Update 25th July 2012

I've spent my last 10 stitching hours on my secret ink circles project so no photos this time.

I can share with you the chart I chose in the HAED reward programme for completing Hickory Dickory Dock.  I chose one of the new Randall Spangler Story Keeps - Cooking for your Dragon.

Just couldn't resist the combination of dragons, chocolate and biscuits.

I also bought myself a new chart in Bob's birthday sale - as well as sending a few RAKs.

The one I bought for myself was QS Orchid Pink Spotted by Nene Thomas.

I don't know what I'm going to stitch on next.  I'm torn between my Gerbera Daisy or a new start.  I guess you'll see what I decided in my next post!

Keep stitching and smiling

Miscellaneous as of 04.02.12

I'm making good progress with my secret project and have probably done about a two thirds of the first square so far.  The fabric I am stitching it on is quite difficult to work with so it's taking me much longer than a normal project would but it's nice to stitch on something different for a change.

One of the goals I have set myself for the year is to complete the 24 Christmas ornaments on plastic canvas from the November 2011 issue of Cross Stitcher Magazine.  I am hoping to turn them into some form of advent calendar so I need to stitch at least 2 a month to reach my goal.  Up to now I have completed 3.  I am substituting the french knots with beads and some of the backstitching with metallic threads with the hope this will add a little sparkle to the ornaments.  So having completed 3 of 24 ornaments I have completed 12.5% of this project.

I've also started stitching the plastic canvas nativity which I hope to have finished for Christmas.  There are 12 pieces in total so at 1 piece a month it seems like quite an achievable goal.  Also they are quite basic designs and have large blocks of colour so I am hoping when the light gets better I may be able to stitch on them in the car going to and from work.  I've started with the biggest part of the set which is the background and here's my progress so far.  If you want to see the finished design you can find it here.

I was thrilled to see on Jill Rensel's blog that she has framed a Living with Charm piece.  It just looks stunning.  It is my goal one day to have one of my pieces framed by Jill.  Here's the link if you want to look.

I'm extremely excited to have signed up to stitch my first Chatelaine - I've chosen to stitch the Anniversay Fairy Tale Castle.  The first part is released at the beginning of April so I have until then to save up my pennies and then decide whether I am going to stitch it in the recommended silks or use the DMC conversion.  I'm thinking I will have to go with the DMC conversion but we'll see.

I've also splurged again in the HAED sale and bought the four Randall Spangler story keeps recently released.  I will also get the fifth one when it comes out as I want to stitch them all on one piece of fabric.  I'm thinking a hand dyed piece so that the fabric acts like matting in between the pictures but I'm not sure yet what colour fabric I will stitch on.

Forbidden Doorway SK as of 14.01.12

I've not made a great deal of progress on the SK SAL only completing 567 stitches which makes it 2.67% complete.  I am moving on as I have to do some work on one of my secret projects.  Here's my progress picture so far.

I've also completed the next section of Living with Charm - I now have only 2 sections left to do.

As I am working on one of my secret projects next there won't be an update for a while.  

WIPocalypse - 09.01.12

So here's my first WIPocalypse update.

Cinnamon Cat Birth Sampler - started 21.12.11 - 2,957 of 11,068 stitches - 26.72% complete

Gerbera Daisy Cushion - 23,726 of 28,224 stitches - 84.06% complete

Hickory Dickory Dock QS - 20,344 of 26,775 stitches - 75.98% complete as of 02.01.12

Living with Charm - Part 9 complete as of 03.01.12

Secret Project 1 - I won't be able to publish any pictures of this project but will update my stats - 11.49% complete

Secret Project 2 - I will be able to post pictures of this later this year -  not yet started

Six Fat Men - 3 out of 6 complete

Forbidden Doorway SK SAL - not yet started

Treasures SK as of 17.09.11

I've a few different updates this week as I've started a couple of new projects.

Since my last update on Treasures I've put in another 960 stitches and it is now 37.06% complete.

I've also started work on the Living with Charm Flip Its from Lizzie Kate.  I am stitching 2 over 1 full crosses (apart from the block backgrounds on individual letters which I am doing in tent stitch) on 20 count hand dyed aida in Dawn Blush from Crafty Kitten Fabrics.  I started stitching on 11.09.11 and have managed to complete 1 of the 12 parts so far.

