Stitch from Stash temptations!

Yesterday I was really tempted to splurge on some patterns. I discovered FireWing Designs and, well... they're stunning!

And then there's Ink Circle's new design Lunation.

I love it! Especially since there's an Australian Earth view (we often miss out... :()

But did I succumb? No! Well, not yet. :P

How is everyone else going with their Stitch from Stash resolutions?

The year marches on

How on earth is it March already? I feel like it was November just yesterday! I've been stitching a little on this guy lately. It's hard to tell what he is at the moment, but he's a tropical fish of some manner. I can't remember what exactly. :P Progress is a little slow, as the chart is difficult to follow. I think it was made by hand on a computer using Wingdings. The symbols are things like glasses, book, telephone... They're challenging to read at a glance and I'm constantly checking and double checking.

I'm not looking forward to the beads and metallic thread. Those do not frog so easily. :S

Enlighten has just started. It's a light-based festival in the heart of the city, where the major attractions are lit at night with beautiful, dynamic designs. Below is Questacon, the national science museum, in beautiful blue crystals.

And this is the National Portrait Gallery, in a lovely ruins style slowly being overgrown by greenery.

There's also lots of performances, live music, food and general frivolity. :)

Stitch from Stash February

I finally did, it woohoo! The Lookout is now at 3/4 finished. :D

In the last month I also had my first finish for the year.

And this month I spent $2 on stash. I found some lovely beads at an op shop that I just couldn't pass up.

I'm doing pretty well with this challenge. Only $2 spent this year. Lots of temptations though. :)

Oh my stars and garters, she finished something!

Yes, that's right! Here it is!
 

A little owl from a kit that came with Cross Stitcher #270. I subscribe to CrossStitcher digitally so I don't often get the kits, but there's a newsagent in my city who (cough cough illegally) sells bits and pieces that fall off magazines, and they sometimes have crafty kits.

This was an interesting stitch. The kit came with water soluble waste canvas, which I hadn't seen before. I lot easier than normal waste canvas, but tricky to stitch on during an Australian heat wave! It started to weaken a little from the moisture on my hands.

No plans for this little guy. I'm too busy happy dancing. :D

February WIPocalypse

Here's some before and after photos for the WIPocalypse stitch currently in my Qsnaps.

 

As you can see... they're exactly the same! No progress for me. :P Maybe next month?

This month's question is: How many projects do you generally feel comfortable having in progress at a time?  Tell us about your one-at-a-time or rotation habits!

I am.. a small scale rotator? I like having more than three but less than six largeish WIPs on the go at once, and up to three or so smaller WIPs for quick or in hand stitching. I get really stressed out if I have too many projects on the go (it's the control freak in me) and I get pretty disenchanted when I haven't had a finish in a while.

I used to be a hardcore rotator, with a stopwatch and printed rotation list, set time limits... but I don't have the energy for that kind of regulation anymore. So I guess that makes me a screaming rotator. :)

How about you guys? Do you have closets full of WIPs, or are you a monogamous stitcher?  

A little experiment

One of the reasons I moved my blog is to re-purpose slightly. I'm planning on developing some hand dyed fabrics to sell on Etsy. I've really enjoyed the business organisation process so far, even setting up bank accounts and reading tax laws!

But the most fun part has been paying with paint and fabric. I made these three samples below, using the same paint but different techniques. Which one do you guys like?



I'm a fan of the bottom fabric, because I like gradual variations in my colour. But I can also see some patterns where the middle one might be great. I'm not sure on the top one.

Do you have a favourite? I'd love to hear feedback so I can keep experimenting away. :D

No nothing

Ah, it's been a while and still not much is happening. It's still way too hot. My city's had a record number of days over 35C/95F this summer. Work turned off the air con over the weekend and my lovely peace lily suffered. 



It's come right back after a day of careful watering, which makes me happy. :)

 I'm in the process of moving this blog to Blogger. Wordpress is a far better system, but all the stitchy bloggers are over on Blogger, and the system's no-reply comments thing is getting annoying.

I hope you're all keeping cool (if you're Australian), warm (if you're American), dry (if you're British) and sane (if you're human :P).