Designer's Block Officially Over!

Well that was frustrating and annoying, but my bout with designer's block is now officially over. Unfortunately the block didn't end in time for the Nashville Needlework Show, but I will say, it's ended with quite a bang! 2 new designs ready to begin model stitching, 2 more getting close and at least 3 more on the drawing board. Keep an eye on my blog over the next couple of months for sneak peeks and stitching progress!

Now begins the equally frustrating waiting for materials game. Cursing the post office and lots of swearing are par for the course. As is the inevitable "did I pick the right colours?" constant questioning that will continue up until the point when the first stitches are inserted and I breathe a sigh of relief that all fits together well. Well hopefully anyway!!

Speaking of the post office, here's a little off topic insight into the Canadian Postal System. A couple weeks ago, I ordered a new monitor from New Egg, shipped via UPS, though the shipping was free. I ordered it on a Wednesday evening around 7pm, the monitor was delivered on Thursday morning, just before noon. I also ordered a graphics card from Hong Kong (cause the one I wanted was unavailable everywhere else in the world it seems!), it was shipped the same day I ordered it, a Tuesday morning. It arrived at Canadian Customs in Toronto on Wednesday morning. It cleared customs in Toronto on Thursday morning. I received it... Monday afternoon. Now tell me, how can it take one day to get from Hong Kong to Toronto, and 4 days to get from Toronto to here? It's not even a 2 hour drive!! Canada Post sucks. Still, less than a week from Hong Kong, not too bad right? The same day I ordered the graphics card, I ordered a power supply from a company in Mississauga - less than 2 hours away. It shipped the same day as the graphics card, though it came via Canada Post all the way. It reached me the day AFTER the graphics card did. I'll reiterate. Canada Post sucks.

Still on the postage topic - I have to send some models to Nashville for the upcoming show. I should have done so Friday, but I got caught up at work and couldn't get to the P.O. in time, so I'll be sending them tomorrow morning. Anyway, I checked out prices. The best Canada Post can do is 3 day delivery guarantee, and that costs almost $60. For $40 at Purolator, I can get a 2 day guarantee, though likely it will be there by the next morning. Yet, every single year, we incur postage increases so they can give us better service. I'd LOVE better service - heck, I'd take ANY service. ;)

And back to stitching... It's been a fun and furious couple of weeks, and I know poor Jon will be very happy once materials are in hand and I'm working away, as I'm sure he's sick of hearing "what looks better, this... or this?" To which he always answers "why do you even ask, you know I suck at colours." Plus, it means I'll be busy model stitching, so he can have the computer to play games more often with the new HUGE monitor and the super duper powerful graphics card.

Both new designs are very different from one another, and as yet, neither has an "official" name.

The first, will be the first design in a series of geometric florals inspired by my mother. She's a gardening fanatic, and her gardens always help me find peace. This one features a cheerful little flower, the forget me not. I haven't yet picked colours for this one, I ordered some thread samples and I'm waiting for their arrival before I decide for sure. I was planning to use the same green throughout the series of designs, but I also thought as long as the whole series works together, that doesn't really matter. Plus, knowing me, I'm likely to get sick of the same green for at least 4, if not 6 designs. ;) Keep an eye out here for peeks at the follow up pieces... Tulips, Daffodils, Daisies and maybe Violets, Tiger Lilies and Roses... could be more, I haven't gotten that far yet!


The second, is worked in a combination of cross stitch and a whole lot of specialty stitches. It will be stitched in dusty rose and a soft wintery green from NPI and Gloriana's Vanilla on Lakeside Linen Light Examplar. Highly unlike me to choose solid colours, but I felt that the textured stitches would have lost their impact in variegated thread. Of course I couldn't go ALL solid, so I went with a very soft variegated cream. This was a tough choice, I really toyed with the idea of dramatic colours, like a deep red and forest green, but I love the soft antique feel of the lighter colourway. However, when I do release it, I'll fiddle and do a mock up of the darker one, because I'm sure others would love it just as much! I'm dropping down to 36 count for this one, I'm guessing that I will go cross eyed trying to do some of the stitches on 40! I'll be including some ideas for customizing this one, as I feel it would be a lovely wedding or anniversary sampler.

I'm so excited about all these new models to stitch that I can't seem to concentrate on stitching anything else!

What's New and Exciting?

Well, to be honest, not much of either really. Long story very short, It's been a very rough couple of months. Between illness, a death in the family, and Jon being laid off for two months, I just haven't been feeling very creative. It's frustrating, I have lots of ideas in my head, even sketched on paper, but as soon as I sit down at the computer they all seem to disappear. I just attribute it to being down in the dumps. I promised Jon that I would have fun with designing, so I'm trying very hard not to stress over it and just stitching what I want and when I feel like it. Plus, anything I design I have to have at least the fabric on hand for, since I'm too broke at the moment to buy fabric for models. lol You'd think with the enormous amount of stash I have, I'd be able to do that but alas, the three I currently have almost ready to start I either have the colour but not a big enough piece or don't have the right count for the type of project. I could substitute, but then the project isn't what I envisioned and I know I wouldn't be happy with it. So that's where the designing stands at the moment.

I have been stitching when I can - with Jon's layoff I've been picking up as many hours at work as I can, and we've had so many people out sick that I'm working lots and lots to try to make ends meet. We'll get through it, we always do. :)

So what have I been stitching? Well I've had a few finishes. 1 big one, 1 pretty big one, and 2 small ones.

The big one is Drawn Thread's Toccata 4. I loved this piece so much I just can't tell you how much fun it was, words don't express it. It was sheer joy from the first stitch to the last - well except maybe the boucle stitches, but once I got the hang of them, they weren't so bad. Just took lots of practice. This is a wonderful piece for anyone wanting to learn new stitches, and is also a great piece for playing with colours. I used my own colourway, though I stuck close to the original colours I used things I had in my stash, but you could use almost anything you wanted! This did use a fair amount of floss, and if you're planning a start, make sure you have lots of the greens and creams! I used 34 ct fabric and went well above the recommended amounts. It's done in a combination of Soie D'Alger, Gloriana, Silk N' Colors and HDF on 34 ct Cafe Au Lait linen.

Second, the pretty big one - I finished Ink Circles Cirques Des Carreaux. Dimension wise, it's not so big, as I stitched it over 1 on 28 ct, but there are a lot of little x's in this one, so it still qualifies as a pretty big one. lol This one started out as a test piece for one of my own designs, testing out Gloriana colours for Easter Flowers. So yes, it's all stitched in Gloriana silk, on black Jobelan. I'm already plotting out my colours for Triangles, which I'm thinking I'll do the same way, but in ultra bright colours, again on black. This was a fun one, I do so enjoy over one stitching - though I've learned that 28 count is best for me, 32 and up I don't have as much fun with.

And finally the two little ones - I had already finished Chilly, about 2 years ago, but I stitched up Milly and Willy over Christmas. These stitch up so quickly - about 2 days each. I actually used cotton for these... cause I already had them kitted. They're stitched on 28 ct Bluebell Jobelan over 2, primarily in Weeks Dye Works, and a few DMC colours, though I snuck in some HDF white on the last couple. :D The chart is called Snowman Trio, from Stitchy Kitty, and I just can't say how much I love these little guys. They're so cute!! Eventually they'll be finished up as ornaments or something - haven't decided what yet - and will be for my mom. She's a snowman addict.

With all those finishes, who could resist a new (or a few new) start? As I said previously, I knew that when I had Quaker Diamonds in my hot little hands, I would have to start it... and I did. I changed my mind on colours so many times it was silly, and finally settled on using HDF for the whole thing. It's not exact to the model, which doesn't really bother me that much at all. I chose to use a fairly new series of colours that Vikki created, the "Be" series, plus a couple of other bits and pieces I had. If you're interested in my conversion, let me know and I'll post it. :) I ended up going with Sassy's French Vanilla in 40 ct for the project - it's a fantastic colour of fabric! This is a nice project, and it looks fabulous stitched, but I'll give a warning to anyone planning to stitch it - there is a LOT of colour changing. One stitch here, one stitch there... and if you're like me, you like to stitch all of one colour in a section before moving to the next, which means a LOT of counting.

And of course I also said I'd be starting Romantic Rose Garden, which I also did. I replaced the evil nasty DMC colours with Eterna for this one, and I'm using some of the recommended colours for the variegated. I found the SNC Forest and the Waterlilies Periwinkle just were too overpowering. So I'm using a Northern Lights Green for the Forest, and HDF Dark Wisteria for the Periwinkle. I'm still debating changing 2 of the DMC greens, the 472 and 581 - the 472 is neon bright against the others and the 581 is too olive - it really clashes up close. Though from a distance they all seem to fit together well so we'll see when I plug the rest in. I'm doing this one on 34 ct Cafe Au Lait from Legacy Linen. And of course, blogger strikes again and rotates my pics!

And I had to have a new start for the new year (as both of the previous starts were in November/December), and since I'd finished Carreaux, the plan was to start Triangles... but that didn't work out like I planned. I was flipping through my Ink Circles charts, and I came across Kaleidescope. I'd forgotten how pretty it is, and I started it instead. This has been such a fun project! I'm using HDF for the black, and HDF 40 ct linen, but for the colours I decided to experiment. I had this big box of filament silk threads from China. Probably about 500 colours in there, 20 or so yards each. I could have gone with an exact conversion, I did have colours close enough to all of the DMC used, but I thought "what the heck, it's a fun piece, I'm going nuts with it." and I turned all of the colours up a few notches on the brightness scale. The picture really doesn't adequately show how bright or shiny these threads are. I'll have to get a really good picture when I finish - hopefully we have some sun for a change. The one thing this project HAS proved to me - the HDF linen is NOT even. I had suspected this, as I had started a different project on it and sort of noticed it, but I hadn't gotten a full square stitched yet, so I couldn't confirm. I measured this one out, and the width is 7 3/4 inches, the height is 7 inches. For reference, the design is 145 x 145, so it should be 7 1/4 square. And no, the linen isn't washed or dyed, so it's not a shrinkage thing. That's a pretty big difference. It doesn't bother me that much, but it's just something to be aware of for anyone thinking about using this stuff! I thought maybe I had gotten some of the unevenweave linen she was selling a while back, but I'm pretty sure it's not since this was from a brand new shipment and I ordered after she had sold out of the uneven stuff. Oh well - it still looks great! I just know not to stitch anymore square designs on it. lol

And my last WIP, another Ink Circles, is Blackstone Fantasy Garden. I so wanted to start this over again in silk but so many people told me to stick with it, so I have. I'm almost finished all the cross stitch and have the last half of the blackwork to go. Now that I'm nearing the home stretch, I'm pleased with how it looks and I'll finish it, but it's been a labour of love getting this far.

There ya go fudgey - I know I promised this yesterday, but I got sidetracked playing playstation and doing laundry. And now I have to run off to work. No idea yet when I'll have another day off, but I will try to update again when I do!

Okay, time for some updates

I've been really, really lazy about taking WIP photos lately. So today I decided to take pics of all of them. Be prepared - this is photo intensive!

First up, Chatelaine's Alhambra Garden. I'm stitching this one on 35 ct linen using all silks - as everyone who knows me knows, I don't do cotton, especially DMC. Blech! I converted the DMC colours to Hand Dyed Fibers - it's easy, given that Vikki does all of the DMC colours, and they're relatively close to the originals. This is soooo much brighter and sparklier up close and personal, but it's so hard to capture the shimmer of silk in a photo. And another note - the beading DOES fit on 35 ct fabric. I had to fudge the centrepiece a tiny bit, but the rest of the beads sit perfectly. Would I recommend 35ct for heavily beaded pieces? That totally depends on how much you're willing to fudge and if the beads are scattered or clustered. Scattered beads are perfectly fine. Clustered beads you might have to fiddle with a little bit. I love this piece, but I find it tough to work on for more than a day or two at a time. The massive amount of colour changes and having to use two strands of thread all the time can drive me a bit bonkers. But it stitches up fairly quickly - what you see is about 3 weeks of stitching in total.

Next up, Romy's Austrian Spot Sampler. This one has become my take to work piece since I finished Kaleidoscope Flower. Most of what you see here has been stitched on my lunches, or before work - long story short, one car and my boyfriend and I often start at different times, so I get to work pretty early some days. This is stitched on 45 ct Graziano linen, 1x2 using a custom spool colour of HDF, Double Dusty Rose. Since Dusty Rose was discontinued, this equates pretty much to the lightest of the Ultra Maroons. I'm enjoying this one, but I'm just about ready to rotate my take to work piece for something new. I'm thinking one of the Flourish series from Sampler Cove (or as I call them, Di's Divas), or maybe Sampler Cove's Amtrack, given that I've got that one kitted up. Just for a change. The pink is lovely, but I don't often do well with monochromes - I get bored of the same colour day in, day out! For some strange reason, the photo keeps uploading rotated 90 degrees. It's the right orientation on my computer and yet it is wrong both here and in photobucket. Stupid computers. I'm too sick to care at this point. And now my bloody cursor has disappeared too!! Not having a good day.

