The 'bent Needle

Day 6: Adding a Little Color



Here I am! Back again as promised. (Miss me?)

As you can see, I have managed to get over (literally) the mistake I mentioned in my last post. And add a little color as well. I must say, I am really liking this shade of blue from Needlepaints. I have never used their flosses, but I think that I am going to enjoy using them on this project. AND I think that -as the pattern was designed- they will add quite a bit to the look of the completed project. I can hardly wait!

In other news... Well, not much. Gas prices are going through the roof, work at our works is maintaining its hectic pace, and the cat is still the cat. ;-p Nuff said.

Oh, and in the New Bicycle Department: let's just say that we are both putting the idea on hold for now. Friday I received the new handlebars that I had ordered -after a month of work and waiting- for Kim's bike. Unfortunately, they are so close to what are already on the bike that we are going to send them back. I feel a bit sorry for the poor gal at The Hostel Shoppe who has been so helpful over the last month. I hope that the returning of the bars won't be too big of a deal...

I think that I will let you all go for now. I need to finish my evening meal and then -grudge- get ready for work tomorrow. Oh boy, oh joy... ;-) (I like my job. REALLY! I just like my time off too...)

And with that... I will see you later. Happy stitchy and good night to all!

Day 4: A Darker Shade of Brown



Thanks to Procol Harum for the title of their "Whiter Shade of Pale" for my post title.
...orsomethinglikethat...

Anyway... As you can see, I have been making pretty good progress on "Evangeline". I'm not sure, but I am almost wondering if maybe there is some mistake in the way that this pattern was designed. Or at least, the DMC color number. The browns that I am using for this part seem... well... a bit darker than the model stitch. Here is a link to a small picture of the model stitch. You be the judge...

Regardless of wether or not the colors match or not, that is nothing compared to what I found when I took a moment to look at what I have accomplished so far. Believe it or not, I managed to find A Mistake. :-O Yes it is true; I oopsed.

Seems that while I was stitching away on my way to the top of the current section, I managed to miscount at one point and -brace yourselves- have a whole lot of extra stitches on the left of this area. (FYI: If you look at the left of the project, and count 2 red Xs up from the bottom, you will see where I am referring to...) Needless to say, I was NOT going to frog all of that out! Oh well. The good thing about mistakes is that you can more often than not cover them up as you go stitching along. And what's more, the color that will be going over the top of the oops is darker (Needlepaints #2006) and should cover up the brown fairly well. We shall see how it looks once it is all covered up... ;-)

Well, that is all you are going to get out of me from this post. But fear not! In an attempt to keep you all up to date -and since I have indeed done more since the above update pic was taken- I shall be making Yet Another Post in just a little bit to show you how things look now. Just sit back... Relax... And wait for the next post.

Until then, happy stitchy and have a good night!

Day 2: Xs Mark the Spots



YES! gC HAS FINALLY STARTED ON "EVANGELINE"! YIPPEE, YEAH, YAY!!!

(Too much fanfare? I wasn't sure...)

Anyway... Once I finished the other projects (see last post) I finally got the URGE to start on "Evangeline". It was calling to me, you might say... ;-)

I can honestly say that this one is going faster than I thought it would. Granted, I have only been working on it for 2 days now. But it is going pretty fast, considering how 'big' a project that it is. (Take another look at the pattern, and see what I am referring to...)

Some background for those who may not know what I am stitching:

The pattern is "Evangeline" by Lavender and Lace. Next to "The Red Bicycle" that I finished earlier this year, this is and will be my most complex project to date.

Also like "The Red Bicycle", I am stitching it on some of Kim's hand-dyed fabric. Since the pattern is designed to be stitched on 32ct linen -and I can't really see 32ct linen- I am using a 16ct Aida to stitch this project. Suffice it to say, I am able to stitch fairly well on this chunk of fabric. It is orange with a little bit of yellow in it. The flosses look pretty good on it.

Speaking of flosses, I am primarily using DMC flosses. There are also Needle Paints and also Splendor Designer Collection colors from Rainbow Gallery. These are going to make this one heck of a nice project once it is all done. I can't wait to see how they look on Kim's fabric.

And once the project is all done, I have a nice frame already picked out that will go very well with the completed project. It is a distressed (for lack of a better word) orangeish colored wood frame with little dimples in the wood. They give the frame the look like drift wood or older wood. Like I said, it has a bit of a distressed look to it. Can't wait to see this stuff all together!

Okay... X-p 2 posts in one night. Hard to believe it, but it is true. Of course, that may mean that I won't post for a couple of days or weeks, but that is okay. The progress pics will be worth the wait. ;-)

I hope that you all are haveing a good go of things and I will blog at you all as soon as I can get all the words together. ;-)

Oh my!

Well, here I am again, after all this time. ;-) Trust me, if it weren't for the Tour de France, I probably would have posted sooner. However, Floyd Landis is now the new King of the Tour de France and life as we know it has returned to normal. (Whatever that is...)

Anyway... The above pic is of the last 4 finishes that I have finished:

The first, is of the Native Wolf that I have been working on. It feels REALLY GOOD to finally have this thing finished... It is in a barn board frame that we got on discount at Hobby Lobby. I have decided to put this into a charity auction for work. I will let you all know how much it gets once the auction is all over...

The next (small) pic is of the Mickey Mouse fridge magnet that I made for the nice gentleman who makes copies for me at work. He is on vacation this week, so you will have to wait for a 'presentation pic' on this one. (If he lets me click him, that is...

The other (small) pic if of the inexpensive Cookies project that I just finished. Methinks that I may keep this one for me, but I don't know just yet...

The 4th -and final- pic is of the Deer that I did for Tom at work. As you can see from the link pic, he REALLY liked it... ;-) I am glad, because he is a really nice guy; one of the nicest folks I have worked with in quite some time. (He just happens to like deer and hunting too; so that helps out a bit too...)

Well, that is the end of this post. I would like that say that I have more to say, but on this topic I don't. (I probably do, but I have another post that I want to make so...) I appreciate all of you nice folks out there who have decided that my blog is worth waiting for and have come back to take a look at the latest. Don't fret, there is more coming sooner than you think... ;-) ;-) ;-)

And on that note, chat with you all as soon as I get the next post put together!

Okay, folks. Here I am again, talking about biking stuff. (Bored yet?!? lol)

Anyway, above is a pic of the EZ-1 by the Sun Bicycle Company. This is the 'little brother' if you will of the EZ Sport that Kim rides.

In the words of this review article from the Bent Rider Online.com website, this is a good choice for a first time 'bent buyer or someone who wants a good second bike; like me. ;-) (Read the article, it explains what I mean pretty well.)

"But what makes you want one, gC? What makes you think of it as 'Perfect'?!?? Well, I have to be honest: it may not exactly be 'Perfect'. Maybe more of a 'perfect' kind of perfect; if you know what I mean... Let's just say that -for whatever it is that I am thinking that I want at the moment- it is about as close to 'perfect' as any kind of anything can get. ...orsomethinglikethat...

Anyway... the bike:

I have taken one of these bikes out on a test ride a couple of times in the past. And for the most part, it rode pretty good. I must be honest. It does take a couple of minutes to get used to it. Like with most recumbents, you need to get past the thought of leaning forward when you start off on it. 'Sit back and enjoy the ride' is the norm, not the exception with this and most any other recumbent bike. And if you insist on leaning forward while riding this bike? Well, let's just say that the handling suffers a lot until you sit back and then it plays nice really quick like. ;-)

How does it handle, really? Fairly close to an upright (or 'regular' if you prefer) bike, believe it or not. The reason for that I am sure is the fairly upright seat position. It is about as close to your kitchen table chairs as anything you will ever see. AND it is really comfortable too, since the part you put your posterior on is about as thick as a sofa pillow. (Well, some sofa pillows at least...) This ends up making sitting on the seat enjoyable both at the start of your ride, AND after you have been riding for a while. And isn't that why a lot of folks -and you KNOW who you are- give up and bike riding in the first place? ;-) I know that it is one of the reasons why I like recumbents a bit more than uprights... Add that to the list of reasons why I want one of these bikes.

