Updates on my work - cross stitch

I worked on this whilst in Pakistan and on the plane - in Pakistan whenever I could sneak a few minutes to myself LOL. It's one of the 'Tiddles' cartoon cat designs from Peter Underhill of Heritage. While I usually do not like any stitching to do with cartoon and/or cute, I like these - they make me smile. Not that easy to stitch though surprinsingly, as they have tons of thos 'squashed stitches' so typical in Heritage designs

Now I finally start to get a bit enthusiastic about the wedding picture. You can really see Nafees' face emerging!

Well, I'm going to be forever and a year on the backstitch for the Lilliput Lane, it just doesn't move. Need to put in the hours on this me thinks.

I'm still around and still stitching

though not a lot I have to say... getting about 1 to 2 hours of stitching time in during one week, which is not a lot... so there isn't a lot of progress, but I don't mind too much, as I simply enjoy the process of stitching as much as the finished product.

All the cross stitch on Lilliput Lane is done, and only the backstitching now- quite a lot of it. half the roof is done, and you can really see the difference.

Christmas was quite, Nafees, me and the children, nice and relaxing. Imran's christmas present still hasn't been delivered (by Next), but at least they offered me 25% off and Imran was quite understanding. The weather appears to be much milder now, and the snow we did have for the last few weeks is now melting. I'm still off today and tomorrow, but back to work on Wednesday.

Lilliput Lane update - cross stitch

Finally, I picked up some cross stitch again over the weekend. In the last few weeks with all the tension I just didn't feel like anything quite often, even though cross stitch should calm me down. But I am one of those people who have to have a clear mind to enjoy their hobby. Anyway,  - felt like cross stitching finally, and couldn't stop LOL. I decided to separate the bottom pages of the house and finished the left side first all the way to the bottom, and now on to finish the right side. There is going to be quite a lot of back stitching which is going to make a huge difference to the picture.

Rainy and cold Bankholiday Monday - how unusual

I was hoping to finally sort out my garden today - mow the lawn (it hasn't been mowed since last autumn!), tidy the shed etc. Well, as always on Bankholiday Monday, it's freezing and raining, the wind is blowing cold as anything (temperature is 6 degree C brrrrrr). As it's been raining all night and frequent showers today, I sort of gave mowing the lawn a miss. At least I cleaned out the patio and some weeding in my small patch of herb garden.

There isn't much stitching to show from last week, I think I've only stitched about 2 or 3 lenghts of thread on the Lilliput Lane. But my first priority at the moment is to finish my very very very last assignment. 2000 words needed - 900 and counting!

Lilliput Lane Update

Yeah, I know, not a lot done last week. I really only started to cross stitch at the weekend - some weeks it just doesn't 'flow'. Quite a few different shades of green for the plants surrounding the house. I guess I will work on this for at least another 4-5 rotations.

On a different note - I'm back at work, after 9 weeks off! In a strange way, I was almost looking forward going back to work. It helps that I enjoy my job. The one thing not looking forward to is stress, and the fact that working full time takes a lot of valuable stitching and spare time LOL.

Cross Stitch up-date Lilliput Lane and car trouble

Voila - here is my progress on Lilliput Lane from last week. I can really see the house emerging now, and the chart is so easy to work from - it is fun to work on this piece. I don't like the 14ct Aida though, and should have changed to at least 16 ct. The top half of the chart is finished (pages 1+2), now page 3 and 4 to go, and a whole lot of backstitching, which I don't mind on this picture, as I think it will enhance it a lot.

I didn't write a lot last week.. somehow the days are just slipping by. On Wednesday, I tried to drive my car again for the first time since my OP. And the car didn't start.... I had battery trouble just before Christmas, so I knew it must be that. I hadn't moved the car for 4 weeks, and after all, the car is 8 years old. I've had it for nearly 5 years and never changed the battery. My friend Rachel came to jump-start me which we managed after about 10 mins of charging! Than we went straight to Halfords (car parts retailer) who also offer a service to fit the new battery. Done that... all went fine, apart from the fact that after fitting the new battery, the car did start, but didn't drive any more Aaaarrgggg! The guy from Halfords looked again and just said : 'Well. the battery is fine, there must be something else wrong with the car." So there I was, stuck in Halford's car park. Luckily,  Rachel was still with me and we than called the RAC. We had to wait for 2.5 hours! The RAC man than told us that, when fitting the battery, this 'messes' up the internal computer of the car - so that's what happened.. He managed to re-set it with his on-board computer unit (he told me sometimes they can't reset it and I would need to go to Vauxhall directly...). And when the car still didn't work, the RAC man looked further, and found that Halfords had also ripped an air pipe out whilst fitting the battery. Great! He fixed it within a few minutes, and I was finally able to drive away. Good service, Halfords (NOT!) Not only did they rip parts apart whilst fitting, but they should have told me that fitting the battery can result in the car's computer being messed up.

