Hey everyone! I hope you have had some sun wherever you are – it was late arriving for the “summer” holidays here in Aotearoa, so late that I was joking we missed it in the lead up to Christmas. Unfortunately January has also brought in some pain, as B farewelled a school friend (very hard to do at 22) and a family friend drowned and another has passed due to cancer. Please, please – take care of yourselves and your loved ones. The city has also lost four people in the horrific flooding that’s taken us over.
Right. Stitchy stuff.
I have completed one goal in my annual list!
FO Seas the Day (Hands on Design)
Seas the Day, Hands On Design, GAST – Weeks conversion.
Seas the Day was completed on January third, while we were travelling State Highway 35 around the East Coast of the North Island. I have found a frame too and just need to re-colour it.
Other pieces that have been worked on this month include
A Stitch in Time (825 or 41.86%)
The Letter P Fairy (429 or 9.09%)
Rogue Dragon (757, now 70.06%)
Seasonal Trilogy Autumn (400, now 10.49%)
Strawberry Fields Forever (2623, now 49.67%)
Tournee du Chat Noir (4559, now 15.79%)
Jim Shore’s 12 Days (474, now 29.43%)
Strawberry Fields has become my go-to stitch, as it’s mostly GAST and Weeks, which I love, and there’s a bit of repetition. Perfect for binge watching – we’ve done Wrexham and all the Broadchurch this month, and there’s been a lot of cricket. I’ve also put most things into Pattern Keeper to make it easier on myself, but that 12 Day’s number refers to only days 3 & 4. That’s all I’ve re-charted right now. Days 1 & 2 were completed prior to March 2021. In total I hit 11038 stitches, well over target.
Woo hoo! Back from a long, invigorating and inspiring weekend away, followed up by illness then a holiday weekend, I’m resenting being here in the office when I have so many things I want to do. My personal highlight from the retreat has to be that (I think) seven or eight people rang the bell after FFO’ing their biscornu! It was the first time I’ve released a full design into the wild, so to speak, and it was cool seeing all the variations of it.
I brought quite a bit of haul – less so than what I thought I might tho – and the best is already started. Hannah had finished Blackbird Design’s Strawberry Fields Forever, and Catherine was able to part kit it. I’m using mostly the charted threads on 28ct Countrystitch Toitoi lugana.
Catherine also had another skein of the waterlilies thread I needed for Red Velvet, and that was a finish on the 12th.
I also finished up CloudsFactory Labyrinth on the 14th – not sure why I didn’t get this done months ago!
Since then I have completed 2% more of Tournee du Chat Noir and while I’m struggling to complete a diagonal, I am just popping all over putting in some bulk ecru when we’re talking, or the red circle around the cat when I’m by myself and can concentrate.
9.84%11.84%
I am watching the first season of The Chelsea Detective on Acorn (a mostly British TV streaming service). It’s quiet, thoughtful, quirky – all the good things. Each episode is about 90 minutes, long enough for a good story. The second season is in production and hopefully there will be a lot more. Reading-wise, I finished the third Richard Osman book, The Bullet That Missed. Again, it’s quiet, thoughtful and quirky – I really enjoy the characters in this series. If only I’m as sprightly as Elizabeth when I’m retired! I have a bit of a book hangover now, so I don’t know what to start next. I’m listening to Anne Cleeves “Vera” novels but flirting with fluff books on my reader. Any suggestions?
I’ve had a finishy week – both the Thames biscornu is complete, ready for assembly at class AND I completed the Just Nan Porch Garden Mice humbug. Lesson? Always interface Floba before finishing. I didn’t, and the base is a bit shady. However, it’s done and on the shelf! That’s another assembly method I now can do.
Shady side hidden!
I also machine stitched the small stockings for the Makower UK advent calendar. 48hems, 24 assembled items – it was actually quite brain numbing but now it’s DONE hallelujah. I still need to iron and buy a wide red or gold ribbin, and 24 wooden clips for the display, but it’s only September so I’m doing OK.
I also had a follow up visit with the GP regarding my long covid, and I now have another daily med to add to the rattle. After two days my sinuses do feel less “full” or pressurised, so hopefully this stops the frequent headaches and migraines. She said it’s very common for sinuses to go into overdrive for an extended period, but couldn’t tell me how long this period might be!
So it’s been a long while since I wrote. If you haven’t been on my IG, we’ve got a lot to catch up on.
