IHSW and Not IHSW

Between my telework day on Thursday, my non-work day on Friday, the weekend and the President's Day holiday, I almost feel like I have a normal life! I leave the house at 4:45AM and don't get home until around 7:30 most week nights so have very little time to do, well much of anything during the week.   I did a lot of stitching, found a new to me show, DCI Banks, and watched every episode I could find, and read.   There was some boring housework and cooking thrown in there too - oh and my car had to go in for some repairs - fortunately *that* wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

We also had a minor invasion the last few days.  Two or three times a day we hear birds, LOTS of birds chattering in the trees around the house and then a black cloud descends on the yard.  Here's just a small portion of the yard just as they are starting to land, by the time they are all landed, there is hardly any grass to be seen just lots of twigs and leaves being thrown in the air as they look for food.  They're grackles, which I think are rather pretty birds, and don't mind them in ones or twos which is what we usually have but I am not so fond of the flocks as they chase all the other birds away.

Please excuse the trash can..

So stitching wise - I have two sets, all that I did last week the non-IHSW and all that was part of the IHSW.  

My non-IHSW piece was Dimple Designs' Twilight of the Tsars.  Here's where I left off last time it was in the rotation:

And here's where I left off Thursday evening:

Dimple Designs Twilight of the Tsars
Stitched on 32-count Belfast with recommended fibers and beads

This project is getting to the point that lots of stitching time doesn't equal lots of progress as the large sections of color are mostly completed so I'm down to confetti- and back stitching.

For IHSW I worked on two different projects, an ornament and my Just Nan.

Here is my progress pic for the ornament:

The Nutmeg Company's Oranges and Lemons Gingerbread House
Stitched on 14-count yellow Aida and 18-count white Aida with DMC and Mill Hill beads

I finished the roof, one side wall and the front wall, and made a start on the second side wall.  I don't think I'm going to get this one finished for the ornament SAL, but I do still have a few days until the end of the month.

My second IHSW project and still on the frame, so hopefully there will be more progress by the end of today is Just Nan's Christmas Elegance.

Here's where it was a few weeks ago:

And here's what it looks like now:

Just Nan's Christmas Elegance
Stitched on 32-count Antique White with DMC and recommended beads

The "Christmas" was all over 1 and took the better part of yesterday afternoon thank goodness for my Mighty Bright magnifier - not affiliated just a very happy customer - and new glasses.  I am hoping to finish one band today.  If I can do that, there will be two bands and the beading to finish next rotation.

TUSAL and Serengeti

First and foremost - WELCOME to my new followers!  Thank you all for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment.

It's TUSAL time! My photo isn't any better than last month's but I am surprised and pleased by how many new bits were added.

Chatelaine's Serengeti was on the frame last week.

Here's where it was when I started:

And here's where I finished up Friday night:

Chatelaine's Serengeti
Stitched on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with recommended fibers and beads

See all that blank space?  That will be filled with beads - lots and lots of beads and a few bicones.  So far there hasn't been an issue with the bead spacing as there sometimes is with 32-count fabric I'm hoping that since this isn't really a hand-dyed fabric, that the shrinkage that happens with them didn't happen with this but I have been looking at the pattern and trying to figure out which beads I could leave out if it becomes necessary.

Dimple Designs Twilight of the Tsars is on the frame this week.  I am down to mostly thread/blending filament symbols on this one so it will be slow going.  Not so much because of the number of stitches, but because I dislike stitching with blending filament so much that I tend to stitch slower or find other things to do.

YOTA and an Ornament Start

The first Saturday of February means it's time for a YOTA post.  If you're interested in joining this WIP SAL, all the details are here.  I am happy to report that I killed two WIPs, Summer into Autumn and Pine Tree Inn, since my last post.  You can see both finishes under the Finishes tab above.  I also had some progress on Ink Circles' 99.  Here is my before:

and the after 9 down, 90 to go:

Ink Circles' 99
Stitched on 32-count Golden Walnut with DMC

I stitched on several other pieces also, photos and project information are under the January WIPocalypse tab above.

My February ornament is Oranges and Lemons by The Nutmeg Company.  It's another of their gingerbread houses there are four in all.  Here's my start:

The Nutmeg Company's Oranges and Lemons
Stitched on 14-count yellow Aida with DMC

Chatelaine's Serengeti is on the frame for this week.  I'm only a year behind on this one.  Part 12 was posted yesterday and I am only about half through part 1.  For the first time in 8 or 9 years, I won't be part of an active Chatelaine project.  It is going to be very strange to not receive that monthly notice that a new part has been posted...