If found, please return

My stitching bug. I've lost it. Its been gone for about 2 weeks now and not even starting that Fractal I'd been eyeing off has helped it to return. Maybe all I need is a break from it. Some time away might be a good thing. I refuse to force myself to stitch as that just frustrates me even more. I want to want to stitch. So if you happen to see my stitching bug could you please return it?

Birthday!

I really should update my WIP's as its been a month. I even have a small finish to share but just for now I want to share the 2 new HAED my darling husband got me for my birthday yesterday. These have been on my wishlist for a while now and I'm so excited to start them. It will be a while before I do though. Between school and the projects I already have on the go, and the fact that I don't have the material to start either of them. I've never had charts so big before. My current HAED WIP is only 36 pages (regular format). The Butterfly Ball, however, is over 100 pages (large format). Literate Dragon is also close on the 100 pages. Exciting but scary. I can't wait!

A WIP Update

Been a little while since I've updated my Heaven and Earth Afternoon Tea WIP. The last few weeks have been super busy and we've had an illness go through the house that has left us all still feeling out of sorts. This time around I spent about 2 weeks on Afternoon Tea. Finished a the last page on the bottom row. It is really starting to take shape now. I'm now working on a more central page and working on the border of it was starting to drive me a little batty. The next page I do will be the top left page and will show how high the design will go. For some reason I'm finding that up close this just looks like a mess but from further back it looks great. I don't know if its because its only part done or if that's a trait of HAED's.

A Double Dose

I've been really sick so haven't updated my WIP's/finishes in a little while. Haven't really been well enough to stitch all week either. This is last weeks finish. Its called Summer Pudding. Its from Cross Stitcher magazine of August 2005, by Shelia Hudson. I used 25 count Evenweave and DMC threads. Its done 2 over 2. The only thing I really changed about this pattern is I didn't include the French knots. I hate them and really can't do them, so I used tiny little beads instead. Far quicker and actually looks better than my French knots. This took me 8 days in total to complete and was really quite a fun and fast project. I'm now totally out of Evenweave, so I have met my "use all old fabby" goal for my Evenweave stash. Now to work on that Aida stash.

Here, also is progress on my HAED, Afternoon Tea. Not much done last time I worked on it. Loads of confetti on this page. Am hoping to get the page completed this week but since I was sick last week I didn't get any study done either and so really should catch up a little on that too.

New couch can be seen in the background. Much better back support for stitching. I'm going to get a floor stand soon too. My lap hoop stand is great and works well, but now with the new couch there is room for the feet of a floor stand. I plan on getting a universal one that will hold hoops and scroll type stands. That way I can use what I already have with them. I will need a larger scroll stand for Afternoon Tea but they aren't overly hard or expensive to get.

Wave of Light 2013

While not cross stitch related this is still very important and dear to my heart.

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. Yesterday, October 15, was the wave of light. Everywhere, all over the world candles were light at 7pm and left to burn for at least one hour. By doing this it creates a continues wave of light for 24 hours the world over in memory of babies lost too soon. 

This is the candle I had burning for  my Zachary and all the other angels.

WIP Rotation

I have given up on the monthly WIP rotation I had going and have instead moved to a weekly one. I think I'll stick to just the two projects at a time but rotate them weekly instead of monthly. I think doing it that way may help to keep my interest in each project a little bit. For now I'll rotate my HAED with a smaller one. Once I've used most of the smaller pieces of aida I have then I might re-assess my rotation. 

This is progress that I made on Afternoon Tea last week. Not the best quality as it was taken on my phone but still there is progress and that is what counts.

Heaven and Earth

This is my current big project. Its called Afternoon Tea and is from Heaven and Earth Designs. I love these designs. They are huge (mostly) and are so full of detail. I'm working on this during this month, but here it is at the start of this month after about 3 months worth of stitching done on it. Not the best photo but you can see the detail in the design.

A finish for September

I started this one back in July. I worked on it for about a week until the end of July before putting it aside for the month of August. I picked it back up again for the month of September. My goal was to get it finished in September. There were times when I didn't think I would make that goal. However, I did. I finished this on September 28th. 

It's called Around my Garden and was featured in Cross Stitch Gold Magazine issue 47. The designer is Joanne Aston.

The pattern called for 16-count white Aida. I used 18-count white Aida. When working on Aida 18-count is my preference. The pattern also called for the stranded cotton to be Anchor. I don't own any Anchor cottons. I prefer DMC. So I had a choice to make. Purchase the Anchor cottons for this chart or convert the colours to DMC and use those. I picked choice number two. Many of the colours didn't have much of a difference but some did. Overall though, I don't think it made a huge difference to the finished design. 

This pattern was the first I've done in a long long time that used backstitch. I hate backstitch. Its time consuming and fiddly and can be hard to get just right. In order to make it not so time consuming and less cumbersome I worked the backstitch as I went. That way I could see the difference it made (and boy did it make a difference) but I also didn't need to spend a whole day (or more) at the end working all the backstitch. 

I am rather pleased with the finished result. It was a rather fun pattern to stitch and watch come together. Even with all that dreaded backstitch.

My second fractal

I started this one immediately after finishing my first fractal. This one is simply called Fractal 60 and again comes from Cross Stitch Collectibles. This one only took me about 6 months to do. It was fill of confetti stitching and almost drove me bonkers. Stitching on black isn't easy either and that made is harder. It was however loads and loads of fun to stitch. It really cemented my love of stitching brightly coloured fractals and is part of the reason I want to do another one so so badly. (Yes, I am still dealing with the itch)

The Itch.

I have the itch. Its been there a while but now its getting worse. I want to start a new project. I already have two on the go. One a BAP HAED and one smaller one that is almost 3/4 done. Even though it's 3/4 done it will still be a few weeks before its totally done. 

I have been rotating each month and its been working for me. However, there is a fractal I have that I want to start on so bad. I know myself, and I know if I have any more than two then things never get finished but I want to do that fractal so bad. *sigh* Trying to push that itch away. 

If all goes to plan I should be able to start it in November, but that seems so far away. Hmmm. 

I do keep trying to talk myself into allowing up to four WIP's at a time, and working on each for a week at a time. That way each one gets at least one week a month of my attention. 

I'm not sure I have the aida I need for the fractal anyways. I'm too scared to look. I bet if I do have it I won't be able to contain myself and will start on that fractal that is so very loudly calling my name.

To Start

I've been wanting somewhere to put all my stitchy stuff together for a while. I've wanted to have somewhere I can not only share finished projects but also where I can share progress on my current projects. What better place than a blog. 

I've been stitching for well over 20 years now so I have done loads of projects. I no longer have all of them or even have photos of all of them but I do have many. The first one I want to share is one of my all time favourites. It was fun to stitch for the most part and hold great memories for me.

It is simply titles Fractal 54 and comes from Cross Stitch Collectibles. I started this particular one in the few days after we found out that Zac had a heart defect. It carried me through my pregnancy with him, and his whole life. Contained within the green of it is even his name in the symbols used. It did take me 2 years to complete, so it also carried me through my pregnancy with Lucy and her birth. She was about 3 months old when I finished it.

If you look, you can see a few errors in it. Especially down in the purple on the right hand side. I don't know why I didn't frog it. I must've had reason to at the time but can't for the life of me remember what it is now.