Oooh my cursor came back! Okay, next is Ink Circles Blackstone Fantasy Garden. This one is fast becoming a UFO. I HAVE worked on it, but not for long - an hour or two here or there. I LOVE the colours, hate the thread. I'm using the Carrie's Creations threadpack in cotton. Ugh. It's nasty. I'm about ready to chuck it and re-order the same colours in silk and restart it. Plus, it's on 32 ct lugana and I'm using 2 strands. Again, ugh. I really love the design, and I really love Tracy's choice of colours. I even like it on the fabric I chose, which is Silkweaver's Parkland. So the question is, do I persevere, or restart? I'm almost halfway done, and I really loathe the thought of doing all of that all over again. If I restart, I'm afraid it will never actually get started. On the other hand, two hours every couple of months doesn't get much done either. For now, I'm persevering in hopes that someday I'll actually finish it. But I will never, never, never again use cotton thread for a new start!!! Thank goodness Carrie is doing silk now. And my cursor has disappeared again!! Grrr. Not having a good day.

Oooh there it is. Every time I insert a pic, it runs away and hides for a while. Anyway... another Ink Circles design is next, Cirques de Carreaux. Haven't picked this up in a while - not because I don't enjoy it, but because I couldn't find it. :oops: I located it recently when I cleared out and rearranged all my stash drawers! Now that it's found, I'll probably be working on it soon. I love the design and the colours are yummy. It's done in Gloriana silks, which aren't the greatest threads for over one, but they look nice. Yes, it's 1x1 on 28 count black (obviously) Jobelan. Ignore the cat hair - black fabric is horrible for showing it all!! I think the cats must have slept on this one at some point - when I have no idea, but it's well coated!!

Rosewood Manor's Great British Sampler is the next to get a turn. I worked on this one last week for a few days, until all the bloody backstitching got to me. It seems like every motif is full of quarter stitches and backstitched outlines. I started stitching samplers to escape from this lunacy!! It almost feels like a Dimensions project. I like Rosewood Manor's designs, and I just hope this isn't a common thing in all of them, as I have several that I either have already and haven't kitted up, or on my wishlist. I suppose I should pull them out to check. This project is stitched 1x2 on 40 ct Chantilly Cream by Lakeside Linens using the suggested colours converted to HDF.

Plodding on... this is Needlemania's Jardin d'Jour. I started this one to test out Vikki Clayton's 40 ct linen. I think I posted about it a while back, but this stuff is really lovely to stitch on. It's got a wonderful hand, is nice and thick and has really easy to see holes. If you've ever wanted to try a higher count but were afraid you wouldn't be able to see it, this is the perfect linen for you. Plus the price is great - for hand dyed colours it's still less than $50 a yard. Yes, a full yard. But I digress. It's stitched in HDF silk, the colours are two of Vikki's newer additions, BeMused (purple) and BePopped (pink).

Next up is my Frankensteined version of Dinky Dyes Irish Blessing. I made it taller and added in the flourishes from the top and bottom to both sides. I also changed the words, as I'm stitching it as a tribute to my cousin, Rachel, who passed away in January. I'm using three different Gloriana purples in it - Purple Night Sky, Purkle Fred and Ultra Violet. I don't know why I can never get the colours in this to photgraph right - they're much, much more vibrant than this. When I finish the stitching, I want to insert a photograph of my cousin in the middle of the design - IF I can figure out how to do it. This is another that doesn't get worked on a whole lot. In my wisdom, I decided to stitch it on 45 ct linen (Sassy's Crescent Cream) which after dying is more like a 48-50 ct, because I wanted to save on framing costs later on. Why was that such a stupid move? Well this design is full of fractional stitches and backstitching. I'll admit, the finished product looks fantastic, the knotwork is nice and smooth and rounded, but OMG what a PITA on high count fabric.

My next project is my token Drawn Thread design - I always have to have one of these on the go at any given time. They're my sheer joy pieces. Why? I love, love, love specialty stitches, and these are FULL of them. This one is Toccata Four, and I'm nearing a finish on it. I'll be putting it back on the frame today I think, unless I change my mind before then. I only took it off to take pics. It's stitched on 34 ct Cafe Au Lait linen from Legacy Linen. I love this stuff, it's my go to linen when I have a project that needs something in a lower count. It's not much smaller than 32 ct, but it's sooooo much nicer than Belfast linen. Very few, if any slubs, and very, very even. I know the Legacy and Graziano linens are much more expensive than Zwiegart, but it's sooooooo worth it in the end. They're just so much higher quality. If you compare Zwiegart to the horrid Wichelt linens, Zwiegart seems great. If you compare the Zwiegart to Graziano or Legacy, it's crap in comparison. And there I go off on a tangent again. lol This piece is stitched in a bunch of different fibers - Soie D'Alger for the greens, Gloriana for the blues, Silk n' Colors for the burgundies, and HDF for the creams. Just a note to anyone who is or is thinking about stitching these. I am following the thread usage recommendations to the letter, and there is no way that one skein of each will be enough. I'm on skein #2 of the light green and each of the creams, and skein #3 for the dark green. The blues and burgundies I'll only use on skein of, but they're 12 stranded, 6 yards, so basically 2 full skeins of the recommended. And I'll have used most of each of those by the time I finish. The only one you'll get away with one of is the spool of Soie 100/3 - it's hardly used. To be safe, I'd recommend grabbing 3 skeins each of the greens and creams, and 2 skeins of each of the blues and burgundies.

And my token Sampler Cove design - though I usually have multiple SC's on the go, but I finished two not so long ago. Well okay that's not exactly true. I do have about 1/3 of the Rhapsody in Red Ribbon Sampler finished, however, that one has made it's way into the UFO pile, for two reasons. My first colour choices were Black Iris Bloom and Dried Roses (both HDF) but when I decided to start it, I changed my mind and went with Rum Cherry instead of Black Iris Bloom, simply because I had spools of it already. While the Rum Cherry is lovely, I soooo want to stitch it in my originally planned colours. And the second reason - I started it over 1 on 32 ct Jobelan. It's lovely and delicate, but I'm really not enjoying it. I really prefer over two on high count or over one on 28 ct. It just feels very crowded. I don't mind if it's a small amount of a design, but I just can't face another 2/3 of the sampler this way. So I've decided to bit the bullet, order the spools of Black Iris Bloom and restart it. Man, I'm just rambling like mad today, aren't I? THIS is Tuscan Rose. It is stitched 1x2 on 40 ct Hayfields from Sassy, but this is dyed on Graziano's 40ct linen. The fibers are HDF silks in the recommended colours. This one is fun to stitch. It's wide enough to get a nice flow for each band, but narrow enough that each band stitches up very quickly. And the colours are just lovely.

And finally (bet you thought it would never end, huh?) this is Tuscany Hearts by Needlemania. It's stitched on 40 ct Hayfields as well, and also uses HDF silks - in pretty much the same colours as Sampler Cove's Tuscan Rose. That works well, because I can frame them the same way as matching pieces. lol This one stitches very quickly - what you see is stitched in about 2 sittings.

There are at least 3 more that will be added to this (not including my own models, though I'm not stitching any right now). Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds is getting started as soon as it arrives, though I've decided to stitch it in Dinky Dyes silks, and of course on 40ct. The Valdani might be pretty, but it's cotton. As mentioned, I'll be restarting Rhapsody in Red as soon as I get around to ordering the threads. AND I really want to start Chatelaine's Romantic Rose Garden. However that one is posing a problem. I have the chart. I have the fabric. The overdyed silks and beads are on their way to me and should be here this week. However, instead of converting the DMC to HDF as I usually do, I decided that I hadn't used Eterna silks in a while and I really wanted to. So I ordered the Eternas instead. On October 21, paid for on October 21. Still not shipped. I've emailed 3 times and gotten no response. If this keeps up any longer I'm going to paypal for a refund. This is ridiculous. If there's a delay, I can live with that, but being ignored is something you just don't do if you want my business.

And now I think I need a nap.

And finally, a day of rest...

It has been a very busy few months! I've got a couple of days off now, first time I've had two in a row off in a while. I've been stitching up a storm of late on a few things.

I finished a present for Vikki Clayton - I designed a sign for her shop, to put up near the counter. :) It's done on her linen, in her threads (of course).


I worked on Rachel's piece for a little while, but I can't work on that for long stretches - all the fractional stitches give me a headache - quarter stitches on 45 ct (which after dying and washing is more like 48 ct) is NOT fun. So I only work on it a little at a time.

Currently I'm working on a Chatelaine piece, Alhambra Garden. I don't quite understand why everyone says these take so long - I'm flying through it. Sure, by the time I'm done it will have been about a year since I started, but in total I've only worked on it for about 2 weeks and I've got it about 1/3 done. It's mostly DMC, which as most of you probably know, I don't use. I'm using Hand Dyed Fibers for it and I love how it's turning out! Vikki's DMC matches are pretty good - not exact, usually a bit lighter/brighter overall, but much better than most DMC conversions you find out there.

I've been playing with colours for Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds as well. Again, because I don't use cotton, I won't be using the called for Valdani colours. Plus, I don't often use 28 ct unless I'm stitching over 1, so the heavy Valdani threads would be useless to me anyway. I know they do regular floss, but it's dyed on DMC. I've been thinking it might be a good time to try Carrie's silks out and just pick my own colours for this. Heck, I haven't even ordered the chart yet! I will be eventually, but money is a bit tight for at least another year around here, so I'll wait for the next sale at Wasatch to pick up a bunch of things all at once! There are a couple of new Ink Circles that I'm drooling over as well.

I am going to kit up Chatelaine's Rose Garden Mandala this week - I did a conversion from the DMC, this time to Eterna Silks. I haven't used them in a while but I really do like them, so I thought I'd have a play with them for this piece. I was sooooo happy when Cindy put up a kit at ECS. I couldn't stomach buying the one from TGOS, especially since it's $30 more just for a few skeins of DMC. Cindy also gives the no fabric option, so it works out perfectly since I have yards and yards of fabric here.

And of course I'm working away on the computer trying to come up with a few new designs. I just haven't been feeling very inspired lately. Maybe it's this nasty cold I've been suffering with for weeks, or just plain being tired. I'm doing pretty good though, I managed to make it through 8 shifts in 9 days - probably why today I feel like I'm dying. I think I need a vacation from work to get the creative juices flowing. I sit here looking at my sketches of what I want, but when I try to translate them to computer it just doesn't jibe. Jon keeps telling me not to get frustrated - designing is supposed to be fun for me. He gets angry when I start getting all business-like and treating it like a job. He made me swear that I would only design as long as I was having fun with it and that he didn't want designing to destroy my love of the hobby. So I'm being patient. I know the creative bug will bite again, and I'll whip out several new designs in a heartbeat. It's frustrating when you can see the design in your head but it just won't come together on the screen!

Celtic Leaves

Well, it's finished. Celtic Leaves will be released for the Online Needlework Show, which begins on October 7th. :)


The model is stitched on 40ct Lakeside Linen Magnolia - I like my tiny little stitches - but any count of linen will work, you don't need to use 40 ct. I used 5 colours of Gloriana silk floss and 3 colours of Crescent Colours Belle Soie.

I had a lot of fun with this model - pictures just don't do these rich, beautiful colours justice.

And as usual, I'm just about to run off to work, but I thought I'd drop a quick note here before I do!

An update on Celtic Leaves

Well, after a slight mishap with getting my fabric (first piece got lost, darn P.O!) which set me back a few weeks, I am back on track. The stitching is about 2/3 done! So as long as I don't have any major disasters, I'm well on my way to an October release. I really want to release at the Online Needlework Show, in support of Cindy, the wonderful lady who runs it, as she is also the retail side of European Cross Stitch, my distributor. What better way to introduce a new design, right?

I'm soooo happy with the way this one is turning out. After 10 days of stitching, I actually get depressed when I have to go to work or to bed and can't stitch on it. lol The colours are glorious, a huge thanks to Anne from Gloriana and Sharon from Crescent Colours for these amazing fall colours. They really are to die for.