I've also started work on a design from Cross Stitch Gold magazine which I have had for years and always wanted to stitch, it is called Elegant Trio and is a Mackintosh style design.  This is a link to a partial picture of the design from the magazine.

Here is my progress so far - it is quite difficult to see as I have only stitched some of the grey border so far.  I am sewing this on another piece of hand dyed fabric from Crafty Kitten, this was the August 2011 Limited Edition colour and is 28 count cashel linen.  I am stitching 2 over 1 tent stitch.  

I have never stitched on such a small count before and have never stitched on linen so this is quite a challenge but I am stitching it to go in the top of a box which I got free with a subscription to World of Cross Stitching so have to do it small to enable the whole design to fit.  Here is a picture of the box that it will go in.

The final thing I want to share this week is a picture of my son in a tank top that my Grandma knitted for him.  It was supposed to be for Christmas but unfortunately my Grandma passed away on Wednesday 17th September so he got his jumpers a little bit early.  She had been ill for quite some time, in fact 2 years ago around this time we were told she wouldn't make it until Christmas, but it was still very sudden.  So here's a picture of one of the jumpers she made for my son and a picture of him wearing it.

I owe my love of crafting to my Grandma as she passed her love on to my mum and she onto me.  I remember getting a long stitch kit for Christmas and sitting at the dining table on Christmas Day with my Grandma figuring out how to do it.  I used to go to stay with my Grandma and Grandad in Plymouth during the Summer Holidays and on a Monday my Grandma ran a craft club at her local church and I have memories of going there with her and learning how to make stuffed animals.  She spent years making stuffed toys to sell for charity and so many of my childhood toys were made by her.  She had a massive collection of china dolls and used to buy the head, arms and legs and make them up herself and make all their clothes.  She also loved to knit and up until the end she loved to knit, for her great grandchildren and others, as it kept her hands moving and her mind active.  She was a lovely lady and I will miss her everyday but I know she is happy now as she is back with my Grandad who passed away 9 years ago.  

Sorry to have gone off on a bit of a tangent but I felt this was such an appropriate place for me to write about my Grandma because as I said I truly believe she is the reason I and many of my cousins have such a love of crafting.

I love you so much Grandma and will miss you forever.

September Goals

These are the goals I set myself for August:

1. Complete second page of Hickory Dickory Dock - Done
2. Spend half an hour a day on chart inventory - Didn't do half an hour a day but I'm still making progress
3. Knit at least 20 rows on jumper for Hannah - Did not do
4. Do at least 200 stitches on QS Blue Rose Fairy - Did 200 stitches and made it a UFO
5. Pick a small chart to work on next, grid it and make a start - Done

I'm pleased with the progress I made with these goals, I didn't even start Hannah's jumper, did a tension square but just haven't had the knitting urge recently.

I'm going through my chart inventory and splitting them into categories - some I don't like anymore, some I like the picture but don't think I'll stitch, some I would like to stitch and some I would love to stitch.  The only ones I am going to be listing on my stash page are the ones I would love to stitch so that when I want to start a new project I will have a shorter list to look through.

I'm really happy with my progress on Home of a Needleworker and have been surprised at how a seemingly simple design has caused me so much trouble.  I don't normally frog if I have put a stitch or two in the wrong place but just kind of work round it but with this design even one stitch wrong shows up and needs to be redone.  Having said that I am really enjoying it and it is nice to be doing a project where I can see the end in sight.

So my September goals:

1. Complete fourth page of Hickory Dickory Dock
2. Spend some time each day on chart inventory
3. Start jumper for Hannah
4. Do at least 2000 stitches on SK Treasures
5. Complete Home of a Needleworker

Treasures SK SAL as of 11.07.11 - Page 1 Complete!

Firstly I want to thank people for voting in my poll and commenting on my previous post.  I have decided that I won't be selling my patterns before I stitch them but will keep them.

Now onto the fun stuff.  I've finished page 1 of Treasures SK SAL and I'm really happy with the result.

I decided I wanted to keep on stitching until I'd finished the page rather than rotating a piece each week and it feels really good to have a finish (even if it is only a page finish!).

I'm also really pleased as well as I have been gridding with Sulky metallic thread in dark blue.  Up to now I haven't completed enough of a project to be able to take the gridlines out but on Treasures I have now taken the gridlines out and I'm pleased to say the thread came out very easily and didn't leave any marks behind.  So if I can get away with it on a project with so much white I am sure it will be fine on all my other projects.

So the stats for this project are 7,350 stitches completed which is 26.49% complete.

So this one can go on the back burner now until I get the next page which I don't think is until September so I'll have plenty of time to get some stitching done on my other WIPs.

I've also started knitting a blanket for my best friend who is expecting her third baby.  It is a design called Sampler Blanket by Debbie Bliss and I have treated myself to the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino wool to knit with.  It is absolutely gorgeous to knit so soft and lovely.  I may have to keep the blanket for myself in the end!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I had signed up for half yearly goals on the HAED BB.  I set myself small goals this time which were to complete 1 page of Treasures SK and 1 page of Believe QS and obviously with this post I have completed one of those goals.

I'm not sure what I am rotating onto now or whether I'll just concentrate on some knitting for a while.  Once the blanket begins to take shape I'll take some photos.

Treasures SK SAL as of 24.06.11

This week has been the new HAED SK SAL and I chose Treasures.  I've also been away this week so have had a little more time to stitch than normal.  I managed to do 4,389 stitches which might sound like a lot but the upper two thirds of the page are all B5200 so I've been filling in the main part my doing one thread of B5200 and then a thread of another colour at the bottom.  I'm stitching on 20 count aida in a colour called Nougart with three strands in tent stitch.  I've substituted the 032 Kreinik with DMC S5200 which is a silk thread with a lovely sheen and much much easier to use then a metallic thread.  So here's my progress picture of Treasures 15.82% complete.

Hickory Dickory Dock as of 05.05.11

I've been working on Hickory Dickory Dock this week and I just love it.  I did over 1,600 stitches on it and have completed 41.08% of the total design.  I'll honestly be quite sad when I finish this and might have to look at Nancy Faulkner's other designs (like I haven't got enough to stitch already!!).  Anyway here's the progress picture.

I thought you might like to see the card my mum made from the Brushstroke Butterfly I stitched for my colleagues retirement.  My mum makes some really great handmade cards but I think she excelled herself with this one.  I honestly just expected her to cut out a square and put it on a card but I love what she did.

I made the carrot cake again last weekend and am pleased to say that it actually turned out ok this time.  I did have to cook it a lot longer than it said in the recipe but at least it cooked through this time.  The cream cheese frosting didn't seem sweet enough to me but everyone else said they enjoyed it.  I'm a bit conflicted at the moment about my new hobby, I love baking and obviously love eating the things I bake but being diabetic this is obviously not the best thing.  So I've decided to limit my baking to once a fortnight and then will try and give the majority of the baking to my family so we only have a small amount in the house to tempt me.

The HAED BB has just released the new images for the upcoming Story Keep Stitch A Long.  I was determined that I wasn't going to take part in this SAL as I have far too many projects on the go already but now I've seen the pictures I think I'm going to have to take part.  The difficult decision now is which one to stitch.  The good thing is in the end I will end up with all four charts as long as I publish enough pictures of my work in progress but I know I made the wrong decision for the QS SAL as I am really struggling to stitch on Blue Rose Fairy - but I am determined to keep going so I can get those charts as well.  I'm just a chart addict and can't miss out on an opportunity for more stash (especially free stash!!).  So the pictures below are my choices, please let me know what your preference is and that might help my decision :-)

      



Masquerade as of 28.04.11

So I've been working on Masquerade again this week and finally feel like I am making progress.  I did 863 stitches this week which means she is now 83.01% complete.  I can finally see the end in sight.

On the knitting front I've not made any further progress with Little Boy Blue this week but I have managed to do quite a bit on the blanket for my cousins baby.

                                

 I also had a little more success with my baking this week.  I made triple chocolate cookies and Devon simnel loaf.  Everyone who had some said they were both delicious.  Might try making the carrot cake again next week (following the recipe properly this time!!)

