Cross Stitch Update

Haven't had much time for stitching this week, as we've been out in the evening for lots of evenings. I did make a little progress on the red border outlining where the lettering goes. To the extent that you can now actually make out the word "glory" pretty well. It's getting there. Gotta save something for next year anyway, lol. 

Cross Stitch Update: Christmas Nemesis

Well, I can't even tell you the last time I stitched on this before this week - last year I had intended to, but wasn't very well and then just couldn't face it. This year, I was feeling cross-stitchy again, and Christmassy, too, so I pulled it out to work on. I don't have a before picture, but most of the work wouldn't show much anyway, as I did a bunch of fiddly things in the middle, mainly:

I filled in (mostly; I am missing the final colour for this) and outlined the end of this bell pull. 

I outlined the end of this bell pull, where it sits on the blue dress. And filled in some missing stitches in the red sleeve - it was only one colour, so I must have been missing it before and have bought it since.

I outlined the blue angels hand (there are actually a few stitches still missing in her thumb, which I need to go back to) - and a few stitches in the collar of her robe. 

And then I started on a new row of red in the border. I'm going to work on the red border next, so next week the progress should be a bit more visible. It's actually not all that far off being finished, though I doubt it will happen this year.  All the central bit is stitched, except a few stitches here and there (and some beads in the head-dresses), so it's really just the border to finish off. I say "just", as though it can be used in that context!

Cross Stitch Update

As I predicted, I finished this piece - there was very little left to do. Which meant that I finally got around to picking up the angels piece (aka Christmas Nemesis).

I've done a small amount of filling in, in the centre (still some to do, but it's fiddly, a few stitches here, a few there) and have made good progress on joining up the border. I will probably only stitch on this one another week - there's a small piece I'd like to finish as well before the holiday spirit leaves me. And anyway, it wouldn't be Christmas without the angels, so I wouldn't want to actually finish the piece!

Cross Stitch Update

In theory, I should have switched to the Angels this week, but it's not that I'm avoiding it, really, it's just that this one is so nearly finished, I can't resist carrying on with it.  Only a few tiny bits to go - the outside of the flower on the M of "Merry", one more dangling heart and a couple of stitches for elf noses. After that, it's back to the nemesis, though!

That time of year...

It's almost December, which means it's time to get out the seasonal cross-stitch pieces. I have one current project which I'm going to work on for the next week, but then, whether I finish it or not, I'm going to switch to seasonal stuff.  These three unfinished pieces will get worked on (and hopefully two of them will get finished - can't finish my angels, of course, or what would I have to complain about every year at Christmas time?)  Who knows, something else might get started as well. I do have one or two seasonal pieces waiting in my stash...

Cross Stitch Update

Here's the final picture of the angels before I put it away for the year. I did do a little more on it, though not a huge amount. I finished the feet of the green angel, which is nice - it was a little weird that she didn't have any feet. And I carried the border on around the outside to meet up with the other side. Next year, I will have the right colour red for the inside of the border so hopefully I can make really good headway with that.

I did also spent a little time stitching this small piece - it's nearly done (the picture) - just some detail on the angels - and then there are the words, which say "Angels we have heard on high" - it will be a sweet addition to the Christmas Cross Stitches. But I'm tired of Christmas now, and am going to put these (and the other one with the elves) away until next year.  I think I have a non-seasonal piece half finished, so it will be back to that, and something else - perhaps another little Sheep.

Cross stitch update

Yes, there has been progress on the Nemesis this week (for those of you who haven't read my blog for years, this is my Christmas piece which haunts me, hence my nickname for it). Not a lot, as we've been out quite a bit, and, apparently, I am missing a couple of colours I need fo rthe border - one of the reds and one green in the leaves. But I'm getting some of it done, at least. I may also do the feet of the green angel as she looks a bit odd without them. Or maybe the gold bell pull - not sure. We'll see.

Cross-stitch update

Lots to show this week.  I finished the bottom of the dress on the green angel, and have put it away for another year. Not sure what I'll work on next year - the foot of the green angel, probably, plus I think the face of the middle one, as she's kind of creepy with no features, plus perhaps the bellrope (the one the green angel is holding) - we'll see...

When that was done, I picked up a small sheep virtue to stitch as I am waiting on some threads for the Cinnamon Christmas piece - and I finished the Love Sheep - they do stitch up pretty fast, these sheep!  4 down, 8 to go...

Finally, I did make a little progress on the Cinnamon Christmas - I was out on the weekend and thought I'd pick up enough of the dark brown (which is not on order) to finish the wording, but they only had Anchor, not DMC. I bought the equivalent, but it's not quite the same - still, it's fine for the dark brown bits which don't sit right next to the word Christmas. I think I have enough of the original colour to stitch "Merry" - I hope so.  Though of course, it's on my list to order...

Cross Stitch Update

Real progress being made on this green dress - the basic shape is all there and it just needs filling in, in a couple of shades of green. I imagine I'll finish in the next few days - and I'm not even tired of it, like I am some years. I think just planning to complete a small area helped me not feel overwhelmed...

As I finished the Winter Wonderland piece on the weekend, I also pulled out another easier piece - one last seasonal one - to use as an alternate when my eyes or my brain can't quite take the detail in the angels.  For an idea of what this one looks like, check out these photos on The Patchwork Rabbit (Karla is my enabler supplier for all things cross-stitchy).

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Cross-stitch update

Not one, or even two, but three items of cross-stitchy goodness to report this week. I finished this little one, Kringle's Crow (photo's a bit washed out, so the off white stitching doesn't show well, but it's there) a while ago. I knew it wouldn't take long.

g

I did some work on the green dress on the angels - you can see it's coming along slowly but surely. I'm not sure if I'll finish the dress this year, but that's my general goal - to make good progress on the green dress or even finish it. That will be plenty of stitching on this difficult, intricate piece, especially for my tired brain!

And once the crow was finished, I needed something else to use as a relief from the angels, so I pulled this one out, which is also much easier to stitch - I'm sure I'll finish this one this year, as it's only the house in the box to finish and the rest of the border and lettering.  Who knows, I might even need something else wintery to work on before I go back to the pink birds or the little sheep or...

Cross Stitch Update

A little progress on the angels this week - not a lot, partly because I didn't stitch much (various things I have been out of the house for) and partly because it's quite hard work - lots of counting - even more than normal. 

To counteract the difficult counting, I'm working on this piece as well, which is much simpler to count. It's only little, and most of it is done now, just some branches and flowers to go. It makes a nice change from the angels when my brain can't handle the angels...

Cross Stitch update

Well, it hardly seems fair to do a cross-stitch update, as I just did one, but I have done a tiny bit of stitching in the green dress - I filled in some bits above the line (the line is where the instructions go onto another page) and have begun to work a few colours below the line. It's not a lot, it's not exciting, but it's a little progress, at least. Part of the reason I haven't done more (in addition to the fact that I only started on Tuesday night) is that I finished stitching down the binding on my Christmas quilt... Can't do everything at once!

Cross stitch update

I know it's not Wednesday, but I finished the Chickadee, so I wanted to show it. It needs a frame, but it's done (and cute).   Next up...

yep.  The Christmas Angels. I will start working on the green dress this year (assuming I have the right green threads; I think I do) and see where I get to. I do have a couple of other seasonal pieces I want to work on - a very small crow in a Santa hat, and the Winter Wonderland piece from last year (which has a longer season than the Christmas stuff, of course). 

Cross stitch update

Fairly good progress this week (which is good, because it's going back in the box for next Christmas once again!) - I finished the red dress of the central angel. I also stitched her foot, including backstitch and did a missing colour and the backstitch on the feet of the blue angel. I filled in most of the face of the red angel, and did the holly wreath in her hair. I also finished her wings.   And then, because I couldn't face the green dress just yet, I started working my way down the border on the right hand side. I consider this good progress for one season - and anyway, I wouldn't want to finish it, as I'd miss it next year!

Cross Stitch Update

I actually had a little time to stitch on the angels this week, for the first time this year, and have made a bit of progress, working on the red dress of the central angel.  There are about 20 bazillion shades of red in this dress (realistically, perhaps 8) so it's slow going and quite hard to count. The chart is coloured, so I can't even readily mark what I've done. I'm managing, but not at as quick a pace as normal, even on intricate pieces. 

The photo below isn't the most recent photo I have (for instance, more was done on the bell rope since that photo was taken), but it shows the red dress the best of the previous ones.  Still not well, but you can see there was a lot of white space, and now, not so much.

This next week, it's back to the Winter one - so far, no stitching time, but the weekend promises better things.

Wednesday Cross-stitch update

Not a lot to show this week (again), though I have done some work on the border down the left hand side and on the arm of the blue angel. I also did a little more outline stitching on the hair of the central angel, but that's under the clip, so you can't see it! What I really need to do is the missing bits of the dress of the red angel, but I don't have the right colours of red - need to order them!

Barely any cross-stitch...

Didn't stitch much at all this week, due mainly to either being out or having guests three nights in the week, which is unusually high. Usually, it's more like none - or possibly one! But I did manage to do some outline stitching on the left-hand bell rope, hands and face of the red angel. Perhaps next week there will be a bit more time for stitching...

Cross stitch nemesis

OK, so, it was the first week of the Christmas nemesis. Not sure how well you can see the bottom photo, but I have done quite a bit of work in the hair of the red angel, as well as a little in the dress and some work in the bell pulls. I have remembered why this piece annoys me - it's just constant colour change. Can't go for a more than a few stitches in any direction without having to change colours -argh! Luckily, I can now have a week off and go back to my houses....

Cross-stitch nemesis

Someone asked for an update on the Christmas nemesis - the top picture shows where it was after last holiday season, and the bottom, a few days ago (I'm done stitching it for the season).



Not a lot of progress has been made, frankly, mainly because I had flu in December and even when I began to feel better, this was too intricate for my brain to handle - I probably lost 3 weeks of stitching time on this project that way - and when you only work on something for 5 or 6 weeks a year, well, that's a lot. Excuses, excuses! Anyway, perhaps next year will see more progress. I really should get the red angel's face done, as it's slightly disturbing that she's all blank...

Cross-stitch update

As promised, the cross-stitch update. Didn't get much work done this year on the angels - some progress in the red dress, but otherwise, not really anything. This was partly due to my being busy and uninspired and partly due to being distracted by this:



As you can see from the photo, this piece is going to be really lovely. I know I should have waited, but hey, it's my cross-stitch, I can do as I like! I'll work on this for a while yet (it's so cold out at the moment, that working on something "winter" themed seems very apt still) and then, eventually, move back to the red houses...