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!

My (Belated) 2016 Review, Part One

Whew! I had a lot going on in 2016, including a lot of stitchy stuff. Moving took up a big chunk of my year, (which is why this is a bit late), and there've been some family issues as well, though nothing too serious. It's just been a lot of a lot. I'm still trying to get things back to "normal," which at the moment means getting totally unpacked. Plans kind of fell apart mid December, so it'll be a while. Plus, I'd rather stitch than organize, so all those boxes will just have to wait. :)

So at last, here is my review! It's going to be a long one -- so long I've broken it up into two parts. I had 30 active projects last year, including 19 new starts (went a little crazy), but also 3 finishes! I am a notorious list maker and stitch counter, so I'll start off by dazzling you with my stitchy stats for last year. Ready? Ok!

All told, I did 131,496 stitches last year. Can you believe it? I can't. I never thought I'd do over 100k. I've had a busy needle, I guess. Part of that is doing lots of tent stitches instead of full crosses. Part is also due to my early morning stitching before work. Usually I only get an hour in the mornings, but I guess I'm a fast stitcher (?) as I can usually do 200 to 250 stitches in that hour, so even a few days a week can really add up.

I also know I've stitched about 623.85 hours last year, so my average is 210.8 stitches per hour. Sounds about right. I didn't manage to stitch every day (only managed 10 days in December) but for the year, I stitched 303 days. I would like to stitch every day this year, but over 300 is still pretty good.

I've got more detailed lists and spreadsheets with even more stats, but I don't think any normal people care about all that. You want pictures, right? Right! So here's all my wips carried over from 2015:

First is Pavonia. I had hoped to do so much more on her, but I got kind of overwhelmed by the confetti and had to set her aside. I did manage to get one section done though, and was very happy to get one of her eyes done:

Moon Indigo was a focus piece this year, so I tried to work on her every month. I really wanted to get that last column finished in 2016, but just couldn't make it. Still, I pretty much met my goal with her, finishing up pages 6, 7 and 8, and starting page 9:

Scale is a lot of fun, but can also be a lot of work with all that white! In the end I just powered through it and finished off two more pages this year. My mother now calls this one "Big Nose":

Euphoria is one of my easiest wips, with just 3 colors in the skin, plus she's tent stitched. I finally got part of that flower stitched this year, so it's not quite so boring to look at:

Wisdom is one of my favorites, but I just can't seem to get going on her. I did manage to finish page 1, but not the page beneath it. Halfway is still good though:

Madchen is nothing but sky at the moment, but there's more of it now than in 2015:

Flora saw a good deal of progress this year as I finished off 3 more pages (one was really small though). The bottom two rows are now complete:

Kabuki was kind of forgotten about halfway through the year. I had hoped to get her face done, but the chart is tricky to read, and she's not always fun to work on. But she will be back in 2017:

Favorite Bird is my biggest wip, so I should really try for more progress. But 3 pages last year is good enough for now. But I'm going to be stitching floor for a while:

Cassiopeia is another that wasn't picked up as much as I wanted. She is so easy and relaxing to work on, and I love those colors. Managed to get the bottom border done, and have just started working on her couch:

Tigers was my oldest wip, an old kit from Nature's Window. I was so happy to finally get it finished last year! Yes, it's still sitting in a drawer, but it is still a finish:

So that's it for all my older wips. The only wip that did not see progress was White Queen, which is a little sad. But I will try again this year.

All my other projects were new starts last year, which I'll save for part two of this post, in a day or three. Hope everyone is having a good stitchy year so far! Until next time! :)

May WIPocalypse

Hello everyone!

Been kind of absent from the blogging world this month as work has been crazy hectic, including mandatory overtime (aka the Weekend Killer). As such, my stitching has been a little spotty, but I've managed to make a bit of progress here and there.

For starters, I managed two more pages on Favorite Bird, which completes my goal for the year:

This one is dueced hard to get a good picture of, but there are now two table legs featured, not just one. ;)

I also managed to finish a page on Flora:

That red flower was quite challenging, but I loved stitching all those dark fuchsias and pinks.

Everything else has been interrupted, for lack of a better term. I've been so busy even outside of work (May is always my busiest month) I couldn't really focus on anything for long. But here are a few more leaves on my Tigers, still a long way from done:

A couple columns done on Wisdom, which I haven't touched since February:

And three columns done on Luna's second row:

I really love that bright blue spot at the top. The next few pages are nothing but clouds, but I am in love with her background, so I'm not complaining. :)

So for the year thus far, I now have three goals complete. Doesn't seem like many, but I'm close to meeting a few more, so I feel good about my progress this year.

For April, I did 16,184 stitches, so my total for the year is 57,657 stitches. May has not been nearly as productive, but every stitch counts! :)

This month's question is: What were you stitching this time last year and have you finished it?
Last May, I barely stitched at all. I only managed one week on Luna, which is still far from finished (but will be one day!).

That's all for now. Until next time!

Stashaholic Alert

Hi again! Hope you are doing fabulous this February. :)

Well, I've had a fairly productive week again (being off work is sooo nice when you can actually do stuff) so I've got two updates to show off. First, I managed to finish that pesky page 6 on Luna. I say pesky because, even though it was mostly one color, it seemed to take forever! Columns go so much faster when there's lots of colors. Going line by line in one color just seems tedious after a while. But it was simple stitching, so here's the finished page!

Only got one more 'til the end of the row (excited!!), but probably won't get to it for a while. I've already switched up the rotation again, with Euphoria on the frame now.

However, I did sneak in another page finish on Wisdom. I don't know why I love the colors in this so much. They are the definition of bland, boring, blended background. But I find them so relaxing and easy to stitch. I think the "trees" aspect will be more apparent after another page or two, but I'm really loving this.

Pardon all my messy threads! This is not my normal way of parking, but I thought I'd try something new. ;) I'll be moving down to finish page 9, which has been bothering me for a while with its barely started state. I think I'll continue doing the two rows at once on this, as it lets me get to her head faster. Plus, there's a ton of black in the second row, and I think the color contrast will keep it from becoming too tedious.

Now, about my stash... Well, I've been waiting forever for HAED to have a sale, and they finally did, so... let me introduce you!

Ginger Nova was already one of my planned starts for the year, even though I just bought her. I almost got her when she was released, but tried to resist. Then I happened to see her again after their website remodel, and that was that. It is so awesome kitting up all those bright pinks and purples! I'm still bobbinating, but will post a pic when complete.

I also gave in and bought SS Ride of the Yokai, which I've also been resisting since its release. (It was actually my mother who convinced my to get it. Probably tired of my whining.) And again, I am in love with those colors! Teals and purples galore (my favorite color combination in high school). This will probably be started this year, as a reward if I get my other goals met. (haha!)

Unusual Specimens was one I knew I'd buy when I saw it previewed on FB. I actually saw this months ago on Everyday Original, and would have bought it then, but it had already been sold. Here's the original, along with another called "Glint" which I would love to see charted.

The other three Stephanie's just kinda happened. I suppose my willpower was weak that day. These are She Sleeps, Remnants of Scent (which I had to get to match the first) and Climbing the Dragon Gate.

The last was one of those I suddenly saw, told myself not to fall in love with, then promptly did so, and then started it! Can't believe how this one took me by surprise, but here are the first 400 stitches of gorgeous green, done just last night:

This is tent stitched on 25ct Lugana, and it's filling in surprisingly well. I don't have any plans to make this part of my regular rotation yet, but hopefully I can pick it up now and again.

Okay, I think I've rambled long enough. Sorry for the enabling, and thank you for reading (or at least looking at the pictures!). Until next time!