Abcinthia's amazing alliteration abode.

[Abcinthia]

Yeah I rarely paint my nails for the same reason. I now only really do it if I'm out for an evening.

 

[HK]

Yeah, I'm the same. I paint my toenails more often haha, cos if it chips the next day, who cares? I'll be wearing shoes

 

[Abcinthia]

I can't remember the last time I painted my toes lol.

In other news, time for a avatar change

 

[HK]

Okay, which is this one? I'm trying to read the signature but it looks like it says Anna :ninja my first guess would be Anne of Cleves.

 

[Abcinthia]

It tis Anne (or Anna) of Cleves.

The signature says Anna, the daughter of Cleves

 

[HK]

Oh lmao, of course now that you've told me that, it looks totally obvious

 

[Abcinthia]

Anne of Cleves is probably my 3rd favourite wife. She was really interesting and after divorcing Henry, she really embraced the English fashion of wearing French clothes (which everyone said made her look much better than her Gemanic style clothes) and manner of living.

 

[Abcinthia]

I've been doing a cross stitch of Van Gogh's Starry Night the past 2 days.

Here's what I've done so far:

 

[HK]

Ooh.... how does that work then, does it come with a pattern?

 

[Abcinthia]

Yes I have a massive pattern (2 A3 sheets of paper) with different symbols for each colour. When I've done a few stitches, I colour the pattern square in so I know that I've done it. The thread comes in 6 strands but I have to seperate it into two strands ready for stitching.

You start by folding the material so you can find the middle and work your way out from the middle stitch. I ended up going to the right because the middle stitch colour had more stitches going in that direction. When it's done it will be handwashed and dried flat before being sewn into a frame.

This is the first cross stitch I've done in 2 years (the last thing being a birth sampler for Imogen) so some of the stitches are a little rubbish because I'm getting back into the swing of it. But as it's a Van Gogh, it's really forgiving. His paintings have layers of paint so I can just say my cross sitch was trying to copy that effect lol!

 

[Panacea]

Awesome! Can't wait to see it finished, love that piece

 

[freakofnature]

One of these days I'll finish my cross-stitch project. This is what I've done so far. The horse will be brown when it's finished.


I haven't worked on it in 2 or 3 years. :ninja

This is the one I finished before I started that one. I have it framed and hanging in my living room right now.

 

[Sneakiecat]

I tried cross-stitching back in middle school or so but could never really get into it. I love the look of them though.

 

[Abcinthia]

One of these days I'll finish my cross-stitch project. This is what I've done so far. The horse will be brown when it's finished.


I haven't worked on it in 2 or 3 years. :ninja

This is the one I finished before I started that one. I have it framed and hanging in my living room right now.

Those are awesome! I love the red one.

I have the birth sampler I made for Imogen hanging up. All the other old projects I finished, I gave to my mum and a few other relatives.

My mum has a half finished cross stitch of Henry VIII and his six wives. She's been saying for years she's going to finish it and give it to me (she started it when I was about 9). Just two wives, half of Henry VIII and all the finishing details to go lol. Perhaps when I go home, I'll take it off her and finish it myself. I do think it would be a great thing to hang on my wall

I tried cross-stitching back in middle school or so but could never really get into it. I love the look of them though.

I started when I was about 7 or 8. I learnt to knit at 7 and it was sometime afterwards that my mum got me sewing. Mainly so when I knitted things that needed sewing together, I could do it myself and stop bothering her lol.

 

[HK]

Jesus, that red horse is cross stitch? You can't tell from the picture :willy_nilly:


I can sew a button or hem a pair of trousers, that's about the extent of my talents. being able to knit sounds like a great hobby

 

[Abcinthia]

It's great for when friends are pregnant! I knit them a cardi and a pair of booties or a small toy and they love it.

 

[HK]

Is it easy to pick up? I'm pretty good with anything requires a repetitive action

 

[freakofnature]

Cross-stitch is something that goes in cycles for me. There will be a period where I'll do it non-stop and then I'll stop and not do anything for a long time. I tend to lose interest when I'm in the middle of something, hence the half finished horse.

 

[freakofnature]

Is it easy to pick up? I'm pretty good with anything requires a repetitive action

Nothing to it. If you can count and follow a pattern, you're set.

 

[Abcinthia]

hmmm... I'd say so. My mum taught herself to knit and I've had a few friends who have either taught themselves or had lessons and they've all picked it up quite easily after the first few hurdles.

You just got to stick with it. Your first few attempts will probably end up full of holes, missing stitches, extra stitches, knotting or turn out really wonky and you'll have no idea how or why but eventually it clicks and then it's sooooo easy and you can learn harder stitches and do patterns. I only have vague memories of learning to knit but I taught myself to crochet a few years ago which was frustrating to begin with. My squares turned into circles and my circle turned into a triangle (I asked my mum and she could not explain it. Just held it whilst saying "How on earth did you manage that Katie?") but once it clicked, everything turned out ok.

There are tons of magazines you can get which give free wool, needles (their needles are cheap and it pays to buy some decent one. But the free needles are great for starting off with, just so you get the feel of if it's your kind of thing and worth the expense), patterns (they also break down the pattern abbreviations) and advice. Also youtube has videos to show you what to do.