Incoherent Scribblings

Exchanges and Round Robins

This weekend was devoted to exchanges and round robins and this is how everything that I did stitching-wise sums up:

1.) Halloween Exchange

I finished my Halloween Exchange this weekend and it turned out really well if I do say so myself.

I have decided to set myself a “finishing challenge” for each exchange piece that I do and the challenge for the Halloween Exchange was to add cording. I played around making my own cord, but on Friday when I was in the craft store to pick up some floss I found some pre-made cord that I decided would work better. I spent the better part of two hours last night learning the secrets of invisibly attaching a cord and at the end I also threw caution to the wind and decided to add a tassel too. (Hope that isn’t too much “secret” information!)

I have had a lot of fun with this exchange even though I had some difficulty choosing a pattern at first and I had that backstitching issue a week or so ago (which I resolved by using dark brown instead of gray). I enjoyed doing the stitching of course, but I am finding the finishing almost more enjoyable since I am learning all these new finishing techniques. I can’t wait to hear XXX’s reaction when she finally gets my exchange piece. And of course I can’t wait to get mine!
2.) The Headless Dragon

I volunteered at the English Language Library last Friday and because I didn’t see a soul all afternoon I got roughly two more hours of stitching done on Dawn’s Dragon RR; even though I still haven’t seen fit to give him a head!

I am getting precariously close to being in dire need of my Kreinik though. This dragon calls for two colors of Kreinik and when I ordered them a couple of weeks ago, one color was back-ordered. Luckily the post date isn’t until November 1st, so I still have a couple of weeks before I will get desperate. (You can see progress pics of my Water Dragon in my gallery!)

3.) Stitching Blogger’s Seasonal RR

The first post date of the Stitching Blogger’s Seasonal RR is now just a little over six weeks away and my tentative goal is to start stitching on it around October 1st… so I guess I better decide on my patterns pretty soon!

Originally I was going to do a four seasons pattern that I have had in my stash since I first started stitching, but I don’t think I will do it now. The design just really isn’t “me” anymore. I was then contemplating a “Four Seasons Cats” design by Donna Vermillion Giampa that I bought a couple of weeks ago, but the problem is I want to stitch all four of those little kitties myself! Now today I have seriously been considering Passione Ricamo’s “Four Seasons Topiaries,” but I still haven’t made a concrete decision… maybe tomorrow!

4.) Birthday Exchange

Because I couldn’t make up my mind about the Stitching Blogger’s Seasonal RR today, I started thinking about my next exchange piece which is for the birthday exchange that I am in with Dawn (whose birthday is first on November 15), Melissa, and Cathy.

The first person on the list is Dawn and since she is my best friend, choosing a piece for her was easy since I know her so well. Luckily I had everything I needed for it on hand, so I started it this afternoon. The only clue she is going to get is that I have decided to stitch it on the lavender fabric that I personally hand-dyed a few months ago and that I am already a quarter of the way finished with it.

All in all, I had a pretty productive stitching weekend and feel like I made up for the non-stitching days that I had earlier in the week. Now, I guess I better put my needles away and go do my homework!

Domestic Disasters – The Comforter

It all started on Thursday evening about 9:30 p.m. I went into the bedroom and proceeded to hang up a small pile of clothes that was on the bed. It consisted of my bathrobe, A.’s raincoat, and the jeans that I had been wearing earlier in the day. I folded the jeans and put them in the closet.

I then picked up the raincoat and as I put it on the hanger I noticed that the sleeve was wet. This was interesting because it hadn’t rained at all that day. Suspicious, I brought the sleeve a little closer to my nose and discovered the distinctive scent of cat urine. Reluctantly I turned around and, as I feared, I was greeted by a large wet spot on the comforter.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that not only was my robe also damp, the jeans that I had just put into the closet (on top of all my other clean jeans) had not escaped a dousing either. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. and I had no choice but to do a load of laundry. I grumbled a lot because starting a load of laundry at 10:00 p.m. that will take two and half hours to wash is a pain when you want to go to bed around 11:00, but I could deal with that…

However, it gets better, because after all, this Germany and things are never as easy as they seem!

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