Blazing Needles by Kirsten

I haven’t done any of the SBQoW so I thought I’d catch up on a few:

When starting a new project, do you start in the middle? If you do,
once you've worked down to the bottom, do you turn your chart and
fabric around so that you are stitching the top section downwards
again or do you just stitch upwards from the middle?

I always start in the middle. It doesn’t matter how complicated it is, I still have to do it. I just don’t feel comfortable if I don’t lol. I don’t really have a method, but I’ve noticed lately I tend to go to each edge first then work downwards then up to the top. It all depends on what section I feel like working on in that rotation. I never need to turn the chart and fabric around as I use a hoop.
Do you think that you stitch neater on Evenweave than you do on Aida
cloth? If so, why?
I think my stitchings about the same level of neatness on either evenweave or Aida. In the past year or two, I’ve found that I much prefer Evenweave because of it’s neatness when there’s a lot of fabric showing. I’ll probably still use the Aida that comes in Dimensions Kits if I have to but only if it’s 16 or 18 count and only if I can’t find a colour to match.

Are there any types of designs that you won't stitch?
I’m definitely not into ‘primitive’ or ‘cutsey’ designs but I try to never say never as there might be the occasional one that I find appeals to me. I just never know ;)

It’s been a fairly routine week for me so far. Work’s been very busy as it usually is around this time of the year. We have cycles where we have quiet periods then all of a sudden a lot more people need help. It’s fairly stressful when that happens but I’m pretty much used to it now.
I just got word that I have a slight payrise, not much but every little bit helps huh! It’s the end of the financial year in Australia so I’m almost ready to put in my tax return. I’ve decided that this year instead of putting it towards bills, I’m gonna splurge and spend it all on stash –yay lol It’s usually a couple of hundred so that’ll make a nice dent in the wishlist.

As I don’t work Fridays, these are usually taken up with the occasional appointment or general stuff, then the rest of the day is devoted to stitching. This week, I decided that I was finally ready to tackle my wardrobe. It’s only been 10 or so years since I did one part of it lol! I really wanted to have a place to store all my stash seen as how it’s now growing considerably. I went to the hardware store and got 3 boxes. I guessed on their sizes and it turns out they were perfect. I now have all my charts in a file box, my fabric in a smaller box and all the charts I have partially or fully kitted up ready to start in another. My collection on DMC (5 boxes) is still in it’s old place as that wouldn’t quite fit. The other positive note was that I filled a garbage bag with clothes to donate to charity so that’s good.
Saturday I had a quieter day at home. This is usually my ‘RnR’ day most weekends. I had the usual chores to do then settled down with a movie marathon and Royal Holiday. I watched ‘The Mummy’ (1932 version – not bad), The Core (3rd time round, I love it!), 50 First Dates (lovely film) and another that I’m having a mind blank over lol
Sunday morning was fun as we had the next-door-neighbours dog over for a visit. The neighbours have been rebuilding the fence between their and my parent’s properties and it’s been taking longer than expected (a month) due to heavy rain of late. No-one’s complaining though as we’re in the middle of a severe drought and need every drop that falls. Anyway, Carlo is a tri-colour corgi so when he and Sabre (tri-colour rough collie) play together it looks really funny! The love having ‘play dates’ so the neighbours are putting in a corgi-sized doggie door for Carlo to come over anytime. I’m betting that he won’t want to go home lol He’s a bit of a barker cause he’s lonely during the day so this will do wonders for them both.
In the afternoon, Mum and I went to see ‘Madagascar’ at the movies. It was part of a special charity screening for the Cancer Fund which they do occasionally. Disappointingly, the turnout was rather pitiful, only 40 people came but it would have been a lot more if they’d advertised more. We both loved the film and I’ll definitely be buying in when it comes to DVD. Loved those lemurs! Them and meerkats are my favourite small wild animals. Big cats of any kind are my fave big ones ;)

All in all it was a great weekend.

Wow it's been a while since I posted an update. Sorry bout that!
The moving house fell through last week :( The owner now can't rent it out for the time being so it's back to the drawing board for me. I don't actually mind too much as this gives me the change to save up enough to move comfortably and to be able to pay off the bills in total. I also plan on doing a final stash haul before the big move :) I am disappointed about loosing the house itself as it was nice from what I saw. I'm so glad I didn't get to see the inside as that would have made it even harder.

The good news is I've finally ordered the cat enclosure system I've been after for the last year ;) I'm very happy about that! It'll be great to have the 3 cats all in it, it's a bit small for a herd (lol) but we'll manage as it'll be hooked up to the enclosure we now have for Lucy. It arrives in 2 weeks so I'll be sure to show it off when it's all hooked up. It's expensive but well worth it and will last for years to come. It's expandible as there's other modules to get so when I move I can buy more stuff for it.

Stitching news: I've been busy on a few and am having a Mira weekend so eventually I'll work out how to post pics to this darn thing lol

Thats about all the time I've got for the moment.

We had fun over the weekend with Sabre. Our next-door-neighbour hasn't finished the fence still so we have a shorter version as a barricade to stop the dogs (Sabre and Carlo the Corgi from next door) getting out of the yards. Well for the first time since we've had Sabe, he decided that he could jump after all lol! We're talking about the dog that previously wouldn't even jump small logs. On Sunday he got out 5 times, while it was raining too. We added a little bit to the barricade but he still managed to jump it (this is when it was about 5' total). Sabe was one very unhappy dog as he had to be tied up overnight. Didn't hear a peep out of him though which was a suprise. I spose it brings back bad memories of being abused as a puppy. On Monday, the neighbour had to use parts of the old fence to put up a 7' barricade. Now there's no chance of him escaping lol! I'd love to know where he's getting his energy from.

