The Doodle-head:

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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Another finish a long time coming

Last week I decided to take a look at a couple of my cross stitch projects which I knew were closest to being finished. One of the barriers to finishing one of them, Unicorn Mystique, was the french knots in the sky. I just dreaded the idea of doing a white french knot here, dragging the white floss across the back, then doing another french knot over there, having to end the white floss, then start a light blue floss and doing a random french knot and dragging the light blue floss across the back to do another one. My solution: no light floss at all - I chose a floss to match the fabric, picked out a couple of bead colors on hand, and then set to it. It took several days to finish the sky. Then, after that was finished, I still needed to stitch the lower right section of rocks and trees (and don't forget all the backstitching).

And finally this morning, I signed my initials and the year. Nearly 6 years from when I started it, Unicorn Mystique is finished!!!


That brings me to 13 cross stitch WIPs, and I'm currently working on the next-most-finished, Fantasy Sampler. I'm also working on knitting up some Christmas gifts (and I'll likely do a few more preemie hats before the end of the year), so I'm not sure if I'll finish FS also, but that would be an excellent goal, don't you think?

Labels: Finished cross stitch

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A quilt/knit weekend

I finished up another preemie hat yesterday, they're just so cute and quick.


Once I finished it up, I started working on the third set of wrist warmers that will be another Christmas gift. I wasn't paying attention, and so I ended up ripping it out and starting over. The first of the set is half-finished.

Today I finally got back in the sewing room and finished up the blocks for Noel's Gone Fishing quilt. I haven't started cutting out the batting yet, but that's next to do for his quilt. I also started working on the sashing for the SSS 2008 quilt (aka CC's 3rd blankie). It reminds me of racing.


Totally off-topic: I was watching several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation while piecing in the sewing room today. For those of you who watch Prison Break, I have a small piece of trivia for you. The guy who plays Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell was in an episode of ST: TNG called Haven (first season). He (Robert Knepper) was quite the pretty boy back then.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Magnificent Wizard, still without the wizard

Well, I haven't quite made it all the way to the edge of the upper right corner, but I thought I'd take a photo anyway and show you my progress. The tower of the castle is taking shape.


I went to my quilt guild's monthly Sit n Stitch for the first time yesterday and had a great time. They planned several activities from which to choose (or you could do your own thing, as several did), and I chose to learn how to make the knitted preemie hats that we give to local hospitals. I finished two while we were there (they really are teeny, tiny things), and then brought a third home to finish yesterday afternoon. I started on my fourth one today (they gave us extra yarn left over, and being so small, they really don't take much to do in the first place). It also spurred me on last night to work on my second Retro Rib sock. I finished the heel, so now I just need to knit the pattern down and then work the toe. So much for not having second sock syndrome - it's been months since I worked on it! Anyway, here is the little preemie hat - isn't it just too precious? :)

Labels: knitting

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Whew!

It has been a busy weekend here, though I haven't gone anywhere. I've been working on a project I started well over a year ago (one which, not surprisingly, just got shelved for a while), recording my music from cassette tapes and vinyl to electronic format so that I can listen on my iPod. I have actually only been working on the cassette tapes this weekend, but I've finally managed to whittle my stack down from 100+ (most were mix tapes that I created from as far back as 20+ years ago) to 6 left to go. Once I get through those, I'll move on to my vinyl, which is a much smaller collection. I found several copies of songs which were just terrible quality (no surprise), so I've also purchased quite a few from iTunes.

When I wasn't doing that, I was either working on Noel's Gone Fishing quilt blocks or [gasp!] my Magnificent Wizard cross stitch. I finished listening to Eragon, and am eager to start Eldest. While I was listening, it just seemed natural to be working on a wizard/dragon project. I'm trying to get to the upper right corner, and I'll have a new progress photo to share as soon as I've done that.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Autumn Leaves finished

I finished it up just yesterday, and I haven't yet decided which cross stitch project I want to work on next. So tonight I might knit or quilt.