Golden Gus

Well, I'm pleased to say that Gus is moving right along. I think I made some good progress on him this week. I have shifted over from the mummy to the outer sarcophagus case. That's where the real fun is!

Gus's beautiful golden face works up quickly although I confess that I don't like stitching with Accentuate. It gives a very nice effect but I'm glad that there wasn't a lot of the face that required stitching with it.

After stitching his face, I moved on to the red bib and the teal shoulder areas. The actual stitching is very easy. It was deciding where to place the stitches that gave me pause. This painted area of the canvas (the lower part of the hood, bib area, and shoulder area) is a little difficult to figure out what is what. I did a lot of referring to the photo of Gus in our stitch guide. From the way in which my canvas was painted, the black hood was longer on the left side than the right. I decided that I wanted it to look more symmetrical so I extended the black a little further down on the right than what was painted. I know there will be a golden hand in this area later on that holds the crook and the gold stick with the tassel. If I am off on my placement of parts of the bib or the shoulders, I think they will be covered up with these other elements.

I'm glad I took the time to take a close look at the beaded ornament before I began stitching the black hood. That allowed me to place my black stitches where they needed to be around the ornament and still have room for all the beads as the ornament is graphed. I haven't completely finished the ornament - there are a couple of more layers of beads to add on certain parts of the ornament. I'll come back to add those layers later on.

I took some time away from stitching yesterday to go to the movies (too bad you can't needlepoint in the dark). I saw The King's Speech and absolutely loved it. You have to go see it. In case you don't know anything about it, it is the story of King George VI's (Colin Firth) attempt to overcome his stammer with the help of his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush). There are some great actors and actresses with small parts in this film - Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Claire Bloom, Anthony Andrews. It is a very touching, uplifting story and one that gives the audience reason to applaud at the end of the movie. How many movies do you see these days that make you want to applaud? I hope this film wins lots of awards at the Golden Globes and Oscars.

The snow and ice are almost completely gone - thank the Lord! We're in the 50s today so whatever is left - even in the shade - won't last for long.

Hope this finds you warm and snow free today!