Goals for September:
Unplanned things:
1. Finished Spring Blossom Biscornu
2. Finished Tree of Stitches
3. Started The Great Escape
Goals for October:
1. Get the last two UFORRs out
2. Finish Celtic Spring
3. Start something Halloween
Friday, September 30, 2011
September Achievements & October Goals
September was very very good to me. Here's hoping that October will be equally or even more awesome!
Goals for September:
1. Dye some fabric. Yes, actually. I just keep forgetting to post a picture.
2. Work on Sapphire. Done and finished!
Unplanned things:
1. Finished Spring Blossom Biscornu
2. Finished Tree of Stitches
3. Started The Great Escape
Goals for October:
1. Get the last two UFORRs out
2. Finish Celtic Spring
3. Start something Halloween
Goals for September:
Unplanned things:
1. Finished Spring Blossom Biscornu
2. Finished Tree of Stitches
3. Started The Great Escape
Goals for October:
1. Get the last two UFORRs out
2. Finish Celtic Spring
3. Start something Halloween
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
TUSAL September
Almost missed today. I can't believe that it's almost the end of the month!
Blue from Tree of Stitches and white from Spring Blossoms Biscornu.
Blue from Tree of Stitches and white from Spring Blossoms Biscornu.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A Longish Post With Lots of Pictures (And Some Whining)
Exactly what the title says so you may either want to skip my inane ramblings and look at the pictures or grab something to drink ;D
The topic of discussion the last stages of finishing Tree of Stitches and the woes I encountered. So yes, I've finished it! *Dances in relief*
Tree of Stitches
28ct white Jubilee, CW Bermuda Reef, WDW Peony, MH 42010
All new stitches this time:
Fancy cross which is a Herringbone Square over a Leviathan. I love it! It's so pretty and I did it with one strand to make it look a bit more delicate.
Tied Windmill. Another stitch that I like! Abi mentioned that there might be a need to "nudge-and-stitch" to get the middle cross, but I had no such issues.
Leaf stitch. After the last two stitches this was kinda boring but easy. No falling leaves just because.
One look at the overall tree, and I decided that my Jerusalem stitches didn't fit in with the rest since they looked too thin. So frog and redo in two strands and the whole tree looks pretty full.
Now is the bit where I whine. A lot. I knew straight off that Horace the Rabbit and his flower were not making an appearance, but I wasn't too sure about Lester the Owl. So I gave him a try.
Snag 1: I couldn't get a decent Knit Stitch, which is what makes up his body. Several tries and I gave up. Then I dug up my various dictionaries of stitches to try and find a replacement. I tried Ceylon stitch, blanket filling and finally settled on the Triangle stitch.
And yes, he's yellow. I thought it would fit in with the otherworldly theme I was going for.
A step back and I found snag two: My eye kept being drawn to the owl. I've always planned on having the tree being the focus so that wasn't good. I still like the owl. He's just so cute. But sadly he was ruining my plans for this design. So I frogged him and his branch.
Next was trying to randomly fill the space with the surrounding stitches while not making it too crowded. I'm actually very very pleased with what I managed.
And then it was beading. Now I'm rather odd in that I enjoy beading. I find it very soothing, and in a project where the placement is more of a guideline? It was sheer joy. I went with tiny clear beads since I wanted a raindrop effect.
So what's next? I have two packages crawling their way to me. Whichever arrives first will be my next start. Until they arrive I'm off to put hours into a UFORR.
One last look:
The topic of discussion the last stages of finishing Tree of Stitches and the woes I encountered. So yes, I've finished it! *Dances in relief*
Tree of Stitches
28ct white Jubilee, CW Bermuda Reef, WDW Peony, MH 42010
All new stitches this time:
Fancy cross which is a Herringbone Square over a Leviathan. I love it! It's so pretty and I did it with one strand to make it look a bit more delicate.
Tied Windmill. Another stitch that I like! Abi mentioned that there might be a need to "nudge-and-stitch" to get the middle cross, but I had no such issues.
Leaf stitch. After the last two stitches this was kinda boring but easy. No falling leaves just because.
One look at the overall tree, and I decided that my Jerusalem stitches didn't fit in with the rest since they looked too thin. So frog and redo in two strands and the whole tree looks pretty full.
Now is the bit where I whine. A lot. I knew straight off that Horace the Rabbit and his flower were not making an appearance, but I wasn't too sure about Lester the Owl. So I gave him a try.
Snag 1: I couldn't get a decent Knit Stitch, which is what makes up his body. Several tries and I gave up. Then I dug up my various dictionaries of stitches to try and find a replacement. I tried Ceylon stitch, blanket filling and finally settled on the Triangle stitch.
And yes, he's yellow. I thought it would fit in with the otherworldly theme I was going for.
A step back and I found snag two: My eye kept being drawn to the owl. I've always planned on having the tree being the focus so that wasn't good. I still like the owl. He's just so cute. But sadly he was ruining my plans for this design. So I frogged him and his branch.
Next was trying to randomly fill the space with the surrounding stitches while not making it too crowded. I'm actually very very pleased with what I managed.
And then it was beading. Now I'm rather odd in that I enjoy beading. I find it very soothing, and in a project where the placement is more of a guideline? It was sheer joy. I went with tiny clear beads since I wanted a raindrop effect.
So what's next? I have two packages crawling their way to me. Whichever arrives first will be my next start. Until they arrive I'm off to put hours into a UFORR.
One last look:
| Title | Tree of Stitches |
| Designer | Abi Gurden |
| Start date | August 6, 2011 |
| Finish date | September 25, 2011 |
| Total time | 23.5 hours |
| Fabric | 28 ct White Jubilee |
| Floss | Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef, Weeks Dye Works Peony, MH 42010 |
 |  |
 |  |
Friday, September 23, 2011
Rapid Growth
Having finished off two WIPs (and started something new) I tentatively have my eyes set on finishing Tree of Stitches (so that I can start two more things).
Tree of Stitches
28ct white Jubilee, Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef, Weeks Dye Works Peony
Continuing my stitch by stitch ramblings from last time:
Cushion stitch. I've done this before and I love it. It's such a dimensional stitch. I stitched it with 2 strands to make it extra high.
And then the Jerusalem stitch. This was completely new to me, and I didn't like it. And after the joy of the cushion stitch I just hated it even more. This was where I stalled. Eventually I managed to drag myself to finish it off. At two strands it was too thick and at one it's too thin. Let's chalk this stitch as one I'll be avoiding in the future.
Four new stitches in this picture. Going clockwise starting from below the Jerusalem stitch. There's one called a Floral stitch. It puts me in mind of kloster blocks from hardanger. I was really tempted to add some sort of modified eyelet for the center, but since I was stitching the "petals" in two strands it would have been too thick and I was too lazy to go to the trouble.
Then the Norwich stitch (bottom right). Where has this been all my life? It's such a lovely stitch! I love it! I changed it a tiny bit to look more symmetrical.
Star stitch. This reminded me of the Jerusalem stitch. A "+" bracketed by something else, but I found this much easier going and therefore I like it a lot more.
And ending with a Rhodes square. I've done a fair bit of these before and I love the way they stitch up!
Tree of Stitches is still available over at the Yahoo Group Stitch Specialists. I'm not sure when it'll be taken down but I'm betting pretty soon since The Great Escape has already started running. So if anyone is planning on grabbing it I would suggest hurrying. You can always just hoard it for the future. *glances at Castles in the Air, the 2010 AAN Christmas Tree and others...*
Tree of Stitches
28ct white Jubilee, Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef, Weeks Dye Works Peony
Continuing my stitch by stitch ramblings from last time:
Cushion stitch. I've done this before and I love it. It's such a dimensional stitch. I stitched it with 2 strands to make it extra high.
And then the Jerusalem stitch. This was completely new to me, and I didn't like it. And after the joy of the cushion stitch I just hated it even more. This was where I stalled. Eventually I managed to drag myself to finish it off. At two strands it was too thick and at one it's too thin. Let's chalk this stitch as one I'll be avoiding in the future.
Four new stitches in this picture. Going clockwise starting from below the Jerusalem stitch. There's one called a Floral stitch. It puts me in mind of kloster blocks from hardanger. I was really tempted to add some sort of modified eyelet for the center, but since I was stitching the "petals" in two strands it would have been too thick and I was too lazy to go to the trouble.
Then the Norwich stitch (bottom right). Where has this been all my life? It's such a lovely stitch! I love it! I changed it a tiny bit to look more symmetrical.
Star stitch. This reminded me of the Jerusalem stitch. A "+" bracketed by something else, but I found this much easier going and therefore I like it a lot more.
And ending with a Rhodes square. I've done a fair bit of these before and I love the way they stitch up!
Tree of Stitches is still available over at the Yahoo Group Stitch Specialists. I'm not sure when it'll be taken down but I'm betting pretty soon since The Great Escape has already started running. So if anyone is planning on grabbing it I would suggest hurrying. You can always just hoard it for the future. *glances at Castles in the Air, the 2010 AAN Christmas Tree and others...*
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
It's Not Really A WIP
The Great Escape is the new SAL from Abi Gurden of The Stitch Specialists.
And since it's only a small part every two weeks (which doesn't really take very long) it's not a proper WIP...
Not really...
Is anyone buying this?
I finished two things so I deserve a reward?
Whatever justification I come up with, the reality is that I've started it. I have dismal luck with ongoing SALs. I lose interest at around the halfway point and then wait for about six months after the end to finish. Maybe I'll have better luck this time.
Initially this was going to be a white owl on a dark background (Hedwig!) However this requires that I have a piece of dark fabric of suitable size that is not earmarked for some other project.
Second option: try to make it look like a sketch, so greys on white.
The Great Escape
28ct white Jubilee
Part 1 is the Montenegrin stitch in DMC 317. It's incredibly dense and kinda odd, but still easy. It's much more interesting very close up than afar.
And since it's only a small part every two weeks (which doesn't really take very long) it's not a proper WIP...
Not really...
Is anyone buying this?
I finished two things so I deserve a reward?
Whatever justification I come up with, the reality is that I've started it. I have dismal luck with ongoing SALs. I lose interest at around the halfway point and then wait for about six months after the end to finish. Maybe I'll have better luck this time.
Initially this was going to be a white owl on a dark background (Hedwig!) However this requires that I have a piece of dark fabric of suitable size that is not earmarked for some other project.
Second option: try to make it look like a sketch, so greys on white.
The Great Escape
28ct white Jubilee
Part 1 is the Montenegrin stitch in DMC 317. It's incredibly dense and kinda odd, but still easy. It's much more interesting very close up than afar.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Needles on FIYAH!
And since I had to use a beading needle the plural (s) applies.
As part of IHSW (which I have been participating in for ages but not promoting. oops) I finished The Sweetheart Tree's Spring Blossoms Biscornu late last night.
I initially put it away because the backstitch was annoying but when I picked it up I was in the zone and just raced through it!
And in what may become a trend, I made changes. The flowers are supposed to be outlined in grey but my attempts came out revolting so no outlining. And the provided beads are tiny. Now I'm all for the 40000 series for anything that has blocks of beads (I'm looking at you, certain Mira charts) but for isolated beads they were just too tiny and disappeared completely. So out came the bead stash and I replaced everything.
And then I couldn't find three of the paillettes so I had to improvise. And finally (whew) instead of using all three colours in the beaded border I used two.
Both sides are the same except the flowers are pink vs white. I actually prefer the white side. I also interfaced the stitching to see if it make a difference during assembly. I don't think it made much of a difference until I was stuffing the biscornu and I couldn't really tell how full it was. I think I may have overstuffed.
As part of IHSW (which I have been participating in for ages but not promoting. oops) I finished The Sweetheart Tree's Spring Blossoms Biscornu late last night.
I initially put it away because the backstitch was annoying but when I picked it up I was in the zone and just raced through it!
And in what may become a trend, I made changes. The flowers are supposed to be outlined in grey but my attempts came out revolting so no outlining. And the provided beads are tiny. Now I'm all for the 40000 series for anything that has blocks of beads (I'm looking at you, certain Mira charts) but for isolated beads they were just too tiny and disappeared completely. So out came the bead stash and I replaced everything.
And then I couldn't find three of the paillettes so I had to improvise. And finally (whew) instead of using all three colours in the beaded border I used two.
Both sides are the same except the flowers are pink vs white. I actually prefer the white side. I also interfaced the stitching to see if it make a difference during assembly. I don't think it made much of a difference until I was stuffing the biscornu and I couldn't really tell how full it was. I think I may have overstuffed.
| Title | Spring Blossoms Biscornu |
| Designer | The Sweetheart Tree |
| Start date | July 31, 2011 |
| Finish date | September 17, 2011 |
| Total time | 16.75 |
| Fabric | 32 ct White Belfast & 32 ct Angel Blush Belfast |
| Floss | Floss as charted |
| MH 2004, 2022, 40479, 42010, 60479 |
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Happiness Is
Having your mojo come back with a vengeance and driving you to a lovely finish!
I fell for Sapphire when she first came out. I've already mentioned how I don't know anyone with a September birthday and that I don't like the May fairy. But the May birthstone is an emerald and there's enough green in Sapphire that I'm going to claim her as my "May" fairy.
I left off the wings since I don't care for them. I had to very slightly modify her left shoulder to compensate. And I left the vines/trailing frond things until the end and decided that she looks just fine without them.
I didn't like the coverage of the original Kreiniks. The "L" line is kinda thin. So I just dug through my stash and replaced two of them with thicker ones. I didn't have the required orange in any thickness so I randomly grabbed one. In the interest of beingcheap frugal, I chose not to buy the Caron Waterlilies. Instead I stared hard at my computer screen trying to figure out what DMC the 175 looks like. It's only there in the cage base. The rest of the cage base is in 930, and the model makes the 175 look a little darker than the 930. So I went with 930+310 as a replacement for 175. (I have no idea how others do this sort of thing, so I thought I'd mention my way).
I was also under the impression that I had all the required beads. This was not so. I had half a pack of the green ones, so I used them for the isolates in the kimono. I also had the same colour in a smaller size, so that ended up in the sleeves. Every other bead was chosen by eyeballing online pictures and my bead stash. I ended up with two purples in the dress, although I don't think it's at all noticeable. I originally went with the ones in the "flowers" which didn't look good in the purple border, so I had to pick a different purple for that. I'm not sure they're any good either, but I don't have any other purples and I am disinclined to head to the LNS.
One of the results of changing the beads and the metallics was that I had issues with the hair. The contrast between the red+purple and the orange+yellow looks fine in the model, but my changes made them too strange. So I ended up switching the purple beads in her headpiece with red ones, and the yellow beads in the orange fronds with orange beads. This left a bunch of purple beads in her hair. I just replaced those with one of the browns from her hair. And I quite like the result. I think there's a slight difference between the original's face and mine, but I like mine, so it's all good!
I fell for Sapphire when she first came out. I've already mentioned how I don't know anyone with a September birthday and that I don't like the May fairy. But the May birthstone is an emerald and there's enough green in Sapphire that I'm going to claim her as my "May" fairy.
I left off the wings since I don't care for them. I had to very slightly modify her left shoulder to compensate. And I left the vines/trailing frond things until the end and decided that she looks just fine without them.
I didn't like the coverage of the original Kreiniks. The "L" line is kinda thin. So I just dug through my stash and replaced two of them with thicker ones. I didn't have the required orange in any thickness so I randomly grabbed one. In the interest of being
I was also under the impression that I had all the required beads. This was not so. I had half a pack of the green ones, so I used them for the isolates in the kimono. I also had the same colour in a smaller size, so that ended up in the sleeves. Every other bead was chosen by eyeballing online pictures and my bead stash. I ended up with two purples in the dress, although I don't think it's at all noticeable. I originally went with the ones in the "flowers" which didn't look good in the purple border, so I had to pick a different purple for that. I'm not sure they're any good either, but I don't have any other purples and I am disinclined to head to the LNS.
One of the results of changing the beads and the metallics was that I had issues with the hair. The contrast between the red+purple and the orange+yellow looks fine in the model, but my changes made them too strange. So I ended up switching the purple beads in her headpiece with red ones, and the yellow beads in the orange fronds with orange beads. This left a bunch of purple beads in her hair. I just replaced those with one of the browns from her hair. And I quite like the result. I think there's a slight difference between the original's face and mine, but I like mine, so it's all good!
| Title | September's Sapphire Fairy |
| Designer | Mirabilia |
| Start date | May 20, 2011 |
| Finish date | September 14, 2011 |
| Total time | 61.5 hours |
| Fabric | 32 ct Waterlily Jobelan |
| Floss | DMC as charted |
| DMC 931+310 instead of Caron Waterlilies 175 | |
| Kreinik 026, 003HL, 152V | |
| MH 252, 2011, 2031, 2033, 3053, 18014, 42031 |
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Magic
My second UFORR arrived home yesterday.
