So Many Projects

Hello again! I've got another long update for you since I've been too busy this month to post. Seriously guys, February has been crazy! But I've been bouncing around on a bunch of projects (15 to be exact) and managed some decent progress on a few. So here we go!

First up is Kabuki. I was hoping to finish off the second row this year, but the confetti is proving to be quite a challenge, so that might not happen. Still, I did get close to a page finish this time round working on her kimono sleeve:

She'll be back again in March, so the current page will definitely be done. The next page is a partial, but also a confetti nightmare. Still, I will stitch valiantly onward. :) I do love how the shading is turning out though. I just keep thinking, this will look great on my wall one day.

Next, I spent a week on Eliza Knight from HATS. I seriously love this sampler, but I had burned out on her a bit after those over 1 eyelets that you can't even see. (They're very light blue, and the light just over exposes them.) So I set the eyelets aside for now and tried doing some of the over 1 letters using tent stitch, since the AVAS silk is very thick, especially on 45ct. Turns out I love it! Tent stitches make the over 1 super easy and fast and even fun.

I'm doing the tent stitches in the same direction as my top leg on normal cross stitches, which is backward for me, but I thought it made more sense to do it that way. After some experimentation, I decided to still throw in a few full crosses to make the over 1 look more fuller where there is a single stitch, like at the end of the 't':

Can you tell I changed it as I went along? I didn't get much done on the few days I worked on her, but at least now I am looking forward to doing the giant over 1 verse in the center.

I was hoping to finish off my R2 silhouette this month, but I just couldn't do it. However, my Death Star is nearing completion, so it won't be much longer:

Hopefully I'll have this done next month. Another few sessions should do it.

I also made time for Elizabeth Oliver since I love her and can't stay away from her for long. I managed to finish off that giant arbor and start on the next very tall fruit tree (please forgive all the threads in the way):

I've been trying to make myself stitch more in those odd pockets of time where I usually don't bother to get my stitching out. But my time is so short these days that even 20-30 minutes is enough to get me stitching. In doing that, I stitched my lion, that cute little bird, and a few odd leaves. Not much, but it does add up.

I think that's all for now. I did have a new start today, but I'll talk about that next time. I'm really going to try to update more often, especially since work is already getting crazy (hello overtime!) and shorter updates are easier. Hope you all are stitching as much as you can! Until next time! :)

February Update

Hi all! I think I'm finally settling into the groove of this new year (still writing 2019 though) and feel like I'm getting a good bit of stitching done. I'm even getting used to my rotation again! (Probably because I can't think of a better option.) So, on with the pretties!

I say 'pretties,' but this first one is mostly black. It's my R2 Silhouette I got from Cross Stitch For You on Etsy. I worked on this the last week of January, but didn't get as far as I'd hoped:

I think that Death Star is going to take forever! Still, the goal is to finish it this year, hopefully this month, or at least early March.

Next, I pulled out Frosty Forest and stitched mostly white. (Beginning to think I've been falsely advertising these pretties...) I started block #6, and that border always takes a lot of time:

It was a short rotation this time, just 4 days instead of 5, but I got a good chunk of snow done, so I should be able to start the house next time round.

In my aim to get back to some of my older pieces, I pulled out Pavonia for 2 long stitching sessions and managed about 800 stitches. I'm converting her to diagonal stitching since I think it will help with all the confetti. Took me a while to get used to her again, but I'm still really enjoying her:

Sadly, this pattern doesn't work with Pattern Keeper, since older Golden Kite's didn't come with passwords and that somehow doesn't mesh with PK's programming. (Hopefully that will change in a future update.) But Pavonia is officially back in the rotation! My goal is to finish off the current page this year. (Small steps lead to great strides!)

Last, I want to mention this week's No Wip Left Behind project: Climbing the Dragon Gate from HAED. I started this chart on February 7, 2016 while recovering from a bit of surgery. The thought was that it was an easy chart, and easy stitching was what I needed at the time. I didn't think it would take me 4 years to finish a single page! But yes, on February 7, 2020, I finally managed it:

I remember having to put this down initially because I didn't have all the required floss in my stash. Then later, since it isn't a priority chart, I just never found time to work on it. But I still enjoy this one, and it would be nice to make more progress. I just keep struggling with that urge to stitch on all the things versus my limited ability in what I can actually manage. But I won't be discouraged! Somehow I'll find a way to balance progress and quantity. I know the solution will never be ideal, but I'll take what I can get and enjoy the process. Hope you all do the same.

Happy stitching everyone!