House update:
I finally got a chance to speak to the landlord last night and she's happy to wait until the end of September which is the earliest I can move. I wish I could do it earlier but financially it's just not possible without coming into some more income. I've seen the house from the front and it's lovely. I have an inspection appt on Monday so that should be fun. It's terrifying but exciting at the same time. Mum's having fun working out what I'll need to get lol I have the contracts all printed ready for us to discuss and possiby sign on Mon.

Stitching news:
I've been a busy little beaver and have stitched on a few in the last few days. I'll have to upload new pics sometime when I have the chance.

Apart from that, it's been extremely busy at work. I'm very much looking forward to the weekend!

Well unfortunately it's been postponed until early next week and the lady can't do it today. Oh the suspence is killing me! I've pretty much decided that there's only 2 things that will stop me renting it - if the house is a total wreck and if she can't wait until the end of Aug early Sept which is the earliest I can move. I could do it before then but I don't want to keep paying off the loans forever by only paying the min each month. I'm much better trying to pay them in full before I start the renting lark :)

Oscar had a vet check up today and he's doing great! He's put on about 1.5 pounds in a month which is great. I do need to cut down on his feeding as he's still eating a bit too much.

Now after my exciting morning, I'm off to do the bobbin winding for Fairy Roses ready to start tomorrow. Then I'm stitching on Cherry Blossom Waterfall. Very slow going but it's gonna be stunning when I finish it in a decade or so lol!

A workmate of mine is moving out to western queensland and needs a tenant for her investment house :) It's 3 bedrooms, a great rent if I get in another person and best of all, I can take as many pets as I like as she's very much a pet lover. I can also put up all the pictures ie framed needlework too. She doesn't want to go through a rental agency as she prefers private tenants that she knows and trusts. She's had this place for years so knows what she's doing. Oh yes, she also willing to wait until I'm ready to move out at the end of August (I'm trying to finish paying off a couple of loans first and be debt free). So I'm rather excited about seeing this place tomorrow. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much at this stage as the house does need a bit of work in that it needs painting and reguttering but if I say I want it in Aug, it gives her and her husb plenty of time to get the house up to scratch.
I'm a little worried about getting a flatmate but I'd have to do that no matter how I rented. I'll update tomorrow once I've seen the house :)

Stitching:
I got a whole heap done on Gracious Era last night while watching a movie so I'm very happy with my progress there. A new pic will be up on the weekend. Now I'm moving onto Cherry Blossom Waterfall. This one is going to take me years! I think I'll do a bit of the waterfall so I can actually see some progress.
Pets:
Oscar was in a wacky mood this morning and actually climbed a tree. Something he hasn't done in quite a few months. It's cold today so with a bit of luck he'll stay inside for most of it. He has a tendency to wander down the street, which scares me cause most of the time he can't move as fast as he used to. Sabre's doing great, I think he's put on some more weight. I'll have to post his story sometime but the crux of it, he has a digestive disease which means he can't absorb nutrients without medication to replace pancreatic enzymes. So he's very carefully monitored every day. Lucy's good too, she's an inside cat so spends most of her day curled up on a fake mink blanket lol
General:
It's payday again today which means I'm another fortnight closer to my goal of moving out of my parents house and into my own little rental :) At the moment, my goal is to do this at the end of August when I have enough $ saved up.
Well another day at work so I'd better leave it there. Have a great day everyone!

Well as this will mainly be about stitching, I thought I'd blab on a bit about it lol! I have 22 on the go at the moment with another one soon (I just bought Fairy Rose and I know I won't resist starting it lol). I'll list them all, just for this first time:
Teresa Wentzler: Stroke of Midnight, Celestial Dragon, Lady of Shalott
Dimensions: Jewels of the Orient, Gracious Era, Flower of the East
Mirabilia: Winter Queen, Spring Queen, Summer Queen, Royal Holiday, Cottage Garden Fairy
Lavendar & Lace: Celtic Summer, Autumn and Mabon (a celtic holiday conversion)
BAPS: Wild Menagerie & Cherry Blossom Waterfall - both by Cross My Heart
Stitching Studio: The Cougar
Fleur de Lis: Tigers
Lanarte: Nefertiti & Tutankhamun
Kustom Kraft: Mountain Wolf

There you have them all. I will post update pics whenever I've stitched on them but in the meantime you can see them at Webshots (username kirsten1).
I work on a rotating basis of 5 hours for most of them but 10 hours for the TWs and BAPs. It works well and I usually get through 1 round of the rotation in a month and a bit. You can see from the list who my favourite designers are too.
Today I'm working on Gracious Era, part of the building in the background. It's going fairly fast so far and I can see very good progress.

Whadda you know! It actually worked :) I think I might be getting the hang of this now although I still need to work out the sidebar sometime. That can wait for a bit though.

The pic is of Oscar, the almost 13 year old. He's been a very sick boy of late as he was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 months ago. He's doing great now, fully stabilised on tablets and he really enjoys wrestling with Lucy.

Hi and welcome to my very first post and blog. My best friend calls me Blazing Needles so I thought that was an appropriate title. lol
Obviously my name is Kirsten. I'm 30 years old and live in Queensland Australia. My passions in life are my cross-stitching and my pets. I have 2 cats, Oscar an almost 13 year old ginger-and-white, and Lucy (short for Lucyfur) and almost 4 year old black cat. I also have a Rough Collie called Sabre. You'll hear extensivly about my stitching and the furkid's antics.
My day job is receptionist/data clerk for a counselling centre so I probably won't be able to talk much about it because of confidentiality issues. At the moment I'm working 4 days a week but I'm currently campaigning for full-time. Hopefully I'll find out in the next few weeks about that.
Anyway welcome to my blog :)