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."

Movin' Right Along

Total Time a-Stitching: 5 hours 45 minutes.

Yes, yesterday was a big one for stitching, and look at how much progress I made! It's nice to be able to focus on just a few colors and really tear through it. I can't wait to finish this corner and email Cross-Stitch-Lady with a picture. And when I do, I'm going to casually ask her if she's gotten the other one back yet. With any luck, the poor gal stitching the other one for her is taking a bit longer, too!

My husband keeps asking me if I'm going to keep plugging away at this or send it back to Cross-Stitch Lady half-finished. Of course there are a hundred other things I could do with my time if I didn't have this thing looming over my head, but on the other hand it goes against every thing in me to send it back incomplete.

I want to finish it to the last stitch.

Multiple Updates

Obviously it's been several days since I've written an update. But never you fear! I have several days' worth of progress here for you to enjoy!

I managed to get a little work done at my job last week. I mean, a little work done on the cross-stitch. It's hard to believe that I have a job that would allow for cross-stitching, but I do. Sometimes. I had it out for some nurses to see and one admirer said that she did one about this size. I asked her how long it took her to do it, and I couldn't believe her answer: two years. Two Years to do a picture of Noah's Ark that was about 11x14.

The fact that Cross Stitch Lady wanted me to complete a similar-sized cross-stitch ten times faster than that blows my mind. What blows my mind more is that I was stupid enough to agree to it. I don't know why I didn't ask around first to see if the allowed time was reasonable.

It doesn't really matter much now, except that I'm stuck in a project that may take me many more months to finish than I ever thought.

The updates below represent about twelve days of work, each picture being about three days of work.

A Good Day

As I've gone back through some previous entries, I've noticed a thread of negativity weaving its way through many of them. In all honesty, it's a reflection of how I've been feeling about this project, especially as the time keeps ticking and there's still no end in sight.

Still, being cranky about it certainly won't get it done any faster. If anything, it will only make it go more slowly. So I vow not to be cranky about it! I'll keep on keeping on and I will make an effort to reflect that attitude in these entries.

With that, I stitched for 4 hours and 15 minutes yesterday and you can see where I am at this point in the picture above. I work this afternoon so I'll probably only get to work on it a little tonight, but that's okay. I'll do all I can.

What it Shakes Out to Be

Here are some fun facts about the cross-stitch:

• To date, I've worked on it for 72 Days.

• I put in an average of 4 hours on the cross-stitch per day (even with a day off here and there.)

• That adds up to 288 hours of stitching time, or 12 days of my life.

• Cross-Stitch Lady is paying me $200.00 to complete this project.

• So far, I have earned 69 cents per stitching-hour.

Other fun facts:

• I am not quite halfway finished.

• My optometrist recently diagnosed me with severely dry eyes, most likely due to not blinking enough while stitching.

• The visit to the optometrist cost me $100.00

• Since this dryness problem is most likely caused by the cross-stitch, that reduces my net income to 34.5 cents an hour.

• If I keep at this rate of completion, I will put in almost another 300 hours, so my net income per hour will wind up being around 16 cents an hour.

Tell me, is this worth it??

Workin' Like a Fiend

My goodness! My new job has absorbed more time than I thought it would, even at part-time! I apologize for the silence, but something had to give. Above is a picture of my valiant achievement, though I'm well passed my original due date and I have three corners left to complete.

I just don't know when it will get done.

A friend of mine asked me when I really thought it would be finished, and to be honest I didn't know what to tell her. Cross Stitch Lady would have it be done right now, and I know that isn't possible.

Things are steadying out a bit now, so I'll be able to get back to my frequent photo updates. Thanks for sticking with me, folks!