September Update

Only a week late since the start of the month, so not too bad  this time. It's been a busy time, one of the community bands I play in had a concert at the end of September and it was really hot that day, so it took the next day to recover as well. Plus I had to work a couple extra days to make up for being ill at the end of last month, so not too much time for posting. 

First, the big news, it's a finish! Peacock Infinity Feather is done!

Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

I'm glad to have this one complete. I have so many of these smaller confetti-heavy projects, and this felt great to finish. Not sure how to fully finish it yet, but something will come to me. Ideas are always welcome too!

I picked up something easier, plus worked on this while we were on a shortish road trip. You've seen it recently, so just a little update:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on kit fabric with kit threads

Stitchy-wise I decided to go back to Starry Night and catch up a bit, so I'm now on week 23. I think the last published week was 31, so I'm not too far behind. 

Starry Night SAL by Urban stitches

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted with DMC

I also managed to finish the socks for DD, and start a new pair for my brother. He's having a big birthday this year. Here's the finished pair:

Vanilla sock pattern with West Yorkshire Spinnery in the Nutcracker colourway

And that's September! Most of the month was taken up by finishing the Peacock Feather, and I have a feeling a lot of October will be catching up on Starry Night, but I'm sure I'll pick up some other projects as well. 

I hope you all have a fun month and enjoy Spooky Season!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

August Wrap-up

Slight delay in getting this post up, but I'm sure no one is surprised at this point. Great excuse this time though, another bout of what was likely COVID-19 kicked my butt again. Fortunately no one at work or at home caught it, so no one else was down for the count at the same time. 

August was a little bit different in that I completely ignored Starry Night to obsess over one of my sort of full coverage projects. This is the Peacock Inifinity Feather when you last saw it in April:

and now I've added a lot more to it!

Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

There's less than 400 stitches to go, so I think I'm going to try and stick with it to a finish. That will make it easier to accept starting some new full coverage next year. 

I also managed a little more progress on Animal Parade, to here:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on kit fabric with kit threads

Apologies for the blurry photo, this was taken while we were in the car driving to pick up a car for a friend. It was about 3 hours away, so I did manage a decent amount of the more repetitive black stitching on the ground. The fabric looks great in that light though, this is pretty close to how it actually appears. 

I also mostly finished step 21 of Starry Night as well, which looks like this:

Starry Night SAL by Urban stitches

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted with DMC

Not sure if I needed a break from the backstitch or all the blue, but still obsessing over the Peacock Feather. I set up my old scroll frame on my new lap stand, which is fantastic and works really well to get the whole project available to stitch, so that may be part of it as well. 

I fully finished a couple other projects as well:

Moon and Back by Heart in Hand

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen with Gloriana threads mostly

I had already sewn the backing onto this project, so I need to sew in the dowel rod. I used the "invisible" thread, which is a bit of a pain, but does look amazing when you're done. DH hung it up in DD's room and I'm not sure if she's noticed yet. We did it while she away at her grandparents for a week. This is also likely why I had time to get this fully finished. 

Another fully finished project:

Normal is Just a Setting on the Washer by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 2 with stash threads (WDW, Carrie's, Jodyri)

I had picked up a sign at Goodwill that had this hanger, so I ironed the heck out of this project, although it doesn't look like it in this photo... Then attached it to the frame so the hanger was still usable. I think this will be a gift for someone, possibly for a friend with an autistic child, but it would certainly fit in our house as well. 

There's some knitting progress as well! When I was feeling really sick I didn't have the mental strength to stitch, plus I was trying to isolate myself away from everyone, so I picked up the two colour cowl I'd been struggling with since December last year. In February this year it looked like this:

Very Merry KAL by Claire Slade

knit with Fiberstash superwash sock yarn

I think I had grumbled about this one back in February because I don't seem to have the knack for colourwork. I did somewhat figure things out over the week I was sick and staying home from work, so I managed to get all the way here before going back to work:

And at that point there wasn't much left, so I kept at it when I had the energy and finally finished it:

I do really like the final result, I think the pattern was great, the problem was me, not the instructions. I love how the yarns worked together, it's very striking, but I don't plan on pulling out another colourwork pattern unless there's a very good reason. 

