Back from the Framers

I bet you think I've fallen off the face of the earth, haven't you? But I've actually been busy stitching like mad.

First off, I FINALLY got around to framing Meeting on the Turret Stairs.  This was surprisingly hard to frame, because how I envisioned it in my head just didn't seem to work.  I was planning on using a mottled matting in browns to compliment the castle walls, but it just didn't work.  So in the end I chose a very, very dark plum, almost black. I felt it brought the shadows to the foreground and showcased the piece in the best light. 

I had to take the photo on an angle, because of the reflection, but this was the best shot out of all of them.  I'm really happy at the end result and I will hang her on my wall tonight. 

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I'm going to England and Scotland in September. I'm so beyond excited for this trip.  We are staying with a couple of friends in England and I'm making Christmas stockings for their two children, they aren't quite finished yet, but I hope to have something to show you by the end of the month.  And the couple that we are staying with in Scotland are friends who we met on our first cruise and have stayed friends with.  They visited us here in Canada and now it's our turn to visit them.  They got married back in May, so I when I saw someone stitching this pattern, I knew it would make a perfect gift.  Thanks to Amazon.com and their 24 hour delivery, I got it.  I changed up the fabric to an 18 count Aida with a sparkle running through it, and stitched this up in one month.  For the matting I chose an emerald green. 

This is Friends Welcome (In Gaelic)  I think it will make a perfect wedding present for them and I can't wait to give it to them.

The sparkle in the fabric doesn't really show, but trust me, it makes a delightful little addition to the piece.

Because I've been busy making this and the stockings, I've had no time to work on my HaED's, although I did get about three pages of Wind Moon completed and I'll post a photo when I have a row completed. I've finished stitching her beautiful face and it does not disappoint. I'll be back to working on my HaED's after my trip and will hopefully have something to show off in October sometime. Until then, this blog might be a bit quiet. 

I'll, of course, post photos of the stockings when they are complete. 

I hope you are all having a lovely summer and I hope to touch base with you all soon!

Meeting on the Turret Stairs (mini) is Complete

Completed on March 17th. Note, it had just come off the Q-snaps when I took this photo, so this is why you see a slight wave in the piece.  This was my first mini and I was a bit dubious as to how much detail would be lost on one, but when it came down to it, the only place I really noticed was on the hand that grasped in the knights embrace.  Other than that I was really happy with the detail.  I remember seeing a photo of a mini Adrift and I really couldn't tell the difference between them.

I'll be taking her to get framed in a few weeks and will post a photo of her ready to be hung on my wall.

A while back I decided to take the time to label where in my cabinet my DMC threat sits. This was an arduous procedure, as I, being to darn fussy for my own good, decided that I needed to cut each label down to size and put a border on it.  The reason why I did this was I noticed when it came to changing floss for projects, and as I usually have 2 projects going at the same time, that it was hard to determine where my floss went, without putting all of floss back from both projects and then pulling them again for the old project and the new.  This was time consuming and a big fat PITA, so I took the time to label my spaces.  What a difference it made! I was able to pop all of my threats from Turret Stairs back within minutes and pull the threads I need for my new project.

New project, you ask?   Why yes, I do have one lined up.  My next project will be another mini. Generations, by Laura Prindle.  I plan on hanging this one in my office at work,  when I'm done.
I think it's stunning and the polar opposite of Wind Moon, both in colour and size. 

So there you have it.  That's all my news I have for you at this time.

Happy stitching, kindred's.

First Page Finish of the Year

Meeting on the Turret Stairs pages 8 and 9.

That's a row finish. I'm now 79% done this project. I only have 3 partial pages left, about 3/4 of a page each. The end is in sight.  It's funny, because as I was stitching the last page, I was wondering why the knight had one slim grey leg and one fat beige leg.  It wasn't 'til I was done and had a photo of my work that I could see that the beige fat leg was actually part of the pillar of the turret.  Sometimes when I'm working on a HaED, the pattern doesn't make sense to me, but I just trust it and carry on.  It eventually makes sense.  

AND I will be continuing to work on this, as Wind Moon is currently at a friend's house, a talented, talented seamstress, who is making me a carrying case for my huge Quantum frame, so I can transport Wind Moon easily to Stitch-n-Bitch on Sundays. She's making me a case that I can sling over my shoulder.  I will, of course, brag  share with you all when I finally get it.

I haven't been stitching as much as I normally do, as I have discovered the wonderful world of Assassins Creed, and have been traveling through London, circa 1869 and killing blighters.  It's seriously digging into my stitching time, but I can't help it. I've never played video games before, other than Mahjong and Tetris.  It's pretty fun, but the graphics are fantastic. I often forget to do my mission and I just wander aimlessly through the game looking at the sights, which makes me the worst gamer ever. But the shiny will soon wear off and I will be back to my project soon enough.

I promise the stitching bug will bite again, but updates may be slower than usual.

I may just blaze through these next three pages, so hopefully the next update will be a project finish. That's the plan, anyway.

Meeting on the Turret Stairs, Page 7 is Done

7600 Stitches started October 26 and finished November 13th.  I'm 62% complete. 
I'm sorry this wasn't the clearest photo, I was holding it up by hand in not the best light while trying to avoid a cockatoo on the floor hell bent on biting my feet.  Apologies if it's a bit blurry. I had to be very quick and satisfied with whatever I captured.

I only have two more full pages and then 3 partial pages and this project is done.  I'm super happy with the quality of the mini and I will probably do Mini's from here on in. It's the only feasible way I will be able to stitch even half of the projects on my wish list. 

I can say without hesitation that I am absolutely done with Aida.  I find it so stiff and hard to pull my needle through, not to mention the thread I've wasted because of the fraying. I also find my hand and fingers get more tired working with Aida. So yeah, I'm done.  I just wish that Lugana did 20 count magic guide, because it's so convenient to just put your fabric into the Q-Snaps, or on to the frame and just start stitching.  I'm back to Wind Moon for a page, but I'll probably spend a good 2 hours gridding tonight, as I prefer to grid the entire row. But gridding by hand, I have to say that nothing beats Sulky Silver. That stuff is awesome.  It's so petite that you can't see where your grid was, which is something that the thicker red plastic grid would sometimes do.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back on Wind Moon for a few weeks, to give my poor, aching hands a rest, if nothing else.

Meeting on the Turret Stairs, Pages 4 and 5 - ROW FINISH

I know, I know, it's supposed to be a Wind Moon update, but I have a pretty good excuse.  I decided to purchase a Quantum Frame, one that would fit my crazy large Wind Moon. 

For those of you who don't know what a Quantum frame is, behold!  It's the same concept as the Millennium frame, but without the bad customer service and the year long wait.  I had my frame within a month of ordering.  I can personally say I recommend the Omanik factory.  Plus they sent me chocolate in my order. Seriously, who does that? 

Because my frame is so long (90 cm) I also ordered the extra long 14" adapter from Sew and Sew, which I am still waiting for.

When I received my frame, I got so excited to load up my project, so I did immediately.  Er... well, "immediately" might be stretching the truth by a bit.  I attempted  to load my project.  Several FlossTube tutorial video's later, I had it nice and even on my frame, but it was too big for my stand without my adapter.  So I'm waiting for that to arrive before I work on Wind Moon again.  I can tell you I'm itching to work on it. So much so I'm considering taking it out of the frame.  Please, somebody talk me out of doing this! 

But, Wind Moon's loss was Turret Stairs' gain.  I'm done another row and am now officially more than half way done the project. And as I'm off to Toronto on Wednesday, this will be the project I take with me, so there may be another Turret update before you see Wind Moon again. 

I think I also forgot to post a picture of Winter Hat Owl all framed up in his clever red frame. 

Here you go! 

That's about all I have to report at this time. Now I must run and do a marathon laundry/packing/cleaning because I fly out tomorrow at 5:50 am, which means I have to be at the airport at 4:50, which means I have to be up at 3 am.  *Insert not-impressed emoticon here* I think there is going to be some sleeping on the plane instead of stitching. 

Meeting on the Turret Stairs Page 4 is Complete (and A Little Something More)

I am love, love, loving this project.  I'm especially loving how fast it's stitching up.  I now have 36% of the project completed.  I'm telling you, mini's are the way to go!  I kind of wish I had Wind Moon and my other Nene Thomas patterns as mini's, but there you go. I've already lined up my next two projects to stitch against Wind Moon, and now that I have an excellent and affordable framer, I can get these projects framed as soon as they are complete.

Speaking of excellent and affordable framers, just look at what my talented framer did with Adrift!

It's not the best photo because there was so much reflection in the glass, but it gives you the idea of the matting and frame.  I think he did a beautiful, beautiful job.  My one conundrum is where to hang her, though. She's really big and finding a wall that is appropriate is more difficult than I imagined it would be.  I obviously want her to be in the public area and not my bedroom, but I'm having trouble deciding where.  I think I just need to hold my breath, pick and spot and commit to it.

I also have Winter Hat Owl in getting framed.  I should have him back in a week or two.  I chose the reddest metal frame that I could find and it really pops the pattern.  I can't wait to see it.  I will, of course, share with you as soon as I get it back.

I'm off to work on Wind Moon and should have a row finish  for you in a couple of weeks.

Meeting on the Turret Stairs, Page 3 - Row Finish

Page 3 is complete and that's a row, folks.  I almost feel like a bit of a cheat that this pattern is so small, but it's a great feeling when I go to change my status bar and it jumps from 19% complete to 27% complete.  Go me!!!

So I can definitely see where some of the detail has been lost and that's her right hand. Maybe when more of the piece is stitched, it will look more like a hand, but right now it looks like a bit of a big white blob.  But overall, I'm really happy with how it's turning out, and the feathering effect, which doesn't seem to be working on Wind Moon, is working quite nicely here. 

I'm curious to know how many of you use apps to help organize your stash?  I was using Thread Tracker, but had had xstitch on my iPad for ages, but I'd never used it.  Finally I decided to give it a go and I'm so glad I did. What I love best about it is the notes section where you can be as descriptive as you want. 

I find it very helpful when I am working on two projects to know what threads are needed for which project and exactly where the extras are being housed - in my floss cabinet or in my plastic case where  I like to keep the extras for the projects I'm working on, so I'm not spending half the night looking for an extra skein because my inventory tells me I have one - somewhere. 

This is on iPad, I've been told it's also available for Android.  I find it works for me, does anybody have an app that works for them? I'd love to hear about it. 

In any case, I am now back to Wind Moon for one, possibly two pages.  Hopefully I'll have an update for you soon.

Page 2 of Meeting on the Turret Stairs

Closeup.

I'm super pleased with how well this is stitching up. I thought the detail might be compromised with being a mini, but so far this is not the case. I'm expecting the detail on the knight's tunic is where the biggest different will be seen, but so far I'm pleased as punch over this.   It has been a lot more confetti, and as a result, it really slows me down.  Plus, I have to say, I'm not a big fan of the pre-gridded Aida or Ziegert.  I find the fabric is so stiff, plus it's a little sharp. I really have to remember to cut smaller pieces of thread, as sometimes (quite often, actually) I'll pull the thread through, only to find it's snapped. Also, I find my hand feels more tired after stitching on it.  Perhaps it's having to pull the needle through the stiffer fabric, but I definitely suffer more needle fatigue with Aida/Ziegert than Lugana or Pearl.  For me, 25 count is just a bit too small, so if I want to work with pre-grid fabric, I'm left with Aida or Ziegert as my choice.  On an interesting side note, I found a whole bunch of 18 ct. pre-grid Aida that I had in my stash.  Who knew?!  So, even though it's not my favourite, I will end up using it, because I hate waste.  

I'm back working on Wind Moon.  How much faster she is, which is good, because it's page 2 of 65.  *headdesk*  I'm almost considering doing two pages of her to one page of Turret Stairs, I don't know, I'll just play it by ear.  It won't make stitching her up any faster, it will just seem like I am.  And that's almost as good, isn't it?

Meeting on the Turret Stairs (Mini) Page 1

Page one of the mini has been completed. I was worried that she would lose too much of her detail, but I'm happy to say this isn't the case.  I'm extremely happy with the outcome. 

Well I am back from my cruise and am happy to say that I did get a bit of stitching done. There was a group of knitters/stitchers (although I was the only stitcher this cruise) who met on days we were at sea.  It was nice to sit with a group of ladies and see all of their projects.  Although there was one morning where people were coming up to me and saying I was famous and had been highlighted on the ships daily show that morning. As I had tied one on pretty hard at the pub the night before in a good old fashioned sing-a-long, my first thought ran to that, in a not so good, oh my god, what are they saying I did kind of way. But it turns out some sneaky camera person had filmed me with my magnifier glasses and my iPad that has my .pdf, stitching with the knitting ladies and mentioned it.  

I was both relieved and a little proud of that.  That day I had a few stitching ladies come down to ask me about the iPad and how to upload projects to it.  So it was nice to both meet new people and show them some of my tricks. 

I also had a nice little stitching nook out on our balcony.  Pina Colada, great view, audio book, and my stitching. Is this not the very description of paradise? 

But alas, I have returned home to snow, and the plague that I'm sure I caught off the person sitting next to me on the plane.  There is a winter storm blowing in and I'm going to just snuggle under a blanket and alternate between stitching and napping.