Stitching and Unstitching

Castle Sampler, week 11

2004-02-23T23:30:36-05:00

I almost forgot to post this! I'm on a roll again. I spent Saturday and Sunday working on the sun and moon figures in the lower corners, backstitching and all.

Of course, one difficulty is that I finally managed to get my hands on a few new projects I really want to do--it'll be tempting to go ahead and start them. However, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to rotate through projects like that yet. However, some of them have deadlines, so... :)

Hummingbird Quartet progress

2004-02-16T16:56:12-05:00

Since I stopped trying to keep this a secret from its intended recipient (it's a Mother's Day gift), I can finally post pictures. I've worked on this one pretty intermittently, but it's a small piece. It's on 22-count Aida, and when it's finished, the design should be about 3 by 5 inches.

Castle Sampler, week 10

2004-02-16T16:52:44-05:00

It's hard to tell that I did much this week, but if you look at the lower corners you can see the biggest progress. I don't know if my pictures are really capturing the coolness of this piece. It's going to be gorgeous.

Castle Sampler, week 9

2004-02-08T20:59:27-05:00

I promised an update, and apparently that promise lit a fire under my butt this afternoon. Not only did I rip out the misplaced section, but I restitched it, and then some.

Don't laugh, but NASCAR starts up again next Sunday, so I foresee a lot of cross-stitching happening while I watch the race. (Yes, I know, my redneck is showing.)

It's called 'counted cross-stitch' for a reason

2004-02-07T16:40:21-05:00

So part of the reason I haven't posted a picture of the Castle Sampler in a few weeks is because I've slowed down on it quite a bit (taking the time to redesign an entire website will drastically cut into your stitching time). But also, partly because of what I discovered last week. The castle section in the center of the design is somewhat of a pain to stitch. And this week (Sunday, maybe?) I discovered that I miscounted. I did an entire roof (probably 100+stitches in multiple colors) exactly one stitch too far to the right. I tried and tried to find a way to work around it, but there isn't one. Unfortunately, I don't have a seam ripper, so until I get one, there's no good way to take out all those stitches.

You'd think by now I'd know how to count. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the Frog Prince* came to visit...

A picture tomorrow night, I promise, ripped out stitches or no.

(*Courtesy of the Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board. 'Frogging' is having to rip out misplaced stitches.)

Castle Sampler, week 6

2004-01-19T11:05:00-05:00

I was feeling a little frustrated until I compared this week's picture to last week's.

A few people have asked me when I have time to cross-stitch so much. The answer is easy. Instead of spending so much of my evenings roaming the internet in search of something to do, I cross-stitch instead. Usually while watching too much TV. You envy mi vida loca, I know you do. Hey, if I've resigned myself to spinsterhood, I may as well go all out with it.

Castle Sampler, week 5

2004-01-11T23:27:00-05:00

I discovered this weekend that the perfect time to do long stretches of border is while I'm gaming or watching a movie I'm really into. So with 7th Sea yesterday and Werewolf today, I got a fair chunk of border done. Whee!

Castle Sampler, week 4

2004-01-04T21:34:00-05:00

Section one is completely finished, including the backstitching--which unfortunately didn't show up very well in the picture. I'm doing sections 2 and 3 together, because section 3 is pretty much just border.

I'm thinking of including something in the pictures for scale next time, just so you can get an idea of how huge this thing is.

Castle Sampler, week 3

2003-12-28T22:59:00-05:00

I can't believe it's only been three weeks, but it has. I just might finish section one by the end of this week! Here's proof!

Castle Sampler, week 2

2003-12-21T00:00:00-05:00

For those of you keeping up at home, here's what I've done over the past week. I've slowed down a little.