Sorry... I will be back soon... I hope

I first off want to say that I am sorry to everyone. I have been working late the last little bit (and will continue to for the next three weeks), so I have not been able to get around to everyone's blogs, update this blog or stitch very much.
On top of that I am not feeling well at all in the last 6 days. I have calls into the clinics to find out what is going on, and had another ultrasound this morning. I really hope they can come back with some answers this time. I am no longer convinced of the SOD diagnosis from my last time in the hospital as the drugs they gave me for it are not really making much of a difference.
I will update as I can.

I did attend the Comic Con in Calgary (with much difficulty) this past weekend. I have some pics from it that I will post when I have a second. I also finished the stitching/beading on my smoke project.
All that will follow in the next few days assuming my body decides to stop hating me.

Again I am really sorry everyone. I hope to be back soon.
Thanks,
Mel.

Cheryl's Bouquet, New Quilt & a really old Unicorn

Somehow I managed to fit some stitching into a very busy weekend; that included working and going to my niece's 10th birthday. (we are coming into my super busy time at work, so forgive me over the next month or so if I can't get around to everyone's blog and am a bit MIA. I will try to make sure that doesn't happen).
Okay, onto stitching. I finished the inner motif on Cheryl's Bouquet. This one is a part of two SAL's so I work on it once a month. I am really loving the colours!

I got a great surprise in the mail on the weekend. My quilt/blanket that Jane made for me arrived. I got her contact through a friend on my ILCS Yahoo Group. And I am soooo pleased! I always sleep with an extra blanket from my B/F. Cause I'm always cold (and he steals the blankets). In the past all my blankets have been made by my Grandma, but she doesn't stitch much anymore since she has gotten older. So I was sooo pleased to be in touch with Jane. The quality is just what I wanted, a light weight cotton, the pattern is so cute and Jane was just lovely to email back and forth with.
If you'd like a blanket like this and want to get in touch with Jane just email me via my email in my profile and I will send you her email. (just so we can avoid putting emails up and getting spammed).
Here is a couple shots of the quilt:

And last, but not least, on my ILCS group we were discussing last week the pieces we are most proud of. Mine is a bit odd... it's probably one of the worst stitched pieces ever. But I did it when I was 16, when stitching was definitely not cool (I like to pretend at 27 that it is now, even though I still get friendly ribbing from some people about my stitching obsession). I used to hide in my room and stitch on it and not let anyone know what I was doing. It took two years to finish... it's Teresa Wentzler's Unicorn. I do love it, even if it's badly stitched, and on aida no less! (I don't think I've touched aida since I moved to linen and evenweave about 5 years ago). Anyhow, here is a pic of it. (just for Meari and Evalina!) :)

Coming up this week: I will be getting back to Dragons this week. Whenever I can find some time. I am working late a few nights this week for sure. So it may be slow going. And I want to get to finishing my smoke project as well. So those are on the bill. (and I feel that I have really neglected finishing Stitch or Die... so that is the third priority).

Part 4 of Castles in the Air COMPLETE!

I know I just posted yesterday... but it seemed like a significant enough milestone to post again. I finished Part 4 of Castles in the Air. As many of you know I am finding this project a bit of a PITA. My uneven linen is a bit challenging, but getting better, and I frogged those yellow and purple flowers, not once, not twice, but THREE times!
But I made it. Big thanks to Kelly who has been working on the same part and has helped me be motivated to keep at mine.
Here is the picture of this complete piece:

I also put some stitches into my original design for the smoke project I was talking about the other day.
Here it is at about halfway... (beads to come at the end). If you want to know more about this project click here.

Coming up: I am going to get back into Dragons for awhile. We are getting very busy at work... so stitching time will decrease as I work some overtime. But I'll try to still do as much as I can.
In other news... my toe is getting a bit better. Still can't believe how much a stupid little toe can hurt. And I am waiting for the GI clinic to figure out what is going on with my follow-up ultrasound. They lost the paperwork or something. How annoying. But whatever. In the meantime I am still on my rabbit style diet and taking my meds.

Thanks for all your comments about my toe! Really appreciate it. And for all the encouragement for Castles. You are all why you see Part 4 complete above. I don't think I could have done it without you!

Original Design, Castles & Broken Toe

New Project: So I have a kinda neat project to share with you. A graphic designer friend of mine is doing a project on her blog/site to try and promote creativity amoungst other designers. (for those not aware my day job is graphic design for a magazine).
So she challenged us all to create a project revolving around smoke. It could be any media or platform that we wanted. So I took a crack at it... in cross stitch. I built the font myself for the letters and worked out a design (with the help from the B/F who is also a designer) I came to a final piece.
I have started stitching it but right now only have pics of the supplies to be used... and the sketched out pattern.

Castles update: I have been working on Part 4. I am almost done it. Pics to come soon. And then it's back to Dragons stitching for me. But this was a nice little break.


My Broken Toe: I know as if there wasn't enough medical issues for me right now... yesterday on my way to the doctor to review my meds and stuff for my sphincter issue... I fell and hit the corner of my couch VERY hard... breaking/spraining my baby right foot toe. It's a nasty, nasty hit... My toe is all swollen and bruised and very gross today. I did get to my appt yesterday and then called into work and said, hey I gotta get blood tests and stuff done and then I'm going home cause I hurt my toe really bad.
Silly but true.
I can't believe how much a stupid little toe can hurt! But I have to giggle cause it's just so silly on top of all my way more serious issues. Though it is a real pain to deal with. So I'm working but elevating my toe for the time being.

Coming up: I know, I know... giveaway. I'm not meaning to tease but other things keep coming up. I will try to organize it maybe tonight or on the weekend. So do stay tuned.

Thank you for all your comments on my Castles and the linen. I did restretch the linen abit and reattach it to my scroll rods. It's a bit better. (oh and I ironed it and stuff). I'm working away at it still so I think I'm a bit happier with it.

Unevenly Stretched Linen (and new layout)

Welcome to the new layout of epic stitching.
Like it? Hate it?  Let me know. Having trouble finding someone you like on my blog from before also let me know. I am still working out a few kinks in the layout but I think it's mostly working.


Onto my dilemma... And maybe someone, somewhere knows how to to fix it...

I was working on Castles in the Air the last two nights. I have not been liking this project at all. Even though the pattern is okay (but hard) and I like the colours I am using... I figured out last night why I have been struggling with it so much. My linen is unevenly stretched!?!?
I use scroll rods for all my projects... and for whatever reason (as I have never had this happen before) my Penny Copper 32ct linen is stretched more in some places than others. And we are talking significantly so. :(
Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do about this? (besides start over... I won't do that I'd rather just leave it as a UFO).

Here are some pictures of it to date... I got the first peacock completed from Part 4. (I know I'm crazy behind on this SAL).
This is a big photo to try and show you that the linen is wonky... not sure if you can tell from the photo (if you click on the photo it will get bigger for you). I do know that it could use an ironing, but I don't think that will help the stretched linen...?

Here is a close-up of the Peacock that I just finished working on last night:

And here is the entire piece to date:

Alright... I keep promising a giveaway and not getting around to it. I know I suck. Sorry we are quite busy at the office and with my medical stuff I just keep forgetting. I will do better soon I promise. ;)
Thanks for all your comments on Elfland and about the stupid cold that is still trying to hang on at our house. I am pretty much good, the B/F is still a bit sniffly but I think it's not going to get much worse. So that is good that it didn't become epic for us.

Elfland Progress

How is it that long weekends always seem to be busier than any other?
I had a great time visiting with my brother and grandparents who came into town for Easter on Saturday. Also seeing my nieces and nephew on Sunday. But it made for a very busy feeling weekend.
I did get a chance to stitch on my Elfland SK from HAED.
Worked on this Friday night and some on Sunday. (though I did take some time to just cuddle with the B/F on the couch to watch the restored version of The Wizard of Oz. I hadn't seen that movie in forever and think they did a brilliant job of restoring it without losing it's true form.


Here is my progress on Elfland:

In other news... I see the specialist on Wednesday for a follow-up on meds and stuff. I have been feeling kinda crappy... thought I was getting better for a bit last week but then this weekend things started to go back downhill. I think it is all food triggers now and it's very frustrating to me.

Also doesn't help that both B/F and I have sore throats and might be coming down with someone. *sigh* It just doesn't end does it. Sad but true.

I will be doing a giveaway here soon. I just have to put it together!
Thanks for your comments and continued support.