I can actually be pretty crafty at times!

We’ve been a bit sidelined the last couple of days, for a couple of reasons. First, our main road that we ride was taken out of commission as the area was getting ready for the Parker 425 desert race. 260 entries, each with 4 drivers, the main pit area was similar in size to the paddock at the Solo Nationals, and the spectator areas were crammed with people parking their RVs days in advance to get a good viewing spot. I really wish I had my camera out on the last day we were out there, because the number of spectators alone was quite impressive (and we only say one spectator site; there were several).

Anyway, there was the desert race prep, so we hit the river with the kayaks for two days. Which was great fun. I’m so thrilled with the kayaks!

By drliz

But 80 degree days can only last so long. It started raining on Friday evening, and has been raining on and off ever since. And for some unrelated reason, I had decided a week or two ago that I’d like to do a little cross-stitch. I get on a cross-stitch kick every once in a while (I think it is the only thing that stuck with me from my 150 years as a Girl Scout). It’s one of those ‘crafty’ things that I actually enjoy. As an aside, several years ago when I was on another cross-stitch kick, I was early for a meeting at work, and whipped out the pattern I was working on at the time, and the next person to come into the room was a very devout Mormon woman who only knew me as a ski racing, gun-toting tomboy. Her eyes bugged out of her head as I placidly stitched away before she finally stammered, “I wouldn’t have ever expected you to do hand-work.” Hand-work? Okay. I just smiled and told her that it was my deep, dark secret. I forever after that she kept looking at me for horns on my head.

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a cross-stitch kit from eBay. One of those things that comes with everything, including a needle. Well, except for a hoop, which you need to keep the material taut so that you can make even stitches. So I ordered one of those, as well. And a pair of little scissors. Because of course, all of my cross-stitch stuff is in Park City, as I didn’t anticipate this whim striking me. And everything arrived just around the time the kayaks did.

So when it started raining, I started cross-stitching. And when it was all said and done, even Gary was impressed (he’s seen me mending things, so I think he was a little skeptical when I started…)

In hindsight, a white dog on a white background meant a lot of white stitches. After several hours of trying to actually see the stitches that I had put down, I finally admitted defeat and stitched the outline of the body before I continued with the white. Of course, this didn’t dawn on me until after I had done the head…. But in the future, I’m going to pay a little more attention to the colors of the stitches and the background material. Another after-thought: I would have liked to have had a reddish/bronze-ish color thread for the dog – it would have been a lot easier to see, and it would have ended up looking more like Fiona… I have since ordered a few skeins of ‘basic’ colors so that I’m not ever stuck in a white-on-white fiasco again.

So here is the fruit of my labors.


By drliz

Yes, I need to find an iron before I frame the thing…. Or maybe I’ll send it to my parents and let them handle that part of things! ;-D

And yeah, I’m actually going to start another one. (And yes, it will be another dog-themed pattern. Because the cat patterned kits that I have ordered aren’t here yet!)