Also another pair of vanilla socks complete!

Stockingette stitch socks

Nutcracker by West Yorkshire Spinnery

I'm still working through the giant amount of WYS yarn I picked up a Must Love Yarn a couple years ago. I had a gift card and decided I needed multiple skeins of all the colours. Some day I'll get through it, but I won't need to buy Christmas sock yarn for a while. There's some left in the skein, so I'm starting shorter socks for DD. Her feet keep growing! 

I think that's all from last month and we'll see if next month can bring a finish on Peacock Infinity Feather. I have a few days off this month, so maybe! I hope all your stitching has been going well. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Late June/July Update

I could have sworn I had a post in July about June stitching, but clearly not. So here are 2 months in one! I will say I had less stitching time in July because of a couple hockey tournaments, but still have some accomplishments. 

First up, progress on Starry Night SAL:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted with charted threads

 on 28ct white Monaco

This is 2 complete rows! So a good amount complete, although there's still a ways to go. I'm a little behind and have a few weeks to catch up on, which will probably get me halfway through the next row by the end of next week if I can keep at it. 

There are also some finishes, first up Journey by Urban Stitches:

Journey by Urban Stitches

stitched 1 over 1 as charted

on 28ct Red Tide by Chromatic Alchemy

This was a fun one and I can't wait to get it finished. I might try and frame it and hang it in my office at work. I really love the letters in this one, even though I frogged one of the 'R's about 4 times. 

Next up I finally finished another smallish project:

Noel by Bent Creek

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct scrap evenweave with stash threads

I used some Caron snow for the stars and DMC Etoile for the snow and the trees. I like the look of it. The chart has "NOEL" on the bottom as well, but I didn't have a ton of room on the chart, plus this way it's more winter stitching than Christmas, so has more versatility. 

I also managed a little work on a piece that's easier to stitch while riding in a vehicle on our way to one of my hockey tournaments. This is where it was last time you saw it:

and now there's a little more added:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on kit fabric with kit threads

I managed some of the fiddly grass while at the hotel, so the long stretches of black were easier to do while riding in the car. There's a bit of the rhino's legs started as well if you look closely. 

This will be an easy one to pick up and work on when I need a break from switching colours in Starry Night, but it still has a lot of stitching left, even if every animal gets smaller and smaller from now on. 

I hope you've all had good stitching months. I've worked out my plans for next year too, I plan to start 100 new things like 2 Martini Stitcher did this year. She's got a FlossTube if you want to follow along with her progress. I spent some time using a planner that I found on Peacock & Fig which is linked if you're interested. The pages I needed most where the ones to write down the project and what fabric I wanted to use and I managed to fit everything with fabric into 1 1/2 bankers boxes. I didn't pull threads yet, but that may happen as I reassess my plans as well. I think I'm pretty much set on choices, but there are always new options that might come up. 

So I hope to catch up on Starry Night and keep on finishing things up so I have 50 or less WIPs at the end of the year. I'm at 48 so far already, so as long as I don't start anything new, I should be good. 

Have a good month! I'll try and get a post up in September on time. 

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Late May Update

Bit late with last month's update, but getting it up anyway. Things have been busy, and I have to admit to being a bit obsessed with a video game I picked up on 80% off. But, there has been stitching!

And finishing actually, so here's a couple finishes:

Ho, Ho, Ho! by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct black aida with WDW mostly

This Lizzie Kate was finished over a thrift shop frame and can either sit or hang up for this holiday season. I finished this several years ago, so it's nice to have it complete. This was my first time using Wisper thread as well. 

Magical Castle by Sweet Annet

Stitched 2 over 1 as charted on wooden stamp

My last Sweet Annet that  I had started is finished! I have 2 more kits that aren't started, and it feels nice to have these finished off for now. 

And my latest progress on Starry Night:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches 

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 on 28ct white Monaco as charted

I believe last month is when I used up my third skein of DMC 312... There's going to be 7 total I think. I also got on a bit of a backstitch kick last month and did not pick up the Peacock feather. Here's where I progressed on another Urban Stitches project:

Journey by Urban Stitches

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Red Tide by Chromatic Alchemy

I also found an old WIP that's been lying untouched for a while. I had forgotten to add it to my WIP lists, but it's there now. The last time I touched it was in 2019 I think and it looked like this:

and now it's filled in a bit more:

Frost by Seba Designs stitched on 28ct Chromatic Alchemy fabric

stitched 1 over 2 with Jodyri April Showers

Like I said, I got on a blackwork/backstitch kick and just worked on these the past month. I need to catch up a bit on Starry Night again, things are busy with school ending, etc., but I'll get there. It's really interesting seeing it all come together. I think after this week's release we're at 2 full rows. 

Hope everyone has had good stitching time and are staying healthy!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

April Update

Another month is gone and I'm mostly on time posting again. Generally I'll have time on the weekends, so it just depends on where the end of the month falls. I hope you've all had a good month, stitching or otherwise!

First, let's start with the update of Starry Night SAL:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

Stitched 1 or 2 over 2 as charted

I still need to finish this past week's chart, but I'm caught up till then. Next up are some finishes!

Samurai by Fire Wing Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Fire Rooster by Chromatic Alchemy

with Madeira black 

This was a fun stitch. It went fairly quickly because of being monochromatic. Like most of these, I always wonder why it took me so long to get back to it. I'm looking forward to deciding how to finish it. Possibly some dark backing fabric would look best? Suggestions always welcome. 

Next up, another finish!

Moon and Back by Heart in Hand

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen with Gloriana threads mostly

I have backed this with some dark brown fabric and plan to loop it over a dowel. I need to give it another press first, but I'm glad to have some of the finishing work completed. This seemed to go quickly as well. I had purchased mostly Gloriana threads from the LNS I purchased this from, and then used some stash threads for the rest. I'm mostly impressed with how well the Autumn Leaves thread worked for the giraffe. I only used the one colour and sort of worked out where I wanted it. 

Prince and Fox by Sweet Annet

stitched 2 over 1 as charted on wooden stamp

This was another fun one. I may have missed adding the outline on the whole stamp on the other one I finished. I added the included backing to this already as well, so it is also fully finished. 

Next up I pulled out the other stamp I had started and got a few more stitches into it:

Magical Castle by Sweet Annet

stitched 2 over 1 as charted on wooden stamp

I also volunteered a lot at the book fair we had at DD's school and I managed to unpick all the 2 over 1 threads on Lanarte's Animal Parade:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 on included kit fabric with kit black

I had originally started stitching this 2 over 2, but it looked so packed I decided to adjust it and went with 1 over 1 instead. I'm not worried about the leftover thread fluff since I'll stitch over the same area. It's so fussy to pick out the threads, so working at the book fair was a good way to break up the tedium. 

Accomplishing so much helped make me pull out the Infinity Feather again and I added another 1500 stitches.  This will go away for another few weeks, but now there's only about 8500 stitches to go. That feels pretty nice, even with so much confetti. 

Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

I'm waiting on some mail to continue with this other mail order project I've been working on, and I had a good day to work on some finishes. I managed to get backing on several Mill Hills and  get them cut out. Now I just need to decide on cording or beaded cord to get them ready to be ornaments. 

These were fun to get closer to being complete. I'm glad to be able to have a little more free time to get more stitching and finishing done. 

I have a few boxes I've saved from various things and decided I could add some stitching to the tops to make them beautiful and useful as well. 

I think I want to add some thing ribbon to the edge of the stitching, or rick rack, or something to finish it off a little more. I'm glad it fits so well, but a little extra touch will make it more interesting I think. 

Suggestions always welcome too if you have any other ideas.

That's it for now, have a wonderful month!

Tiffstitch

March Update

Hello, hello! Here we are again, I've managed another monthly post about stitching.  I do have a lot of stitching and knitting that's taken place over this past month, so it's been a good one. I'm only going to touch on the stitching today. 

Firstly, let's do the update of Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches. I'm still very happy to have kept up with it so far. We've hit a new row now, so this was the most recent week's finish:

And the whole project so far:

Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

blackwork 1 or 2 strands  over 2 on 28ct white evenweave as charted

I'm definitely enjoying this one. There's a technique to getting all the blackwork in, and I've found a way that works for me. I tend to go colour by colour and fill in the entire weekly square, then go to the next colour. It's charted so you can see all the colours in one grid, or there are separate grids for each colour as well. Some people on the Facebook group has said that's helped them as well. I will sometimes check those grids to be sure I didn't miss any stitches from the main grid. 

Next, this is all the stitching progress this past month. There were some finishes for the "WIP-down" as well. First up, this Lizzie Kate which was worked on last year and looked like this:    

and now a finish!    

Official Snow Guide by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct aida with stash threads

Next, I picked up my New Year New Start from this year and added some colour!

A Stroll in the Snow by Asleep at the Stitch

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

I felt like I had to get back to Witch's Gate after this, although it was bogging me down a bit, so I decided to try and finish off the left side, since I'd have to move the Qsnap anyway, and that would be a good stopping point for now. This is where it's at, a little more than halfway complete now:

Witch's Gate by Whispered by the Wind

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Mirage by PTP

with DMC 167, 738, 3823 and 3866 as changes to the original colours

I don't know if this will come back out this year. There is a flame that needs to be stitched in the mini-cauldron in the gate post, and I'm thinking a blue flame might look best, but I'll need to chart it, so I've left if for now. 

I pulled out some more smaller projects in hopes of finishing them, and had 3 more finishes to add to the pile!

Stocking ornament by Jane Henderson

stitched 2 over 2 DMC on 28ct scrap evenweave

And a conference one weekend helped me get another finish on yet another Lizzie Kate:

Normal is Just a Setting on the Washer by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 2 with stash threads (WDW, Carrie's, Jodyri)

It was a 2 day conference, so I had time to pull out another WIP as well, and although I didn't get a finish while I was there, I kept up with it and it's complete as well. 

Dragonfly in Flowers Stamp by Sweet Annet

stitched 2 over 1 with kit threads on included wooden framework

This was a mostly enjoyable stitch. The one issue I had, was the white flowers? or stars need to go through the central hole so many times that it got so thick I ended up breaking a needle! So the only one that is correct as charted is in the top right. The rest I just did as 4 stitches. The other backstitch was fine, so if you attempt these, please keep that in mind. The finishing felt comes with the kit and this one is already fully finished as well. 

I was up for something a little more complicated after these finishes, so I pulled out when of the complicated full coverage patterns. This is where it was last time:

and now after 1000 stitches added:

Peacock Infinity Feather by Cross Stitch 4 Everyone

stitched 1 over 1 full cross as charted on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy

You can definitely tell some stitches were added this time! I believe I have less than 10K to go, so potentially if I can get 1000 stitches in per month, this would be finished somewhat quickly. I'll have to see what I'm up for though. I'd like to keep enjoying the stitching and not feel like it _has_ to get done. 

And for what I've been up to the last few nights, I pulled out a monochrome design to see how far I could get it to a finish. It will look like this eventually:

Samurai by Fire Wing Designs

and last time I worked on it (2021), it was here:

and now:

Samurai by Fire Wing Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Fire Rooster by Chromatic Alchemy

with Madeira black 

The design is spread over 2 pages and I've completed one full page, and have less than a full page left. I'm going to keep going with this one until it stops being fun or until I finish. I think another finish is definitely possible! 

I hope you've all had good months and are staying well. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch