Project. Why? I don't know. It's just one of those things, you wake up and you know. I had a dream that I was cross-stitching a nudie picture. I haven't cross-stitched in over a decade, I guess. Nevertheless. The's an ant crawling over my pen box. Why is there an ant crawling over my pen box? Now it's on the monitor. So after some fruitful webcrawling, I have a trial version of PC stitch, which will allow you to design your own cross-stitch patters, including importing graphics and converting them to a pattern -- ready-made, convertible to whatever floss system you use, you set the number of colors, the stitches per inch, etc. At 24 inches across and a proportionate number of inches high, I'm starting on the Maxfield Parrish painting that is the two kids (I know, not a nudie picture, but the same sensuality of delight is there -- the lighting is sexy, if you will), the two pillars, the trees, and a lake with moutains...and mostly sky.

Only a cross-stitcher would know how nuts this project is. And no, I'm not going to put "Home Sweet Home" right in the middle, with pastel curlicue letters and backstitching. And definitely no cute little kitties wearing Santa hats. And If I Ever Finish It, Lee Will Get It Professionally Framed For Me. He said.

I bought the canvas and some of the thread today (DMC. Fifty colors. JoAnne's Fabrics was out of white. White. White? How can you be out of WHITE?). And a roller frame, so I don't have to try to work my way around all that fabric. I have high hopes for the roller frame.

If I ever do this again, I'm going to get the full version of the software. You can't save on the trial version. Damn bastards, making me take all those screen shots. Just as well. I have pictures of the rulers on each page, so if I lost my place, I only have 12 square inches to search. Trivial.