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

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

    

Olympics Wrap-Up and Paralympics Plans

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. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch