Wow has it been a while

It has been a rough few years for me due to health, depression, anxiety, and a lost stitchy bug. However I did pick my stitching back up recently after a nearly 2 year hiatus. I am working on Joan Elliott's Fair On A Dragon. I am stitching it with DMC floss on 28ct jobelen using 2 strands of floss over 2 threads.

Joan Elliott ©
Fairy on a Dragon

I am once again fighting back against depression induced apathy and trying to be a real person again, so I figured I could pop a post up on this blog. I am also running a stitching group on Facebook called The Stitching Nest. Right now it is a small group, but a good group. We have a lot of fun using Google Hangouts to stitch and chat together. A virtual stitching group! My daughter, who also stitches, helps me run the group. If you have a Facebook check it out.

Well that's it for now. Hopefully I will post more as I have missed writing on this blog and writing in general. 

Update On My Stitching

After I finished the Quaker, my niece asked me to do a Hello Kitty cross stitch for her, so I did. I don't remember the date I started it. However, I finished it January 27, 2015. Here is a picture:

I have started a Joan Elliott, Fairy On A Dragon. This is as far as I have gotten (it came between the Quaker and Hello Kitty):

After I completed Hello Kitty I picked up my old WIP, Christmas Dreams from Joan Elliott. I completed it on the 26th of February 2015. It needs to be washed and pressed, then the beads will be added. Here is the pic for that one.

After finishing Santa I picked up the Anniversary/Wedding sampler that I started years ago for my hubby and I. This is the Sentiment Sampler by Betty Spencer from thee American magazine Cross Stitch Crazy (May 2002 issue). Here is where it stood when I started stitching on it earlier today. I joined a Sampler SAL on the Cross Stitch, It's Fun Facebook group. I got almost all of the lower right corner filled in, which is the outermost border.

Here is what that sampler will look like (well, real close to this as I did change the center and am adding beads as well) when it is done.

A friend from the Facebook group gave me a RAK. Her name is Heather and I am so very grateful! She sent me the pdf from Heaven and Earth Designs for Amy Brown's Mini Naughty Fairy. I don't know when I will get a chance to stitch it, but I do love it!

I've been participating in the Facebook group and we hold daily Google+ Hangouts. These hangouts are a LOT of fun and go a long way towards keeping my stitching bug alive and well. Watching everyone stitching makes me want to stitch more and more. I am quite glad I joined them. They are a great group of people.

Happy Dance!!

Yesterday I completed stitching on the Quaker 6 Mains (I think that's the correct title) from Mon Ami Pierre.

YAY another finish for 2014!

And Still Stitching...amazing!

Here is where I am as of today on the Quaker sampler. The first and third pages are done, which completes the left side of the design. Not bad for someone who hasn't stitched in a couple years.

I'm also showing my niece, Bridgette, how to stitch. She has been asking me to teach her for a couple years now and I tried on Sat. the 27th of April. She did a great job. I showed her with the first row, having her help pull the needle through, and she did most of the second and all of the third rows herself. I am very very proud of her! Here is her stitching and as soon as I can get the pics off my phone, I will post one of her actually doing the stitching.

Last but not least I did get the K's Creations frame from overstock dot com. It is taking a bit of getting used to but it is making it a LOT easier for me to stitch without neck, shoulder and low back pain. Works very well and I am enjoying it.

And Stitching Continues

I had to take 2 days off from stitching as my shoulders and neck hurt from the way I was sitting, and my back pain increased as well. I have ordered a lap frame by K's Creations. Though I ordered it from Overstock dot com, as K's Creations never returned my phone calls (2 days in a row, messages left both times..4 business days total) or email. I don't know if they've gone out of business or not. Hopefully using the lap frame will make stitching more comfortable for me.

I made some more progress on the Quaker Sampler. Here is a picture of where I left off this evening.

Even More Stitching (With Big Smiles!) and Pics as Promised!

