2012 - A Stitching Review

Good day loyal followers!!  Once again, I have to apologize for my tardiness in posting.  With the holidays and the January hangover that followed, I just haven't had a chance to post. Oh, and the season 6 of Dexter is now available on Netflix, so everything stitching related has kind of taken a backseat.

Looking back to 2012 - I have to say that it was probably the best year I had for cross stitch finishes.  Four!!  (Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider the time that goes in to each project, I think it's pretty impressive!)

The first finish was "Dogs have Masters, Cats have Slaves", second was my son's birth record "Baby Express Birth Record",  third was my friend's birth record for their son "Farm Friends, and finally, "The Golden Girls".

 

Wow, seeing them all together like that!  So awesome, if I do say so myself!  ;)

Can't help but wonder what 2013 will bring.  Coming soon, a Hermit update.  Thanks for continuing to follow my stitching journey.

It's Done!!!

Short post. 

I finished Farm Friends on Sunday night.   It looks amazing, if I do say so myself! I can't post a photo though until it's framed and has been given to the little guy for his birthday. 

I started back to work on The Hermit.  Oh my GOD, after stitching on 14 ct fabric for the better part of the last month, the 22ct squares are shockingly small again!  My eyes hurt after only an hour of work! 

I'll post a Hermit update soon!

I miss the Hermit.

If you've been reading along, you know that I have taken a break from the Hermit to work on a very special birth record for my friends' son.  It is a labor of love, but I am ashamed to admit that it's kind of boring to work on.  It's a very easy cross stitch.  There are lots of stitches in blocks of color.  The colors are bright and cheerful so that's a nice change from the darker colors of the Hermit.

I am flying through it and am also done the principle stitching (what I call "principle photography" -
Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production.)  Post-production should start in the next day or two (ie, the detailing and finishing touches), then it's off to the framing store.  

I've never missed a project before.  I am such a nerd. :-) 

Stitching like Mad!

I have been working furiously on Farm Friends since I last posted.  I must have it done by the end of the month so I can get it framed in time for the little guy's first birthday in mid-November.

FF is an easy project - 14 ct Aida fabric.  It's an easy design and while it is a bit boring to stitch, it's kinda nice to have blocks of colors to stitch rather than changing threads after only a few stitches.  I do miss the Hermit, though.  I miss it's complexity.  Still, FF is a labour of love for some good friends of mine, so I am happy to do it.

Daughter is enjoying the progress of this one.  "Look," I tell her, "I finished the piggy!"  Well, sort-of.  The detailing comes last, but its nice to see the look of delight on her face when I show her my work. I also started working on the border (lower left side).  From the bottom up - cow, pig, doggy and duck.

Back to work ....

It's been a few weeks since I've updated.  My daughter started JK, the office has picked up again, and I've been doing more of that running thing.  I went another week without stitching, I can't even remember why.   I did some work on the Hermit this past week, so I thought I should post an update - it usually helps me get motivated to keep working. 

There are several counting errors on this particular page which is beyond frustrating.  I know that no one can see them, it's just really annoying to have to make up stitches as I go.  In a project of over 140,000 stitches, it's next to impossible not to make a mistake, right?  Right?

In my last post, I wrote about wondering where to go next with this particular charting page.  You'll see that I decided to frame the entire square and am working my way into the center.  I wonder if that's what contributes to the counting errors? Hmm....

I've been pretty negligent with my other projects.  I really need to get working on the baby birth record.  Perhaps once I finish this current page, I will take a Hermit break and work on FF.

I appreciate all those who are following along.  Thank you for the encouragement.  So, without further ado - here is the Hermit.

New Project - Farm Friends

So, I now have 3 cross-stitch projects on the go.  I've never had this many in-progress projects.  It's a bit daunting.  Since getting the Hermit started, I have completely abandoned that beautiful little kitten in the shadows. Well, I shouldn't say "abandoned"; it's just taken a backseat for now.

The other day I received a package in the mail.  My daughter saw it when she came home from preschool and said, "Mommy, is this your new craft?"  Oh my goodness, how sweet!!

I couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed so I could open up the new project and prepare it.  The first thing I do is organize the floss.  Dimensions kits now provide the floss already pre-organized in a strip but I find it's cumbersome, so I designed my own way of keeping the floss organized for a small project like this.

The next thing I do is prepare the fabric.  I use some left-over floss from finished projects and stitch the periphery of the fabric so it doesn't fray.  If I had a sewing machine it would take about 10 seconds to do, but since I don't this part takes about 15-20 minutes.

And... finally I can start stitching.  The first thing I noticed with this project is how freaking big the squares seem now compared to the Hermit project.  This fabric is 14 ct (14 squares per inch).  The Hermit fabric is 22 ct!  Doesn't sound like a lot but trust me, it makes a huge difference.

I started in the middle, like I always do.  Here's the first progress photo. It's the body of the little pig.

Here's what it should look like when it's done.  My target end date is early November 2012 as it is for a very special little boy's first birthday.