Vash's Stitching Diary [2005 Archive]

Please Update Your Links

2006-01-30T18:35:00.000Z

From browsing around other people's blogs who link to me, it seems that there are still quite a few of you who haven't yet found my new home:

http://seasidestitcher.blogspot.com

Here's a Bot-a-blog subscription link to be notified when I update my new blog.

2005 A Year in Review

2005-12-30T20:21:00.000Z

I saw this post on Thermagal's Temperate Mumblings who saw it on Whiz's Blog.....

Instructions: take the first post from each month of 2005 and post a line or two.

January: Armed for 2005 (referring to the Mirabilia Cherub).

This was my first happy dance of the year.

February: What Planet are You From? You are from Neptune.

I always knew that Neptune would have it's own ring of particulate matter too, just like the other 3 gas giants in the solar system.

March: I posted some pictures today of what I've been stitching lately (Paradise Island and Venice).

Venice was a happy dance this year.

April: Traffic Cones - From an episode of Red Dwarf -The Last Day (proceeded by a snipet of script)

Another piss up story.

May: Bagpuss Goes Nightclubbing

Yes, this is the bag I wore in the nightclub. One way to get attention. Everyone kept tweaking and squeezing him.

June: I am going on a Summer Holiday...

I'm pleased as punch because after a wasted weekend of trying, I managed to book a holiday to Lanzarote this afternoon, flying out from Gatwick next Thursday.

July: Blog Update

Today I've done virtually little stitching. I've been on the computer all day, first of all doing some lessons in Fireworks MX (I've used Fireworks 3 previously, but it's well different) after the lessons I played around and made a really nice logo with Jade's face on it.

August: Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Stitching Quirks?

What is your most unique/interesting stitching quirk? (This could be something concerning the way you stitch, how you organize your stash, etc.)

September: August Stitching Goals - roundup

At the beginning of the month I posted my stitching goals for the month.

October: The sorting hat says: Ravenclaw

This was a Harry Potter meme. Glad I didn't make Griffindor.

November: Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Colour by Numbers.

Just about DMC colours and how you get to know them.

December: Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Stitching Rules.

How do you stitch?

Holiday Cherub Update

2005-12-27T14:27:00.000Z

My progress on the 2000 Mirabilia Holiday Cherub. I've been stitching on her quite a bit since Christmas - it's been a way of killing time until I'm back to work tomorrow. I've just worked my way through the Die Hard Trilogy of films, but before I start on the Back to the Future Trilogy I figured I needed to take a break, so I thought I'd blog a bit and post this update picture in between.

After leaving all the beads till the end with the Mermaid Queen, I've decided this time to stitch them as I go and this seems to be working out much better for me as it doesn't seem such a labororious task when you are only doing about 10 at a time (or however many I can attach with one piece of thread).

This will probably be one of - if not the last blog entries on this blog because I've created a new one over at http://seasidestitcher.blogspot.com - a new blog for a new year. Please remember to update your links if you are linking to this blog.

Carnivorous Christmas Finish

2005-12-25T09:48:00.000Z

I woke early on 23rd December and started doing the last stitches on Carnivorous Cat before I went to work on Friday. As this was a Christmas present for my landlady I had to get it completed that day so I could give it to her yesterday on Christmas Eve before she went away for Christmas.

I've discovered that I hate stitching to deadlines! It's strange, but I never seem to have a problem getting motivated to do round robins, I stitch them as soon as they come through the door. Maybe my lack of motivation came from starting this project over six months ago and putting it to one side cause I figured I'd have loads of stitching time to complete him, but that sadly wasn't the case with all the hassles I've had in the lead up to Christmas.

Carnivorous cat is a Margaret Sherry design which appeared in the original Cattitudes Calender in November 2002. God that seems years ago now. Although I have been stitching all the designs from this calender as part of an ongoing Cattitudes Round Robin I missed out on Stitching Carnivorous Cat as I dropped out of the robin for a few months to try and get my life back together whem I moved down here to Cornwall. Carnivorous cat is stitched on Silkweaver Reflections "Angel Song" 28 count hand -dyed fabric. I tried a bit of an experiment with this design, because I stitched the cage bars with gold metallic thread rather than the traditional black backstitching - do you think it works?

2005-12-25T09:44:00.000Z

I picked up the Mermaid Queen from the framers this week. She turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

2005-12-25T09:43:00.000Z

Was emptying out some Purina Chicken Flavoured cat food into Jade's food storage box the other day. Look what dropped out of the bag? It's a solid wedge of cat food. I sent it back to the manufacturers hoping that I might get a voucher for some free food in return.

Christmas Meme

2005-12-24T21:09:00.000Z

1. What is your favorite Christmas carol/song?
Pop song - I guess it's got to be Wizard's I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday. I guess my favourite carol at the moment has got to be the bawderised santacon version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

2. White lights or multicolored?
Multicoloured. Actually I like the little red ball lights.

3. Do you have a cut tree, live tree, or an artificial one?
I own an artificial tree, but haven't put it up this year again - no room!

4. Eggnog, mulled cider, or hot chocolate?
Haven't tried the first two, and I'm not a chocolate fan either. Had some very nice Mulled Wine today though.

5. Do you decorate your house with lights?
No. Don't have my own house anymore - when I did I hung lantern lights outside.

6. Do you write a Christmas letter?
Nope.

7. Do you like receiving Christmas letters/photos?
Yes, it always seems a good time to catch up on old friends.

8. What is your favorite Christmas story/movie?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

9. Have you ever made a gingerbread house?
No.

10. Poinsettias or holly?
Poinsettias, but if I can keep them alive to the new year it's a miracle.

11. Do you display a nativity scene?
Nope. Athesist.

12. Do you bake Christmas cookies?
No, I don't have a sweet tooth.

13. Ham or turkey?
Turkey. I remember the time when my aunt bought a ham to cook. When she got it home she discovered she didn't have a pot big enough to boil it in so she had to go out and buy a new stainless steel pan which then resulted in an entire kitchen utensil upgrade as she discovered that she liked the shiny look.

14. In what languages can you wish someone a Merry Christmas (without cheating)?
One - english

15. Do you know all the words to “Jingle Bells?”
Yes, I can even play it on an electronic keyboard. GGG GGG GCBAG....

16. Do you put presents under the tree?
If I had a tree up, I would.

17. How do you eat a candy cane?
I don't. But it's like a stick of rock and I suck them.

18. What is your biggest holiday pet peeve?
The whole commercialisation of Christmas and people assuming that I'm going to go back to Kent to spend it with my non-existant family, which starts off a very awkward explanation that they're all dead.

19. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
Watching Home Alone 1 and 2. Which I'm not doing this year as I left all my videos back in Kent.

20. What was the best present you ever got for Christmas?
You know, I can't think of one. I really hate opening presents because once that's done it's always a let down and there's nothing left to look forward to apart from the Christmas dinner. I used to put off opening the presents as long as possible to avoid that disappointed feeling. It's so different when you are a child.

Went to see King Kong this afternoon. The dinosaurs are fab but the film is way too long!

he he & Ho ho ho

Elf Name

2005-12-24T09:49:00.000Z

Your Elf Name Is...

Flakey Twinkle Wink

What's" Your Elf Name?

Santacon 2005

2005-12-22T10:17:00.000Z

Here's me at Santacon which was held in London on Saturday 17th December!

Because I got asked this so many times during the day, I've prepared the following FAQ. Seems a good way to start off this blog entry:

The Santacon FAQ

What is Santacon?
Santacon is a convention for Santas. To be eligible to attend you must wear a full Santa suit. This is the only rule.
Who are all these people?
Buggered if I know. Never met any of them before in my life!
How did you find out about this?
On the internet. I stumbled across the whole Santacon concept when I was searching for information on "flash crowds". We certainly created our own flash crowd at Nelson's Column on Saturday. There is a website www.santacon.co.uk which contains links to additional photos that were taken on the day and on previous years, and a yahoo mailing list (uksantacon) which is where I found out about the specifics of the meeting point on Saturday. If you fancy joining in next year, here's the link to the group:

Click to join uksantacon
What organisation are you with?
None. Santacon is not a work's Christmas Do. Apart from being a member of a mailing list to find out about this event there is no other organisational arrangement for the santas.
Are you doing this for charity?
No. This is just purely for fun.
(And my favourite - from a german lady on a bike - "What are you demonstrating against"?
Nothing. We were chanting as we were walking down the street but all we were chanting was "What do we want? - Christmas! When do we want it? - Now! That's hardly demonstrating is it?

The day started by meeting at the Shakespear's Head which is a Weatherspoon's Pub in Holborn at 12:00 noon. I arrived at the meeting point early (incognito with my Santa costume in a carrier bag) with the intention of eating something to line my stomach before the consumption of any alcohol. As I was ordering my food, the first two Santas arrived and had the same idea - Santa had a fried breakfast.

In the next hour or so the Santas trickled in individually or in small groups and this created bemused looks from the other patrons - they realised something was up - but couldn't quite figure out just what was going on. Eventually the sea of red grew and I figured it was now time to don my own santa suit. It was only a santa hat, santa jacket, skirt and a belt. The skirt didn't seem very substantial so I kept my black dress on underneath which later on resulted in me being called "Goth Santa". A big "Hi" to Ruth Santa with the camera whom I met in the ladies.

The sea of red grew even bigger. Soon the "normal" pub goers were much in the minority and to be honest there wasn't anywhere for them to sit or even stand even if they had wanted to brave the santa-infested pub. I got out my camera to take some pictures, but to my dismay found that the rechargable batteries were flat, BUM! but so many other people were taking pictures that there was going to be plenty posted on the net so I didn't worry too much. All the pics that I've posted on here are from other Santa's online photo albums.

The Santas left the Shakespear's head at approximately 1:15 and stopping traffic as they crossed the road headed off down the street to the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons. They wouldn't let us in the door!

We next walked down "Drury Lane" (there was no muffin man) and to the Skating Rink set up inside the grounds of Somerset House. Some of the Santa's vaulted over the barrier and did "Santa on Ice" impersonations before being escorted off the ice by the ice marshalls. Then approx a third of the santas (including me) did an impromptu conga around the rink and into the cafe until a spoil sport security guard close the door and refused to let any more into the cafe area.

After leaving the ice rink, and stopping of at a few pubs on the Strand the Santa procession headed towards Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column (see picture at the top of this blog entry). It was a really surreal experience being a part of the santa-throng. People's reactions were strange, when they first spotted the first couple of santas they would stare at your strange costume as if you were nuts, then when they realised just how many Santas there were they would spontaneously emote, smiling, laughing or grabbing for the camera phones or digital cameras. The number of people we passed talking on their mobiles about the amazing Santa invasion was beyond count.

