2021 Tokyo Paralympics Wrap-Up

Finally I'm back after a rough weekend. I had a lot of hopes for that 3 days off, but spent most of it with a severe migraine, so didn't really enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I did spend the last few days finishing off the dragons, so I have some photos to show, and the whole piece all together. 

The closing ceremonies of the Paralympics were pretty amazing to see and it was nice to see so many athletes together. I hope everyone interested had a chance to watch some of it. 

Here are my dragons!

Drake #1 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland Aida by Silkweaver

with Fright Night by Jodyri

I love this thread! I can't wait to get back to this dragon!

Drake #6 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Copacabana by Jodyri

I thought this one had some nice bright fall colours and DD chose it as her favourite of the bunch, so I used it in November since that's one of her favourite months. 

Drake #3 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Poisoned Apple by Jodyri

I liked the bright Christmas-y tone this thread has, despite the name. And if you'd like to see all 12, here they are on one piece of fabric:

I suppose it could always be made into something instead of individual dragons? We'll see when I get them finished. It's not a difficult stitch and using one thread colour per dragon definitely helps keep it interesting. 

I hope you all had a better weekend than I did and have been having successful weeks. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge - slight delay

Hello all! I've had to put my challenge on pause for a couple days because the end of the week ended up with me falling into bed early with a migraine yesterday and it's still riding me roughly today. So no stitching possible yesterday or today. Hopefully tomorrow and Monday I'll catch up and finish. 

I did manage a very small amount of research into the next Paralympic event I was going to talk about, para-equestrian. It's also been a part of the Paralympics since Rome in 1960. As you might guess, this is the sport with the most injuries, not "murderball"/wheelchair rugby. The issue of course is having someone with limited mobility on a horse can lead to injury even more quickly than when an able-bodied person rides. A lot of the safety equipment is devised in such a way to keep the riders safe and not be dragged behind their horse, etc. Here's a little more info:

Outstanding right? And amazing these athletes can work so well with horses even with some limited mobility, especially in the legs. 

That's it though, no new stitching, although I do love the thread I have for October. It's called Fright Night and is gloriously full of colour. It's a long weekend here for Labor/Labour Day and I have Sunday and Monday off. Perhaps I'll manage to start the last 3 dragons and finish the start for each one. Wish me luck and good sleep. :) I'd mentioned work was a hassle this week and it only worsened throughout the week with poor sleep and increased stress. 

I hope none of you had stressful weeks and were able to get lots of stitching in!

Happy Stitching and stay well,

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #10

Hello again! Do you remember watching table tennis in the able-bodied Olympics? Check out how the players in the Paralympics are able to compete in this sport that has always been a part of the Paralympics since its inception in 1960. 

 As with able-bodied Olympics, in recent years, China is dominating the game. Many different nations have won medals though, so many athletes have had success. That's one of my favourite parts of these games, it seems like anyone has a good chance. That's not often the case with some of the smaller nations or ones that don't support their athletes in the Olympics. 

I did go back to the dragons today, although it took me most of the night to get one thread length in. Here's what it will look like eventually, and remember to check Rachel's post of this one as well. 

Drake #10 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent Aida by Silkweaver

with Tropic Blooms by Jodyri

I like this thread for August when things are changing a bit. There is lots of green around, but the mums are beginning to make an appearance, asters and other fall flowers. 

I hope you're all staying well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #9

Today has a bit of a change-up in the projects, but we'll get to that later. First, let's talk about another interesting sport played at the Paralympics and Olympics, cycling! Cycling has been a part of the Paralympics since 1984. There are 4 different classes of athletes, visually impaired, who ride a tandem bicycle, athletes with cerebral palsy or other neuro-motor impairments, amputees or locomotor difficulties, and athletes that use a hand cycle. They ride on the track and the road, and sometimes different classes compete against each other, but the length of time ridden is adjusted based on ability. 

Here's another useful video to learn a bit more:

I've never attempted track cycling, but there are a lot of good bike paths around and we used to ride quite a bit. I haven't recently because DD can't ride well yet, but DH has gone out a few times. He even decided to ride over 40km in one go once and didn't feel too worn out the next day. He's in much better shape for bicycling than I am though. It's his favourite sport, but not mine. 

Work is still a bit stressful right now, plus rising cases, DD in school, etc. means I'm having a little motivation issue. I love the project, it's not that, it's just everything else filling my head. I decided to change things up and start a new project instead that's a lot smaller and maybe will make me more interested in getting back to the dragons tomorrow. 

This is what today's start will look like eventually:

and here's my small start:

Skating Snowman by Mill Hill

stitched 3 over 3 as charted with kit threads and perforated paper

I have a lot of these hanging around and they don't take all that long if I can stick with it. We'll see how it goes when this challenge is over. I may or may not have a birthday start coming up as well. I haven't quite decided. It will be delayed since I'm working on my birthday unless I manage to get it all set up ahead of time. Let's not count on that. :)

I hope you've all been staying well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch