Quarantine Stitching

Hello everyone! I managed to settle in and do some focus stitching this past week, so I'm back with some finishes!

First, I finished another block on Sheep Virtues:

That half finished border on block #5 kept taunting me, so I had to pick this up again. Also, it's the only block with a black sheep and a little house, so I really wanted to stitch it. Isn't it so cute? :)

Kingbird by Tellin Emblem is a fairly small chart, but somehow I dragged it out for 2 years. But now he's finally done!

I stitched this on 32ct Raw Belfast with the called for DMC. There are a ton of colors, but they're also used in the companion piece, Grosbeak. (I'll be stitching that at some point, but not this year.) These charts come with a button that goes inside a stitched outline, but I chose to stitch my initials there instead. I didn't really take the time to chart them out so they're very close together, but I kind of like the way they flow into each other.

I'm still playing catch up with Moon Indigo, but I'm making progress. This week I finished off page 18 and stitched the first column on page 19:

Her chest and arms are finally complete! There was so much confetti in these two columns it really slowed me down, but I love the results. I particularly like the lace edging on her dress. I can actually see the pattern in there. Now I have lots of her hair to stitch as well as her other wing.

I found out last week that my work will be closed until further notice, which will likely be 3 more weeks (but who knows). I've been buying so much stuff while I've been off, I have enough kitted up to do a proper Maynia. I don't think I'll be doing that, but I do have several new starts planned in May (cuz it's my birthday month!). I'm starting another HAED soon, plus two huge samplers. I figure I've got to start all the baps now so maybe I can finish some of them in my lifetime. And besides, it's fun!

Hope you are are staying healthy and well. Keep stitching! Until next time!

April Update

Hello and welcome! Hope you all are doing well. :)

My stitching has been kind of erratic these last couple weeks as I'm still trying to adjust to all this free time. I've been sort of keeping to my planned rotation, but taking lots of liberties as well, which basically means I'm picking up a project for 3 or 4 days and moving on. I've hit some good milestones here and there, but I won't bore you with everything. So here's the highlights!

First, I finished another block of Sheep Virtues, from Little House:

I skipped over and did block #6, since I thought it would be easier to count the border based on the way I like to stitch. This was a pretty easy block, so I also got a chunk of block #5 worked in.

I also finished up this month's block on the Wonders of Space SAL:

That is the Crab Nebula. I don't think this block quite does the real thing justice, but it's pretty good for a mini cross stitch. I'm still having a lot of fun with this sal (hence the quick finish) but waiting for the next release is really difficult. But I wonder if I had the whole thing, would I finish it quicker or let it languish like the others? ;)

It's been about a year since I worked on Ginger Nova, which is a shame because I love this chart. I was hoping to focus on her for a few weeks this year, so I pulled her out and did about 1200 stitches:

I don't know why I've let her become so neglected. It doesn't look like much now, but I've started on the halo that rings her head (all that dark purple at the bottom). On the other side of that, there's a color change to lots of oranges, so the rest of the page should be quite fun.

I think that's all for now. I may be going back to work next Monday so I'm trying to enjoy my last week of "vacation." Hope you all are getting some good stitchy time. Until next time!

Trying to Focus

Hi all! I've got a short and sweet update today since I've been trying to focus on just a couple projects this week. Hope you all are well and staying healthy! Work has decided to extend our quarantine another few weeks, so I'm doing my best not to go stir crazy. :)

First, I have to show off my progress on Luna. I've really been neglecting her since my move last summer, so I've been trying to do some focus stitching to help reach my goal of finishing the row by the end of the year. I haven't shown her since the end of January, but I didn't get much done in February either. But here she is now:

Not bad, eh? I managed to finish off 4 full columns and 2 half columns in the last 6 days. I think all the confetti in the lace part of her dress killed some of my joy for this project, but after powering through that, I had some very easy stitching all the way down her arm. And I really do like the patterns in her dress, so maybe all that frustration was worth it. :) I'm still not caught up to where I should be, so another week of focus is in her near future.

I had planned to spend a lot of my quarantine stitching working on various projects to help catch up or even finish a couple things. I managed to do that for about 3 days, then began going through stash (for inventory purposes) and pairing charts with fabric, then going through what I'd already kitted, etc. etc. You get the idea. Finally I broke and had to start something, so I decided to start Shades of Red by Northern Expressions Needlework:

I think I kitted this up in 2015, and I had planned to start it immediately, but then kept pushing it back.  It's one of those I've had on my mind every year since then, so it's no wonder I finally caved. And now I'm obsessed. This is my first geometric design, and it's really addictive. I love all the motifs and the way the design builds on itself, weaving all the different bands together. The colors are fantastic too; just two colors of Belle Soie silk, Tulip and Cranberry. I'm stitching it on plain 40ct Cream Newcastle, which has a nice creamy yellow tint that's impossible for my camera to capture. I'm still torn between continuing on this or going back to all my other pretties. We'll see.

That's all for now. I'm trying to resist making any more starts, though it's really hard. Hope you all can find some tranquility in your stitching. Stay healthy! Until next time!

Catch Up Stitching

Hello again! I know it's only been a week, but I've still got a ton to show you thanks to some catch up stitching I've been doing this week. It seems parts of the netherworld may be experiencing a chill because my work has actually shut down for a full two weeks. They said it was to comply with the city mandate, but I think it has more to do with a confirmed case of the virus, plus a few suspected. Either way, I'm happy to be home stitching! Hope all of you are staying safe as well. :)

First up is last week's morning project, Elizabeth Oliver. I didn't take a full pic again (getting really hard to do that) but I'm making good progress on my current row:

These two trees were quite fun to stitch, especially the second one. It's very asymmetrical, which was a welcome break from all the mirror image motifs. I really enjoyed stitching all those leaves. I've also put my initials in, though that was a bit tricky for me. There was an alphabet provided for this, but no designated space, so I had to go by the cover image and do a bit of guesswork. Picking a color was the hardest part, but I'm really happy with the gold I picked, DMC 833. It stands out enough to be seen, but blends in well with the design.  The lines you see to the right are actually my start on that massive house! It's going to take an age for me to get through that lawn, but I think I'm up for the challenge. (Famous last words!)

My first day off work was Thursday, and the first project I picked up was my Wonders of Space SAL. I was almost done with the March block, so finishing it off was quick and easy:

There's Pluto! I was really hoping for another pretty nebula to stitch, but I do like how this block turned out. I'm glad I'm keeping up with this SAL, but it's really hard to wait for the next block. Hoping we get a galaxy somewhere in there...

Next up was my R2 Silhouette, and yes, I managed a finish!

I've had 5 page finished this year on my full coverage wips, but this is my first project finish, so my wip count is now 71. I started this on June 15, 2016, but it actually took me 45 days to stitch. All that black was pretty tedious, but I love the effect. I plan to frame it some day, but for now it's stuck in a drawer until I can go frame shopping.

Since I was on a finishing kick, I decided to get Kabuki out again and finish off page 8:

Isn't she gorgeous? That confetti was super frustrating, but I'm happy to have the row done. She's now halfway done, which is awesome, but the bottom half is mostly a confetti nightmare, so it's might take me another 12 years to finish her. (I hope not!)

I think that's all for now. You might have noticed Luna has been missing for a while? Yup, she's been totally neglected. I'm hoping to remedy that next week and do a little focus stitching to catch up. Hope you all are staying healthy. Until next time!

March Update

Well, 2020 is definitely becoming an interesting year. Hi all! Hope all of you are well and hale and avoiding all the craziness. I had hoped to update sooner, but things have been hectic, and I'm pretty sure I had the flu last week. (Just the flu, thank you.) Here in Kansas City, we're about to go on city shut down mode this Tuesday. Unfortunately, since I work for a branch of the government the brings in revenue -- especially this time of year -- I am still on the job. So no quarantine stitching for me! (dang it) Of course, that may be subject to change in the next couple weeks. We'll see.

So, stitching! First I'll show off my new Leap Day start, which I'd been looking forward to for a couple months. This is, of course, Ann Tong Uffindell from Hands Across the Sea. I started in the bottom right corner and managed to finish a good chunk of the border (love all those fiddly details) and started on that big chunk of stylized grass:

I decided to be brave and stitch this on 46ct Parchment by Weeks Dye Works using Au Ver A Soie 100/3 silks. 46ct Zweigart really isn't much different than 40ct, so I'm really loving the tiny stitches. The silks took quite a while to get used to though, and I still can't really say I like them, but I don't mind finishing the project with them.

The color palette is a little different than the regular AVAS, but I'm okay with it. However, this silk tangles really easily, and it has a preferred direction: pull of the spool, cut the end, thread the end you just cut. If you do the reverse, it will fight you. I've already had to cut out a few knots, and I'm usually very good at untangling those. But this silk is very round and slippery, so a blunt tapestry needle just isn't up to the task. It's a little bit thinner than DMC, but the coverage is still pretty good. I had a problem at first with the thread constantly slipping out of my needle, but I've learned to keep a good grip on it. Like I said, a lot to get used to.

After Ann, I sort of broke away from my rotation and did some stress stitching. I wasn't feeling well, and the news was a bit overwhelming, so I picked up The Fireplace (aka Sofie) from Golden Kite and just stitched:

What I love about this project is the way it just consumes me. This is kind of true for a lot of full coverage stitching, but when working on all this confetti in the diagonal style, all I can focus on is making the next stitch, park the thread, make the next stitch, etc. It's perfect for tuning everything out. I spent 6 days on her and added about 1100 stitches, so she's up to just over 3300 so far. I also really like seeing all the designs in the carpet come to life. Just wish I could stitch faster. :)

I also made time for the February release of the Wonders of Space SAL by Climbing Goat Designs. This month was part of the Eagle Nebula, which is one of Hubble's most famous images:

To be honest, the colors used in this were pretty crazy. I had red, brown, burgundy, tan and aqua all right next to each other and thought it looked horrible. But stepping back on the finished image, it's really quite perfect. I'm almost done with the March block and looking forward to the next release already.

Finally, I made it back to my rotation to work on Kabuki, though it was tempting to keep working on Sofie. But I'm glad I made the switch:

I'm still about 6 hours off from finishing the row, but at least I got page 7 done. I'm still amazed at how well the colors blend together at a distance. Up close, it's all purple and tan and pink and gray. I may rearrange my plans and bring her out again next month. We'll see.

So that's it for the last 3 weeks. I can't believe March is almost over! Be safe everyone. Until next time!

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!