I arrived at Trafalgar Square towards the tail end of the Santas and was atonished to see so many already climbing up Nelson's column. The pedestal base was already a sea of red. I went and stood in front of the column like many of the other lady santa's were doing. I didn't want to climb up on the bottom plinth as this was as tall as my head. Thousands of people were taking pictures of the spectacle. I'm very surprised that none of those pictures made the news as we did have reporters following us around all day too.

After singing several carols on Nelson's Column the Santa's started to disperse the square, heading towards Picadilly Circus where we posed for more pictures and sung more carols on the steps of Eros.

We invaded the Virgin Megastore at Picadilly. The tall black security guard really didn't want to let us in, but 300+ Santas changed his mind and he just stood there in the door talking into his walkie talkie and shaking his head in disbelief as we filed in past him. The Santas went up the stairs and did a conga around the CD section (some asshole santas deliberately knocking CDs off the shelves). As we left Virgin, there was a police van parked outside and the police dogged our tales around London for the following several hours to ensure that there was no further trouble.

Next we headed up to Leicester Square and were delighted to find a small fairground therein. The santas went on all the rides, I rode the carousel. There was a flying swing ride, and that was very fun to watch with Super Santa flying around on a swing in the classic superman pose with his red cape billowing behind him.

From Leicester Square, pausing at the Hog's Head where the Santa's refueled on yet more alcohol - a lot of us stayed out on the pavement here as the pub wasn't big enough for all of us, there was quite a bit of horseplay outside the pub, I can remember a Michael Jackson santa moonwalking in front of a black cab in the street!

New Santas were joining us now as the original crew dimished from over-indulgence in alcohol. We approached Soho and walked along the market street. We came across an animatronic santa outside one of the shops, and all of the santas bowed down to him when he danced and then sung carols at him. The shop owner was in tears of laughter.

We left Soho and stopped at a nearby eatery that sold Pork BBQ Ribs, it sounded very tasty, and the management claimed that they could serve 300 people in less than an hour, I didn't believe this claim though because they only had 75 seats in their downstairs restaurant! So I skipped the ribs, and made a small detour around the corner into Oxford Street proper and visited the Macdonalds that was there. During the course of the day I'd forgotten that I was wearing the Santa suit, it had just become a normal part of my clothes, but that few minutes of exposure as a lone santa brought so many stares from the Oxford Street shoppers. In MacDonalds this old man approached me and said "you're dressed like Father Christmas", yeah! Duh!...... I didn't bother answering him, just thinking that he didn't realise there were another 300-400 of us just around the corner. Imagine the shock he'd get when he saw that lot!

After finding food, the Santas then proceeded to invade Oxford Street. Yes, on the last Saturday before Christmas you can imagine how busy it was, and there we were 400 Santas walking up the middle of the street. There were piles of horse crap in the road (from the police horses that were trying to marshall us up the street), everyone was walking past pointing out the "Rudolph Poo".

As we walked up the street, Yomas (the guy we were following around the town because he had the loud hailer that was keeping us all together), stopped at a bus stop. We all crowded around to see what he was staring at. On the floor were two abandoned Santa suits. "Man Down", he yelled into the hailer.

We then left the Oxford Street area and proceeded to get on Tubes to St Paul's Cathedral. Even the underground driver got into the spirit and came across the tannoy saying "I hear there's a good chance you might see Santa tonight!".

We left the tube system with some Santas running up the down escalators as we left the underground at St Pauls and assembled on the steps of St Pauls to sing yet more carols. I remember seeing a passed out Santa on the steps at this point.

From St Paul's we proceeded down over the Millenium Bridge (which I'd never seen before), to assemble outside the Tate Modern Art Gallery. It was quite a spectacle when I looked back over the bridge to see the hundreds of Santas proceeding over the bridge behind me, with the lit-up spectable of St Paul's Cathedral in the background behind them all.

There was a little riverside fete going on outside the Tate Modern, and a small stage with a team of chorists singing as we arrived over the bridge.

Suddenly they found themselves in the late stages of "crack up" and struggling to carry on singing as about 30-40 santas were dancing right in front of them. Then we kind of hijacked the choir and made them sing our own carols. I think my favourite one was the "Twelve Days of Christmas", which went like this:

The Twelve Days of Christmas
(remembering to emphasise 5 double gins, as in 5 golden rings)
On the first day of Christmas my true love bought for me:A lager for 99p
On the second day of Christmas my true love bought for me:2 rum and cokesand a lager for 99p
...
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love bought for me:

12 Tequila slammers
11 Hundred Pipers
10 Shots of Absinthe
9 Remy Martins
8 vodka tonics
7 Cheap dry sherries
6 Bacardi Breezers
5 double gins
4 Smirnoff Ice
3 real ales
2 rum and cokes
and a lager for 99p!

Next we entered the Tate Modern and the Santas explored the ice-like art exhibit that was in the basement as well as sliding on the sloping floor. A few Santas climbed up the art, fell of it and broke some of it and at that point we were asked to leave. Yep, we trashed the Tate! lol

We went along the river bank to the Founders Arms and had a couple of drinks in there. Next we left and got back on the tube to a place called Olds Street where aparently there was a pub called The Foundry. Whilst we were waiting at the tube station a load of Santas sat on the tube platform - most were not capable of standing by then - sitting there singing the bawderised version of the Twelve Days of Christmas [above]. Some members of the public were taking photos of us and giving us looks of disgust probably thinking that if we'd drunk all that we were singing about, it would probably explain our condition.

When we got to the Foundry, I was one of the first in there as I was desperate for the toilet at that point, but it was already packed out with "normal" pub goers. The place looked a bit of a dive, so I left the rest of the Santas at this point in the evening and crossed the road to get what I thought was an amazingly cheap chinese takeout. £2.70 for a box of food, and I could pick what I wanted, they even had seaweed. I next hailed a cab and went back to my B&B. The next day after I sobered up I realised that that cheap chinese had actually cost me nearer to £20 when I included the cab fair back to the hotel, but it was probably safer than trying to find my way back to Paddington on the underground. I get lost on there when I'm sober!

All in all a great day was had by all!

I'd like to say hello to Ruth Santa, Green Faced Santa with Tentacles, Biker Santa, Santa Chris from Brighton, Glitter spreading Santa, Chuckie Santa and finally Barbary Santa!

Bugs

2005-12-14T21:17:00.000Z

Sean emailed me today. Bugs has died. Sean said he passed away in his sleep, he was only three and a half years old. Earlier this year he was apparently diagnosed with a heart murmur so Sean said that he thought his heart had finally given out on him. I asked Sean to get the vet to do an autopsy, but it's too late because Sean's already buried his body in the woods. It's very hard to believe this because Bugs was such a young and very fit cat. He would run rings around all of my other cats. Bugs and Fats would really go for it sometimes, chasing around in the garden, it was an even match between them, Fats only held his own because of his sheer bulk (14lbs), Bugs was lightening quick. In his last year, Sean said he even became quite an accomplished hunter, bringing home all manner of small creatures from the woods at the back of Sean's house.

When Sean and I broke up, I wanted to keep Bugs myself, but Bugs was another thing that Sean stole from my life. I never even got to say a proper goodbye to that little cat. I remember when Sean had banished me to sleeping on the kids bunk beds in the spare room and I was really miserable and suicidal, that little cat would sleep with me, and try to comfort me by playing with me by poking his feet though the empty bed frame above me at me, teasing me to grab at him. He was even a bigger comfort to me at that time than my beloved Jade.

I remember he was outside on the wall at the end of the yard and I said a quick goodbye to him while I was loading up the car to come down to Cornwall for a short break. I didn't imagine at the time that I would not be going back, and ultimately that I would never see him again.

I have kept a lot of text messages from about that time on my phone. I kept them as evidence of Sean's bullying and threatening behaviour for legal reasons. Even after the house was sold and things were settled, I still haven't deleted them as I don't want to lose those memories of those horrible times. One of the oldest is dated 22nd April 2004, . Sean said "Unless I hear from you by Monday saying when you are coming back I am going to find homes for all the cats". It was pure blackmail which translated as: "come back so I can bully you even more about selling your home or the cats will be gone by the time you come back".

On receipt of this text I got a copy of my front door key made and sent it to a friend asking him to collect Jade and Bugs from the house. The only reason I have Jade with me now is because he let himself be picked up by my friend and so was taken away to safety, where I was later able to reclaim him a few months later when I was more settled. Bugs had other ideas, threw a panicked fit and ran from his arms, so my friend let him be.

I went back to collect Bugs myself in June at the time of my Aunt's Funeral. This was only a week after actually finding somewhere to live (you don't want to know how I'd been living up until then, but it did include sleeping in the car at times), where I could house Bugs safely, (Jade was still safe with my friend at this time). But Sean refused to give him up to me, or to tell me where he was living, he even lied to me, deliberately throwing me off the scent telling me that he was renting a flat in Lesley Place in Maidstone where we used to live together before we bought our house. Sean wouldn't even speak to me at the time I phoned him to reclaim Bugs while outside Lesley Place, he just gave an exasperated sigh and hung up his phone.

I remember phoning his friend Simon and asking him where Sean was now living, but he wouldn't give up the address (for after going to Lesley Place and realising that I'd been duped, I recalled Sean mentioning about renting a house in Vinter's Park off Simon's father who was a property magnate) and said that it was my fault that Sean had taken everything and the cats because I wasn't there. My instincts were correct though, I got Spud's girlfriend to drive me around the Vinter's Park estate where Sean now lives. I guess it was just unfortunate that I didn't spot his car around parked on the driveway or something or I could have had Bugs back with me now, and I could have shared the last 20 months of his life with him.

As soon as I had my own home again, where I wouldn't be evicted by the Landlord for having too many cats (it was difficult enough to find anywhere to live which would accept even one cat - where I live now is not good either, it's way too small and there's no kitchen - I'm looking for something better and have been for the last year I've been here, in fact, the only reason I stay here is because of the large safe garden for Jade and the house is in a cul-de-sac which makes it doubly safe for Jade to roam while I'm out at work all day), I always intended to go back to Sean's house, camp out in those woods and "Cat Nap" Bugs, as Sean clearly wouldn't give him up to me. That opportunity is now passed forever.

Bye Bye Bugs, you most precotious of all the cats I've ever owned, and stop buggering the bunnies while you wait for me on the Rainbow Bridge, I'll be there soon.

RIP Major Tom
4 May 2002 - 13 December 2005

I've posted some photos of happier times with him below.

2005-12-14T21:15:00.000Z

"Bug"gering the bunnies!

2005-12-14T21:14:00.000Z

Well you did call me "Bugs" - what do you expect?

2005-12-14T21:12:00.000Z

Let me in... it's raining!

2005-12-14T21:11:00.000Z

Yes, it's a rabbit.....

2005-12-14T21:08:00.001Z

Yuk!

2005-12-14T21:08:00.000Z

Saddled by a muppet

2005-12-14T21:06:00.000Z

Bugs was only 6 weeks old when we took him home.

Stitching Updates

2005-12-12T12:02:00.000Z

I've been stitching on this almost exclusively in the past week, trying to get him finished for my l/lady for Christmas. I even stitched on him in the pub yesterday afternoon following lunch!

The design is Margaret Sherry's Carnivorous Cat. I'm stitching it on a piece of Silkweaver Reflection's Melon Sparkle which is 28.

2005-12-12T12:01:00.000Z

Mirabilia Cherub update.

I've made a bit of a bodge with the holly. The pdf of the chart didn't print very clearly because I was wondering why there were two yellow stitches on the green. I checked the printout and it was pretty clear that it was a "c" rather than a "d" for the other green, so I stitched them in 744.

However, when I looked at the original pdf file on the computer a few days later all the stitches are definitely "d"s, so go knows where the printer got the "c"s from.

It's not the first time that this has happened to me: I think I had problems with a TW design as well (and that was a completely different printer), so be warned against dodgy pdf prints.

2005-12-12T12:00:00.000Z

Paradise Island update.

A few bushes since the last photo, but not much progress at all really. I've been distracted since I got my gamecube back again, by Ace Golf!

Ace Golf is a pretty funky golf game and very well executed. I thought I was getting really good at it, winning all the holes on the first stage, and beating the two computer characters so I can now play with them, although one of them is a french tart called Lorraine and the other is this guy Sonny [left] who wouldn't look out of place in a heavy metal band. He does get really stroppy though when he looses a hole, at one point when I beat this this morning, he got a triple bogey (three over par) and fainted on the green. lol.

I got through to the second stage this morning and well.... I came last in the first professional round I played. Need much more practice to win, but Carnivorous Cat must come first.

How Do Men See You?

2005-12-11T20:29:00.000Z

Men See You As Choosy

Men notice you light years before you notice them
You take a selective approach to dating, and you can afford to be picky
You aren't looking for a quick flirt - but a memorable encounter
It may take men a while to ask you out, but it's worth the wait

How Do Men See You?

Lunch With Skippy

2005-12-09T14:23:00.000Z

Today I walked into town and took The Mermaid Queen to the framers. She's going to be ready in about 10 days. I wouldn't dare risk trying to frame her myself, after six months of work she deserves to be framed by a professional.

Then I went and had lunch in the Turk's Head, which is heralded as the oldest pub in Penzance. I went there because I noticed that the other day they had Kangaroo Steaks on their specials board. I've wanted to try Kangaroo for years, ever since I learned that a local butcher in Gillingham sold it (he was unfortunately out of stock when we went there to purchase some to take to a bbq) and I've been dying to try it ever since then, so today I did.

What can I say? A Kangaroo is just a huge jumping cow! It tasted almost exactly like beef steak, but with a slightly more gamier flavour which was very subtle. It was a nice meal. The Kangaroo was pan fried in Creme de Cassis (strawberry liquor) sauce and was served with a small side salad and chips.

Oh well, nice one Skippy!

Fabric of the Month

2005-12-08T22:30:00.001Z

My fabric of the month package has arrived from Silkweaver.

I received two pieces of 32 count hand-dyed Laguna. The golden coloured fabric is called "Golden Promise" and is an 18 x 26 cut and the blue/purple swirly one is called "Chasescape" and is a 9x13 cut.

I think I prefer the "Chasescape" piece, although its a small piece. It just says "stitch something wintery on me".

I tomorrow I'm going to sort out some of my fabric stash for sale. These fabric of the month things are great - it's nice getting goodies in the post, but over the years I've been a member with Silkweaver I have received quite a few pieces of fabric that I know I'll never stitch on so it's getting time to "de-stash".

What Famous Leader Are You?

2005-12-08T22:30:00.000Z

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I can live with that one...

What Kind of Alcoholic Beverage are you?

2005-12-08T20:25:00.000Z

You're a Pint of Guinness!

What Type of Alcoholic Beverage Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Never would have guessed that one! In fact I've only drunken Guinness once, and that was on St Patrick's Day this year when I only downed the stuff to earn enough tokens to get a stupid Guinness hat. Which I've still got! lol

As far as stitching goes, I've completed about a quarter of the Mirabilia Cherub, done a few bushes on Paradise Island and today I did a couple of hours stitching on Carnivorous Cat while watching Lethal Weapon 1. I picked up the box set in Smiths today for £15.99, unbelievably cheap.

I actually had a little bit of a spending fest today, I also bought the box set of the Back to the Future films, (good old Marty Mcfly), Mission Impossible 1, Torque, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow starring Jude Law and White Guys - a comedy with Damon Waynes dressed up as a white woman cop with another fellow.

Last night I spent the entire evening working on a new blog layout for the New Year, here's a preview.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Charity Stitching?

2005-12-07T15:54:00.000Z

Have you done any charity stitching, been in one, or would like to organize one?

Easy to answer this one. No.

I remember being tempted to do a Pam Kellogg design bookmark entitled Support Our Troops during the Iraq War, but I was just tempted.

Freeview - Me Too

2005-12-07T14:43:00.000Z

Just browsing the net and found someone else with the same problem as me. I know several people who live locally too me who have freeview and it works fine, so I've just taken this guy's attitude and figured "what the hell" and have bought one anyway ;-)

I'll let you know if it works and if the Freeview website is spouting bollocks!

One More Day...

2005-12-07T06:56:00.000Z

Only today to go at work and then I'm having a few days off while the office is being decorated. It makes sense, I've got about 10 days leave left to take at work and I don't want to be around the smell of wet paint, not to mention not really being able to get any real work done anyway.

I did consider having a short break away somewhere this long weekend, but I've got to be back at work on Tuesday for the Christmas Party (no sense in missing that one, well I say "party", probably an all day drinking session is the truth which resulted last year in four missing hours and a skinned knee - so I can't wait to see what happens this year ;-), so it would have to be a city break or something like that. I've even considered going to Paris for the Weekend, but have been put off with the fact that I will be in a strange country alone (again) and I can't speak French, and will have to worry about muggers and all the other hastles you get from being in a big city. Cornwall is soooo safe in comparison. So I guess I'll just be moping around here, but hopefully getting a bit of stitching done. Didn't really get any real stitching done this weekend. I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Sunday morning. Yawn! God, I don't know how I sat through that one - but then I thought that particular novel was a real slog to get through too.

I'm not looking forward at all to Christmas. I think it's just going to be another total non-event like last year: I spent the entire day watching the 11 hour plus epic Lord of the Rings, which was nice in itself, but not to be repeated this year. A lot of single people feel the same way about the holidays, but at 34 most people still have families that they go and spend it with - there you go, the curse of elderly parents! All the more ironic in that my Boss's stepgrandad died today at 96! He certainly had a good innings. My genetic upbringing is unfortunately though, not that of Methusaleh. At one point this year I was looking forward with a sense of hope that I wouldn't have to spend it alone again, but those hopes were dashed quite recently, hence my return in the big way to the stitching world. There is sanctity in stitching afterall.

I spent about an hour or so at work today browsing online and looking for a Christmas break, to get away in a nice warm sunny place is a good way to forget about it all - but I couldn't find a decently cheap break - all the good ones have been booked up already. I phoned Thompson's today and was told the only thing that they had available was staying in Sharm El Sheik at a 5 star hotel on a B&B basis for...... get this..... I couldn't quite believe it £1800 quid! And I'm not sure at the moment if my l/lady will be here to look after Jade for me anyway. Anyone know of a good holiday retreat where they don't mind a few stray grey hairs?

Made an Icon

2005-12-01T19:55:00.000Z

I made myself a Diary Icon for you to use if you link to this blog, as I know many people do. If you want to upload it onto your own webspace/blogspace the URL to retrieve it from is: http://www.knownspace.co.uk/images/vash_diary_icon.gif

I found the little Blue Dinosaur graphic (Bob) on a blinkie making website. It's so cool that I found this little graphic because the character comes from one of my all time favourite video games, Bubble Bobble by Taito.

November/December Goals

2005-12-01T12:54:00.000Z

For the most part I did very well in achieving my November stitching goals, surpassing them, perhaps?

Complete Beading on the Mermaid Queen - Done. She was my major happy dance this month.
Start working on the Miralibila 2000 Holiday Cherub. Karen and I agreed to do this as a stitch-a-long last year when we ended up both stitching on the Mirabilia Angel Cherub at the same time last year. - I've begun stitching, sadly Karen doesn't have the time to participate this year - anyone else care to join me?
Do more work on "Above the Clouds". He's not a priority, but at the moment I seem to be spending most of my stitching time working on him. - I've sort of put this on the backburner for the minute.
That Darn Cat Scissor Fob - still not touched this!! The only goal I haven't achieved, which is a bit silly really as it will only take an hour or two.
Carnivorous Cat - I really must work on this as it is intended as a present for my l/lady. -Still haven't done any more on this.
Find out what is happening with the Cattitudes RR. - I'm due a piece, Vikki is currently working on it.
And finally, dig out a WIP that my Aunt Started of a Skating Father Christmas to get in the mood for the forthcoming season. She'd nearly finished him, I think it's only his face and beard to go so shouldn't take long. - I finished him off weeks ago.

December Goals

Finish the Mirabilia Holiday Cherub.
That Darn Cat Scissor Fob.
Finish off Carnivorous Cat.
If I feel inclined, finish "Above the Clouds".
Stitch on the Cattitudes RR if the piece arrives.
Mail on Cathy's Autumnal RR to Dawn.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Stitching Rules?

2005-12-01T12:43:00.000Z

Do you have rules in the way you stitch? (i.e., Do you start in the middle? Do you determine which blocks to stitch first? Do you always start from the top or the bottom? Do you have special paths to prevent wasting thread?)

I usually start in the middle of the fabric on most projects that I begin. I generally like to start with a big block of colour and then do the odd confetti stitches afterwards. Sometimes I weave the thread through the back of the design to get to a new stitching area rather than fastening it off and beginning again, providing it is not too far. I find this tends to save me a bit of thread that is lost when I cut the loose end off.

Stitching Saturday

2005-11-26T16:52:00.000Z

After finishing off the Mermaid last weekend, I was very good and instead of starting a new project, picked up my old Paradise Island project which I started three years ago and stitched on it. I had to find the odd couple of threads that have been borrowed out of the thread pouch over the years, but most of them were still present and correct.

I've been diligently stitching on it all week in the evenings and today, I can proudly post an update pic as I've finished yet another quadrant of the chart. The design is now three-quarters finished. Here is my Webshots Album which shows all my previous WIP shots of the project.

I think the last time I actually worked on this project was sitting by the pool this summer when I was in Lanzarote. This project does have an unfortunate history with pools due to an accident with a paddling pool once, here's the entry on my first stitching blog (August 23 2003, now archived on Geocites) which will tell you all about it if you've not read it already. It wasn't funny at the time but I had such a good laugh about the accident afterwards, as in the end there was no real harm done, apart from it getting a bit wet! Maybe this can be a Future Stitching Blogger's Question: What is the biggest mishap you've had with your stitching?

This design appeared in an The World of Cross Stitching's July 2002 edition and was also printed in Jill Gordon's Cross Stitch Pictures book, which I also have. The book says that this island is actually a real atoll somewhere in the Indian Ocean, I've always wondered if it were one of the Maldives?

As I've sort of put Above The Clouds to one side at the moment, I started this Mirabilia Holiday Cherub (2000) design as my new purse project. I've not stitched much, this is what I did during my lunch hour on Thursday dinner time.

The completed design will look like this when complete:

The design is a freebie and you can download your own copy of this chart here.

Below is the progress I did make on Above the Clouds so far.

Which Flower are You?

2005-11-25T12:38:00.000Z

You are an Iris:

You are logical, analytical, dignified, and wise.
You are studious by nature and may prefer books
to people. You tend to be a serious person but
are capable of making others laugh with your
dry sense of humor. Friends always benefit from
your advice.

Symbolism: Over the centuries the iris has come to
symbolize faith, wisdom, hope, and promise in
love.

Which Flower are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

South Park Vash

2005-11-25T06:16:00.000Z

I found this link on Carol's blog, but just about everyone seems to be doing themselves as a South Park Character on their blogs, so here goes me:

Here's where you can play too: http://spstudio.elena.hosting-friends.de/spstudio.html

Coming Through the Floor....!

2005-11-23T20:01:00.000Z

A small earthquake hit Penzance today. It wasn't a seizmic movement however, it was my boss the twat skipping in his office at the encouragement of his personal trainer who he's employed to get him into shape to win a bet but honestly, skipping in your office? My desk is based two floors below his office, but it still sounded like a herd of elephants were stampeding past. The twat didn't keep it up long however, after about 15-20 jumps he came down the stairs to get a cup of water from the cooler, he was knackered already! No wonder he needs that blonde, petite, lady trainer to keep his enthusiasm up.

And now for the Stitching Blogger's Question:

Do you always sign your projects? If not, why? If so, do you use your first name, initials or what?

I only usually sign work if I am giving it away or taking part in a round robin. I always sign "Vash" rather than my real name, but as everyone knows me as Vash anyway I can't see that it matters. I will also put my Country, or location, i.e. UK or Cornwall. On the Cattitudes RR we even stitched our country flags. I sometimes put the year too.

Strange Cravings

2005-11-21T18:38:00.000Z

Jade made a big fuss of me when I came home this evening, I was trying to figure out what he wanted. I opened a bottle of cream soda, and it fizzed up a bit at first dribbling out the top of the bottle and down the side. The next thing I know, Jade is licking the bottle, so I poured him a glass of his own. Yes dear readers, my cat was drinking CREAM SODA!!! lol

Mermaid Queen on the Ocean

2005-11-19T20:44:00.000Z

She's finished!!!!

I've spent the entire day completing the beading, the odd missing stitch - I had to laugh at myself when I'd forgoten to stitch one of her hands, here I was facing a handless mermaid, lol. - and finally completed all the backstitch about an hour ago.

She's probably the largest and most advanced piece that I've ever attempted, and she's my second Mirabilia design. According to this blog, I started working on her on April 10th. The mermaid is stitched on Silkweaver Reflection's 32 count Ocean.

I wasn't happy after I'd attached the jewels though. The chart just left the area under the jewels blank, but there wasn't complete coverage by the gems and you could see the "holes" in the pattern under the jewels and the blank fabric behind so today I've lifted up the gems and stitched in the background colour. I felt much happier about her when I'd done that. I think the best bit of the design was completing the final gold braiding in her hair. It really brought her into focus for me.

Now... what should I stitch on next? I really want to finish "Above the Clouds" now, but as it was intended for a friend who now is not speaking to me, it probably won't be appreciated at all [in fact, even if I do finish it off and give it to him as a peace offering in the hope of renewing our friendship, I can quite easily see it being binned it in disgust], so I don't know if I have the heart to finish it off now, which is a shame because I was enjoying working on it.

So maybe another Teresa Wenzler instead? I've got her Egyptian Sampler that I've always wanted to work on and also Tapestry Cat. Speaking of Cats, and Egypt I've got a design called "Pharoah's Pet" that I've always wanted to do as it's of an Egyptian Serval. I'll have to have a look though my stash, or should I do the sensible thing and finish off another WIP or UFO?

What Kind of Love are You in?

2005-11-18T22:53:00.000Z

Tragic Love
There is a lot of pain here. A lot of bitter and
bruised feelings. You love this person, but
it's hurting you. Sure, the good times can be
really good, but the bad times crop up more
frequently. Are you sure that it's worth it?

What Kind of Love are You in? (Beautiful Romantic Pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Frogging Mistakes?

2005-11-17T18:33:00.000Z

How do you feel about staying totally true to a pattern? Do you feel that you have to rip out stitches to fix a mistake or do you feel it's acceptable to incorporate a mistake into the design?

The answer to that is how much work is going to be involved to frog the Mistake?

If I know I've made an error I generally go back and take it out maybe undoing a few hours stitching in the process, but if I don't notice the error until much later than that I will try to adapt around it.

I actually get a secret thrill about stitching a piece and knowing that I've done it stitch perfect and not made a mistake at all. But once I know there's an error there anyway I have less incentive to go back and fix another one, I tend to sort of leave it. I can remember pieces that I've balls up early on, didn't fix, and then got very creative when it came to finishing them off!

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

2005-11-15T21:28:00.000Z

You Should Get a PhD in Science (like chemistry, math, or engineering)

You're both smart and innovative when it comes to ideas.
Maybe you'll find a cure for cancer - or develop the latest underground drug.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Skating Santa : Before and After

2005-11-15T18:51:00.000Z

One of my goals this month was to stitch on my Aunt's old unfinished Skating Santa project.

This is how it looked prior to me working on it:

Today I finished him off:

It's kinda sad in a way now that he is finished because now I only have one of my Aunt's WIPs to go (an Owl) and when that is done it's as if a part of her will be gone forever. It brought back memories of her just by opening the project wallet because the fabric still contained a hint of her cigarette smoke. I remember she started working on this project this time about two years ago, just before she fell ill with cancer. I can remember he frustration at trying to stitch the white of his beard on white glittering fabric and that's why she put him to one side.

In fact I only got around to finishing today because I've had a couple of days off work to cope with the stress and hastle of this and last weekend. Stitching is a wonderfly therapeutic tool in that respect.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week:Large or Small Finishes?

2005-11-10T09:16:00.000Z

When comparing large projects versus small projects, which do you get more excited about finishing?

Without a doubt, stitching that last couple of per cent of a large project is one of the most addictive things in stitching.

Who's the Chicken?

2005-11-07T15:29:00.000Z

Do you cluck or do you roar?
this quiz was made by Empty Dot

My weekend was like this chicken. I took on Psycho Bitches, Ex-Wives, Obese Children and still managed to go to an all night rave on Saturday evening which managed to escape being busted by the cops.

Back at work today, I feel pretty drained and of course: my boss the twat has now got me ringing around cleaning companies to clean up the aftermath of the rave......

Monthly Stitching Goals - an Update

2005-11-04T16:32:00.000Z

My October Stitching Goals were as follows:

Complete Solo the Cat on KiwiJo's Fabric for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin ready for the mailing date of the end of the month. (I've nearly done with this, just a few missed stitches and the backstitching to go. One stitching session max.)

I completed Solo on 5th October.

Start beading the Mermaid Queen. I bought a crafter's box from Lakeland in Truro on Saturday, it has about 9 lockable compartments, the perfect thing to organise those pesky and fiddly beads.

I've started doing this, I think I'm about a third of the way there. I don't like the way the Crystal Treasures are going on though, even though I'm stitching on 32count instead of the recommended 28 they still don't cover the holes in the pattern very well.

Complete the Cat Scissor Fob. (Again)

Didn't touch this one at all.

Do more work on Carnivorous Cat. On my last stitching session I discovered I'd made a boo boo and one side of the cat doesn't match up with the other. So I'm unpicking as I go now, probably a good reason why I've not stitched on it for weeks.

Or this one.

Stitch the Dragon's head on Above the Clouds. This is tending to be my focus piece at the moment, - I stitched soley on it this past weekend. Mainly because it's my current purse project and I wasn't at home for much of the time this past weekend.

I'm enjoying stitching on this, the blends are looking really good, just very time consuming sorting out all the colours every time. Must get around to untangling the mess that the colour card is becomming before it gets any worse.

Await the arrival of the next Cattitudes RR material. (I'm not sure who's sending to me this round - I need to check the board, but Ellene has already posted that she's received Nicole's fabric that I sent her so at last things are finally starting to move again.)

This still hasn't turned up......?

November Stitching Goals

Complete Beading on the Mermaid Queen
Start working on the Miralibila 2000 Holiday Cherub. Karen and I agreed to do this as a stitch-a-long last year when we ended up both stitching on the Mirabilia Angel Cherub at the same time last year.
Do more work on "Above the Clouds". He's not a priority, but at the moment I seem to be spending most of my stitching time working on him.
That Darn Cat Scissor Fob
Carnivorous Cat - I really must work on this as it is intended as a present for my l/lady.
Find out what is happening with the Cattitudes RR.
And finally, dig out a WIP that my Aunt Started of a Skating Father Christmas to get in the mood for the forthcoming season. She'd nearly finished him, I think it's only his face and beard to go so shouldn't take long.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Colour by Number?

2005-11-03T15:28:00.000Z

If you have stitched for a while, can you usually pick out the DMC colors you need from memory when you go to your LNS? (For example, you know that 610 is a brown.)

Some colours always seem to stick in your head, like 326 Christmas Red, sky blue 799 and 907 lime green. If I only need one or two threads I can usually remember what colours I need and their numbers. If I need more than a couple I usually take a list to the LNS if I need them in a hurry or order them online more cheaply.

I remember when I lived back in Gillingham, there was a little local needlework and wool store, "Singer's Sewing Centre" it was called. They used to mainly service Singer Sewing Machines and sell wool to little old ladies, but they had a wall section set aside with a full DMC collection. This was my only source of DMC within walking distance so I used to go there a lot. There used to be a little old man who ran the place, despite his age, if you wanted any threads you would give him a list and he'd get up on a chair and fetch them all down for you. He was usually very efficient at doing this and could find the threads a lot faster than you as he knew where they all were on the pegs. Sadly, "Mr Singer" as I used to call him (I never knew his real name) sold the business to some Asian women as his wife was sick.

When the Asians took over the shop, the stitching section was being run into the ground and it was turning into "Saris R US". I remember having an arguement with the women in there one day when she claimed that DMC 3799 a dark grey thread didn't exist and I was making it up!

Autumnal RR

2005-10-30T12:39:00.000Z

Cathy's Autumnal RR for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin. All finished now and ready for mailing. I stitched the squirrel. He stitched up really fast only a few hours work. It's a little bit strange though, I've never heard of a brown squirrel, they usually just come in red or grey. I think he looks a bit more like a beaver actually, but what would a beaver be doing in a tree with an Acorn? The mind boggles..... still it's complete now.

2005-10-30T12:31:00.000Z

Red Sky over Newlyn on Thursday evening.

DAFT

2005-10-30T12:30:00.000Z

This picture illustrates why older people need their driving skills continually assessed when they reach a certain age.

This happened last Saturday, it's a shame I didn't get my camera out sooner or I would have captured a fireman reversing this silly little old ladies car out of the alleyway that she'd mistakenly driven down thinking it was a road.

I came across the sight of the alleyway completely blocked by the reversing car. The fireman did a good job of getting it out though and there were only minor scratches on the bumper. I wonder if she had got it jammed in the alleyway as there was no more than about an inches clearance on either side of the car. I wonder how the fireman got in the car to drive it out? He probably had to climb in through a window.

I had to laugh when I saw the car's number plate, the three letters spelled out "DAF" Daft or what?

Which Sci Fi/Fantasy Character Are You?

2005-10-29T11:32:00.000+01:00

Kosh

A reclusive seer shrouded in riddles, you reveal very little and only what is deemed congruent with your plans.

Understanding is a three edged sword. Your side, their side, and the truth.

Kosh is a character in the Babylon 5 universe. You can read a few tidbits about his race at The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5.

================

This is cool. I love Kosh. Still re-watching B5 on DVD I'm up to season 5 now, Kosh must have rubbed off!

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Grateful for Gifts?

2005-10-27T16:20:00.000+01:00

Have you ever stitched something as a gift and later realized that receiver doesn't respect your stitched gift a bit (for example it's never on show, or you have other reason to suspect that it may even be nonexistent or at least placed in some dark storage room corner)? If so, what have you done? If you've been lucky enough to avoid such people what would you do if it'd happen to you?

I've not given away many stitched pieces, in fact, I think I've only given away presents and cards to other stitchers who appreciate them because they understand the amount of work that goes into them.

Many, many years ago though, I did see this happen to a friend's daughter. This was many years before I started stitching. When my friend, (who was my mother's friend really) passed away her daughters were going through her house and sorting things out and one of the things that she found was some towels that she had stitched for her mother many years ago. They had never been used. Jane felt a bit put out at this and took the towels back to her own house. I don't know how I would feel if this was me. At least Pam hadn't thrown them out and had kept them as treasured possessions. Maybe she thought the towels were too good to use and spoil?

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Chart Marking

2005-10-19T16:40:00.000+01:00

Do you mark or hi-lite your patterns or can you follow them without any markings? Do you make copies to mark up, or do you mark originals?

I've only recently begun marking charts. I only do it with black and white ones which are particularly difficult to read. At the moment I'm marking an enlarged copy of "Above the Clouds". I'm doing this because this design is quite difficult because of all the blended threads.

I never marked coloured charts.

Yet another quiz...

2005-10-18T22:42:00.000+01:00

Your Japanese name should be

'Moriko'

which means "forest child".

You
love being in nature and see beauty in almost
everything; the trees, the flowers, the sky,
the sun. You're at your best surrounded by
nature. You love animals and they love you!

Which Japanese name fits you best? [females, 9 results + absolutely stunning ANIME pictures!]
brought to you by Quizilla

You must be getting bored of them by now?

Religion?

2005-10-18T17:03:00.000+01:00

No surprise here either!

You fit in with:
Atheism

Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Atheist. You have very little faith and you are very focused on intellectual endeavors. You value objective proof over intuition or subjective thoughts. You enjoy talking about ideas and tend to have a lot of in depth conversations with people.

40% scientific.
80% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

My Epitaph

2005-10-17T22:57:00.000+01:00

You can tell I've been on a major blog-browsing fest tonight: [lol]

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

What's your ideal Career?

2005-10-17T21:46:00.000+01:00

Your Career Type: Conventional

You are orderly and good at following a set plan.Your talents lie in working with written records and numbers in a systematic, orderly way.
You would make an excellent:
Bank Teller - Bookkeeper - Court Clerk Mail Carrier - Post Office Clerk - Secretary Timekeeper - Title Examiner - Typist The worst career options for your are artistic careers, like comedian or dancer.

What's" Your Ideal Career?

I found this on Jenn's Blog. Seems pretty accurate to me.

The Eowyn Challenge

2005-10-17T21:35:00.000+01:00

I found this on Black Cat of the Family's Blog.

What an interesting way to promote exercise. Basically you set out on a walking/running regime and use your actual miles to chart your progress as if you were joining the Fellowship of the Ring on their journey to Rivendell and beyond.

Weekend Stitching Update: Beads and Dragons

2005-10-17T18:43:00.000+01:00

I finished adding beads to the Mermaid Queen's crown on Saturday afternoon. Because I'm beading at the moment, she's not exactly the most portable of projects, even with the help of my new lakeland craft caddy that I'm using to store the beads in, so I can only work on her while I'm at home.

Still got lots and lots to go, as she's got beads all down her bodice and tail, I've also got the Crystal Treasures to attach too. Not quite sure how to do this, I'll have to have a look on the Mirabilia bulletin boards and see if anyone has any tips, also I discovered that I'm short of one of the treasures, because the pattern didn't list out the correct number required, which was 3 - there were only two in the pack I received from Silkweavers. Oh well, I sense another SEX [Stash Enhancement Session coming! lol. Like we need any excuse?

2005-10-17T18:38:00.000+01:00

Here's this weekends progress on "Above the Clouds" by Teresa Wentzler. I'm amazed how much this dragon reminds me of Stretch. Is it the same dragon? And did he just eat a lot of knights? lol

Pirates of the Caribbean

2005-10-13T17:30:00.000+01:00

Found this on Christine Doyle's Blog. I love this movie can't wait to see the sequels next year!

You're Captain Jack Sparrow: smart, savvy, a demon with the eyeliner and the best damn pirate we've ever seen. And only a litte crazy. Savvy?

Which Pirates Of The Caribbean character are you?
this quiz was made by alanna

3:00 AM Litter Box Accident

2005-10-13T05:11:00.000+01:00

Well it's 5:00 am and I'm awake and blogging?

What woke me up? Well Jade decided to use his litter box at about 3:30 am and I guess he sort of stumbled and fell out of it. I wondered what the clatter was as it woke me up. Then he started meowing. Not the usual "give me attention" meows, more a sort of "what the hell has happened here?" sort of meow.

More awake now I turn the light on and see what has actually happened. The whole litter box is upside down and is completely upended spilling it's entire contents beneath itself. How the f*** did he manage to do that?

So there I am, 4:00 am sweeping everything back up into the box including the wet litter that he's just peed on. Some of it is still sticking to the floor - but I'm not going to start hoovering at 4:00 am!

Yuk!

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Hoops and Rotations

2005-10-12T18:37:00.000+01:00

How do you `non-hoopists' who use a rotation system handle it (as it
seems to be lot easier if you are in good terms with hoop)? Do you
have several scroll frames? Do you use Q-snaps or maybe something
completely different? Or do you just have one or two big projects and
others are small enough to be kept in hand while stitching?

I have two q-snap frames, a 9" and a 14". At the moment, I've got both of them combined into two rectangular-shaped frames. One is currently in use for the Mermaid Queen, the other hasn't got anything on it at the moment. The 14" q-snap is ideal for my large WIP of Paradise Island, but I can't stitch on this at the moment because of combining the q-snaps. I guess this could be a bit frustrating if I got a bee in my bonnet to finish it.

I've got lots of different sized hoops. Above the Clouds, which is my other focus piece at the moment is on a 7" hoop. The fabric isn't wide enough to use the 9" q-snap - even if half of it wasn't combined with the 14" q-snap. All my other projects and WIPs are in my stitching project bag which contains quite a few other different sized hoops. I think I may buy a smaller q-snap, one that is about 6 x 6 in size as I've found that I enjoy stitching with these.

Crafter's Creations: Happy Dancing

2005-10-12T16:04:00.000+01:00

Crafter's Creations: Happy Dancing

Dawn has finished one of the Cats in the Hats on my fabric for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin. I'm thrilled, can't wait to see it in the flesh when it finally comes home to me.

I'm glad I got this little lift today, I'm sitting here at my desk sneezing and dripping all over the place. Boo hoo hoo.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Future Projects

2005-10-06T15:32:00.000+01:00

When you have almost finished a pattern and start thinking about the next one to stitch, how do you select it? (a list, most recent purchase, etc.)

I wish I was organised enough to have a list of projects that I want to start. Usually it's just the next one that "shouts" stitch me, which I begin next. I don't have a system for working through my stash of unstitched projects. I've seen other online Stitching Bloggers have Stash Reduction Plans. Melissa even has a STRIP list. This is a very good idea.

I used to have my stash listed in a database program which was quite useful as I could input all my skeins, how many skeins I had in each project on the go, so I could find a particular colour out of a WIP. You could also use this piece of software to pre-plan your next stitching piece by entering in the material requirements, and it would give you a shopping list if you were out of or low on a particular DMC colour that the project required.

Sadly - that little piece of software went the way of the dodo last year when my old laptop died. The site that hosted it online has subsequently closed too, I can't even remember what it was called now. There are other Stash Databases around, but I think you've got to pay for them, while the one I had was completely free.

Solo is now Complete

2005-10-05T17:47:00.000+01:00

This is Kiwi Jo's fabric for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin, which is a 28 count blue Joblean evenweave. The design at the top was stitched by Joanne herself, while my Solo is underneath. I've just completed him and took a picture less than 10 minutes ago and couldn't wait to share my happy dance with all you other bloggers. Here's a larger version of Solo that I uploaded to my Webshots folder.

I'm really glad that I was stitching Solo on Evenweave because basically, the backstitching was a pig. Nearly all the stitches lined up with the middle holes of the evenweave and not the normal holes that you stitch in. This sort of haphazard backstitching would make this design very difficult to stitch on Aida - so anyone tempted by him should be warned now.

I'm pleased with the overall look though. I hope Jo is too. I'm going to be mailing him back across the pond to Dawn, who currently has my Cats in Hats piece.

The Giveaway Times

2005-10-05T12:33:00.000+01:00

WH Smiths are doing a promotion at the moment. Buy a magazine, they give you a free copy of The Times newspaper and then give you a further 40p off. So my Quick and Easy Magazine this morning cost me only £2.95. I don't know how they can do this offer - doesn't really make any sense. I mean are you going to turn down 40p off your magazine for nothing. You don't have to read the free Times either.... just bin it, but then The Times is actually a paper that is usually worth reading as it usually has some decent content unlike newspapers like The Sun.

When I was at college doing marketing classes, a large piece of emphasis was placed on the newspaper that you read every morning, it helped to define your socio-economic demographic. Not reading a daily paper completely throws the Marketeers!

As most people use their blogs for a good old rant now and then, let us just say at this time that I'm ready at the moment to Kill Empire Direct and their repairs people "Solutions" of Newquay. All I can say right now is my TV is buggered and I'm sick of Solutions missing appointments. As soon as I get home today I'm going to write a nasty stinking sarcastic letter of complaint as I've just about had it with them [grrrrr].

Solo the Cat (No Anchor Here!)

2005-10-04T08:40:00.000+01:00

Here's a WIP update of Solo the Cat. Which I'm stitching on KiwiJo's pale blue 28 count Joblean for a Stitching Blogger's Round Robin. He's nearly complete now, just a few odd missed stitches in the foliage to go, plus the back stitching of course.

I'm stitching this with converted DMC threads because the pattern only lists Anchor skeins. Why do magazines do that?

I know that this is a design from an Anchor range and I guess they want to push sales of Anchor thread by giving this away as a freebie - but they must know that any stitcher with a nonse of common sense is just going to convert the threads to stitch their design with what they feel most comfortable with.

For anyone who needs a conversion chart, try this one.

All Anchor/Cross Stitcher suceed in doing is wasting about 10 minutes of a stitchers time while she converts the threads to DMC. Unless of course you are fortunate enough to have the full set of both, or are solely an Anchor Girl. Me, I'm DMC through and through.

2005-10-04T08:34:00.000+01:00

My progress on Above the Clouds over the weekend. The central castle is now done.

The Sorting Hat Says

2005-10-03T21:23:00.000+01:00

be sorted @ nimbo.net

September/October Stitching Goals

2005-10-03T17:01:00.000+01:00

My September stitching goals were:

Complete the stitching on Mermaid Queen. Then I can begin the beading next month.
Start working on Kiwi Jo's RR once I receive it.
Complete my Scissor Fob Cat.
Do more work on Carnivorous Cat.
Start the "Above the Clouds" kit by Teresa Wentzler that I've had in my stash for a couple of years, as a friend has asked me to stitch a dragon for a gift.

I did quite well on my September goals: four out of five completed anyway. The only thing I didn't do was to Complete the second Scissor Fob Cat. I've unpicked a nasty tangle which was putting me off finishing it though, so now there's no excuse.

My October Stitching Goals are:

Complete Solo the Cat on KiwiJo's Fabric for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin ready for the mailing date of the end of the month. (I've nearly done with this, just a few missed stitches and the backstitching to go. One stitching session max.)
Start beading the Mermaid Queen. I bought a crafter's box from Lakeland in Truro on Saturday, it has about 9 lockable compartments, the perfect thing to organise those pesky and fiddly beads.
Complete the Cat Scissor Fob. (Again)
Do more work on Carnivorous Cat. On my last stitching session I discovered I'd made a boo boo and one side of the cat doesn't match up with the other. So I'm unpicking as I go now, probably a good reason why I've not stitched on it for weeks.
Stitch the Dragon's head on Above the Clouds. This is tending to be my focus piece at the moment, - I stitched soley on it this past weekend. Mainly because it's my current purse project and I wasn't at home for much of the time this past weekend.
Await the arrival of the next Cattitudes RR material. (I'm not sure who's sending to me this round - I need to check the board, but Ellene has already posted that she's received Nicole's fabric that I sent her so at last things are finally starting to move again.)

Word Verification

2005-10-03T11:50:00.000+01:00

Those darn spammers have been at this weekend, I've just got back to my computer at work on Monday to find no less than 5 spam comments on this blog. I've deleted them all now, and have enabled the Word Verification feature which will hopefully stop some of these auto-posting spams.

I've been stitching on "Above the Clouds" a lot this weekend. The castle is now complete and I've started on the Dragon's head. All those blends are a bit of a pain though. I'm not sure I've stitched the Turrets correctly. The pattern seemed to indicate doing a double height half stitch - how are you supposed to stitch that? There was no additional notes of explanation in the chart and information that came with the kit, so I started out doing just normal fractional half stitches, but they didn't look right either, so I ended up stitching the grey of the turrets over the half stitch of the stone. It doesn't look too bad, only one or two of the Turrets look a bit bulky from the double stitching.

The Classic Dames Test

2005-09-29T12:30:00.000+01:00

Katharine Hepburn
You scored 26% grit, 28% wit, 47% flair, and 19% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.

Link: The Classic Dames Test written by gidgetgoes on OkCupid Free Online Dating

What Colour Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

2005-09-28T15:24:00.000+01:00

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere.
You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant.
From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: I Quit!

2005-09-28T14:52:00.000+01:00

Have you ever just quit a project while in the midst of it? (We're not referring to UFOs here, rather projects that you know that you'll never work on again.) Why? What did you do with it - throw it out, give it away, put it away?

The only project I can remember actually throwing away was a free cover kit of a frog prince. I was relatively new to stitching and had taken it into work to stitch on during my lunch hour. Only problem was, I made a mistake, then sat there trying to unpick it. The threads weren't co-operating at all. They were all caught up at the back and wouldn't unpick. I got nasty and started pulling it then and concertinared the whole fabric up. Disgusted I threw my frog prince project in the bin.

Every other project I started I've still got. I've got loads of UFOs now though ;-)

2005-09-28T14:42:00.000+01:00

My first WIP of Above the Clouds by Teresa Wentzler. I'm stitching this on 32 count Reflections fabric. It's actually quite a nice sky blue colour which doesn't show up very well in this picture - the flash has drained all the colour out of it, It is one of Silkweaver's Fabric of the Month special dyes so it hasn't got a name. I'm stitching this for a friend who wanted a picture of a dragon - sucker for punishment ain't I?

Solo the Cat - SBRR (Kiwi Jo's Fabric)

2005-09-28T14:39:00.000+01:00

Solo the Cat. Work in Progress Shot 1.

I've been working on this for about 10 days now off and on. This is stitched on Kiwi Jo's 28 Count Blue Joblean fabric for the Stitching Blogger's RR.

The theme of the RR is spring - and while this isn't exactly a spring-like design - it does have a very fresh feel about it - and Solo is froliking in a flower bed. Jo liked the design anyway - so I'm stitching him anyway.

The next mailing date is not until the end of November so I've got over a month to finish him off. I'm sure I'll be finished in plenty of time. He's a really easy stitch. It's also a treat to go back to 28 count over the 32 count I've been working the Mermaid Queen on. 32 count seems so tight compared to this loose as a goose 28 count Joblean.

I've not posted any personal stuff on here for a while - so I guess I'm due.

Had quite a good weekend last week, for the first time in my life I actually went and watched a Rugby Match up at Redruth. I thought I would be bored silly, but I wasn't. It was quite amusing watching a load of men hug one another and then faff about and drop the ball all over the place, occasionally kicking it over the H and over the top of the stadium. The home team won over a team from Barking. I guess I should have been routing for Barking, as this ain't far (globally speaking) from my old stomping grounds back in Kent (Surrey is just the next county over afterall), but what the hell. I didn't really care who won, I just hoped that the players would start a good punch up!

I have to comment about the Gents toilets at Redruth's Rugby Ground. Not that I went in them of course, but they don't have toilets or urinals in the strictest sense. All these old blokes were disappearing behind a wall, and that was the "Gents": just a wall to hide their modesty while they peed into a trough in the ground. How grose! I had to laugh though - I've never seen anything so crude - even that old outside toilet in 'Allo 'Allo offered more shelter!

On Sunday I ventured to the outskirts of Camborne for Sunday Lunch. I had returned to the Old Shire Inn. I feasted there about 7 years ago while I was down in Cornwall for the Eclipse in 1999. Since then, the Shire has haunted my memories by cooking the best Roast Beef I have ever tasted. I have not been back there since then in case the experience was spoiled by a bad meal, but last Sunday's beef was just as good as ever. Whew!

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Speciality Stitches?

2005-09-22T16:38:00.000+01:00

What is the most challenging specialty stitch you have ever stitched?

The most difficult piece of work that I've attempted has to be Lavender Spray [left], a hardanger sampler piece that I started working on during the Stitching Retreat that I went to in March. The good part of the retreat was that I was learning new stitches and ways of stitching and I would have never attempted something like this off my own back. It's been a WIP (or UFO) since I got back from the retreat though. Maybe I'll find the time to complete it someday.

I've commenced stitching on Kiwi Jo's Stitching Blogger's RR piece of material. I'm stitching Solo the Cat. The Anchor design featured in Cross Stitcher Magazine in May 2005 [image borrowed from Angel San's Blog - read her whole magazine review].

I loved this cat from the moment I saw him, and this RR seemed like a good opportunity to stitch him. My Stash Buddy Dawn Munday kindly sent me a kit of Solo too, so I've got another Solo design ready to stitch after I've finished him.

I also mailed the Nicole's Cattitudes RR material today. It seems we are finally seeing movement again, the whole RR has been on hold for what seems like six months, allowing a couple of members to catch up. I've had Nicole's fabric all that time, (Ursh gave it to me by hand during our stitching retreat in March, it shows how long the project has been on hold).

It's a bit disappointing really, as I love stitching the Cattitudes, but everyone's drive and enthusiasm seems to have gone out of the project, which has been ongoing since December 2002. If we had stuck to our schedules, the material should have been completed by the end of last year, and now it is still probably going to be yet another year until it is completed. Nicole's fabric is looking really good though, with 10 out of the 12 cats now complete. In a way I'm almost eager to get my fabric back so I can crack on and stitch the missing cats myself - at least I know it will be done then.

2005-09-20T18:52:00.000+01:00

Mermaid Stitching is finished... yay! Now just the beading to do. I think I'm going to have a little break from her now though and start working on Kiwi Jo's Spring Themed Stitching Blogger's RR

The Never-Ending Tail

2005-09-19T11:14:00.000+01:00

I'm on the bottom fin of the Mermaid Queen's tail now, and despite stitching for about 8 hours on it on Saturday afternoon, I'm still not quite finished with the bloody thing. It was all a solid block of "Y"or DMC 503. Now that I've done that massive block I've just got a little bit of detail to do on the bottom fin and a little bit of seaweed and the stitching will be complete! Yay!

I sat stitching whilst watching Babylon 5 - yes! I've dug that out again to watch from the beginning. Just bought the last box set - I never got around to buying the last season (5) when I bought the others because it was still full price - but I just found that Amazon are discounting it.

The Meme of Truths

2005-09-15T11:38:00.000+01:00

I found this on Lorna's Blog. You are supposed to highlight the things that are true about you and then add something at the end.

I am bisexual.
I am homosexual.
I've run away from home.
I listen to political music.
I collect comic books.
I shut others out when I'm sad.
I open up to others easily.
I am keeping a secret from the world.
I watch the news. Sometimes
I own over 5 rap CDs.
I own an ipod.
I own something from Hot Topic. [ehh? what is this]
I love Disney movies.
I am a sucker for hair/eyes.
I don't kill bugs. Only wasps though.
I curse regularly. Only sometimes and under my breath.
I have "x"s in my screen name.
I've slipped out a "lol" in a real conversation.
I love Spam.
I bake well.
I would wear pajamas to school.
I own something from Abercrombie. [who?]
I have a job.
I love Martha Stewart.
I am in love with someone.
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
I am self conscious.
I like to laugh.
I smoke a pack a day.
I loved Go Ask Alice. [What is this? ]
I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
I can't swallow pills.
I have many scars.
I've been out of this country.
I believe in ghosts.
I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
I am really ticklish.
I love chocolate.
I bite my nails.
I am comfortable with being me.
I play computer games/video games when I'm bored.
Gotten lost in the city.
Saw a shooting star.
I have had two serious surgical procedures.
Gone out in public in my pajamas.
I have kissed a stranger.
Hugged a stranger.
Been in a fist fight with the same sex. [Been in a cat fight though, lots of hairpulling and scratching]
Been arrested.
Laughed and had milk/soda come out of your nose.
Pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
Made out in an elevator.
Sworn at my parents.
Kicked a guy where it hurts.
Been skydiving.
Been bungee jumping.
Broken a bone.
Played spin the bottle.
Gotten stitches.
Drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
Bitten someone.
Been to Niagara Falls.
Gotten the chicken pox.
Crashed into a car.
Been to Asia.
Ridden in a taxi.
Shoplifted.
Been fired.
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
Stole something from my job.
Gone on a blind date.
Had a crush on a teacher/coach.
Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Been to Europe.
Slept with a co-worker.
Been married.
Gotten divorced.
Saw someone dying. [I held my cat Topaz and stroked her while she passed.]
Driven over 400 miles in one day. [As a passenger yes, but actually driven myself? Maybe 200]
Been to Canada.
Been on a plane.
Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Thrown up in a bar.
Eaten Sushi.
Been snowboarding.
Been skiing.
Been ice skating.
Met someone in person from the internet.
Been to a car show.
Going to or have gone to college.
Done hard drugs.
Taken painkillers.
Met a celebrity.
I like playing practical jokes.
Been in a hot air balloon.

And my thing to add to the list:

Ridden a camel in the Sahara desert.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: What If?

2005-09-14T15:59:00.000+01:00

Do you stitch for events like weddings, engagements, or other things that might not last? If you have been unlucky and the two people broke up, what happened to your stitched gift?

Easy one to answer this for me this week, I've stitched a few small presents for friends and family but no wedding or engagement gifts.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Which Way Do You Stitch?

2005-09-09T15:06:00.000+01:00

Which way do you stitch (/// and then \\\ or \\\ and then ///)? Can you (or if you haven't done it before, do you think you could) change the way that you stitch temporarily if it is asked of you?

I stitch \\\ /// row by row if I'm doing a big section, or alternatively if it's just odd dotted stitches I stitch both legs one after the other.

I'm not comfortable trying to stitch the other way. When I picked up my Aunt's Elephant project to finish for her I found I had a problem; for I discovered that Jean stitched the opposite way to me, and even though I did try to adapt my style and stitch her way, when I stopped concentrating on it I just fell back into my regular stitching routine and stitched my regular way. When I look at that project now I can tell which part I stitched and which part she stitched because of the difference in the stitching styles. I guess this is a good thing because it's one way that I can remember her.

Stranded in the Scillies

2005-09-09T13:21:00.000+01:00

I've just arrived back in the office from an overnighter in the Scilly Isles.

It's been a really fun, but eventful 36 hours, and best of all for the most part it was a work's outing, so it was FREE!

Our journey began yesterday morning at 8:15 with a lift to Lands End airport. The weather was very bad with drizzle, low laying cloud and fog, so the planned jaunt on the mini 8-seater Sky Bus was put on hold because of the weather. In the end we were shuttled back down into Penzance to catch the Scillonian Ferry.

The Scillionian has a very bad reputation, as a luxury cruise liner it certainly aint! In the end though, we didn't really have any choice it was the boat or no outing. Jason and Ray met us at the ferry port and we all boarded the ferry. The motion of the boat wasn't too bad. I thought it was quite funny trying to stay on my feet instead of staggering around like a drunkard. Actually the best place to stand (sitting down turned out to be worse) was right next to the bar so you could hang on to it. Hayley and the girls played cards and got progressively greener until Hayley ran to the loo and spent the majority of the rest of the voyage in there being sick. Linzi joined her too. Ray thought it was very funny to take the mickey out of their misery, until he too succumed and blew chunks too!

We arrived at midday. I think that was the thing that I hated most about the journey, not the journey itself, just the time wasted getting there. Nearly 3 hours to cruise 35 miles. Not for the first time, I really wished that I'd bought my stitching to do, but this was just supposed to be a quick jaunt on a plane followed by a pub crawl around St Mary's so I didn't think I'd have had the time to do any, so I didn't take it with me.

After leaving the port, we went to our respective B&Bs and dropped off our overnight bags, meeting back at a pub called the Bishop and Wolf for lunch. We then went on a mini pub crawl while the heavens opened up outside. When it cleared up we climbed up the top of Garrison Hill to join Phil and Bill who had hired a tennis court for the afternoon. My boss the twat decided to have a go at tennis and proceeded to play a volley all the time whilst talking on his mobile. He actually played better shots while he had it stuck to his ear than after he'd lowered it. Where's the sense in that?

Bored of Tennis, we played a game of Rounders up on the field at the top of the hill. Boys vs Girls. Of course the lads won in the end, but we did manage to draw the first game, which was a bit of a fluke. I didn't help out much in the second game, because I missed the first few rounds while squatting behind a fern having a wee. (Well we had all been drinking).

After Rounders the Girls had to buy the Boys a celebratory round and then the drinking recommenced. At least it wasn't me that was spilling the pints this time:

We were all a bit laggered by the time we sat down to our dinner at 8 in Dibble and Grub. I really enjoyed the food which was very tasty, but some of the lads complained about the lack of carbs, i.e. chips! Typical. Things started to go downhill afterthat. Phil and the twat started throwing Ice Cream around, people got a bit shirty about paying the bill so I left and went and stood outside. For one moment it looked like a fight was going to start kicking off. Ooops. My boss the twat then decided to go for a paddle, while I tried to follow Phil's example by riding a bike that was propped up against a wall outside the restaurant. I promptly fell straight off it again.

We went back to another pub, and things got a bit bleary after that, and about 10:30 I was about to pass out asleep so I went back to my B&B and zonked out. I kept my roommate awake with my snoring - apparently!

The party continued without me in the boss's B&B where they trashed the sitting room, leaving Phil passed out asleep on the floor between two half drunk four pint takeaway jugs of Cider and Lager. He wasn't even staying there! Linzi awoke Phil about 7:15 and made him go back to our B&B. He was there standing on the doorstep at 7:30 calling his roommate Bill to let him in because he didn't have a key.

Breakfast was very nice, and passed without incident, but even Bill couldn't finish his breakfast. We got a rip off skybus taxi (£3 per person) up to St Mary's Aerodrome and proceeded to wait for our flights home. But there wasn't any. The crap weather from yesterday continued, so we sat and waited for 2 hours for news of when we could return.

Eventually the Sky Bus put on an extra helicopter and we boarded this to go home, (but not all of us as there wasn't enough room). So I got to have a helicopter ride. Cool. Despite the weather it was a fun trip, just very loud.

So now, I'm sitting here at work, blogging, because I'm still hung over and can't really do a lot else. I do feel really guilty though because 5 of our party are still in St Mary's waiting for another helicopter back. We thought that they would be on the next 'copter following us. But not so. There is talk of them having to catch the 4:30 Scillonian Ferry back - I hope it doesn't come to that because two of them spewed on the way out there!

September Stitching Goals

2005-09-06T10:20:00.000+01:00

It's a few days into the month now - so I guess I'd better post my monthly stitching goal list:

Complete the stitching on Mermaid Queen. Then I can begin the beading next month.
Start working on Kiwi Jo's RR once I receive it.
Complete my Scissor Fob Cat.
Do more work on Carnivorous Cat.
Start the "Above the Clouds" kit by Teresa Wentzler that I've had in my stash for a couple of years, as a friend has asked me to Stitch a Dragon for a gift.

Nerd, Geek or Dork Test

2005-09-02T18:43:00.000+01:00

Outcast Genius
78 % Nerd, 78% Geek, 65% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in all three, earning you the title of: Outcast Genius.

Outcast geniuses usually are bright enough to understand what society wants of them, and they just don't care! They are highly intelligent and passionate about the things they know are *truly* important in the world. Typically, this does not include sports, cars or make-up, but it can on occassion (and if it does then they know more than all of their friends combined in that subject).

Outcast geniuses can be very lonely, due to their being outcast from most normal groups and too smart for the room among many other types of dorks and geeks, but they can also be the types to eventually rule the world, ala Bill Gates, the prototypical Outcast Genius.

Congratulations!

Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Hold It!

2005-09-02T15:52:00.000+01:00

What do you use to hold your fabric while you stitch? A hoop, a Q-Snap, a scroll frame, something else, or do you stitch in hand? Have you always used just the one thing or have you tried one or more of the others? Which do you like best? Why?

I used to only use wooden hoops to hold my stitching. I got along quite well using these for years, the only time I've ever had any problems using them was when I stitched on really large pieces of material like the Cattitudes RR and then the weight of the fabric became a bit of an issue.

This year however, I bought my first Q-snap frames on the encouragement of Jayne Hall during our Stitching Retreat Weekend in March. I quite like these and the fact that you can dismantle them into sections makes them a bit more portable than large hoops, although I do get some very strange looks from people if I'm assembling my "plumbing" in public prior to stitching in a cafe or something.

My favourite holding device though now, has to be my lowery stand. Which I bought back in April from Jayne's Attic

I like the lowery because it allows me to stitch two handed and thus build up quite a good stitching speed, as well as easily flipping my work over to fasten off threads at the back.

August Stitching Goals - roundup

2005-09-01T08:37:00.000+01:00

At the beginning of the month I posted my stitching goals for the month which were:

Finish stitching on Daffodil's hat and prepare the border ready to post off for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin on 1st September - Completed!
Finish the second cat scissor fob and make the fobs up - still not done
Do more work on Mermaid Queen's bottom half. Hopefully finishing her tail off. - Well, this is as far as I've got as far as progress is concerned, I'm working my way down and I'm looking forward to doing the "Fishtail" section next.

Do more work on Carnivorous Cat (this isn't a priority though as it's going to be a Christmas present so I've got months to go yet) - Still plodding away at this, realised about 2 weeks ago I made a bit of a boobo and haven't picked it up since.

Cat Buckaroo

2005-08-29T08:38:00.000+01:00

Cat Buckaroo is a game played with a sleeping cat. The idea stems back to the old Bucking Bronco game with the plastic horse that was popular when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, hey, they are still probably making it today.

So the cat sits there or sleeps there while you pile things on top of him or her. I played with Jade the other day:

Of course Jade shook all the trash off, but he kept his "crown on". lol

Priscilla, Queen of the Handbag

2005-08-27T17:20:00.000+01:00

I watched the movie "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" on Saturday:

For those that haven't heard of it, or seen it it's about 3 drag queens going on a bus tour of Oz.

Almost every boyfriend I've had in the past always refused to watch it - why? I guess they are homophobic.

Why I mention this on here is that that very evening I scored a tranny's handbag in a piece of drunken thievery at 2 am on the back stairs of a nightclub. It had to be done. I don't think he was a real transvestite, just a guy dressed in a blonde curly wig with a red and gold dress on. In fact I know that he wasn't a real tranny is that the fact that he left his handbag behind was that he'd pulled and left the nightclub with another woman.

So.... I'm sitting on the exit stairs waiting to go, and this bag is just sitting there too..... so I took it home with me. lol

Probably the most disturbing thing about it's contents - which I must now post back to him (as I've now inherited his driving licence which he probably needs) was a birthday card stuffed full of Gummy Bears saying have a good night out in drag - Love Vik!

All in all a much better haul than that damn chair leg. ;-)

What Book Are You?

2005-08-26T16:08:00.000+01:00

I did another Book Meme this morning on my Reading and Review Blog, which SCI FI author are you - as it turned out I was A C Clarke. So I figured I'd post this one on here instead.

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I'm quite pleased with this, I loved this book as a child, it was the first real series of books that I got into reading aged about 9. How many 9 year olds go out and bought books in the 80s? Well thanks to Narnia I caught the reading bug at a very early age.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Large and Small

2005-08-26T10:48:00.000+01:00

What's the largest project you've ever done? What's the smallest?

My largest and most ambitious project is probably the Cattitudes RR which is still only about three quarters complete. The last progress shot I took of it (this was Nicole's fabric) - but most of the fabrics are now at the same stage - is below. We started out in January 2003 with the goal of stitching all 12 cats from the original Margaret Sherry Cattitudes Calender.

The smallest project is ironically probably another Margaret Sherry Cat which I intend to turn into a scissor fob, (which I still need to do - and as I put this on my monthly goal list at the beginning of the month I'd better get this sorted over this coming Bank Holiday weekend).

I guess my other stitching news this week is that I mailed out my Stitching Blogger's Round Robin material to Dawn in the US this week. I hope it arrives safely.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Fabric Care?

2005-08-18T14:56:00.000+01:00

How often do you wash your fabric for each project? Do you wait until the very end until to wash it or do you wash it more than once?

I usually wait until I've finished stitching everything before washing the fabric, I do this at the end as it is usually an automatic prelude to framing anyway.

I'm not sure how I'm going to be completing the Mermaid Queen. If she were dirty I would wash the fabric before I attached the beads which is the last step, but I think she's amazingly managed to miss any spills or drips.

The only time I've ever washed a piece of incomplete stitching was when I left it on the table and my soggy and somewhat muddy cat, Jasmine decided to come in an go to sleep on it! That was the Sunflower Girl that I did several years ago - but you'd never know until this day about her little mishap.

Hand Dyed Problem

2005-08-16T16:43:00.000+01:00

I moved my q-snap frame on Sunday night so that I start stitching the 4 border areas for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin. Small problem: the sun has faded the material (my lowery stands next to the window) over the course of 3-4 weeks so now the material that was protected under the frame edges is a different colour from the rest of it. I've got a lilac/pink theme going here. I'm hoping that on exposure to more light during the course of it's stitching journey around the world that the material will all fade to the same colour.

Has anyone else experienced colour fading like this with hand-dyeds?

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Another Framing Question

2005-08-12T11:53:00.000+01:00

What do you do with the framed stitching that you keep? Do you hang it up and leave it in one place, never to move it? Or do you have a rotation, where you have one place for stitched pieces and switch them out according to mood or season? Maybe a mixture of both?

Before I moved, all of my stitching, apart from a few pieces that I gave away as gifts were all framed and mounted on the living room wall of my old house. I had nearly filled up one wall by the time I moved (and I had a large lounge). Now that I don't have much space to display them, a lot of those old pieces of work are stored away in a storage box. I still have a few pieces on display in the hallway, including my Aunt's Elephants and the Cats in the Hats RR that I previously did. I also have the Sheila Hudson horse-shoe shaped designs hanging above the stairway so they are on your eye level when you go down the stairs.

I've still got some space to hang a few more framed pieces of work in the hall, of which the Mermaid Queen will certainly feature when she's complete, but after I've run out.... well I'll have to rethink, but I don't really regard my little flat as a permanent home anyway, more a sort of holiday apartment where I sleep. By the time that wall-hanging space becomes and issue I'm sure that I will have moved on again elsewhere.

Stitching Blogger's RR - Leg one Finished

2005-08-10T17:25:00.000+01:00

It's my afternoon off and I acutally got to do some stitching for once, and I finished Daffodil. He's the first leg of a 5-person Round Robin that I've joined with other stitching Bloggers. You can see links to the other girl's blogs on the panel on the right.

Daffodil used to be a freebie on the www.kittyandme.com website which houses Pamela Kellogg's designs. But I don't think the free pattern is available now there anymore.

The cat is stitched on Silkweaver's Reflections range of fabric. This one is 28 count Lavender Diamonds.

I've still got to backstitch the borders, but apart from that the fabric is now ready to go off to be stitched for leg two.

Daft in Dawlish

2005-08-09T14:54:00.000+01:00

Last week one of my friends from Kent texted me to say that she was down in Devon on holiday. So the next day I jumped on the train to go up and meet her. Despite being the next county over it's still a three hour ride, but I don't mind so much as it gives me a bit of stitching time.

It was great to meet Sue again, she met me at the station and we went back to the camping ground where she was staying with her nephew and some other friends they'd made there.

We went back into town in the afternoon to get a bite of lunch, then ended up walking into this village fete full of charity stalls. Sue started looking through some clothes that were hanging up and found a huge bra. I immediately grabbed it off her and and tried it on over my clothes in full view of the fete. I next added a large pair of knickers! lol

All the people behind the stall were having a good old laugh, but this snooty old woman walked past shaking her head and tutting, so Sue said, "You've got to try before you buy, love!". ;-)

Sue bought the bra in the end. It was only 50p. When we got back to the campsite she snuck around the back of her cousin's caravan and stuck it on her washing line.

We then sat back for Alison to get her washing in! lol Alison did swear when she saw it, but then put it back on the line after trying it out for a hat.

Then it came down to the question of who's bra it really was - which resulted in everyone trying it on for a laugh. My favourite modeller was the welshman who put the bra on and then walked the entire length of the campsite and wore it in the gents.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Hand Dyed Fabric?

2005-08-09T14:43:00.000+01:00

Have you hand-dyed your own fabric? Why or why not? Would you like to try to do so?

I've not tried hand-dying fabric, although I do love using it. I don't think I would like to attempt it in fear of what a mess it might turn out to be and when companies like Silkweaver do such good ranges of hand-dyeds why would you want to bother?

What the?

2005-08-07T11:14:00.000+01:00

This was the state of the backside of my formerly white jeans this morning.

How did they get like this? I have no idea.
I obviously fell down on the dirty nightclub dance floor and possibly sat in someone's beer?

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Stitching Quirks?

2005-08-02T19:23:00.000+01:00

What is your most unique/interesting stitching quirk? (This could be something concerning the way you stitch, how you organize your stash, etc.)

I'm not really sure what this question meant - I mean what is a quirk? A quark is a sub-atomic particle and a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character - but a quirk and what has it got to do with stitching?

After reading a couple of other stitching blogger's answers to this question, then I guess that I do have stitching quirks too.

I only stitch with DMC - unless the threads are from a kit with other threads supplied.
Given the choice I nearly always stitch on nothing but silkweaver's reflections fabric now.
I only stitch with gold plated needles - unless needles are supplied with said aforementioned kit
I am naughty and knot when I am backstitching, but generally use the loop method to cast on most of the time when I am doing normal stitching.

August Stitching Goals

2005-08-02T19:18:00.000+01:00

Since everyone seems to be jumping on the "Monthly Goal" bandwagon - I figured I'd have a goal list too.

Finish stitching on Daffodil's hat and prepare the border ready to post off for the Stitching Blogger's Round Robin on 1st September.
Finish the second cat scissor fob and make the fobs up.
Do more work on Mermaid Queen's bottom half. Hopefully finishing her tail off.
Do more work on Carnivorous Cat - this isn't a priority though as it's going to be a Christmas present so I've got months to go yet.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week: Colour Conversions?

2005-07-25T11:57:00.000+01:00

Have you ever done a color conversion? If so, what did you think about your results and would you do it again? If not, would you like to try someday?

I've not done a colour conversion yet. Although I do love what other people have done with "Tempest in a Teacup", I stitched in in plain old salmon tones but other people have had great success with other colour selections.