SBQ - Enemy of Entropy

SBQ: Overdyed Floss or Hand-dyed Fabric?

2008-09-01

4:57 pm

2 Comments on SBQ: Overdyed Floss or Hand-dyed Fabric?

I’m quite late with the current Stitching Blogger’s Question, which is:
If you had to choose, would you rather spend money on overdyed floss
or hand-dyed fabric?

Overdyed floss, certainly. I’ve only purchased one piece of hand-dyed fabric, and nobody is likely to go, “Oh, wow!” about the effect in the finished piece (although I’m happy, because I couldn’t find any other fabric that was exactly right). I seriously doubt that anyone but another devoted stitcher would ever know that the fabric is hand-dyed.

The overdyed flosses I’ve used, though, frequently lead to incredible effects that are apparent to anyone who views the pieces. They’re usually a joy to work with, as well.

SBQ: What do you do with oorts?

by Cyn

2008-08-07

6:47 pm

1 Comment on SBQ: What do you do with oorts?

SBQ

Needlework, oorts, SBQ

The current Stitching Blogger’s Question is:
What do you do to your thread clippings? Do you just scrap them or do
you use them in something else?

I throw them away, as I don’t know what else I would do with them. The only possible use I know of is a vague memory of someone on RCTN using them to fill witch balls (glass fishing floats?). I’m curious as to what other people do with them, though.

SBQ: Balance?

by Cyn

2008-07-14

10:07 pm

1 Comment on SBQ: Balance?

Needlework

balance, SBQ, Stitching

The Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week (really last week) is:

How do you balance your stitching time with your other obligations
such as work, household chores, etc.?

That isn’t really an issue for me, as I haven’t been stitching lately. I really need to go buy some floss so I can get past a stumbling block on my most active current project.

Other than that, the only times I’ve ever really stitched have been when I didn’t “need” to do something else, and usually when I’ve been multitasking. It’s rare that I’m not gaming or otherwise engaged while stitching.

SBQ: Stitching Publications

by Cyn

2008-06-19

5:00 am

1 Comment on SBQ: Stitching Publications

Needlework, SBQ

cross stitch, magazines, Needlework, patterns, SBQ, Stitching, subscriptions

The Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week:
Do you currently subscribe to any stitching publications or have you in the past? (Either in print or online) If so, which ones?

I don’t subscribe to any at the moment, and I rarely buy them off the rack. I have hundreds of them in my stash, and I keep meaning to go through and just keep the designs I’m still planning to stitch, but I never get around to doing it! I stopped buying them because I realized that I haven’t ever stitched one single pattern in any of those hundreds of magazines.
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SBQ: Sick of a WIP?

by Cyn

2008-05-29

10:14 pm

1 Comment on SBQ: Sick of a WIP?

Relationships, SBQ

SBQ

The Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week is:
Do you ever get to a point working on a project that you’ve had for so
long, you start to wonder what possessed you to start it in the first
place?

Of course! It has always happened with patterns I chose to do for someone else, though, rather than those I chose because I was interested in them. There are a few WIPs that have outlived the relationships that inspired them, and they may never be finished. That’s a bit embarrassing, but in at least one case I wouldn’t have ever started the piece if I’d really known what an unstable, vicious being the intended recipient was.

SBQ: Blended Threads

by Cyn

2008-05-06

10:37 am

Comments Off on SBQ: Blended Threads

Needlework, SBQ

blended needles, blended threads, cross stitch, SBQ

And another Stitching Blogger Question:

How do you handle blended threads? Do you kit the blends up before you
start a piece, or do you grab what colors you need and blend when the
need arises? If you kit up the blends beforehand, how do you store
them? Do you have another option for blends to share?

I can’t remember the last time I did a piece that used blended threads. Obviously, I haven’t gotten around to stitching anything by Teresa Wentzler 😉

When I’ve had to use them, I just blend them as the need arises. I keep most of my threads (DMC, definitely) on plastic bobbins, so when I start a project I gather all the colors required and put them on a metal ring. As I cut a length, I wind whatever I didn’t use back on the bobbin for later use, to avoid waste.

SBQ: Most Complicated Piece?

by Cyn

2008-05-05

11:51 pm

2 Comments on SBQ: Most Complicated Piece?

Needlework, SBQ

Calico Crossroads, Elemental Cosmos, Melange, SBQ, Witches Stitches

I’m behind on the Stitching Bloqqer Questions, so I’ll do them for the next few days.

What is the most complicated piece you’ve ever completed?

I’m trying to figure out how to judge how complicated someone else would judge a piece to be. Size? Different types of stitches? Embellishments?

For sheer cussedness, though it was worth it, I’d have to say that the Elemental Cosmos piece designed by Witches Stitches probably takes the cake. It didn’t use blended needles or special fibers or stitches, but there were lots of little sections of “three stitches this color, four of that color, one stitch of another” and so on. I had to do a lot of frogging, too, before I figured out some of the tricks of working on black fabric. It’s beautiful, though!

MÃ©lange from Calico Crossroads was the first piece I did that really used a lot of different stitches. I enjoyed it greatly.

SBQ: Stitching weaknesses?

by Cyn

2008-02-26

9:42 pm

5 Comments on SBQ: Stitching weaknesses?

Needlework, SBQ

Celtic, Dexter, Dresden Files, hand-dyed floss, Nease's Needlework, pagan, SBQ

What is your cross stitch weakness? (i.e., What do you have to have when you see it, even if you are supposed to be on the Wagon?)

I’m supposed to go telling my weaknesses, in public?

Well, I guess I’ve already exposed them, considering the lists on my site. I adore “different” patterns. If it jumps out from all the cutesy crap, I want it. Celtic knotwork is another one. I haven’t seen too many good pagan designs, so when I do, I pay attention.
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SBQ: Starting Over?

by Cyn

2008-02-14

10:17 pm

1 Comment on SBQ: Starting Over?

Needlework

Celtic Cross, Deb Davis, Needlework, SBQ, Stitching, Y-Knot Designs

The Stitching Bloggers’ Question of the Week is:

Do you have any projects that you have scrapped and started over? What made you start over from scratch?

I can only remember one, and I restarted it at least twice, maybe three times. It was the Celtic Cross designed by Deb Davis for Y‑Knot Designs. I think I tried starting with one of the corners, but kept finding myself off a bit, so I frogged everything and started from the middle, as I usually do. I still kept getting off by just a thread here or there, so I do think I frogged all that again, then started from the center again but working in a different direction. I’m very pleased with how it turned out, but I think it was the last piece I did on linen instead of evenweave.