1 HD, 2 WIPs

Happy New Year, all! May all your hopes and dreams come true this year. I've never been big on new year resolutions but I guess the one resolution I should make is to keep this blog updated. It's been two months since I've last written. Not good. Then again, I don't have a lot to show for those two absent months. In fact, this is the only finish I have to show so ladies and gentlemen, come celebrate a very belated Happy Dance with me.

This is "Crafty Cat" by Margaret Sherry. Finished him about 2 months ago. The original design was stitched with Anchor threads but I used DMC threads instead, which are also provided in the chart but I think the cream colour for his face is too dark. Oh well, he's still cute, isn't he? Getting all tangled up in that mess. However, I'm pretty certain if I had a cat and it did that to my stitchy stuff, cute is definitely gonna be the furthest thing from my mind. Hehe...

As for what I'm working on at the moment, here they are:

"Chorus Line" by Valerie Pfeiffer is stitched on 28 count cream lugana. This is the first time I'm stitching her designs even though I've seen them around for a while now. I really like her birds. They're so fluffy. Unfortunately, after I was done stitching on this bird, another project caught my attention and I've been working on that since.

And here she is, "The Romantic Stitcher" by non other than Laura G. Lattuada of Passione Ricamo. The fabric is Zweigart's Vintage Country Cream (Marbled) 32 count linen. It's been a while since I've picked up something this big so completing her will definitely take me a while. However, I'm having so much fun stitching on her it hardly matters. Her face is stitched over one, a first for me, and I must say I really like the effect thus the extra work is worth it. Just don't expect me to work on her arms and hands anytime soon. ^.^

Pictures Galore

Hey everyone! I'm back. Wow, time sure flies. It has been more than a year since I last posted. Thank you for all your kind words and messages. Life has been hectic to say the least with work and all, at times without access to the internet and coping with a broken engagement, I just didn't have the time (or the heart) to pick up the needle. So once again, I'll like to apologize to those whose Round Robin I had sent back unstitched. You've all been wonderfully understanding. Thank you.

It's been so long and I have so much I'd like to say but as I don't know where to start, I'll post pictures first instead. After all, they don't say a picture is worth a million words for nothing. So here goes... these are the few Round Robins that has returned home.

They're unfinished because we either didn't have enough participants to start off with in the first place or I had to drop out of it. Nevertheless, they're still beautiful and I love them. A heartfelt thank you for letting me participate in the Round Robins. Maybe in time, we sitchers can have some sort of Round Robin Squares Exchange (if there hasn't already been something like this going on) where instead of new Round Robins, we stitched on existing ones with blank squares to complete it for one another. I'm sure for those of us that join Round Robins often enough, we have a number of those lying around.

Well, I probably won't be able to post as frequently as I did before but I'll try my best to keep this blog updated. Before I end here, I'd like to share with you another piece I've stitched. I started this for my then fiance before we broke up because of circumstances beyond our control and I decided to finish it anyway and have it framed up for him. We're still friends and will always be friends (I hope). And I'd like him to know that he'll always have a special place in my heart.

6 Geese-A-Laying

Phew! This is the first I've ever encountered so many French knots in a single pattern. Luckily for me, I had mastered them earlier this year or I would have found them a real pain and goodness knows how long it would've taken me to finish stitching this. Anyway, this is for Kirsty's RR. Now we're officially halfway through the "Margaret Sherry's 12 Days of Christmas RR". So, can anyone tell me, are goose eggs really that pretty and colourful?

Chiara's Bathtime Round Robin

For the past day or so, I've been painfully reminded of how much I love evenweave and linen. And this is the reason for it:

By the time I finished stitching Archie, I've developed an intense love-hate relationship with him, or more accurately, his shower cap, soap bar and bubbles. Check out the backstitches that are determined to defy, break and basically ignore all laws of aida! I swear, patterns like these should come with a warning: "Never attempt on aida" and NOT give aida as the suggested fabric! That aside, the backstitches does bring out the clarity of the whole design and give Archie a 3D look. Just to clarify, I did enjoy stitching him. How could I not? Look at him, so smug and satisfied in the tub. Seems like he's having the time of his life. I love the bright colours too. For those of you who're wondering, "Pamper Yourself" Archie can be found in the November 2005 issue of Britain's Cross Stitcher.

Anyway, this is a favour for Chiara whose "Bathtime" round robin was returned with an empty square. She had already chosen Archie for the square before I offered to fill it in for her and I thought I'd obligue with her decision. The mat and some bubbles were left out in order for it to fit the square. Now, some of you might have noticed that the B and E of the word Bathtime in the middle are missing. I have to confess, that was a complete mistake on my part. I did some big time miscounting before I started stitching and thought the letters would be in the way. I gained Chira's permission to frog them and then realised too late that it wasn't even necessary in the first place! Sorrie, Chiara. Well, I hope to have it in the mail sometime next week so you can have it back as soon as possible. It'd look fantastic hanging in your bathroom.

5 Gold Rings

The 5th in Margaret Sherry's 12 Days of Christmas, 5 Gold Rings is my absolute favourite of the whole series. Which lady wouldn't love to receive a ring, more over 5 gold ones from her true love, as the song goes? Certainly not me. Not to mention the cute cartwheeling cat in the design. Yup, that explains it all and 5 Gold Rings win hands down as my favourite.

Also, any of you who're stitching this series can also relate to my next point - finally, no more skinny bird legs/feet to stitch! True, they're not that bad but they prevent me from finishing faster. Now that I don't have to deal with them anymore, I finish this in two and a half days of leisurely stitching. Now I'm am itching to stitch the next one. Hopefully I won't have long to wait before it arrives in the mail.

It's Christmas Already?

No, of course not. I know, I know, time flies and some of you have been wondering what I've been up to since it's been a while since I've last shown any stitching updates, but time does not fly that fast! Then what am I doing stitching Santas? Well, this Santa Baby here is for Lene's "Christmas" Round Robin. I've had a few patterns in mind but after she specifically requested that someone stitch this adorable Santa Baby for her, well, how could I resist? After all, EMS's patterns are always a pleasure to stitch.

Anyway, with just one more person to go before the RR returns home (we had a participant dropped out), Lene, unless you want it to be a "surprise" (considering you already know what the other squares look like), then I suggest you either stop reading here or close your eyes, here's your Christmas RR with four squares filled in. Like it? I sure do hope so!

And again, another Santa, this time from Margaret Sherry, I present to you the first square of my "Santa" Round Robin for another 6 person RR on EMS Cross Stitch Board starting 15th June. Yup, you've guessed it, I joined another one. Another two, to be exact for I have another one starting in July but that's beside the point. This little Santa here took me a long time (read as more than two weeks!) to stitch and near the end, I was already so sick of it that I just want the torture (yes, you've read correctly, it was really becoming a pain!) to end because as you well know, Herritage Stitchcrafts designs equals squash stitches (which by the way, they renamed vertical and horizontal stitch) and tons of tweeding. (A big Thank You to EeKoon for being patient enough to endure all my complaints all those night when I was hard at it.) I'm relieved to have it over and done with. Still, the satisfaction I feel now is almost worth all the labour. Almost.

I've substituted the DMC cotton floss with pearlescent effects floss from the DMC Light Effects range for the snow at Santa's feet. Although you can't see the difference from the picture, I can assure you that the result is quite stunning in real life, especially when combined with the shine from the metallic gold threads that's woven into the fabric. Now it's packed and ready to be sent out. Whew!

Has Anyone Seen...

... A purple bird before? And not just any ordinary purple bird at that, a fashionable one that has a pink handbag on her wing and knows how to use a cell phone. No? Well, let me introduce you to Margaret Sherry's 4 Calling Birds from her 12 Days of Christmas series.

This is for Marion's RR and is stitched on Zweigart's coffee gold flecked Brittney. Now, this piece is pretty special to me not only because she's cute, (heck, all Margaret Sherry's designs are cute!) but because I managed to master French knots through her. Notice that there're 6 French knots in the pattern which is the most I've done so far for this RR. It's pretty common for a cross stitcher to dislike French knots but for me, there's nothing I loathe more. I'll have to appologise to Kathy if my French knots are not up to standard on her RR. Kathy, feel free to redo it if you wish. Luckily on Jackie's RR, she has opted to replace the French knots with beads instead.

