June Wrap Up

Hi all! I should really be packing right now, but what the heck! I've got a few tidbits to share, and I'd better do so before I forget everything. I'm moving in a week and still have lots to pack, but I have to keep stitching or the stress will overwhelm me. Plus work is starting to get hectic again, so there's gonna be lots of overtime in my near future. Better stitch while I can!

So, I had a bit of startitis this month, even though I did so well up until last month. But I went shopping with my overtime money again and bought a bunch of kits, which made me go and fondle all the kits I already own and haven't started yet, which led to my first start. I'm sure you've seen this a millions times, but I still think it's beautiful. This is Chickadees and Lilacs from Dimensions:

I've been wanting to start this for at least 3 years now, and almost did while I was doing the year of starts, but something else always came up and this got pushed aside. No more! I worked on this for 6 days and made a fair bit of progress thanks to all those tent stitches. I've also decided I can't start in the middle of projects anymore. It's like there's too many options of which way to stitch. So I started in the bottom right corner, something new for me, and I'm really loving it. It just makes my brain happy. :)

My second start was one of my new purchases, but I've literally been drooling over this one for a couple years. I found it for a good price on ebay and snatched it up, and started it two days later. This one is Hollyhocks by Riolis:

Again, I started at the bottom. It's been a long time since I've stitched on black aida, so that takes some getting used to, but I love how the colors look on the black. This is only 3 hours work, but you can see the first leaf taking shape. The lighter color is actually a blend, and this kit is very specific about how the stitches are worked. For this one, it's two strands of the same darker green you see for the bottom leg of the stitch, then one strand of a lighter green for the top leg. I generally work in rows, doing all the bottom legs then crossing for each row, so I had to adjust the way I stitch while working the blend. But I really like the effect.

As proof that I don't only work on my new starts, here's some progress on my 12 Days of Christmas by Jim Shore:

I finished all the stitching for 3 French Hens, but again, there will be a ton of beads, which is why it still looks unfinished. I thought this one would take a lot longer than it did, but it was actually easy stitching. Hopefully I'll have this back out in July to get a start on 4 Calling Birds.

I've also been focusing on Quaker Compass by Rosewood Manor for about a week. I'll probably keep working on it for another week, but here's a bit of progress to show:

My goal is to finish the bottom left quadrant this year, but there's still a lot left to do. The stitching does go pretty quick though, even if it's a lot of stop and start stitching with the tiny motifs. I wish I could take a better picture to show how those colors look in real life. I love the muted palette. Those gray greens are very soft and warm. :)

I think that's all for now. I didn't get my columns finished on Luna this month, but I'm not too far behind. My rotation is still off, but I'm still stitching, so that's all that matters, right? Hope everyone is making fantastic progress on all your projects. Until next time! :)

April/May Catch Up

Hi stitchers! It seems I've fallen off the blogging train again. Haven't been posting on Facebook or Instagram either. I blame too much overtime plus trying to find a new apartment. Every spare moment I've had goes to stitching, not posting.

We had three weeks of mandatory overtime at work, minimum of 15 hours extra each week. And you know, once it stops being voluntary, it stops being fun and starts to kill you. But I think I've recovered now. :)

My stitching really suffered for about a month, but I've stitched almost every day, and I've hit a few milestones. First, I'll share a finish on a cute little project from Little House Needleworks. This is Stitcher's Prayer, stitched on 32ct Raw Belfast, finished May 25th:

Forgive the crappy lighting, it's been a struggle. I really like how this turned out. I don't have any immediate plans for it, but perhaps I'll frame it once I find my new place. It could be a good start to a new stitchy wall. :)

I also managed to keep up with Luna, and now have half of page 15 done:

I've kind of started a new way of stitching on this one. Instead of stitching down one column, I'm stitching two at a time. And instead of stitching each color within a full block, I'm doing two rows at a time, using parking. It sounds fiddly, but with only a few colors, it's super easy and goes fast. I don't even have to mark my pattern anymore. I don't think I'll stitch this way with high confetti areas, but it's awesome on the background.

I've been trying to keep up with my Elizabeth Oliver sampler by Moira Blackburn. I'm trying to finish at least a row every year, but I kind of fell behind with the first section. I think I can catch up though, since the next two sections are all text, and that goes pretty quick. Here's the full image, which is hard to photograph properly:

It seems odd that I can't stitch the blue border yet, as it has to be stitched in the same direction all around. But I am loving all the little motifs so far.

The last thing I want to share is a new start. Yes, it finally happened. May 13th, I started Eliza Knight by Hands Across the Sea Samplers. This is my second HATS start, and my second Eliza, but I just couldn't resist this one. I can't say what I like exactly; I don't even like green that much. But the sampler is very symmetrical, and has a lot of flowers and trees and little motifs. Overall, I just love the look of this one. So with my first bit of overtime money, I treated myself to the fabric and fiber kit from Sassy Jacks. The fabric is 45ct Woven Sedge with Au Ver a Soie silks, and I must say, the silk is definitely worth it! Here's my progress so far, starting in the bottom left corner:

I've stitched on this one every day since I started. I really don't want to quit. My May rotation schedule has been completely ignored, and I think June's is out the widow as well. I don't know how long I'll keep going, but I'm just gonna roll with it.

Here's a couple of close ups, though the lighting is still terrible:

 That branch the parrot is sitting on contains my first over 1 stitches ever. They came out a little sloppy since the thread is really too big for the fabric, but I'm okay with it. (At a distance, they look fine.) I think the large trees at the bottom are what really sold this pattern for me. They're like three trees in one. First the checkerboard, then the dark green oval, then the black triangle. I really love how it comes together. And the trunk is actually stitched 1 thread off to make it perfectly centered. That was a little daunting to stitch, especially since the threads are so close, but the fact that it's centered just makes it sing for me. :)

The fabric is actually not the best. I'm stitching Eliza Bell Cox on 46ct Zweigart linen which seems easy, but this 45ct Woven Sedge is extremely dense. I have to use my magnifier, and even then I can't always see the threads. (It's only a 5x though.) It's not so bad I want to restart, but sometimes I have to count very carefully with the tip of my needle and hope I'm not messing up.

So here's something interesting. Sassy Jacks actually sent me the pattern with my fabric and fiber kit, even though it wasn't part of the kit. That means I have two Eliza Knight patterns. Which means I'm willing to pass along the extra to anyone willing to attempt this beast, free of charge. I know most of you either like really small things or really big things, but if you're interested, just leave a comment or send me an email. And I don't mind sending international. :)

Well, that's all for now. I've got to get back to stitching. Until next time!