July WIPocalypse

Hi everyone! I cannot believe July is almost over! Hope everyone is making good stitchy progress. :) Let's see what I've been up to this last month...

As always, Tigers got some love, and a good bit of progress:

All the greenery is finished!! Yay! I've really impressed myself with sticking to this every month. All I've got left are the faces, a few odd bits, and some backstitching. So maybe a finish by the end of August? (fingers crossed!)

Also a bit of progress on Flora, with lots more red:

Next time, I hope to finish up that flower at the bottom.

Scale was on the stand for a while, but progress is still slow, though I don't know why. I'm probably just missing all the fun colors from the upper pages:

It's hard to see my progress since there's a lot of white on white, but I am about halfway done with the current page.

Moon Indigo was out last week, and I managed a page finish!

I know it's boring, but I just love that blue background. This makes three completed pages so far this year (though the last two were partials). Next month I'll be starting page 9. :)

And finally, I've pulled out Pavonia, who is getting some much deserved attention. I managed to push through the worst bits of confetti on this page last month, so I've been stitching away on her skin, which has relatively large swaths of color:

Still a good deal of confetti to get through, but the end is in sight (at least for this page)!

My stitch total for June was 14,281, so my needle has indeed been quite busy. My total for the year so far is 81,756 stitches, a number which quite astounds me.

This month, our topic is to discuss our plans for the Olympic Challenge, or discuss our stitching so far this year.
I still have not decided if I'm doing the challenge, which means I probably won't -- but then again, I might. (indecision!) I would love to try and stitch on one project for a good while, but every time I choose one, the other projects start whining about favoritism. I've gotten into a good groove with my weekly rotation, and I don't want to mess with it. I've also thought about doing the rotation challenge, though that would involve taking smaller projects to work for my early morning sessions. This is still a possibility, since I could use it as an excuse to start a few patterns I recently got on Etsy... Hmm... I guess if I can get organized, I'll give it a go. :)

And, since the year is now more than half over, I think I'll do a quick check in with my goals for the year:

• Moon Indigo: at least 3 pages              Complete!
• Pavonia: 3 pages                               Almost done with 1 page
• Scale: 2 pages                                  Halfway through 1 page
• The Favorite Bird: 3 pages                  Complete!
• Euphoria: 1 1/2 pages                        Complete!
• Wisdom: 1 1/2 pages                         Finished one page
• Flora: 3 pages                                   Finished one page
• Madchen Am Strand: 4200 stitches       Complete!
• Cassiopeia: 6000 stitches                    4500 done
• Kabuki: 5600 stitches                         4445 done
• Tigers: Finish                                    Almost there
• White Queen: 1 page                          Not touched yet
• Crystals and Crows: 1 page                 Almost there
• Ginger Nova: 1 page                          Half page done

Not bad overall, Still some work to be done though. Guess I'd better get stitchin'. :) Until next time!

Steadily Stitching Along

Hi stitchers! Hope everyone is having a good week.

I am still upside down at work, but I've now been temporarily assigned to a new department. It's still a heavy workload with high expectations, but a different environment, so it's much quieter and less hectic. Hopefully it will be less stress for a while, and I can concentrate more on happy stitching. :)

Last week, I pulled out Flora again, though by Friday I was so tired I barely got anything done. Still, I made a decent amount of progress:

Lots of red this time, as I was trying to get the red flower done at the bottom. Hopefully next time will see that done.

I also managed some meager progress on Scale, though I seem to be stagnating on her a bit:

For a while, I had a good rhythm going with the white, then filled in some ecru so I could see my progress better. I'm trying to alternate white with colors, but the colors were being fiddly and uncooperative for a while. Still, she is starting to fill in. I'm about halfway done on page 7. I'd love to finish the page by the end of the month, but we'll see.