Palm is a Dimensions kit that I started when my stash was not at hand. Big thanks to the ladies who worked on this: arthenice, Theialin, MissStitchy, Rachel, Frog, Rahenna, pds and Measi.
I sent this out:
And the magic of the UFORR returned this:
Palm
14 ct Khaki Aida
Isn't that just incredible? I have a feeling this will feature during the 2012 Wipocalypse.
Palm is a Dimensions kit that I started when my stash was not at hand. Big thanks to the ladies who worked on this: arthenice, Theialin, MissStitchy, Rachel, Frog, Rahenna, pds and Measi.
I sent this out:
And the magic of the UFORR returned this:
Palm
14 ct Khaki Aida
Isn't that just incredible? I have a feeling this will feature during the 2012 Wipocalypse.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
August Achievements & September Goals
I usually review goals on the last day of the month. Would you believe that I didn't realize that yesterday was the last day of August?
Goals for August:
1. Finish and send out Denise's winnings. Denise, I'm sorry, but this is just not happening
2. Stitch on both UFO RRs. Possibly? I'll be honest, I'm getting confused so let's say yes.
3. Finish Spring Blossoms Biscornu. No.
4. Finish off at least 2 of my in-progress bags. No.
Goals for September:
1. Dye some fabric.
2. Work on Sapphire
Let's try and set goals that have a chance of being achieved.
Goals for August:
1. Finish and send out Denise's winnings. Denise, I'm sorry, but this is just not happening
3. Finish Spring Blossoms Biscornu. No.
4. Finish off at least 2 of my in-progress bags. No.
Goals for September:
1. Dye some fabric.
2. Work on Sapphire
Let's try and set goals that have a chance of being achieved.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Not What You Were Expecting
First off I have to apologize to everyone waiting for Namaste to be coloured in. I started to. I promise. I even filled in one of the purples and got halfway on the other (there are 3 colours per motif) but then I lost interest.
And then Sapphire just said “Hey, how about this kimono hmm?” And I thought “No, not just yet. But let’s get that obi done.” And so she went from this on Saturday morning:
to this tonight:
September's Sapphire Fairy
32 ct Waterlily Jobelan
Now since I still “feel” her I’m going to keep going and possibly get to the kimono, but keeping in mind that I “felt” the purple on Friday night, who wants to make a guess on which piece of stitching my next post will feature?
And then Sapphire just said “Hey, how about this kimono hmm?” And I thought “No, not just yet. But let’s get that obi done.” And so she went from this on Saturday morning:
to this tonight:
September's Sapphire Fairy
32 ct Waterlily Jobelan
Now since I still “feel” her I’m going to keep going and possibly get to the kimono, but keeping in mind that I “felt” the purple on Friday night, who wants to make a guess on which piece of stitching my next post will feature?
TUSAL August
Another new moon. Another picture.
The pretty blue is from Tree of Stitches. And I have no clue where the red perle is from!
The pretty blue is from Tree of Stitches. And I have no clue where the red perle is from!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Not Appearing In This Post
are any pictures of Alphabetissimo, Egyptian Sampler, Celtic Autumn, Sweeping Cobwebs or Cirque des Triangle. This is excellent since I've pulled all those out, almost threaded the needle and then put them back. I've got way too many WIPs that are nowhere near finished.
Instead I've successfully finished all the black stitching on Namaste.
Namaste
32ct white Lugana
Now to start filling in the colours...
Instead I've successfully finished all the black stitching on Namaste.
Namaste
32ct white Lugana
Now to start filling in the colours...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
If You Could See What I Have Done
This wraps up one of the UFORRs I'm participating in. The other has 2 pieces to go. This is Rahenna's Amaryllis in Bloom by Dimensions.
As it arrived:
As it goes out
I'm not sure how visible it is, but I've done a fair bit of the half crosses in the background.
In odd news my SD reader is acting up. It doesn't register my SD card when I insert it, but the computer will read the card when it's in a camera that's attached to the computer. Weird.
As it arrived:
As it goes out
I'm not sure how visible it is, but I've done a fair bit of the half crosses in the background.
In odd news my SD reader is acting up. It doesn't register my SD card when I insert it, but the computer will read the card when it's in a camera that's attached to the computer. Weird.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Benefits of Outsourcing
So I've been showcasing other people's UFORRs for the past year. Today I'll show you the other side while I celebrate the first finish since April! (Are you shocked? I'm appalled by my lack of finishing!)
