A Little Holiday Break

So, I've got another friend who is having a baby, due February, so due to the season, I had lots of patterns to choose from when it came to making their customary stocking.

I started about 3 weeks ago and VOILA!

Mom and dad to-be are keeping a tight secret as to Jr's name, so I will have to add the name at a later time, and send it for sewing.  But I thought I'd share it here.

I choose this pattern, because the dad, who is from England, traveled through the States and Canada in his gap year, which is when we met.  We worked together and became lifelong friends.  So I chose a Canadian-esque theme for his first son.

I hope he likes it.  I'll, of course, post a photo when it's all completed, washed and sewed.

It was a nice little break, but I'm ready to get back to Adrift. 

Happy Holiday to all of my kindreds, whatever it is you choose to celebrate, I hope it's happy and festive.

See you in the new year!

~Rai Rai

And That's a Row, Folks!

Pages 11 and 12 of Adrift are done!  I started page 11 on Oct 24th, and finished page 12 on Nov 9.  Not too shabby!

I even had a large flat table and two friends willing to hold her flat at each end (thank you, Rika and Ashley) and I finally have a decent photo for you! 

I can't believe how beautiful she is so far.  Although I can say that updating my status bar by 8000 stitches, only to see a 3% increase in my status is a bit of an anti-climax.  But 34% is still pretty good.

I'm off to stitch a page of Winter Hat Owl now.  I'd post a photo, but there is literally nothing to see but blue.  But I'm starting a new row after this one, so there might be some hat to show off soon.  I will, of course, keep you posted!

Also, my sister sent me a photo of  an angel I stitched for her a few years ago, before I started this blog.  I believe she is the Peace Angel.  Stitched 3 over 2 on the last bit of navy blue Lugana there was at the shop.  A friend had actually bought the fabric, but she graciously let me have it.  (Thanks Kari).

The blue doesn't really show up in the picture, but she is on a dark blue background and framed beautifully.   She now lives above my sisters bed.




Anyway, that's all I have for you for now.   I will hopefully start posting row 3 shortly.


~Rai Rai

Adrift Page 10 is Complete

I really must apologize for the pictures.  I do try to pull the wrinkles out of the piece, but I don't think I'll truly get a nice photo until it is complete, washed and ironed.

That being said, I do try to take the best photos that I can on an iPhone.

Not that much exciting to see. Just a bit of her torso, and waves.  Endless waves.

Here is the entire piece so far.   As you can see, this wasn't the most exciting of pages, but they too must be done.   One more page and a partial and I am done a second row!  I think I may be a bit ahead of schedule, as it took me a full 6 months to do the first row, but even though I am working a page on Adrift and then a page of Winter Hat Owl, I will be done this next page well before January. (at least I hope to complete it somewhere mid November).   But with the completion of this page, I have now hit the 30% mark on this journey! 

Again, I apologize for the quality of the photo, but you do get an idea of the progress.

Off to work on page 3 of Winter Hat Owl.  Only about 4 more pages and I might have a photo to show off.

I know it's early still, but wishing you a happy and safe Halloween.

~Rai Rai

Adrift, Page 9 is Complete

Started August 23rd and finished Sept 8, this page wasn't nearly as exciting as the last page, but it's another piece of the puzzle.

This is a closeup of the page, which shows more of her torso, a bit of her hair and an outline of breast. One of the things that I liked about this pattern was there was nothing covering her breast, no seaweed, or clam shell, just the waves. 

This is (a very wrinkled) photo of the entire mermaid so far. 

And this is the entire piece to date. 

She has been packed away and I will do page 2 of my Winter Hat Owl, now.  Since there is nothing to see (literally nothing) but a blue background, I won't post any photo's until I actually start on the owl itself, which will be approximately 6 pages in.  But working on a background that only has 3 colors is fast.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment, while giving me a nice, bright blue to stare at, after the gloomy colors of Adrift. 

It will likely be about 6 weeks before you see another update, but I promise I will continue to expose this picture, a pixel at a time.

~Rai Rai

Adrift Page 8 - the Mermaid Edition

We finally have a face!  And what a lovely face it is!

She's so serene as she floats in stormy seas, as if the more angry the storm is, the more content she is to just swim with the current and float away...

This page was arduous for me.  On one hand, I was super anxious to stitch her face and finally meet her, but on the other hand, the colors were driving me a little bit crazy. 

So I think this is a good time to switch over to the Winter Hat Owl and stitch a page of that.

Based on how long it has taken me to stitch her so far, with working on her exclusively, it's going to take me approximately 3 years to finish her, if I work on nothing else, and I'm sure by that time I will be quite mad. 

So I will put her aside and do a page of vivid colors, before returning to her.  But I will return.  I just have to resign myself that if I do a page of another pattern here and there, that it will take me 4 or more years to finish this. 

And strangely, I'm ok with that.

~Rai Rai

Here is the entire piece so far...

(as always, please excuse the wrinkles)

Adrift, Page 7

Page 7 is done! I started it June 17th and finished it July 5th. This was a nice, easy page full of large blocks of color.   As you can see, the ocean has made her appearance.   I've noticed that taking a photo with an iPhone is a bit of a crap-shoot.   The colors on the top photo vs the colors on the bottom photo seem very different.   (And apologies for the wrinkles on the bottom photo.  I pulled and tugged as best as I could.  Not to mention the lighting this time of night is dreadful, but you do get the idea on what she looks like.

The next page is the mermaids face!  We finally get to see her, aside from a tiny bit of her hair, which was stitched on this page.

I will be working a lot over this month, and then away for the first part of August, so I'm not sure how much time I'm going to get to stitch.  I'm hoping I will have an update for you in August, but no promises.  But I can promise that the next photo will be a beauty!

~Rai Rai

Adrift, Pages 5 and 6

Behold! I have finished the first line of pages.  

These are pages 5 and 6.  (Six was a partial page).

It has only taken me 6 months to get this first line done.  Mother of dragons, what the hell have I gotten myself in to?  6 pages .... of 42!   I'm going to be working on this piece for years!

BUT, the next page the mermaid makes her entrance. I'm excited to begin stitching that.

I still have my owl kitted up and ready to start, and I had intended to do a page of it as a break from all of the muted colors, but I'm so excited to start the mermaid that I think I will just soldier on.   I'll maybe take a break at the end of this row of pages.

In any case, enjoy!  I feel like I've accomplished something, even if it is only sky.

~Rai Rai

Adrift Pages 3 and 4 Complete

After absolutely blazing through page 3,  I thought I would keep going and post pages 3 and 4 together.  And then life hit me, and it took me over a month to complete page 4.

Admittedly, this photo isn't the greatest.  The cloth is so large that I have to fold it over and over and that's what gives it this rather messy look.

I have a few closeups that I also took.  You can see a bit of a blending better in this.

Apologies for the big shadows over the right side.  But you can see the blending of the colors of the sky a bit better. Plus there is a little bit of Krenik in there, that gives the sky a hint of a shimmer. It's really pretty and I wish this photo did it justice.

I'm on to page 5 and 6 (6 is little more than a block, so really shouldn't be counted as it's own page) and then I am done the first row of this goliath!   I'm pondering taking a break at the end of each row and just doing a page of something completely different, like the Winter Owl.  I feel like I need a hefty dose of bold color after working on such muted colors.

Anyway, enjoy! Hopefully page 5 won't take me long and I will have an update for you in a couple of weeks.

~Rai Rai

Adrift Page 2 Completed

Nothing much to see, except sky, sky and more sky.  There will be a total of 5 pages of sky, and then a few pages of water before the mermaid starts to make an appearance.

I wish I had something more exciting to show off, but when it's done, then man, these glum updates will have been worth it!

~Rai Rai

Adrift: Page 1

Page 1 has been completed to mixed reviews by me.

I don't have Magic Cloth for this, so I'm doing it on Lugana, which means I have to grid it, to keep my sanity intact.  When I work in grids, I usually do a column at a time.  But for some reason, this time I was three columns in before I realized that I could see the line where the columns had been.

This does not please my little OCD heart.  From the fourth column on, I would do a stitch every second line when it came to the end of the column, and that seemed to even out my columns and blend them in a lot smoother.

But I still have three columns.  

Has anyone encountered this particular problem?  I'm hoping that as I work on the rest of these, that some miracle will happen and the lines won't seem so blatant to me by the time I am finished.  But I'm fearing that I will have to redo these three columns.  This thought fills me with dread.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this, or make it look less columnish, I'm very interested to hear what you have to say.

This is my 3rd Heaven and Earth and the first time I've encountered this particular problem.

I shall persevere and start page 2.  But I know me, and those three little columns are going to bug me. 

~Rai Rai

First Finish of 2014!

May I present to you the Rose of Sharon in periwinkle with yellow roses.

Although this isn't the first conversion that I have done, this is my favorite by a long shot!

I changed the roses from pink to yellow, her hair form blonde to brunet and changed her dress to periwinkle with a yellow sash.

The changes were as follows:

670 to 156

680 to 155

729 to 340

745 to 341

746 to 3747

931 to 729 + 680

932 to 676

3752 to 745

3756 to 746

223 to 725

3721 to 3852

819 to 3078

224 to 744

This is Rose in her original colors:

 

She is my first finish of 2014, and quite possibly my only finish, as I am about to embark upon a 32 page Heaven and Earth "Adrift".  

I hope to post updates per completed page.  But sadly there won't be much to see until I have about 7 pages finished.

Rose of Sharon will be traveling to L.A. to adorn the wall of a much loved cousin who has just bought a house.  Her name is Sharon.  Appropriate, no?

~Rai Rai

REDRAW!!!! REDRAW!!!

