Today I sent my baby off to camp for the first time. She has been my constant companion for the last three years, with only an occasional overnight at a friends. I was looking forward to some blessed solitude (seeing how the older two are rarely at home anymore). But I find I'm missing her much more than I had anticipated. We had thought she'd be the one who got home sick, but she was so excited I had to remind her to give me a hug and kiss goodbye! There she is sitting in the truck all ready to go. I'm just glad time goes by so fast. Before I know it she'll be back brimming with her adventures. I just wonder how she's doing. *sigh*

And here is a little friend who came over to say goodbye to her as well. I looked out the front door and I spotted him crossing the road. By the time we got out there, he was half-way across the yard. I thought turtles were supposed to be slow! I also was really surprised by the size of his claws. Randi says the things on his back are barnacles. And who am I to gainsay her? She is, after all, the turtle expert in the family.

And seeing how I had the camera out, I decided to torture my older daughter by taking pictures of her as she drove off for work. This is only the second time she's driven on her own and I wanted to record it for posterity. (And also for my insurance, you know, just in case). Fortunately, she's a very conscientious driver and fully understands that a car is a lethal weapon and some people are really stupid when they get behind the wheel. Still, I bite my nails until I know she's arrived safely at her destination.

My children are simply growing up too fast for my taste!


And so I find solace in stitching. Here is Bubble Flower. There was an awful lot of confetti in that bit, but the result is simply amazing. I just love seeing the artwork slowly coalesce as I work my way across the chart.

The curse has taken on a new dimension. I discovered tonight that I turned the fabric the wrong way when I started Bubble Flower. I quickly put stitches in to accommodate the whole width of the chart and I'll have exactly an inch of fabric on the right. Probably enough to frame it, but it looks so close to the edge. Regardless, my stitching mojo is gone for the evening. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. And it's not like it's the first time I've done it either. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I had no further problems with frogging on Cirque des Cercles. I got the first big circle in the middle done and another small one on the right.

I have been itching to start Calling the Crows ever since I first got it. And so I have. I simply love her red dress! And the frogs decided to leave me alone on this one, much to my relief.

I don't know if I've written about any of my son's car woes. So here's a brief list: the starter died, on the way home from getting that fixed, the alternator died, then the windshield wipers stopped working, while that was being fixed the wiring under the seat caught on fire, then it started dogging out whenever he made a turn. All this in less than six months.

He came home last night and says "I really hate that car". I, of course, find these troubles a bit amusing, but I was totally unprepared for what's wrong with it this time. It seems his horn goes off whenever he makes a sharp turn! He says it doesn't bother him too much except when he's in a parking lot or there is a police officer nearby. And at least it's a problem we can really laugh about!

I tell you this was probably one of the most troublesome things I have ever stitched. First I wasn't happy with the fabric and actually started on three different ones. Then I spent days messing around with the colors, involving much experimental stitching only to rip it all out and start again. And finally making mistake after mistake, including one huge one. leading to extensive frogging. You'd think I'd toss it in disgust. To the contrary, I've rather enjoyed working on it.

And so, with no further ado, let me present the final version of the Adam and Eve block from the Days of Advent Sampler.



I am sad to report the curse of the frogs has not been lifted. I'm working on Cirques des Cercles and while I haven't discovered an old counting error which negates everything I worked on the previous round, I am continually making counting errors requiring frogging out a thread or two. Not the brightest thing when working with variegated silks! I hope I don't run out and end up with dye-lot problems. You would think that all this trouble I've had lately would turn me off of stitching for a while. But no, I simply must beat those blasted frogs into submission!

I have had a trying couple of weeks. After processing 500+ high school transcripts in three days, I was actually having nightmares about them. Doing repetitive work like that really burns me out. And just when I thought I was done, more would arrive. Blah.

I can't blame that brain deaded-ness for the counting mistakes I made in the last two projects I've worked on, though. Seeing how I made both those errors during the previous rotation three months ago. I will get to the sheer horridness of that in a minute.

First I want to share the three projects prior to the plague of frogs. Sky in Pirate and Mermaid. More sky in Martyr's. And for a change of pace, water in Jewel of the Sea. And that is where my little amphibian problem began. For some reason I started using 931 for the "9" symbol, rather than the 318 the "9" actually represents. Fortunately, I only did it a couple of times before I came to my senses and realized the thread was much too dark for that particular section. When checking to make sure I was actually using 931 I discovered that I wasn't supposed to be using 931 at all. At least frogging it wasn't too hard since the erroneous x's where easy to spot.

Ah, but my troubles only began there. I was happily stitching along on Dragon Skies, finishing up her head and moving on to her wings. And that is when I discovered that I was three stitches too low! Ack! So I ripped and ripped (not an easy task with over one stitching on opalescent fabric). I was up until 3:00 a.m. and my fingers were numb but I got it all out with little damage to the fabric. I continued on the next day, counting twice from two reference points. And am happy to report I did it right this time. And I'm happier with the way her mouth turned out the second time, so I guess that's a positive note. Isn't she pretty?

Then I moved on to the Days of Advent Sampler. I had a very hard time converting the greens, since there are three separate groups and they have to interact with each other. I ended up stitching and re-stitching the bottom portion of the Adam and Eve block, trying out different combos. I finally decided to use the NPIs for the two darker greens and am now satisfied with my choices. I finished up the grassy knoll and moved back up to the clouds and tree. And discovered that I had started the purple butterfly three stitches too low, thus throwing off everything below it. I really have to wonder what the heck is going on with this! Perhaps I have been cursed and am doomed to start everything three stitches below where it's supposed to be?

But it's even worse than that. I decide to move on to the Noah block and leave the frogging for another time and discovered that everything below the clouds, sun, and moon is a stitch to the right. I throw my hands up in defeat and rip out most of the Adam and Eve block. And start again, counting twice from two reference points. I think it's okay now. I hope it's okay now. I'm hoping to finish the block tonight. Despite have to frog this one multiple times, I'm really enjoying stitching it. And here I had thought I'd gotten over my mascochistic tendencies!

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up Cirques des Cercles. Which should be a nice and easy stitch, seeing how it's all one color and everything is pretty close together. If I find out one of those circles is three stitches too low, though, I might have to seriously re-evaluate my interest in this hobby.