Soul Pumpkin, Framed!

Hello, hello, hello! I hope y'all have had a great week! I must first brag about the absolutely amazing weather we currently have. After weeks and weeks and weeks of horrid 110+ F (43+ C)temperatures and no rain, we got hit with the remnants of Hurricane Isaac one weekend and then a passing cold front the next (which brought somewhat terrible storms), we are a magnificent 70F (20C) and I LOVE IT. Everything is so green after the rain and I can have the A/C off and windows open all day and night...! Ah, bliss!

Okay, I'll stop rubbing it in as I know some of you are still suffering with the heat. Meteorological autumn began September 1st and I wholeheartedly welcome it!

I'd like to share a giveaway hosted by Melody on The Stitching Life! She's doing this for HaED appreciation week and the prize is a chart from HaED and you have until midnight on September 11th. I have never stitched a HaED chart before (they look so daunting, lol) but I chose a Storykeep Blossoms-Law because I could always use more bookmarks, haha. Plus I love the colors!

I don't know where my brain has been lately with taking WIP shots but FFVII is soclosetofinished! If I just ignored the house one day this week, I could get it done and squeal like a little girl and post terribly small cell phone pictures that no one can distinguish any happenings from! I'm quite excited, haha.

I did manage to get another small piece framed though! It's not a world-class framing by any stretch but by golly, it's washed (and didn't bleed!!!), ironed, and in a frame! I finished it last year before Halloween (see post here) and was so sure I'd get it done up... I should know better than to make promises with myself! Anyway, here it is framed:

Soul Pumpkin!

Please ignore the black floss visible through the fabric. It was a whole year ago and I was young and naive. :) The frame itself is just a simple black one picked up in the dollar store. Sometimes the simplest things work best!

And because it was Oreo's turn to be silly:

Mine?

I picked up a very lovely and soft afghan at a local thrift store and had spread it out on my living room floor to examine it closely... and Oreo found it to be the most fascinating new kitty tent. She loves being under all blankets so I guess I shouldn't be surprised!

Until the next time, enjoy your new week and may your fingers be productive!

2011 Recap & 2012 Ambitions

Well, hello there, outside world! We still haven't got Internet and prospects are looking grim for ever having it! For a modern technology lover, this is most definitely a hit below the belt, haha~ I spent this weekend attempting to catch up on everyone's blogs but please forgive me the lack of commenting as of late. I am reading everything (hopefully everything -- Blogger is still acting wonky for me) and enjoying everyone's progress and holiday posts (I've lived my Christmas through y'all!). :D

Since I've got no new progress of my own to post, I thought I'd do a recap of my victories in 2011! It was a rather slow year of stitching for me; too many other things seemed to be happening!

Companion Cube - January

First accomplishment was a badge of the Companion Cube from Portal (video game for the unfamiliar). I was in such a hurry to make it into a badge, I forgot to do the backstitching detail! I designed the pattern in KG-Chart but didn't have the specific flosses in my stash so I worked with what I had. I took a darker gray and blended it with white for a lighter appearance. I think it worked pretty well but you can tell I'm not a railroader, ehehe~ Despite its unfinished-ness, I still really like it and it resides on my purse for all to admire.

Sunflower Tag - August

After a long expanse of no completions, I finished up this little piece for my guy's wonderful grandmother. It was a quick stitch pulled from a sampler in BH&G's America's Best Cross-Stitch. It was also my first attempt at learning a new stitch - blanket stitch! I felt wonderfully accomplished for it was quite an easy stitch and really helped make the edge look neat. Now if I could only cut straight. :D

Christmas Crewel - September

I started to pick up the pace and get some things done during this part of the year. Mostly because it gets too darn hot to do anything but sit inside an A/Ced room! This was a crewel kit I picked up at a yard sale. It had been started but I think the amount of French knots may have terrified the previous owner. I love French knots and these weird ones were especially fun. They could be "messy" and look perfectly fine! I did run out of the right green for some of the boughs and had to substitute in something from my stash. It doesn't quite match and was an absolute nightmare to stitch with but I'm glad I persevered and finished it!

