Page 4

I've completed my half-year goals! Page 4 of Tree of Life is done. There was much rejoicing.

I also switched up the way I'm parking a little, which has had such a huge impact that I doubled from up to 400 stitches in a day on this project to up to 800. I'm thrilled to see it moving along so quickly.

This is page 4 of Tree of Life, the sixth page complete. Next up is more World Travel.

You're still working on that?

Tree of Life update folks!

I have finally reached the dark section! I'm so very excited about this, because: new colors! Also, there seems to be slightly less confetti, for which gives me a major sense of relief. Though there are still times I'm convinced all 88 colors are used in a 10 x 10 block.

This is the first half of page 4:

Page 40!

Two thirds of the first column is done! When I finish the whole column I shall post a picture of the whole thing, but for now, have a picture of page 40. I'm quite fond of my little orange figurines.

Next up is more Tree of Life. Trying really hard to get a half page finish on that, with a whole page finish by the end of the year to meet my half-year goal. It just kind of drags due to the high volume of confetti.

It flies by!

Got another half page of World Travel to show you folks, plus a picture of my cast all decorated.

I got a little bored with all the pinks in this section, I'm not really a pink kind of girl, but I persevered and am relishing the orange for a change. If you look very closely at the bottom you will see the top of two figurine heads in orange.

Cast is done up with leaves for fall, a combination effort from my mother and I.

Back to stitching

Everything is going well with the foot. I can walk maybe 2-3 steps, and am down to 1 crutch in the house.

I have a new page of World Travel to show you folks! I'm so pleased to be back to stitching, it was really starting to drive me nuts. Needlepoint just isn't an adequate substitute.

Home!

Back at home from the hospital. Everything went really well. I loved my anesthesiologist, even if she was younger than I am.

So far I'm in no pain thanks to nerve blocks, but I'm taking a medium dose of my narcotics to keep it in my system for when the blocks wear off, which should be sometime tomorrow.

So far I'm busy hallucinating sensations coming from my leg, which is numb from the knee down. I'm also doing my usual thing where the adrenaline/endorphins from the surgery are keeping me from sleeping - I haven't slept since I woke up in recovery, and I'm expecting only a few short naps tonight. I'm exhausted on top of it, since I woke up at 4:15 to get to the hospital, so I'm barely keeping my eyes open.

Just in the nick of time

Probably the last post before my surgery.

I finished another half page on World Travel! This one was filled with a building I can't quite identify. Maybe it will become clear as I get to the bottom.

I've been busy!

Guess where I've been! Too busy to stitch, that's for sure. I'm back home as of today though, and I've already picked up World Travel.

For two weeks in August...

And then the last three weeks....

In other news, in 8 days I'm having surgery to reconstruct my ankle ligaments (by adding a new tendon to support them, since they're trashed) and shave down a bone spur. This will obviously put a damper on the stitching, as HAEDs and narcotics are a bad combination. I do, however, have a needlepoint "kit" that I put together a year ago in anticipation of this surgery. I think following the colors already printed could be manageable when my fingers start to itch for needle and thread, which happens pretty much as soon as my eyes start focusing again.

World Traveler page 20

Wow, just got back from a weekend in NYC and boy am I stiff. It's head to toe, despite the very nice massage I got in the middle of it.

I hung out with a very dear friend who just moved to NYC a month ago. We saw the new movie, Mr. Holmes (so good, omg Ian McKellan) and ate at a fantastic Columbian place that had plantains to die for, stuffed with chicken and in a chipotle tomato sauce. Almost the entire menu was GF!

I brought Tree of Life with me, and while I basically collapsed from exhaustion each night, I did, however, manage to tuck in all the threads leftover from finishing the page and grid the next section. The plan is to start working on the next page (first full page).

Just before I left for my weekend I finished the second page (page 20) of World Travel. So I have a pic to share!

World Travel 1 1/2 pages

World Travel has reached a bookshelf! Still having a blast with it. 

In other news, I have a brief PSA. I switched from a brand name to a generic of one of my prescription meds three weeks ago, and promptly stopped being able to wake up. And by that, I mean, from the time my alarm went off, it would take me four or five hours to drag myself out of sleep and out of bed. Not cool. Switched back to the brand name last night and wham, actually woke up this morning. Hooray!

World Travel page 10

First page down!

This, while full of detail, does not to begin to compare with Tree of Life in terms of level of confetti, so it flew by. I'm having so much fun with all the pretty colors.

Stitching has been a bit slowed down the last few days due to mainlining Wimbledon. But I'm having lots of fun with that too, so it's a good thing.

Congratulations, it's a new start!

I started this yesterday to reward myself for finishing the column on Tree of Life and boy is it flying by. Guess anything has less confetti than Tree of Life!

Here's the first little bit of World Travel Bookshelf by Aimee Stewart and done by HAED, stitched 1 over 1 on 25 count Lugana with Vikki Clayton's silks.

Column Done!

Breaks into a happy dance!

One whole column of Tree of Life is finished! Only partial pages, but still very exciting to me.

The closeup:

And the whole thing: 

In other news, I just confirmed a surgery date for September 22. I will have a blast at the US Open and then go in to fix this foot. Still, at least there's the Doctor Who concert to look forward to on October 7th!

Page 4!

Page four is done!

This page flew by, until I got to the last 600 or so stitches. Then oh boy did it drag. But it's over now, and hopefully the next half page will fly by. It'll get me to the end of the first column! Super excited for that.

Florida

Well I didn't update sooner, but this is an update. I've been down in Florida helping to take care of my grandparents, both of whom had emergency surgery about three weeks ago, for different reasons. My grandmother is currently in rehab but my grandfather ended up back in hospital very late last night, or early this morning, depending on how you look at it.

My grandmother is doing great but my grandfather is still having some problems.

I have had lots of stitching time while sitting at bedsides, so I have a half page finish to share!

Wow, an update???

It's been a while! Life has been super crazy, with school and the new job, so I haven't been stitching much. But I do have a page finish on Autumne to share.

In health news, my left foot, the one that needs surgery, is in a cast, due to aggravating a ligament DURING PT. Grrrr

Next up is another half page of Tree of Life. I find it easiest to go down in a column in a confetti heavy design like it. Hopefully I shall update sooner!

Happy Dance

Two pages finished on Tree of Life!

I think this is going to become the piece I work on at lunch at work. I'll pop her on a smaller frame and then good to go. Since I'm parking and it has a million colors, I'm less likely to urgently need a color I don't have with me.

I'm going to stop working on it at home much though, and go back to working on Autumne. It's her turn, after all.

Life, it goes on

Thought I'd post an update of Tree of Life in honor of turning 30. Half of the second partial page.

I started my new job on Friday, and tonight I'm going out with family and friends to celebrate job and birthday. It's a great weekend!

Surprise!

I started a HAED I've been drooling over for the better part of a decade. Automne, by Christophe Vacher. It's so much fun! I started it as a break from the Tree of Life confetti and boy did it fly by.

Sadly next up is a paper for school, but then back to Tree of Life.

Speaking of life, I GOT THE JOB!!!! It's gonna be awesome. A raise and more hours and nice people to work with = happy me.

We got buried in snow today, plus some ice, meaning I didn't get to my new surgeon's appointment. Hopefully they will be able to squeeze me in closer to now than the three months it took me to get the appointment.

Ta Da

I've finished the first page! It took me three months and it's only a partial, but it's done nonetheless.

I've gotten a second interview for what is pretty much my dream job. It's tomorrow. I'm crossing everything that can be crossed.

Happy New Year all!

I went away for a nice vacation with my dad's family and then my mom's family. First to California and then to a cruise.

It was all very nice, except for the vertigo that dogged me from plane flights to the boat.

In good news, I am able to stitch a little bit. Most of the progress is from before I left, but I did about 200 stitches in the last week. Almost done with the page!

In other news, my goal for the year is to complete 3 pages of Tree of Life and 1 page of Autumne, which will be a new start. A very modest goal, but hopefully that way I can complete it.

3200 stitches: