New Look!

New bloggy header!!  Hurray!  I stitched up this cutie with a yarn appetite just for this very blog you read.  I'm not 100% on it as the header but I like it enough to keep it for awhile.  By the way, this is the surprise project I finished.  SURPRISE!  

The Work in Progress currently is Jared Flood's Rock Island Shawl.  It's so beautiful and perty and special.  I'm using the recommended Lorna's Lace in Grand Street Ink.  Perfection.   I started the border and finished 14 repeats, but I feel a rip coming on.  Mistakes were made.  Mistakes that I didn't even notice until a friend pointed them out and now it's all I can see!  Every time I close my eyes all I see is mistakes!  (I've just written mistakes so many times that that doesn't look correct to me either!  Mistakes!!!!)  Yes, I think I will rip it out and start again.  Plus I lost my place in the pattern because I was too distracted at work in the lunch room.  Booooo.  I'm very easily distracted.  This project will definitely be a home-only piece.  So now what do I bring to work?  I haven't thought that far yet, but I'll keep you posted.

I just want to share this new little obsession of mine now.  It's a mac app called ExpoBoard.  Basically it's a bulletin board where you can pin post-it notes and pictures on it.  This is perfect for a visually motivated person like myself.  I've made multiple inspiration boards for knitting, embroidery, halloween costumes, etc.  Awesomeness!  I'm guessing it's just for macs but I could be wrong.  I didn't exactly look into that since I am a mac addict.  They have a lite version for free if you want to try it out.  Find it in the App Store.  Go.   Go now.  No, wait!!!!  You have to finish my bloggy first.  Go after.

No, actually, go now.  We're done here.  See you on the flip side!  (What ever that means.)

P.S.  What are you're favorite apps and programs for crafting?  Do tell!

D'OH moment.

No, this is not an Oprah A-HA moment.  This is a straight up Homer Simpson D'OH moment.  Awhile back I wrote about my new adventures in cross stitching with a creepy zombie hand.

This guy, right here.

Well, I thought everything was going fine until I was having trouble bringing my needle through occupied holes.  I thought to myself, "Could it be maybe I'm so incredibly weak that I can't push a needle through a tiny hole?"  No, this could not be.  So I skimmed the first few pages in the little instruction book that came in the kit and low and behold, my answer.  Apparently I must not have been paying attention to the basic cross stitching instructions before starting this project because I was unaware that you do not use all 6 strands of the floss, but use only 2 or 3 strands!!  Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!  That's why my stitches are chunky monkeys!  Great.  Project spoiled.  I was so upset with myself for being such an impatient little bugger that skips important instructions, that I threw the whole damn thing out.  Arg.  Not to worry, my cross stitching friends!  I have not given up on stitching all together.  Just on this one.  Lesson learned, I hope.

So the moral of the story is ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!

In my next post I promise to show you what I'm working on now.  I'll also show a secret project that I just finished and can't wait to show it off!  I better go charge that camera battery!

Good night fellow crafters!