anagramofbrat | Bead post. Because.

Wake, memorial, etc. survived and done with. That'll be a post for later after I'm done sorting through my bag of feels.

Have a job interview in a couple hours. Wish me luck.

In the tender space between the two, some bead progress.

1) The Witch is DONE. Finally.

Despite the fact that this is her second incarnation (she looks much better now than she used to, hey?) she still had things to teach me. Like the virtues of thin thread and how much I utterly loathe finishing loomed work. There are so many cracked beads along her edges from too many threads passing through it's sick. Even though the brick stitching takes a lot longer, I think ultimately it's going to end up being far better in terms of uniformity (less gaps and holes) thread passes (because broken beads mid-tapestry suck) and me tearing my hair out because I HATE finishing warp threads with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. I think i dodged a bullet not ordering the larger beadloom for the bigger projects... but get back to me when I actually have started one, am 30 rows in and am thoroughly hating it. That will happen.

Anyway, not sure what's next for her. I guess put her aside until I get some scratch, and then get her framed. Then ??? Note to self, get that Etsy shop off the ground.

Christopher Belmont has also been progressing:

Got three rows left on him. Seeing as I can now clearly see the difference between the yellow and the lime beads, I'd say that this particular test was a success... so I guess the next step is graduating to one of the full sized screenshots. Working on this piece has definitely taught me that huge blocks of a single color can either be excruciatingly boring to work on or can progress stupid quickly, seeing as there's only one color for however long and you fall into a rhythm. That considered, I want to start with a screenie that doesn't consist of a cubic fuckton of pale green, at least not right away. (Partly because I'm running lower on that color right now.) Thinking either of the two Castlevania patterns or the Tetris Dance. Leaning towards the latter, just so I won't have to do ol' Chris again quite so soon, but then again the original idea for this whole project did start with the second Castlevania shot so part of me strongly feels like I should start with it. I guess I don't have to make a final decision until the fourth row of whichever project, since they all start and end with 3 rows of solid yellow.

The other thing these little tests have taught me is that when looming I follow a codified pattern more easily than I do a picture pattern. When stitching in one bead at a time, I find I follow the picture much more easily. This could change when I make the jump to the big guys. We'll see.

Much to my annoyance I find myself in need of new needles. I snapped all of the #12s I bought in Greenfield finishing the Witch (More reasons to hate finishing). Am currently working with a #10 on Christopher; thankfully since I don't have that bead overstuffing problem thanks to thin thread and not too many passes, a slightly thicker needle seems to be holding up well, but I'm down to two thick needles and a severely bent #13 right now. Le sigh. Wellp, maybe this job'll work out and I'll have the scratch to pick up new ones from somewhere. And maybe a bead stop, so I don't have to mummify the first bead of a piece in thread. And also (insert more bead supplies here).

Speaking of job, enough bead yammer. Off to transform myself into a reasonable facsimile of a grown-up.