Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A stitch at a time

I inherited a huge* amount of cross stitch stuff from Alex's mom. I'm hoping to finish and frame any of the things she started and send out pieces to the family.
Unfortunately, it was unexpected and I have pretty much no notes, so a lot of it is quite confusing.
I have threads of all sorts, with various labels. I have half finished pieces with no floss, pattern, or purpose.
But I'm still looking forward to it all! I've even put aside the socks I was knitting (though I still carry them everywhere to sneak a few stiches here and there- I don't like to transport embroidery).
The first thing I picked out... well to be honest the first thing I picked up just needed me to finish the last lines- but not being able to pick a color, I set it back down.
The second choice seemed a good choice: I had the pattern, what looked like the original thread, and she had started much of it.

I spent about an hour untangling that original thread, and it didn't even match up- the front illustration is very blue, but it's all greens. One very thick skein of green doesn't seem to have a place in this, and I can't tell if it's variegated or if it's sun bleached!
Of course, as soon as I was a few stiches in, I notice that there's so many errors- it's one of those Celtic knotwork things with a big thick border... so the miscounts aren't easy to fudge. When everything is symmetrical with big lines, I can't just stretch the pattern out here and there.
It's been great fun so far, though. Nice for sitting inside in these cold days in front of the big screen :)

*seriously huge to me. I thought it was a small box so I set aside things I'd like or friends might. The rest went to charity. I think there was two unfinished items. Some hours later we found a large Rubbermaid bin, a medium bin, a handful of small boxes, and bags of needlepoint stuff. Much of it was given away to stitch-happy friends and family.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

I present unto to you... a bunny!

I forgot to mention we've inherited three bunnies! This one is the fluffiest one!
They survived a trip of several states, bouncing around in a crowded pickup truck (which kept their water bottles dribbling), sharing house and hotel room with curious dogs... tomorrow they go to the bunny vet and we start building then a hutch. They'll get a few weeks to heal as needed, introductions start, and hopefully they can all be housed together in the hutch.
Bunnies!