Progress and a new start

Welcome to my new followers and thank you for taking the time to read about my little corner of the world. 

We did get back into our offices on Tuesday and they look great!  It is amazing what a bit of paint and new carpet will do for your attitude.  Spent most of Tuesday looking for missing things - despite the boxes and furniture all being marked many were put in wrong offices or not pulled from the storage area at all, but by Friday we had all but two boxes emptied and everything put away.  We should be putting the finishing touches, hanging pictures, etc., this week and our space will be complete. 

Now that I am back on my regular schedule, I don't have the time in the evenings for stitching that I was enjoying but there was progress.

Three Tulips from With Thy Needle and Thread had a bit of progress Saturday.  It went from this:

to this:

A few more leaves and some more rabbit although it might be a hare with those long ears.  This has been a fun, no stress stitch and I have really enjoyed coming up with different ways of stitching with the over-dyes so that the leaves and flowers don't have really obvious stripes or weird blocks of color.

Strawberry Summer was my new start and took Enchanted Swans place as my Just Nan piece.  It is stitched on 28-count Savannah Rose Milan with DMC and a little bit of Kreinik. 

Here's where I left off:

Despite this being photographed this morning in daylight it is really washed out.  The fabric is really a pretty soft rose.

I also had a finish but will save that for my smalls post later this month.

Elegant Doily is on the frame for this week.

It's February!!

Here's hoping that February proves better weather-wise than January did!!  We are supposed to enjoy temperatures in the 50s for the next few days and then back into the messy weather.  Oh and Happy Year of the Horse a day late.

As it's the first Saturday of the month, it's time for my YOTA post.  YOTA is a WIP SAL hosted at Pull the Other Thread.  Another no pressure and no stress SAL, simply stitch on your WIPs, take photos and post on the first Saturday of each month!

Since the last posting, I have finished a round in my rotation and worked on the following WIPs:

Elegant Doily  by Kayann's Kreations.  This was started when DSon was still in high school he turned 30 last summer - you can do the math.  I don't think I will have a finish on it this year but progress is good my goal is to finish it before DSon turns 35.

I stitched all the eyelets on the right side and a few more but this one is really hard to show progress pictures of.

Chatelaine's Serengeti was up next.  It went from this:

To this:

Santa's Magic from Mirabilia had another week on the frame and went from here:

To here:

And finally With Thy Needle and Thread's Three Tulips is on the frame right now and I went from this:

 

To:

 



My screen is showing really weird lines but they don't seem to show up when you click on the photo. This will stay on the frame through tonight so there should be more progress to show in my next post.

A twofer post

I decided that a twofer would be in order for this post, I'm already a day late with my TUSAL, Just Nan is due today and tomorrow is my second YOTA post of the year!  Suppose I could wait and do all three but I feel like I am short changing the individual SALs when I get too many in a post.

Before I get to photos, thank you all for the wonderful and encouraging comments.  The Hubs is really good about saying "That looks nice dear" but half the time he's not even looking at what I am showing him...

I believe we may finally be in a warm-up here in central Virginia as it is currently 46F pull out the shorts and tee shirts!!!  We had another "cold snap" earlier in the week and the temperature when I got up yesterday was 3F.  Yes, I know those of you further north are wishing for 3F as your high but our average temperature in the winter is in the 40s so this was wicked cold for us.  We even had 3"of snow the other day- I think that matches what we had all of last winter!  I suppose the upside to all the cold weather is that it will make stitching from stash easier as the heating bill is going to be a monster!

Just got notice that we should be back in our offices on Tuesday.  After 20 years it was decided that maybe they needed painting and new carpet, so I have been working from home since the 16th!!  It has been amazingly wonderful to not have to deal with 5 hours of commuting each day.  Not only have I caught up on my sleep (getting up at 7 AM instead of 4 AM is incredible!) but I have even had time in the evenings to cook, clean up and stitch.  Normally I get home around 7:30, have a bowl of cereal, get things around for the next day and am in bed between 8:30 and 9:00.  I am not looking forward to being back on that schedule but needs must.

So, on to stitching....

 

First up is my second TUSAL of the year.  The button should take you to the information page, but basically - all those bits of fiber that trimmed off or that last inch that you couldn't stretch to finish a stitch?  Those are ORTS! Don't throw them away, put them in a pretty jar, take a picture and post it each new moon.  Couldn't get much easier could it?  I had to change my jar from the one I started with as the Mason jar was filling up too fast and I didn't want to have to pack the threads down too much of course now that I will be back on normal, ridiculous schedule I won't be accumulating ORTS as quickly .  My new jar is an repurposed Yankee Candle jar.  In the past I just threw them away when the wicks burned down but I always felt a bit guilty as they are very nice jars.  I knew there had to be some way to get that last bit of wax out of them but a solution completely eluded me.  I was a bit more determined to figure it out this time and a quick search found that the consensus of folks on the internet was - put them in the freezer for a few hours and the wax would pop right out.  I'm sure this isn't news to most of you, but it was a huge lightbulb moment for me!  Breaking the circle of wax up so that you can get it through the mouth of the jar was a little trickier and getting all the glue from the label off wasn't fun, but I now have a very nice storage jar seen here posing in front of "Three Tulips" from With Thy Needle and Thread.

 

 

Next up is the  being hosted by Zeb at Keep Calm and Cross Stitch.  A fun SAL to promote the beautiful patterns of Just Nan.  I was able to finish one long-time Just Nan WIP and start a smaller piece this month.  The finish was Enchanted Swans.  This was a class piece that I started years ago 1999 or thereabouts as an on-line class through Tapestry of Dreams in Rhode Island.  I had finished the upper left diamond before putting it away for some unremembered reason.  I like the entire piece but the last band is really a favorite. Some day I am going to make a sampler of all my favorite Just Nan bands about the time pigs fly and an eternally warm place becomes a haven for ice skaters...

 

 

After finishing this one, I started on Tall Flowers and have gotten to here so far not quite as jelly fish looking anymore:

 

 

I plan on working on this the rest of today and maybe Sunday morning so I should have a finish to show in next month's post.  Strawberry Summer is going to fill the slot Enchanted Swans had in my rotation so it will be going on the frame Sunday.  I am really glad I signed up for this SAL as it is reminding me how much I like Just Nan's designs.

Stitching Smalls

I am a BAP stitcher, I am not a BAP finisher; however, for the last two years I have participated in SALs that had me stitching an ornament a month.  Imagine, starting and finishing something in the same month!!  For 2014, the ornament SAL morphed into a smalls SAL - different name, same concept - stitch a small a month.  It is a very no pressure SAL, you define small and you decide which months to participate.  The only requirement, other than stitching, is to post what you stitched on the last Wednesday of the month and register it on the SAL's page, so here I am.

And here's the link to the SAL's page:

I have already posted my finish for this month in a previous post, but as I have so few finishes in a year, I will show it again.

This is Peppermint Twist from Little House Needleworks.  It's stitched on 30-count Northern Cross linen with the called for fibers and button.  It would look perfectly fine without the button.  I was not really thrilled with the linen as it has a much stiffer hand than I am used to, but the color is perfect.

I have one small on the frame right now for February and have another one in line to start once that one is finished. I am so optimistic.

Stitch from Stash Update

 Is just the SAL for me!  I have been stitching for close to 30 years and for a few of those years I was a OAAT (one at a time) stitcher.  Buy materials for a project at local craft store, stitch said project, then buy materials for next project, repeat...  THEN I discovered cross stitch stores!!  Whole stores full of patterns and material and fibers, so many fibers and beads and charms and oh my!  I only got to a LNS about once a year so I would buy two or three or four patterns and kit them right away.  That worked fine until I went back to work full time.  My stitching time went down but my stashing habit had been established but was still under control due to distance. Then, oh my, then, businesses started seeing the advantage of having an on-line presence and I could shop anytime, at any store in the world and as they say, "that's all she wrote" although I am not really sure why "they" say that.  Which leads me to today.  I have been SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) for years but those designers keep coming up with more and more beautiful patterns or I discover a designer through a blog or a new designer hits the scene. Fortunately, or not depending on which side of the wallet you are on, the budget doesn't allow for extras so I have been stitching from stash for the better part of three years now, but when Stitch from Stash was announced, I decided to make it formal and joined right up.  Sign-ups are closed but you can join in for the fun and challenge.  Hopefully clicking the button on this post or the one in the sidebar will take you to the page to see the rules but basically, the idea is to either stitch your WIPs or stitch from stash.  You do get a monthly budget of $25 (I'm using USD but you can convert to your local currency if it makes more sense) and your monthly balance rolls over.  Mel did provide some exceptions and you do get one grace month, so actually a fairly generous budget.

Not that Mel mentioned anything about tips, but one thing I have found that helps tremendously is a wish list.  I post photos of patterns that I must have to my wish list and let them stew a bit.  I go back every so often and look at them to see if I still must have the pattern.  It is amazing how many I have added to the list only to remove a month or two or six later. 

So without further discussion, here is my January report:

  January Budget:  $25
                  Spent:  $ 0
Balance Forward:  $25

Starts from Stash:  Little House Needleworks' Peppermint Twist and Just Nan's Tall Flowers:

WIP stitching: I almost made one round in my rotation, so I have stitched on:

Enchanted Swans by Just Nan

Elegant Doily  by Kayann's Creations

Serengeti by Chatelaine

Santa's Magic by Mirabilia

There was some stash acquired also, but it was gifted.  Remember that wish list I mentioned?  Well The Hubs was looking for an anniversary gift and took a look at my list and gave me:

It's all three patterns plus the thread for Lizzie*Kate's Holly and Hearts Mystery Sampler Club.  He even managed to find it on sale!  Thank you ABC Stitch Therapy and your clearance page (yes he was so proud of himself, he told me all this!) This will be going in the rotation as soon as I finish Three Tulips.  I am sure I can find a piece of fabric in my stash somewhere...

January's IHSW

I had a four day weekend for this month but as one of those days is today, I'm going to show my progress through yesterday I have to have something to show for my next post!!

Friday was my smalls stitching day and I started Tall Flowers from Just Nan.  I didn't actually sit down to stitch until after supper, but I am pleased with the progress I made.

It is stitched on 28-count natural something, probably Cashel but I am not 100% sure, with DMC.  The Hubs thinks it looks like a very colorful jellyfish I do have to agree with him on that.

Saturday was the last day on the frame for Serengeti from Chatelaine and I am now 1/4 of the way through part 2 I could not face three more of those little medallions right away so jumped ahead to part 2.  My plan is to stitch an elephant block then one medallion, repeating until they are all finished.

Here's where it was when I sat down Saturday afternoon:

And here's the block finished:

Lots of color changes and half and quarter stitches around those elephants, definitely a part where the backstitching made all the difference.

And yesterday, Santa's Magic came back up in the rotation. 

And several episodes of Foyle's War later:

My plan is to work my way into that empty space on the left and maybe fill in some more of his beard this week.

January WIPocalypse

WOW!!  My last post struck a chord with a lot of stitchers!!!  I was frustrated when I wrote it and needed to get it off my chest before I did something silly like throw the piece under the next train. I certainly was not expecting the response I got.  Lots of horror stories out there, but I think the winner of the worst is Natasha at A Stitchers Ramblings that has a chart with only three symbols for the entire thing - one square and two different sized circles!   I would probably burn it before I finished the piece.

It's cloudy and I can't see it, but calendar says there is full moon out there today and so it's time for WIPocalypse!!!  WIPocalypse? You ask?  Yep, WIPocalypse, it's hosted by Melissa over at Measi's Musings.  She started the SAL in 2012 as a way to finish all finish some make progress on our WIPs before the world ended in December.  Well the world didn't end at least as far as I can tell, but who knows maybe it did and we're all really living in some alternate reality - that sounds much too much like one of those philosophy questions we used to get in school and my brain is really not up for that discussion right now but a lot of WIPs were actually finished and a fair number had progress made on them.  As it was so successful, she graciously continued hosting last year despite the small issue of becoming Mom to the very cute Max and all the time *that* entails and again this year.  If you're interested in participating, click on the dragon logo and it will take you to the sign-up and basic information page.

This year she gave us some general themes for our monthly posts. This month we're introducing ourselves and discussing our plans and goals.

I think most of "me" is in that little blurb up in the right hand bar, but I'll do it again anyway - I'm Susan and I live in northern central Virginia as opposed to southern northern Virginia which starts about 20 miles up the road.  I have lived here for about six years.  I lived in New Hampshire for the twenty-one years before that and all over before that as my father was a career Army officer and my first DH was also career Army.  The family here is made up of The Hubs and three spoiled rotten cats I suspect that spoiled rotten cat is a redundant statement.  DSon still lives in New Hampshire and, no, I don't get to see him as often as I'd like darn jobs!!!  I have been stitching for close to thirty years I blame my addiction on my Mother as she told me all about this neat "new" craft of cross stitch and how she thought I'd enjoy it well, I never do things by half and jumped right in and have not looked back that part I can't blame on anyone but me.  In addition to cross stitching, I enjoy paper, bead and fabric crafts and am teaching myself to knit (again), I also do a lot of reading and am always open to trying new crafts which usually gets me in trouble - see above comment about "halves".

I have five projects on my list this year.  I expect a couple of finishes, but am really only looking for progress on these:

• Santa's Magic by Mirabilia
• Enchanted Swans by Just Nan
• Elegant Doily by Kayann's Kreations
• Serengeti by Chatelaine
• Three Tulips by With Thy Needle and Thread

You can see the January 1st photos in the 2014 WIPocalypse and YOTA projects tab up there at the top.  As I finish a project, I will randomly pull a "new" one from the WIP list over there on the right hand side of my blog except for the Just Nan piece, it will be replaced by another Just Nan piece as I am participating in that SAL too.

So far, here is what I have accomplished on the WIPs since the last full moon I have stitched on other pieces, but they aren't on the list and will show up in other SAL posts.

Santa's Magic had a fair bit of work done on it:

Here is the before:

And here he is now:

As did Enchanted Swans:

Before:

And after.  Yes, this is a finish!

Elegant Doily saw a little bit of work.

This is a close up of the section on the right on the before photo

And finally, Serengeti is on the frame right now.

This weekend is the first International Hermit and Stitch (IHSW) weekend.  I have a new small going into the frame tomorrow, Serengeti will be worked on Saturday and Santa's Magic will go back onto the frame on Sunday.  If you are interested in promoting stitching over less interesting things like housework this coming weekend, click on the little hermit crab in the right menu bar and it will take to Random Ramblings and give you all the information you need to participate.

Thank you for sticking around until the end of this rather long post, I promise, they are not all like this!!