Go (North)west Young Man!

I finally put the last few stitches into Heart of the Northwest Territories. It took longer than expected because I ended up doing the specialty stitch completely wrong and had to frog it.


Heart of the Northwest Territories
32 ct white lugana
The Northwest Territories was originally all the parts that weren't Ontario and places further east. Now it's mostly the northwestern part of the country (but not the most northern-western part; that's the Yukon). Over the years bits of it became Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Yukon and finally Nunavut. At the same time it was expanded north all the way to the North Pole, so it's still the third biggest part of Canada.

It's actually "Northwest Territories", there's no "the", but in practice it's weird to say/write so everyone just calls it "The Northwest Territories". Despite being over a million square kilometers has a very small population. Less than 50,000 at last census. It has oil, diamonds, and gold. And it can get to -50C in the winter.

I switched out the charted red because it seems much too pink compared to the model. I'm planning on going back to Heart of Newfoundland and Labrador and frogging that red too. The specialty stitch is the Burden Stitch which was annoying because it was non-symmetrical and I kept miscounting the blue stitches so I had to frog it multiple times. It wasn't difficult, just annoying. This province's bird and flower are the Gyrfalcon and the Mountain Avens. Because it's such a large landmass you can find forests, rivers and mountains as represented in the design.

Next up are Yukon and Nunavut, which I have to rechart since they're incorrectly named in the designs, so that might take me a little longer to get around to. (For the curious: they're charted as "Yukon Territory" and "Nunavut Territory" but their names are "Yukon" and "Nunavut". There is no "Territory" in their official names".)

Title	Heart of the Northwest Territories
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	March 1, 2016
Finish date	March 12, 2016
Total time	6.75 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	DMC 817 instead of 3721, others as charted

Territory One

I'm finally on the first of the three territories of Canada. This is the oldest but not largest territory of Canada (the largest is Nunavut, which will be my final finish).

I was hoping to have this finished for today. But alas. And tomorrow doesn't look good either. Maybe Thursday?


Heart of the Northwest Territories
32 ct white lugana

February Small

Pretty much a repeat of my last post since it was my finish of Heart of Newfoundland and Labrador and that's what I did for the Smalls SAL.



I actually got as far as taking out the cardboard to finish-finish it, and then came to my senses. There's no point in finishing one off when I can just do 14 all in one shot like a giant assembly line. (I can always find an excuse to procrastinate XD

I forgot to post my finish of Steampunk Seaserpent. Oops. Tomorrow?

All Provinces Done

And with my finish of Heart of Newfoundland and Labrador, I've finished all the provinces. Canada is composed of 10 provinces and 3 territories. Historically the difference between them is that provinces have their own provincial governments while territories are governed by the federal government. Recently the territories have their own territorial assemblies but their authority is still delegated from the federal government.

Mostly referred to as Newfoundland, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province and the last one to join Canada. There are numerous jokes about the "Newfie" accent and it's general incomprehensibility (although I honestly can't hear any difference from every other Canadian). It's also the originating location for both Labrador dogs and Newfoundland dogs. It's believed to be one of the possible locations Leif Erickson the Viking landed in the 11th century. There is actually a Norse settlement in Newfoundland that is a World Heritage Site. Fishing and tourism are it's major economies.

This particular pattern was frustrating because the model did not match the chart. The chart has a tree next to the puffin while the model and the instructions talk about a bird. I stitched the bird which I had to count out from the model. Also, the red in the model looks much more vivid than the one charted. I'm still a bit iffy on whether to leave the dark pink or rog it for a brighter red.

Pictured are the Pitcher Plant, Puffin and Black Spruce, the provincial flower, bird and tree respectively. The specialty stitch was the Slanting Star Stitch which was pretty easy (how many variations of a six-sided stitch can there possibly be???)

Title	Heart of Newfoundland and Labrador
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	February 8, 2016
Finish date	February 14, 2016
Total time	5 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

Slow Stitching

I've been putting a few stitches into Heart of Newfoundland and Labrador but it's slow going. Not because I don't want to stitch, but because I just have. no. time.

This Week In Minimal Crafting

This week had me sleeping every spare minute I had. Not sure why. I didn't do anything different than last week, but I was just so tired. Maybe all the productivity of the first half of the month caught up to me? Or maybe I'm just getting old(er). The big three-oh is coming this year lol

One of the things I missed was the post for the Smalls SAL.
Heart of Alberta was finished earlier this month, and is my only finish so far.


I also got a few repetitions of the cable on my mitts. Let's just say there were colour pencils and graph paper involved when I modified the pattern and leave it at that. Handy at modifying patterns I am not!


And then because I got bored I put several stitches into Autumn Winds (no picture because I forgot) and a few into Steampunk Seaserpent:


Phew!

Next time I'll try to remember to spread things out instead of dumping a bunch of photos all at once. And hopefully I'll have more progress than a couple of hours worth of stitching XD

Go West

The first finish of the year: Heart of Alberta.

I actually finished it off late last night but didn't get a chance to post until now.

Let's see, what's there to say about Alberta? Most people probably know about the oil that comes out of Alberta. It's also one of the prairie provinces and the biggest wheat producing province in the country. There's also the Calgary Stampede, which is an annual rodeo festival. And the Alberta Badlands where tons of dinosaur fossils were found.


Pictured are the Wild Rose, Great Horned Owl and Lodgepole Pine, the provincial flower, bird and tree respectively. The specialty stitch was the Crow's Foot Stitch which was a breeze.

Title	Heart of Alberta
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	January 5, 2016
Finish date	January 10, 2016
Total time	6.25 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

Wildrose Country

I've been chipping away at Heart of Alberta. And I do mean "chipping". It's been going at a rate of about 10 stitches a day. The main reason being that I joined a gym. So once I'm done exercising and having a hot shower I'm ready for bed and there is almost no stitching happening. On one hand I'm (theoretically) getting more fit; on the other my stitching time has dwindled.


Heart of Alberta
32 ct white lugana

Break A Slate, Carrots

So it turns out that yesterday was the last Wednesday of the month, aka Smalls SAL day, and that there isn't another Wednesday in November like I thought. Oops.
So I sat down, put on a good audiobook, and whipped out this month's Heart. This one is Prince Edward Island, usually called PEI. It's the smallest province and famous for being the home of Anne Shirley/Blythe aka Anne of Green Gables, the famous redhead.


Pictured are the Lady's Slipper, the Blue Jay, and the Red Oak, the national flower, bird and tree respectively. At the bottom is a lighthouse of which PEI has a surprising number.

The specialty stitch is the Herringbone Leaf and makes up the trees under the bird. It was an odd stitch. It's a departure from the bands of the other Hearts. I was thrown off.

Title	Heart of Prince Edward Island
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	November 26, 2015
Finish date	November 26, 2015
Total time	4.75 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

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

Smalls & Goals

This month's finish for the Smalls SAL is Heart of Manitoba.

Do the individual parts of Boo Club count as their own finishes? Because technically I had to play six times for the whole design so two parts are one pattern, right?

This month's review:

Goals for September:
1. Start and finish two Heart. I stitched one, but I completely forgot I was planning on stitching another!
2. Finish at least 6 of 12 Boo Club sections. Done.
3. 10 hours of Cables and Columns. 8 hours. But considering how many times I had to frog, it was probably 5 hours of actual progress :(

Goals for October:
1. Finish Boo Club for Halloween.
2. Finish Cables and Columns, since I want to wear it this winter.

Flat and White

Hot off the press!

Manitoba is the first of the non-original provinces. The creation of Manitoba involved a lot of drama. A quick timeline: originally the French explored the area and intermarried with the First Nation people (their descendents are the Metis). Great Britain won the area after the Seven Years War, and it eventually became part of the Northwest Territories. The concerns of the Metis were ignored, so a Metis leader, Louis Riel created a local government. The prime minister John A MacDonald (our first one, famously a drunkard who doodled on Important Documents) quickly introduced the Manitoba Act. There was more drama, Riel was pursued by the army, he fled into exile, he returned to lead another rebellion but failed and was executed for treason. The third Monday of February is now Louis Riel Day, a provincial holiday!

Manitoba is a prairie province and the butt of many jokes about its endless flatness and fields of wheat and canola, the terrible winters and lack of anything to do anywhere in the province excepting hunting and fishing.

Shown here are the Prairie Crocus, the Great Grey Owl and the White Spruce. The specialty stitch is the Overlapping Oblong Cross Stitch and it looks like a braid. It was weird to stitch and I was convinced that I was counting wrong the entire time even though I wasn't.

Title	Heart of Manitoba
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	September 13, 2015
Finish date	September 15, 2015
Total time	5.5 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

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

Small Start

This month's Heart is crawling along as I'm utterly distracted by my books. I finish one, pick up another thinking I'll just read a chapter and then ignore everything to finish it. On one hand this is great since I haven't gotten lost in my books like this in years and it's such a wonderful feeling. On the other hand, the laundry is piling up :D


Heart of New Brunswick - The Victoria Sampler
32 ct White Lugana

July Smalls

This month's Small SAL piece was Heart of Nova Scotia. Strangely, I thought I had another Heart finished as well, but apparently that was just in my dreams.

Heart of Nova Scotia - The Victoria Sampler
32 ct White Lugana

Ocean Playground

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's Maritime provinces and its licence plates call it Canada's Ocean Playground.


It's the second smallest province by size and its name means New Scotland in Latin. It's mostly known for excellent seafood, perpetually terrible rainy weather and a long history of shipbuilding.

Pictured are the provincial flower, the mayflower and the provincial bird, the osprey. At the bottom is the Bluenose, a famous fishing schooner from the province. It is also on our ten cent coin.

The specialty stitch is the Quodlibet, which I had never even heard of, but was pretty easy to stitch.

Title	Heart of Nova Scotia
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	July 3, 2015
Finish date	July 6, 2015
Total time	5.75 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

En Français

I just realized that I forgot to post this last month!


Quebec is one of the other original provinces of Canada. It's the only one with a majority French-speaking population. This is because originally Canada was colonized by the British and the French; when the British defeated the French in the Seven Years War they were worried that the French-speaking population would support the US colonies that were quarrelling with Britain, so they let the French colonists keep their language and culture. So Quebec is majority French. The current day politics between Quebec and the rest of Canada, and within Quebec itself, are complicated and people can get pretty hotheaded about it.

Pictured are the provincial flower, the blue flag iris and the provincial bird, the snowy owl. At the bottom is the fleur-de-lis, which is the first symbol that comes to most Canadian minds when you say Quebec.

The specialty stitch is the French Stitch. I struggled with the instructions and the Internet wasn't helpful since I kept getting directed to French Knots and French Seams. I think I figured it out, but if not at least it looks alright XD

Title	Heart of Quebec
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	June 24, 2015
Finish date	June 27, 2015
Total time	6.5 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

June Smalls

This month I finished off the last of the Harmonic Holidays series. They've all been cut out and only need to have the drumsticks and bow attached and then have a cord attached.
I also started the Hearts of Canada series and finished off Canada and Ontario. I wasn't planning on stitching Ontario but I was enjoying Canada so much that I started the next one :D

Most Populous Province

I haven't felt like really sitting down to stitch over the last few days, so I've decided to continue with the Hearts of Canada series. They're small and full of motifs that I feel like I've accomplished something every time I sit down.


Ontario is one of the original provinces formed when three British colonies became the Dominion of Canada in 1867. It's not the biggest province or territory but about 40% of Canadians live there.

Pictured are the provincial flower, the trillium; the provincial bird, the loon and the provincial tree, the white pine.

The specialty stitch is the Tied Herringbone with I hadn't done before but was very easy.

Title	Heart of Ontario
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	June 19, 2015
Finish date	June 21, 2015
Total time	4.75 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted

O Canada

Unlike my usual habit, I finished Heart of Canada by The Victoria Sampler well before Canada Day. It's a cute finish and stitched up very quick. I had barely any time to stitch this week so it took longer than it should have.

I struggled a little with the sheaf stitches since you have to bring the needles up from behind the middle stitch and wrap it around and then put it back in the same hole. I kept piercing the threads. By the time I got the hang of it I was done.

Not much in the way of changes: I filled in the white in the flag since it looked a bit odd to me to have the fabric visible for just that part.

Title	Heart of Canada
Designer	The Victoria Sampler
Start date	June 14, 2015
Finish date	June 18, 2015
Total time	6 hours
Fabric	32 ct white lugana
Floss	As charted