Sneaks back in..........

Whilst I've been silent on the blogging front, I have been stitching up a storm - just haven't felt like yapping on about it, though I always keep my Current WIPs and Finishes tabs up to date.

So here is a post about it all - brace yourselves!

Since my last post in April I have had 7 new starts, 4 finishes and now have 5 current WIPs to date, so let's start with the new WIPs that I've added to Cinders and my LHN:

 

Stephanie Desmidt by Reflets de Soie on 40ct, which I decided to stitch using the DMC conversion making it a very economical project stitched from stash - though I must say the temptation to purchase the required AVAS was strong :).  Again another darning sampler, I'm having a thing for those at the moment as you will see later......

 

 

 

Another sampler, this one is taken from SANQ and is just called Band Sampler and is designed by Susan Haverson.  It's not a reproduction sampler, more an adaptation, but it is based on a sampler stitched in 1656 by Margaret Woodleigh.  Another one stitched on 40ct with the DMC as charted all from stash :).

 

 

The final new WIP is yes you guessed it another sampler, but this is an almost 100% darning sampler.  It is taken from GOSM and is titled Antje Reints Darning Sampler.  It's being stitched on 36ct linen with my choice of Nina's gorgeous threads, so another stash neutral start :).

 

Now for the finishes!  First up were the next parts of Mabel's Hardanger SAL, Rounds Four and Five:

Round Four - stitched with a variety of threads from stash including Jodyri Perles

Round Five - my very psychedelic version using Jodyri's Sunshine State perles


 

I also started and finished a Dinky Dyes Design that had been in my stash for years.  Slight sacrilege though as whilst I did use a few Dinky Dyes silks (from an oops bag so not the named colours called for), I did use a few other brands of silk as well......... 
It's Wave Dancer by Stacy Tippin:

 

 

 

I think the design originally called for one colour of bead and 2 colours of krenik, but I used several different colours of bead and at least 5 different colours of Rainbow Gallery PTB and PSLB!

 

The last finish I have to share was completed over the weekend.  The designer herself actually sent me the chart as a thank you for talking about her designs in one of my videos.  I loved stitching it and was so pleased with my colour choices, although I don't want to see a Greek cross in quite some time!  The design is A Little Victoriana by Loopylou Designs:

 

 

 

 

This one was stitched on 28ct using DMC 3033 and Jodyri Designs antique silk in Brighton Beach

So that's the scoop on what I've been up to, basically stitching from stash and having a lot of fun doing it!  I did purchase a few new blackwork charts from Banu though (Seba Designs) as she was having an amazing sale due to the very sad fact that she has to shut her Etsy shop for a while as Paypal doesn't want to operate in her country.  I look forward to picking out threads for those designs though settling on choices might take some time!

 

I think for the month of June I will focus on my oldest WIP - Cinders, I would like to get her in the finish pile even if 28ct over 2 isn't so much my bag anymore.  I love her, but may fiddle around with the fabric count on the next of Joan's ladies I stitch.  If Cinders gets too much and I need a change then I will switch to my LHN which is 36ct 1 over 2 with gorgeous hand dyed threads just to mix it up a little.

 

Let's see how much I can get done - though with the weather having been sizzling and gorgeous these past two weeks I'm not sure there will be much progress lol!

An Unexpected Finish!

So how has your stitching week been?  Mine proved to be much more productive than planned!  It was your typical English Bank Holiday weather this past weekend, so an excellent reason to sit in and stitch and watch the snooker (no judging please!).  It appears I was very much in my "stitching zone".  This happens every so often with some projects and is the reason why, on occasion, I have been known to finish a regular HAED page in two days and a (small) Chatelaine in five days!

Anyway, what started life as this, 12 full skeins of silk and 5 packs of beads:

 

 

Has now been reduced to this:

 



 

The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that there are only five colours of silk in the picture and there are six in the pattern - I ended up with a single length of Boulia left (not sure what happened there!) and also thought I may run out of a bead colour!  It all worked out in the end though.

 

So you know what's coming..........somehow I managed to finish Plum Pudding!

 



Just to recap, it's stitched on 28ct Jazlyn in Candytuft by Crafty Kitten and stitched with the recommend colours of Dinky Dyes silks.

 

I loved stitching it, it proved to be worth the wait and reminded me how much I love stitching with Dinky Dyes silks - I swear I stitch twice as fast when I use them!

 

I am happy to say that the lovely Nic is still speaking to me - I shall be cheering her on for her Plum Pudding finish as I know she loves this design as much as me and it has been awesome to stitch on this knowing she is doing the same.

 

So a slot has opened up in the "rotation", not sure what I will fill it with!  Aside from Box of Delights (parts for which are released monthly), all my other WIPs aren't really far from a finish, so maybe I'll have a blitz on them and get them done first before starting anything new.  Although I do have the first part of a new Stitch Specialists SAL.......

 

After the Plum Pudding stitching marathon this week I doubt I will pick up any stitching over the weekend, but I might wade through my stash to choose my threadporn threads and kit up a few more projects!

 

Happy Stitching!

Plum Pudding by Glendon Place - April Progress

Nic and I are SALing on Plum Pudding by Glendon Place on 1st -7th of each month, I picked this on up on Friday and here is where I got up to by Tuesday:

 

A lot of stitchers have commented on the way I have chosen to stitch this piece - working from the inside out in a round instead of page by page or corner to corner.  I've stitched quite a few mandala designs in my time and I've always found it easier and quicker to stitch identical elements together as by the time you've stitched something for the 4th/8th/12th time you know the pattern by heart!

 

One of the questions I get asked the most over on my YouTube channel is "How do you stitch with variegated floss?" - to which my (probably unhelpful) answer is "However you like, as long as it looks good to you that's all that matters!".  Of course we all have our preferences, but there are very few rules in stitching and far be it from me to make my methods rules!  In Plum Pudding there is only one really variegated thread out of the six silks used and that's Moonie Ponds.

 

 

I have no hard and fast rules on how I choose to use multi-coloured/variegated/overdyed/space dyed etc etc threads, I take it on a project by project basis. I'm a stitcher that doesn't mind the stripey effect you sometimes get when using these threads, I stitch with them vertically, horizontally, in a round, to match the shape - but for areas of Plum Pudding I chose to stitch with Moonie Ponds diagonally, horizontally and vertically!  I wanted the change in colours to go in the same direction as I felt the shape was going - if that makes any sense :).
 

 

I love stitching on this piece - stitching goes so much faster when you are using silks!

 

Not sure what I will stitch on next, possible my Threadporn projects - here are my thread choices for this month for my SOTW Hardanger square:

 

 

Not much in the way of hand dyed threads for this one in April, but there is nothing wrong with good old DMC and I have a mountain of perles to get through!

 

I couldn't decide between two freebies this month, so decided to stitch them both as they are only small.  One is from La-d-da (you can probably guess which one by my thread colours!) and the other is from Glory Bee in their archives section:

 

 

 

I've picked out hand dyed fabrics for both (Polstitches and Chromatic Alchemy)- I've got them so I might as well use them!  Top threads are a mixture of Valdanis and Crescent Colours and bottom threads are Thread Pickerz silks which were left overs from Twisted Rainbow (I LOVE leftovers!).  The Glory Bee design I've chosen was originally charted in GASTs I think - I've pimped up the design a bit with pink, purple and sparkles :).

 

Happy Stitching!

Plum Pudding by Glendon Place - March Progress

I was very excited to make a long awaited start on Plum Pudding by Glendon Place.  Nic and I decided to unite over our shared love of purple and SAL on this one together as it has been on both our wishlists for so long!  We settled on stitching on it for the first week in each month which makes it easy to remember :).

Here are the materials - as it happens both Nic and I are using the same fabric, 28ct Jazlyn in Candytuft by the Crafty Kitten and gorgeous Dinky Dyes silks:

 

 

I love love love stitching with Dinky Dyes silks!  Granted I know I say this about most silks, but you may be surprised to find some brands conspicuous by their absence in my stash as I'm not a fan of them!  I think Dinky Dyes silks are an excellent place to start for stitchers that are new to silks.  They are the least expensive of the branded silks, come in gorgeous colours but are also easy to substitute in designs as the skein lengths are the same as DMC.  A lot of silks come in 12 stranded 6 yard skeins or 7 stranded 5 metre skeins but Dinky Dyes come in 6 stranded 8 metre skeins just like DMC.  So if you have a monochromatic design that you want to make more exciting, you will need exactly the same amount of skeins in Dinky Dyes silks as the pattern calls for in DMC - no thread maths required!

 

Anyway, here is my progress for the week.  I only managed three stitchy sessions on this one but am happy that I have completed the centre of the mandala:

 



 

It was hard to put down, but I will look forward to picking it up next month!  Next up to stitch will be my Operation Threadporn projects for the month once I've settled on thread choices - I swear that choosing threads is the most difficult part of this whole challenge !

 

Happy Stitching!