This was Rose of Sharon when I sent her off: Dress done, arch and flowers not.
Rachel, Theialin, Tali and Kris worked their magic, and returned this:
Isn't she gorgeous? I'm so, so happy that she's done! And the fact that I got to stitch my favourite part and left the not-so-favourite bits to someone else? I'm smirking all the way to the finished drawer.
There are so many greens and pinks in the foliage it isn't funny.
And now for a lot more pictures of that lovely dress!
This was Rose of Sharon when I sent her off: Dress done, arch and flowers not.
Rachel, Theialin, Tali and Kris worked their magic, and returned this:
Isn't she gorgeous? I'm so, so happy that she's done! And the fact that I got to stitch my favourite part and left the not-so-favourite bits to someone else? I'm smirking all the way to the finished drawer.
There are so many greens and pinks in the foliage it isn't funny.
| Title | (Red) Rose of Sharon |
| Designer | Mirabilia |
| Start date | March 6, 2009 |
| Finish date | She returned on August 17, 2011 so I'm counting that as the finish date |
| Total time | I put in 121 hours and have no idea how many the ladies put in |
| Fabric | 32 ct Ivory lugana |
| Floss | Conversion as given here |
And now for a lot more pictures of that lovely dress!
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Something A Bit Different
I saw this on a couple of blogs, and since there is a serious dearth of stitchy pictures (forgive me!) I figured I might as well play along. According to the US NPR this is the list of Top 100 Sci-Fi, Fantasy books.
Quite a few of the books that I've read was for high school. And I read a lot of the really old classics as a kid.
Bold
– read or listened to the audiobook
Italics
– partially read
Underline – want to read
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien – I like the books but I find that I have to work hard to read them.
And I must commit sacrilege and admit that I love the movies more.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas
Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card – I haven’t read any of the “Ender” sequels but I have read all but
the last “Bean” books
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert – Only the original
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin – I’ve read the first 3, and since GRRM takes such a long time
between books I haven’t felt like reading and then getting frustrated with the
wait.
6. 1984, by George Orwell
– Ah, high school…
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury – Ah, high school…
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov - I've also read the "4th" book, but none of the other sequels/prequels.
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley – Ah, high school…
10. American
Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman – The book is fun and so is the movie. Cary Elwes is gorgeous!
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan – Gave up after book 9(?) when an hour after finishing I couldn’t
remember what had happened. I’m just going to look up spoilers once the last
books comes out (has it already come out? The 3rd part of 3?)
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell – Ah, high school…
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen,
by Alan Moore – My brother’s been after me to read
this forever. And since we actually have a copy I really have no excuse…
16. I, Robot, by
Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The
Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss – I’ve
heard good things about this one
19.
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley - This is such a classic!
21. Do Androids
Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood – Tried reading this for high school English and then again for
Dystopian Fiction at university. Couldn’t finish it. My papers tended to be
deal with the other books and say “oh yes, we also see this in THT.
23. The Dark Tower
Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke – I remember reading this and being confused. And then I watched
the movie and was still confused. Possibly 12 is not an age to appreciate ACC?
25. The Stand, by
Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by
Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian
Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman
Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess – For that Dystopian Fiction course. The movie is quite fun too.
31. Starship
Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership
Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey – I’ve actually read most of the original stuff by AM.
34. The Moon Is A
Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For
Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For
Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles
Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings - Some good old-fashioned
generic fantasy. I finished the Belgariad, but couldn’t finish the Mallorean
since it’s just a repeat of the first.
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley – I’ve checked this out from the library a dozen times and never
gotten past the first 10 pages.
43. The
Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson – I adore,
adore, adore Warbreaker which is available for free on Sanderson’s website html or pdf (scroll half way down).
Elantris is pretty good too. Sanderson writes amazing magical systems. I’m saving Mistborn for when I need a really good
pick-me-up.
44. Ringworld, by
Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand
Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien – I found LotR a dense read. This was too much.
47. The Once And
Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by
Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke – I think I read this during my hardcore sci-fi phase.
50. Contact, by
Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion
Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon,
by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks – Love, love, love this! I got goosebumps reading it. It makes a
very ridiculous premise utterly plausible. The audiobook is good (narrated by tons of excellent narrators including Mark Hamill) but abridged
which is infuriating, and I’m still waiting for the fully unabridged version.
