Archive for UFOs and WIPs

resurfacing, with lots to share

12.06.09 at 3:18 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs, exchanges, finishing, kids, life stuff, moving, stitching

Oh, what a week it’s been! Nearly everyone here at Chateau Chaos came down with a stomach bug and some of us still aren’t feeling 100% but we’re all at least feeling better than we did.

lazy days

Because life doesn’t stop just because you feel awful, a lot was going on during our Sick Week.

The international movers came and took all our good stuff away. (Ugh, I lost the picture of Arden amidst the boxes!)

I finished and posted my Christmas exchange (and my partner has received it). The stitching part of the exchange was pretty skimpy because I just didn’t have any decent finishing  materials and my creativity had fled the scene, so I tried to make up for it by packing in lots of other goodies. Chris assures me she’s happy with it, but I always have such performance anxiety with these things! (This is the Vautier freebie I mentioned recently, btw, stitched in HDF Gandy Dancer silk on HDF 36 ct linen.)

closeup of finished ornie

I finished a UFO. This darling design, Fair, Kind, True,  is by Deborah of Midsummer Night Designs. I’ve stitched it on a high count of Lakeside Linens Tallahassee Teal using Paper Roses premium silk by Vikki Clayton. I suspect it will reappear around our wedding anniversary in May, hopefully transformed into something lovely.

FairKindTrue by Midsummersummer Night Designs

I also finished A Winter’s Nap by Erica Michaels. I had to make a few changes to the suggested colors, as they didn’t show up on this ivory banding. The banding was a total PITA to work with and I’m not satisfied with the coverage, although in the end it doesn’t look as bad as I’d feared it would.

A Winter's Nap by Erica Michaels

And I finished Beth Twist’s adorable A Partrige, A Pare & A Turtledove design. I converted the called-for DMC to HDF silks and stitched it on 36 ct Cream HDF linen. I also corrected the spelling because the deliberate misspelling glared out at me and detracted from my enjoyment of the design. I love this one and plan to keep it.

Heartstring Designs

And last but far from least, we celebrated pakjesavond. It was a quieter affair than usual with fewer gifts, less noise, and Max’s absence was keenly felt, but we had fun anyway.

Sinterklaas pakjesavond

To catch up on mundane matters, my computer is d-e-a-d. Niek’s taking it work to try to salvage the lost data, but it’s a serious PITA because of course I don’t know all my passwords, usernames, etc. and emailing is a nightmare from Niek’s PC. I haven’t spent much time online due to the frustration of nothing working like I want it to, and of course because I’ve felt sort of craptastic all week.

Niek’s work visa came in and he’s now able to enter the US. He’s booked tickets for himself and the pets and will arrive in time for Christmas. Hooray!

The upcoming week will be filled with the kids’ going-away parties for school and extra-curricular groups, and I’ll hopefully see a last couple of friends (fingers crossed!). I’m cheating and buying treats for the kids’ parties, but I figure this one time it’s okay not to go homemade all the way. ;)

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit with me! :D

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escape! at least temporarily

09.24.09 at 3:31 pm · Filed under SAL, UFOs and WIPs, life stuff, stitching

No, Nic, I’m not actually escaping other tasks by doing this (horrible! time-consuming! life-stealing!) housework … the housework actually is the task, and I’m doing it (tho’ I’m kicking and screaming the whole way – tho’ that might change if I tried Marita’s suggested dress code of pearls & panties, LOL!). I will never be one of those women who could actually discuss the virtues of one type of cleanser over another, and feel fulfilled doing so. Alas. That said, living in a tidy house is rather enjoyable – I only wish someone else were keeping it tidy!

I did fight free of my chores for a few brief hours last night and this morning, pulling out my Noah’s Stocking for a quick bit of very overdue attention. Remember Annemarie’s guilt-free SAL? I think I might’ve taken the guilt-free bit a little too far, but I went from having only part of his name stitched to this, and I’m rather proud of my progress.

 

Noah's Stocking collage
(Between you & me, I think Noah’s seriously groovy. I’ve got something for tall blondes, and his beard just kills me!)

So who else is curious why I pulled Noah away from the dust bunnies instead of one of my other WIPs (or UFOs if we aren’t going to be gentle with labels)? Because I was kind of hoping that if I resurrected this particular SAL, I might be able to lure dear Annemarie out of her reclusion. She’s been so ill, Pelle’s been ill, and sh*t has been happening left, right, and center. But maybe if she ventured back out here into Cyberspace to play with us, we could make her forget her troubles – at least temporarily.

And for those of you looking for a bit of cleaning p*rn, here are my appliances. Just the outsides – I don’t want to make this anything but a G-rated blog by showing even more. LOL. Oh darn, look, someone already smudged my stove. Would you hand me that spray bottle and my rubber gloves, please?

clean house collage

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amiable qualities, birthdays, and beasties

08.20.08 at 6:37 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs, arden, kids, life stuff, nicky, stitching, weather

This morning, Annemarie mentioned my ‘amiable qualities’ and I had to admit to having lost ALL of them from approximately breakfast till lunch time. I do not cope well with being shut up in the house in rainy weather with small children for indefinite time periods. On the bright side, I did get some serious decluttering accomplished and I repaired the drawers in my stitching bureau (again). This necessitated pulling out the WIPs again. A couple were discarded – hooray for being brave! One is being handed over to Max, as it was a bunny design I started for him. Another is under the needle as we speak – this is a very old, no longer available, freebie from Annes les petites croix. The fabric is a very pretty, delicate shade that puts me in mind of willow tree leaves. As usual, my camera isn’t doing it justice.

four seasons garden

Last night I also finished this wee thing, which is actually a knitting pattern from a book (by Maria Parry-Jones) I borrowed from the library. The pattern is “Intarsiablad” and I cannot find intarsia in my translation dictionary or in babelfish. Any Dutchies out there who can help? This is on my beet-dyed linen using DMC 4130. Pretty colors, huh? *Question answered! Thanks!

Intarsiablad in DMC 4130 a

Today is Arden’s 8-month birthday. Can you believe it? I can’t. How have eight months already passed? He’s been a bit sleepy lately, which makes me think he’s either growing or teething (as when he isn’t sleeping, he tends to complain a bit more than usual).

sweet sleeper

Look who's 8 months old today

Another milestone that will soon be coming up is the removal of Nicky’s cast. I have decided that I will be the happiest person in the family to have it off. I’m going to throw a party on Friday (when it comes off) and invite myself. ;)

Mr Cast counts the days

Rowen’s not daunted by all the indoor time and was happy to display her silliness. LOL.

goofy gal

With the kids getting their photos taken, the furbabies let me know they felt left out. Nachtegaal has really enjoyed living in Nicky and Rowen’s room during Max’s absence. (Max is doing great BTW, enjoying the castles and other beauties of Germany.) She sends shy greetings to Elvis and Pink. Gilbert’s feathers have not finished growing in yet from his seasonal moult, so he’s a bit out of sorts at being photographed like this. He’s terribly vain. Spin is his usual smug self, but Rigby feels the need to keep him under constant surveillance. The two of them crack me up.

coy glances from Nachtegaal

Gils feathers are still growing in

Spin being smug

Rigby watching Spin

Things here at Chateau Chaos continue to roll along despite the rain and other temporary setbacks. The kids are growing, the season is changing, and we are all getting ready for the next phase. Whatever that may be!

Thanks for your terribly kind words about the wee tree in my last post. You make me blush. Wishing good health to those who need it (thinking of you, Joanna!!), and happiness to us all.

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i’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours

01.21.08 at 11:53 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs

I’m too tired tonight to string together more than a few sentences, so here’s a pictoral post of my UFOs. This is so embarassing ….