So I was at a bit of a loss on how to decide a winner, so I did it the only way I new was fair.
I assigned everyone a number, then I put the number onto squares of paper, which I then put into a bowl.

I then offered it to the parrot, who, being the difficult bird she is, at first wanted none of it.  Then, with urging from Mr. Rai Rai, she then pulled a mouthful out and flung them to the floor.

So after collecting all the bits of paper and re-placing it into the bowl, I offered her the bowl again.
This time she pulled one number.

Number 39, which was assigned to:  SUMMER from My Craft Corner!
However, she has respectfully declined the prize, so I drew again and this time came up with number 55, which is Bramble from Bramble Bunny Stitches.


Congratulations, Bramble.  Your prize is a scissor fob, made with swarovski crystals and seed beads.  When the light catches it, it makes the most beautiful rainbows.

 

For some reason, this doesn't want to flip to the correct side, so the photo is upsaide down, but you get the general gist.   

I will contact you privately to get your mailing address and get this in the mail to you asap.

And for those of you that didn't win this, I've decided to make a crystal scissor fob and run a competition for every 50 new followers.  That means when my followers hit 100 (if that ever happens, ha ha) I will make another fob and do another draw (excluding previous winners).

So, welcome to all of my new followers and for those who commented.  I've enjoyed meeting all of you!

~Rai Rai

Where in the World Have I Been?

I'm back from Vacation!  My husband and I FINALLY got around to having a honeymoon, so we decided on a cruise to the Caribbean. It was our first cruise, but it most certainly will NOT be our last!

I thought I would relax on the deck of this gigantic ship and stitch until my fingers fell off, but in reality, I hardly stitched at all. Maybe all told, less than 100 stitches.  I couldn't tear my eyes away from how beautiful the ocean was and how blue it was.  It was like a mood stone that hovered between deep electric blue to an almost emerald green.  It was spectacular!

The first photo was off our balcony while anchored in the Bahamas, and the other two were while we were in port in Turks and Caicos.  (Where we saw both a Barracuda AND a shark while snorkeling and found an old cannon with a myriad of the most colorful fish swimming in and out of it.)

Anyway, enough bragging.  Lets get back on topic... stitching!

It's nice to see so many new faces! Welcome to my blog!  Please give me a couple of days to get back to all of you and follow your blogs.   Also, I promised a small gift raffle if my followers reached 50.   The Grow Your Blog folks would like all gifts to be awarded on Feb. 15th, so I will honour their request.  Any new followers before Feb 15th will automatically be entered and I will announce the winner of the gift on the 15th and will ask that person to contact me privately to give me their address. I will ship anywhere in the world.

I just got home last night, and I have spent a good hour stitching, so I hope to have an update of The Rose of Sharon for you within a few days.

~Rai Rai

Grow Your Blog!

It's nearly Grow Your Blog time. 




The big day will be January 25th, but here's the kicker: I will be out of town and completely offline at that time.

So here is what I propose.  If anyone decides to follow me, please leave a comment below and I will be sure to follow you back upon my return.

Also, when my blog hits 50 followers, I will do a draw for a prize.  Nothing grandiose, but I think whoever wins will like it.

For those of you who would like to participate, see the handy-dandy link right to the right of you.  ------> > >

So don't be shy, leave your comments below. I love meeting new people.

I'd also like to add, that this post is 100% black cat approved!

~Rai Rai

Rose of Sharon Update and New Projects Updates

I'm loving the colors!   She is coming along beautifully! 

I had hoped to have her done by the time I leave for vacation, in just a little over a week.  I don't know if I will reach my goal or not, but I'll give it a solid effort. 

I have my next projects kitted up and ready to start.  

My next huge project will be Adrift from Heaven and Earth Designs.  

 30 + pages of solid madness, my friends!   I have the fabric and colors and I'm just bursting at the seams to start this beauty.

However, she is big.  Really big. And as I mentioned before, I am off on a holiday.  So I was left wit a conundrum.  Pace myself with Rose of Sharon, and try to have enough of her left to do to take her with me.  However, the fear that I would finish while on my trip and have nothing at all to stitch filled me with fear, so I looked to my HaED stash.  There is Adrift, but considering how large she is, I felt she would be cumbersome to travel with.  So I dug a little deeper and found THIS!

Winter Owl by Heaven and Earth Designs.   He is a little beauty, and not so large that he would be too, too cumbersome to pack around with me.  So off to the store I went and I now have this little guy kitted up and ready to start as soon as the last stitch of Rose of Sharon is done. 

Normally my rule is to do one at a time, and I stick fast to that rule.  But considering Adrift is so full of dark and moody colors, I think the little owl will be a nice break every now and then so I can inject a little color into my stitching.

In any case, these will very likely be my only projects for the entire year.   Not very exciting when it comes to updating a blog, but I will try to keep things interesting and think of witty things to share with you all.

~Rai Rai