Witch's Gate Update

Thank you for all your lovely comments! I always appreciate them. I am so happy to be done In The Gloaming, it was a very enjoyable stitch despite the initial frogging to get the colours just right. I love the finish and will be looking for a frame soon. 

When we last saw Witch's Gate, it was not very far along:

and will eventually look like this:

The chart is separated into 4 pages and I thought I might try and finish one full page, but I ended up skipping around a little instead. I didn't have a designated stitch count on this one. Instead, I realized I had just a few thread lengths of the C3799 left in Etoile for the gate, so I could finish up the skein and call that a good place to stop. That meant I worked across the top all the way to the other side of the gate, and a little bit into page 4 on the bottom right. This is where it is 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'm happy with this progress so far. The bats in the gate will be normal 3799, like the gargoyles. The gate gets the extra pizzazz though. I think the amount of stitching definitely makes a page, so we could call this at least 1/4 complete. I doubt it will come out again this month or the rest of the year though. 

Next up I'm hoping for another finish with this 2017 SAL by Lakeside Needlecraft, designed by Durene Jones:

If you note the date on top, I think if I finish it this year I won't have to frog the skull I've already stitched in. Here's where it looks now:

Spooky Halloween by Lakeside Needlecraft and Durene Jones

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Icarus by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC 310, Purple Planets by Jodyri and various GITD Kreinik

The far right is the end of the piece and the missing area above is all part 6. I had finished part 5 the last time this one came out and worked some of the border. Now it's just part 6 and the rest of the border to finish the black. It's mostly filling in after that, and part 1 and 2 might have been completed already, so a finish definitely looks possible. 

I hope you've all been staying well and enjoying your stitching.

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

WIP Wranglers Wrap-Up (Photo Heavy)

 And here we are to wrap up the last challenge of 2020, WIP Wranglers. This was a fun one, and I enjoyed getting some stitches into so many projects, even if I didn't get any finished. I did get a lot of them much closer to a finish, so that's something. 

We were at Loved You Yesterday at the end of the last post, so here was 1000 stitches added:

Loved You Yesterday by Cherry Hill Stitchery

stitched with stash threads

on 18ct damask aida by Silkweaver

There's an elephant on the other side of the quote, and some words at the bottom, but again, this should only take a few days to finish. 

Spooky Halloween was up next. A lot of the house from part 5 added for the 400 stitches needed:

Spooky Halloween by Durene Jones through Lakeside Needlecraft

stitched 2 over 2 with DMC 310, Jodyri Purple Planets and GITD Kreinik

on 28ct Icarus by Chromatic Alchemy

This one will show up again later!

Another project I've already stitched on showed up again, Butterfly Quote, for another 600!

Butterfly Quote by Jodyri 

stitched 2 over 1 with mostly Jodyri threads, Sunshine State currently

on 14 ct fabric 

This won't be a quick finish, probably a couple weeks, so this won't be on the quick-finish list for next year. It's a fun one though, and I'm looking forward to completing it. 

Finally rolled another new one, this is Blackwork Poppy that had 200 added to it:

Blackwork Poppy by Jodyri

stitched with DMC 310 over 1 on 1

on 18ct Galaxy by Jodyri

I feel like a couple days of good stitching could finish this one off as well. It's charted in red for the poppy, but I thought the fabric had enough reds that I'd stitch it all in black. The center is supposed to have green, so maybe a dark green would work, like DMC 890? Or WDW Okefenokee?

And here's Spooky Halloween for another 300:

Part 5 is almost complete now. The funny part about this one I stitched this while we introduced DD to The Princess Bride. Here's one of my favourite photos of her experience:

Note the blanket's proximity to her eyes so she can hide under it :)

Another WIP I hadn't stitched on yet was rolled next, Do Not Meddle for 200:

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

stitched as charted 1 over 1

on 28ct Monaco

This one shows up in a bit again as well. :)

My very first WIP that was rolled got rolled again, and Frosty Friends 1 came out for another 500 stitches!

Frosty Friends 1 by Dimensions

stitched as charted over 1

on 16ct kit fabric

That wasn't quite enough stitching to finish this one, but it's really close now. Probably 2 days knowing how much backstitch there is, not just 1 to get this one finished. 

One of the larger WIPs I'd chosen was rolled next, Magical Arrival for 400

Magical Arrival by HAED

stitched 1 over 1 full cross as charted

on 25ct magic guide evenweave

This is a longer term project, definitely not a finish any time soon, especially if I'm going to spend a lot of time on Animal Kingdom. 

Another fun one was rolled next, Evening in the Shire for 600!

Evening in the Shire by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched as charted with full cross and half cross and backstitch

on 28ct Moonrise by Jodyri

So much backstitch! And this one shows up again in a bit. ;)

At this point I think there were 3 projects that still hadn't been rolled, fortunately I did roll another new one next, Full Moon for 400:

Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched as charted over 2 

on 28ct Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy

I think this one might still need a week. A lot of these projects have blends, backstitch, etc. and they're a little longer than they seem. Fortunately they do work in PK, so I know I have about 1700 cross stitches left, plus backstitch after that. 

Another untouched one came next, and this has been untouched for a while, Snow Guide for 200:

Snow Guide by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 1 with stash threads

on 14ct aida

This one will show up again soon!

