on the box, the batter was very thick and I could only get about 2/3 into the pan. I'm currently eating the rest (and it's good!).
So my question is: how was I supposed to get all the batter in the pan? Unlike a cake mix this was really really thick and didn't flow...

Update:
Out of the oven


Had a few bites, and I swear I could feel my teeth rotting from all the sugar, and my dentist rubbing her hands in glee!

Clarification: I couldn't get all the batter out of my mixing bowl. It just got stuck everywhere.