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.
 

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.