Thank you all for the wonderful comments, I do appreciate it! I continue to enjoy stitching again and continue to stitch! So here are the pics as promised!

Yesterday I worked on the Quaker (Quaker Mon Ami, I think ???) called Quaker 6 Mains by Mon Ami Pierre © (I was close, almost got the designer right LOL) some more and am almost finished with page 1. Here is how it looked last time it was on the blog:

No Idea the Title. Got it as a freebie online.
28ct. Jobelen

There was a tad more done but I apparently didn't take a picture. The letters Q and q were added and that's where I stopped somewhere in 2010 I think it was. When I emptied my bag the other day I had the fabric and the chart, but couldn't find the list of floss numbers I had used. All I could remember is they were 38's in DMC. So I scoured my blog, luckily I did write the floss numbers I chose onto the blog; 3831, 3832, 3833. I was very happy when I found that, yanked the floss and got stitching. Here is where it stands as of April 14, 2014:

Back in Dec. 2011 I was participating in an Ornament challenge. I stitched a few ornaments and left one in progress. I finished that last week, here is the picture:

Holly Reindeer © DaffyCat
28ct Hand Dyed Jobelen (not sure of name but its a tan/brownish color

Around the reindeer's neck is a bough of holly. It is done in green x's and red French Knots. Along with the Holly Reindeer, I also stitched the Mistletoe Reindeer, The Stocking reindeer, and Believe. All are by Daffy Cat. Believe and Stocking Reindeer have been shared before. So here is Mistletoe Reindeer as I can't find a post on my blog where I shared the pic of this one.

Mistletoe Reindeer © DaffyCat

Many many years ago I stitched a bunch of small Christmas designs onto Aida fabric. My intention was to turn them into ornaments. For years the large pieces a fabric (Black and white) just lay in the drawer with the stitching on them, but not cut out for finishing. Eventually I cut them out and pinned them together, but never finished sewing them. Well, I finally did and they are ready to be used on this year's Christmas tree. These came out of different Leisure Arts leaflets and a Christmas Book or two that I have. Here is a pic of them:

That's it! Nothing since Dec. 2011, and in one week I finished a few WIPs and an owed exchange. So now I'm going to do some more work on the Quaker Mon Ami (I think that's it, not sure though and I'm probably wrong) Quaker 6 Mains by Mon Ami Pierre © (I was close, almost got the designer right LOL)The other day while stitching I decided to try listening to an audio book. I have Stephen King's Wind Through The Keyhole as an audio book, being read by the author, so I started that up. It was FANTASTIC! Now I know why all you lovely people rave about listening to audio books while stitching, it is great! So I'm off to Mid-World, the Starkblast and needlework!

**edited April 16, 2014 to add proper name of Quaker design

Stitching Continues!!

I have stitched every day now for the last couple weeks and it feels great!

After I completed the care bear I pulled out my project bag and emptied it. I laid all the contents on my bed and played "match up" with the fabric and charts. Back in Dec. 2011, I was doing an ornament challenge and had stitched reindeer designs made by Daffy Cat and had completed the stitching on 2 of them, leaving 1 in progress. I completed the third one yesterday. (I will get a pic up as soon as my camera charges)


Last year I signed up for a Valentine's Day exchange, in the hopes that it would help kick start my desire to stitch. It didn't, but the project was in my bag about a quarter done. It is a design that I made and I don't want to give it away, but I did take a pic that gives a bit of a sneak peek.

In addition to that, I had a bunch of little X-mas ornaments I stitched many years ago (2001 or so). In Dec. of 2012 I had my niece help me stuff them with poly fill. My intention was to make little pillow ornaments out of them. They got stuffed, and the open edge pinned together and that was it. Today I finally got around to closing the open seam and adding hangers. I will take pics, hopefully, tomorrow.

Also in my project bag was the Quaker I started a few  years ago. I added some more on it yesterday and today as well.

So yup,  stitching is happening and I am very happy about that!

FINALLY!! I stitched, enjoyed, and COMPLETED a project!

My last stitching finish were a few Christmas ornaments back in Dec. of 2011. Since then I have done spats of stitching here and there, nothing much at all though. I was severely lost in depression and lost the desire to stitch. I tried once in a while forcing myself, but just couldn't do it. In Oct. of 2013 I ended up in the hospital for 6 days. The end result is that I have a heart condition, damage to the back side of the left ventricle from a heart attack, and an 80% blockage in an artery that feeds the heart. Of course, the blockage is arranged and in such a spot that the doctor can't just put a stent in and the surgical repair would be "tricky" and "dangerous", thus we are hoping medications etc. will ease it up a bit.

I'm not going to go into details but that experience in Oct. sure blew my mind in many different ways. The biggest being I don't want to die and I don't want to continue just existing and not living. So for the past few months I've been working on getting my head in a better place. As I did that, I started wanting to stitch. My niece asked for a piece of Harmony Bear, one of the Care Bears. I've been stitching for the last few weeks, with the last week being very regularly and with increasing enjoyment.

Here it is, my first piece of completed cross stitch since Dec. 2011. I am so very happy to have it done!

Copyright Leisure Arts
Stitched by. Missy Hull 2014

I seem to have woken up my stitchy bug, so the next piece to go on the hoop will be the piece I owe a friend.

Interesting and Informative Article

This is an older article on copyright violations in the needlework industry (quilting, cross stitch, needlepoint, etc etc.) that has lots of great information. This article was written in (I think) 1999 or 2000. The issues it talks about now are even worse. Many designers have closed up shop, magazines have gone out of business or changed their business focus to stop publishing the magazine due to piracy (most recently The Gift Of Stitching), and local stores are closing. Piracy has reached huge levels within the needlework community and it is hurting the entire industry. Read the article here: http://www.caron-net.com/nov00files/nov00fea.html

Stitchers lose another resource

A magazine that I have greatly enjoyed over the past years, The Gift Of Stitching Magazine, is stopping publication with their May issue. One of their main reasons is internet piracy (copyright violations). It is so very sad that yet another resource for stitchers is being lost due to people who just can't grasp the concept that they are stealing. It frustrates and angers me a great deal.

I've seen how these people defend themselves. They say things like they only use the stolen patterns that they download to discover new designers and then purchase real copies of the charts for designers they like. This might be true for a few of them, but it is NOT true for the majority of them. Far too many people download charts for free and refuse to see that by doing this they are crippling designers' businesses, thus causing them to stop designing as they can't earn a living wage with their designs. For this magazine specifically it has been horrendous to see that within 30 minutes of the new issue becoming available, the file is uploaded on at least 3 different major infringement sites. Then the issues are downloaded hundreds of times within a few days. Then the people who download the files argue that it doesn't hurt the business of the publisher of the magazine (it is a small business that publishes this magazine, not a large publishing company). I don't understand how they can believe that their stealing doesn't effect the publisher when hundreds of downloads do equal hundreds of lost sales to the publisher. If it were true that downloading these illegal copies do not impact designers, then TGOSM would NOT have seen such a loss in sales that just gets worse every quarter. The fact remains that designers who are being infringed upon do see major drops in their income/sales, the more frequently they are infringed the greater the drop in their sales.

These drops in sales would NOT occur if it were true that everyone who downloads a pattern just to "see if it is a good pattern" then goes and actually buys that same pattern. Since designers are seeing drops in sales, some to a point where their designing business is constantly running at a loss (in other words it costs them money to continue to design, rather than breaking even or making a small profit), it is obvious that the theft of their designs is negatively impacting their businesses.

Sadly it is true that human beings will convince themselves of whatever they need to so they can continue their behavior when they know that behavior is wrong. Many of these thieves convince themselves that stealing these designs doesn't hurt the designers and is "ok", in order to feel that it is okay for them to continue to download stolen charts. They deny the harm they are doing.

