Going Under the Knife

I went to the eye doctor today. Things ended up a little differently than I thought they would. Let's go back to the beginning.

I went to my regular eye doctor for my yearly exam. He saw something, but wasn't sure what it was. He thought it might be an infection, so I used ointment in my eye for a week and then went back. (Eye ointment is very messy. I ended up with what felt like an oil slick all down the right side of my face from it. Nasty! Yuck!) Nothing had changed. :( So he referred me to a specialist in a nearby town. That appointment was today and confirmed what my regular doctor thought.

I have an Anterior Basement Membrane Dystrophy, otherwise known as a map dot fingerprint dystrophy, in my right eye. It's placement is almost right over my pupil. I will have surgery on Tuesday Feb 3 to have it removed. It is a simple in room surgery. Just some numbing drops in my eye and then the scraping. I don't think it will take 15 minutes once he walks in the room. LOL

Steve got his work schedule changed so he can stay home with me that day. I'm glad, because I really don't think I am going to feel like doing anything. Lucky for me, I had already taken that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off (with pay) for a little mini vacation.

Any thoughts and well wishes would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.

If you want to know more about map dot fingerprint dystrophy, you can find some here.

Scissor Fob for Monique

Monique received her scissor fob today that I stitched for her for the Tiny Treasures exchange, so now I can post a picture of it.

September 2007 Freebie
Ink Circles
Stitched over 1 on 32 ct
using GAST Midnight

I'm rather proud of this one. I thought about keeping it for myself and stitching another one I liked it so much. LOL

Another Finish and Other Stuff

Sunday I finished Glitter Gulch's A House Without Books. I really enjoyed this stitch. Mainly because I totally agree with the sentiment behind it. :)

A House Without Books
Glitter Gulch
Stitched on 28ct Antique White
using recommended DMC threads

I'm not sure how I am going to finish this piece yet. The pattern included three large buttons to use in the finishing. They recommended finishing it as a bell pull. For now, it is going in my finishes pile until I decide what to do with it.

I picked up the latest copy of Just Cross Stitch and found a band sampler I actually like. I was hoping to show you a picture of it, but JCS doesn't have their newest issue online yet. It is the one on the cover. I've never been one for band samplers, but for some reason this one just spoke out to me. Of course I'm probably going to play with the colors a little bit. LOL Right now, the colors are just a bit too "candy" for me. I'm thinking of using blues, greens, and purples in it. Love that combination! I'll probably do it on one of the pieces I've already got dyed. I'm thinking of doing it on one of the dark purple pieces.

Oak Haven Designs SAL

I joined Oak Haven Designs newest SAL a few months ago. Tonia sent out the first part of it and I finished it tonight.

This stitched up really quickly for me. I am looking forward to the rest of the SAL. If I remember correctly, we will get the newest piece after we post or email Tonia a picture of each months finish.

I am stitching this with the recommended DMC on a piece of the fabric I dyed when I was in Georgia visiting my mom.

Use One Word Only!

Subject: USING ONLY ONE WORD

Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to

suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be

sure to send back to the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? Bra

2.Your significant other? Steve

3.Your hair? Auburn

4. Your mother? Debra

5.Your father? Allan

6.Your favorite thing? Reading

7. Your dream last night? None

8. Your favorite drink? Pepsi

9. Your dream/goal? SAHM

10. What Room you are in? Library

11. Your fear? Ridicule

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home

13. Where were you last night? Work

14.Something that you aren't? Organized

15. Muffins? Blueberry

16. Wish list item? Money

17. Where you grew up? Matthews

8. Last thing you did? Sleep

19. What are you wearing? PJs

20. Your TV on? No

21. Your pets? Crazy

22. Friends? Few

23. Your life? working

24. Your mood? Resigned

25. Missing someone? Yes

26. Your car? Civic

27. Something you're not wearing? Shoes

28. Your favorite store? Book

29. Your favorite color? Blue

30. When is the last time you laughed? Morning

34. Last time you cried? fortnight

35. Who will resend this? unknown

A) Four places that I go to over and over: work, home, Matthews, restaurant

B)Biggest complaint? weight

C) My favorite place to eat: Anywhere

D Four places you'd rather be? Atlanta, Minnesota, Chattanooga, Anywhere

E) Four people I think will respond? Unknown

F) Four TV shows I watch all the time? NCIS, CSI, CSI: NY, GoodEats

A House Without Books

Hello. My name is BW and I'm a serial starter.

LOL

Yes, I started a new pattern. It is one my mother and I picked up when I was in Georgia.

Glitter Gulch Needleworks
A House Without Books

I would be a lot farther than I am now if the dreaded frog hadn't come visiting. I really don't remember inviting him, but he sure showed up.

I ended up frogging all the blue on the right hand side because I skipped a row in the top panel. I didn't notice it until I finished the blue on the right and then started on the left. Hello froggie! That put me a few hours behind. Not sure when I will get it finished. I am hoping to be able to work on it on Thursday.

I took Thursday off from work this week. Ended up calling in Saturday night, too. I think between the holidays and the funky schedule I just really needed a break. Wish I could take nice month long vacation, but that isn't going to happen any time soon! LOL

Fabric Dyeing

When I was in Georgia visiting my mom she taught me how to dye fabric. I posted my results on here and several of you wanted the directions for it. Here are the directions my mom sent me.

Hand Dying Fabric

1. Cut fabric to desired size and zigzag the edges (you don’t have to, but you’ll have lots of “strings” if you don’t)
2. Put a large pot of water on the stove to heat to not quite boiling (Make sure this is an old pot that you aren’t going to use for cooking anymore and that it is deep enough your fabric will be submerged)
3. Wash your fabric to remove the sizing (sizing will prevent the fabric from absorbing the dye good)
4. Once the water is hot, add dye. (I use Liquid Rit Dye and add only a little bit at a time until I get the shade I want.)
5. With the fabric wet, wad it into a ball and drop into dye (having it wadded up is what gives it that marbled look)
6. How long you leave it in the dye mixture depends on how dark you want your finished piece. I leave mine 3 minutes at first.
7. Remove the fabric from the dye and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear.
8. If it looks like what you want, go to your ironing board and iron your piece completely dry (ironing is what sets the dye into the fabric permanently)
9. If you’ve got too many light and dark spots or it isn’t as dark as you want, wad it back up into a ball and drop it into the dye for another minute or three
10. Keep doing the dye and rinse until you have what you want.

I have never had any problem with the fabric dye job fading when I’ve washed a completed piece, but admit I’ve been extremely cautious and always, always used cold water to wash dyed pieces.

It isn’t hard to dye your fabric, but it can be time consuming so make sure you have plenty of free time to work on this especially the first few times you do it until you get a routine down. This was a learning experience for me and the first 2 pieces I did came out almost a solid color but I didn’t give up and finally got the result I was looking for. If you live close to a fabric store that sells evenweave or aida by the yard then this can save you quite a bit of money when you want that extra special look hand dyed fabric gives a piece. You’d be surprised how many projects you can get from 1 yard of fabric.

January '09 Goals

Many are posting goals for the new year. I don't think I can do that. I think I would drive myself nuts with it and feeling bad if I didn't make my goals. That said, I think I am going to try and do monthly goals.

January '09
1) Tiny Treasures Scissor Fob (already done)
2) Finish Bushel and a Peck
3) Work on BRD's A Little Quakeresque

I know that there aren't a lot of goals there. But, I really only get to stitch on the weekends. Bushel had a take a short break from for the Tiny Treasures fob. Since that is done, I will be able to devote my time to Bushel again. I really don't have much left on it. I'm not sure if I'm going to do the border or not. I'm saving it for last, so I'll be able to see what it looks like without it. I really think I'll be able to get it done in a couple of weekends.

ALQ has been waiting and waiting for me. If I am able to finish Bushel, I am going to go back to ALQ. I've been working on it since July and I would really like to finish it. For a while I just seemed to lose interest in it. But since it is almost half finished, I really need to finish it.