I can see!

I got my new glasses today.  I didn't realise how fuzzy the world was until I put them on.  Wow! What a difference!

I worked on Cat all afternoon pretty much.  Why is it, you can hold your project in your hand and you see a little bit of progress, it looks different, but it's not until you look at the photo you take that you start to see what all the shapes are?

I look at the fabric and I know what the bits are supposed to be but it just seems to be blocks of yellow-ish colour and blocks of black at the minute.  But looking at the photo I see the centre of the cat, I see the bones in its legs, I see the flower in front of it and the leaves behind it.  Kinda like with my dolphins I did previously, the Dimensions kit.  It wasn't until I looked at the photo that I could see the reflection patterns on their backs.

But anyway, I'm not sure I'll get much, if any, done tomorrow as it's a Cubs night.  But I've got two early shifts this week so perhaps I'll get more done then.  I've also got Friday afternoon off but I have appointments to attend to make me look like a girl again! Lol.  My hair has grown out far too much and I'm finally getting my nails redone.  I'm going to have acrylics put on but keep them short.  (I also plan to have them removed for May so I don't have to worry about them on camp! Lol)

Day 14

Filling in

Apologies for not posting my update yesterday, but I went out in the evening with some friends for a birthday and didn't get home until about 11.30pm and my bed was calling really loud!

But anyway, I managed to get quite a lot filled in yesterday.  I've been starting from the top left corner and choosing a symbol to fill that corner in, then continuing with that symbol until I've done all of them on the page.  Yesterday I got a symbol that covers large areas with lots of joining blocks.  Hooray!

I have a few things to do today after church, including getting my new glasses so let's see if that helps me see my stitching better later!

Day 13

Gibbs... Say no more?

We apologise for the interruption.  Normal services will now resume.

Yesterday I was just far too tired to do anything, let alone stitching.  I was almost dozing off on the sofa at 7.30 and went to bed before my nightly dose of Gibbs had finished! Yes, that's right! I missed an episode of NCIS.

But tonight, with the granting of 1½hrs of toil (time off in lieu), I was able to come home, have a nice soak in the bath, finish my book and still get some stitching done... Well, that was until Gibbs came back on! I was alright to continue throughout the two episodes I've seen before, but at 9pm when the new episode started, that was it.  Stitching only occurred during the adverts.

And again, it looks from the picture as though I did hardly anything as it was a lot of confetti again.  I finished off another shade and was only a few stitches from completing another.  The length I was using ran out and I decided to call it quits and get ready for bed rather than start another.

But anyway, nice weekend to come.

Day 12

Two more shades

I finished two more shades on page 6 today.  A lot of it was confetti again though so I'm not entirely sure you can see it in the photo.  So far the shades I've been doing are dark-ish ones around the edges of the black and really light yellow ones that don't show up much anyway, but it's getting there.  Looks like I actually have a full weekend to myself this week.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my Scouting activities but it is nice to have some me time too.  So here's to more obvious shades in the near future!!

Day 11

Slow progress

Morning off today.  Didn't do an awful lot.  I spent most of the morning tucked up in my bed because it was cold and I was playing a game on my laptop!

I did about an hour of stitching I reckon, possibly not even that because then we went out to town.  SubWay for lunch.  Yum.

After work I managed to get some more done once I'd finished my tea.  It felt like a lot of stitching but where it was a lot of single stitches all over the place it looks like hardly anything.  But hey ho, there are now three shades finished with on page 6!

Day 10

310 page 6, check

I had the afternoon off today.  I think I may have done more of this project if I hadn't been chasing around after the weekend drama still!

Went to Asda to get my new TV.  Great, there it is on the shelf... Where are the boxes? So I go and ask.  "Oh that's sold out."  Seriously? Why no sold out labels or anything?!

I go to Argos, have to park in the pay and display car park.  Start putting my money in and it just takes it without accounting for it.  Again, seriously?! I only had enough change for the machine! Luckily some kind man gave me 5p to make it up again.  Whoever you are, kind sir, thank you!!

I go into Argos and pick up my TV.  Fantastic.  Need a lead.  I knew that would happen, that's fine... £25?! I don't think so.  Back to Asda.  Less than a tenner.  That's better.  So now it's all installed and things are lovely again.  I even managed to sort out the knitting the wire fairy has been doing behind my TV!

But anyway, project.  I worked on it for the remainder of the afternoon until I had to go to a Scouting friend's house to have another module signed off.  Success there, by the way.  15 down, 3 to go!

Day 9

Little progress

I was fully intending yesterday to carry on with this after returning from the shop and having lunch but things kinda blew up in my face after that and I spent most of the afternoon in bed in a bad mood.

I was attempting to put away my washing, which is difficult enough for me when I have no motivation.  I like to have background noise so I put a DVD on.  It was shaky and kept skipping.  Ok, my bluray player does that from time to time, so I tried one of my bluray discs.  Hmm, that message isn't good.  This disc cannot be played.  I'm pretty sure that's not right seeing as I've watched it loads.  Ok, so I haven't watched that one recently.  I'll try one of the others I know I've watched recently.  It loads, it stops, it loads, it stops.  This disc cannot be played.  Seriously?!

Luckily my brother paid me back some money I lent him at the beginning of the month so I bought myself a new player.  The one I had was an old one my brother gave me which he got from someone else so goodness knows how old it was! Less than £50, bargain! Good make, too.  I've heard of Sony.

We go to install it and my TV is so old the connections are wrong.  This is a bit too much for me by this point.  We've tried everything! Looked for adapter wires, no luck.  Tried the other port, the wires don't fit.

So after all this I ended up in bed, blocking everyone out and hiding under the covers playing a game on my laptop because it kept my hands warm!

In the end, dad unhooked their DVD player from downstairs and put it in my room for me so I can at least watch my DVDs if not my blurays.

Anyway, today was a different story.  After church we went straight into town to get my glasses.  I'll be picking them up next Sunday.  I chose purple ones (fancy that, I hear from people who know me!!)

I played on my game again for a little while then went back downstairs to watch some DVDs with mum and dad while I did today's work on Cat.  Dad had to go and get the player and put it back downstairs again then return it to my room when we were finished with it downstairs.

So, anyway, all in all, an eventful weekend for mostly the wrong reasons.  Tomorrow I have the afternoon off and I'm going to Asda to buy a new TV and an HDMI wire so I can actually have some things that work for me! Lol

Day 8

Productive unproductiveness

The Scout shop was practically dead this morning.  We were lucky to have maybe 5 separate customers and a couple of visitors.  Unproductive for the shop.  Productive for me.  I got loads done! I think I may have done a little more too if it hadn't been so cold in the shop!!

I did just have a mini panic when I laid it out to take the photo.  The gap above the current block is a lot bigger than that below.  Oh no! I've centred it wrong! So I check the chart.  Phew.  The bottom pages are a small segment and not a full block.  Crisis averted!

Day 7, Scout shop

Four edges, page 6

I only did another small portion last night and spent a long time fiddling with my phone inputting the dates of all the practices, qualifyings and races of this year's Formula 1 calendar into my phone calendar.  I also watched the latest episode of NCIS so I had a lot of distractions getting in my way!

But despite all that, I managed to get to the bottom of page 6 so I now know how big each section will be roughly.

I also managed to make a boo boo.  That little line at the bottom took more than one length.  It was after tying off and starting a new length that I realised I had been doing the wrong column of stitches! Nooo! Lol. I managed to salvage without having to unpick the previous thread simply because I'd missed a column out.  I just edited around it.  Then after getting almost as far as you see in the picture, I realised I'd missed one teeny tiny lonesome stitch to the left of that column! Darn it! Oh well, it'll have to be added later now.

Anyway, I have to be at the Scout shop in half an hour and I'm still in bed in my pyjamas so I'd better get up and get ready.  Being the beginning of half term I wonder just how busy it'll be in there so I may get lots done this morning, I may not.  Watch this space!

Day 6

No meeting means more stitching

After a little break for a meeting with my Scout Training Adviser yesterday, I did some more today.  I wasn't going to as I was supposed to have a staff meeting tonight, but it was cancelled.  Yippee! And there isn't a staff meeting next week either because it's half term.

It's only a little bit more, but a little is better than none.

Day 5

Edges, page 6

I did a little bit of work this morning before we went shopping, then again this evening once I'd gotten home from visiting a friend who's broken her ankle.

So anyway, I had to pull apart the chart book to find the edges.  It's fun trying to balance them because I like to sit curled up which means I get stiff which means I have to fidget which means the pages slip and slide!! So trying not to drop them was fun.  But despite all that, I managed not to lose any pages and I've reached the top, left and right edges of page 6 now.

Day 4

After the dentist...

9.05am.  Seriously?! 9.05am!? What a horrible time to go to the dentist to have an injection for two fillings.  Yeah, turns out I only needed one injection which I found awesome.  One is better than two in this case!

But anyway, as soon as I got home, and once I'd had a nice hazelnut hot chocolate, I picked up the kit.  I now see what people mean about the sheer volume of 310 that occurs! That's all I stitched today.  I found it quite nice just doing large blocks of one colour.

I worked on it all day aside from when I had my lunch and tea, then when I left for Cubs this evening.  So a pretty productive day.

Day 3

Skeleton Cat, Day 2

Almost as soon as I got in from Church this afternoon I picked up Skeleton Cat.  It was a little slower going as there is an awful lot of odd stitches here and there as well as nice large blocks.  I also had a quick panic earlier when I thought I'd threaded the lengths onto the cards in the wrong place! You can imagine the relief I felt when I realised I had gotten it right after all.

I worked on it from about lunch time until not long ago.  I just gave up and got ready for bed around 11pm.  Really not looking forward to tomorrow morning though. :-( I hate the dentist.  I don't want to go.

Day 2

The end brings a beginning

Once I'd finished untangling all the threads (I blame Gibbs for distracting me!) and threaded them all onto my newly laminated cards I finally made a start on Skeleton Cat by Gecko Rouge and I must say I'm intrigued by it. It's larger than I thought it'd be but not the largest I've ever done.  I have church tomorrow then the afternoon free and I'll be feeling sorry for myself Monday as I'm having injections for fillings in the morning and taken the day off because of it.  I'm such a wimp, but at least it means I might have plenty of time to take my mind off it by stitching.  I hope.

Anyway, a couple of hours this evening, and we're a go!

Day 1

The Dolphin's Domain: Completed!

And here it is! The Dolphin's Domain by Dimensions.  Completed this afternoon after working on the backstitch this morning before I left then at the DHQ while waiting for the hikers to arrive.  Completed the last few stitches this afternoon once I'd gotten back home in the warm.  And because I'm absolutely rubbish at French knots (I smile at my friend Nathalie and she teach me in exchange for me teaching her cross stitching) I've just stitched over the same point to create a small knot-looking stitch.  Close enough.

But anyway, another work complete.  Where's the next one! Ah yes, Gecko Rouge's Skeleton Cat.

Day 44

Commence backstitching

I was so determined last night to try and complete all the black backstitch before I went to bed but at midnight when I realised that the entire of the lower left corner is black I called it quits.  I'm hoping to get a chance to work on it some more today.  The Cubs are having an incident hike around the different Scout Huts in town, finishing up with the district headquarters.  I'm not going with our Cubs, two of the other leaders are.  I'm staying at the DHQ to help out there.  I'm hoping it'll be quiet-ish there as there will be a gap before the first group arrives.  But you never know.

Day 43, backstitch

Step one complete!

That's it! I did it! All the cross and half stitching is finished! Bring on the backstitch!

Day 43

Shading

And so commences the work on the final dolphin.  Well, I already did start it but this time it's all I'm working on, rather than finishing off threads I used in the other dolphins.  But anyway, enough waffle.  I have the morning off tomorrow.  I wonder if that means I'll have time to stitch or if I'll be out and about? Watch this space.

Day 42

And then there was one

Did it! Well, at least I did one more.  I'll not waffle on for too long as I stayed up just to finish the last little bit of that third dolphin.  I worked on it all evening, too.  Let's see if I can get close to finishing number four tomorrow evening after my staff meeting.

Day 41

Closer...

Almost managed a whole dolphin this evening.  To start with I had the help of the 6 year old my mum's been looking after.  He loves to be involved and he listened really well.  I told him which symbol to look for, asked him if he could read what colour that would be then he helped me to pull the needle through.  Then my tea came out and, although he was very good at it, he was quite slow so I put it off until he'd gone home in case he wanted to carry on helping me after I'd finished my tea.  He's such a good kid though.

But anyway, I reckon I can get the third dolphin finished... tomorrow? Or is that too adventurous? Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Day 40

In between

I had the afternoon off today but as soon as I got in from work it was straight to get changed then off to Sainsbury's where I got a new Charlie body spray and the Comic Relief wristband, then back to our friend's house.  After that I got a little bit of stitching done before we went to do the school run for the little boy my mum looks after (she's a childminder), a little bit while he and my Grandma were here, then it was Cubs, then I did a tiny bit more before bed, just to finish the length I'd already started.  A lot of stitching in between everything else!

Day 39

Two down...

I've learned today that it takes two days before fun like Playzone starts to really kick in! Missed church today because I was too exhausted and in too much pain to get up in time!

When I finally got out of bed I picked up the kit and cracked on with it.  The only break in stitching today was my trip to the optician.  Turns out my eyes are starting to go and I need glasses but I literally don't have any money to buy them until next payday. Sucks.

But anyway, I got loads more done today.  Two dolphins now complete.

Day 38

One done

So I didn't get as much done as I'd have liked to the last few days.  Thursday after staff meeting I was so tired I couldn't focus.  I did do some stitching but not on my project.  I attempted to sew some missing badges onto my camp blanket but went a bit nuts just trying to organise them and took off more than I put back!

Yesterday I did nothing as I was invited out.  I went to Playzone with two of the girls from work and got back late so not only did I not stitch but I missed Gibbs too!!

Today I was in Bursledon for most of the day so didn't get as much of an opportunity as I wanted to.  I managed to complete the central dolphin at our friend's house though.  We went round there for a take away and to watch Michael McIntyre.  Having already watched the DVD I could get away with just listening and laughing at the programme!!

I have an appointment with the optician tomorrow.  I think my eye sight is beginning to go as I knew it would eventually with the amount of family members I have that wear glasses.  But aside from that I'm hoping for a lazy day.  Perhaps I'll finish one of the other dolphins too.

Day 37