Illustrative Blackwork Fantasy

I can share it now that it is finally posted on the Silkweaver Contest Site (I won't show off a contest piece until the people running the contest have seen it first- kinda a respect/thankyou for running the contest sort of thing). It was done on 28 count Jazlyn Bienget Reflections. I got the fabric in a trade and couldn't figure out what to do with it...then I got this chart and decided t would work. I change the thread color from black to 3371 which is a dark brown. The remaining skein of the 3371 was destroyed by Hastur but luckily he did not get into until a few days after the project was completed. Getting a good pic of this was a pain and I am still not happy with the results. The fabric has light patches of a peachy brown and lots of sparkles. I have included two different pics to show how different they can be even if it is the same piece. I guess it is one that you have to see in person to appreciate. The one on left is the image I submitted to the contest since it best represented the piece.

A New Ruling for the Challenge

I have had the same question pop up a couple times the past week. "If you own the chart but for some reason can not find it or the dog ate it, can you get a new chart without violating the challenge rules?" My vote is that you can get the replacement chart. The reasoning is that you already own the chart and thus buying another does not violate rules because it is not increasing your overall patterny stash. This also goes for buying a kit when you already own a chart. Sometimes it just makes financial sense to buy a kit at a reduced price. If any one has a problem with the new ruling please let me know, there might be aspects that I have not thought about. If you owned the pattern but gave it away or sold it, buying a new one would violate the challenge. This is because you willingly decreased your stash and are now increasing it again. I will wait a few days before posting the new ruling.

Filler Blog Entry

I am frantically trying to finish mystery project for mystery contest. So far I am 80 stitches behind. I have stitch an estimated 433 stitches a day to finish in time. For some that might not seem like a lot but with my busy schedule and the stitching speed of a snail on crutches I am surprised I am not even more behind.
I did get a couple of kits recently at Hobby Lobby. Don't worry they were gifts from my DH's grandmother, so I did not jump off of my own challenge. I just have to share the details about the great deals. I got two Dimple Design kits- I already own the charts but the kits were so discounted that it would have cost me more to buy the fabric than the kit. Also, I love linen used but it is hard to find. Also, I picked up Princess and the Dragon by TW. I already own the chart but it would have cost me more to buy the beads than the kit. My real excitment came with the Angel of Autumn kit...11 dollars. 11 dollars...that is around how much the chart costs alone.

I keep seeing questions popping up on other's blogs. So I cut and pasted one today as filler for my blog since I can't post pics of my mystery project and I haven't been working on anything else. Don't worry I promise to post progress pics of the BAP as soon as I can. So without knowing where the question orginated from (my apologies- someone please let me know) the question of the week is:

How many different brands of “complete” embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.)

My reply: I don't own any complete sets. I am not a collector and I am too poor to justify buying floss I don't need for a project. I only buy floss as I need it. If I can use a partial skein I will. I own about 250 of the regular DMC, 2 skeins of Dinky Dyes silk, 9 skeins of Caron Waterlilies, 12 GAST, and 4 Weeks Dye Works. I don't keep track of them in any sort of way other than the drawers they are kept in. I have so few I can tell what I have at a glance. The DMC is kept in two floss boxes in numerical order. I keep a smaller floss box with colors I need for a current project. There are some Chatelaines I would love to stitch but frankly I can not afford the price for the chart (20-30 bucks a pop) let alone the cost of kitting it up. I love Alhambra Garden but the bead pack at my LNS is 55 dollars and that doesn't include the speciality flosses.
I do not hoard fabric either. I have three 9x13 pieces of Silkweaver, a 13x18 piece of Silkweaver, a fat quarter of this cream colored Lugana with gold flecks, and left over mushroom colored Lugana from Just a Little Piece and Quiet from Dragon Dreams. My LNS does only standard cuts and I had to buy a fat half of the stuff. At this point I have gotten four other projects out of it so it was money well spent.
My chart collection is also kinda puny. I have about 125 charts at this point. Again, I am not a collector. I have given away signed charts that I have already used or will not ever use. I get bored easily and really can't do a project more than once, so why not let another enjoy it. The only two charts that I will keep for awhile are The Lost Dragon Sampler by Dragon Dreams- I attended Jennifer's class so I have fond memories associated with it and she asked that it not be given to another since it was still a work in progress. The other is You Were Hatched by TW. I am hanging on to that one until it fetches a really high price on ebay. I saw one go for over 67 dollars and figure in another year or so it will fetch an even greater price. If not, oh well...

Hastur the Destroyer

Evil dachshund. The little one was punishing me for the dreaded bath I gave him. I left him alone in the living room and he got into my thread heaven. You can see the teeth marks in the wax. Arrghh. Then last night DH and I went to see Saw III. The dratted dog gave me the gift of thread devouring. He ate my 3371. When seeing the destruction Hastur had wrought. I actually said to my DH "the little bastard got into my 3371". DH was like "what are you talking about?". I wasn't mad that Hastur was playing with my fuzzy heart slippers but that he had gotten into my floss.
I have also posted a picture of my progress on the Mini Mandala. It seems popular. This is what I accomplished while in flight to and from Montana. Enjoy.