Report on some of the projects

I'm just going to mention the state of a just a few projects and I will be
commenting on other projects as I work on them. There's no point in telling you
about all the projects at this point, because this entry would be 6 pages long.
Not to mention I would get deathly bored typing it all up. Believe me, If I
could get bored doing it, I'm sure that anyone else would be comatose at the end
of reading it all.

It's funny. I work on most of those projects I listed in the last entry. Yes,
some of them more than others - that's to be expected.

The knitting projects are getting the majority of my attention right now, but
I'll occasionally work on the cross stitching or the crochet ropes.

In the cross stitching, the one I love the most is the magpies on oak and
honeysuckle kit (I debated for 2 years whether to buy it as it was so expensive
at the time. I do not regret a single penny spent on it.). But it's so tiny and
backbreaking. I've got the fabric sewn into a "rotating" 30 x 12 inch needlework
frame (the finished area will be 18.9 x 24.8 inches or 48 x 63 cm) and an oak
leaf takes 4 days to finish. There's 20 leaves and 3 seperate honeysuckle
strands with flowers and berries and two magpies - one is at rest and the other
has just touched down. I have no idea at this point when it will be finished.
I'm hoping late 2007 - and yes, realism stinks sometimes.

The most finished cross stitching project at the moment is the "Goddess of
Mercy" on blue 14 count aida. She's half finished. But what's remaining to
finish is her skirt and the lotus leaves she's sitting on. That's just a great
deal of filling space in chunks and strips of colours (purples, greens, browns,
blues and pinks). VERY boring. Although, once that's finished, I've just got the
backstitching to do. Maybe I'll work on some of that this week.

As for the crochet ropes, I'm primarily working on the AB coated matte light
blue size 15 bead necklace. It's VERY fiddly. I've got to crochet it using a
magnifying glass on a flexible neck and a size 0.75 mm crochet hook. But the
challenge is wonderful. Under the magnifying glass, it looks like I'm completing
inches, when in fact I'm completing millimetres. *shrug* I don't mind. It is so
very pretty, even if it is only 2.5 inches (6.5cm) long right now.

The "plain" beading projects, braiding and lucetting projects are getting
ignored for the moment. They have problems I don't want to work on:

In the beading, I'll comment on just 3 problem projects. 1)The medicine pouch
needs the lining hand stitching in, and I just can't do that right now as it is
going to be very fiddly. 2) I'm waiting on the 5mm green lace agate beads for
the rosary to come from the states (they should arrive in March). 3) The blue
drop bead earrings need some sterling silver ear wires, which I can't get right
now - it requires a trip to a jewellery shop in Manchester (The jewellery shop
on the upper floor in the craft centre near Tib Street) and I know I won't just
buy the earring wires once I get there.

2 projects in the lucetting just won't work. 1) The string is being difficult as
I need to pull it very tight - that's painful and blister inducing on the hands
after a short while and I do not want to work with that at this point - which is
a shame as it's mostly done. 2) The green bracelet with green beads is not
working as the pattern for the beads will not fall into place - I need to
re-plan it on paper.

And as for the braiding projects - to be honest, I just don't want to do any of
those right now. Last month I disassembled my wooden marudai, unwove the brown
and green biron braid on it and packed it all away in its bag. All of the carded
"marudai" and peruvian braid projects are sitting in seperate "zip-lock" bags in
a case and the Fillgap braids are together in a smaller case. I'm sure I'll get
back to them in the future. I just couldn't say when, though. Which in the main
is strange for me - I love braiding. The threads locking into place and creating
something so "perfect" yet organic. Ah. I think I've just gotten nibbled by the
braiding bug.

I'm off to knit a bit of a prayer shawl. Maybe I'll do a little braiding.

Bye for now.