Thanksgiving Week End

Well we survived another Thanksgiving in the desert. It was a lot of fun and no one got hurt.  We took all the dirt bikes and both quads. At one point, had three of the four kids with us.  Oldest son and his wife and Mr. M came up there, so did Mr. College (youngest son) and of course, Miss Zebra (youngest daughter).  We did some riding, did some eating, even did a little shooting.  That was fun, first time in many years that I had fired my dad's pistol.  Thanks to my daughter in law's uncle, we had targets that looked like a masked intruder to aim at.  Once I remembered how to hold the pistol, I have a tenancy to let the barrel angle high instead of straight, I was all about hitting that dude.  I got him straight in the chest, the middle of the throat, and right between the eyes.  Would have aimed between his legs for the fun of it, but that part wasn't on the target.

I did some work on my cross stitch project.  I only took one project this trip to work on. I normally take several with all the best intentions, but only really work on one, so only one went with me.  I stitched like crazy though, when we weren't out shooting or riding.

It drives me crazy how slow this goes, as compared to a quilt I can start, make, complete in a couple of days time.  But, at least it is starting to show at least one shape.  The wise man is looking pretty solids now as is the manager.  I find that I am not really agreeing with the names of the colors, and they are a little bit confusing as I have a really hard time telling the slight changes in shades.  Such as the difference between dark taupe, medium taupe, light taupe and pale taupe.  Now the difference between the dark taupe and pale taupe I get.  The difference between the light taupe and pale taupe...not so much.  In fact, some of the colors seem to be the same even next to each other, but then when I do a larger portion of the design that is all the same color, I tend to see in my mind that there are two different colors.  I know it is just a trick of the eye, and lighting, but it still BUGS the crap out of me.

If you look close at the photo, the right side of the project has a straight line except for one lone stitch by itself.  That is not a mistake.  The straight line happens to be where that page of the chart ends.  The little stitch by itself is where I will line up the next page of the chart.  This is the project that I thought I would never be able to finish because I had lost the chart.  I had all the thread, but no directions.  On eBay I found a few kits, but they were wanting on average $30 to $35 for the kit.  Now, that really isn't that bad for this type of kit, but I just needed the chart.  A very kind internet friend of mine wrote me that she had that exact kit, but had not started on it yet.  She scanned the chart and mailed it to me.  It scanned a little weird, in several letter size sheets, but that made the chart larger and easier to read.  I picked the middle sheet of the design, since that is where I had already worked a good part of the project.  It worked out so well that from now on, all my counted cross stitch projects I am going to scan this way to work on them.

I have also learned that I am going to identify my threads a bit better from the start.  I saw this really cool thread organizer, came with symbol cards to place in it with the thread.  I am however wondering if the same symbols would be used all the time. I guess there is a common set of symbols, just change the color.  The cards are black and white so any color could be delegated to any symbol.

My only problem is that I would want an organizer for each project and they are a bit pricey to get more than one.  However, if you were only taking one on a trip with you, or only working on one at a time, it would be great.

I do have a major complaint with Herrschners though. Two weeks ago, I placed a few orders with them.  They were having free shipping for orders over $35.  And by a few I mean four.  The first order I placed was for an embroidery stand.  I have really been looking forward to having it arrive since I am sure it will be very helpful with handling a project while I work on it.  I ordered it, thinking it would be processed the following day.  This was my first time to order with them.  It was not even processed until 5 days later, and then it took another 5 days for it to be shipped.  The crazy thing is, the fourth order I placed was processed and shipped the following day.  I was emailed confirmation and tracking number for that order.  So I called and was told that I had hit during inventory on the first orders. I told her that this was my first time to order with the company and asked if this was common for the processing to be delayed and the shipping.  She was rather rude to me, just saying that it was not.  The other three orders were for some kits that were on sale.  Like I really need more projects.  But I am sure that when I am ready to work on them they will either have been discontinued or out of stock.  So, I jumped on the chance to get them at a sale price.  The kits will be hitting the first part of the week, according to tracking the frame is still in IL.  I just don't understand why the first order was the last to be processed and sent.  Makes me think twice about doing much more business with them.

To end on a bright note, I played a little more with my PC Stitch 10.  I want to convert a photo into a counted cross stitch chart, but am still trying to figure out how to do that.  I learned some new things this morning, but need to work through the tutorials a little more before I try a chart of my own.  Oh well, just takes time I guess.

Thanks for stopping by to visit, come again soon.  I have to get off the computer and put some work clothes on and go unload the food from the trailer.  I am hoping that hubby will get the RV put back in storage soon. I am tired of it sitting on our curb.  High hoe, high hoe, it's off to work I go so I can spend the evening stitching til I drop.