WIPocalypse June Check-In

I've worked on 3 projects since my last update.  First up, Six of Swords with artwork by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.  I'm happy to report I finished up page 1!

This is a (relatively) smaller full-sized piece.  I think it has a total of 36 pages (as opposed to 94 or some insane number in A Stitching Shelf), so 1 of 36 done!  I'm stitching this 1 over 1, full crosses on 25-guide Magic Guide with DMC.

I then decided to tackle one of my older WIPs, The Winter Garden, with pattern by the Drawn Thread. The original supply list called for NPI and Dinky Dyes silks, but I opted for Gentle Arts and Colour and Cotton hand-dyed cotton threads and I think it turned out really beautifully.  This is stitched 1 over 2 on 32-count Belfast from Wichelt in the Smokey Pearl colorway (which is the called-for fabric).   It's DONE!  So happy with how this turned out!

Right now, to finish out this last week in June, I'm working on my Desert Mandala from Chatelaine.  This shows the finished upper center landscape vignette.  I'm currently working on the upper border and the bear totem section.  I want to get the bear done before put this away for the month.  I've got backstitching in his body left to do and the backstitching that outlines the cacti and adds in the thorns on those.  Then whatever time I have left, I'll keep working on the upper right-hand border(s).  It's nice to have gotten to the upper edge of the piece so I can sort of feel like I'm now just working to complete things rather than continuing to make the piece bigger!

Weekending - Mid-June 2018

I puttered around the house this weekend, finally getting some yard things taken care of I had been wanting to get done.  I watered our big trees in the front yard (although I've been keeping up with that each weekend during our current drought, as I really do not want to lose our two big ponderosas), put mulch down around the stairs to the back deck, replaced a few numbers on our mailbox post that had fallen off and did a bit of weeding.  I think the plan for the terraced section by the back deck stairs will be to put in a large raised bed with some perennials (herbs maybe?), and then plant daylilies around the base of that to have a 2-height feature back there.  I'd love to have a little fountain as well but I suspect we'd have the mule deer standing on the back deck trying to drink out of it if we did.

Otherwise, I hung out with this pretty girl - went for a couple of runs together, and then holed up in the nice cool downstairs of the house.

I did a bunch of knitting, none of which I can show you since it's all deadline/design knitting, but I did put a WIP stitching project back onto the frame to work on.  This is one of my older WIPs - The Winter Garden, design by The Drawn Thread.  I was just shy of the halfway mark when I quit working on it - and I don't think I've put any stitches into it in about a year.  Here's my starting point on Friday night. (Please ignore the wrinkles.  I had it just loosely put on the scroll rods at this point.)

And my progress on the house at the end of the weekend.

I finished up the front door, added some more windows and the ivy, started the roofline with snow and the smoke from the chimney, as well as the topiaries flanking the front door and the cardinal on the roof.  I'm out of both the Chalk (the white) and Blue Spruce (dark green for the roof and windows), so I ordered another skein of each of those yesterday, but I'll move on to finishing up the Heath plants under the empty windows and keep moving to the right while I wait for those to arrive.  I have 4 plant/trees to complete on the right to finish this one up: Heath, Cedar, Pine and Holly, and my plan is to just keep working on this one until it's done!

April 2018 WIPocalypse Update

April was full of a lot of travel and work stuff - but happily, I think those are going to slow down for at least a couple of months.  Here's what I got accomplished:

I spent 3 five-day sessions on A Stitching Shelf.  (Artwork by Aimee Stewart, charting by Heaven and Earth Designs in the "regular" color but large format layout - purchased before I realized I wanted to use a PDF reader to work off of.)  I had page 1 finished and I've been working on page 2.... slowly... like a glacier.....

I have this on tap to work on in May for at least 10 days as well in the hopes I might be able to get a page finish (unlikely, but hey! you never know.)

I put in almost no stitches on a travel project - A Bowl Full of Scaries from Plum Street Samplers.  Seriously - I finished up the tree and started the second one, and started the snake border.  I'm not sure why I think I'll be able to have the mental focus to work on stitching projects after a day on the trade floor, but I haul one along every.single.time.  Clearly, however, I do not. 

Nicely enough, my random number generator felt I should get a second crack at this one, so it's also on tap for next month for a 5-day rotation. 

As usual, I did put in 5 days on my Desert Mandala from Chatalaine.  I'm concentrating right now on the upper landscape section.  I got the border mostly worked for that and started filling in some of the rocks - absolutely LOVING the colors in this one!

Finally, my handy-dandy random number generator picked Shoot the Moon for me to work on for the remaining 5 days of April.  This is another Heaven and Earth charted piece, a mini with the background removed.  I'm stitching it on a gradient hand-dyed evenweave using all the same color - 310 - for the stitches. 

The fabric color is a bit washed out but I did get the central figure started this time around.  Very happy with the progress on this one!

In May, I plan to work on: 

• A Stitching Shelf (two 5-day rotations)
• A Bowl Full of Scaries
• Welcome Autumn
• Desert Mandala
• 12 Days of Christmas

January 2018 WIPocalypse Check-In

I was pretty pleased with my progress on things this month: One finish (actually an FFO), and good progress on 3 other projects as well.

I finished the February Word Play WIP.  Design by Brenda Gervais.  I stitched this 1 over 2 on a 32-count R&R Reproductions linen in Creme Brulee'.  I used most of the called-for GAST threads but substituted a Classic Colorworks (Cherry Cobbler) for the red that I didn't have and Colour and Cotton's Heirloom Gold for the palest yellow that I was missing.

A fun, cute small-ish stitch and a nice balance to the seemingly never-ending list of BAPs I keep starting.  I finished this off with a red/natural cotton ticking backing and I have it out on a table in the living room near the door.

I managed a page finish on my Winter's Encounter.  Charted by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Laura Prindle.  I'm stitching this 1 over 1 full-crosses on a 25-count Easy Guide Lugana with DMC.

I made some good progress on my Desert Mandala. Design by Martina Rosenberg/Chatelaine.  Mostly the called-for floss with a couple of minor substitutions and I'm stitching this 2 over 2 on a 28-count Lugana from Picture This Plus in Calypso.  This month's rotation I managed to finish half of the cacti around the interior border.  Next month, I'll move the fabric down and work on the top half.

Finally, I put in 5 days' of stitching on my Six of Swords from Stephanie Pui-Mun Law's Tarot series.  Charted by Heaven and Earth Designs and worked in the called-for DMC.  I'll be putting in another 5 days on this at least this month as I'd like to meet my page finish goal on it. 

The January Question of The Month is: What SALs are you participating in this year, and if you are participating in the Olympic Stitching Challenge, what challenge are you accepting?

I'm really only doing this WIPocalypse SAL and the Full Coverage Fanatic group themed SALs.  I may pop in and do a few of the Stitch Maynia ones as the year progresses, but I am so swamped at work for the next 3 months, I don't really have bandwidth for the Olympic challenge, unfortunately, but maybe for the summer Olympics when they roll around again!

Stitching Update: January 4, 2017

A quick update on my stitching progress for this week.

• While it's not cross-stitch, it is stitching.  For my New Year, New Start, I began my holiday gift from last year from my SIL/BIL/nephews that they picked up on a tour to France.  This is the motif of Harold on his destrier with his hunting falcon from the Bayeux tapestry.  It came as a kit with the stamped pattern on fabric and wool threads to use.  I was happy to find several tutorial videos on YouTube.  The best of these (IMHO) were the series by Sarah Homfray.  Her explanations are super clear and she's shot video looking down at what she's working on in which you can see the entire piece.  I made a small start on mine, choosing to start work on Harold's sleeve.  I plan to pick this up occasionally throughout the year and see if I can get it finished over the next 12 months. 

• Next up, I've been trying to put in at least 100 stitches a day (more if I can squeeze it in) on my Winter's Encounter.  This is the mini version from HAED. Artwork by Laura Prindle.  I'm currently at about 6% complete on this and I want to try for a page finish this month, which I'm pretty sure I can accomplish. I've reached the top right-hand corner of page 1, and the bottom left-hand corner as well.  I love how many colors go into a seemingly monochromatic mane and snowbank!

• Finally, I've just started working on my February Word Play by Brenda Gervais.  My goal is to finish this during the month of January.  I've only put a few threads into it so far this month, but it'll get some focused time next weekend with any luck and I'm hoping to make really good progress on it then. 

Stitching Wednesday: October 11, 2017

I've been concentrating on just a couple of projects so far this month.  I put in 5 days of work on my Desert Mandala from Chatelaine and finished up all the cross-stitching for the center medallion.

The only thing left to finish on this is the backstitching of the little pink flowers/cactus leaves, and of course the beading (which are the open/non-stitches spaces throughout), but I'll be doing that at the end.  I feel like I should be able to accomplish the backstitching in one decent stitching session in November, and then I can start section 2, which is the saguaro cacti around this center piece.

I then moved on to work on my Lakeside Needlecraft Under the Sea SAL, October block.  This is block 10 of 12, so we're in the home stretch!  I'm obviously not finished it quite yet, but here's my progress so far this month on the little scuba diver:

I need to finish up the cross-stitching and then backstitch this block (and whew! there's a LOT of backstitching in this one).  Once I get this block done, I'll go back to working on my Star Weaver from Heaven and Earth Designs for the end of the month - with one exception which is I'll be starting a new October/Halloween themed full-coverage piece this weekend: Witch Way.  I love the artwork (by Molly Harrison) in this piece!

Stitching Wednesday: 09/06/2017

I've been working mainly on 2 projects over the last week.  I finished up a 6-day rotation on my Star Weaver, and needed to move my frame, so I took the opportunity to grab a current picture of it completely off the bars.

I'm planning on working on this after I finish up my current rotation project, which is my Under the Sea SAL - September clue.  This month we've finally reached the bottom of the piece.  The motif is a super cute sea turtle but also includes some of the sandy bottom of the image.

This is my day 1 progress, and again, I'll be working on this for 6 days and plan to get this clue finished up completely.

For the first 6 days of September, I worked on my Desert Mandala Chatelaine.  I've done all the cross stitching in the center section.  I have a bit of backstitching to do for the coyote and hawk, but otherwise the center piece is done.  I plan to work on the remainder of the floral border in the hope I can get that finished up when this comes back up in rotation in October.

If you are interested, I'm also doing a vlog-style chronicle of my work on this piece, discussing the different threads and techniques used in this design.  The videos are available via my YouTube channel (along with my normal knitting-themed and more general xstitch-themed podcasts).

Stitching Wednesday - August 9, 2017

Good progress on Shoot The Moon (mini) this rotation.  I am almost finished page 5, and this means I started the ribbons in the fairy's hair. I have perhaps 50 or so stitches left to finish up page 7, and I'm through pages 1-3 completely, so I can move my scroll frame up a bit before I work on this next time - which will be September.  Pattern is charted by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Lee Ann Seed.  Stitched 1/1 on 28-count evenweave I hand-dyed in a gradient colorway called Dusk.

I then worked on my Under the Sea SAL from Lakside Needlecrafts, with artwork by Durene Jones. The clue was actually pretty quick to stitch this time - and added a manta ray to the group. I had budgeted 6 days to work on this, but I finished it up in only 3.

This is being stitched on a 25-count evenweave from Lakeside Needlecrafts.  It's a printed ombre'd fabric in watery colors that was an exclusive for this pattern/SAL.  Four more blocks to go!

Since I have a couple of extra days in this rotation, I'm going to put in a few days' work on Star Weaver from HAED, and then Sunday I'll start back to work on my Chatelaine so updates on both of those next week!

Stitching Wednesday - June 28, 2017

At some point, I will finally be caught up on the bulk of my deadline knitting projects and can perhaps show y'all some of the knitting things, but until then..... I bring you Stitching Wednesday.

I've got a handful of projects on the go and I'm participating in the Ivory Needle Challenge, which is to work on 5 projects with some focus, dedicating 6 days each month to work on those.  So while I am doing that, I'm also spending a bit of time on some other projects that I'd like to get finished for various reasons.

First up, right now, my 6-day rotation (which will take me to the end of the month on June 30th) is working on Village of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings.  I've finished blocks 1 and 2 of the 12-block pattern, and I'm working on block 3.  I'm making some tweaks to the originally charted design, and adding in some family information from my mum's side of the family - my grandmother's family, many of whom still live in Centre County, Pennsylvania.

These blocks take a deceptively long amount of time.  The brickwork/stonework sections in this are amazingly time-consumptive, but I'm plugging along on it.  I've got the city hall building bricks and foundation left to finish, the flag, the birds in the upper left-hand corner, and then I have to go back through and stitch in the lettering in the sign.  I'm not 100% sure I will have this finished by the time Friday comes and it moves out of rotation, but I'm putting some time in on it every day.

I've also been working on a full-coverage piece: Star Weaver with artwork by Tom Cross and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  This is one of their "storykeeps", i.e. bookmark sized pieces, so it's relatively small (ish) for a HAED.  I finished page 1 up earlier in the month and since I'm focusing on finishing this one this year, I'm trying to put in an hour or so on it in the evenings when I can.

After slogging thru almost an entire page of mostly the same color, I'm finally on to some different colored blues and am going to try to get at least to the middle of this page by the end of July.  The entire design is 3 full pages and then 1 row of approximately 720 sts or so to finish it up.

Finally, I've been working on a Mill Hill kit, the Pike's Peak Santa a bit here and there.  I've just finished all the plain cross-stitch parts, so I've got beading left to finish up on this.

Planning to gift this to my DH as an Xmas gift this year, and I think I'll be able to get it finished up over the next month and have it ready to go when we get to the end of the year. 

Stitching Thursday: January 26, 2017

Here's my progress on various and sundry things this past week:

I put about 900+ stitches into my Decorating the Wreath by Heaven and Earth Designs.  It now looks like this:

I watched a really helpful tutorial on YouTube by Pam of Pam's Crafty Corner about working a single color of thread cross-country per page, and the lightbulb went off for me, so I'm going to try working the remainder of the page in this fashion.  It seems to speed up the stitching (or at least it appears that way), since you aren't changing out colors and starting/stopping threads as much this way.  I figure it's worth a try to see if I can make some more focused progress on this piece.

I'm also thinking of switching up my rotation going forward in February, and making this my focus for a finish piece by working on it during Fri/Sat/Sun of every week, and then keeping the other 3 projects I've got going on a weekly rotation for the other 4 days.  It will mean those other projects won't potentially get finished as quickly, but it will mean I will finish this one up faster (that's my hope anyway!).  I'm going to give it a bit more thought, but I'm leaning towards that.

This week in my current rotation was time to work on The Drawn Thread's Winter Garden.  When I last worked on it, I had finished page 1 of 3 (with a bit more on page 4, but not a full page), and here's where I am on it currently (about halfway through page 2).  The center of the design is the middle of the red door (located over the word "winter" pictured below).

I'd thought I'd get through most of page 2 while it was out for rotation this week, but the house is taking a lot longer to complete than I thought it would, so likely that won't happen.  I'll have another day or two to work on it, but then it'll go away for another couple of weeks until I rotate back to it in February.

Next week part #2 of the Under the Sea SAL comes out on February 2nd, and this Friday the next clue in the Welcome mystery SAL will be released as well, so I'll have those to work on here in the short term.

New Podcast Episode (#41 - 12/22/2016) - Happy Holidays!

Episode 41 is now live (recorded 12/22/2016);

In this episode, I talk about:

Trunk Show at Yarn and Coffee in Santa Fe, NM on January 7, 2017.

FOs:
Snowdrops Mittens (January kit in the Herbarium Club for color/texture).

WIPs:
Sekret sweater project for Spring 2017 Filament magazine.
Cabled vest project for spring 2017 release.

Ongoing KALs:
Handspun KAL: Hosted by me. Runs through December 31, 2016.
Box O Sox KAL: Hosted by Kristen of the Yarngasm Podcast. Runs through December 31, 2016.
Coffee with CC KAL: Hosted by Jilly of The Knitting Broomstick. Runs through December 31, 2016.

Upcoming: Spin From Stash-Along 2017: Hosted by me. Begins January 2017.

Spinning/Handspun Yarn:
Superfine merino/alpaca in “Charcoal” from Pigeon Roof Studios.
Oceanwind Knits

Stitching:
January Word Play from Thy Needle and Thread.

The 2017 Clubs! Listings for all the clubs (Fiber/Handspinner’s Club, Sweater Club, The Herbarium Club (Lace) and The Herbarium Club (Texture/Color) can be found at the Clubs tab on the website here. For more details please also see the thread in the group here!

My Personal Blog: An Evening of Wonders