I would probably make more progress on Scale if I could stop stitching on Death by Cross Stitch. This piece is absolutely addictive, and I've spent a few late nights with this when I should have been sleeping (though I regret nothing):

The first border had a really nice rhythm to it, and it was hard to put down. I'm now working on the first "scene" which is the unicorn, and part of why I was so intrigued by this piece. It's very unusual, in that the background is stitched, leaving blank fabric to "color" the unicorn. I think it's a lovely concept, and would love to see this stitched on hand dyed fabric. But I am quite content with my boring Aida. :)

Also, a tip I would like to pass on. Someone on Facebook (can't remember who) mentioned that for long borders stitched Dutch style (i.e. lots of first legs, then crossing them all later) counting can be made much easier by crossing each tenth stitch in the line. A simple concept, but it has really helped me on this design. You can see where I've done this if you look close; I've still got some uncrossed bits in there. Hope that helps someone else down the line. :)

That's all for this week, short and sweet. I've got Luna back on the stand (yay!) and I'm hoping for a page finish this week (fingers crossed!). Until next time!

Slow Progress

Hello again!

Seems like my stitching has been all over the place the last couple weeks. I've been stitching every day, but on lots of different things, so I haven't had much progress to show. Until now. :)

I pulled out my Tigers again last week, and managed to finish all the greenery, including the backstitching. I also finished up mama's other leg, and did the backstitching there:

Not bad for a week's work. I've still got some finishing to do on mama's front leg, then the faces, then a bunch more backstitch, then it's done! Hopefully I can manage a finish by the end of August, or there abouts.

I also pulled out my much neglected favorite, Pavonia. I haven't touched her since December, so I was glad to finally show her some love. Part of the reason for the hiatus was the confetti. Sometimes it just gets to be too much, searching ten minutes for those two or three stitches, and doing so for days on end. (Sounds awful, I know, but it's totally worth it.) But now the worst of the confetti is over for a while, and I'm getting a good start on her forehead:

It is so nice seeing her starting to develop. Her hair and face should be relatively easy stitching, so maybe I can get that much done this year. :)

I've got lots of smaller projects going at the moment, though few of them enjoy regular stitching. But I thought I'd show a couple that have managed to get 10 days worth of progress. I figure that's a good benchmark.

First is one by Moira Blackburn, called Three Things Sampler:

I really love this pattern. It has lots of little details, gentle colors, and I really like the verse. I started this in February, but only work on it a couple times a month, so it'll be a while before I get any significant progress.

A few weeks ago, I began a Star Wars pattern from Cross Stitch For You on Etsy:

I love this image! Of course it's R2D2, but it's also the Death Star, the forest of Endor, and a little Ewok in the center. (Yeah, I like Star Wars, can ya tell?) It's a ton of black, but I'm lucky enough to have one of those DMC cones of 310, so I'm happy to be using it. :) I'm not sure if I'll end up giving this to a friend of mine whose birthday is in October. I honestly don't think I'll have it done by then. But I'm thinking about it.

I've got Scale out again, but haven't made much progress yet. I've been shopping a few sales and stashing like crazy, buying a lot of patterns that are outside of my normal style, which I mostly blame on Flosstube. :) But I couldn't resist putting a few stitches into one of my newest stashquisitions, Death by Cross Stitch, from Long Dog:

 I'm doing this on 20ct Antique White Aida, with one strand of Thread Worx Deep Sea Blue. It's a variegated thread similar to 939, but with touches of black here and there. It's really subtle, but quite lovely.

Well, that's enough rambling for now. Hope everyone Stateside is having a good holiday. Until next time!

June WIPocalypse

Hi there!

Today is officially the first day of summer, but it's been over 90 degrees (F) here for about two weeks.Ugh! Looking over the projects I've worked on in the last month, it seems like a lot more time has passed since I stitched on them. I've been sooo busy at work, stuff I worked on four weeks ago feels more like two or three months ago. It kind of gives me that surreal feeling like time is going both really fast and really slow. But I guess the year is half over, or just about.

Let's see... I worked on Cass for a while, as she's nice easy stitching when I'm feeling stressed. Here's where I left her in March:

I managed to finish the bottom border and get to the edge of her dress plus the end of her couch, then I rolled her up and stitched a bit more:

I got some more green done on my Tigers, but couldn't quite finish all the leaves. It's pretty close though:

Flora started a new page, which is off to a good start:

I added a couple columns on Moon Indigo (I also did a parking demo with her if you're interested, just click the tab at the top):

I figure if I do just two columns a month on Luna, I'll get another 11,400 stitches done by the end of the year, which is about a page and a half. Not a bad total for just a little attention each month. :)

I also finally pulled out Scale for the first time this year, but only for  a few days so far. Last year I managed to get her massive eye done. This year, it'll be her massive nose:

And last but not least, I had a new start for my birthday (can't believe that was less than 4 weeks ago!). This is Ginger Nova from HAED:

I've got four columns of page one done (large format). Just a few more columns to finish the page (and my goal for the year) but I doubt I'll put her away after that. I really love stitching on her and watching those colors take shape into stars and light and space. I'd love to get into the orange of her inner halo, but we'll see. :)

Phew! Didn't realize I'd touched so many projects since last time. No wonder it feels like more than a month. My stitch total for May was 8,918 stitches, my lowest for the year, but I'm still really happy with that. For the year, I'm up to 67,475 stitches, which I think is awesome! My original goal was 90,000 stitches for the year, but now I want to see if I can break 100,000, which is something I always thought would be impossible. But I am definitely going to give it a try. :)

This month's question is: Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

I am definitely a winter stitcher. I know in January, I'm all excited about the new year and new goals, which always motivates me well into February. Then in late March, the seasons change, I start my spring cleaning, work gets busier, I go out shopping more, etc., and my stitching mojo gradually diminishes. Usually by May, I'm lucky to be doing any stitching at all (though this year might have turned the tide on that). June and July are usually so hot and awful, everything takes so much more energy and time gets away from me. Then by August, I'm trying to play catch up, and by September I settle down and try to finish up my more important goals. I usually hit my stride by October, then stitch like mad 'til the end of the year to finish as much as possible, then start the whole thing over again.

 I know most people like stitching when the sun is bright, but there's something about stitching when it's dark out that makes it seem more cozy, like there's nothing else in the world outside my lamp and my stitching. It makes it easier to focus. I guess that's why I prefer stitching on a winter evening to summer. :)

Riolis Kit Review

Hello again! I've been kind of busy this week, but I've got a lot to ramble about show you. :)

This week I got started on some fresh pages for Flora:

I'm working two pages at once, since the lower page is just a small partial. Had a string of good days, so I managed just over 1700 stitches here. I think I've got the bits of her dress done, and a sort of outline on the big red flower at the bottom left. The mess of stitches across the upper half will someday be a bunch of grapes, plus a few more flowers. You can never have too many flowers. :)

I also finally pulled out Scale, though I didn't get quite as much done this week as I'd hoped:

I've decided to work down instead of across, so I've been stitching her left eye and bits of her nose. In fact, this whole page will be her very large nose. I'm hoping to get two pages done this year -- her nose and her cheek, to the right. Unfortunately, I don't think this will be very exciting to look at. Most of the color is on the far left; the page for her cheek is almost entirely white, with ecru for contrast. Not visually stimulating, but it does stitch up fairly quickly.

I've got Scale on a scroll frame now instead of a q-snap, and I bought a little something to help with the tension, so I thought I'd share:

 I've seen these on some of the Russian flosstube videos, and decided to buy them along with my Riolis kits. I have no idea what they're called, they were listed on ebay as "side stretch canvas". They were $10 for a pair, and are really simple and easy to use. The ends loop around the frame, then you weave the elastic around the side of your frame and attach a little clip. There are 5 clips, each removable, and they have a really good grip. Once they're on, you can tighten them up for more tension, as the ends are completely adjustable. I don't know if it will still be there, but I got mine here. The tension is not as good as a q-snap, but it's better than it was.

Finally, I did find time to play with my Riolis kits. (Actually, I couldn't wait anymore!) And I took lots of pictures. :)

First of all, the wool thread was packaged differently in a couple kits. My Sweet William kit looked like this:

All the thread is presorted and carded, all ready to go. Makes it really hard not to jump right in and start stitching. :)

But my French Lavender kit looked like this:

Just like Pastoral, a sample of each color is in it's proper place on the numbered card sorter, but the wool itself didn't even have a label. This wasn't really a problem; they were actually very well organized and in order, and the color differences are clear. But it did cause me a bit of trouble (though I shoulda knowed better).

My first inclination was to bobbinate all that thread, knowing it would be a hassle. I actually did okay for a few seconds; then I had a nightmare around my wrist. 30 minutes later, I had to use the scissors (but all the thread is still usable). So, lesson learned, here's how I managed.

Each skein starts out like this:

With a bit of finessing, it pulls apart to this:

But don't stop there! Carefully, so the threads don't tangle, you can find another seam where the thread was looped. Pull gently, watching the threads, and you get this:

I didn't find that seam at first when I started winding my first skein. I quickly realized my mistake, but I think it was too late. So in subsequent skeins, I decided to simply cut it here:

This results in fairly uniform lengths for each skein, at around 18-19 inches long. (You know, that "ideal length" they use in them fancy needlework schools?) At this point, I could have attached it directly to the card provided, but I wanted to use another fancy item I bought a few months back: little plastic rings:

After seeing how neat all those HAED kits looked, with all the floss sorted onto cards and kept in place with plastic rings, I thought I might use such a system to kit up my Golden Kite designs, as having identically cut lengths of thread is ideal for blended colors. I know that HAED sells them (or did at the time) but I thought their price a little high. So, I went hopping through the interwebs until I found The Ring Lord, a Canadian company that specializes in these things (though I think they're intended for cosplay?). Anyway, I got 100 half inch rings for just $5! Shipping to the US was also $5, but that's still a heck of a deal. And they work perfectly:

Isn't that pretty? Once I got going, this worked out pretty quickly, just 20 minutes or so. Then I just had to try it out!

This is a about three hours of stitching on French Lavender, starting in the middle. The fabric is 14ct, and it's kind of terrible at first. The edges are really sharp, and it's stiff at first, but it is softening up with time and handling. And the thread is wonderful! Very soft and smooth, easy to thread, easy to work with, the coverage is great, and I haven't had any tangling or knots (and I don't use thread conditioner). If you want to change the fabric on one of these, I wouldn't go smaller than 16ct for 2 strands, or it would be too bulky.

So that's it! I hope showing the wool thread helped anyone who might have been indecisive about trying out a Riolis kit. It's really not that scary, and they do have some wonderful designs. Hope I didn't ramble too much, and let me know if you have questions. Until next time! :)

Never enough time

Hi again! Can't believe it's June already!

Well, things are slowly calming down at work (at least for now) so my stitching is starting to pick up again. I've dabbled on a few projects this week with decent progress, though I hate to put any of these away (but other projects are beginning to scream!).

First, I pulled out my Tigers for some early morning stitching. I had hoped to have all the greenery done by now, but I've had to share stitching time with other things recently. I am tantalizingly close though.

I did manage to finish the bottom corner, and I'm starting to see the outline for the paw.

I was too tired/busy to switch to another project, so I continued a bit with Cass, though I only managed three more days on her. I did roll her up though, so now it's really hard to put her down as I just want to keep filling in those big blocks of color. It's a lot of simple stitching (which helps when your brain feels like mush from overwork) but it takes a lot of time, so I didn't get very far.

I stitched almost entirely in that same shade of light blue-green. (I call it the toothpaste color, as it's actually a blend that reminds me precisely of Colgate toothpaste. Ahh, minty freshness.)

I also got a couple more columns done on Ginger, who is coming along fabulously.

Just starting to define a couple of those light waves in the background, and it's so cool! I am a total astronomy buff, so I love that I'm actually stitching space, and the colors are so awesome. I'm also happy all those "stars" are turning out so well. There's a lot of color in those, and they're pretty fun to stitch.

Lastly, I did finally cave in and put a few stitches on Pastoral, though it doesn't look like much yet.

This is the river, just left of the woman's shoulder. This is a three strand blend, with two of the same blue plus a mid green, which I think gives the color a nice undertone. It'll be interesting to watch the textures in this one, as there are 1, 2, and 3 strand colors, with various blends and half stitches thrown in for good measure.

Also, about the floss: I looked at the box again, and it plainly said this was Anchor floss! I've only ever stitched with Anchor black, but it does not feel or look like what the kit came with. But it is really satiny and smooth and lays well, although the ends tended to fray and thin quite a bit with stitching. Also, this is a Premium Riolis kit, which may be why it is not their typical wool blend floss. I will try to post more about that later, perhaps next weekend if I can find some time to play with my new lovelies. :)

That's all I got for now. Hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is enjoying the warmer weather. :) Until next time!