My DH and my Silkweaver Enteries

Normally I would wait for these to be displayed on the Silkweaver site but I am neurotic. I want to make sure that these get posted with a time/date so if something went horribly wrong I have some evidence that they were completed before the deadline. I really am neurotic...trust me. Majesty has been posted as promised. Again I used Dinky Dyes Fantasy Blues for the border. It is on Silkweaver Reflections Debutante 28 count Jazlyn. There is only a inch of fabric allowance on each side but I am making it into a pillow so it doesn't matter.

DH's entry: The other picture is of Blackwork Princess by Dragon Dreams. It was done on 28 count Karma Sparkle Lugana. It was a Christmas Gift from my DH but it wasn't finished until today. He is a stitcher. Wait until you see the dragon he working on (once he actually starts it). It is a BAP and it is awesome but very violent. It is not a friendly dragon. It looks like it wants to rip your head off. Quite a contrast from Blackwork Princess. He has also converted covers from Insane Clown Posse, a rap group, into patterns. DH also knits. I am so lucky to have a craft oriented hubby. I got him his own set of scroll bars and q-snaps. I don't think he will ever be a stashaholic though. Currently he owns 3 patterns, 70 or so skeins of DMC floss and 1 bobbin box. He stole Blackwork Princess from my stash.

Christmas Present

For Christmas DH got me a stitching cabinet. Well actually it is a jewelry cabinent converted to a much more important purpose. I have also posted a picture of my Ouroborus WIP. I did all of the stitching back in August and haven't touched the piece since due to more pressing matters. The fabric is actually much more purple than what you see in the picture.
Happy Holidays from Hastur, DH, and HasturTorres!!!

Why the Long Face?

Because I haven't had a chance to finish anything. Well I did finish the Majesty from the Legends of Dragons but that is only half of the piece. I will post it as soon as it goes up on the Silkweaver contest site.

Progress and an answer to a Stitching Bloggers Question

How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically, do you or have you ever used a waste knot?

I have used a waste knot once for Something in Common's Woodland Sampler. I needed to give a critter a french knot eye and it was the only way I could secure the thread. I typically use the Loop start method or stitch over the tail of the thread until it is secure. My project backs are typically not very neat but as long as the front looks good and lays flat, I really don't care about how the back looks. I am not ashamed to admit that my backs can look downright chaotically awful.

Progress Report

Goals from Nov.
Non were completed so I will not bother reposting them. I tried and I tried to get the Silkweaver contest piece ready but decided midway through the month that it was not going to happen. Well sure it could have been ready on time but I would have had to give up other things including time with my DH and that was not acceptable. Plus I was starting to get obbessed with it. Like I was stitching it in my dreams and skipping out on evening club meetings.
Goals for Dec.
Finish Majesty from Legends of the Dragons by Karen Weaver, Jennifer Aikman-Smith, and Teresa Wentzler. I am doing the border of Majesty in Dinky Dyes silk #85 Fantasy Blues.
Finish Gathering supplies for Sampler Mystery III by Chatelaine. It is my first mystery. I am really excited about. Normally full size Chatelaine's are way to expensive for me to stitch with all the luscious silks and beads. The beads and pattern were a Christmas gift to myself and thanks to a trade with Jo at Dinky Dyes I will have the necessary variagated fibers . Thank you Jo- Bless you!

None (Hastur) Stitching News: My husband is stitching Blackwork Princess for me as a Chirstmas gift. I love having a stitcher for a husband. When I get a chance to I will share photos of it. The data collection for my big research project for school (I am a Ph.D. student in Science Education) is almost done. I will be analyzing the data this month along with working on two papers. Soon I will get back to my dissertation work. I miss it. I don't have too much opportunity to work on it and it really is my academic love. I won't make it to my parents for Christmas this year but I have my husband's family. They are wonderful people and I am blessed to have them. I do miss my folks and Christmas will be rough for them this year. My brother was married over the summer and is now several states away from them. It is their first Christmas without him.