Time is a Drug - Finished!

Well, here it is in all its glory. I did finish it Tuesday night, but ended up going out for a lot of the day yesterday. With Etsy you always want to post patterns Monday-Friday from 9-5, because apparently everyone does their internetting at work now.

Anyway, the pattern is now for sale in my shop. I've altered the corner pieces a bit, to make them smoother and more pleasing, and adjusted the spacing of the text, so people making the pattern will have prettier pieces than me!

I'm really pleased with the colors on this one. I think it would look even better if you did a mix of the dark and light purple on the smaller flowers as well, though I like my way too.

Time is a Drug - WIP 03

So close to finished!

I think/hope that I'll be done today. The text shouldn't take long, so that seems quite doable at the moment. You know how it is though, you've got the whole afternoon free, then you get a phone call and someone needs you to do something or wants to buy you food.

People are always welcome to buy me food, though, as I'll happily sacrifice stitching time to eating tasty things.

Time is a Drug - WIP 02

I've gotten a lot done since my last post!

Using this many colors in this type piece is new for me and I've been bit unsure about it. Obviously I don't want it to be too busy, though perhaps with such a busy border having some color distinction helps that.

In any case, I do really like the colors I've used and I think I will be using an even darker green for the second part of the text. It would look nicest with the smaller flowers being done in both purples, but it's easier to stitch this way (again, I am super lazy!).

I'm hoping to get it finished and the pattern up in my shop on Tuesday, though you know how that goes... I didn't get much done yesterday, as I was lured up to my sister's house and spent numerous hours playing with the children. Kyla bought Benjamin the board game version of my first computer game, Big Bird's Special Delivery, which I played on our Commodore 128.

Time is a Drug - WIP 01

Here's the first look at my new project. 

The full quote is "Time is a drug-- too much of it kills you." The line comes from the Terry Pratchett book Small Gods, which is one of my very favorite Discworld books.

This piece will eventually have a super huge ornate border.

I woke up quite early today after staying up too late, because I was excited that my mum's home from Belgium. Of course this meant I accidentally took quite a long nap in the afternoon which means who knows when I'll fall asleep tonight, and it's all a VICIOUS CYCLE wherein I get very little done.

A departure

I've been doing more pattern designing than stitching lately. I'm also feeling guilty for having left that wisteria pattern for so long, but too hateful for that project to stitch on it.

The overwhelmed feeling has certainly come back in full force, and probably isn't helped by the fact that I'm embarking on a large new project and my current audiobook is read by someone with an accent I have to concentrate more on. Actually, maybe that will be a good thing, since I've been flightly and antsy for the last week.

Anyway, I made this quick, bulky hat for my niece, which I'll probably save for Christmas. I'm working on a second hat now though, and if it turns out very nicely then perhaps Evie can have the rainbow in the fall and the fancier one for Christmas.

That's right, I'm an annoying person who shops quite early. I will apologize for nothing!

Also on the knitting front, I'm gradually renewing all the knit hats in my other Etsy shop, Captain Yarnface. So if you need a pretty hat, I'm your gal.

DMC Spiral - 02

Here's a look at the progress I've made on the new DMC project.

It's going quite quickly, and I wisely removed the duplicates from my thread cases so I wouldn't accidentally stitch the same color twice.

I wish I had more to say, but I ran a couple errands today and babysat my niece for an hour. She's adorable and incredibly sweet, but it was very tiring.

Pray Speak Quietly...

This is a line said by Vincent Price in the movie The Fall of the House of Usher. I thought it was neat, and useful for all those times when you need to remind people to shut up.

I've actually designed two borders for this. The one you see, appropriate for Don't Wake the Baby needs, and one with rows of bats (the same as in the first design) on top and bottom and a scroll/tassel motif on the sides. I'll be stitching a section of the bats border later, but wanted to go ahead and post the pattern.

Both patterns are now available in my Etsy store!

New DMC project

How neglectful I've been of this blog!

I've been running the website and other web presences of the bookstore I used to work for, so that's taken up a lot of my internet energy. 

Plus there's the Tumblr for my Etsy store. I post art by other needleworkers there once a day, if you're interested.

Now I've started a new DMC color project, stitched in a spiral, and still in numerical order. It's just a side piece for in between patterns for my store. I really recommend doing something like that, if only to have a piece to work on that requires very little thought and no pattern. 

Tomorrow I'll post the pattern I've been plugging away at this week. Yesterday I had a lovely few hours with my niece and nephew, who cheered me up wonderfully (and messed up my hair).

The Fashion Club

My pattern for the Fashion Club is now for sale in a set with the Daria, Jane, and Trent pattern. 

I accidentally outlined the stripe on Sandy's shirt and forgot the yellow on Stacy's braids before I took a picture, but oh well. My embroidery will probably never be absolutely perfect. Oh there are some pieces with no real mistakes, but where I've changed the pattern to make it nicer. My brain will always tend to sloppiness, I think. 

When I worked full time, and when I was a dish crew leader at boarding school, then I paid strict attention and worked very hard, because someone else was counting on me. When it's just me, though, and just a way to keep busy and pay for supplies, that's different.

Daria, Jane, and Trent

My pattern of Daria, Jane, and Trent is now for sale in my Etsy shop. I think it turned out quite well, though the magic of backstitch decided "We'll twist these stitches just enough to make Daria look happy!" The universe has a funny sense of humor.

I'm already at work on the Fashion club stitching, and maybe a quarter of the way done already. It will eventually be one big group listing.

I've been so tired in the afternoons lately that I've gotten nothing done because I start falling asleep while I'm stitching. My instinct then is to get up and make lunch because that's involved enough that it wakes me up. I'm very much against napping, since I always feel dreadful or confused when I wake up from one. It's weird though, because sometimes I still can't fall asleep until late, despite barely making it through the afternoon.

You're Standing On My Neck

This is my new project, Daria sprites or 8-bits or whatever they're called. This is a WIP picture, with just the outlining left and the text. 

I've also completed the patterns for the Fashion Club and will be doing Jake and Helen as well. There will be three separate patterns, each with quotes, but sold as a set. I'd like to do Britney, Kevin, Jodie and Mac as well, but I think they'll be much harder to do and I'm quite lazy. Stacy's braids were bad enough!

The quote under the Fashion Club obviously has to be "It's cute, but not too cute."