And I have printed this.

It is a sickness I tell you.

Please, please tell me I shouldn't go and spend US$100+ on cross stitch kits/charts/floss. Please. It's not like I *need* it. I have so many projects in the backlog and I just got a new one since my college roommate is getting married. I need the strength to hold out.

Thank you. Because it's not like I went and spent money last night at Michaels and got new toys. Nope, not at all.

I have the fun job of running errands this afternoon, one of which includes going to either Joann's or Michael's to get new scissors. I'm going to try and stay away from the aisle with kits in it...key word being "try".

Cross your fingers. :)

ETA: Okay, sorta succeeded, sorta didn't. I wound up with the scissors I went to get, two packs of white Nymo thread, three colors of Mill Hill beads, and this kit.

Well, the upside of lying on the couch with a sinus headache is that I finished my second bear and thus have achieved my bronze! Pic to follow as I'm not going downstairs for the camera right now. Just had to post right away! LOL!

Let's see if I can squeak the silver in...

Do you count any prep time as part of the timeframe, or only the actual stitching part?

I got my silver!

( pics )

I'd like to encourage everyone to check out http://www.newenglandneedlearts.com/ I just ordered a Q-Snap from them over Ebay and it was literally one of the best transactions I've ever had. They even sent my order with a handwritten thank you note.

They say that they can order over 60,000 items for every type of needle art, so I'm sure everyone here can find something :)

Somehow, after thirteen years of stitching, I have managed to never, ever, work with Kreinik braid. Beginning in March I will work a piece that is *all* Kreinik #8 braid. Any advice? What size needle should I be using?

You've no idea how tempted I am to just convert the colors to DMC, but it's *such* a spectacular piece and it's for a Round Robin so I really want to make it as gorgeous as possible (the design is a simple southwestern one, but with all the metallic thread it just makes you drool).

Remind me to correct the grammar, though, when I work on it: "Hold on to your dreams", not "onto".

EDIT: Good thing I bought it when I did; it's apparently no longer available.

GRRR i've looked EVERYWHERE around me for DMC floss 5823 and i can't find it..its a metallic and i need it for the project i'm workingon right now... i don't want to order just one skene of floss online and i don't have the money to do any stash shopping right now anyway...so now what?

DMC metallic floss (art. 317) originally came in twelve colors. In the summer of 2005, DMC renumbered the existing colors and discontinued 5291 Royal Blue, expanded the range to 36 colors and renamed the 6-ply metallic floss to Light Effects. The new numbering system begins with E followed by the approximate DMC cotton floss color.

( A table displaying the new and old color information side-by-side )

A Light Effects color card is available on the DMC website in English and French.

edit 7 Mar 06: Kreinik has posted a DMC Light Effects to Kreinik #4 braid conversion chart on their site. I have added that information to the table earlier in this post, with a little editing to the blues. My skein of DMC 5291 looks much closer to Kreinik 006 Blue than DMC 5290, which the Kreinik link suggests 006 Blue as an approximate match for. In the chart, I moved 006 Blue next to DMC 5291 and eyeballed my Kreinik color card and a skein of DMC 5290 before deciding that 014HL is a closer match to the lighter blue shade.

I'm new and I've only done one project. I enjoyed doing it and will probably do more in the future. Enter the tag to see it. :3

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A question of opinion on stash storage:

My stash is expanding (as I'm sure is the case of everyone in this community). I'm looking into some good storage solutions, but for now it must be contained in the space under my bed, and I'd like to keep it within one storage container, if possible.

I think my main problem is the number of packaged kits that I have. If I *love* a pattern and it's only available as a kit, I'll buy the kit (though charts are my preference). So, I feel that there is probably a lot of wasted space due to kit packaging taking up so much "dead space".

So, has anyone ever tried storing kits out of their packaging? I am thinking about opening them, sorting/labeling the floss onto cards, labeling the fabric, filing the patterns/cover photos (possibly in their own "to be stitched" binder), and just storing everything flat. I imagine that this has the potential to lead to kits with "lost" ingredients (yes I know it's a poor word choice).

Thoughts?

As promised earlier this week, I finally found access to a digital camera. ( Bronze finish and half+ of the silver )

As I posted earlier, I have been sorely tempted to buy US$100+ of stuff to add to my stash. Considering my stash is already overflowing, like so many here, with projects I want to start, have started, and forgotten, not to mention the gazillion mags with possible projects, I am trying to stifle my desire to buy more things. This really isn't working, so I'm compromising.

My other college roommate is getting married. I have asked him what kind of pattern he wants for a wedding sampler. When he decides, I'm going to need to purchase at the very least threads, but likely a chart as well. So at that time, I will buy what I've been craving:
The Britty Kitty series I-IV
The Mirabilia Special editions: Christmas Elf and Easter Fairy (the latter just released)
Chataleine Designs Mandela Taj Mahal
Appropriate threads and fabric.

Hopefully by then I will have finished a bunch of my pending projects so I won't feel *that* guilty. (yeah right!)

So does anyone know of any website that carries a lot of stitch 'n hang/frames? I've become OBSESSED with collecting them! The only website I've found so far is ebay. *sad face* and the stores seem to carry them sparingly. Read on for stash info. .

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