I used to keep them for any time I wanted to work up a small cross stitch, or to add embroidery details to another project. But not any more! I discovered how much fun it is to crochet with them…

So, I’ve collected all the leftover strands from my kit, and joined them together with knots. The only down side is that you need to use a fairly small hook… like the 1.25mm pictured here.

And what will I make with it???

Well…

Last time I used the scraps to make this little Easter surprise. I just kept all of those knots to the inside of my work, and you wouldn’t even know they are there.

Of course, I don’t really need another Easter chick…

What’s need got to do with it??? I hear you asking

Well, it WILL need to be something small. Two reasons – firstly, there’s not THAT much thread here; and secondly, nedd I remind you I will be using a 1.25mm hook???

So maybe a camera pouch, or a case for my sunnies? Not sure just yet. I’ll have a play around and see what comes to life.

Well… the goal was to finish this by Christmas 2009…

a goal that I didn’t QUITE meet – but I did FINISH – and that’s the main thing!

Now that it’s done, I will need to give it a gentle wash to remove any dirty marks and oils from my grubby little fingers… and then it’s off to the framing shop.

The framing is always a really expensive process, and I’ve often thought that I should just learn to do it myself. But the results are so professional looking, that I’ve finally given in to just paying the price. Given the hundreds of hours (could it even be thousands of hours???) that I put into each embroidery, it’s just not worth taking the risk.

If you’re a local, and looking for a framer here in Sunbury… I can absolutely recommend the ‘Art House Picture Framing and Gallery’ here in town. The ladies there have such a keen eye for detail, and really focus on bringing your artwork to life – rather than just sticking with the latest trends, or the obvious choice. I’ve been using them for years and years, and would be reluctant to go anywhere else.

I’m very, very good at losing things…

Well – maybe not losing as such – but definitely MISPLACING!

I MISPLACED my cross stitch project. You might remember I was talking about it in this post here. I was determined to get it finished before Christmas, and was working on it at every opportunity… but then one day… without warning… it just DISAPPEARED!

It’s not as though I didn’t look for it. I kept getting these fabulous ideas about where it might be – like UNDER the passenger seat of the car – or in the ironing basket… but no matter where I searched, I couldn’t find it.

Then, just the other day, I wanted to work on some card-making. So I grabbed the bag of goodies… opened it up… AND THERE WAS MY CROSS STITCH!!!

No idea how… or why… or when…

But so glad that I have found it!

Not sure that I have any chance of finishing it before Christmas. Although it would be nice to complete it over the summer holidays.

So, here is my progress so far:

and you can click here to see where I was up to at the last time I showed you

It’s one of my favourites… as it’s so descriptive… and most of us can totally relate to it…

Stash
Acquisition
Beyond
Life
Expectancy

Does that sound familiar to you? Have you acquired more crafting materials than you could ever expect to use in your lifetime? Or perhaps you know someone who has?

(hello Daphne)

I was looking through my embroidery case the other day, when I came to the frightening realisation… that even if I spent an hour embroidering every day, for the rest of my life… I CAN’T IMAGINE I WILL EVER MANAGE TO FINISH ALL THE EMBROIDERY PROJECTS I HAVE STARTED!

I’m not being melodramatic about this. Anyone who has ever dabbled in cross-stitch embroidery knows that it is painstakingly slow work. Sure, the results are fabulous… it just takes forever to get there.

I worked on this piece over a period of ten years!

Admittedly, it was an on again/off again project… but still… I don’t need to tell you that ten years is a damn long time…

Reading through your comments from my last post, I had to agree with Misha. My style is usually simple and speedy. I love items which come together quickly, so that I don’t get the chance to become bored with them. It’s very surprising, especially to me, that I have gone back to my embroidery. Perhaps Stances & Stitches is on the right track when she suggests that with all the stress going on, I needed to find a place of calm… and the simple, slow rhythm of embroidery provided me with the ‘centring’ that I was craving.

Or maybe I’m just fickle, and I got bored with my yarns…

Anyway, here’s a shot of some of those projects. It’s a bit hard to see much detail because of the reflection from he plastic bags. I keep them in a vintage hat box which my father bought me for my birthday a few years back. Definitely one of my favourite gifts ever…

As for my current embroidery? My aim is to finish by the end of the year. Then I will probably have it professionally framed. The other option is to make it into a cushion cover, but I worry about how grubby it might get at my place… Might just be best to put it safely behind glass.

I’m not entirely sure what happened there… but man it’s been a long, long time since my last post, hasn’t it?

I’ve had so many wonderful messages from my readers – expressing both concern and encouragement – and I really, really, REALLY appreciate it. As a blogger… you sometimes wonder whether or not there is anyone out in cyberspace actually reading what you write. It totally cheered me up to hear that I was missed!

I didn’t really plan to drop off the radar. It just kind of happened.

You know the way one thing snowballs into the next? And before you know it… it all turns into something huge. Well, that’s pretty much what happened…

Lots of significant life changes – happening one after the next – and not leaving much time for crafting or blogging.

So, I guess it’s been a good six weeks or more since we last spoke…

You would think that I would have accomplished so much craft in that time – but it’s not the case. I’ve barely picked up my yarn at all.

Something which I have been working on, is cross stitch embroidery. Now, I have to confess that I have been working with NEW MATERIALS!!! I was given some birthday money a little while back, and I decided to purchase some embroidery kits.

I’m really loving this one: it’s called ALL YOUR FRIENDS, and has been designed by DIANE ARTHURS… click here to see what the finished piece will look like.

And here is my progress so far:

Actually… I’ve just realised that I did do the TINIEST bit of recycling for this project! I recycled an old birthay card to use as my thread card. Just punched holes in it, sorted my threads into each hole, and then scribbled the symbol used in the graph chart for each colour.

So I wasn’t completely evil!!!