TAST Week 32 (with a Bit of an Unrelated Rant)
My frustration thermometer is spouting red at the top! Why does everything simple have to become so complicated?
I had really hoped to have this summer to do some art and needlework. I was going to do the 21 Secrets art classes this summer. I was going to work on several unfinished needlework projects. It hasn't worked out that way.
If everything had come at once, it would have been better, but it's all been piecemeal over the whole spring and summer and each part takes so much longer than expected. It's all good stuff. I'm happy about it... just not the time it's taking from my art and needlework. By the end of September (I hope!!) I'll have my sewing studio ready to use (started in March--just needs cleaning and organizing), the family room painted with nasty carpet ripped out and a painted floor (started in May --new counter & sink are in), a spa out the back door (this month??), and new kitchen cabinets (September). See? All good. But as of December 2011, the only item on my list was painting the family room. Things just kept snowballing. All good, but still overwhelming.
Not so good was that in May I wrenched my back and have not been able to do as much as I'd like. Painting stopped. Everything is going slower. I'm able to work again now, but have to be cautious and STOP sooner than I'm inclined.
Simple plans for the garden are on hold. Couldn't dig in May/June because of my back and then it got too hot to transplant (and I'm permanently unable to go back to my previous abilites of doing my own digging, lugging and lopping).
And now... I can't find my garden shoes or my big bucket! Where do things go!?!?!?
Oh, well...
On to the more pleasant pursuits...
First, I have a couple from last week's stitch.
Somehow I totally forgot to put this one up last week.
Then I worked on the stitch a bit more, after I posted, and did these:
I like how the look of this stitch can change.
This week was Cast-on stitch. I like doing this one, but my creativity has been rather stopped up by all that's going on. In this first photo I was just trying it out. At some point I wondered how it would work with two threads. I guess it's a different stitch, though. It seems that's one we did in one of the classes I took. Anyway... What I like about using two threads is that if I'm careful about how I alternate the threads, I can get either two layers or a striped layer.
The bottom pink and green stitches are two separate stitches. All the other pink and green are the double stitches.
I lost count on the blue stitches, so they aren't even. The pink blob of stitches under the flower bead (circled in cast-on) was an attempt to make the stitch wider by casting over a tapestry needle in addition to my stitching needle. Not very successful, in my opinion. The dark pink with the pale pink star bead are simply overlapped cast-on stitches.
This is my favorite:
It doesn't look like a whole lot here, but in my head...OH! OK, I'll let you in on it. These are waves. Each wave is two stitches with one end at the same point. I think it works great with the variegated blue thread, though this really calls for blues to greens with some nearly white of each. That would give a sea look. ::sigh:: just notes in my studio journal, along with this doodle, for now.
To see some more great cast-on stitching Check out PinTangle.
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cross posted from Airy Nothing