Thursday, July 26, 2007

WIPs and Finishes...kinda.

So you know that thing I said about not doing more than two patterns at a time? Did anybody really think that was possible?!?

Anyways, here's the blackwork. It pretty much sat neglected since my last post but I've worked on it a little bit the last couple days. It's about one thirdish done but I have a feeling this one is going to be hanging around for quite a while.

This is a lapghan I crocheted for my mom's birthday about 2 years ago. It now lays across the back of her recliner and she uses it all the time. So imagine my extreme excitement when I happened to stumble across a cross stitch chart for the very same pattern!!!

This will be an easy one since there's only 3 colors. It'll just take me forever to get around to having the patience to do that blue border. I might attempt to make it into a cushion if I can find some good instructions on how to do that. I'm planning to give it to my mom for Christmas.

This is my dad's Christmas present. He owns nearly every John Wayne movie ever made so I thought it would be fun to stitch this black and white pattern of The Duke. This one will be a bit more of a challenge since it consists of about 12 different shades of gray...and of course black and white.

Since I had no clue what to get my husband for his birthday and not much money anyways, I stitched this up for him at the last minute. He loves it and plans on putting it on his desk at work. It's nice having someone who appreciates the handmade stuff!

This is for my daughter. It just needs a couple more little stars on the bottom and then it'll be done. I left of the bottom third of the pattern, changed the 3 middle motifs on the top and also changed to the blue on the lettering to purple. I was thinking about putting something on either side of her name to fill in the empty space a bit but I don't know what.
So that's what I've been up to lately. I don't have any plans on starting anything new yet, though I do have several more things on my want to do list. Mostly trying to find patterns for Christmas gifts for now.

I was very happy last week to find out that there's a needlework shop to too far from here. I've never been to a needlework shop. I was very surprised at the prices of a lot of the stuff there. I know stuff isn't cheap but $20-$30 for a chart by itself, not a kit, seems like a bit much to me. It was hard to find anything that I really liked and could afford but I did end up getting a Christmas chart for $5. Then I found the charms that go with chart were $19!!! I'll most likely go to my usual crafty stores and find similar charms for a lot cheaper. Next time I go there I think I'll make a list of charts I've found online that I want(and can afford) and see if they have them. That way I'll at least save myself the cost of shipping...assuming that their prices are about the same is online prices.

Wishful thinking? O_o

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Update on the cross stitching. I've been moving right along on the birth record so hopefully this is something that'll keep me interested for quite a while. I was starting to get bored with it at one point but then I realized that was because I didn't really like the bottom half of the pattern. So I'm leaving that part off, problem solved! I'm also going to change the motifs the are supposed to go in each of the boxes on top. The rubber ducky is staying because I already had him stitched in before I decided to change everything. That's ok, I like him anyways. I'm also changing the border because it just doesn't match anymore with what's left of the pattern. ...I think that all for now.


I also couldn't resist starting another pattern. This one is a blackwork pattern I found online for free. I'm doing it in dark blue and there's little hearts that go in the big ones that I'll most likely be doing in red. I started this one because I wanted something to do that I wouldn't have to worry about constant color changes and for when I don't feel like working on the other one.


I'm trying very hard to stick to only doing two at a time so that I can actually get something finished for once. I've found a couple patterns I want to make for Christmas gifts so we'll see how that goes!