Knit Sisters

Day 24:  Monday, February 14, 2011.

This is the first day that I haven’t done any stitching.

I took my son to the doctor this afternoon, and on the way home stopped to fill up my car with gas.  Stupidly, I stepped over the gas hose (when the nozzle was in the gas tank of the car), and tripped.  I fell hard, hitting the back of my right thigh on the concrete block the gas pump sits on, twisting my right knee, hitting my right shoulder, and finally hitting my head on the pavement.  I had my sunglasses on, and they were driven into my head above my right eye, earning me a nice cut which of course bled profusely.

As you can imagine, this fall has really slowed me down this week.  I’ve been to the doctor and gotten a CT scan (which was clear), but I’m still hurting pretty good and spending a lot of time in bed sleeping.

But, on the bright side, Monday was the only day that I haven’t done any stitching at all.  I’m working away on Rabbit, mostly.

Days 17 & 18:  Monday & Tuesday, February 7 & 8, 2011.

More plodding away on Raspberry Lemonade.

That’s our kitty Frank, there, helping me out with the photography.  You know, ’cause cats are just oh so helpful when it comes to projects involving string!

There is progress being made, but it’s slow, and I’ve been really tired and grumpy the last couple of days.  I’ve had a bad case of the winter blahs, and my normal reaction to such a mood is to Start a New Project! (on the theory that nothing cheers one up like having a new project!), but I have forbidden myself any starting of new projects while so many old projects remain unfinished.  Bleh.  So I was good girl and worked away on the ol’ Lemonade.

A close-up:

And a close-up of Frank:

Awww.  Isn’t him sweet?!

Days 11 & 12:  Tuesday & Wednesday, February 1 & 2, 2011.

We got hit hard this week by the “Midwest Blizzard,” so I’ve had a great deal of stitching time these past few days.  I couldn’t get to work Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday because of the snow and ice, and my son and I have been hanging out at home not doing much of anything but watching movies on Netflix, eating, and (in my case, at least) stitching.

I switched to working on Rabbit after getting a little weary of Zen Duck, and have gotten quite a bit accomplished. 

The light color is complete on the first page of the chart, and now I am filling in the dark color.

This is soothing work after Zen Duck, with all its many color changes and confetti.  There’s something very satisfying about working in two colors.  It allows me to concentrate more on the physical act of stitching rather than on reading a chart and keeping track of colors.  That might seem boring, I know, but I actually love the physicality of stitching, be it cross-stitch or knitting.  This two-color chart is the equivalent of garter stitch in knitting; it allows the process to take over and the mind to wander.  I can give myself up to the power of the stitch, over and over and over.

Days 7-10:  January 28-31, 2011

I picked up another cross stitch project that I’ve been working on for awhile:  Zen Duck.  This is a chart from Heaven and Earth Designs, and it is beautiful, although maddeningly slow-going.  It has 90 colors in the chart, and lots of “confetti” as cross-stitchers say.  (One or two stitches of a color here and there, as opposed to large blocks of color.)

But I do love the way he stitches up:

You can’t see his hat in this photo, because it is rolled up in the frame, but that, along with his face, is the part that I have completed.

HAED recommends that their designs be stitched over one on 25-count linen, but I am stitching this on 22-count aida, and that is small enough for me right now.

A couple close-ups:

I find I can stitch on this chart for a few days, and then I begin to get a little frustrated and have to turn to something a bit simpler for relief.

Day six:  Thursday, January 27, 2011.

A bit of progress on Raspberry Lemonade:

Days four and five:  Tuesday and Wednesday, January 25 and 26, 2011.

Not too much to report.  Slow progress on Raspberry Lemonade.

I’m thinking I may change things up a bit this weekend and do some knitting.  The question is, what to work on?  The afghan?  The socks?  The baby blanket?  The shawl(s)?  Hmmmmm……

On the other hand, I have some other cross-stitch projects that would be fun to work on as well.  One of them is a two-color project from Artecy called Rabbit, based on a William Morris design.  I’m finding this restful because it is only two colors, so the amount of thinking I have to do is limited to the actual counting of stitches.  And then, of course, once I get the one color stitched, all I have to do is fill in the other color in the empty spots–no looking at the chart at all!

Clearly, I’m in initial stages with this project.  I’m stitching this on an 18-count linen in a dusky blue-grey.  I chose different colors than those in the pattern, and they are rather unconventional–a dark russet brown, and a light mauve-y pink that I really have no name for.  I think that together they look complicated and unexpected, especially combined with the blue-grey fabric.  I’m hoping I will still think so at the ending stages after putting in hours of stitching!

Day three:  Monday, January 24, 2011.

Last night I worked on “Raspberry Lemonade” and watched Anthony Bourdain on the the Travel Channel.  Progress is slow, but steady.

A close-up:

Each of the four corners of the piece is the same, so no surprises here, and I can usually stitch away without much checking of the chart.

Days one and two:  Saturday and Sunday, January 22-23, 2011.

This weekend I worked on a cross-stitch project that I started last summer.  It’s called “Raspberry Lemonade,” and is a design by artfulstitches on etsy.  . 

I really like this woman’s designs, and this is a very nice chart.  I have been eyeballing her other mandala designs ever since I purchased this one last summer.  Like many cross-stitch charts and knitting patterns found online now, this is sent as a pdf file to your email account after you purchase it.

I enjoy the way this chart is actually fairly simple and uses comparatively few colors (few enough to make this a portable project) but looks complicated.  Another nice thing about this design is that, because of its basic geometric design, I don’t have to constantly look at the chart.

Another, closer view:

My goal is to have this project be my first monthly finish of the year.  I’d like to have it done by Feb. 15, 2011.  I’ve decided that since I started by year-long project a little late in January, my goal date for monthly completions is going to be the 15th of each month.

Today:  more work on Raspberry Lemonade.