Incoherent Scribblings

Today’s Stitching Blogger’s Question was kindly suggested by Cathy and is:

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 follow my patterns without marking them. Until I read on some blogs and bulletin boards that people do such a thing I would never have even thought about it. Maybe it is just the librarian coming out in me, but in all honesty it seems almost like marking up a book to me and that is just so wrong! However, I will admit that on big charts like “Passing Admirers” I have been known to make a tiny pencil dot here and there to keep my place and then erase when I am finished.

Well, my eight-week language school course finished on Friday. I could take another TestDaF Preparation course, but I think that I have had enough. In order to prepare for taking the TestDaF in February I think that I will just buy the book that has practice tests in it and work on my own from now on.

Anyway, as you might expect as a grand finale for my course, we had a test. But the thing is we didn’t really have to have this test. Since this was a preparation course for a test, the only reason we ended up having a test was because a certain person in the class wanted to have a test so that she could get a piece of paper saying that she participated in this preparatory course.

Now I admit that I am a nerd: However, there is no way in hell that I am so much of a nerd that I “wanted” to take a test. Oh no, it wasn’t yours truly that practically begged the teacher to take a test. It was… you guessed it… Olga!

Taking the test didn’t really bother me and I didn’t even protest. After all, it is school so the fact that we might have a test wasn’t completely unexpected.

We took the test on Wednesday and of course I was late for class. (Thank you very much Munich public transportation!) Even so I was able to complete the first section (reading-comprehension) with five or ten minutes to spare and when we got our tests back on Thursday found that being late didn’t affect my performance: I aced that section.

The second part was hearing understanding and though I did well on this section too, I must admit it was a little tricky: Not because I didn’t understand what was being said, but because the topic was book preservation. I find it difficult to do those hearing understanding exercises when it is a topic that I know a lot about because when I answer the questions I have to focus on what is in the text, not on what I actually know.

Then there was a writing exercise and considering the use of dictionaries is taboo, I think I did pretty well remembering the gender of my nouns. I didn’t do so hot on the grammar section, but on the actual TestDaF those types of grammar exercises are not required, so I’m not too concerned.

Anyway, that was the test and as I said though I didn’t want to take it, I did well enough on it and it wasn’t really a big deal.

What really bothered me though was that on the day of the test, Olga (remember, the one who just “had” to have this test?) came into class 30 minutes late and then wimped out of taking it by whining that since she was late she couldn’t possibly concentrate on the test and could she take it at a different time? I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to get up and slug that bitch in the face!

Now I am not typically a mean person. (Really, I’m not!) However, I must say that when Olga takes the TestDaF in November I really, really hope that she flunks it!

Now that I have my exchanges and round robins under control and “Passing Admirers” is almost done I decided it was time to take a look at the three pieces that I had designated “Temporary UFOs” and figure out what to do with them.

1.) “Stitcher’s Sampler”

▪ Last worked on: March 2005

▪ Stitch time: 15 hours

▪ Percent complete: Approximately 15%

▪ Comments:

I still have every intention to finish this project. Since it is what I call a “large” piece it will become my large focus piece once “Passing Admirers” is finished. This won’t prevent me from starting another large project once “Passing Admirers” is done, but my plan is to give “Stitcher’s Sampler” a good 20 or 30 hours before doing so.

2.) “Little Stitch Devils”

▪ Last worked on: May 2005

▪ Stitch time: 7 hours

▪ Percent complete: Approximately 15% (all three); 50% (Thimble Devil)

▪ Comments:

There are three little devils in this series and my original idea was to stitch all three together on one piece of fabric. I already had the “Thimble Devil” about 50% complete and since I would really like to get this piece out of my UFO/WIP pile, I decided to work on it this afternoon. The “Thimble Devil” is now about 65% complete.

However, I have come to the conclusion that these EMS designs are not really my style anymore and so I don’t really want to stitch all three of the devils any longer. Therefore once I am done with the “Little Stitch Devil with Thimble” I am going to call the project quits.

3.) “Mirabilia 2001 Guardian Cherub”

▪ Last worked on: May 2005

▪ Stitch time: 7.5 hours

▪ Percent complete: Approximately 20%

▪ Comments:

I still like this pattern a lot, but am not sure about my color changes anymore. The more I look at it the more I would like to stitch it “as is.” I have also been thinking about doing this as a baby sampler for my soon-to-be nephew and so I would like the baby to be a little less feminine.

The way I see it, I have two choices with this project: Either rip it all out and start it again according to the recommended colors or start a brand new piece with the recommended colors and designate the one that I started the color changes on as a permanent UFO. I guess until I decide this piece will remain a “Temporary UFO.”

This time is it my Passione Ricamo “Spring Topiary” for the Stitching Bloggers’ Seasonal Round Robin. I just love how this topiary tree turned out: It is so pretty!

It had a lot of color changes, but it actually stitched up rather fast. Not counting the border, I was able to stitch the tree in just 12 hours. I am sure it helped that except for the pot and the wording there is no backstitching. I am not certain how well you can see the backstitching on the pot, but it is the same color (DMC 3832) as the wording. I was a little skeptical about backstitching the pot in that color rather than brown, but I am surprisingly pleased with the result.

I stitched “Spring” because it is my favorite season (not to mention that I liked that pattern the best). I think that spring is my favorite season because I am a spring baby. When I was little I liked spring because my birthday is in the spring (May), but now I wonder if I just lucked out to be born in such a beautiful season!

The next person to get my topiaries will be Dawn and I think she is going to stitch “Autumn.” I know that autumn is her favorite season and I wonder if it is because her birthday is in autumn. Sort of an interesting question… I wonder how often a person’s favorite season corresponds to their birthday.

Anyway, I also have another RR square that I am working on for the EMS RR that I am in. We are on our last go-round and I am finally stitching on the little boy’s fabric. His theme is automobiles. I wanted very badly to stitch a 67 Mustang on his fabric (my dream car), but the only pattern I could find was too big for the square.

I did find a pattern for a 1929 Ford Model “A” that would fit though and decided to do it instead. It is sort of a boring stitch: Black and dark gray. I suppose technically I could change the colors, but I happen to know a bit about auto history and I know that Model Ts and Model As were only available in black, so I won’t change the colors.

Now that I have whittled my round robins and exchanges down (I finished stitching Dawn’s B-day exchange the other day) I am getting so excited about backstitching (and finishing!) “Passing Admirers” again that I just may work exclusively on it this weekend… we’ll see!

Just when I thought that I was going to have to think up the SBQ for the first time in many weeks I got a suggestion from Outi, so I guess I am off the hook for yet another week! Anyway, her question is:

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 am on good terms with my hoop, so I guess the question doesn’t really apply to me this week. However I will say that even though I rotate and use a hoop, since I don’t leave my hoop on my projects I have no problem using the same hoop for all of them.

* * Edited to add Happy Dance Picture! * *

In other news, today I finally received the Kreinik I was waiting for to finish Dawn’s RR Square. The Kreinik is actually still on back-order from my regular ONS, but I had to order some Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid from another ONS since my regular one doesn’t carry RG.

When I ordered the RG from ONS #2 (on Monday afternoon) I took the opportunity to order that particular Kreinik color from them too. I figured that between the two ONSs I should get the Kreinik before the RR’s November 1st post date. ONS #2 must have had the Kreinik in stock and since they are geographically located closer to me, I got the Rainbow Gallery and the Kreinik in about 48 hours!

Of course I will eventually have two spools of Kreinik #4 VF Braid in Star Blue, but since blue is my favorite color I am sure I will find some use for it. I think in the future I will order my specialty threads from Shop #2 because it seems to have a better selection with quicker delivery.

I was so excited to get the Kreinik that I spent most of the afternoon working on my “Water Dragon” for Dawn’s RR and have almost finished it. I just need to do the backstitching now. Perhaps I will have a happy dance (and picture) to share before bedtime.

P.S. Thanks for all the comments about Hubby’s birthday cube. He liked it a lot!