Testing, Testing 123.........

So something extraordinary has happened - I've picked up a needle and thread again after a long hiatus.  Even stranger is that since April, I've started a HAED, a Mirabilia AND uploaded not one but two videos to YouTube - three things I never thought I'd hear myself say again!

Blogging seems to be on the decline, but I see the hardcore stitching bloggers are still in action!  Being short on time, I find Instagram a faster way to chart my progress and to connect with stitchy friends, but I thought for old times' sake I would attempt a blogpost as an update to what I am stitching on currently.

Band Sampler by Susan Haverson, taken from SANQ:

I'm currently working on the penultimate band of the final part on this one, stitched on 40ct linen using the recommended DMCs.

Elle Brode des Lettres Carmin by Reflets de Soie taken from The Gift of Stitching Magazine:

I've actually completed the bands started in the above photo, I just don't have an up to date photo, but this one is stitched on 40ct flax linen using AVAS Soie d'Alger and Soie de Paris and some silk ribbon.

HAED Mini Tears of Yesterday, artwork by Zindy Nielsen:

I was after an easy mindless stitch to take my mind off things, so I opted to start a HAED of all things!  Love stitching on her though and she is currently a few rows further along as she is the piece I have out at the moment.  Stitched on 28ct evenweave 2 over 1 in continental tent stitch subbing out the kreinik in favour of PTB.

Miss Cherry Blossom by Mirabilia:

Stitched 2 over 2 (skin will be 1 over 1) on 28ct Brittney Opal in The Milkybar Kid by Jodyri Designs using the recommended threads and beads, except the kreinik has been subbed for PTB.  I checked out any new releases I'd "missed" during my hiatus and this one immediately jumped out at me, so I bought my first stash in over a year and started her straight away!

Alice by Aury TM:

My first finish since OCTOBER 2016!!!  Stitched on 40ct pearl grey linen using my choice of silks mainly and sparkly threads.  I don't think this chart is available anymore, but I loved stitching on her and thanks to Wimbledon managed to finish her after leaving her languishing for a long time!

Although I don't have anywhere near the time I used to for stitching, I've enjoyed picking up my stitching regularly, even if that has only been once or twice a week for a few hours.  It's a battle now between books and stitching, quite often books win.  I've read over 50 so far this year which is hilarious considering that I probably haven't read a total of 50 book in the last 10 years combined!

I will try and update the blog with these current WIPs and any new starts, so I'll be checking in every so often.  Progress is slow, but although neglected, my blog is a good way of looking back on what I've stitched and I'd like to keep it up to date for my own records.

Happy Stitching!

Hard Habit To Break......

Every year for the previous 6 years I have always had a New Year's New Start.  With me currently stitching next to nothing, I thought that 2017 might be the end to that little tradition.  I've put a few stitches in Band Sampler over the past month, but I haven't looked at any of my stitchy accounts/groups on FB or IG for weeks and have just been enjoying the hour or two I have spent stitching for me.

Current progress on Band Samper - another band bites the dust!

So 1st January rolls around and at about 7pm I decided that yes, I will have a new start please and that it doesn't matter that I probably won't finish it until the end of the year if that!  It's a design I've had kitted up in preparation for 1st January and one I have had in my stash for five years so it deserved to see the light of day:

 

It is Elle Brode des Lettres Carmin by Reflets de Soie and I have this pattern spread across several issues of GOSM from 2010, but I think it has been recently re-released by Isabelle.  I love samplers, I love anything French, I love fonts and lettering and I love red silk and flax linen so this is pure joy to stitch for me.  Despite using AVAS Soie D'Alger on quite a few pieces, this will be my first time using Soie de Paris so I am looking forward to seeing how it compares to other filament silks I've used in the past.

 

The stitch count is 250 x 400 and I'm using 40ct, so as it is stitched using only 2 colours of silk (and a bit of ribbon work) it is perfect for me to pick up sporadically as and when the mood takes me - especially as it is an alphabet sampler band sampler.  Here is what I managed to do for a couple of hours on 1st January:

 

 

 

 

 It is a strange feeling to love a piece very much but not feel the need to stitch on it for hours on end taking up all my spare time as I have on other pieces prior to this.  I'm not complaining at all - I feel much more balanced than I have for a while.  Rather than stitching taking up all my free time, it now occupies a fraction of it, leaving me time for reading (currently reading Julian Fellowes' latest, Belgravia) and other interests that I have never really talked about "publicly" such as diet, nutrition and wellbeing.

 

 So the blog may be quiet for a while, I will post when I have some more substantial progress to show.  Keep your eyes peeled for a destash post soon as I have threads and fabrics that really need to find a new home instead of just sitting in my stash when they could be better put to use in yours :)!

Happy Stitching!

OAAT October

It seems that of late I've turned into a OAATer, who would have thought it! I decided to stick with Stéphanie until she was finished, here is what she looked like at the start of October and for most of the month actually as I didn't pick my stitching up for a fortnight......

 

 

After a lot of over 1 darning on 40ct.......
 

 

 

I was considering having a new start after a brand new chart dropped through my letterbox, but I gritted my teeth and kept on darning.......

 



 

 

 

Until the happy event on Sunday evening when she was finally finished!

 

 

 



I'm really pleased with the finish, considering it is made up of two of the most common and simple embroidery stitches (cross and running) I think the end result is very effective!

Speaking of darning samplers, I've decided that I am going to part ways with Antje Reints.  I still love darning samplers and plan on doing more, it's just that stitching time is short and I need to be stitching on projects that really float my boat.  I wondered what I would do with the fabric, as I had started the central darning cross in the middle and then inspiration struck!  I will use it as my doodle cloth for next year!  At 36ct it's the perfect count to practice any new stitches and I might even make it my practice to add all the different stitches I'll be using, old and new, to it.

That leaves one WIP left to finish before the end of the year and I will be very happy to get back to it.  This is where it stands at the moment:

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this turns into another OOATer!  While I was off work last week, as well as darning my heart out, I also prepped my projects for my January starts for next year.  I have to be in the mood for kitting and cutting so I struck while the iron was hot.  I decided to treat myself to AVAS silks for the Darlene O'Steen sampler that I plan on starting, but more on that next time as I think there have been enough photos in this post!

 

Happy Stitching!

2017 Needlework Musings......

This is going to be one of those posts that is more for my benefit than my poor readers.  So if you aren't in to plans and general rambling, feel free to skip...........:)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think it's fair to say that I am one of life's planners!  My stitching is pretty much wrapped up for 2016, so that's when I start to think about what I want to do in 2017.  What I want to stitch is easy, how I'm going to achieve it, well that's another story!

So as for the what, here's a little selection of next year's projects:

 

 

 

I'll be stitching projects from both of the books and treating them as "learning projects" as a way of improving my stitching techniques, reading around the subject and generally enjoying immersing myself in a project.  I'm looking forward to the Hardanger and using entirely new-to-me-threads that thanks to a specialist lacemaking and tatting shop I was able to source online in the UK.  I'm still wavering on which of the samplers in The Proper Stitch to go for.  Being a Tudor nut, I'm thinking maybe I should go for the Tudor Rose Sampler but the other two samplers are beautiful too.

 

Alongside that will be more samplers including a piece I have wanted to stitch for about five years by Reflets de Soie.  It's a redwork sampler to be stitched using the AVAS silks and flax linen in the left hand side of the photo along with a bit of ribbon work.  At 250 x 400 stitches, I'm hoping the bands of letters will be a soothing stitch to possibly last the year.  Then there are the other samplers pictured which will be stitched on high counts of linen probably using Nina's gorgeous threads.

 

Once again it will be stitching from stash which is what I have basically done for the past two years.  The only exception would be completing my collection of Nina's silks and cottons and buying linens as and when I need them. My Pinterest board is so full of the many patterns in my stash that I want to stitch that very few on my wishlist make it much further than that these days!

 

Now for the how.........  I no longer have the time and energy I used to have to stitch.  I'm okay with that, after all my life amounts to more that the number of stitches I make and the stash I buy (or don't buy in my case!).  This means that when I do get a chance to stitch, the project has to tick all the right boxes - otherwise I feel I just as well sit making random stitches in a piece of linen to no end and to no avail!  I've been stitching for long enough to know what I love and what works for me and basically that is what 2017 is all about - quality not quantity I guess.  Taking patterns I love and using the stash that I love to stitch them.  I see no point in starting a project just because I can, which is why despite the fact that I've been contemplating starting another Chatelaine for a while,  I haven't done it because they no longer tick all the boxes for me.  I like to have projects that are easy, mindless, soothing stitching and I like to have projects that are challenging and 2017 is going to be a mixture of both.

 

Where this leaves blogging I don't know, less stitching means less to blog about - but I'm thinking I should be able to manage a monthly update.  I've really enjoyed the bits of OAAT stitching I've done this year (thanks to Justine), so that will be something I will be taking forward to next  year. 

 

I'm really looking forward to my projects for next year and a much more chilled approach to my stitching. By now you know that I'm not much of a "social stitcher" and all the hoop-la that goes along with that side of things - but it's nice to share what I've done in this little corner of the interweb :).

 

 

Thanks for reading.........

 

 

Happy Stitching!

WIP Update and a Little Destash!

After Cinders I was craving my hand dyed threads and 36ct/40ct linens so I picked up Home of a Needleworker which had been neglected pretty much since March!  I am happy to report that it was finished last week and I really should get a frame for it and finish it properly!!!

Stitched on 36ct linen with my choice of Nina's lovelies!
 

 

 

I've now moved on to Stephanie, who I made a tiny start on back in May, here is a scruffy progress pic of her as I was too lazy to tart her up for the photo lol:

 

Stephanie Desmidt 1844 by Reflets de Soie on 40ct linen with DMC

 

The thread colours remind me of cream, caramel and chocolate which is a bit of a shame considering I can't actually eat any of that stuff!  I'm going to stick with her for as long as I can and then pick up my other sampler for Justine's Solo September.  I would like to finish my 3 current WIPs and the 4 new starts I have planned for the remainder of the year in 2016.  I already have my projects for 2017 pretty much planned out including some projects from this book which I am very excited about!

 

You may have noticed that there is a new tab at the top of the page - I have had a bit of a destash, nothing too drastic though!  I'm running out of room and need to find new homes for a few things.  There are some charts, fabric and threads for sale if you wanted to have a gander and you know where to find me if you would like to make a purchase.

 

Happy Stitching!

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!

Big Berthe!

Justine and a few other bloggers are committing to stitching on the same piece throughout April and it seems I have unwittingly joined in!

Here is what Berthe looked like on 1 April, exactly the same as where I left her mid way through January:

 

And here is what she looks like now:

 

 

 

All finished!

 

 

As a side note I just have to mention every time I say Berthe I think Bertha, which reminds me of the children's TV programme in the 80s which people of a certain age will remember and then I get the little song in my head..........anyway I digress..........

 

I absolutely adored stitching this one on 40ct 1 over 2 with beautiful AVAS d'Alger.  For the sake of anyone that has visited this page as a result of searching for info on this piece, I will say that some of the lettering on mine may be in a different colour than charted - only because I was short on one colour of silk (I think it went walk about) so I just used an excess I had of another colour that was in the chart's colour palette.  Also of note is that, as is the case with a lot of repro samplers, the border is not symmetrical :).  All those cross shapes that make up the border are identical, except for one which has a "leg" four stitches long instead of three - always worth examining the chart carefully!

 

I particularly enjoyed working the pattern darning sections, and a few darning samplers have been pinned to my wishlist for a rainy day so there will definitely be more in my future!

 

 



 

 

I have at least two other Reflets de Soie samplers in my stash which I am now very much looking forward to doing.  They are the perfect project for when stitching time is limited as the colours used are minimal and you can quickly see progress being made even if only a letter or two is completed per session.  Stitching with 1 strand on 40ct makes for much faster stitching too - no railroading required!  A few years ago I'd always thought that HAEDs would be my easy stitching projects, but the thought of stitching one now makes me feel almost claustrophobic - I need my stitches to be able to breathe lol!

 

No idea what I will be working on next, I had started LHN's Home of a Needleworker last month so I might carry on with that.  Still don't think I can face Cinders just yet, so maybe an entirely new project is in order!

More of the same........

As predicted, stitching time continues to be significantly less and time for blogging even more so, hence the lack of posts in January.  To be honest, I've been working on the same four projects all month so it would only have been a case of more of the same, so maybe a monthly post is better lol!

The majority of my stitching time for January was weekend stitching or the odd hour or two grabbed before I leave the house at 7.30am - thankfully the pieces I picked to start off the year are nice and easy for early morning stitching!  Considering these pieces of fabric were all blank at the start of the month, I don't think I've done too badly, though I am missing working on more challenging pieces, so I may tweak my "rotation" a bit when these WIPs turn into finishes.

Anyway, without further ado, here is my progress for January!

Firstly QS Lady Bug, such a fast stitch this one and I'm sure I'll have a finish in February!  All the surrounding foliage you see in the picture below was a Sunday afternoon's worth of stitching whilst streaming The X-Files - hurrah for tent stitch!

This is how far an entire skein on Anchor 403 will get you!

Next up is Flowers of the Field by Eileen Bennett, I got up to part 2 (of 3) this month, again a great design to pick up when time is short as you can stitch a band or two and see the progress immediately.

 

 

Over 1 lettering on 32ct and tweeded French knots!

 

Berthe Massiet didn't quite make it to her second turn in the "rotation", but I still managed to chip away at her and complete 1 (of 6) pages:
 

 

 

 

Lastly Cinderella, which I very much expect will take me the longest to finish as I think to make any sort of progress she needs to be a weekend stitch:

 

 

I've just downloaded Mabel's February RIC SAL chart, so although I won't get to it until later in the week, at least I can think about colours and it will make a nice change from cross stitch.

 

I'm thinking that once these four are finished, I will reduce the amount of WIPs I have on the go to a weekday piece and a weekend piece - with the weekend piece providing me with a bit more of a challenge.  I've got my eye on some new hardanger designs and a Ukrainian whitework piece so I may well treat myself to some new patterns to start once these four are completed.

 

Happy Stitching!

A Weekend of WIPs and a Finish!

The advantage of starting the year with no WIPs is that you get to have new starts with abandon - well four new starts, which for me is my "rotation" maximum!

So here they are, with a few hours stitching in on each of them!

My New Year's New Start was Berthe Massiet, by Reflets de Soie, a pretty sizeable French sampler which is why I choose to stitch it 1 over 2 on 40ct using AVAS d'Alger.  It is mostly cross stitch with some pattern darning sections.  Here is where a couple of hours got me:

All  materials from stash

 

Next, surprise surprise is a HAED!  I haven't stitched one of these for over a year after I decided that their BAPs were not for me, though I have completed a few SKs, QS and Minis in my time.  Every so often I feel the pull of a few on my hard drive, but I know it's more the art than the stitching that I'm attracted to.  That being said, there was a nice easy design in my HAED stash (a chart I received in the rewards programme) that I love and would use up a piece of hand dyed fabric in my stash so I thought why not!  So here is HAED QS Ladybug by Ching-Chou Kuik, stitched on 28ct Brittney Opal LE Christmas Poinsettia by Jodyri Designs, 2 over 1 tent stitch with Anchor black as I prefer the coverage to DMC black:

 

 

All materials from stash

Next up I started a design that I've had in my stash since it was released in a magazine back in January 2012!!!  In fact it was probably one of the last times I purchased a UK cross stitch magazine and I only do so for this designer's charts - yes you've guessed it, it's a Joan Elliott design.  I have her Historical Ladies (Medieval Lady already complete) and Fairy Tale Princesses in my stash to stitch and I've been looking forward to stitching at least one of them this year.  So I've chosen Cinderella as I had suitable hand dyed fabric in my stash for her and the majority of the DMC, beads and metallics used, so just a small order to Sew and So was required :).  I've swapped the Kreinik metallics for Petite Treasure Braids as I usually do and she is stitched 2 over 2, except for skin - that will be stitched 1 over 1.  The fabric is 28ct Brittney Opal in Speckled Eggs by Jodyri Designs:

 

Majority of materials from stash, just some extra DMCs required

 

My final start was from the Fall 2003 issue of SANQ Magazine and is entitled Flowers of the Field by Eileen Bennett (#99 on this page) and contains 15 different sampler stitches in 10 shades of Anchor and one metallic (which again I subbed for PTB).  Initially I had thought to stitch this on 40ct, but when I looked at the pattern there seemed a fair bit of over 1 stitching so I opted for 32ct Belfast instead to save my eyes a bit!
 

All materials from stash

 

 Last but not least I had my first finish of the year courtesy of Mabel's Hardanger SAL Round in Circles.  Round One was released on Friday and was stitched up within a couple of hours.  I opted to go for the same colour scheme that I used for Confetti of Hardanger as it felt suitably January-ish, although I frogged the entire whipped backstitch border so that I could use (the very last of my) petite silk lame braid in white instead to tie in with the PTB pearl I'd used for some of the star stitches.  It is stitched on 25ct white lugana using DMC #5 in 211 and white, Jodyri Designs Alaskan Beauty #5 perle, DMC #8 perle, PTB10 and PSL02 and a delica bead in lavender:

 

 

All materials from stash

 

So there you have it, the results of my stitchy weekend!  I have no particular order in which I will work my four WIPs, just whatever I fancy at the time.  When one is finished I'll add another piece in from the list, or just keep whittling them down until I can have another four starts as I did in the Summer and Autumn/Winter last year.

 

I will be back at the end of the month to share any progress I have - I'm never very good at sharing WIP pics unless they have a definite point of closure e.g a page or part finish as I think if I just keep stitching there will always be more to show lol!

 

Happy Stitching!