Update 25th July 2012

I've spent my last 10 stitching hours on my secret ink circles project so no photos this time.

I can share with you the chart I chose in the HAED reward programme for completing Hickory Dickory Dock.  I chose one of the new Randall Spangler Story Keeps - Cooking for your Dragon.

Just couldn't resist the combination of dragons, chocolate and biscuits.

I also bought myself a new chart in Bob's birthday sale - as well as sending a few RAKs.

The one I bought for myself was QS Orchid Pink Spotted by Nene Thomas.

I don't know what I'm going to stitch on next.  I'm torn between my Gerbera Daisy or a new start.  I guess you'll see what I decided in my next post!

Keep stitching and smiling

My first HAED Happy Dance - Hickory Dickory Dock QS

I am so excited to have just put the final stitch into Hickory Dickory Dock.  I started this in November 2010 and finished today 15th July 2012.  It's also another one I can cross of my WIPocalypse list!

I've loved stitching this design and I think the colours are gorgeous.  It is stitched on 20 count aida 3 over 1 tent stitch.  It's a birth sampler for my niece so I am going to add her name and birth details to the bottom before I get it framed.

I'm so glad to finally finish a HAED I have so many WIPs that sometimes I don't think I'll ever finish anything!  The good news is I also managed to complete it in time to submit it to the HAED reward program.  I've not decided which chart I will get yet but am enjoying looking through all the lovely designs while making my choice.

Here are the WIP pictures and of course the final completed picture.

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 17.06.12

I managed to get another 10 hours stitched on Hickory Dickory Dock and did another 1,800 stitches which means it is now 88.83% complete.  I really don't want to put this down but I'm going to rotate and do 10 hours on my Chatelaine.

So here's the latest picture.

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 07.06.12

It has been a long time since I stitched on this piece but it is now my main focus piece and I am hoping to have it finished before the end of August so I can submit it to the HAED reward programme.

In this 10 hour rotation I have stitched just over 1,600 stitches bringing the total stitches done to 21,960 out of 26,775 which means it is now 82.02% complete.

I'm going to be away for the next week so I am taking Rules for Life with me to stitch on as it is one of my simpler WIPs.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle as of 07.04.12

I took the plunge last night and started my first Chatelaine.  I want to take a lot of pictures of my progress for my own benefit but don't want to bore you all with each stage.  So I've decided to set up a page on this blog for all my update photos and then I will just post here the photo showing the most progress.  If you want to see all the updates please look at this page.

So I am stitching on 28 count Jazlyn in the March 2012 Ltd Ed from Crafty Kitten Fabrics.  I am using all the recommended threads and beads.

I also wanted to share with you the chart Grace chose for her giveaway prize.  One thing that always amazes me about all the designs on Heaven and Earth is that even though I have spent hours and hours browsing through the patterns on their website I still find ones that I am sure I've never seen before.  I let Grace choose any chart she wanted but as this will be her first HAED I did suggest she chose a Quick Stitch, Story Keep or Mini to start with so she wasn't too overwhelmed.  The chart she chose was QS Iris by Josephine Wall.

I think it's a gorgeous design and I'm looking forward to watching her progress when she gets round to starting it.

A strange thing happened when I went to get the chart for her as another chart mysteriously lept into my cart and insisted on being bought.  So I got Mini Bookworm Fairy by Hannah Lynn.

It's a chart I've wanted for a long time and even more so when it was made into a Mini.  Goodness knows when she'll be started but for now I'm happy to have her living in my computer.

WIPocalypse - 09.01.12

So here's my first WIPocalypse update.

Cinnamon Cat Birth Sampler - started 21.12.11 - 2,957 of 11,068 stitches - 26.72% complete

Gerbera Daisy Cushion - 23,726 of 28,224 stitches - 84.06% complete

Hickory Dickory Dock QS - 20,344 of 26,775 stitches - 75.98% complete as of 02.01.12

Living with Charm - Part 9 complete as of 03.01.12

Secret Project 1 - I won't be able to publish any pictures of this project but will update my stats - 11.49% complete

Secret Project 2 - I will be able to post pictures of this later this year -  not yet started

Six Fat Men - 3 out of 6 complete

Forbidden Doorway SK SAL - not yet started

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 02.01.12

I've now completed a further 1,078 stitches on Hickory Dickory Dock which makes it 20,344 of 26,775 complete which is 75.98% complete.  I can see the outline of the second mouse coming out from the bottom left of the clock face I've decided that I want to get this completed by June so I can submit it for the HAED reward program.  At my current pace I should be able to achieve this as long as life doesn't get in the way.

I've also completed part 8 of Living with Charm and am pretty close to finishing part 9.

Next I am going to work on Six Fat Men again.

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 20.12.11

I've finally picked up Hickory Dickory Dock again, it must be at least 6 months since I last worked on this.  It is one of my WIPocalypse goals for 2012 and I am determined that it will be finished next year.  My niece will be 3 in August and as it is her birth sampler I think it's about time it was finished.  I did 1,583 stitches on it this time which brings it to 71.96% complete.  I have now reached the bottom left hand corner so this is the full height of the piece.

Thanks for reading.  I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and  Prosperous New Year.

September Goals

These are the goals I set myself for August:

1. Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock - Done
2. Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory - Didn't do half an hour a day but I'm still making progress
3. Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah - Did not do
4. Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy - Did 200 stitches and made it a UFO
5. Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start - Done

I'm pleased with the progress I made with these goals, I didn't even start Hannah's jumper, did a tension square but just haven't had the knitting urge recently.

I'm going through my chart inventory and splitting them into categories - some I don't like anymore, some I like the picture but don't think I'll stitch, some I would like to stitch and some I would love to stitch.  The only ones I am going to be listing on my stash page are the ones I would love to stitch so that when I want to start a new project I will have a shorter list to look through.

I'm really happy with my progress on Home of a Needleworker and have been surprised at how a seemingly simple design has caused me so much trouble.  I don't normally frog if I have put a stitch or two in the wrong place but just kind of work round it but with this design even one stitch wrong shows up and needs to be redone.  Having said that I am really enjoying it and it is nice to be doing a project where I can see the end in sight.

So my September goals:

1. Complete fourth page of Hickory Dickory Dock
2. Spend some time each day on chart inventory
3. Start jumper for Hannah
4. Do at least 2000 stitches on SK Treasures
5. Complete Home of a Needleworker

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 20.08.11 - PAGE 3 COMPLETED

So I decided to carry on working on Hickory Dickory Dock and think I will carry on until I finish this piece.  In the last week I've done 733 stitches which means I have now done 17,181 stitches which is 64.17% complete and I have now finished page 3.  There are only 3 partial pages to do now and I'm really hoping to have this piece finished before the end of the year.

I've also made some more progress on Home of a Needleworker.

It's really relaxing to stitch something where I can glance at a pattern once and then stitch away for ages without needing to look at the pattern again.

I don't know if I mentioned on here but I've am now the proud owner of a millennium frame.  They were mentioned on the HAED bulletin board and I watched the video showing how to use one and it looked amazing.  I placed my order last Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to receive my order on Wednesday morning.  It took me a while to get into the packaging as it was so well packaged but when I did I was amazed by the quality.  All I can say is that they are well worth every penny.  I have to say it wasn't quite as easy as it looked to get the fabric on the frame but it was the first time I'd done it and I am sure it will get easier.  If you're interested here's a link to the site that sells them.

Blue Rose Fairy as of 15.08.11

So I've done the 200 stitches that I set myself for this month on Blue Rose Fairy and I have now submitted the 6 photos needed for the SAL to get the other charts and I'm giving up on Blue Rose Fairy.  I am just not enjoying stitching it and I can't see myself ever displaying it if I did complete it.  Honestly there are other projects I'd much rather be stitching so I am putting this in the UFO pile.  I'm not saying I will never come back to it but it certainly won't be featuring in my rotation for the time being.  So here's the picture of where I'm up to.

My husband has also just shown me a setting on our camera which means I can take close up in focus pictures for the first time.  Can you believe we've had this camera at least 3 years and I didn't know you could do this!!

So what will I stitch on next I just can't decide at the minute it might be Masquerade because I am close to finishing it, I may work on Believe or might go back to Hickory Dickory Dock, or should I work on Shy Baby I've not done anything on that for ages!

Decisions, decisions - I guess you'll see on my next post :-)

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 13.08.11 - PAGE 2 COMPLETE

So here's the progress I've made since my last post on those August goals

Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock

I've done 2,106 stitches on Hickory Dickory Dock since my last post and have completed page 2.  I have now done 16,448 of 26,775 stitches which means I am 61.43% complete.  There are only four partial pages left to do on this design now and I must have done over 50% of page 3 already so I'm well on my way with this.

Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory


I've spent over 4 hours going through all the charts I have.  A lot of them are stored electronically and they are all over the place so I am going through making sure they have names so that I will know what they are at a glance, making a list of them and my intention is then to split them into small, medium and large projects and try and make some sort of priority list otherwise I just know I will have lots of charts I would love to do that I never get round to.

Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah

I didn't manage to get much knitting done this week but I did complete the tension square so should be able to start on the actual jumper next week.  I think I am going to do it in a bigger size than I originally planned to and then if it takes me a long while to complete it will hopefully still fit.

Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy

No stitching done this week on Blue Rose Fairy but she will be the next one on my frame to work on.

Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start

So I chose to start stitching Home of a Needleworker by Little House Needleworks as my small chart.  It's a great project on as I can outline areas and just pick it up and fill in a few stitches whenever I get chance.  I am stitching it on 18 count cream aida 2 over 1 full crosses.  Here's how it should look when it's finished.

