April Achievements & May Goals

Goals for April:
1. Finish and mail out Kathy's winnings. Done, now if CP would only deliver...
2. Stitch on the UFO RR Done.
3. Finish Compassion Done.
4. Finish Cool Christmas Done.
5. Stitch a themed small for my pinkeep collection Considering I've only finished 1 of 12, maybe this plan isn't working out so well...
6. Stitch Butterfly Bellpull Technically I did stitch for about 15 minutes before I scrapped it.

Unplanned things:
1. Undid Butterfly Bellpull since it didn't interest me anymore
2. Started Crimson Cross 2

Goals for May:
1. Start something new.
2. Stitch on both UFO RRs

This month started out very well, and then I lost my blogging/commenting mojo last week. My stitching mojo has slowed down, but it is still alive.

Fewer goals for next month since I'm waffling about exactly what I want to do.

A Way That Works

Since finishing Something Wicked I've felt like working on just about all my WIPs. So a quick touch-everything rotation may in order.

I started Autumn Winds last February, but didn't get too much done. As it can out:

When I put it away:


Autumn Winds
28ct antique white Lugana
I think the main problem was trying to figure out how to tackle her. I know lots of folks go block by block for HAEDs. I though about doing that but I find that there's always one or two stitches in the next block and the block after and it seems silly not to just finish those off too and within a few symbols I'm wandering all over the place.

But I've come up with a strategy that works:
I pick one 10x10 square.
I pick one symbol.
I highlight every instance of that symbol I think I can reach without making a counting mistake regardless of how many blocks this traverses.
After I've stitched that symbol I colour it in with a different colour highlighter.
Then I go back to my original block and pick another symbol.
Repeat until all the symbols in that block are done.
Then I look for the next block that has an unstitched symbol and go on.

This way I get to wander all over and still finish things off block by block. As of right now I have 4 blocks done, and since there's only so much over one I can do without going crazy it's time for something else.

I think I'm going to grab How Does Your Garden Grow (in the Dark)? and see if I can figure out what blues I want to use...

Wicked Enjoyment

A brief frustration with symbol confusion drove me away from Spring Queen. Let's just say that the symbol key has an upside down triangle and a right side up triangle and leave it at that.

I switched over to Something Wicked with the vague idea of finishing off the text...and just finished the whole thing.


While I think this spiderweb is adorable, I wonder how a shoe that is being worn can gather it! I guess it's just magic.


I'd like to once more express my love for these cool stripy socks! IRL all my socks are the exact same black one. I bought out every pack in the store. No need to match and it doesn't matter if the laundry monster eats one ;)


In the real world spiders give me a start and while I don't head for the nearest weapon, I prefer to keep my distance. However I adore cartoon spiders and enjoy looking at spiders that are separated from me by glass/cage/etc. I am also very pleased that they have the correct number of limbs!

Title	Something Wicked
Designer	La D Da
Start date	March 19, 2011
Finish date	April 21, 2011
Total time	18.25 hours
Fabric	32 ct Peach Whisper Belfast lugana
Floss	I used the provided DMC conversion

How Things Change

First off let me just say that I am shocked, shocked that it's already the third weekend of the fourth month of the year! Seems like it was Christmas just yesterday.

I initially pulled out Butterfly Bellpull since I was planning on finishing it this month, but two hours of struggling with the too-stiff fabric and the realization that I can live without this design later, I frogged the whole thing. This is a momentous occasion since this is the first piece that I've started and then unstarted. Previously I just hoarded everything by saying "The right time will come". Perhaps there is hope for me yet!

I decided to put a few stitches into Spring Queen...which turned into several hours with her. For some unknown reason I really feel like working on her so the plan is to keep on going.


Spring Queen
32 ct White Lugana
In what can only be the universe's absurd sense of humour, we has snowfall yesterday.

Pale Colours

Another UFO RR piece :)

This is Arthenice's (not sure if she has a blog, I haven't managed to find it...) Angel of Spring by Lavender & Lace.

This was an interesting experience, since before I got it I was really looking forward to it. And then I got it and didn't want to stitch on it. Mostly because I had Apache Wedding Blessing arrive almost the same day and it was so much more colourful.

I struggled with the wings. Even though they have lovely venation from afar, close up it just looks all white, so I kept putting it aside. I eventually buckled down and once I got to the ribbon I didn't want to put it down!

Lesson learned: stitch the colours since I enjoy them a lot more!

Other lesson: The L&L angels are not for me. Way too pale. Admittedly only Grace and Hope were vaguely on the list, but since they're mostly white they're departing said list.

As it arrived:


As it goes out:

Questions for More Experience Hands

Having spent a great deal of time coveting round pincushions I decided that since the universe had not mysteriously gifted me with one, I should make it myself. Despite never having seen one in real life I read some tutorials, looked at some pictures and went ahead.


The result is somewhat dubious and raises some questions I'm hoping someone out there can answer:

1. How do I get the seam to be the same size? I'm having trouble since it's not a straight line but a curve.

2. How do I get the arc of the circle to be smoother? So that it actually looks round instead of having bits that stick out?

3. Is there any way to get rid of those puckers or do all round pincushions have them?

Any other tips to make it look better?

I've already learnt that I need a much longer piece of thread to wind around if I want the pincushion to be divided into sixths.

Overthinking Things

This is one design I knew I had to stitch as soon as I saw it making the rounds last year. Cool Christmas, found in the 2010 JCS Christmas preview. I'd never heard of the designer, Fresh Thread Studios before and they don't seem to have a home page, just a Facebook one...

I really like the non-traditional colours of this piece. But part of the overthinking is the realization that that sun is too big! There is no way a sun shining from behind a tree can be that big.


And those are some massive presents, specially the skinny ones since they're half the size of a tree. (Or the tree is really tiny, but when you take into consideration the size of the sun...)


But it still adds up to a cute finish.

Title	Cool Christmas
Designer	Fresh Threads Studio
Start date	March 27, 2011
Finish date	April 10, 2011
Total time	9 hours
Fabric	32 ct White lugana
Floss	DMC as charted, except for 3848 in place of 3812

Are Those Canadian Geese?

First installment of yet another UFO RR.

This is Measi's Apache Wedding Blessing designed by Sandy Orton for Janlynn.

The repetition of the border was very soothing and the changes in the feathers/stones wasn't too bad. I did my standard hours on it and finished a ton more than I ever imagined!

As it arrived:


As it goes out

TUSAL April

Ack, I almost forgot. And after a day filled with TUSAL posts too!

Red Dragon

So I eventually solved my mini slump with most of the suggestions offered. I took a short break. I bought some stash. I started two smalls.

I just finished off Dragon Dreams' newest freebie Compassion. I think I'll also stitch up Hope and hang them together.

As always, before backstitching:

And after:

Title	Compassion
Designer	Dragon Dreams
Start date	March 28, 2011
Finish date	April 2, 2011
Total time	10.75 hours
Fabric	32 ct White lugana
Floss	As charted, except that I switched the Kreinik to #28