I truly am saddened that the stitching community is losing yet another great resource due to internet thieves. I loved TGOSM as it introduced me to many designers I had not seen before. It had many interesting ways of finishing stitching beyond the usual framing, pillows, needlebooks etc. It had some wonderful articles. I will treasure all the issues I have.

Kirsten, thank you for all the work you put in to publishing The Gift Of Stitching Magazine. I enjoyed it tremendously!

WIPocalypse March Update

Here is a picture of the Anniversary Sampler for DH and I for the March WIPocalypse. I didn't get a whole lot done, but its better than nothing.

more of the right hand border

how it looks overall

This is Sentimental Sampler © Betty Spencer from the US Magazine Cross Stitch Crazy May 2002. Here is a pic of what it should look like when completed. I did change it around just a little to make the words I wanted fit in it.

WIPocalypse

I joined Measi's WIPocalypse (Measi's Musings) to try and get some of my WIPs completed. You can find my WIP list for this challenge HERE. I started with the Sentimental Sampler, a chart from the US Magazine The Cross Stitcher. I didn't get very far, but here are my pics for the first update.

Sentimental Sampler © The Cross Stitcher

Closeup to show colors better

Closeup of area stitched

I had to pull out this area twice before I got it right, so I didn't get far. But I have started!!

Thank You and Ornie Challenge Thus Far

I started this stitching blog in October of 2007. I really enjoyed reading other stitchers' blogs and seeing their progress pics as well as their finished or framed pieces. I enjoyed the little glimpses into their real lives when they post about things such as vacations, holidays, or anything they feel comfortable publishing on the web. As a result of starting my own blogs, I have received a great deal of support and well wishes from other stitchers. Since I posted about stitching more often a couple weeks ago I have received many positive and supportive comments.

Thank you Missy, Brigitte, Christine, Donna, Pumpkin, Sam (my daughter), Kaye, Mouse, and RuthB for all of your supportive and celebratory (I hope that's a word) comments on my recent posts about returning to stitching. I really appreciate the support and acknowledgement more than I can say!

Also, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has ever commented on my blog. Those comments really do make me feel good and I appreciate them all.

I have completed the stitching on 4 Christmas ornaments so far. My sister-in-law Stephanie picked up some seasonal fabric (A fat quarter bundle usually for quilters) and stuffing so I can finish the ornaments so they can be used. I plan on doing a finishing day in a couple weeks, where I finish them all at once. I need to take a day or two to learn my new (to me) sewing machine. Anyway here are the pictures of the 4 ornaments I have completed stitching on so far:

Believe © Daffycat Designs
2 over 2 DMC on 18ct Zweigart Jobelen in Sand

Christmas Motif (not sure of designer) Freeby
28ct 2 over 2 in DMC on White Zweigart Jobelen

Stocking Reindeer © DaffyCat Designs
2 over 2 on 28ct Sand (Hand dyed Jobelen Zweigart) in DMC floss

Christmas Cat Tree © Brittercup Designs
28ct white Jobelen from Zweigart using DMC floss

I am working on Mistletoe Reindeer from DaffyCat Designs and am half-way through it. I should be able to finish it today.

Feathers in the Nest is having a fantastic Christmas giveaway! Go HERE and check it out!

Victorian Motto Sampler Shop is having a wonderful giveaway on hand dyed flosses, in gorgeous colors! You can enter HERE.

Stitching

I did finish the Christmas Cat Tree by Brittercup Designs and I also did a small design from Daffycat called Believe. I haven't taken pictures yet, but I will get them up soon. Its not as good as I wanted to do for the ornie challenge, but its better than none at all so I am pleased with it. I have a few more weeks and I'm hoping I can knock out one or two more. I enjoyed it a great deal too! I actually stitched all day last Wednesday (I think it was) which is something I haven't done in a long long time. Of course my pelvis was really unhappy with me and I paid for it the next day, but I enjoyed it a lot! I just have to find a better position for stitching and remember to get up, stretch, and walk around after 30 minutes or so. I just get so into the stitching I forget to stretch, get up, and move around LOL Maybe I will set a timer and see if that helps.

