2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #48 - If Nothing Ever Changed by Designs by Lisa

I thought I had already posted about this chart, so sorry there was a longer gap than usual for the smaller starts. I think this is my first Designs by Lisa chart in this group of starts, but I have a few more in the offing. She's got some very fun designs, and they're generally not very big, which is helpful right now. 

Here's the cover of the chart:

And although it has some specialty threads listed for colours, I didn't have any of them, so chose a different variegated thread to work the border and lettering. I managed a decent start so far:

If Nothing Ever Changed by Designs by Lisa

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Meredith by Chromatic Alchemy

with Jodyri and DD threads so far

I do have an error I need to pick out. If you're looking closely, the little loops on the right side are not matched on the left. I need to pick out the outermost backstitch row, although I'm fairly sure I was stitching both somewhat together, so probably both vertical rows, and figure out the right placement for the loops. It won't be too much effort to unpick that. That's partly why I left a hanging thread, I realized I'd have to frog a bunch there, so didn't want to stitch any farther with the thread I'd need to remove anyway! 

I made another counting error, but I don't think it will show up, so I won't mention where it is. It was far enough back I wasn't about to undo everything, and I believe I figured out how to make it work without having to frog all the way from the top. 

I'm looking forward to getting back to this and determining what colours I might use for the butterfly. 

Hopefully you've all had good stitching weeks!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #47 - Love is Best by Lizzie Kate

Time for another Lizzie Kate start! I have several of her patterns, as I'm sure many of us do. Most of them are smallish, although this one had some decent stitching to put into it. 

Here's the cover photo:

And I jumped at another chance to pull out some of my stash threads and fabric. I don't remember what scrap fabric this is, but very likely Chromatic Alchemy since I was in her FOTM club for many years. 

I debated a few colour choices, as well as how long I wanted to have this out. In the end I stuck with it till I had finished it. It was a few nights of stitching to complete and I'm happy with the finish. 

Love is Best by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct evenweave unk name

with WDW Crepe Myrtle and Cylcamen, Jodyri Over the Rainbow and Carrie's Creations Bliss

I think most of the colours are fairly obvious, but for the CC Bliss, I fussy-stitched and fussy-cut so the colours were more aligned than they are in the actual thread. The swirl near the bottom is stitched with Bliss as it is on the skein, so that's how the colours would normally work together in the variegated thread. 

I didn't intend for the interesting colour pattern that resulted in the largest heart, that just happened as I stitched along in my normal 4x4 way of stitching with variegated thread. 

The end result is 4x6ish inches in size, so a little large for a card, but maybe a box top, etc? I haven't figured out what to do yet, but it's a finish!

I hope you've all been having a good weekend and a good start to the week. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #23 - Plan Ahead by Subversive Cross Stitch

I've collected a few of these fun patterns over the years, and it's finally time to start another one. Most of them are fairly small, so a finish can happen quickly sometimes with these. Their website is here if you want to check any out. They have random sales and sell kits as well as patterns. 

This is the one I finished way back in 2018:

This pattern is a fun one, and is easy to adapt colours, etc. I took a couple days and finished it up, and it looks like this:

Plan Ahead by Subversive Cross Stitch

stitched 2 over 1 on scrap opalescent 14ct fabric

with Jodyri Santa's Sleigh (border) and WDW Crepe Myrtle (words)

I  wanted to make it more colourful and I thought playing with the variegated thread in the border would be fun. I like the patterns that it made, definitely fits the saying! And it was nice to find 2 different thread companies that had somewhat similar colours, so you can really pick out the pink colour in the border. 

It's great to have a finish, and go through some of my stash to work on this one. That's the goal, hopefully to not have to buy anything, just work through what I have and enjoy the process. 

Hope your stitching day went well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #7 - Yellow Submarine by Blackbird Designs

Back again with another new start! This is maybe outside of my usual type of stitching, although I think I'm fairly eclectic with what I choose to stitch. However, I don't tend to stitch a lot of prim style and I don't know that I've ever stitched a Blackbird Design either. They're lovely, but mostly not my thing. 

However, I could not resist this one:

I don't know if you've all seen the old Yellow Submarine animated movie? I grew up with it in syndication on TV, and purchased the DVD when I saw it available, plus have shown it to DD and she also loves it. It's just such a different, fun movie and this chart really seemed to capture the whimsy of the film. 

I didn't have any of the Gentle Arts Sampler Threads it called for, so used what options I had in stash and some DMC. 

