SFS & Smalls

Month: October
Spent: $10.77
Carryover: 70.41

Yet another DMC run. It would be easier to stitch to my budget if I didn't keep running out of thread. I have enough patterns and fabric to last for several years and not much desire to buy any new charts, but floss. I just keep running out.

This month's finish for the Smalls SAL is Heart of British Columbia, which I just squeaked in.

Title	Heart of British Columbia
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	October 24, 2015
Finish date	October 27, 2015
Total time	5.5 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

Stitch From Stash - September

Month: September
Spent: $12.14
Carryover: 56.18

More DMC. I'm always surprised at how fast some of the colours get used and how others linger on forever. I think I've replaced maybe two out of all the 36xx, 37xx and 38xx series, whereas I go through multiple skeins of 898 and 3371 a month!

I finally reached Venetian Opulence's frame. I just realized that while there won't be any problems finishing off the bottom part, counting up to the top is going to be tricky. I just know I'm going to miscount the sides :(


Venetian Opulence - Mirabilia
32 ct Ivory

Maritimes Again

This month's Small is Heart of New Brunswick, which I apparently forgot to post! While Canada as a nation is officially bilingual (English and French), New Brunswick is the only province that is officially bilingual.

Canada being bilingual means that any government service must be provided in both French and English; how good the service is in the non-majority language varies depending on the area. What makes all the other provinces different from New Brunswick (since they all technically offer both languages) is beyond me. I never paid that much attention in Civics class :)

On the individual level, Canadians are proud of "being" bilingual, but for practical purposes most of us don't speak both the official languages. I think it's something like 20% of the population speaks both English and French. Personally, I took my mandatory high school French, one course in university, spent one month in Quebec and can currently say hello, ask how are you and say goodbye. Use it or lose it, and I definitely haven't used it XD

This design has the Purple Violet, the Black-Capped Chickadee and Balsam Fir (flower, bird, tree). The specialty stitch is the Scotch Stitch

Title	Heart of New Brunswick
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	August 4, 2015
Finish date	August 9, 2015
Total time	5 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

Stitch From Stash - August

Month: August
Spent: $6.68
Carryover: 43.32

It was ~7 dollars worth of DMC, none of which are in Boo Club, which is chugging along. The first thing I did when I started the border was realize it wasn't symmetrical. That would have irked me forever, so it was changed asap!


Boo Club - Lizzie*Kate
25ct white Lugana

Stitch From Stash - July

Month: July
Spent: 0

I can't believe it's already the second half of the year! Time flies so fast that it's ridiculous.

Nothing much going on this month. I've just been plodding away at Autumn Winds and am almost done the first page.

Autumn Winds
25ct white Lugana

Stitch From Stash - June

Month: June
Spent: 0

Carryover: 100.85

Part A of this year's SFS went well for me. I held to the budget pretty well. With the exception of May, where I used the birthday exception, most of my expenses went towards finishing and other non-stitchy but crafty things. I hope that the second half of the year continues to have minimal stash purchasing and lots of stash usage :D

Stitch From Stash - May

Month: May
Spent: 0

Carryover: 75.85

Those who remember my May 6 shopping spree may be wondering why I'm claiming 0 expenses... That's because it turns out that SFS has an exception for birthday gifts or gifted cash for stitchy stuff. I received cash for my birthday and was told to "treat yourself to something fun". So I spent a chunk of it on stash, put some in savings, and bought a lovely sweater (yes, in spring. I guess I'm ready for next winter?)

So how much did I actually end up spending? $305.82 on enough fabric, Kreinik and beads for 13 projects and 4 new charts. I have no excuses for not sticking to the budget for the rest of the year!

Stitch From Stash - April

Month: April
Spent: 9.95

Carryover: 50.85

This month's expenditure was for the Kreinik to finish off Celtic Autumn. I also spent about $26 on knitting needles and yarn, but I'm not counting that since SFS is cross-stitch only :)

I think next month might be when I spend the carryover since my LNS is having a sale and I want to pick up some fabric for new starts. I've only got three projects I'm actively working on (and three on the backburner) and it feels strange.

Stitch From Stash - March

Month: March
Spent: 3.32

Carryover: 35.80

I picked up some DMC that I ran out of, and some fabric and interfacing for finishing (which thankfully doesn't count for SFS because it would've put me way over budget!).

In frustrating news, I'm unable to use my camera for the foreseeable future. I'm going to have to use my phone, which as nice as it is, is very annoying to take pictures with.

Stitch From Stash - February

Month: February
Spent: 20.93

Carryover: 14.12

When I signed up for this year I kept thinking that I wouldn't use the bonuses because it sounded like too much work. What do you know I was right! I did it last month because it was easy. I took one look at what I stitched this month, tried to remember whether I had bought the chart more than six months ago, and just gave up.


As planned last month, I bought Canadian Hearts by The Victoria Sampler. It has all 10 provinces and the 3 territories. It also has the city of Victoria (because the company is based there, I guess), but I won't be stitching that. What it doesn't have is the one for the country. That's in the International Hearts I leaflet, along with a bunch of other countries that I have no plans to stitch. I don't think the kits are being made anymore, so the next part of this project is figuring out how to get my hands on the Canada chart.

So, er. Is there anyone out there who has the chart and is willing to lend it to me? I promise to stitch it asap and return it. *winsome smile*

I plan on starting these after I finish the Mill Hill Holiday Series as part of the Small SAL. So, in July :)

Stitch From Stash - January

Month: January
Spent: 14.95
Earned: 6

Carryover: 16.05

I bought one fat quarter of 25ct white lugana, so I'm not bothering with a picture.

I'm not quite sure I've got the calculations for my "Earned" amount right, but this is how I counted it:
$2: Mill Hill
$4: Midnight. The actual stitch count is 66x192 which would be ~113x113 if it was a square. But since there has to be at least 75% coverage and I don't think this design was 75% I downgraded it to the next lowest category.

In something that bodes ill for the rest of the year, I've already picked out my February purchase. Did you know that The Victoria Sampler Hearts series is now available as a chart instead of as kits? I've been holding off on buying the kits since I wasn't willing to spend that much money on something so tiny. But I spotted the International Hearts chart at my LNS when I went to buy the fabric. The owner actually told me that there wasn't one for the Canadian provinces and territories but I checked online on a hunch and it does exist! I'm a bit surprised she didn't check herself. Lost that sale since I'll be getting it online now :)

December SFS

Wrapping up this year's SFS, I didn't buy anything this month.

My spending for the year was $83.03. I bought 1 chart and fabric for that chart. The rest was all floss that I ran out of.

It was very helpful in keeping track of what exactly I was buying. I was pretty focused on finishing off old WIPs so I didn't spend as much this year. If I'd tried SFS two years ago I'm sure I would've failed immediately. I was a bit of a spendthrift that year. This year was focused on starting/finishing some of the things I bought then. I'm planning on doing this again next year. There are bonuses based on the size of finishes but since that sounds like too much work to figure out I'm just going to stick with the $25/month and use the freebie month.

More about Stitch From Stash here:

November SFS

Squeaking this in 20 minutes before midnight!

A bit of spending this month as I picked up $9.55 worth of DMC.

Spending so far is $83.03
I have $191.97 banked.

I guess technically speaking I could use December as my freebie month and go crazy...

More about Stitch From Stash here:

October SFS

Another month without any spending but more through Michaels not having several colours of floss than my restraint. Ohm is on hold until they get restocked or I decide to head out to my LNS.

Spending so far is $73.48
I have $176.52 banked

More about Stitch From Stash here:

September SFS

September was spending free. Mostly because the month flew by and it doesn't feel like I had an opportunity to actually shop. I can't even remember what I worked on this month other than a biscornu. I'm just losing track of time so much these days.

Spending so far is $73.48
I have $151.52 banked

More about Stitch From Stash here:

August SFS

August was spending free. I mostly worked on Winter Petersburg. The fabric was from a kit I swapped out and DMC is from my massive pile. I feel a little like buying some charts. It feels like it's been forever since I bought anything except DMC after running out. Maybe I'll put it towards some horrifically expense kit and then wallow in guilt...

Spending so far is $73.48
I have $126.52 banked

More about Stitch From Stash here:

July SFS

Just a brief report on my Stitch From Stash activities this month. I spent $3.85 on DMC this month. I also pruned my wishlist down. Usually my wishlist goes down as I buy things, but I went through thinking "will I actually stitch this or do I just want to stitch it". It was rather surprising how many things I could take out. And then I added a few things but we won't talk about that.

Spending so far is $73.48
I have $101.52 banked

More about Stitch From Stash here:

End of June Wrap-Up

Can you believe that the year is half over? I certainly can't. It's just ridiculous how time flies!

First, a quick look at SFS: I didn't spend a penny this month.

Spending so far is $69.63
I have $80.37 banked

More about Stitch From Stash here:

And the biscornu of the month for

And assembled:

I really enjoyed stitching the first side so I went ahead and did the second one too. But with a small colour difference. I think this is called Carrés Entrelacés but my French is too poor for me to be certain. Any Francophones want to set me straight? (Yes, I'm Canadian. Yes, I've forgotten what meagre French I studied in days gone. Mi español es un poco mejor.)

Title	Carres Entrelaces Biscornu
Designer	Julie Gladieux
Start date	June 7, 2014
Finish date	June 11, 2014
Total time	7.75 hours
Fabric	25 ct black lugana
Floss	CC Cherry Tomato, CC Goldfish, CC Ruby Slippers

May SFS

I didn't buy a thing this month! But I'm out of a couple of DMC so I'll be picking those up soon.

Spending so far is $69.63
I have $55.37 banked

A current picture of Ohm as I put it away for a couple of days. I realized this morning that the last Wednesday of the month is coming up "soon" and I haven't started my monthly biscornu. Guess this one is going to be either tiny or a very simple design.

Ohm
25 ct Black lugana

More about Stitch From Stash here:

April SFS

I signed up for IHSW and failed horribly. I watched too much random tv and ate too much junk food and stitched about five stitches. It was a weekend best forgotten and I intend to move past it asap.

I also went on that shopping spree I've been threatening to go on. In anticipation of my birthday, which is next month, I shopped so that I would have everything ready to start on that day.

No pictures because it's all still on it's way. Hopefully it'll be here before May. Canada Post blah blah blah atrocious service blah blah blah.

Items	Cost
4 skeins DMC, 1 spool Kreinik, 25 ct black lugana 26"x26"	38.19
Ohm by AAN	24.18

Previous spending $7.26
Spending so far is $69.63
I have $30.37 banked

More about Stitch From Stash here: