Clearly I've chosen too many big ones, but this one is really cool, and I'm excited to start it. Again, this might be for my parents when it's finished.
Since it is a big one, I only had one piece of fabric that would work, which is a pretty big piece of light grey/blue 25ct. Therefore I needed to adjust the colours of the letters since they would have been almost invisible. I went with some light purples and it stands out well. I also chose a nice green for the leafy border and here's where I got to:
Alphabirds by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 on 25ct grey evenweave
with DMC 210 and 211 for letters and Silks4U PR 130
This is a giant paper chart that you have to unfold for each letter. It's kind of involved, but fun to work on as well, besides one of my cats deciding it had to be his hidey hole and tried to dig through it. He's a little odd, inherited from a co-worker going through some medical issues. He's not 2 years old yet though, so the kitten is still strong in him. He's much cuddlier than my other 2 cats which is nice, and he's getting along with DD really well.
Bandit
He's learned quickly that cross stitch is not a toy, so that's a good thing. Even my older cat likes to chase the threads sometimes while I'm stitching if he's on my lap.
I hope you've all had a good day or two of stitching!
I love the detail in the Crossed Wing Collection charts. It does make them somewhat time-consuming to stitch, but they look so good! Today's start will likely be a gift for my parents if I can make it into something, possibly framed as it is in the chart photo.
I managed a decent start and got in some greens for the leaves. I think it looks pretty nice on this fabric, another from the vast stash of Chromatic Alchemy I have from when I was in her FOTM club.
First Encounter No. 8 by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Celeste by Chromatic Alchemy
with DMC as charted
This will be one that takes a while, but it is very fun to stitch, so it will be enjoyable as well. I love the fabric and it has enough colours that it could be from almost any kind of sky/flowers/trees background in a sort of Impressionist way.
In some ways it's hard to believe I've started 80 projects, but when I look at the banker's boxes full of them, it's easy to see it as well. I think I'm still at a good pace to get 100 completed, and am now debating if number 100 should be the Chatelaine I purchased ages ago and finally received the threads for last year. Hmm, it's an idea. Although pulling out a lot of the smalls to try and get more finishes before the end of the year would be nice as well.
I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the Olympics if they were interested! Seemed like a great games overall, lots of interesting achievements by athletes and great competition.
I managed to get quite a few WIPs out, so here we go! (there's quite a few again)
Crossed Wing Collection was a good place to start and we last saw Hummingbird Garden here:
and after one night, there's a decent amount of fill:
Hummingbird Garden by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Largesse by Chromatic Alchemy
The next one is part of the same chart collection:
and I managed quite a bit of this colour:
Thistle Stop by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 as charted on a scrap of Cumulus? by Chromatic Alchemy
Then a fun Lizzie Kate one that I'm using stash threads on. It used to be here:
and now:
Normal is Just a Setting on the Washer by Lizzie Kate
stitched 2 over 2 with stash threads
Next up another one with words, also a start from 2021:
The second photo doesn't show the fabric well, but it does show the update:
Warm Winter Wishes by Waxing Moon Designs
stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Cumailitis by Chromatic Alchemy
with stash threads, DD Down Under Blues so far
Another 2021 start coming up:
and now:
Noel by Bent Creek
stitched on 28ct Chromatic Alchemy fabric scrap
with WDW Fathom and Blue Bonnet, odd Dinky Dyes for orange and the grey is Silks4U PR026, DMC Etoile
Another one with words! Here's where it was:
and now:
Moon and Back by Heart in Hand
stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen with Gloriana threads mostly
And now a rare Satsuma Street was here:
and now a bit more:
Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street
stitched 2 over 2 as charted
on 20ct Fiddler's aida?
This next one is sort of finished, but I decided to try and add a semblance of our actual house:
And the garage is almost complete! Haven't decided if I'll sketch in a driveway or not, but the house will be below the letters.
Everyone Brings Joy by Waxing Moon Designs
stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct Aida I think with stash threads
Next up was a more Herculean effort, I picked up a full coverage, 1x1 project and worked on it for about 500 stitches (3 days). It started here:
and here it is now:
Peacock Infinity Feather by CrossStitch4Everyone
stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Amethyst Spirit by Chromatic Alchemy
And that's it for Olympics stitching! No finishes, but quite a few projects had progress, which feels pretty good. Next up is the Paralympics and I think I'd like to try and finish Do Not Meddle during that. I'm quite far along and it just needs a push!
I hope everyone has been feeling well, and having good stitching days.
Here we are, first update of 2024! Let's see if I can keep on track to post weekly.
I did a new start on December 31, 2024 because the US way of writing the date made it so unique (12/31/23). I had plans for a Chatelaine, but haven't received the thread pack yet, so I decided another ridiculous one deserved a start. If I manage to finish this, it's for a friend that loves Halloween and cats.
Paine Free Crafts Halloween Kitty with Pumpkin
and I managed a very tiny start. I'm still dealing with low energy from COVID, and needed a nap in the afternoon to make it all the way to midnight.
Sorry it's a bit blurry. I have put it away for now, so can't get another photo yet. This was about 400 stitches into it. I ended up frogging some before this photo, but then thought maybe the stitches were correct after all? I realized I was too tired to keep stitching and stopped before I took out more stitches that were actually correct!
We all slept in the next morning and I was excited to start my New Year New Start. I don't love the fabric, it's 40ct linen, but it is gorgeous and perfect for this chart. Here's what I'm starting, which will be for my Mom. She has a big birthday this year.
Her favourite animal is the loon, and when we were younger, we'd often go up to northern Ontario in the summers for vacation. Partly because it's beautiful and amazing, but also partly so Mom could hear loons. I had a few options on bird-related charts and had DH check them all over. He chose this one as the best for my Mom. Then he asked when her birthday was (June) and gave me a funny look like I thought I'd get this done by then. It's like he knows me or something? Then I gave him choices of all my blue fabric that was long enough and he chose this gorgeous one, which I knew he would, but linen (ugh!) and 40ct! (double ugh!) Anyway, here's my start. It wasn't too bad on the linen with my Ott light about 1 foot away...
Loon Lake by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 full cross
on 40ct linen by BeStitchedMe
I think I'll try and pick this up a few times a month to get a few thread lengths into it. I'm not worried about finishing by June, it's the process that counts, not the deadline.
Before I started on my monthly focus piece, I picked up a small I've been working on now and again over the past year. This is where it was last time I picked it up:
and now it's a finish!
Halloween Freebie by Passione Ricamo
stitched 2 over 2
on 28ct Brittney evenweave Aries by Sparklies
I don't think you can find this on their website any more, but it was a fairly quick and easy stitch. I used DMC Etoile for the moon and the BOO words, and the rest is DMC 310. The original chart had a witch's hat over top of the 2nd 'O', but I filled it in with black instead. I like the look of it without the hat.
And now for my decision on the monthly focus! I've always enjoyed stitching on this one, even though it's got a lot of backstitch. Here it was last time I picked it up:
Evening in the Shire by Cute Patterns by Maria
Stitched as charted 2 over 2 on 28ct Moonscapes by Jodyri
and I've managed several thread lengths so far:
I think there's still more than half to go, and I plan on putting a few more thread lengths in before I might pick up another small or Loon Lake. I think this will keep my occupied for the month and we'll see how far I can get. I'm not expecting a finish, but you never know.
Only 2 more days after this one! But I have so many more starts... Rachel are we doing this for the Winter Olympics next year? XD
If you've been paying attention, Elle just made it through to the finals of the 1500m race, so she'll run that today I think. There's one Canadian that got through as well, so maybe one of the people I'm particularly cheering for will make it onto a podium.
How about today we talk about steeplechase? I've never attempted this event either, whether on horseback or not. My first experience with steeplechase was in the movie A Day at the Races featuring the Marx Brothers. I didn't understand why you'd put horses through that and still don't really, but the human version is an interesting test of strength and stamina.
There has been a steeplechase race of some sort in the Olympics since 1900. Initially there were 2 races, one of 2500m and the other of 4000m. They standardized the distance to 3000m in 1920. Women's steeplechase wasn't added until 2008. The Wikipedia page talked a lot about doping, so apparently that's been an issue for this kind of race.
Today's start is another non-seasonal one, another choice from the Crossed Wing Collection pamphlet. Again, the cover photo looks like this:
I've chosen the largest and most complicated design for this start, Hummingbird Garden. I didn't have a great amount of stitching time last night, so here's my start:
Hummingbird Garden by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Largesse by Chromatic Alchemy
I quite like this fabric for this design. I was trying to figure out the right colour as I do tend to use a lot of blue fabric in my stitching, and then this one arrived as the FOTM club for last month. It's just about perfect since it has an aura of blue with clouds, but also the golden touches like sun reflected by clouds at the golden hour (the hour before dusk or before dawn).
We tend to only see hummingbirds around this time of year when they come to drink out of our hostas. We have a ton of hostas, it's a very hardy plant in this climate and survives pretty much neglect in some cases. I try and clean them out every spring so they get a good start, but I don't think it would matter if I didn't since they survive almost anything.
Of course we don't put up hummingbird feeders either, again, bears! So we can't attract them any other way right now, and they certainly don't winter over up here in the Northeastern USA. And if you think I'm kidding about bears, 2 years ago, our neighbour that's 5 houses down had their garbage can destroyed by a bear and everyone was yelling to stay in the house when it came through. There's some woods at the back of our subdivision and the bears don't live back there, but they travel through sometimes. We haven't had one at our house yet, but we live a little further from the woods. We do have skunks, including a mother and babies that trapped DH up on the swim deck last month. He was swimming in the evening since it was so hot and when he was about to come in, they crept out from under one of the sheds. So he stayed up on the deck until they went elsewhere. The skunks don't always live there, they have several dens around, but I'm always really loud when I come home when it's dark just to make sure I don't get hit. One of our dogs was skunked several years ago. It was awful!
On that note, keep your eyes peeled for those black and white smelly ones, at least in North America, because I think the badgers are the black and white animal to watch out for in Europe. Not stinky, but plenty dangerous.
Lucky number 13 today! At least it is in some places. Today I thought I'd talk about track cycling. I can ride a bike, and used to ride all the time as a child, but don't get as much time for it now. DH loves to bike and managed a 45 mile ride a couple weeks ago on a converted railroad track. The nice thing about riding these is there's no extreme uphills to deal with and it's fairly well maintained.
Track cycling is completely different though. You're inside a velodrome and have a special track bike and ride around an inclined track. This video explains a bit more if you're interested.
I was watching some of the highlights from the Tokyo Olympics and there have been a few wipeouts. Your rate of speed is much higher than in normal cycling, around 60kph (~35mph) and above and therefore accidents can be more damaging. With the incline, if there's an accident, the riders that have fallen slide down towards the middle, so you have to try and get to the highest part on the outside to keep out of the way. It sounds quite difficult to me, so not sure if I'll ever have a go even if I have a chance.
Track cycling has been in the Olympics for over 100 years and has been a competition since the 1870s. Velodromes used to be in a lot of different locations, but I think they're a little less common in North America than Europe. There's a wide range of countries that win medals in track cycling and that makes it a fun sport to watch as well.
For today's start I chose another project I've had hanging around for a long while. Eventually it will look like one of these:
I stitched the bottom left design for my Grandma and had made it into a coaster. I'd wanted to get back to the others, but haven't had a chance until now. I started with the one that has my favourite songbird, the goldfinch.
We can't leave out feeders here in the spring/summer/fall in case of bears, and we tend to forget to in winter, but I used to leave them out when I lived in Indiana in the midwest USA. They're so fun to watch and their coats darken in winter to more greeny-grey, then brighten up as soon as spring appears.
Here's my start:
Thistle Stop by Crossed Wing Collection
stitched 2 over 2 as charted on a scrap of Cumulus? by Chromatic Alchemy
As with most Crossed Wing Collection designs, these have a ton of different colours. I managed to get a lot of the least used colours completed for this feeder full of thistle seed, although it's usually darker when I find it. There are many lovely little finches to stitch and most include the same colours, so the rest of the design will be just 8 colours, and I think I used at least that many already for this small start.
If I manage to finish, this might be a gift for my birdwatching father. He's the one that takes care of all the feeders my parents have at their house that backs onto the woods. He also put up the squirrel baffle to try and keep the squirrels out of them. It's mostly successful. Did I ever mention that where I grew up there are mostly black squirrels? I always thought it was weird to see a grey one and didn't realize that most other places have never seen black squirrels! Plus there's a white variety in a nearby town, a recessive gene colour I think.
I hope you've all been having a good week and are staying well.