55. The Last
Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever
War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett – I’ve read every DiscWorld novel, except the Tiffany Aching ones.
Pterry is a god among men.
58. The Chronicles
Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold – I’ve devoured all of them except Cryoburn and Cetaganda . Cyroburn
because I haven’t gotten to it yet and Cetaganda because I keep forgetting to check it out from the library.
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett – See comment for #57
61. The Mote In
God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind – The first book is utterly enjoyable. Towards the end I wasn’t
enjoying the preachiness. But I finished it, unlike the other epic fantasy of that time #12 WoT.
63. The Road, by
Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan
Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke – Yet
another book I’ve checked out of the library a dozen times and haven’t read.
65. I Am
Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist – I hate the narrator for the audio version of this. I may look for
a paper version.
67. The Shannara
Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The
Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer
Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time
Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of
Kings, by Brandon Sanderson – Like Mistborn #43, I’m saving this.
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules
Verne
73. The Legend Of
Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War,
by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond
Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous
With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey – I tried reading this at the wrong time.
78. The
Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something
Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by
Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan
Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde – I’ve only read the first book, which I quite enjoyed, but I can’t
seem to get into the sequels.
83. The Culture
Series, by Iain M. Banks – I recommended this to my
brother without having read it myself (I never do this but I couldn’t think of
anything else that fit his request that he hadn’t already read), and he’s been
reccing it back.
84. The Crystal
Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by
Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher – OMG I want to build a shrine to Jim and I already worship at his
feet. The Dresden Files is excellent stuff too. But if I ever feel like an
incredibly long comfort read then I head to this. Plus Kate Reading is an
amazing narrator.
87. The Book Of
The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn – This, along with the Thrawn Duology, was responsible for my high
school worship of the Star Wars Extended Universe. I’ve read most of the EU up to
the New Jedi Order. Then I learnt that one of my favourite characters was offed in Legacy of the Force and that was the end reading new SW. The Rogue/Wraith Squadron is pretty fun too.
89. The Outlander
Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric
Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The
Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by
Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon
The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of
Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars
Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's
Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday
Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street
Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth
Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space
Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis
Now I'm really tempted to go back and read some old favs...
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Out of Season
My Tree of Stitches is growing rather slowly, so I thought I'd share a picture of my newest biscornu:
This is The Sweetheart Tree's Spring Blossoms Biscornu. Yes, I started a spring stitch in the middle of summer when everyone is gearing up for fall & Halloween.
I decided to stitch both the top and the bottom at the same time. However I'm finding the leaves annoying. See how I have two colours extruding? Counting just the green cross stitch is impossible and I have to backstitch as I go. I am not a fan of having two colours going at the same time. I suppose I could end and restart everytime but that seems excessive.
In fun news, I received an absolutely wonderful letter from my secret penpal (organized by the ever impressive Parsley).
This is The Sweetheart Tree's Spring Blossoms Biscornu. Yes, I started a spring stitch in the middle of summer when everyone is gearing up for fall & Halloween.
I decided to stitch both the top and the bottom at the same time. However I'm finding the leaves annoying. See how I have two colours extruding? Counting just the green cross stitch is impossible and I have to backstitch as I go. I am not a fan of having two colours going at the same time. I suppose I could end and restart everytime but that seems excessive.
In fun news, I received an absolutely wonderful letter from my secret penpal (organized by the ever impressive Parsley).
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Tree of Fantasy
When I first saw pictures of Tree of Stitches I thought it was a pretty neat design. And then I had a vision of it in Caron Waterlilies Umbria (#204 here) on muddy green for a Halloween tree and I knew, just knew that it had to happen.
Unfortunately Umbria melts into only green fabric I have in stock completely. So I went in a completely different direction.
The trunk is in Weeks Dye Works Peony and the foliage in Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef which is a lovely green/blue. I haven't quite decided what colour the owl and rabbit are going to be, but I'm sure it'll be something unnatural and cartoonish.
Tree of Stitches
28ct white Jubilee, Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef, Weeks Dye Works Peony
Since I'm in the mood to do so I'm going to review each part.
After the cross stitch trunk and branch the first stitch was the Leviathan Stitch (aka Smyrna but I like the word leviathan more), which I've done a couple of times and is rather fun. The next was French Knots (Colonial Knots were an alternative, but I went with French). I found following the chart for the placement difficult so I just winged it to look like the diagram. (This would come back to bite me late). While I'm not going to rush out to stitch something entirely in French Knots, I've definitely gotten more comfortable and I don't think I'll be avoiding it anymore.
