Here is what the closet looked light in its messy state (note that the closet is twice as wide as it appears in this picture and the floor on the left side is completely covered to a height of 3 feet).

And this is what it looked like when I got it emptied:

The bad thing is that taking everything out of the closet resulted in a secondary mess.

It is amazing the amount of stuff that fits in a 5×6 closet!

I had purchased and assemebled some shelving to bing some better order to the closet. The tools I use for framing all get stored in here, along with the matte board and foamcore pieces. I also have a good bit of fabric for finishing ornaments and the like that will be stored in here.

I got as far as this stage last night. Tonight, I hope to get a good bit of the “stuff” back in the closet. I’m also hoping that there is less “stuff” that will go back into the closet! The bad news is that I found several old knitting and sewing projects that I’d love to get back to working on.

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!

Just popping up from the bluebonnets to say hi! If you’re here from The Needlework Show, post in the comments to be entered into the drawing for free charts! If you’re not here from The Needlework Show, post a comment, then go check out all the cool stuff there!

When I’m not posting to the blog, you can find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/crosseyedkat

And if you’re on Facebook, become a fan of Cross Eyed Kat!

When I’m not hiding in the bluebonnets, which smell wonderful, I’m busy working on charting and stitching new designs! Stay tuned for previews!

I’m not really running away, I’m just going to a stitching retreat for the weekend! I’m counting down the hours. Last night I was a tornado of cleaning and packing. We have company coming in on Sunday, and I won’t be home to do anything else. The husband will have to care of anything that needs it! And feed Mocha!

The big dilemma when going off to a stitching retreat is what project(s) to bring? I packed the Cheshire Cat, along with two more Advent Ornaments, one of which is half-way done. I also packed four new ornaments (a set of three knotwork ornaments and another). I’ve just picked out the thread for these (Dinky Dyes silk!) so I’m all excited to work on them. Then while I was working on the computer, I ended up in my “Incomplete” designs folder and saw a dragon that I had charted two years ago (could it be that long?). The poor dragon languished because I didn’t know what color it wanted to be, so I couldn’t pick fabric and threads for it. It finally told me – Green! And I had the perfect fabric for it. I’m going to do my color testing on it this weekend and try out the new Kreinik holographic threads.

So my tally for the weekend is eight projects packed, with at least four pairs of scissors. I’m going to play with Enchanted Lair fabric, Dinky Dyes silk and Kreinik holographic threads. And that’s not even counting the three projects we’ll get at the retreat!

T-minus 62 minutes!

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!

The Rodeo here in Houston is a HUGE event, with the main rodeo and concert events taking place inside the football stadium:

We were meeting some people there and ended up walking the length of the midway instead of straight through to the cookoff area. The midway provided some interesting sights.

Here is fried just about anything:

I actually tasted the fried oreos before leaving, they were like a funnel cake with an oreo center. An interesting experience once, but not necessarily one I’d repeat.

Don’t forget that everything is bigger in Texas:

I’m not sure if I would want to ride this:

When we finally made it through the midway to the cookoff area, we had to make our way through the maze of tents to get to the one we had tickets for. Then we could eat some BBQ! If you didn’t know bar-ba-que has many different forms throughout the US. In Texas, it is generally brisket, with a side of sausage, ribs and some beans, maybe with potato salad. Anyway, there was lots of food. We actually went to three different tents and sampled goodies at each. Eventually, it was time to head home.

The Stitching for Literacy 2010 Bookmark Challenge starts this week! I’ll be collecting handmade bookmarks during the challenge and donating them to a Houston-area library! Please send an email to kat @ crosseyedkat.com (remove spaces) for information on sending in a bookmark. I’ll send a free mini-knotwork bookmark PDF pattern to anyone who sends in a bookmark!

Now the question is, can I stitch while reading a book because I’m getting a backlog! These two arrived the same day:

And then the new Tad Williams book came in shortly after that. The newest Merchant Princes book from Charles Stross came out today and is due to arrive soon as well! Plus I have a couple of books that a co-worker loaned me. I’ll eventually get to them all.

First, I forgot to post one of the new designs:

I’ll be using this chart to teach a class on different ways of using overdyed threads March 20th at 3 Stitches in Spring, TX.

Here’s a view of the hotel atrium with some of the vendors’ banners visible. The plants make them stick out; I probably should’ve taken this picture from an upper floor!

A view of my room/booth:

Here is Melissa and I hanging out in the booth:

Melissa was an awesome booth buddy!

After the show, the designers can go a little crazy!

(Left to right: Kat from Cross Eyed Kat, Jo from Dinky Dyes, Sandy from Sweetheart Tree and Laura from Enchanting Lair)

And you’ll never know what trouble we get into:

(Left to right: Kat from Cross Eyed Kat, Pam from 3 Stitches, Jo from Dinky Dyes, Sandy from Sweetheart Tree and Laura from Enchanting Lair)

In my post-Nashville recovery, I’m trying to work on some new designs! I’m inspired by having the glow-in-the-dark threads under the blacklights, so my mind is thinking Halloween thoughts! I’m also in love with the new holographic threads from Kreinik. They’re just screaming to be stitced into dragons!!

First, the next three Advent Ornaments:

Christmas Lights (can anyone find a mistake in the model?)

Wreath

Stockings

Then a biscornu that uses Celtic knotwork to evoke an Iris:

The designs on the front and back are different, and I used Dinky Dyes silk to stitch this.

And finally, the new dragon!!!

This is “Dragon Tattoo”, which is stylized like a tattoo, with the banner over the heart reading “Love 2 Stitch”. There are also scissors behind the heart and the dragon is holding a needle which has stitched several X’s in the heart!

I’ve had a few stitchers emailing me to get some more details about the Advent ornaments. So here are the answers:
1. There will be 24 ornaments total (so that it works like a real Advent calendar).
2. As of 2/20/2010, the first 15 ornaments are available. Your local shop can contact me about ordering them.
3. 16-18 will be available in April, 19-21 will be available in July and 22-24 will be available in October.
4. Not all distributors have all the charts in the series yet, but local shops can get all available ones directly from me.

So now it is time to pack and get ready for a road trip. I’ll be tweeting from the road (when I’m not driving), so follow me at: http://twitter.com/crosseyedkat