Incoherent Scribblings

OK, so I admit I have been really excited about this Round Robin! So excited in fact, that today I finished my square! Check out the side bar under “Latest Finish” to see it. (You can always click for a larger view…) Even though I had trouble getting into a stitching groove yesterday, that was most definitely NOT the case today! I stitched my way through two movies (four hours) like a mad woman!

As you may remember, my RR theme is “Watering Cans.” I chose watering cans because while I was thinking about themes, I suddenly decided I would love a whole collection of watering cans. I am quite fond of watering cans, and not only did I do a couple last spring, I also have quite a few patterns.

Since I didn’t really want to redo any of the watering can patterns I had already done, I thought I should browse through my other watering can patterns to see if I even had one that would work for the RR. As luck would have it, I had one; a free one from DMC that I had actually been planning on doing since last summer when I was in my “watering can groove.” I had bought the materials for it, but just never got around to stitching it.

So anyway, after doing the calculations, I decided the DMC watering can was about the right size for squares I was planning; all I had to do was remove the background. So, that is what I used for the home square of my “Watering Can” Round Robin! However, I must say, I like it so darn much I will definitely do it again and include the whole pattern!

I am still planning the wording at the bottom, but decided I will wait to do it until the robin is returned to me. I don’t want to put the lettering in with a color that limits the other participants or ends up not matching anything.

I am quite glad to have my square done so far in advance (the posting isn’t until February 28) because I have some other things I want to do and didn’t really want to get too many projects going at once. (Compared to some stitchers I have a mighty small rotation, usually about 3 pieces, but it works for me!) Anyway, I will most definitely be looking forward to the return of my first Round Robin in (approximately) May!

In honor of the impending one year anniversary of my blog, and because I am going through a bit of a dry patch lately, I will be highlighting one, two, or even three of my favorite posts everyday until my blog turns one year old on Saturday, January 22, 2005. It will not only give new readers (or BC/BE visitors) who haven’t had a chance to visit the archives a taste of the blondelibrarian at her best, it will also serve to remind my regular readers why they keep coming back!

So, without further ado… today’s highlights are: (Unfortuneatly you will not be able to comment on these posts because they are closed. If you would like to comment, please do so here.)

Culture Shock?! Part 1 and Part 2
The posts that really started it all. It was winter; I was depressed and homesick. Even though I had been blogging sporadically before these posts, it was here that I realized how therapeutic blogging could be! (originally posted 30.01 and 10.02.04)

Nude Sunbathing in the English Garden
A post in which I stumble upon the clothing-optional section of the English Garden on a warm spring day, that, ironically enough, was also Earth Day. (originally posted 22.04.04)

Even though we have had a mild winter so far (read: very little snow, very little cold) I guess I had a slight case of cabin fever today. I just couldn’t focus long enough to get anything done. I tried stitching and managed to get a little done while “Star Wars (Episode IV)” was playing in the background, but never really got focused enough to get into a groove.

Random Aside: Am I the only one that still calls “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” just plain ol’ “Star Wars?” I never saw it in the theatre when it first came out because I was only 4, but I did see the other two in the theatres. However, I always referred to them as “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Jedi.” Then, when they were rerun in the theatres and the prequels came out it suddenly seemed they all had to be referred to by their episode numbers… How dumb is that?

It is true that I did do a good bit of blog clicking and exploding today, but I could barely stay focused enough to remember whether I needed to click the alien, the tree, the dog, or numbers, let alone actually read the blogs presented.

Another Random Aside: First, yes, I actually do read the blogs when I click or explode! I even try to comment once in a while! I figure since I have to be there for 30 seconds anyway I might as well read the top post. Second, I don’t recommend clicking and exploding simultaneously since it seems the same blog whores are using both services (myself included). More than once today I was on both sites, but looking at the same blog! Third, I am not sure whose Mystery Credits I like better. Granted, BE is kind of stingy with their credits but at least when you get credits you get them. I don’t like real slot machines and get annoyed when I have to get my Mystery Credits in this manner.

And so, last night I was chatting with my best friend and we were talking about how her 10 year old daughter (yes, the one I had to send the birthday card to that ended up getting the Hertie saleslady’s germs all over it) had $10 of birthday money to spend and how she wanted to go the Wal-Mart and buy a Bratz doll with the money.

Now, since I don’t have kids and don’t live in America anymore I don’t know too much about American kids’ toys. However, I had heard about the Bratz dolls and while I agree they are kind of disturbing, what I started thinking about was what, in her pre-teen angst, my best friend’s daughter will actually do with this doll.

Will she “play” with it or will it sit on a shelf gathering dust? After all, this is the girl who (according to my best friend) is so ready to grow up that she is jealous that her older sister got her period! (We have been assuring her it is NOTHING to be jealous about!)

So anyway, all morning I had this post running around in my head about what it actually means to play, why we stop playing, and why we should get out and play more, but when I sat down at the keyboard to type it up, it just didn’t work out. My words were jumbled (sort of like now) and in the hour and a half that I struggled with the post I just ended up hungry and antsy.

The wine at dinner mellowed me out a little, but I still feel cooped up and a little strung out. I guess I need to get out of the house tomorrow… obviously I am beginning to walk the fine line between being a bored housewife and being an insane one!

(So much for the content I promised earlier today!)

So, even though I signed up for it last week, I was trying to be a non-conformist and not plug BlogClicker on my site. But, I’m afraid I have succumbed to that overwhelming desire to get some referrals… even though I’m sure anybody who is anybody has already signed up. Still, if you haven’t… join the crowd and try out BlogClicker!

Hopefully, I will post something with a little more content later in the day…

Recently, I was involved in a discussion on one of my BBs about floss: Specifically we were talking about the difference (or not) between Anchor and DMC. So I would like to pose this as a “Stitching Blogger’s Question:”

Do you see a difference between Anchor and DMC floss? If so, what do you think the difference is? Do you have a preference between the two?

Personally, I don’t see much of a difference between the two. What I have noticed is that when using a DMC/Anchor conversion some of the colors don’t match up.

This isn’t a problem unless, like me, you start replacing one brand with another. I came to Germany with DMC, but Anchor is more common here so I have started using it instead. Once when I ran out of a DMC color I looked it up and bought its replacement Anchor color. Then when I got home I noticed that the shades were just different enough that I had to pull out the DMC and replace it all with Anchor.

That being said, I don’t have a preference between the two. DMC is good, but Anchor has been working fine for me too!
So, what are your thoughts?

* * * * *

“Stitching Blogger’s Question” Note:

I have set up a mailing list that will notify you when I have asked a “Stitching Blogger’s Question” so that you can answer it on your own blog! If you would like to join, please click here to fill out the form. (Your email will be kept safe and NEVER used for any unsavory (i.e., spam) purposes!)