I learned early on to stitch some test swatches with colors. Colors that look right on the skein sometimes look different when stitched. Good lighting is also very important. Right now my studio has bad lighting – it is too dark for choosing colors, so I end up bringing all the threads down to the kitchen.

Here’s my latest thread pull for a new design:

Note that I’m only looking for 4-6 colors from this pile!

Now, I employ a variety of techniques for designing, but they all have to end up in the computer so that the design can be published. Thank goodness there’s an auto-fill and I no longer have to fill in every square!

In the past years, I’ve also taken my sketching digital. Yes, there’s an App for that. The advantage is that I don’t have to carry a sketchbook with me, since I almost always have my phone with me. So when inspiration strikes, I cans record it. The disadvantage is tht sketching with my finger is very different from using a pencil! Most of the time, it is enough to have a rough sketch to capture a thought, idea, or figure position.

In this sketch, I’m working on two dragons and their positions.

Here’s a refined sketch that was the basis for the “Dragon Tattoo” design.

Unfortunately, I have a couple of rough sketches that look like this:

I’m not entirely sure what that is supposed to be!! Any ideas?

About a year ago, Jen wrote a post on her blog comparing genres of books to the tastes of different foods. So for Jen, fantasy books taste like mashed potatoes and all seem about the same to her. There’s nothing wrong with that, her tastes are her tastes. However, this post of hers stuck with me, primarily because my genre list would be completely different. I admit that 98% of what I read is either Science Fiction or Fantasy, and yet I don’t feel like everything I read is the same because of the varied sub-genres.

For Science Fiction, here’s a short listing of sub-genres:
Hard Science Fiction
Soft Science Fiction
Cyberpunk
Steampunk
Alternative History
Near-future

For Fantasy there are also sub-genres:
High Fantasy
Contempory Fantasy
Urban Fantasy
Dark Fantasy
Comedic Fantasy

For me, the tastes of Science Fiction and Fantasy are varied within the genres themselves. And I do occasionally enjoy the tastes of other literary genres!

So where does Ender’s Game fall? I’d classify it as Soft Science Fiction. While the elements of science surround the characters, the story is driven by the characters and focused on the characters. Because of this, most of the story ages well for a book that is 26 years old (and the parts from the original short story are 34 years old): the science fiction elements of the story are still science fiction; however, the Warsaw Pact in the story stands out as an incongurity since it no longer exists. For a novel that ages well, look at Asimov’s Foundation.

Please join us in the discussion of Ender’s Game in July on the Stitching for Literacy blog! And for those who are interested, the original “Ender’s Game” short story is available on the author’s website. If you haven’t read the novel and intend to, I’d read the short story after the novel so that the ending isn’t given away!

In other news I’m stitching again, but not yet designing. Here are the top three things in my to be designed/charted list in my mind:
1. Special 100th design chart – this is partially charted, but needs completing
2. Birth Sampler – ideas for this are gelling, but isn’t complete yet
3. Christmas stocking – I have a rough sketch for this, but need to sit down and refine it.

I only have so much energy every day, and have to stop before I give out!

First, there’s a brand new Mini-Impressionism design. Mini-impressionism designs are finished to a 5×5 size and are designed to look like an impressionist painting. That means all whole stitches – no backstitching or partial stitches!

This one was designed by first taking a photograph of a rose that The Husband gave me. I then “painted” over the photograph with stitching. This is a completely different process from photo-conversion and I think renders a more stitchable design as well as looking more real!

Second, the next design in the Briar Rose series. Here we see the royal court who has fallen asleep after the princess pricked her finger.

Third, a mini-motif sampler of dragons! Stitch the whole thing or pick out your favorite motifs. This was stitched with Dinky-Dyes silks, DMC and Kreinik holographic thread (very shiny).

Now I’m looking ahead to the next three new designs! Post in the comments during the spring 2011 Needlework show what you think those new designs should be to be entered into a doorprize drawing!

Second, the following people submitted ideas for Christmas Ornaments in the Advent Ornament series and their ideas became actual charts!
Heather L
Annette
Katrina
These people should also check their inboxes because I need their snail mail addresses. They’ll receive a complementary copy of the design they suggested.

Third, it is always very interesting to see what people request for designs when given the opportunity. I’m seeing many requests for more (more origami ornaments, more dragons, more knotwork, more math, etc.) which is nice because in theory it means that people like the first design if they want more. Although in fall, I got a lot of requests for a Stonehenge Ancient World Sampler and that wasn’t in the list this time.

I am working on the Father/baby dragon concept (it has been in the brain since it was first suggested). This design has a border charted and several rough sketches of the dragons.
I love celtic knotwork, so I definitely have more of that coming out.
I actually keep a spreadsheet with a list of design ideas. There are more than one hundred design ideas on the list right now. Usually the design that is yelling in my head the loudest is the one that comes out. This is tempered by constraints such as time (I actually have a full time day job that pays the bills) and other stitching obligations (model stitching and design obligations).

Fourth, does the “all” in the “we’re all mad here” quote look better with the l’s reversed?

I guess I make my l’s backwards.

Fifth, someone asked what I thinks of the new holographic Kreinik threads. First I must confess that I love all things sparkly! The blending filament in the spool is very, very sparkly! I’ve only done some minimal stitching with the thread and none with the #4 braid yet. The filament makes a nice sparkle when blended with DMC. I tried stitching with just two strands of the blending filament and found it way too slippery for that – at least when stitching in hand the way I do. I also tried out stitching with the #8 braid, but I was using a 30 count fabric, so that didn’t work out well. I should be getting the #4 braid soon, which is the real standby with cross stitch, so I hope to do lots of stitching with it soon. These threads immediately say “Dragons” and “Fairies” to me. I hope to have some designs out with them soon.

Sixth, if you’ve been to the main Cross Eyed Kat website lately, you’ve probably noticed some weird things going on. I’m in the middle of revamping it so that it will be easier to update. I’ll also be cleaning up the “Where to buy” list to add new shops and remove any that are no longer in business.

Finally, it is not too late to send in a bookmark for Stitching for Literacy! I’ll be collecting through May 7, 2010. Becca sent these lovely bookmarks in:

Everyone who sends a bookmark to me will receive a free bookmark design!

The design went from looking like this – the rabbit in question is in the top right block of the needlecase:

To this:

Doesn’t that look more like the shape of a fox than a rabbit?

Mocha must have just rolled around on the keyboard and hit the mouse a bunch to get it to change! So, if anyone who has this chart already (and I’m groaning thinking about all the copies I used in class two weeks ago), email me and I’ll send you the rabbit. For anyone who has the rabbit and would rather have a fox, I changed the colors to complete Mocha’s masterpiece and make it more like a fox. A copy of that change is available here.

Then the fox would looke something like this:

I guess I’ll have to officially demote Mocha from being an office assistant kitty cat!

This resemblance is dimished somewhat as I continue to fill in the rest of the face, but all the remaining bits are white, so I’m not sure. I love the idea of this design, I love the fabric, but maybe it is just a bit too much? A bit too out there?

Here is what the whole thing would look like (approximately):

So what does the world think? Keep stitching or put this on the back burner?
As a side note, there is an aweful lot of gray in this design, so it will probably go into a rotation with something else no matter what!

Well, I’m behind on my Christmas Ornament designs, so I’m trying to work on that in my head while my fingers are stitching for spring!

Items accomplished from my to-do list for Nashville: One. I finished stitching on the 15th Advent Ornament. However, I am making good progress on the “Hopping Over” design and I rounded up all the materials to get a second model of “Iris Biscornu” made.

I wasn’t expecting to get too much done this past weekend, since we had company in town. We had fun though! Here is dinner at the “Kitchen Table” at Buco de Beppo!

Hopefully, I’ll get more stitching done this week since I have two stitching nights. And I really should start printing soon, but first I need to order more ink.

Are you dizzy yet?

The Nashville Market is just four weekends away! This is a wholesale cross-stitch market where designers and vendors, like myself, attempt to convice the local needlework shops from across the country that we have The Next Big Thing ™. Here’s my to do list:
1. Frame and Photograph “Dragon Tattoo”
2. Make and print charts for “Dragon Tattoo”
3. Finish stitching Advent Calendar 15
4. Do finishing work for Advent 14 and 15
5. Photograph Advent 14 and 15
6. Make and print charts for Advent 13-15
7. Finish stitching “Hopping Over”
8-10. Do finishing, photograph, charts for “Hopping Over”
11-12. Photography and charts for “Iris Biscornu”
13. Decide how many copies of older charts to bring and print them
14. Possibly make other stuff
15. Pack it all up
16. Decide on promotional event stuff

Whew! Hopefully it will all get done! I’m hoping that some of the designs that came out in the fall will also be popular. Then I need to get to work on the remaining Advent calendar ornaments, get back to Briar Rose, and work on some other designs that are vying for attention.

In the meantime, we’ve got company coming this weekend and the Superbowl is next weekend (Geaux Saints!). No wonder I’ve had dreams about forgetting something!