I've Taken My First Step Into A Much Larger World

Yes, yes. I have been waiting until today to post this. For those that don't know (read: may have a life) today is 5/04/11, or May Fourth, as in May The Fourth...Be With You! You can't unread that! And if you think it's just me, it's not! Today is the traditionally recognized Star Wars day!

A little background on yours truly: Born in 1980 (The year the Empire struck back), I can't remember the first time I saw a Star Wars movie. My grandparents had V and VI on VHS and I watched them all the time. I saw the special editions when they were re-released to fund the prequels and by the time Episode I came out I was old enough (19 and legal, baby) to stand in line for all day and night for the midnight premier! Today I have two Star Wars tattoos, a collection of every novel and most of the books, my oldest daughter is named after an expanded universe character and the only reason I don't have the two-rooms of action figures is because I sold them for an engagement ring!

Oh, and like Ben hiding on Tatooine, I decided long ago I was probably never going to cross stitch anything Star Wars. I don't dress up as Star Wars characters for halloween either. It always just seems kinda...obvious. Well, no more!

I really love cross stitched portraits and I actually want to do one of a friend but I thought I should start "simple":



I loved the way it played on the Shepard Fairey/Barack Obama poster, and in fact, it actually had the words "A New Hope" at the bottom. After waiting so long for to finally do a Star Wars piece, and LOVING the way it came out, I decided not to add them. I really wanted to keep it closer to a portrait and further from a political joke (which I am usually all about)!

Not to get poetic but doing this piece has changed my life...or at least a big portion of it. I am doing more Star Wars pieces (Vader sampler up in a few days!) and I have found an AMAZING amount of Star Wars stitching by other people that I feel compelled to share with the rest of the world.

How? Well, even though it is Star Wars day, it's also Star Wars month. With every episode of the film saga releasing in May, I hope to add a new episode to the stitching community very soon. In the meantime, if you or someone you know stitch Star Wars or Star Wars-inspired pieces (or just a piece) feel free to add it to the Han Stitched First group at flickr! This should give you an idea of where the month, and the future (no matter how long, long ago) is headed!

Bored As Heaven

Ok, I'm not bored at all but I have wanted to do this piece for a while! I have a little book where I draw some of my ideas for future stitch projects and every once in a while one project will just get stuck in my head. During the time I was working on my Luke Skywalker project that is exactly what happened.

I knew I would have to give in and do it but I really didn't want to take that much time away from Luke. I had recently found a couple articles online about using half stitches in place of full cross stitches in an attempt to finish projects faster. Some use different thickness threads, some use three strands of standard thread instead of two, but of the projects I had seen they all seemed very well done. The process itself reminded me kind of starting stitching with needlepoint. I had to change the stitch direction on the right horn to make it look right. It's not my favorite thing I've ever done but at least it's done. I do like the idea of using half stitches for a project but I think it may work better on full pictures and not so much outlines or letters.




I know things have been slow but rest assured I have been working (stitching). There are a couple more posts written and ready so expect those soon. And there is a new site in the works (separate from WJ:IS) and there's more on that coming soon too!

Because I Need A Little Hope

Windy is still in the hospital and the doctors have started throwing out the prognosis' no one really wants to hear.

After finishing Hell and realizing I did not have the tools, nor the funds for the tools, to move on the the next project I anticipated doing I went back to the .img (that's image file for those not nerdy enough). I knew my next project was going to be closer to 25 colors and images of people, castles, aliens and cars. I also am REALLY digging the idea of stitching a portrait of a buddy of mine. I saw a pic of min a while back and the idea has been in my head for a while.

So some common ground was needed. I found an .img in my .img which was more portrait-ish then anything I have previously done. At 10,000+ stitches in 13 colors it seemed like it might be right up my style . So on 2/15/11 I started "A New Hope" and this is where I am at now:


The detail in the eye area is killing me with single stitches of a single color. But I am bring a good boy and following direction...for now.

The other markings are pencil. Because there is so much blocking in the same color I have found it helps me breaze through if I just mark it off. Then all I need is the project, thread and needle. No space for color charts and lists or what-have-you. So the face is generally at home and the rest is while out...or home and tired of looking at the details. Here's an earlier pick of just the four main colors.

I Got 99 Problems But A Stitch Ain't One!

I died a little inside with that one, and let's face it, I probably deserve it.

Sorry folks but with the usual issues of bills, rent, kids, job interviews and sadly Windy remains in the hospital, there has not been a lot of stitch time...let alone a lot of blog time. But I have been stitching and as I sit here on a Saturday morning, I am trying to get a little blogging done. So let's get it on:

After finishing "Hell" I really was at a loss as to what to do next. Yes, there are a couple more pieces planned for the punks not dead series but those require new colors and new cloth and new equals money. Unless you mean "new to you" but I don't think that really works in cross stitch. Exception.

So I started with going back to a piece I had lying around: Bender! I always wanted to put something around him...like a background. I borrowed a book from the library and found a darning pattern and ran with it. I always imagined it with a dark-ish green. I have no idea why but I did.



There is so much I would do on that piece if I did it again. Oh well. I still love it.

Speaking of love, Valentine's Day also came and went. As usual it came with a cross stitched love note to my dearest Windy. I have wanted to use the heart pattern a lot and I love this song by the Groovie Ghoulies.



I am working on a new project since February 15th and it is coming a little slower then I would have liked but so is everything else. I hope to start showing it off soon.

Finishing a Finished Piece, or Punk Is "Framed"

So the "Hell" piece, along with The Joker, are going to London for the Stitch and Craft Show! Nice, right? Well that led to some questions about how I plan to finish it. When last we posted, "Hell" was done, but not finished.

It's still not. But only because I am being completely anal about it and just have not finished the finishing! But I did finish the finishing on the previously finished "Punks Not Dead" piece.

I plan on all the pieces in the series, at least initially, to be finished with a duct tape "frame". For this piece it is red. For "Hell" I just got back from the store and got black duct tape. But why? For "Hell" alone I have some great ideas on a frame from making one out of chain-link fence to Windy's brilliant idea of spray-painting a fence onto a traditional frame.

It's all about the time and place these pieces represent. Before I found the amazing Julie Jackson and her life-changing book, I was a broken and beaten shell of a man. Completely destroyed and physically handicapped from a failed relationship, I was broke, unemployed and sleeping on my nephew's floor in my sister's house. I was a alcohol, drug and depression-ridden mess. The more things change the more they stay the same, right? Of course, I am far from depressed these days.

Anyway, these were the days I was so broke I would recycle cans to pay for thread. I would pay for the thread to hide the fact I was stealing aida cloth to work on. Or hoops. Or whatever else I needed that cost more then thirty-five cents. It is important for me to say that I am in no way glorifying my actions, nor am I in any way trying to justify them. It's simply a statement of fact of where I was at that time. Please do not steal from your local craft store...unless you absolutely have to. And don't do drugs...unless they're good.

These pieces are supposed to remind me of those times. Of making things I thought only I would get and hanging them up with duct tape because I didn't know what else to do with them. I will most likely get the mounting boards for them and I hope to add chains or chains of safety pins for the hanging hardware. I really think that this throwback to my roots truly represents what I wanted to catch with these pieces. Of course if you think it is just lazy posturing: FUCK YOU!.

See, punk's not dead at all!!!

Technical Difficulties...

Yes, "Hell" is done. I have become completely obsessed with a new project which has required a LOT of research and it is not easy to find. I'm sure it would be but I am still working in Safe Mode due to a virus that somehow will not kick rocks.

In the meantime go stitch. I will post a link to something or other that is cool in the meantime. I'd hate for you to think I forgot about you!

Check out this interview with Giggly Mama over at suchcoolstuff.

12 Days of Hell: Day Four

After blocking out that little section I would say I have made some pretty good headway!

I have been listening to the album this morning (as well as the latest, Dissent of Man) and I am pumped to stitch today.

I have also come up with an idea for a smaller version of this for folks who may not want to spend all year stitching it. Of course I will have to stitch it again to show you so you still may not see it for another year anyway (I keep ALL the good shit behind the counter)!

I would love to sit and keep telling you about it but this thing is not going to stitch itself. I tried. I left it in a drawer for, like, three months and I think it actually took a block of stitches out as it counted the days! It also shanked my pincushion.