FFVIII Logo - September

Possibly the crowning achievement. I'm planning to stitch all the logos in the main Final Fantasy series (again, a video game for the unknowing) but the order is somewhat haphazard. My boyfriend chose the first one and his favorite is Final Fantasy VIII. I designed this pattern in KG-Chart and promptly ignored most of it. Even still, it was fun to design and stitch and I learned a lot about the pattern making process! In retrospect, I almost wish this wasn't the first one I stitched because it's one of the more complicated logos. The gradient was very hard and there's only one area of it in the completed project that turned out as close to perfect as I could wish (the area directly above the T). I've taken that learning experience and applied it to the next FF pattern!

Halloween Blair - October

The last completed project of the year was my Halloween stitch! I designed this pattern from images in the Soul Eater manga (Witch Blair in kitty form and the Soul Eater logo on the "Soul Pumpkin"). I also charted out the font from the Pumpkin font found through a Google search. Limited to only items in my stash, the colors are a little bit darker than I would have liked but it turned out pretty well methinks! Especially considering this was the first pattern I drew completely from scratch in KG-Chart!

Only five completions and two of them were smalls! And no Christmas completions! Ah, how terrible~ I'm hoping to do much better this year. I've got the next Final Fantasy pattern ready as well as the materials for it. I'm raring to start stitching it but I still have to get some things in order at the new place. Maybe I could do some smalls to pacify/motivate/relax me. I really like making the badges.

As for some ambitions for 2012, I'm hoping to get at least two more FF logos under my belt (three or more if I really buckle down). I want to attempt a new style of embroidery (hardanger, perhaps?) or at least learn another new stitch. I'd also like to stitch a few Christmas cards. In terms of pattern designing, I was hoping to really get more active in the Sprite Stitch request forums but without Internet... Quite a damper! Maybe I'll actually finish the Dolphin Trio which is turning into a UFO. I'm signed up for this year's TUSAL (found a jar, wee!) and I'd like to join in a few (all?!) IHSWs! Internet being an issue (yes, I'm going to complain about this way too much), however, posting results won't be as punctual as I'd like but hopefully it'll work out!

I apologize for the wall of text and will let you have your eyeballs back now, haha. Enjoy your stitchings! :D

IHSW Results ~ IHSWの結果

I didn't manage all of my goals this time, unfortunately. The weekend was just too busy. I did manage to finish the stitching though~
残念ながら、私はすべて目標を完了しませんでした。 この週末には、忙しすぎました。 でも～　私はステッチを仕上げました～

It still needs washed... and apparently blocked. Haha, I didn't realize how crooked the bottom of the pumpkin was until it was scanned. Don't mind the weird-looking backstitch on the top left side of pumpkin; it has been tightened (dunno how it got loose in the first place).
それはまだ洗浄が必要です… とブロックです。 （ブロック…日本語の言葉が分かりません） アハハ、私はスキャンされるまでカボチャの底がいかに曲がって気付きませんでした。　カボチャの上部左側に変な返し縫いを気にしないでください。 修正されました。　（どのようにお緩むになりましたか）

This is the first pattern I drew entirely from scratch (instead of using a preexisting image loaded into KG-Chart). The lettering is loosely based on the pumpkin font I found through a Google search. Blair (cat form) and the soul face are from the manga Soul Eater.
これは私の最初から完全に描いた最初のパターンです。　（代わりに、KG-Chartに既存の画像をロードしました。）　レタリングは私がGoogle検索で「カボチャのフォント」を見つけました。　ブレア（猫形態）と魂の顔は、漫画ソウルイーターからです。

I took the opportunity to join the Sprite Stitch forums this weekend. I have been lurking as a guest on that site for years as I'm generally shy about joining forums. The awesomeness that is available there finally convinced me to register.
私はこの週末にスプライトステッチのフォーラムを交じました。　私は通常恥ずかしがり屋ですから、何年サイトにゲストとして潜んされていました。　私は素晴らしさで最終的に私が登録するように確信していました。

この時間…　日本語は難しいでした…　危ない……

IHSW October~ IHSW 十月～

I absolutely cannot believe it has been a month already. That means I finished FFVIII a month ago and it's still lurking on the frame! Eek!
私は絶対にそれは既に月間されて信じません。 私は1カ月前にFFVIIIを仕上げた、それはまだフレーム上に潜んでいます！ ヒッ！

Goals for IHSW:
IHSWの目標:

1. Finish orange in "Soul Pumpkin" 
「ソウルパンプキン」のオレンジを仕上げます。
2. Backstitch, backstitch, backstitch! (and a few more French knots) 
返し縫い、返し縫い、返し縫い！ （さらにいくつかのフレンチノットステッチ）
3. Finish and possibly wash as I've been using a hoop
完了です！　フープを使った… としておそらく洗います…
4. Frame!
額縁です！

How much will I get done this time~? In my tiny rural community, it's the time of year for the Heritage Festival, known locally as the Fall Festival. It's a fun event involving delicious amounts of food (you'll gain weight just looking at it) and local arts/crafts that very nearly decuples (that's 10x) our population. Not that that means much to the city folk, but it's a big deal around here!
私はこの時間でどのくらいにできますか～　私の小さな農村で、それは「ファール・フェスティバル（秋のフェスティバル）」としてローカルに知られていて、遺産のフェスティバルのための年の時です。　それは、食べ物のおいしい量が関与する楽しいイベントです (あなたはそれを見て体重が増えるだろう) 、地元の美術と工芸があります。　ほぼ10倍の我々の人口なぜならば、それは農村の周り大したことですよ！

If you haven't noticed, I'm attempting to post in both English and Japanese. The results from the Google translate gadget are a little off, so I'll try to do my own. I want to practice anyway. Correct my grammar if you want (English or Japanese, haha!). :D
あなたが気づいていない場合、私は英語と日本語の両方で投稿しようとしています。 Google翻訳ガジェットの結果はちょっと… 私は自分でやってみます。 練習したいです。 必要に応じて私の文法を修正してください。 英語または日本語！（笑） よろしくおねがいします(^o^)/

Soul Eater ~ Blair

Yosh, it is indeed Blair from Soul Eater (日本語で：　ソウルイーターのブレア…化け猫です。)! I enjoy the manga quite a bit. I chose her cat form for decency (hah - guess I could've chosen Lust chapter form :Q~). Plus, her cat form is cute. This is where I got her pose. I thought that an image existed of her in a similar position, or her sitting on a pumpkin (cat form) but I couldn't for the life of me find it. It sorta dawned on me as I was stitching that if one didn't know the subject was a cat... she kinda looks like a purple monkey, lol. The pumpkin itself needed a face because what is Halloween without jack-o'-lanterns? Google didn't fail me this time as I found the face I was looking for: the logo. I've dubbed it a "Soul Pumpkin".

おたくじゃありませんけれど…

"Soul Pumpkin" kinda has a hat at the moment...

Just miles of orange and backstitching left...

In this picture, my hoop is "upside down" from what I normally do. When I was adjusting the positioning of it, I noticed it said "THIS SIDE UP" on the full circle part. Wait, what? I've been loading my fabric wrong since the beginning?! Puzzlement ensued. I've always put the full circle part underneath the fabric and the screw part on top. I obeyed the great and wise hoop for surely it knew better than me.

Urg. I do not like how it feels in my hands this way. Perhaps I'm too used to holding it the other way and it has blinded my ability to follow directions. I can see where it could be a tad bit easier to stitch as you know where the smaller hoop is but I'd rather have it easier to hold. My wrists give me enough trouble as it is.

Hoop users, how do you load it? Am I an alien?

A Fresh Start

Yay, my desktop is fully functional again. I celebrated by making a new pattern! Something a bit smaller than the FF pieces, hah. I wanted to get it done by a certain time.

Hooray, a purple... blob?

Any guesses as to what it may be? LJers, NO CHEAT!

No?

No purple blob illumination?

What about if I rotate it 180°?

No, it's not Grimace.

I didn't take any interim pictures so this next one should flicker a light bulb in at least one of you (Topcho, I'm looking at you as you've stitched something related o_o).

Yes? No?

The colors are a bit off. I told myself I was absotively posilutely limited to what I had in my stash for this project and I didn't have the precise purple-y gray-ish black needed. Plum works well enough, and looked nice with the rest of the floss toss. The pattern, I think, turned out remarkably well for me drawing it from scratch in KG-Chart.

I hope.

Fans may disagree. :B

I ship SoMa liekwhoa.