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The third in my Animals of the Chinese zodiac project
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The second in my Animals of the Chinese zodiac project
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I've embarked on a new project involving the characters of the Chinese zodiac. This new endeavor has a unique timeline as the scope of the overall project depends on when my son decides to enter the world . Right now, we're aiming for a the end of April, but the decision isn't really mine to make.
Completed, it will be a blanket including the aminals of the Chinese zodiac calendar along with other auspicious symbols.
Starting off with the Ox, the most hard-working and persistent of the creatures seemed like a good place to start.
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This is the perfect example of an idea coming together. I've played with the idea of stitching an album cover, but hadn't been able to decide on what album to start with and what the final project would be. Then I came across this tote bag and my friend Rebecca's birthday approached. The issue with stitching an album cover is that the design needs to be interesting without having too many intricate details. So basic blocks of color is the way to go. Rebecca's a big Wilco fan and it just happens that the album cover from their most recentl album fit the bill design-wise.
So here is the completed project. The finished stitched area measures about 9"x9" and is hand-sewn counted cross-stitch in a 14-count embroidery area.
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The new year brought change - immediate change and change on the horizon. It's slightly overwhelming when I think about it, but luckily it's all coming at a manageable pace. I found that for February, there was simply too much going on to focus on one theme. Sure, Valentine's Day is the most obvious. But it's been done before; in fact, I have done it before. And let's face it, when it comes right down it almost every song is a love song, so the Valentine's/love theme is kind of a gimme.
So this month I decided go with my flaky, fleeting thoughts as the bounce from one task to the next. This time I'm just going with melody and rhythm. These are some of my all-time favorite songs, some new ones that are on heavy rotation and ones that my brain processes as "fun."
Enjoy!
You can find this compilation on Spotify.
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I bought this pattern seven years ago, when I moved into my husband's apartment. At the time he was travelling, I also picked up the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and figured I'd settle in for a quiet hermit-like weekend. It turned into a lesson how to read patterns. I liked the picture, that was my sole motivation for the purchase. But as I looked through the amount of floss needed and the pages upon pages of pattern, I realized that I might be in over my head. Nevertheless, I'm not one to back down from a challenge, so I started the project. A few months in, I grew tired of it and set it aside. It was picked up periodically over the years. Originally I thought it would make a nice gift for someone having a child. I didn't know anyone who was even pregnant at the time, so the concept was somewhat abstract.
Seven years later, I'm the pregnant one and finishing this project feels like a major accomplishment. Mearing 17"x11.5" - 320x220 stitches - it wil make a nice addition to our nursery.
It's the start of a new year and time to reflect on the one that just passed. In reality, what this amounts to is a mad dash to tidy up while I still have the energy. On my desk, the semi-neatly arranged piles of items to be put away finally get addressed. This is a bit time consuming as they've been sitting since my last spurt of cleaning, which may have occurred in the spring.
This offers the perfect opportunity to go through the albums I've acquired during the previous year. Some of the more seasonal songs have already appeared on compilations. But there are always the dozen or so that seem to really stand out. Here is my collection of my favorites from 2011.
You can find this playlist on Spotify.
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