Catching up with requests

In the comment section, I got a request for some crazy quilt links. I don't have a lot yet, but the blog that got me all inspired for crazy quilts was Honey Bee's Bliss. Hers is the only one I currently have linked over at the tatting blog. She has some great links on her site and when I'm looking for information on stitches or quilting, I usually stop by her blog to find the sites she uses. I'm sure as I actually start working on my own projects I will develop my own list of sites and blogs that I find helpful.

Several months ago a co-worker asked for a list of the 100 best books of the century and pictures of my cats. Those many months ago I did get the best books list blogged, but I never posted cat pictures here. So here are a few piccies that are different from those posted on the tatting list. The black cat is Banichi. He is named for a lawyer/assassin from the Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh. Leo still has the name is rescuer mommy gave him for Leonardo DaVince. He likes to shred things artistically. And Motoko is named for the beautiful yet scary Major Motoko Kusanagi (better known as shousan) from the Ghost in the Shell movies and books, and series. Unfortunately the pictures are all a year or more older. I need to get one of my friends with their digital cameras over to take some updated pictures for me.

Naming confusion?

I realized that I have a naming confusion going on here in my blogs. So I'm taking a moment to sort it out. My blog name is listed as Kelly, my tatting blog says it is Catherine's tatting attempts, the online Tarot community knows me as Catherine, at one job they call me Kelly at the other they call me Catherine, and no I don't have 2 personalities. At least I don't think so. My mom and my aunt both loved the name Kelly for girls. Whoever had the first girl got to name her Kelly. I was the first girl and so that is what my family calls me. My legal birth certificate name is Catherine Marie, after my grandmothers. I use the names almost interchangeably, and you all can too. But please use Catherine and not Cathy. Oh, and dear Peter in Oz, you and you alone are allowed to call me Cate. ;-) The only other person to do so was my Master Sergeant when I was in Junior ROTC in high school.

Endless possibilites with Fibres, & a videogame mention

I was going to try and post at least once a week here, oh well. I have been posting a bit more regularly on my tatting blog -- link is to the side. Life is seeming so disjointed for me at the moment. I did finish another video game. I think this brings me up to about 24 or 25 % of games finished. This one was Final Fantasy XII. In general, I love the FF games. For me they have a great deal of replay value so I really get my money's worth out of the game, especially since I usually buy used games.

While wandering around tatting blogs to get ideas and inspiration from other tatters, I have discovered some very interesting sites on embroidery and crazy quilting. Just what I need, more UnFinished Objects or UFOs. However looking at the crazy quilts, this looks like a possible way to incorporate some of those other scattered projects into a coherent whole. A way to use those purchased materials - yarns, threads, ribbons etc - in one piece. I had never tried a crazy quilt before because it looked like so much work. But looking at what they are doing with them nowadays, it is incredible. I've already started scavenging through my supplies, and racking my brain to see what I might have on hand. I have a list of people that I hope to hit up for nicer scraps of materials. It still looks like a lot of work, but it doesn't need to be a whole quilt. Throw Pillows, Christmas Tree Ornaments, Wall Hangings, Christmas Stockings and more ideas if I keep reading those blogs.

I did buy a dictionary of embroidery stitches earlier this week so I could learn some more stitches. I've done crewel work, cross-stitch, and other embroidery projects over the years, but they have all used the same basic set of stitches, maybe 10 different stitches, 20 if I'm being generous. I thought that made me somewhat accomplished at embroidery. What a laugh, this book has 234 different stitches. 72 are for needlepoint alone. Now instead of somewhat accomplished, I will place myself at rank amateur. I don't see this as a bad thing at all. It gives me permission to not be perfect, and then all the things that I get the joy of learning how to make. The possibilities have left me unable to start at the moment. I'm finding myself wanting to design and make a lovely needlepoint sampler, showing off all 72 stitches. Not realistic at all is it? Plus 3 of the stitches are just 3 ways of making the same stitch, so now we are down to 70 stitches. Still not realistic to expect to get 70 stitches into one sampler and have it look planned and coherent.

So, trying to be realistic, trying to be sensible, I have dug out my sampler kit, looked over it and will work on finishing it. I've only had it for 25 years now. I've never counted it as unfinished though, it has always been a long term project.

More Games

No, I haven't bought any more, just been playing them in all my spare time, and time that should be spent more productively. Once again, poor Ghost in the Shell is languishing in its case unfinished. I dug Final Fantasy XII back out. Like a few of its predecessors that I have it it has seen a lot of game play. Definitely pennies per hour by now. Other than that, work at the 2nd job and allergies have taken up much of my off work time. On my full time job, I've been living in Wiki land. I love special projects and was totally engrossed. Now I'm afraid I must surface and deal with what wasn't getting done for the last week, and seriously think about training issues.