Gifted Gorgeousness 2020 - February Edition

GG time! Please check out Jo's blog for everyone else's posts and the Secret Stitching Sweethearts if you haven't yet.

It seems appropriate that GG comes so close after Valentine's Day since there are so many fun Valentines to give people, or to give loved ones cross stitches for Valentines Day. This year the plan is to give DH this one, which you have seen before:

I Love You More Today by Jodyri Designs 

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Eye of Newt by Chromatic Alchemy

And I haven't stitched anything new for DD like the last couple years. I'm debating about giving her Somebunny, which is finished, but hasn't been given to anyone yet. I finished this a couple years ago if you remember:

Somebunny from WOXS 183

stitched as charted 2 over 2 on 28ct Aether by Chromatic Alchemy

As for other WIPs in progress to be given as gifts, let's catch up from last month. 

 Kiss for a Snowman by Dimensions

stitched as charted, 2 over 1 on 16ct kit fabric

This will be for DD, and since it's early in the year, maybe it will get finished this year?

 See Ya Later Alligator by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Nuriel's Forest by Chromatic Alchemy with stash threads

This will be another gift for DD, and it should be finished soon. I started it February 19, 2016, so maybe I can get it complete for the 4 year anniversary?

 Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy

Another gift for DD, and can I tell you how excited I am about reaching the top left corner!!! So excited, it's so amazing to have one entire side stitched! I'll continue to work across the top set of pages and hope to get some good progress in before the March conference. 

 Mini Waterhole Master by HAED

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Sunrise by Crafty Kitten as charted DMC

DD is claiming this one too, although I don't think she realizes how long it's going to take me to finish it. By the time I'm done, she may not be interested any more. 

I hope you've all had a good month and happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Secret Stitching Sweetheart 2020

It's Valentine's Day again! And that means it's time for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog hop. I love this one as I have a thing for mysteries and finding out who has your stitching is so much fun.

This year I get to show off this beautiful design:

If this is yours, please let me know in the comments, and well done btw, this is gorgeous!

Also, remember to check Jo's blog to find out who has your stitching.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Tiffstitch

Fully Finished Gallery - February 2020

It's the 10th of the month, which means it's time to post our fully finished projects. This is the brainchild of the stitchy supreme Rachel over at Ten Hour Stitcher. Please check her blog for everyone else's posts too and congratulate them on their finishes.

I managed 2 stitching finishes that I only just put together this weekend. I had forgotten it was the 10th, it was more getting them off my mental space, if I'm explaining that well. There's one more from January that I don't think I finished in time for the January post, so I'll add that one as well.

Mill Hill Victorian Tree

stitched as charted, including the beads ;)

 Moose Joy by Angel Stitchin' for the JCS ornament Facebook group

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Tempest by Chromatic Alchemy with stash threads

Mill Hill Woodland Sleigh

stitched as charted mostly, except some full crosses for beads :)

I haven't started the new JCS ornament for this month, and it is a cute little bullfinch that shouldn't take too long. I'd like to get some of the monthly challenges complete first, and I'm almost there for some of them. There's always a few small ones to finish stitching and get completed, so hopefully I'll have some for next month as well. 

As a bonus, here's one sock I've finished from my first test knit!

Calm Oceans by Snoop Tigger test knit

knitted with Biscotte Yarns Bis-sock Sorcerer Uniform

Good luck to all of you in your finishing!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Blog Clean-up, Leftovers From Crazy Challenges, and a Plan

I hope today is treating you well! I've been going through and trying to tidy up things with my blog. For example, I had kind of forgotten I had a DUCJFC progress tracker for both the 2015 and 2016 events I participated in. I updated the progress to show where I'm at currently, and it's not too bad really. I'm almost 3/4 of the way through 2015 and over halfway through 2016. Some of the projects are on both as I used it not just for starts, but also to make sure I kept working on some WIPs.

From the 2015 Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, I have these WIPs left:

1) Otto

self charted, 2 over 1 tent stitch 

Realistically, unless I can get the pdf into Pattern Keeper, this won't get much work done on it. 

2) Ladyfee Xmas SAL

This was a free online SAL and I just haven't gotten back to it. I'm not in love with it at this point, so not sure if I'll continue on. It's a UFO right now. 

3) Sleigh Ride stocking - Dimensions

Same story here, not really in love with this one, so haven't gotten back to it. 

4) Warbreaker

I do like this one, and it's from my favourite book. Again, if I could get this in PK, it would go faster. 

5) Twilight LeMans

I still like this one, and I did pull it out last year to get some more done. 

6) Skittzzzz Fractal

Again, PK would make this so much easier, so I'll have to see if I can import it. 

7) AAN Christmas Mystery SAL - I hated this one, so will repurpose the project. I didn't even finish the first part. 

From the 2016 Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge, I have these WIPs left:

1) Letter S

This still needs beads because I have all 3 letters on one piece of fabric. 

2) Letter H

I'd like to get these finished this year maybe. 

3) Letter G

We'll see how it goes. :)

4) Princess and the Dragon

It would be amazing to finish this one, but I don't think it will happen this year. It did get a lot of progress last year, so we'll see. I have the conference coming up that I usually get a lot done, so if I get some outlining done, that will help. 

5) Monochrome Link (new start)

This is another one that would be more fun if I could add it to PK, I'll have to give it a try. It's got a long way to go. 

6) Fleur de Lys (new start)

I'm enjoying my restart of this one, but I will have to try and figure out what thread I'm using because I don't know if I have enough to finish the whole project. It is Caron Waterlilies I think, but it's a big project. 

7) December Mini Cat

Realistically, I just need to find this one and finish it, it's practically complete. 

8) Kiss for a Snowman (new start)

I've recently misplaced this one as well, so will have to do a search to figure out what I've done with it during one of my organizing binges. 

9) Butterfly Quote (new start)

I also managed a fair bit on this one last year. There's still a fairly big chunk with the word "butterfly"and the smaller word "over", but then it will be complete. 

10) Land of the Dinosaurs (new start)

I had somewhat ignored this one because of so many other projects going on, although I did manage some stitching last year. I think it will be handy for chunks of colour if that comes up in any of the challenges. 

11) Twilight LeMans (also in 2015) - see above

12) Day 4 Dragonlet

I don't love afghan fabric, and that's how I started these. I'll get back to it at some point. 

13) Frosty Friends

There's 6 of these and I haven't managed to finish a single one yet. Again there are chunks of colour, so they might work for some challenges. 

14) Frosty Friends

15) Frosty Friends

16) Frosty Friends

17) Frosty Friends

18) Frosty Friends

19) Sleigh Ride Stocking (also in 2015) - see above

20) Do Not Meddle (new start)

I would love to finish this one this year since I was given it years ago to finish for a friend that can't stitch any more. It's more difficult working 1 over 1 on 28ct than it was when I started, but still, I can do this! 

21) Savannah Birth Record (new start)

This project also suffers from dislike of the fabric. I like hardanger, but 2 over 2 is not working for me. Too clumpy and messy. So I can restart or give up and pass this one on. DD doesn't really need another birth sampler at this point, and soon she'll be too told for this one. 

22) HAED Basset (new start)

With PK I hope to either get more done this year, or possibly finish up one of the smaller ones, then get back to this one. 

23) See Ya Later Alligator (new start)

This needs maybe a week of work? So I think it's my next focus for a finish project. 

24) Ladyfee Xmas SAL (also in 2015) - see above

25) Vermont (new start)

I think this would be fun to finish, however I keep putting it off for more interesting projects. I haven't given up on it, but don't know if it will come out this year unless I get a lot of other things finished. 

26) Snow Guide

This should be a quick finish as well if I just sit down to work on it. For whatever reason, LK letters always seem to stitch up so quickly. 

27) Otto (also in 2015) - see above

As you can see, a lot of my current WIPs are leftover from these 2015/2016 challenges. There are quite a few that are small enough to finish this year if I make the choice to stitch on them. My top ten I'd like to finish this year are:

1) See Ya Later Alligator
2) Do Not Meddle
3) Snow Guide
4) Butterfly Quote
5) Letter S
6) Letter H
7) Letter G
8) Frosty Friend - 1 of them
9) Dragonlet #4
10) December Mini Cat

Wish me luck!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

People's Choice SAL - February 2020 - Penguins

It's the first Saturday of the month, so time to post about what people have chosen for this month's topic. And this month, you chose:

PENGUINS!

At first thought, I didn't think I'd stitched anything with penguins on it ever. And that is technically true, but I do have at least one WIP with penguins. Last year I started Winter by Bent Creek for a #teamjodryi challenge and I even forgot to put it in my WIP page! That is now corrected, and here is what it will look like, and my progress:

Winter by Bent Creek

 stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Feldspar by Chromatic Alchemy

And one of the Frosty Friends will be a penguin, this is what it will look like and my progress:

 

Just a little ways to go on this one...

As for stash, apparently I need to get stitching some penguins!

Durene Jones Christmas characters:

and one Charting Creations RAK:

Charting Creations charts do work in Pattern Keeper, so this might be a fun one if I chose the right fabric and don't have to do all the background work. :) PK makes that easy because you can sort of pre-fill in the squares to see how it all looks. 

And there are tons of other penguin charts out there, some realistic if that's more your style, so please check out everyone else's and Jo's post over at her blog. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch