Category Archives: cross stitch

WIP should-do-this-on-Wednesdays

Posted in cross stitch, goals, round robin by

HI everyone! I’m so glad it’s Thursday. This has been a looooong week.

20170115_145556Friday – shite day at work then a hot walk to the Domain as that tag season has started. Moved Lou from one flat to the next while S+B ref’d there.

Sat & Sun – S+B had refereeing commitments, so it was just Z, Mase the Ace and myself at home. None of us felt very energetic so we lazed around. Slept. Hurting a wee bit after getting back into bootcamps. The Stitch Maynia and Stitch from Stash SAL both featured red, so I did a small part of home♥stitch♥ness  Flowering Poinsettia pattern. This is on a 26ct navy Elixar, as it was in my stash. Planning a small hoop finish for my tree. Check out her etsy shop (link on the name) for some more cuteness.

I also put the next round robin piece to work and started Passione Ricamo – it’s the head and shoulders of Into the Darkness. Not my cup of tea but Andie had already done Artemisia, so this one will face that. Not enough progress to show, as I only spent 30 min or so on her.

Discovered the rabbit warren that is Audible. This has been the high-light of my work week, altho I see it as potentially quite expensive! If you know of deal sites, please do let me know. I have worked out that it is often cheaper to buy the Kindle book and add on the Audible file…

 

Monday – work early (before 6!) to get the internal and vendor reporting done, before I went with Lou for her surgery appt. Letter said surgery at 11, under general, so we arrived at 9. Huh. Surgery at 2:30 – we left at 4. And they did it under a local block.

Tuesday – work then bootcamp. I did an extra set of the finisher and managed to bear crawl (fast!) up the hill. I cannot do it backwards. That is something to practice.

Wednesday – Watchman tag started again last night, so while S+B ref’d, Z & I went to an Ankor class at Waitakere. It’s a bit intimidating, TBH, to be doing that among the fit young rugby and netball peeps that are also training but once I had my glasses off, I pretended they couldn’t see me. Plus, I’m pairing up with Annike who I find motivates me. I hope I entertain and motivate her as much!

And now we’re back to Thursday. No stitching since Monday, when I did a little more on Fireflies. I am now into the navy, which is the last colour before the beads. Fingers crossed I get this done to bead this weekend, I’m tired of it already!

WIP eh..Thursday. Yay, it’s Thursday!

Posted in Christmas, conversion details, cross stitch, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

So far, so good. I am swimming along at work (have counted to 10 a few times, but yesterday didn’t hit my self-imposed swear limit, so getting better) and at home. Great amusement is had by the adults of the house, removing critical pieces of the children’s equipment like laptops they try to hide at night…I am also upping the “mean mum” stakes in expecting the boys to monitor their own cell data useage – they do not have the password to the WiFi! Oh, this is fun!

On the stitching side, I am hitting my goals and then some. For the first week of the year, the StitchMaynia 12 Days of Christmas SAL continued, so I worked on the Hands On Design chalkboard Christmas, completing the first trilogy with Be Merry & Believe:

This week is my Magazine SAL week, as hosted by Heather Stitches on Facebook (that link is to her blog, BTW). Because the 12 Days SAL finished on the sixth, I started this piece a bit early, but I have a finish. This is Country Cottage Needlework‘s  Merry & Bright from the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament 2010 issue (as I brought myself the DVD via 123 Stitch in December, I’m planning an ornie for each of this SAL’s entries). I’m planning on a cube finish with present buttons added:

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I did not use the threads recommended (Stitch From Stash, people!). If you want to copy, I did this 2 over 1 on 25ct ivory Lugana with the following DMC changes:

  • the circle is 3364
  • @ is 347
  • the square is 434
  • the dot is Kreinik 032
  • and the half circle is 895

And as that took me only 3 days, I pulled out one of my existing WIPS, Arezzo. All that 1 over 1! Add on Nora’s doctor’s scrawl of a chart, and it can be heavy going. I find it takes me a few moments to adjust even tho I have blown the chart up and use a high-lighter. I have frogged the error that caused me to put her away and made a lot of progress over about 4 hours. I don’t know the original stitcher of this version but she did a beautiful job. Me? I’m plodding along:

And at work, my focus is to finish the stitching part of the second variation of Mill Hill Fireflies. I’ve sorted out the blue thread, and expect to have this ready to bead for Saturday:

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WIPocalypse begins!

Posted in cross stitch, goals, lavender & lace, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, Smalls SAL, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

lk-hnyHAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/ 2016 was the sixth year of the SAL, and my second year participating; let’s go for a trilogy.

 

January first is all about setting goals for the year, so that in early December I can go “oh crap!” LOL This year I intend to be multi-platform again, with the daily focus being on Instagram but at least the WIP Wednesday, Smalls and WIPocalypse posts here on the blog, and a monthly Flosstube. I have weekly rotation plans written in my diary to take me thru to the end of March & I will review then.

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The rotation plans are loosely worked around the following:

  • StitchMaynia’s monthly SAL e.g. Feb is “fandom” (I am thinking Cloudsfactory Labyrinth), March is Teresa Wentzler (Tapestry Cat). December/January has the 12 Days of Christmas, starting on Christmas day and finishing on the 6th – I will be taking my Hands On Design Christmas Chalk away with me. Mostly because I paid for the fabric (32ct!!) and I need to use it, so if it’s all I have with me I should see some progress.
  • StitchMaynia’s colour SAL (this is only on the 15th of each month).
  • The Never Ending Band Sampler (as my learning piece of the month).
  • The Magazine SAL (as hosted by Heather; click the image to the right for more info). This piece will double as my Smalls (click on that image for more info) post as I intend to use the JCS Christmas magazines all year, especially now that I have the CD with the past issues!
  • The Round Robin piece, whatever it is and whenever it arrives.
  • Focus on a Finish – whatever needs completing from the above or a current WIP that is nearly there. Mermaids of the Deep will be high on that list.

I am not going to start a New Year New Mira – mostly because I am away from home and I really do have enough started. Going into 2017, I have the following starts (listed in age!!):

  • TW Tapestry Cat (Dec 2006!)
  • Semco Toy Story Sampler (October 2013)
  • Nora Corbett Arezzo (March 2014)
  • Mirabilia Persephone (May 2015)
  • Nora Corbett Blitzen (as part of my reindeer parade, Rudolph started in July 2015)
  • Mirabilia Mermaids of the Deep Blue (December 2015)
  • Mirabilia Raven Queen (January 2016)
  • Tamara Blackwork (September 2016)
  • Never Ending Band Sampler
  • Lavender & Lace Celtic Winter (December 2016)

Ten’s not so bad, really!

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch by

By the time this posts, I’ll be in the air! My holidays would have kicked off and I am really looking forward to minimal computer time and massive family time over the next few weeks. I’ll still be on Instagram but maybe not here. So Merry Christmas to you all, and may you have a wonderful, fun-filled holiday season.

December’s StitchMaynia SAL was a finish line. After completing Wise Words, I moved onto Mermaids of the Deep Blue. As is usual with December, I over-estimated the amount of stitch time I would have and didn’t get to the goal. Nearly there tho!

It does show progress, and I think penciling it into the last week of January will see the stitching portion completed. But as I am doing SFS, and only have three packs of beads purchased, the finish itself will need to wait a bit.

fb_img_1482135970154The next SAL will start a bit early for me. I was really tempted by the Satsuma St 12 Days of Christmas but then I thought – I paid BIG money for the Hands On Design chalk ornaments and no, I don’t like that it’s 32ct instead of 28ct (my fault) but let’s get them done. They fit loosely into the “12 Days” theme and I have the chart copied, threads prepped, needle ready and it’s small enough to travel with. So I have these ready now, along with my pathetic start. I’m thinking I will do Cathy’s 12 Days series that she is featuring on IG right now – super cute!

12 days Cathy.jpg

 

 

December WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

Whoa. It’s December already! And I have just these two days left at work for all of 2016. I’ve taken a loooong break this year so won’t be back until Jan 9th. And – gasp! – I have some cover. Amazed.

WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/ 2016 was the fifth year of the SAL, and my second year participating.

Anyway, let’s get into the recap. In January, I had a few plans/goals.

  1. Keep a separate portion of my diary for stitching goals AND keeping my WIP blog page updated with pics as I rotate. MOSTLY ACHIEVED – I was much better about recording than I was in 2015.
  2. Mirabilia Mermaids of the Deep. NEARLY COMPLETED – well, the stitching anyway. I had hoped to complete that in 2016 but there’s about 30-35 hours left, and it’s not going on holiday with me.
  3. Mirabilia Raven Queen. WORKED ON.
  4. Nora Corbett Cherub with Tree. FINISHED.
  5. Mirabilia Roses of Provence. DITCHED & FROGGED. I have a different fabric, so planning this for after I finish Persephone. Two Mira skirts would be one too many.
  6. Nora Corbett Blitzen. WORKED ON
  7. Mirabilia Persephone. BLITZED GOALS – currently in the middle of stitching the skirt. So far all conversions are working out.
  8. Nora Corbett Arezzo. DID NOT STITCH
  9. Semco Toy Story sampler. DID NOT STITCH.
  10. Teresa Wentzler Tapestry Cat. MINIMAL STITCH TIME.

I also completed a lot of smalls!

  • Jan – Chinese year of the Monkey
  • Feb – Nora Lily of the Valley RR, Noel mini sampler, Lizzie*Kate Up in the Treetops
  • Mar – nil
  • April – Hands On Design Plenty
  • May – Spring biscornu portion
  • June – Mill Hill fireflies kit, Pickle Barrel Noel, Cross Stitcher bunny kit
  • July – Mill Hill Holly kit x2, Mill Hill Berry kit x2
  • August – nil
  • Sept – Mill Hill Saxony Santa kit
  • Oct – Mill Hill Lapis kit x2, Mill Hill Merry Christmas Santa
  • Nov – Nora Petal Fairy RR
  • Dec – Plastic canvas trees

I also got a few “medium” finishes in. Country Cottage’s Afternoon in London, Cloudsfactory’s A Team and Emma Congdon/Stitchrovia Wise Words Tolkien quote.

For all the missed WIPs in the first section, I feel like I achieved a lot.

 

WIP Wednesday 

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL by

Yay! I am taking part in the Stitch MAYnia SAL this month, which is a finish line SAL. Firstly I carried on with the Emma Congdon/Stitchrovia design Wise Words Tolkien that was in a Cross Stitch Crazy (note that this will be on her site as a pdf purchase early in the new year):

And I have a finish! I am thinking I will #ffo as a hoop for a quick finish. Plus I want to work on that as a technique. 

I drove Brandon to the last Domain tag round for the year. Because of Christmas in the Park it was moved to Cox’s Bay. The tide was in and it was beautiful. I went for a little walk. Just had to! 

The pohutukawa flowers are out. Beautiful reds. I want to take the kayak out!

And while waiting I started on Celtic Winter by Marilyn Leavitt-Iblum. This is a classic piece so I’m sure you’ve seen it before. I am doing this on a 28ct opalescent Elegance lugana by Silkweaver, which I picked up in Andie’s destash. I am changing out the gold for silver, at least on the borders and motifs. Possibly blue on the skirt. The silver is PTB32. 

Then my next focus-on-a-finish piece is Mermaids of the Deep Blue by Mirabilia. This is on a 28ct Raglan Surf lugana from Countrystitch. This is my start point:

And since Saturday I have got a wee bit done: