Masquerade SK - Ching Chui Kuik - 12.07.16

Having recently sorted through all my stash and WIPs I have come across some projects that have been left untouched for far too long.

The last time I worked on Masquerade SK was 28.04.11.  This is what she looked like when I last worked on her.  When I was stitching on her previously I was going through the whole chart with each colour and completing every stitch with that colour.  When I picked the project up again there was a colour in the face which looked wrong and also in the arm.  Added to this it was extremely difficult to work out where there were stitches missing and what colour I needed to work them in.

So I made a decision to restart.  I really like this chart but was struggling to stitch on the original.  I had the perfect sized piece of DMC Magic Guide 18 count so here's how it looks now.

When it comes to the section on the face where the colour did not work I will look and see if it is the dye lot on my thread or try and substitute it out for a colour which blends better.

I am still trying to work out how to rotate between projects to give them the time I want to but also work on a wide range.  I'm trying to look at SALs in the various Facebook groups I am in and try and fit pieces into them to see how that goes.  I know have 106 projects in my XStitch App and more I want to start too!

Keep stitching and smiling

Forbidden Doorway SK as of 14.01.12

I've not made a great deal of progress on the SK SAL only completing 567 stitches which makes it 2.67% complete.  I am moving on as I have to do some work on one of my secret projects.  Here's my progress picture so far.

I've also completed the next section of Living with Charm - I now have only 2 sections left to do.

As I am working on one of my secret projects next there won't be an update for a while.  

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

Poppy Brooch as of 23.11.11 - COMPLETE

One of the secret projects I mentioned I was working on last time was a poppy brooch from Issue 246 of Cross Stitcher Magazine.  My sister had seen the brooch and mentioned she would like to stitch it at some point and as she is always making things for me and my son I thought I would make it for her.  The magazine said to stitch it on red felt using waste canvas but I chose to stitch it on plastic canvas instead which I think has worked really well.  I then stitched red felt to the back and attached a brooch pin.  My sister was over the moon with it when I gave it to her which I was pleased about as I was a bit worried that she had wanted to actually stitch it herself.  Anyway less words here's the pictures.

I'm making good progress on one of my other secret projects and have stitched about 10% of it.  It is for an event that is happening in 2013 which I can't go into much detail about without giving away the secret.  So unfortunately there won't be any photos of this project for a long while.  I am well on track though to get it finished in plenty of time which I am happy about.

I'm going to be starting on Inspire next which is a new start that I just cannot wait to get to.  I made myself work on the secret project this week so I could keep on track but I've been itching to start Inspire.

I've also signed up for the HAED BB 2012 SAL.  I chose one of the SKs, I think it is called Enchanted Doorway - it's a picture of a lady with a dragon on her shoulder and I'm looking forward to receiving the information about that in due course.

Treasures SK as of 17.09.11

I've a few different updates this week as I've started a couple of new projects.

Since my last update on Treasures I've put in another 960 stitches and it is now 37.06% complete.

I've also started work on the Living with Charm Flip Its from Lizzie Kate.  I am stitching 2 over 1 full crosses (apart from the block backgrounds on individual letters which I am doing in tent stitch) on 20 count hand dyed aida in Dawn Blush from Crafty Kitten Fabrics.  I started stitching on 11.09.11 and have managed to complete 1 of the 12 parts so far.

I've also started work on a design from Cross Stitch Gold magazine which I have had for years and always wanted to stitch, it is called Elegant Trio and is a Mackintosh style design.  This is a link to a partial picture of the design from the magazine.

Here is my progress so far - it is quite difficult to see as I have only stitched some of the grey border so far.  I am sewing this on another piece of hand dyed fabric from Crafty Kitten, this was the August 2011 Limited Edition colour and is 28 count cashel linen.  I am stitching 2 over 1 tent stitch.  

I have never stitched on such a small count before and have never stitched on linen so this is quite a challenge but I am stitching it to go in the top of a box which I got free with a subscription to World of Cross Stitching so have to do it small to enable the whole design to fit.  Here is a picture of the box that it will go in.

The final thing I want to share this week is a picture of my son in a tank top that my Grandma knitted for him.  It was supposed to be for Christmas but unfortunately my Grandma passed away on Wednesday 17th September so he got his jumpers a little bit early.  She had been ill for quite some time, in fact 2 years ago around this time we were told she wouldn't make it until Christmas, but it was still very sudden.  So here's a picture of one of the jumpers she made for my son and a picture of him wearing it.

I owe my love of crafting to my Grandma as she passed her love on to my mum and she onto me.  I remember getting a long stitch kit for Christmas and sitting at the dining table on Christmas Day with my Grandma figuring out how to do it.  I used to go to stay with my Grandma and Grandad in Plymouth during the Summer Holidays and on a Monday my Grandma ran a craft club at her local church and I have memories of going there with her and learning how to make stuffed animals.  She spent years making stuffed toys to sell for charity and so many of my childhood toys were made by her.  She had a massive collection of china dolls and used to buy the head, arms and legs and make them up herself and make all their clothes.  She also loved to knit and up until the end she loved to knit, for her great grandchildren and others, as it kept her hands moving and her mind active.  She was a lovely lady and I will miss her everyday but I know she is happy now as she is back with my Grandad who passed away 9 years ago.  

Sorry to have gone off on a bit of a tangent but I felt this was such an appropriate place for me to write about my Grandma because as I said I truly believe she is the reason I and many of my cousins have such a love of crafting.

I love you so much Grandma and will miss you forever.

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

Treasures SK SAL as of 11.07.11 - Page 1 Complete!

Firstly I want to thank people for voting in my poll and commenting on my previous post.  I have decided that I won't be selling my patterns before I stitch them but will keep them.

Now onto the fun stuff.  I've finished page 1 of Treasures SK SAL and I'm really happy with the result.

I decided I wanted to keep on stitching until I'd finished the page rather than rotating a piece each week and it feels really good to have a finish (even if it is only a page finish!).

I'm also really pleased as well as I have been gridding with Sulky metallic thread in dark blue.  Up to now I haven't completed enough of a project to be able to take the gridlines out but on Treasures I have now taken the gridlines out and I'm pleased to say the thread came out very easily and didn't leave any marks behind.  So if I can get away with it on a project with so much white I am sure it will be fine on all my other projects.

So the stats for this project are 7,350 stitches completed which is 26.49% complete.

So this one can go on the back burner now until I get the next page which I don't think is until September so I'll have plenty of time to get some stitching done on my other WIPs.

I've also started knitting a blanket for my best friend who is expecting her third baby.  It is a design called Sampler Blanket by Debbie Bliss and I have treated myself to the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino wool to knit with.  It is absolutely gorgeous to knit so soft and lovely.  I may have to keep the blanket for myself in the end!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I had signed up for half yearly goals on the HAED BB.  I set myself small goals this time which were to complete 1 page of Treasures SK and 1 page of Believe QS and obviously with this post I have completed one of those goals.

I'm not sure what I am rotating onto now or whether I'll just concentrate on some knitting for a while.  Once the blanket begins to take shape I'll take some photos.

Blogaversary!

Well I've just realised that on 29th June it was my blogaversary - to be fair I was in bed with flu and hadn't moved for 48 hours so my blog wasn't really at the forefront of my mind.

I'm amazed to have made it to a year and I still love updating and getting everyone's comments.

Other good news is that I have now completed my Foundation Course which I have been doing for the last 6 years 4 weeks spread out over 7 weeks and I got an overall mark of 97%.  I just have to have the confidence to put the theory into practice when I go back to work.

No stitchy update I'm afraid as I just haven't sat down with my stitching at all this week.  I am still working on the SK SAL Treasures as I would like to finish the page before I move on.  Hopefully I'll be able to show a finished picture next week.

Thanks to everyone for following and keeping up with my blog and if anyone has any suggestions of anything else you would like to see here please let me know.

Treasures SK SAL as of 24.06.11

This week has been the new HAED SK SAL and I chose Treasures.  I've also been away this week so have had a little more time to stitch than normal.  I managed to do 4,389 stitches which might sound like a lot but the upper two thirds of the page are all B5200 so I've been filling in the main part my doing one thread of B5200 and then a thread of another colour at the bottom.  I'm stitching on 20 count aida in a colour called Nougart with three strands in tent stitch.  I've substituted the 032 Kreinik with DMC S5200 which is a silk thread with a lovely sheen and much much easier to use then a metallic thread.  So here's my progress picture of Treasures 15.82% complete.

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.

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 05.05.11

I've been working on Hickory Dickory Dock this week and I just love it.  I did over 1,600 stitches on it and have completed 41.08% of the total design.  I'll honestly be quite sad when I finish this and might have to look at Nancy Faulkner's other designs (like I haven't got enough to stitch already!!).  Anyway here's the progress picture.

I thought you might like to see the card my mum made from the Brushstroke Butterfly I stitched for my colleagues retirement.  My mum makes some really great handmade cards but I think she excelled herself with this one.  I honestly just expected her to cut out a square and put it on a card but I love what she did.

I made the carrot cake again last weekend and am pleased to say that it actually turned out ok this time.  I did have to cook it a lot longer than it said in the recipe but at least it cooked through this time.  The cream cheese frosting didn't seem sweet enough to me but everyone else said they enjoyed it.  I'm a bit conflicted at the moment about my new hobby, I love baking and obviously love eating the things I bake but being diabetic this is obviously not the best thing.  So I've decided to limit my baking to once a fortnight and then will try and give the majority of the baking to my family so we only have a small amount in the house to tempt me.

The HAED BB has just released the new images for the upcoming Story Keep Stitch A Long.  I was determined that I wasn't going to take part in this SAL as I have far too many projects on the go already but now I've seen the pictures I think I'm going to have to take part.  The difficult decision now is which one to stitch.  The good thing is in the end I will end up with all four charts as long as I publish enough pictures of my work in progress but I know I made the wrong decision for the QS SAL as I am really struggling to stitch on Blue Rose Fairy - but I am determined to keep going so I can get those charts as well.  I'm just a chart addict and can't miss out on an opportunity for more stash (especially free stash!!).  So the pictures below are my choices, please let me know what your preference is and that might help my decision :-)