WIP Wednesday #205, WIPocalypse & SFS

IMG_20170927_082813Well – I *might*have blown Stitch From Stash. If I spend nothing more & have no finishes, I will end up at $16.03 at December, which is a very small amount indeed (if we are calculating the whole year, which thankfully we’re not, I’d be at -$88.49 & not in credit until April 2018!!). But it is OK, as I am happy, & unlikely to spend heaps between now and January except on the odd skein or two. Gail so very kindly loaned me Fairy Idyll!!! I have been wanting to stitch this 1996 chart for ages, & couldn’t find it for love or money. So I brought a piece of Applemint Lugana from Catherine at Countrystitch especially for it. This needs to be my focus piece until I complete her. Luckily there is plenty to hold my interest & keep me going!

 Monthly Allowance $25.00
Hospice – MLI Shepherd -1.00
Hospice – JCS pile -2.00
RR Spend -91.00
Fox Collec. Mill Hills -53.84
Countrystitch Applemint -42.60
SELL MLI Blueberry 5.00
Mia Mermaid 15.35
Hawaii Santa Conversion 10.00
Florence Santa x2 20.00
Rollover $56.12
Total Available Budget -$58.97

And this month I finished two of the Florence version of the Mill Hill Renaissance Santa’s, & then found that the Fox Collection sold them MUCH cheaper than the LNS. I’m talking ten bucks cheaper per item, people. Now, I work retail so I understand margin & if it had been only a couple of dollars, I wouldn’t have brought from the online. But overall twenty dollars is substantial.

And I also spent $91 at the LNS, on fabric, Thread Heaven (before it disappears entirely), speciality threads (Waterlillies are ten dollars each here), beads etc. Thank goodness for the finishes I had!

This month, in addition to finishing Mia Mermaid, Hawaii Santa, Florence Santa x2, I also started the Jamaica Santa for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, worked on Nantucket Rose’s tree canopy, finished Blitzen (except the ribbons) is done on my Reindeer Parade & I started Prancer. And of course I managed to work out the start point and did four threads of Fairy Idyll last night (Simon has discovered Taskmaster, & it’s hard to do a new start when you are watching something interesting and laughing you’re a$$ off). So far this month I’ve only had one day where I didn’t stitch at all.

Topic of the Month: Which floss (or colour of floss) do you absolutely adore and want to stash constantly? I’m really only buying thread as I need it. It’s too expensive to stash, but I have recently started using and loving GAST, so if I had a few extra dollars, I’d be buying that, & probably in blues. I really need to finish that Persephone in blue…

Note: SFS is a closed facebook group hosted by Stephanie (Ms Oh Sew Crafty). Registrations for the first part of 2018 will be opening up later this year. WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi over on her blog and in facebook. Click on the link to the right to be taken to the blog.

WIP Wednesday #204

Yay! Most everybody got back to me after last week’s announcement (& a bit of social media nagging). The only person who didn’t was Carol, for Poppy Field. So, without further ado, I’ve redrawn this via Random Number Generator, & congrats to ANNE SHAW!

I’ve mostly been stitching at work during breaks, or while travelling. None of my big projects have grabbed me, altho I have put a few more threads into Nantucket Rose over the weekend, and so I’ve been working on two versions of the Florence Renaissance Santa, by the designer Sandra Cozzolino for Mill Hill. One on the perforated paper that comes with the kit, and another on clear 14ct plastic canvas. One for Lou, & one for me. It was Zac’s idea that I stitch both at the same time, as I haven’t created the second of the ones I stitched last year nor the two from earlier this year, & I think it’s worked. I’m up to the beading!

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And because yesterday (here in NZ) was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I started both versions of Jamaican Caribbean Santa from this year’s series. Arg, me hearties…

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WIP Wednesday #202 part deux – Andromeda conversion details

I’ve just been reminded that I forgot to post my finish of Andromeda & the promised conversion details! Sorry to anyone who has been waiting. C’s surgery drama made it slip my mind completely. I haven’t even taken her to the framers.

IMG_20170711_144441_382.jpgSo- she is stitched on 28ct Antarctic Storm lugana from Catherine at Countrystitch. The x in her waves is as charted; the x in her robe is changed. I presume you have the chart already but if not – NZ based I recommend either Countrystitch or Stitch NZ sites, & state-side, I love the team at Down Sunshine Lane.

Andromeda
DMC Kreinik
163 (rocks) #4 braid in 850
DMC DMC
blanc 3756
762 3813
3743 993
211 992
3747 3851
414 991
844 3847
3836 3814
3740 3847
MILL HILL CHANGES
10001 02058
16608 03035
62047 03035

WIP Wednesday #202 Mia Mermaid conversion details

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A question first: is it ironic, or just life, that the first day I really need to take hayfever tablets is also the day it’s pouring down? I would have thought the pollens would be washed away! Never mind, at least I know Spring is officially here!

Last night I finished Mia Mermaid, the Australian freebie from the Mirabilia meet up this year. The fabric is one I brought from the close-out in Rotorua so it cost a whopping $2.50. I *think* it’s a Zweigart parsley or sage. I know it’s a 28ct evenweave. I did splurge out & grab some Gentle Arts Sampler threads that caught my eye & appeared to match. I really liked using them, more so than Waterlillies. I think I will swap out more often in the future.

Because if the thread splurge I used beads from my stash & I’m a little dodgy about the lighter green. I may frog that eventually. Or I may just call it good.

Mia Mermaid
DMC GAST
964 evergreen
958 silver fern
3371 dark chocolate
DMC DMC
934 935
CWL GAST
207 mistletoe
83 pine
137 toffee
MILL HILL CHANGES
03021 03044
10001 02022
02097 00525

WIP Wednesday #201 + WIPocalypse

whoa – some lovely comments from post #200 & my give-away! This is still running; please click and comment on that post.

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WIPocalypse is hosted by the lovely Measi over on her blog. Please click on the icon to the right; it will take you to her blog. You can check out years worth of submissions! It’s fun (for me) to see the progress fellow stitchers make, & get haul ideas.

Stitching-wise, I am definitely in line with this month’s question:

Question of the Month – How do you get yourself out of a stitching drought?

Yeah. I’m there. I have ALL THE THINGS but ouch! wrist movement since that big BBM morning. I wear a brace to drive & stitching is so minimal. I have too many options too, which is making me pause.

On Nantucket Rose, I am maybe 8-10 thread lengths past where I was last week. It’s so minimal I can’t even be bothered to take a photo.

IMG_20170824_211656_040.jpgAll I have finished (& by finished, I mean up to the “cut out the backing & glue magnets on) are two pairs of Lucie Heaton Designs Chucks from the September Cross Stitcher magazine. Red for Louise, purple for Aliese. At least they will qualify for a Smalls SAL entry!

So stitch-from-stash, I’m still in the black & intend to be there, all going well & if Nora doesn’t release anything amazing between now and when I can legitimately ask for Christmas presents! YTD I am now -$48.40 but will be in the black by October, without any additional spend or finishes. I must look at the group & see if Stephanie (Ms Oh Sew Crafty, check out her blog for some serious stitchy progress!) has the check-in post up.

Stitch From Stash Aug-17
Budget $25.00
Expenses Lynne- Mira Mermaid -30.00
(Sunset Laguna + beads)
Finishes Plastic Canvas Chucks * 2 4.00
Rollover Rollover $57.12
Total Available Budget Total Available Budget $56.12

So August is a bit of a wash really. I spent, but only one piece. Even if I had full movement of my wrist, no way would I get to complete the top leafy portion, but at least I was close to monogamous for the month.

September Plans are to be in-line with Stitch MAYnia SALs, the Mira month & Return to Hogwarts. I plan to pull out either Mia Mermaid, or my Reindeer Parade; and the Clouds Factory Hogwarts banners to start (I have abandoned the initial 36ct start!). There’s also the 19th Pirate day, & I’ll pull out the Mill Hill Jamaica (mon) Santa for that one.

So, if you’re a regular reader, thanks for getting this far! And if you’re a WIPocalypse check-in-er, I look forward to seeing your progress too. Have a lovely month!

WIP Wednesday #199

I have done HEAPS this last week and I am so excited! My parcel has been in Miami for the last two days and I want it to HURRY UP but in the meantime I am pretty excited to continue with my two July WIPs.

Number One is the Mill Hill Christmas Island Santa, from their Tropical Santas line (2012 series). I am re-working parts of this as I go. You’ll note that he no longer has a coconut – I have elongated the shape to an oval and stitched it all in 434, which is the colour of the aged pig-skin rugby ball we have at home. Back story is that Santa played for the All Blacks (the national rugby union team) in his youth, & he still loves a bit of beach touch rugby. Today I’ll hopefully get that bird re-charted or stitched as a seagull, which is found on nearly every NZ beach. This pack has already been spoken for, & will be going off to Michelle #sprinklestitchykindness Garette, hopefully next week!

At home I have Andromeda on the lap stand. I finished her arm last night, and all the back stitch is done for the whole piece (both Kreinik & DMC) except her face, as I still have hair to complete in that area first. At this point I will stitch her hair in the charted colours. I am not yet sure what shade of green I will use for the ribbon in her hair but I think I found the perfect beads in my stash last night. I can tell you I’m adding an extra five bucks to the Stitch From Stash tally just for the frogging portion alone. I also decided that my Andromeda wasn’t going to be placidly waiting out the Fates. Eyes open & looking straight ahead. I looked thru my other Mira pile, found the eye I wanted, reversed it and re-charted to fit the 15 stitches high face (Cassiopeia is 18 stitches FYI).

Now, you’ll note that I now have a post count in the header. I’ve been blogging for nearly 10 years, so it took a while to average out the WIP Wednesday posts (I ignore the FB only ones) & I made an executive decision. Next week, being #200, calls for something special. Keep your eye out for #passthestash & a wee competition!

WIP Wednesday edition ????

One of these days I will count out how many WIP Wednesday posts I actually have made…I probably should number them as I go, to differentiate, but then again, that would eat into stitch time!

Since I last wrote, I’ve done some stitching. It doesn’t feel like a lot, with the reading I’ve done taking over stitch time, and then there was the (semi-wasted) six hours hunting out the perfect chair for the MOTH. I found mine in the second shop we looked at. At about 1/3 price of the ones he is looking at. I feel that I should get the difference added to my Stitch From Stash fund!

With Believe, which is my Stitch MAYnia “whine” piece (it’s too big to hold comfortably, and paper too) I finished the last 7 stitches in the lettering, and started on the background. I should have stitched this on evenweave. Next time! Andromeda is my home/stitch group piece and I’m slowly working my way up the robes. I still haven’t decided on her skin but am learning towards over-one, despite knowing that I would not finish her until August.

andromed-on-antartic-stormAndromeda is stitched on 28ct lugana by Countrystitch in the colour Antarctic Storm. I asked Catherine to dye it slightly heavier & I’m really pleased with how the colours “pop”.

 

WIP Wednesday

Well, so much for this year’s flu vaccine. The whole family has been unwell (today is my first day back at the desk since last Thursday morning). We are not hungry. We are all coughing like extras in a plague movie. It is not nice at all. I will be operating on written word and sign language today.

While I had my laptop at home and have kept working, so I don’t have a huge pile of insurmountable crap, I have also done a lot of stitching. This is what you do when you have the cough chorus going on and both sailing and rugby book-ending your TV hours. GO EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND! There was a large amount of frogging, as I worked out the DMC conversion, but I am really happy with the vibrancy of Andromeda’s robes.

I went from here: to here:

I’m still not sure if I will do her skin over one yet. I’ll keep on with the robes while I decide.

SFS – I am well in the black as I sold a Mira I won’t stitch, Fairy Treasures, for more than what I paid for English Roses. Score!

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WIP Wednesday

With Mase being ill, and not being able to go to boot camp, I got heaps of stitching completed last night:

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Really pleased that you can’t tell where I couched the Kreinik bowstrings!

If I finish today, I’ll end up $5.76 in credit for the SFS (assuming that my purchase of Villa Mirabilia arrives – cause if it doesn’t, I’m asking for a refund). If I don’t finish, and VM doesn’t arrive, I’ll still be well in the black at $34.72. If I don’t finish, and VM does arrive, I’ll be in the red by $5.28.

I don’t think I’ll finish…

April Smalls, Stitch from Stash Update & WIPocalypse

Smalls is hosted by the lovely Heather on her blog, click here for the rules:  http://stitchinglotus.ca/2017-sal/

WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/

And another month draws to a close and I got some stitching in! Mind you, it was a bit of a race for the last portions of beading on Mermaids but – I got a finish!!! My goal for the month was to finish all the stitching, but I could see the finish line and off I went.

April Goals:

  • FFO the How to Train Your Dragon pieces for the swap & post (bookmark, needle book and small hoop). COMPLETED – but I kept the small hoop
  • Finish all the stitching on MOTDB and get to the beading potion. SMASHED
  • Start Julie’s RR piece (as that has arrived to me super early). NOT STARTED
  • Plan what I will do for the #disneycraftswap (waiting for my partner to post her mosaic still). PLANS COMPLETE, STITCHING STARTED
  • 15th – Diamonds. Beading the clear beads on MOTDB. IGNORED
  • 22nd – Earth Day. Start the Mill Hill Seagull kit. COMPLETED

I also worked on a small Easter piece, the freebie Prairie Schooler chart that Kristine sent me. I chose black aida (stash!) and initially stitched it in similar colours to the original…I plan to repeat with different colours to make a basket of mini eggs.

So here’s my pieces for this month:

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Question of the Month – What projects are in your UFO pile? There’s not too much in my UFO pile, to be honest. Just the one piece that I have kept the pattern & half-completed project away. I am tempted to re-start it on evenweave as it is on aida & I had become a bit of a snob but maybe I should just pull it out. If I can’t get the threads to match it might be worth a restart…apart from this, I do have Tapestry Cat at 11 years of age but as I am still working on this, I don’t think I can call it a true UFO. Just a resting WIP. And I have a few of those!

  • Tapestry Cat, Dec 2006
  • Toy Story Birth Sampler, Oct 2013
  • Nora Corbett Arezzo, March 2014
  • Mirabilia Persephone, May 2015
  • Nora Corbett Reindeer, July 2015
  • Mirabilia Raven Queen, Jan 2016
  • Tamara blackwork, September 2016
  • Lavender & Lace Celtic Winter, Dec 2016

My May goals are fairly small. I’m not going to participate in StitchMAYnia, but there are some new starts:

  • Disney hoop & needlebook for new swap
  • Start Julie’s round robin (if I get a finish, I will start Andromeda!)
  • Finish Mill Hill Believe (about ½ done)

Lastly, I’m still in the black for Stitch From Stash. This is more good luck than management but I’ll take the win.

Apr-17
 Budget $25.00
Andromeda @ CountryStitch -41.40
Kreinik @ RR -27.90
HTTYD hoop FFO 10.00
PS Easter Folk Egg 5.00
MH Seagull 5.00
Mermaids of the Deep Blue 59.30
Rollover $2.92
Total Available Budget $37.92