Masquerade SK as of 24.03.11

I am very disappointed with my lack of progress all round this week.  I've had Masquerade on rotation for two weeks and only managed to do 887 stitches.  I don't know if I've lost my stitching mojo or if I'm not enjoying Masquerade as much as I was or if it's just because I've been so damned tired the past few days.  I honestly haven't been out of bed later than 7.30pm for the last few nights.  Anyway I've now completed 78.44% of Masquerade and here is my update picture.

Also I've made no progress on the Little Boy Blue jumper.  I'd done about 30 rows and showed it to my mum and she asked if I had measured it or done a tension square, the answer was no.  So I measured what I had done and it was 10 inches wide and it should have been 10 3/4 inches.  So my mum suggested I try knitting it on a bigger size needle because this should make the difference in size.  So I have had to unpick it and start again, hopefully it will be third time lucky.  I'm really glad though that my mum told me know before I spent a lot more time knitting it and stitching it up.

On a positive note I have started knitting my first blanket for SANDS it is a very basic pattern where you start with one stitch and increase on the second stitch at the beginning of every row.  I currently have 50 stitches on the needle so some progress has been made here.  I find I am able to knit in the car while commuting to and from work.

Hopefully I'll get more stitching done over the next week and get some of the jumper done too.

Masquerade SK as of 25.02.11

Well I have finally completed page 1 of the SK Masquerade, I've done a lot more than page 1 but to finally get that last stitch in and complete a page was a great feeling.  This week I've done 1,261 stitches which brings me to a total of 13,954 stitches done which is 73.76% complete.

I've decided to make this my main focus piece and will be stitching on it evey other week unless that clashes with the QS SAL.  I am desperate to start a new project but also want a finish.  Masquerade is the project I am nearest to completing so it makes sense to concentrate on this and get it finished.

Masquerade as of 26.01.11

Well I went back to work last week after my maternity leave so I'm not getting as much stitching done as I was.  I've been working on Masquerade this week and did slightly less than 1000 stitches on it which takes me to having completed 67.09% of this design.  My goal is to complete this design by the end of the year.  So here's the updated picture.

HAED BB 2011 Full Year Goals

A few days ago I set myself my stitching goals for 2011.  Having thought a bit harder about it I think the goals may be a little too much.  So today I have set myself a few less goals on the HAED BB, they are

1. Complete two pages in tent stitch of QS Believe not currently started
2. Complete two pages in tent stitch of QS Hickory Dickory Dock currently done 10.44%
3. Complete in full crosses SK Masquerade 2010 SAL currently done 61.83% 
4. Complete one page in tent stitch of QS Blue Rose Fairy 2011 SAL currently done 3.64%

I will still keep the original goals I set myself here on my blog but will be working mainly to complete the HAED BB goals.  Looking forward to seeing how realistic any of these goals are!

Stitching Goals for 2011

So I've been thinking recently about what I would like to achieve with my stitching in 2011.  I have 8 projects on the go at the moment and when I add in the 2011 SAL that will make 9.  I enjoy having lots of different things to stitch so I don't get bored but I do sometimes feel like I am not getting anywhere with any of the projects.  So the goals I am setting myself for 2011 are to:-

1. Masquerade SK - complete - this was the June to Dec 2010 SAL and I have currently completed 61.83%
2. Butterflies Galore SK - complete 75% - I have currently done 45.21%
3. Christmas Stocking - complete by Christmas 2012 - I find this quite hard going sometimes as it is a very simple pattern and has huge blocks of the same colour so my goal is to have completed it by Christmas 2012 when Samuel will be nearly 3
4. Hickory Dickory Dock QS - complete 50% - I have currently done 10.44%
5. Christmas Cards & Bookmarks - I would like to have 5 bookmarks for my mum to sell at next years Church Christmas Fair and I would like to have 6 Christmas cards to be able to send to family members
6. Train of Dreams - complete 1 page - I have currently done 3.51%.  I am finding this project quite hard to motivate myself to stitch.  It's a strange one because I love stitching it when I get started but I never want to start sewing it.  The really odd thing is it is one of my most favourite designs so I can't understand why I find it so hard getting started on it.
7. Shy Baby - complete 3 pages - I have currently done 6.86%.  I love stitching this design and have to stop myself from stitching on it all the time to do some stitching on other projects.
8. Samuel - complete 20% - I have currently done 2.63%.  This is a photo of my son that Michele charted for me.
9. Blue Rose Fairy QS - complete 2 pages - this is the 2011 SAL so I haven't currently started it.

So it will be very interesting to look back this time next year and see how much I have accomplished in relation to these goals.  I don't know if they are realistic or not as I have never set goals for myself before.  If I complete half of the goals I will be very happy.

I have been working on the photo of my son this week and am going to work on it a couple more days before I post an update.

Masquerade SK as of 11.12.10

Well it's been quite a while since I last posted but this last week I have been working on the SK Masquerade for the July-Dec SAL.  I am sad to say that I still haven't completed page 1 (I have about 7 stitches left to do) but I have been working over the whole chart and have now completed 11,633 of 18,919 stitches which is 61.49%.  I always love stitching on this design and never get bored with it.  I don't know if it's because it is mainly purples as this is my favourite colour.  Anyway even though the SAL is over now I will continue this design until it is finished.  It may well be that this turns out to be my first HAED finish.

Anyway here is my progress picture up to now.

So coming up soon is the drawing for the HAED Christmas contest for the chance to win 25 charts.  Anyone who has entered also gets a free chart so I am looking forward to seeing the free chart and also hoping that I might be the lucky winner for the 25 charts!!  I've also just entered the Christmas bingo and selected my chart for the 2011 SAL so all in all lots of stitchy things to look forward to.  Not forgetting that Christmas is coming and it is my little boys first Christmas so I am super excited about that.

Can't quite make my mind up what to stitch next but I do have to finish a knitting project before Christmas so might concentrate on that first before picking up my stitching again.

So for anyone reading this just in case I don't post again before Christmas - I wish you a happy christmas and a healthy new year!

Two Updates in One

Well since I last posted I have been working on two of my projects.

Firstly I started working on QS Hickory Dickory Dock by Nancy Faulkner.  I managed to complete 2,796 of 26,775 stitches in one week which means I have completed 10.44%.  It was quite a lot of background using only 3-4 colours so progress was quite quick.  I am sure my progress will slow down once the confetti starts.

The second project was the SAL SK Masquerade.  I have now completed 10,613 of 18,919 stitches which is now 56.1% complete.  I still haven't completed the first page but I love how you can see the details coming through.  I haven't decided yet whether to carry on stitching Masquerade for the time being or rotate onto something else.

Just a little update

Well I've finished the birthday card for my niece and here is the finished article.

I've also decided to change how I work my rotation.  I found I wasn't getting enough accomplished in a week to see any progress which was getting me down a bit.  I have therefore decided to work on each project until I either complete a page or get fed up working on it - which ever comes first.  So the projects I have on the go now are:-

1. Shy Baby
2. Butterflies Galore - SK
3. Masquerade - SAL SK
4. Train of Dreams
5. Christmas Stocking (Non HAED)
6. Christmas Cards (Non HAED)
7. Charlie's Ark (Non HAED)
8. Hickory Dickory Dock - QS
9. Samuel (Photo of my son charted by HAED)

So I probably won't be posting every week but will just post every time I change project.

Masquerade SK as of 07.10.10

Well here is my update this week on Masquerade following the October SAL.  I didn't get as much done this week as I would have liked to but I am now very close to finishing page 1.

I absolutely adore this design the colours are wonderful.

I am so excited this week as I have commissioned a cross stitch chart from a photograph of my son.  This is the image I submitted.  Can't wait to see the chart and start stitching on it.  Last thing I really need though is another project to add to my rotation but I just now there is no way I will be able to put off starting this one.

My son looks so different now.  His hair has gone very blond but one of the things I remember most about when he was born was how everyone commented on his gorgeous spiky hair.  That's why I chose this photo to stitch.

I've also been working on and off this week on the birthday card for my niece and this is the update.

Butterflies Galore SK as of 16.09.10

So I've been working on Butterflies Galore this week.  I was disappointed last week with my progress on Masquerade but this week I am really happy with my progress on Butterflies Galore.  Her face is nearly finished now and I am very close to finishing page 1.