Frankly, I don't know what exactly happened. I think it must be my change of technique. I had downloaded instructions from the Internet before regarding French knots but I could never get it right. This time, I decided to try out the instructions given in the UK magazines. I did the first knot and it turned out just right. After that, I quickily got the hang of it and towards the end, I was actually having so much fun with it that I added two more on the alphabets of my name and country. Pretty drastic change, considering that this was something that I used to avoid like the plague. Am pretty satisfied with myself at the moment. *Smug grin* Goes to show that if you're afraid of something, face it, learn how to do it and that will in turn conquer your fears.

Adeline's Birthday Present

Well then, after finishing this weeks ago, I only got it back from the framers today, just in time to present it to Adeline. You know me, I was delaying going to the framers, that's why it took so long. Had it done at the same place as the wedding samplers. Well, since tomorrow's her birthday, I'm technically a day early so no harm, right?

Met up with her for dinner and as I doubt I'll be seeing her again tomorrow, I gave it to her tonight. Just like I predicted, she loved it. Stayed out with a couple more friends for non-alcoholic drinks after. She was really tired and I think anything remotely resembling alcohol entering her system would have resulted in knocking her out. Besides really liking the pattern, this is what she said about it: According to her, she's the cat and I'm the sheep and Woei Yang, a close guy friend of ours is the flower. Hmm... Oookay... wonder how much sleep she needs to catch up on.

On another note, I've been busy catching up (or at least trying to catch up) with the EMS Cross Stitch Board Seasonal Topiaries SAL that I've been participating in. I think I'm behind. Or am I on time? Not too sure about that but I know I'm definitely not early. Anyway, pictures of my day to day progress can be found at my Webshots. Am too lazy to upload it here. This series is a downloadable freebie by Passione Ricamo. However, I don't know when it will be taken off the website so better download it while you still can. I've been so busy with RRs and exchanges that it feels good to be working on something that is completely mine for a change. However, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy working on those as well. I do too, very much in fact.

3 French Hens

The third in Margaret Sherry's 12 Days of Christmas series, here is my 3 French Hens for Jackie's RR. It's stitched on 28 count cream gold fleck evenweave. Many stitchers might think that this fabric is more challenging to stitch on as the flecks disguises the holes but personally, I don't find that a problem. I still love the delicate sparkle of the fabric and this pattern is a pleasure to stitch.

Don't you think she's cute? (Though to me at least, it looks more like a he.) She looks like she's toasting us with her wine glass, inviting us for a meal. The french knots for her eyes are missing though because Jackie's going to replace them with beads when the RR returns home. It somehow gives the appearance that her eyes are covered by her feathers (sort of like a shaggy dog whose eyes are never visible under all that long fur).

I nearly forgot to stitch my name and country as per Jackie's instructions. Luckily, I refered to Jackie's letter once again before packing it up. After more than a week of dragging my feet (or should I say hands) on this one, now it's done and ready to be mailed out. Think I'll drop it off at the post office tomorrow even though the posting date is not for another two weeks. However, the timing should be perfect for it will need about two weeks of travelling time before reaching its next destination - Canada, into Alli's care.

Round Robins Update

Ok, finally I have something more to show. Here are some updates on a couple of round robins that I'm currently in. This Winter Postcard by Passione Ricamo is stitched for my "Seasonal Postcards" round robin with the Malaysian Stitchers group. It is due to be sent out on 22nd March so I'm glad I've got it done and ready to be mailed out. There are four of us in this round robin - Aida, Margaret, Rozita and me. Sadly, this postcard series is no longer available as a downloadable freebie but the good news is that it will be published in The World of Cross Stitching magazine sometime this year so keep your eyes peeled for it.

Next is this adorable cat in "Purr-suit" of a bird by Margaret Sherry. After much pondering, debating and proscrastinating, I managed to make up my mind and stitched this design for Wendy's "Funny Cats" round robin. There are minimal floss blending required for this pattern which is great for me to practice with as it is my first experience with that. Since it's a Heritage Stitchcrafts' design which is famous for its squashed stitches, having to poke in between the Aida blocks is somewhat difficult but I got used to it after a while.

There was six of us at first but unfortunately, Cindy had to pull out because she has Carpal Tunnel, causing her hand to go numb which in turns, affects her stitching. Thus, the remaining five are Charity, Lene, Sherryn, Wendy and of course, me. It's scheduled to be sent out on 15 April so I'm rather early with this round robin but considering that I've had it for a long, long time now (more than a month, aiks!) it's way past time I finish stitching it. Wendy, here's what your RR looks like at this stage. Hope you like it!

