Eldar progress

As you look at this photo, you will notice that I'm not stitching in the scroll frame.  

I had to give up on the scroll frame.  It was big, bulky and just not comfortable.  I got cramps in my hands, arms and neck using the darn thing.  So, I switched back to a hoop.

I also gave up on using 25 count fabric.  My 49 year old eyes just didn't appreciate stitching on something that small.  I did a test run, and stitched a block of stitches 5 x 5.  Twenty-five stitches were the size of a pencil eraser.

I'm using 18 count fabric.  Much easier on my eyes.

So, it will be a little bigger, but I will not stress as much about small stitches, I'm happier.

The above stitching represents about 15 hours of work.  (I stitched most of the day last Sunday, and some evenings.)  On the pattern, it's almost the complete top row.  I think there's one more block to do.

Yep, it's gonna be a long project!

If you give a stitcher a gift card

It's Mom's fault.  She gave me a $25 gift card for my birthday present.  I sent her the following picture as an idea for my birthday gift.  It was only $6.99, and would fit in with my office projects.  

 Instead of ordering it for me, she gave me a gift card.  So I ordered the above  kit along with this:

Tempo tape.  I use it to mark my spot on patterns.  It just  helps me keep my spot.  And since it's removable  it doesn't damage the paper.  I had used up what I had and needed more.  

Unfortunately, the day I ordered the above, I'd forgotten to use my gift card, so I paid for it.  

A short 24 hours later, I got a catalog with the pattern for this listed:

Oh my gosh!  I was in love.  This was the perfect project to use my gift card on!  I showed it to a friend and we then ventured to the Heaven and Earth Designs website to look at other designs.  Once there, I found that their patterns were on sale.  More than half off the price listed in the catalog.  So, I bought the above pattern.  I was able to download it, so I printed it out.  I think it's going to be my next project (well, after Mr. Jefferson, but he's a quick-y project.)  

And, in my excitement, I forgot to use my gift card.

The pattern is called "Mini Eldars Secret."  The pattern is 12 pages.  Every single square of those twelve pages is one stitch.  Stitched over 25 count fabric.  The finished design will be 9 x 13 inches. It also uses 89 colors of floss. It's a big commitment. But, before I can start on it, I need fabric. 

 I ran to Hobby Lobby and bought the linen I need...and some new needles.

 . Because it's such a densely stitched project, it's not advised to use a hoop, so, of course, I had to buy a scroll frame to hold my project.

Once again, I forgot the gift card.

Then I went back to the  catalog I originally saw "Eldar" in, and ordered the following:

This box holds 100 floss baggies, which is what I store my floss in.  I decided this would be perfect for my project.  I could pull my 90 colors and keep them organized in a box nice and neat.

This time, this final time, I used my gift card. For an $11 item.

But because of the stinking gift card, I spent way more than $25.  

If only Mom had just bought the Jefferson sampler instead of giving me a gift card...

2012 Reading list

It's time for my annual "What I Read last year" list.  In 2011, I read over 100 titles.  In 2012, I only read 94 titles (excluding magazines and some re-reads that I just didn't document.)

The little "e's" in front of titles shows those I read as e-books.  I was curious to see how having an iPad with the Kindle and Nook apps changed my reading habits.  Some e-books, I read for free from the Kansas State Library's e-collection.  Free is always good!

Since I imported my list from excel, it doesn't really lend itself to comments about each title.  But I can say that my two most favorite reads of 2012 were:  Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness and Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham.  My favorite non-fiction title of the year was A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachael  Held Evans.  So, browse the list, pick out a title or two to read.  Let me know what you think of it!  And, if anyone has any questions about any title I read, feel free to ask.  I love discussing books.

e	Clash of Kings	George R R Martin
	Sybil exposed	Debbie Nathan
e	Doomsday Book	Connie Willis
e	Sweet Revenge	Nora Roberts
e	Fated	Carolyn Mccray
	A feast for Crows	George R R Martin
	Storm of Swords	George R R Martin
e	Spying in High Heels	Gemma Halliday
e	Killer in High Heels	Gemma Halliday
e	Undercover in High Heels	Gemma Halliday
e	Alibi in High Heels	Gemma Halliday
e	Mayhem in High Heels	Gemma Halliday
e	Footsteps in Time	Sarah Woodbury
e	Prince of Time	Sarah Woodbury
e	Daughters of Time	Sarah Woodbury
e	Fearless in High Heels	Gemma Halliday
	Third Grave Dead Ahead	Darynda Jones
	Celebrety in Death	J D Robb
	Colonial Women	Carole Chandler Waldrup
e	The Winter King	Bernard Cornwell
	Tomorrow is Today	Julie Cross
	Prized	Caragh M. O'Brien
	Tortured	Caragh M. O'Brien
e	The Witch's Daughter	Paula Brackston
e	This is me Surviving	Kathie in FL
e	Mom's Journal of the Zombie Years	Kathie in FL
e	Over the mountain and through the Fire	Kathie in FL
	Maze Runner	James Dashner
	The Witness	Nora Roberts
	Sugar Nation	Jeff O'Connell
e	Discovery of Witches	Deborah Harkness
	The Serpent's Shadow	Rick Riordan
	The Last Boyfriend	Nora Roberts
e	Lights out	David Crawford
e	Deadlocked	Charlaine Harris
	Vengeance Born	Kylie Griffin
e	The Bride Price	Tracey Jane Jackson
e	Daughter of Joy	Kathleen Morgan
e	Sagebrush	William Wayne Dicksion
e	Why I left the Amish	Saloma Miller Furlong
	50 shades of grey	E L James
e	Confessions of a prairie bitch	Allison Arngrim
	If walls could talk	Lucy Worsley
e	Wicked Business	Janet Evanovich
	Ruby Red	Kristen Gier
e	Shadow of Night	Deborah Harkness
e	The Stolen Crown	Susan Higginbotham
e	Tumbleweeds	Leila Meacham
	Once Burned	Jeaniene Frost
	Goddess Test	Aimee Carter
	Goddess Interrupted	Aimee Carter
	Grave Mercy	Robin LaFevers
e	The Last Romanov	Dora Levy Mossanen
e	Through a Glass Darkley	Karleen Koen
	Sky Dragons	Todd & Anne McCaffrey
e	Mountain Woman: Snake River Blizzard	Johnny Fowler
e	Wonder Woman: Odyssey	Michael Straczynski
	Nightshade	Andrea Cremer
	Wolfsbane	Andrea Cremer
	Delusion in Death	J D Robb
	Bloodrose	Andrea Cremer
	Sister Wives	The Browns
	Love times three	The Dargers
	The unthinkable: who survives when disaster strikes	Amanda Ripley
	Bitterblue	Kristin Cashore
	Rift	Andrea Cremer
	Why is the Penis Shaped like that?	Jesse Bering
e	The Covenant	Beverly Lewis
	The Uninvited	Heather Graham
	The Betrayal	Beverly Lewis
	The Sacrifice	Beverly Lewis
	The Prodigal	Beverly Lewis
	The Revelation	Beverly Lewis
	Holy Misogyny	April D DeConick
e	Return of Rafe MacKade	Nora Roberts
e	Pride of Jared MacKade	Nora Roberts
e	Heart of Devin MacKade	Nora Roberts
e	Fall of Shane MacKade	Nora Roberts
	Promised	Caragh O'Brien
	The Mark of Athena	Rick Riordan
e	A Year of Biblical Womanhood	Rachael Held Evans
	The Perfect Hope	Nora Roberts
	Fourth Grave beneath my feet	Darynda Jones
	Consider the fork:  a history of how we cook and eat	Bee Wilson
	Sapphire Blue	Kerstin Gier
	The Physick book of Deliverance Dane	Katherine Howe
	Lord of Mountains	S. M. Stirling
	Witch of Hebron	James Howard Kunstler
	Son	Lois Lowry
	Kiss of Midnight	Lara Adrian
	Kiss of Crimson	Lara Adrian
	Mary Boleyn: the mistress of Kings	Alison Weir
	Nightshade	Nora Roberts
	Night Smoke Wrong Hill to Die On	Nora Roberts Donis Casey

The finished Fireplace

Well, once again Kevin proved me wrong.  He actually finished the fireplace on December 20.  Since we were celebrating Christmas with family on the 23rd, I was relieved.  He modified the design a great deal since our floor plan is unique.  The fireplace sits in a corner and is angled.  That required us to modify the web image that sparked Kev's imagination.

We used pine to tie the fireplace with the stairs. Kev had the perfect piece left to use for the mantle.  It's three inches thick, just like the steps and the banister rail.  Since  it is the outside edge of the tree, it curves and isn't square, but it's awfully pretty.  Kev then built the lower shelves to hold our DVD player and Satellite receiver, moving them from the east wall, as seen below.

  

With the addition of the upper shelves, he created more space for me to showcase items.  Those shelves are "disappearing" shelves simply because we didn't want to put a side up against that angled wall.  It would have looked...odd.  

I like the firewood storage.  I thought about asking him to make one shelf on this side, but he veto'd that, and I think he was right.  We rocked the fireplace together.  It took about 5 hours.  I struggled with the layout of the rocks because I kept wanting them to fit perfectly.  They don't.  Kev did a lot of trimming to make them fill the space and they've grown on me...or I've let go of my idea of perfection. All in all, I'm happy with the end product.  I'm also eager to put away my Christmas decorations to see how I'm going to arrange "pretties" on the shelves.  

What's the next project?  Who knows!  It's now been a week since Kev has had anything to work on.  He's getting stir-crazy already!  We need to replace the Purple bathroom's tub and the skylight...we need to replace Kev's shower, and we need better cabinets in the kitchen.  But, I'd be happy if we didn't do anything for a few months.  I'm not sure Kevin can sit still that long!

Once again...before and after.  Quite a difference!

The NEW project

Remember when I said, "stay tuned" at the conclusion of the last post?  Well, it's time to change the channel.

My basement is complete.  Kevin won the bet.  Last Sunday, my living room looked like the above picture.  By the end the evening, it looked like this:

Notice the mantel is missing.  The fireplace trim is missing.  The wood that you see we discovered was simply a vinyl veneer adhered to sheet-rock.  What you can't really see is the wire mesh that now covers the sheet-rock.  If you look closely, you can see some stone laying in front of the fireplace.

That pointy piece of wood to the right side?  That will be a shelf.  Kevin found this photo below online:

And this is his goal for our fireplace. It's beautiful, and I like it.  However, I'm hosting Christmas on the 23rd.  I want this project FINISHED by the 23rd. I want my house "normal" by Christmas!

Our project will be amended, because our fireplace sits on a slanted wall in the corner and we'll use pine instead of oak.  But Kev insists that he'll be finished by the 23rd.  He's the only one in our house who thinks he can have it finished by the 23rd, and he's rather indignant that  none of us think he can get it done in 14 days.  

I'm annoyed by the whole project.  Why?  Because before we had the carpet laid, I asked him if he wanted to take down the fireplace mantle so the carpet would be all nice and flush and even.  "Nope" was his response, because he wasn't going to do anything else to the house.

That lasted 4 days.

And now my living room is tore up.  Again...