Incoherent Scribblings

Begin Confession: Though I completed two more pieces for my 25 Project Challenge, I was a bad girl as far as the challenge goes this week. I acquired a new chart by winning Mirabilia’s “Spring Queen” on an eBay auction.

I wasn’t going to make a big to-do about it: After all it was only a little slip-up. However, I decided that if I ignored a little slip I would be more apt to deviate from the challenge again thereby defeating the whole purpose of the challenge. So in order to atone for my behavior, I will add another project to my list and instead of the 25 Project Challenge, it will now be the 26 Project Challenge! :End Confession

Anyway… My first project challenge finish this week was supposed to by my Mystery Exchange piece, but somewhere around Wednesday I got distracted by a little brainstorm and as a result, the Mystery Exchange didn’t get completed until last night.

The Wednesday brainstorm started with me thinking about my next exchange: The May Flowers Exchange over on the Robin’s Nest. As I was flipping through my freebies, I saw a flower motif on one of the Quaker freebies that I have and envisioned it on 36 count Edinburgh done with overdyes and finished as a pin cushion.

I actually began it with the intention of making it for the exchange, but after a dozen or so stitches, I decided that I wanted to keep it all for myself! Makes a nice addition to my collection of stitched smalls, don’t you think?

Finishing a piece with a whipped backstitched edge is one of my favorite methods of finishing, so I decided to take some pictures as I was finishing and post a tutorial for a Whip Stitch Pin Cushion. Enjoy!

I have been thinking about my blogs. Actually, I have mostly been thinking about my “main” blog. I feel like it has lost its voice.

When I lived in Germany, my main blog had an edge. I was an expatriate. I had interesting stories to tell concerning culture, language, and life with a “foreigner.”

Now what? I feel like I have lost my edge. I am just another blogger with an uninteresting life… Not to mention that I am an unemployed librarian in my 30s living with my mother. I try to take my day to day experiences and make them humorous and interesting, but is it enough?

I have to ask myself, who do I write my blog for? Is it really for me as I like to claim? If I only wrote for myself, I wouldn’t worry about my audience. I wouldn’t be concerned about how much or little information I want to share with my readers. I think about a lot of things that might make interesting reading, but do I want to share those thoughts? Do I want to publish them for all to see?

When my niece showed an interest in cross stitch, I joined the DMC Mentor program. I wasn’t really sure if it would be worth it or not, but they sent me a nice little package that contained free mentor supplies: Some beginner charts, 4 identical beginner kits, some business-type cards that say “DMC Mentor,” and a pin.

When the package arrived I opened it to see what was in it, but the next time that my niece wanted to cross stitch, I made a big to-do about the fact that the patterns and kits were for her. As you can imagine, the fact that she had her own cross stitch stuff got her really excited about cross stitching.

When we stitched the dragonfly together, she did a few stitches but I finished the pattern. However, when I got the DMC Mentor things I decided that no matter how long it took, she was going to stitch the beginner kit.

We have really only sat down and had two sessions and put literally 27 stitches into her flower kit, but she has done every stitch. I still help her thread the needle and change the floss, but the actual stitching is all her work. Yesterday I barely had to help her put the needle in the right hole.

I am impressed at how quickly she is picking up the technique. (Even her back is neat!) In fact, I am proud to say that, in my opinion, she is figuring out the concepts better than the girls that were at the workshop I gave a month ago… And they were 2 or 3 years older.

As you probably know by now, I love to make up words. (This is one reason I loved learning German: They make up words all the time!) The title of this post is a great example, but I could think of no other way to describe it. So here goes:

Fairy Flora: First up, we have a progress picture of “Fairy Flora.” Because of my focus on “Celtic Spring,” I hadn’t worked on Flo since January, but with “Celtic Spring” out of the way I finally felt motivated to make some progress on Flo again. Flo is now at 99 hours and about 65% complete. I think it is safe to say that she is coming along swimmingly. Dare I predict a finish by the end of summer?

Mystery Exchange: I have been working on my Robin’s Nest Mystery Exchange. It is about 70% complete and since I happen to know my partner’s stitching tastes really well, I know that she will love it!

The World of Cross Stitching Christmas 2006 Issue: I subscribed to this magazine through my ONS when I lived in Germany, but when I came back to the US, I canceled my subscription. As a result, I was missing the 2006 November and December (aka Christmas) issues.

I didn’t think too much about those missing issues until I realized that the December issue contained the last patterns in a series that I was collecting. So, I went out on eBay and found the issue, bid on it, and won it. It arrived from the UK today. Someday I hope to use the series in round robin.

I will probably also get the November issue eventually so that I will have all the 2006 issues, but I am not in a big hurry.

Cross Stitch Stuff on eBay: I know that I am a little late to the party, but I have discovered cross stitch stuff on eBay! Since I am on a budget, I am restraining myself and have only won two auctions so far, but I predict that eBay will become a great asset in the future when I finally get enough money to enhance my stash like I want to.

April Needlework Smalls Challenge: Because I was so busy in March, I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to complete my pinkeep for the March challenge. April’s challenge is to stitch and finish either a scissor fob or biscornu. I already have a good notion of what I want to do, so I hope I will be a little more successful in completing the challenge this month.

See?! I still stitch, it’s just that sometimes I have to choose whether I want to blog or stitch… Usually stitching wins the toss.