Finish #2

 I made a big push the last few days, so I was able to finish Wonders of Space today! So happy with how this turned out:

I made a few adaptations to leave out the words that were charted, and I think it looks pretty good. She's got another version of this chart where each square is a solid block, but I rather like the speckled look. It should fit nicely into an 8x8 frame, so hopefully that will happen soon. If you're wondering, this is from Climbing Goat Designs on Etsy. She has another stitch along for this year, but I'm happy with this one. :)

I've been stitching other projects as well, but they're still a bit haphazard as I'm still working on the History challenge in Full Coverage Fanatics. But I did manage 3 days on Crystals & Crows and added about 350 stitches:

I'm kind of struggling with this one a little bit. I love it, I want to stitch more on it, but my progress is just so horribly slow. I don't know if I need to adapt my stitching method again -- though honestly, I do like this one best -- or if I should just go back to my 18ct version. I'll persevere with this one a while longer, but sometimes it's hard for me to enjoy a piece when I'm constantly questioning my methods. I guess I just need to have patience.

I'm almost done with my History challenge (just 5 to go!) so I should have the random bits done this week. I still need to get in my stitches for the counting portion though. I'm also planning to switch my focus piece to Elizabeth Oliver until she's finished. I still can't believe I'm almost done with her! I guess that's all for now. I gotta get to stitching! :)

Going with the Flow

 I had a plan for March. I had a handful of wips to work and focus on. But then along came the March History Sprints in Full Coverage Fanatics, and I got all swept up in the challenge. So while part of me is a bit upset that goals and plans have been pushed back, the other part of me is saying, Hey, this is fun! And wasn't that the ultimate goal for this year? To enjoy my wips and go with the flow? So I'm trying. It's still hard to be flexible. But I've managed to take on the challenge, rearrange my mindset and adapt my current stitching to some larger goals. So that's success right? I'll take it!

So the History Sprints basically gives you 20 dates for March with historical events. The challenge is to either stitch on a piece for the same number of stitches as the year, or to match a prompt based on the day's historical fact. Because I have so many wips, I'm attempting to do both, sort of. I've picked one date and one wip to match the number of stitches, and for every other date, I'll match the prompt with a small stitching goal. Simple enough, right?

My goal for the prompts is to stitch on each wip for at least 30 minutes, which is very doable, but it still takes over my evening stitching. I've stitched on 7 different wips so far and matched 9 of the prompts, so I'm about halfway there. I'm not going to show all those tiny bits of progress here, but I do want to share one wip that I started at the end of last year and haven't shown here yet.

This one is called Summer Breeze by The Cross Stitch Studio. I was enabled to visit them through Flosstube, and I would highly encourage you to check them out. Many of their charts are quite large (this one is 869x649) but they do have some smaller charts as well, all full coverage. I started this on December 20th, and it's 2x1 tent stitch on 25ct Lugana:

I'm not really big on beach themed stuff, but I really adore this image. Something about the color palette and those big clouds makes it seem really calming to me. I don't have any definitive goals for this one, but I at least want to get that first page done. It'll be a while before I get to those clouds though.

I am still doing a focus project for the month. This time I'm back to my Wonders of Space SAL that I was so enamored with last year. I was working in block 6, the Andromeda Galaxy, when I put it down last June. I think I was really stressed at the time, and the confetti and I were not getting along. But I've made some good progress this week and got 2 blocks done:

I've had to make some adjustments to this chart, which might be part of why I put this away for so long. The SAL version was charted with words that cut across some of the images. It's nice and all, but I just didn't care for that version. So I've filled in some gaps to make it a nice 3x3 square. I only have 2 blocks left, so I should have this done pretty soon. :)

That's all for now. Next week I'll keep sprinting and hope for a finish. I still have a lot of stitching to do! Hope you all are staying on track with your goals. Happy stitching!

Feeling Adrift

Well, it finally happened. About two weeks ago I think I lost track of the days. I had planned to do an update, but then suddenly it was Wednesday? And now another week has gone by. *sigh*

Hello everyone! Hope you are all keeping well. I am still off work, and it's been long enough that I'm really enjoying my days. I'm still kitting things up and organizing my stash a bit, but I've also begun knitting again and I did a bit of quilting today. To those who are still working, I do hope you are finding ways to relax stay sane. :)

My stitching was a bit erratic at the beginning of May, mostly because I didn't know if I'd be returning to work and I was starting to stress out a little. But I did start another HAED, rather on impulse, but also because I have so many that I love and want to play with. So this is Secluded Blue, art by Annie Stegg, stitched 1x1 on 25ct Mushroom Lugana:

I managed 1400 stitches on the first page. I really love Annie's work and felt it was a crime not to have anything of hers on my needles. I also want to start Atargatis, named after the mythical first mermaid, but that one has a lot of black and I didn't want to stitch such dark colors when I'm stressed. But I love the brown and blue combination in Secluded Blue (even though there's still a lot of black at the moment) so this is making me pretty happy. I also wanted to try stitching in diagonal blocks since it looks like a lot of fun, but I don't think it meshes with my way of stitching. I start all of my threads on the front, and I just can't figure out how to keep them all organized and out of the way, so I'll probably go back to columns. Of course, I don't have any firm plans for this one. She'll just pop up in rotation every now and then.

I also managed two more columns on Ginger Nova, so I'm getting into some color changes:

I'm hoping to finish off two more columns this year, since that will complete page 2. :)

Part 5 of the Wonders of Space sal was released on the 15th, and it was a really quick stitch:

Looks a little creepy, doesn't it? That is an infrared image of a supermassive black hole. The bright parts represent the super heated material the black hole is "eating". Neat, huh?

Of course, the last week has been dominated by my last new start, Ann Dale 1827 by Shakespeare's Peddler, which I started May 10th. I'd been looking forward to this one all year so I worked on her a lot, starting in the bottom right corner:

I decided to stitch this with the called for silks -- mostly NPI with 2 Gloriana and a Belle Soie -- on 40ct Saltmarsh Green by R&R Reproductions. I don't get to stitch with silks often, but I really love the NPI, which might have motivated me to keep stitching. There is one color used for the leaves in the border that doesn't show up well on this fabric, so I started using another Belle Soie silk called Lily Pad instead. It was in my stash and matches the NPI very well, but has a darker variegation to it that tends toward green. If I had the resources, I might've swapped out the golds for greener colors, but I'm not good at color swapping, and it's really hard to do it from online shopping. Still, I think it'll look great.

I haven't been able to find any pictures of the full finished sampler online, but I did find this one on Kitten Stitcher's website:

This is A Part of Ann Dale, which is it's own separate chart and only has the bottom scene. But these are the same colors, so it gives a pretty good representation of what I'm working toward. A lot of the colors seem pale, but when I stitched the line of white that frames the grass and the tree, I felt like I was stitching sunlight, and that made me smile. The only warning I will give if anyone else decides to stitch this is that the designer left in all of Ann's mistakes, so be careful. The strawberry vine isn't even, and the hills on the grass aren't symmetrical, so just be aware. Still, it's a great chart. My goal is to finish this in May 2027, so it'll be like an anniversary. :)

Well, this is why I need to update more often. Lots of rambling. Hope you enjoyed the pictures at least. 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!

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!

January Update

Why does January always seem so long? Yet somehow, I also feel like I can't get anything done. One of those great mysteries, I guess. :)

I've been trying to get into the groove of my rotation, but I'm being difficult. I sort of rebelled against my rotation for most of the year last year, and now I'm trying to do it again. The benefits of sticking to my rotation are obvious: I get to touch all my wips in an organized fashion and make decent progress on my focus pieces. The downside is I'm not always ready to switch projects, so it takes me a while to get accustomed to the new piece. I've thought about longer rotations, but I don't think that's the answer either. Hopefully I can stick with it this year, but next year there might be some changes.

Okay, on to the good stuff! First up is Kabuki, by Mystic Stitch. I think this is my oldest wip, and my first full coverage piece. Shame I haven't finished her yet, but I'll keep trying. I did manage to finish a good bit of her face finally, and she's looking good:

I really do admire the way Mystic Stitch charts things. There's a ton of confetti and "weird" colors everywhere, but stepping back, the effect is amazing. She will be out again next month. Hopefully I can finish a page or two this year.

Next is Elizabeth Oliver, which you'll be seeing a lot of this year. I've started a new row, and will eventually get to that house in the middle, hopefully around May. For now, I've got the border and a good start on the first arbor:

Those flowering plants take a long time to stitch, but I'm really enjoying this. Hopefully I won't feel burned out when it's time to stitch them again on the other side.

I am participating in another stitch along from Etsy this year, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. This is the Wonders of Space SAL from Climbing Goat Designs, and will feature 9 blocks of images from space. I have no idea what to expect, but the first block was the Ring Nebula, and it is really awesome:

I had a lot of fun stitching this, and can't wait for the next. They come out on the 15th every month, so if you wanna join, you won't be far behind. Each block is 30x30, so it's not too big, but it does call for 45 colors. There's also a description of each wonder in the pdf, which is pretty cool. I was really in to astronomy for a while, so of course I couldn't resist this project. :)

Last but not least, I managed to finally finish page 17 on Moon Indigo:

Isn't she awesome? I am super excited to be stitching her dress at long last. Hopefully this next page will not take as long since there's not as much confetti, and I'm using Pattern Keeper! Truth be told, I'm not looking forward to her hair and the moon as that always stitches slowly, but maybe it'll be better with the app.

Quick note about Pattern Keeper: if you stitch full coverage charts, get it. End of story. No debate. There simply is no comparison to any other app. Hope that helps if you're still thinking about it. :)

Seriously though? This is the first time I've really been able to stitch without paper and been comfortable with that. It really has made a difference and made things so much easier. Especially with my diagonal stitching. (Should I note I wasn't paid to say that?)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm still working on my No Wip Left Behind project, but I think I'll keep those updates on Instagram, at least for now. One hour of progress isn't really much to look at, and if I post them here, I'll ramble on and on about each project. Unless I made separate posts about them... Hmm... Anyway, back to stitching. Happy Lunar New Year! :)