Start of a long weekend

Errands tomorrow morning and housecleaning in the afternoon, but I hope to have the rest of the weekend for stitching.  I had a bit of progress and a finish last week.

First, my finish:

This is iStitch's SAL.  It's done with HDF Cloud and Victorian Mauve on a piece of 30-count R&R Reproductions.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one - one of my stops tomorrow is Michael's so maybe I'll get inspired there.  I was so happy to see that my initial fit perfectly in the space I had left.  So many trials and tribulations with this piece, but I'm very happy with it and thank you all for listening to me grumble and for the possible fixes for my fiber issue.

Up next:

Birds of a Feather.  I have about a dozen leaves left before I can call part 2 done.  Once this is framed, I think it's going to live in the guest room.  The colors will fit and there aren't a lot of pictures up in there.

And last but not least:

Hawaiian Garden.  Those of you that have stitched this or have the pattern will know that I am not stitching this in order, so pay no attention to my previous post on goals for this month as I am obviously not!  

There was stitching this week!

Yes, I did get some stitching done this week.  Still none during the week getting home at 7:45 puts a crimp in everything, not just stitching but I did get a bit done during the weekend.

First up, iStitch's SAL:

Only one more part to this one.  Like Jo mentioned in her last comment, I think part of it will be an initial.  I hope it is as I should be able to fit an initial into the smaller space that my counting error left me.

Next is Lizzie*Kate's Socks and Underwear: Santa 2010

This one is giving me counting fits also.  I did those darn suspenders about three times.  I'm not sure what's going on, but these "easy" ones are really giving me fits.  I guess I should be happy about that as I really hate frogging the speciality stitches.

Next is Hawaiian:

This little section was soooo time consuming.  I thought I'd get two done this month, but I was lucky to get this one finished.

Last but not least is Birds of a Feather:

I ended up with a striped tree but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

I did the last bit of stashing for a good while.  ABC Stitch updated their clearance pages and I was able to get Victoria Sampler's Gingerbread House and Gingerbread Church with the accessory packs and The Nutmeg Company's The Castle Inn.  I'll probably have The Hub's collect the package and give it to me for Christmas I do this frequently as he doesn't pay attention to the lists I give him, so this way I get exactly what I want.  The antique almond cashel for the Victoria Sampler stuff is very *hard* to find.  I finally found it listed at Needle in a Haystack in California.  They don't have it listed as one that's on the frequently produced list, so I hope they have enough in stock.

TUSAL

I didn't post a stitching update this past weekend as I did very little stitching.  I had major to me computer issues that took most of Saturday to fix and then we went to dinner with the in-laws to celebrate The Hubs' birthday.  I worked a bit on iStitch's SAL but didn't finish it.  That piece is going to be the death of me yet!  I got the fiber issue solved but I made a huge counting error way back at the beginning.  I am 3 stitches short on the border.  I've been able to fit this round's motif in, but the next one may be an issue.  I am *not* going to unpick that end of the border and redo, so I'll be doing a bit of recharting.

Here's my TUSAL for October:

There are bits of Hawaiian, BoaF, iStitch's SAL and Socks and Underwear in there for this month.  Hopefully I'll have some stitching to show next weekend.

Problem solved!

I solved my thread issue on iStitch's SAL!!  I went digging through my unfiled thread box and found another HDF that is *very* close to the Cloud that I am using.  It's called Victorian Mauve.  The purple is a bit redder but it certainly passes the galloping horse test, so I'm happy. 

The only thing worse than being cold...

is being cold and wet!  So making a short story long - we left for Virginia Beach Friday morning in bright, warm sunshine.  It was 85 with a slight breeze coming off the ocean when we arrived.  Just perfect for walking along the boardwalk and admiring all the amazing art these folks were waayy beyond "craft" and eating a crabcake sandwich or two.  About 8:00 that evening, the wind picked up and it started raining when we got up Saturday morning temperatures were in the high 50s with partially cloudy skies and a bit of a wind - still wonderful for walking along the boardwalk as we were fairly sheltered from the wind.  We met up with the Hubs' cousins and their family/significant other/friends around 5:30, but 7:15 it had started sprinkling and by 7:20 the rain was pouring down, the wind was blowing and we had all scattered to our various shelters.  It took me forever to warm up last night.  The Hubs still has a mobility problem from his broken leg/dislocated ankle of a couple of years ago and he was soaked to the skin - I know the cold and wet did not do his leg any good.  But we all had a great time while there.

Thanks everyone for the comments on my stitching and the Hubs.  Just to put too much information out there, he was diagnosed with diabetes in April and has several other things that are results of his uncontrolled blood sugar, and he is, I think, in denial about what can/will happen if he doesn't start following the doctor's advice.  I just keep hoping that one of these days he will understand that we're not trying to make him miserable just healthy!

On my floss issue - Jo I never thought about redoing the border, I will keep that in mind.  I was also thinking of using one strand instead of two for the remainder of the filling.  I'll just call it "artistic license" and be done with it.

I did a little stitching on the way to Virginia Beach on Lizzie*Kate's Socks & Underwear - Santa 2010 but as it was all outline-and-fill-in-some-of-the-beard I didn't take a picture.  I am hating not enjoying stitching with Wisper.  I know I have another pattern somewhere that calls for it and I will probably just substitute plain DMC for it unless anyone has a good substitute.

Stitching I actually did take a picture of?  Well, the usual...

Hawaiian Garden Mandala

And Birds of a Feather mystery

BoaF will most likely get my attention this afternoon as I don't feel like taking it off the floor stand.  I have started my list for WIPocalypse2012 but have soooo many projects listed that it's defeating the purpose of trying to finish any of them.  Fortunately I have time and Measi made the rules more like "guidelines" so I should be okay.

TUSAL and iStitch SAL update

Hard to believe another month has gone by.  Another craptastic picture by yours truly, but you can see the blues from Hawaiian Garden Mandala, the browns and greens from Birds of a Feather mystery and maybe some of the black, red and green from Grandfather's Sleigh. 

And as I missed posting it this weekend, here's my progress on iStitch's SAL:

I really do think I'm going to run out of thread on this one and the color I'm using isn't available any longer.  Something I will have to worry about later. I have the day off  going with the Hubs to listen to him get chewed out by the doctor for not following any of the instructions they gave him last time and don't want to spoil it with a lot of unnecessary thinking or worry.

Happy Autumn!

The calendar says it's officially autumn. As I mentioned in my previous post, some of the trees are starting to change color, but the surest sign is the State Fair of Virginia starts next week! I love going to the fair. For a rural state it really is we just have some very heavily populated areas but they don't make up the majority of the land area of the state it doesn't have a lot of animals and I'm usually dismayed at the small number of handcrafted items entered and always say I'm going to enter "next year" BUT I thoroughly enjoy the day, just walking around with the in-laws, eating bad-for-me food I mean really? Fried Butter?!?! and looking at the exhibits and booths.  Opening weekend conflicts with our annual trip to the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach, so will most likely go the following Friday. Two fairs/festivals on consecutive weekends?  I think that deserves a Squeeeeeeeeee!

Thanks for the comments on my previous posts. I really do wish I could meet all of you in person, but this is a fair second.  I also wish I could truly capture the colors I wonder why American English dropped the "u"? in "Hawaiian Garden", they are amazingly vibrant! Mouse, I know what you mean on the cost of Chatelaines. Before the Hubs who knew he would be so darned expensive? I was able to kit most of my mandalas with all the silks and overdyes, but the majority of mine are stitched using Martina's DMC conversion.  Hawaiian  is an exception to the DMC. As it's a vacation memory piece, I splurged on the silks.  Unless mine is displayed next to one done in the called for silks and overdyes, nobody is going to know that it is "different".  The patterns can be expensive, but I figure for all the enjoyment I get out of them that the per use cost is very low and they are unique pieces. 

Stitching, you ask? Yes there was some this week.

Birds of a Feather proved to be more "Frogs of a Feather". I was one row off on the leaves, so had to pull them all out and redo. Despite that there was progress as the alphabet is now finished.

I may actually finish this before the end of the year! I have been thinking of how I want to do the tree trunk. My WDW "Bark" is very variegated and I don't really want a striped tree. I am down to two options. The first is stitch the trunk using continental rather then English method. The second is to flip one ply of thread over so that the colors don't line up and stitch as usual.

And of course Hawaiian

Photo is dark, but you can see the progress.

Carol released part 5 of her mystery sampler yesterday so I will be focusing on finishing it today. I'm starting to worry that I'm going to run out of thread, but will worry about that when I have to and try to not ruin the fun I'm having stitching this piece.

Brrrr....

I know I was complaining about the heat, but this is ridiculous! It was near 80 when I went out at lunch time on Thursday, by the time I left to go home around 5:00 it was in the 60s! Last I checked, we hadn't cracked 60 yet today! I don't mind the cooler temperatures, but little by little would have been easier to adjust to!! Fall (I read somewhere that fall is only used in American English - don't know if that's really true or not) is starting to make itself known - a few of the maples have started to show some color and the tulip poplars are going yellow.

Finally went out to check around the house and property to see what, if any, damage there was due to the rain. We have some planting areas that are washed out and need to be remulched well the mulch needs to be moved from where it ended up back to where it belongs - that's what I'll be doing later today but nothing serious.

In response to your comments, if you haven't stitched a Chatelaine, I highly recommend you give them a try. Martina has an amazing way with color! She explains her speciality stitches fairly well and well, you just have to love all the bling! I have too many several started, have finished Caribbean and Egyptian Garden large mandalas, two samplers and several of her small designs. I read a lot of folks complaining about the monotony of stitching the same thing four times, but most of her newer designs, especially those representing specific places, such as Tuscany, Caribbean or Hawaii do have different scenes on each side.

Wasn't a great stitching week for me. I had a training to give this week, so got home late Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But some good may have come out of that, as I found that I wasn't that much more tired working that extra hour each day, so am going to give a compressed schedule a try at work. We have to log 80 hours in a two week period, so each Monday through Thursday I'll work 9 hour days, 8 hours on one Friday and then have one Friday off. Basically means that every other week I'll have a 3-day weekend. I'm rather excited at the thought as I'll be able to get all the housework done on Friday and have two entire days for other more enjoyable things. Anyway,

Carol released part 4 of her mystery SAL early and I was able to stitch it up last night.



Here's my progress on Birds of a Feather mystery. Part 2 is actually a good match for my stitching time. I can do a letter or leaf or two and there are enough leaves to keep me busy for ages a night and, even with my limited stitching time, see some progress. 





And finally my progress on Hawaiian:

I have a chance of finishing this part in the next month or so. I won't meet my goal of finishing through part 6 but I'm further along than I was at the beginning of the year.