Cross Stitching in China

Well, it seems that many of the female Chinese athletes competing in the Olympics are cross stitchers. I guess this gives a whole new meaning to the “Stitching Olympics”.

A Stitch in Time Wins Gold for China’s Female Athletes

New Start

Ok, I know I promised myself that I would wait until I finished Coffin Buzz to start Halloween Fairy, but I just couldn’t resist. She was calling my name too loudly. I ended up starting her yesterday. Here’s my first progress pic after 4 hours of stitching time:

She’s a new design from Nora Corbett (designer behind the Mirabilia line). The chart appears in the September 2008 issue of Cross-Stitch & Needlework magazine.

I’m not exactly sure what this fabric is called. I got it in a grab bag from Silkweaver and it didn’t have any sort of label on it. I’ve had a couple of different people say they think it’s Blueberry Delight, and another said she thought it was Abracadabra. I’m not sure I really think it’s looks like either of those. It seems too purple to be Blueberry Delight, but it definitely seems to have more blue than Abracadabra. I suppose it could be one of the Solos and not a production color at all. What do you think? Here are the two suggested options:

Once I have her finished, I’m seriously considering sending her to Jill Rensel for framing. I saw a couple of photos online of Nora’s other Halloween Fairy that were framed by Jill and thought they were awesome! You can see them here and here. It just amazes me what beautiful work she does and how she can make the exact same piece look so much different just through different matting and frame options.

I also got in a bit of finishing yesterday. This is my first project for the Finishing Line in my Stitching Olympics challenge. I had a small motif that I had stitched earlier this year to test a fabric/fiber combination for a sampler. I really loved how it looked, so I decided to use it to try my hand at creating a floss tag. After I was finished, I was really glad this wasn’t an exchange piece because it sure turned out to be a learning piece for sure! I’ll definitely do things a bit differently the next time I give this a try. It was fun learning a new finishing technique though.

Until next time …

Fish Out of Water/Stitching Olympics

Well, I’m not actually anywhere near being a fish yet, but I’m out of the water. I’ve been having some nagging shoulder pain all summer. It’s gotten increasingly worse as the summer has progressed, so I finally broke down and made myself go to the doctor to get it checked out.

After being poked, prodded, and x-rayed, my GP seems to think I have Acromioclavicular Arthrosis. In layman’s terms, that’s osteoarthritis of the AC joint. So, I’m on hiatus from any form of exercise that requires rotating the shoulder or puts undue stress/weight on it. That pretty much leaves me with walking (not of the power variety) and recumbent cycling. I have to rest it the shoulder as much as possible, use Aleve for pain management, and ice it for 20 minutes 2-3 times per day. I’m being referred to an orthopedist for confirmation of the diagnosis and for a course of treatment which will most likely start with physical therapy.

Right now, I’m just trying to keep a positive outlook about this all, but it’s not easy. I’m just finally starting to feel “normal” again after my spinal fusion surgery last year. I hate that something else has come up to slow me down again. I’m just hoping that things get resolved quickly enough that I can still do my tri in October.

In stitching news, I’ve signed up for the Stitching Olympics on The Wagon — one of the stitching bulletin boards I visit. The goal is to see how much we can all get accomplished on our stitching goals during the Olympic games. I’m not sure how many of these I’ll actually get to since I’m late to the party, but here are my before photos:

Sprint: (these are for projects that literally are ALMOST done - they lack maybe a few hours stitching, a few beads, etc.)

Coffin Buzz (Plum Street Samplers) and a hardanger ornament (don’t remember the designer off the top of my head).

Rotation Relay: (for those of us with more projects in rotation than stars in the sky. Work for at least two hour on each project.)

Rosemarkie (Long Dog Samplers - I know it looks like it should be in the Sprint category, but there’s a LOT of backstitching on this piece. ), Halloween Fairy (Nora Corbett - starting this piece tonight), Taj Mahal (Chatelaine), Acorn Hill (Little House Needleworks), and Hannah Beeby.

Long Jump: (giant projects with lots and lots of thick stitching. Stitch as many 10×10 sections of solid stitching as possible.)

Nova (Genny Morrow Designs)

Finish Line: (for projects just sitting around waiting to be “finished” finished - made into ornaments, boxes, framed, etc.)

Sampler Noel (Fancy Work), A Christmas Wish (Blue Ribbon Designs), Gingerbread Cottage (Country Cottage Needleworks), a misc. motif (Unknown designer), and Stitcher’s Retreat Keepsake.

Well, that’s it for now. Until next time …