April 10, 2009

I settled in for my dialysis treatment and realized I forgot my book! For some reason I took my stitching bag with me, so I picked up my Patriotic Hearts & Sampler Stitches WIP and was able to stitch today! My mood immediately improved and I kept myself occupied for the remainder of my treatment.

After dialysis I went home to pick up Kasey so that we could go to the bonus night of stitching at Borders Books. The ladies decided they wanted an extra night to get together and I was more than happy to hear it. Carol was able to make it, so I was not the only stitcher among the knitters and crocheters.

Since it was Friday night, Borders was open til 11pm so we even had an extra hour of stitching time, although Carol and I seemed to be the only ones in it for the long haul. By 10:15 we were on our own. I'm happy to say that I made great progress today!

I completed the red stripes on the flags and began stitching the large cross stitches at dialysis. I finished the large cross stitches, stitched the upright crosses, and started on the Mosaic stitches at Borders. By the time we left, I had three Mosaic stitches left to do in one box and only four more boxes, total, remaining to complete the design.

April 6, 2009

Since I was on such a roll when the clock struck midnight I kept right on stitching...until 3am when I realized I had a 10am Embroiderer's Guild (EGA) meeting in Ellicott City. UGH! Of course I couldn't fall asleep right away so I only got about six hours of sleep this morning.

I was able to complete the border of Patriotic Hearts & Sampler Stitches and the T stitches in boxes 1 and 25 before going to bed. I was about 20 minutes late but, lucky for me, so were they. It was just starting when I arrived.

I continued working on PH&SS and did almost all of the blue parts of the hearts. I just have two more to do. I was very happy with the progress I've made.

I have made a couple changes to the designer's recommendations. It calls for cream evenweave but I'm using Antique White, and I replaced the Ecru Perle cotton with DMC 712 Perle because those were in my stash. I did a comparison of the 712 and Ecru using my color card and the difference is barely distinguishable. I also decided to use an overdye in place of the DMC 3033. I'm going with GAST Parchment instead.

On the way home from the meeting, Kasey and I went to WalMart and the optician to look for reading/sunglasses for the retreat. We stopped in next door to the pharmacy so that I could pick up more eye drops that the opthomologist prescribed and then we went home. I had about an hour to rest and eat before leaving for dialysis.

I was so exhausted from lack of sleep and being out and about this morning I could barely keep my eyes open towards the end of my treatment. When I got home I planned on going directly to sleep but remembered that I had a book on hold at the library I needed to pick up. Kasey and I also went to Walgreen's in Edgewater to check for the reading/sunglasses while we were out but did not find them there, either. If you know of a place that sells 1.0 diopter reading/sunglasses (no bifocals, please), PLEASE let me know! They don't sell them around Annapolis that I've found.

I rounded out my busy day with a relaxing evening, sitting in my chair, watching television, and playing MahJong. It's amazing how much time you lose when you're playing a game like that. Even as tired as I was, I stayed up past midnight.

April 4-5, 2009

I was home all weekend with nothing really to do. Did I put in lots of stitches on Don't Bug Me? Nope! Not a cotton' pickin' one! I watched the Last five movies in the "Love Comes Softly" series on Hallmark Channel. The newest installment to the saga was "Love Takes Wing." I have to admit that the first two movies are my favorite of the series.

So today, Sunday, I still couldn't get excited about DBM. I couldn't even make myself pick up a needle and work on it. I saw the writing on the wall. It's happened before. When I am not excited about a project I stop stitching. Period. It can last days, weeks, or even months.

I was heading into another stitching slump. To stop it in its tracks, I started a new project. I know I said I wouldn't start anything new until my gameboard was finished, but it was either that or not stitch at all. I couldn't risk that so I began working on "Patriotic Hearts & Sampler Stitches" by Sekas & Co. The chart and Waterlilies flosses were a birthday present from Kathy Y, a friend from Heirloom Stitchers. It's full of embroidery stitches in addition to cross stitch, so is providing enough variety to keep me motivated.