Family-wise, we’ve grown although maybe not in the expected way. Back in February, Si was putting in the last of the Expol underfloor insulation. I was in the room above him and I heard an “oh shit!’ then a much much louder “go and get your mother!”. I went around and under the house where he told me that he thought we had rats. We don’t even have a compost bin and live in suburbia, and I thought this was really unrealistic. Sure enough, after I grabbed his headtorch and had a look, it wasn’t. I was exceptionally passive aggressive when I made the torch shine directly in his eyes and said “…it’s kittens”.
Turns out Mama Cat was dumped when the people behind us moved out. She wasn’t much more than a kitten herself and was malnourished and therefore so were the kittens. We found three live kittens and brought them into the house to be warmed up and fed. So now we have Charlie (was 205gm), Elise (was 225gm) and Kayn (was 265gm) – at nearly six months, Kayn is “average” while the girls are much smaller, but everyone is now thriving. Mama is now spayed and re-homed, but the three terrors are staying with us.
Charlie, day oneKayn, Elise & Charlie, night oneCharlie, on Sunday. An ideal builders cat!
And I have a teenager again – and we’ve done the high school visit. Ouch.
Work-wise, nothing much has changed for me. The role has reduced down again, so it’s getting to time to look for something more. I have read over the material for the next Tikanga paper, and decided not to proceed there. I think language might be the go, or a dressmaking course. Honestly, it’s all about me so I’ll move the way I want to.
Reading-wise, I am devouring older Nora Roberts, Deb Kastner, Becky Wade and anything that has a Christian/K-9 Assistance trope. Luckily that’s a huge swathe of Harlequin novels so I’ll be there until that runs out. Re-watching older episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Taskmaster UK, and The Great British Sewing Bee. I made a lined waistcoat for Si, for his formal awards dinner (his team theme was loud), and now I’ve mastered darts and bagging out. Woot. Patrick Grant would still be looking down his nose at it!
Stitching wise, I have finished quite a few things, started some more and purchased even more. I have mastered a few embroidery stitches – queen was a real headache to ensure it was even – and have put off starting a Chatelaine mandala as (insert gasps here) I have fallen into the full coverage rabbit hole. I know. I know!! Please God, let me live to 102… Pattern Keeper is an amazing app
Finishes:
Mirabilia Fairy Idyll
HOD North Pole Trading Company (adapted to two antlers, not three)
Mill Hill Sunday Night (two of course, and FFO’d)
HOD Cookie Exchange SAL (need to FFO on a kitchen board)
HOD Reflect Upon Your Present Blessings
La-D-Da Sweet Pea (on Floba, FFO’d even!)
Tis The Season Abigail’s Sampler (good for learning new stitches)
Faby Reilly Fox biscornu (ready to FFO at the Thames Retreat)
Sweet Pea #ffo
Still to complete:
Chatelaine Castle I (still back stitching the gate)
Beth Twist/Heartstring Samplery Coffee Quaker (my over one conversion)
Mirabilia Princess Elliana (still working on conversion)
Mirabilia Le Nouveau Sampler (LHS of garden)
Mirabilia Fairy Tales (to bead)
Started since we last chatted:
Nora Corbett Coral Charms (converting to the same look as my Luce Mia mermaid)
Stitching Jules’ Watercolour Sheltie (via etsy, about 15%)
HAED Lesley Anne Ivory Tournee Le Chat Noir (about 12%, but it’s HUGE)
Ink Circles Red Velvet
HAED Aimee Stewart Cliffhanger (mini, just over 26%)
Just Nan Garden Porch Mice (on floba)
Cliffhanger by Aimee Stewart
I’m also working on the Nora Corbett Patreon pattern, Rogue Dragon. He’ll be converted, as hers is red/orange tones, and that isn’t my jam. He’s the next cab off the rank once Garden Porch Mice is done, as I really do want to see what & how the humbug forms. I’ve not completed one of those before. One of the ladies at the embroidery group I go to had one done last month, but on 32ct so much smaller. I have the 32ct for this one still with the chart, but I doubt I’ll do it again. Also, the urn and mice could go well into another Hare, especially if I was to use the same shape as the Sweet Pea I finished this month.
Anyway, I will try to write more frequently. I’d like to get back into a weekly routine again, and Zeb has been asking for flosstube again. Not sure if I have the emotional spoons for that but we’ll see. Where on earth would I start from??
Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group.
Last month I signed up to do the Marathon, which basically meant I needed to be monogamous to the one piece. I’d started the Bothy Threads/Hannah Dale Moongazer pattern and as it was relatively easy to transport, staying faithful to it was also easy (also helped by UPS sitting on my other parcel for five weeks). I got to roughly the half-way mark during the event, which I was pretty happy with. I finished Tiger later in the month and switched over to Fairy Idyll, as that’s what I was feeling.
Saturday mid-month is our local Stitch Group meet-up in Te Atatu, a small peninsula here in West Auckland. I look forward to this get-together but sometimes I’m a bit cross with myself, that it took me so long to find a group of crafty, funny, soul-enriching people. I put the kids and SI’s refereeing first for so many Saturdays but now that we’re getting into the next phase (only one truly dependent child, woot!) it is easier to be selfish. I used this meet-up as an opportunity to pass on some of The Dragon’s stash, and about ¾ is now gone. The remainder will go into the pile I’ll take to the annual meet-up next year, or to the Hospice shop. The additional benefit this last weekend was that Mase was at a birthday party/overnighter so there wasn’t any hurry to be somewhere after. Next month will need to be a Teams or Zoom meeting I guess.
At my embroidery class I’ve mastered stem stitch, and surprised myself by remembering how to do woven roses without any nudging. I’m making myself a felt scissor pouch to start with, as the clippers I use came in the most useless, fragile plastic wallet and really need to be contained. Hopefully I will find the Stitchsmith Tree of Life project that I put away in a fit of feeling inadequate and be able to finish it. Class is now postponed until we are in Level One. Bugger.
Looking at my second half’s goals:
Complete Un Ricarmo per Rinascere COMPLETED
Complete Bothy “Moongazer” COMPLETED
Complete the Chatelaine Castle I (at half way mark) REPLACING WITH FAIRY IDYLL
Complete Faby Reilly Fox biscornu (at back stitch mark, & back to stitch)
Pretty content with where I’m at for this point, altho I am thinking of simply not making the Fox biscornu into a biscornu, and just framing the front piece. I have so many things that I want to work on that I am going to end up doing small-Mira-small-Mira for a while. And by Mira I mean that I will take one of the kitted ones and work on it until I’m bored or frustrated, then switch to a small. Fairy Idyll is be the first cab off the rank, as I have the two arms over one and some of her dress to do, then she’s done…
Fairy Idyll (three quarters completed)
Elliana (started the conversion)
Twisted Mermaids (want to convert to be the twin of Under the Deep Blue)
Ophelia (not started, going to use Dewn’s face conversion)
Garden Prelude (not started)
Feather Fairy (not started)
Holly Pixie (not started)
Moonlight Laguna (not started)
Sunrise Laguna (not started)
Coral Charms (convert to the same as my Luce Mia mermaid)
Bella Vita (convert to the same as my Luce Mia mermaid)
September is Sampler September, and as is typical, I cannot find my chart of Le Nouveaux Sampler (yes, another Mirabilia!) so I’ve borrowed Zeb’s via a non-contact delivery, and have started this on 28count Feijoa Lugana from Countrystitch. A replacement has left Chicago airport and is on it’s way out to me now. This means of course that I will find my original chart in a couple of weeks…
August 29 – Which of your project finishes made you the most proud? The most relieved?
I think my favourite finish would be the Alma Lynne Noah’s Ark sampler. This is the first piece I modified, adding in the details about Brandon at birth; the first time I substituted in different threads, using metallic for the lightning bolt; and the first I had framed for our own house.
The most relieved would be Persephone. Not only was she HUGE I was using my own colour conversion and a fabric that could have gone very, very bad. I can see a couple of things I’d change now but overall, phew, she’s on the wall!
Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group.
June is that time where we recap our stitching goals for the year.
Complete stitching Red Skies at Night; DONE
Stitch Autumn/Winter and Spring series from Hands On Design; NO
Stitch couple of Sandra Cozzolino Santa’s; NO but I brought more, does that count?
Start a second full coverage piece; NO
Work a little bit on Fred (Tapestry Cat); NO
Learn some new stitches. DONE, thanks to a partially completed Chatelaine.
I’ve been letting my whims take me along recently; and since the Christchurch stitch meet-up I’ve continued to expand my stitchy horizons. I’ve managed to get to one of the monthly Auckland meet-ups at Te Atatu Library (next one is 17th July, from noon, come along if you’re local & crafty); started a stitch Te Reo class (Te Reo being the Maori language, Maori being the indigenous people of New Zealand) and have brought a few more things, including a reprint of a Dimensions kit, The Finery of Nature; and two recent Mirabilias, Ophelia and Twisted Mermaids. I think I’m reaching SABLE point!
This last month I’ve worked on my Te Reo piece, E pai ana au (I am good) which is the answer to another kit, E pēhea ana koe? These are designed by Gemma Steward, @gbsneedlepoint on IG, and most of the class has completed their design, which is a great indication of how good a tutor Gemma is, as most of the class hadn’t stitched before. I’m there for the language and people.
At work, I’m reading and working on the Mill Hill Sunday Night kit, one for me and one for Louise. For only the second time, I’ve run out of a thread doing the second piece, but as it’s all DMC I’m not fussed. Home has been Un Ricarmo per Rinascere, and I’m into the bottom half of the chart. I’d like this to be done before Ophelia arrives.
I’m going to set some goals for the last half of the year:
Complete Un Ricarmo per Rinascere (past half way mark)
Complete Bothy “Moonlight” (not yet started)
Complete the Chatelaine Castle I (at half way mark)
Complete Faby Reilly Fox biscornu (at back stitch mark) ALSO find where I put that, whoops
I’m not making any buy/sell promises or goals. We all know I’m not sticking to anything there!
Hi everyone! I’m resonating with the line from a Mariana Zapata novel, where the child has been “ranting for a small eternity”. Anyone else have the feels here? It’s raining heaps, the household is full, at work we’re all full on, and patience is running out. Yay, Winter. But we need the rain, our local dam has been running very low for quite some time (atho not as low as the Hoover in the States – did you see that news article? The “bath rings” quote was apt). Of course our new water tank (which is not household, just for my gardens & topping up the pool in summer) isn’t installed yet.
There’s a bit of gaming going on, and a bit of Lego. A lot of sport, and for me, a lot of reading (Penny Reid mostly). I have divided up my stitch WIPS to Un Ricarmo per Rinascere at home (last worked on in September 2019), and a new start, a Mill Hill church kit at work. I love Mill Hill for work/travel; easy to pick up where you left off, easy to work on while in the car, or having a conversation; not quite small enough to work on at my desk however!
NOTE: If you’re looking for Un Ricarmo, it’s only available as a digital download from Casa Cenina in Italy. Nora Corbett designed her as a memorial for those who were affected by the earthquakes that rocked central Italy in 2017. Please do not buy second hand or via Etsy/eBay/whatever – the true purpose of the chart will be lost if you do. https://www.casacenina.com/mirabilia-design-nora-corbett/un-ricamo-per-rinascere.html
I reached the finish point of the May Cotton & Twine kit; I haven’t used their border as I want to personalise this once we buy a seaside getaway/retirement home. I did add a French knot for the door handle – perfect with the first attempt! – so it’s to one side for now. No rush. I’m swapping out last month’s chart and threads for a previous release and looking forward to next month’s kit – it’s a new-to-me finish, on a coarsely woven bag. So while expensive, I am enjoying these kits. I didn’t stitch even one of the charts from Sassy Devils (altho for the most part I liked their fabric and extras) so that’s nice.
Anyways, off to look after the sick littlest this afternoon. Hopefully by the time I get there he’ll have finished vomiting and we’ll have a quiet snuggly afternoon.
Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!
I haven’t written for a while. We had a wee drama in the family (be proud of me, I didn’t rip someone’s head off for destroying one of my babies self-confidence & happiness) and a trip away from home. Lots of rugby training and games – Mase took out both Coach and Manager’s choice one Saturday. A RunAuckland walk, where Mase only beat me by a minute or so. A cold running its way thru the house, and antibiotics for me. Si & I have been to both a 7 Days and a Taskmaster episode filming (making up for not being well enough to attend the comedy festival in early May). The weather has turned to winter (boo) and it’s getting time to snuggle in and hibernate, despite the Christmas Eve rose still going strong.
Our trip was to Christchurch, the major city in the South Island. I had brought a ticket for the two-day NZ Cross Stitch group meet-up, and Si, Lou & Mase came down also. We flew in the day before, and out the day after, and the three of them explored all over the general environs. My favourite spot was the pier that goes out from New Brighton beach; it was almost full moon, crisp and clear. I love the sound of the sea.
The meet-up was good too! So lovely to get together with like-minded people, and I attended the lacing class. I’ve more than a few things to frame, and now that the local framer’s lacer isn’t available anymore, I can do that first step myself. Much better than staples or tape! I also dropped in plenty of charts for the freebie table, and got a few more back – a couple of Mirabilia and two more Teresa Wentzler’s. I really need to finish Tapestry Cat so I can start another TW. Fred will look gorgeous up on the wall.
May 30 – What was the first project you ever stitched? (whether you finished or not)? I can’t remember the first pieces, but I do remember the first one I had framed. It is a Stoney Creek design that I’ve seen a few times, the mother dog and puppies from the cover. I stitched it for my brother Johnny & his wife Tania; no idea if they still have it! I’ve stitched the puppy on the left for a couple of people as requests also, and still have the much battered chart booklet. I stitched the Alsatian by the letterbox and the cat on the front cover; possibly even the Yorkie. Zac has the cat framed in his room.
I can tell you what my latest project is – the Craftiness is Happiness April kit from Cotton & Twine, the UK subscription box. I finished that today (June 8th here in NZ) and will FFO tonight in the hoop as per their suggestion. That’s washi tape around the edge, also from the kit, and I’ll use that on my Hands On Summer hoops that I stitched earlier, as some 4” hoops have arrived and I think that’s a good look.
Hello everyone! It’s late Wednesday and I’m about to head off to bed… My brain is very very tired. But before I do, here’s my WIP of Mirabilia Princess Elliana, definitely a work in progress with an awful lot of frogging.
This is just tonight, playing with the band above the blue (which is brown in the original). I’m still not sure about the darkest band, but I’ll wait a few days and see… The hair, collar, skin and tassel are as charted.
My second drool piece is a copy of Elisabetta Sforza’s latest. OMG.
I brought my copy of Ricamare il Mare from the most local retailer – A Stitch in Time in Tasmania! I’ll be visiting that shop when we head over to explore.
I’ll need to do a lot more practice and drop some cross stitch projects down the want to work on list. I brought a pattern today for a felt apple, each wedge being an example of a set of stitches, then the finished item becomes not only a visual guide but a practical item too – a pincushion, or with a weighted fill, a paperweight perhaps.
Anyway, have a lovely week. Take care of yourselves, physically and mentally. A challenge for you – keep a 7 day diary, just one sentence of something that makes you happy that day. I’ll share mine next week.
Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!
April was a mixed bag for me; I have gone well outside the SFS budget, especially as I found all the things (this particular book is on an airplane as I write, and I totally concur with Mary Corbet’s view of it being gorgeous –
https://www.needlenthread.com/2020/10/a-sea-to-stitch-and-its-gorgeous.html ) I finished stitching Winter Bear from Nora Corbett (he still needs a few beads that I am waiting on), did a little on my Chatelaine, a little on the Faby Reilly fox biscornu, a little on a Mill Hill ornament, a little on Mirabilia’s Fairy Tales – you get the picture. I did get one finish but that’s technically a May one – Merry Berry from Hands On Design/Squareology was finished in a temporary hoop, as I don’t have any 4” ones as yet.
Yesterday was my birthday, so I treated myself to a new start – Princess Elliana by Mirabilia. I plan to convert a lot of her dress to shades of blues but keeping the hair/skin/flower tones as is. This is on Countrystitch’s Urewera Mist, the same fabric that I used for Shakespeare’s Fairies.
April 25 – Have you found yourself to be more or less productive in your stitching during the Covid-19 pandemic? Given we only had a relatively short lockdown and of that, I only had a week off work, I’m actually finding myself quite burnt out now. Life here in NZ is still quite “normal” in most areas, except Tourism, and I find myself impatient with those countries that haven’t seemed to have caught on that this pandemic is horrific, unforgiving and needed to have shutdowns to effectively close if off before we can vaccinate. I was a lot more productive last year when working from home as I kept something by my desk to keep myself calm, but can’t do that in the office sadly! I do manage about half an hour a day at work during my breaks but most is at home, squeezed into my weekend.
sewscrapmuse 