Work in Progress Wednesday

Don't worry - the title is not more evidence of an increasing level of battiness that is creeping over me (evidenced by yesterday's sandal mishap) - I do know it is now Thursday, but as I now devote most of my free-time on a Wednesday to actually working on the unfinished projects, I always forget to post about them.

Yesterday was a nice, sunshine-y sort of day, with winds less strong than has been the case of late, so after I'd finished work, I took a bit of sewing into the garden and enjoyed both the warmth and the good light.

Without Mr U-t-B and his enthusiastic hacking-away-at-things, certain plants are getting burgeoning forth.

The 'New Dawn' rose, honeysuckle and purple clematis look and smell lovely, but I will need to rein them in soon, as they are making it very difficult to get into our little garden shelter, where all the tools are!

Yesterday I concentrated on the cross-stitch, managing to finish all the letters.

Last week

A bit more grass has appeared, and a couple of cows have been finished.

This week

Working outside is really the key to getting this one complete as the linen 

can be tricky in less-than-perfect light.  I know I should get a daylight simulation lamp!

Work on the tapestry has also progressed, in spite of a couple of small setbacks which I need to correct.

Last week

This week

I have realised that I have stitched the feather shaped leaf in the centre in the wrong shade of blue-green, and also that the speckles on the breast and tummy of the bird are the wrong colour.  I am tempted to leave the bird alone, but will have to unpick the leaf as there's lots more to do around it.  I guess this is one of the downsides of charts that are coloured, rather than made up of symbols.

The coloured chart - pretty it may be, but symbols would make it so much easier to get right in poor light!

So, progress has been made, albeit only a little bit.  It may feel like it will be another few decades before these are finished, but at least they are heading in the right direction!

Work in Progress Wednesday

As it is Wednesday, I will be keeping to my new rule to start nothing new and get on with some unfinished projects instead.  

I have to confess that last week I broke my rule (almost straight after making it - I'm such a rebel!) but I had been invited to a 'Baby Shower' (which I couldn't go to) and needed to make some bunting to send along in my place.  I forgot to take a photo of it - it was rather nice, if I do say so myself, with the baby's name, Sophia, on one side and the Polish version 'Zosia' on the other (as the Mum-to-be is Polish).

I didn't feel too guilty about breaking the rule as I'd done lots of work on the unfinished pile beyond the previous Wednesday.  So the William Morris tapestry has gone from this...

  

...to this...

That's one more strawberry, a birdie tail, a leaf and some stalks added.  

The cross-stitch has also moved on, from this...

...to this...

That's a couple more letters and a cow finished. 

Yesterday we had the appointment with the spinal consultant.  It was a bit of a trial getting Mr U-t-B there, but we got there in the end.   He has got a date for the operation - 31st May.  So we're moving in the right direction!  

Work in Progress Wednesday

In an attempt to shame myself into finishing some long-ago abandoned projects, I am now nominating my Wednesdays to be 'Work In Progress Day'.  On this day each week I will faithfully promise  not to start on anything new but to push forward with the incomplete.  So to get me started I have photographed a selection of the things that will be getting my attention again.

First, a tapestry that is destined to go atop a piano stool my Mum has been keeping for me.  This was to be a useful extra seat in the dining room and I started it when I was expecting our daughter...15 years ago.  Oh dear!

It's a William Morris design - Strawberry Thief (III).

I think I put it aside partly because our little bundle of joy had arrived and there didn't seem to be time to do it and also because it was getting twisty and I was anticipating the difficulty of getting it straight.  I really need to attach it to a frame I guess.

This is what it should look like in the end...

It's from this gorgeous book, jam-packed full of the prettiest designs.

Also on my hit-list is this...

As you can see, it is a French cross-stitch.  I liked it because it reminded me of my friend Lesley.  

Hmmm...That sounds like I am likening her to a cow so I'd better explain. 

One long-ago day (I think when I had gone to stay with her to make my wedding dress), we took a drive through the Lincolnshire countryside from her home in Louth.  As we drove past a field of cows of varied breeds and colours, I think it was I who commented on the 'mixed-up cows'.  This idea amused us more than somewhat - the imagined conversations of confused bovines, struggling to make sense of life and its meaning kept us giggling for some time.  And it has become a bit of a long-running joke...Hence I had to buy this cross-stitch!

There's also this little heap of 'nearly there' s.   

You can see that I have enough to keep me out of trouble for quite a few Wednesdays!  I will let you know how I get on with things!

Yesterday was a bit of a strange day (to say the least) as Mr Used-to-Bees ended up being admitted to hospital with his back problem.  I can't help but feel enormously relieved that hopefully things will soon move forward, though it is very odd not to have him here making our bedroom look untidy!  On Saturday I had had to take him to the Out-of-Hours Doctor, who prescribed morphine to add to his Tramadol/Diclofenac/Paracetamol cocktail, but even this wasn't stopping the pain, and he couldn't walk more than about three paces without collapsing.  So in the end an ambulance had to be called (because I couldn't get him safely out of the house to seek medical help) and he's now awaiting a scan to find out exactly what is going on.  So my blogging time may well be curtailed over the next days - hopefully not weeks...

Off to work now - maybe the fairies will get stitching whilst I'm out...