My First Cattitudes

This is my very first cattitudes design that I've stitched. It's for my very good friend, Adeline's birthday this year. She was my ex boyfriend's sister's online friend's girlfriend. Have I confused you enough? LOL! Anyway, we hit it off right from the moment we met and it's been more than 5 years since then. She has always been there for me through the thick and thin, the high and low and everything in between. Even when I was away in Australia for a year, we still keep in touch.Thus, thought I'll make something extra special for her birthday this year. I choose this pattern mainly because she's crazy about cats and Margaret Sherry's Cattitudes certainly top the list of cutest cats in cross stitch. And I doubt I need to explain why I choose this particular sign. Obviously, it's because she's an Aries.

Now, I have a question for all of you... Do you believe in the horoscope? Me, I do and I don't. I don't because so far, not that I read it often but whenever I do, the predictions of what's gonna happen to me each day/week/month has never been true. Yet, I do too because I have found the character and personality description of each sign to be mostly accurate. Also, how else do you explain that most of my close friends are all fire signs with a few air signs? It's said that these two signs are most compatible with each other compare to water and earth signs. Coincidence? Maybe, but there always the possibility of something more than that...

12 Days of Christmas

I know, I know, Christmas is over and it's just the beginning of a New Year, especially for me, a Chinese, who's still in the middle of celebrating Chinese New Year. However, for the participants of the Margaret Sherry Round Robin, we're just getting started with her 12 Days of Christmas design. There are 11 of us altogether - Allison, Angie, Jackie, Kathy (our organiser), Kirsty, Lynn, Marilyn, Marion, Priscilla, Sarah and me. There was supposed to be 12 of us but because of personal reasons, she had to pulled out. Maybe someone might want to help me stitch the last pattern when the piece comes back to me in April next year?

Anyway, first off, there's "A Partridge in A Pear Tree". Now, this piece is very special to me because believe it or not, this is my first time stitching on evenweave. I can tell you, I was rather nervous trying something new and I lost count of the number of tips and guides I read before starting on it. It took a lot of getting use to but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't that different from stitching on aida. I'll confess that I felt rather apprehensive after signing up for the RR, wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew but now I'm confident that I can handle it. I really like the more refined look evenweave shows off a pattern so I just might start stitching on evenweave more. This piece is also more challenging than what I've tried before because of the many fractional stitches. Still, it turned out fine and I'm very happy with it.

Next is "2 Turtle Doves" which I stitched for Kathy. This time, it's gold fleck evenweave which once again, is something totally new for me. That's the intersting part of this RR. I get to try out different types of fabric. Managed to finish this pattern in 4 days which is a lot quicker compared to the previous pattern. I really like the effect of the gold flecks on the fabric, reflecting both colour and light, turning the pattern to live. Too bad this type of fabric is not yet available in Malaysia or I just might be tempted to buy it for my next project, whatever that might be. Hmm... then again, there's always the option of shopping online... *wicked grin* 

By the way, in case you're wondering, contrary to much popular belief, the 12 Days of Christmas are not the 12 days before Christmas, but in most of the Western Church are the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th). According to legend, the 12 Days of Christmas song originated in England as a coded reference to important articles of the Christian faith in the 16th century, during the religious wars when Christianity was forbidden. The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor but to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. Here are the 12 symbols along with the meanings: 

• A Partridge in A Pear Tree - Jesus Christ, the Son of God 
• 2 Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testament 
• 3 French Hens - The 3 Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope and Love) 
• 4 Calling Birds - The 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) 
• 5 Gold Rings - The first 5 books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch"(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) 
• 6 Geese A-Laying - The 6 Days of Creation 
• 7 Swans A-Swimming - The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Prophecy, Ministry, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, and Compassion) 
• 8 Maids A-Milking - The 8 Beatitudes (Blessed are the poor in spirit, Those who mourn, The meek, Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, The merciful, The pure in heart, The peacemakers, Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake) 
• 9 Ladies Dancing - The 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control) 
• 10 Lords A-Leaping - The 10 Commandments 
• 11 Pipers Piping - The 11 Faithful Apostles (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James bar Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas bar James) 
• 12 Drummers Drumming - The 12 points of Doctrine in the Apostles' Creed 

Hope you found that as interesting as I did.