Hardanger

I finished my hardanger piece for my correspondence class. Photos will follow

SNOW

First big snow of the season. Probably got 6 inches!

Marybeth's Stitching Page

Greetings! I've been a busy girl. With my little guy turning 1, going back to work and stitching, who has time to update a web page. So, rather than do laundry, I thought I'd make some time. I went to a stitching workshop yesterday to start a new project (why not!) and had a lot of fun with the ladies from my aunt's guild. I've updated my progress on my correspondence course, and my current guild project.

Marybeth's Stiching Page

Marybeth's Stiching Page
I did it. After a few more "ehancements" and fixes, I
used my new program to generate my stitching page.
Of course, it's almost exactly the same as what I had before since I only used the information on the current page. Once I get some updates ready to post I'll use it again :)

NerdTests.com Fun Tests - Nerd Quiz

So, I just had to find out if my nerd score went up because of this little
programming adventure. It looks like not by too much.

Here's my updated results:

So, how geeky am I?

Truly this tells the tale.... Quite a while ago, I came up with this idea to store all my stitching project information (the kind of stuff I put on my web page) in an XML file. Then I could write a program to read the XML and generate my web page. Wouldn't that be cool? And what if I made a program that would display edit boxes for me to fill in and browse for the images? And then I could select which projects I put on the page? Doesn't that sound COOL?

So, I finally did it. I had to learn how to read an XML file into a java program for work, and now that I know that, and I used what I'd learned about making a graphical interface from the last project I was on to make my program. I haven't loaded it up with data yet, I've been fixing bugs in it so far, but soon my stitching page will be all generated by my program. It's so cool, I just had to tell someone.

Here's a screen shot:

Marybeth's Stitching

Marybeth's Stitching

Finally, I have updated my stitching page with all my summer stitching. Most of this has already been on the blog, but that's ok. The latest installment in my correspondence class is on the web page. Lesson 4: Complete!

Fish card 

Details on filler stitches

Three more fillers completed on correspondence class project

At last night's correspondence class meeting I completed three more fillers.

Hardanger Doily: Finished the tulip motifs.

I have planned out the border motifs. Next up: stitch the kloster blocks for the border. (Clicking on the picture will show a larger image - better for the details)

Hardanger Progress!

Well. Finally, I have completed the satin stitching motifs on my big hardanger doily. I don't have a picture here, but will in a short while, I am sure. Phew!
Now, of course, I have to plan what goes into the areas where I want to cut!

Back to work

Went back to work today. After 9 months, I was worried. I felt right at home, just like I'd never left. I have all the paperwork of a new hire though. You'd think they could remember my direct deposit. Baby Boy did well at day care. He had a good time. It was a good day all around. Now for some ice cream and stitching (not at the same time).

Cedar Waxwing

Saw a Cedar Waxwing in the lilacs today. What a surprise since I really don't have any plants that would attract them.

Goldfinch at my flowers. Just outside the kitchen window.  

Motif for sides of large hardanger doily. I have two and a three quarters completed. Then all I have to do is figure out what I'll use for fillers and where I'll cut. 

Hardanger: Lesson completed. Next lesson: more fillers  

First two filler stitches from the hardanger class. I think we'll do about six for this first lesson. 

Completed needle roll with huck weaving 

Wrens

Wrens
We heard a house wren at our place tonight. This is the first time I've identified a bird by it's song. My husband, son and I were in the yard when we heard a bird scolding us from the lilacs. Sure enough we got a glimpse and it looked like a wren, so I looked it up in my bird software and heard that same scolding sound :) Very cool.

Coming soon....

Updates on hardanger correspondence class, and hardanger doily

Another card... embroidery on paper. 

More huck weaving.... 

Huck weaving bookmark. Just did this quick one last night. 

Completed huck weaving

Just need to finish this into the needle roll.

Huck weaving and bird watching

I didn't get to see the fireworks last night since the baby was in bed early, and we can't see the ones in the city from our house. I did see color in the yard this morning though - a blue jay, a robin and a male cardinal.

Now that I've taken that class on huck weaving, I dug out an old kit I had.



Also, I finished stitching my punchneedle project


Well, my little guy is waking up, so I should go get him going for the day.

Hardanger

My progress on my hardanger class:

Huck Weaving

Here's a new thing I learned: Huck Weaving. This is really cool.

Updates

Updated web pages today. It's been about 3 months, so I thought I'd make some real updates. I think there wasn't any actual updates for 6 months, so it's about time!!! New stitching stuff - including my new favorite pastime: Punch needle!
My iris are blooming and the pictures show them off well.

CyberStitchers Cross-Stitch Picture Galleries

CyberStitchers Cross-Stitch Picture Galleries

This looks like a really cool site. I might have to sign up :)

Annual Stitching Retreat

This past weekend I went on my annual stitching retreat. I taught Embroidery on Paper, and it was a big hit! I took a class on Punchneedle embroidery. It is way cool. I can't wait until my next trip to the needle work shop to get a few patterns and threads.
We're headed to Fargo in a few weeks, so I'll go shopping there.
Here's a picture of the pin I made in class:

Birds and Spring

As I was waiting for the cable guy this morning, and watching the birds I saw:

• Goldfinches
  
• House Sparrows
  
• House finches
  
• Starlings
  
• Grackels (ugh)
  
• Juncos
  
• Blue Jay
• Red-winged blackbird
  
• a pair of Cardinals
  

How about that!

I updated my web page graphics yesterday. Maybe after my stitching retreat I'll update some content.
Marybeth's Homepage

Sunny and Cold

That's what January is all about... sunny and cold. I thought about taking the baby out for a walk, but it's a little too cold. So, now I have some time to update the holiday background on my web page and write something here.
Baby is sleeping through the night (hooray!), and does well (most days, not today) with his naps. My husband has a cold, so he's off napping at the moment. I might just take the time to go stitch something now! How about that...

I got a new ground feeder for Christmas and it's great. The birds love it, and the squirrel is afraid of it.

Marybeth's Homepage

Well, it's about time I updated my pages. I sent an email to my cousin and she was looking at my pages. I went to see what I had out there and was surprised to see Halloween decorations! I guess I should view my own pages more often.

Things are going well. I haven't stitched in a while, but that's ok. The baby is doing really well. He's growing daily. We're almost all sleeping through the night. Last night I think I was the only one up. Now, I've been up since 5, so I don't know if that counts as sleeping through. I usually go back to bed after this early feeding, but I had a few things I wanted to get done - the least important was the updating the decor of my web pages, so of course that's the first thing I do.

Now it's time to water the plants, and then it might be time to feed my son again.