The floss organizer is in the shape of a stocking and was in my stocking this year. It's been very helpful! 

Here's my conversion in case you're interested:

GA Apple Cider - Dinky Dyes oops pack 

GA Avocado - Dinky Dyes oops pack and Soie Cristale bright green

GA Bayberry - WDW Holly

GA Butternut Squash - DMC 973

GA Caramel Corn - Jodyri Sparkling Citrine

GA Endive - DD oops pack

GA Garden Gate - Classic Colourworks Cocoa Bean

GA Harvest Basket - GA Ale

GA Harvest Moon - DMC 728

GA Lexington Green - DMC 3023

GA Mountain Mist - WDW Blue Heron

GA Pomegranate - Nina's Threads Aztec Red

GA Roasted Marshmallow - DD Oops pack

GA Tine Buckey - WDW Father's Day

And you know how I said I was really excited about this one? I stitched this much the first day, after taking probably over an hour to get the threads sorted:

I love WDW Father's Day for the top motif, and fussy stitched it for the date and the anchor. It reminds me of the Blue Meanies from the movie. 

This was so much fun to stitch that I literally couldn't put it down. I started in January 21, and finished it January 27th!

Yellow Submarine by Blackbird Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Spritely by Chromatic Alchemy

with thread conversion as above

You may have noticed the chart has blue fabric in the photo, but I chose this predominantly green fabric because of the lyric "Sea of Green" from Yellow Submarine. 

I'm so happy with this one, it was so fun to stitch. I still don't think I'm a prim fan exactly, but I did really enjoy stitching this. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching week!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #5 - Arranging Microbes by Ink Circles

I'm fairly sure it's obvious I've been a fan of Ink Circles for years. I've stitched some smalls and one large Mandala that I still love!

Reflections of Canada by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 25ct Jobelan 

with Ruby Slippers by Jodyri

So many fun details in that one, although I think my favourite is still the hockey sticks. 

On to the new Ink Circles start! Again, this looks like something I picked up from a LNS and I found a great fabric to stitch it on. I've been trying to go through my stash of Chromatic Alchemy since it really accumulated over the years I was a member of her fabric of the month club. 

And I didn't have any of the called for colours, but found some close matches in my stash threads box:

Note my new Caterpillar scissors that Santa brought this past year!

And I managed a decent start so far:

Arranging Microbes by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Fruit Salad by Chromatic Alchemy

with stash threads (mostly WDW)

The tiny little motif that kind of looks like an alien is a bacteriophage and I did a project on this subject in Virology back in undergrad. It's kind of fun to remember that while stitching this. 

I'm debating if I can hang this up at work when I'm finished. Maybe in my exam room instead of the office bathroom? It's going to take a while, so no rush on deciding. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day!

Tiffstitch

December and End of 2025 Wrap-Up

Here it is, the start of 2026 and time to wrap up 2025! I definitely got some finishes and a few new starts, so let's see how the year finished up. 

I'll try and make it obvious which are finishes, what got work, etc. 

1. Amazing Animal Kingdom by Aimee Stewart/HAED - 35802/374500 (9.56%)

2. Canadian Hero by Stitching Jules Designs - 401/53850 (0.74%)

3. Kathleen and Summer by Hannah Lynn/HAED - 550/200000 

4. Universal Monsters B&W by Witchy Stitcher

5. Stocking #3 by Jane Henderson - completed

6. Snowball Fight by Gitta - stitches added

7. Samurai by Fire Wing Designs - completed

8. Believe in the Magic of Christmas by Durene Jones

9. Christmas Birdhouse #1 by Durene Jones - completed

10. Christmas Birdhouse #2 by Durene Jones - completed

11. Stormlight Archive Quotes by Taylor and Cromwell - 8853/13532 (65.42%)

12. Holiday Quaker by Lila's Studio

13. Noel by Bent Creek - completed

14. Normal is Just a Setting on the Washer by Lizzie Kate - completed

15. Pumpkin Patch by Lois Winston

16. Winter Feast by Mill Hill - completed

17. Zelda Cross Stitch 

18. Warm Winter Wishes by Waxing Moon Designs - stitches added

19. Thistle Stop by Crossed Wing Collection - stitches added

20. Hummingbird Garden by Crossed Wing Collection - stitches added

21. Happy Christmas by Prairie Schooler

22. Motherhood by Selena French/HAED - 1955/58013 (3.37%)

23. Skating Snowman by Mill Hill 16-2133 - stitches added

24. Trick or Treat by Anne Stokes/Paine Free Crafts - 4531/126400 (3.58%)

25. Cryptid SAL by Witchy Stitcher

26. Vermont Zentangle by crossstitch4everyone - 3109/23502 (13.23%)

27. Halloween Kitty with Pumpkin by Paine Free Crafts - new start 392/100800 (0.39%)

28. Loon Lake by Crossed Wing Collection - new start

29. Dragonfly in Flowers stamp by Sweet Annet - completed

30.The Little Prince stamp by Sweet Annet - completed

31. Journey by Urban Stitches - complete

32. Mr. Grinch by The Cross Stitch Studio - new start 514/9071 (5.67%)

33. Animal Parade by Lanarte - completed

34. 2009 Santa by Prairie Schooler - completed

35. Snow Guide by Lizzie Kate - completed

36. Honest Santa... I Didn't Do It - by The Sweetheart Tree - stitches added

37. Moon and Back by Heart and Hand - completed

38. Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street 

39. Everyone Brings Joy by Waxing Moon Designs

40. Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone - completed

41. Witch's Gate by Whispered by the Wind - stitches added

42. Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs - completed

43. In Harmony by Dimensions

44. Letter G - by Nora Corbett 

45. Bailey Basset by HAED 

46. Dragon Under Glass by HAED

47. Warbreaker by skitzzzz 

48. Mini Winter Magic by HAED

49. Under the Sea SAL by Lakeside 

50. McLaren Hamilton 

51. Raven Pixie by Nora Corbett

52. Visit Mordor

53. Magical Arrival by HAED 

54. Tiger Stare by Charting Creations

55. Tiger by Paine Free Crafts

56. Triumphant Ride by Charting Creations 8143/50370 (16.17%)

57. Spooky SAL 2021 by The Steady Thread

58. Lo and Behold by Long Dog Samplers

59. Starry Night SAL by Urban Stitches

60. Stroll in the Snow by Asleep at the Stitch

61. Magical Castle Stamp by Sweet Annet - completed

62. Frost by Seba Designs

This leaves me with 45 WIPS that I'm currently working on, so I did manage to meet my initial goal to start the 100 new projects this year! I'll put that all in a separate post. I know it will add a lot to my pile, but it's a big birthday, so it will be a big year of starts as well. 

I hope you all had a good holiday season and here are my last 2 finishes for 2025!

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 over 1 with kit threads and fabric

Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct Aida with Jodyri threads

Happy 2026 to everyone!

Tiffstitch

Knitting Finish and Quandary

Hello all! I managed to finish those socks for my mom:

Vanilla sock pattern size 2.75mm ChiaoGoo needles

Christmas Robin colourway by West Yorkshire Spinners

Then, given my loose end again from the recent small finish, I decided to skip ahead to one of the other monthly focus pieces. We were still catching up on Star Trek Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks, so I went with a fairly simple one, Symphonic Romance. Last time you saw it, it looked like this:

Symphonic Romance by Summer House Stitche Workes

stitched 2 over 2 full cross with WDW Grape Ice

on 28ct evenweave from Jodyri

and now it looks like this:

and it's a little over a quarter complete. However, I realized that where I thought I had 4 skeins of all the same colourway, I actually have 2 skeins with the colour scheme above, and 2 with a much darker grey. I started it on the top right side, and in case it's not obvious, I also took a close-up:

So I've put this aside for now and I'll see if I can find more Grape Ice and see what colourway it has. I'm definitely not frogging all that I've done, so it's possible it will be a restart or a UFO. For now, it will be put away and I'll likely chose another monthly focus project. 

In knitting news, I'm almost done a pair of shortie socks in that same colourway above, DD wanted a pair to match Grandma. I'll show the finished pair next week. 

I hope you've all had more successful stitching weeks!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Beijing Winter Paralympics 2022 Days 3-7

Back for another fun para winter olympics sport, one which able-bodied people can play as well, but not in the Olympics! Sledge Hockey or what is now called Para Ice Hockey because "sledge" means different things in different languages. 

Para Ice Hockey had its roots in Sweden when 2 men with physical disabilities modified a simple kids sled to allow them to continue to play hockey. They added 2 skate blades and lifted the sled so that a puck could slide underneath it. There wasn't a lot of competitive interest until the early 1970s when other European countries started forming teams. If you can believe it, Great Britain formed their team in 1981, one year before Canada!

Unlike able-bodied hockey, teams can be mixed-gender. Players sit in the sled and propel themselves around with two short sticks. There's a blade on one end of each and metal teeth on the other end to help players move around the rink. The other modification for Para Ice Hockey is the bench must be level to the ice. Usually there's a short step onto the ice in able-bodied hockey. Also, the bench has ice on the floor instead of a rubber mat so players can move around. The bench must be larger as well. 

Most of the rules are the same as ice hockey, with one special penalty. If you charge at someone with the front end of your sled, that is a penalty, called "Teeing". Equipment is basically the same, although you don't technically need to wear protective gear on your lower limbs. Goalies don't necessarily have to have leg pads either, it depends on their preference. 

I mentioned that able-bodied people can play as well, and it's true! There are leagues around that allow you to play if you're able-bodied. There may be some restrictions for competitions, but if you aren't interested in regular hockey or have trouble skating, this might be a fun sport to try. There are leagues in our area since I've heard people mention playing. I know my knees start to get a bit sore now sometimes when I play, so maybe it's something to consider as I get older. 

This year, the bronze medal game was played by China and Korea and Canada and the US played in the gold medal game. Unlike the men's able-bodied team, the para teams made the medal rounds! 

I hope you enjoyed the summary and sorry it took me so long to get it posted. 

Onto the dragons! As I mentioned, I doubt I'm finishing all 12 dragons, but I did manage another 2, and one needed a lot of work! Days 3 and 4 started here:

and a finish for Day 3:

Drake # 7 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Diligence by Jodyri

followed a few days later(!) by a finish on Day 4:

Drake #11 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Jodyri Viennese Waltz

That last one took a while! I only finished it last night and kept wanting to have 2 done for the next post, but it kept going and going. I'm not sure if I'll get another 2 done before the end of the games, but I'll keep plugging away. I do have a new bag to keep these in, from @jasminecustombags on Instagram. She makes some beautiful ones!

I hope you've all been keeping well and getting lots of stitching in!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Beijing Winter Paralympics Days 1-2

 A lot of the first Paralympic events have been related to skiing, so I'll start off talking about how skiing is different in the Paralympics. For alpine skiing, there are 2 events, slalom and giant slalom. The categories of athletes are divided into spinal injury, Cerebral Palsy, amputation, blindness/visual impairment and Les Autres (dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, congenital malformations, etc.) These categories are then subdivided based on levels of ability. 

A lot of different countries have been able to medal in these events, with the most decorated Paralympic alpine skier named Gerd Schönfelder. He has 22 medals!

And onto the stitching. If you recall, Rachel and I are trying to complete our 12 dragons from the Summer Paralympics. The first dragon I worked on was this one:

Drake #9 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Blue Morpho Butterfly by Jodyri Designs

and it took a couple nights, but I managed to finish it here:

Drake #9 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Blue Morpho Butterfly by Jodyri Designs

and the second dragon I worked on started here:

Drake #2 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Jodyri Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath

and I finished it last night:

Drake #2 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Jodyri Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath

I'm not 100% sure I'll get them all completed, especially with starting 2 new projects during the Paralympics for Mischievous March, but we'll see how it goes. At least they will progress, even if they don't get finished. 

It's a good start though, so I'll take it! I hope you're all able to watch some of the Paralympics and enjoying stitching. 

Happy stitching and stay well!

Tiffstitch

End of 2021

Here it is, the last post of 2021! And onto a New Year with lots of new stitching and some plans? First, I managed 2 other finishes and one is almost done, so we'll pretend it's a finish for the end of the year. I will get it completed before the end of the year EST. 

The 4th Moonrise ornament was finished earlier, but I forgot to post about it:

Moonrise Ornament #4 by WBTW

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct Illusion Aida by Silkweavers

with DMC 167, 738, 3823, 3865 as well as RG blending filament in the moon

It's so nice to have all four ornaments complete! I also managed one more smallish finish from my myriad of starts this year:

Irish at Heart by Jennifer Akon? (have to check spelling)

stitched 1 over 1 with WDW Okefenokee and Cactus, unknown Soie Cristals and Waterlilies Plum

on 16 or 18ct light blue Aida

My parents went on a bus tour of Ireland a few years ago, well pre-COVID, and loved it so much! I think I'll try and manage to make this into a St. Patrick's Day card for them. My dad has become somewhat obsessed with Irish music, which isn't a bad thing. I surprised him this year though when DD and I were talking about the song Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake and he hadn't heard of it. I sent him the link to watch it, since it's another great holiday one like Christmas in Kilarney. 

And the last one which is almost a finish, and would have been if I didn't have to get up to get to work early this morning, this is another Rainbow Gallery freebie when they had a bunch back in 2015(?). 

Easter Freebie by Erica Michaels through Rainbow Gallery's website

stitched 2 over 1 with Carrie's Creations Jellyfish for the border and unknown Dinky Dyes for the bunny, Glinda the Good by Jodyri for the ears, WDW Purple Haze for the eyes, 

WDW Camellia for the nose, and an unknown for the blue/green background 

on 16ct or 18ct light blue aida

So close!! But it was 12:30am by the time I took this photo and I need to be up by 6:45am at the latest to get to work on time. I have at least a 30 minute commute on a good day to get to work on time. 

My best friend from undergrad got a quarantine pet bunny over a year ago and he's just about this colour, so I might send this as a birthday card next year when I get it finished. Or maybe Easter?

I definitely won't have any more finishes than this before the end of the year, and I'll try and update my finishes page to show all of these. 

New Year's plans can wait for another post. Happy New Year!

Tiffstitch

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 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 #8

Hello again! Have you ever tried archery? Have you seen the Paralympian archers? The archery competition is similar to able-bodied, in that it's elimination rounds. Archers use either a compound bow or a recurve bow and their targets are at 50m or 70m depending on the bow they use. There are different levels of ability and that affects what weight of bow the athletes can use. This video explains it all very well. I was very impressed by the lengths some athletes go to compete. 

As you just learned, archery has been around since the first Paralympic games, and the competition has only improved since then. Good luck to all the archers in this year's Paralympics!

For today's dragon, I had to skip ahead to September. A work issue came up and I didn't have time to work out spacing for August, so I jumped ahead to the next month. Maybe that's fitting since we're almost in September, but now I won't have worked on August in August! :) 

Here's what the dragon will look like eventually:

And I managed a small start:

Drake # 12 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Oil and Smoke by Jodyri

I'm not sure the reason for the naming of this thread as it's a beautiful blue with grey and white. If you're thinking this doesn't seem like a very fall/autumn colour, you're right! But September is the month I get to choose whatever colour I want, so this is what I chose. I really loved this one when I was going through my threads. Don't forget to check which dragon Rachel is working on today!

I hope you're all staying healthy and having good stitching days. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #7

Today was full of rain and then heat and humidity. It was a strange, weather-filled day. It was a decent work day though and I managed to get a fair amount of work done, which is a nice change. Mostly it feels like it's one step forward and two steps back lately. 

I've seen today's Paralympic sport a few times in clips, and it's quite interesting how they adapted the sport for people with disabilities. I think in some ways it makes it much more difficult as well. 

Today, let's learn a bit about sitting volleyball. This game was first invented in 1956 in the Netherlands for injured soldiers. Eventually it was demonstrated in 1976 at the Summer Paralympic Games and became a full event at the next games in 1980. Both women and men have their own teams for this sport. There are many similarities to the able-bodied version as well. 

What do you think? I think it's almost more difficult not to be able to move around. I played volleyball in school as well and enjoyed it. I couldn't charge the net or block anything, but I had a good serve. 

Today's dragon is another one Rachel has started already. She chose some gorgeous purples for this one, so check out her blog post as well. 

I had another small start on this one. The way it's been going lately, I get home, stitch a thread length and then put the blog post up. I sometimes manage another thread length before bed though, so they are getting a little more work each day. 

Drake #8 by StitchItPicasso

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

with O Christmas Tree by Jodyri

I had to find something with some red in it for July for Canada Day. I decided against a variegated red and kept with the really different colours I've been using so far. I'd like to get more of the thread of the month threads I had collected from Jodyri in use, so this is a great way to do it. 

I hope you all had some good stitching weather and are staying well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #6

Almost one week in! And halfway through the dragons. I think I have decided these will all be cut out of this one piece of fabric because their lengths and heights are so different. Individual ornament style finishes will look better I think. And possibly a month on the side or top or bottom depending on the way the dragon is charted. 

Today's fun Paralympic sport is 5-a-side football/soccer. The name really gives it away how different it is from the regular 11 vs. 11 of regular football/soccer. It's only played by visually impaired men, and again the ball makes sound so it can be followed. The goalies/keepers are allowed to be sighted. One thing I forgot to mention with goalball, is the crowd must be silent during gameplay and is only allowed to make noise after a goal. Otherwise the players cannot hear the ball. 

As you can guess, the field is much smaller than a typical soccer/football field and has boards on the sides to keep the ball in play. There are no throw-ins, etc. because of this addition. 

This is from Rio, but is the shortest highlight clip I could find. It should give you an idea. 

And onto today's dragon. Today is number 5, which will eventually look something like this:

Rachel has already started this one in a gorgeous grey/blue variegated thread, so make sure to check her start as well. 

Here's my smallish start for my June dragon:

Drake #5 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Bright Lights by Jodyri

I wanted a little more saturated colour for June since that's when a lot of flowers really start to bloom up here in the Northeastern US. My peony bush that came with the house has a similar pink to some of this colour and it always shows best around mid-June. 

I hope you've all been staying healthy and had good weather over the weekend. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #5

It's been a strange couple of days, but I did finally manage to get dragon number five started! It was so hot 2 days ago that I didn't get much stitching in, then that night the cat was restless, so I had very little sleep. I didn't stitch at all last night and was just able to get a full thread length in tonight before posting. 

Today's paralympic sport is nicknamed "murderball". If you've never heard of that, it's official name is wheelchair rugby. You're allowed to tackle, despite the wheelchairs, and different levels of disability mean players are ranked from 3.5 to 0.5 depending on functional ability. The entire team can't exceed 8 points. It's also mixed-gender, so anyone can play. 

This video is from the London games so you can get an idea of how it's played:

Also, did anyone catch the New Zealand rugby team doing their haka?

I don't know about you, but I'd be intimidated!

Speaking of that, here's today's magnificent dragon:

And my insignificant start:

Drake #4 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Queen of the Nile by Jodyri

I liked this thread as a sort of emerging into spring colours. Yellows and purple for daffodils and crocuses and green/blue for leaves or buds. 

I'm still enjoying these although I keep being tempted by other options. Durene Jones is having a sale for another day on her Etsy store, plus I picked up the Just CrossStitch Halloween magazine. And I still haven't managed any stitching on Animal Kingdom this month. It was just too hot and I didn't want to stitch on something that will stick around for a few years and risk damaging it. 

It is cooling off today and I think we're done with the real heat this year. I hope you're all having nice weather where you are and staying well. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #4

Hello again! The last 2 posts talked about sports that are completely different than their Olympic counterparts. From now on, I'll talk about sports that are similar to their Olympic equivalents. A new sport added to these Paralympics is Para Tae Kwon Do. 

It's quite similar to regular Tae Kwon Do, but having done some martial arts myself, this looks really difficult.

Today's dragon didn't get a great start, but will eventually look like this:

It's a big one! It was very hot here last night, so I didn't get much work on this one. 

Drake #11 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Jodyri Viennese Waltz

Today is much cooler, so I hope to get a lot more done on the next dragon. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. 

I hope you're all staying healthy!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #3

Day 3 and I hope you've been checking out the gorgeous colours of threads and fabric Rachel has been using for her dragons. 

Today's Paralympic sport is Boccia. It's played by athletes with motor disabilities and is similar to bocce ball or lawn bowling. There's a white ball called a jack that is thrown into the pitch and both teams aim at the jack. The team that has the most balls closest to the jack scores points. There are 4 or 6 ends, depending on individual or team events. Here's a video of how it's played:

Has anyone ever played bocce ball or lawn bowling? I forget why, but when I was younger we had a lawn bowling tournament for family and friends at my grandparents house. It was always over the Canada Day weekend (July 1st). We had a trophy and everything. My dad had to add on more levels to the trophy because we played it for so many years. I think it was maybe just going to be a one-time thing, but ended up being an annual event we all enjoyed. This was all pre 2002, so I don't have easy access to any photos. We stopped playing when my Grandpa died in 2002. We called our trophy the Lauder Cup because that was my great-grandfather's middle name and the motto of our tournament was in Latin. I think you can figure it out though: "non fartum at deliverum"

On to today's dragon! It's in some nice Irish colours I found in my Jodyri stash:

Drake # 7 by StitchItPicasso

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

with Diligence by Jodyri

You may be able to tell this is the same dragon Rachel stitched first. I stitched it a little differently because I'm spreading mine out on one piece of fabric and wanted to be sure I had room for the next one. 

I'm still loving these, they're a relaxing stitch so far. I hope you're all staying well!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch