Challenge Complete

This past Monday I challenged myself to do something creative every day and to document the event. Tonight I declare "challenge complete."

To those of you who blog daily or several days a week, I don't know how you do it! You are certainly more productive and creative than I am, but that's why I enjoy reading about and seeing all that you do - for the motivation and the inspiration. And to Kim, who commented through all of my not-so-interesting posts and pictures this week, a big "thank you!"

Tonight's creative endeavor is to enjoy a little down time and some knitting inspiration.

Hope you all have a happy and creative week ahead!

Friday's Hooking and Saturday's Whimsey

Last night I completed row four of my rug hooking project.

Hopefully, the next time I post a picture of this project it will be out of the hoop and waiting for its finishing touches.

My husband and I, along with several other photographers, spent the day engaged in another type of creative pursuit at Hidden Hill Nursery in Utica, IN. If you are in the area and have never been, it's worth the trip if you enjoy interesting gardens and magic around every turn. Today was our second trip in the last two years just to photograph the place. Bob and Janet Hill are gracious hosts, and their plant selections are very good. I came home with three new types of perennials that I've not had before, so tomorrow's "creative" project may very well be planting these new garden members!

To give you a taste of today's creative pursuits, here's a bit of garden whimsey until tomorrow.

Thursday's Progress and Friday's Plan

Here are a couple of pictures of last night's progress on row four of the border.

There are areas where row four seems to cover the background nicely, and other areas in need of a row five. If I had any experience, I'd have a better idea of how to handle this last challenge: squish another row of hooking in, whether the area needs it or not, or just hook a fifth row in areas where needed. I'm at least getting the experience now. And I have to admit, I enjoy working on this project.

Tonight is What Not to Wear night, so I'll be inappropriately dressed and hooking away. I can't think of a better way to spend the evening.

Wednesday's Progress: Another Night with Renoir

I stitched last night until I ran out of areas to stitch with my 676. Afterwards, I moved on to a nice olive green and put in all the stitches I could with that color. Here's the photo and the proof.

Exciting, eh? To compensate, here's a shot of one of the roses.

And a photo of the big picture. I started panel 2 of 9 in January, so this project's going to take just a few more evenings of stitching!

I'm going to watch a little t.v. this evening, so back to the rug hooking for tonight. I can't promise an exciting photo tomorrow, but I will give Renoir a rest tonight.

Tuesday's Progress and Wednesday's Project

Prepare yourself. The pictures I have for tonight are about as exciting as can be. I have been working on the large Renoir piece that I first wrote about here, but as you can see, a progress post is not all that exciting.

Last night, I spent longer than I'd like to admit stitching with one color: DMC 676. And tonight, I'll still be stitching with the same color.

The other thing that I did was to get out the macro lens for tonight's photos. I probably won't do that again. Still, here's a photo of one of the leaves in the pattern, and an all-too-close look at my stitching. Oh well. If you can point me in the direction of any "photos for blog" tutorials, I'm in need of one, or at least all the tips you can send my way! Some of the photos out there on other sites are amazing!

Next time I challenge myself to do something creative every day, I'll think twice about posting the progress! Happy crafting to all!

Monday's Progress and Tuesday's Plan

I turned the corner last night (two corners in fact), and row four is underway! If you look closely, however, in at least one area it appears as if row four should be the final row. How in the world could such a thing happen, when there's clearly room for a row five in other places???

Well...do you remember when I said that my instructor assured us that we would be able to tell the difference between the first area we hooked and our last area? She was right. My case in point. Look closely.

OK. Not that close! And, you're right, you don't have to look closely to see what went wrong. Here, for all to see, my first right angle. At the time, I was pretty darn pleased that I had made the turn after multiple attempts. In fact, when my instructor said it looked like a "trucker's turn," I took that as a compliment. Truckers make wide turns. Right? Nevertheless, getting off course is what happens when you make wide turns in rug hooking. Now I know. When row five comes around, I'll either detour around the area or see how much more I can squish into the area. Fortunately, that's not a decision I'm going to make tonight.

Instead, reality has set in, and I have to fix supper and do at least one load of laundry before I can pull out the cross stitch for tonight's creative endeavor.

Sunday's Progress and Monday's Needs

How often do you feel that physical and mental need to do something creative - in spite of the piles of laundry, the dirty dishes, and the weeds in the flower beds? That's how I'm feeling today. I'm home from work; the evening hours are limited, and we already have plans for dinner out and an errand. Still, I must find time to do something creative. It's one of those urges, and "yes," it's that bad!

So here's my challenge to myself for this week: do something creative every day and document the event.

The creative urge started creeping in yesterday, so today I submit a couple of pictures for Sunday's progress. I'm ashamed to say that this evening is the first time I've had my rug hooking outside during daylight hours. I can actually see the three shades of black in the border. Imagine that! And, I've discovered that my project is the perfect size to cover a flower pot some future cool and frosty eve.


Are you feeling that same creative pull that I'm feeling? If so, join me, and document your endeavors as well this week!