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.

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.