I'm stitching again. I got the kitchen clean, and that took care of most of the flies. I'm still working on cleaning, but right now, it's laundry. Once I get all that done, I'll finish super cleaning, but in the meantime, I'm stitching between loads. I knew I had a model on the way, so I didn't want to get back into Tobi's stocking with only a few days to work on it, so I pulled out my Persian Iris Garden. I got part two finished! I've got a model now, though, so it's put away.
I signed up for the Christmas Ornament Exchange on the Needle And Thread Bulletin Board. This will be my first exchange. I think I'll set aside an hour a day to work on it, and spend the rest on the model.
While doing laundry, Darin found a pair of Jymi's socks and decided to wear them. My little kleptomaniac.
Jymi bought me The End, the last book in A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I'm gonna have to get the others and reread them. I forget things, waiting for one of the two copies of each one at the library.
So much for doing better with our money problems. We have to send my dad money because there's still something wrong with our car. On top of that, our computer is on it's last legs. Jymi can get new parts and fix it for relatively cheap, but it's still more money than we have. Jymi and I also discussed getting me a laptop. It's still a big if, but since I mainly want one to write and play games on, I don't need lots of extras. Jymi found one that was about the same price and the new parts for the old computer, with what I need on it. Maybe after we pay back my mom, and get the insurance and tags for the new car. We've decided Christmas is only for the kids this year. We'll get the boys a new tv for their room, and some clothes, and something for Jymi's sister, and my sister's kids, and that's it. That's going to be all we can afford. Thank goodness the outage is coming up.
Here's this week's SBQ. If you were to come across a sampler chart that caught your eye and appealed to you, would you or would you not stitch it if it had a morbid or “creepy” saying on it? If not, why? I don't really like samplers, so it's not a big issue. Halloween stuff, like Raise The Roof's Sleepy Hollow Sampler, I love! The verse on The Houses Of Hawk Hollow Run ("When I am dead and in my grave, and all my bones are rotten, remember me when this you see list I should be forgotten. Remember me as you pass by, as you are now so once was I, as I am now so must you be, prepare for death and follow me.") really turns me off. Yes we are all going to die one day, but I don't really want to be reminded everyday. What would my kids think reading that? It would scare the hell out of them! As it is, my makes me sick, picture rotting bones in a coffin. Eww.

Labels: Books, Kids, Ornaments, Persian Iris Garden, Real Life Sucks, SBQ

In an effort to get rid of all the $@#&^ flies, I will be cleaning house this week. Not regular housecleaning. I mean cleaning like we were moving; scrubing the floor with a toothbrush, washing the walls with a mop, and throwing out all the junk we keep saving for just-in-case. I am pretty sure we do not need four phone books. So I won't have much stitching time, so no stitching pics. See you soon!

Labels: Real Life Sucks

Thursday sucked. First, I had PMS and not much sleep. Then add a kitchen full of flies that will not die. They're like the hydra. Every time I kill one, three more appear! I am still fighting with them. Then I went to the shop, after Jymi got home, to pick up Tobi's frame. There are two people there; the woman who was rehired when I left because she was the new owner's friend, and the new owner's daughter, who doesn't stitch. She's only working there for extra money, because they're about to lose their house. She always looks mad to be there. They tell me that they've decided not to hang my Hob Nobbs in the shop. Okay, well that kinda sucks, but really pissed me off was that they have had this for a month. They couldn't be bothered to call me. I know they're busy, but it wouldn't have taken two minutes to cal and say, "We changed our mind; we're not going to hang you're Halloween thing. Do you still want us to frame it now, or do you want it back?" I told them to go ahead, so I could still get in with the framing special. If they had called me though, I could've gotten it by Halloween instead of November.
When I came home I was very upset. I was good at my job, and I needed it, and the new owner gave it to two people who don't want to be there and who refuse to learn how to use the framing computer. It took two people fifteen minutes to do something I could do myself in one. I can home and locked myself in the bathroom and cried for a few minutes.
Then I went to cook dinner. After dinner was in the oven and cooking, I came into the living room. I asked Jymi, who had only been fueling the fire by ignoring how upset I was, if he was done with the computer, since he'd logged off, but not shut it down. He asked if I was getting on, and I told him no. I planned to eat and stitch, and I probably wouldn't be on the computer again until morning. He asked me to log on, with this evil look. Oh good. Jymi's downloaded another stupid computer thing I'll have to delete while he's at work. When I log on, a window pops up that says, "I Love you!!" I asked Jymi if he did this or if the computer was sick again. He told me he'd done it, and I started to cry again. It was very sweet, and exactly what I needed. I clicked OK, and thought that would be the end of it. There were seven more, though.
"I really do you know!"
"Even when you think I don't sometimes..."
"probably most of the time..."
"I really do love you!"
"I don't think you really know how much I do."
"Have a good day and don't break my computer!!"
"P.S. Be naked when I get home!!"
He's the sweetest pervert I've ever met, and I've met alot. It's the silly little things that mean the most, and this meant alot. I logged off at least three times Friday, just to read it again.
Tobi's Garfield looks good. Sorry about the flash spot. The pictures I take without the flash always come out blurry. Tobi picked out the frame, and he did a great job.
Jymi has drill all weekend. He left Friday morning, and he won't get home until tomorrow evening. I spent most of the day wasting time on the computer. I started playing The Sims 2 again. I'm currently working on killing off my third generation of aliens, getting the fourth to adults and having children. After the boys went to bed, I stitched a little and watched "Sweeney Todd" until I couldn't stay awake anymore. I finished it this morning, and the boys and I spent the evening watching the movies we'd recorded off of Disney channel this week. It was witch week or something like that. I wanted to see Twitches, and Tobi wanted to see the Halloweentown movies. We watched Twitches (very good) and the first Halloweentown (was good the first twenty times I watched it).
I did finish the background of the shelves on Tobi's stocking, while watching all these movies. Now to fill in all the toys. For the first time with this thing, I feel like I've made some progress.
Tobi and Darin fell asleep during Halloweentown. People always ask me if they're twins, and sometimes it seems like they are. They fell asleep within minutes of each other, in the same position. Every time one rolled over, the other did, too, a few minutes later. I carried Tobi into his bed, and laid him down. He immediately rolled onto his other side. I put Darin in his bed, the same way I did Tobi, and he rolled over, just like Tobi. It never fails to amaze me how much they are the same, and still complete opposites.
When I got on the computer, after putting them to bed, I got a VERY nice surprise in my email. I entered my Hob Nobbs and my Spooky Fence the October contest at the Picture This Plus Yahoo Group. The email said that they just couldn't decide on a winner, so everyone who entered gets an 1/8 yard of their choice of fabrics! I asked for a piece of 32 ct. Crystal Mystic Belfast linen for Raise The Roof's Happy Camper. I wish Just Another Button Company made the face buttons with red hair. All I can find are the yellow hair and the black hair. I was so excited to find I'd won! Sort of. It's not much competition when everybody wins, but I still get a prize! My weekend has much improved from the nasty start Thursday evening. Tomorrow, I'm going to make lasagna for dinner, so I won't have much time to stitch, but it'll be well worth it. Wow. It's after one! Not even close to being tired, but I'll probably try to go to bed soon.

Labels: Fabric Ramblings, Framing, Jymi, Kids, Tobi's Stocking

of my Project Challenge! Sewing counts, so these are my last two! I went to my sister's yesterday to borrow our mom's sewing machine (it's not as weird as it sounds, I promise), and spent the morning sewing together the trick-or-treat bags! Nothing difficult, but I had to make some adjustments. It called for 1/2 inch ribbon, and I bought 5/8 inch. It also said to fold the edge down, and then sew the top down, but to make the adjustment I decided not to fold the top down. It's just more work, and while the inside seam would've looked nicer, Tobi and Darin won't notice, and it's just for one night a year.
Tobi's getting excited about going trick-or-treating, with his new costume and bag. His costume came yesterday, with an extra set of glasses. We opened it to try it on, and Jymi had to take Tobi's picture. His glasses are a little bug, but we can put some masking tape on them to keep them from slipping down, and make them even more like Harry Potter's.
I'm still working on Tobi's stocking, and it finally feels like I'm making progress. I had to buy another couple of skeins, neither of which was the color it says I'll need two of. It's all good though. I hoping to finish all the background of the shelves this weekend. The toys on the shelves won't take long at all.
I got my piece of Carnival for my fabric of the month. I considered using it for Halloween Fairy, but it just doesn't call to me. So I think I'll stitck to the kit fabric. It's boring, but it's easy. I found the other two on ebay for ten dollars each, but now they're up to thirty, and I can't afford that. Oh well. I also got the fabric and buttons for World Juggling Day. They're very cute. The fabric's much prettier in person, too.
Here's this week's SBQ.Which way do you stitch, i.e. do you stitch /// followed by \\\ on top, or the other way around \\\ followed by ///? Are you left- or right-handed and do you think that this affects the way that you stitch? I do /\/\/\. I cross each stitch as I go, for the most part. I do bottom left to top right (/) first though, if that makes it any clearer. I think it does make a difference being right or left handed, which is more natural. My mom and I are both right handed, and we stitch the same way. My sister is left handed, and all her stitches go the opposite direction. I think anyone could do it either way, but you may be more inclined to go one particular way.

Labels: Kids, SBQ, Tobi's Stocking

by Sharon
The rules; List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.
Ordinary Fool, from the Bugsy Malone Soundtrack
Stay Together For The Kids, Blink 182
To Be With You, Hoobastank
Jinx, Green Day
Rock Show, Blink 182
Feelin' This, Blink 182
Love Is A Battlefield, Pat Benetar
I don't think seven people read my blog, so I'm not going to tag specific people! If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged!

Labels: Fun Stuff

Jymi got paid both his regular check, plus two of his five days away. He made more in those two days then his regular four day week! I was able to pay all the bills, give my mom some of the money we owed her, order Tobi's costume, get groceries, and we still had enough money to buy Jymi a DVD he wanted, Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties for the boys, and I got my fabric of the month from Shakespeare's Peddler!
It helped get me back in the mood to stitch, too! I haven't wanted to because of all the other stress, but I feel sooo much better now!
I finished all the stitching on my ornament; all that's left is to attatch the buttons. I ordered them with my fabric, and they should be here today or tomorrow. I decided to go ahead and finish finishing my Snowfight ornaments, and when I finished those, I forgot why I was waiting to finish Arm And A Leg until I had sewn it together. Because of the way it's done, I think I can still do it. Darin like them; he keeps wearing them as bracelets. The picture shows the backs, too.
Saturday, I was going to sew the trick-ot-treat bags together, until I had a good look at my sewing machine. I knew Darin had taken all the extra bobbins and feet out of the storage compartment, but he also broke a couple important parts off. I'll borrow my mom's later this week, but that ruined anymore stitching Saturday.
I worked on Tobi's stocking Sunday. Both Jymi and I weren't feeling well, so we spent most of the day taking turns taking naps. About seven though, Jymi was sleeping, and Darin had gone to bed/time out, and Tobi wanted to watch a movie. He wanted to watch Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties AGAIN, but I vetoed that idea. I had recorded Hocus Pocus off of Disney channel, and convinced Tobi we should watch the witch movie. This Garfield was better than the first, but I can't watch it everyday. So we watched Hocus Pocus, and since I've seen it a hundred times (my favorite Halloween movie since it came out in 1993), I could devote the mojority of my attention to my stitching. I feel like I got a good bit done for only about two hours. Here's the picture of the shelves before last night. Tobi liked the movie, too, but I had to explain most of it to him. "Where'd the boy go?" "The cat can talk?" "Is the little girl dead?" "The zombie's a good guy?" It was hard to explain the ending. Normally when two caracters walk off into the sunset (or sunrise in this case), you can say, "They lived happily ever after," but when they're dead, it doesn't seem quite right. He enjoyed it though. Right after the movie he went to bed and Jymi woke up. We spent some nice alone time together. Jymi went back to bed around midnight, and when I went to bed at two, he still couldn't sleep. Poor thing. Anyway. I'm going to get something to eat, and then back to the stocking!
One more thing. I have figured out how to leave comments again.

Labels: Ornaments, Tobi's Stocking

It's getting late here, but I wanted to get this in quick. It's past midnight, and I still want to watch Lost before I got to bed.
As we all know, stitching in the winter can really be rough on the hands. What do you do to treat your hands well in the cold winter months? Do you have any suggestions for creams or soaps? Or perhaps a special regimen that you would like to share?
To be perfectly honest, I don't have that big of a problem with dry hands. I get them in winter, but it doesn't really bother me much. When it does, I use Sew Help Me Hand Cream. It's made to be non-greasy, and not come off on your work. Wow, I sound like a comercial! The office manager at the shop gave everybody a tube of it last Christmas, and I love it. That is saying alot, because unlike every other woman I know, I don't like lotion. Our bathroom is full of it. Everyone in Jymi's family always gets me smell good stuff for Christmas, and I'll use sprays and shower gels (if Jymi doesn't use them all first), but the lotion sits there until I get sunburned. (I'm always so worried about making sure Jymi and the boys are coated, I forget to sunscreen on myself). Anyway, that's it for tonight. Nighty-night!

Labels: SBQ

I love my children. I really do. There are days, though, when I just want to lock myself in the bathroom and cry.
Understandably, Darin is jealous of all the extra attention Tobi's getting form potty training. He spends most of the day glued to my hip, but it's gotten worse. He keeps dumping out the cat's water, spilling his drinks, and putting his toys in the sink. (That's Doc Oct and Chicken Little in the pot I made mac and cheese in for lunch.) A week ago, he dipped a car in his milk and dripped it all over the house. I knew he had gotten it on the top of one of my cross stitch carts, and I cleaned it up. Yesterday, as we're running out the door, I notice all these bugs in the top drawer of this specific cart. So I open it to try to figure out why. Evidently, the day Darin got milk on top of my cart, the top drawer was open and he got it inside, too. The entire bottom of the drawer was nasty!
Luckily, all my threads (this is my DMC drawer) are in ziplock bags, which are also in ziplock bags. So I threw away the big bags because they had milk on them, but the little bags were fine. I then took the drawer outside and sprayed it down with window cleaner, and put in in the tub. I washed it out, and it still smelled funky. Then it occured to me to use dishwashing soap. It gets milk out of cups, why not drawers. So I filled it up and let it soak in the tub. Tinkerbell was not at all pleased. She also follows me everywhere (she and Darin are me entourage, I guess), including the bathroom. She always jumps in the tub, first thing. She was not happy when she almost landed in the drawer full of water. It's all clean now, and smells fine. I'm going to organize and put all my threads back tonight, after I get home. I babysit my neice every Tuesday so she doens't have to go to boy scouts with her brother.

I frogged and restitched my ornament last night. I got a good bit more of it done, too. It's on sprakly fabric, but you can't see it in the picture. I'd say I could finish it today, but Jymi's coming home. He spent the weekend working at a different plant, which will be some nice extra money. He worked nights though, so he's not going to be in a good mood when he gets home. He's going to want my attention when he gets home, and I'll want his, and then with babysitting this evening I don't know how much stitching I'll get in today. I could get my lazy butt off the computer and stitch now, though, I guess.

Labels: Kids, Ornaments

I also made cranberries and cinnamon sticks. I finished the top this morning! It's gone slow. I can't explain it, but the rest I think will go faster.
I'm going to take a short break from this to finish my "potty project." I started And Arm And A Leg from the ornament issue last week, when I was still spending the majority of the day sitting in the tub, waiting for Tobi to go potty. That was the day the switch flipped in Tobi's head, and he doesn't need me in there anymore. When he has to go, he tells me, goes, washes his hands, and that's the end of it. YAY!!!!!!!!!!
I got twenty-two stitches in my ornament (two rows of eleven), and then I realized I had the fabric going the wrong way. If I keep stitching the way it is, I won't have enough fabric to stretch it when it's through.
Last Friday, Tobi and I took his Garfield to be framed. I also got some boards to finish my Snowfight ornaments, and to finish off An Arm And A Leg, once I get it stitched. All I need now is the money to buy the DMC Light Effects packs, and use a couple to make cording. Of course I want them all anyway, and all I need is the excuse. I've got the excuse now to get a pack or two at least.
I heard that Hoffman is sold out of the Halloween Fairy kit. I've already thanked Jymi for telling me to go ahead and get it when he did. This makes me feel like I have to get the other two now, though. There's the challenge though, and the fact that I don't have any money. If I finish my ornament, count sewing together the three off them, and the trick-or-treat bags, that will finish off the challenge for me! Then I just have my mom pay me instead of putting the money towards rent, and I can have them. Oh well. I will get them eventually.
Anyway, now I'm trying hard to fight the urge to start my fairy. I was planning to do them all on the fabric they come with, but I may switch it out after all. I've got an extra piece of Highland, which I think would look good with Christmas Elf Fairy, a very light piece of Glory for Easter Fairy, and a piece of Carnival on the way which Halloween Fairy may look good on. I'll have to wait until I have them all to decide, with the threads to do a floss toss, though.
One last note. I've sitched to beta blogger, so if I don't leave comments on your blog anymore, please don't take it personally. I'm still reading, but it won't let me leave comments.

Labels: Fabric Ramblings, Ornaments, Tobi's Stocking

Ive got two SBQs I haven't answered yet.
How many pieces have you stitched? Out of these, how many have been for you? How many have had specialty stitches or other techniques besides cross stitch?
I've stitched sixty-nine pieces total, that I could remember. Thirty-seven of them are mine, nine were shop models, ten were designer models, one someone asked for, one someone paid me to do, six are gifts I gave away, and five are gifts that still live in my house (for Jymi or the boys). I also have one I've finished, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. Of those, three have had specialty stitches. My garden has alot, but it's nowhere near finished yet.
When you find yourself making a lot of mistakes in various stitching projects do you find it better to muddle your way through or do you take a brief break from stitching? If you do take a break, how long do you take? I usually make mistakes because I'm tired or distracted, so I usually take a break. It's something I learned playing video games. If I'm having trouble with something, I put it down, and try again the next day. Usually, then I can do it, no problems. Now if I'm bored with a project, I do best if I muddle through, because if I take a break, I'll never work on it again. Which is why I'm not starting anything new right now.
I've made a little progress on Tobi's stocking, but not enough to warrant a picture. I've gone back to staying up late, because it's the only time I can stitch. I picked up my stitching for the first time yesterday at about 11:30 at night. I spent most of the day in the bathroom with Tobi. The good news: yesterday he had less accidents than sucesses. We've been doing good today, too. Jymi and I had a fight about it last night, because I felt like he wasn't helping enough. He doesn't understand why he should sit with Tobi the whole time, and I can quite find the right words. After my sore butt yesterday (from sitting on/in the bathtub), I've decided to put Jymi's comforter in the tub to make it more comfy. (I'm still a little mad at him.) I'm going to take some stitching in with me next time. The stocking's too big, so I think I'm going to kit up an ornament. I was going to take the Dragon Dreams Halloween freebie from the newsletter, but my printer's out of ink.
Tobi's not fighting me to go potty as much as before. We now only have to sit for a few minutes, too, instead of an hour, waiting. Darin's getting jealous of all this extra attention Tobi's getting, so I don't think he'll be far behind. The day I don't have to buy diapers anymore seems almost in sight!

My goals for September were: finish the Simple Stitches Village Of The Month Haunted House, start and finish Gill's Puzzle Cow, start and finish Greta the Witch and Vince VamPyre and take the whole thing in to be framed, sew together the rest of my Christmyth ornaments, start and finish any models I get, and work on Tobi's Garfield with any extra time. I finished the house, the Puzzle Cow and a Rainbow Cow, too. I got all my Hob Nobbs stitched up, and they're at the framer. I got all my ornaments together. I got two sets of models, and finished them both (no pics yet, sorry). Better than getting a little done in my spare stitching time, I finished Garfield! I also finished Snowfight: Blue, on the last day of the month! All in all, I think I've done pretty well this month.
My goals for October are going to be pretty short. Stitch any models I get, and work on Tobi's stocking. Specifically, I want to get the cuff and the top shelf stitched. There's a reason this keeps getting put away. I've been getting a headache every time I pick it up. If I get really desperate, I'll stop and stitch an ornament, but I'd like to keep pushing through this one.
I don't have as much stitching time right this minute, as I usually do. I spent half my day yesterday tring to get Tobi to potty. I couldn't. He wore big boy underwear, and he didn't care when it was wet. At dinner, Jymi gave him two full glasses of iced tea, and then took him to the bathroom. After half an hour, he asked me to bring him some water. Another hour later, with Tobi syaing, "I just can't take it anymore," and, "Where's my brother? I want my brother!" he finally went potty! I was sooooooo happy! I know there's still a long way to go, but it is so great to have made a start. I also have to get up with Jymi in the morning, to make sure I'm up when Tobi gets up. Which means I have to go to bed early, and give up my late night stitching. I get so much stitching done between nine and midnight, after Jymi and the boys go to sleep. I'll gladly give it up if we can get this potty training down, though!

Jymi and I spent the weekend watching the third and fourth disc of the second season of Lost. We haven't had the money to buy it yet, so we've been getting them form Netflix. Jymi wouldn't let me have his next rental so I could have all of season two rewatched before the new one on Wednesday, so I changed it so I get two rentals. So I'm using mine, I've just got an extra one. Gotta love loopholes. I finished Snowfight: Blue Saturday while watching it. Jymi likes him. I'm going to the shop Saturday for the framing special, and I'll get some mat board to finish them then. I took Garfield in, with Tobi. I pulled a few frames down, and let him pick which one he liked best. I thought the orange one looked very cool, but Tobi picked a small, round, black frame. At least it's a reasonable price.
Saturday, after I finished Snowfight, I taught myself hardanger. At least I taught myself the stitches I need for the few patterns I have that use it. I think it looks pretty good for my first try. Then I picked up Tobi's stocking again. This is all the progress I made on Sunday. It's not much, but this thing always goes slow. I'm hoping to finish the top this week, but it may not happen. If I'm lucky, I may get it done just in time for Christmas.
We're going to try to get Tobi potty trained soon. We been trying not to push too hard, but he's almost five! I know it'll be just like every other accomplishment in Tobi's life. When he's ready, he'll do it perfectly. I'm still not sure he's ready, but it's starting to keep me up at night. Getting him out of the crib was just the same. Darin was starting to get too big for the cradle. It was about time to put him in the crib, but we couldn't until we got Tobi out. After two weeks of me not sleeping because I was so worried, Tobi just climbed into the big boy bed one morning and feel asleep there. That was it. We moved Darin into the crib the next day. I'm still worried that Tobi is not ready. Cross your fingers for all four of us (two struggling parents, the little boy who doesn't want to potty, and the littler boy who's a little jealous of all the attention his brother's getting).