Late, late, late TUSAL

And it’s not because I forgot!  I actually took a picture on time, but it’s taken me until now to convince my laptop that it needs to talk to the camera and to convince the camera to let the laptop look at the pretty pictures stored inside.  It hasn’t been a pretty discussion.  But I managed to talk the warring parties into a peace treaty for long enough to grab the photo I needed:

 

I’ve added a fair bit of red to the jar as I’ve been plowing my way through Cdc.  There’s very little left to finish now – just two big motifs in the center and it’ll finally be done.  Since I’m enjoying it so much, I have a feeling I’ll drop everything else to finish it off.  No update picture of it today, though.  You’ll have to wait for it’s beauty shot when I finish it.

 

Off to play with CdC some more!

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What Have I Been Up To?

Well, not much actually.... Last week was March Break here and we mostly hung out at home and didn't do a heck of a lot. Naturally that translates into extra stitching time for me. The weather has been unusually warm for this time of year - I've never run around in a T-shirt in March before, so we've been outside enjoying the gorgeous sunshine too!

I've been working on my Kimono, but my progress has definitely slowed as of late. I finished the braided fence pattern (including all the compensating stitches) that makes up the bulk of the kimono. Now I need to fill in the empty canvas spaces with a combination of Silk Mori and Kreinik Blending Filament. I'm attempting to lay the fibres - have you ever tried to lay BF? Painful does not even begin to describe the process. I love the sparkle it adds, but it may kill me to get it all done. Hence why progress has slowed on this piece. Once I get the Silk/BF done too, I'll be moving onto a relatively complex part of this piece which has me a little worried. Mostly, I think I just need to read and re-read the directions, then put on my big-girl panties and do it. I think my dread of the next part is making me procrastinate... And there's all the BF to deal with first.... Anyway, here's the Kimono today:

So, since the kimono was giving me fits, I went back to one of my dragons and finished her (and her offspring):

Treasure Them Now...Or Eat Them!

Designed by J.L. Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

Stitched on 28-count Lambswool Jobelan with recommended fibres

This piece stitched up super-fast and was lots of fun. I enjoyed watching all the little baby dragons emerge. All the backstitch on this piece just about drove me round the bend - I think I spent close to 10 hours doing all the backstitch - but it's soooo worth it.

And since I was avoiding the Kimono, CdC came out to play and I've made a great leap forward on it. Stitching with only one fibre sure does speed up the process. I had to go buy more floss today though - I'm on my last skein and there's still a good bit of stitching to do. Here's Cdc in all it's glory:

Sorry for the dark & wonky & wrinkly pictures - still no iron and I forgot to take pictures earlier today when the light was better.

I've also got a new creature taking up space here - a little hermit crab that my youngest has named Phil:

He's really quite friendly and enjoys exploring. I'll be using him in one of my science programs as a demonstration of an animal that carries his habitat around with him. I just hope he'll hold off on molting until June - when he's molting, he's not up for public appearances and we've got a busy April & May ahead!

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