Getting a groove on

Ok, I've been stitching every night on my QS Mermaid's Treasure. And I have to say, I am LOVING it. I guess it's because I love the color violet and all its shades. Plus, I found a 'groove' or 'flow that I'm liking.

I am doing waste knots to start.  Happily snipping away when the threads have been stitched over, underneath the fabbie. And, I finally figured out a nice way of stitching by color.

I choose one symbol on my pattern, then I highlight it on my paper (pattern). Then on my fabby, I use my washable marker to 'dot' the places where those stitch/symbols are. So after I've done that for all of "that" symbol on my page, I just stitch away without looking at my pattern. There's basically a little prep work before every color but hey, I'm making improvements!

Right now, I like marking the fabbie either in the morning or early in the evening so that when it's time to chat or settle in front of Skype to talk to my Panda, I can just stitch away without bothering to "count" squares and figure out coordinates on my cloth.

Hope that makes sense to somebody other than myself. Haha!

I do have to admit that I seem to have jumping needles... they jump from my hand or project a lot. I think I lost 3 within the past 2 weeks. So.. I've developed a new system for me. 

Another tip for some of you... I bought a few magnetic strips. (thinner than a usual ruler and pure magnet.) It's really cheap. You can get it from your local penny store or craft store. I've double sided taped it to areas I like to stitch at... the side of my table nearest my bed... on my floor stand, on my thread boxes. They're very handy when I want to park my needles.  AND!!! I just realized that my lamp is made of metal. LOL! So I've attached my little black round magnets to it too. So I can park needles there as well. Heck. Now all I have to do if I need needles is look at my magnets. I'm sure to have parked at one of those places. 

Beats me having to sit on one of them. 

Update on QS Mermaid's Treasure as of March 3, 2012

Update on Fairy Idyll as of March 3, 2012

Here's a sample of me with my marked fabby. AND using double sided needles. 

Speaking of my double sided needles (as shown in pic above). I remember being so excited when I ordered them. And I have to admit, while your thread is FRESH. Meaning, you just started stitching with that particular batch (threaded on your needle), it's amazing how fast you can go! BUT!!! before you reach more than halfway on the length of thread you have on your needle, the thread has frayed so much it separates. Literally falls apart. The idea behind double sided needles is smart. You do end up sewing faster. But it plays havoc on your threads. VERDICT? Don't waste your money on them like I did.