This is the picture of my progress so far.

Lastly I have had a major splurge this week.  Someone mentioned earlier in the week on the HAED BB that they had purchased a Millennium Frame and how great it was.  So of course I had to have a look!  The website that sell them have a great video explaining how easy they are to use and I was immediately hooked.  Granted they are expensive but a number of other people who use the frames have told me that they don't think they would ever need to buy another frame again.  So I've bought two sizes of the top and bottom bars and one set of the side bars.  I'll let you know when they arrive and how I get on with them.

Monthly Goals - August

So I decided I would set myself some small goals each month and this is what I've decided for August:

1. Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock
2. Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory
3. Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah
4. Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy
5. Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start

I'm not sure how realistic these goals are as I haven't set monthly goals before so I'll just have to see how I go.

When I say a small chart I'm thinking of maybe doing one of the Lizzie Kate's I have or maybe a Little House Needlework design.  Anyway we'll see how I go I don't really need a new project right now but I would like something I can stitch on during the day when I can't give my stitching 100% attention.

Hickory Dickory Dock QS as of 30.07.11 - 50% COMPLETE!

I've not posted for a while as I have been concentrating on achieving some of the goals I set myself on this blog and the HAED bulletin board.  I decided to put them into order of the least to do to complete the goal so I felt I was achieving something.  So the first goal was to complete 50% of Hickory Dickory Dock and here it is.

So the next goal is to complete two pages of this design.  I'm only about 2000 stitches away so I'm hoping to have it done in the next couple of weeks.

Here's the stats.  Since I last worked on this I've completed 880 stitches and in total I've completed 13,384 of 26,775 which is actually only 49.99% complete but I've only got to do 4 stitches to make it 50%!!

Believe as of 12.06.11

I've been working on Believe this week and I'm really pleased with my progress.  I've managed to do just under 1,000 stitches and it is now 22.56% complete, the only trouble is I forgot to take photos of each individual colour as I added it and I am not sure how many colours I've completed.  The left side of the body is almost full now and it's looking great.  I'm beginning to think I will have to complete the whole background though.

Hickory Dickory Dock & Blue Rose Fairy as of 05.06.11

I was off work last week and managed to work on two projects.  The first was QS Hickory Dickory Dock I completed just under 500 stitches and this is how it now looks.

I then spent some time on the HAED BB QS SAL Blue Rose Fairy.  I did just over 2,100 stitches which means I have now completed 8,337 of 34,595 which is 24.1% complete.  One of my BB yearly goals was to complete one page of this and although I haven't physically completed one page I have done an equivalent amount of stitches so I am counting this as having completed this goal (although I don't think it will count on the BB).  I've done quite a lot of the sparkly stitches which aren't showing up on the photo but for the first time in a long time I am actually enjoying working on this which is good.

We should be getting the information soon about the SK SAL.  I chose the black and white SK called Treasures.  I'm looking forward to working on another black and white as I love working on Shy Baby.  Here's a reminder of what Treasures looks like.

Believe as of 28.05.11

So I've not updated for a while because of a very intensive course I've been on with work, but over the past two weeks I have managed to get just over 2,100 stitches done on Believe.  I've completed another four colours as I am doing all of one colour at a time on this one.  So here are the four progress pictures for each colour added.

I love how the blues are coming together in the wings of the butterfly and as always seems to be the case the colours are so much more beautiful in real life.  I'm not sure if my plan to not complete the enture background will work out but I am just going to carry on with the one colour at a time and see how it goes.

Blue Rose Fairy as of 12.05.11

This week it was the HAED BB QS SAL.  I'm really struggling with Blue Rose Fairy and only managed to do a little under 500 stitches on her.  But any progress is progress right!

I may not be able to update over the next couple of weeks or get much stitching done as I am doing a course that I need for work.  I'll be leaving home at 7am and not getting home untill 7pm so don't know if it will just be a case of eating my tea and going straight to bed or if I will have the energy to get some stitching in.  However the third week I have four days off work and my little boy will either be with his grandparents or at nursery so once I've caught up on the housework I can have four full days stitching!

Blue Rose Fairy as of 11.03.11

This week has been the HAED BB SAL and this is my progress on Blue Rose Fairy.

I managed to do just under 1,500 stitches on it this week which means it is now 16.45% complete.

Only a short update today as I am feeling a bit delicate as I've been in bed with food poisoning for the last 24 hours.

Believe as of 20.02.11

Here's my latest update for Believe.  I've completed another two colours I've done just over 1,000 stitches which means in total I have now done 3,508 of 29,250 which is 11.99% complete.

Just to remind you as well I still have lots of items for sale or swap on the Sale or Swap page.  Thanks for looking.