Here's a little peek for anyone who's curious:


What else is new? Well I've been plotting out colours for another new design which I'm planning for a February release - giving myself a bit more time with this one. I still have to finish charting it, but the idea is pretty solid in my mind now, so that should go quickly. I think I'm settled on colours - I'm pretty set on Gloriana again for this one, she has some really great delicate, light colours which are exactly what I'm looking for. The design is another Celtic, this time snowflakes. I've also been doing some colour selection for some smaller designs, geometric flower patterns, which I'll probably use Dinky Dyes for. Jo's got some really great flowery colours.

And I've been doing some stash diving, planning out some colour schemes for some personal stitching. I pulled out my eterna silk sample cards - I had forgotten just how pretty these are! There are some really great overdyed colours and a huge range of solids. I don't know that I'd ever design with these, I know a lot of people don't like working with filament silks, but I'm going to kit up a few projects with them to start soon. I personally love them. :) For the curious, filament silks are a bit tougher to work with - they tend to twist up a fair bit, and they stick to hands and fabrics, while at the same time being a bit slippery - needles can slide off when you dangle to untangle. But the effect is really astonishing - they're very shiny and the colours tend to be very, very rich. I'm thinking I might order some overdyes for a couple of Sampler Cove designs I'm kitting. Yes, I'm going to start some MORE Sampler Cove designs. I've got 5 finishes under my belt now, but these are addictive. I want to stitch them ALL! Eventually I will. When we finally build our house, I will have a Sampler Cove wall. :)

*Sigh* Well it's off to work now. But I have tomorrow and Tuesday off to model stitch - I figure I'll get at least another 25 - 30 hours in. :D I'm determined.

Summer is almost over...

On one hand, I'm sad to see it go. It hasn't been the greatest summer on record, it's either been cold and rainy, or extremely hot and humid, with very few really pleasant days. However, I've always loved summer, especially all the wonderful seasonal treats that come along with it. I'm a berry person, and I've definitely eaten enough blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and cherries (okay so not a berry) for another year!! I also love that I can stitch outside, which I frequently do on my lunches at work. This is always fun, because passers-by always want to know what you're doing, and I find that it's a wonderful way to get people interested!

On the other hand, I'll be very happy to see it go. I live in a small town that each year is invaded by tourists. Not that I mind tourists, it's our town's mainstay and the small businesses thrive. But the masses of traffic, hoards of people and unbelievably long waits for anything in town can get pretty annoying. Just think - 25,000 visitors to a town that is usually only 5000 and only has 3 stoplights, all crowded into the main street, and always looking for somewhere to park! That leaves us a little impatient, especially when you just want to pop into the post office!

The tourists also create another problem for my co-workers and I. Due to the increase in customers in the store, we all get a huge rise in hours. Now normally, I wouldn't complain, the extra money and overtime always come in handy and this year is no exception as we have the added bills of Jon's immigration to pay off. However, I still want to keep designing and stitching. It gets very difficult to do anything, when you're covering other staff holidays, sick days and the like - over the past two months, I've only had a handful of days off, and most days I'm at work from 6am to 6pm. To try and design anything at that point is pretty hopeless, I'm so tired that I can't even think. When I do get a day off, I usually spend it cleaning up the house - with long hours, I don't get a whole lot of cleaning done otherwise, and the teenager who should be free labour, doesn't help out a great deal being busy himself with friends all summer.

Despite all of this, I have managed to do a lot of sketching, and last week I had a couple of sick days and plugged away at the computer for about 40 hours to come up with a new design! I'm very excited about this one, I have a feeling it will fast become my favourite. It's loaded with lots and lots of different specialty stitches (though nothing taxing, I promise!), and will be stitched with Belle Soie and Gloriana Silks in shades of autumn. I'm waiting for a couple skeins of thread and my fabric, and then I'll be in a model stitching frenzy for a few weeks. I really want to try to get this done in time for the Fall Online Needlework Show, which leaves me with 5 weeks to stitch, diagram and write the chart. Thankfully, I should be getting back to a normal schedule at work over the next week or two, so if I stitch my heart out I might make it!! IF I have a moment to spare, I'll try to post some sneak peeks as I stitch. :)

And one last, before I have to go and get ready for work (short day today, only 10-6!). I've been dying to see some WIP pictures of my designs! And I'm planning a little contest as well, so stay tuned!