#venitinmentem

Finished cross stitch project number two yesterday :) I had to change things around quite extensively, as I had miscalculated the fabric and... I was short a bit, oops :) It was supposed to be a wreath, but I actually really like it this way too! It's 14 ct Aida, stitched with 2 strands of cotton.

@venitinmentem had bought me the pattern and I'd promised to make it for her, so of course I bought more canvas this week and started on the complete pattern again ;)

About 12 hours in, I've finished about 1/4 of the design :D

Update: after three days and two evenings (about 20 hours) - almost halfway done with the wreath 😊

IT IS DONE, PRAISE EVERYTHING!

@venitinmentem, I hope you love it - it's filled with four weeks of my life and also countless curses because OH MY GOD SO MUCH PINK! (Honestly, be glad that I love you, I almost gave up quite a few times 😄😭)

Can you see the sparkle in the backstitch on the flower? Metallic thread is a bitch to work with, but damn it's pretty when you look at it in natural light.

The shades also make it really lifelike and vibrant, but they really test the stitches patience 😄

Also, you need quite a bit of thread for it, and I ran out of one color shortly before being done...

So yeah, it was a bitch to make, but the results are more than making up for it all and I'm a little proud for finishing it and it looking almost like it's supposed to 😉

(Pattern from Cross Stitcher issue 212, stitched on 14 ct Aida using Anchor threads)

Spiders like damp and dark places so if you move in and keep it dry and warm and light, they won't like it. But spiders eat all kinds of insects that are much ickier, so you should let them be. There are those electronic things that you plug into the wall that emit a high frequency sound that spiders don't like. If they work, I don't know... I really hope you get the house! Living in a tiny little house is great!

I’m back from Finland and I already miss it and especially @venitinmentem, who was a perfect hostess and a hoot to be around! I had missed you, my friend, and now I’m already missing you again! <3 I loved finally getting to see your cozy little house with the crooked, creaking floors, your crazy cute kitties and the lovingly cared for yard. I enjoyed meeting your family and friends and see the places that were important to you after we explored Helsinki together. It truly was an awesome trip!

Also, it’s 10.25 pm and dark outside, I’m not used to that anymore. The sun set at around 11.20 pm in Finland, but it never got really dark as it does here, so weird and awesome :D

In finland you're part of the church your mother belongs to, automatically. Most people are lutheran protestants without thinking much about it. I had my confirmation and all because it's one of those things you do, and you get gifts and money. In Finland you can leave the church through a website (the address is basically divorcethechurch.fi or something, in Finnish) and it's really easily. When the website was created some 15 years ago it led to a lot of people leaving

venitinmentem replied to your post

(Con'd) because it was so easy. Every time the church says something bad about same sex marriage or something, there's an increase in people who leave. Whenever the church says something positive about something Christians usually don't like, people leave as well; those are the super Christian dicks who don't want to be in a "liberal" church. I left in 2008, I think. This means I no longer pay church tax. And when I die, my grave won't be tended for by the cemetery staff.

venitinmentem replied to your post

(CoNt'd) or some shit like that. I don't care. I also can't get married in a church (unless my htb was a member, I think). It's not like I ever wanted to get married in a church anyway...

It’s really interesting to see the differences and similarities here! Here you need to be baptized to be a member of the church, then you also attend he religious studies class of that faith in school. It used to be only Catholic and Protestant classes, no idea if that changed now. If you didn’t adhere to either, you were allowed to either choose which to attend or from middle school on attended philosophy/ethics class. Which was what I did, together with the few other non-baptized kids in my class. I chose to get baptized when I was 14, as our pastor (who was a cool dude and preached about Bob Dylan as much as about Jesus and the bible) said that I should just do it so I could get the presents and money you get for confirmation :P Besides, all my classmates went, so I wanted too. And look at me, took me 26 years from then to finally get out again!

Oh wait. Baptism. That’s a thing. Yeah you need that too. Not the mother thing. That’s Judaism. Duh. I’m on vacation so I’ve hung my brain in the wardrobe.

I still don’t really believe it, you booked the tickets so long ago I just sort of put it out of my mind. And now it’s happening tomorrow and I’m all “wut?”