Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Oh yay, another crooked scan :-( Anyhow, I decided to work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow tonight, for the first time since January (I believe). As you can see, I am still on the first "house" - Carriage House Samplings calls each block a "house," yet this block is more than one house -LOL. Anyhow... I decided to pick this up because I really want to hang this in my dining area. Plus it was a really pricey project to kit up, so I could never live with myself if I let if become an UFO! I am stitching this using the Victoria Clayton silk conversion. I really wanted to stitch this in silk, and the VC conversion was the most affordable way for me to do so (still expensive, though). I think this conversion makes a more "watercolor" version of the sampler, but I love that about it. It matches my decor well :-) My house has a lot of my mother's watercolor paintings on the walls, so this will compliment them quite well. (I shall have to share pics of those here in my blog soon - she does amazing work!). I am using the 40 ct Pearled Barley linen from Lakeside Linens, as is called for. And, I truly loved working on this tonight.

I received The Good Neighbor and the linen for Toccata Number Two directly from The Drawn Thread today - I can't wait to start both of these projects!! I also received Angelica from the ebay seller today. And, while I was in WalMart on errands today, I also picked up a Janlynn chart I have always thought was sweet, Collecting Shells...

My day, however, started off pretty rough. As many know, the Northeast has been hit by a rather strange May Nor'Easter - very cold and rainy for about five days, with very strong winds. Well, when I arrived at my Haverhill, MA office today, I saw that I had a massive leak in my ceiling. Several ceiling tiles were soaked, and one had broken and crashed down, soaking my loveseat in the process. It was a disgusting mess. The landlord came right over to remove the damaged ceiling tiles and put down plastic. I moved my furniture too. I don't work there again until Wednesday, and he assures me he will have it fixed by Tuesday. Now, he is not at all reliable with his promises, so this will be interesting! Anyhow, I hope my loveseat dries out nicely. Mike is going to bring our dehumidifier down to help dry it out... yucky!!

Thank you to everyone who expressed concern and wished me well about my oncoming head cold. Yep, it came, but it could have been worse :-) It is more like backed up sinuses, so I better take care of that. But, tonight I had no problem with sitting up and stitching, since I went to bed early last night and got a great night's sleep! It is great to have such good friends showing concern - thank you!

I really like this list of 25 Most Asked Stitching Questions that is popping up in stitchers' blogs, so I decided to do it too :-)

1.How old were you when you started Cross Stitching? Age 9, I believe, when my Mom gave me a stamped pair of baby bibs to stitch.
2.Who taught you to cross stitch? I am mostly self-taught, with some help from my mother. She is more of a knitter than a stitcher, but she helped get me started.
3.What inspired you to begin Cross Stitching? I really don't know. I think I just always loved crafts and gave this a go - it stuck with me.
4.What has been your most difficult Cross Stitch Piece? Oh no, I really am drawing a blank on this one. I really don't find cross stitch to be difficult, yet some projects are surely more challenging than others. I recall when I stitched SB's Twined Heart as a shop model for a friend, it was a challenge as it was my first drawn thread work that would be displayed.... It worked out fine, though.
5.Do you have friends that stitch? I used to have one non-online stitching pal, but we grew apart. Now all my stitching pals are online, and my mother delves into it once in a while too.
6.What is your Favorite stitched Piece? Chatelaine's Mystery VI.
7.What is your favorite Fabric? I have no favorites. I just like to use what works best for a project. I do adore hand dyed fabrics, but since I also like to stitch samplers, I have a strong appreciation for 36 and 40 ct standard linens too :-) I don't stitch on aida any longer, but will stitch on a small hand made bag with an aida insert that Isabelle recently sent to me :-)
8.What is your favorite Fiber? I definitely love silks.
9.What is your favorite Needle? I most often use a size 28 tapestry needle - I like size 26 as well.
10.Do you prefer Black & White or Colored Charts? It makes no difference at all to me, I just like clear charts...which sometimes is a problem with internet charts...
11.How many Works In Progress do you have at this time? Not counting UFOs, I have Celtic Band Sampler, Little Wings, Petal Fairy, Peacock Cypher, Fairy Flora, Earth Angel, 17th Century Irish Garden, Miracle Butterfly and Legends of the Dragons... right now that is 9. (oops, Karen V. has just reminded me that I am also working on Catherine Agnes - glad she is on the ball :-) - so that makes 10 WIPS) - LOL! Thanks Karen!
12.How many UFO's do you have at this time? I have to list them to count them too - SB's Bee Garden, Houses of Hawk Run Hollow, Bag Ladies, Harvest Moon, Random Thoughts... I think that is all of them... oh, and Lacy's Garden, so that is 6. However, these will all get finished, I just have no idea when they will get done... :-) Oh, that's right - I also have Mermaid and the Sea, as well as Convent's Herbal Garden and Gathering Eggs started.... hmmmmm.... that's quite a few!
13.How many cross Stitch charts/kits/mags do you own? Far too many to count - surely in the thousands!
14.How much fabric do you have in stock at this time? Also too many to count - well over 100, close to 200.
15.Where is your favorite place to stitch? My "stitching nest" is my end of the sofa in the family room, as well as my overstuffed chair in my office at work.
16.What is your favorite time of day to stitch? Absolutely anytime :-)
17.How many pieces have you stitched in your lifetime? I could never even guess... many.
18.Do you give your stitched pieces away? Sad to say, no, not often. I like to keep my "babies." Do I frame or finish them, though? Not until lately... !
19.How many different fibers do you have in stock at this time? Pretty much a bit of everything such as DMC, Anchor, perle cottons, Gloriana, Needle Necessities, Rainbow Gallery fibers, Kreiniks, GAST, Weeks Dye Works, Dinky Dyes, Eterna Silks, Six Strand Sweets, Stranded By The Sea, Ozark Sampler, Au Ver a Soie, Soie D'Alger, Silk Mori, Needlepoint Inc Silks, Caron Waterlilies, Wildflowers, Watercolours and Impressions, Victoria Clayton silks, Thread Gatherer fibers, etc... :-)
20.How many pairs of scissors do you own? 5
21.Do you use stitching enhancers (lights, scroll frames...etc)? Hmmm.... I use a Q-Snap or a scroll frame quite often - I like my fabric to be a little taught, but will stitch in hand on small pieces. I also love my Dololly... that is about the extent of my gadgets.
22.How many pieces that have been stitched but not yet framed or finished off in some other way do you have at this time? Way too many, if not most.
23.Do you have a craft/stitching room? Sort of. I store my stash in a spare bedroom, but it is still a bedroom.
24.Why do you stitch? I like the repetitive rhythm of stitching - and I love to create things - this is soothing to me. It shuts my mind off from the residue of the day, which I need as a psychotherapist who works a lot with abused children.
25.What is your most memorable time related to cross stitching. Meeting my exceptional online friends - that has got to be the most memorable part :-) Of course, taking classes from Catherine Strickler and Betsy Stinner was very memorable... and best of all is yet to come, as my dear pal, Karen, is coming over from Australia as I write this (her flight is today!!) and with luck, she and her DH will be here to spend time with Mike and I on June 4th! Yay!!!! I just hope their driving plans do go as predicted and that is the actual day they arrive, since my DH just rented us a limo to go to Boston for that day!

Stitched on today: Houses of Hawk Run Hollow