Angel of Grace progress

My Angel is growing. This pic shows just the section I'm working on, because she's on split rods in my lap-frame, and I don't want to remove her completely from the rods, which is what I would have to do to show all of the stitched Angel. I'm working from the top down, and I have reached the bottom of the chart on the far right section. I am on target to finish Grace next month. There'll be big celebrations in my house then!

Annus Horribilis? (with apologies to HM ERII)

It's shaping up that way. I just can not believe this year. So far, this is what has happened (roughly in chronological order, not in order of importance):

• the washing machine died
• I flooded the lower level of the house with the new washing machine
• my best friend's mother died unexpectedly
• the set top box cum DVD recorder died
• the VCR player died
• my Dad developed an acute psychotic delerium culminating in self-harm and requiring admission to hospital
• my Dad collapsed following a procedure, and went into cardiac arrest (he was successfully resuscitated)
• my Dad required placement (not of his own choosing) in an aged care facility
• my much-loved Bichon developed severe intractable pain and had to be euthenised in her 17th year
• my BIL's brother died unexpectedly of cardiac problems at age 48
• a previous work colleague lost her long battle with bowel cancer
• a tooth filling dropped out and had to be replaced
• the repaired tooth filling fell out after two weeks and a much more expensive repair is required
• the vacuum cleaner died
• the new vacuum cleaner died on its second use
• I smashed the front of the car when reversing out of a parking space yesterday

Not happy, Jan!

March TUSAL jar

It doesn't seem possible that a month has passed since I last took a photo of my TUSAL jar, but Yoyo says the New Moon is here again, so it must be time. There are quite a lot more threads in my TUSAL jar this month, all from my Angel of Grace. From the top, there are a lot of white threads mixed with some pink threads from the under-skirt - I seem to have been stitching this part of the skirt forever. Under these are the darker pinks of the ribbons, and the green and tan threads from the over-skirt, along with a few floss bands.

A little finish

Here's the mug rug I stitched for the Hush Hush Challenge / Exchange on the Life's a Stitch board. I stitched and finished it in February, but had to hold the photo back till the end of the Challenge period. The Challenge was to design and stitch a 4" x 4" mug rug which featured a 'funky' (I took that to mean colourful) butterfly, and had as a secondary design feature one or more hearts stitched in at least 3 shades of the recipient's favourite colour (green in this case, though purple was another favoured colour). The recipient's initials also had to be stitched in pink in one corner. This is my first ever mug rug. I stitched it on a piece of hand-dyed linen using DMC floss. I used the same fabric for the back and laced the two pieces together. I quite enjoyed this Challenge. The mug rug is in the mail now flying across the Pacific Ocean to its new home.

Half-way there ...

I've passed the half-way point of the chart, but since there appears to be more stitching in the top half of the chart than the bottom half, I'm claiming to be over half-way there. I can only show the section I'm working on, as I'd have to remove the fabric from the scrolls to get the whole stitched Angel in the pic, and I really don't want to take it off the scrolls. Soon I'll be up to the floral trim (which I will be beading), and then I'll really feel as if I'm on the home stretch.

I have been looking at my HAED Jolly Old Fellow lately, and wanting to get stitching on it again, so that's an indication for me that I'm heading for the finish line on my Angel. My new stitching goal is to finish Angel of Grace and also finish page 8 of JOF before May 24. Or rather - if I did stitching goals, that's what my current one would be. I've less than half of page 8 to finish on JOF, so I think it's almost possible.

Grace is slowly growing ...

Still working on the skirt - and still a lot of skirt to stitch, but I do feel as if I have made good progress in the past couple of weeks. I really do want to finish Grace before my planned trip to the Kimberleys (at the top western corner of Western Australia) at the end of May. I want her safely at the framer then, so I can pick her up when we return from our trip. I finally found the green antique glass Mill Hill beads I wanted for the floral trim, and got the extra floss I may need, so it's full steam ahead on Angel of Grace for the next month.

My Dad is settling in to his hostel now. He's happier in general, and each time I've been in this week he's been listening to his radio and reading his newspaper, just like he used to at home. He says he's 'getting used to the food' (my observation is that he seems to be really enjoying the food, there's never anything left on his plate), and has got into the routine of going to the dining room at mealtimes without being called, so I'm much happier about him now. He's not interacting much with the other residents, but I'm hopeful that will improve with time.