Rowen’s birth sampler, needs a border

UFOs 005

Fremme birds for myself, intended to be a four-season quartet

UFOs 008

Cardinal Blessings, over one

UFOs 004

Good Things by BOAF

UFOs 006

Landscape by the Workbasket, lost floss scheme

UFOs 007

Sea dragon for Max

UFOs 009

Quaker Mystery

UFOs 018

March Hare by Blackbird Designs

UFOs 017

French Mystery Garden

UFOs 016

Scissor pocket

UFOs 015

Bib for Morgan

UFOs 014

Sheep from TGOSM

UFOs 013

Maine winter scene

UFOs 012

Prairie Schooler sampler

UFOs 010

I really want to finish some of these, such as Landscape, but I’ve made a terrible mistake. In this case, I went with my own color scheme and mislaid (or put away) the floss I was using. Of course, I made no note of the colors used…. Or with the Quaker Mystery, I realized that I started seriously off-center and may run out of fabric on one side. I’m also not sure about this color combination. And then there are those like Max’s sea dragon that I’m just so tired of – I have to finish it, but my heart’s no longer in it. The over-one cardinal is also a drag – why, oh why did I decide to do it over-one?? And finally there are a couple in there that I would throw out if I could – like March Hare. I have to remember to choose projects that I like when I’m making a gift. Max loves it, and I feel honor-bound to finish it for him.

On a sunnier note, I ordered a second giant-sized Q-snap today so I can have two big projects on the go at once. One of those will be Arden’s birth sampler (Infant of Joy, by Moira Blackburn) and the other is almost certainly going to be a design by Carriage House Samplings – one of the Hawk Run Hollow series or her alphabet.

Thank you for the compliments on my bookmark – I did put in a few stitches today while talking to my mom on the phone, but not enough to warrent a picture. And thank you for the well-wishes for Max. He returned to school today, but we kept him out of volleyball practice. He’s one tired puppy tonight, but he was glad he went back to school.

I hope your week got off to a good start!!

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in the frame

01.15.08 at 5:44 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs, life stuff, stitching, weather

Now I really need to get myself over to the framer. Not only is Bushel & A Peck done (hooray!), but there are all those other projects I’ve procrastinated about getting framed – Max and Nicky’s birth samplers, a wedding sampler I made for Niek last year, my Quaker Friendship RR …. The framer lives and works on an auto-free street, however, which makes getting there a bit of an issue. It’s too far to walk, Arden is too young for the child seat I have on my bike …. I’ll have to get creative and figure out how to get there – soon! If all goes well, this will arrive in time for Terra and Tony’s six-month wedding anniversary.

Bushel And A Peck

For those who’ve asked, the fabric is a standard 28 count natural DMC that I abused terribly with coffee. Niek thought I’d lost my mind. First I boiled it in coffee, but was dissatisfied with how ‘uniform’ the color came out. So then I scooped coffee ground and a bit of liquid coffee over the linen (after scrunching it up) and tossed it in the oven for awhile. LOL! Then I ironed it to set the colors. I just love how it came out! I stitched this with GAST fibers: radish, brethern blue, butternut squash, and bayberry. If anyone stitches this on 28 ct, beware! You will need slightly more than one full skein of blue! I’m not a wasteful stitcher, especially as GAST fibers have to be specially ordered here, yet I ran out.

And what’s next? Well, there is that growing stack of stitching that needs to be finish-finished, but that will have to wait for a kid-free day. Nicky’s still convinced that if he presses the pedal of my sewing machine hard enough, it will transform into a race car. ;) The Christmas Ornament SAL is approaching. There’s a needleroll finishing weekend coming up at Focus On Finishing and I would love to figure out how to make those. In short, there’s no lack of interesting projects to pick from but I have no idea where my inspiration will take me. I have to say, I have gotten a huge buzz from actually completing something from my UFO drawer – what a great feeling!

Today’s been one of those days in which time has very little meaning. The weather is terrible – rainy and blustery and dark. It never got light, actually. Max has been in bed for most of the day, occassionally wandering into the living room with red cheeks and bleary eyes to have a break from his room. Rowen’s been playing some self-invented Pokemon game with the My Little Ponies she got for Christmas. Arden’s been sleeping with regular wake-ups for a feeding every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I actually forgot to eat till I snuck off to the supermarket with the three younger kids (it went fine!) and suddenly felt very shaky at the sight of all that food and realized I hadn’t eaten since breakfast (and it was 3:30 pm). That’s a first for me.

Hopefully Max will feel better tomorrow, and I’m praying that the other kids (and adults!) won’t come down with whatever he has. I may keep him home tomorrow just to ensure he’s fully recovered, even if he does feel better. Right now, he’s still feverish but he is looking better.

Hoping that your day is going well and that your creative muse is guiding you well!

Thought for the day:

“We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.”

- Ben Sweetland

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let the UFO busting begin

01.11.08 at 8:31 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs, arden, kids, life stuff, stitching

So with my first official finish of the new year under my belt (as if I’m wearing belts … sigh … still wearing tents for clothing), the big question loomed: “Now what?” I considered starting a Christmas ornament so I would be on the ball for the Christmas Ornament SAL, but then I heard some muffled noises coming from my UFO drawer as if something were trying to struggle free. LOL. I thought I should start the New Year as I intend to proceed – and since UFO busting was something I talked about before Arden’s birth, it seemed a case of ‘no time like the present.’

It was an easy decision to start with the wedding sampler I started for my dear friend Terra – not only was it near the top of the pile, but their six-month anniversary is rapidly approaching. Here’s a snap of how I set it aside back in November or December:

Terra WIP

I hope Terra doesn’t mind getting sneak previews of her gift – Terra, if you don’t want me to show the rest (so it’s a surprise), please leave me a comment saying so! Here is where I left it last night when I became too tired to stitch any more. I know, I’m a slow stitcher, but I’m also railroading all my stitches to make sure this looks as good as possible with my limited talents.

BushelPeck WIP

Speaking of being tired, it’s Friday and we made it through our first “real” week as a family of six. No small feat, and it took effort from all involved to get through it so well and with such good humor. Niek took lots of time off work to help with everything, Max pitched in where he could and didn’t complain about the lack of bedtime reading, and our Dasterdly Duo – better known as Nicky and Rowen – kept us all entertained with their unflagging energy and wacky stunts. Arden has also made life easier by being the easiest of our four kids about sleeping at night. Yes, he gets a middle of the night feeding, but he sleeps up until 3 am, and he goes right back to sleep afterwards. Sounds simple, but it’s a first for us – our kids’ sleeping issues have made other parents pale in fear they may have such diffulties with their own kids. But it is Friday and you can see it in these weary little faces.

two tired tots

Today’s big event was our return visit to the IJsselland hospital to check Arden’s progress in recovering from his jaundice. After waiting an hour beyond the appointment time (cutting into his next feeding), we finally got in to see the doctor who spent perhaps 2 full minutes looking at him only to say he’s ’still yellow’ and that we need to come back next week. Uh-uh. No. I’m not driving 20+ minutes each way, sitting in the waiting room endlessly, only to be glanced at and told to come back in a few more days for more of the same. So we agreed to have Arden looked at by a doctor here in Gouda at an already-scheduled appointment in ten days’ time – if necessary, we’ll schedule an appointment at the hospital based on that doctor’s judgement. On the bright side, Arden’s grown 4 centimeters in length since his birth and now weighs 473 grams (a little more than a US pound) more than he did at birth (an average of about 160 grams per week). Hooray! Here’s a picture of our little sumo wrestler from the other day, when I let him try his ‘plug’ (pacifier) for the first time.

8 jan arden

Thank you so much for all the sweet comments on yesterday’s post. Rowen agrees that she looks adorable in pigtails and insisted that I put them in again this morning. :D

Wishing one and all a lovely weekend, full of both restful moments and plenty of laughter.

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10 december: human rights day

12.10.07 at 6:31 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs, life stuff, stitching

Normally I keep most non-stitching opinions to myself here, but today is Human Rights Day. It’s never too late to make a difference, and no amount of involvement is too small. There are lots of great organizations out there, but as a long-standing Amnesty International member, I’ll point you in that direction and then I’ll leave you alone. ;)

Yesterday was an incredibly productive day for me, in regard to stitching and finishing. My lottery piece is ready to go to whomever wins it (oh, let it be me! LOL!) and I finished my Seasonal Exchange for Cathy. Today I tried to continue with the positive energy by mailing everything to everyone – Karen’s Quaker is on the way, the wrong-count fabric is on the way back to ABC Stitch Therapy, Cathy’s exchange is on the way to her, and a bunch of ornaments that I made a few months ago for my mother’s sisters (and nearly forgot about!) are also on the way. The post office was one long, long line – but the pharmacy was even worse. After yet another sleepless night, I decided to go in and ask for some kind of cough suppressant for tonight. A third night without sleep doesn’t seem like a very good idea. 

I also picked up my first UFO/WIP from the aforementioned pile today and personalized it. I’ll finish it tonight and pop it offf in tomorrow’s mail to … someone special. ;) You’ll notice I used Arden’s name – I was so unsure of whether or not to do so, but in the end it seemed wrong not to add it …. The front side of the design is based on a very old design by Kathy Barrick-Dieter (Quaker Alphabet Sampler), but re-arranged to read Merry Christmas. The back side is very loosely based on a Brightneedle alphabet from the “Little Houses Sampler”. I used silks that I liked on a piece of 28 count DMC linen that feels and looks like burlap. I’m going to make it into a flat ornament to hang in the window, kind of like a perpetual Christmas card. I must admit that it felt pretty fine to pull the first project out of “that” pile and turn it into something for someone to enjoy!




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taking stock

11.26.07 at 10:48 am · Filed under NaBloPoMo, UFOs and WIPs, life stuff, round robins, stitching

Once again, Annemarie has inspired me in my stitching endeavors. She’s a marvel, huh? :)   In her last post, she was talking about stitching for herself and clearing out her stack of UFOs and WIPs … brilliant idea, isn’t it? I know 100% for certain that I couldn’t stick to stitching only for the family, even though I should make that a priority, but the WIP/UFO comment really hit home. Mine have been gnawing away at me – if I weren’t having pregnancy anxiety dreams, no doubt I’d be dreaming about being buried in partially-completed stitching projects!

So I sat down before bed and made a list of my current UFOs (projects I haven’t touched for at least a month) and WIPs (those that I have touched, LOL) and roughly grouped them by those I felt compelled to finish, felt obligated to finish, and doubted I would finish even if I had nothing else to do for the rest of my days.

Here are my WIPS – you’ll see that the stitching is actually done on two of these, but they haven’t been finished. My finishing muse ran off on me, leaving me as empty of ideas as a bowl of oatmeal porridge. (Is there anything less inspiring than cooked oatmeal porridge?)


And here is my UFO stack. There are 15 projects here ranging from about 5% done to about 60% done. Four are projects that fall into the ‘must finish’ category because they’re either gifts or are projects that I really like. Seven fall under the ‘ought to’ category either because they’re so far along or because I promised them to someone. And four fall under the ‘why bother’ category because I’ve made a serious mistake, no longer like the colors, or am dismayed by the stitching itself.


There are also a few projects that are currently in progress: Karen’s Quaker sampler and Cardinal Blessings. Here are pictures of them as they stand at this minute. Karen’s needs frogging – that last ‘ram’s head’ is off by one row. I frogged a few rows from Cardinal Blessings yesterday before giving up in disgust – this is not a project that combines well with Play-Doh/tea parties and inquisitive children. (Note to myself: Though it’s not here, I also have to include my Lottery project in this group!)



When I gave up on stitching yesterday, I turned my frustrated energy to cleaning – something I’ve done precious little of because of the horrible effect it has on my pulled muscle, weak back, and other pregnancy-related ailments. (Sorry to sound like such a whiner!) I did about 5 loads of laundry (it’s just scary to realize that we even own that much stuff) and totally tore the nursery apart and reassembled it in a clean & tidy fashion. I’ll spare you the laundry shots, but here’s a very quick peek into Nicky and Rowen’s room. Sure, it may not look like much to anyone who hasn’t seen it in the past two months, but you have to imagine that you couldn’t see the chair, floor, or bureau for all the toys and clothes flung wildly hither & yon. Embarassing? You can’t even begin to guess … but I paid the price when I tried to lay down last night and cried  like a baby because everything hurt so much. It was worth it though, when the kids got up and Nicky said, “My room looks so nice,  Mum, that I’m going to pick up all my toys in the living room while you make breakfast.” And he did!


There are documents to write today, so I doubt any stitching will be done. I am now holding myself accountable for these WIPs and UFOs, though! There will be more on them in the weeks to come – you’ve been warned! ;)

Thank you for your incredibly kind comments about the gifties that have begun arriving at their rightful destinations. Those post office trips may be little forays into one of Dante’s outer rings, but it’s so nice to surprise dear friends across the globe. I hope your Monday is off to a great start, full of sunshine (the real kind or the metaphorical kind!) and that you have a happy week stretching out before you!

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