Another thing about this bike that I like is that it isn't really that big of a bike. Well, relatively speaking of course. I looked at the specs for this bike and -with the aid of my Handy Dandy Tape Measure- have discovered that it is about as long as my upright bike is. Needless to say, that I was surprised! I think that the fact that it has a 16" wheel in front and a 20" wheel in back helps it in that department. Methinks that it's relative size compared to Grape and Kim's bike is another of the reasons that I like this bike.

What kind of gearing does it have? Basically, it is geared almost identically to the way that I have Grape set up. Granted, the 20" rear wheel is noticeably smaller than Grape's rear wheel. (FYI: the size of the rear wheel dictates the type of gearing on any geared bike) But amazingly -well, to me at least- once I did the math to figure out the gearing, the numbers between Grape and the EZ-1 were almost identical. Needless to say, I was happy. One less thing that I would 'have' to change if I were to get this bike. There's another thing to add to the 'favorites' list...

What else, what else, what else... Well... methinks that the biggest thing that I like about this bike is the fact that there isn't really that much on it that I would want to change. :-O I know, I know... Sacrilege to my nature and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah... whatever. Like I may -or may not- have said in a previous post -believe me or not, your call- I am not as whooped up about changing things on bikes as I used to be. And let's face it, I have changed a lot of stuff on a lot of bikes over a lot of years. I can safely say that I am at least 98% sure that if I were to get an EZ-1 I wouldn't be terribly quick to change stuff on it. (Of course, there are those 2" wide tires that I have seen that would fit nicely on these wheels...) Anyway, never say never... ;-)

And let's be honest too, there is ALWAYS going to be something or the other that I would want to 'customize' for my own evil purposes: a rear (or under-seat) rack, a computer, lights, fenders, bottle cages, etc, etc, etc... You get the idea. But that kind of stuff is fairly inexpensive. AND I already have most of those things in my part box anyway so... ;-)

The bottom line on the classification of the EZ-1 is this: "Perfect" or "perfect"? Either way it would be a nice little recumbent to have for basic tooling around town just because like. Granted, I still have Grape and it isn't like I 'NEED' another bike. But variety is good and if having a second bike could help me get out and ride more -and I am not saying with any certainty that it would or wouldn't- I think that it would be a good thing.

That is the end of my very long post and I hope that I haven't bored too many of you with it. Thank you for you times and I will blog at you all later!

(Now... time for bed... zzzzzzzzzzz)

Hello all and sundry to the 'saw buck' blog entry!!! Okay, for those of you unfamilliar with American slang terminology, a 'saw buck' is a $50 bill. (I have no idea who thought of that, but it was a l o n g time ago...) And since this is my 50th post... Well, it seemed a bit appropriate. ;-)

ANYway... Since this is a 'buck' post, I thought I would post a pic of the deer that I am working on:



Sorry for the way the pic looks, but the colors that I am stitching with at the moment are light browns and tans and the fabric is a light tan also. Believe me, it isn't the easiest to stitch on either. Kind of like the Wolf that I did on black... Oh well. It is a deer after all. I am sure it will look pretty good, once all the colors are all together and on the fabric. And if push comes to shove (another bit of American slang), I can always backstitch the whole thing in a darker light brown to show off the outlines of the deer. ;-)

In other news, the Tour is back on the road after a day of rest. Not only that, but Floyd Landis announced that, basically, his right hip is 'dead'; apparently as a result of a very nasty crash in 2003. He broke his hip, and now he has a condition called osteonecrosis -or bone death- a degenerative condition caused by lack of blood supply. I haven't read the entire article, but this link is an article that will be printed in the New York Times Sunday Magazine on July 16. I got the info on the article from Floyd's website / blog after Kim mentioned that she read about it while looking ahead to see who won today's Stage. (FYI: Oscar Freire won today...) We have jokingly been saying that -once Floyd gets his hip replaced- he will return as The Next Lance Armstrong and win 8 Tours de France with his NEW and IMPROVED TITANIUM HIP!!! (Well, it sounds good anyway...) lol All of our support goes out to Floyd as he goes through his hip related stuff. (Oh sure, we want him to do good in the Tour. But Kim and I are still cheering for George Hincappie!)

Okay, I want to close this post now. I am going to be working on another post similiar to the last bike post; hopefully with a bit more direction than that other one. ;-)

Everybody have a good time of things and GO GEORGE! GO FLOYD!! GO TOUR!!! ;-)
See ya...

Well... maybe not. But then again, 'perfect' is a rather ambiguous term. Not to mention apt to change without notice. At least, that tends to be the case in my case...

Anyway... The above pictured pic is a photo of the bike that I bought for Kim a couple of years ago. Not a bad little bike, once we got it spec'ed out for her; the original gearing was a wee bit too much for her to handle. (A bit high for most folks who would want to buy one of these, IMHO...)

Back to "The Perfect Bike" comment... I have been wanting -not needing, mind you; WANTING- to get something else in the bicycle department. And I must confess, there are a LOT of different models to choose from. Enough to give anybody a spinning head problem; nevermind someone of my indecisiveness when it comes to 'what I really want' out of something. How bad can it be for someone like me? Well, consider this: in the last... oh, idanoe 20+ years, I have averaged about 2 bikes a year. (And I am sure you all can do the math on how many that adds up to be.) Granted, I have sold all but 2 of them up to this point; most at a bit of a financial loss. But what does that have to do with "The Perfect Bike"?!? Well, with so many choices I just had to try them all... Not really, but it seems like it in retrospect.

Anyway, I have been looking at the different stuff that is out there and frankly -for me, at least- I have found most of it wanting. Trust me, I can find things to change about bike stuff in no time flat. But then again, I am a bit picky about the kind of stuff that I feel works best for me. Trust me, I could go on and on and on about this type of technical stuff (and just deleted half of this post because I overdid it a whole lot!) but I think I better not.

Suffice it to say that I have been considering getting myself a bike like Kim's for a second bike. (Yes, I am planning on selling W.I.P. Any takers?!?) To that end, I took Kim's bike out for a long test ride. Without going into too many details, I can honestly say that -after almost 24 miles of around town riding- I actually liked it. Granted, I did find a few things that I would want to change (old habits, eh?) But for the most part it was pretty spot on. Case in point: this thing is a lot more agile than something this long would appear to be. AND it almost handles like an upright, which was something that I think I am still wanting to have. (I just don't want to 'upright' part, that's all...)

However... Methinks that I am mayhaps not necessarily looking for a bike like Kim's for a second. I know, that sounds like an excuse to me too. But I have been giving it a bit (okay, a LOT) of thought since the ride earlier today and can honestly -well, as honest as it will sound- say that I am actually thinking about the next model down from this one in the company's line up. It is called the EZ-1 and as hard as it may seem, I think it might actually be what I am looking for. I will be the first to admit that this bike seems to go against my nature -even to me as I write this- but I am honestly wanting to tinker with bikes less and ride bikes more. I just happen to want more than one, that's all. ;-) I have taken an EZ-1 out for a rather short test ride a while back and was honestly impressed with it too. It wouldn't be as fancy as anything else that I have or used to have, but mayhaps that is what I am looking for. It is hard to say, and as usual only time will tell...


I am going to quit rambling on this subject for now. Oh sure, I could go on and on and on and... But I think I have said enough for now. If I can say anything at this point, it would have to be that bicycles are very personal devices and IMHO they should be designed as such. But then again, if that were the case there wouldn't be hardly any bikes out there because they would cost too much to make. FYI: it is possible to put a bike together per your own personalized specifications, but you better have deep pockets when you go to do it...

Okay, enough about bike stuff. I have rambled on long enough about it anyway...

In the "Where are my manners?" category...

Regarding a comment from Lili, below is a picture of my Native Wolf project. I am all done with it except for the framing. Watching the Tour tends to keep us from doing other things sometimes...



Also, I have started the deer project that I am doing for another associate at work. It is going fairly quickly, when I am working on it that is. ;-) I will make pics of it shortly...

Tomorrow we will be going to see "The Pirates of the Carribean" and can't wait! Kim has been waiting for this one since she found out that there would be a second one. I am just hoping that it is at least half as good as all the hype...

Okay, I have been typing for quite a while and may not be able to get out of my chair. (EEEK!) I hope you all have a good night/day/whenever and I will post at you all later!

Thanks to OLN for the above pic of this year's route.

Hello all and everyone else too! As you might have guessed from reading Kim's blog, it is time once again to watch the Tour de France. We have both been really into this yearly event since we found out that OLN was showing live (or at least time delayed) coverage of the race. I NEVER would have guessed that Kim would be so into bike racing. She trys to deny it, but I am convinced that she only watches it for the buff biker guys... ;-) Okay, I'm just kidding... Methinks that a lot of it -biker guys notwithstanding- is the drama of the race itself. I mean when you hear stuff like the "Operacion Puerto" debacle, as well as the fact that the Yellow Leader's jersey changes daily... Well, let me just say that it can be very VERY interesting. And on top of all that, we still have about 2 weeks of this excitement! COOL!!! If you are curious about more stuff regarding the Tour de France, be sure to point your mouse and browser to OLNTV.com for more information...

(FYI: George Hincapie -Lance Armstrong's #2 man- is 5 seconds behind the leader, Tom Boonen. GO GEORGE! GO GEORGE! GO GEORGE! Ahem... Sorry, got a little bit excited there...)

In our early Tour watching history, Kim had asked me a good question: "Why aren't there any women in the Tour?" "Duh... idanoe..." Was and is usually my answer. (I hate to say it, but I am not that savvy on all this biker stuff...) However, I have been able to find a couple of links at Wikipedia that talk about the ladies and the Tour. They make a little bit better sense of that stuff than I probably could... Enjoy!

And just to show you all that I haven't totally forgotten about stitching -I have finished the Native Wolf project, BTW- I saw the following Stitching Blogger's Question over at Christine's blog and thought it would be a good thing to post about. (And it caught my attention too so...)

"What do you do with your charts once you've stitched them? Do you keep them or dispose of them? If you keep them, do you organize them in a way that is different from the way you keep your unstitched charts?"

Well, I can honestly say that I generally shred my patterns once I am done stitching them. Now, before you all go and have heart failure on me, I just want to say that I don't exactly shred the actual pattern. What I do is shred the COPY of the pattern that I am stitching. The copy is easier for me to mark up and keep track of where I am on the pattern. AND if I decide to re-sell or gift away the pattern, it won't be all 'used' looking. "Slightly used" I think is the proper term. As for the patterns that I do keep, I generally put them back into the stash bucket (or file, as the case sometimes is) in pretty much the same place that the pattern was when I first dug it out. (...or put into Stashedness...)

FYI: I generally have my patterns sorted by size and / or type. In other words, I have a file for the little bitty projects (like the Mickey Mouse that I finished yesterday), another one for the mid-sized ones (like the 5" x 7" Native Wolf), and so on and so forth for the bigger patterns and the ocassional kit. Kim and I also have folders that we have other patterns in as well; we started using sheet protectors to keep some patterns in them. We have plenty of stash, so we have plenty of "stash buckets" too. ;-)

Well... that thunk noise you just heard was my brain shutting down. I am officially out of words. The Tour coverage is almost over too so... I guess I am about ready to shut this post down for now. I will chat with you all later if not sooner...

And now, back to the Tour!!! lol