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2avaland
Lovely image to begin a thread with! I very much need my studio work, too; it's been many things to me from stimulation to nonverbal therapy. I hope you can ease back into and if you do, we'll enjoy seeing what you produce.
3mabith
Well after two months of nothing but designing a few things I didn't feel were good enough to stitch, I've started another project. It's doubly LT appropriate, as I'm stitching my reading from last year.
The colors won't be gorgeous, because I wanted to represent the genres I was reading specifically vs just numbers. So every orange book is foreign (excluding UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) fiction, every light blue is a memoir, etc...
I'm shooting for once month per day, just to get my stitching callous and muscles back into form. I did patterns for a few other years of my reading mostly as comparison (and boredom) but I'm unlikely to stitching more than a couple years as I don't want the house filling up with these. I have a semi-secret goal to reach 300 reads this year, and if I manage that I probably will stitch that one too.
Here's July and August of last year anyway!
The colors won't be gorgeous, because I wanted to represent the genres I was reading specifically vs just numbers. So every orange book is foreign (excluding UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) fiction, every light blue is a memoir, etc...
I'm shooting for once month per day, just to get my stitching callous and muscles back into form. I did patterns for a few other years of my reading mostly as comparison (and boredom) but I'm unlikely to stitching more than a couple years as I don't want the house filling up with these. I have a semi-secret goal to reach 300 reads this year, and if I manage that I probably will stitch that one too.
Here's July and August of last year anyway!
6mabith
I really don't mind color changes at all when I know there are enough stitches to weave in the tails. I also just carry the thread across if there are four books or fewer in between.
Some years back I actually did a piece with all (well, almost, I took out some duplicates or near duplicates in order to have a perfect square) the DMC colors stitched in numerical order.
And then did another all DMC piece with a spiral this time, also in numerical order.
Those were definitely more frustrating, though still rewarding for me.
Some years back I actually did a piece with all (well, almost, I took out some duplicates or near duplicates in order to have a perfect square) the DMC colors stitched in numerical order.
And then did another all DMC piece with a spiral this time, also in numerical order.
Those were definitely more frustrating, though still rewarding for me.
7avaland
>4 mabith: What a great idea!
>6 mabith: I love those two pieces (particularly the second one).
Glad you are working on regaining those callouses and muscle strength!
>6 mabith: I love those two pieces (particularly the second one).
Glad you are working on regaining those callouses and muscle strength!
8scaifea
I. Love. All. Of. These. So colorful and lovely, and they very much appeal to my put-everything-in-order nature.
9thornton37814
Those are lovely. I've got a couple of projects in process but they aren't far enough along that anyone could tell what they are going to be.
11mabith
Thanks, y'all!
Posting those reminded me that I wanted to do another All-DMC piece, this time stitching according to the color card (and I think about 45 colors have been added since I did my squares).
Posting those reminded me that I wanted to do another All-DMC piece, this time stitching according to the color card (and I think about 45 colors have been added since I did my squares).
14thornton37814
>12 mabith: Love the books!
15captainsflat
Love this book idea - it is awesome to see it visually, isn't it? Sometimes cross stitch is the only thing that keeps my head above water.
17scaifea
>16 mabith: That's so great! I love it!
18lauralkeet
>16 mabith: that's brilliant. What a great way to remember your "books of the year." I re-read some of your previous messages about this project and noticed you considered adding a color key. So I wondered, do the colors have any particular meaning?
19rosalita
>16 mabith: I just absolutely love that! I'd love to figure out a way to do this with knitting, but I don't think I could do it as book spines the way you have, which really looks great. Maybe in a style similar to one of those "temperature blankets"?
20mabith
>17 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!
>18 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! Yes, the colors represent specific genres. So all the lightest blue books are memoirs, medium blues are hard sciences, bright reds are contemporary fiction, orange books are by authors from outside the big anglophone countries (so everything except USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand), etc...
>19 rosalita: Thanks, Julia! Yes, I think doing it like the temperature of sports score projects would work well. My friend did a scarf that represented her team's baseball scores. A blanket would be really lovely.
>18 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! Yes, the colors represent specific genres. So all the lightest blue books are memoirs, medium blues are hard sciences, bright reds are contemporary fiction, orange books are by authors from outside the big anglophone countries (so everything except USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand), etc...
>19 rosalita: Thanks, Julia! Yes, I think doing it like the temperature of sports score projects would work well. My friend did a scarf that represented her team's baseball scores. A blanket would be really lovely.
21lauralkeet
>20 mabith: thanks Meredith. In addition to the design and your craftsmanship, the diversity of your reading is pretty impressive.
22avaland
>16 mabith: That turned out fabulous! And I do love the way the titles match in color to their corresponding book spine. So clever.
23dudes22
That turned out so nice! I've seen quilts with books and always thought that was a great idea, but I like this better.
24mabith
>21 lauralkeet: Ah, we've all got our reading sweet spots. For me reading this month I have to read really varying types of books, and more non-fiction than new fiction (fiction re-reads largely being favorite books already).
>22 avaland: Thanks, Lois! I might tweak the colors a bit if I decide to do one for this year's reading, but I knew I needed to just START on this and not let myself lose momentum.
>23 dudes22: Thanks, Betty! This is certainly the easiest book-recording craft for me. I like the knitting versions but weaving in all those ends...
>22 avaland: Thanks, Lois! I might tweak the colors a bit if I decide to do one for this year's reading, but I knew I needed to just START on this and not let myself lose momentum.
>23 dudes22: Thanks, Betty! This is certainly the easiest book-recording craft for me. I like the knitting versions but weaving in all those ends...
27avaland
>25 mabith: It is so, but what a lovely piece.
28lauralkeet
Very pretty work, Meredith.
29mabith
Thanks, all. It's been good for me to let the sadness show in a more concrete way. Cross-stitch (and crafting in general) just can't be a happy thing for me right now anyway, so letting it be more of a meditation on my own grief and sadness is helping me keep doing it at least.
30mabith
I'm still not doing much crafting, though I did design a new pattern around a quote from the TV show The Good Place ("I am a jenga tower of sadness"). Progress has not been helped by the fact that I shut my thumb in the car door, right on the nail, and experienced some of the worst pain of my entire life. It's been a month but the nail and pad are still pretty tender.
I did use my sewing machine to make a large curtain panel for my living room, so that's something, yes? The fabric colors worked out perfectly despite ordering online. The greys match my walls and couch very closely and my living room rug has a similar yellow.
During the day I'm keeping my lace ones (bent curtain rod to be replaced soon). They were long but I sewed them up to be half the length and provide a little more screening.
I did use my sewing machine to make a large curtain panel for my living room, so that's something, yes? The fabric colors worked out perfectly despite ordering online. The greys match my walls and couch very closely and my living room rug has a similar yellow.
During the day I'm keeping my lace ones (bent curtain rod to be replaced soon). They were long but I sewed them up to be half the length and provide a little more screening.
31mabith
I also went back to work doing the very boring green background on this book spine project:
My strange brain decided to do a Mandarin language course for no particular reason, and that takes so much more concentration than an audiobook. So the boring cross-stitch was the perfect thing to do while I listened. The course is 25 hours total.
Of course now I've hit a stumbling block and the yellow detail just isn't readable on the piece. I'm now stitching the green on a scrap piece of aida and will experiment further on that rather than the actual piece. I might have to give up having it gold(ish) at all. It's on 18 ct aida and that's just too small to stitch Kreinek metallic thread over full cross-stitches. I might still see how that looks but I don't think it will work. I'm not sure what other color would work well. Maybe a very dark rose pink? It's very frustrating since I finally got off my butt to continue working on it.
My strange brain decided to do a Mandarin language course for no particular reason, and that takes so much more concentration than an audiobook. So the boring cross-stitch was the perfect thing to do while I listened. The course is 25 hours total.
Of course now I've hit a stumbling block and the yellow detail just isn't readable on the piece. I'm now stitching the green on a scrap piece of aida and will experiment further on that rather than the actual piece. I might have to give up having it gold(ish) at all. It's on 18 ct aida and that's just too small to stitch Kreinek metallic thread over full cross-stitches. I might still see how that looks but I don't think it will work. I'm not sure what other color would work well. Maybe a very dark rose pink? It's very frustrating since I finally got off my butt to continue working on it.
32avaland
>31 mabith: Ouch! sorry about the cut, sounds painful.
The green might have been boring, but it turned out really lovely! I can see some yellow up under the word "Garden," is that it? The green kind of goes with the pictured curtains above!
I like the lace curtains, but the others certainly offer more privacy.
The green might have been boring, but it turned out really lovely! I can see some yellow up under the word "Garden," is that it? The green kind of goes with the pictured curtains above!
I like the lace curtains, but the others certainly offer more privacy.
34scaifea
Oh dang, I'm sorry about the finger - youch! But I love the curtains, the book spine project, and especially The Good Place quote! Love that show!
35lesmel
>30 mabith: Did you have your thumb looked at? While it might all just be bad bruising, a break in the bone (especially if it heals badly) could cause long term pain.
The curtains and the needlework are lovely, as always. :)
The curtains and the needlework are lovely, as always. :)
36mabith
Yeah, the yellow can be seen, but the design stitch with it can't be made out. I tried a number of the darker golds and none work, so I'm going with a very dark purple instead. So frustrating.
>32 avaland: I definitely prefer the lace curtains during the day (I love a bright room). I don't live on a hugely busy street, but just got tired of people being able to see straight in the minute it got dark.
>33 dudes22: It's definitely my favorite green in that shade.
>34 scaifea: Thanks! The Good Place is such an outstanding show, by far my favorite sitcom of the last ten years.
>35 lesmel: I didn't, but I think the lingering pain is largely just a consequence of my nerve disease. I'm a slow healer. If there's something fractured it would only be at the very tip of the last bit of bone there, so I don't think they'd really do anything for it (I doubt anything broke regardless). Thanks!
>32 avaland: I definitely prefer the lace curtains during the day (I love a bright room). I don't live on a hugely busy street, but just got tired of people being able to see straight in the minute it got dark.
>33 dudes22: It's definitely my favorite green in that shade.
>34 scaifea: Thanks! The Good Place is such an outstanding show, by far my favorite sitcom of the last ten years.
>35 lesmel: I didn't, but I think the lingering pain is largely just a consequence of my nerve disease. I'm a slow healer. If there's something fractured it would only be at the very tip of the last bit of bone there, so I don't think they'd really do anything for it (I doubt anything broke regardless). Thanks!
37mabith
I've been somewhat paralyzed by issues with the decorative bits of the Secret Garden spine. I decided to go with a dark purple (which I now feel is *too* dark but at this point nothing will make me happy). Then I struggled with using one strand or floss vs two because it was still a little hard to read. I finally decided to simplify the design a bit and stick to two strands. I'll start on it tomorrow (I try to avoid stitching after dark, though I have a good lamp).
In the meantime I found a stack of 19 circular quilt blocks at an antique mall for $8, so of course I bought them.
I'm not sure what I'll do with them. Maybe put a few together for a wall hanging and maybe make some placemats with others. It was too good a deal to pass up anyway.
In the meantime I found a stack of 19 circular quilt blocks at an antique mall for $8, so of course I bought them.
I'm not sure what I'll do with them. Maybe put a few together for a wall hanging and maybe make some placemats with others. It was too good a deal to pass up anyway.
38dudes22
OH my gosh! Those are fabulous, Meredith! I can see why you couldn't pass them up. They look like they're in great shape too. Makes me want to go to the nearest antique mall and see what they've got. LOL
40mabith
>38 dudes22: >39 avaland: Right? I see quilt tops pretty regularly, but they're generally outside of my budget.
43dudes22
I'm amazed at the planning to fit it all on the spine. I forget - are you actually copying book spines into cross-stitch or making up the design? What's the thread count on the fabric that you are using?
44mabith
I feel like the purple being so much darker than the text green obscures it some, but that's kind of appropriate for the book at least.
Betty, they are all taken from actual book editions. The order has changed a little, but these are the reference:
I regret putting Swiss Family Robinson in there, due to the complexity, but there are just too many green covers!
Betty, they are all taken from actual book editions. The order has changed a little, but these are the reference:
I regret putting Swiss Family Robinson in there, due to the complexity, but there are just too many green covers!
46avaland
Your work reminds me that on a recent weekend together, MaggieO and I went up to the Sarah Orne Jewett house in South Berwick, Maine, and in the gift shop was a lovely book which she bought: The Art of American Book Covers, 1875-1930 by Richard Minsky. I was sorely tempted also. Gorgeous covers and information on the artists, many of them women.
47lauralkeet
>44 mabith: oh, this is so cool! Thanks for sharing the inspiration behind your design. I'll enjoy watching your progress.
48mabith
Thanks, ladies! I do love a book project best. I've got a good start on the Wizard of Oz spine now. And Betty I forgot to say this is on 18 ct fabric. It's probably the largest project I've done.
>46 avaland: I've been coveting that book for a while myself! There are plenty of beautiful covers now, but 1875-1930 covers some of my favorite aesthetics and there's just something different about those old books. Even the lovely clothbound Penguin classics series don't live up to the old ones.
>46 avaland: I've been coveting that book for a while myself! There are plenty of beautiful covers now, but 1875-1930 covers some of my favorite aesthetics and there's just something different about those old books. Even the lovely clothbound Penguin classics series don't live up to the old ones.
49dudes22
>46 avaland: - I found that there is one of those books in the library system so I will probably put in a request at some point.
51lauralkeet
Looking good!
54mabith
My sister had to have her baby two months early (due to preeclampsia). They live an hour away but everything had to be done at the hospital in my city so I've been running around like crazy taking her around, cooking, babysitting her other two kids.
Everyone is healthy, and the NICU staff are extremely pleased with baby Nate's progress. He's a tiny thing of course, but in most ways more aware (eyes open, trying to lift his head) than my sister's oldest who was two weeks early and didn't open his eyes really for a week or more.
So of course I've been knitting some tiny hats.
Everyone is healthy, and the NICU staff are extremely pleased with baby Nate's progress. He's a tiny thing of course, but in most ways more aware (eyes open, trying to lift his head) than my sister's oldest who was two weeks early and didn't open his eyes really for a week or more.
So of course I've been knitting some tiny hats.
56lauralkeet
I'm glad to hear mom and baby are doing well. The hats are very cute!
58mabith
It's nice to have a very quick project! I've become so exhausted that I haven't knit any for a bit, though I started a larger hat in the dark yarn that I think will fit him when he's one. I just love that yarn so much.
My body is definitely at the end of its rope (I have two chronic pain conditions) from taking care of my sister and babysitting with the older niece and nephew are here. Fingers crossed Nate going home by the 10th so I can get back my normal reading and crafting schedule!
My body is definitely at the end of its rope (I have two chronic pain conditions) from taking care of my sister and babysitting with the older niece and nephew are here. Fingers crossed Nate going home by the 10th so I can get back my normal reading and crafting schedule!
59avaland
Congratulations to your sister, and the new auntie! Those are lovely little hats and I'm sure they were appreciated.
Please take care of yourself! You can't be there for them if you are exhausted and your pain is flaring up. I have all fingers crossed for you.
Please take care of yourself! You can't be there for them if you are exhausted and your pain is flaring up. I have all fingers crossed for you.
60mabith
Thanks, Lois! I've been decent at carving out time for myself, I think. Plus I've forgiven myself for showing the kids a fair bit of TV, which I usually try to limit (I'm the strict aunt). Partly, if I push myself too hard I'll have a fibromyalgia flare and won't be able to do anything and partly just for my sanity!
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