Next is eyelet stitches. I did this one with one strand and having done tons for hardanger this wasn't any issue. The next was Rice stitch and while I had no problems with the stitch I have to confess that I just don't like it. Not sure why. About five seconds after the last rice stitch I realized that I have extra space between the french knots and rice stitches. The model has no such space. I might go back and add in a few eyelets but I'm going to hold off until the whole tree is done. If it looks lopsided then I will add something, if not why bother?
Tree of Stitches is by Abi Gurden. It's still available over at the Yahoo Group Stitch Specialists. It'll be up until September which is when the next SAL (an owl) begins.
Unfortunately Umbria melts into only green fabric I have in stock completely. So I went in a completely different direction.
The trunk is in Weeks Dye Works Peony and the foliage in Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef which is a lovely green/blue. I haven't quite decided what colour the owl and rabbit are going to be, but I'm sure it'll be something unnatural and cartoonish.
Tree of Stitches
28ct white Jubilee, Caron Waterlilies Bermuda Reef, Weeks Dye Works Peony
Since I'm in the mood to do so I'm going to review each part.
After the cross stitch trunk and branch the first stitch was the Leviathan Stitch (aka Smyrna but I like the word leviathan more), which I've done a couple of times and is rather fun. The next was French Knots (Colonial Knots were an alternative, but I went with French). I found following the chart for the placement difficult so I just winged it to look like the diagram. (This would come back to bite me late). While I'm not going to rush out to stitch something entirely in French Knots, I've definitely gotten more comfortable and I don't think I'll be avoiding it anymore.
Next is eyelet stitches. I did this one with one strand and having done tons for hardanger this wasn't any issue. The next was Rice stitch and while I had no problems with the stitch I have to confess that I just don't like it. Not sure why. About five seconds after the last rice stitch I realized that I have extra space between the french knots and rice stitches. The model has no such space. I might go back and add in a few eyelets but I'm going to hold off until the whole tree is done. If it looks lopsided then I will add something, if not why bother?
Tree of Stitches is by Abi Gurden. It's still available over at the Yahoo Group Stitch Specialists. It'll be up until September which is when the next SAL (an owl) begins.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Wonderous Wings
Continuing the trend of UFORR stitching (it's been two months since I posted a picture of my own work. Are you shocked? I'm flabbergasted), this is Theialin's Butterfly at Night. What information I can find is conflicting, but it appears to have been designed by Maria van Scharrenburg for Lanarte. While it's not on their website anymore it does appear to be available as either a kit or as a leaflet along with its sister design.
As it arrived:
As it goes out
I love those wings. The translucent part where the moon shines is achieved by full crosses with one strand. While the darker outsides are two strands. You can hardly tell that some of those translucent colours are the same as the ones in the larger area!
This takes care of the postal strike backlog. Now I'm back on track with two still with me. However! I'm setting them aside for a bit so I can work on something of my own.
As it arrived:
As it goes out
I love those wings. The translucent part where the moon shines is achieved by full crosses with one strand. While the darker outsides are two strands. You can hardly tell that some of those translucent colours are the same as the ones in the larger area!
This takes care of the postal strike backlog. Now I'm back on track with two still with me. However! I'm setting them aside for a bit so I can work on something of my own.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
July Achievements & August Goals
Goals for July:
1. Finish and send out Denise's winnings. Let's just put this off for another month, shall we?
2. Stitch on both UFO RRs. Yes, but I want to put some more hours into them.
3. 3. Work on Namaste. Sadly no.
Unplanned things:
Started Spring Blossoms Biscornu by The Sweetheart Tree
Goals for August:
1. Finish and send out Denise's winnings.
2. Stitch on both UFO RRs.
3. Finish Spring Blossoms Biscornu.
4. Finish off at least 2 of my in-progress bags.
1. Finish and send out Denise's winnings. Let's just put this off for another month, shall we?
3. 3. Work on Namaste. Sadly no.
Unplanned things:
Started Spring Blossoms Biscornu by The Sweetheart Tree
Goals for August:
1. Finish and send out Denise's winnings.
2. Stitch on both UFO RRs.
3. Finish Spring Blossoms Biscornu.
4. Finish off at least 2 of my in-progress bags.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)