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Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Promenade finish


This piece finished a lot faster than I thought it would. It only took 17.5 hours.
Start date August 24, 2009
Finish date August 30, 2009
Total hours 17.5
Fabric 28 count opalescent white

And yes, the picture makes the fabric look grey. The light was gone when I took the picture and the flash simply washes everything out, so this is the current horrible picture until I figure out how to take a better one.



I then went back to TOT. Apparently my ability to stay away is pathetic. I finished all the crosses and most of the back stitch. Then I ran out of one of the flosses so I have to wait. I started the beads... but the red and orange beads are far too similar and I really can't tell any difference between them. I'll try seeing how they look in the sun, but I have a feeling that I'm going to try switching the red for something else.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Some old finishes


of which I have finally taken pictures...

One was started in August of 2008 and finished at some point in time that I have not recorded. My first piece of hardanger. At least, the first one I started. In the middle I went on to make quite a few hardanger bookmarks, but I eventually finished it. The pattern is from one of those "Beginner Hardanger" books.
It has the standard Kloster blocks, buttonhole edging, eyelets, Algerian eyelets, woven bars, picots (I hated every single one of those), Dove eye variation and spider wheels. Everything from the basics to the frustrating.



It was supposed to be wrapped around a small potpourri bag-type item. I thought for all of two seconds and decided to make another tote bag to add to my growing collection of shoulder bags.



It was the first bag I made and there are quite a few errors. A majorish one being that the bottom black panel and the middle blue panel are actually not connected at one corner...And the shoulder strap is far too short. I had fun making it and will probably make more bags, but not anything soon since none of my finished cross stitch work is suitable.

The other one is my SALexandre wallet which I finished in May, but still have as a WIP because I've been far too lazy to take pictures. I put it off till it slipped my mind. Or at least that's my lame excuse.

It was a free SAL from Tempus Fugit in 2008. It's on 28 count black in two DMC variations. The different blues show up very well and I love the effect, but the cream all looks the same and I can't help but feel that I might as well have saved myself the trouble.



That's what it looks like all folded and tied up.



The outside is of four different alphabet samplers. I don't really care for samplers and I don't think I'll be doing any more ABC ones.



From left to right, the inside has a pouch to put patterns/papers. I don't use it. The bit with the button covers up pieces of felt that hold needles. The third is a scissors holder with a motif that repeats as my scissors fob. And the last, extreme right part is actually supposed to be horizontal, not vertical and is to tuck floss in. My floss is wound around bobbins and the strap is actually too long to fit horizontally so I just put it vertically. Technically I can still stick floss under it so it works for me.

Due to the pain of having to undo ribbons, open it, take what I want, fold it up trickily, and tie the ribbon (yes, a most Herculean task), it's mostly an ornamental piece. Extra needles that I'm not currently using and my most pointy and best hardanger scissors are in it. My more everyday stuff is in less beautiful holders.

That's all for this dig from the near past. Soon there will be a few pieces from the ancient past. Over 8 years ago...

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

New Start


Trick or Treat coming along nicely, but I got a little bit tired of the relentless purple-brown. And then I realized that the words "Trick or Treat" are a mixture of capitals and simples. The grammarian in me shuddered. I have put her away until I can deal with this travesty of the English language. (ok, that was a bit overblown, but it's bugging me and I need a break from her).

SO!
I started Ty Wilson's "The Promenade" in cross stitch. Over one on 28 count opalescent white it'll be about 5"x6". Colourwise it's just black and red. So a set of very nice and contrasting colours.

I decided to do it as my travel piece and an hour into it, I lost my needle and was without a spare. So that's on hold too.

I am going to take several deep breaths and thank my lucky stars I don't have any frogs right now.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

2 Giveaways


Mel is giving away these beauties


and Lynn these.


Go visit, enter and gawk at their awesome needlework skills.
And that's my plug!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

New start: Trick or Treat


Technically named the Trick or Treat Fairy by Nora Corbett. The name has started to bug me after someone pointed out that the lack of wings means that she isn't a fairy. The black dress, pumpkins and the owl as a familiar have me convinced that she's a witch. But Trick or Treat Witch sounds a bit odd...or maybe not...

Anyway, started yesterday, on Peach Whisper which is a splotchy pale pink and white. The crosses are going fast but the beads will be what slows me down.



At 10 hours.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Out for Coffee HD!


And it's done in a record 6 days! after a total of 39.5 hours.

So let's see:
Started August 13
Finished August 19
A total of 39.5 hours
The fabric is 28 count antique white something
The threads are all 25 DMCs that are called for. The only thing I changed was B5200 instead of Blanc (yeah, like that made a really big difference!)
The company is Soda, a Korean company that does more really cute teen-looking couples and adorable little kid couples.
Pattern number is SO-367

This is the piece at 31 hours, after all the cross stitch. Looks very fuzzy and odd, eh? The random pink, blue and yellow blobs floating in the air were the worst. Mostly because I was having a really bad time with the counting.



So after finishing off the cross stitch I figured a couple of hours of backstitch and I'd be done, right? Wrong, oh so horribly horribly wrong.
Approximately 8.5, that's EIGHT AND A HALF hours of backstitch later I was done.



This is one piece where the backstitch does all the work. Brings out every little bit. On the negative side, trying to figure out the backstitch around the trousers was a pain. The chart was a colour one, which meant that it was black lines on very dark blue squares. A lot of swearing and frustration and I ended up with lines that look vaguely in the right place.

As I've been babbling to myself, the whole thing is just so adorably sweet, in what I've heard called a tooth-decaying manner. One of the most adorable bits is the cat/dog/animal thing that's by the boy's foot. A really big close up, because it's so fat and pudgy, but mostly because I want one...


Now I'm off to start something else. Possibly Corbett's Trick or Treat Fairy.
And this stitching frenzy is only because school starts in two weeks and I'm pretty confident I'll be too busy for much stitching.

Monday, August 17, 2009

More Coffee


So this little piece has been moving at quite a fast clip. This is at 20 hours.



I was going to switch it out for something else in my rotation, but since I think about about 2/3 done, I'm just going to finish it off.

I did spend a few hours surfing the rest of the Soda catalog, and I have a sad feeling that I'm going to stitch a whole lot more of these. This is bad because I've been cheerfully putting off a piece of obligation stitching.

My aunt wants Wentzler's Peacock Majesty. Now I love TW as much as anyone, and PM is a small piece... but all that blended colours! Hopefully since my aunt doesn't have a date she wants it by, I can send it to her late and she'll just think I'm a slow stitcher :)

Friday, August 14, 2009

New start


Since I just finished a major and a minor project, I decided to start a new one instead of finishing something in my WIP list.
This is a pattern by (I think) a Korean company SODA. It's a cute pattern, and that's the only reason I'm stitching it. I have no clue what to do with it, because it really doesn't go with my home...



It's a smallish pattern at 108x108. And it's moving very quickly...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Country House Finish


I grumbled my way through many French Knots, and then spent about 5 hours using very foul language as I put it together. But it's finally done. This makes two buildings in my village of 7. At the current rate of one-a-year I'll be done by 2013!

Started June 13
Finished August 12
Total time 34 hours to stitch. ~5 to assemble

The ground and roof are in 28 count green and grey scraps respectively. The walls are 18 count antique white.



Edited with more details for Zeb.

The design is by the Nutmeg Company
They released a book called "3D cross stitch" which I found in the public library. (I think the book is OOP). It has a load of ideas from vases to money boxes. The bit I'm doing consists of 7 buildings that form a very adorable "Olde English Village."

The assembly involves
- cutting plastic canvas the size of the walls, roofs and ground.
- then lacing the individual parts to the plastic canvas
- ladder stitch the walls to make a square
- attach the walls to the roof via lots of trickiness
- repeat for the walls-and-roof to the ground
- stick piece of felt on the bottom to cover the hideous mess of stitches.

The book has very good and very detailed instructions. ISBN numbers for the book are 978-1402707964 and 978-0600596950.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

London trip stats


A few stats on my trip.

Time on the Tube: at least 3 hours a day
Days spend just shopping: 5
Castles visited: 3
Cathedrals visited: 4
Museums visited: 5
Visits to the British Museum: 4

A side trip to Europe
Duration: 9 days
Countries visited: Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland
Countries driven through: Belgium, Luxembourg
Most touristy-place: Rome

All in all, it was loads fun.

In other random news, I'm listening to the audiobook of Seth Grahame-Smith's "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" and it's a hoot!

Back from London... and the last finish before I left.


I got back from London yesterday, after an amazing time! Stats after the cross stitch.

A few days before I left I finished off Mermaids of the Deep Blue. Laziness meant that I didn't take a picture. So here they are now:

Started November 24, 2008
Finished June 24, 2009
Total time 105.5 hours

The fabric is Amsterdam Blue...I think. Nope, Ice Blue Belfast. The picture would lead you to believe that it's grey. It is not. It's a light blue.