Santa's Wildlife Stocking

As promised, here is my progress pic for Santa's Wildlife Stocking. As you can see, I managed to stray away from the what should have been my focus and move on to the foxie without finishing the poor bear. LOL

In other news, excuse the mess here. DH is fixing our server so everything is broken at the moment.

Dani, if you are reading this, thanks so much for the chart! I got it in the mail last week. I sent you an email, but I'm not sure if you got it. I can't wait to start stitching in. You know what? I think I'll got work on that now! :) I just saw this wonderful skein of Dinky Dyes. :)

Ye Olde Coffee House

I didn't get a chance to work on Celtic Banner today. I spent most of this week working on Ye Olde Coffee House and DH's stocking. I really, really like this project. I'll have to make sure to take a proper picture. I fabric just doesn't show well in the scan.

I only have the vines and the bottom border left to do and its done. :) I'm hoping to finish it this week. *finger crossed*

Watch this space for a new WIP pic of DH's stocking tomorrow. Good night!

A day of progress pics

I've been very lazy with posting progress pics. So I spent a bit of time today and got all my scans ready and got a bit organized.

First up is Celtic Banner. I stitched *very little* last Sunday. I only got to work on the border. Today, I was able to stitch more. I finished the knotwork as well as one of the squares next to the knotwork.

Next is Santa's Wildlife Stocking, aka, DH's stocking. I got to work on his Thursday night and Friday night. Progress has been slow, but I like the details on the project and I definitely like working on linen better than the Aida that came with the kit. You still can't see any of the sparklies on the fabric. I will have to charge the batteries for the camera and take a decent picture. Maybe we'll have sunlight again in Buffalo next weekend.

And to save the best for last is Ye Olde Coffee House by Little House Needleworks. I started this on Monday night and I worked on it on Tuesday and Wednesday nights as well.

This is one of three coffee-themed charts that I have from Little House Needleworks. It is from the June 2004 Just Cross Stitch issue. The other charts I have are Coffee Menu and Spot of Coffee.

I am stitching i on 32 count Vintage Belfast Linen in Country Mocha using 1 strand of DMC floss. I decided to do 1 strand over 2 to give it a delicate look. I started with 2 strands, but it looked a bit bulky. I definitely prefer the 1 strand.

Ta-da!!!!

This is my first finish for 2006!

I loved working on this project. It was a relatively quick stitch. It only took about 8 days to finish. I love, love, love this project. I learned so many new stitches. I really love all the details. I did make an error though. I stitched the vines in the spot motif using 2 skeins of silk instead of one. I didn't frog it because, a) I didn't have enough silk to do it over and b) I really like the effect of the thicker section. Also, I didn't stitch my initials. Instead, I just stitched my name. :)

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Last Sunday, I worked on Celtic Banner. I didn't get a chance to do a lot on it though. I'm really hoping that I finish this project soon. I am almost there but I keep getting distracted by all the other projects that I want to start!

I used to be so good with following my little rules. I used to work on this one section/band at a time, now I've been working back and forth between the knowork, the square on the left of the knotwork and the band above the knotwork. Confused? I am.

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It has been a productive day. I felt like doing something creative, but not necessarily stitching. So... I baked! Let me backtrack a bit... My DMIL gave me an old family recipe for Christmas cookies and frosting. She also gave me her Christmas cookie cutters, some even belonged to her mom. I felt so special. :) DH and I made the cookies after Christmas cause really, who has time to make Christmas cookies before Christmas? It was a lot of work and I bitched the whole time, but in my crazy, loopy way, I had lots of fun. Last Thursday, I bought some heart-shaped cookie cutters at Michaels and today I used my new cutters.

Manic Stitching

I've been feeling under the weather this past week, but I still stitched as much as I could. On January 4th, I started working on DH's stocking, Dimensions' Santa's Wildlife Stocking, designed by Donna Race. This is actually a re-start. I did the project originally in late 2003. But the fabric in the kit was this extremely stiff Aida and I wasn't feeling it. I decided to re-stitch it recently, so I purchased some 28 count white opalescent Cashel linen. The scan doesn't show any of the sparklies at all, but trust me, they're there. This is 3 days' worth of work.

I also picked up The Drawn Thread's Winter Into Spring again this afternoon. I stitched letters f to k and the 5th band as well as a section of the Spot Motif Band. The 5th band is made up of Interlaced Herringbone and Petite Beads (the beads will be left for last). The Interlaced Herringbone was such a challenge... okay fine, I'll say it. They were an absolute pain in the butt! OMG. It was extremely frustrating. I had to frog the area twice and the interlacing was a bit confusing. It is well worth the effort though as the effect is amazing. Even DH was impressed. :)

I am tempted so start another project, but I think I'll stick to the 4 that I have actively going right now. Tomorrow will be the Celtic Banner SAL. I'm so excited. That poor project hasn't seen the light of day in ages.

Guilt-Free January

In celebration of Guilt-Free January, I have decided to start Drawn Thread's Winter Into Spring on Monday. This is my first DT project. I purchased the chart at The Needle Hive in November. I didn't realize that I purchased a kit. I thought it only had the chart, beads and fabric. The other day, I decided to go through all my charts and voila! it had all the fibers too. :)

This is a relatively small project but still very challenging. I did my first ever Sprats Head Heart which confused the heck out of me and it had to be frogged and re-stitched a couple of times. I also did my very first set of Double Shell Stitches as well and Double Backstitches... and I'm only on the 4th band!

In other news, I have invited myself to two SALs. I am joining Dani and her friends in their Celtic Banner SAL. I also invited myself to Jo's Santa's Wildlfie Stocking SAL. The CB SAL is on Sundays and the SWS SAL is on Thursdays. I still havent' figured out a schedule for myself, but this works for now.

I received some of the fabrics I ordered from Silkweaver yesterday. I got:

• 18x27 28 ct White Opalescent Cashel Linen for SWS (DH's Stocking).
• 18x27 32 ct Light Sand Belfast Linen for Fox Hollow.
• 18x27 28 ct Denim Blue Jobeland for Russian Nights (Cross Stitch Collection Nov. 2005)
• 13x18 32 ct Flax Belfast Linen for I don't know what.
• 13x18 32 ct Water Lily Jobelan - I forget what this is for too.
• 13x18 32 ct Country Mocha Vintage Belfast Linen for Ye Olde Coffee Shop.

I'm still waiting for my Autumn Fields Belfast and my Cream Belfast. I'm also waiting for some fibers I purchased from Bobbie. I cannot wait to get all my stash and I can start all my new projects.

Welcome 2006!!!

It's a new year and its time to look at 2 things: What I got done in 2005 and what I'd like to get done in 2006.

I had 10 finishes in 2005.
MLI's Provence Sampler
TW's Beginner's Whitework Ornament (3 versions)
Passion Broderie's Dragon Chinois
M Designs' Celtic Heart
DD's A Dragon's Tea Party
Cross Eyed Kat's Wanna Trade?
Michael Powell's Church Window
and my super secret project

For 2006, I would like to finish:
Eva Rosenstand's Wildlife
MLI's Celtic Banner
Dimensions' Santa's Wildlife Stocking
Hinzeit's Oak Tree

I would also like to start several new projects this month. It is after all, Guilt-free January. :)
DD's Not Forgotten (to be stitched in Wichelt's Summer Sky)
DD's Blackwork Dragon (to be stitched using Caron Waterlilies in Flame)
Drawn Thread's Winter Into Spring (I bought a kit and I'll probably start this tonight)
Bleu de Chine's Birds
Bent Creek's Fox Hollow
Little House Needlework's Spot of Coffee
Little House Needlework's Coffee Menu
Mirabilia's Shimmering Mermaid

Hey, I can dream, can't I? :)

BTW, here is Oak Tree after 2 weeks of stitching: