Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #4 - Wrapped Bars and Dove's Eyes

And so the new starts continue this week with something a little bit different. Rachel started a very fun one as well, so please check our her post as well and cheer her on. 

I've been trying to start smaller projects so I can get some finishes each weekend as well and not add too much to the WIP pile. This week I chose this one since I've had some experience with hardanger, although it's been a few years. I did enjoy it then, and this seemed a simple enough pattern. 

Why is it that the smaller projects always seem to have the most mistakes? I made 5 major mistakes on this one. Most of which I fixed, but one I didn't figure out until the end, so I'm leaving that one.

Here's how the kit looks:

and it includes everything you need except a qsnap/hoop/etc. You definitely need something to keep your fabric taught when you're stitching hardanger.

My first error involved miscounting the Kloster blocks. Those are around the outside of the "holes". I did manage to do the central satin stitch correctly, so I measured from there and the second time I stitched them correctly.

The cross stitching comes before any snipping, so I started on the dark green as that was a good framing point for the rest of the stitching. 

Notice anything? I'm one thread off on section of green, and it will affect the rest of the project, so I had to frog all of that. My third error was in the white backstitch border between the green and the gold. I was half a thread off count yet again. That got frogged as well. 

I then stitched in the lighter green colour, and as I was about to finish the last 4th, I realized I had flipped my stitching around and was doing all the crosses in the opposite direction. I was not about to frog all of the lighter green, so it is still that way in the finished project. That's the danger with these square pieces, you really need to mark the top, or these mistakes are easy to make. 

That's 4 errors so far. I almost stitched one of the reds incorrectly like the lighter green, but I noticed after one stitch, so I don't think that counts. 

As I got to the end though, I ran out of the thread to wrap the bars. As I changed to the new thread I noticed it was thicker. 

"How odd. Maybe it's because I've been using the other thread so much it's become thinner?"

And then I remembered you're supposed to do the Kloster blocks with the thick perle cotton and I had forgotten to check and done absolutely everything with the thinner perle cotton. And of course I ran out before the end, so there are some of the final wrapped bars and dove's eyes in the thicker perle. DH couldn't find the errors, I know they're there, but I'm done with this project. 5 errors is enough. It's complete and still looks good enough. It's not like it's going in a competition or anything. 

Here it is in its infamy:

I hope you all had a great weekend and had less frogging than me!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #3 - Love You to the Moon

The craziness continues this week with another new start from both Rachel and myself. If you caught last week, she started a really cute bird chart and this week is another one, so please check out her post as well.

This week I chose to start another small one, Love You to the Moon by Waxing Moon Designs:

This was another one I purchased from a stitcher destashing, the same one that had the Whispered by the Wind charts (In the Gloaming) and it also came already kitted up:

PTP 28ct Cashel Crystal Mirage

CC Snips and Snails, Crushed Pineapple, Pixie Dust and Hydrangea

Although this fabric is absolutely gorgeous, it was awful to work on. Because it was so dark, and linen, it was impossible to tell where the holes were. I ended up off half a stitch several times, and frogged a few sections of this. I ended up having to stitch basically holding it up straight with my Ott light behind it so I could see the holes. This was a much more awkward stitching position than usual, and I decided to persevere and finish this as I was unlikely to "feel" like taking it out again. Also, it was 3 strands over 2 threads, and I don't know if that made it more unwieldy as well?

So it is done!

Love You to the Moon by Waxing Moon Designs

stitched 3 over 2 on 28ct Cashel linen Mirage by PTP

as charted with CC Snips and Snail, Crushed Pineapple, Pixie Dust and Hydrangea

 I received quite a large piece of this fabric and I'm deciding if I will give it away or see if I can come up with a better way of stitching on it. It is so pretty. But may not be worth it to try and stitch on it again. I definitely prefer evenweave and aida to linen. 

Other Spring into Summer WIP Progress:

I managed to almost finish one full page (of 2) on In the Gloaming before putting it away. I really do like the new combo I tried. 

In the Gloaming by Whispered by the Wind

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct evenweave PTP Mirage

with DMC 167, 738, 3823, and 3866 changed from the original colours

The moon and birds are as charted, although I added one strand of PTB 04 to the darker grey (168?) to give the moon a little shine. Rachel's idea, and I loved it! We're also thinking of using 3799 Etoile on the gate. I don't have any, so will order some to be ready for the next time I get this one out. 

I hope you all had a good stitchy week!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Gifted Gorgeousness 2020 - April Edition

Hello, hello! It's mid-month time and that means Gifted Gorgeousness! Please check out all the participants over at Jo's blog and cheer on their excellent work too. Sometimes the ways we try and shoe-horn in the gifted part gets quite amusing.

I ended up with 2 small/medium finishes this month after participating in the Jodyri/KLT/Circus stitching games.

Look for Rainbows - this is a gift for DD. I'm wondering about a pillow finish if I can find something with darkish rainbow colours.

 Look for Rainbows by Circus Stitches

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Pink Elephants on Parade by Jodyri

the word "Stars" at the end is stitched in GITD Kreinik

Sleep is Good - this is for a friend with a 4 year old and a 1 1/2 year old that doesn't like sleep. Therefore she never sleeps either! But she's also a librarian, so I think this fits. I'm wondering if I can attach this to a canvas bag as a book bag?

Sleep is Good by Circus Stitches

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Bacchus by Chromatic Alchemy

with Caron Waterlilies Plum and Soie Cristal green

Rainbow Saturn - for DD, she still dreams of being an astronaut!

 Rainbow Saturn by mathysphere from xstitch magazine issue 6

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct navy linen

Finding Happiness - this might be for DD or it might be for a HP friend. It's almost finished, I should really get it finished off!

 Finding Happiness by Circus Stitches 

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Hurricane by PTP

with WDW Marigold and PTB 04 and DMC 310

Mini Waterhole Master - for DD

 Mini Waterhole Master by HAED

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Sunrise by Crafty Kitten

I'm at 8K stitches on this one!

One thing that being at home more seems to have done is given me the urge to finish things. I'm surprised I've managed to only have one WIP left after the March Jodyri/KLT/Circus challenge, and it's very close to a finish as well. Plus I even finished some socks recently!

Cabin Socks

Cabin Socks by Courtney Spainhower

knit with Wonderland Yarns and Frabjous Fibers Pigments of Imagination Mary Ann #5 and Silkworm Studios rainbow mini skeins

These socks are for me and fit so well and are perfect, yay! I had to reknit the toe on the purple one when I had originally made it a little short, but now they're both perfect. The pattern is free, so it's like a gift. :)

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge, Start #2 - Punkin Heart

Here we are again, another weekend and another new start! Given the tribulations of the previous weekend, I decided to go with my smallest new start and do some more work on In the Groaning Gloaming some more. Rachel and I haven't gotten sick of it despite all the stitching, frogging and restitching.

Please check out Rachel's blog for her new start too. A few others are joining in as well, though I have to do some checking if anyone has made a separate blog post. Feel free to join in however you're able!

Here's this weekends start and finish:

Punkin Heart kit by Flowers 2 Flowers

stitched 12 strands over 1 except the backstitch with kit threads

This was a very quick start and finish, maybe 30 minutes all told. And that involved finding my needle grabbers to pull the stuck needle out a couple times. They recommended 12 strands for better coverage, but clearly, you should stitch with only 6 strands on the needle and double stitch everything. 

And I frogged back on In the Gloaming to here:

and tried a slightly different combo than we'd had previously, DMC 167, 738, 3823 and 3866. I like it!

In the Gloaming by Whispered by the Wind

stitching 2 over 2 on Mirage by PTP

I hope you all had a safe and happy weekend!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop 2020

It's time again for the hippity-hoppity Eastery blog hop! Hosted as always by the amazing Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, please check out all the participants over at her blog.

I know you're here for the letter, so here it is:

And please hop off to Leonore's wonderful blog here for your next letter.

As always, it's time to post a little spring or Easter stitching and I did manage to get one finished last year. This is the April Flip-it from Lizzie Kate:

stitched 1 over 1 and 2 over 1 depending on the colour with stash threads on 22ct hardanger

I haven't turned it into anything, and maybe I can for DD for Easter if I get a move on! 

Happy Stitching and hope you all have a nice weekend whether you celebrate or not. 

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #1 - In the Groaning?

This past weekend we started the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge, an idea Rachel and I came up with after trying to decide how to deal with life and the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics. We decided to turn the 17 new starts planned for that July event into a few months long weekend event instead. If you're interested, please join in with WIPs or new starts as well. :)

Rachel and I both had decided to start some Whispered by the Wind charts, and we both had In the Gloaming, so we started with that one:

If you're read Rachel's post, you'll already know this wasn't the simple start with few colours we imagined.

I had started by stitching a black crow on the Friday evening, April 4th:

stitched 2 over 2 on PTP Mirage, called for fabric with DMC 310

Before I started stitching Saturday, I heard from Rachel that the called for colours seemed awfully dark and brownish, not the yellows shown in the photo of the chart. I checked my kit and had a yellow conversion, so tried that and sent a photo to Rachel. 

She had already checked the colours and didn't think they'd work, I thought I'd give it a shot and see if it looked better stitched. Naturally, she was correct and it was just a little too bright. Rachel came up with another combo, so I tried that as well after frogging all of the above except the lightest 3866 and 728, one of the conversion colours. 

Our next combo was 3828, 422 and 728. 

This was okay, but the 422 and 3828 were quite close. So Rachel tried 738 for the 2nd darkest colour and that seems like it will work better. I'm debating about when to switch, right after this upper triangle bit, or after the darker "ruffled" edge on the mausoleum. I'll figure it out. 

I hope your weekend stitching was more successful and had less frogging than ours!

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

People's Choice SAL - April 2020 - Modern Samplers

As many of us have seen, samplers and reproduction samplers have made somewhat of a resurgence in the last couple years. There are some designers that put a modern twist on theirs, so this month we're to show off a modern sampler and you can include anything you think that fits this description.

As always, please check out our gracious host's blog for more details and more really interesting samplers.

I will admit to not being that interested in reproduction style samplers, but I do like some of the modern designs and have stitched one or two ten or so I've come across.

 Welcome by Pine Glen Designs

stitched with DMC, not sure the colours

 One Drink Woman by Kincavel Krosses

stitched with DMC and I've stitched this twice, one with rose wine 

Mario Sampler by Daffycat?

I loved stitching this one!

 Don't Make Me Kill You by Kincavel Krosses

with DMC variegated threads

Pog mo thoin (look it up! ;) ) by Kincavel Krosses

with DMC variegated threads

 Dead by Dawn by Pyro Dog Pins (Etsy)

based on the Evil Dead movie

Specialty Stitch SAL by Durene Jones hosted by Lakeside Needlecraft

stitched with Chromatic Alchemy rainbow thread, no longer available

Hell is Other People by Subversive Cross Stitch

Turns out I like these a lot! There were a few others that I wasn't sure fit, but this is a pretty good list of what I'd call modern samplers. I hope you enjoyed it and check out everyone else's posts as well. 

Also, this weekend is the first weekend of the Spring Into Summer New Start Binge, so feel free to join in with starts or WIPs! I started In the Gloaming by Whispered by the Wind last night:

stitched 2 over 2 on Mirage by PTP with DMC 310 so far

I hope you're all staying well and healthy!

Tiffstitch