Need a Change

I need a change from Peacock Tapestry. I started working on the tail, but I noticed a pain in my neck from sitting at my desk. So I decided to take a break and pull out another WIP. Here is where I last stopped:

The WIP I pulled out is Bramble & the Rose. It's been a long time since I've worked on it (not since July, around the time when I picked up Peacock Tapestry). I put in some stitches this weekend:

Before

After

After comparing the two pictures, it doesn't look like much progress lol.

Quick Update

I finished the trunk on Peacock Tapestry. Here is how it looks now:

I already started stitching on the Peacock's tail yesterday. I'm stitching with blending filaments for the first time. I read Teresa Wentzler's Miscellaneous Tips page before starting Peacock Tapestry to see what she recommends on metallics. One of her tips was to cross stitch as usual but then go over the top leg of the completed stitch with the blending filament. This was a great tip, because she is right the filament does stretch and is very hard to manipulate. I can't imagine having to stitch it in combination with the other threads. It would have been a complete nightmare. I was glad to see that there were only 3 symbols that required the blending filament.

I see a Partridge

I finally took a picture of my progress on Peacock Tapestry. I had a hard time stopping on this one. I just kept going and going.

3 weeks ago

Now

Most of the backstitch is done on the leafs. There are a few left that overlap with the peacock's tail, so I'm leaving them for later. What I'm stitching right now is the trunk which is in section 9.

Crochet Pincushion

I saw this last year on Ravelry and I always wanted to try it out:

The designer, Kara Lyon, basically covered a Dritz Tomato pincushion with crocheted thread. I decided to do the same, but I wanted mine to look like this pincushion by Sandra Paul:

So mixing the two together, you go from this ugly color:

Before

After

I wanted to make the body white, but I figured that would get dirty. I had to modify the template to work with the pincushion but the top part of it is exactly like same as Sandra Paul's. The strawberry looks a little sad though, it needs more color. 

September TUSAL

Even more Peacock Tapestry! These are threads from the border and the bottom grass section (although you can't really see the green thread).

I keep meaning to post an update picture for Peacock Tapestry but every time I get to a good stopping point, I forget and keep going. I am half way through section 11.

Fall Cleaning

I know it's typically spring cleaning, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I decided to use Labor day weekend to finally organize all my stitching and crochet stash. They have been living in a box at the bottom of my closed (thread) or in plastic shopping bags (yarn).

I remember reading a post somewhere mentioning hardware stores, so I shopped online on local hardware stores to figure out what would best fit my needs.

I found this at Reno-Depot under Toolbox and Storage Organizers. The price was pretty reasonable and the drawers were wide enough to hold a DMC skein without bending it too much.

The stash you see below is what I bought from my 2010 trip to Morocco (best stash enhancement trip ever!!) I had just started cross stitching and my cousin took me to the fabric market in Casablanca. I'll try to upload the pictures I took in the market.

Before

After

It took me an entire day, but It's done. I even emptied my ArtBin super slim satchel. The DMC boxes that you see in the before picture are still in their box. I just put them all together in the cardboard box you see there. I re-used the plastic container to store the yarn that were in plastic bags.

It's not perfect, but it's getting there. I still have a yarn that is not properly stored and I think I should get more plastic containers for other stitching accessories. For now the next shopping expedition is for a proper desk light and chair. The light I'm using now is not strong enough for stitching and the chair is too low for my desk.