Where do you stitch?

Question of the week for my Icelandic stitching group, Allt í kross, was about stitching corners/craft rooms. Do you have a specific place where you sit and stitch? Do you sit by a table or do you sit on a couch/chair? How is your setup?

This is where I sit and stitch:

I sit on the long part of the couch with my feet up and the TV is right across from where I sit. My OTT-lite is there and my plastic box of DMC and some scissors.

Right next to the couch is my stash cabinet so I do not have to go very far if I need something or if I am going to pick out a new project 🙂 I am quite happy with my setup, but I would like a good stand. I have it all planned in my head, I just haven’t found the perfect one yet. I might have to have it custom made one of these days.

My focus piece these days is Stitcher’s Studio Stocking that was published in Cross Stitch & Country Crafts in the July/August 1989 issue. Since I have already stitched a stocking for both Sumarrós and Karítas, I need one for me 🙂 And this design is perfect for me. It has a lot of detail and the colors are beautiful. I doubt I will be able to finish it before Christmas this year, but there is always next year!

Have a great weekend everyone!

USA Tree

I have another finish. This is USA Tree by Helga Mandl. Since I do not live in the USA but really wanted to stitch this design, I decided to stitch it as a gift for a friend. That friend is Colleen in NY. We have been in the same on-line stitching group for years (I honestly can’t remember how many years LOL!) and she LOVES getting stitched gifts. And I think that she needs a little cheering up 🙂 So this was just perfect for her. I don’t think she has any pinkeeps yet, so I decided to make her one out of this design.

Front:

I did change the green colors to 500 and 502. And I added beads and buttons to the design. I think it turned out cute 🙂
Back:

Side:

This pattern was offered to the members of wXSw (a Yahoo group) as a part of the Christmas SAL. Design by Helga Mandl.
I stitched it on 28ct White Opalescent Linen using DMC threads, Mill Hill beads and some buttons from my stash.

Colleen, I will mail it as soon as I feel well enough to go to work. You should at least have it before Christmas 🙂

More biscornus.

I am still at home so I try to use my time well. I am not that sick anymore, but I have no energy and just don’t feel well enough to go back to work yet. I talked to my boss today and I am going to go back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and stay for half a day to begin with and then just take it from there. Maybe I will feel like staying a full day but I doubt it. Oh well, I guess I will find out once I actually show up there.

I have mostly been sleeping a lot. But I have also done some stitching. I have two biscornu finishes and they are both Christmas gifts. I am not telling who they are for because I am not 100% sure that the people that will receive them don’t read my blog. So at the moment they are for X and Z 🙂

Four Little Hearts – Indigo Rose
32ct Raw Opalescent Belfast and NN thread

Black and red biscornu, front and back:

Pattern from my old Icelandic pattern books
28ct Black and Red Jobelan and NN thread

Last week I got my OTT-lite. I got one of these in pink (off course). My friend Brenda bought it for me (she actually bought two, one for me and one for my friend Aiste) and sent it to me and I payed her back. The lamps were cheap, the shipping was a little expensive and then I had to buy a voltage converter. But guess what? Buying two lamps, and the shipping and the converters were cheaper than buying one of these lamps here in Iceland! How insane is that? I don’t know where I would be without my friends across the pond! Seriously. I don’t think I would be able to afford my hobby if it wasn’t for those sweet helpful ladies that are always willing to help me out when I need help and even when I don’t 🙂 I love you guys!

Long time, no post!

Sorry that I went MIA. I have been busy with work and I have also been fighting a cold for the past 2 weeks or so. I am still not feeling well and am getting pretty tired of being unwell.

However I have been stitching. Most of the things I have stitched are presents so I can’t show them, but I do have to small finishes for Christmas. I am participating in a Christmas SAL in Wonderful XS World (a yahoo group) where three designers (Helga Mandl (Helga Mandl Designs), Michelle Lutzen (Stitchy Kitty) and Tam (Tam’s Creatinos)) are creating quick and fun designs for the holidays. So far I have done two and have some more planned.

Elf – Design by Helga Mandl
I am going to try to find tiny jingle bells to add to his shoes.

Warm – Design by Helga Mandl
Here I added snowflake buttons and used Whisper thread for the top of the hats and Kreinik braid for the stars on the hats.

I better get back on the couch and rest. I am going to the doctor later and it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. This is the weirdest sickness I have had in a long time. My throat itches like crazy, I am coughing, have a cold and sometimes I get a fever in the evening, but not all evenings. And I just feel sick. My body hurts and I have no energy at all. Blegh!