Hardanger - not as hard as biking up Alpe d’Huez
Here’s a little tutorial on hardanger, which is fun, once you’re over the fear of cutting your stitching up. Hardanger adds some texture and interest to stitching; pure hardanger pieces can have the feel of fine lace.
First, stitch klosters:
These klosters are stitched with DMC pearl cotton #8. I picked the color 676 to closely match the fabric (Moon Glow from Picture this Plus); this adds texture without color, additionally I don’t have to worry about the color of the fabric showing through the threads. The klosters will keep the fabric from unravelling at the cut edge.
Step two is to cut the fabric! For this design I’m cutting out the threads of fabric in between the klosters. This means that I cut at the interior edge of all the klosters. I do this very carefully and with sharp scissors. I put the tips of my scissors around a thread, then push in toward the kloster a tiny bit before snipping the thread:
Step three is to pull out all the pieces of thread that were cut. In each quadrant of this particular design, I’m pulling out eight vertical and eight horizontal threads while leaving four vertical and four horizontal threads uncut in the middle of the quadrant. Clear as mud? Here’s a picture:
Sometimes I use a tiny tweezer to help pull out threads, but I didn’t use it this time.
Ok, so I’ve carefully cut my threads and carefully pulled them out, and now I’m left with this:
The next step is to do the decorative stitching with my DMC pearl cotton #12, also in color 676. For this design, I’m doing wrapped bars and Greek crosses. Wrapped bars are pretty easy; starting on one side of the uncut middle threads, I go over two threads, then under two threads, wrap around and go over and under again. Fill up the uncut threads, then move on to the other side. The Greek cross is a bit different. First, I wrap my thread around two of the uncut threads from the outside to the middle of a quadrant; sometimes this is a bit tricky as the thread can get squirrely and it needs to lie flat. Then I start doing the over/under thing again, but this time, I’m going between two sets of threads that are at 90 degree angles to each other. The thread will naturally fan out and look like a quarter of a circle. When the fanned out thread is as far out as I want it, I wrap the remainder of the second bar with thread. Then repeat around for this particular design:
Finally, the finished product:
Not so bad!
Ok, who wateched the stage yesterday! It was awesome although I was really hoping Christian Vandevelde would make a break for it as well. Now, we have to see if Sastre can hold his lead through the time trial on Saturday or not. As a side note, I don’t recommend doing hardanger while watching something like yesterday’s stage. I did have one miscut, although it was easy to recover from, since it was a thread that went underneath a wrapped bar. On the other hand, I’m happy to say that this design is now completely stitched! I’ll be framing it and hopefully printing it this weekend.
Becca submitted the following pictures to the TDF SAL, and I’ve added them to the Flickr group:
Aren’t those awesome? Cross Eyed Kat design, yellow stitching, bicylces, French stuff, and kittens! I just want to pick up the kittens and play with them, although Mocha might get jealous.
There’s still time to enter the TDF SAL! Join in until Saturday (midnight CST).
Published by cross eyed kat on July 25th, 2008 tagged contest, design work, tutuorial | Comment now »
Which way do you stitch?
I cross each stitch as I go whether I’m using DMC or a variegated thread. I know lots of other people do one half of the cross stitch, then come back with the other half. The result of the second method is that the back looks like lots of vertical lines. The result of the way I stitch is taht I get vertical and diagonal lines on the back. Theoretically, this would probably mean that stitching my way uses more thread (since the diagonal is going to be longer than the vertical). On the other hand, I just can’t get it in my mind to go through a bunch of stitches, then come back over them again. It is almost like stitching it twice - or does it mean twice as much fun?
Here is a picture of a newly returned model. I started stitching the design to check that I like the colors, then sent it off to a terrific stitcher, who just happens to stitch a different way than I do. I thought it would be interesting to post a snippet of the back. Can anyone else see the difference between the two methods on the back? Ok, it isn’t a big area to compare, but I can’t give away the subject of the latest Ancient Sampler - after all, that’s been a big mystery for a couple of months now. Any guessess? Anyone? Bueller?
I’ve also uploaded some more pictures invovling stitching and bikes to the flickr pool.
To answer Becca’s question about starts during the Tour de France SAL, I’ve checked with the judges, and for the green jersey competition, it was starting and finishing the same design. So, restarting a design (without finishing it) won’t count toward the green jersey.
Also, in case of a point tie, I’ll use a random number generator to decide on a winner.
Published by cross eyed kat on July 18th, 2008 tagged Uncategorized | Comment now »
Tour de iPhone
Today is a rest day in the Tour de France, but I’ll probably keep stitching tonight because it is restful.
I didn’t have a restful day Friday as we got up early to experience this:
We probably wouldn’t have done it except that my father-in-law wanted to get out in the madness. Unfortuantely, because our phones go through a corporate account, we left the store empty-handed.
Over the weekend, we finally got some proper TDF watching in. My fantasy cycling team is currently in 4874th place. I have been stitching, but I have been bad and stitching on a new design. Normally that wouldn’t be bad, but it means that I am neglecting both the new design sketch and stitching on my travel project. I received a couple of new models that I should be doing the finishing for; however, they need some cording and will have to wait until I get a chance to go to the fabric store.
Here’s what I have done (oooh! a sneak peak!):
Yes, the bicycle is inside the house, why do you ask? 
Becca asked: “By the way, do you plan to do a green and orange in the Snowfights? ”
The answer is yes and more! The snowfight series is missing: Orange, Green and Indigo. I have sketches for Orange and Green and need to get cracking on making charts to stitch from! Indigo hasn’t told me what he wants to look like yet.
Published by cross eyed kat on July 15th, 2008 tagged contest, cycling, design work, stitching | 1 Comment »
TDF - first sketch
Here it is, stage six of the Tour de France, and I’ve only gotten as far as an initial sketch of my TDF design. At least it is a start. Here’s a picture of it on DH’s bike:
Yes, there is a sketch on that piece of paper - it is hard to see because of the lighting, my mediocre camera phone, and I’m keeping everyone in defense. So that the suspense isn’t too bad, I’ll tell you now that the potential design involves a bicycle, although that’s not revealing much considering this is being done during the Tour.
In my defense, we have company visiting, so it is harder to get the cross stitch stuff done. I have done a bit of printing that I need to send out tomorrow and not much else. We’re just out and about, so I’m not getting anything done at home. We’re not even watching the Tour as much as we have in previous years. I wake up and turn it on in the morning, but we’re not getting to watch the evening coverage. Luckily, it goes on for a few more weeks. That means there’s still plenty of time to join the Tour de France Stitch along! Win fabulous prizes! Talk about stitching and bicycles!
Ok, now I must get back to redesigning a new design that I’m already stitching on.
Published by cross eyed kat on July 10th, 2008 tagged contest, cycling, design work, stitching | Comment now »
Baseball plus Fourth of July plus Tour de France
A week ago, we got to go the baseball game. The Astros played the Red Sox. I’m clueless, so I didn’t realize that it was an interleague game. The Astros lost and not even a rally cap could help them:
And we didn’t even know that there would be fireworks - bonus! Of course, they have to open the roof for the fireworks. Two years ago, we saw the Astros at the Rockies and the game was delayed for rain. We don’t have that problem here in Houston; of course, we have a good bit more rain as well as heat.
Here’s the roof mostly closed:
And here it is open - pretty neat, right?
We had a nice and quiet Fourth of July. We saw the movie “Hancock” (two thumbs up, by the way), grabbed some dinner out and then sat out on the driveway to watch the neighbors blow up money fireworks.
That’s a bunch of firecrackers!
Saturday was the start of the Tour de France, so we watched stage 1 and 2 all weekend. I also made Tour de France cupcakes:
I’ll award a bonus point in the stitch-a-long to the first person who can name what each cupcake represents.
I started sketching on my TDF design.
Published by cross eyed kat on July 7th, 2008 tagged Other, contest, cycling | 1 Comment »
TdF SAL; details
Aren’t these cute? 
This is what happens when you order something on a Sunday, and then figure out some other things that are “must have” on Monday! For the morbidly curious, we got some bicycling related movies and books.
So how does this Tour de France stitch along work? Well, I’m encouraging everyone to start something new on Saturday! Simply start stitching Saturday and send in updates during the Tour de France. For the unitiated, the tour goes from Saturday, July 5 2008 to Sunday, July 27 2008. There’s no requirement that you must watch the tour while stitching, although it is encouraged. Coverage and TV information is available on Versus. So stitch on something for a month. To make things interesting, I’ll make it a contest.
Comment here or send me an email that you’re participating (this will be open ended and I’ll accept anyone joining until midnight CST on July 26): 1 point
Send ime an email picture of you TdF SAL stitching: 1 point
Post a picture of your TdF stitching in your blog (and alert me to that fact): 1 point
Email/post a picture of your TdF stitching with the Tour on TV in the background: 5 points
Email/post a picture of your TdF stitching with a bicycle: 5 points
Email/post a picture of your TdF stitching with something French: 5 points
If stitching has yellow in it: +1 bonus point
If stitching a Cross Eyed Kat design: +2 bonus points
Pictures can also be posted to this Flickr group.
Most points overall will be the Yellow Jersey winner and get 6 free Cross Eyed Kat charts of his/her choice.
Most unsual picture (at my discretion) will be the King of the Mountains/Polka dot jersey winner and get 3 free Cross Eyed Kat charts of his/her choice.
Most starts and finishes during the time frame will be the Sprinter/Green jersey winner and get 3 free Cross Eyed Kat charts of his/her choice.
Fine print: No actual jersey will be given out. I have sole discretion on determining points and winners. Participants are on the honor system that they are submitting/participating with stitching for the 2008 Tour de France.
Clear as mud? Questions will be answered if asked.
I my personal stitching news, I went to a stitch night at one of my LNS’s last night and I was bad. I just wanted to start something new, so I did. It is, of course, a new design (and part of a new series). I’m just so excited about it, I wanted to start it. So my “travel stitching” piece got neglected. I finished the other model I was working on earlier in this week and I really like how it came it. That design (here’s a hint, it has cats and blackwork), will be available in September.
Published by cross eyed kat on July 3rd, 2008 tagged contest, cycling, design work | 5 Comments »
Miscellaneous
Just some random thoughts for today.
I must confess I have been knitting lately - I am working on the Modern Quilt Wrap. I’m doing it a bit differently than the instructions. I couldn’t decide on nine colors, so I’m picking colors out as I go along and I’m having fun with it so far. This is the first project that I’ve really used my Knitpicks Harmony needles on and they remind me of funky pencils, but they are really nice to knit with.
I was good and finished stitching a model before picking up the knitting. I really like the way it came out, but am contemplating doing the piece again in really wild colors. I probably won’t get around to it, but would love to see it.
Another design is finally evolving! I made a working sketch from my idea sketch and traced that out onto graph paper. Hopefully, I’ll get it into the computer soon for some color work. I also have another piece that is partially in the computer. I need to do the coloring on that as well. Finally, I need to do the test stitching for a design that is ready to go (once the colors are finalized). All of which shows that I’m busy in the cross stitch department. On top of all of that, I need time to finish my HPC painting and make new designs. On the other hand, I’m pretty much out of canvas, so new designs will have to wait until my order comes in.
I am becoming addicted to Sonic Slushes! And they are half-price between 2 and 4 everyday! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Finally, I am sad about the Floyd Landis decision from the CAS. If you haven’t read it yet, there is lots of great information about the case at Trust But Verify. Free Floyd!
Published by cross eyed kat on June 30th, 2008 tagged Uncategorized | Comment now »
Tour de Georgia, part deux
The last day of the Tour de Georgia was a circuit race in downtown Atlanta, meaning that the bikers went on a six mile loop through downtown Atlanta for ten laps. Do the math and that makes a sixty mile race where you get to see the bikers go by ten times! Awesome!
It was rainy when we arrived and while meandering around, we found the lot with all of the team cars. So we hung outside of various buses waiting for autographs. Levi Leipheimer finally came out:
As did George Hincapie:
That’s like hanging out at Pebble Beach and getting an autograph from Tiger Woods before a PGA tour!
After that, we went down to see the race start and all the team cars take off. We toured the expo area set up in Centennial Park. I met the Jelly Belly:
We watched the bike race go by:
I got pictures with two team managers, first Michael Ball of Rock Racing:
And then Jonathan Vaughters of Slipstream Chipotle:
We walked from Centenial Park to Georgia Tech and then back to see the finish sprint. All in all, the trip to Atlanta and the Tour de Georgia was tons of fun and we hope to do it again.
In the meantime, it is just over a week until the start of the Tour de France. Anyone want to join in a 23 day stitch along?
Published by cross eyed kat on June 26th, 2008 tagged cycling, famous people, travel | Comment now »
Houston Rocks!
Looks like Jo saw the Rock Racing team on their way from Austin!
Meanwhile, I was rocking out at Arrowfest:
The stage isn’t on fire - that’s just the lighting and a picture using my cell phone. We saw Night Ranger, Styx and Boston. After 11 years of living in Houston, this was my first trip to the Cynthia Woods Mitchel Pavilion, and I really enjoyed the venue. The sun set behind the crowd, so while I’m sure Styx didn’t appreciate having the sun in their eyes, it didn’t keep me from enjoying the show. It was hot while the sun was out (it is summer in Houston), but a breeze kept it livable. I slathered on the SPF 70 sunscreen prior to leaving the house, so I did’t get burned.
Finally, today I finished up an order that will ship to a distributor tomorrow:
That’s over 100 charts. Don’t get too excited, if you had that stack in your stash, you’d only have two designs!
Published by cross eyed kat on June 23rd, 2008 tagged Uncategorized | Comment now »
Tour de Georgia
A while back, DH and I took a little trip to Atlanta. We got to visit with friends who had moved there from Houston, see their adorable 1 year old son, and, for the first time ever, see a professional bike race in person. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might have figured out that we are bike racing fans. We follow the pro tour the way some people follow baseball and nascar. We know the teams, the strategies, and root for our favorites. Anyway, combining our trip to Atlanta with going to see the Tour de Georgia was basically bicycling nirvana (well, the Tour de France might be nirvana, but this was a close as we’ll get for a while).
We did do some sight seeing in Atlanta proper while we were there, including the Aquarium and the new World of Coke. The aquarium was cool although we had to brave the masses of school field trips (that will teach us for going on a weekday). Here I am in front of the big tank:
There are a couple of whale sharks swimming around that tank!
The World of Coke was better than the old one - or maybe my expectations were lower. It was a bit strange to walk through - not a good flow for the museum goer in me. As always, there is the tasting room with coke products from around the world. Some were good, some were interesting, and some I’m not sure I would drink again!
Our second day there, we all went up to a little Georgia town called Dahlonega, where we got to join in on the Tour de Georgia festivities!
We wandered around all the booths that had sprung up to sell bicycle related stuph or to tell all the good things about Georgia that you didn’t even know you wanted to know. We had a bit of lunch (lunch is very important), and then found a place along the finish line to watch the riders come in:
On a stage like this, they come in very fast!
Hey look, George Hincapie is riding the wrong way!
The next day, DH and I got up early, leaving our friends sleeping to drive out to a mountain called Brass Town Bald. The top of this mountain is the highest point in Georgia, and the steep grades were sure to result in some race-changing action! We drove out there and parked at the base of the mountain.
Apparently an exception to the usual rule was going to be made for today:
We hitched a ride up with a shuttle that deposited us in a parking lot still half a mile from the top. 
So naturally we hiked up to the top to check out the finish line. On the way, we helped decorate the road:
It was quite foggy, so we walked back down. After scoping out the bike expo again, having a bit of lunch (again, important) and watching the race on the big screen, we hiked to the top one more time since the weather had cleared. We were walking up and came up on another couple. The lady asked us where we were from, so we said “Texas!” and then asked where they were from, to which they replied, “Montana”. I was pretty impressed, as that is a long way to come for bike race! Then the guy turned around and told us that the woman was Levi Leipheimer’s Mom! And we were wearing our “Let Levi Ride” tshirts! So we had to pose for picture!
Here’s my cross stitch crossing the finish line at Brass Town Bald:
And a cross stitch’s view from the top:
We walked down one more time, and took a picture with the team bus (very cool graphics).
Rock Racing is what happens when a fashion designer loves bike racing and has enough money to do something about combining the two. We hope to see them racing in Europe soon.
Finally, we walked about a mile down the mountain to where the road got really steep and then waited for the peloton to arrive. When it did arrive, it was slow enough that we could cheer for individual riders, run beside them, and when the sprinters asked for it, give them a push up the mountain! Even the cross stitch did some cheering:
Ok, that’s probably enough bicycle talk for now. I’ll post about the final day in Atlanta soon.
Yes, I am still stitching on the piece that is in these pictures. It is much closer to being finished. However, I’ve also been stitching on another model that uses a brand new Dinky Dyes color #152 Kat’s Cat! I’m trying hard to work and get some new thingsready for the September show.