Lilliput lane

Here' s my update from last week. I had the news that I'm going into hospital on 25.01. For a laparotomy, so I had a very tense weekend, with a lot of cleaning, preparing food etc n stitching. I am back home now and will write about the surgery tomorrow.



-- Post From My iPhone

Some x stitch updates

-- Post From My iPhone



 

10. January 2010. OK, not an enourmous amount of stitching, but still, some updates to show. I really start to like the way the giraffe is coming out, so lifelike. NH afghan - this is square 6/30.

Alexandra Palace and New Floor Stand

The Knitting and Stitching Show





at Alexandra Palace was
on this weekend, and as every year, a must for me. This year I went with my friend Jo - she's the one who has only this year started to cross stitch - and finished more than I have in the in past 5 years LOL, she's become a true addict.

As always, Ally Pally was very busy. We found that there were not a lot of stalls dedicated to cross stitch. I've realised that trend for quite a few years, and I think Jo might have expected something different. I don't mind so much, as I still enjoy looking at the other stuff like knitting, etc. The 'ususal suspects'  as every year were there of course, like Black Sheep, Choices, Michael Powell - sorry if I can't mention you all individually - and for me, my money has always disappeared by the end of the day, no matter how many or few stalls there are LOL. Jo got herself 2 Heaven and Earth KITS (yes, they come in kit form by Colray Crafts). Unbelievable, as a beginner, she gets into the Heaven and Earth stuff! I only got small stuff like needles, magnets and.......

Well, I have been toying with the idea of a new floor stand for a while. I had not so good experience with the Opus floor stand - it was never stable enough, too 'top-heavy' (I had to keep my feet firmly on the legs of the stand so it would not topple over), and the annoying turning over of the frame to secure threads etc was such a nightmare. I had the 'Needle Needs' frame recommended to me by another stitcher on a Yahoo-group. Well, it's not cheap... I payed £160 for the floor stand and 2 frames. But I was really fed up with other, inferiour stuff, and while I not always believe 'expensive is better' I have made that experience with some cross stich equipment, e.g. my daylight lamp. Since spending money on a good quality product - hey presto, no more problems. Anyway, back to the frame. I set it up straight away when we came back. This was straight forward, despite me really not being good on putting things together. I could tell straight away that the quality of the wood is excellent. The fabrib is held very taut, and as the frame lies on 2 arms and is not screwed in, it is straight forward to turn your stitching over. I had a bit of a problem rolling the fabric onto the top rollers of the frame if it is several layers of aida - I couldn't secure it in the slot provided, could only do it with no more than 1 layers, so the rest of the aido was sort of hanging loose, which was not a problem. the fabric in the frame was still extremely taught, the best I've ever had I have to say. The only complain, apart from the price tag, is that it could go up a bit higher for my taste, as my 'stitching corner armchair' is quite high, and even in the hightest position I feel that I have to bend down a bit. But again, not a major problem, it would just take a bit of getting used to. All in all, I am very satisfied with my new equipment. Oh, and as it was my birthday last week, I gave DH Nafees a little nudge, and voila - this is my birthday present.

-- Post From My iPhone

This is my progress on Lilliput Lane from last week. Not a lot done.

Poodle 09. August 2009

Poodle 03. September 2009

Lilliput Lane 04. September 2009

Here finally some update on my cross stitch. I had taken the poodle with me to Germany to get something done on it, hopefully a big chunk. Well, I did finish page 4 of 6, and started on page 5, now half-way done. So, it won't be much longer I guess. But it's been slotted in again in my ususal 5-weekly rotation, so it will be a while before I stitch on it again.

Lilliput Lane is going slowly. Don't like the 14ct Aida, should have substituted it, never mind. The roof is confetti at it's finest, and the colours don't seem to match the picture. It comes out as darkish pink colours, whereas on the picture on the front of the kit it's brown. The pink doesn't look out of place or anything, I guess will just have to wait until I finished a bit more on it.