I am hoping to get the Reindeer charts from Daffycat done for this year as well. Sam wants to stitch one of them as well.

In preparation for TUSAL 2012, I found a jar and am collecting my orts again so I'm in the habit for next year. When Sam and I stitched together the other day, she collected hers as well so I have some of her threads in the jar.

Sam has created a cross stitch chart for her boyfriend and completed the stitching the other day. It looks fabulous! Her back is perfect, her stitching is perfect and I am so proud of her. I can't share any pictures of it because its a surprise for her boyfriend (who reads my blog) and I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I am so so proud! She is so pleased with herself also, which is great to see. I can't wait to share it. She did it on a red fabric which is more difficult to stitch on, as we all know, so I'm even more proud of her.

I managed to cook most of Thanksgiving dinner which meant a great deal to me. I am so very happy that I managed to do it. I am also very grateful to my husband Ron, my daughter Sam, my sister-in-law Stephanie, and my neighbor Diane who all helped me with the preparation and cooking in one way or another. I even managed to sit in the living room and enjoy my company for most of the day. It was great!

2 Days In A Row

Woo Hoo! I stitched some more today making it two days in a row. YAY!

I didn't sleep last night so I've been tired all day. I chose not to take a nap because doing so would have left me awake all night tonight too. It doesn't take much to mess up my sleep schedule but it can take weeks to get it back to normal (sleeping at night). I was hoping to finish my first ornament for the Christmas Ornamenet Challenge 2011, but no such luck. I had to stop stitching when my eyes got blurry lol

So here is where I am on Christmas Cat Tree by Brittercup Designs

YAY I Stitched!

Thank you all for your well wishes about my illness. I really appreciate it!

Today (Sunday the 13th) was a pretty good day all in all. I did manage to do some stitching. I almost got completely caught up on blog reading. I started a new blog that will be a directory of needlework blogs. Since I have so many in my reader and I've seen many new stitching bloggers comment that they've had a difficult time finding other stitching blogs, I thought creating a directory would be a good idea.

When I started this blog there were two sites (that I found) which contained listings of links to other stitching blogs. However neither site has beeen updated in a very long time and many of the links were broken. So I've started making a directory. You can see that blog here:  Directory Of Stitching Blogs. I will start out by putting all the blogs that are listed in my reader into the directory. I hope to continue adding to the directory as people submit their blogs, submit a friend's blog, or I come across new blogs.  If I am listed as a follower on your blog, you are already in my reader and will be added to the directory. Please feel free to submit a blog by emailing me.

I joined in on the Christmas Ornament Challenge 2011 that BeckySC started. I've been meaning to stitch ornaments for my Christmas tree for a couple years now, but just hadn't done them yet. This challenge sounded like a great motivation to get some done this year, so I joined in. Due to being sick for 3 weeks I wasn't able to start stitching ornaments on Nov. 1st like I had hoped, but I did manage to start stitching today! Woo Hoo!

For my first ornament I chose Christmas Cat Tree by Brittercup Designs from this year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. I'm stitching on 28ct Antique White Jazzlyn from Wichelt Importers using DMC floss. I didn't get very far but at least it's a start! lol The colors are a bit faded on this picture as I had to use the flash.

Christmas Cat Tree © Brittercup Designs
DMC floss 2 over 2 on 28ct Jazzlyn

I am hoping to have this finished tomorrow and then I'll start doing the Reindeer patterns created by DaffyCat. They are really cute and will make a nice little set of ornaments. You can find information about the Reindeer patterns at DaffyCat's blog "It's DaffyCat!!". There are 4 Reindeer charts (among other freebies) and that link will open her blog entry for the Stocking Reindeer.

Enjoy!

Challenges/SAL/etc

At the beginning of 2011 I remember lots of people starting the crazy 15 challenge, which was to start a new project every day for the first 15 days of January 2011. I have enjoyed watching people's progress on their blogs. As well as that someone created a similar challenge but instead of new starts it was to complete 15 UFOs/WIPs. I've also enjoyed watching progress on those as well. Then there is the TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-long) where people post pics of an ort container on the full moon of every month. And so many other sal's. For next year Measi of Measi's Musings has come up with he idea of a WIPocalypse. It is kind of a joke over the idea of 2012 being the last year before the Apocalypse occurs. The idea is to get as many of our WIPS/UFOS completed before that happens. Updates are to be posted every full moon during 2012. I haven't joined in other blogging related SAL's before but for some reason I want to join this one, so I did.

Here are the links to further information should you wish to learn more or join up yourself:

1. Rules and sign up page on Measi's Blog is here
2. FAQ on Measi's Blog is HERE.  
3. List of signups is HERE.
4. YUKU board for the group to keep up with each other and encourage each other is HERE. 

My list:

• Woodland Fairy by Teresa Wentzler
• Stroke of Midnight by Teresa Wentzler
• Christmas Dreams by Joan Elliott
• Sentimental Sampler (AKA Anniversary Sampler) from a magazine
• Quaker (I forget full name but I think Marquior was part of it) by Mon Ami Pierre (I think)

I will add more WIPS as I find them. I know I have an LHN on the go, but can't find it right now and I don't remember it's title. Since the lists can be changed over time, I can add it later. Here's hoping I can keep up with this WIPocalypse. I tend to fall so far behind on everything because the depression and pain just seem to eat up all my time. I've spent most of this year just sort of "coasting" along because my mobility has been so severely decreased, daily pain level increased, and my motivation for many things decreased. So I figured I'd give this a try. It can't hurt I suppose and it may help me motivate myself.

Posting dates for progress pics:

Jan. 9

Feb. 7

March 8

April 6

May 5

June 4

July 3

Aug. 31

Sep. 29

Oct. 29

Nov. 28

Dec. 28

Wish me luck! LOL

Update on Sentimental Sampler used as Anniversary Sampler

I realized that the picture I uploaded of Sentimental Sampler (using it as an Anniversary Sampler) is an old one. When I pulled it out to work on it I realized that I was further along than that picture showed. So I took a new picture. I did a bit of stitching last night and am hoping to get some more done today after I do a bit of cleaning in the bedroom.

Sentimental Sampler © The Cross Stitcher
28ct Jobelen with DMC floss over 2 threads
Closeup with decent representation of colors

Sentimental Sampler © The Cross Stitcher
As of Oct. 18, 2011

I had to alter the chart a little bit in order to fit the names into it. So I removed one line from the center and altered the line below the names. I kept the same dimensions (stitch count, number of rows etc.) so I would not have to figure out how to alter the borders of the piece. I was so nervous making these changes, but was very happy when the first border fit perfectly. I was so worried that my count might have been off and the border wouldn't fit anymore, but it did (that's the zig zag border just around the middle part).

Thank you all for your comments on my last post about Quaker Welcome and my daughter's stitching. I really appreciate it. Your support and well wishes do help me a great deal. Sam (my daughter) says thank you for the compliments; they made her smile.

Jenny said: "Isn't it wonderful when the passion for something finally returns?"


Yes Jenny it is fantastic! I was beginning to think my stitching bug was eaten by the frogs somewhere. LOL

OK I am off to do some cleaning and then hopefully some stitching. I am going to try to use my stitching as a coping mechanism for my pain. Cleaning my room will make my pain level go up. Stitching used to help me cope with my pain by distracting me from it. For a while now it hasn't been though I'm not sure if that is because of the pain or because I was in a bout of depression again. So I will try today. I am hoping that my stitching will once again help me deal with my pain.

My first finish for the year and daughter stitches

YAY!  I finally managed to finish something! I finished Quaker Welcome by The Stitcherhood. It is for my mother-in-law. I will give it to her for Christmas if I can get it framed by then. Here are some pictures:

Quaker Welcome
© The Stitcherhood
Finished Oct. 2, 2011 on 28ct Silkweaver's Jobelen
DMC 820

The backside

I am very proud of this piece. I did not carry threads between motifs, and I tried hard to keep the back neat. I love the dark blue on the sparkly light blue. Sue, my DMIL, saw it when we visited and it was almost half-way done and she really liked it. It felt so great to finally finish something!

I was stitching with my daughter. She is working on a piece that is a combination of two EMS baby designs. She will add a heart and some words between the two. The piece is for her friends who are engaged to be married. Here are pictures:

Penguin Baby © Ellen Maurer-Stroh
14 ct White Aida with reccomended DMC floss
Stitcher: Sam C.

Turtle Baby © Ellen Maurer-Stroh
14ct Aida DMC Floss
Stitcher: Sam C.

Carnation from book 2011 Cross Stitch Designs
14ct Aida DMC Floss
Stitcher: Sam C.

It was really nice to spend some time stitching and even better was spending that time with my daughter. I've been focusing on spending time with my family. I am once again homeschooling my son Kyle. My daughter Sam and I have been watching DVD's or movies via Netflix, chatting, and stitching. Due to my back not getting any better DH and I can't get out much, so we've also been watching movies and various documentaries on Netflix. So lots of chatting, goofing off, and just enjoying being together and it feels great. I think that is why I was finally able to feel a desire to stitch and enjoy every stitch, instead of just doing a few stitches because I "had" to and not enjoying it. I am hoping to pull out the wedding sampler I started for DH and I and continue working on it. If I remember correctly it is half-way done already and the changes I made to the chart (extending it to fit more words) were all worked out.

Sentimental Sampler
From a magazine

The colors are off on this but hopefully when I get some more done I can get a better picture of it.

Well that's pretty much it for me, hopefully I will have a new update soon!

Pics and Fun

As promised here is a picture of the progress I made on Quaker Welcome by The Stitcherhood while I was in Indiana.

Quaker Welcome © The Stitcherhood
Stitched by: Missy H.
DMC floss on Silkweaver Opalescent 28ct jobelen 2 over 2

This is not a large piece and I should have completed it by now. My mojo disappeared for many months while I was fundraising for Matt. This was followed by new symptoms in my back and pelvis and a sharp increase in my pain. This coupled with the doctor's decisions to lower my meds, do only half the RF procedures, and to tell me "We will do nothing more for you. You'll just have to live with it.", all brought back my depression and severely curtailed my mobility. I know many people find stitching helps them through rough times and I used to be one of them. I don't know when or why this changed, I just know that it has. Now when I am feeling real low the idea of stitching feels like trying to climb Mt. Everest covered in lard and alone. There is some good news about my medications etc. but that goes on the other blog. If you wish to read it you can find it here: Living With Chronic Pain and Depression.

When I got back from Indiana I pulled it out to work on it some more and noticed I made a mistake. I haven't frogged it yet, but I will soon. It doesn't set anything off by any stitches and I could probably just leave it an no one would know, but I can't do that with this error. I've done it in other designs (ex: wrong green for one stitch on a leaf in a Teresa Wentzler design, not noticeable) when it wouldn't be noticeable, but I think this one would be.

I thought it might be fun to play a little game. Look carefully at this picture and see if you can spot my error. If you think you have spotted it post in the comments. On Wednesday (17th) I will randomly chose a winner from all the correct answers and that person shall receive a $25.00 gift certificate to Down Sunshine Lane. Here is a hint: If no one has the correct answer by that time I will provide a hint and extend the contest until Saturday the 20th. You can click to make the picture larger.

Have fun!

Edited: Had to add the information of where I stopped stitching when I ran out of floss as it appears to be an error but its not the one I was talking about since its just not completed. I will however count Christine's comment as correct since it is my fault. thanks for playing along Christine!