Progress on the Hermit

I've been working away on the Hermit.  She's a bitch I tell ya! It is still quite daunting to me this task I have embarked upon.  About a month ago I showed it to a friend of mine and she just looked at me like I was crazy.  I laughed at her.  It is crazy but I love it.

The page I am working on is the very bottom right corner of the design.  I fiddled with the Q-snap for ages trying to get the fabric tight enough and it just wasn't working.  So for a few nights I just stitched holding the fabric in my hand - that was not easy, there's a lot of fabric and it was really hard to keep it tight.  So off to the craft store I went in search of those wooden round holdy-thingys.

Brilliant!  Brilliant, I tell you.  This this is amazing! It was so worth the $3 I spent on it!  It is perfect for the area I am stitching right now.  I am so in love with it.
 

Hermit update!

I am so happy to be able to finally post an update on the Hermit.  Another page is done! Yay!!  And can I just say how sick I am of the grey tones?  So much grey!!!

She is a beauty though, don't you think?! I forget how big she's going to be.  I think I am going to move away from the door and start working on the wall near the lantern again.  I need some new colour in my life.

Thanks for stopping by!!

The Final Birth Record is Done!

Late last week, I completed my last child's birth record.  It's actually been finished for a few months, I just had the name, birth date and birth weight to complete.  But now, as his first birthday rapidly approaches, I realized I needed to finish it.  Husband always writes out the last part for me as I am not so great at figuring out where the center of the lettering should be. It's also been his way of contributing to the final product.

On the weekend we took it to our local framing store and spent a good hour deciding on the mattes and frame.  I think it's going to look wonderful.  Here's a sneak peek!

Progress on Witching Hour

I've spent the past month stitching almost nightly, working on the new project, "The Witching Hour".  It's coming along nicely, save for a minor counting error that I'm hoping won't be too noticeable, but of course, when I asked the husband to look for it, he found it right away.  Damn him!  lol!!

Can you see it??

Another Project Begins!

I finally got all the supplies I needed for The Witching Hour this past weekend, including a new Q-Snap.  Since this one is smaller than the Hermit and I really don't like having to mess with the fabric too much, I decided it was better to get a smaller Q-Snap, so it was recommended to me to use the 11x11 square design.  And so I did.

I also decided to start this project a bit differently.  Normally I start all my projects from the center of the image, but this time I wanted a change, so I meticulously figured out where to start the first stitch  on the very first page in the top left corner.

I did this by finding the center square of the fabric and counted out and up.  Yep, I counted all those tiny little squares on my 22 ct Hardanger fabric.  114 squares across from the middle, then 164 squares up.  I counted three times.  Husband always says, "Measure twice, cut once."  After I was certain of my count, I placed the first stitch.

 

Just for fun, I figured out how many stitches this baby has -- 74, 328.  Yikesl

And since you all wondered, cuz I know I certainly did, this is what 400+ stitches looks like. 

I caved.

Yesterday, I bought the "mini" Witching Hour" chart I blogged about the other day.  I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I am such a geek. Haha!!

I went to Michael's last night with the husband and got all the DMC floss for the new chart.  I decided I wanted to store this floss a bit differently, so I bought a box and the bobbins and spent most of the evening organizing the floss. I'm embarrassed to admit how much fun it was.

The bill was the longest piece of paper I've received in a while.  Tee hee!

1/4 floss "bobbin'd" after 2 hours

Sadly, Michael's did not have the fabric I needed, so I am off to another shop on Monday, just outside the city, to get it.  The chart suggests 25 ct Linen or 18 ct Aida but I think I will go with the same fabric I used for the Hermit - Hardanger - but will stick to the 25 ct as suggested rather than scale down to the 22 ct. 

Target completion date - January 2016. 

;)

Uh oh!

I stumbled upon a chart that I think I have to get. 

Oh dear. 

As if one Heaven and Earth Design wasn't crazy enough to attempt, dare I consider starting another?? 

What am I thinking???

Seriously people, someone has to talk me out of this insanity. 

The chart I am considering is this: 

This cat looks exactly like my Scully, which is why I feel I must do it. 

I'm crazy, right? 

Right??

Here is my beautiful Scully. 

Oy.  Decisions. 

Two Hours of Stitching Doesn't Look Like Much.

Ha ha!

I am always amazed at how long it takes to cross stitch.  Just the other night, I started work on a new page of the Hermit and took a before stitching photo and two hours later, took another picture. Didn't look like I'd done much!

Hermit Update!!

Well, I finally managed to finish a chart page of the Hermit. 

Yay!!!

This one took forever it seems.  I had run out of floss for one colour - not sure how that happened  - so I couldn't finish it. I mentioned it to my husband and he offered to get it for me since he is home with the kids and I work. So the hunt began to find a store close to us and that proved to be challenging. But being the resourceful man he is, a few hours later he texted me that he found the floss at a Michaels and was on his way to get it!! What a sweetie!!!

So, without further ado.... 

The page I completed is the top left section. 

As always, thanks for looking!!

It's All in the Details.

Folks, I am in the home stretch of completing the baby's birth record cross stitch!!! 

This makes me happy for two reasons - the first is because another project is finished, and it's always a huge accomplishment when that happens.  The second is because it means I can focus the next few months of my life on the BAP - the Hermit.

The most tedious part of any cross stitch project has to be the final detailing at the end.  It's also very gratifying to see the final image come together.  Here's a series of photos I thought I'd share of the progress.

Ducks!!!

 

 

 

Giraffes!!

Turtles and froggies!

Stitching Groove Is Back!

I found my stitching mojo, people!

For the past week I have been stitching almost every night for several hours after dinner.  Husband and I are all caught up on the latest season of Game of Thrones!  ;)

Last week ended sadly for me, as I visited a patient dying at home.  I used my stitching as a way of processing my thoughts around his death.  I've mentioned before that stitching is kind of like my way of meditating.  My mind sort of stops - I can focus solely on the task at hand and outside thoughts drift away.

I am pretty close to finishing the "principle photography" on Little Pond.  I am hoping to get started on the detailing this weekend.

Progress On Little Pond.

It's been a good couple of weeks of stitching here. I've been back to work for almost 6 weeks now and the family and I have settled into a nice routine. I hadn't been stitching much until I had to stop running for a few weeks after a nagging shin splint made itself known. So, instead of running, I sat my ass down on the couch and I stitched.

And can I tell you a secret?  Even though I couldn't run, it was okay.  Stitching is such a peaceful experience for me, it really is.  I get lost in thought and am focused solely on which stitch I'm working on. It's such a lovely mental break.

I really wanted to work on the Hermit, but the new baby's birth record needs to get done.  The baby is already 8 months old and I really want his birth record finished before his 1st birthday.  So, I got down to work and have made quite a bit of progress since my last post.

As always, thanks for stopping by and having a look!

Mama elephant.

A close up of the swamp coming along.

I love the little lady bug here, that's why I added her eyes in already.

Duck feet!!

Hermit update!

Nope, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth (if anyone was wondering).

Still here and still cross stitching, though not as often as I'd like.  Having kids makes it kind of difficult.  But I'm back to work now and hoping that there will be a little bit more of an opportunity to stitch in the evenings after everyone is in bed.

I haven't updated the Hermit in a long time, and usually I like to do it when I've finished a charting page but I'm going against the grain here and going to post a picture of an unfinished page.

Oooh... how daring! ;)

An Update on the Birth Record

It's been a long time since I last posted.  I am still on maternity leave but that is quickly coming to an end.  I go back to work in a few short weeks, April 1st.

I haven't done a lot of stitching; it's hard to focus and concentrate as I'm still getting up at least once a night to feed the baby.  He's completely weaned and now taking formula and although husband does get up for a feed, it's still fragmented sleep.  I find I make a lot more mistakes when I'm tired.

Having said that, this past week I was able to get some quality stitching time while the older two kids were visiting my mom.  I have been working on the baby birth record.  I'd like to finish it before his first birthday (in September).