Saturday 27 February 2021

The frog is coming visiting soon

 I was going so well with this piece and then I realised I was half a stitch out with my start on the U and the O so I'm going to have to remove all those stitches and re-do them. I've put it away for tonight but it's due to come out again on the 1st of March as that's it's WIP birthday. If things go well I'm hoping to finish it on the 1st.

Before I realised the boo-boo I got in 300 stitches and thought it was 64% complete.

This is my own design and is intended to be made into a potholder at some point. 





Friday 26 February 2021

As today was the 25th it was time to stitch on a Christmas project. 

590 stitches on the Christmas Collaboration 1999 between Just Nan, Charland Designs and Shepherds Bush Printworks to bring this piece to 24% complete. 



Thursday 25 February 2021

A fraction of a fractal was stitched


466 stitches, in black and white on this piece. Terrible photo and I'm not absolutely loving it because it's on 14ct white aida and it just seems so chunky. This is the free version of Fractal 408 from Cross Stitch Collectibles. This piece is now 15% complete.

 

Wednesday 24 February 2021

The frog visited today

 For some reason I kept making mistakes on this and a few curse words were spoken but I did finally manage 393 stitches on this piece


Linen and Thread not quite so much a mystery anymore 2017 on 36ct Siena linen by Graziano in scarlet using 2 strands DMC 310 I am working on the April instalment. 



Tuesday 23 February 2021

A Phoenix didn't quite rise

 But I did put in 661 stitches on 28ct black fabric in one day so that's an achievement. This one is now 52% complete and I will finish the blue the next time it gets picked in my rotation. Goal this year is to finish this piece.




Monday 22 February 2021

Another new start

 That's 4 finishes this year and 6 starts. This was not quite what I had in mind when I decided to do WIPGO 2021



Stitched on 32ct Antique Ivory Belfast Linen using Carrie's Creations threads in Raspberry and Navy.
280 stitches and about 3% complete.


Sunday 21 February 2021

Along came a spider...

 


This design is from the Just Cross Stitch Halloween Issue 2020, it's a design by Evdokia Nikolaeva and called Floral Spiderweb. I got in 351 stitches, but alas i'm out of DMC 300 so this one will have to wait to be finished.

Knowing I've been out or very low on a couple of threads lately, I dug out my crate of extras and did a thread inventory. Turns out there were 33 colours that I didn't have any of, so order placed for 2 of each with Love Crafts and hopefully they should be with me in 3-6 days.

Saturday 20 February 2021

Another new start on 19th February

 I've been wanting to start this one for a long time - Heritage des Lettres by A Mon Ami Pierre. I only got 107 stitches in this one.



Thursday 18 February 2021

Stitching update for 16th, 17th & 18th

 I slacked on the blog posting, so here's what i've been up to the last 3 days:


February 16th: 515 stitches on my English Village from Mary Hickmott designs, now 2% complete or thereabouts


February 17th: 337 stitches on Steotch 2019 designed by Em Fitzpatrick, now 55% complete



February 18th: 339 stitches on Paris by Night from a Leonid Afremov painting, this one is now 2% complete. My intention is to do this one "extreme cross country" so i'm completing all the black stitches first.






Monday 15 February 2021

Alice in Wonderland

 


278 stitches on this one today and I've managed to finish the top half of the biscornu. This one is now 55% complete

Not a heart in sight

 It's Valentine's Day and of course I stitched. I worked 364 stitches using DMC 4025 (Caribbean Bay) on Sampler Islandica, designed by my friend Katla S Adams. It is now 3% complete so a good start.




Sunday 14 February 2021

Magical 13th Night

 


465 stitches on Recipe for a Magical Night by Alessandra Adelaide. I can't say I'm loving the Fluorescent Effects by DMC. This one is now 11% complete. 

Saturday 13 February 2021

Fourth finish of 2021

 Two days stitching in one post, this time my own design that I imaginatively called Tulips. This is stitched in random overdyed threads I had in my stash. Yesterday I did 374 stitches and today 323 to finish this piece. This also completes WIPGO goal #4



Wednesday 10 February 2021

That tree grew quickly

 727 stitches today on Companions by Teresa Wentzler, mostly on the tree between Father Christmas and the horse. This piece is now 41% complete so I'm hoping to reach my first WIPGO goal of February tomorrow.






Tuesday 9 February 2021

February 8th and it's in the bag

 


467 stitches and I completed the satchel at the feet of Father Christmas on Teresa Wentzler's Companions. This piece is now 37% complete.

Monday 8 February 2021

Stitching update for 7th February - Backstitch bonanza

 I finished all the backstitch on Father Christmas. Teresa Wentzler's Companions is now 35% complete and well on the way to my February WIPGO goal of 42%. Very pleased with how much definition the backstitch added. 416 stitches towards my Stitching Tour of Europe.






Sunday 7 February 2021

Stitching update on 6th February

 


347 stitches on Companions to bring my progress to 32.5% and well on my way to meet the WIPGO goal of 42% on this project and completing Square #20


Saturday 6 February 2021

Stitching Tour of Europe

 I set myself a goal to stitch my way around the capitals of Europe this year as international travel is looking very unlikely. My plan was to stitch the number of kilometres that Google Maps gave as the preferred route between places and to use a decision wheel to select my next destination

Here's how my tour went in January

Started in London, United Kingdom and heading to Belgrade, Serbia - 2107km - arrived 3rd January

Belgrade, Serbia and heading to Skopje, North Macedonia - 431 km - arrived 4th January

Skopje, North Macedonia to Stockholm, Sweden - 2750 km - arrived 12th January

Stockholm, Sweden to Moscow, Russia - 1569 km - arrived arrived 15th January

Moscow, Russia to Tallinn, Estonia - 1028 km - arrived 18th January

Tallinn, Estonia to Prague, Czechia - 1667 km - arrived 20th January

Prague, Czechia to Copenhagen, Denmark - 783 km arrived 22nd January

Copenhagen, Denmark to Ljubljana, Slovenia - 1393 km - arrived arrived 23rd January

Ljubljana, Slovenia to Chisinau, Moldova - 1543 km - arrived 26th January

Chisinau, Moldova to Nicosia, Cyprus - 1867 km - still in transit, 797 km to go

Total distance travelled/stitches in January was 14341



Delayed January round up

 I had a great stitching month and got lots done, here are the before and after shots of each project I stitched on and some stats (because i like spreadsheets)

First up was my New Year, New Start - Pandemic by Long Dog. I Stitched 1157 stitches on January 1st and then put this one away until my decision wheel picks it again. I'm stitching it on 34ct Natural linen from Weddigen using Sulky 12wt cotton in colour 4007 Red Brick. I am thinking about stitching the animals in black but haven't yet decided.



Next up was WIPGO project #18 Companions by Teresa Wentzler. My goal was to add 20% progress to this project. It's stitched on 28ct white Jobelan using the called for DMC threads. There are a lot of blends and fractionals so it's quite slow going. I stitched 4968 stitches on this project and went from 2% to 28% complete. 



The next project I picked up was the 2017 Linen & Threads Mystery Sampler because it was the 4th Anniversary of starting it. This one is stitched on 36ct Graziano Linen using DMC 310 - the first picture is the closest representation to the actual fabric colour, it's a very bright red. I stitched 223 stitches and finished the March section.



Next up was a collection of public domain borders from Europe which i stitched on fabric from my stash using random threads. I stitched 3754 stitches and this was my first finish of 2021. This was WIPGO square #6 so I met both my goals in the first month of WIPGO.




For Dark 13 Stitching I worked on Recipe for a Magical Night by Alessandra Adelaide. This is from the 2011 Just Cross Stitch Halloween edition. I stitched only 283 stitches on this piece. I'm stitching this on 28ct white Jobelan using all the called for DMC colours.



Next up was a Gecko Rouge design for an anatomical heart, I worked 918 stitches on this piece. I added the lightest shade of red as this was designed to be stitched on white fabric and those parts left blank and I'm using a natural shade.




I picked up Steotch 2019, which is on a 28ct opalescent evenweave. I stitched 867 stitches on this piece and managed to get parts 4 & 5 finished, and started part 6.




Next up was a full coverage piece from a Leonid Afremov artwork. I'm stitching this on 20ct evenweave in Gelb (Gold) from Weddigen, full cross over 1 using 1 strand of DMC. I gridded using Sulky Sliver and this is my first go at the "extreme cross country" style of stitching where you complete one colour at a time. I completed 536 stitches.





Merry 25 Stitching was an old freebie collaboration from Just Nan, Charland Designs and Shepherd's Bush Printworks from 1999. This was a new start as the only other Christmas design I had was Companions and I had already stitched on it for 12 days in January. I stitched 450 stitches on this piece.


And here's what the finished design should look like




Next was the piece that became my second finish of 2021. It's my own design, stitched on 28ct light green linen. I used House of Embroidery thread in Moss and an Anchor variegated for the peacock tails. I stitched 529 stitches on this one to complete it.




Third finish of 2021 was Autumn Song from Blackbird Designs, stitched on 30ct Korty's Blend from R & R Reproductions using mostly the called for threads. I switched out Weeks Dye Works Swamp Water for Classic Colorworks Coffee as I didn't want a green-black bird. 578 stitches saw this one to completion.




Final project of the month was Deer Forest from Owl Forest Embroidery, worked using their threads from the kit on a Zweigart natural linen. I only worked 78 stitches on this piece.




I stitched for 28 days in January, I only missed the 6tth, 30th and 31st. My stitch count for the month was 14341, averaging over 500 stitches a day so it was a fabulous stitching month. I worked on 10 WIPs, started 2 new projects and finished 3. I completed both WIPGO goals for the month.



Friday 29 January 2021

Third finish of 2021

 435 stitches on Autumn Song by Blackbird Designs this evening and I have a finish! Square #22 on my WIPGO is complete.



Thursday 28 January 2021

Very quick update for 27th January

I didn't stitch much but I did get 143 stitches into Autumn Song by Blackbird Designs. This one is now 91% complete and I hoping for a finish in the next day or so.



Wednesday 27 January 2021

Second Finish of 2021


This is my own design and I finished it tonight after starting it in 2019.

I ran out of the House of Embroidery thread I was using so stitched the peacock tails in a variegated thread.

This is square #9 on my WIPGO board crossed off.

 

Tuesday 26 January 2021

Christmas on the 25th

 


I only have one Christmas-ish project - Companions by Teresa Wentzler - but as I had stitched on that for 12 days already this month, I decided I'd have a new start for stitching on the 25th of the month

I started a Christmas Collaboration 1999 freebie from Just Nan, Charland Designs and Shepherd's Bush and this is what I got done today alongside my smallest hoop (3¾" Siesta Spring Hoop).

I'm using all the called for DMC and working it on 28ct linen banding, arranging the three parts horizontally.

Monday 25 January 2021

24 Hours of Cross Stitch Marathon Day 3

 




536 Stitches on Paris by Leonid Afremov. This is from a long-defunct website.
Less than 2% complete at this point but it's only January!


I didn't quite make it to 24 hours but it wasn't a bad attempt!



Sunday 24 January 2021

#24HOCS Marathon Day 2

 


I completed a further 240 stitches on the heart from Gecko Rouge and it is now 50% complete.



I then picked up Steotch 2019 and this is where it was at the start (with Part 4 started)


After completing Part 4


And after completing Part 5


45% complete after a huge 736 stitches and I'm planning on starting Part 6 for another 1 hour 14 minutes to complete the 8 hours for this first marathon.





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