December Wrap Up

Hey guys! December was another all over the place kind of month for me and I've got another ton of projects to share. I hope I can keep them all straight. ;)

First, I managed to meet my goal with Elizabeth Oliver, and I finished off another row:

This one took a lot longer than expected. That tall plant alone took about 4 hours to stitch. I don't know if I'm that slow or if she's just that big. She is now technically halfway done, but realistically, that house is gonna take forever! Still, I'm aiming to get the next row of pages done next year.

I've been trying to work on my Marquise de Caumont a few days every month, so I've managed to finish 3 pages this year. It's still all background though, which is why I never show her:

I really like stitching this diagonally, as it keeps it from being too boring. One more row would actually start the top of her head, but I think I'm gonna dip down to the second row and keep working on the background for now. I'm still organizing her threads, so sticking to the background is super easy.

I can't remember the last time I've shown my Angel of Grace. I do know I've neglected her again this year (a sad affair that will likely continue) but I've managed to finish off this middle section that I've been stitching on for three years. (Can you sense the eye roll there?):

I'm not sure when I'll get around to making her a focus piece (maybe 2021?) so I'll just keep plodding along on her for a while. It would be nice to finish off the bottom section next year. sigh

I don't think I've ever shown my Palazzo con Personaggi. This is a massive Golden Kite design that I started back in May 2017. Unfortunately, that was just before a lot of major life stuff happened, so I just got around to a page finish this year:

I started on page 96 for some strange reason, which is the top of the bench on the left side. I don't expect I'll ever finish this design, but I'd really like to stitch the woman in green and the man in blue next to her. If you look closely, you can just make out the edges of the lady's fan and her sleeve.

On Christmas Eve, I pulled out my Chatelaine again. I don't know why, but I always want to work on it this time of year. I had a goal to finish part 1 this year, but then I haven't touched it since January. But I was a lot closer than I thought, and now I've got a good start on part 2:

The funny thing is, part 1 still isn't done. I just need to backstitch the leaves around the lily pads in the middle, and then there's another border outline to do. But since that is intertwined with part 2, I'm just stitching them together. And who wants to backstitch when there's so much awesome stitching to do? Hopefully I can finish off part 2 next year, and then the really fun stuff will begin. :)

The last thing I want to share may be kind of surprising, especially if you've been following me for a while. Back in 2016, I started a really awesome design by Omar Rayyan called Crystals & Crows from HAED. I couldn't decide if I wanted to stitch it on 18ct Aida or 25ct Lugana. I went with 18ct, which seemed fine, but as the years have passed, I've kept thinking how blurry the design was looking. Going back to it in November, I just felt really dissatisfied, so I thought, why continue if it makes me frown every time I see it? So, I restarted it:

18ct version

25ct version

I had around 12,000 stitches in on the 18ct, which was about 3 years of stitching, so it will take me a while to get back to where I was. However, I have no regrets about the restart. I do wish I had gone with 25ct the first time, but I think the confetti would have overwhelmed me. Stitching diagonally, the confetti makes it slow for sure, but it's relatively easy for me, and it keeps everything nice and tidy. The image is still a bit blurry -- it's just part of the design -- but I definitely think it looks better, and I'm enjoying it more. But maybe I'm just biased. :)

Wow! I really need to stop making these posts 10 miles long! Hopefully I'll get better at that next year. I hope to have a goals update soon -- if I can decide what to start on January 1st. :) Happy Stitching!

January Wrap Up

Hi all! January was kind of a crazy month for me, and I can't believe it's already over. I had a really good stitchy month though, mostly because I was off for quite a while with the government shutdown. :) I worked on 16 different projects and managed some good progress on a few, so here are a couple I haven't shown so far.

First, I'll share my weekly project from last week. It was Stars by The Drawn Thread, which I'm hoping to finish this year. I think I'll manage it, but it is taking a bit longer than I'd hoped. The good news is, I've reached the bottom of the chart:

The leaves really slowed me down since I stitch most of them one at a time. But the tree is officially done! I still have to stitch in more stars among the branches, but I was too anxious to get to that house this time around. That little house did stitch up rather quickly. Just have the windows and door to finish up, then three more houses, then done! Hopefully that will happen in early March. :)

And of course I worked on Luna, and managed 2 1/2 columns:

I'm hoping to do another 2 1/2 columns this month, even though it's a short month. That way, I can get to page 16 in March. I'm really anxious to get to her wings, so it's spurring me on!

I also worked on Kabuki this month, and met my goal without too much fuss. She looks really wierd right now, but page 6 is now complete:

I'm hoping to pull her out again this summer and at least finish the right side of her face. Then we can see those ruby lips!

Now for my special project. Does anyone remember the Chatelaine I started in 2017? I kept meaning to pull it out last year, but something always came up and I didn't think I could give it the concentration I needed to for all those specialty stitches. So on New Years Eve, I felt determined to get some stitches in for 2018, and I finally pulled her out. It was really daunting at first, but I think that was because I thought it should be difficult, but it actually wasn't too bad. So I kept working on her occasionally in January, and I've made some decent progress:

I added a bunch of petit treasure braid; all those dark green Algerian eyelets; light green diamond eyelets; brown ray stitches; and of course, those pink Jessica stitches in the center, my first ever. I'll say this about Jessica stitches: they aren't difficult if you can see your fabric clearly and have a long enough thread. I also counted my stitches along with the diagram, so I knew exactly where my needle should be with each stitch. And they took me about 20 minutes each.

If you're wondering, this one is called Medieval Cloister Herbularius, and someday will look like this:

My goal this year is to finish off part one and start part two. All I have left for part one is the backstitching around the leaves in the center, and a cross stitch border that outlines part two, so that should be easy. I'd love to finish part two this year, but that might be too ambitious...

Guess it was a long one this time, but I do feel like I made some good progress. Hopefully I can squeeze in a lot of stitching for February too. Wishing you all some great stitching. Until next time!

Moving Along

Hi all! It's been a while. Didn't mean to disappear, but... well, you know how life can be. :)

This is the time of year where it gets really hectic at work and overtime hours are encouraged. In fact, there's been a mandatory requirement of 8 hours overtime these past couple weeks, so stitching time has been quite sparse. Yet still, I persevere!

In fact, I've taken on a really fine challenge and finally started my Chatelaine! I'd been planning since last year to start it this April -- even took a day off work to give it my full attention -- and I am so in love with it! This is Medieval Cloister Herbularius (Herb for short) and it's going to be a real stunner some day:

My mother predicts this will take me 110 years to finish, but I think I've done pretty well so far. This is three days work, about 13 hours in (thanks to my marathon stitching on day 1). All the normal cross stitch for the center part is done, but there's lots of gaps for specialty stitches and beads. And more beads. And there's a ton of beads!! I hope they all fit, 'cuz this is 32ct Jobelan, and I really want everything to fit. (I think it should be fine though, really.)

Stitching with all that silk is a-ma-zing! Most of the blues are NPI, but there's also Gloriana and Gloriana Florimel, Waterlilies, and Dinky Dyes. Love using all those silks! The 3/4 stitches have been a bit tricky, especially in the water lily things, but I think I managed to make it look okay:

Oooh, silk... And yes, those gaps are for beads! :)

Can't wait to try my first Jessica stitches. Hope I don't mess those up! I'm hoping to get through part one this year, but I'm saving all that beading for last. The kit included a bit of beading thread, so that will be fun to play with. :)

This month, I also managed to finish a smaller project intended for a friend's birthday. This is Friends are Like Bras from Lizzie Kate:

This was really quick to stitch, taking just 7.8 hours in 8 days. I didn't use all the called for overdyed threads, but it still looks good in DMC. Hopefully I can find a suitable frame and gift it next month. :)

Also, I've had a lot of waiting room stitching this month, so my favorite travel project has a bit of progress. Still no ears, but Geometric Bunny has a face! Isn't he cute?

Love how these colors have turned out. Don't think you can tell from this picture, but from across the room, he really has some depth. Can't wait to start on his ears (finally!) but I will be so sad to see this little guy go. I've noticed this pattern isn't available from Velvet Pony Design anymore, and I don't know why, but hopefully they will put it back up again in the future.

Well, think that's all for now. Hope everyone is finding time to stitch and enjoying the spring weather as I am! Until next time! :)