A new season of Stitch! Read! Write! will begin in January.
I've joined some new exchange boards, so I have obligations now. I hope that will keep me in line. I think starting with a post a week should be sufficient, and not too arduous a task.
Merry Christmas, faithful reader(s)!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
It's Shameful
I logged in today because I was commenting on somebody else's blog and actually forgot where my own blog was located! And found a lovely comment from a (much) earlier post waiting to be modded. I'll have to check to see if there's an option to be notified of comments waiting.
I recently noticed on my Bloglines account that my blog - yes, this one - has 11 readers! Not that there's been anything to read - blogging is much harder than just babbling on about nothing, which has always been my special talent. I will have to work on being more consistent. Maybe I should set a "once a week posting" goal. If I don't have stitching to show, I suppose I can do a reading post. Writing is out for the time being because my muse has apparently run off to the beach for the summer.
And now - I have a finished piece to post! Something that was fun, that turned out nicely, and that I remembered to photograph before mailing off! Here it is:
This is from Heart In Hand's Spring Fobs leaflet. I added the wording, and stitched it on a 28 ct Silkweaver solo - I don't think you can see the mottling, there are some pretty beige and coffee-colored variations in the fabric. The threads were the recommended GAST and WDW. This was for an exchange on LiveJournal.
It's actually the first needlework I've finished in any other way other than framing (or pre-finished items), and I think it turned out very well. I am so enthused with it that I decided to join a new exchange board being created by Becky of BeckyBee's Stitching Hive. It's called "I Think I Can" and it's going to be composed of newbies like myself who want to learn about finishing and become more comfortable with exchanges. There will be experienced stitchers to help out and answer questions and the like. Membership is already closed, but Becky promises that will change as soon as some of us have "graduated" to regular exchanges. I am so excited to have this opportunity! I can't wait to learn some new techniques and get to know everybody. I'm sure it will provide fodder for some interesting pics and posts.
I recently noticed on my Bloglines account that my blog - yes, this one - has 11 readers! Not that there's been anything to read - blogging is much harder than just babbling on about nothing, which has always been my special talent. I will have to work on being more consistent. Maybe I should set a "once a week posting" goal. If I don't have stitching to show, I suppose I can do a reading post. Writing is out for the time being because my muse has apparently run off to the beach for the summer.
And now - I have a finished piece to post! Something that was fun, that turned out nicely, and that I remembered to photograph before mailing off! Here it is:
This is from Heart In Hand's Spring Fobs leaflet. I added the wording, and stitched it on a 28 ct Silkweaver solo - I don't think you can see the mottling, there are some pretty beige and coffee-colored variations in the fabric. The threads were the recommended GAST and WDW. This was for an exchange on LiveJournal.
It's actually the first needlework I've finished in any other way other than framing (or pre-finished items), and I think it turned out very well. I am so enthused with it that I decided to join a new exchange board being created by Becky of BeckyBee's Stitching Hive. It's called "I Think I Can" and it's going to be composed of newbies like myself who want to learn about finishing and become more comfortable with exchanges. There will be experienced stitchers to help out and answer questions and the like. Membership is already closed, but Becky promises that will change as soon as some of us have "graduated" to regular exchanges. I am so excited to have this opportunity! I can't wait to learn some new techniques and get to know everybody. I'm sure it will provide fodder for some interesting pics and posts.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Can't resist
I've been working on my never-ending exchange project, so no stitching updates.
BUT, I couldn't resist joining in on the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace (Silent) Poetry Reading in celebration of Brigid's day. In celebration of Brigid (or Punxsutawny Phil, if you prefer), post a favorite poem, either someone else's or one of your own.
Well, here is my favorite poem written by Mary Oliver, one of the greatest poets ever, in my mind. This poem is all about occupying your space fully in this world, and for me, as for many of us, this is something new that we practice every day. I am filled with hope when I remind myself of the vast, complex, eternally renewing universe that I am intricately connected to. Happy Imbolc!
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
And, here is one of my own, not related as much to the day, but just one that I am proud of for it's subtle meaning and competent evocation of emotion. Hope you like it.
Angel
Angel lies passive in your arms
A tarnished goddess in shades of verdigris and gray.
