All Day Stitch-a-thon

After Last Week's Marathon Stitch Day:
After Yesterday's Marathon Stitch Day:

The Stitch family has become a bit busier now that Mr. Stitch has a full-time job. I've had to take up even more of a role as house wife and to be honest I don't think I realized how time consuming keeping a house can be! But I love doing it, even though other projects tend to get pushed aside. Namely: the Christmas Cross-Stitch.

But somehow I've managed to get at least eight hours of stitching in one day a week and I manage to make decent progress during that day. I need to pick up the pace, though. Mr. Stitch told me bluntly over a dinner date that he hates the project. This is coming from a man who is always honest, but reserves the word hate for only the most poignant of moments. He pointed out that there are so many other creative things I could be doing with my time if it weren't for this project.

I know he's right, but I can't seem to stop. I've already come this far and I have to finish it.

The Cross-Stitch Lady Speaketh

As I mentioned, I emailed Cross-Stitch Lady with a photo of my progress. Here was her response:

I Love It! Thank you for the continued effort! It looks as if you are almost done. Do you have an estimated completion date?
I have been slowly working on the 3rd cross-stitch myself... if you are still interested after you complete this one, I could pass the project off to you. Let me know.
Thanks so much! - Cross-Stitch Lady

I'm glad she loves it! I have no idea how to guesstimate a completion date. I've been guessing all along, and every one of them has been wrong. It might take me three, maybe four more weeks? Two or three more months? Halloween? Who knows.

Oh, and I will be politely declining the offer to finish the third one she wants done. That's for sure.

Check!

Yesterday, through hours of Seinfeld Season 4, I plowed through color after color until his little head was completely covered. Sometimes I would only have two or three stitches per color, but I didn't care. I hunted and pecked until all the holes were filled.

Whew.

On to corner three!

Oh, and I'm sending an update to Cross Stitch Lady!

All in a Day

Compare with the previous entry's picture and you'll get an idea for what I accomplished today.

It's a nit-picky hunt to fill the tiny holes in his head!

A Crown for His Head

Above is a week's worth of work! I've managed to almost finish the crown of his head, which will be yet another item checked off the cross-stitch list. After that, two corners and his feet will be all that's left. That's all.

When I get his head finished I will email Cross-Stitch Lady with a photo and see what she says.

***

I was catching up with my best girlfriend last night and when she asked me what I had been doing prior to her call, I admitted that I was stitching. All of sudden she shrieked, "You're still working on that?!?" I sighed and admitted that I was. "I thought that needed to be done by the end of January," she said. Apparently I'd avoided talking about the project during our catch-up calls during the last several weeks.

It was hard to admit that I wasn't finished. Soon, though. Hopefully soon?

Shades of Grey

It was bright and sunny outside, but yesterday all I saw was grey as I stitched for 3 hours and 52 minutes. I didn't really intend to use all variables of the same color, it's just what I kept seeing when it was time to move on to another one.

Just look at all the neutral-ness I added yesterday! Colors like Cream, Cotton Cream, Garlic Cream, Antique Silver, Dark Antique Silver, Light Green Grey, Ecrut, and Rope Brown! What fillers, what background!

Today, I'm seeing red!

The Day I ACTUALLY Got Paid to Cross-Stitch

Yesterday--with the full support of my supervisor--I spent half my eight hour shift stitching in the head nurse's office. Yes, it's true.

I arrived at three pm and went to my patient's room armed and ready to tackle whatever came my way, whether it be a fist, a restraint mitten, a chicken leg or an adult diaper (all of these have actually been thrown at me at some time or another), but to my amazement my patient had a full room of guests, all of whom seemed keen on keeping me out while they tended to their loved one.

The charge nurse agreed that it would be best for me to wait in his office while the family was there, so I did. For the first half hour or so I doodled in my notebook, thinking any minute someone would come in to tell me that the family was leaving. But after about 45 minutes, the daughter-in-law arrived with a carrier full of Starbucks coffees and dinner for everyone, so I knew it was going to be a while longer.

I pulled out the cross-stitch. I needed to do a large chunk of 'Garlic Cream' over the top six inches of the left side (see photo for the result!), so I pretty much went to town without needing to assess the pattern much. At one point the charge nurse came in an admired my work, saying he loves how 3D the pictures look when they're done. (Little does he know how painstaking it is to create that look). He sat down at the computer and checked his email on Yahoo.

"Hey Sarah, somebody's giving away a 52"x52" piece of counted cross-stitch fabric on Freecycle. Do you want me to grab it for you and give it to you when you're here next?"

As much as I wanted to validate the kind gesture with an affirmative, I simply said, "Thanks Ron, but once I finish this one, I probably won't do another. Ever."