April GG ~ Bat Cats and Skillets

Hello there, world!  I hope this post finds you joyfully productive with your Gifted Gorgeousness.  I've kind of had a slow crafting month so far.  The weather had moderated for a bit and I spent a good portion of my time outside cleaning up the yard, spring cleaning windows, and prepping the lawn mower for another year of working out on the slopes!  I am so happy to report I have daffodils this year!  YAY!  \:D/

I also made brownies because brownie sundaes. That is a Very Important because.

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before

after

For this month's GG, I give you a bit more on the 5th side of the Husband Cube; it's starting to look like the bat cat!  Or possibly like a bird of prey at the moment.  Also there is an awful lot of that particular dark blue; 53% of the piece will be that color and I would suppose I'm about halfway through using it here.  I wanted to move on to another color for variety's sake!  So far so good, even if it's a bit sparse this month for other crafty things to show.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★
This last part isn't for GG unless I bring out the Almighty Shoehorn Power of which I am so fond.

I really like cast iron skillets. Whilst out and about one day, I found one that had been "gifted" to a thrift store. It wasn't old but it was large and I was on the lookout for one that size.   It needed some reseasoning so I took advantage of this absurdly cold spring and ran it and a couple other pans that needed some love through the cleaning cycle on our oven.

I hate glass-topped stoves.

Don't they look scary!  I always question my choices when I see them like this haha.  The one on the bottom left is the new-to-me one, a 10" Lodge from...?  I cannot seem to find info when Lodge started stamping the assist handle with their logo (this one does not have a stamped handle), but it does have the egg in the pan on the bottom so it has to be from at least the late 80s.  I would guess it's from the 90s.  The smallest one on the bottom right is a Wagner from at least the 60s (has the "Made in USA" stamp).  It's a fantastic egg skillet!  The top one is another Wagner, a #9 from the 1890s-1910s.  It was abandoned in a house we rented.  The inside was okay to use, especially at a time when I had no skillets!  The underside, however, is VERY pitted most likely from being used on a fire.  It is why I was on the lookout for another large skillet.  It sure cleaned up nice though!

old Wagner crud

old Wagner cleaned up

second layer of seasoning

Much better!  I wound up baking four layers of seasoning on these.  They are now ready for their bacon baptismal! :D  I will probably be retiring the old Wagner, though...  The underside is so, so pitted and slightly warped (but not cracked).  It's a shame though because it is as smooth as silk inside.  I love the old stuff!

Okay, enough from me.  I will see you on the next edition of Ishkabibble Babble, probably for the Smalls SAL!

March GG: Special Edition - "Toads!? I hate toads! Don't turn me into one!"

Hi!  Hello, howdy, hi!!  I don't usually post so soon after a previous post but this is the last day to link up for GG so it had to happen!  I've been kind of silent this month due to my husband and I running away for an anniversary vacation.  And then after we got back, I got sick!  I am feeling much better by now, but still have a nagging cough.  But who cares about that!  It's time for exclamation points!  And there are probably more exclamation points than really necessary in this post!  Can you guess what that means?(!)  If you're a regular reader, you probably know!  !!!!!!!!!!  I was thinking that some shoehorning would be required for this month's Gifted Gorgeousness but as you'll see, it worked out in the end...

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EXCLAMATION POINTS YAAAAAAAAAY!

an accurate representation of my life

This post has been too long in coming.  Way too long. I was so afraid of his face haha.

I can't believe I started this back in 2014!  It's been through a lot with me and me with it.  It was plagued with frogs (I eventually grew up and fixed them).  I hated the fabric (though admittedly this became less of an issue once I got it in proper Q-snaps instead my old frame set up).  I will give myself a pass for one year because admittedly last year was a bit on the dramatic side.  But still, even three years would be far too long for such a piece!  But it's done, Done, DONE! !!!!!!!!

better lighting required

His face terrified me for the longest time, not only because it was a face and faces are hard enough but also because it happened to line up with a color change.  Poor Luneth, he got stabbed in face an awful lot before I was happy ahaha.  The swords were another perplexity.  I am thinking one is the Brave Sword (a regular in Final Fantasy games) and the other is the onion knight sword from the original FFIII.  I had to figure out a way to make them sword-like with both cross stitching and the backstitching.

Boy, did it need a bath after four years on the stand(s)!  There was no way I was going to chance the floss without a scrap to dunk first!  Luckily, it was safe.  And good thing too; I actually wound up washing it twice as it was just that filthy (I guess four years on the stand will do that.).

bath #1

And I've found a framer up in our new location who was able to match the style of FFVII.  I took both this and FFVIII in to have them both done at once! !!! I'm so excited! I'll have THREE done!!  eeeeeeee I also got a free upgrade to museum glass which is great!  It was a bit expensive to do both at once but it has become our 5th anniversary present (there's that GG requirement)!  5th is wood, right?  The frame is wood!  The pattern was on paper, which was once wood pulp, right?!  Totally fits!  I'll shoehorn anything. :D

horrible fabric

She had to sew additional fabric on III to make it work. Part of it was my fault for using too small of a piece, but if it hadn't frayed so badly or had been cut straight, I think it would've worked out okay.  Because I had the paperwork from FFVII, she was able to make sense of the numbers and get the exact frame and black mat.  I took my husband with me because I trust his judgement with colors and he (looked like he) had fun picking out the color mats!  Then the details with the mats...  I think that took a good portion of our time trying to gauge distances and the fancy cutouts, whew! 

Technical Details

• Chart designed with KG-Chart with a whopping five colors including black.
  
• 1-over-1 on white 22 count (hardanger). Black 2-over-1.
  
• Finished size: 11" x 14" (26.5cm x 35cm), ~10,000 stitches.
• Started: March 3, 2014, Finished: February 28, 2018. 
• 100+ hours including design time.

A silly little bonus: It felt so nice returning the game case to its proper shelf with the other games ahaha!  I had kept it with the project for these past four years as a reference point.

Lessons Learned

• NEVER USE REGENCY HARDANGER EVER AGAIN.
• Fix mistakes promptly.
• Q-snaps are pretty awesome.
• Four years is a lot of funk/dust/cat hair.

a trio of frames

A know issue is the cutout at the bottom of VIII is not correct and the framer acknowledged this when I picked them up, however it will take a while to fix it as she had some life events of her own happen and I am quite patient.  However, I'm not sure the fixed cut will look good either.  The whole piece has a feeling of a speech bubble which I cannot UNsee.  Another small issue is that III is not straight, but this was not noticeable until it was up on the wall with VII and she immediately said she'd fix that.   I'll be taking both back in sometime next week for her to remedy and to discuss options for VIII.  I may wind up picking out about an inch or so of the longest swoop in order to have a flat bottom.  I am open to fancy cutout suggestions for VIII!

#5

And in case I'm being too cheeky with my shoehorns lately, I did make a small start on the next MH3U glyph for the Husband Cube!  I must've been in a picky mood this month as I had a hard time making this guy's chart.  That tail!  *grumbles incoherently*  At least an annoying tail in chart form is fitting for the actual monster in game.  Beaver slap, anyone?

totally looks like a thing

Okay!  This post was really long!  Excitement!  Easter Blog Hops!  Really late for GG!  And then I got a surprise in my email that I am Blogger of the Week this week!  WOO!  We even bought "fancy" furniture today!  I am so pleased with March! :D

Easter Treasure Hunt - A Blog Hop!

Hooray, it's time for Jo's Easter Blog Hop! Please start at her blog and hop around like the little bunny you are and collect the letters.  Spring is Best Season so of course any excuse is good to work up more seasonal goodies for this hop.

old readers - remember these guys?

Here is my contribution for this year! I actually wasn't sure I would be able to get anything done due to a whole lotta life happening this past month but I did manage to squeak in a finish just in time for the hop and last-second-begged asked to be included.

some flowers for you

Beads!  It is not my first beaded piece, though it is my first fully beaded piece!  What a fun thing to try.  This little kit was picked up in a thrift store (are you familiar with that phrase yet?) and has an option to make the piece into a brooch.  I do not think I am going to go that way as it is quite large for a brooch, at least, larger than I'd wear without fear of it getting damaged!  Instead I finished it off into a little hanging ornament to put out with other Easter decorations.  I like ornaments.  And seasonal decorations.

sparkly

There were a few small issues with this kit.  Veterans of older Mill Hill kits may know this but there was no way to tell what colors were what and of course they come all jumbled together.  I had to make Educated(?) Guesses about the differences between the various pinks and blues which all look mighty similar in the container although their differences are obvious worked up.  I found out early on I couldn't rely on the finished image either!  Oh well, we all like winging it, right? :D

Technical Details

• "Floral Bouquet" #MHSB10, a counted glass bead ornament kit by Mill Hill
• Perforated paper, glass beads
• Started: March 20, Finished: March 27, ~4 hours.  

And here's what you've all been waiting breathlessly for -- the letter!

the letter S

Thanks for stopping by! :D  I am the last stop so you should be heading back to Jo's blog to assemble your collected letters!  I hope you all have (had) a lovely Good Friday and a Joyous Easter!

As usual with these blog hops, I've scheduled this post to appear overnight here so the people in the future (read: the rest of the world) can have the post in a timely fashion.  I am also linking up with the Small SAL as this is really quite small!

February Smalls: The Birds and the... Cats?

Allo, world~ Already the end of February, egad.  It's time for another installment of the Smalls SAL and I'm actually timely with both finish and post.

click for info!

The little bird I had started for GG has been completed~  There was a day when I felt quite bleh so I just took a mental health day and finished stitching it up.  The actual finishing was completed another day, or rather over a series of days to allow the fabric glue to fully dry.

before

after

I did make a few changes.  Some of the gingham didn't match up for my liking so I adjusted some squares.  The original pattern is actually for a Christmas heart but I felt I have a decent start on Christmas decorations and hardly any for Valentine's Day.  So I adjusted the green and red heart to be pinks and reds.

stitch by stitch

I haven't put up one of these little "Stitch Movies" in a while and seem to have forgotten my settings for making them!  Sorry it's a bit wobbly with terrible colors hah.  I used ezgif this time around; it'll do the borders and add any text you may want.

Finished-Finished

Since all the floss, fabric, needle, and finishing bits were provided with the magazine, it was quite easy to know what to do with it after stitching, hooray!  I added the heart buttons though, instead of the round ones provided.  Yay, I have a new Valentine's Day decoration to put out next year!

Technical Details

• "Gingham Bird", pattern found in Enjoy Cross Stitch, Christmas 2012.
• Designer: Maria Diaz.
• 2-over-1 on white 14-count Aida.
• Finished size: approximately 4" x 4" (~10cm x 10cm).
• Started: February 13, finished February 20, ~6 hours.  

⊱ ────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ────── ⊰
I'm not sure if knitting is allowed for Smalls (it's stitching, right? with two [in this case, four] needles, riiight?). But I had to put this little guy in and he is certainly small!

Tiny Cat

Do not be deceived by his close up; Tiny Cat is a whopping 2" tall, if that. Such a fun, if fiddly, knit! I have never made an amigurumi anything before so this was a great learning experience. Especially picking up stitches. On wooden DPNs. When you're a tight knitter. I really shouldn't use wooden needles. I didn't break any but they certainly bent.  I'm not sure I knit the top of his head correctly either but it worked out in the end.

Tiny Cat watches you sleep

I am pleased to say my husband was Greatly Amused at Tiny Cat and took it to work with him to live on his desk.  This one was roughly modeled after Klondike so I suppose I should make Oreo and Peanut at some point.  Then he can have a little (literally!) herd of cats on his desk.

Technical Details

• "Tiny Parlor Cat" by Sarah Kellner, freebie pattern found here (ravelry).
• Yarn Used: random scrap leftovers.
• Needles: Size 4 (3.5mm) DPNs.
• Started January 28(?), finished February 6, ~3-4 hours.

That's all, folks!  See you next time!  I hope it will involve an awful lot of exclamation marks. :D

February GG ~ No Shoehorns Necessary

Hello again; I hope you all haven't Valentine'd yourselves into a chocolate coma. Or maybe you have and that's a good thing.

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It's (already) time for the next Gifted Gorgeousness!  I promise to behave myself this round and not shoehorn everything in ahaha (though the birdhouse totally fit).

First up, I received a wonderful package in the mailbox from Crafty Rahenna.  I've always wanted some DMC floss cards for when I make my own patterns.  I had just talked to my husband about them, wondering if it would be possible to make some of my own with bits of floss.

YAY!

I've already used them as I charted up the next side for the Monster Hunter cube (a GG regular) and they make things so much easier than digging through the floss boxes!  I especially love the one with the actual bits of floss.  Thank you so much, Rahenna~ \:D/

Since I finished the little bird house at the end of January I needed to hunt up something else to work on as the cube side has yet to be printed.  To the craft hoard storage!

brown squares

You can totally tell what this is, right?  What if I told you it was another bird (why is this turning into a birding year?) because it totally looks like a bird.  This little one is from a giveaway I won waaaaay back at the end of 2012 from Mii Stitch (where did her blog go?!).  I loved this pattern the moment I received it though it has certainly taken me a while to get around to it, especially since I totally fell off the map in 2013.

I am going to change it a little bit, maybe.  I'm using the supplied floss which has remarkable coverage capabilities but is darn near impossible to railroad.  I do wish American crafty magazines would supply such fun bonuses though!  The fabric is plain white Aida but the setting sun decided to "dye" it for the picture.

Next, I worked on a few more centers for the long-neglected Speaker Cozies.

spokes

It's been a while since they were last worked on (September of 2016, ergh).  They are a good choice for craft meetups so I think I'll keep bringing them, at least until I have another full doily (or two) complete.

Lastly, this is not for GG but I wanted to stick it somewhere as I don't do many posts a month.  Here is a little more progress on the Flower of the Month's September Aster.  I think I spent just as much time unstitching the lightest purple as I did stitching it.  I am a Distractable Do-er.

before

after

At least the glaring orange is pretending to moderate with the other purples coming in, thank goodness.  I'm still not 100% convinced it's the right color but I'm still giving it the benefit of doubt!

Okay, I think I've babbled all I can (not really but I'll stop).  My Ravellenics is Really Slow this year.  I've been having some weird days for the past couple of weeks.  I think my flu shot is protecting me... mostly.  Let's all hope it continues to do so!