Her heart is cold, or glowing for another;
You turn to her to fix her halo, crushed,
Close your eyes and with desperate hands
Touch her distant form.
Her cries are either passion or sorrow,
So you make yourself believe your hands
Restore her to heaven.
Turn your head from knowing she is a fallen star.
Bereft of magic, she longs for her lost god,
The locus of her soul, and you cry because
You cannot take her where she wants to go.
You will give her the world
And all the earthly treasures
You can gather to her altar,
But she sways, yearning, towards the moon
And starry firmament, her blind eyes golden
With desire.
Your averted gaze will not see
That desire is not for you.
To you, her sighs are passion;
You inhale the myth of her love deep
As if it were true nourishment
For your parched soul.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
BUT, I couldn't resist joining in on the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace (Silent) Poetry Reading in celebration of Brigid's day. In celebration of Brigid (or Punxsutawny Phil, if you prefer), post a favorite poem, either someone else's or one of your own.
Well, here is my favorite poem written by Mary Oliver, one of the greatest poets ever, in my mind. This poem is all about occupying your space fully in this world, and for me, as for many of us, this is something new that we practice every day. I am filled with hope when I remind myself of the vast, complex, eternally renewing universe that I am intricately connected to. Happy Imbolc!
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
And, here is one of my own, not related as much to the day, but just one that I am proud of for it's subtle meaning and competent evocation of emotion. Hope you like it.
Angel
Angel lies passive in your arms
A tarnished goddess in shades of verdigris and gray.
Her heart is cold, or glowing for another;
You turn to her to fix her halo, crushed,
Close your eyes and with desperate hands
Touch her distant form.
Her cries are either passion or sorrow,
So you make yourself believe your hands
Restore her to heaven.
Turn your head from knowing she is a fallen star.
Bereft of magic, she longs for her lost god,
The locus of her soul, and you cry because
You cannot take her where she wants to go.
You will give her the world
And all the earthly treasures
You can gather to her altar,
But she sways, yearning, towards the moon
And starry firmament, her blind eyes golden
With desire.
Your averted gaze will not see
That desire is not for you.
To you, her sighs are passion;
You inhale the myth of her love deep
As if it were true nourishment
For your parched soul.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Meta blogging & a photo-less update
I was so excited because I came to post and saw that there was a comment to be modded. Now, my first comment was from Sharon of inaminuteago, and with a second one, I thought that maybe the whole getting visible process might not be that hard. But no, my second comment was spam! So disappointing.
In addition, I am feeling overwhelmed by the whole blogging process and can see that no matter how great my enthusiasm, this is going to be a longer road than I'd first understood. I mean, CSS? I'd only recently heard of that, never mind knowing what it is, exactly. (Although I do now.)
Then, I have heard some rumblings about people migrating over to WordPress because they are displeased with the new Blogger-not-Beta. But WordPress is even codier. (I know, not a word, but there needs to be something to express the jungle of "what?!" that I feel at the start of this adventure.) Anyway, I think I'll be looking sticking around here for a bit until I get my feet under me. And I'll definitely be doing some searching for beginner tutorials for working with templates and such.
But so much work! Getting back into my stitching, and an exchange, blogging, and being heavily involved in a private cross stitch group elsewhere has really taken a lot of my time. I'm loving it all, though. I quit working for pay in February '06, and it has taken this long for me to decompress and relax and build some enthusiasm for specific activities. I feel as though I have been told that my age had been rolled back ten years - I'm excited about things, I'm not dead tired and burned out. It's truly exciting and I am joyful. I go around laughing out loud throughout the day, amazed at the blessing my life has become.
Ok, on to stitching. Still stitching the project for the exchange I'm in. I can't be specific, of course, but it is a challenging project for me, so it feels good to see it taking shape. I have only worked on it a handful of times over the last month, but it is coming along more quickly than I'd have imagined. Ok, nobody wants to hear all this vague talk. Suffice it to say I am stitching, and will have photos soon. If nothing else, TAST will provide an opportunity to post pics in the next few days.
In addition, I am feeling overwhelmed by the whole blogging process and can see that no matter how great my enthusiasm, this is going to be a longer road than I'd first understood. I mean, CSS? I'd only recently heard of that, never mind knowing what it is, exactly. (Although I do now.)
Then, I have heard some rumblings about people migrating over to WordPress because they are displeased with the new Blogger-not-Beta. But WordPress is even codier. (I know, not a word, but there needs to be something to express the jungle of "what?!" that I feel at the start of this adventure.) Anyway, I think I'll be looking sticking around here for a bit until I get my feet under me. And I'll definitely be doing some searching for beginner tutorials for working with templates and such.
But so much work! Getting back into my stitching, and an exchange, blogging, and being heavily involved in a private cross stitch group elsewhere has really taken a lot of my time. I'm loving it all, though. I quit working for pay in February '06, and it has taken this long for me to decompress and relax and build some enthusiasm for specific activities. I feel as though I have been told that my age had been rolled back ten years - I'm excited about things, I'm not dead tired and burned out. It's truly exciting and I am joyful. I go around laughing out loud throughout the day, amazed at the blessing my life has become.
Ok, on to stitching. Still stitching the project for the exchange I'm in. I can't be specific, of course, but it is a challenging project for me, so it feels good to see it taking shape. I have only worked on it a handful of times over the last month, but it is coming along more quickly than I'd have imagined. Ok, nobody wants to hear all this vague talk. Suffice it to say I am stitching, and will have photos soon. If nothing else, TAST will provide an opportunity to post pics in the next few days.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Take A Stitch Tuesday - Week 2
I've been down with an upper respiratory infection the past week, so I was worried I'd fall another week behind on this project, but fortunately, I've recovered enough to sit upright and stitch. And thank goodness, because this week's stitch for sharonb's Take A Stitch Tuesday was the easy and fun buttonhole stitch. I have done this stitch only once before, years ago, on a small hardanger project. It's quite simple, and the variations are endless.
This is what I came up with:
The first row is a basic buttonhole stitch. On the left side, you can see where I started out one hole off, and corrected after two stitches. I meant to experiment later with off-setting the top stitch that way, but didn't get to it before my self-imposed "post day." The second half of the first row is the stitch done the left-handed way. I am left-handed, but for the most part, I don't modify my stitching. It was easier doing the basic stitch left-handed, but when I was working with the other motifs, I found it easier to revert to the common method.
The half circle motif ended where I somehow lost count and tried to frog. I lost the entire sequence, and just started over with the successful circle motif you see below it.
I tried a sort of chevron shape, and a flower, as you can see. I even charted a tulip motif, complete with stem and leaves, all in buttonhole, but gave that up after four unsuccessful tries. I guess my cold-congested brain was not up to the challenge!
I had some other ideas, but just couldn't get to them, what with the cold, and the disarray my fibers are in. But I had so much fun doing this project and I'm looking forward to having more time and energy for the next stitches.
Thanks so much, Sharon, for hosting this project!
This is what I came up with:
The first row is a basic buttonhole stitch. On the left side, you can see where I started out one hole off, and corrected after two stitches. I meant to experiment later with off-setting the top stitch that way, but didn't get to it before my self-imposed "post day." The second half of the first row is the stitch done the left-handed way. I am left-handed, but for the most part, I don't modify my stitching. It was easier doing the basic stitch left-handed, but when I was working with the other motifs, I found it easier to revert to the common method.
The half circle motif ended where I somehow lost count and tried to frog. I lost the entire sequence, and just started over with the successful circle motif you see below it.
I tried a sort of chevron shape, and a flower, as you can see. I even charted a tulip motif, complete with stem and leaves, all in buttonhole, but gave that up after four unsuccessful tries. I guess my cold-congested brain was not up to the challenge!
I had some other ideas, but just couldn't get to them, what with the cold, and the disarray my fibers are in. But I had so much fun doing this project and I'm looking forward to having more time and energy for the next stitches.
Thanks so much, Sharon, for hosting this project!
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Stitching & Reading
Worked on my bookmark exchange today, and made good progress, although not as much as I'd like. I'm taking scans every day that I work on it for a pictorial WIP post once I can post it. My first one - I am so excited!
Also - I caught Just Nan's upcoming releases today. They're all so pretty, as always, but the one I have my eye on is Queen Of the Needle. When the Silver Needle had the limited edition sampler case, I didn't have the funds to get it, to my eternal regret. This will be a nice consolation piece! I've been spending a lot on stash lately, and really want to keep it in check, but this is one I plan on kitting up with the silks & starting right away. So pretty!
Speaking of stash, I joined a monthly fiber club at Stitching Bits and Bobs. It'll start near the end of the month and I'll be receiving Carrie's Creation threads, which is great, because Ink Circles has a wonderful pattern, Blackstone Fantasy Garden, that uses those threads. I don't have it yet, but isn't having the threads a great excuse to buy the pattern? Anyway, the threads look yummy in themselves and I am excited to be receiving stitching goodies in the mail once again.
As for reading, I have yet again been slacking off. Rather, I've been too busy and/or tired to get much done - can't concentrate. I am slowly working on The Scroll of Seduction, which is just OK. The story of the mad queen, Juana, was what caught my interest initially, but the surrounding modern-day love story is not one that I'm enjoying. I am planning a trip to the library tomorrow to replenish my reading stock, so hopefully something better will present itself to me. I have plenty at home to read, including some things loaned to me by my mom and mother-in-law, but none of them are grabbing me at the moment. My husband laughs when I check out 20 books at the library, but I really need a good selection because I like to go through the stack and wait for something to compel me.
P.S. I really need to work on something I can post a progress picture of...
Also - I caught Just Nan's upcoming releases today. They're all so pretty, as always, but the one I have my eye on is Queen Of the Needle. When the Silver Needle had the limited edition sampler case, I didn't have the funds to get it, to my eternal regret. This will be a nice consolation piece! I've been spending a lot on stash lately, and really want to keep it in check, but this is one I plan on kitting up with the silks & starting right away. So pretty!
Speaking of stash, I joined a monthly fiber club at Stitching Bits and Bobs. It'll start near the end of the month and I'll be receiving Carrie's Creation threads, which is great, because Ink Circles has a wonderful pattern, Blackstone Fantasy Garden, that uses those threads. I don't have it yet, but isn't having the threads a great excuse to buy the pattern? Anyway, the threads look yummy in themselves and I am excited to be receiving stitching goodies in the mail once again.
As for reading, I have yet again been slacking off. Rather, I've been too busy and/or tired to get much done - can't concentrate. I am slowly working on The Scroll of Seduction, which is just OK. The story of the mad queen, Juana, was what caught my interest initially, but the surrounding modern-day love story is not one that I'm enjoying. I am planning a trip to the library tomorrow to replenish my reading stock, so hopefully something better will present itself to me. I have plenty at home to read, including some things loaned to me by my mom and mother-in-law, but none of them are grabbing me at the moment. My husband laughs when I check out 20 books at the library, but I really need a good selection because I like to go through the stack and wait for something to compel me.
P.S. I really need to work on something I can post a progress picture of...
A Day Late
I just heard about Take A Stitch Tuesday over at ILCS (Yahoo Group). I haven't been active in the groups I belong to mostly because I am not sure what to say, and I feel sort of silly just posting "Wow, nice work" a bunch of times. :p Anyway, I have resolved to participate more, mostly because I would like to be involved in some exchanges this year, and the best way to do that is to become known in the groups that have active exchange programs.
Back to Take A Stitch Tuesday - I missed this week's stitch, which was Herringbone, having found the project only today. I may go back and do that one later, but for now I'm just planning on picking up next week. I've explored Sharon's blog just a little and have already seen dozens of awesome ideas for textile work and making a visual journal. I think that's a great idea to do with the stitches from this project. I've wanted to do a stitcher's reference book but the idea of little squares put in a 3 ring binder just never inspired me. I can definitely see working on a journal of this style though!
Back to Take A Stitch Tuesday - I missed this week's stitch, which was Herringbone, having found the project only today. I may go back and do that one later, but for now I'm just planning on picking up next week. I've explored Sharon's blog just a little and have already seen dozens of awesome ideas for textile work and making a visual journal. I think that's a great idea to do with the stitches from this project. I've wanted to do a stitcher's reference book but the idea of little squares put in a 3 ring binder just never inspired me. I can definitely see working on a journal of this style though!
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