Since I thought of a great title, I had to prepare the flimsy cloth properly - lightweight stabilizer is ironed on the back, and it helped a lot. That is the Take a Stitch Tuesday 11: whipped wheel. I'd done wheels before, but hadn't thought of partial wheels. They're kind of a pain because of having to finagle the turns. It would have worked way better in perle cotton; I used four strands of DMC instead of two for the tallest one, and it helped a little.
TAST 12: barred chain and alternating chain
Not inspired much by this one; it's more about the exciting colors. I think it could be good worked very tiny to make tangly bushes and vines.
TAST 13 was a catch-up week. There were two mini challenges - to make a piece using 3-6 of the stitches covered so far; I originally wanted to, but now it is much more imperative to catch up. I'm kind of fixated. So I will do the second mini challenge: share tips on how I manage my time and space.
To which I say, HAH.
It is easy to get sucked away and not do anything - one of the reasons I'm doing TAST is to have a source of external motivation, so I work on stuff. And I've been wanting to do finite things, so I have at least the illusion of progress. I get more done when I have a plan - I sometimes avoid working on things because of the danger of getting in my good mind place, because that is dangerous after work. ("Whoah, it's HOW late, and I haven't even had supper?!")
I don't have family to plan around; work can be draining. There's a lot of creative stuff I lack energy for...a good reason to eat and sleep and exercise.
Workspace: not soothing. I still don't like it much; I sometimes think my favorite thing is the tulip tree outside the window...at least when it has leaves. But the organization is improving incrementally - organization aids production; I will work on things if I can just grab the ingredients. I don't mind rummaging in one drawer...but if multiple boxes are involved, I will not look. I will remain frustrated and not work on anything.
Summary: I will continue to work at planning, and at organization. Making art and projects needs to be a regular, normal part of everyday life.
TAST 14: satin stitch
Only the moon is actually satin stitch. The water is just long stitches. Satin stitch - would work better with slightly more thread (like a silk, instead of one strand of DMC) and a slightly looser weave. The long wobbly stitches would be better if this were mounted on a sturdy interfacing. But I like it anyway.
(See? One of the results of TAST is training me to focus on designing finite thingies. That is why I need to produce volumes of artifacts. One of these days I will excavate the final series of drawings I did for a class at OCAC - they are amazingly minimal.)
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