A Bit of Wisdom

I had a bit more time for stitching this week, so I finally managed a bit of progress on Wisdom. She was this month's pick for the monthly challenge in Full Coverage Fanatics on Facebook, so I needed to get at least 1200 stitches done. I managed slightly more than that, around 1400, but I don't think I'll get any more done on her. Still, it was enough to finish off the lower page 9 and start on page 2:

In the mornings, I've continued to stitch on Elizabeth Oliver, which I am still in love with. I think I'm making decent progress, but I still don't want to put her down! I think I'll keep stitching until I reach a proper stopping point, when I'll need to move the qsnaps. So I'll at least finish of that pile of apples, and perhaps another honeysuckle:

So far I think it's looking pretty good. I love the color changes in the floral border. The first horizontal border is probably my least favorite aspect of the sampler, so I'll probably try to stitch all of that first. I am really looking forward to the house toward the bottom, but it will be a while before I get there. :)

My Temperature charts are still scorching hot, and it keeps getting hotter:

I've finished another side on the ornament chart, but this band will continue through most of June. At this rate, I might run out of orange before then. On a side note, I love air conditioning! :)

Well, tomorrow is my birthday, so I'll be starting something new to mark the occasion. I was going to start another HAED, since it's like a tradition, but I've decided to go with a smaller kit instead. Ah, there's just so much I want to stitch! One project I did not manage to touch this month was Moon Indigo. So I''ve decided to challenge myself to see how much I can stitch on her next month. Wish me luck!

The End of Maynia, Year of Starts #5

Maynia is officially over for me, but I did have a lot of fun doing it. It seems stitching on one project for a long time is actually something I enjoy, and I should probably do that more often. I had originally intended to stitch on my Permin 1826 sampler for 15 days, but it ended up being 17. I was so close to finishing that first giant mandala, I just had to continue:

I would have liked to stitch on this even longer; there are a few little motifs hovering around that were begging to be stitched, at least to fill in the area before I move the qsnaps again, but I have moved on to another project. I still look at this one a lot though. I might have to change how I do things because switching around so much is starting to make me sad rather than happy to be switching. But I'll think on that later. For this project, I managed a total of 4,638 stitches in 20.5 hours. I've already used up two skeins of floss and started the third. I left the bobbin in for scale. This motif isn't quite square, but it's about 5.25 inches across. :)

My next project was the next in my Year of Starts, which I begin on the 18th of every month. This one is a reproduction sampler called Elizabeth Oliver by Moira Blackburn:

I fell in love with this sampler sometime last year, and finally bought it for my Christmas present. I wanted to start it right away but it kept getting put off, so I'm very happy to finally get some stitches in. I know the current mode is to stitch old samplers on brown fabrics for that old look, but I wanted this one to look shiny and new, so I'm stitching it on 32ct Antique White Lugana (because I had it in my stash) with the called for DMC. There is a lot of that green though (3012) so I kind of wish I had used an overdyed for that, but it's ok. I'm just not fond of that shade of green. :)

I've only stitched on this for 2 days, but last night I really couldn't put it down. I was determined to get at least one of the flowers done -- I think they are honeysuckle? -- and I was really surprised by that dark pink. I had to double check the number! But I think that will look really interesting. And I like how the effect of that pink changes once I put in the yellow. The blue border is actually long arm cross stitch, which is a lot of fun but can only be stitched in one direction, so I may have to turn my stitching as I work my way around. There are lots of little things I like about this chart, but I'll stop rambling on for now. This will be my morning project next week, so we'll see how far I get.

Well, the heat wave has shown no signs of leaving, so my Temperature charts have lots and lots of orange for May. I even have my first red in this week:

We are 10-15 degrees too warm this month, which stinks since we were 10-15 degrees too cold last month. Someone stole our Spring! I'm starting to wonder how our true Summer months will look. I think last year would have been a lot more colorful. Oh well. Guess I'll just get back to stitching. :)

Monogamaynia Part 2

Another quick post, as I've been working overtime again this week. (ugh!) But at least it's more money for stitching. (yay!)

I'm still working on my Permin 1826 Sampler. I really really like it, but I feel like I'm stitching in slow motion! It's shocking when I get just one tiny bit of these motifs done, but it turns out to be 300 stitches. It really doesn't feel like it. Anyway, here's this week's progress:

Since I've stitched the alphabet as far as the qsnap allows, I decided to focus on the fun part and get that first giant circle motif done. It's a lot of work though, so I might not finish by the 15th. I'm thinking of adding a couple days to this one though, so let's see how far I can get. :)

No evening stitching again this week, but take a look at my Temperature charts. It's been hot, y'all!

This has been the most boring week as far as colors go, just orange and red-orange. This is the first time I've used red-orange, but the monotony of it kind of dulls my excitement. I think I'll get to use red next week as well. This heat ain't going nowhere. (stellar English!)

Okay, that's all I got for now. I'll keep working on Permin, and hopefully get some stitches on Wisdom this week. I think we're getting a break from mandatory overtime, but I don't know if that will last. And I'm already thinking about my new start for the 18th. It's a sampler, and it big. So stay tuned! :)

Monogamaynia Part 1

Hi guys! Just a quick update today. We're back on mandatory overtime at work so I didn't get much stitching done in the evenings (poor Wisdom!) but I have been stitching away every morning on my new start for Stitch Maynia. Since I'm just stitching on the same chart for 15 days, we're calling it "Monogamaynia." Anyway, here's my progress for the first six days:

Again, it's the Museum Celle 1826 Sampler by Permin. I'm stitching on 32ct Vintage Light Exemplar from Lakeside Linens using 2 strands of DMC 939. I don't know how many fabrics I bought and rejected trying to find the right one, but I think I'm really happy with this one. And I'm really loving this piece so far. That alphabet is so frilly and intricate, I keep seeing shapes in the letters. That A definitely looks like a butterfly. :)

I'm kind of intimidated by the big motifs to follow, so I'm just chipping away at them bit by bit. I find it helps to just focus on one blob of stitching, then see where my needle wants to go. When I look at the structure as a whole, it's like I get stage fright. I don't know where to start! But seeing what I have so far makes me really happy, even if I stitch a bit slowly.

And my Temperature charts have definitely warmed up this last week:

All that orange and yellow makes me think of candy corn, and I think it will be that way for a while. It seems this year is very boring temperature wise (last year was much more varied) but at least the weather is finally nice. I'm also glad to have another round on the ornament done, and the year is fully stitched in (2018!). The next round is hearts and fancy stars, and there might be some darker orange this week. :)

That's all I got for now. Hopefully this overtime will end soon and I can stitch more. Until then, happy stitching!

Making Plans

I'm a day late for my usual update, but I just ran out of time on Sunday. Too much to do! Anyway, it's all good, cuz today was the last day for my rotation on A Stitcher's Prayer:

My goal was to get her halfway done, and I think I just about made it. I wish I could have filled in the details on my little stitcher lady, but again, I ran out of time! Hopefully I can finish this the next time I pick it up, but I don't think that will be this year. ;)

I took a couple days off work last week, and realized I hadn't touched my Angel of Grace yet this year. So that had to change:

This piece is really addictive once I get going. I was glad to carve out a few days to sit and stitch on her, but of course I'm never satisfied with my progress. I really wanted to finish a few more chunks of green and fill out that ribbon. But oh well. She has to go away for now, but she will be back, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Stitching on Grace cut into my time for Luna, but she's getting there. I've passed the halfway point for this page, and have stitched the cutest little curlicue in her hair:

Isn't that adorable? I just love it. I had hoped to finish this page in May, but now that's looking doubtful. Still, I'll give it a try. :)

It looks like I got my wish for colors on my Temperature charts. Lots of yellow! We've warmed up nicely (finally!) so my charts are looking much happier:

Today is the last day of April (already!) and I know I'll get to stitch orange for today. We're having a small heat wave, so I'll probably have another blob of orange to start off May. Not complaining though! Much better than snow! :)

I know everyone is talking about Stitch Maynia, so I thought I would kind of participate this year. I'm not doing 15 starts though! Instead I'm doing the Monogamous Maynia, where I'll attempt to stitch on one chart for 15 days. That's really tough for me, so we'll see how that goes. I've chosen the Museum Celle 1826 Sampler by Permin, which I've been dying to start for almost five years now, so I'm really excited to begin this piece. Here's a pic of the chart:

Also, I'll have a new big piece to focus on for May, and I've chosen Wisdom. I was really close to a page finish last year, so that will be some instant gratification waiting for me. I'm kind of playing with my rotation a bit, so we'll see how it goes.

Okay, gotta get back to stitching now. Until next time! :)

Year of Starts #4

Hi all! This week has been sort of a hodgepodge of things. I worked on a bunch of projects, but didn't make any significant progress on any of them. But I'll still show some pictures. :)

I spent another couple mornings on the Quotes SAL, and I do feel like I made a good start on the next quote:

There's a lot of backstitch in this one, so it doesn't look like much yet, but I'll get there.

Wednesday, I began the next project in my Year of Starts lineup. This is A Stitcher's Prayer by Little House Needleworks:

That leafy border is pretty, but it's a lot of stopping and starting, so I didn't get very far. Still, you can see where things are going to be. I've started the lady's dress, and got one whole word in! I'm taking a few days off work, but this will be my morning project for the rest of the month, so maybe I can get half of it done? That's the goal anyway.

My evening stitching has not been very orderly this week. I only stitched for three days, and had a different project each day. And I didn't stitch on Pastoral at all! But I did get some stitching done on a newer start, so I thought I'd share. This is Cirque des Coeurs, by Ink Circles (I know you all know this one) which I started on March 3rd. I've worked on this for 4 days now, and managed to complete my first full heart:

I'm stitching this on 36ct Smoky White Edinburgh. It's one of those painted fabrics, so it's only shaded on one side. I have another painted fabric that's really stiff and icky, but this one isn't bad. It's actually pretty soft. I've had this kitted for maybe 5 years at least, and I was just tired of putting it off. I tend to pick it up when I'm really tired but still want to stitch. The one color thing really helps. I'm using GAST Espresso Bean, which probably isn't what I'd pick to stitch with now (it's not variegated enough) but it's what I bought 5 or so years ago so I'm going with it.

And somehow, I'm still managing to keep up with my Temperature SAL:

This has been such an unusual April! But we finally seem to be free of the snow (only rain this Sunday). They're forecasting all greens next week (60s) but I'm hoping to see some yellow again soon. :)

Quotes SAL and Scale

Hi gang! I managed to finish off this week with a small finish on my Stitchrovia Quotes to Live By SAL. So here is quote #8 all done:

Once I got past the outer borders, it really stitched up quick. Even the back stitching only took about an hour. So now there's only 2 left! Here's the full piece so far:

I know the border will take me a while, but I'm still hoping to have this totally done at the end of August. I'll be working on quote #4 next, and plan to put in a couple more days of work ahead of my next Year of Starts project on the 18th. :)

I also made some semi-decent progress on Scale, though she is looking a bit weird:

Her cheek is green! It's kind of creepy, but it looks totally fine in the full pic, so I know it will work itself out. Still, she's green! I haven't decided if I'm going to continue with her next week or switch to something else. Pastoral has kind of been calling me since last week, so I might indulge in that. I guess I'll just play it by ear.

And on my Temperature SAL, you know how I've been waiting to stitch some orange? Well...

There's orange! Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all in the low 80s, so there's a big blob of 970 to commemorate the occasion. This month has been really wacky with up and down temps though, since once again, it snowed today! Third Sunday in a row, in April! And it looks like next week will be a rollercoaster as well. Oh well, at least I got my happy orange. I don't think I'm quite as anxious to get to the reds. :)