Snow Stocking is Complete!

So, because my Lowry had not yet arrived, I thought I'd just keep going on Snow.  I finished the last 2 pages over the weekend, the first of the two being 2782 stitches, and the second page being 997 stitches. 

She is done! Now all I need to do is purchase some fabric and get her sewn, which I will ask my friend to do, as she did such a beautiful job when she sewed the Treasure Dragon stocking, AND the Yule Fairy stocking.  I plan on finding a grey satin fabric for her back, and if I can find piping with some silver in it, perfect, but I think I may have to be happy with plain old white.  I'll be sure to post photo's when she is all sewn..

This was a pretty fast stitch. I started her in March, 2016, and finished today, January 2017.

And now for the big announcement for my next project - although you may have guessed, as I've already got a photo and a status bar up, but the next project will be Meeting on the Turret Stairs (Mini) by Fredrick William Burton.

I have a real thing for Medieval things, and if given the chance to do my life over, I probably would have moved to England to become a historian, with my specialty being the War of the Roses. As soon as I saw this pattern, my pupils dilated, I'm sure of it.

I've never done a mini before, so I'm interested to see what, if any, detail is lost.  If it turns out well, then the goal is to do a mini and a regular size and toggle between the two.  (Just wait and see what I have on deck for the replacement of Adrift. She's everso pretty!)

Oh, and my Lowry came! Oh my god, I love that stand!  It's brilliant!  A little easier to maneuver than the K's Creation and I find I don't need to tighten as hard to get the Q-snap to stay.  This company was brilliant and the stand came on Thursday last week.  So super quick shipping too!

Well, that's it. I'm officially announcemented out.  I hope to have Adrift finished some time in February.

I'll see you all after my cruise. 

First Page Finish of 2017, Snow (Partial) Pg 8

As I mentioned in the heading, this is a partial page, of 2583 stitches. First page of 2017.
 
This is where I usually switch it over to Adrift, but since my stand is still broken, and my new stand hasn't yet arrived, I might just continue on with Snow, as she is considerably lighter and with the help of a couple of strong hair bands, I can rig it on to my broken stand in a way that works better than Cross Stitch Yoga did.  I'm not so sure this would work with Adrift, which is a shame, because I want to stitch her so bad, I almost feel itchy! 

I have decided to kit up my next project tomorrow, as I'm going on a cruise in 15 days, and I don't want to carry Adrift with me, although stitching a mermaid in the Caribbean seems oddly fitting.  I'm not sure with Snow that there will be enough work still to do on her to warrant taking with me.  So I will kit up my next project and take that.

The only fly in the ointment is I haven't quite decided which project to kit up.  It's down to three projects.  Two of them I have had for ages, and are both discontinued, and I have been dying to start both of them, and the third is one I found years ago and just recently commissioned into a mini. 

Decisions, decisions!  I suppose I won't really know myself until tomorrow when I actually flip a coin. 

I will let you know which pattern I kitted up, and which project I decided to work on with my next update - which will be hopefully before I leave. 

I do have a bit of good news for those of you who have a Lowry stand and missed out on the corner clamp.  I wrote to the manufacturers, who had discontinued the corner clamp a while back, but with Omanik and Millenium and Q-Snap frames becoming so popular,  they were found to work really well, but acquiring one was hard to do.  Well the manufacturers say they have received several requests as of late, so they are going to re-release them. I'm not sure if this is a one time release, or if it is going to stay on their list of things that can be ordered, but for those of you who felt like you had missed out, this is a great opportunity to get one for your very own.  This is good news indeed, and I'm very excited at this announcement.

I hope your 2017 has been good so far. 

Page 8 of Snow Stocking has been Completed

I think the count is off of my stocking.  The pattern says 236 x 331, which equals 778 116 stitches.
Incidentally, the mini Snow full pattern says the dimensions are 325x229.  So something is definitely awry.  All I know is my complete bar says I'm at 50% complete, but there is no way that I still have 50% of the pattern to complete.  I only have 3 partial pages to complete.  It should say closer to 75% complete.  Oh well, I'll just keep tallying up my stitches until I have 100% complete.  Then it won't matter. 

I managed to get some good stitching in, even though I've been working a lot.  I'm back on Adrift, but I don't think my needle will be smoking on this next page.  Don't get me wrong, time permitting, it will be.

I'm getting so eager to just finish these two projects.  They are both so tantalizingly close to completely.  After Christmas I will frame. I will have 2 HaED's to frame, my owl and Adrift, but I can only do one at a time. I'm thinking Adrift first.

I was at my stitch-n-bitch yesterday and I caught a snippit of a phone conversation from  a lady who had sent her work in for framing and the framer had used some sort of "protection" on the piece.  Only she had used Waterlillies floss, which, if you've ever used it, you have to a. wash first to color block it or b. to keep the color vibrant, don't wash it, and then stitch your piece carefully so you don't need to wash it when it's done. Well, I guess she had chosen option b, but suffice to say, her colors had all bled, absolutely ruining the finished product.  She had phoned in tears asking if there was anything she could do.  I didn't hear the advice given, because a gaggle of giggling ladies were calling to me, but I couldn't imagine having something happen like this.  Because there is so much red DMC in the Owl, I hadn't planned on washing him - why chance it?  But now, I just may have to specify to not treat him at all when framing.  I've never heard of such things, but then again, I've had very few of my pieces finished.  I just...I don't think I could emotionally recover if one of my pieces, especially a HaED that I've worked on for years, were to get ruined by someone else.  Or even myself. It's definitely left me wary!

I'm just curious if anyone who follows this blog has had a similar experience?  If so, what did you do?

Was there anything TO do?

Snow Stocking Page 7 Complete

44% Complete for this project.  It's like music to my ears.  This was my last full page, all the rest are partials, so it's all downhill from here!

Just a quick update tonight, because my husband is cooking pizza and that trumps blogging. I have about 20 minutes to get this up and posted and the clock is ticking! 

I'm back on Adrift, and I'm expecting this next page to be a quick stitch. 

I have to say, for Adrift, I'm working on Lugana, and for Snow I'm working on 18 ct Magic Guide. Although, for me, Magic Guide is less hassle as you don't need to grid, I find Lugana more pleasurable to stitch on.  I find with Aida I have to stitch a tighter stitch, and it strains my fingers. 
Has anyone else encountered this?

My next projects will be on Lugana, I think I'm pretty much done with Aida.

Curious to know what everyone's favourite cloth is to stitch on? Linen? Lugana? Aida?  Anyone have a preference?  I personally find Lugana softer, but the downside is sometimes stitches can slip under the weave and I have to really watch for that happening and correct it as I go.  Otherwise, I quite enjoy stitching on it. 

I'd love to hear what you like/don't like about your fabrics.

I smell pizza, so sorry to cut this short...but pizza!! 

Snow Stocking, Page 5 is Complete

Her lovely face is now complete.    That being said, this will not be completed for Christmas, like I had hoped. Well, it could be, if I worked exclusively on her, but Adrift is calling and her calls are so loud! 

The best thing about working on a smaller project, is when you have a page finish and you update your Progress Bar, it jumps a huge amount.  With this update, I went from 28% to 35% finished.  I'm used to a measly 3% per page with Adrift.

Because I'm getting close to a finish, I'm seriously looking at what patterns I want to work on next. There are just so many, purchased and yet to be purchased.  But I've got my eye on one that I might request as a mini.  I think it will translate well into being a mini.  And I've got a couple that are serious considerations, including one that I have been sitting on for years.  I purchased it online before I ever knew what Heaven and Earth Designs was, and when I got it, it was so big and intimidating that she went immediately into a drawer.  A clean out of my old supply drawer to move into my snazzy new cabinet revealed her again, and I've gone back again and again to her. So she is a clear contender now.   No names as of yet, because I haven't made my final decision, but it's kinda fun looking through the HaED site and my own stash to see what I want to do next.  

As for today, it's Sunday, my Stitch-n-Bitch day, and it is going to be a full house. 

Happy stitching, kindreds.

Snow, Page 4

So pretty so far.  Started June 24 and finished July 26.  7372 stitches. 

Sometimes it's hard to put a project down when I come to the end of a page.  For me, this was one of those times.  That lovely face is just starting to show and I want to work on her more until she reveals herself fully.  But that would mean Adrift takes a back seat again, and I'm getting closer and closer to that last row, that I have to pull her out and work on her.  And being that she is getting close to the end of the row, and the final row, I'm sure I'll feel the same way when it comes to the end of her page.
Right now work is interfering, as it always does, with my stitching time.  But work means I can afford more projects.  Therefore work = good!!!

I was just visiting my sister in Washington State and she has the prettiest oasis in which to stitch outside.  I wish I'd taken a photo.  It was in her back yard, around a garden path where she had a lovely little set up, complete with hammock and chairs and a little table.  Her husband served as out Cabana boy and served up drinks while we stitched the afternoon away.  It was one of the loveliest afternoons stitching that I've ever had.

 I wish I had something clever and witty to say at this point, since my posts are sparse, but this heat is sapping my energy, so I guess I'll just offer this update with little fanfare, and I hope to see you in a month or so with Adrift.

Snow, Page 2 and 3 is complete.

Started April 22 and completed June 8.  7546 stitches.

This makes my completed pages (partials included) a nice round 13 so far this year.

She's pretty fantastic so far, and this is the entire width of the top of the stocking.  I'm thinking she's going to be a pretty quick stitch.  There is way more confetti in this than in Adrift (well, the water and bubbles, anyway) and that slows me down a bit, but so far she's a delight to stitch.

Those iPad/iPhone users among us, I must share with you the most brilliant app.  It's called "Thread Tracker" and it's an inventory for thread!  SUPER easy to use, and makes keeping track of your DMC stash a  delight.

This is what it looks like.  You can search a thread, and it's just a quick tap if you use the last skein and need to add it to your list to purchase.  It took me a little bit to set up, especially because I had a lot of repeat colours, but once they were in the system, keeping it up to date is a breeze.  Just a quick tap of the screen and I can see what I need, or, if I'm looking for a specific colour, see how many skeins I have in inventory.    Sadly, this is only available for iPad/iPhone, but hopefully android will come out with something similar soon.   It's worth it!  Trust me!

Adrift is up next, with lots of lovely reds to show off. I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to stitching this page.  Stay tuned! Hopefully I'll have something for you in a few short weeks.

Winter Hat Owl is Complete!!

Page 15 and 16 started Feb 23 and finished March 13, and pages 17 and 18 started March 13 and finished March 24.  A total of 14586 stitches.

And here he is!

 He looks a little washed out, for some reason.  But trust me, he is vibrant and lovely!
So I now get to label this under Completed!  

I'm surprised I got through the final 4 pages so fast, with my work schedule. I wasn't expecting this to be finished until mid April at the earliest, so this is a pleasant surprise.  But I have to say, I marathon stitches last, night, completing the last 1800 stitches.  Don't try that at home! 

So, this little guy will be off to the framers soon, what project is waiting to take his place, you ask? 
Well, I try to make a stocking for my friends as they have babies, so the next project is an overdue stocking for a friend, whose girl is now a year old.  Her brother got the Treasure Dragon stocking, so I felt I needed to stitch something complimentary and special. 

So, I found a pattern I really liked and special ordered a stocking version of it from HaED.
Voila!  I give you Snow by Maxine Gadd.

I'll probably start her tonight, and do a page of Snow before going back to poor, neglected Adrift, who, honestly, I needed a bit of a break from before I jump back in for the final push of pages.  I will be stitching her on 18 ct Magic Guide, 2x2. 

And that's pretty much all that I have for news on my end.  

Thank you all who have followed my journey with this little owl.   Once I get him framed, I will post a final photo of him.  

~Rai Rai