And I think the last untouched one was rolled next, Frosty Friends 2 for 200:

Frosty Friends 2 by Dimensions

stitched 2 over 1 as charted 

on 16ct kit aida

Still a long way to go on this one, and I think Katie warned me these aren't as quick as they look. :)

I had touched all 20 WIPs by now, so I'm not sure if you could stop here, but I thought I'd see if I could roll them all a second time before the end of the year. If you looked at the top list, you'll note I didn't quite manage it. 

Animal Parade was rolled next for 600 stitches:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 or 2 over 1 with kit threads on kit fabric

There's a long, long way to go on this one. A giraffe is to the right of the elephant and I think there's a lion and an ostrich to the left of the rhino, plus most of the rhino to stitch, so this won't be done any time soon. It was nice to get it out to work on a bit though. 

Do Not Meddle was rolled again next for 100 stitches:

If anyone remembers, I am stunt stitching this for someone else. I would really love to get this one finished this year and get it mailed out. I definitely made some good progress last year and getting the first dragon complete, and the words are definitely reachable for this year, and a stretch goal would be to finish the whole project. 

Only 2 left!!

Snow Guide was rolled again for 100:

I may or may not put the bottom motifs in. I had chosen this fabric way back before I had such a large stash, and it's a little tight on the margins if I include those. I'll likely finish off the top and see what I'm willing to try before attempting the bottom. This is another one that should only take a few days to finish. 

And last, but not least, Evening in the Shire was rolled again for 300 stitches!

It's not exactly a mirror, but the right side is similar to the left, with another bit of the house and a lot of backstitch. I think this will be more than a week to finish as well. 

And that's it! Lots of WIPs worked on and lots that are really close to finishing. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can finish in 2021 and hope to work on at least one a week. 

I hope you're all staying safe and have a successful 2021!

Tiffstitch

Dark October Stitching Update, and a Little Bit Derailed

 Hello again! It's been an eventful month, and there's been a decent amount of stitching despite everything else going on. I had plans to post weekly in October, but clearly that didn't happen, so once again, it's a bit of a catch-up post. 

If you check back to this post, I talked about what I hoped to work on in October. I've stuck with the basics of that post, but got a bit derailed because I also have a new start! Yes, despite the planned 4 new starts for Naughty November. It's so fun though, I had to start. 

First, I managed a couple small finishes that had been hanging around:

Boo! By Brittercup Designs stitched 2 over 1 as charted except the border in WDW Trick or Treat

on 14ct opalescent Galaxy by Jodyri Designs

Haunted House by Heart in Hand, stitched with stash threads 2 over 1 on 14ct scrap aida

Two solid finishes is a good way to start. This was all on October 1st, and I even had a little stitching time left to get myself started on my first Dark October WIP. 

and after a little spelling mishap:

I managed to get a little more completed:

Spooky Halloween by Durene Jones (Lakeside Needlecraft SAL)

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Icarus by Chromatic Alchemy

And speaking of Durene Jones, she had the audacity to come out with a free SAL right after I'd had all my plans laid out! It's on her Facebook page here. 

Durene Jones 2020 Halloween SAL Parts 1 and 2

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

After I spent a week (or less) on Spooky Halloween, I pulled out In the Gloaming to see what I could accomplish despite being distracted by the shiny new SAL. This is where I started:

and after a week, I managed to start on the gate. The first page (of 2) is complete, which is a nice feeling. I really don't think this would take more than a solid week of stitching to complete since it's very few colours, but best laid plans, etc...

In the Gloaming by Whispered by the Wind

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Mirage by PTP

I've also started part 3 of the Durene Jones SAL, which has kept me from starting back on my third Dark October WIP. Here's where I'm at now, just need some back stitch and I can get a couple days into Witch's Gate. 

The last part of the SAL will be out on Friday, October 23, so I will have some time to work on Universal Monsters SAL as well if I can finish up part 4 a little quicker than I've managed with part 3. 

I hope you're all well, and apologies for the numbers, etc. on the photos. I decided I would just get the post up for goodness sake instead of fussing as much making everything perfect. I'll work on the photos next if I can. 

Stay well, and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

People's Choice SAL - May 2020 - Fire

It's the first weekend of the month, and that means it's time to post about the chosen topic. This month it's Fire, and please check out everyone's posts over at Jo's amazing blog!

I thought this might be difficult, but I found a few ways to shoe horn in some fire or heat related projects. 

Victorian Tree

 by Mill Hill, stitched as charted, with candles! 

Spooky Halloween

 by Durene Jones, stitched on Icarus - see what I did there? ;)

Finding Happiness

by Circus Stitches and isn't fire a type of light? 

Old Fashioned Tree

by Mill Hill, also candles on this one

Colin Firth

from one of the XS magazines, I forget which one does the portraits and this was sent to me as a single chart from the magazine. And obviously, including because he's hot! :) 

Wash Your Damn Hands

 

by Kincavel Krosses, modified to fit on a towel and including this as a "hot" topic right now

I hope you're all having a good Maynia if you've joined in and a good stitchy weekend all around. I enjoyed shoe horning in these ones, and hope you do too. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch