Sunday, April 23, 2017

Moving Along

Hi all! It's been a while. Didn't mean to disappear, but... well, you know how life can be. :)

This is the time of year where it gets really hectic at work and overtime hours are encouraged. In fact, there's been a mandatory requirement of 8 hours overtime these past couple weeks, so stitching time has been quite sparse. Yet still, I persevere!

In fact, I've taken on a really fine challenge and finally started my Chatelaine! I'd been planning since last year to start it this April -- even took a day off work to give it my full attention -- and I am so in love with it! This is Medieval Cloister Herbularius (Herb for short) and it's going to be a real stunner some day:
My mother predicts this will take me 110 years to finish, but I think I've done pretty well so far. This is three days work, about 13 hours in (thanks to my marathon stitching on day 1). All the normal cross stitch for the center part is done, but there's lots of gaps for specialty stitches and beads. And more beads. And there's a ton of beads!! I hope they all fit, 'cuz this is 32ct Jobelan, and I really want everything to fit. (I think it should be fine though, really.)

Stitching with all that silk is a-ma-zing! Most of the blues are NPI, but there's also Gloriana and Gloriana Florimel, Waterlilies, and Dinky Dyes. Love using all those silks! The 3/4 stitches have been a bit tricky, especially in the water lily things, but I think I managed to make it look okay:
Oooh, silk... And yes, those gaps are for beads! :)
Can't wait to try my first Jessica stitches. Hope I don't mess those up! I'm hoping to get through part one this year, but I'm saving all that beading for last. The kit included a bit of beading thread, so that will be fun to play with. :)

This month, I also managed to finish a smaller project intended for a friend's birthday. This is Friends are Like Bras from Lizzie Kate:
This was really quick to stitch, taking just 7.8 hours in 8 days. I didn't use all the called for overdyed threads, but it still looks good in DMC. Hopefully I can find a suitable frame and gift it next month. :)

Also, I've had a lot of waiting room stitching this month, so my favorite travel project has a bit of progress. Still no ears, but Geometric Bunny has a face! Isn't he cute?
Love how these colors have turned out. Don't think you can tell from this picture, but from across the room, he really has some depth. Can't wait to start on his ears (finally!) but I will be so sad to see this little guy go. I've noticed this pattern isn't available from Velvet Pony Design anymore, and I don't know why, but hopefully they will put it back up again in the future.

Well, think that's all for now. Hope everyone is finding time to stitch and enjoying the spring weather as I am! Until next time! :)

4 comments:

  1. Hi there, great progress!
    I do not have the courage to start a Chatelaine nor to start a new project whit all the ones I have in the waiting, but do admire those who does.
    I love your blog, looking forward to see your updates soon!
    Ciao,
    Cinzia

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  2. Lovely work on all your projects! The chateleine is really coming along well, I love the brightness of the blue in the centre. The bunny ears will be really exciting to finish up but you can definitely already see the face clearly.

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  3. I'm so happy you started that chatelaine, it looks great so far =) I would love to try them, but they are so expensive (and get even more expensive via taxes if I order them from european cross stitch, which is not in europe...). But I will enjoy to see yours grow =)

    Congrats on your finish and your great work on the geometric bunny, it's awesome =)
    I hope work will be a bit more quite soon, so you get more time more time for stitching again

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  4. This is gorgeous! I started my first Chatelaine this year too. Some people gifted me the silks as a Birthday present so it wasn't too expensive!

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