Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

A Teeny Hallowe'en Blog Hop!

Helloooo, blogland~ I hope you guys are ready for another fun Blog Hop courtesy of our Spooktacular Hostess, Jo! I've been remarkably (regrettably) remiss with blogging this latter part of the year but how can I miss these fun hops?!  If you're happening upon my post randomly, please start your journey at Jo's blog to collect the letters in order~

Google-y Oogley

This year I accomplished a tiny finish of a Mill Hill kit. I bought this in a thrift store when visiting my Grandma last year, and I brought it back to her house this year to work on! Grandmas make enthusiastic observers and she was suitably impressed with the tiny beads, teasing me for stitching with "grains of sand".

Wendy's Rosey's cat

Obviously I had to have this one because of the black cat, right!  I really liked the black "rainbow" beads.  It's like they were a beaded oil slick of color.  This is the first Mill Hill I've worked on where it had one of the special, fancy beads (the pumpkin collar charm).  Of course I made a few minor changes because what's a piece without personalization~?  I regret not using more floss though.  The kit suggested using three strands for the cross-stitches but I like my loop starts.  This has been done in two strands and hindsight being 20/20, I should've gone up to four strands.  There were definitely enough materials to do so!  So kitty looks a little bald in spots haha~  It's mostly noticeable here in the photos; it's not bad in person.

oil slick black beads

To finish it off, I glued (eeeeek!) some black felt to the back to hide protect the stitches, and then attached the magnet that came with the kit.  I considered making this another ornament finish but now I can decorate my fridge for Hallowe'en instead of an ornament tree that I don't have. Win/win!

Technical Details
  • "Wendy's Cat" - MH18-5206, a counted glass bead kit by Mill Hill.
  • Perforated paper, teeny tiny beads (most were petites), magnet.
  • Started October 4, 2019; finished October 18, 2019; unknown hours.

๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ

And of course, you're here for the letter!

capital i, not lowercase L!

So ghoul your way on to the next haunting, which is Tiffstitches a Blog! She always has some awesome Hallowe'eny stuff.   Since I schedule these posts for the early morning hours, I'll come back and edit the links to go to the specific pages once they're (and I'm!) up.

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

A Heartfelt Hallowe'en Blog Hop

Hello there, world!  It's time for the yearly magic of putting the apostrophe back in Hallowe'en ... Er, I mean the Hallowe'en Blog Hop!  If you've discovered this game from my blog, please go to Jo's blog first to start collecting letters that will spell out a mystery phrase!

Google-y Oogley

I was actually a little worried I wouldn't be able to participate in the hop this year due to traveling.  Turns out, going to grandma's house for a couple of weeks without much Internet access means Lots of Crafting Time so I got my piece finished in record time (although not with enough time to finish-finish upon returning), along with a plethora (for me) of other projects.

Cuore di Halloween

Tada!  I think I first saw this piece on our Hostess with the Hallowe'en Mostest's blog.  I loved it and have had it saved to my computer since then knowing that someday would come.  Well, someday is here which is kind of amazing in the stitching world!

yay!

I made quite a few modifications.  First, this was stitched on fabric I dyed myself! (:D!!!!)  I wanted an orange Hallowe'eny piece but I can never seem to find colored fabrics other than white, ecru, and red out here in the boonies.  Dyeing didn't look too difficult so I picked up a bottle of Rit in tangerine and dove in (or rather, the fabric did :D) with some of my older Aida pieces.  Because the color of the fabric was quite similar to the called-for orange in the pattern, I changed that to bright purple for contrast.

it glows!

I also modified various bits of the skeleton, ghouls, and cat.  Basically nothing was safe from me this time.   All of the white became the glorious Glow-in-the-Dark DMC thread.  I thought the cat looked more like a vicious sort of bunny (no Monty Python killer rabbits here) but I couldn't get a reconfiguration of ears to suit me... so the cat got a hat hah.  Then I added a few more little Hallowe'en buttons I had in my stash instead of some of the smaller hearts.  Since I think they're cute, I added a third ghoul instead of more swooping purple lines.  Lastly, I went totally insane and added beads instead of the single stitches by robbing old Mill Hill kits.   I really had a lot of fun with this project!  I'm still not sure how I'll finish-finish it as it's quite large to be an ornament.

Technical Details
  • "Cuore di Halloween" freebie pattern by Isabelle Vautier can be found here.
  • 2-over-1 on 14-count white Aida, dyed orange by me!
  • Finished size: 5.5 x 6" (14 x 15.2 cm)
  • Started October 23, 2018, finished October 28, 2018; unknown hours.
I am guessing my copy of this freebie is old enough to not have links to where it could be found (it was just a series of four small images).  So, double thanks to our hostess's Happy Dance blog with the relevant info!

๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ

found via Google

And here's the letter you've all been waiting for -- the letter F!  Your next stop is jocondine so go knock on her door for your next treat!

I've scheduled this post to appear in the wee hours of the morning here for you over-puddlers! 

September Smalls ~ The Return of the Microkit

Howdy, y'all~ A timely and actually stitched Smalls piece from me this month! Whatever is the world coming to?  Better weather, that's for sure.  Right now it's a beautiful 54°F (12°C) and some fog rolling in the valleys and on the rivers.  It finally feels like fall!

I've ended the giveaway a little bit early due to picking such a popular design that several people have already haha~  So, Leonore, you are the winner and I already have your address.  It has been sent on its merry way across the puddle~  :D

click for info!

Halloween stitching is quite fun and I decided to stitch another of the little microkits I found on carand88's blog (search by tag: cat) years ago.  Today's featurette is the spooky(?) ghost microkit with bonus glow-in-the-dark thread.  A year is apparently long enough to forget how "fuzzy" glow-in-the-dark floss is!  Such a weird one to work with.   Ghostie joins Witchy Kitty and Mr and Mrs Frankenstein in the completion pile, woo!

to you


Technical Details
  • "Ghost Microkit" freebie pattern by Carolyn at carand88.
  • 2-over-1 on 14 count black perforated plastic..
  • Started: September 21, 2018; Finished: September 25, 2018; unknown hours.

So what's up with that bit of floss still attached if it's finished? Well, I'm not sure if I like the "boo" placement/existence. It felt like there was a large amount of empty space in the upper right.   Maybe I need to shift it up a little more?  I don't want it extending out past the stitching though.  Any opinions on the matter?

witchy kitty is with the Halloween stuff!


This was also the first experience I can recall where I've broken a (brand new!) needle while stitching (#22... I think).  Perhaps the perforated plastic was just too thick for it and I switched to a fatter #18.

Kind of sparse post!  There's still time before Halloween to stitch another of these little guys but I dunno if I will or not.  I'm feeling kind of whimsical about stitching since it got cooler.  I keep having the urge to bury myself in yarn!  This is becoming a regular autumn feeling.....

Spooky Hallowe'en Blog Hop

Hello there, blog hoppers and minions!  It's that magical time of year for Jo's Hallowe'en (look I put the apostrophe in) Blog Hop.  I've scheduled this post to appear in the wee hours of the morning here as many readers are from the future... Or at least from over the puddle.  If you're stumbling onto the game from my blog, please head on over to Jo's blog to start!

Google-y Oogley

This year I have a Shiny New Finish, full of firsts!  It is my first time stitching on black fabric (I've done black perforated plastic), my first flatfold finishing, and my first Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery (finally)!  So much YAY!

not a whole lot of border fabric -- whoops

Technical Details
  • "All Hallows Eve" pattern by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, found here.
  • 2-over-1 on a 14-count black Aida.
  • Backing material: Holiday Showcase™ Halloween Cotton Fabric 43" - Candy Corn Dot, remnant purchased at JoAnn Fabrics, and stash black felt.
  • Finished stitching size: ~3" (7,6cm) square.
  • Started October 4, 2017, finished October 15, 2017, unknown hours.

๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ

small kine goodies

Because I stitched on black, I made a few adjustments to some of the charted colors.  Ms. Witch is in a fabulous navy dress, and Sir Mittens, her trusty familiar, is a dark grey gentlecat with dainty white paws.  The stars were stitched with E940 which is the wonderful glow-in-the-dark DMC.  I was surprised how... fluffy? this floss is.  It's in the light effects line so I guess I was expecting something more stiff.  But the coverage is great, even for 14-count!  Other than that, there were a few other tweaks, mostly involving the charted black floss.  I was not overly enthusiastic about stitching black on black and then not having it show up!

cell phone didn't like pretty glowing things

The tutorial I used can be found here on Meari's blog!  I am also big on recycling and using what stash I've accumulated/inherited.  I do not have any batting so I used some of my ample felt stash, in black.  This doubled to provide a dark background so nothing shows through the 14-count fabric holes!  Of course, since it was my first attempt, it's not quite perfect.  Mostly because my "flat" fold is not very flat at almost an inch thick lol.  Lesson learned, use pasteboard thickness!  What I used was not corrugated cardboard but more like two pasteboards pasted together... Still too thick apparently!

help yourself to healthy(?) snacks

I found the finishing fabric on sale in the remnant bin. It is partly responsible for the choice of black Aida.  I was waffling between it or a navy.  Can't say I much like to eat candy corn (says the sweet tooth) but they do look cute~  I left one back piece as exposed felt because it wouldn't really be seen at any point.  The "cording" is three pieces of yarn twisted together.  Orange, black, and some really strange hairy black stuff (like eyelash yarn but... hairy) that is rather creepy all on its own haha.

And here's what you've all been waiting breathlessly for: The letter!

the letter B - more Google-y Oogley

Your next stop is Le Coeur Celtique so keep on hopping (ghosting?  zombie-ing? witching?) your way along!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

End of the Month: Winners and Stuff

Hello again! October has slipped on by with more excitement than I can really take, more on that in a bit!  I hope you had a sufficiently wonderful Halloween and are not in too-terrible of a sugar coma.

e'e
Hello to all my new followers! I do hope I don't talk you to death. :) I have followed those who have linked up via Blogger in my feed reader but have run into a snag with using the actual blogger widget to follow you back! Blogger has evidently changed something in their system and it will no longer allow me to link my blog profile. Instead, it is trying to use my "real name" profile and I. Do. Not. Want. I'm starting to get fed up with Google trying to push having one's real name everywhere, even if I "lied" so my real name wouldn't be on the internet! Bah, humbug. I'll keep searching for a workaround.

Next, you want winners, right?!  :D  I was curious to see if one design would be more popular than the others but I wound up with six entries for each! I used the random number generator to pick the winners  drum rolls

GGG #1
GGG #2

The winner of GGG#1: Garden Samplers is... Christine!

The winner of GGG#2: St. Nicholas is...  Bea!

Yaaaay!  Please contact me with your addresses and I will have them out ASAP and they will be one less thing I have to pack because... we're moving!  O_O!

yikes!
So, I am going to be rather silent on the blog front for a while. My husband has accepted a new position which means things have really been up in the air and throwing everything they have at my anxiety. There is just too much going on with packing, finding a place, NOT finding a place, actually finding a place, planning for a trip that has been known about for a year that just had to be at the same time as all this, leaving the house and community I love, the new job, the new life, the new aaaaaaaaa seriously, I am so ready for 2016 to just be over!  I am a creature of comfort and stability. There is a silver lining though; the place we're moving to has a Jo-Ann Fabrics and a Michael's and a yarn store.  Priorities!

Haunted House

I did manage to squeak in a little something for Halloween.  I'm not sure if this yarn was a good choice for this but it is what it is!  The haunted house is most visible but the tree and bat were kinda ehhhh....  I did not block it as these cotton cloths take a bit longer to dry and it needed packed right away.


Technical Details
  • "October Mystery Cloth" pattern by Kris Knits, found here on ravelry (free).
  • #3 needles for cloth, #4 DPNs for i-cord loop
  • Yarn: I Love This Cotton, amethyst
  • Started August 17, finished October 31, unknown hours.
Hasta la vista, baby! panic panic panic...........

November MMMM #4 (Final)

Well, here we are on the last MMMM post for November already. Mrs. Frankenstein is finally finished (about dang time)~

done!

Gosh, I did worse this month than last month. Only one finish, and it wasn't even that big! I think there are three different blacks in her hair as I was rummaging through my old kit remains. At least they were all mostly created equal which may be very lucky on my part!

finally together

Well, at least I got one done... @_@ Since I did the two of them, I'm "caught up" from missing last year's entirely. I'll try to squeeze in another Christmas finish to be caught up on that as well but it may not be a mini~ These MMMMs have been quite helpful for slow me but I will probably have to bow out of next month's as there are bigger things I need to be paying more attention to. I really need to get that baby "sampler" done before the poor child turns one eek!

Short entry this time! Am I ever going to be productive again~? :I

IHSW & November MMMM #3 & Giveaway Win!

Well hello again! This is a somewhat late IHSW update so I've combined it with MMMM.

creepy cute as made by Moonpie!

First, looky what came for me from the wilds of England! Aren't they cute? And so well made too! The ever creative Steph at Show and Tell made them for her All Hallow's Read giveaway. Heaven knows I have enough books but there are never enough bookmarks so this is delightful~ :D The little one is a pin too which is great as my Halloweeny pins are sorely lacking! Thank you, Steph~!

before!


after!

Would you believe I'm still not done with Mrs. Frankenstein? Of course you would! :b I can't stitch long with the black on black without my eyes going NOPE NO THANK YOU so as you can see, I have about half her hair attached. I guess I should look into a directly over my head lamp of some kind instead of turning everything on in the room and angling my work. So maybe IHSW was a bit of a bust.  Can you find the picked out thing that was bugging me so much? :D


For my next mini, I would love to work on this little thing. It's a brooch! I found the kit in a thrift store and, at the time, I thought it was just a tiny frame for an ornament. But no, a brooch. I was so thrilled with this (I put pins/brooches on my coat lapels a lot), I went back to the thrift store and bought the other kit haha. I'm not too fond of the pattern that came with it so if anyone knows of some oval-y cute 28 x 32-ish freebies, let me know. It doesn't have to be Christmas themed though I think I would like either holiday or seasonal.  I wonder if I could make a collection and switch them out! O_O


In the crocheting world, our class has finished. I managed to get enough little snowflakes made for all the ladies in class but completely underestimated how long they would take to dry after being starched! So they got bundled up in plastic wrap and baggies and apologies but the ladies were delighted. It seems I was the only one willing to venture into the world of thread crochet haha. And would you believe I forgot to take a picture of them all, ARGH. Instead, please admire this rather goofy picture of them being blocked (yes, I know my blocking needs work; I used what I had and what I had was not appropriate). I hope they turned out all right because I think the 1:1 ratio of sugar and water was like syrup! I think I would use less sugar next time.  But each one is different like snowflakes should be. :)

daffodowndilly

In our last class, I attempted to make a daffodil, from a free pattern I found on ravelry. It had some new stitches in it (crossed double and double treble) and I wanted to make sure I had assistance available when I got confused. But! Look! It turned out fairly well for a first attempt. I just made the flower but I'm not sure if I want to make the whole square. The cup sticks up quite a bit so it wouldn't make a very good potholder (which is a shame as my kitchen is daffodils) but maybe I can whip up a long simple swatch to make curtain tiebacks. That could be kinda cute maybe. I am not sure how much I like the round petals though; they just don't seem daffodowndilly.  I did find a project modification that looked spectacular though, so I may try that next.

braaaiiinnnsss...

No pictures of my scarf progress though it's just over two feet long now. Instead, have my blob of yarn.  I've been trying to organize my inheritance of yarny supplies and as you can see, some are a mess.  I haven't quite discerned if that is two or three skeins in that alien life form.

Until next time assuming I haven't been devoured by the zombie yarn~

November MMMM #2

I did hope to have the Mrs finished by this post -- and I did get close! All that is left is the black of her hair and I've been putting it off because stitching black on black always drives me (more) bonkers.

before

peek-a-boo...?

after!

Of course, after uploading those pictures I see a glaringly obvious mistake I'm going to have to pick out and ponder how on earth I made it in the first place.

But I do have a different sort of finish!! I will say this -- I scared my husband last night when I screamed at my crochet! I've always loved those crocheted snowflakes and last night I MADE ONE eeeeeeee. It's like a life goal has been accomplished! It looks a little odd because 1) it was my first one and picots are weird, 2) oooooooold crochet thread was discolored, 3) not yet starched. But! I MADE IT!!! *spazzes* I hope I can make a few more before the last class to give to the ladies a little thank-you-for-putting-up-with-me.

eeeeee

Anywhoodle! Last class we learned how to join colors and make granny squares. My granny square turned out surprisingly better than I thought it would've and they were also surprisingly easy once I figured out where I was supposed to be slip stitching. They're also super mindless to stitch. So very little counting and if you don't count, you still get it right because it's obvious how many are supposed to be in what section. At least to me it was.

it's almost square!

And I also worked a bit more on my scarf. The color pattern is a bit more obvious now. There will be another section of white ~4 inches wide and then miles of blue until I decide I need to start the end pattern. I'm not a very tall person but I like longer lengths so it will probably wind up somewhere between 60-65" long. I haven't decided if I want tassels on the end yet!

totally long enough now

Welp, that's all from me for the week! I'm excited for the weekend as they're calling for a little bit of snow! I hate being cold without snow, it just seems so mean. Plus it will give me an excuse to stay at home and be buried in my crafts. :b Productive fingers, GOOOOO!

November MMMM #1

Aloha~

I decided to go ahead with MMMM for November (this time hosted by Justine!) because it's fun getting these minis stitched up! Of course, that is if one has the time to sit down....


before

after

Such amazing progress, right? sigh It was a busy week again. Things should be winding down soon. I hope. My poor lazy bones need more lazy-ing than they have been getting lately!

But! Look! I finished a crochet thing! Remember this square?

my first square...

...is a potholder!

I made a second one and attached the two together and made a little loopy thing. It's a little wonky but for a first larger project, I guess it's okay. The first side I attached I think I may have gotten overzealous with the stitches lol. I think there are twice as many in that side than the others, oops. :D I love the colors in it but they don't really match my kitchen so I know a Very Wonderful Mom who will probably receive this for Christmas. She was saying she wanted a larger one anyway! And it is quite large; the lamp it's displayed on is about 1.5-2 feet tall. And if for some reason this Mom is reading my blog, shoo! Don't look at the picture you've already looked at!

a thing!

I also started a new project that will hopefully wind up being a scarf. It's a bit wide but I get cold easy so the larger the better, maybe...? I'm stitching it with Yarn Bee Soft Secret in navy and some mysterious white that I had in my stash. My goal is to make it match a pair of gloves I have... and I love matching things! Because I'm still a noob, using the Soft Secret instead of the regular worsted Red Heart is an adventure. It's so... slippery! And soft! I love to just fondle the skein ahaha.

And look what I found!! On my quest to obtain a rainbow of floss boxes, I stumbled upon this on eBay:

purple!

It was a little beat up but has the hinges instead of plastic flaps and came with that rather random assortment of floss. I'm not really sure what the two gold flosses are as they aren't numbered. Maybe some sort of Kreinik? So now I have blue, purple, pink and the ever-so-findable clear boxes. I can finally start winding the rest of my floss.

Well I can guarantee your stitchy fingers have been more productive than mine for the past week so uhhh here's to next week? :D

MMMM #5, The Final One (For October)!


Well, here we are at the final day of October (I swear, it really was just May yesterday...)! I managed to squeak in another finish bringing my grand total of finishes... to two. Lol. Well, two is better than zero, right? I have a feeling I'd have been more productive if I hadn't been taking a class, going on vacation, and in the middle of deep cleaning the house at the same time! But it was fun being part of a sort-of-SAL for once (my first, weeee~). Mahalo to our host at Pull the Other Thread. :D

To match the Witchy Kitty microkit from the blog hop post I give you... Mr. Frankenstein!

toxic green

He's just as cute as Witchy Kitty. I'll probably finish him off with felt like before but as you can see, I completely derped out stitching him and he's very close to the edge! Eek! I'll think of something... I hope.

A Mr needs his Mrs but alas, she was not meant to be finished in time.

feminine(?) toxic green

If I had had my wits about me, they would've been stitched on the same piece of plastic canvas with a gruesome little heart between them. Maybe I can still pull it off?

Anywhoodle, I'm still trying to decide if I can continue into November which will now be hosted by Justine! I still have class, but I won't be taking vacations or scrubbing every corner of the house so I should have a bit more time. I say that now. :)

Productive fingers go.... to bed!

Trick or Treat! It's a Hallowe'en Blog Hop!

BOO! Are you frightened? :D

o my, I didn't realize my next post would be another blog hop! These holiday ones are hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and are always a lot of fun. I'm not sure where I'm at in the order so you might want to start there first!

Now, I must admit I do not have a lot of Halloween stitches (yet!) so I will give you this piece I stitched two years ago:

Front & Back

She was stitched on black 14-count perforated plastic in six colors plus the orange blanket stitch for the edge. I backed her with a piece of black felt and I think she's just adorable haha. You can find the pattern on Carolyn's blog, along with a whole bunch of others! :D Also her dA has more!

Of course you all are wanting your next letter...

grotesque I

And now I need to send you on your merry way -- the next stop is at jocondine's blog!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to you all~ :D

I've scheduled this to appear in the dark of the night; I do hope it works!

Around the World Blog Hop!

I was invited on the Around the World Blog Hop by the wonderful Vickie (her blog hop post is here) and of course y'all know by now I can't miss an opportunity to ramble~ We were asked to answer a few questions so maybe you British folks would like to have a cuppa before you start. I don't even know if I used that word right. I'm as American as a hamburger casserole.

chibi America
from Hetalia

1. What am I working on?
MY SANITY?! AAHHAHAHAaahhaha... ahem. It's never fixed.

I have a couple of projects going on in-between the random morale-boosting smalls.


First we have the neglected Dolphin Trio. This poor thing is definitely a UFO for, um, maybe 4-5 years now. Eep. I really should finish it some day, especially since it's so small and so close!

seventeen hours!

Next we have FFIII. There is (still) a grievous counting mistake in it that I haven't found the heart to pick out yet so it's been lurking on the stand for several months now, mocking me. I'll put on my big girl panties some day and get it back in shape. It's turning into one of those projects, you know, those ones that just give you all sorts of problems from fabric to floss to being unable to count...


Lastly, I have a couple of smalls going/planned as I'm participating in Mega Mini Month Madness along with a host of other wonderful ladies who are all glad to be getting their pile of minis worked on. I have made more progress on him but haven't gotten a new picture yet.

I also have a pattern on the computer I'm being very (overly?) picky about as it will be a gift for a friend.  It's very close to being completed but it will be interesting to see how it actually works up.  Eek!

itty bitty pumpkin... attempt

I am also learning how to crochet! My friend introduced me to ravelry.com and I've been hoarding free patterns in my library. This was one called Itty Bitty Pumpkin and it almost looks sort of like a pumpkin! Maybe!  It is very small; I should've included a coin with it (slightly bigger than a US quarter).  I wanted the stem to be a loop so I sort of made that part up as I went along.  It starts with a magic ring and as you can see, the magic wasn't in my ring (there isn't supposed to be a hole in the middle).  :(  I will keep trying though!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I guess my work differs in that I tend to like stitching nontraditional subjects (eg video games/anime/manga). Please don't take that to mean I'm not interested in traditional subjects, I am! But I'm much more likely to stitch something nontraditional myself and cheer on all the traditional stitchers. :D  But for me, there is something about taking a traditional medium and doing nontraditional subjects. Does this make me subversive...?

3. Why do I write/create what I do?
I write what I do because I like to hear my own head rattle (cough). Once a motor-mouth, always a motor-mouth (cough cough).  In reality, I write because I will forget. I have a horrible memory and if I don't chronicle my adventures in crafts (personal blog is elsewhere), I will not remember the journey. And I don't want to forget it! Plus I like to share my creations with others and see their opinions and be inspired by their works.

I have a hard time creating because I have a stigma about the "usefulness" of a project. I love the relaxing feeling of creating but there is only so much I'm willing to put on the wall (and that is admittedly a very small amount). I like to stitch the video games and anime stuffs as a way of showing that love for the subject. I imagine that's true for a lot of people even if we don't obsess over the same things! :) That said, sometimes I just need an escape. Stitching allows me to organize my chaotic thoughts and still have something productive going on.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?
Writing = word vomit?  I'm much more reserved in-person but somehow the hyper-happy always leaks out online.  :)

Creating... hmm. It depends on the piece and who it's going to be for. Once I get over the usefulness aspect, anyway. If designing my own patterns, I have to find an image I like, run it through a charting program, get mad at it a few times, let it lurk in the depths of my computer, fish it out again and redraw, take the colors listed to the store, gasp at how none of them are correct, wing a floss toss, and then maybe I can stitch. Even then, when I'm working on a project I'll have a random whim to change something (whether color or shape or or or...). I am an expert at creating frogs so if you've been around long enough, you might recall just how Overly Excited I get when I have a (somewhat largish) finish. Amplify that 10x if the finished product gets a frame. So my creative process is pretty much a mess filled with ultimate highs and despairing lows. It's the highs that keep us going. :)

I hope you have survived and if you've gleaned anything from this post -- I'm just a little helter-skelter. I fly by the seat of my pants more than have a strict organizational thing going on.

Now I'm supposed to pass on the baton of the world so I picked these fun ladies:

Steph at Show and Tell - In the wilds of England! - The happiest blogger in the world; she knows the secret of finding joy in everything and then giving it to others. I think she might actually be a fairy because it seems she just makes magical projects out of nothingness all the time. If only I had, like, a tenth of her doing ability, I'd have so many finishes!

Tenille at Stitched Up! - In the wilds of Australia! - She's pretty new to the blogging world and works on crazy things like HAEDs and Chรขtelaines which I know many of you love (and they are gorgeous)!  She also has an adorable little boy who would love nothing more than to explore her craft bin, ehehe.

Amber at Last Yesterday - In the wilds of Oz! - I've known this hobo for probably around 10 years in the online world and she's one of those special snowflakes who's like "Hey, a thing!" and then makes the thing. Perfectly. She stitches, sews (when sewing machines aren't out to off her fingers), yarns (when her wrists aren't falling off), and quilts.

And that's all folks!