She's almost done!

Last night I finished another page (the top right panel) of the behemoth HAED "The Hermit".

I have two exciting panels left to finish and I cannot wait to finish. It will be bittersweet as I have toiled over this baby for almost 5 years.  *sniff*

Long overdue update!

Hello my stitching friends!

It's been so long since I updated this blog.  I have been stitching away on the Hermit and have an update for you!  You can see The Hermit's ear now!!!

Working with a piece of fabric this big has had its challenges.  I used a Q-snap for a long time and then switched to the O-ring.  When I started work on the new page (bottom middle) about a month ago, I started having some issues with numbness in the last two fingers of my right hand.  I deduced that my ulnar nerve was being irritated from having my elbow bent for long periods of time - some nights, I could be stitching for 2-3 hours.  I concluded that I needed a new system for holding my fabric that saved my hand from going numb, so I bought a lap stand.

It has been a Godsend.  The only criticism I have is that the screws don't stay tight on the scroll bar so that the scroll will swivel when I don't want it to. It's not a big deal and my husband actually added a washer which has helped keep the screws tight.

I am starting to see the end is in sight for The Hermit.  I have about 5 pages left to stitch.  It will probably take me the rest of this year to finish.  I can hardly wait!

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!!

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. 

;)

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!!