Chinese II finished!

I managed to whip through the remaining three patterns of Chinese II in just over a week. With most of a week to spare in the rotation I decided to get out LaTrobe Terrace and try to finish off the backstitching in the remaining time. I managed to get through about 2/3 of it, which was good but a bit disappointing. I always think that I'm going to get through things quicker than I do!

Then it was back to the proper place in the rotation which was the New England Sampler. I think I spent three weeks on this because I didn't get around to doing anything with it for a week or so. I've finished the top border including the corners. (Just delaying having to do more of the internal pattern which is going to require some concentration.)



Here are details of the corner designs. I think they're really pretty.






I don't have any photos but I'm also working on the possum/wool scarf. I'm on the third and final ball now. Will have it finished just in time for the end of winter!!!

What else is new?

Well I went to Adelaide for a footy weekend with my son Jarrah and we also saw the pandas.



And our kitty Nimbus is getting cuter and more lovely every day. Here he is sleeping in his basket on the scratching post.



I'm also doing a lot of reading and have finished the first three volumes of the Twilight series. Now I'm reading Dan Brown's latest book The Lost Symbol.

Nearly Finished Verandas House #1

I'm a bit late with my posting this time. I had a good rotation's work on the last, far left house on Verandas. The house is very nearly finished including the foreground. There's just a bit to do around the palmetto tree. Unfortunately there is still the gate & bush area to the left of this house to do and with the way I'm going I think that's going to take a full rotation in itself. Then they'll be another rotation for the backstitching. So hopefully just two more rotations to completion.

I'm also knitting the navy scarf in New Zealand possum wool and this week I ordered and received an additional ball of this wool from a shop in Canberra so that I can make a matching hat for the scarf. The new ball is slightly different to what I had in that it has a touch more shine to it. But the colour is pretty much spot on. In order to blend this new ball in I unravelled the second ball of knitting I'd done on the scarf so that I can knit this new ball in as the middle of the scarf. I'd done about half of the second ball so that was a bit of work lost on the scarf. I've since made up that lost work with the new ball.

I also decided to knit a sweater so I took a pattern I already had (and had already knitted--but I'd given away the sweater) and went to a wool shop in Malvern and bought wool for this sweater. I'd hoped to start this soon but I think I've got too many things on the go and I should finish the scarf and hat first. Darn!

I'm now half way through my rotation on the second Chinese cross-stitch. I finished the second of the 4 patterns and I'm well into the third pattern. If I pushed it this week I could possibly finish the whole thing but we'll see how it goes. I won't post a photo of this until after I finish this rotation. I'm getting frustrated that I seem to be so close with several projects but it's taking so long to finish any of them!

Lots and lots of updates!

I've got a few weeks to update with photos now that I'm well on the mend.

I finished the first of 4 designs on Chinese II.



Sorry it's on it's side.

I also finished the hooking of my lighthouse rug hooking. Only the hemming to do.



I then did a two week rotation on the New England Sampler. Just managed to finish the right side border and the line along the top separating the border area from the centre. Since I was spending some time in bed I worked on rug hooking while I was there because the light wasn't good enough for cross-stitching. When I came down and sat in the TV room with my lamp I did cross-stitching. Hence, more rug hooking got done than cross-stitching.



Since I finished the lighthouse so quickly I pulled out a hand-me-down project from my mother's house which was only partly done and worked on that. It's a small rug hooking and it had a few problems with fraying edges and it was also worked from the top instead of the bottom so I had to decide how to tackle it.



When I started on it there was nothing done along the bottom but most of the left edge had been done. Don't know why. I will need to buy some rug hemming tape to stablize the edges. It's too bad someone trimmed them!



Here's where the rug is as of this morning. You can see it won't take long to finish it off. It's a big help that the left side and top were already done. I'm planning to put it in the dryer with a damp towel once I finish it to fluff up the older hooked areas. They don't lay nicely.

Now I'm starting on a new project The Rocks, Sydney. This will replace LaTrobe Terrace in my rotations. Yes, I know I haven't finished LaTrobe Tce yet but this is the weekend I'm going to Sydney and we're staying in a hotel in The Rocks so I just have to bring this project and work on it so at least some of it is done in the place it's named for. I'm also going to have a look out for the buildings in the cross-stitch and see if I can photograph them.

On the mend and slowly crafting again!

Hey, that rhymes! Well the old gallbladder is gone as of 7pm Thursday evening. That was a long day of fasting (from 8am) and waiting! I went into hospital Monday evening (7th) due to pain which was 3 days earlier than expected. I'm now resting at home. I brought a couple of smaller xstitches to hospital but didn't really feel like working on them until Friday morning after the op because that's when I really started to feel like my old self again.

I finished one of the 4 designs on Chinese II so there is progress. I've now started a new rotation on the New England Sampler. As I think I indicated before my next project in rotation is going to be The Rocks, Sydney as I want to take this project on my weekend in Sydney 25-28 June even though I haven't finished LaTrobe Terrace yet.

An early start to the next rotation

Huge progress on Cottages at Oak Bluffs--I finished the cross stitching on the first house a week and a half into the rotation! I was really surprised that it went so quickly but once I started in on it I was able to see progress and that encouraged me to try and finish it off.

As I got close to finishing the xs I had to decide whether to then start the backstitching right away, go on to the second house (which is a separate project but on the same piece of Aida) or to go on to the next piece in the rotation. I couldn't face backstitching because I wanted to have a break so that I felt I had 'finished' something. For the same reason I couldn't face starting the second house. So I picked up my next rotation Verandas where I'm also on the last house which I should finish this rotation as well. Then I'll face the same question--backstitch now or go on to the next rotation?



This is my Daydreams 'handbag' project Life is a Journey. It stays in my handbag for the times I'm waiting somewhere and have a few minutes to pick something up. Always having a project on hand has been a great idea and I have a new project picked out to take its place.

Thanks to everyone who answered my question on the CountedCrossStitch and xsers forums about length of backstitching. It was both the Daydreams project and LaTrobe Terrace that prompted this question plus the fact that I'm now or soon will be backstitching on five projects! Some of the Daydreams border is backstitched over 2 stitches and I've decided I like this so will leave it. It wouldn't have looked good in the main part of the project so I'm glad I'm now sure in my mind about bs over 1 square.

I have four! new projects waiting in the wings for me to start very soon. I'll be replacing LaTrobe Terrace with another Juniper Designs street scene--Strahan, Tasmania.



My new handbag project will be Juniper Designs Stonehouse with Settle.



I have a second Lanarte Chinese themed project to replace the first one.



And I'm going to start a baby xs for my 9 year old daughter! This one is called New Baby and can be viewed here: http://www.abcstitch.com/designers_php/feature.php?id=85 Why do one for her now? Well I thought she should have one as her brother has one made by my SIL in his room. His is this design as well.

So of my rotation list only the New England Sampler is not near completion.

Yesterday I finally went through my stash to see what was waiting for me. I have three WIPs waiting. Two were my mother's and are close to completion. One is that horrible Australia map that is so difficult.

I have eight Barbara & Cheryl Charleston patterns, 4 of these are what I've termed 'small' --ie 2 pages or less. I have three remaining Juniper Designs kits--two street scenes and one individual house. And I have two large Chinese landscapes. so large that I don't know if I'll ever do them.