I tried to remain strong, I really did. But then I introduced a friend to sewing, which of course involved a trip to a fabric store. And of course they had a buy 1m, get 2 free special on, and then I came across this acid trip of a fabric.

An aside:

Now there is something my hypothetical future readers should know about me. The clothes I wear in public tend to be somber and drab - dark blue, grey, black, some brown, and if there is colour it's usually blue, green or purple. I grew up loathing bright, girly colours. But slowly that's changed - in private at least. In the safety of my own home, few things are more cheering than putting on a pair of crazy socks or pajamas in bright fabrics. I have a whole host of obnoxious, almost ugly fabrics in my stash. I think I feel bad for them in the store, they are bold, brave and an assault on the eyes; consequently they sit on the bolt for months. So I bring them home with the intent of making a dress or skirt or something to lounge about the house in; where I can pretend I'm bold and brave too, and there are no eyes to assault.

Until now, none of them have been used.

Why?

Because I have a little crafty secret - I've never sewn a garment.

Too intimidated.

But then I saw this crazy pink flowered flannette at a crazy price. Found an easy pattern for pajamas and the perfect buttons. So hopefully I'm on my way to a something I can wear cuddled up on the couch with a book, while a storm rages outside.

If not, well I guess the rabbits could always use more blankets.

My oldest UFO

I supposed its only fitting if I start this blog off with my oldest unfinished object (UFO). I started this cross stitch project in the summer of 2003. It was after my first year of university, instead of moving back home for the summer I lucked into a job in the geology department on campus. My partner, the Tall Hot Viking (henceforth known as THV) and I sublet a little apartment near campus (our first!) and were soon joined by a mutual friend.

I have many good memories of that summer, stitching this project, watching obscene amounts of Buffy on DVD and finally having my own kitchen to cook in.

So why is this tiny project still unfinished after 9 years?

Lets see....

1. I hate the fabric (aida cloth /shudder)
2. I hate the pattern (the style, the lack of detail)
3. While dolphins are awesome, cross stitched dolphins just aren't my thing

But it's small, and was a gift from my mom so I pick it up for a few hours every year and poke away at it. Last winter I finished all the cross stitching and happily moved onto backstitching.

Then

Doom

I'd been doing all of the backstitching in the wrong colour. Totally explained why the dolphins weren't "popping" as much as I expected.

Cover photo, and my project with the wrong back stitching

It has finally been frogged, and now sits on a shelf, waiting for me to finish it properly.

Oh, and I'm not letting myself work on another stitching project until this one is done. Probably why I'm currently diving headfirst into sewing and knitting :)

Because I can't leave it bare...

...a post to live here until I have real content.

A big thanks to Heather of Sewing on Pins for encouraging me and poking me to start a new blog. I have an unreasonable number of creative hobbies and she wanted to see them on the web. So here it is, a place for my cross stitch, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, sketching and other types of creating I haven't discovered yet.

And no, there is no reasonable explanation for the fish skeleton background. Seemed like a good idea at the time.