Other things

I do have an interest (and can write about) things other than the crap that my life has been recently. As I mentioned once before, I like to do handicrafts...sewing, knitting, crocheting, needlework, etc. Lately I have been into cross stitching.

I was first introduced to cross stitching quite a few years ago from a colleague who said she enjoyed it. So I went out and bought a cross stitch kit...one of the stamped ones wherein the pattern is stamped on the cloth and you merely follow the lines and stitch where ever there is a mark on the cloth. So I bought one.

And never finished it. Then I bought another. And didn't finish that either.

So I left cross stitching alone for quite a while.

About 10 years later, B's brothers started having children...and I wanted to make those cross stitched birth announcements. So I bought another kit only this time it was counted cross stitching (god this is boring). The difference being that in counted cross stitch you start out with a blank canvas and count the stitches (get it? Counted. Cross. Stitch).

And I finished it. And then I finished another. Hey! I can do this!

As boring as that may sound, I find it very relaxing and quite engrossing. I have stayed up very late because I just want to finish This One Section.

One of the things that I finished lately is this picture that I am going to hang in E's room (once it gets properly washed and framed). It is from the book Guess How Much I Love You. I know that some people don't like this book (i.e. "...why would a father try to 'one-up' his child?"). To those people I say, phlbbbbttt (*wipe drool from chin*). I think it is a sweet book that speaks of a parent's boundless love for a child.

And I finished this piece this past weekend. I actually started this about 5 years ago. I got it about half done and then it got put aside and then we moved and I couldn't find it for quite some time. I found it when I was unpacking all of my craft stuff. This is one of the bigger and more complex things that I have done. It has a lot of colors and a lot of outlining; I still need to add some beads to it, but I think I will wash it and iron it first. It is a bell pull so I also have to find some hardware to put at the top and the bottom. I think a trip to the craft store is in the offing...

The next thing I am going to work on is this Christmas stocking. I actually bought this last October hopefully to finish before the holiday, but only got this far when my interest was highjacked by staring at legal documents and trying to understand how the f$#% someone's life can get tweaked out of control so quickly.

It will be ready for next Christmas.