Project starts and a change of mind

Have you ever had a crush on someone that seemed absolutely perfect, and  so of course you projected all the qualities you wanted on to them, and then that person opened their mouth and you realized that it would never work? Yeah... That's what happened to me this week with a cross stitch project (I'm not crazy I promise). Let's start:

Morning Lake

Morning Lake by Dimensions

I don't know if you remember, but for a while now I've been wanting to stitch Morning Lake by Dimensions as a companion piece for Whiskers and Wings, because in my imagination the kitten lives in a wooden cabin. Coincidentally, Morning Lake was also the first Dimensions piece I saw and fell in love with, over a year ago. So there was a lot of history between us, let me tell you. That's why I was so excited to start it this week, and I did.... and I hated it.

The process was just... No. It was mostly half stitches, with 3 or 4 threads, and combining thread colors, which you would have thought would be fun but oh, my goodness. It nearly drove me insane. I spent three days on it, and on the fourth I decided that if I had to stitch another abstract leaf or a piece of sky I was going to hurl the project out the window and eat somebody. Which is my crazy way of saying that I don't think landscape pieces are for me. Here is where I left the project off in disgust:

Don't get me wrong, I still love looking at it and the finished result, but I think that I just don't have the patience to work on a piece that doesn't have a person or animal in it. Isn't that a funny thing to discover about oneself? So I don't know if I'll be working on it slowly on random days, or if this one's a hopeless case, but for now it's stashed away in my crafting cupboard.

Guardian Spirit

I wasn't the least bit remorseful however, because I went right into my stash and pulled out this beauty: 

This is a knock-off of a very old Dimensions pattern called Guardian Spirit (which I don't think you can find anywhere anymore), and if you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that it is right up my alley, because I love all things Native American. I fell in love with this design on the spot, saw a couple of finished pieces online, and knew that I had to add this to my list of projects. I received it some weeks ago, and I just fell in love with the pattern. I mean, just look at this:

Just look at those geometrical fabric patterns combined with the falling hair and the folds in the fabric! My fingers were itching to stitch this as soon as I saw it. And the colors!

So rich, so beautiful. I can't get over them, I just can't. After Ivy, I don't mind hunkering down with a nice, long project, and this will be just the thing. Judging by the size, I imagine I'll be stitching this for about 3 or 4 months. This is where I'm at so far after three sessions:

Because the project is so big, I don't know if I'll be updating my progress weekly as I have been so far, or just whenever it makes sense visually. We'll see how it goes I guess!

Robot Vacuum

I know what you're thinking: What? But I just couldn't finish this blog entry without mentioning the newest honorary member of our family, our robot vacuum:

Have I mentioned it's PINK? Or "rose gold", as the marketing team would have it. I've named her Cinderella, because she's clearly a princess (seriously, it's pink!) but she's still cleaning our floors. Yes, I watched too much Disney growing up (and who am I kidding? I still do).

Do any of you have one of these things? We're delighted we got one! Our cats are not as thrilled with it as we are, and there is a serious rivalry going on, where both of them will follow it permanently around the house and pounce on it. There have been some hilarious moments and the robot's ok, so I think it's a win-win! 

How is everyone doing? I hope you've had a wonderful weekend so far and are ready for Monday again tomorrow. Thank you in advance if you take a minute to say hello, I love reading all your comments! Until next time, happy stitching.